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The'Rural New-Yorker 
THE EUfUEESS FAE^rER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Joiirniil for Country and Suburban Ilomcf) 
Extnblisherl ISSO 
Piiblbhrd weekly by the Rurnl PitbliRhinsr rompnny, 333 M'e*t 301h Street, Xew fork 
Herbert W. Coleingwood, I’rcsident and Editor. 
.Ions J. UiEio.v, Tre.'.surer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillo.s, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. lioytE, Associate Editor. 
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“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible iierson. We use every possible precaution and a<lmit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid sub.'^ribers 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 aise our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, btit we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrui)ts sanetioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us Within one montli of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when wi-iting the advertiser. 
T HIS i.^: the season when dealers alwa.v.s try to 
drive down the price of clieese. Tiie usual 
lirocess is now froinjr on. Strenuous efforts are be¬ 
ing made to drive the price of New York fState 
cliee.xe below 24 cents. At the same time advices 
from Wisconsin are to the effect that conden.sery 
])lants are paying $2.40 a hundred pounds for milk, 
and going into out-of-the-way iilaces for it that 
were never tapped before. At present iirices cheese 
cannot he nnide on this basis for milk. The New 
York rate for both milk and cheese will have to 
go liigher to correspond with the advance in other 
products. 
D UKING the past few years we have all heard 
much about the “overhead” costs or charges 
in conducting a busine.ss. Ask one of the experts to 
figure the cost of producing a ton of hay, a quart 
of milk, a cow or a hog and they first count up the 
"overhead cost.s.” What do they mean? Usually the 
item is so far “overhead” that it is out of .sight. 
Here is a definition by the man who seems to have 
introduced the term into farming. Do you get it? 
Overhead costs are generally con.sidered by business 
men who use this expres.sion, as well as by fanners, to 
consist of those costs which enter into the production 
of any article or product, no matter what it is, i.e., 
they are standard costs Avhich are involved in all pro¬ 
duction. Specifically they include such items as in¬ 
terest, taxes, depreciation and other general costs which 
must be di.stributed among the various things produced. 
They are, of course, items of expense, although not 
always cash expen.ses, and must b? charged to some¬ 
thing. Overhead costs frequently include a lot of 
other things, e.g.. stationery, po.stage, teIephone.s. tele¬ 
grams, subscriptions to trade papers, office supplies, 
stenographic service, traveling expenses on the busi¬ 
ness of the farm, and other similar items. Perhaps 
the term “overhead costs” could be summarized as 
follows: All those costs which enter into production 
which are of .such general nature and which must be 
distributed over a number of products and which are 
not otherwise specifically charged as costs. 
♦ 
“And Jiif/h coat of lirUicf Us own clothes must dam 
With a Conner in the kitchen and a silo in the harn!'* 
T he literary critic will say this is no poetry, 
ami the imi-ist will be shocked by the language, 
but the practical man will admit that it is good 
sense even if jioor poetry. The canner and the silo 
are two of a kind—giving us a taste, of the garden 
and the pasture at Christmas when snowdrifts cov¬ 
er the earth. Both are waste-savers, turning what 
would be lost or thrown away into high-class food. 
But for the silo entire districts Avhere dairy farm¬ 
ing is carried on would be depopulated. But for 
the canner many a family would, live on bread, po¬ 
tatoes and gravy for .six months of the year. This 
war is teaching us to save every ounce of food for 
man and beast, and the canner and the silo are as 
u.'ieful as the cannon and the sword in fighting 
through this war. Work, them both to the limit 
this year. 
* 
E.nclosed find clipping, showing how some of us 
get after some of those who are always giving advice 
to the farmer, when they don’t know a thing about it. 
We have been the goat quite a while, and I am going 
to fight back to the best of my ability. I cut my 
cows down one-third, expecting to grow more grain 
and buy le.ss; guess I was lucky. It has rained about 
all the while and my grain will be one-third less. The 
next time I will sell the bunch. You are making a 
good fight and the farmers are with you. 
New York. floyd b. palmer. 
T he clipping was taken from the Utica Press. 
It contained a letter Avhich Mr. Palmer wrote 
to that paper. Among other things he .said: 
If the government asked you to buy several years’ 
supply of paper, would you do it at pre.sent prices? 
Would you double your hired labor, .so that some other 
class of men would have more business, regardless of 
your profit or loss? You are asking more of the 
farmer. 
He might have gone on to ask why the Press 
does not print 25.000 extra copies of each edition 
containing advice to farmers and run the risk of 
selling them. MTiy do the city papers print so 
RUR.A.L NEW-YORKER 
.Tune 30, 1917. 
much of this guff and stuff? One reason is that 
they follow the crowd, and want to please the poli¬ 
ticians and the prejudiced people who never think. 
They think it i.s jiopular to put the blame and the 
responsibility upon the farmer. Another reason is 
they do not know any better. .Some of the highly 
educated men in journalism are so profoundly ig¬ 
norant of human nature that they are like children 
in di.scussing vital problems of farming. Others are 
simply stupid and want to hear themselves talk. 
Prof. .1. G. Hamilton in his “History of Reconstruc¬ 
tion” tells of a colored member of a .State conven¬ 
tion Avbo wanted the records printed. Here is his 
argument: “/ expect to expatiate here and I want 
my 'name to pass on down into the archives of grav¬ 
ity." .Some of these people who are talking so much 
about farming are .surely headed for “the archives 
of gravity.” 
* 
T ins Aveek’s contribution of newspaper guff, sent 
by a reader, is by Herbert Kaufman—taken 
from the Noav York American: 
Ton-fold the thriftlo.ssiiess of the American house¬ 
wife would not co.st the country nearly so much a.s 
the habitual shiftlessness of- the American farmer whose 
disregard of ordinary precautions subjects an appalling 
.share of his crops to bugs, blights, worms and vermin. 
This year we cannot aftord to board the pests with 
usual lavishnes.s. The high cost of extermination is 
more than offset by the higher cost of exi.sting. Be¬ 
fore we meet our new foes it is essential that we beat 
old ones. 
We .suspect that Mr. Kaufman is still another who 
Avants to liA’e “in the archives of gravity.” He 
Avill, for gravity Avill soon sink his ponderous words 
out of sight. But this “disregard of oi'dinary pre- 
caution.s” is a neAv one. We would like to apply 
the iron test to Mr. Kaufman. Put him out on a 
mortgaged farm, Avith but little capital and the 
usual labor supply. Bless him Avith a big family 
of hungry and ambitious youngsters, and curse him 
with the thought that his family is entitled to all 
the opportunities Avhich others enjoy. Then let 
Mr. Kaufman go to it Avith his hands and his head 
to pay all his bills and provide for the family out 
of that farm. Hold him to it Avith a rod of ii’on 
as stern as the fate which conti'ols .so many of 
our farmers! Then Ave want him to write an es¬ 
say on “the habitual shiftlessness of the American 
farmer!” It Avould be a Avonder! 
their best, but that will fall short of the nation’s 
needs. Feeding a nation is work for experts and 
trained men. It cannot be done by substitute la¬ 
bor. You cannot have satisfied and skilled farm 
workers until farming is put upon as profitable a 
basis as any other indu.stry. Prophets of evil are 
noAv predicting hunger or famine in this country. 
They cannot avert such a calamity by throwing un¬ 
skilled or amateur labor out on the land. There 
is only one way—make farming so profitable that 
it can compete on even terms in the labor market. 
♦ 
T IIHIbE must be a very high price and a very 
good yield of Avheat in order to make nitrogen 
pay as a fertilizer this year. Phosphorus is neces¬ 
sary on most soils. The most sensible plan is to 
sow wheat as close after clOA’er, Alfalfa or coav 
peas as possible, and use acid phosphate and lime. 
In these days most of the organic nitrogen needed 
on farms Avhei-e a regular rotation is folloAved ought 
to be in the form of cIoati* and similar crops. If 
that cannot be done a little fertilizer nitrogen Avill 
pay, but phosphorus is the most needed element. 
♦ 
T he leaven .seems to be Avorking on the dog and 
cat question. Here is a neAV propo.sition from 
a village man: 
Jf the dog oAvners could only be made to keep their 
.’logs on their own premises nobody would make a- 
kick, but dog next door is “let out for a run,” and the 
first thing done Mr. Dog goes on the neighbor’s lawn, 
takes a roll and scratches up the new seeding, etc., 
the dog OAvner meanwhile looking on with a pleased 
grin “because it’s so nice for the dog to get' a little 
exercise in the morning.” These village people Avho 
have started Avar gardens this year Avill know more 
about dogs and cats than they CA^er did before. 
These village garden folks will surely gain knoAvl- 
edge as weli as appetite at the end of a hoe. We 
have absolutely no use for the wandering dog and 
cat. On our oAvn farm we have two dogs and an 
army of cat.s, but they are kept at home. They 
drop their rights Avhen they leave the premises 
alone, for “no dog has any right on another man’s 
land !’’ 
* 
A WEED is a wild plant bred and trained to 
struggle and fight for its existence. A cul¬ 
tivated plant has had much of the fight taken out 
of it through long years of selecting and training 
it for u.seful end.s. Nothing can remain a wild 
I N this year of gardens and great planting schemes 
some of our young grafters might try their hand 
at grafting the tomato top upon the potato root. This 
is a noA’elty not difficult for one who understands 
grafting. The resulting plant will not add much 
to the food supply of the nation, but it will add 
to interest in gardening. One of our people tells 
hoAv he Avill do it. 
It will merely be the whip-grafting method. Some 
I shall graft slightly below the surface of the ground, 
and some an inch or two above. Those grafted below 
ground Avill have nothing tied about them but I shall 
firm the earth hard, and tie the tomato plant to an 
upright. Those grafted above ground will have cloth 
tied firmly around and then raffia bound about. These 
also will be tied to an upright. 
Noav do not expect that this marriage of these two 
related plants will do wonders. The seeds of the 
tomato will not produce potato-bearing plant.s, and 
the potato graft Avill not bring potatoes to the to¬ 
mato roots—but you Avill have something different 
from the re.st, and in these days there is a short¬ 
age of healthy fun for most of us. Your name may 
not go rolling through the ages yoked up Avith that 
of Burbank, but such grafting may keep you out of 
mischief, at least. 
fighter and at the same time excel in useful quali¬ 
ties. One quality must gh-e way as the other ad¬ 
vances. The original dog and AAmlf were probably 
much alike in character. The modern house dog, 
dwarfed in size and trained in gentle habits, must 
be protected from the wolf, or the latter would eat 
him up. In like manner, corn or wheat or pota¬ 
toes or root crops can neA^er hold their own against 
quack grass, ragweed or redroot. Left to them¬ 
selves in such a struggle the useful or “cultivated” 
plants are always SAvamped. The culth'ated grasses, 
in a .sour neglected laAvn or pasture giA'e Avay to 
the Aveeds and poor grass, but put on lime and ni¬ 
trogen and pho.sphorus and the better grasses come 
back and occupy the land. This same thing runs 
all through life, for as plants or animals are im¬ 
proved and made more useful through selection 
and care tliey mu.st have higher culture, better feed¬ 
ing and more careful protection. They are no 
longer fighters, but things to be defended and 
fought for as the price of their improvement, 
5ie 
Brevities 
A FATLESS ration makes a lean life. 
* 
I T is coming so that the appearance of the rural 
church is accepted by strangers as indicating 
much of the character of the local community. 
When the church is neat and Avell kept, painted and 
clean, the mind at once forms the thought that here 
is a community which puts the church and what 
it stands for above the common things of life. Even 
though a man might have little thought for re¬ 
ligious matters himself he will ahvays I’e.spect and 
admire the spirit Avhich offers the best of life to 
the things Avhich the church represents. It seems to 
the pa.sser-by as if here is a community Avhich puts 
its best gifts upon the altar, and reflects something 
of the action in its OAvn life. 
♦ 
T he world is full of rumors—most of them 
fal.sehoods put out to deceHe and confuse the 
people. One rumor Avhich persists, and Avhich we 
believe is based on fact, is that the German crop 
ontlook is bad. The season is partly responsible 
for it, but the chief trouble is found in the labor 
problem. Under pre.sent conditions in Germany the 
farms must be Avorked largely by Avomen, Avar 
prisoners and city helpers. These classes may do 
Salesmaxsjiip is the thing which keeps the farm 
boat floating. 
You get very few trump cards by blowing off vour 
OAvn trumpet. 
Commercial poultry plants seem to prefer about 25 
^per cent, of yearlings and 75 per cent, of pullets, 
i Who would have thought 10 years ago that a na¬ 
tional campaign against the cat would be possible? 
In our own section the grass crop never was better, 
and all A\'e need for the hay is fine, windy AV’eather. 
SiiALL Ave plant cabbage or tomatoes after the first 
crop? There is the problem for many yard gardeners. 
A HAY tedder, well used, is a good tool, since .it 
kicks the moisture out of the grass—or lets the air 
in to do it. 
Loss in the haystack usually starts at the center 
which is not Avell tramped and settled, so that water 
Avorks in Avhere not Avanted. 
While noAV and then we have reports that salt has 
given great results as a fertilizer the general verdict is 
that salt AA'ill not take the place of potash. 
Ninety-nine per cent, of the roosters now running 
at large are slackers, Avasters and robbers. You can¬ 
not giA’e one logical reason for feeding them, Whv, 
then, do you do it? 
Noav the government suggests that a cheap and de¬ 
sirable syrup can be made from sugar beets^—using 
.small quantities with a cheap apparatus. We shall 
tell hoAv to do it soon, but the sugar beets ought to 
be growing now. 
