TShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
807 
isossiblo for the common farmers of the State. An- 
otlier fault tlial was very evident was tlie failure to 
f:ot real imliliclty of tlie institutes to the farmers. 
'J'his had l>een done to some e.xtent itefore hy one or 
two of the directors. Itejiorts had previously l)een 
made for local papers and others, and these seemed 
to do ((uite as much directly as the institutes them- 
.selves. ami in an indirect way made them pcipitlar. 
UnrvcHfUKj Hay—Heavy Work for the rifeher. 
about the institutes. It may b(* tiiat farmers do not 
cai'e enouirh about thein to warrant their continu¬ 
ance, but it is my idea that the common farnu'rs 
do care for them to (piite an e.xtent, provided they 
are not taken too far from tho.se who are real farm¬ 
ers. We seem to havt' very little in today's propa- 
ftanda that is really of interest to farmers. The 
Collette of Atti'iculture reaches many farmers at 
farmers’ week, but not a larjre percentage. Those 
who can affoi’d the time and the expense of tlie triti 
enjoy it. Most cannot do thi.s. The Farm Ilureans 
have a jilace and have some ajiprovai from farmers, 
real farmers. I mean. Had not it been for the re¬ 
vival of the I.e.-iitue many of them would have died 
out some time aso. It was fortunate for both that 
the bureaus took a hand in Tiisattiu' work. '^I'ln* 
F.caitiu* is of iiit(*rest to farmers. Its meetiiif's art* 
filtemled by many real f.irmers. Aside from a part 
of those who attend farmer.s’ week at Cornell, the 
I-eauue meetings are about all that takes the inter¬ 
est of f.armers aside fiom the institute. It is dilii- 
cult to g(*t much of ;i l-’ami I’urean meeting unless 
it is coupled with something el.se. Tlie Dairymen’s 
coilvmition, State Agricultural Society, etc., do not 
attr.ict farmers. ''I’his is not a criticism of any of 
tlie.se associations or bureaus. What we need is to 
find what the farmers really want. It is evident 
that they are interested in improving their condi¬ 
tion linancially. Educators uia.v sa.v that this can 
be done by listening to their advice, theorie.s, and 
learning. Ajiparently farmer.s doubt it. These 
things are right and we cannot disjiejise with tlimu, 
i:or do we want to. Hut such facts go to show that 
to make the institutes poimlar, and they should be 
popular Avith farmer.s, it is necessary 
to get somewhere near the farmer, not 
a long distance above him. To do this 
w(‘ need some one in supreme com¬ 
mand of institutes Avho is close to farm¬ 
ers and not so clo.se to the seats of 
the miglity as to discourage those avIio 
belieA-e tliey are of the lowly sort. I 
do not want to be uiuh i-stood thal I 
oppo.se the direction of institutes from 
the colh'ge, but I would not have them 
under the .siinie complete control as are 
the bureaus and the extension Avork, 
altliough they should co-ordinate and 
work Avithout friction. ii. ii. i.von. 
Grass Notes From a Goodly 
Country 
W M started hay-making here oi 4 
.Tune 4; the clover tields ar<‘ the 
best we liaA-e liad for a great many 
years. My own field is .sown to Alfalfa 
and M(*diuni Ited clover, and at the 
time of the Aviuait seeding Timothy 
Avas .sown with the wheat. The stand 
i^^ so thick that it would seem iniiiossible to get 
any more grass in between tin* stalks, and the Al¬ 
falfa is now four feet high, while tlie clover is about 
77/c rxcfiil Hay Cap. I'iy. SRO 
Tomato Crop Very Early—Growers 
Worried 
T he early Avarm Spring Aveather and the frerpient 
shoAvers lun’e brought the early tomato crop 
along much sooner tluin usual. Hloucester Ho., N. .T., 
is recognized as one of the greatest earl.v tomato 
sections in the Avorld. The light .sand.v soil, Avarm 
cliiiiate and expert groAvers make a Avonderful com¬ 
bination for earl.v and heav.v production. During a 
I'.crmal sea.son thou.sands of boatloads and truck¬ 
loads of early tomatoes are .sent to Philadelphia and 
other nearby markets; besides that approximately 
l.<i00,000 crates of tomatoes are .sh’ipiied annuall.v 
out of just one of the railroad stations (.Swedes- 
boro). TJ.sually the lieaA'.v shipments are sent out 
during the latter half of Jul.v and then continuing 
in August as long as the distant markets hold good. 
fin .Tune C the Avriter visited many early tomato 
fields in Hloucester Co., and talked Avith the groAvers. 
i'here is jiracf icall.v a normal acreage, but the indica¬ 
tions Avere that the crop Avoiild be much earlier than 
usual and if nothing ha]/]iens. the .vield Avill be un- 
usuall.v heavy. Careful inspection of the green fruits 
shoAved that the early set of fruits Avas very lieaA\v, 
perfect in shajte, and of high quality. This is a 
decided change from last year. Avhen the yield Avas 
loAv and much of the fruit Avas rough and tasbdess. 
Noav the big jirnblem before the groAvers is to mar¬ 
ket this unusually iiromislng croii to good advantage. 
I.abor is scarce and crates jire high-priced, but the 
most serious que.stion is that of tninsportation. 'I'lie 
<'.\pi’<‘ss comimnies and the freight .agents Avill mak(! 
i;o iiromises. During earl.v .'S|>rlng seA'eral shipiruMits 
of asiiar.agus from Cloucesler Co. to 
XcAV York City, a distance of one hun¬ 
dred miles, actuall.v rotted befoi’c they 
re.ached the market, q'hrough the co¬ 
operation of Mr. I’.amford, of the State 
lUiro.au of Markets, and of ]Mi‘. Ch.a.'^e, 
(he Cloucester County F.arm Demon- 
str.ator, special f ransjiortal ion facili¬ 
ties Avere furnislnal for .a.sjiaragus ship¬ 
ments. Noav the Cloneester Count.v 
(Farmers’) Shipp(*rs’ A.ssociiition is 
making a strenuous effort to shOAV the 
Food Administration and the jieiish- 
able foods tnuisportation committees 
Unit a tremendous amount of ])erlshable 
produce must he sent out each day dur¬ 
ing the tomato sea.son, and that cars 
must b(* provided to prevent Avaste, 
l/)C!il gluts and agi'icultural depia'sslon. 
I-a.st seas<jn it AA’as a common sight 
to see the shipiiing i/latforms jiiled hi,gh 
Avith tomatoes and loaded farm Av.agons 
standing all ai'ound the freight yard 
Avith no cmi>iy cars in sight. ’I’bis 
caused the .selling jirice to droji fear¬ 
fully. When cai's tinally came, the 
market laid been Avrecked 'b.v the tumble in jirice so 
(hat it did not ri'cover .again for the early croj). Mr. 
Chase recently called at eA'ery freight station in las 
county to find out hoAV man.v cars have been used 
odier ye.ars. 7’hi.s information Avas lasinested b.v tin* 
Food Administration, so that jiroper iirovision may 
be made for the necessary number of <-ar.s. 
'rhis scai.son the unusually (?iirly cro]) from Clouces¬ 
ter f’ount.A' Avill i»robabl.v «-ontlict more than it 
usuall.v does Avith the earl.v tonnito cr/tjis from 7'exas. 
Kentuck.v and Teniu'.ssee. lIoAA'eA’er, the Southern 
N(‘av Jer.sey cro)) is picked Avhen nearly rijie, there- 
for<‘, it should be of siiiierior (pialil.A'. Furthenuore, 
the Food Administration and Tr,ansportalion Direc¬ 
tors faA'or tin* shorter hauls and opjiose .sbipnu'nts 
in opposite directions. 'J'herefore, the Cbnicester 
County extra daily tomato crop should have the 
tirst call on all the markets in the northeastern part 
of the country, beginning tludr shipments this .vear in 
.7line and lasting several Aveeks, until the more north¬ 
ern groAvers .are ready to supjdy their local markets. 
It is A'ery encouraging to knoAV that every effort 
is bein.g made ])ro])erl.v to ilistribute this great <a-oi» 
.at an attnictive price, so that as little of it as iio.s- 
sible AAill be bought up by the c.anneries. Last year 
soA'eral thousand tons of the earl.A' croji Aveut to the 
can-house. If much of this can be made unnecessary 
by jiroviding proper tran.sjiortation facilities for the 
e.arly crojt, it should make a stronger (hanand for 
the c.an-hoii.se crop lat(‘r in the se.ason. i:. av. dkisai'n. 
What About the Farmers’ Institutes? 
W ITH tlie passing aAva.v of Mr. Van .\l.st.vne 
it Avas expected that the in.stitutes of the 
State Avould go more or le.ss under the control of 
the College of Agriculture. ^Ir. \'un Alstyne had 
done excellent Avork in many Avays. ,S(jme thou.ght 
he depended too much on the college to get the most 
six inches loAver. Avith the Timothy heads shoAving 
at about the same height. The field is in jicn's, 
and has bemi a sort of sIioaa' jdace for .sonu* Aveeks, 
one farmer bringing another to see it. and soim* 
coming after hearing about the tield. 'J'he seialing 
consisted of six pounds Alfalfa, three pounds cloAcr, 
seeded both Avays, very early l.-ist .S|iring, Avith the 
usual (piantity of 'fimothy in the Avheat. Half the 
above (luantit.v Avas seeded each Avay. 
'I’he .\lfalfa seeded aloiu* in this year's Avheat on 
Febiuary 2.", at the rate of six pounds to tlie acre, 
has given me an excellent stand, and owing to the 
late heav.v rains has made excessive groAA'th, ladiig 
CA-er a foot hi.gh in some places; not a A-er.v d(‘sirable 
thing from our standpoint here, as it means that by 
harvest time it Avill have reached Avell up in the 
sti-.-iAA', which means damp shocks and moldy str.-iAv 
later. 
i am raising m.v own raia* and rutabaga seed this 
y(-ar. having .set aside' a jiart of my cover crops Avhere 
the stand Avas extra good, consisting of about a tenth 
of an acre, for this juiriiose; last .Acar I had to pay 
$1.25 i»er pound for turnip seed and 15 cents for rai»e, 
and I figure that tlu' above* plot Avill giAe me more 
tlian snflicient seed for all my cover crop.s, be.sides an 
acre of vetch ami rye which I am raising for Hu* 
.suine purpose; I think this Avill proA’o a jirotitlible 
propo.sition for other f.irmers. becau.se if the.v have* 
se*ed for cover e-rops eif lhe*ir oAvn raising the.v Avill 
naturally use* it more* liberall.v; the eml.v part of m.v 
e-eve*r crops for Avhich I shall luive to buy .seed is the 
Alfalfa Avhiedi 1 intenel to use* in some* tiehls. .\lfalfa 
is surely Avorking out Avell Avith me, both as a cover 
crop and as an annual cre>p. 
'riie timely rains liave AA’orked Avonders Avith the 
Tiro A nil fain of Aftparayii.s. I'iy .7.7/ 
While Mr. \'an .\lst.vne* Avas a se ho/diuaste-r among 
bis institute* force*, .'iiiel the* re'al elirector, he* Avas 
al.so peiimlar AA'ith them. He* got in close touch Avilh 
the ce)lh*ge* .-ind Avitli some of the* farmers about the 
Sti*'' 'lael it not been for his strong per.souiility it 
is uou.ul’ul if bis methoels Avould have* sue*e*e‘e*de*el as 
we‘ll as they did. Noav that he is genu*, Avhat is to 
bee*onie of the institutes'/ 
It .seems to me tluit farnu'rs ought to liave a sa.v 
