1414 
December 15, 1917 
tap-roote?IQ|^HH^^^Phtmm.— I 
say nrinim Alfalfa on rich soil. I 
say it is more of a “surface feeder" than the tap- 
rooted, or common variety, and from its liahits of 
forming so many crowns I think it-will soon get too 
thick. TVliy not use the tap-root to go down “toward 
China” (as I have said), to get long-lost fertility, 
that the Grimm can never reach with its branching 
surface roots? Of course, any kind of Alfalfa, if 
inoculated II use .soil), will get its nitrogen from 
the air, but other available plant foods would soon¬ 
er be exhausted by the surfaced rooting than by the 
tai»-)-ooted variety; that. Cobum says, “has been 
known to go 129 feet deep” (in Arizona, I 
believe it is). Try this, and see if it won't help your 
“tough and weedy land.” 
“LET ITTM EAT IT DOWN.”—About four years 
ago a foreigner asked me how I sowed Alfalfa, say¬ 
ing he had a potato patch that he wanted to get 
into pasture. He said, after listening carefullly, that 
he would try my plan. It is still fine today, and two 
years ago he cut it five times for hay, he said, and 
last year he got four crops of hay. and he said, “I 
(*ould have got five, but I turned my heifer in, and 
let him eat it down.” I celebrated Washington’s last 
birthday by sowing some Alfalfa on a farm we had 
recently traded for in ^fonroe County, Indiana. I 
reported same to a Bloomington, Ind., paper, and 
brought upon myself the vile wrath of the local 
agricultural agent, who said he “deemed it his duty 
to give warnings,’’ etc. I replied, but was “denied 
the use of the press.” Last July 2 I found plants 
1914 inches high from this seeding, despite the fact 
that a severe hailstorm, in May, had beaten this Al¬ 
falfa into the ground, or almost out of it. “Doubting 
Thomases” should “test all thing.s” and get rid of 
“old fogy habits” and prejudices, to some extent, at 
least. J. N. SHIRUEY. 
Indiana. 
B. X.-Y.—The Cossack Alfalfa has a good system 
of surface roots, and also deep tap roots as well. 
]\Iany experiments in Northern New Jersey have 
convinced us that for our climate and soil the sur¬ 
face branch-rooted varieties, are superior to the old 
tap-rooted soi-ts. This is a big country—too big to 
take repoi-ts of all local succes.ses as a sure reason 
for changing old practices. They ought, however, 
to compel fair oxi>eriment. 
The picture at Fig. (Mm on page 141G, .shows what 
Mr. Shirley calls the greatest feed combination— 
corn and Alfalfa. The corn is on one side of the 
wire fence, and was planted in .Tune, 1917, on Alfalfa 
sod. On this side of the fence the Alfalfa was seed- 
(>d in April, 191.% with less than six pounds of seed 
to the acre. This picture was taken in the Summer 
of 1917. To get the full size of the Alfalfa plants, 
note the strip along the wire fence which the mower 
knife could not i-each, and compare their height with 
that of the man. 
Connecticut Farmers and War Profits 
HE executive committee of the Connecticut Veg¬ 
etable Growers’ Association puts out the follow¬ 
ing statement: 
“Every now and then duxdng the past year, and 
especially frequently of late, some individual or 
group of individuals, M'ith an ax to grind, bi’oaks 
out in public .speech, and usually into newspaper 
prominence, proclaiming that the farmers or certain 
classes of fanners of the country are the cause of 
the high cost of food, are reaping unusual profits, 
and appaiently are spending much of their time 
running around the country in high-priced automo¬ 
biles. 
“The executive committee <>f the Connecticut Veg¬ 
etable Growers’ Association desires emphatically to 
dispute such statements or imputations, and to put 
before those in authority in our government and the 
public generally, a true statement of the agricultural 
conditions in Connecticut, which, no doubt, ai’e quite 
similar to those in most of oxir Eastern States. It 
wishes to announce its endorsement of the demand 
made last Summer by the dairymen for the increased 
price for milk production, and to deny that this has 
resulted in unfair profits to the dairy farmer at the 
entire expense of the middleman and the con.sumer. 
“There is no class of men more loyal to our gov¬ 
ernment in and out of its times of unusual need, 
than are the farmers of this and other States. No 
set of men in moderate means in any kind of occxi- 
pation or business will continue to work or do Inisi- 
ne.ss without at least some financial reward. In the 
past the farmer.s, more than any other class of juen, 
have been doing this. Today, under the unusfial 
war conditions, they are asked to grow certain 
crops when it often means a financial loss to them, 
and they cannot and will not keep this up unless 
they make enough on their operations as a whole 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
to more than compensate them for their loss. It is 
well for those in authority and the public in gen¬ 
eral to bear this in mind, else another year the food 
situation may gi’ow worse rather than better through 
the failure of growers to grow profitless crops. 
“What is the situation that has faced the Connecti¬ 
cut vegetable grower the past year, and, to a certain 
extent, the fruit grower as well? 
“1. He was asked to increase his crop pi’oduction 
(already adequate to local market conditions), which 
is of a kind for which there is no foreign exportation 
to take care of the excess and thereby increase or 
keep up the price, and to do this that we might 
lessen the consumption of our exportable crops, 
grown ehsewhere, which were sure of an unglutted 
market and a profitable return. 
“2. He was brought into market comixetition with 
excessive x>roduction of similar crops grown else¬ 
where. 
“3. Local competition with him through individ¬ 
ual, society and factory gardens was encouraged to 
the utmost as a way of showing one’s patriotism. 
“4. He had to pay greatly increa.sed prices for his 
seeds, his fertilizers and for machinery and horses, 
if he bought any. His artificial fertilizers in most 
cases lacked the element of potash so essential to a 
full crop production. 
“5. His labor situation was most unusual and 
critical. General farm labor is the lowest paid labor 
on the market, because there is the least profit in 
farming of any business. With a greatly increased 
demand elsewhere the farmer 5yas the one who was 
short-handed, because he could not pay the in¬ 
creased competitive price that resulted. Then, too, 
the draft took away labor that ought to have been 
available, and is threatening to make more serious 
inroads in the future. To meet this the farmer has 
to employ day laborers that came to hand occa¬ 
sionally, school boy.s, students, women, criminals 
from jails, colored people fi’om the South, etc., most 
of whom cost more and were less efficient than the 
trained laborers of previous years. 
“To meet these conditions he had to market most 
of his early crops at little or no profit, and in some 
cases at a loss. T'nusual ways of marketing the 
ci'ops by roadside stores and stands were devised. 
Some crops were left to go to seed to decrease the 
loss and relieve the glutted market, and some few 
were plowed up. A certain grower fed his Summer 
cabbages to his i)igs as the most profitable way of 
disposing of his crop. From mid-Summer on the 
conditions were better, and helped pull the growers 
through. It is safe to sfiy that no farmer became 
wealthy, and most were glad to close the season with 
a reasonably small profit or to break even. 
“The farmer today is a better educated man than 
was his father at the time of the Civil War. The agri- 
oultural colleges and experiment stations and the U. 
S. Department of Agriculture have helped to bring 
this about. Therefore, he demands more benefits 
for his M’ork than formerly. Like the .Tapanese, 
he has awakened to the advantages of education and 
progress, and, like them, he is going to get these as 
:m individual or through organization. What he 
wants of the government and the public at present 
are: 
“1. A dependable, sutiicient and i>rofital)le labor 
supply. 
“2. A market for his crop that is fairly reliable, 
.‘^o that he can dispo.se of all he is asked to produce. 
“3. A reasonable profit, so that he and his can 
enjoy their share of the advantages of modern civil¬ 
ization. 
“4. A place in the political, business and social 
world commensurate with the importance of his 
calling. 
“Yes, he does frequently ride around in an automo¬ 
bile, and also drives a truck, but he does these partly 
Ixecause he has become an educated business man 
and finds that he can no longer afford to .si)ort a 
horse and buggy, or use a team mand wagon for cer¬ 
tain kinds of work.” 
Experience with Misfit Trees 
O N page 1297 W. C. Deraing gives his experience 
with trees that were not true to name. In 
conclusion he says that he cannot tell how to avoid 
such troubles. In 1907 I bought about 12.5 assorted 
apple, plum and pear trees from the -Nurseries. 
I do not know whether these people are still 
skinning the public or not, but I no longer see 
their advertisements. Most of these trees have 
borne, and not one was true to name. As there is a 
fair sale for the varileties that have borne, viz. Yel¬ 
low Transparent, I’umpkin Sweet and Snow apples, 
I am not out so very much. Later I bought .some trees 
from an agent to fill in vacancies. I took certain 
varieties that he had, and that I fancied, thinking 
to avoid substitutions. The Wagoners turned out 
to be Wealthys, which being a better apple, did not 
make me sore, but would certainly have done .so had 
I desired the varSety especially. 
I then made up my mind to investigate before 
planting another orchard. I went to a neighbor 
who has the only commercial orchard planted re¬ 
cently in the county, and got some advice. As a 
result of this and other inve.stigations, I decided 
on McInto.sh for one block, Spy with Wealthy fillers 
for another, and .some Ben Davis for replacements. 
I got from the neighbor mentioned, the names of 
three reliable nui'seymen. The head of one of these 
nurseries had just died, so the orehardist recom¬ 
mended one of the others, since he considered the 
risk too great in dealing with the sons. I bought the 
trees from the nursery recommended, and found 
them to bear a general resemblance to the ones I ' 
had previoxisly had, but to be in a different class 
entirely. Out of 204 I did not lo.se one, although 
the season was unusually dry. I bought two-year-old 
trees, five to seven feet tall. Not very many of these 
trees have yet borne, but all without exception have 
been true to name, and the rest so exactly resemble 
the ones that have borne in habits of growth, etc., 
that there is no doubt about their being true to 
name. My neighbor has never had one untrue to 
name. The price is about a third higher than the 
cheapest trees, but they are well worth the differ¬ 
ence. 
As to Ben Davi.s, I always had an idea that they 
were good only to make corks from until I had two 
experiences. The first was when I had the above 
mentioned interview. The orchai*dist told me that 
he made more money fi-oin Ben Davis than from 
any other tree except McIntosh. When I spoke of 
its poor quality, he said that it was not .supposed to 
compete with real apple.s, or words to that effect. 
It will keep two years or less, and does not come 
on to the market until all the good apples are gone. 
Then it acts as a substitute. The tree bears heavily, 
bears young, and is a hardy grower. The price 
received for them in the late 'Spring is as high as 
or higher than for better apples when there is more 
competition. The secojid experience was when I 
had several bushels late one S])ring, after all the 
other apples were gone, and I found them to be 
of far better quality than they were earlier, and of 
course they had 'the whole show to themselve.<5. 
As to getting the proper nurseryman, do as I did— 
go to some one who makes a business of apple 
raising, and find out who is reliable. 
As to your “agricultui’al expert,” he was un¬ 
doubtedly a graftei’. Ho probably got a rake-off 
from the nurseryman he recommends to you as well 
as “stinging” j’ou for fifty dollar.s. I have come to 
the conclusion, after being “stung” several times, 
that when I am going to get stung I w’ill do so on 
my own hook, and not furnish a fat commission to 
.some assistant deputy stinger. a. h. de grai f. 
Figuring the Cost of Wheat 
I W.VS v.eiy much interested in the letter from E. 
J. Baird on page 1.344. The subject of his h-^'b- 
Avas the cost of growing wheat, and regarding Avhat 
he says on that .subject I have no objection to make, 
as I know very little about Avheat, 
But I do take decided is,sue with him Avhen he 
states that no charge for interest or rental should 
be included. Interest and taxes—which are in a Avay 
rentaks—AAmrk continuously, 24 hours a day. If 
the Avheat groAA'u on a particular acre doesn’t pay the 
interest aiid taxes, or rental, on that acre, Avhat does 
pay them? Mr. Baird sa5's, “If farmers followed a 
system of bookkeeping requiring this, the end of 
the year would find each one of them hopelessly in 
debt.” No truer Avords Avere ever Avritten, and it is 
])recisely because the great hulk of farmer.s, here in 
the East, at least, do not folloAV such a system, that 
so many farms here do not pay. A farmer Avith an 
investment of .$20,090 in his farm may make a good 
living and say .$1,200 in ca.sh besides; he thinks he 
is doing Avell, but in reality he is getting only G ])er 
cent on his investment—Avith nothing deducted for 
depreciation. He might just as Avell .sell his farm, 
put his .$20,000 into a 6 per cent mortgage, and take 
his ease in front of the fire. He Avould be just as 
Avell off in money, and much more comfortable. 
Also, I Avas much interested in your footnote to 
Mr. Baird’s letter in regard to the government de¬ 
termining the cost of milk. If the poor ultimate 
consumers persuade the government to determine the 
cost of milk and fix the price so as to give a fair 
business profit to the farmer, the said ultimate con¬ 
sumers are due to get a terrible .shock. For the 
price of milk Avill haA^e to be aAvay above the present 
level. But all this discussion is more or less acad¬ 
emic. If labor keeps on getting scarcer there won’t 
be any more farms or AA’heat or milk, anyAA ay. 
^Massachusetts. e. d. whitaker. 
