1240 
iThe Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FAEMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban llomcii 
Established isio 
Pobllubrd weekly by the Rnral PtibliBhine fonipany, 333 West 80th Street, Xew fork 
liEunEHT W. COLMNOWOOD, President and Editor. 
.John J. Dillon, Treoeurer and General Manager. 
Wm. P. Dilixin, Secretary. Mas. E. T. Rovle, .Vssociate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION; ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 8 s. Cd., or 
marks, or IOI 5 francs. Keniit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates. 70 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany tramsient orders. 
! “A SQUARE DIh;L" 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible (lerson. We use every poasible precaution and admit tlie advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers su.stained by trusting any delilierate swindler, iri'espon- 
sible ndverti.ser 8 or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are al.so 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 ca.scs should not bo 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 ofrfhe complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rdral New- 
Yorkeb when writing the advertiser. 
Soldiers of the Legion 
No. I. 
'lORY day biiiigs us note.s from old friends who 
eoiiie to enlist for another year. These people 
are loyal, and they have an original way of explain¬ 
ing themselves: 
I have a very friendly feeling for The R. N.-Y. I 
would as soon try to make butter without a cow as to 
farm without your paper. r. g. miller. 
I There is no bogus butter or oleo about Mr. Miller, 
and The R. N.-Y, is glad to stand with the honest 
cow. 
/ 
I fully agree with you as regards the injury which 
New England sustained by the decline of manufacturing 
in the country towns, and the resulting de.struetion 
of the old-time comnninity life. It was the moral foi^ce 
engendered by the life of rural New England which 
exterminated the evil of slavery, and which saved the 
nation in the sixties. One great handicap in our 
jireseut struggle with the forces of autocracy is tliat 
there is "no such pervading moral sentiment in this 
country today. As you .say, the great trouble with 
the younger generation is that they fail to realize the 
great power which the old country life has been in the 
upbuilding of our nation, and in the creating of our 
national ideals. Our <fanniug communities are the 
last strongholds of the old-time American .spirit, and if 
they are to be broken up and replaced by the factory 
system of agriculture it bodes ill for the future of the 
nation. A_. b. Roberts. 
HE same thing has happened so many times 
that it ouglit to be an old story to anyone who 
has ever read history. 8ome 10 years ago Haggard, 
in his “Rural England,” painted a true picture of 
English farming, and clearly stated wliat was com¬ 
ing. At that time no one anticipated this fearful 
war, wdiieh has shaken Great Britain to the founda¬ 
tions, because, while her banks were full of money, 
her farms were occupied by men and yvomen who 
had been neglected and treated so that they had 
lost most of the old-time spirit of farming. For the 
pa.st thirty yeai's our agricultural education and 
the feeling of our so-called “leaders” has been along 
the material side of production to the neglect of 
distribution and of the spirit and power of the old- 
time farming. It is now apparent that those leadens 
and educators, in their haste for material progress, 
have nearly ^sidetracked/ the real power of the 
farmer. If we are to get it back once more we must 
do the work ourselves. 
* 
Has the Govornmeiit sent out men to find out how 
much canned Triiit, vegetables and other things the 
farmer has, and then take a per cent of all canned 
goods? I am very anxious to know, as it seems as 
though the farmer’s wife has enough to do now. We 
have heard that men from the cities go out into the 
country and claim to be fi’om the Government, and 
demand the canned fruit and have it for their own use. 
New York. MRS. c. c. 
I F any man comes to your house demanding part of 
your supply of canned goods get the men folks 
to can him at once. Put him into a temperature 
about as high as the canned goods had to take. This 
story is part of a mean and malicious effort to dis¬ 
credit the government and make the people discon¬ 
tented. It is true that the government wants to 
know just how much food there is in the country. 
A food cemsus will be a good thing, but no one will 
seize your canned goods or take any share of them. 
No doubt some swindler will try the game you men¬ 
tion. If they do can them—give them the hot 
water treatment! 
COST accounting commission in Michigan spent 
much time in figuring out the cost of growing 
an acre of beans or ])otatoes. They made use of all 
available figures, and finally decided that the acre 
cost of growing beans was $58.43. They also con¬ 
cluded that with favorable conditions the average 
yield of merchantable beans is 8^/4 bushels per acre. 
As for potatoes, the commission decided that the 
potato grower must receive $1 per bushel in bulk 
f.o.b. at Grand Rapids or similar freight points. In 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
the repoi-t of this commission a quotation is made 
from the New Y^oi’k Annalmt regarding the price of 
copper: 
Copper at 23^e will return a handsome profit to 
some of the low-co.st mining companies and a fair 
profit to others who.se costs run high. There are con¬ 
cerns which are able to mine, refine, and deliver their 
product under 8c a lb., others cannot do it at less 
than 18c, and many have costs between 11 and 15c. 
The point about this is that potatoes are as im¬ 
portant as copper. In making a price the govern¬ 
ment evidently arranged so that no copper producer 
should work at a loss. 
* 
Fifty Farmers at Albany 
I re.qil a great deal lately in your paper about the 
formation of a farmers’ non-parti.san political league. 
I hope this will soon take definite form, and become 
an active force in New York politics. I go five miles 
to vote, usually walking, and it seems a useless waste 
of time to vote for the big political parties as now 
organized and run. Of course on election day I am 
invited to ride in the big touring cars of the politicians, 
hut do not care to sell my vote for a joy ride. L. e. 
Warren Co., N. Y. 
HAT is but one of many letters from New York 
farmers. There are enough of them to war¬ 
rant a State non-parti.san league of country voters. 
We must have 50 farmers in the New York Legisla¬ 
ture, and there is no way to get them there except 
through non-iDarti.san work. Unfortunately most 
men will not vote for a candidate on the opposition 
ticket unless they had som thing to do with his 
nomination. Party spirit is still very strong, and 
too many people fear that a man backed and en¬ 
dorsed by the political leaders will be obliged to put 
his party first of all. The greatest need in the State 
today is a gi’onp of 50 men in the liCgislature who 
are first of all farmers—pledged to do what the 
people who voted for them demand, and under no 
obligations to any political boss or driver. Any man 
of sense will know that 50 such men can never be 
sent to Albany ui^er our present political system. 
The men of like mind an all parties must get together 
on some non-partisan basis, select their candidates 
and elect them. The first experiment of this sort is 
being tried in Delaware Co., N. Y. J. Clark Nesbitt 
was selected as a candidate by a committee repre¬ 
senting farm organizations. That is argument 
enough for his election in a county W'here farming 
is the chief or only bu.siness. Those Delaware 
County fawners have a chance—not only to put a 
practical farmer in the Legislature, but to show the 
other rural counties how to put 50 such farmers 
there. We are in favor of organizing a non-iaartisan 
league in every New Y^ork County. Get together 
early, and after full discussion nominate men wdio 
are knoAvn to be actual farmers, and men of known 
character and ability. Then get out and carry the 
campaign into every corner of the county, and put 
tho.se men through the primary elections as nomi- 
nee.s. Briefly stated, that is the only way to do it. 
The men are ready. We only need organization and 
a few fearless leaders in each county. Delaware 
County should elect Mr. Nesbitt as a starter, and 
every other county must organize for 1918. Now 
who will enlist for the battle? We have many 
names already, and we want thousands moi'e. The 
R. N.-Y. will help organize the work, but the leader¬ 
ship must come straight from the ranks of the 
farmers. 
* 
I N talking to a group of farm paper men recently 
Secretary of Agriculture Houston said: 
I think I said vei-y early ofter my arrival here that 
it was almost a crime to secure information and not 
to give it publicity as promptly and as effectively as 
possible. I would not yield anything to anyone who 
advocates research work. There will be a great deal of 
it to do as long as we are a developing people. 
There will be problems to solve as long as people 
wish to progress. But, with the 'full recog¬ 
nition of this fact, I may still assert, a? 
I have more than once, that enough is now known to 
work a revolution in agriculture and in rural life in 
the nation if we could get it effectively before the farmer. 
The truth is we do not need more knowledge 
half as much as we need a clearer translation and 
more sympathetic teaching of what we now have. 
Men must be taught to think, and thus reason out . 
the facts which science collects for them. !\Ieu 
may read in the language of the college, but most 
of them tliin'k in the language of the country or 
grammar school. The Department, with its reports 
and bulletins, must go down into the language of 
the man who fully understands not over 800 words. 
In a way scientific research has developed not un¬ 
like the regular farming business. Distribution has 
not kept up with production, .so that part of the 
crop of food and a large part of the crop of scientific 
research never reach the consumer. A true scientist 
cannot talk in the I'eal language of the plain prac¬ 
tical farmer. If he kept his thought on these prac¬ 
tical matter’s he could not be a scientist. Whenever 
the plain practical farmer drifts off into science he 
October 27, 1917 
is no longer practical I What the Department most 
needs are men who can think as the wise and speak 
as the common people. 
* 
T housands of men and women in this country 
will feel deep sorrow at the death of .John 
Howard Hale of Connecticut. While we knew that 
Mr. Hale was not in good health we had no thought 
the end was at hand. For many years J. H. Hale 
has been a noted public char’acter, particularly in 
the lines of fruit-growing and its allied interests. 
Probably no other man in America so thoroughly 
stamped his vigorous personality upon any bi’anch 
of soil cultivation. His life reads like a romance. 
Starting as a poor farm boy working by the month 
at boy’s wages he came to be the most noted peach 
grower in the world, and wvner of the largest apple 
orchard east of the Alleghenies, Never endowed 
with a strong constitution, beset by many handicaps 
and disaster-s. Hale won his way by unconquerable 
■fenacity, the finest optimism and sublime faith in 
the possibilities of commercial fruit-growing. For 
years Hale was the most popular American speaker 
at any assembly where farmers attended. Full of 
native wit, with strong horse sense, fearless to 
expose shams or errors. Hale has left a trail of 
happy memories which will reach from every corner 
of the country and center at his grave. He has left 
the world full measure of inspiration and hope. 
Happily the indomitable spirit of such men cannot 
remain in the grave. 
* 
Can you put me in touch with fair associations any¬ 
where m the Country, where fairs are conducted on a 
free admission basis? I have heard of their being con¬ 
ducted successfully, especially iu the We.st, but do not 
understand their plan of operation. At present county 
fairs seem to he on the decline, and I believe a free 
admission fair could he made attractive. 
Cape May Co., N. J. lutheb t. garretson. 
E .shall have to pass that on to our readers. 
It is a good question—good enough for a 
wide an.swer. We have heard of several small, local 
fairs which succeeded without any admission charges 
but the larger exhibitions seem to depend upon 
ticket sales for paying expenses. If there are any 
“free .show” fairs which have paid our people will 
know about it. 
* 
^^HERE are two great reasons why farmers and 
J- (SmaH investors generally should Invest Sn 
Liberty Bonds if possible. The money is needed. We 
are in the most expensive war in all the world’s 
history. It is a gigantic struggle, and the only way 
to end it is to organize an overwhelming power. 
A Liberty Bond is evidence of faith in the Nation 
and a good investment as well. It ought to be a 
popular loan, with millions of small investors. No 
doubt the government can get this money by going 
to the big bankers and financial interests, but that 
is not <he best way. Those who buy these bonds 
will hold a mortgage on the nation. Far better have 
that mortgage held by 10,000,000 small investors 
than by a few men in Wall Street! We do not urge 
our people to spend the money they need for working 
capital to buy bonds, but a part of what they are 
able to put aside for the future ought, as a patriotic 
duty, to go into this Liberty Loan. 
Brevities 
What is the proportion of dishorned catle in vour 
section ? 
Our friend the cynic says that the weeds of a grass 
widow are quickly killed by cultivation. 
Blood money! The price you get for selling a 
faithful old horse—worn out in your service—to a 
cruel driver. 
Last w’eek iu figuring the cost of feeding a cow for 
one year the value of silage was put at $10 per ton. 
Do you call that a fair price? 
“Mary had a little lamb”-—she got into the sheep 
business and become a public character. Go and do thou 
likewise. 
In storing large piles of potatoes it will pay to run a 
tier of strawberry crate.s up through the pile. They 
will act as a ventilator. 
Save the bags! Grain, fertilizer, lime and feed bags 
are scarce and high, and there is likely to he a shortage. 
It is like throwing money away to waste them. 
“The meatless hide” is the next call for economy. 
One dealer reports finding six to seven pounds of good 
meat to the hide. In 10 days at one plant 2,177 pounds 
of meat were scraped from hides. 
“Boneless beef” is the latest for saving .space and 
weight on beef^imports. The bones are trimmed out of 
the bedf—^thus saving 20 per cent or more in weight 
and permitting closer packing. 
We used to think we ought to save the hen with 
yellow legs, but now experts tell us these are merely 
culls or dregs. So when you see these yellow birds 
just offer them for sale. Select the weatherbeaten 
bird that lays herself down jiale. 
