1182 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TITE BVR1SE8S FAJIMEIVS PA PER 
A National AVeekIjr Journal for Country uutl hubiirban lIomcH 
Established tsso 
TiiMUhed weekly by the Rnral Publisblngr (’ompany, 033 West SOtli Street, >ew York 
Ukrbkrt W. Collinowood, President and Etlitor. 
John* .1. Dillon, Tre^'aurer and General Manaijer. 
WM. F. DiLrx)X, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Roylk, Associate Editor. 
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“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by n respon- 
pible iKu^on. We use every ))ossible precaution and admit the a^lvertisiiipf of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make jrood any loss 
U) t>aid subwribei'fi sustained by trustinjf any deliberate swindJer, irre.spon- 
pible adverti8ei*8 or misleading: advertisements in our columns, and any 
Fuch swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to a<ljust diifereuces or mistakes between our subscribers and bonest, 
responsible houses, whether a^lvertisers or not. We willinirly use our good 
ollices to this end, but such cases should not be confused w*ith dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not bo 
re.srwnsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts, 
Isotice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time of 
the transition, and to identify it, you should mention Thk Rural New- 
Yorker when wHting the advertiser. 
A mong other reasons for usinf? acid phosidiate 
or hone with manure is that phosphorus acts to 
I)asten maturitj’. Sometimes a coiai crop iieavily 
manured on a soil will make a heavy crop hut will 
delay ripeniiif? so long that it is cut l)y frost. The 
lieavy supply of nitrogen in tlie manure drives the 
corn on to a prolonged growth. The addition of 
phosphorus will liel^) to rijien the corn earlier, and 
in some seasons tills will make the diffei'ence be¬ 
tween frost injury and hard corn. 
* 
My Dear “Hope Farm Man.” God bless you for that 
letter on the war .situation! I am offering our little 
lilaee for sale in order that “Dob”—the junior partner— 
may volunteer in the army, and I will gird up thee car¬ 
penter kit that stood by me for years and go back to 
the trade. The boy wants to go with the bovs to do 
his bit, and I am only too proud of my red-blooded 
American lad wdio shows no yellow. If lie returns we 
can do it all over again, but if he is taken, he will have 
won his discharge as a true American boy. I cannot run 
tlie place without him, but this war niunt he won, and 
we will do our bit, and without a whimper. 
Ohio. j, A. HILL. 
F are proud to print tiiat letter riglit on this 
page. That is about the way Ave feel regard¬ 
ing onr own hoys wlien it comes >to tlie final show¬ 
down. We do think mistakes are being made in this 
draft exemiition, hut Avlien it comes to the final test 
such a sentiment as Mr. Hill expresses covers all 
tliere is worth considering. 
• * 
F ood experts in the larger cities are organizing 
liousewives for economical food buying. For one 
thing, tliey advise women to substitute idee for po¬ 
tatoes. Why is tills? Last Spring tlie goveriimeiit 
urged all of us to grow potatoes. We bought .‘<eed 
at ,'fl0..50 iier barrel, with other expenses increased 
by at least 5 per cent. The cro]) was fair, but the 
selling pi-ice has been such that Ave barely got our 
money hack. Thousands of farmers resiioiided un¬ 
der much tlie same conditions and many of them 
Avill lose money in the face of tlie great yield pre¬ 
dicted by the experts. Why, then, talk rice. Avlien 
the great hojie of dispo.sing of the jiotato crop at a 
profit lies in .stimulating consumption? Tliere is 
nolhing consistent about tills. Ku-e Is not a full sul)- 
slitute for potatoes in any CA’cnt. Having induced 
farmers to grow a big cro]) of i iota toes, the govern¬ 
ment should noAA' Avork every Avire to increase con¬ 
sumption. 
“What home is Avitliout a motheiv that a ooiKsolidated 
.school is without a teachorage. To be successful in the 
highest sense of the word, a modern open-country school 
nuist have its teacherage. It is out of the question for 
teachers to ‘board ’round.’ ” 
T hat from the North Dakota Agricultural Col¬ 
lege may all be true, hut how many of our readers 
know Avhat a “teacherage” is? The Avord is not 
even in most of the later dictionarie.s. A teacherage 
coi-re.sponds to a par.sonage, and is really a home for 
the teacher. In many parts of the country tlie peo¬ 
ple realize that the teachers cannot do their best 
Avork unless they liaA^e a home of their own Avhere 
they are free to live their own home life. The 
“teacherage” as a clo.se companion to the school is a 
good institution. It Avill give more power to the en¬ 
tire district, and make a good headquarters for 
.social actiAuty, just as the school giA'^es a center for 
education. As schools are consolidated more and 
more, the “teacherage” will become a necessity. We 
think eA^ery large school in the country should have 
a “teacherage” and a good-.sized iiiece of land for 
gai-den and experimental Avork. That is one of the 
things Avhieh modern education Avill work out. 
* 
T he NeAv York Legislature came back to Albany 
and made a final end of the fight over the ap¬ 
pointment of George W. Perkins, by rejecting him, 
25 to 20. They promptly confirmed the appoint¬ 
ment of Dr Schurman of Cornell and of Mr.Wietiug. 
CAe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Gov. Whitman gave up his figlit for Mr. Perkins, and 
nominated .Tohn Mitchell, who aaus i)romptly con¬ 
firmed. That cIo.ses the incident so far as Mr. Per¬ 
kins is concerned. Tlie ]iublic simply did mit Avant him 
in that office. Mr. jMitcliell has had long exiierience in 
handling large affairs as a lalior leader and member 
of the Industrial Commission. Wliat he knoAvs aliout 
the food problem is yet to he determined. No one 
knows where he aa’III stand on a question regarding 
tlie iieculiar situation and riglits of the producei^s. 
I'lie great olijeotion to Mr. Perkins Avas bas^on the 
belief that lie would atteiiijit to regulate the business 
of food jiroductioii just as he AA'ould regulate the 
production of steel, coal or copper. The farmers 
knew tliat any atteiiiiit to apjily sucli metliods to the 
entirely different business of farming Avonld result 
in disaster. No man sliould attempt to regulate or 
control (food iiroduction Avithout jiractic.al knowledge 
of the business of farming and full sympathy for 
farmers. Now, what Avill tlie Food Commis.sion do? 
♦ 
D lt. ,T. G. LIPMAN of the New .Jersey Experi¬ 
ment Station has obtained two patents for iiis 
new process of preparing aA'ailable phosplioric acid 
in the compost heap. Tliese patents have been giA-en 
to the people, ho that all may n.se the proces.s. We 
luiA-e already described this method. In brief, it 
means a partnenship Avith nature in the manufacture 
of .sulphuric acid. The iireseiit method of making 
pho.splmtes available is to mix the cru.shed iihosphate 
ro(;k AA'ith sulphuric acid. The chemical action re- 
.sulting from this mixture “cuts” or dissolA'os the rock 
and thus gives the aAmilahle suiierphosphate. The 
high price of the acid has greatly increased the price 
of the pho.sphate, and owing to the Avar demands 
there is little relief in sight. In the new Lipman 
proces.s a compost is made of manure, rich .soil con¬ 
taining bacteria, ground phosphate rock and poAv- 
dered suljihur. The bacterial action upon the snl- 
idiur in this compost to oxidize it and change it into 
the biting acid which attacks the jihosphate rock and 
“cuts” it in much the .same as in the regular manu¬ 
facturing proces.s. Then the entire compost can he 
used as a fertilizer in the oi'dinary Avay. The pi’ocess 
has been tried out practically and has great possibil¬ 
ities. Dr. Lipman .says it may al.so prove useful 
with certain forms of potash-beai-ing rocks crushed 
and used much the same as the piiosphate rock. This 
process .should be tried out fully by the experiment 
•stations, and by practical farmer.s. It is simple 
enough and can easily be put iu practice. The com¬ 
post is made up of 10 parts of ground phosphate 
rock, four parts of fine sulphur, 20 parts of fertile 
soil and 10 i>arts of jnanure. These are thoroughly 
mix(Ml together and kept reasonably moist. Thus 
the soli is not only the place in AA-hieh jdants may 
live and j)roduce their crop.s, hut it may he used iu 
juanufaeturiug as well. 
* 
O N the next page is a careful aiialy.sis of the cost 
of a loaf of bread brought down from the 
Avheat through ji barrel of fiour. Dr. Ladd is one of 
the highe.st authorities iu the country on this sub¬ 
ject. As head of the North Dakota Agidcullural 
Gollege he is doing great AVork for the peojile of his 
State. Dakota is an agricultural Stjite, farmlHg 
being by far the most important industry. It is also 
a State Avhich has been in the past particularly at 
the mercy of speculators and transportation interests 
iu the disposal of its grain croj)S. The Dakota 
farmers combined to remedy some of their ])olitica] 
Avrongs, hut they are still accused of robbing the 
consumers through the higli cost of bakers’ bread. 
It has become a habit for all the city middlemen to 
blame the farmers for any increase iu priee.s. Thus 
Dr. Ladd does a notable service for his people A\dieu 
lie make.s his analy-sds of the co.st and price of a 
loaf of bread. We see that the farmer gets .$9.45 
for the Avheat required to make a barrel of flour. 
When the flour is made Into 10-cent loaves it brings 
from .$20 to $35. Thus, Avhen tlie housewife pays 
one dollar for bread the farmer Avho raised the 
Avheat gets from 27 to 31cents, Avhile the various 
liandlers iu betAveeii farmer and con.sumer take from 
(>S to 73 cents. 
♦ 
W HAT about feed and feed prices? A careful 
canvass of Eastern dairymen .shoAvs that a 
large proportion of them Avill feed as little grain as 
possible during the early Winter. These men have 
cloA'er and Alfalfa and silage, and mo.st of them have 
a fair oat crop. They Avill cut the eloA’er hay and 
feed it Avith silage, a little ground oats added. No 
one expects that this will jiroduce as much milk as a 
heavy feed of grain, hut those men rea.son that a 
quart of milk prodiieed in this Avay Avill give a 
greater net income. Others say they will give full 
feed eA'en at the high price. They have good coavs 
and good courage, and the next two months’ prices 
October 1.3, 1917 
look good to them. They hank on the proposition 
that feed must come down before Christmas. All 
agree that the corn crop is heavy, that cottonseed 
meal Avill not be exported, and that flour instead 
of entire grain Avill he sent abroad. Under anything 
like normal conditions those things ought to bring 
feed prices down. The Food Admini.strator predicts 
cheaper feed before the end of the year, and dairy¬ 
men are waiting for it. We have made a pretty fair 
canvass of the dairymen in the Eastern States to 
learn Avhat proportion of them are buying the l7airy- 
men’s Ivcague balanced ration. Thus far we haA’e 
found only .a feAA 3 
♦ 
T his plan for a Farm Forum, outlined on page 
1178, is good, and farmers cannot do better 
than help develoi) it. Tliere is plenty of .sound, 
earnest thinking in the country, but it is not concen¬ 
trated and applied. Tliis fornm will help tie all 
these sticks of indiAidual thinking into a mighty 
bundle. Wlien Ncav England dominated the thought 
of this nation there Avas in every important town a 
“lyceum,” or academy. People gathered at these 
])laces and li.^tened to the greatest thinkers of the 
day. Tliese men came AA'ith their great message, 
and then those thinking farmers stood up and cross- 
questioned them until the truth shone out like a star. 
It was that flash of mental flint upon the steel of the 
student Avhicli made the rural districts of tho.se days 
tlie breeding places for giant minds. The same thing 
is needed in New York and other Eastern States. 
Great questions carrying immense lesponsibilities 
are coming, and country peojile mn.st do one of tAV'O 
things.* They must either settle their own .share of 
these great questions or let politicians do the job, 
and pay their indej^endence and manhood as the 
Tirice. The best thing about these forums is the Avay 
the audience que-stions the speaker. Pre.sident Wood- 
row Wilson spoke iu Coojier Union, New York, and 
lliis is his report: 
_ In the Que.stion,s that are a.sked there after the .speech 
is over, the most penetrating questions that I have ever 
iiad addressed to ino came from .some of the men who 
were the lea.st well-dressed iu the audience, the plain 
fidlows, the fellows whose muscle was daily up against 
the Avhoie struggle of life. Tliey asked que.stions which 
Avent to the heart of the business, and put me to my 
mettle to answer them. I felt as if those questions 
came as a voice out of life it.self, not a voice out of any 
school less severe tlian tlie severe school of experience. 
One of these forums in your county would call out 
the best talent in the country. The si>eaker Avould 
he Irained to pack his argument together, and the 
hearers Avould he trained to tear it ajiart if they 
could. ’Fhat AA'ould he the finest analysis of the sub¬ 
ject. A good idea—help push it along. 
* 
IIoAv much good would .slaked lime do on the wheat if 
aiiplied on top of tlie ground Avhen the suoaa' is on, or 
when the ground is frozen and nothing further done 
with it? Tlieii we have more time and moi*e help. 
•Spring comes late and wot tliese years, and as much 
plowing as possible for Spring must be done in late 
^ hope to plow our oat and oat and pea fields 
this Fail. How much good will a liberal application 
of slaked lime do if applied to these plowed fields 
tliroiigh the AVinter on tlie snow or on the frozen 
ground, and tlieii disked and liarroAA'od in in the Spring? 
Ulster Co., N. Y. m. p. 
N all tlie discussions of the lime matter AA’e haA*e 
iiCA'cr seen tliese questions fully aniswered. Thus 
we print lliem here and call for experience. It i.s 
conceded that tlie best way to apply lime Is to spread 
on tlie furrows and harrow in. In some cases farm¬ 
ers advocate S]»roading on the ground and plowing 
under iu order to sink the lime into tlie subsoil, but 
.such ea.ses are unusual. Whenever Ave haA'e spread 
lime on the snovA’' or on top of the grain A\"e luiA’e 
found most of it in little chunks, like mortar, gath¬ 
ered iu holes or depressions of the .soil. In mo,st 
cases only a small jiart of the lime seems to sink 
doAvn into the .soil. We should say that not over 40 to 
50 percent, of the liming A'alue Avould be obtained by 
either of the methods here mentioned. Time AAmuhl 
no doubt be saved, but .some effect of the lime Avould 
be lost. Among our big family there must he men 
AA'ho luiA'e tried these plans carefully and noted re¬ 
sults. What do they say? 
Brevities 
Good bread needs kneading. 
The young jiig makes the most gain. 
The supply of Red clover .seed is reported short, and 
higher prices are evidently coming. 
Be sure that the hogs have all they want of Avood 
ashes and salt. Our hogs clean up ashes by the bushel. 
“Every child should have a quart of milk each day,”^ 
and 75 per cent, of people stop drinking milk too early 
in life. 
It looks now as if many a family will put up a good 
supply of sauerkraut for the first time this year. Cab¬ 
bage promises to be cheap, and kraut is “filling.” 
It seems from the figures given last week that with 
the present price of grain the young cockerel at his first 
crow will not .sell for enough to pay for raising his sister 
pullet. In former years that worked out. Not now 
Avith higher grain. 
