1330 
THE RURAL NEVV-YOKlvEK 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BVS1SE88 FARMER'S PA HER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established ssso 
I'nbllsliccl nrrlily by tlie Knrnl 1’iiblinblng Cnnqianj. 3"S West 80th Street, New Yor* * 
Herbert tv. Colling wood. President and Editor. 
John . 1 . Dillon. Treasurer and General Manager. 
W*. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2.04. equal to 8s. 6d., or 
marks, or 105* franca. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal clteok or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matt or. 
Advertising rates, 75 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paner is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible nreeaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable, houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or r ot. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not bo 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must he sent to ns within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it. you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
Y OU never saw a horse race that ended with a 
closer finish than the egg-laying contest between 
the English Wyandottes and the American Leg¬ 
horns. At one time the Leghorns were more than 50 
eggs ahead, and most observers thought it was “all 
over.” Egg by egg the Wyandottes crawled up and, 
as we write, it looks as if they would scratch out at 
the finish. We salute the winners no matter where 
they hail from. Barron and Lincoln are both good 
winners and equally good losers. “Hands across the 
sea!” and good luck to both of these good sports. 
* 
S OME of the most useful agricultural exhibitions 
in the country are the small Grange fairs. 
While less pretentious than the county fairs, 
they are more useful because they represent the 
plain farmers and give all a fair chance. They 
are cooperative too. Many of the prizes are offered 
by business men in town, so that both producers and 
consumers are interested. The fairs are held late 
enough in the season to give farmers a chance to 
exhibit mature fruits, grain and vegetables. The 
idea of these little local fairs is fine, and they ought 
to be encouraged everywhere. 
* 
T IIE Housewives' League is a very useful organ¬ 
ization. In maii 3 r places it has done excellent 
work in organizing buying and in fixing a stan¬ 
dard of quality. Its advocates must remember one 
thing, however. There is a fair price for farm pro¬ 
duce, below which it should not go. The House¬ 
wives’ League should not. be so eager to cut prices 
as to demand that the farmer sells for less than his 
produce costs. The fierce demands for “bargains” in 
dress goods resulted in taking most of the home 
manufacturing away from farmers and their fam¬ 
ilies and driving it to poorly-paid foreign labor— 
crowded into the cities. This constant demand for 
food at prices below the cost of production will re¬ 
sult in economic disaster to farmers. Such organi¬ 
zations as the Housewives’ League ought to work 
with country women in maintaining fair prices. 
* 
I N a recent issue of Tiie R. N.-Y. several stories ap¬ 
peared concerning the apple crop, with apparently 
no available market. I have looked through the 
paper carefully and as a result found no advertise¬ 
ments where anyone wishes to sell apples. The whole¬ 
salers are asking SI.75 a barrel for apples here, but 
only retailers can buy them. They are receiving 25 
cents a peck for the apples, which are by no means 
what you could call fair. A good many are deformed 
and wormy. This will, I think, partially account for 
the poor apple market Frederick kronmiller. 
We cannot understand what apple growers are 
thinking of to let the local markets go in this way. 
In every town and city of this nation may be found 
families who will gladly buy apples at a fair price. 
Left to the usual methods of distribution these 
people will eat but little fruit. With direct trade, 
good fruit and a fair price they will clean up every 
apple in the country and call for more. Our own 
experiment in advertising in the local market is so 
convincing that we cannot understand why growers 
neglect such opportunities! 
* 
W E know a man now over 70 who bought a farm 
and started to develop it on modern lines. 
There was one good-sized field which seemed 
just suited to Alfalfa. Our friend went to large ex¬ 
pense to fit this soil. Several carloads of manure 
were plowed under, lime and fertilizer used freely 
and good money spent for inoculating material. A 
large quantity of Alfalfa seed was bought of a prom¬ 
inent seedsman and every plan suggested by the au¬ 
thorities was faithfully carried out at heavy ex¬ 
pense. As a result this man has a fair seeding of 
Red and Alsike clovers with a scattering of Crim¬ 
son. It is doubtful if there are a dozen Alfalfa 
plants on an acre. There can be absolutely no ques¬ 
tion about the fact that this mixture of clover seeds 
was substituted for Alfalfa! This man does riot ac¬ 
cuse the seedsman of cheating him. He thinks they 
simply tagged the wrong bag! Of course it is easy 
to say that this man should have sent a sample of 
that seed to the experiment station for examination, 
but the very character and reputation of this seeds¬ 
man made such a thing seem unnecessary. Now 
what about it? At this man’s age, such a blunder is 
a very serious matter. He has a stand of clover— 
worth less than half as much as Alfalfa would be. 
Under such circumstance what should the seeds¬ 
man do? Get behind his “non-warranty” clause or 
pay fair damages? 
* 
E VIDENTLY the modern farmers’ meeting de¬ 
mands a modern programme. About 25 years 
ago a few veterans met and solemnly discussed 
a lot. of dry, general topics. They were all interest¬ 
ed, and all agreed that such a meeting must he like 
an old-fashioned school-room. Then came the de¬ 
mand for larger meetings, and it was found that 
the younger people would not come out unless the 
programmes were made “popular” All sorts of at¬ 
tractions have been tried—concerts, prize speaking 
and even vaudeville shows. The older people may 
shake their heads and sigh for the old-time serious 
meeting, but “youth will be served," and the crowded 
gatherings of to-day are in line with the spirit of 
the age. Managers of horticultural and other socie¬ 
ties, are stimulating their brains to try to think of 
new attractions for the young people. The Maryland 
society has a new one. Prizes of $20 will be given 
for the best essays by young people who attend the 
public schools. The boys will take this subject: 
“Why the Maryland farmer's boy should remain 
on the farm.” 
The girls will struggle with the following: 
“7 low social conditions in rural life in Maryland 
can be bettered by the daughters of Maryland far¬ 
mers.” 
Good subjects—both of them. What a change lias 
come since the day long ago when we heard at an 
agricultural meeting college boys discuss the ques¬ 
tion whether ’ Uton was a greater freeman than 
Shakespeare! There is another novelty which the 
horticultural meetings might take up. We have sug¬ 
gested it for several years. Offer prizes to the far¬ 
mers’ daughters who make the best apple pies. Let 
those pies he made before the audience—not at home. 
Give each girl some good apples, a handful of flour, 
a lump of butter and such sugar and spice as she 
needs. Give her a table and a chance at a hot oven 
and let her alone! That will beat any prize speak¬ 
ing that ever came down the road. We would not 
object to acting as judge to sample the pies. 
* 
I f will startle many of our readers to be told that 
Buenos Aires, in Argentina, is the third largest 
city on the western continent. The latest report 
is that this Southern city contains more people than 
Philadelphia, and thus ranks next to Chicago. Very 
few of the people in this country have ever realized 
the possibilities of Argentina. We have dismissed 
the subject with the thought that great energy and 
substantial growth are only possible in the temper¬ 
ate zone! But Argentina lies in the south temperate 
zone, Buenos Aires, lying about as far south of the 
equator as Nashville or Cincinnati are north of it. 
A quarter of a century ago James G. Blaine, then 
Secretary of State, saw the wonderful possibilities of 
Argentina, and he tried to arouse interest in South 
American trade. Congress could not. see into the 
future any more than it could see beyond the Missis¬ 
sippi when, years ago, statesmen tried to develop 
California and Oregon. As a result we nearly lost 
the Pacific coast, and the immense trade of (he Ar¬ 
gentine went mostly to Europe. Few of us realized 
the size of this trade until the shock of tiie European 
war showed what we have been neglecting so long. 
One thoughtful thing about the great growth of 
Buenos Aires is that it is largely built on the culti¬ 
vation of Alfalfa. Argentina is largely an agricul¬ 
tural nation, and will long continue to be. It made 
rather slow progress so long as it depended upon its 
natural grasses or grains or its natural soil. From 
the introduction of Alfalfa culture on a large scale 
agriculture has rapidly gained, and has carried the 
general prosperity of the country with it. More and 
better food for stock has been made possible, and the 
soil has been improved so that all crops have in¬ 
creased. Thus the blessing of prosperity which lias 
come to Argentina has literally come from the skies 
—in tiie form of nitrogen taken out of the air by 
Alfalfa. Much of this same prosperity will come to 
every nation or section or farm where this wonderful 
Alfalfa can he made to grow naturally. Twenty 
years from now we shall witness the truth of this 
statement in central New York, where Alfalfa grows 
freely. The farms in that section will be wonders 
for productive power, and the towns and cities will 
share in the prosperity. 
66 
IV 
November 7, 
I1Y should / keep purebred stock?” 
That was the question in the minds 
of 100 fanners seated in the demonstra¬ 
tion pavilion at the National Dairy Show. These 
were men representing the majority of farmers every¬ 
where. A speaker pounded home facts that have 
been recognized everywhere. A purebred has the 
ability to reproduce a superior animal; the chances 
are against a scrub. You may have a cow in your 
herd that will produce one, two, or three good calves, 
and the next one may he a worthless freak. You 
have no guarantee. The scrub and grade bulls are 
the curse of the country. The sire is more than half 
the herd. The grade sire may be but half the herd, 
but the purebred is three fourths or seven-eighths or 
even more. In three or four generations the cow 
may be essentially purebred. It may not be possible 
for every man to purchase both purebred cows and 
a bull, but it is within reach of most men to own a 
purebred sire of any breed. There are bull associa¬ 
tions which make it possible for the farmer to have 
access to the best: it gives the bull a chance, and 
keeps the cost of breeding down. The associations 
provide a bull for a block of 50 cows, generally 200 
cows iii the association, and (i bull breeds the block 
two years and is passed on. The bulls that do not 
make good are sent to the meat block. This gives 
the sire his chance. ' 
* 
H ERE is a remarkable incident which shows the 
mighty change which has taken place in the 
last half century: 
This little incident may interest vour readers, and 
“W. T.,” who wrote the article on Delaware County, 
page 1220. The latter part of September I happened to 
be in that county, and there met an interesting family, 
who told me they had just “trekked” all the way from 
Chicago, in their auto, in search of the farm house they' 
visioned, and had not found it until they reached the 
fertile fields of Delaware County. In the olden days wo 
trekked West in prairie schooners. The trekking is 
good East in motor cars these days, it seems. This 
forcibly also illustrated the custom of a foregone era, 
in that father and son cast their fortunes in together. 
Delaware County may be proud of attracting such peo¬ 
ple. A prosperous family, consisting of a father and 
mother in the prime of life, their sturdy son, and his 
very handsome young bride. j. c. 
We have people on our list who went “out West” 
in wagons drawn by oxen—far into the wild prairie, 
where they settled and endured until prosperity 
came their way. In those days it did not seem pos¬ 
sible that the hilly lands of New York and New Eng¬ 
land could ever again offer opportunity. Yet here is 
some of the money painfully earned from that old 
ox team invested in a motor car and bringing back 
the third generation to a New York farm. There is 
no other country in the world that can show such a 
curious outcome of history. No other section of the 
country can “come back” so vigorously as the strip 
200 miles wide along the upper Atlantic. 
BREVITIES. 
• 
A white card for the Black walnut. 
The bushel crate is a good apple holding package. 
No doubt that Fall plowing helps kill out the insects. 
A nurseryman is not necessarily an authority on 
babies. 
The wrong kind of a boost when old opinions formed 
before we knew—come home to roost! 
Many a farm carcass now wasted could be put into 
cans and sold or used as poultry food. 
Did any county or township ever improve its roads 
without adding to the value of adjoining farm land? 
This is the annual season for foot aud mouth disease 
—the politician opens his mouth and puts his foot in it. 
Baldwins mellowing to decay in the tall grass of the 
orchard—unnamed frauds on the city fruit stands at 
twe for five! 
Here is another new one—a potato paring and dish¬ 
washing contest at the agricultural exposition for Ver¬ 
mont boys and girls at Windsor! 
Don’t forget to plant two trees for each one cut this 
Winter. This applies to woodland as well as orchard. 
We aim to try to help all to maintain good farm prac- 
t ice. 
You would not consider Connecticut as a mining 
State, yet the minerals taken from her soil in 101” 
came to $4,000,000, while Vermont gave a total of 
$9,647,985. 
Tiie Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst 
has estahl'shed a steam plant for rendering beeswax. 
This is at the service of Massachusetts beekeepers, who 
are invited to use it. 
No sir! We would not knowingly plant a tree af¬ 
flicted with crown-gall. Cast it into the fire. It seems 
like a crowning case of “gall” for a nurseryman to tell 
us this disease is not worth considering. 
The cover crop, the cover crop! Now is the time 
we see it stop the costly drain of nitrogen out of the 
soil in Autumn when the corn is cut and fields are 
bare and no live roots are feeding there. 
We receive a good many stories and pictures of hens 
or pullets which are sa : d to have “records” of 300 eggs 
or more in a year! Th<‘sa are private records made 
on the owner’s farm. You cannot blame us for limiting 
such printed stories to the official records made under 
the eye of some reputable public institution. We do 
not question these private records, but there should be 
some official evidence. 
