026 
'1'WJtC RURAL »NEVV-VUKKEK 
The Rural New-Yorker 
Tin: pus if ess farmers paper 
A Nntlonnl AVccUj JourriHl for Country nnd Siiburtotn Homo* * 
Eftnhlixhed ISSO 
I’tililUh.d wf-skly by tb«* Rural I’uMishlnx Company. 333 Rpm SOlh Slr.et, X.w Tom 
Hf.uiikut W. Colling wood. President anil Editor. 
.ions J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon. Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
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“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We l>elierve that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible |>crson. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly Furc. 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 Iks 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 be sent to us within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
T HE newspapers have reported that 10.000 tons 
of kelp jfotash have been brought to New York 
to l>e sold in competition with the German pot- 
lash. This kelp potash is what we recently de¬ 
scribed as being taken from tlie Pacific Ocean in 
kelp and seaweed. We have tried to find this sup¬ 
ply of potash here in New York, but without suc¬ 
cess. If it really came it has surely been hidden 
and kept, out of sight. Have any of our readers 
really seen it? 
* 
W E would not oppose a law to put a heavy pen¬ 
alty on any man who will urge farmers to 
raise “two blades of grass where one grew 
before” until be can show a certificate of merit. In 
order to obtain such a certificate be must go out, 
unknown, to bis employer, and work one full season 
as a hired man. He must also take a back country 
farm with ordinary capital and equipment and 
make a living on it ! That would kill out the men- 
talk quack grass in thousands ot minds, and make 
two silences grow where one grew before. 
* 
A FEW years ago the woods and the cleared 
places too were full of benevolent people of¬ 
fering “unit orchards,” rubber and banana 
plantations and similar enterprises for sale. Some 
of our readers were quite indignant when we ad¬ 
vised against any such investments. One man felt 
so confident we were wrong that be borrowed money 
from bis mother-in-law to invest in "unit orchards.” 
lie was coming back in three years to show us the 
profits. The time is now up for this son-in-law to 
show us. but we have not heard from him. Does 
anyone know of any such scheme that has panned 
out as its promoters claimed? Here is a good time 
to find out. while bog ranch proprietors are bunting 
money. 
* 
T HERE is no doubt that the tide has turned in 
the potato market. Stock is moving more free¬ 
ly and prices have risen. If the growers can 
now act together and not throw great quantities 
of potatoes into the market in a lump they will get 
out of the season better than was expected. A large 
share of this increase will go to the buyers rather 
than to growers, but the latter will reap consider¬ 
able benefit. The campaign for increased consump¬ 
tion of potatoes has undoubtedly helped, and it lias 
been useful in other ways. We now know something 
of what we can do to help ourselves if we can only 
put a needed reform or a business proposition into 
popular thought. In order to accomplish anything 
along such lines you must make the public realize 
that the thing is right, sensible and possible. You 
cannot do that unless you have faith in your work 
and sincerity in your argument. Our folks have re¬ 
sponded nobly in this potato campaign. Keep right 
on with it. We help save the situation for many 
a hard-pressed farmer and we learn how to handle 
other and larger campaigns. 
* 
I F you live in. or near, a town of any considerable 
size, you have probably often wondered whether 
the social pro^res* of the, age hasn’t sent the 
old-fashioned family j the attic to gather dust 
with other relics of a bygone day. You realize that 
times and customs change, and change rapidly in a 
young country like ours; but you can’t help regret¬ 
ting the passing of some things for which it is dif¬ 
ficult to imagine an acceptable substitute. 
One of these things is the old-time self-centered 
and self-sufficient family. This describes the family 
in which the mother was the sheet anchor, recounter 
of fairy lore and teacher of the alphabet to the 
babes, infallible instructor in morals and manners 
to the growing youth, the trained nurse in sickness, 
the guide of small hands in all household handi¬ 
craft. and counselor to the father who was not only 
companion and provider, but. when occasion re¬ 
quired. the disciplinarian as well. Today, you have 
probably felt, the force of competition in modern 
agencies for child training and have at least par¬ 
tially turned your children over to outside teachers 
who seek to supplement, if not supplant, the work 
of the untrained parent. Your boy probably yields 
allegiance to a scout master. If your village school 
is thoroughly up-to-date, it has an agricultural 
course in which your boy learns the principles lying 
behind the work which lie industriously sidesteps 
at home, and your girl learns to make bread in the 
laboratory of the class in domestic economy, instead 
of in your kitchen. Some of the tilings which you 
thought growing youth should not know, and so 
which you pretended did not, exist, are now taught 
in classes devoted to sex hygiene. In a word, so¬ 
ciety has said that it can do some oi the essential 
training of your children better than you can do 
it yourself, and it offers you opportunity to shunt 
some of your responsibilities at home, while urging 
you to assume others connected with the welfare of 
the race. This may be inevitable, and it may be 
best; perhaps society must grow socialistic as it 
grows old, but there is an old type of individual 
family life with which we can part only with regret. 
* 
WHO ARE THE FIGHTERS ? 
N page 528 we asked “Who is to fight the battles 
of the farmer?” This lias stirred up consid¬ 
erable discussion—a result much to be desired. 
It is agreed by all that representatives of the Fed¬ 
eral and State governments cannot take part in any 
real fighting. Their work is educational. We are 
astonished at the general expression of belief among 
intelligent farmers that the extension of this educa¬ 
tional service is taking much of the old power and 
independence away from farmers. The Government 
seems to be attempting to do many things which 
farmers ought to do themselves. In earlier times 
farmers kept on working while robber barons and 
idle soldiers “protected” them. In this way the real 
producers fell into a system which bred an army 
of parasites and useless middlemen, all living upon 
tlie farmer. This result came through the failure 
of the farmers to do their own fighting think¬ 
ing, or to have something to say about the educa¬ 
tion of their children. Now we think much the 
same industrial conditions will follow, unless some 
one can come out bravely and fight for agriculture— 
being known openly as a fighter. We asked if the 
Grange will furnish such fighting men. An officer 
of the New York State Grange gives this answer: 
We do not wish to be fighters or to be known as 
such, hut we would like to clasp hands, and with the 
grip of a Patron, pledge with you our every effort to 
the end that rural life may be improved through our 
joint efforts. 
If this fairly represents the spirit of the New 
York Grange one must look elsewhere. We doubt 
if a majority of Patrons would stand for the propo¬ 
sition that they do not wish to be known as fighters. 
We gladly clasp hands for the improvement of rural 
life but it must be understood that we will hang 
right to the hand and do our best to drag its owner 
right up to the front line. But where are the 
fighters? T. C. Atkeson, Master of the West Vir¬ 
ginia Grange, is not satisfied to clasp hands alone. 
He writes: 
It appeals to us as the most important question that 
can be asked at this time, and every farmer in America 
is vitally interested in finding a correct answer to it. 
We fully agree with the spirit of the editorial, and we 
believe that just now there are more economic sins be¬ 
ing committed in the name of agriculture than in any 
other department of human endeavor. It is perfectly 
clear that the f'.rmcrs cannot depend upon any kind 
of government agents to fight their battles. 
On his record Brother Atkeson lias some of the 
fighting spirit in him and he is dead right in the 
following: 
It is evident that the real farmers must stand up on 
their own hind legs and do their fighting, if it is to be 
done, under their own chosen leaders, and not leave the 
business to professed friends who know nothing about 
the struggles, necessities and aspirations of the pro¬ 
ducing farmers who cat, and sleep, and labor in the 
open country. 
Amen to that! Just now we are after informa¬ 
tion. L. the Grange to be known ar an .^educational” 
force in farm problems or does it care to be known 
as a militant, lighting power? To-day the Subordin¬ 
ate Grange is the finest and most hopeful unit Amer¬ 
ican farming has ever known. What is to be the 
policy of its leaders on the battlefield? 
* 
OW IT IS TREE RECORDS! Most of those 
who read Prof. Shamel’s article on page 015 
will regard the suggestion as something of a 
dream. This idea of numbering the orchard trees 
and keeping accurate reports of their production will 
seem at first thought far beyond the range of prae 
April 24, 1915. 
tical work. Yet we can remember the time when 
the same remark was made about using the scales 
and fat tester in a dairy of cows. After the Babcock 
test was made practical a few farseeing men bsgtvn 
to urge careful daily milk weighing and frequent 
testing for fat. Most dairymen, while agreeing that 
such a system might help drive out the drones, said 
it was not practical as it would require too much 
time. Yet upon this very testing for individual 
production has grown our modern utility breeding 
of dairy animals. Can improvement of our orchards 
be brought about by a similar system? We will 
go on record as saying that within 10 years this plan 
of taking tree records will be recognized as being 
as much of a necessity as cow testing now is in tin* 
dairy business. 
* 
D URING the past month at least a dozen intelli¬ 
gent people have come asking if New York ha 
an experiment station and where it is located. 
Most of these people seem to be farmers or coun¬ 
try dwellers and they do not know even the loca¬ 
tion of the excellent institutions at Geneva and 
Ithaca. Such things show that there are still many 
persons in the country who do not know the most 
elementary things about the vast system of agricul¬ 
tural education which have been built up at an im¬ 
mense outlay of money. We are convinced that in 
many of the States not 20 per cent, of the farmers 
make anything like full use of tlie service 
offered by the colleges, stations and various de¬ 
partments which have grown up like a city 
around “agriculture.” When the feast provider 
found that the invited guests would * ’ c - 
to his banquet be gave orders to go out. into tlie 
highways and hedges and “compel them to cornu 
iu.” It looks as if agricultural education needs 
some of this compelling power right now. 
* 
I am one of those who were operated on by the "Fall 
grafting” grafters some time ago. My trimming was 
handed me on October 23, 1912, and has smarted over 
since. Now I know better than I showed, and on that 
account deserved to be trimmed if I swallowed their 
greased hook. They touched me for $37 in good cash. 
I am not asking for sympathy nor pity, except for being 
a poor fool. What I would like is information that 
will help me in the legal action I am going to start, to 
create a counter irritant if nothing more. The particu¬ 
lar smooth gentlemen who gave me mine, styled them¬ 
selves Montollo Forestry Go.. Montello, Mass.; R. E. 
Eplar accepted the cash. I know it’s best to swallow 
twice and forget, but. at least I’d like the opportunity 
of their telling me how they did it. m. Jr. n. 
Massachusetts. 
W HEN a man gets down that way he deserves 
all the help our people can give him. We ex¬ 
posed this Fall grafting scheme at the time 
our friend was “trimmed.” Now we want all the 
facts we can got about this company. For all we 
know they may have grafted some new name on 
themselves and walked off. Can you help us locate 
them? When a man has fhe courage to call him¬ 
self such names in a good cause the rest of us 
should help him through. Who can locate the com¬ 
pany? 
:je 
While the average annual consumption of wheat in 
the United States is 5.3 bushels for each individual, 
the citizens of Maine get along on only 4.7 bushels each, 
no doubt on account of the prohibitory laws.—N. Y. 
Sun. 
RONG! The people of Maine require less 
wheat because they eat more potatoes than 
tlie citizens of other States. Thus they set 
the rest of the country an example, and show how 
to cut down the high cost of living. Does anyone 
question the physical, mental or moral qualities of 
Maine people? Are not the n*.on remarkable i<n 
their shrewdness and business judgment? Can any¬ 
one find a more wholesome or helpful wife than a 
farm raised Maine girl? They are all potato-fed. 
Go and tell it to the doctors who are so afraid of 
potatoes! 
Brevities. 
European pine trees are now undesirable citizens. 
Importation is prohibited on account of a moth wbien 
infests such trees. 
When our mangels gave out we began feeding po¬ 
tatoes to the cow and the milk flow has kept up. This 
potato crusade is teaching us all a dozen things —•* had 
not tested before. - • 
Showing how closely business men must watch con¬ 
ditions to determine trade the Japanese see in the war 
a big demand for silk to be used for mourning. Thus 
an increased crop will be provided. 
Russia has been in trouble over the lemon trade 
since the war opened. Formerly this fruit came from 
Italy through the Black Sea. There may possibly be 
a chance for American fruit this Summer to enter 
through the northern part of Archangel. 
Corn from Java aud India. You would hardly think 
this country need bother about importations from these 
countries, yet the Secretary of Agriculture has pro¬ 
hibited all such imports. It is on account of a new 
disease called Selene,pora Maydis. What’s in a name? 
