1076 
XShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
yioltl. As t.iM‘ r*-su}f *>f this study i’rof. (Ji-aiirli;tni 
says: 
The fact that wheat tillers freely under the proper 
conditions has been taken advantage of by ju-omoters of 
seed wheat to aid in the sale of a variety. The best in¬ 
stance of this has been before the public quite recently. 
A strain of wheat known nnder the names Stoner, Alir- 
:iele and Alarvelovis was widely adverti.sed and sold as 
possess-inp an unusually strong: tillering habit. It was 
claimed that only two or three pecks of seed were re¬ 
quired per acre. The fact is that this variety tillers no 
moi-e freely tli.au many others. . . Specific tests have 
showm it to be in no way superior to a large number of 
well-known vai-ieties. The idea th.it the strain of wheat 
had great tillering capacity probably originated from 
observing the behavior of a few isolated wheat plants 
grow’ing on an especially fertile soil. In fact the or¬ 
iginator of the variety claims that he found the original 
l)lant grow’iug in his ganlen. He was led to believe that 
the plant w.-cs a distinct advance over other varieties 
because it jxisst^sed such a large number of tillers. Al¬ 
most anj’ variety of wheat would behave in a similar 
maniu'r under the SJime conditions. 
A few y»*urs ago wi* bad a scattorwl volunteer crop 
of wiieat cs.ime up after buckwheat. Several isolated 
pl.-iuts, growing alone, grew’ Just like the “Aliracle"’ 
and made .‘50 or more stems from one plant. The ex¬ 
periments in L'tdaware show that almost any variety 
of wheal will do the same under right conditions of 
s(‘CHling. There was no miracle about it. except 
( banging human cr*Kiulity into monej’. 
Wheat or Rye in Elastem Massachusetts 
ran wheat be grown profitably under present coudi- 
lions in Eastern Massachusetts? On a tw’o-acre held 
of sw.ard land (moist black soil) that I wish to turn, 
can I expect to grow rye to value (straw and grain) of 
.•Ibout .S7o? Would you adv’se rye or wheat in this case? 
Orass or clover to be st*edfd on surface in the Spring. 
Massacliusettis. E. F. i». 
I’K own choict* for a gniin under such situation 
^\ (lllld be rye. We think that on the whole rye 
wlllgivt! a better crop on this sod ground thanwiuuit, 
although there is a chance for argument over this, 
and we would like to hear from practical farmers 
ill Southeastern New England. As a rule, rye will 
do better on this kind of soil. Wheat usually re* 
rpiires rather lK?tt»‘r culture. The rye is hardier, and 
is better adaptt^ to most of the sod or waste land 
to be found, oil New England farms. In most cases 
there is a goO'l market for rye straw, wiiich is su- 
jierior to wheat straw for general purpostis. While 
thfi grain of rye will not bring as much i>er bushel 
as wheat, the ctianoes are that with reasonable care 
the yield of ryt* will l>e nearly as heavy as that for 
wheat. It will make a surer croi>. and the straw will 
be of enough greater value to offset any low’or price 
for the grain. 
AVinter rye, under most conditions, is about as sure 
ji croi> as can be put into the ground, while most 
New England farmers know that unless wheat is 
juit in with great care it is (piite likely to be entire¬ 
ly or jKirtly Wiuter-killeil. Kye <an be grown on 
almost tiny kind of soil, ranging from a light sand to 
a Imavy cl.ay, and very few failures are recorded 
against it. It is the best small grain crop to put on 
newly cle.arcd land or upon land which has long been 
in }>asiur»‘ oi meaaow. Following a clover sod the 
wheat will do better, but for most of the tough old 
sods, such as are found in New England, the rye 
will )»rove su}>erior. With a very early sowing of 
rye, it will with favorable conditions make a heavy 
l\all growth, and can fre<iuently he ixistured to ad¬ 
vantage; although of course if a full crop of grain 
and straw is exi)eeted, it would not i»ay to take 
chances witli the pasture. 
A linn and well-worked seed IxhI should be pre- 
pa ihhI. It is better to plow the sod land two oi\three 
w«>eks before st^e<iiug. In our own ca.se this year we 
plowtsl alxjut two weeks after a crop of oats and 
P(‘as had bemt taken off the laud. The land was 
plowed, then well disked and packed with the Acme 
harrow. Then it lay until about tlu; lirst of Sep- 
I ember, when the ground was thoroughly stirred 
again with a harrow and the surface made as fine 
as jtossible. The general rule In the latitude of 
New York is to seed rye about the middle of Sei)- 
tember for best results. We have, howevt'r, seeded 
it as late as election day, and succeeded in obtaining 
a very fair yield of both straw and grain. It is bet¬ 
ter, however, to seed (*arlier, and fit the land i)rop- 
orly, although we have known rye to make a fair 
stand where the ground is simply roughly plowed 
and harrowed once. This year it will pay to fit the 
land properly for any kind of grain. Aluch is being 
said about wheat seeding this year, and there Is 
need of all the small grain which the country can 
W’e must remember, however, that wheat 
i- in F ' way a dainty crop, requiring certain soils 
;u' 1 • • n. in conditions for best results. It ye, on the 
other hand, is a rough and ready crop, which can 
give a profitable yield under conditions wliich would 
practically ruin wheat. It is not entirely wi.se to 
advise every farmer to sow wheat on any kitid of 
land. If he has suitable soil and can fit tlie land 
proi)erly, wheat is sure to make a profitable crop. 
On rougher land, outside of the regular wheat belt, 
our advice is to scixl to rye. 
Holding the Potato Crop 
T he (Government wants farmers to understand that 
the Federal Reserve sj’stem is at theii' disp(3sal 
for handling this year’s potato crop. Farmers may 
store this crop in ajtproved warehouses. On eb- 
taining a storage receii)t the.Y may make a fHkday 
loan against these receijds at a rate not to excetHl 
G per cent. The object of this is to give farmers a 
cliance to hold their potatoes for threo months 
time in case they think by doing so they can steady 
the price. Gfrowers in New England have started to 
take advantage of this ruling. The croj) in that sec¬ 
tion is lignred at 45,(X)0,000 bushels, one-tenth of the 
total crop. If this tvore all thrown on the market 
at once there would result a glut and juices would 
jirohably never recover during the season. 
The plan now is to get the growers together and 
market only one-third of the croj) at harvest time, 
another one-third is to be handled in 00 days or 
jdaced in storage, the remaining thii-d is to be 
stored by the growers and distributed as iieedtHl 
through the year. All potatoes are to lx? graded with 
great care; poor ones culled out and tho graded 
stock handled in two-bushel sjtcks, 115 i)ounds to 
the sack. It is also itrojtosed to increase the load iu 
a railroad car from the ordinary weight of .lO.tKK) 
jtonnds to 45,0<X) ix)unds or over; such cars to be 
unloaded within at the most .‘1*5 hours after their 
arrival. It is also projwsed that mnnlcijxilitles or 
buying corjwratious ])rovide for storing all i>ossible 
potatoes during the harvest. The (roverument says 
that there are many unused buildings which, i^ 
projterly cleaned and ventilated, <*o.ild jtass as j>otato 
.storage houses. They will havt' to be fitted so as 
to maint.aiii a temi)eratvire of about 55 degrees. If 
this plan can be worked out by the New England 
grow<*rs it will be a great lielj* iu handling this 
year's oroj), and farmers should all understand that 
the benefit of the Fed<*ral R(*serve system will be 
ajijdied to the potato crop this j’ear. 
Farmers and the Draft 
Last wct;k wc j)rintcd a letter from an (lliio farmer 
who stated his case clearly. We now jirint the follow¬ 
ing from a New York farmer. This is another side of 
tlic «ise. Does the nation need this man most on the 
farm or iu the training camp? The letter is addressed 
to I’resideut Wilson : 
N your j>jttriotic. jtrochuuation to the American 
l>e<i)ile last Ajtril. and addressing the farmers and 
farm laboi-ers, you said : ‘‘The world’s food reserves 
are low. Not only during the present emergency 
but for some time after jteace shall have come both 
our own i)ec»ple and a large proportion of the jmojde 
of Eurojte must rely uimu the harvests of America. 
T'l)on the farmers of this country, therefore, in hirge 
measure, rest the fate of the war and the fate of the 
nations. Alay the nation not count ujmn them to 
omit no step that will increase the production of 
their land or that will bidng ahinit the most eft'tH-tnal 
co-oj»eration in the sale and distribution of their 
products?’’ 
The farmers answered your ajqteal with the 
largest harvest in history, and witliout being guaran¬ 
teed cost of production plus 10 j>er cent. j)rolit. We 
have done so, with farm labor rcxluced absolut(‘ly to 
the’ minimum. 
Many farmers and more farm laborers come with¬ 
in the ages of the Military Draft. one examjde 
of the problems many of tbem are facing, allow me 
to state mine. 
I am a graduate of tlu‘ New York Stab* Collegi* 
of Agriculture, and bought this farm two years ago. 
It contains 1G8 a<Tes, about 155 tillable, of which 
less than 20 acres is in fruit. As an aid iu i)rodue- 
ing as much grain as iiossli)le, I Invested in more 
machinery last Sjtring, and savtnl hiring an extra 
man. I contiinuxl to jilan for increasf^ji production 
until the papers startetl to sjieak or calling farmers 
into the army. I i)laiined on 15 or 25 acres anyway 
of wheat and ryts, double my last year’s acreage. 
Fpon rei)eated inquiries, I have 1ks.*u informeti 
that a temjtorary exemjdion, jwobably of three 
months, is all that would be granted me. T am ‘20 
years old, singlo, and no one d«‘i>endent upon me. I 
have jtassed the jdiysical examination and have been 
accepted for service by the local board. 
.If I go into the army, there is no one to work this 
farm. This means this fai-m must lie idle, or that I 
must sell out iu a hurri*Hl and forc(Ml manner, there¬ 
by losing several tliou.sand dollars. I am willing to 
go into tlie army if I am wanted more there than 
oji the farm, but your ajtiteal last Sja-ing ssiys farm¬ 
ers are wanted where they are, not only this year 
but n<*xt. 
September 15, IPIT 
('an you ex))ect fai-mers further to increase their 
loss by being force^l to sell out, by putting in mort' 
Winter grain, which they can never harvest? Can 
yoti expect farmers to increase their acreage of AA'in- 
ter grains when their lielji is to be taken, and they 
are not as.sured of adequate belji for next year’s har¬ 
vest? I have talked with many farmers the past 
few days, and in every ease they say “No.” 
These crojis must go in within tho next five weeks. 
The farmers are waiting for your de<-ision. TTiuler 
the act of C’ongress api»rovtHl May ISth, 1017, yon 
are authorized to exclude or discharge from the se¬ 
lective draft: “Persons engage<l in industries, in¬ 
cluding agriculture, found to be necessary to tho 
maintenance of the Alilitary Estaldishment, or 
. . . of tho national interest during the emer¬ 
gency.” 
If yon wish the Winter grains to he sown, yon 
should let the fanners know, and at once, wliether 
they are to ho taken of wlndlier their helji is to Ix' 
taken, in the draft. We dare not risk the loss of 
not only our farms, hut also ci'ojis, under the i>resen< 
circum.stanc(‘s. If yo\i will assure us of ex«‘ni])tion 
for ourselves and help until tho next harvest is in. 
we will do tho rest. Rut if your exeinjition is to Ix> 
temporary for only a few months at a time, 3 'on can¬ 
not exjicct us to risk jdanting more croi)s. 
Will you jdcase state your wishes at once, so that 
we can jdan for putting in tho crops, or of letting 
onr farms lie idle or to sell at a loss? 
KBANCIS w. WARin i:. 
Farmers and Newspapers 
OME of our ]>eoi>lo say they write “hot” letters 
t(> the local i)ai)ers' when farmers are attack<Ml 
but—“the papers will not print it.” Perhajts rln> 
letters are too hot. Better use a little dii)lomaey 
and stick to them. Keep right at them! Every 
drop of ink lined out in a»worthy cause helps. .Some 
of the daily j^apers are doing quite well. Hero is 
part of a letter sent to the Cleveland Ivcader: 
What arc we farmers going to do to repay our cir.v 
friends? They are getting ready to turn their oflict! 
mamigers, stenographers, floor walkers, paying tellers, 
dressgoods salesmen, etc., etc., loose on our disk liar- 
i’ows, seeders, reai)er8, binders, stock, etc. We farmers 
ought to begin right now preparing to spend a day in 
the teller’s cage, b»‘hind the notions counter, at the 
drafting board, punch press, typewriter, addometer or 
cheese knife, etc. 
Farmers, let me hear from you. Let us get up one 
"business resen’e” to match the “farm reserve” of our 
generous neighbors of the walled town. Let no man <»£ 
us offer for excuse that he is unaccustomed to busint'ss 
ways, etc. Do wo find the cit^ men trying to shirk 
beoa\isc they do not know scientific farming? No, even 
their sclxjoi-boys are eager to take their chances with 
our blooded stock, exjiensive machinery, patieuc<“, etc., 
etc. Then let us get into thei? national banks, elec¬ 
tric light factories, department stort's, etc. 
Whj’ not? And the farmer who sends this clijt- 
jiing adds the following: 
Wliy not jnish the “Ru.siuess Reserve”? And add t<> 
his excellent suggestions that the wives and daughter-; 
of the bankers, etc., shall (Xiuk uji a good dinner for 
the farmer while ho is helping along with the busine.ss. 
w. X. 
Push it by all means—push the idea right into 
the heads of these city men until they see the jioint. 
We think they arc coming to it slowly. .Some of 
them are getting the rudiments of an education in 
farm economy from the letters which work into tin* 
daily iiajiors. Keep right after them. If the pajier 
refuses to jirint your letters go at them again. 
Ke<q> good-uaturtxl, write iu good linmor—do not 
scold or bluster, but tell the farm story sincerely and 
simjdy. 
The Amateur Adviser 
O F all tin; am.-iteiir advisers now loose ni>on the 
country ix;rhai)s the mo.st remarkable Is the 
man who wants a law to comix'l farmers to raise 
all calves. There is a bill before Congress prohibit¬ 
ing a farmer from killing any male calf before It 
Is two j’ears old, or any female before six years. 
Now the fact is that veal calves from dairy cows 
generally lose money for their owners unless they 
.are sui>erlor in breeding. The Ohio Experiment 
Station figured it carefully iu 20 herds: 
In the 26 dairy herds 18 owue lt)st money on rais¬ 
ing calves for veal. The average loss on 525 veals was 
about a head. The average loss of raising 561 
calves in 50 herds studied was .|6.90 for the first year. 
Only five dairymen among the 30 raised calves at a 
profit. 
When dairymen get a high i)rice for milk, they would 
be ahead by selling calves rather than raising such ani¬ 
mals for veal or lx*ef. The milk would bring a higher 
[•ru-e for human food than the veal produced from it. 
8uch figures ought to convince the ordinary mind, 
but a Avar adviser is no ordinary person. It does 
not seem to make any dift’erenc*e whether his plan 
is practical or not. It is lx\9 jfian, and therefore 
ought to be trietl. The only Avay to get rid of these 
wise men is to jnit u tax on advice. 
