THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1012 . 
969 
Two farmers live in a community not far from 
New York City. One of them lias established a busi¬ 
ness of selling at retail to town customers. Now he 
runs a wagon—later he will use parcel post for some 
of his goods. This man developed a good trade in 
sweet corn, and found that liis customers were de¬ 
manding more than he can grow. So he went to his 
neighbor for corn. Now this man is hauling com 
to Newark,^where it sells at one dollar per hundred 
wholesale. Yet when the retailing neighbor comes 
to the farm after corn the farmer demands $2. or 
twice as much as he gets after the expenses of haul¬ 
ing are taken out. Now this man had a good chance 
to help his neighbor enlarge that retail trade and 
save himself the expense of hauling to market, but 
instead of that he saw only the chance to take 
advantage of that neighbor's needs and hold him 
up for an extortionate price. We are sometimes 
asked why it has been so hard for farmers to co¬ 
operate and make sound and permanent business 
organizations. This case of the sweet corn illustrates 
one trouble sometimes met with. You see we must 
all understand that true co-operation is a give as 
well as a take arrangement. We cannot hope to take 
unless we give something in return, for the first 
principle of co-operation is fairness and mutual help. 
* 
You recommend strongly the use of cover crops, while 
in this locality it is the custom to plow sod under in 
the Fall, as the farmer who leaves much of this work 
to do. in the Spring finds that it is almost time to begin 
planting before the land is dry enough to plow. Is it 
not better to plow in the Fall and get your crops in in 
good season than to wait and do your plowing in the 
Spring and have your crops in late? g. h. 
Saratoga Co., N. Y. 
We have given the arguments for cover crops— 
leaving our readers to reason out the wisdom of 
changing their methods. As a general rule the cover 
crop is best adapted to a climate where the Winters 
are comparatively short, and where in some seasons 
the soil is left exposed to Winter thaws. During 
a long open Fall there is likely to be great loss of 
nitrates from bare soil and during warm spells of 
Winter there will be damage from washing, espe¬ 
cially on hillsides. A good cover crop will prevent 
loss from these causes and we would not leave such 
soil bare. In sections farther North there is less 
trouble both from leaching and washing. The 
ground freezes solid early in the Winter and re¬ 
mains frozen and snow covered all through. The 
action of the frost helps to break up an old sod 
and thus, in these northern latitudes. Fall plowing 
is desirable. It helps fit the ground and hastens 
work in the Spring season, which is shorter than 
in more southern latitudes. We think it will pay to 
seed a cover crop in the cornfields even as far north 
as Canada, especially when a late planted crop like 
potatoes is to follow. The shorter Spring and Fall 
and the solid freeze of Winter make a different 
proposition from that found in milder climates and 
a farmer should use his judgment in deciding what 
to do with his soil. 
* 
Hairy vetch is a wonderful “cover crop” for green 
manure or fodder, but there are three troubles which 
go with it. First is the high price of the seed. The 
demand is heavy and American farmers have not 
begun the seed production on a large scale—since 
most of the vetch crop is plowed under before seed¬ 
ing. Again, vetch does not usually give a full crop 
the first year without inoculation. Grown the sec¬ 
ond year on the same piece of land it improves, but 
in general, unless the seed in inoculated or soil from 
a field where vetch has succeeded is used the crop 
is scattering at first. Then there is the bad problem 
of seed adulteration. The Department of Agricul¬ 
ture in 1011 found 62 per cent of the samples of 
Hairy vetch 15fced which were tested either adul¬ 
terated or misbranded. In 1912 the proportion was 
53 per cent. The “adulteration” is done by mixing 
in seed of Spring vetch, an inferior variety for Fall 
seeding. In one case seed sold as Hairy vetch con¬ 
tained over 80 per cent of o.ther vetches, 11 per cent 
of other seeds and over four per cent of dirt and 
chaff. This stuff was sent by the Meyer-Sisson Co., 
Baltimore, Md. The Department gives the follow¬ 
ing advice for detecting bogus seeds: 
* * * the difference iu color of the interior of the 
seed shown by different kinds of vetches affords a ready 
means for detecting the use of other vetch seed as an 
adulterant of Hairy vetch. Crushed Hairy vetch seed 
is ot a lemon-yellow color, somewhat lighter on the fiat 
tnan °u the rounded surface. The crushed seed of most 
or the other vetches occurring with the seed of the 
Mairy vetch varies in color from a dark fawn to red¬ 
dish orange. Crush a small handful of seed and if there 
are any fawn, salmon, or reddish orange colored pieces 
the seed is not pure Hairy vetch. 
8eed of Ilairy vetch is expensive, but if we eau 
obtain the pure seed it is a good investment. Some 
American farmer can make money by growing and 
selling pure seed. At present most of the seed we 
?et in this country comes from Russia—much of it 
growing wild in rye fields with weed seeds. 
The tree quacks are still at large. This is one 
of the most profitable seasons for them. At the 
close of the season insect and disease show their 
marks on tree and fruit, and the fraud with some 
miraculous cure to sell can obtain a hearing best 
when he points out the trouble. Look out for these 
fakes now. One of them is working in Western 
Ohio. He is a small humbug, hardly worth attention 
for himself, but he carries the earmarks of big tribes, 
which ought to be hung up in view. This man 
issues an address “to the people of fiercer Co.” He 
claims that "scale and blight are organic diseases 
caused by an insufficiency of sap.” Yet, all is not 
yet lost: 
G. K. Oiu'ider. of New York, has been successful in 
getting together a fluid which when applied to the roots, 
will drive every vestige of blight and scale from the 
system of the trees by making the tree absorb more 
sap. Take your knife and cut into the bark at the 
bottom of the tree and yon will find, apparently, plenty 
of sap, then cut the bark eight or 10 feet high, and the 
condition is reversed. From this experiment you can 
find out yourself that the sap is failing to reach the 
extremities of the limbs, and where the sap fails to 
reach you can expect nothing but death or blight. 
Of course this is guff badly afflicted with blight 
and lacking in sap. Yet it is a fair sample of the 
stuff which these fakes give out. Of course no 
reader of T!he R. N.-Y. would ever buy this wonder¬ 
ful "fluid”—or anything else which is based upon 
claims which are contrary to the most ordinary 
laws of Nature. Think of the utter nonsense of 
claiming that the scale insect is an “organic dis¬ 
ease.” This agent is afflicted with, an organic dis¬ 
ease of the month which makes him try to balance 
stories as large as an elephant on facts smaller than 
the point of a pin. 
THE FARMER AND HIRED MAN’S WAGES. 
The facts indicate that on the whole the income of 
farmers in this country, even when we include as a 
part of the income those things consumed on the farm 
where they are produced, is certainly not more than 
sufficient to pay five per cent on the investment and 
ordinary farm wages for the labor they do, and it is 
probably considerably less than this. 
Who makes any such statement as that? Some 
radical critic of agricultural education? Some 35- 
cent dollar crank? Some “moss-back” farmer or 
some “combative” editor? No, it comes from the 
highest authority—the U. S. Department of Agri¬ 
culture. Prof W. J. Spillman has compiled figures 
to show the farmer’s income. Here is what he calls 
the labor income of United States farmers: 
Amount 
Item. Total. per farm 
Number of farms. 6,361,502 138.1 acres 
Improved land. .. .acres.. 478.451.750 75.2 acres 
Total farm investment. . .$40,991,449,090 $6,443.67 
Investment in farm build¬ 
ings .. 6,325,451.528 994.33- 
Investment in implements 
and machinery . 12265,149,783 198.88 
We will ask you first to consider whether the fig¬ 
ures as applied to your farm are above or below 
these averages. If your figures are above, remember 
that others must be below. The year’s receipts 
are figured in this way 
Pairy products (excluding milk and cream 
used at home). 
Wool . 
Mohair . 
Eggs produced . 
Poultry raised . 
Honey and wax. 
Domestic animals sold. 
Domestic animals slaughters 
Total value of all crops.. 
Net value of crops fed... 
Net value of crops. 
$5,487,161,223 
2.260,461,267 
$590,413,463 
65.472,328 
901,597 
306,688,960 
202,506.272 
5.992.083 
1.562.936.694 
270.238.793 
$93.75 
10.29 
.14 
48.21 
31.83 
94. 
24o!o9 
42.48 
3,226.099,956 507.22 
Total gross farm income.$6,237,850,146 $9S0.55 
Remember right here that while the year's crops 
are said to be worth to the farmer a little over 
$6,000,000,000, they cost over $16,000,000,000 when 
finally bought by the consumer, which gives the 
farmer about a 37-eent dollar. Handling these big 
figures as we would smaller ones we have the fal¬ 
lowing : 
EXPENSES. 
jt ab °r . $651,611,287 $102.43 
lertilizers . 114.882,541 18.06 
feed . 299.S39.857 47.13 
Maintenance of buildings (at 5 per cent)... 316,272,576 49.72 
Maintenance of implements and machinery 
<20 per cent>. 253.029.956 39.78 
laxes <0.0 per cent). 245,948,694 38.66 
Total ...$1.SS1,584,911 $295.78 
Miscellaneous expenses (la per cent of other 
expenses) . 282,237.736 44.37 
Total expenses .$2,163,822,647 $340.15 
SUMMARY. 
Total gross income.$6,237,850,146 $980.55 
lotal expenses . 2.163.S22.647 340.15 
Net farm income.... 
Interest on Investment 
(at 5 per cent). 
-$4,074,027,499 $040.40 
_ 2,049,572,454 322.18 
Labor income 2 .$2,024,455,045 $318.22 
Interest on mortgage ($1,715 at 6 per cent) . 102.90 
Available for purchase of live stock and 
for family Uviug. 537.50 
Thus, on the average mortgaged farm, the farmer 
has $537.50 for his living expenses and for pur¬ 
chasing live stock or needed tools. This is presum¬ 
ing that the farm income is all in cash, while we all 
know that many farmers dispose of much of their 
crop in trade, in some cases paying double prices 
by so doing. These figures do not include the value 
of milk and cream used by the farm family, or the 
money which he obtains from work done for others. 
The average farm mortgage in this country amounts 
to $1,715. The average farmer in this country who 
owns his farm and takes out five per cent on his 
investment received $318.22 for his labor and the 
labor of his family. The hired man who works for 
his board and wages makes more cash than his so- 
called boss. These figures ought to interest the 
New York Times and other papers which argue 
about the great wealth of the American farmer. 
They would have their readers believe that the 
average farmer is rolling in money stolen from the 
poor consumer through “high cost of living”—while 
here he is with the munificent sum of $640.40 to 
spend for all family purposes. These papers ought 
to be able to see what would happen to general busi¬ 
ness if 10 cents more of the consumer's dollar were 
to go to the farmers to he used in buying necessities. 
Of course many of our readers will show from their 
books that they make far more than this average 
of $315.22 for a year’s labor. Let them reflect that 
so long as any other farmers are pinched down to 
this amount or below it, the business which they all 
represent is injured. 
CROP OUTLOOK. 
Wisconsin Cranberries. 
The frosts of early June did little or no damage to 
the cranberry vines, although they were some of the 
most severe on record for that season of the year, owing 
to the fact that the growers were supplied with an 
abundance of water with which to protect their crop. 
L pon some of the bogs certain insect pests have been 
found at work. One of the most serious of these is 
the cranberry leaf miner. Indications are that methods 
for eradicating or controlling this pest will be discov¬ 
ered. as experiments for that purpose are being carried 
on at the present time. 
Government Crop Report. 
indications August 1 were that corn would be 
o00,000,000 bushels less than last year’s yield. The 
inter wheat crop is the heaviest known, and oats ar* 
better than anticipated. Following are the percentage* 
of the various crops: 
Crops. 
Corn . 
Winter wheat .. 
Spring wheat .. 
All wKeat. 
Oats . 
Barley . 
Rye . 
Buckwheat ..... 
White potatoes.. 
Tobacco ....... 
Flax . 
Rice . 
Hay. all tame.. . 
Apples . 
The outlook fo 
Condition. 
Aug. 1, 1913 
75.8 
51.6 
74.1 
78.6 
73.7 
74.9 
Acreage, 1913 
Pet. of 
S5.5 
78.0 
78.3 
77.4 
88.7 
81. S 
.32.2 
1912 
' 99.S 
116.4 
97.0 
10S.3 
101.1 
96.3 
100.8 
100.0 
99.3 
93.4 
85.1 
114.0 
97.5 
79.0 
Acres 
106,884,000 
30.938,000 
18,663,000 
49.601.000 
3S,341.000 
7,255,000 
2,134,000 
S41,000 
3,685,000 
1,144.500 
2,425,000 
S24,100 
48,293,000 
_ - corn by States is: Minnesota, 95-; 
South Dakota, 92; Ohio and Wisconsin, 90; Virginia 
and Louisiana, 88; Pennsylvania. North Carolina and 
Georgia, S7; Michigan and South Carolina, 86; Iowa 
and Mississippi. 85; Indiana, 84; Alabama and Ar¬ 
kansas, 80; Texas. 79; Tennessee. 77; Illinois and 
Kentucky, 72; Missouri, 70; Nebraska, 67; Oklahoma, 
44; Kansas, 30. 
The Bureau of Statistics estimates that the condition 
of the cotton crop on July 25 was 79.6 per cent of a 
normal, as compared with 81.8 on June 25, 1913, 76.5 
on July 25, 1912._S9.1 on July 25, 1911, and S0.0, the 
average on July 25 of the past ten years. Comparisons 
of conditions, by States, follow: 
July 
June 
States. 
25. 
25. 
<*uly 
25, 10 
-yr.—> 
1913 
1913 
1912 
1911 
aver. 
1 irginia . 
81 
85 
102 
82 
North Carolina* . 
76 
SO 
87 
80 
South Carolina . 
.... 75 
73 
75 
86 
70 
Georgia . 
74 
68 
95 
80 
Florida . 
.... 82 
S5 
75 
95 
83 
Alabama . 
79 
73 
94 
79 
Mississippi . 
82 
68 
S6 
78 
Louisiana . 
81 
76 
84 
77 
Texas . 
86 
84 
86 
81 
Arkansas . 
.... 87 
S6 
74 
94 
80 
Tennessee . 
87 
71 
92 
82 
Missouri . 
88 
75 
96 
83 
Oklahoma . 
89 
80 
88 
81 
California . 
95 
99 
99 
United States 
.... 79.6 
81.8 
76.5 
89.1 
80.0 
Report of Corn Experts. 
B. W. Snow estimates that since the first week in 
August the corn outlook in Indiana has dropped 10 per 
cent; Illinois, 15; Iowa, 13: and Missouri, 20. He 
puts the total crop now at 2,350,000.000 bushels. 
John Inghs states "Northwestern Missouri spotted 
by drouth, but large acreage will respond to moisture. 
Same condition throughout southwestern Iowa. Hurt 
badly in places. Heavy soils and bottoms promise a 
fair crop.” 
Governor Hodges, of Kansas, says “Kansas has 
raised enough feed this year for three times the amount 
of stock in the whole State. We never were in such 
splendid financial condition, and never so well pre¬ 
pared to stand a little setback on account of weather 
conditions. I have traveled from one end of the State 
to the other. We have raised enough stuff this year to 
fatten every head of live stock in the State, and then 
we could go to other States and buy three heads of 
eattle, horses, hogs and sheep for every head of these 
animals now in the State and feed this imported stock, 
and still have plenty left. Kansas raised a big wheat 
crop this year, a big oat crop, and a big potato crop. 
Two cuttings of Alfalfa were the best ever. The tame 
hay was all right, a big crop, too; and our bank de¬ 
posits are at top notch. It really has been a year of 
plenty in Kansas, and we should uot have noticed the 
shortage in the corn crop but for the lack of water to 
tide the stock ov<u- for a few weeks. That is the only 
setback we are having.” 
