678 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FABMER'S PAPER 
A JfBtlonnl Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban IIonicH 
Establis?ied fSSO 
rnbllftbed weekly bj the Raral Publiffhlnjr Company, 833 West 80th Street, New Tork 
Herbert W. Colungwood, President and Editor. 
John J. DibnoN, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. DibixiN, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royee, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries In tho Universal Postal Unlqn, fZ.Ot, equal to 8 s. 6 d.. or 
8(4 marks, or 101s francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, itersonal check or bank draft. 
Eiitcretl at New York Post Office as Second Class ?Iatter. 
Advertising I'ate.s, 76 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAR” 
We believe that ovei’y advertisement in this paper Is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. 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 raid BubTOribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
stich ^indler will be publicly exposed. Wo are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsihle houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases 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 tho courts. 
Notice of the complaint must bo sent to us within one month or tho time of 
the transaction, and to Identify it, you should mention The Rurae New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
A PAPER called “Feedinpc Stuffs,” publi.slied in 
the interests of the .erain and inilliiiK trade, 
jirints this: 
I'here is a tremoudous waste of food stuffs going on 
through the lack of railroad facilities to bring them to 
market or delays on the road. TChen take the loss of 
(lour substitutes which the housewife has dumped in the 
garbage can or fed to chickens! All attempts on her 
jmrt to make bread with substitutes have failed and she 
cannot eat bakers' bread. 
About everything we read about food in these days 
contains a “joker.” Someone is tiding to influence 
the public mind in favor of some proflt scheme. Just 
what the “joker’ is in this note we do not exactly 
know, but it is a ba.se libel on thousands of house¬ 
keepers who have tried to help by saving wheat. 
They make good bread from rye. barley and oatmeal 
and coniineal—so good and nourishing that they will 
never go liaek to live entirely on white bread. Per¬ 
haps that is what troubles “Feeding Stuffs.” The 
great complaint is over the outrageous price de¬ 
manded for the .substitutes. In one case a woman 
)taid !>() cents for 12 pounds of white flour and 
was obliged to buy 12 pounds of substitutes wdiich 
cost .$1,521 “All attemj)ts * * * to make bread 
with sul)stitutes have failed!’’ Humbug! We have 
for six months been eating “substitute” brea(J of 
tln^ flnest flavor and with great satisfaction. 
O N the lii’st page this week yoii will find figui*es 
showing how much of the consumer’s dollar, 
paid for potatoes, goes to the farmer. If anyone can 
dispute these figures or show that they an'^ not fair, 
we invite him to come forward and do it. We have 
been careful to avoid the usual collection of market 
figures and estimates, and so we have actually 
bought the potatoe.s, ju.st as others do, and have gone 
to the people who actually sold them in the country. 
The figures need no explanation. The potato grow- 
ei’s have received a 80-cent dollar. The various 
handlers from the car down to the jjeddler's wagon 
have taken, between them, 70 cents of the consumer’s 
dollar. The fanners have sold these potatoes at a 
loss. The “authoritie.s” have been far more anxious 
to provide chea]) food for the con.sumers than they 
have been to develop a living price for the farmer. 
It will be ju.st exactly the same with all other kinds 
of food Avhenever the time comes that farmers are 
forced to dispose of their crops. We may safely 
conclude that these things will continue just as long 
as the fanner lets his goods pass out of his control 
at the car door. During the milk strike we insisted 
that the great profits in the milk business were to be 
made in cleaning, fitting and handling after the milk 
left the barn. The dairy business will never be tnily 
lirofital)le to farmers until they control the milk up 
to its delivery. We now know the same is true of 
potatoes and otlier perishable foods. The middle¬ 
men will never willingly increase the size of the 35- 
c»mt dollar. The Government .shows no inclination to 
compel them to do ,so. This being so, there is only 
one way out, and that is for the farmers to organize 
so as to control distribution in the cities. The Gov¬ 
ernment cannot and will not do it for us. We must 
do it ohrselves, for not a iienny will ever be added 
to the 35-cent dollar unless we paste it on ourselves 
with the adhesive plaster of co-operation. 
•I* 
T he repeal of the New York school law leaves 
several questions unsettled. One is hiring teach¬ 
ers for another year. In some cases the present 
board, under advice from the State Department of 
Education, will proceed to hire such teachers before 
the new boards can be organized under the new law. 
Many of our country readers object to this, as they 
prefer to hire the teachers for their district schools 
and not have this done by the township board. It 
seems to us clear from the new law that after the 
Governor signed the bill the township board had no 
power to make any contract obligation except to 
CTAe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
borrow money to continue the schools until July 31. 
That seems to be the limit of their powers. The ex¬ 
cuse given for hiring the teachers is that there might 
be a .scarcity, but the real object seems to be an effort 
to deprive the new district trustees of that part of 
their rights. Most likely some test ca.se at law will 
be necessary to settle this mix-up. There will be 
ca.ses where the town.ship hoard will hire a teacher 
who is unsatisfactory to the district. In that case 
the district trustee can contest sneh teacher’s right 
to teach the school. As the law reads, we think such 
contracts made by the township board could be set 
aside. If the township board hires a good and suit¬ 
able teacher we would not advise serious opposition, 
but if the teacher is not satisfactory we believe tho 
district board can conti’ol, 
T here has been quite a little talk about a com¬ 
mission which is to inve.stigate the rural schools 
of New York. Who is to serve on that commission? 
Surely, after the experience of last Winter, it ought 
to be evident Hiat the men and women who live in 
the country jind .send their children to the rural 
schools ought to have the right to shape such legisla¬ 
tion. The bill provided the following: 
Section 1. A State commission is hereby create<l, 
consisting of seven members, as follows; The presi¬ 
dent of the Senate, or a person appointed by him ; the 
Speaker of the Assembly, or a person appointed by him; 
the Commi.ssioner of Education, or a person api)ointcd 
by him; the chairman of the State Tax Commission, or 
a person appointed by him ; the master of the New Y'ork 
State Grange, or a person appointed by him ; the presi¬ 
dent of the New York State Agricultural Society and 
the professor of home economics of the college of agri¬ 
culture of Cornell University, or a person appointed by 
him. If a vacancy occur in the office of any appointive 
member such vacancy shall be filled by the officer or 
commission which appointed his predecessor. Such 
commission is hereby authorized and directed to make a 
thorough investigation of the condition of the i-ural 
schools of the State and to ascertain what legislative 
action, if any, may be taken to improve the condition of 
these schools. 
The comniissiou i.s to report on January 15, and 
make recommendations for legislation. The mem- 
ber.s are to receive no compensation, but their ex¬ 
penses are paid. Thus our old friend Senator E. K. 
Rrown is named first on the commission, although he 
may appoint someoiK*’ else to serve in his place. Now 
several of the ])eo]tIe here des^ignated will no doubt 
freely admit fbat they know little or nothing about 
the country scl:ool. They will never .send any chil¬ 
dren fo such a school, and they do not pi-etend to 
know' how the school '.should be conducted. It 
would be a very sensible and graceful act on their 
])art to appoint in their places men or women who 
live in the country ami ai‘e i)ersonally interested. 
It seems to us that an ideal member for such ;i com¬ 
mission would be ji farmer’.s wife who has Ixum a 
successful teacl'.er ami now has children of her own 
in a country school. Can anyone tliiidc of a more 
efficient ])erson for .such work? There should be at 
least two of (hem on that commissioi!! 
* 
Tho school law has boou repealed. Di^es this mean 
that w’O get ba<-k our small s(*ho<il again? 'Fhe consoli¬ 
dated people tell us we must help pay their taxe.s just 
the same. mbs. ir. r. 
Livingston Co., N. Y. 
F course the repeal of the law will not afCeck 
the actual changes made under „iiat '.aw. If 
the school was actually consolidated by the proper 
proceedings under the law, the repeal of the town¬ 
.ship system will not affect it in any way. The con¬ 
solidated district will be administered as a single 
district until the people can bring the necessary 
pressure to effect the change. If the school ■was sim¬ 
ply discontinued by the towui board, the di.strict can 
uotv resume management of the school and maintain 
it. In the case of districts actually consolidated, W'e 
think further legislation will be needed in order to 
restore the old districts unless the district superin¬ 
tendent and the Depai’tment of Education are willing 
to do it. 
•* 
I note in the is.sue of The R. N.-Y. for April 20 that 
you are still asking Chas. H. Betts w'heu he is going 
to resign, and am moved to ask if the rumor that he 
resigned about a month or a little more ago "was all 
newspaper talk, as well as the rumor which even got 
into some of tho farm papers that Mr. Giles was offered 
the place and refused to take it. Or was Betts rein¬ 
stated after Giles’ refusal? It seems that it must have 
been all of five weeks ago that the Rochester Herald 
had a sharp article commenting on Betts’ cowardice in 
(putting without a fight just because a horde of farmers 
went to Albany and demanded that he be put out. At 
any rate, the general opinion about here is that Mr. 
Betts resigned a short time before the publication of his 
peppery letter stating he would not get out. C. A. 
, Wayne Co., N. Y'. 
M r. BETTS is still secretary of the New Yoi'k 
I Food Commission and says he will never re¬ 
sign. Some years ago a famous story entitled “My 
Double and How He Undid Me” related the trouble 
i 
which befell a man with a dual personality. Mi*. 
Betts was for a time a double-barreled secretary. He 
is paid .$(>,000 per year as secretary of the Food 
May 11, 1918 
Commission. Then came the Foods and Markets 
Couneil and Mr. Betts also served as secretary of 
this, with no salary attached to the job. Then the 
farmers protested and the members of this Council 
resigned (all except Betts) and Governor Whitman 
appointed a new Council. Brother Betts belongs to 
the “old guard,” which will “die but never surren¬ 
der”—a job. So, instead of re.signing, his job was 
“automatically wiped out’’ and the new council elect¬ 
ed Mr. Giles as secretary. Thus Betts permitted a 
non-paying job to walk away from him—but will he 
ever resign a paying job? We have his own answer 
— never! It is a good trick, howevei-, to have Betts, 
the “patriotic’’ secretary of the council, play to the 
galleries by getting out while Bett.s, the well-paid 
secretary of the commis.sion, hangs on to the job. 
The object seems to be to make the farmers think 
they forced this resignation, while Betts is quietly 
working up a political machine. So now we ask for 
the eleventh time —when are you going to resign?" 
V 
.\s you doubtlessly know, it is hard for the Lord and 
others to help those who will not help themselves. 
HAT comes from a man who has just had a little 
experience with the under side of human na¬ 
ture. A gang of crooks came into tho section and 
took advantage of several farmers. They were loud 
in their complaints, and a neighbor, a man of influ¬ 
ence and power, on the facts they gave him, put up 
a good fight and printed the story, expecting of 
coui’se that the others would back him to tho limit. 
Instead of that some of them weakened, backed 
down on their statements and left our friend to fight 
a libel suit alone! That does not often occur, but 
now and then some man does not like to stand up 
and do his share of the fighting. We always feel 
son-y for such people. They miss something of tho 
supreme joy of life which comes not out of lazy or 
ignoble peace—but out of conflict for human rights. 
I'armers must understand more and more that they 
nmst stand up on the fighting line together if tb(\v 
are ever to have equal rights. 
* 
W E are often told that New England farmers 
are “conservative” and not willing to change 
their methods. The fact is that this war has started 
more changes in the crops and methods in New Eng¬ 
land than in any other part of the country. There 
are many farmers of middle age in that section who 
never saw wheat growing on their farms until this 
yeai-. Last Fall they seeded wheat, and will harvest 
more than enough for their home requirements. They 
are also seeding barley for chicken feed, and the 
crop of buckwheat will be heavy. The greatest 
change will be seen in the corn crop. Most New 
England farmers had grown into the habit of growing 
the large corn for the silo. This year they will plant 
much of tho (piick-growing flints for husking coi-n. 
The poultry men are doing this on a large scab'. 
The fact is New England had, like Old England, 
grown into the habit of permitting other sections or 
other nations to grow its food. This war has brought 
both the Old and New England too close to famine 
for either to bo comforbible, and hereafter far more 
of both human and stock food will be produced at 
home. We think this change will be so complete and 
permanent that it will have a great effect upon the 
world’s food production. We think increased pros¬ 
perity is coming back to the New England farms. 
* 
N OW the U. S. Geological Survey has found in 
Montana samples of shale rock which yield 
both petroleum and phosphate. The shales run from 
7.5 to 24 gallons of petroleum, and to 1514 per 
cent of phosphate to the ton, and this double pro¬ 
duction will give them great value in the future. 
In fact, we are just beginning to realize the wonders 
of Avealth which lie in the soil of this country. The 
war is forcing us to develop things Avhich in peace 
would have remained dormant for a quarter of a 
century. 
Brevities 
Whatever else may come to pass, see that you raise 
asparagus. 
“Shxtt up the rooster” is the latest advice. Cau any¬ 
one do it without using an ax? 
You cau make about 15 pounds of pot or cottage 
cheese from 100 pounds of skim-milk. It is equal to 15 
pounds of meat as food. 
The Federal reserve • banks are to discount notes 
which are secured by farm tractors. The tractors must 
be purchased for farm purposes. 
The New York State Food Commission will have 00 
farm ti-actors at Avork in the State. Each must ploAV 
at least 200 acres. 
Who has tried the plan of blowing up the wood¬ 
chucks’ hole with dynamite? Does it get them? All 
sorts of plans are suggested—some of them not prac¬ 
tical. 
