986 
Jshe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A ?Iational Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Ilome* * 
Establisfud iSSO 
Pnhllibed weekly by the Raral Pablliblne Company^SS Wett SOtb Street, New Tork 
Herbert W. COIXingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treoeurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mk-s. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
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order, personal check or bank draft. 
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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 pei-son. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, 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 bo 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 be 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. 
D uring the ll months ending May 1 of this year 
the total exports of fruits and nuts from this 
countiy amo'unted to $36,476,163. In spite of the 
war and shortage of vessels this amount has been 
steadily rising. After the war we believe the for¬ 
eign demand will be greater than ever before. 
More fruit wdll be called for by all European na¬ 
tions. Many orchards have been destroyed, and 
the great energies of foreign nations will be devot¬ 
ed to producing grain and meat. We believe, 
therefore, that the foreign outlet for fine American 
apples w'ill be greatly increased in the future. 
W ITHIN the pa.st month the first shipment of 
corn from Venezuela and the first fiour fi*om 
Australia have been received here. Corn is, of 
course, largely grown in South America, and Argen¬ 
tina has already sent many shipments. It is just a 
matter of price here. That price must be high 
enough to pay cost of production and shipment. As 
for Australian flour, the country is filled w'ith wheat 
but lacks shipping to transport it. Thus milling will 
pay—^the flour to be shipped and the offal kept at 
home. It would be better for this country if all our 
wheat were milled here and only the flour sent 
abroad. 
* 
W E hardly know what we can add to the ar¬ 
ticles on cover crops now being printed. The 
thing seems so simple and sure and necessary to us 
that w’e cannot understand why there should be a 
single cornfield left bare through this Winter. 
Weeds and grass are better than nothing, but cul¬ 
tivated crops like grain, clover or vetch are as much 
superior as civilized animals are better than ^v^ld 
jungle specimens. It looks to us as if a farmer 
mxist be rich enough when he will not spend a few 
dollars in seed and labor and get back the equivalent 
of eight tons or more of manure all hauled and 
.spread over an acre. 
* 
I N the great flood of advice which is being poured 
out upon farmers on this wheat situation, the 
following note from a Westeim New York farmer 
seems to us just about an ideal statement—short, 
sound, correct, sensible and practical: 
The time to prepare the ground for Winter wheat is 
at hand. If we intend to sow after oats, barley or 
wheat, the ground should be plowed at once in order 
to get the top soil well settled and pulverized before 
sowing. In Western N^w York a two-year-rotation is 
followed by many; beans in sod followed by wheat 
without plowing. This is an ideal rotation, as the 
ground is very firm under top soil. This is very es- 
.sential on land that is liable to winter-kill. The move¬ 
ment .^o extend the acreage at the expense of other 
crops is, I think, ill-advised. Hold to your regular rotation 
and increase the yield by better culture, additional fer¬ 
tilizer, etc. ^ There is more danger of a shortage of milk 
than there is of wheat, so do not plow the old pastures 
in order to make a million acres of wheat. 
Wyoming Co,, N. Y. C. H. TOAN. 
♦ 
T here are still many farmers who say “There 
is nothing like manure to grow crops.” Be¬ 
lieving that, they will not use chemicals, but keep 
stock—even sometimes at a loss—in order to have 
enough manure. These farmers are right as far as 
they go, but they do not go to the end. Very few of 
them say that clover or Alfalfa hay will give a full 
cow ration, because “there is nothing like clover.” 
The statement is true enough, but they should end it 
up right by adding, “to balance up a ration.” Ma¬ 
nure is the solid basis of farming, yet we can see 
how a farmer might grow poor by using nothing ex¬ 
cept manure—either purchased or made on the farm. 
The fact is that 90 per cent, of our Eastern farms 
are lacking in available phosphorus and potash. 
The manure contains very little phosphonis and on 
most farms its crop-producing value would be 
doubled by adding 40 pounds of acid phosphate to 
each ton of manure. In any rotation where clover 
or other legumes are used Ave firmly believe that 
half the usual amount of manure now used would 
prove satisfactory if acid phosphate could he used 
with it There is little use talking about potash this 
year, but the phosphorus need is vital, especially in 
grain growing. A quick and sure proof of this need 
could be made by fertilizing any crop with pure 
chicken manure and then right alongside using the 
manure and phosphate mixed. There is nothing like 
manure— as a partner for phosphorus. 
* 
S OME of us may think we live in a section 
where insects abound. Wlien we begin to 
growl about it we should move to Colorado, where 
they fight grasshoppers. One druggist in that State 
sold the following outfit of “dope” for the hoppers: 
6550 pounds Paris green, 38 tons of bran, 41 cases 
of lemons and 1380 gallons of syrup. This was 
mixed in the proportion of 25 pounds of bran, one 
of Paris green, two quarts of syrup and a little 
lemon juice. This “bait” is mixed at wholesale and 
sirattered over the land—eight pounds to the acre. 
It gets the hoppers and in addition hundreds of de¬ 
vices for catching them alive are used. There Is 
no insect on the Atlantic coast which calls for such 
a prolonged and wholesale fight. If our communi¬ 
ties would fight the peach borer, tent caterpillar 
and moth with an organized army, as the Western 
people fight these hoppers, we could clean them 
out. 
* 
A fter four months of discussion and much 
quarrelling Congress has passed the Food bill 
and the President will promptly sign it. As finally 
passed the bill provides for a “one-man head”— 
that is, it will be administered by one man and not 
by a committee. This is right, and the “one man” 
will Tindoubtedly be Ilei’bert C, Hoover, who has 
volunteered for this service. Never before in the 
history of this country has any man been gi*auted 
such powers to control the trade in necessities as are 
now given Mr. Hoover. This tremendous pov'^er and 
the dangei’S which may grow out of it caused the 
fierce opposition which a minority in Congress has 
urged from the first. While recognizing such dan¬ 
gers, the great majority of Americans feel that the 
present situation demands prompt and strong meas¬ 
ures. The news from Rus.sia does not create any 
desire for commissions or committees to handle big 
National questions. One trouble with this Food bill 
was that the question of Pi'ohibition became mixed 
up with it. -\s finally passed, the manufacture and 
importation of distilled liquors is prohibited during 
the war. The President is authorized to suspend 
the making of malt or vinous liquors or to limit 
their alcohol content. The bill gives the Government 
full control during the war over “necessitie-s,” which 
will Include food, feed, fuel, fertilizers and tools. 
Ample power is given to enforce such control. There 
never was such a di*astic and complete law—since 
the early days in New England, when, during the 
Indian wars, all food was seized and carried to the 
blockhouses for protection. Personally we think 
the situation is such that the law is needed, that it 
will be fairly enforced, and that the result will, 
upon the whole, be beneficial. 
* 
T here is little or nothing to report of the New 
York State food bill. There have been a few 
hearings and a form of scolding match between Gov¬ 
ernor Whitman and the politicians who seek to 
prevent him from naming the members of the Com¬ 
mission. Mr. Roosevelt has declined to serve, part¬ 
ly on the ground that such appointments belong to 
the Governor, Rarely has a more childi.sh exhibition 
been given at Albany. With the Federal food bill 
now in form of law, the New York scheme is not 
needed. The State already has the full machinery 
for backing up the Federal law. Why not p\it that 
machinery in operation, pass the Towner bill and 
go home? All except a few interested people are 
thoroughly tired of the fai’ce, and no one seems to 
believe that there is any serious intention of helping 
the food situation by changing the present system of 
distribution. There will be no reform until that is 
done. 
* 
M rs. MARY SATKO, of Middletown, Ohio, 
steps to the front as breeder and owner of the 
most valuable hen yet produced in this country. 
This hen and one dozen of her eggs sold for $2002.91 
No, you do not want any eggs of this wondeifful new 
breed. The hen is a common bird, and would no 
doubt be classed as a “scrub” by most fanciers. It 
seems that Middletown started in to raise a great 
sum of money for the Red Cross, and everyone 
helpdd. Mrs. Satko, a i>oor Hxingarian woman, want¬ 
ed to help, but had nothing but her hen to offer. So 
she bi’ought the hen and the eggs to the meeting. 
-August 18, 1917. 
Happily there were men and women in charge of 
that fund who had the imagination to see at once 
that here was the incident of the widow’s mite 
brought into the Red Cross work. This poor woman 
gave all she had: 
“0.^ a, truth I say unto you that this poor widow 
hath cast in more than they all.” 
The hen and her eggs might possibly have sold for 
$1.50 on the basis of their food value, but Middle- 
town saw faith value of such an offering. So they 
put the hen up at auctioji and she brought $266. A 
wealthy man paid $100 for the eggs. Then he gave 
them back and they were put xip at auction one at 
a time. The first egg brought $400 and the entire 12 
brought $1,734.91, all of which, of course, went to 
the Red Cross. Thus this common citizen in feath¬ 
ers becomes the highest priced hen in the country. 
We would not back her in an egg-laying contest, bxit 
as an advance agent for a worthy entei*prise she 
goes to the top roost. And Mrs. Mary Satko, through 
her humble gift, has become, in proportion to her 
means, the largest subscriber to the Red Cross. And 
why should not Middletown change its name to Top- 
town? 
* 
A ll this scolding of housewives about waste, 
and all these sugge.stions about household thrift 
are getting very tiresome. Give us the cost of the 
tons of printed paper used in all this wise foolery 
and we will support the Belgian sufferers for three 
months. And who reads all this stuff? We see the 
sheets flying about as waste paper, but have yet to 
find anyone who pays serious attention to this ad¬ 
vice. Now and then the questions are read and a 
reply is made. Here is one sent In by a prominent 
Ohio man: 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. 
_ Talk to the men, as well as to the women. One 
cigar costs only a nickel, but if only one cigar a day is 
consumed in the average of our 20,000,000 homes, it 
that $1,000,000 goes up evei-y day in smoke, or 
$365,000,000 every year. If the men producing and 
making these cigars and the beer and whisky consumed 
in America were to join the army no draft would be 
needed and there would be food for everybody. 
The Depai*tment has called for hone.st suggestion. 
There they have it—one of the most economic prop¬ 
ositions yet put up. Will the Food Commission take 
the suggestion and urge this saving? Not this year! 
It is much more popular and easier to scold the 
women for kitchen waste! It is a scrap over table 
scraps! 
* 
I T cannot be said that Senator Elon R. Brown suc¬ 
ceeded in making what is known as “a hit with 
Lizzie,” when he led his food committee to New 
York City for a “hearing.” There were many in¬ 
telligent and capable women who had studied the 
question of food distribution and who knew what 
housewives want. They were ready to testify but 
a few hours of Senator Brown’s hearing convinced 
them that it was a farce and not intended to help 
the situation. 
Really it is almost impossible to describe the feeling 
of women who have some idea of efficiency, order and 
direct action when they look at Senator Brown and 
his operetta food inquiry committee. 
That is the way one prominent woman put it. 
Senator Brown simply tried to be “funny,” He 
coached the middlemen and seemed to x'egai’d the 
whole thing as a joke. He could not have made 
a more useful exhibition of himself, for now the 
people begin to know him as he is. When women, 
who are naturally strong on expressing their feel¬ 
ings, are struck dumb by the looks and actions of 
a politician that man might just as well get off the 
track for the train is coming. These women saw 
in a few hours that Senator Brown will never do 
anything or suggest anything which interferes in 
any way with the present worn-out, gi’afting sys¬ 
tem of distidbution. Now how long will it take Jef¬ 
ferson County to learn the same thing? 
Brevities 
Let the sunshine into the barn. 
Sweet clover is not for sour land. 
It did not seem possible that the corn could come 
up as it has in the past two weeks. 
We believe that the Cossack Alfalfa can grow rea¬ 
sonably well on soil too sour for Red clover. 
It is true that a good many city people must now be 
taught the food value of potatoes all over. 
Few animals like rye as a steady diet as they do 
oats or corn. When rye is crushed and mixed with 
ground oats or corn it makes good horse feed. 
Fate seems to have been kind to the thousands of 
little potato fields and patches this year and the total 
crop from these gardens will have considerable influ¬ 
ence upon prices. 
