i::4 
THB KUKAL NEW-VUHKiik 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PArEIl 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home* 
Established isao 
I'uhlbtiL’d weekly by the Kura] i'oblifdiln? Company, IMS tVest SOtli Street, New Vortt 
JTkrbkrt W. Collingwood, Preeident and Etiitor. 
Jons J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Roylk, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2.01. equal to 8s. Gd., or 
8j£ marks, or 10 'a francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. . 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates. 7.', 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 paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution 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 not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not bo confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must tie sent to us within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention Tilt: Jit: HAL New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
T HE voters of Arizona at a popular election made 
a State law prohibiting employers from using 
more than 20 per cent, of alien laborers. The 
object evidently was to prevent the employment of 
Japanese and other aliens on large contracts. The 
Federal Court has decided this law unconstitutional. 
The argument is that a man’s labor is his property, 
and that the constitution grants the right to buy 
and sell property to everyone. The Supreme Court 
is yet to pass upon the question, hut most lawyers 
seem to agree that this proposition is sound. The 
decision will affect some large farmers in the 
Southwest. 
* 
T HERE ought to he a fair demand for American 
potatoes in Brazil. The city of Bahia alone 
imports about 000 tons of potatoes annually. 
A few of these apparently come from Southern Bra¬ 
zil and some from Portugal, hut of late years most 
of these potatoes have been brought from Germany. 
At the present time potatoes are wholesaled at some¬ 
thing over $3 for a ease of 60 pounds. There ought 
to he an opportunity for selling some of the splendid 
potatoes now waiting market in Maine storehouses 
in these Southern American countries. It would not 
lie possible immediately greatly to increase this 
trade, hut something could be done at least, and 
every little helps in times like the present. Why do 
not the authorities get busy with potatoes as well 
as with wheat. We intend to keep this matter well 
stirred up. It is said that over 50,000 men are 
being fed in “breau les” in New York City. If 
they must he fed why not give them hot baked po¬ 
tatoes with their bread? That would stir up the 
market to some extent at least. 
♦ 
T HE soaring prices of wheat have set farmers 
to thinking what they can do to drive the crop 
on to an extra yield. There has been a heavy 
seeding along the Atlantic coast through New Jer¬ 
sey, Delaware and Maryland. This wheat was usu¬ 
ally well seeded on soil that had grown Crimson 
clover or cow peas. It was mostly fertilized with 
phosphoric acid and a little potash. What can he 
done this Spring to quicken it up? The most prac¬ 
tical thing is to use a fair quantity of soluble nitro¬ 
gen, like nitrate of soda, cyanamid or sulphate of 
ammonia. This will whip up the crop to make a 
rapid and early growth, and In a favorable season 
this will pay. Too much nitrogen at this time would 
cause the wheat to “lodge” and fall down. The equiv¬ 
alent of about 75 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre 
will pay in most cases. On very poor soil or where 
the crop made a poor start a complete fertilizer will 
pay better than the nitrogen alone. 
T HE recent articles on feeding apple pomace have 
started some of our readers thinking of a new 
business. The proposition is to dry the pomace 
and feed it like dried beet pulp. Vast quantities 
of this cider-mill refuse are wasted each year. Some 
of it is used as a fertilizer and some more is fed to 
stock, but most of it is wasted. Years ago cotton 
seed was dumped into the rivers to get rid of it. No 
one save an insane man would do that now! A 
short time ago beet pulp was largely a waste pro¬ 
duct. Then successful methods of drying it were 
found, and it became an important article of com¬ 
merce. Apple pomace may go the same way. This 
is an age of conservation, and we must all learn to 
economize and save waste. Germany, surrounded by 
enemies and driven hack upon her own resources, is 
showing the world how to utilize wastes and find 
new values in formerly rejected products. During 
the next 10 years we are to learn how to find gold 
in the ash cans, the dumps, the swamps and the 
rocks, which we have been passing by unnoticed. 
i 4 /CANADIAN Black fox farming!” Millions of 
1/ dollars have been invested in stock and 
bonds of companies formed to breed foxes. 
It seems from the figures printed on page 153 that 
this money represents about $20,000 for each pair of 
foxes, old and young. That is a great sum of 
money to put into a pair of foxes and a hole in the 
ground. The war has killed the trade in European 
luxuries, and fox skins at $200 or more surely come 
into that class. We had our say about this fox farm¬ 
ing speculation in time to warn all our readers. 
There are some possibilities in breeding the fur¬ 
hearing animals on a moderate scale, but there is 
only one possibility in stock speculation based on 
a pair of foxes and a hole in the ground! 
* 
PUBLIC SALE OF N. Y. STATE APPLES. 
T comes with pretty good authority that there are 
nearly two million barrels of apples in storage 
in the State of New York. Unless we begin to 
move these soon, growers will ultimately add the 
cost of storage to the loss of the apples. 
The Department of Foods and Markets believes 
that apples can he sold at a fair price in New York 
City. The Department proposes to forward an ex¬ 
periment in the development of this trade. We pro¬ 
pose a public apple sale in New York City by farm¬ 
ers themselves. We are planning to sell first grade 
apples at $2.50, and second grade at $2 by the 
barrel in an open market under the supervision of 
the State. A campaign of education and advertis¬ 
ing has already begun. 
There are ten million people within shopping dis¬ 
tance of New York. If each one of them can he 
induced to eat two apples a day. in fifty days there 
will not he a barrel of apples left in storage in the 
State. 
The apples must he in uniform grades, of firsts 
and seconds, packed according to law. Each local¬ 
ity should advise the Department how many apples 
it has to ship, and to name a competent man to come 
to New York and act as one of the salesmen. Now, 
apple growers, we offer you leadership and organiza¬ 
tion in effecting a sale of your apples. Are you 
ready to cooperate and do your part? Bet us hear 
from you at once. 
DEPARTMENT OF FOODS & MARKETS, 
John ,T. Dillon, Commissioner, 
71 West 23rd Street, New York. 
* 
A MONG other things starting up in these war 
times is the old “chain letter." You get a let¬ 
ter from some friend with the request that you 
make four copies and mail them to other friends. 
Thus the thing grows like a snowball or spreads 
like bacteria at their best. The Post office author¬ 
ities tell us that these “chain letters" come and go. 
At times they seem to die out and then all of a 
sudden they break out once more. The principle is 
wrong because it gives fakers and practical jokers * 
a chance to deceive the public, and induces people 
to endorse a lot of schemes that they know nothing 
about. Do not under any circumstances copy and 
distribute any “chain letter.” Break the chain 
whenever it drags near you. 
• # 
O UR information is that in Germany and France 
a large proportion of the work formerly done 
by men is now being done by women. In times 
of peace women in these countries do their share 
and more of farm work. Travellers report it as a 
common thing to see women plowing, harvesting and 
spreading manure. Since the war began and the 
men have been called to the front, women have as¬ 
sumed many new duties. They act as engineers and 
firemen, car conductors, drivers, clerks and many 
others requiring hard work. It is usual to commend 
such women for their patriotism, hut there is a 
future to all this which must he considered. Sup¬ 
posing the war to last several years, what will hap¬ 
pen when the men return home? By that time the 
women will have acquired industrial habits and in¬ 
dependence which they will not he likely to give up 
easily. Who will do the work which they are now 
doing so well, and which they will not willingly 
give up, after having become efficient? What will 
the men find to do? Out of this labor problem is 
arising a great world-wide question, and this coun¬ 
try will be forced to give part of the answer. Our 
American women as a class have not been forced 
to labor as the French and Germans have. There 
seems sure to he a heavy immigration from Europe 
when the war is over. A large proportion of it may 
he working women, left widows or orphans by the 
war, coming here to compete in the labor market. 
It is time to begin asking what effect this will have 
upon the labor and the political standing of Amer¬ 
ican women. 
January GO, 
S for Sudan grass—our advice is to try it in 
- a small way—not as an investment, hut as an 
experiment. Many experiments grow into in¬ 
vestment and become profitable. An expensive in¬ 
vestment which, later must be credited to experi¬ 
ment is not profitable. We think the Sudan grass 
will give satisfaction in certain localities—mainly 
in tlie West and South. No one can tell you defin¬ 
itely what it will do on your farm—nothing except 
the grass. “lie is of age—ask him.” The point we 
want to make in all this is that testing the “novel¬ 
ties" in a small way is good business and good fun. 
If a man see fit to invest heavily at high prices he 
should find no fault if the “novelty" prove inferior. 
* 
F ARMERS about here don’t want to sell their po¬ 
tatoes at the price the dealers are paying, which 
is 30 cents per bushel for the best. What has be¬ 
come of those who try to teach us farmers how to 
grow two blades of grass where one grew? We grew 
two bushels of potatoes this year where one grew be¬ 
fore, but how much better are we off? We have to 
take more than half as much less for our potatoes and 
have double the handling, and as I understand it the 
potatoes are so high in the city that a lot of poor 
people can’t afford to buy them. Why is that, when 
we have a lot of them go to waste on the farm? I 
would like to have some one figure out where our 35 
cents on the dollar is coming in on the potato deal this 
year. e. s. 
I lorn ell, N. Y. 
We leave the figuring to some of the wise gentle¬ 
men who say there is no such thing as a 35-cent dol¬ 
lar. Step up to the blackboard, James; take the 
chalk and show us. Not much is heard from the 
“two blades of grass” advocates at this time. The 
potato crop is like an ingrowing toenail on the foot 
of tlieir argument. The increase has worked just 
as we stated. The farmer’s price is below cost, 
while the retail price is still high, with the cities 
full of hungry people who must be fed by charity. 
If these poor people must be fed in “bread lines" 
and soup kitchens, the potato growers want to know 
why the expensive flour is used exclusively. Why 
not give these poor people hot baked potatoes? This 
would make nourishing food to go with the bread, 
and it would help out the potato situation by creat¬ 
ing a demand for the crop. 
* 
S OMETHING over 50 patents have been taken 
out covering proposed methods of making 
potash available. Granite rock, slag, sea water 
and oflier things have been tried. One by one the 
inventors are forced to admit failure. Potash is ob¬ 
tained by most of these processes, hut the cost is 
too great. The potash thus obtained cannot com¬ 
pete with the supply from tlie German mines in 
normal times. We believe that eventually methods 
will he found for utilizing the potash which is un¬ 
doubtedly found in many of our rocks and waste 
products, hut let no farmer he deceived by the claim 
that such methods are already successful. Liebig’s 
discovery of the method of treating phosphate rock 
with sulphuric acid to make super-phosphates 
changed the character of European farming. In like 
manner a method of obtaining cheap available pot¬ 
ash from our American sources would change East¬ 
ern farming greatly. We think such a method will 
some day lie found—hut it has not been put in 
practice yet. All who use potash in fertilizers are 
interested in the present situation. Since the war 
broke out shipments from Europe have been small 
—very much below the imports of last year. As a 
result it is impossible for all the manufacturers to 
obtain needed supplies. We have become convinced 
that the shortage of potash in this country is real, 
and we fear that new supplies cannot he obtained in 
time for the Spring planting. We anticipated this 
last Fall, and gave our readers the best advice we 
could obtain regarding the treatment of their soil 
in case of the present trouble. 
BREVITIES. 
Alfalfa loves lime. Corn is rather indifferent. 
The weight given for a cubic foot of ice is 57 pounds. 
He who takes himself too seriously makes a jest of 
himself. 
A useless inquiry—for husband and wife to try to 
settle which is the “boss.” 
California growers are experimenting with packing 
pears in sawdust—like grapes from Spain. 
A Canadian lumber company imported reindeer from 
Newfoundland for use in place of dogs for hauling sleds. 
Experts are scouring the world for new uses for 
cotton—to relieve the crop situation. The latest is cot¬ 
ton sacks for handling coffee. 
We do not know what is responsible for it but there 
is a revival of questions about “frog farming.” Let it 
alone. Frogs live by kicking. You will acquire the 
habit if you join the trade. 
“We are growing a large crop of better carnations 
than usual this season, and find the market returns just 
about half of last seasons prices. I think luxuries suf¬ 
fer first during business depressions,” says Elmer J. 
Weaver. 
