Tshe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
.794 
.Tunft 15, 1!)1S 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE HUSIEESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Ifomen 
Established isso 
Pnbilfhpd weekly by the Kiiral rnbliRhine Company, 888 Weit 80(h Street, New fork 
Hekbkrt W. Coixinowood, President and Editor. 
.loiiN J. niLiX)N, Treasurer and General Manajrer 
Wm. F. Dn-bo.v, Secretary. Mr.s. E. T. Koyle. Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreiifn countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.01, equal to 8g. cd., or 
8>6 marks, or lOS^ francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Ofllce as Second Class llattcr. 
Advertising rat,^, 76 cents per oprate line—7 words. References required for 
advertiBeif? unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon- 
Pible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertisinj? of 
pliable houses only. Rut to make doubly sure, we will make pood anj’loss 
to paid Rul^ribers sustained by trustini? any deliberate ewincRer, irrespon¬ 
sible a/lvertisers or mislea/iinp: advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjxi.st differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willlncrly use our Rood 
offices this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
tranHa4!tions. We protect subscribers against roprties, but we will not be 
ix*sj)on8iblo for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month or the time of 
Die translation, and to identify it. you should mention Thk Rural New- 
Yorkrh when writinj? the advertiser. 
T IIE.se farmers out. there in Kansas (see page 
795), have found a good use for their ears. In¬ 
stead of being held up on freigM and commission 
charges tliey get together, ride aci-oss the country 
and bring the apples home. With 20 bushels each, 
300 cars Avill carry 2,000 bushels, and the best of it 
is a parade right through Kansas City, with banners 
flying in line. We have long adv’ocated such parades. 
Every year the farmers of a county or section should 
get together and drive their cars in line through the 
city which they feed and provide for. We hope 
some day to see a string some 5,000 cars long driving 
up Broadway in this city, waving farm banners. 
Ift 
Yott might be interested in hearing about a proposed 
new source of potash. Some of our beet sugar factories 
are proposing to build reservoirs large enough to hold 
all the waste water used in making sugar till the end 
of each sea.son and then use the sugar mill labor and 
machinery to evaporate it and refine out the potash. 
j. H. T. 
T hat is only one of the ways in which manufac¬ 
turing is working to save wastes. In many 
lines the only profit for the future will come from 
saving wdiat are now considered wastes. Before the 
war, with Germanj^ controlling the output of potash, 
no one felt like risking money in building plants for 
saving wastes or hunting for new supplies. Now 
there is an intense and jiatriotic effort to become 
entirely independent of Germany. But if it will pay 
for the sugar-makers to build these great tanks to 
hold the liquids, liow much greater profit would 
come to farmers in saving the liquid manures. 
About four-fifths of all the iK>tash in manure is 
jias.sed in the liquids, and. as usually handled, we 
know that most of this is lost. With a concrete 
stable floor and tile drainage into a pit, the man 
with 25 head of stock will save as much potash as 
he can buy in several tons of muriate of potash. A 
concrete tank will belli break the Kaiser’s bank. 
H ere is an idea of the way farmers are mixed 
up and puzzled over food and live stock regula¬ 
tions. At least a dozen farmers in New York have 
widtlen us asking if there is a law prohibiting them 
from killing iieifer calves. Then others write to ask 
if it is true that a new rule prohibits killing calves 
or beef to he sold for 0(1 days heghining June 3 
This was referred to the Agricultural Department. 
They never heard of it, and I'cferred to the Farm 
and Markets Bui-eau. They never heard of it. and 
leferred to the Food Commission. They professed 
ignorance, and referred to the State representative 
of the Food Administration. He replies finally that, 
so far as he knows, there has been no such regula¬ 
tion issued 1 Farmers hear about these things every 
day, and there seems to be no one to give them a 
lilain “yes or no” answer. Why do we not do it? 
We should he delighted if _we could get the facts out 
of the authorities. 
» 
W E have mentioned several times a book by 
Rider Haggard entitled “Rural England.” 
This is one of the books which have helped change 
modern English history. The author went into every 
part of England, interviewed farmers, and made a 
full study of their conditions. He tlien printed a 
plain, unprejudiced statement of what he found. 
Haggard showed clearly that PInglish agriculture 
had been neglected, and that war would surely bring 
the pinch of famine. It has turned out just exactly 
as he stated, and England has been forced to apply 
the remedies wliieh these farmers suggested. The 
strength of the hook lies in its ti'uth and fair state¬ 
ment of facts. It is comparatively easy to be either 
an optimist or a pessimist; that i.s, to curse con¬ 
ditions as worse than they really are, or to gloss 
them over and make them appear too bright. Both 
extremes are'dangerous and destructive. Unshaded 
truth is the only really constructive criticism. Now 
we think the time has come for just exactly the same 
plain statements about .\merican agriculture. They 
will be hard to obtain, for there are few reporters 
who can resist tieing a little of prejudice or convic¬ 
tion around a fact, but we shall try to present the 
truth. The first will appear next week in a report 
from a locality in Michigan. 
t¥ 
Mtiat talent I have is along the lines of the old 
army engineer who was told by the general in command 
that it was necessary to bridge a certain stream in the 
shortest possible time, adding that he would have blue¬ 
prints prepared and .sent him. The next day he asked 
him if he had received the plans and got this'reply: “I 
don’t know whether the iiicture’s done or not, but thd 
bridge is.” 
T hat comes from a farmer who has w'orked out 
a good homemade machine. It ivories, but the 
farmer says he cannot make a .scientific drawing of 
it. Some of these commissions and committees with 
their elaborate plans might learn .something from 
that. Too much of their work may he spent in draw¬ 
ing up plans and regulations. Some of these are 
fine in theory, but they do not always fit actual farm 
conditions, and they .surely do leave a hlue print upon 
a farmer’s spirits. Why not let the farmer MiiU 
the bridge? Stoji bo.ssing and directing him. Per¬ 
haps the most successful leader is the one who lets 
the farmer go ahead and follows after like an indu-s- 
trial rudder. 
» 
W E have not always agreed fully with Dr. Ja¬ 
cob Gould Schurman, president of Cornell 
University, and have not hesitated to tell him so. 
We are frank to say. however, that of all the public 
men in this State ivho are supposed to be working 
on the food problem. Dr. Schurman comes nearer to 
sizing up the farmer's side of the situation than any 
other we have lieard about. The trouble with most 
of these gentlemen seems to be that they are walk¬ 
ing around and around in the same old safe and 
sane treadmill which was organized in peaceful 
times. It has been said^ that there are men in New 
York Avho do not seem to know we are at war. Too 
many of these men are in positions where they are 
looked upon as leaders. We would like to call their 
attention to the following extract fi-om a recent let¬ 
ter fi’om Dr. Schurman: 
The war has shaken us out of our habitual niode.s of 
thought. The present time is therefore a favorable 
time for the consideration of ne'w projects involving the 
public welfare. One of the most important of these in 
our State is, in my opinion, the closer and easier con¬ 
nection between the producers on our farms and the' 
consumers of their products. If the cousummation of 
this scheme involves the expenditui-e of many millions 
of dollar for improved terminal facilities and markets in 
Ne'w York and other cities, the public, if properly edu¬ 
cated, would now be willing to authorize the expenditure 
for the purpose. Even if this consummation involves 
activities on the part of the State which the State has 
not hitherto undertaken, this is tlu* favorable time, at 
least for the consideration of the matter. 
In the European countries the people are supplied 
with food at the lowest jiracticable prices. But pro¬ 
duction is also stimulated by the assurance of fair re¬ 
wards to the farmer. The difference beween the cost of 
liroducing wheat, for instance, and the jirice to the con¬ 
sumer is made by the Government. AYhe'thcr we shall 
be forced in the end to this policy in America. I cannot 
say. One thing, however, is perfectly clear : You cannot 
at the cost of the farmer, kee'p prices low to the con¬ 
sumer, for the farmer would avoid impending bank¬ 
ruptcy by ceasing to jiroduce the things you need and 
turning his activities into other channels. 
JACOB GOXJED SCHURMAN. 
The fact is that no man of middle years can ever 
expect to see the world settle back to what we have 
called normal conditions. We cannot expect to 
tliink or act iu the old way. “Old times” can never 
return, and the methods of thought and of action 
which fitted these old times are in large jiart out of 
date. Little will I’omain except human nature, which 
is much the same wlietlier its home is defended by a 
machine gun or a tomahawk. Is it not possible for 
our food administrators to understand the last sen¬ 
tence in the above letter, and then get up and stand 
for it through thick and thin? Is it not possible for 
them to z’oalize that independence is not treason, and 
that tlie very act of organizing to defend their rights 
will make farmers more etiicient in defending their 
country? 
» 
G erman submarines have appeared off the upper 
Atlantic coast, and luive already sunk a number 
of ships. It is quite pos.sil)le that the coast cities, 
like Boston, New York or Philadelphia, may be 
raided aud bombed by German airships. We have ex- 
jiected these things before now. They are a part of 
the horrible war iu which we are engaged, aud part 
of the tactics of the merciless enemy with whom we 
are fighting. They must be met bravely and without 
complaint as part of the awful price we must pay 
before this war is ended light. Tlie Germans evi¬ 
dently expect that these raids will frighten our peo¬ 
ple and make them demand or accept a German 
peace. From the very beginning the German leaders 
have shown an almost childi.sh misconception of the 
spirit of .Vmericans. These raids will not frighten 
our people or make them quit. On the other baud, 
they will bring to us all a truer idea of the nation 
we are fighting, and convince the most puny pacifist 
that we must put up our last dollar and the last 
ounce of energy rather than let the world he dom¬ 
inated by what the Kaiser represents. Every sub¬ 
marine sinking a ship in American waters is worth 
300,000 men in the American army. There will be 
worse shocks' and blows to come, and this great 
nation is ready for them. 
» 
T he first report of that district .school organiza¬ 
tion comes from Tioga Co., N. Y. 
I succeeded in getting the voters in School District 
No. .1, town of Owego, at Waits. N. Y., to elect ofiicers 
of the Rural School District Civic Organization; not a 
single, vote against, and will send you the ofiicers elected 
as requested: .1. W. Shumway, president; E. N. Good- 
speed, vice-president; T. J. Wait, secretary ; Z. Codner, 
treasurer. j. jj. 
Anj'oiie can see the advantage in having a strong 
non-partisan organization of tins sort in every school 
district in the State. We shall not be satisfied until 
we have such an organization extending up through 
district, township, county and State. 
J UST as the New York State Farm Federation was 
to meet at Albany a public statement in opposition 
to the Federation appeared in the papers. This was 
signed by S. J. Lowell, Ira Sharp and W. N. Giles 
for the State Grange, R. D. Cooper, F. H. Thompson, 
Albert Manning and H. J. Kershaw of the Dairy¬ 
men’s League, S. L. Strivings, D. V. Farley, W. E. 
Depew of the Farm Bureau, 0. F. Boshart of the 
State Agricultural Society, and A. L. Brockway of 
the State Dairymen’s Association. Onr opinion is 
that the Federation will be made stronger and more 
enduring by the retirement of these men. The two 
last named organizations never did represent work¬ 
ing or practical farmers. A fighting ship is better 
off without pa.s.sengers or honorary visitors. As for 
the others, It may safely be said that they do not 
represent or lead their various organizations in tliis 
case. If it were put to a popular vote with the 
issues fully explained, the Grange, the Dairymen’s 
League and the Farm Bureau members would vote 
two to one in favor of the Federation and what it 
stands for. and these gentlemen who are trying to 
stop the wheels know it perfectly well. Just when 
New York fanners need strong and courageous lead¬ 
ership the.se meu seem to prefer the safer and less 
heroic job of trying to sit on the lid. ’J’ho tiros un¬ 
der the boiler will soon start up. The “folks back 
home” are very capable of lifting the lid until the.se 
gentlemen slide off. The trouble with them is that 
they want to control every organization of farmers 
so as to px’event any real independence or fighting 
.spirit. They see that they cannot control the Fed¬ 
eration and make it a merely iierfunctory appendix 
to the present system. The Federation went right 
ahead and organized with Frank M. Bradley as 
pi'esident, and 39 agricultural organizations repre¬ 
sented. The farmers of New York are now clearly 
ai\.d openly out for an independent public battle for 
genuine farmers’ rights. 
Brevities 
You fine yourself when you do not make the seed bed 
fine. 
■Why, yes; some of our dairymen consider the modern 
feed bill a full cousin of Kaiser Bill. 
Rememrer that the wind, not sun, cures the hay. 
The one place' where hot air pays on the farm. 
One boy is “too smart” and the other not smart 
enough. AYhich would you rather have working for 
you? 
Black walnut timber is needed. President Wilson 
asks the Boy Scouts—^and all others—to locate the 
trees. 
Remember that you do not raise hay or grass for the 
seed, but for the leaf and stalk. They are best before 
the seed fully forms. 
There are three dog commis.siouers in New T'ork un¬ 
der the amended dog law. They do not appraise dam¬ 
ages, as that is now done by the local assessors. The 
commissioners determine appeals and enforce the law. 
The stickler for pure literature may not care for the 
following from the Colorado News Letter, yet we can 
all understand it: 
“A stomachful of wholesome food 
For every Allied fighter, 
Will mean a stomachful of war 
For Bill—the Divine-righter.” 
Just now there are many questions about the hard 
crurt or growth on the legs and feet of chickens. It is 
known as “scaly leg” and is caused by a small mite 
which works in under the crust. Soak the feet and legs 
in warm water for five minutes and then smear the 
crusts with one part kerosene in two parts raw liuseel 
oil or one part oil of caraway in four parts lard or vase¬ 
line. 
