1911. 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKER 
109 
A FARMER ON RECIPROCITY. 
The following letter was sent to Con¬ 
gressman D. J. Foster of Vermont by our 
correspondent E. S. Brigham. It is a plain 
and forcible statement of the views of a 
vast majority of New England and Middle 
State farmers. 
I believe that portion of your con¬ 
stituents which is made up of the farm¬ 
ers of Vermont has a genuine cause for 
alarm in the prospect of the passage of 
the proposed reciprocity treaty with 
Canada, and I would like to give you 
my reasons for this belief. 
I realize that in the just settlement of 
this tariff question there should be a 
patriotic consideration of the greatest 
good for the greatest number, but from 
the newspaper reports of this treaty I 
can sec in it very little of this. The 
Washington correspondent of “The 
Journal of Commerce’* says that the plan 
of the commission' has been to select 
the commodities for reciprocity in such 
a way as to arouse the smallest amount 
of antagonism on either side of the 
border. I presume that it was in keep¬ 
ing with this policy that the articles 
which are on the proposed free list are, 
with the one exception of fish, made up 
of products of the farm. Now I am 
a wares that the agricultural interests 
have the least effective business organ¬ 
ization of any industry in the country, 
and for that reason they are the least 
prepared to offer effective resistance to 
any encroachments upon their rights, 
but we can at least appeal to the sense 
of justice of the President and Congress 
of the United States. 
■» 
I do not believe that the farmers of 
this country would greatly object to 
free trade with Canada, because they 
realize that they gain as well as lose in 
a free interchange of commodities with 
a people having a standard of living 
and economic resources similar to our 
own, nor do I think that the farmers 
would object to a reciprocal agreement 
with Canada which would enable them 
to benefit by the lower cost of some 
manufactured articles obtaining in Can¬ 
ada, but a treaty like the one proposed, 
which throws the whole burden upon 
agriculture and gives no benefits in re¬ 
turn is manifestly unfair. 
If the farmers of this country were 
unduly prosperous and they were ac¬ 
cumulating large fortunes there might 
be some justice in such a course, but 
such is not the case. The inducements 
offered by the Federal Government for 
the rapid settlement of the new lands 
of the West in the past century, the in¬ 
vention of machinery to till these lands 
and harvest the crops grown upon them, 
and the building of railroads to trans- ! 
port these crops to market, all worked j 
to cause a production of foodstuffs far 
in excess of the demand. A system of 
farming based upon soil robbery resulted 
and much of the time farm products 
were produced at a loss, if labor and 
depletion of soil fertility had been taken : 
into account. Farmers became discour- j 
aged, boys who could get away left the j 
farms, and the business was considered j 
a good one to get out of. During this | 
time, however, there was a high protec- i 
. * 
tive tariff on foodstuffs, although the J 
price of these foodstuffs was largely j 
determined by the price of the large , 
surplus exported to a free trade market. 
The people, however, were blessed with 
cheap food and acquired habits of liv¬ 
ing unknown in the history of the 
world. In the past few years a change ' 
has taken place. Population has in- I 
creased so that consumption has over- ; 
taken production and prices have in¬ 
creased so that the farmer is beginning ; 
to get a living wage for his work and 
some interest on his investment. Young 
men are beginning to consider farming 
a profitable occupation and one which 
requires training and ability for sue- 1 
cess. The past 10 years of higher prices 
has witnessed the employment of more 
capital and better methods in agricul¬ 
ture, and the farms have responded with 
a larger and surer production to meet I 
the need of the increasing population, * 
but the record so far but points the way j 
to what the farms of this country may ! 
do with the employment of yet more 
capital and better methods. It is now 
proposed to put upon us this new bur¬ 
den of competition with a new and un¬ 
developed country. President Taft says, 
“We have drawn upon our natural re¬ 
sources in such a way as to invite at¬ 
tention to their necessary limit.” Our 
experiment stations have demonstrated 
that the producing power of our farms 
may be made many times what it is now. 
Shall we allow these possibilities to be 
realized, or shall we allow our own 
agricultural resources to remain unde¬ 
veloped while we see once more the 
process of soil robbery and profitless 
agriculture carried on in a foreign coun¬ 
try? We farmers of Vermont have 
everything to lose and nothing to gain 
from this treaty and we look to you to 
protect our interests. e. s. brigham. 
A Champion Potato Digger. 
Mr. J. .1. Eslcil, whose farm is in tho 
upper peninsula of Michigan wrote of a j 
man who dug by hand 105 bushels of pota- j 
toes in one day of eight hours. In these 
days when great tilings are being told 1 
about hens, cows and horses, we believe 
in giving the humans a chance—so we 
asked for further particulars. Here they 
are: 
I he man who dug 105 bushels of 
potatoes in eight hours did help to pick 
them up after he quit digging. FI is 
name is Stanley Garthe, he is a gradu¬ 
ate from Michigan Agricultural College, 
and is superintendent of the local man¬ 
ual training school. He was born and 
grew up on a farm in Lower Michigan, 
and has been used to grow potatoes, as ' 
that was a special crop with his folks j 
when he was a boy. Lie has been here 
for five years, and comes often to visit , 
us. He dug 207^ bushels in eight hours*, 
on Wednesday, and 105 bushels in 8J4 
hours on Saturday. The potatoes were 
Rural New-Yorker planted with an j 
Acme foot-planter in hills 30 inches I : 
apart each way, and the potatoes were 
large, averaging 10 bushels to two rows 
300 feet long. Mr. Garthe used a po¬ 
tato hook with round, sharp prongs, and 
he dug two rows at one time and left 
the potatoes lying in the middle. From 
30 bushels of seed planted on a little 
over two acres I got 850 bushels potatoes. 
Ground was manured in the Fall and 
plowed in the Spring. No commercial 
manure used. T have been growing the i 
Rural potatoes for six years, and have I 
been very careful in selecting seed, and 
they have improved both in shape and 
yield year by year. I planted one peck 
Green Mountain potatoes and harvested 
seven and one-half bushels. 
J. j. ESKIL. ; 
&VE MONEY, TIME AND LABOR 
Before Building, Write for Free Booklet and Samples of 
DISHOPRIC WALL BOARD is cheaper and 
• LJ better than Lath and Plaster; applied winter or 
Summer. YOU can easily nail it to studding. Ap¬ 
plied dry it is at once ready for paint,paper or burlap, 
is clean and sanitary; guaranteed proof against 
dampness, heat, cold, sound and vermin. 
I CONSTRUCTION 
Made of kiln-dried dressed 
lath, imbedded in hot Asphalt 
Mastic, andsurfaced with sized 
_cardboard;is cut atthe factory 
into uniform sheets, 4x4 ft. sq. 
and three-eighths of an inch 
thick. These sheets(delivered 
in crates) are easily and quick¬ 
ly nailedtostudding. Usedfor 
dwellings, pleasure, health re¬ 
sort and factory buildings, new 
partitionsinold buildings,fin¬ 
ishing attic3, cellars, porches. 
Applying Wall Board laundries, garages. 
Price $2.50 per 100 sq. ft. or $6.40 per crate of 256 sq. ft. 
f. o. b. factories. New Orleans, Cincinnati, or Alma, Micb. _ _ _ _ _ _„ 1IV11< 
Write for Booklet and Free samples of Wall Board, Sheathing and Roofing 
The Mastic Wall Board & Roofing Mfg. Co. 43 E. Third St. Cincinnati, O. 
13ISHOPRIC SHEATHING saves75 per cent In 
■*-* materia land labor. Same as Wall Board, but cavd- 
board surface of Sheathing is not recommended 
tor decorative purpose therefore costs less. Quick¬ 
ly nailed to studs with laths and asphalt exposed. 
Shows weatherboards over Sheathing, lath 
side exposed; also 
Bishopric Roofing, 
over Sheathing,, 
smooth side 
exposed 
hfakes smooth, solid job. Doe3 away with building 
paper. Proot againstheat.cold, dampness. Usedwith 
excellent resultsas cheapest and best lining for dairy 
barns, poultry houses, stables and other buildings. 
Price $2.35 per square of 100 sq. ft. or $6 per crate of 256 
sq. ft. (. o. b. New Orleans, Cincinnati, or Alma, Micb. 
Your Spring Wheat Must Grow Fast 
It hasn t long to mature and you must push it right 
along from seeding time to harvest—by giving it the 
right kind and amount of food. 
Lse from 300 to 600 lbs. per acre of fertilizer contain- 
ing at least 6% available Potash or 250 lbs. Muriate of 
1 
OTASH 
to the ton. You will profit by an early yield of 
long heads, well filled with heavy, solid grains— 
for Potash is first and last a maker of grain. 
Starch cannot form without it. 
Write fur our books on different crops and 
how to make the best fertilizers for them. 
Ask your dealer or write us today for prices 
on Potash, any amount from a 200 -lb. bag up. 
German Kali Works, Inc. 
Baltimore: Continental Building 
Chicago: Monadnock Block 
New Orleans: Whitney Central Bank Bldg. 
NATURAL Ground PHOSPHATE 
Add 50 to 100 % 
to the productive 
capacity of your 
manure by apply¬ 
ing only 2 0 c 
worth to each ton 
of manure. 
'THE RELIABLE 
Write tor free Booklet 
telling all about it. 
Increase your 
crop yields 50 to 
75% by applying 
$1.25 worth per 
acre to the soil 
direct. Leading 
Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Stations confirm 
this, as our free Book¬ 
let shows Address. 
-jiiuwj nuuichb. 1 
THE FARMERS GROUND ROCK PHOSPHATE CO.Bsl^ 
BEES 
HOW TO MAKE THEM PAY. 
The pleasures, the work and the 
profits of bee keeping are fully covered 
'"'H* See Culture.'' six months' trial sub- 
V cents. Write for book on Bees and free 
i-atnlog— Imi li free. 
THE A I. ROOT COMPANY, Box G5, MEDINA, OHIO 
HYDRATED LIME 
in paper sacks, ear-lots, for $7.50 per ton. Lime 
Screenings in bulk, from best grade of burnt lime, 
$n.0() per ton, f.o. b. ears any point between Buffalo 
and New York on the main lines of tho N. Y. Cen¬ 
tral, Erie, D., L. & \V„ Penna., Lehigh, N. Y.,0. & 
W. and C. R. R. of N. J. Order early before the 
great demand sets in and delays shipments. 
Address J W. BALLARD CO., : : BINGHAMTON, N. Y. 
CIDER PRESSES 
The Original Mt. Gilead Hydraulic Press 
produces more cider from loss 
•JJ'P It'S than any other and is a 
MU^ 1-V MAKER. Sizes 
10 to 400 barrels daily. Also 
cidor evaporators, apple- 
butter cookers, vinegar 
generators, otc. 
CATALOGUE FREE 
THE HYDRAULIC PRESS MFG CO ] 
ld7 Lincoln Ave., Mt. Gilead, Ohio, 
Or Room 119 L 39 Cortlandt Street. Now York, N. 
Y. 
Orchards Pay Better Than Gold Mines When Fertilized With 
GENUINE THOMAS PHOSPHATE POWDER! 
The “ use,,s s,a,e of — 
FIRST PRIZE IS WON BY THE DREW-MUNSON FRUIT CO., of Littleton, Mass. 
Their Prize Winning Acre of Baldwin Apples 
GAVE THEM A TOTAL RETURN OF $715.70—THE NET PROFIT WAS $519.55 
THIS ORCHARD WAS 
FERTILIZED WIT 
h GENUINE THOMAS PHOSPHATE POWDER 
AT THE RATE OF 1000 
POUNDS PER ACRE 
T r I K ( nr.’ Mmri'TTixrn . ■» r ^ 
The Coe-Mortimer Company, 
Gentlemen : 
I' 1 legal(1 to Thomas Phosphate Powder, you will re¬ 
call that \\ e bought of you last year 130 tons and we wish to 
say that it gave us most excellent results. On our peach 
orchard where we used it, the trees made a splendid growth 
with heavy dark green foliage, the fruit was of excellent color, 
and the keeping qualities were remarkable, which was a big 
advantage, especially when we had over 150 cars to harvest 
in about two weeks as we had this year. 
We never saw better colored Baldwin Apples than those we 
grew where we applied a good dressing of Thomas Phosphate 
Powder. The best sold at retail for $9.00 per barrel. 
^ours truly, Barnes Brothers. 
THERE IS A TRUTH IN ALL THIS FOR YOU! 
THE COE-MORTIMER CO. f^Yal 24 r 26 Stone St., New York City 
