772 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE HVSINKdS EAE.V Eli'S PA PER 
A Xutlonul Wet'Ulj' Jniirniil Tor Coiiiitry un<l Suhurhnn lloincH 
EMabHHhnt iK.to 
riililUhril nrrkl; lij (ll^ Itiiriil I’lililiiihlnR' ('iini|mn]', .“CIS « <•»( SOIIi Street, Npw Vork 
UliitiiKKT W. rtn.i.iNowoon, I'rwldcnt, ami Ktlltor. 
.loMN J. 1)11,i/is, Treanuror and (Joiicral MaiinK<!r. 
■\Vm. F. Diuxis, Secretary^_ JIkh. K. T. ]{oyi,K, Asaoclata Editor. 
SUBSCUIP'I ION : ONK DOLLAR A YEAR ^ 
To foreign oouiitricH In tlio Unlverwil I’o«(al Union, $2.0<, equal to 8 «. 6 d., or 
8)4 inurkH, or 10)4 fnuicH. Heiiiit in money order, express 
order, personal cheek or liank draft. 
Entered at New York Post onico as .Second Class Hatter. 
Advertlsinp rntea, 7fi cents fier nifale line—7 words. Iteferences required for 
advertlwns unknown to us ; and cash must iwcompany transient orders. 
•<A SQUARE DEAI,” 
Y e hclieve tkat every mlvertlsement In this j»ai>cr Is backed by a respon- 
sib c i-eraon. Wc use every pos.sible precaution and mlmil the advertising of 
rclianh* * houw*« only. Rut t-o make (loubly m’<* will make tfoorl any Ioka 
to TSiid subfwrilnu'S sustained by trustlncr any tlelliieratc swindler, ii’rcsi.on- 
silile n<lvortlsors or mlsleajlln(f mlvertlsements in our columns, and any 
siicli swindler will bo publicly exposeti. Wo are also ofttm called u|)on 
to adjust dltrercnces or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willlnRly tist! t.ur tfood 
oui(M.s to this end, but suclj cas4‘s should not 1)0 confuwd with dislionest 
transactions. e protect suliscribers atfalnst roerues, but we will not bo 
responsible for tlie debts of Iionest ii'inknipts sanctioned by tlic courts, 
Notice of the complaint must lie sent to us within one month of tlie time of 
the Iransmillon, and to Identify it, you should mention Tiik Kuuai. Kkw- 
YoiiKKIt wlien Writintf the lulvert.lser. 
HE mi HAL 'NEW-YORKER would IHce to hear 
from any rural school or church or Orange 
which conducts a community chicken yard. We 
understand there arc such organizations in which 
the children have a cooperative chicken business. 
11 c have a plan for an egg-laying contest. 
* 
T uts yotir, as never liefore. eoinos the Alfjilfii ]trol)- 
lein. AVilh mill feed iit .$50 or mo: per ton the 
tiue.'^lion of feeding tmr stock next Winter conies np 
like a gliost to remind ns of what wo. went through 
tliis jiast season. A ton of good Alfalfa ha.v, hiindled 
right, is .just ahont etpial to a ton of wheat liran. A 
liarnfnl of Alfalfa will contain .just ahont as mnch 
fet'd as a country mill well stticked with grain. 
W herever'Alfalfa can he made to grow it offers the 
lust .solnton of the feed jirtihlejn. Yon will notice 
that in those sections of New York where Alfalfa 
grows naturally there is lea.st complaint from dairy¬ 
men ahont feed tronhie. Alfjilfa will not thrive 
everywhere, hnt ils first cousin, Sweet clover, will 
often shirt and tit the grtinnd so that Alfalfa will 
follow. r.y Decoration Day on oni- own farm the 
Sweet <'lov(*r stood f^inr feet high—thick and gn'en. 
In many piaces where Alfalfa will not grow, Alsike 
clover and Soy heans will give far more feed than 
Timothy or mixed grasse.s. W'^e have .just got to 
look to Alfalfa or its substitutes to take care of the 
grain hill. 
A'oxt will note by the enclo.sod that there are pome 
sincere patriots (inchidiiig Mr. (1. 11. Itetfs, I suppose) 
who are spending sleepless nights in an elTort to save 
civilization—their activities being in the line of food 
production. Now, don’t you think that some of these 
same patriots would accoinjilish a good deal more hy 
taking a good night’s rest, then in the morning pull off 
their coats and help do some reid farm work, than they 
do by sending this kind of bunk to the farmej-s, a sam¬ 
ple of which I <'nclo,se? WM. JiKOW.v. 
Alh'gany Co., N. Y. 
It. DltoAVN sends a little circular headed 
“Sleepless Nights to Sav(‘ Civilization.” This 
is signed by Cha.s. IT. Hetts, secretary of the New 
York State Food Commis.sion, who says: 
This is the reason thiit Herbert Hoover, Federal Food 
Administrator, .Tohn Mitchell, President of the Stiite 
Food ('ominission, and other sinci're jail riots, ai-e de¬ 
voting their energy, their thought, and their sleeide.s.s 
nights to solve the jirobh'm of fofid shortage whi<'h ma.v 
d(*termine the result of the war, and all’ect the destiny 
of civilization for ages to come. 
Mr. P.etts no doubt class(‘s him.si'lf among the 
“other .sinci're jiatriots,” and nni.v we not tind in this 
another reason for urging him to resign his position? 
Scientists tell ns that no nuin <an kei']) his health 
and .save any conntr.v unless he nnikes sure of suf¬ 
ficient sleep. Sleepless nighls can lead to only one 
result—lodSe and feeble thinking and then insanity. 
We understand that Ilrother Hetts has stated that 
he know.s all about farming. '^Phe one single brain 
in all the universe that can master this great subject 
must not he permitted to weaken or go stale through 
lack of sleep, and we think Dir. Ih'Hs should he 
mu.stered out of the “sleepless jiights’’ brigade. And 
S( we ask for the thirteenth time— When are you 
going to resign? 
■ * 
On page 751 you siioak of the owner of land accepting 
a second mortgage in order to emible a moueyli'ss iiuiii 
to obtain a loan from the FedeViil laind Jhink. Can 
you give me any good reason why I should do this? 
S UCH a mortg.ige is sound. The Federal mort¬ 
gage will be slowly reduced so that the risk on 
the second mortgiige bei-omes less and less each year. 
Of cour.se we referred to the original owiH'r of the 
land. He will receive at least half the price from 
the Federal I/and Hank and very likely he could not 
make the sale unless he acceided the second mort¬ 
gage. With a farmer of good chai-acter and thrift 
such an investment would he safe enough, and it 
might be the only way for a tenant or hired man 
to get a farm of his own. If you can without great 
UAc RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ri.sk hell) a worthy man to own a piece of land, yon 
have the best reason in the world for doing it. ’Phe 
writer of this got his first star), as a real estate 
holder in this way. The owner of the property was 
willing to lake a .second mortgage when ii building 
and loan as.sociation made a loan for about half the 
value. Thus we know something of what such a 
second mortgage will mean. 
ii< 
T he article on page 770 about the value of dairy 
exhibitions opens up a good subject for dis¬ 
cus,slon and we would like to have it well churned 
out. 
1. The great object of a diiir.v show should he to 
make more milk-fed Americans and increase the de¬ 
mand for milk. 
2. Such increased demand will not come from the 
well-to-do jieople so much as fi*om working families 
with many children. 
.1. Such people will not go to the usual dairy show. 
AVe must take it to tliem in new and original ways, 
and the chii'f iirgument must be more etlicient and 
cl I ea 1 )(>r d i str i hu t if in. 
Are we right? ' 
* 
A Ht)OD many readers who have asked about 
the wool situation are»referred to Mr. North’s 
letter on jiage 7t>.‘{. The wool growers surely had the 
right to believe that the Hovernment agreed not to 
interfere with the .sale of the 101 .S wool cli]). A^et 
wo see what has now been done! AVhat puzzles and 
di,scour!!g(>s luiiny of our fiirmers is the difference 
hf'tween the treatment given transportiition and to 
agriculture. The riiilroads are to receive millions of 
dollars from the (Jovernment and iire to niise their 
rates for all kinds of tratlic. This is to emihle them 
t(. jiiiy higher Wiiges and imrehase erpiipment. Now 
the filmier reads iihout this and sees the railroads 
and maniifiicturers bidding higher for his farm help 
and iil.so sees the Hov'ernment working to regulate or 
restrict the jirice of wlnit he has to sell. The rail¬ 
roads sell transiiortiition and iire paid more for it 
tliiin before. A farmer sells wheat, wool or milk 
and finds the price nmde for him and cut as low as 
jiossihle—lower tlnin would be the case under the 
hiw of sujiply and demand. Do you wonder that he 
is ])uzzled and discouraged? The great trouble is 
thiit he never can tell what trade regulations will 
come next. 
* 
. Fifty farmers in the New York Legislature. 
T h'ast one of the.se farmers must come from 
your county. Are you doing anything to help 
put him there? AAniiit can you do? You can begin 
bj talking up on this .subject and telling, wherever 
you go, that as agriculture is the miiin business in 
your county there must be ii good, strong farmer at 
Albany. Iveep on talking and discus.sing; others will 
come in, and the lir.st you know this plan for a 
farmer at Alliany will he a part of popular thought. 
Then nothing can stop it. Tliat is the way every 
greiit reform has been develoiied. Starting with ii 
f('W eariK'st men iind women, the idea Inis jiroved its 
justice and common sen.se tintil it became a jiart of 
th.e life of the phiin jicojile. If alt readers of The 
I‘,. N.-Y'. would tiike uj) this idi'ii of hO farmers in 
the New York Legislature right now, and tiiik it 
wlu'n'ver they go, there could he no stoiiping it. 
Talk for it. Argue for it. The rest will follow! 
♦ 
A IlFn-INT city exiierlence emjihasizos the ad- 
viiiitiige of tlu' auction system of selling when 
viilues and prices .are to he fixed. 'Phe City of New 
Y'ork owns the piers on the wiiter fronts for the 
use <*f hoiits iind ships. Last year I’ier fJt) was leased 
by the city iiuthorities for .$15,000. Tliis year it 
was loiised to a new customer for .$25,000 over a bid 
of .$.‘50,000 reluctiinlly made hy the company that 
had it last y<*ar. 'I'he matter got into court, and the 
judge ordered the lease sold sit iiuction. It sold for 
.$0.5,500. 'I’liere were no favorites in the auction siile. 
’Phe man who was willing to jiay the most for the 
use of the jiier got it. Open public sah's invite com¬ 
petition and exclude favoritism and iirice maniinila- 
tion. It is manifestly the correct way to .sell public 
privileges, sind it is eipially etlicient in the sale of 
goods .sold by one party for the account of another. 
AVhen conditions are made right most kinds of farm 
jiroduce can he .sold at auction to the sidvantage of 
the producer and consumer. Full imhlicity in trade 
heljis all honest bu.siness and hurts no one who is 
.Siitisfled with an honest iirofit and a sipiare deal. 
>8 
S IXTEEN years ago when Rider Haggard wrote 
his fiimous book on Rural England he found 
in several places great stacks of wheiit—rotten and 
worthless. T'hey were left that way because the 
fiirmers vowed that they would not tlirash this griiin 
until wheat rose to a living jirice. That grain was 
.Tune 8. 1918 
wasted—given up to rats and ruin—because it 
Mould not bring the co.st of production. It now 
.sei'ins amazing that barely 12 years before this hor¬ 
rible Mill- started England .should have been so 
short-sighted as to permit her farmers to waste grain 
heciiuse the cost of thrashing M’ould only add to 
their lo.ss! The nation is noM' paying the iienalty 
for its neglect of agriculture. AA’liat the English 
Covernment did was to M’ork on the theory that 
agriculture M’iis the servant of all other industries 
M'lien it should have been upheld as the master. 
M ANA' a farmer has fiikeu ii few pieces of old 
liliinks and hiimmeri'd together a “clod 
crusher” M’hlch smoothed down the jilowed ground, 
tilled the si'cd bed and saved tons of moisture for 
the soil. It cost nothing hut labor, yet “If I luiintcd 
it red iind invented a name for it it would .sell for 
.$25!” 
* 
The women votei-s in Senator Elon R. Rrown’a own 
town liiive started ji movement to defeat him in the 
prim.'iries for renomination as Senator, hnt linve not 
named a caiididiite to succeed him. I would like to .sug- 
pst one through The R. N.-A'. ; a farmer, a man every 
inch from head to foot, six feet and seven inches of him. 
'Phere is no (|uestion how he stands on the National I‘ro- 
hihition Amendment, or tiiat he would thoroughly rep- 
resi'iit the farmers’ interests. I am .doing this without 
his knowledge; hut I think if In* were the choice of the 
peojde he would not refuse to run for the nomination 
of Senator: I refer to F. Ernest Alexander, 1‘ulaskl, 
A ., tw'ice Lectur<‘r of the State (Iriinge, and as”ses.sor 
of the town for Ihe second term. ’I'here is only one 
ohjectiou agiiiiist him that might he raised, iind that is 
that < tsw'Ogo ('oiiiity has one Assemhlyman iind one (Vm- 
gressnian, and .Teflerson (’ounty electors might holt on 
the.se grounds; hut they should not unless they can fur¬ 
nish a man to repre.sent the fiirmers as good and as 
well know'll. I.et us hear from some .letl’ersou (’ounty 
voters. c. c. II. 
W E jiriiit this with no effort to udviinco the in¬ 
terests of Mr. Alexiiiider. AVe do not know 
him jiersonally, hut we do know' that the only w'liy to 
defeat Senator Rrow'n or any other iiolitician is to 
come right out in the opi'ii and nuike ii stniight iip- 
pi'iil to the people. If Mr. Alexandi'r carries six feet 
seven inches of manhood—he is something of a man 
surely! This is the tir.st letter of tlie sort we have 
received. A\ e W'ant more of tlii'in—from every county 
in New' A'ork W'liere farnu'rs control the situation. 
Let us .seh'ct candiiliites openly, and on their man¬ 
hood and devotion to our interests, and then get hack 
of them M'ithout regard to partisan politics. The 
time is ripe for heating Senator Rrown, .His record 
is black—now w'hitewa.sh him! 
* 
Such miiterials ns acid iihosphate, steamed bonemeal 
iind hii.sic slag are the only commercial fertilizers that 
farmers are justitir ' in haying at present prices. 
T II.\T is the deliberate advice of the Ohio E.xpei*!- 
ment Station after ciireful exiierimerits runnin 
through 20 years. All through the Ceiitriil West no 
great fertilizer need is phosphorus. A ton of win 't 
contains 17 jiounds of phosidioric acid and a ton 7 
live Ciittle .‘57 pound.s. For nearly a century ti .e 
lias been a ste<‘idy stream of grain and meat passing * 
iiway from the fiirms of the Central AA-est, and this 
Iiiis .slow'ly hut .surely dejileted the supiilles of avail¬ 
able phosphorus. Thus the hick of this element ^s 
evident and there is only one M’jiy to make up for it. 
ii’hiit is to bring in new supplies. 'I'he Ohio Station 
finds that the availahle forms of jihosidiorus are 
more profitable than the raw ground rock. As for 
nitrogen, of cour.se tliat is needl'd on most Ohio soils, 
but the greater part of it can or should be supiilled 
through clover. Alfalfa and other legumes. AVitli 
such crojis iis mo.st Ohio farms produce it is not 
likely that commercial forms of nitrogen will pay. 
.As for potash, the pre.sent prices do not justify ils 
u.se e.xcept ou special croiis and on the lighter soils. 
Brevities 
(Jive the jiigs .salt and wood ashes. 
AViiy not buck till) wheat .shortage w’itli buckwheat? 
A PIECE of jiotiito “seed” is pretty much the same 
thing us a vegetable cutting. 
A NEW one for the ben. 'i'he whites of frc.sh eggs 
are vital in the ca.se of .spinal w'ound.s. 
Wer'I’ Lono RuANCir, N. .T., at its schools serves hot 
milk to the children every day. 'i’he milk drinking 
habit is as necessary as most other things taught in the 
school room. 
Here is another thing this war luis shown. In the 
jiast thousands of Americiius have gone to Eiiroiie for 
the “biith.s” and “ siirings.” Now' it is found that the 
w'iiters at every one of the famous European idaccs can 
be duplieate'd in this country. 
No question about the fact that the cows in any herd 
vary greiitly in (piantity of milk. If a man bad 1‘2 cows 
and never mixed the milk, but iioured each cow’s milk¬ 
ing into bottles, he would soon be in trouble about low- 
testing milk and get no credit for superior milk. 
WiiE.N we called for experience in the use of drag 
saws for cutting up stove wood we had no idea the sub¬ 
ject was so pojmlar. Nearly .50 letters were received 
and the drag saws are doing good work. Eastern farm¬ 
ers have prepared a tremeudous amount of wood fuel for 
next AViuter. 
