512 
B»« RURAL NEW-YORKER 
of froo ijinjre jind tlioy must also have a liberal 
supply of Ki'oen food. The green food can be sup¬ 
plied in various ways .such as cut grass, clover, 
Alfalfa or boiled vegetables. 
FOn.\OE CROPS.—Regarding your situation, as 
far as the land is concerned I think you have sev¬ 
eral advantages. The low-lying land should he suit¬ 
able for goose rearing and I also believe the geese 
w<mld get considerable feed material from the in¬ 
sects, grubs and hugs. You should have land 
enough to give your young geese free range 
throughout the rearing season. If this is possible 
it will do a great deal to cut down the cost of pro¬ 
duction. (loose-raising is very prolitable when the 
co.st of feeding is kej>t at the minimum and this 
can only be done when geese ai-e provided \vith 
jdenty of free range. The growing of raj)e w<»uld 
provide a good supjdy of green fofid. In regard to 
Canada held peas, while they may be relished by 
the geese they make rather an exi)ensive food and 
I believe you might tind it to your advantage to 
jiroduce roots such as mangels or turnii)s for fat¬ 
tening your geese in the Fall of the year. 
XFMP.FR OF RIRDS REARED.—On the seven 
acres of land which you have, jtrovided most of it 
can be decided to yo)ir goose i»ro.i(‘ct, I would think 
this would allow you to rear several hundred gos¬ 
lings each y<*ar, as you could easily keep from HO 
to 100 breedtu's. Of course, the number of g('(*s<! 
reai’ed each year d(‘]iends ujion your method of 
learing and the cultivation given tlii^ other part of 
the land. Certainly it would be advisable to adopt 
some sort of rotation system, where ge(‘se would be 
kejtt for two or three years on one jtiece of land, 
and then it would be used for croji production. In 
this way I think you will get the most out of your 
land, and it will also tend to keep the soil in good 
eondition. 
FEllDIXD RATIONfs.—Oeese are very fond of 
gi-emi food, and when the breeders are conlined in 
tlu'ir "Winter fimirters liberal (piantities of green 
food must be ]»rovided. Well-curi'd clover and Al¬ 
falfa hay and cookiul vegetables ai'e good. 1 Miring 
(be Winter months a little grain should also be 
given. Whole oats and coi-n are two of the best 
grains and a mash may be givmi once a day con¬ 
sisting of cornmeal, middlings, beef scraps, and 
boiled potatoes or (urnijis. This mash keeiis the 
g(‘ese in good laying condition but it should not be 
fed too heavily, else the geese Avill get too fat. In 
the S))ring when the geese are on the range they 
reipiire very little grain, a few oats or a little corn 
'Iteing suflieient. Plenty of clean water should al¬ 
ways be iirovided. 
I’DPFLAIl RPIOEDS.—.\frican geese usually are 
more ju’olitic than Emhden or Toulouse, and also I 
believe they are generally inclined to lay more egg.s. 
For that reason .Vfricans are heeoming■ moi'i^ pop¬ 
ular every year. Of course, tliey are not as lai'ge 
in body as either of the other two breeils but they 
are large enough for table juirposes and they fatten 
(juitc readily. 'I'he value of the feathers in goose 
rearing is an important item, and Embdens have a 
slight advantage over the other two breeds in hav¬ 
ing white feathers, which have a slight difference in 
the feather market. m. a. j'i.i.. 
Leonard G. Robinson—Federal Land 
Bank President 
HE new Federal Laud Rank at fpringtield, 
.Mass., will serve the iieople of New England, 
X<‘w York and Xew .Jersey, 'fhe otiicers have now 
been selected and the bank will soon be ready for 
business. The lirst president of this important 
hank Is Mr. I>eonard G. Robinson, formerly of X’ew 
York. Mr. Robinson is well fitted for this posi¬ 
tion. For the past 12 years he has been associated 
with the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid 
Society of Xew York, and for the past 10 years has 
l>een its manager. This institution has loaned mil¬ 
lions of dollars on farms to Jewish farmers in 
practically every State of the Union, and the ex- 
jierience obtained in making these loans will be of 
great service to Mr. Robin.son as President of the 
Federal P.ank. He was born in Russia, and came 
to this eountry about '10 years ago; and is a grad- 
Preparing Large Trees for Transplanting. Fig. 205 
uate of Harvard University and the Xew York I.aw 
School. For many years Mr. Robinson has been a 
student of the rural credit .situation in this coun¬ 
try. He understands this subject thoroughly, and 
all this experience and training fits him admirably 
for the new r>osition. Everyone desires that the 
new bank should start off under the most favorable 
condition. There should be as little experimenting 
as ))Ossible, and for that reason the selection of 
Mr. Robinson, will, we think, prove an admirable 
one. 
The Federal Farm Loan System 
The Federal Farm I.oan Board has decided thai. 
the bond.s issued to raise money for farm loans will 
bear interest at The farmers will be charged 
5% on mortgage loans. 'J'his is 1% h‘ss than the 
maximum allows for these banks. It seems that a 
great vOlumi? of business is assured for tlu‘ 12 
Press for Peach Crates. Showing Construction. Fig. 206 
F(‘deral Land Banks in the countix and it is 
<hie to this fact that a Jowm- rate of interest (lian 
was exiiected will lx* charged on farm loans. If 
all, or a hirge proitortion of fiirmers now living un¬ 
der a mortgage, were to cluinge to the Fedtu'iil Bank 
system, there would bi? jin immense annual sav¬ 
ing. It is said that there tire four billion dollars 
worth of farm mortgages now stjinding in the 
United State.s. The average interest rate is said 
to be 7.4 per cent. .\ change from that to the Fed- 
ei'ul rate of 0 % would make a va.st saving to the 
farmer of the country. It is not likely that even a 
large projiortion of this immense mortgage indebt¬ 
edness Avill be transferred to the Federal Banks 
for a number of years at h'a.st. The jirinciide, how¬ 
ever, involved in this legislation is sound, and we 
hi'lieve that in many sections of the country far¬ 
mers Avill slowly but surely take advantage of the 
offer and transfer of tlieir present indehtednes.s. 
We may well stop to thiidi at this time of the ef¬ 
fect upon society and the country in general if this 
change continues until a large iiroiiortion of the 
mortgage indebtedness of the country is under di¬ 
rect control of the (lovernment. What Avill be the 
effect of this (lin'd connection between the debtor 
and the Federal authorities? AVhat will be the re¬ 
sult u]ton the money lenders, hmal banks and trust 
companies as a ivsult of this change of invest- 
iiu'iit. and the loss of 1% or more to those who now 
hold the mortgages? Again, what will be the re¬ 
sult if in the future these bonds arc held as they 
should be by small investor.s, many or most of 
whom are pro.sperous farmers? It seems to us that 
one of the most beneficent things that could happen 
to the country would be to have the.se Federal mort¬ 
gage bonds held very largely by well-to-do farmers 
as an investment. Their investment would thus be 
guaranteed by the projierty held by farmers who 
April 7, 1917. 
have taken advantage of the money to improve 
their farms and get into the way of finally owning 
them. We do not know of any more practical or 
useful way of bringing about a better feeling be¬ 
tween the Ea.st and the West than to have these 
bonds lai’gely held by prosj^erous farmers in the 
Ea.stern States, and to have the money loaned to 
Western farmers at a fair rate of Interest. 
Transplanting Large Trees 
K. C., page 282, a.sks about transplanting 
• large trees. 'I'he wi'iter has transplanted 
.something like 1(X>0 evergreen trees in the manner 
described and has lost three in three year.s. 
With the advent of frosty weather dig around 
the trees to be moved. When the ball of earth 
has frozen solid pry the ball loose with a good pry 
or lever, 'riien to g(.*t the tree out of the hole is 
the next operation. With a tree as small as two 
inches this can easily be done with ice-tongs and 
a roiie, for the ball of earth left on the roots will 
not measure more than two f(>et in diameter by 18 
inches de('j). For an eight-foot tree, however it 
will be necessary to leave say three feet of a ball 
(diameter) by two feet in depth. By means of the 
pry tilt the tree back until it is jiossible to get two 
planks under the ball. To make an easier pull it 
is often a good plan to juit snow on the planks. 
Then put a good stout chain around the ball, hitch 
the horse to same and tin' rest is idain sailing. .V 
very little experience will soon teach one how to 
go about the less important details. 
It will simplify (lie work a good deal if (he 
ground where the (n'e is to be ])lant(!d has been 
)irot<'cted by a good Ix'avy mulch to prevent the 
frost going too di'ep. Care will have to ho exerci.s«'d 
in getting the tive into its new quarters, especially 
the larger trees, but in this ca.se also a very little 
experience will .soon show that the job is not half 
so complicated as the writer leads one to suppose. 
The writer has movi'd (*vergn‘en trees from two 
f('et to 20 feet tall in this manner, moving the very 
large ones by means of block and tackle. 'Tie up 
lower limbs out of the way with binder twine. Bro- 
(('ct stem with burlaj) in case of chain slijiiiing. If 
stone-boat is used, luy tree loose, tilt back, block 
u)) with wiwden blocks far enough ajiart to let boat 
well down under ball. w. hiksk. 
Michigan. 
Politicians and Farmers 
UR Xew York politicians .should be reminded 
again and again of what the We.stern States 
are doing for farmer.s. A Minne.sota paper con¬ 
tains the following: 
A bill authorizing county comniissioner.s to buy seed 
grain and loan it to Minnesota fanners is now ready 
for (lovernor Bunnpiist's signature. 'The measure is 
to aid Western Minne.sota farmers who lo.st their crops 
last year liy reason of floods and black rust. Where 
grain is loaned the county is given a fir.st lien on the 
crop and later on the borrower’s land if the grain is 
not jiaid for. 
For years politicians told of the gx'eat service per¬ 
formed by farmers without meaning a woi'd of it. 
The European war and tlie food shortage have now 
made it clear that farming is the foundation indus¬ 
try of the world, (’ripide it and the entire world 
goes lame. (Jive it a fair chance and every other 
industry pro.'<i»er.s. The West is far alx'ad of the 
East in learning that these statements are truth 
and not guff. 
Leonard G. Robinson of the Federal Land Bank. Fig. 204 
Large Tree Loaded for Removal. Fig. 207 
