■Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
769- 
Farmers and the War 
Part V. 
Congress seems likely to give the 
President full power to control the food 
supply. No one knows just what this 
will amount to, but we may get an idea 
of it from Germany’s experience. It 
would be impossible to apply fully the 
German methods here. All conditions 
are different—our land, our resources, 
our people, our spirit and our institutions. 
Germany has been able to obtain food 
thus far not so much through increased 
production as by saving wastes, prepar¬ 
ing chemical food, and by government in¬ 
terference with distribution and sale. 
There has been some shifting about of 
farm industry. For example, milk. The 
railroads have been busy carrying troops 
and munitions, and milk, a bulky freight, 
could not be hauled as efficiently as feed. 
I understand that carrying out this idea 
many cows have been driven close to the 
towns and cities. There they are fed 
partly on city wastes and partly on hay 
brought from a distance, with .soiling 
crops grown nearby. No grain seems to 
be fed to the cattle now, as all is needed 
for human consumption. The dairy 
farms on which these cattle formerly 
were kept are put into grain, potatoes or 
sugar beets. I have no doubt that if the 
table wastes of Greater New York were 
saved, dried and pres.sed as they are in 
Berlin, and fed to cows on Long Island, 
a very large proportion of the city milk 
supply would be produced. We can hard¬ 
ly conceive of a military power in this 
country strong enough to compel dairy 
farmers to drive their cows down here! 
Before this war, in spite of her full 
organization, Germany suffered somewhat 
from what we call cro.ss-shlpment. For 
instance, a farmer in Central New York 
may send a car of potatoes to New York 
city where they sell at wholes.ile. Then 
half of them are sent back to Syracuse 
or Utica and sold at retail. A fine thing 
for the railroads and dealers, but rob¬ 
bery for the farmer. Some of this was 
done in Germany. The government 
needed the railroads for hauling supplies, 
!ind it stopped the.se cross-shipments. 
Districts are organized and food will not 
be sent out of each district until all local 
ii<>eds are supplied. We need that ar¬ 
rangement right in New York today, and 
it should be made use of in handling this 
year’s crop. 
The case of sugar is typical of the 
way Germany handles the situation. As 
the supply of fats ran short there was an 
increased demand for sugar. This became 
very scarce, and the government pro¬ 
hibited feeding beets or molasses to live¬ 
stock. A house to house search for sugar 
was ordered, and all concealed stock was 
taken to be distributed by the govern¬ 
ment. The sugar ration was reduced to 
a little over one pound in two weeks for 
each adult, and use of candies was given 
ui). It is not likely that any such thing 
will happen here, but our people may 
well ask themselves how they would stand 
such government control. 
It seems evident that the Germans 
have encouraged small gardens for vege¬ 
tables and fruits, as our people are do¬ 
ing. The most important thing about this 
has been the efforts to dry or preserve 
the surplus. Unless- this is done there 
will be great loss in most such crops, ex¬ 
cept potatoes. Canning and drying these 
eroi>s have been wonderfully developed. 
Last Summer the retail prices for Ger¬ 
man fruit.s went to unheard-of figures. 
Fverything in the way of fruit was in 
demand. The government undertook to 
fix a maximum price at which the fruit 
was to be retailed. This was too low, 
and the growers refused to pick, claiming 
just as we do here that the cost of i)ro- 
duction was too great. Then the max¬ 
imum price was raised and green fruit 
came to market. I’eople were urged to 
buy this fruit and can it—using in place 
of sugar saccharin, a chemical sweet. 
Most housewives refused, and rather than 
lose the crop the government confiscated 
all the early apples and plums, furnished 
the sugar, and put them into jams. An 
American fruit grower may imagine 
something of what war means when he 
thinks of himself driven at the point of a 
bayonet to pick his own fruit and turn 
it tiver to the public at a government- 
made price. Government food control in 
Germany brooks no delay or fooling. You 
sell your croj) at the public price or it 
is contisicated. Thus far, apparently, 
these public prices have ruled high, and 
the farmers are well cared for, since, as 
we shall see, Germany has abolished the 
middleman and established a state dicta¬ 
tion of food prices. 
Eggs have become scarce in Germany. 
Last year the food controller prohibited 
the use of eggs in making cakes, and a j 
price of seven cents apiece was made, | 
No eggs were to be used for breakfast. ' 
Last Summer only two eggs per week i 
were allotted to each person in the cities i 
and last Fall confiscation was resorted to i 
in order to secure eggs for invalids and 
children. As for poultry, its use seems 
to have been restricted to the well-to-do i 
clas.ses. Its scarcity does not apparently j 
affect the poorer classes. In France 
everyone seems to eat poultry, but in 
Germany the hen does not seem to be as i 
popular or useful. There has been, it 
seems, a large increase in geese which, 
through their grazing habits and their 
fat production, are regarded next to the 
pig as important farm helpers. One en¬ 
thusiastic writer says the geese have 
saved Germany as surety as they once 
saved Rome. 
The government has stepped right in 
with a heavy hand to control prices, pre¬ 
vent wastes and regulate distribution. 
It has not hesitated for a moment to 
confiscate any food which is needed for 
public consumption, and s])eculation in 
food or private storage for higher prices 
have been absolutely broken up. The 
German middleman seems to have been 
wiped out, and all surplus retailers re¬ 
moved. Let us see next week bow this 
was done, and the good and evil features 
of it. n. w. c. 
Substitute for Self-boiled Lime-Sulphur 
We have had a number of questions 
about the use of hydr.att'd lime and sul¬ 
phur as a substitute for self-boiled. The 
latter means a lime-sulphur combination 
produced by the heat of lime slaking. 
The New .Tersey Experiment Station gives 
the following advice: 
This material ma b^ u.scd in any of 
the spray schedules where self-boiled 
lime-sulpiiur appears: S pounds of sul¬ 
phur (fine flour or flowers') ; 4 pounds of 
hydrated lime; 1% ounces of ground 
giue dissolved in three gallons of water. 
Dilute with water to .50 gallons. Mix 
sulphur and lime together thoroughly in 
dry form before adding the glue solution. 
Preparation of the Glue Solution.— 
For every eight pounds of dry sulphur 
used, three gallons of glue solution con¬ 
taining one-half ounce of fine glue to the 
gallon should be prepared. Weigh out 
the recpiired amount of ground glue. Add 
a small quantity of hot water and stir 
well, and the glue will usually dissolve 
quite readily. It is well, however, to 
soak the glue in water several hours in 
advance of the time when it is desired to 
dissolve and dilute it. and thus avoid any 
chance of delay. The glue solution may 
ferment if kept at a warm temperature 
for too long a period. 
Process of Mixing.—Place the thor¬ 
oughly mixed and sifted lime and sulphur 
in a barrel or other container which will 
hold water; then add the glue solution 
.slowly, stirring the mixture so that the 
grains of sulphur and lime will become 
thoroughly coated with the solution. 
.\fter the glue solution has been well 
stirred into the sulphur and lime, add 
water slowly, stirring the mixture con- 
stantl.v until a thin solution has been ob- 
taiiK'd which will pass readily through a 
strainer into a spray barrel or tank. 
Do not add any water until the entire 
amount of glue solution specified has been 
used, and the sulphur-lime mixture has 
been thoroughly moistened, otherwise, the 
grains of sulphur and lime will not go 
into suspension readily, forming lumps 
which may clog strainers and nozzles. 
Corrosive Sublimate and Potatoes 
Several readers ask why the scientific 
bulletins advi.se corrosive sublimate for 
treating seed i)otatoes when the formalin 
solution is simpler and effective for scab. 
Mr. R. ,1. Haskell of Cornell sends us 
this explanation : 
Experiments at Geneva and other sta¬ 
tions have shown that it was effective 
against the disease Rhizoctonia, whereas 
formaldehyde treatment was not entirely 
so. During the last few years’ observa¬ 
tions about the State have shown that 
Rhizoctonia is very common, and the dis¬ 
ease yearly causes our farmers a great 
deal of loss. They are all familiar with 
the poor come-up, uneven stand, missing 
and weak hills, and the large tops which 
bear nothing but small unmarketable po¬ 
tatoes. If formaldehyde was effective 
against this we would certainly recoin- 
inend its use, but as it is not and the dis¬ 
ease is such a serious one we are in favor 
of the corrosive sublimate. 
Mr. Farmer: 
Y OU should know that your stock needs pro¬ 
tection against disease just as surely as your- 
family does. Maybe your horses, cows, sheep, 
hogs, chickens, etc., are not sickly, but are they 
thriving all they should ? 
Sprinkle daily about your stable, sheds, pens, 
hennery, etc.. 
Kill the disease germs before they kill your stock. The dangerous 
stock diseases are germ diseases. 
Acme Chlorinated Lime is one of the most effective and economical 
disinfectants known. It is many times stronger than carbolic acid or 
other known disinfectants. 
u 
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Always gas and oil-tight— 
Strong, long-wearing 
Get the Genuine. All garage and repair 
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Send for Free Booklet 
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2878 Locust Street, St, Louis, Mo. 
Unbeatable Exterminator of Rats, Mice & Bugs 
Used the World Over. Used by U. S. Government 
U taiii’t Fail—It’s All Extorminatoi- 
Stop Fattening Rats, Mice & Bugs ! 
On .voiir food or on t'litoli Penny ready-to-nso 
HU bHt I til tee—whose bulk is Inert Hour and grease 
Why Trap Rats & Mice, One By One, 
irhile Those I'licauaht rapidly iiicrease I! f 
END THEM ALL TO-NIGHT WITH a SiTic box of ROUGH ON RATS 
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^^^^styles and sizes 
for every purpose. 
^ Catalog: free. 
COLLINS PLOW COMPANY 
2044 Hampshiro St.. Quincy, III, 
HAY 
PRESS 
Send 50 cents In 
stamps for sampi# 
and catalog. 
lY COCK COVERS 
Special prices until present stock 
of raw material is exhausted. 40" 
X 42" 8oz. duck caps at $37 per 
100%vithoutropes;$38 with ropes. 
Other sizes and stack covers at 
correspondingly low prices. 
Makers of famous Kant 
Come Off Cow Blankets, 
Dept. 86 
Fond da Lac Aivaiog & Tent Co. Fonlfd'u Lac. wis. 
HAY CAPS 
Stack, wagon and implement covers: 
waterproof or plain canvas. Plant bed 
cloth, touts, etc. Circulars, samples. 
HENRY DERBY 
453 Y St. Paul’s Ave., Jersey City, N. J. 
WELL WELL 
Own a machine of your own. Cash or easy 
terms. Many styles and sizes for all purposes. 
Write for Circular 
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When you write advertisers mention 
The Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get 
a quick reply and a "square deal.” See 
guarantee editorial page. 
1 
I 
Canada’s Liberal Offer of 
Wheat Land to Settlers 
is open to you—to every farmer or farmer's 
son who is anxious to establish for himself a 
happy home and prosperity. Canada’s hearty 
invitation this year is more attractive than 
ever. Wheat is much higher but her fertile 
farm land just as cheap,and in the provinces 
of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta 
160 Acre Hometteads Are Actually Free to Settlers 
and Other Land Sold at from $15 to $20 Per Acre 
The great demand for Canadian Wheat will 
keep up the price. Where a farmer can get 
over $2 for wheat and raise 20 to 45 bushels to 
the acre he is bound to make money—that’s 
what you can expect in Western Canada. Won¬ 
derful yields also of Oats. Barley and Flax. 
Mixed Farming in Western Canada is fully as 
profitable an industry as grain raising. 
Tbe excellent grasses, full of nutrition, are tbo only food 
retpi lied either for beef or dairy puriHisos. Good scbools, 
churcbes, luarkuts convenient, climate excellent. There 
is now an unusual demand for farm laboreisto replace 
the many young men who have volunteered for service 
in the war. Write for literature and particulars as to 
reduced railway rates to Supt. of Immigration, Ottawa, 
Can., or to 
o. 
RUTLEDGE 
SOI E. Geneace Street 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
Canadian Gov't AkL 
T'i. 
