750 
■She RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE nrSISESR FAKVEE'S fapek 
A National tVopUly Journal for t'onntry and Hiiburlian Ilnmcfi 
Esiahlisheri IS.’O 
IMililUhrd nerlily by thr Rnral Piiblishinc rompany, 3S3 >Ve»t 80(li Strerl. York 
IlKKBKKT W. roi.t.lS'(?Wf)Or>, I’l(»:i(ioiil find Editor. 
John .1. DlbbOX, Tieajiiirer and Ucnei-al Manfijrcr. 
V.M. F. Pn,lxiN. Ki-crptary. Jlius. E. T. Foylk, Associate Editor. 
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'‘A SQUARE PEAR” 
We believe that every advei*tlseinent in tliis paper Is baeked by a respon¬ 
sible pei*son. We use every possible precaution and admit the advei-tisinpr of 
reliable houses only. But to make (foul)ly sure, we will make jrood any loss 
to paid subwribei*s sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleadini? a<lveT*tisomenfs in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We ai'o also often calltKl u])on 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether adver!isei*s or not. We willlnfrly use our |?ood 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribej*s apr.ainst roprues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of Jione.^t bankrupts sanctioned by the courts, 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within oiu* month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rurae New- 
Yorker when wHting* the advcitisor. t 
EA D the article hi/ ^frs. Converfte on page 7J/2, and 
plan to arrange for the same sort of an organi- 
aation in i/onr district. There arc great possihilitics 
in this hi/ huilding vp count]/ and t^tate organizations 
from district units. The campaign for repeal of the 
school laic has given us au idea of our poircr. Eoic 
follow up along the same Hue and huild on this 
success. 
i;< 
W E liiifl the followin'; item j^oini; throvigh the 
jiew.«i)a]»ers: 
Dr. John II. Finley, State Coniinissioner of I^flucation, 
declined the offer to become Siiperinteiulent of Education 
in New York City. He Hays he is an.xioiis to secure 
preater educational advantages for the children of the 
rural school di.stricts. and for that reason feels that he 
should remain in his ])resent iiosition until he has ac¬ 
complished what has now heeii ])lanned. 
We would like to suggest to I>r. Finley a good 
]ilaii for starting this improvement. Do not wait for 
a new law, hut start right Avith the old law, now 
once more in force, and make the most of it. Take 
the Ontario County Civic A.s,sociation. This i.s 
)iledged to imjirove the rural .schools under the iires- 
ent law. Let Dr. Finley ])romj)tly ('o-operate with 
this association, and show what can he done Avith 
the iiresent laAv—with the earnest co-operation of 
country people. No one seems to have thought it 
AA'orth Avhile to develop the iiresent law. Here is a 
chance to try it out. 
T here is little if any hope that freight or ex- 
liress conditions Avill improve this year. We all 
know AA'hat happened to us during the jiast season. 
1'liose Avho delayed oi’dering goods until they Avere 
.uctnally needed Avere left by the roadside. We fear 
it will he even Avorse in the future, for the Govern¬ 
ment is using every resoiirce to send soldiers to 
Europe and equiii and feed them. This AAdll tax the 
resources of the railroads jis never before, and freight 
designed for yon or me AA'ill he sidetracked and AA’ait 
its turn. AVe cannot help it, and Ave shall gain nothing 
by complainin.g, unless Ave help ourseh’es. The Avay 
to do that is to get in pour orders carlg. Figure as far 
» 
ahead as possilile. decide Avhat you must have and 
order noic. That Avill gh'e the manufacturer or deal¬ 
er a fairer chance, and you Avill stand a much better 
shoAV of receiving your goods on time. 
IE: 
A S a Iioy the Avriter can remember the fierce crit¬ 
icism tircxl at Secretary ScAvard because this 
nation paid Russia .$7,000,000 for Alaska. It AA'as 
thought to be a poor bargain—“good money for ice¬ 
bergs and filthy natives.’’ I.ast year the fish and fur 
alone taken from Alaska amounted to .$.'')2,4.3().S0S. 
Cf this nearly .$48,000,000 Avas for salmon products I 
.A.nd Alaska has not yet begun to show herself. Fifty 
years ago Ala.ska had practically no influence niton 
the Avorld’s affairs. Noav the fish she supplies is 
feeding the soldiers in Furope. the coolies in China 
and the.lahorer.s in .South America. Fifty years from 
now there Avill be a great city on the Alaskan 
coast—headquarters for the coal and iron trade of 
the Pacific. Those of us who lun-e seen things de- 
veloi)—dreams come true—can Avell believe anything 
is jiossible for the future. 
lie 
O FT on the Western plains there are sitots Avhere 
an industrial miracle is being Avorked out. The 
fraA’eler in Western Nebraska has noticed the lakes 
or pond holes scattered about in that dry and for¬ 
bidding country. They represent depressions or 
Iioles in the gi’onnd into Avhich, through long cen¬ 
turies. the Avater has collected. This water, running 
over and through the ground, has Avashed out great 
quantities of “alkali.” and among other salts are 
large (luantities of pota.sh. The hitter Avater in these 
lakes has deceived and disappointed many immi¬ 
grants and pioneers. Avho, in the early days, Avan- 
dered across these plains. Racked and tortured by 
thirst, they hoped, at first sight of these ponds or 
lakes, to find needed water. The thick, salt and hit¬ 
ter liquid Avhieh they found only mocked .them, and 
they went on, cursing the wretches! land Avhich had 
hired them on to suffering or death. It did seem 
the most worthless, hateful stretch of country on 
earth. And so it was until this war shut us aAvay 
from the German supplies of potash. Then the geol¬ 
ogists remembered those hateful alkali lakes on the 
Western desert, and they remeinhei-ed hoAA^ for cen- 
tunes. Nature had been storing the leaehings from 
the land in these pond holes. Analysis shoAvod that 
the AA’ater oi- brine contained potash. The war had 
brought nliont <a condition which multiplied the for¬ 
mer price by ten. Thus these hateful pond holes be¬ 
came like gold mines and the brines in these lakes 
Avhich formerly meant death and destruction, brought 
life and ]irosperity to a dead country. It was only 
necessary to pnmj) the water out of these holes and 
evaporate it, and around this simple operation a 
noAV civilization has grown up. Cities have been 
built up in a fcAV" months, and a wilderness has been 
changed into a busy town. And all this has come 
about through utilizing a AA^aste product. The old 
immigrant aa’Iio turned from these hateful lakes 
cursing them through ]»arched lips could not conceive 
of any possible value ever coming out of them. Yet 
here may come his grandson, groAving rich at ])nmp- 
ing out this brine! This is only one of the miracles 
already Avronght by the war. There are others to 
come, still more wondeiffid. 
I HAVE sold my property hero. What seetion Avould 
you advise me to go to? I am 02 years old. have been 
in the harness 40 years. I d'O not want to beg for coal 
another Winter, and get dirt and slate. J. P. Av. 
New .Tersey. 
HIS is a fair .sample of a good many letters uoav 
coming from readers. This last savage Winter 
hit into the hone of many middle-aged and elderly 
jieople. With another fuel famine in prospect they 
AAill start for a AA'armer climate. We warn such peo¬ 
ple not to make any rash move and not to buy a 
square foot of land in the South until they have 
syient at least one year there! Do not let any land- 
owner or promoter induce yon to invest your money 
in a ncAV home until yon know something of the soil, 
the climate and the people. Many peojde have found 
happy homes and comfort in the South, hut only 
Avhen they took ample time to investigate before 
locating and buying. Many more have located hur¬ 
riedly, only to find themselves under conditions far 
Avoi-se than anything developed from the snow and 
cold of the North. The average man of 00 years does 
not begin to realize Avhat it Avill mean to pull himself 
out by the roots and transjAlant Avhat is left of him in 
a ne\A’^ country. 
Ik 
T he third Liberty loan reached a total of $4.170,- 
OlO.OoO—the largest single national loan CA'cr 
made in the AA’orld’s history. There Avere over 17,- 
000.000 buyers—one bondholder for each six people In 
the country. There Avere more than that, because 
many of the big snhscri])tions AA'cre from hanks, in¬ 
surance com])anies and fraternal societies, Avhich 
]'epresented thousands of depositoi-s. We hear noth¬ 
ing more about slackers and misers in the country. 
4'he fact is that the country and small tOAvns did 
much better in proportion to their allotments than 
the big cities. And this was done under conditions 
Avhich most city people cannot realize. One of our 
jieople in Central New York sends ns the following 
report: 
I canvassed some for third Liberty loan, and find the 
fanners need their money at this time of year for seeds, 
hor.se feed, etc. I know this to be a fact, and could not 
over-urge a true farmer to buy bonds. Of course there 
are lots of peojde who live in the country Avho are not 
farmers; .some have money and carry on a small farming 
business because they can live cheajier, or possibly from 
jireference. These jieojile I consider able to buy bonds, 
but a man Avho is farming for a living is doing jiatriotic 
duty, and certainly at this time of year has no surplus 
money. l^- 
New York. 
That is true, for at this season a farmer avUI need 
all his liquid cajiital to start the season’s Avork. It is 
a very different situation from that of the town 
Avorker Avho has a steady and dejiendable income. 
T'nder the circumstances, the country people Avere the 
haulers in this loan. 
IS? 
On the whole I am inclined to be quite optimistic, and 
feel we will survive the commissions and the war and 
come out much the better for both, as the commissions 
Avill learn something if they fail to teach much, and the 
Avar Avill make the Avorld a better place to live in if we 
do our full jiart. and aa'iII end in a closer understanding 
and sympathy between all liberty-loving peoidcs. s. 
HERE is 51 cheerful soul, and very likely he has 
the right idea. The commissions Avill surely 
learn something, but it«may be a question Avhether 
they can apjtly their knowledge practically. Good 
.Tune 1, 1018 
will come out of the horrors of this dreadful Avar. 
Older jieople may never be able to settle doAvn com¬ 
fortably into the ucaa- conditions, hut the younger 
generation Avill surely find this AA’orld “a better jilace 
to liA’e in,” and aa'c think they will appreciate it. 
(I 
HI8 season ought to give fruit growers a chance 
to decide one question at least. Do bees really 
help pollenize the apjile bloom and increase the 
ero])? The bee men. the entomologists and many 
fruit groAvers claim that the bees “make the croj).” 
M’e have heard others claim there is little to the the¬ 
ory. Most of the bees Avere killed last Winter, and 
AA’e noAA' hsA^e a chance to observe results. We haA-e 
felt that the l>ees are a great helji. 
S T.VTE SERVICE, the neAA' jAolitical magazine at 
Albany, gives a discussion of the arguments for 
and against the school law. In faA’or of the district 
.system it jirints an article from The R. N.-Y. On 
the other side it gives a speecji by Senator Elon R. 
P.roAA'u at the farmei’s’ hearing last Winter. These 
two did not quite fill out a page, and the folloAving 
little story is printed as a “filler’’: 
The parrot-like Avay in Avhich onr school children are 
taught was well illustrated in a school Avhore each morn¬ 
ing the teacher asked the children : “Children. A\’hat 
Avonld you do if fire Avere to break out in this building?” 
The children Avould then rejieat in chorus: “IVe Avonld 
rise in our jdaces, stoj) into the aisle and march quietly 
out of the huilding.” 
One recent morning Dr. Henry A'an D.vke visited the 
school, and was sitting quietly on the jilatform when the 
teaeher stepjAod before the iiupils. and. instead of ask¬ 
ing the usual fire-drill question, said : “Children. Avhat 
Avonld you say if I Avere to tell yo\i that Dr. A'an Dyke 
is to speak to yon this morning?” 
The children jiromptly replied in chorus: “We Avould 
rise in our places, step into the aisle and march quietly 
out of the building.” 
AVe have knoAvn graded schools in town Avhere this 
Avonld ho very probable. The children are taught to 
he little jAarrots, and the habit clings to them all 
through life. There is nothing about their school life 
to induce them to think or act Avith any originality. 
Not all schools are like this, hut the tendency of tlie 
.system is to make them so. Find one that is differ¬ 
ent and it Avill he due to the energy and originality 
of the teacher. Say all yon plea.se against the “little 
red schoolhonse,” hut it does more than turn out 
little pnpjiets to dam-e Avhen the string is pulled. 
» 
I had three acres of Avheat last Summer that gave me 
78 bushels of very fine, clean Avheat. It Avas consider¬ 
able trouble to keep it free from rye, and last Fall my 
ground was dry and full of lumjAS until late, so I only 
sowed rye. Noav my neighbors are buying my Avheat 
for less than they got for their rye, and having it ground 
to avoid buying so much Avith their flour. In ordinary 
times I would keep all of this Avheat for my own use. 
Would it be considered hoarding, and against the law if 
I keep a quantity of it now? If I continue to let it go 
they will soon get all I have, and I shall have to buy 
for my own use. M. E. 
Saratoga Co., N. Y, 
E tiike it from the letter Avritten by !Mr. 
Hoover, and Avhich Ave printed last week, 
that there is not to he a seizure of Avheat in the 
hands of fsirmers, and aa'C do not think this small 
quantity Avonld lie taken. We nnder.stand that in a 
case of this sort at least 20 bushels of the Avhciit 
might he kejit for flour jnirposes, iiiid the balance 
sold to the neighbors for their home sujiply. 
Yo alien cnemg shall carr// a gun! 
HE New York State Conservation Commission is¬ 
sues a Avarning to town clerks. They ;ire not to 
issue any hunting licenses to aliens or unnaturalized 
citizens. No such character is to carry arms in Now 
York. He must be as busy as a bee—but Avithont a 
sting! Another thing: The town clerks must at¬ 
tend to the business of granting licenses themselves— 
and not turn it over to Avife, daughter, neighbor or 
any other jiaity. 
Brevities 
OuK reports from jioultrynien vary, hnt in general 
they .show the lightest hatcliing and l)rooiiiag season in 
years. 
A KARiilT trajAper in England has been granted draft 
exemption as a food jAi-oducer. Last year this man 
caught 10,000 rabbits. 
Now we are told that England will attempt to control 
milk distribution. The jilan will be to set a fair jArice 
for farmers and then to see that, first of all, the milk 
goes to children and invalids. 
The usual amount of sewl corn is S quarts jAcr acre. 
I'lanted Avith Soy beans Ave would use the same amount 
and mix in five to six quarts of the beans. Keej) this 
seed Avell mixed if you u.se a planter. 
The United States Government is in the fur busiues.s. 
It sold, this year, $271,045 Avorth of sealskins, taken on 
the Pribilof Islands, near Alaska ! It is also building a 
factory there for making oil and fertilizer out of the 
seal refuse! 
Those who talk of feeding mix A'omica to chicks in 
order to kill hawks might try the following: Mix strych¬ 
nine in .syrup or molasses and smear on the head and 
back of 'a chicken. Then put that chicken where 
the hawks Avill see him. 
