' 728 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE JiVSIXESS FAKMER'S PAPER 
A A'nttonal Weekly Joiirniil for Country and ('uburbon llomcn 
Established iSSO 
I'lililiuhrd wrrkly by tli» Rnral rubliablne Company, 333 Weat 30lh Stroot,Jlew York 
Hekbkrt AV'. Coi.I/I.vowood, lYesuient and Editor. 
John J. Dii,i>on, Treasurer and Oeneral Manaprer. 
Wm. F. DiLbON, Secretjiry. JlK-S. E. T. Eoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal I’ostal Union, $2.04, equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8>4 marks, or lOis francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank dnift. 
Entered at New York Post Oflicc a.s Second Cla,ss Hatter. 
Advertising rates, 76 cents per agate line—7 words. Eeferenees required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We l>ellevc that every advertisement in this paper 5s 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 paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or mislea/ling advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust ditferences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
ofliccs to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not bo 
responsible for the debts of honest b.anknipts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month at the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
You vAll sometimes hear people who must live 
their life under some afflietion or narroired down 
hy hard conditions say, “/ will make the best of it!" 
That is only half the possihility of the case. They 
should say, “/ will make the most of it!" 
* 
I T is reported that the I’higlish Ciovernnient is con¬ 
sidering a war order for killing all surplus dogs. 
The object is to prevent waste of food. No family 
w’ill be permitted to keep more than one dog. This 
one must pay a big tax and it must be demonstrated 
that he is of some practical value. The order would 
wipe out all curs, lap dogs or common house dogs and 
save food enough to raise at lea.st 500,000 pigs. As a 
war neces.sity the dog is a fizzle. Yet he is such a 
“friend” that few politicians dare to tackle him prop¬ 
erly. 
♦ 
I N many New York school districts meetings were 
lield on ISIay 7 and oilicers elected. Now the 
school superintendents have issued calls for meetings 
on June 4. This year, in consequence of the mixup 
resulting from repeal of the old laAV, the date of 
this meeting will be decided by the district .superin¬ 
tendent. Hereafter the date of the district meeting 
will go back to the first Tuesday in Maj'. Where 
the voters haA’e already held their meeting Ave advi.se 
them to meet again on June 4 and go through the 
form of electing the officers already chosen. That 
will satisfy the legal requirements and there can be 
no question about it. Better do this and be .sure. 
* 
N ew* YORK now has a strict anti-loafer law 
which ought to be enforced. Every male citi¬ 
zen must work at least .30 hours each week. It 
makes no difference how rich or lazy he may be— 
the law just signed by Governor Whitman makes it 
necessary for him to work or be arrested with a 
penalty of fine or imprisonment. New Jersey has 
such a law and it is being enforced. As a re.sult a 
number of drones and “lounge lizards” came acro.ss 
the river to escape work. Such a law, enforced Avith- 
out any restriction, will work some hardship. Sup¬ 
pose a man to he 49 years old. He has worked hard, 
gained a competence and has “retired” to take a 
vacation. Under this law, strictly enforced, such a 
man will be obliged to go to work. It is doubtful 
if the labor will hurt him, and for one .such man 
there will be 100 lazy drones who ought to be put 
out on the road with pick; and shovel. We hope the 
law will be promptly and fully enforced without any 
favoritism or sentiment Similar laws are working 
Avell in New Jersey and Maryland. Let’s all help 
imt the village loafer at Avork! Sivcat will simplify 
his citizenship. 
» 
On page 700 you say the new law protecting soldiers 
from foreclo.sure or sale for non-payment of rent or 
taxes may work a hardship to some investor. How can 
that be? J. U P. 
HERE are a good many widoAvs or elderly people 
who have invested their property in real estate. 
'I'hey buy town lots and build small houses, usually 
borrowing part of the needed money. These houses 
are rented, and, in growing towns, when the insur¬ 
ance is kept up, they give good return in rentals and 
afford a good Investment for trust funds or retired 
people. Now, suppose such a house is rented by a 
soldier. His family refuses to pay rent during his 
absence In the army, and, under the new law, the 
courts sustain them. The OAvner cannot collect, but 
absolutely needs the rental money to pay taxes and 
mortgage intere.st and to live. We see nothing in the 
law which would prevent the holder of the mort¬ 
gage or the tax collector from selling the property 
for non-payment. The soldier’s family could not be 
evicted and of cour.se no one avouUI bid the true value 
for property encumbered in this Avay. Thus both 
income and property might be wiped out through this 
"She RURAL NEW-YORKER 
law and the trouble may fall upon classes of people 
who can least afford it. We think it AA’ould bo bet¬ 
ter in such cases for the Government to pay the rent 
or the interest to the oAvner and regard it as a long¬ 
term loan to the soldier. The theory of protecting the 
soldier is excellent, but the rights of trust funds and 
small inA’Cstors should be guarded also. 
T hree Aveeks ago the neAv.si)apers announce<l that 
wheat held on farms would be seized if not sold 
before May 20. Many of our readers AA-ere much 
concerned about this and called upon us to explain 
the situation. On May 15 we received the following 
letter from the Food Administrator which explains 
the situation: 
I beg to acknowledge your letter of April 20, in which 
you refer to a newspaper statement that wheat now in 
farmer.s’ hands will be seized by the Government and 
ask for details of the method by which this will bo done. 
No order of this sort has been is.siicd, except with ref¬ 
erence to AA'heat held by farmers who are openly pro- 
German and withholding the wheat from market for 
unpatriotic rea.sons. Marketing has now resumed- nor¬ 
mal dimensions, and so long a.s this continues aa-c do not 
have to confront details. uerhert iiooa’ER. 
* 
Please inform me what T can do to keep one of my 
boys home from school. He is 14 years old in .Inly. 
Have three boys going to school and find it almost im¬ 
possible to get good help. Have read several times of a 
law having passed to allow farmer.‘i to keep boys over 12 
years old at home to help on the farm. Have written to 
Mr. Betts, .Secretary of Food Commission, but got no 
answer. It Avmuld help me very much if you would write 
and tell me what to do, as our superintendent of schools 
does not believe such a laAV AA-as passi'd and will not per¬ 
mit the boy to stay at home, F. B. 8. 
Yonkers, N. Y. 
E do not know of any .such hiAV and doubt if 
any .such rule has been made. The teacher 
or school superintendent will have charge of this, 
and in most cases they have, as AV'e think, properly, 
decided that young boys should stay in .school. But 
why bother the Hon. Charles IT. Betts about this? 
What has he to do Avith it? Very likely he has 
troubles enough of his own, yet if, as he has stated, 
he knoAA’s all about farming, he could easily .settle a 
small thing like this. There is no laAV that Ave knoAV 
of Avhich Avill permit you to take the boy from school 
without the consent of teacher or superintendent. 
Gov. Whitman has just signed a laAV permitting boys 
over 14 to work out proA’ided they haA’e attended 
.school 1.30 days. Boys under 14 are expected to at¬ 
tend school until vacation. 
* 
I have used very reprehensible language to the people 
of the agricultural department, but their good seed.s have 
gone elseAvhere. All I can do is to apologize for them 
and express the opinion that this Government seed busi¬ 
ness is a nui.sance and a detriment to everybody con¬ 
cerned, besides being an unnecessary waste of money. 
In the future I shall earnestly favor its abolition. 
HAT is from Hon. ,Tohn A. Peters, Repre.seiitative 
In Congress from Maine. Mr. I’eters bolieve.s 
that food AA’ill Avin the Avar, and when the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture mentioned “Avar garden.s” he felt 
in.spired to graft one on every Maine farm. So he 
told his patriotic constituents to send their names 
for Government seeds! .Say, they responded like 
members of a church to a call for a free show and a 
free supper. And Avhat do you suppose the Agricul¬ 
tural Department .sent to these eager Avar gardeners 
in Northern Maine? They ran out of everything 
else, and so they .sent thousands of jiackets of musk- 
melon and tomato .seeds! It Avas an outfit Avell suited 
to the extreme soutliAvestern part of the country, but 
not quite .so useful as snoAV flakes in the far North¬ 
east! And these Maine farmers stood Avaitlng to 
start their Avar gardens Avith free seeds! I'hey trans¬ 
ferred the “war” part of it in a free fight to Mr. 
Peters, and he passed it on to the Department in “re])- 
rehensible language.” The great trouble Avith Mr. 
Peters is that he did not find out about this big seed 
humbug and graft until tlie.A’ made a bad shufile of the 
.seeds In his game. The whole Inisiness is a fraud— 
one of tho.se contemptible little grafts Avhich, after a 
farmer accepts, prevents him from consistently fight¬ 
ing big grafts in jiublie men. The principle carried 
in a package of “free seeds” is the .same as that in 
some big .special iiriAulege Avhich develops info ])ublic 
robbery. 
T he Ontario County Civic Organization has been 
stai-ted in Ontario County, New York. It grcAV 
out of the I’atrons’ Leagues Avhich Avere started dur¬ 
ing the eamiKiign over the repeal of the school law. 
The object of this organization is clearly stated as 
follows: 
The object of this organization is to guard the rights 
of the rural .school patrons and taxiiayers, to discourage 
unjust legislation and advocate the enactment of bene¬ 
ficial laAvs affecting the rights of the people of Ontario 
County and as.sist its members in social and bu.sine.ss 
matters. 
It would seem hard to find a farmer who could 
find fault Avith that statement or Avho would not be 
Avilling to use his political power to develop that 
object. Ontario is an agricultural county Avith prob¬ 
May 2.", 1918 
ably 75 per cent of its business depending dii-ectly 
upon the soil or farming. That being so, the county 
should be represented in both houses of the Legis¬ 
lature by farmers, and this civic organization should 
make sure that tAvo of the needed 50 farmers in the 
New York Legislature come from Ontario. 
» 
I have been informed that you edit a paper for farm 
folks that is not polluted AA’ith politicians. I have been 
12 years looking for an editor AA'ho has not got some 
one’s linger on his Avindpipe ready to shut him off Avhen 
he gets ready to tell the truth about condition.s as they 
really are. Clyde o. Patterson, 
Illinois. * 
O newspaper man can ever get away fi-om his 
oAvn work. The lawyer, the px’eacher and the 
doctor may deny or bury his mistake.s. but the editor 
must go through life facing the evidence of cold, 
black type. Therefore, Ave can merely refer our 
friend to back issues of The R. N.-Y”. We stand for 
them and on them. As for the politicians, we are 
Avell aware that they have no use for us because 
they cannot use u.s. For evidence on this point Ave 
think we may safely refer to Hon. Charles II. Betts, 
of Albany, and Hon. Elon R. Brown, of WatertOAvn, 
N. Y. Y'ou Avill find one thing about The R. N.-Y. 
It stands for farmers and country people fir.st and 
all the time. Other classes hav’e strong defenders 
and can take care of themselves. We try to stand 
for country people Avithout any apology or excuses. 
P EOPLE now living can remember when by pu.sh- 
ing every knoAvu means of transportation to 
the limit, a letter AA'as sent from Ncaa’ Yoi’k to Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., in .30 hours! That Avas thought so 
remarkable that the United States Senate de\’oted 
a session to celebrating this Avonderful performance. 
No donlit men of middle age at that time considered 
this the limit and could hardly think of more rapid 
mail .service! Tliere is now an aerial mail .sexwice 
betw’eeix the two cities—the flying tixne being aboixt 
2^2 hoxxrs. A .special delivery letter Avas mailed in 
NeAV Yox'k and delivex-ed at a residence ixi Washing¬ 
ton in 2 hours and 50 minutes! No one who has 
seen the developments of the past 25 years Avill xxn- 
dertake to say that this is the end. Thex’e will be 
gx’eater marvels to folloAV. It is xiow suggested that 
some sciexitlst should cro.ss the paiTot oix the cax'rier 
pigeon. That ought to gixm a I’apid flyixxg bird with 
the ability to coxnxnit a message to memoiy and 
“talk it off!" Ill view of the way the world is ru.sh- 
ing ahead Avho Avill say anything is impossible? 
* 
T he so-called Donnelly law of the State of NeAv 
York, enacted in 1909, to make contx’act for 
monopoly Illegal and void, and to make illegal com¬ 
binations to restrict competition, is now amended so 
as to e.xcept coOpex'ative associations, corpox*ate or 
othexwise, of fax-mex’s from its provision!?. The 
amendment Avas secured through the Ilill-Loi-d bill 
AA'hich passed in both hou.ses of the Legislatui-e the 
last session, and has recently been signed by Gover¬ 
nor Whitman. It Avas promoted jirincipally by the 
Legislative Committee of the Daix*ymen’s I^eague and 
supported by other cooperative organizations. The 
State could con.sistently do nothing less than adopt 
this amendment. For yeax-s it has encouraged 
coopex-ative Avork among farmers. It has adopted 
laws and made appropx-iations and spent State 
money to promote cooperative Avork. It Avould bo 
little less than farcical to do this, and then main- 
tiiiii another law to xnake criminals of the men Avho 
put the cooperative orgaxiizations in practical opex-a- 
tioxi. Our contention has always been that the acts 
of cooperative managers and officials did not come 
under the operation of the monopoly law, and that 
the coux-ts Avould so hold if tested; but in any event 
this axnendxnent saves litigation and removes all 
doubt. It .settles the problem for good, and further 
commits the State to the px-inciple of cooperation in 
the sale and distribution of farm products. 
Brevities 
The .shortage of tile has hold up many a drainage job. 
The .sweet clover has made a groat growth with us 
this yoiir. 
We holiovo in administering a dose Avhich AviU make 
every alien enemy an ailing enemy. 
The Ohio .Station advises cutting clover in early June 
if the second crop is to be u.sed for seed. 
A CASE is rejiorted in New York where smallpox Avas 
carried from one family to another'by a dog. 
In reply to many questions we repent that there is 
no bounty on veal calves raised by a farmer, and no 
penalty for killing a heifer calf. 
Never try to raise beans on wet soil. They cannot 
get a grip on a crop with Avet feed. More likely to have 
the grippe. 
Several Southern readers report severe injury from 
woolly aphis on the apple tree roots this year. This 
insect is seldom very troublesome at the North, but the 
best treatment seems to be digging away the soil and 
applying two to five pounds of tobacco dust per tree. 
