732 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE nrSITfESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A Xatlonnl Weekly Journal for Oouniry and Suburban IlomcH 
Established ISM 
Pnblbh-d wfrkly hj tbr Rnrnl I'nbliuhln? Company, 333 W(>st 30ih Street. »tT Fork 
Heubert W. roLLiNT.wooD, 1‘resident and Editor. 
.Tons J. Dir.ioy, Tre.'.«urer and General Manafrer. 
Wm. E. PiLixiN, Seoretary. Mn.*!. E. T. Royle. .^w^ociate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreiprn eoiinfries in the I'niversal Postal T''nlon. $2.01, equal to 8 s. 6 d., or 
8^5 marks, or JO!^ francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at Xe-w York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertisinpr rates. 75 cents tier aprate 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 tterson. We use every jtossible precaution and admit the advertisinpr of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make (rood any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon- 
eihle 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 subscribei-s and honest, 
res)K)nsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end. but such cases should not Ite confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect sub.scribers against rogues, but we will not bo 
res|)onsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month or the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it. you should mention The Rcbal Xew- 
Yobker when writing the adver^ser. 
T here will be some straight and emphatic talk 
in the discussion we are now having by far¬ 
mers. Some things will he said which may not 
agree with yonr notions. We believe that all who 
write are honest !uul earnest, and Ave shall give all 
sides a chance. As yon know, we Inive long believed 
that one great tronlde Avith the farm problem is that 
farmers have not had fair ojiportnnity to put their 
side liefore the pnldic. Tlie peojile Avho undertake to 
sjieak for them do not. as a rule, put it “AA-ith the 
liark on’’—Avhieh is the Avay a f;irm problem ought 
to he presented. That is why aa’o gh’e farmers a 
chance to tell their .story. Some of them are writing 
good letters, but they will not sign their name.s. Of 
course no anonymous statements can be used in a 
discussion of this sort. 
S OME fruit groAA-^ers are heljiing out the labor 
question by “cultivating Avith cliemicals.” That 
l.s a new one, possiliie only in orchards located on 
natural grass land. When such orchards are well 
fertilized AAdth nitrate and acid phosphate there is 
a heaAry yield of grass during the early part of 
the season. Wlien this is cut and inked around the 
trees moisture Is held in tlie soil. The chemicals 
change the character of the groAvth from Avild stuff 
and Aveeds to cloA’^er and tame grasses. Tlie clover 
adds to the nitrogen and the organic matter in the 
soil Increases. This plan Avill only work on natural 
grass lands which are reasonably moist. Where 
there Is such orchard land this plan will saA'e much 
labor, and giA^e good fruit if pruning and .spraying 
are properly done. 
* 
If the farmer could be assured of a fair price for his 
products, self-interest, if no higher motive. avouUI in¬ 
duce him to produce all he could. If we are expected 
to feed the world, it would seem to be wisdom not to 
waste so much good grain on whiskey. It is foolish and 
illogical. V. ir. kirk. 
St. I.aAvrence Co., N. Y, 
OST of the Avorld's.great thinkers would take 
10,000 words and use them to say less than 
Mr. Kirk does in .'50. Where can you find a more 
concise and true statement of the food jiroiiosition? 
Every other industry in the country knows IxTore 
work starts what it is to receiv-e for its labor, and 
it will not start until the price insures a profit. 
IVliy a.sk the farmer to increase production, use 
untrained labor and assume all the risk? Why ask 
him to increase the grain crop and have any sliare 
of it made into ••booze’* when every moral and 
economic argument is against such a thing. Come 
gentlemen, stop giving advice and answer these 
questions! 
>» 
I N its search for taxable material on which to 
rai.se revenue this country should remember the 
vast amount of advice now being handed out to 
farmers. There AA'as never anything like it since 
_ « 
the world began. Everyone from architects doAvn 
to zither players considers it a national duty to tell 
farmers what to do. The less they knoAv about it 
the more the.v .seem to advise. The various leaders 
and teachers of agriculture are being talked to a 
Ktand.still. As one of them says; 
I fully realize the vast amount of achdee that is being 
circulated by mail, and in the public press. It is posi¬ 
tively awful. It makes me feel like never offering any 
more public advice of any kind. I Avonder hoAv the 
farmers stand it. I should think it Avould .inst make 
them sick._ Of course, advice of any kind is bad enough, 
but when it is poor and ill-considered advice, it is Avtu-se 
yet. The discovery of some method of heading off all 
this foolishness seems to be about as hopeless as dis¬ 
covering an antidote for submarines. 
There is no other class on earth that Avould stand 
so much of this fool talk, and no other class which 
needs so little advice at this time. A lot of this 
guff comes from railroads, bankers and manufac¬ 
turers. .'^ueh men know better. Wlieu farmers call 
for hel)i they get fool advice. .Shut them off! 
I N all this talk about AA'ar loans and advice to 
fanners we are likely to forget that the Federal 
Land Bank is now read.v for Ini.siness. The first 
district embraces the State.s of Maine. Ncaa' Hamp¬ 
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode I.sland. Con¬ 
necticut, New York and New Jersey. The bank for 
this district is located at .Sjiringfield, ^lass. It i.s 
noAA’^ ready to consider aiiplieations for farm loans. 
On May 10 tliey received the first formally executed 
articles of incorporation from a National Farm 
Txian Association. T'p to May 10, 1917, the follow¬ 
ing loans had been applied for: 
Xatioual 
Farm Loan 
Inilividiial 
Total No. 
State 
Associations 
.Vpplications 
Inquiries 
Maine . 
$ 2 ;?.ioo 
$98,145.60 
162 
'New Hampshire’ 
•2.'{.5.50 
47.1K)0 
67 
Vermont . 
12H,400 
59.275 
99 
Massachusetts . . 
204.800 
257.88.2 
*'92 
Rhode Island ... 
«••••• 
12.975 
17 
Conueetieut .... 
11-2.100 
175.580 
125 
New York . 
119.985 
.‘«)7.6,35 
295 
Ncav Jersey .... 
9:1.700 
87.150 
90 
Totals . 
$705.<>.35 
$1.126.54.2.60 
1,258 
The Masters of the State Oranges haA'e endorsed 
the land h.-ink system. Wliile not by any means 
perfect it is a start along tlie AA'ay to genuine and 
useful farm credit, since it recognizes the princi))le 
of making land the basis for goA'ci’iiment credit and 
circulation. Let every fanner study the system at 
least. 
* 
The remarkable food experienees of last Fall shoAved 
hoAV unsound is New York’s reliance on di.stant food 
supplies and tlie mercy of transcontinental railroad 
transportation. The farmers of Ncav Yoi-k State some¬ 
times make themselA-es politically insufferable, but 
economically they are the best reliance for food .supply 
that Ncav York has, and they should be fostered. 
HAT is taken from the EvenUiff Sun of NeAv 
York, and it probably expres.ses the vieAV of 
many thousands of city people. The farmers are 
“politically insufferable” when they stand for their 
rights and demand a square deal—equal jirivileges 
Avith other interests. In time of jilenty, hnmper 
crojis and over-production of food the farmer is a 
“hayseed,” and wlien he strikes out for justice he 
is ••politically insnfferalde.” Times like the present 
Avrap a gilded frame around the farmer and he sud¬ 
denly becomes an economic hero. Now these city 
newspapers IniA-e been iiart of the machinery which 
has broken down farming and made the present food 
sliortage possible. They have seen the transiKirta- 
tion companies, the food speculators, the middlemen 
and others discriminate against NeAA- York farmers, 
and rob them not only of their profits, their farms, 
but their children. These iiajiers have helped this 
along by sneering at the farmers and upholding their 
enemies. Now they suddenly Avake U]) to find that 
this farmer—the man they have tried to degrade 
and put out of business—is the most important citi¬ 
zen in the country. Do they mean it? Tliey may 
answer by using the energy now spent in slapping 
the farmer on the hack in punching at those who 
discriminate against him. 
* 
Ip Congress Avere to attempt to impose .q tax of five 
cents a loaf on bread. 100 per cent, on potatoes, 25 to 
100 per cent, on meat and poultry. 25 to 1(X> iier cent, 
on canned goods, and so on, the people Avould be out¬ 
raged. Yet these taxes' haA'e already been imiiosed and 
collected by an authority that .seems to be higher than 
(’ougress. 
HAT is taken from the Washini/ton Post. Read 
it and then turn to the great cartoon on page 
72.‘1I The tax here referred to is levied—not by 
onr government for legitimate purposes—hut by 
food gamblers and speculators for luirposes so con¬ 
temptibly di.shonest that the dynamiters and spies 
seem like moral jiikers beside these fat food rogues. 
The National Covernmeut is trying to sell Liberty 
bonds with Avhicli to prosecute tlie Avar, while these 
food rascals are putting bonds njioii the liberties of 
the ])eople right under the nose of the government. 
It is ju.st like applying tlie tortures of hunger and 
cold to comiiol the people to give up their savings. 
The 'man who Avill gamble in the nation's food at 
this time is the Avorst sort «>f a traitor. Tnqiri.soii- 
meut is too good for him. He rol»s lioth i»roducer 
and consumer, fills all hearts Avith liatred and all 
bii.siness Avitii dishonesty. One of The meanest ar¬ 
guments 'tliese food rolihers put up is that their 
speculation is to help farmers. 'I'he reverse of this 
is true, from the very nature of the case. Farmers 
are not situated so that they can liold their goods 
for any speculation, except in rare cases. Their 
only hope, as a class, is to bring tlie market doAvu 
as closely as pos-sihle to a fair application of the 
law of demand and supply, and then get as clo.se to 
the consumer as they can. The food speculator is 
the enemy of all industrial classes, and the coun¬ 
try must regard him as such. 
May 2C>, I'liT. 
XIT the .‘spineless cactus! How the Burbank 
Society did make a fool of the people over this 
cactus! It AA'as to revolutionize the Avorld. It 
“tamed the de.serf’ and w'as not only to change the 
entire scheme of stock feeding but provide food for 
man as well! They had their run for a time, ami 
they pulled in a flood of dollars for slabs of the 
cactus even while the government exiierts clearly 
showed that the “spineless"’ would grow only in :i 
feAA' favored .sections and Avas even then inferior lo 
the nath'e prickly pear! But what was the use? 
Hot air made dollars so hot that they burned their 
way out of the public pocket. Now the fake ha-- 
been AA*ell exploded. The latest clincher is by Prof. 
Well in Hoard's Dairyman, for in his feeding ex 
periments the ‘•.spineless” made a sorry showing; 
Two years ago a man in Colorado cursed ns h’. 
smoking language because he said we were “im¬ 
peding a divine plan for giving wealth to the de¬ 
sert.” He probably has his .share of the wealth Iiy 
this time—made at shaving the spines off suckers: 
* 
The value of a planted fruit tree! 
T is hard to obtain facts about actual oases wluuv 
recovery for damage has been made. In a re¬ 
cent case in Virginia the engine on a railroad start¬ 
ed a fire whicli destroyed 22 trees—from two to 
eight years old. Tlie owner sent a bill to the rail¬ 
road figuring oil the basis of one dollar value for 
each year’s age of the trees. He got nothing hut a 
postal card in reply. Then he Avent after them as 
follows: 
Dear Sir: So far yon have seen fit either to igimv 
my letters or to answer with a meaningle.s.s po.stal eard. 
If I do not receive a definite answer by the lOth I sbai; 
be forced to instruct my attorney to sue for damages. 
Tlieii lie got a prompt answer and a A’isit from 
an in.spector. They settled for .$75. This meant 
one dollar a year for apple trees and a little over 
70 cents a year for plum trees. That is for an 
apple tree, two years set, the railroad paid .$2, and 
for a plum tree, eight years set, about $5.60. The 
only way to get at fair A'aluatioii for various local¬ 
ities is to get together many facts like the aboA’e. 
♦ 
C ONGRESS is fighting OA’er the booze or bread 
question, with booze a trifle ahead to date. An 
effort Avas made to prohibit the use of all grain for 
liquor making during the war. This AA'as defeated 
on the ‘•economic*’ argument. Congress is now hunt¬ 
ing for money, and moral arguments do not count 
for much. Tlie liquor men argued that the nation 
needs the big tax they are able to pay more than 
it needs the barley and the corn which would he 
saved as food! That argument won the first ronml, 
but the figlit Is oil again. The liquor men have 
enlisted the feed dealers in their army, and are 
noAA' after the local papeus. It is said they liave 
raised a great fund Avith AA'hich to put big booze 
advertisements in all countiy papers. They e.-in 
hire the brightest Iirains in America to jn-epari' 
plausible arguments to put before country peojile. 
They will fail. We feel sorry for the local jiuiiur- 
Avhieh ]trint this advertising. From thousands of 
farmliouses will come hot ami indignant letters 
Avritten liy men and Avomeii Avho cannot he bonglit, 
or frightened or fooled. If the booze makei's knew 
the real temper of onr country people they Avonlil 
keep aAvay from the country papers. They are in 
vitlng death when they run against the farmhous.* 
lead pencil. 
Brevities 
Crimson' clover seed prouii,se.s to be very high. 
q'uKRK will be heavy seeding of rape this year for 
.sheep ami hog feeding. 
Baked Soy beams is the latest contribution to a 
“meatless” diet—Avith barley scones and Alfalfa biscuit. 
WiiAT not'name your farm and have it registered with 
the county clerk? 
No—positively and ab.solutely No! We do not Avant 
any more articles from “thinkers,” giving advice to 
practical farmers. 
The best Avay to handle the feed situation is to raise 
a little moi'e corn on each farm. Nothing but a big corn 
crop can put corns on the feed dealer’s feet Avhen he 
runs after your pocket book. 
Noav starts the annual flood of questions about killiii); 
ants in the garden or hiAvn. Find the nest or “hill. ” 
I’uneli a hole doAvn into it Avith a croAvbar. I’onr in 
half a pint of bisulphide of carbon —cover Avitb a blan¬ 
ket and let it alone for half a day. 
Some people seem to figure about this Avay: Hogs 
and geese Avill eat grass at pasture like cattle—there¬ 
fore they never need any grain! Wrong! Both hogs 
and gee.se Avill pay better intere.st on a little grain with 
pasture than on any other sort of feeding. 
Here is a ucav Avoodchuek suggestion from a New 
York reader. A new use for the car! “I noticed sug¬ 
gestion of running steam into a Avoodchuck’s hole. Why 
not back your automobile up to hole, jiut hose into bole 
and connect to exhaust and let engine run 10 minutes;” 
