1913. 
THB RURAB NEW-YORKER 
0«1 
If you think you are having serious troubles with 
the New York farmers in the matter of distribution, 
you should come South and see what we are up against. 
The Southern farmer has a wonderful lot to learn in 
the growing of all these crops, but the distribution has 
been left almost entirely to dealers, who buy here, or 
to commission men to whom the crops are consigned. 
Your imagination can readily supply the results. 
> E. B. R. 
It can, for these results are quite imaginary. If 
the Southern grower of vegetables or fruits receives 
a 25-cent dollar after the carriers and middlemen 
get done with him he is above the average. It is 
true, as our friend says, that these farmers have 
much to learn about producing. The Government is 
spending millions to show them how, but who tells 
them how to get their money for what they now 
knew how to produce? They are left to go to school 
to the middlemen. The Northern farmers are better 
off. because they are closer to the large markets and 
better able to chase up and watch their shipments, 
but all over the country, wherever the producer is 
obliged to send his goods to some unseen party to 
sell for him, this same trouble is found. The 35-cent 
dollar is the greatest problem before the American 
farmers, because this dollar is so small. 
* 
From several Western States comes the demand 
for a new course of study at the agricultural college. 
There are farmers who believe that their boys should 
be at home, working on the farm during the growing 
and harvesting seasons. In Ohio, for example, this 
would mean having the boy at home, say from April 
15 to October 1. During the rest of the year the boy 
could attend the college, with a course of study spe¬ 
cially arranged to follow up his work at home. In 
addition, and as a part of his college work, the boy 
could conduct some experiments on father's farm and 
take notes of crops and methods so as to stand an 
examination when he went back to college. Such an 
examination would be a regular part of his college 
work. The New Jersey college makes a strong feat¬ 
ure of its short course work, and probably comes 
nearer to the plan outlined above than any other 
institution. In theory the plan is a good one. Would 
it work out in practice? The chief objection at the 
larger colleges would be the fact that these Summer 
workers might feel that they were at a social dis¬ 
advantage. We must look the facts in the face and 
realize that the rules and habits of college life have 
much to do with the education of our children. 
Many of us realize that this influence is not always 
for the best, but any man or woman who sends a 
child to college must reckon with it. The student 
will not find the modern college a place merely for 
studying and receiving mental training. . Many life¬ 
long habits and much of enduring character will be 
formed in the little world of students into which the 
boy or girl enters. We can think of few things that 
would be better for our agricultural colleges than the 
spirit which would recognize these home-work boys 
as the highest type of student life. It is not im¬ 
possible that a few strong student characters could 
bring this thing about in time. 
* 
Recently a gardener and florist wrote asking how 
to fill the soil with humus, as was needed in his busi¬ 
ness, and avoid keeping live stock. This man went 
so far as to say that he thanked the Lord he had 
been able to get rid of his cows. Right in the same 
mail came a letter from a farmer who said the cow 
had proved the savior of his farm—a true instru¬ 
ment of Providence to save his home. One of the 
real pleasures that life offers us is the investigation 
of what we call “opposites”—the reasons why men 
hold vitally different opinions regarding a common 
proposition. Why should one man thank the Lord 
for giving him cows and the other seem equally 
thankful that he has got rid of them? Let the last 
named explain: 
The only way you can reconcile the difference is by 
the simple statement “labor.” The other man probably 
pulls his cows’ teats himself, and I do not. Cows, 
when I attended strictly to details, made some money 
for me, and also supplied me with a quality of manure 
which I cannot purchase, and which was very valuable 
to me. As soon as my back was turned my man or 
men (I tried several) fed any old way, and down went 
the rows in milk from 7,000 pounds to 3,000 or 4,000. 
Other interests make my time too valuable to spend 
two hours a day standing over a man to see that he 
does my work properly. I would love nothing better 
than to have my stanchions filled with nice-looking 
bossies.” 
• here you have pretty much the entire story, not 
only of cows, but of any other instrument through 
which a man wants to write the record of his labor. 
In order to make your job worth anything you must 
love to do it. you must put some of your own labor 
into it and thus become a part of it. The man who 
tries to keep the stock or produce crops which he 
does not love is worse than a round peg in a square 
hole. 
PUREBRED STOCK FOR SMALL FARMERS. 
There is a double purpose in printing the first- 
page picture. Many of our readers are being forced 
into a deep interest in cattle. Thousands of fruit 
growers take The R. N.-Y. There is now just ending 
a period during which live stock has largely disap¬ 
peared from many orchard farms. Now we begin to 
get many reports like the following: 
Demand for good milch cows has grown a lot in last 
year; a number of sales were made this Spring at $100 
per head. I think our fruit farmers are beginning to 
realize the need of cattle on their farms. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. a. m. 
This thought is growing to conviction in the minds 
of many fruit growers. There will be something of 
an adjustment of the dairy business. Where farmers 
in the dairy districts, far from market, are giving 
up their small herds, these fruit growers will keep 
a few choice cows to provide a Winter job and clean 
up Alfalfa, pea vines and other farm wastes. That 
is to be the outcome, and these men will want the 
best cattle they can find. They know the value of 
superior varieties of fruit, of intensive culture or 
high-grade fertilizers or improved machinery. Con¬ 
sequently they want pure-bred or high-grade stock, 
for that is the only kind which will match the meth¬ 
ods and the fruits which have made them pros¬ 
perous. 
The cattle pictured on the first page are pure¬ 
bred Jerseys. They are owned by a plain farmer, 
who has learned that pure bred cattle pay him bet¬ 
ter than any other kind. This is what his son writes: 
The cows gave 37 pounds of milk apiece when they 
were fresh in one day. I have heard of bigger milkers, 
but these are very good for the farmer where he wants 
good rich milk and butter. We weighed their milk when 
they were fresh to see how they were doing. I would 
put the price of these cows at $250 each. We do not 
keep any more cows than the three. We are raising a 
pair of nice Jersey bulls; shall get them registered, and 
sell one and keep the other. I am no great dairyman— 
just a plain farmer—and we have learned that the pure¬ 
bred cattle pay better than any other. 
HARRY B. MORRELL. 
We have heard a lot of talk to the effect that pure¬ 
bred stock is good for rich men's playthings but not 
for bread-and-butter farmers. That is a mistake, for 
the true pure-bred cow can appeal to a dozen ances¬ 
tors to help her put an extra thickness of butter on 
the bread. That is what she is in this world for, 
and the plain working farmer is the man who most 
needs her help. Hundreds of our readers are ready 
to start a small herd of cattle. This is a good time 
to do it and we advise them to buy pure-bred cattle 
if possible—at any rate a pure-bred bull. 
* 
Several of the agricultural colleges are issuing 
very striking advertising in the way of pamphlets 
and cards. The Maryland College, following Colo¬ 
rado. prints this on a card with other facts about the 
College: 
JVI ARYL. AND 
Will Need in the 
NEXT TEN YEARS 
50,000 Successful Farmers 
10,000 Livestock Breeders 
10,000 Orehardists and Fruit Growers 
2,000 Expert Dairymen 
1,000 Mechanical Engineers 
500 Civil Engineers 
500 Highway Engineers 
500 Electrical Engineers 
200 Agricultural Engineers 
300 Chemists 
300 Teachers of Agriculture 
1,000 Science Teachers 
500 Teachers of Manual Traiuing 
500 Travelling Inspectors. 
150 Experiment Station Workers 
150 Field Demonstrators 
100 Foresters 
11 lny not fit yourself for one of these positions? 
It is true that Maryland will need every one of the 
77,300 persons here mentioned and more besides. Each 
one of those trained men should also be a good citi¬ 
zen. with unselfish views of public life, willingness 
to work with his hands if need be. and able to realize 
that the common people paid for his education, and 
thus represent his creditor. Does the college turn 
out such men? The Maryland farmer who writes 
the following evidently does not think so: 
Agricultural college lads only do head work. I have 
tried them and they always fail. These colleges are for 
the production of millionaire’s menials. 
This man is wrong in this sweeping statement. 
We know many college graduates who are doing 
sensible and practical work on the farm. It is true 
that there are some “millionaire’s menials.” who re¬ 
ceived their training at the agricultural colleges. 
Every college turns out a proportion of graduates 
who go about as vdry poor advertisements for the 
institution. If we condemn the college for its poorer 
samples we should also give it credit for its high- 
grade goods ! We have faith in our agricultural col¬ 
leges. for sooner or later our working farmers will 
learn how to control them and make them do the 
work which is required. 
The tariff discussions are still dragging on in the 
U. S. Senate. The daily papers give brief reports 
from time to time, but the average reader knows 
little of what is being done. In former years, when 
Congress was more evenly divided between the great 
parties, tariff debates were followed with eager in¬ 
terest, but now the result seems to be a foregone 
conclusion. During the important debate on the 
sugar schedule of the new tariff bill Senator Bristow 
of Kansas, made one of the ablest tariff speeches 
ever heard in the Senate, yet only three or four 
Democratic Senators listened to him. The New 
York Sun refers to this and says: 
The bill is a party organization measure entirely and 
King Caucus is to be blindly obeyed without the slight¬ 
est regard to even the demerits of the bill as a revenue 
raiser. 
This is no new thing, for former tariff bills have 
been put through in the same way. This will con¬ 
tinue to be the case so long as the tariff remains a po¬ 
litical question—with some pai-ty caucus to decide 
it. The tariff question should be taken out of poli¬ 
tics and out of Congress, and put into the hands of 
a strong business commission with powers corre¬ 
sponding to those of the Interstate Commerce Com¬ 
mission. If that were done tariffs could be really 
adjusted to fit business conditions. Under the pres¬ 
ent conditions such fitting is impossible. As for the 
new tariff law now being discussed it seems to have 
been framed upon the theory that lower duties will 
relieve the present high cost of living. The result 
of this experiment will be disappointing. It is not 
the tariff, but our unfair system of distribution 
which is responsible both for the 35-cent dollar to 
the producer and the 200-cent dollar to the con¬ 
sumer! 
A few weeks ago we told of a case in Massachus¬ 
etts where a man was killed while robbing a hen¬ 
house. The owner was a'cripple, unable to defend 
himself except with firearms. In a dark night he 
fired at random hoping to frighten the thieves, and 
by the merest accident shot and killed one of them. 
For this he was convicted of manslaughter and sent 
to prison, to be pardoned later by the Governor. 
Town and Country tells of the experience of a Penn¬ 
sylvania man in another henhouse robbery: 
The robber had brought his spring wagon along and 
worked swiftly but silently until he had deposited every 
one of his neighbor’s fowls into his wagon. Just as Mr. 
Night Prowler was ready to drive away, out of the 
shadows came the owner of the fowls and coolly re¬ 
marked : “My friend, have you weighed those chickens?” 
Without a word the offender stepped down and weighed 
the fowls. "Now.” continued the owner, “you shell out 
so much per pound.” And again Mr. Appropriator 
obeyed and forked out the coin. For the third time the 
cool farmer said, “Now put the chickens right back 
where you got them and quietly, too.” The man. with¬ 
out a word of protest again obeyed. For a fourth and 
last time the cool one spoke, saying, “Now get on your 
rig and leave the premises at once or possibly you 
might lose too much sleep.” The man drove hurriedly 
away. There was no bloodshed, no loud talk and no 
arrest. 
We are always sorry to criticize a fine and highly 
moral story, but this one reads like the ordinary ad¬ 
vice to the back-to-the-lander. The New Jersey 
chicken thief, as we know him, would not be any 
such meek and willing character. He would be 
armed and would make a hard fight. Some gigantic 
farmer, well armed, might carry out such a pro¬ 
gramme on a dark night. Perhaps those Pennsyl¬ 
vania citizens are polite and peaceful even while 
stealing hens, but most people would do well to have 
o bulldog or a club as companions when they tackle 
a thief in the night. 
CROP OUTLOOK. 
A Des Moines. Iowa, banker, well informed on busi- 
ness conditions, places the corn crop in that State at 
300,000,000 bushels. 
O. K. Lyle reports on the corn outlook : “A full de¬ 
velopment of the growing corn in Illinois from its pres¬ 
ent stage would give the crop for the State a total of 
• 100.000.000 bushels. The loss is nearly one-quarter of 
an average crop of 5S1.000.000 bushels. This is equal 
to the wiping out completely of, say. 2.500.000 acres, 
and from my observation this is a generous allowance. 
Consideration has been given to the feature of more 
barren stalks than usual and more small and imperfect 
cars. Recent rains in the most productive areas saved 
much of the crop that was nearing disaster. The pros¬ 
pect now is the plant will progress rapidly to maturity. 
The bulk of the crop is in the shooting stage and show¬ 
ing new silk and another good rain will be necessary. 
In Indiana corn looks all right over most of the State. 
Pastures and stubble fields are green and testify to 
moisture and that the dry weather damage has not 
been a feature of much importance. On thin land and 
sandy soils there has been some losses, but the State as 
a whole looks good for an average crop, which is 180,- 
000.000 bushels. Similar conditions exist in Ohio as in 
Indiana, as both practically escaped the drought. An 
average crop for Ohio is 150.000,000 bushels, and it 
looks as though this may be exceeded for the State.” 
These are prices paid to farmers from Swedesboro, 
X. J„ market: Early tomatoes, 30 to 55 a crate; canta¬ 
loupes, 00 to 75 a crate; sweet potatoes, 81.60 to $1.85 
a hamper: peppers, from 50 to 35 a hamper; eggs plants. 
30 a hamper; sweet corn. 00 a hamper. The market for 
cucumbers is about over. Prices paid to farmers by 
buyers from Woqdstown: White potatoes, 60 to 65 
a bushel. The Farmers’ Exchange is shipping an equal 
share of the crop. rt. 
