1070 
^he R U RAL N EW-YO R K E R 
Sopteinhor 14, 1018 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Fakmkkkttks. —W<? oaino to tin; jioint 
wlioi’e we hiicl to liave more help jit pick¬ 
ing and packing, and could find no helpers 
except at a “unit’’ of farmerettes about 
four miles awa.v. On a ’phone call two 
of them with their manager walked over 
to see what the .I'ob was like, and we en¬ 
gaged them at oiU'e. AVe have to carry 
them back and foidh, and they work about 
eight hours per day. They contribute to 
th(! cost of kei'ping up the unit, keep a 
small amount for themselves and contri¬ 
bute the balance to the I{ed Oross. At 
lighter W’ork, such as j)icking, weeding, 
h.oeing and packing, they are, I think, 
superior to the majorit.v of the men or 
boys we .are able to hire. They are quick 
and sensible, ambitious, and are evidently 
woi'kitig largely from jiatriotic motives. 
1 Ina V, ork is w<‘ll done and, in man.v 
I>arts of the country, it will just about 
sjive the croiis. 
IlKAVY WoKK.—In the Sjuing I talked 
with some of the managers of a ‘T,:ind 
.\iany,' and they were very entlmsiastic 
about what these girls cotild do. They 
seemed ready to guarantee th.at thost' 
light, girls could nnnv, jdow, carry fc)*- 
tilizer sacks, load m.anure and do all the 
h.ard work on ji farm. I think that is 
IK.nsen.se, and will do the cause, of the 
farmerettes mor<‘ harm than good. There 
are no doubt n few strong and health.v 
women who c.-in do this heavy work. We 
know that in Europe they are brought u)> 
to do it, and I have seen women in this 
country doing all the heavy work that a 
man can do. The' 'aver.'ige woman is not 
ca))iible of doing this kind of work, and 
it will result in lifelong miser.v for her if 
she attempts it. At some of the triictor 
demonstrations I hiive* .s<*en yemng girls 
dj’iving these ma(-hines—the object Ix'ing 
to show that the women can do the plow¬ 
ing and harrowing and thus save men’s 
labor. In several cases I knew these 
young women were being striiined and 
overworked, and I Inive heard fanners 
say that they would not let wife or 
daughter endure this shaking and wrench¬ 
ing on a tractor. The women tind girls 
can be of great service at the lighter farm 
work, all the wiiy from milking to corn¬ 
cutting or husking, but most of them 
would better kec)) aw:iy from the he;ivy 
lifting. 
'PiiK Ft ti-hk.—A s I see these ne.-it and 
< heerful woikers gi'ttiug off the ap)des and 
tomtitoes, clearing out the weeds and do¬ 
ing other similar jobs I begin to womb'r 
what is to happen in the future. In the 
j)a.st the great arm.v of farm women and 
girls hav<' been exi»ect('d to work for their 
Imard and clothes—and in sonu' cases jja.v 
for the clothes. 8uch a thing as cash jtay- 
ment for women's farm labor has not 
been considered. In fact, for many .vears 
now farming in man.v si'ctions has been 
.able to endure only through the “unpaid 
labor of women and childr<‘n.” As fac- 
toi'y hands. »l('rks and in many lint's of 
business women have rt'ceived wages in 
cash, while farm women, doing more nec- 
I'ssary work at itroduction, have received 
little or no money. This is ont^ rt'ason 
why farming, as a business, has fallen be¬ 
hind other indu.stries. Nearly one-half 
the farm producers have worked for noth¬ 
ing. while in other industries women and 
girls havt' bt'en jtaid in cash. Thus these 
other industries have been able to show' 
a heav.v ex])euse, and have been able to 
command jtrices more than largi' enough 
to iiay a profit. On the farm the hired 
man and tht' hired woman have rt'ceived 
their money, bur tht* wife and childrt'ii 
have been uunaid. This is ))articularl.v 
true in the dairy business. AVhen it was 
prt.iK.sed tt> figurt' the cost of disirihitihi;/ 
milk the salar.v t)f evt'r.v gi>‘l and wt>man 
t’ugtiged in the business was ct.uuted in. 
Wht'ii it came tt) dt'termining the co.<tt of 
milk no account was taken of the labor 
of wfimen. because they were not paid in 
cash. All this has hurt farming in any 
coiuitarison with otht'r industries. Now 
comes this Wiir. aiid as out! result of it, 
tht'st' farmerettt's ai't^ giving gt)od service 
at farm work .-ind t'stablishing the i)rinci- 
lile that women should Ixr i)aid in cash ! 
AVhat will be the result of that when 
)ieace forces a new adjustment of labor? 
I think it will, along with sufTrage. pre¬ 
sent one of the biggest t.roblems y(‘t pre¬ 
sented to society, and I think it will af¬ 
fect farming by making a new adjustment 
of values. 
.\ D.w’s WouK.—Several iteoide who 
live on dair.v farms want to know how 
w(' c!in ouit work at sundown on Satur¬ 
day night—or earlit'r. "What about milk¬ 
ing? they say. As this is a fruit and 
truck farm we seldom kee)) more than two 
COW.S —usually only one. Thus milking 
is a small chore. The best live stock T 
have found for such ,a farm as ours is a 
good bunch of itigs. We have some Tied 
l)igs which nearly take care of themselves. 
When early Saturday night comes we call 
it .a week's work and quit. I know that 
some farmers work all day Sunday and 
go to market with their stuft'. I also know 
th.at sounr ministers Jire rejiorted as ad¬ 
vising Sunday work on the theory that 
o\ir soldiers are expected to tight on Sun¬ 
day. In our countr.v some fanners spend 
Sunda.y selling produce to passersby. No 
Suuda.v work here exce))t the necessary 
chores. farmer m.-iy make ,a small 
temporar.y gain by su<-h wmk, but iti the 
end it will mean ji largt' itermanent loss 
to his class for if we st;irt the idea that 
fiirmers jis ii clas.s inu'if work days, nights 
and .Sunda.vs we sluill never get .away 
from it. it will be another industrial 
load for f:iruling to carry. Some dairy¬ 
men may think they put in a good day-^ 
but “there are others.” .lust come and 
cha.se a gardener and fruit grower through 
the days and nights of August, Se))tember 
and October, and you will see there is no 
soft job about it. 
Tiih Fnors.—Tty September 1 we had 
sohl .‘ill the Wealth.v. Twenty Ounce. 
^I.iiden Elush, Oravenstein and most of 
the McIntosh aiqiles. It seems almost a 
shame to rush them away in this manner, 
but iirices htive bi'cn high and the boys 
go back to school eju'ly in Sejitember. 
During August jirices Avere very high. «)ur 
cro]) was unusually early, while the croi> 
frein the North was dela.\'ed. Thus for a 
tiine we got .$t) and more pi'r barrel for 
No. I fruit. Fnder sm-h circumstances 
1 think it better to sell at once rather 
than to take the risk of holding. We 
have jiractically abandoned our retail 
trade as every hand and every hour is 
needed in ^ harvesting the crops. When 
Nature lini.shes her work on a tomato or 
an ear of sweet corn it is up to you to 
do your jiatt .'it once. There can be no 
delay or argument. It is get that stuff 
to market at once or lose it. Tomatoe.'^ 
have brought paying jirices, though the 
<'ountry_ is red with them. As I write 
they bring us cents ii crate wholesale, 
and our vines are shelling tlieiii out in 
lively style. 
-VoviCK.—Of course we get it in full 
measure. If you want to find the hajip.v 
farmer do not hunt him under the follow¬ 
ing coiiditi<»ns: 'I'ln' farmer started in to 
“do his bit*’ and make his farm increase 
its output^ of forsl. Short-handed and 
hampered in every wa.y he has struggled 
ou and now comes hai-vest. Everyone on 
the farm is working jiast capacity to save 
what they can of the crojis, and' in siiite 
of constant labor the wi'eds get into the 
corn and a dozen .jobs are left undone. 
Then on some hot and sweat.v day Avhen. 
everyone is tired and nervous along comes 
some cit.v man to look them over. Tie has 
two weeks vacation from his job—with pay 
continui'd. He Avalks .‘irouml the farm 
and criticizes the work. “Why didn’t yoij 
hoe tluit corn?'’ “I never saw such a 
weedy field.” “If I Avas running this 
placi' I ni'ver Avould let those apples rot 
on the ground I” “Wh.y don’t you dig 
tho.se iiotatoes Avhile the jirice is* good?’’ 
“Noav is just the time to dig ditches in 
that wet field!” and so on. There is not 
so much of that as there used to be, but 
now and then somi' ciatic sIioaa’s U)). lie 
Avould get Aery short shift here. We knoAV 
then* are a dozen things left undone. 
’I'hey tire constantly before' ns, and they 
. 111 ' galling enough Avitlnnit having them 
rubbed in. This is Av.ir and the Aveeds all 
seem to realize it. AVe get back at them 
sometimes Avhen there comes .some old 
timer Avho sjiid years ago that aa’c Avere 
crazy to plant ti'ee's and exix'ct an or- 
clmi'd. Oh. hoAA' they did cut us Avhen 
the trees Avi'r** too sm.all to di'fend them¬ 
selves. It d(»es us good noAv to take the.se 
critics up. "how them the tri'i's hanging 
Avith red fniir. and I am tempted to shoAV 
tln-m a feAV figures. 
Tiofsr: .and TIOAtK.-—Our sugar experi¬ 
ment for .\ugusr AA'orked out right. Each 
member of the family had tAA'o pounds of 
sugar. On Seiit. 1 there Avere nearly 
three potinds left over. Everyone had 
enough. T haA’e seen men at a restaurant 
imt si.x big lumps of sugar into a cup of 
coffee and then gi’oAvl about their rights 
avIk'u lU'Otest Avas mtide. ... It 
si'ems to me that some family system of 
“rationing” Avould proA’e a good thing. 
Most children are greed.v by nature, and 
Avill Avasti' food if left too much to them¬ 
selves. Tt is a good thing for all to be 
held doAvn to a definitt' ration and learn 
to economize early in life. The stomach 
is a A’er.v necessary nart of the body. Imt 
I see no reason for bringing people up to' 
Avorshin it! . . Afother Avill give up 
her litHe school this AATnter. The smallest 
girl Avill be taught .at home, but the others 
go to the public school. Our Ncav .Tersey 
schools are generally good. In this toAvn 
<h(* school is A'-i't] looked after by the 
board and T b“lii>ve that it is a part of 
education in citk/.enship for boA’s and girls 
^o attend the public school. You have got 
to Avatch them and give them riefit home 
inniieuce. but the romrh and tnmhle <ifi 
school life deuPKa'acA- is a areat thing for 
the child . . . Mv belief is that many 
of_ us will be nut ou short co.al rations 
this Winier and forced to use more Avood. 
This Avill cause ".rout ti'oubh' if Ave have 
any such savtiae Winter its last year, and 
AVI' Avould all better g(*t ready by tmtting 
up till' Avood and fixing erates for burning 
it prot)erl.A\ . . . Have some of you 
lonely lieople thought that it AA’ould be a 
p'iw)d thing to take a little child for the 
"Winter? Theja' Avill be many of thi'in 
needing a home perhaps as much as A’our 
home needs a child. Tt is a serious thing 
to do—no playing or toying about it— 
but It fine thing if doin' in the right siiirit. 
tr. Av. r. 
Getthellun 
out of your cornfield 
Every stump is an outpost of the Kaiser’s 
army’ Each boulder or crooked creck-bed in 
a field is a direct aid to the Hun! 
Q Stump Blastinir [d Subsoil Blasting Cd Road Makinr 
D Boulder Blasting Q Ditch Digeing Q 'free riaiitine 
ATLAS POWDER COMPANY 
Division KN8 Wilminmon. Delaware 
Get rid of these prcA'entable wastes of food 
crop.s. Incre.rscd acreage may be impossiiile, 
bnt you can put all your cleared land l(» work 
for Uncle Sam. 
Let us show you how blasting with ATLAS 
Farm PoAA’der will relieve your necil for help 
and do the hard jobs easily. 
Farm explosives will help solve your tillage 
problems. Heavier growth and larger yields 
follow subsoil blasting. 
Dur illustrated book, “Better Farming,” sIioavs 
many lalx>r-saving methods of working your 
farm to full capacity. It is free. In Avriting, 
check the subjects in which you are interested: 
Thii hook is free. 
H’ri/e for it today. 
Apply 
Varnish 
-VULCAN Rubber Cemented Brushes 
By using them prevent crawling, imitation alligator 
skin, leopard-like spots and other scaley defects in 
Varnished Surfaces. 
whiting-AdAms 
permanently attach paint, color 
and varnish, and produce brilliant 
luminous surfaces whereverused 
Do you k now what W HITIN G> AD A MS 
means? it meansaattsf action in brushes, 
cood work. Ions wear, best results. 
Sendforiilustrated Literature. Dept. 
BRUSHES 
JOHN L.WHITING4.I. ADAMS CO., Boston, U.S.A. 
Brush Manufacturers for Over One Hundred Years 
WI.itinc-AdainB Bruibes Awarded OoM Medal and Official Blue 
the II igheet Award at I'anama-Pacific l.x(>oaiiiOD, IVIt 
Make Orchards More Productive 
by keeping pestiferous little animals 
from gnawing the bark. You can do 
it successfully if you put 
WIRE MESH 
TREE GUARDS 
around your trees. 
Come ready to set up. 
Quickly placed. Cost 
little. Made of strong, 
steel wires, heavily gal¬ 
vanized to prevent rust. 
Strong, sturdy, substan¬ 
tial. Last for many 
years. All sizes to fit 
all trees. 
"Write for catalog K. prices, 
information. 
Wright Wire Co. 
"Worcester, Mass. 
THE SELF-OILING WINDMILL 
has become so popular in its first three years that 
thousands have been called for to replace, on tlicir 
old towers, other makes of mills, and tq_ replace, at 
small cost, the gearing of the earlier^ 
Aermotors, making them sclf-oi]., 
ing. Its enclosed motori 
keeps in the oil and! 
keeps out dust andl 
rain.TheSplashOilingl 
System constantly* ^ 
floods every bearing with oil pre-, 
venting wear and enabling the” 
mill to pump in the lightest breeze.'' _ 
The oil supply is renewed once a year. 
Double Gears are used, each carrying half the load 
We make Gasoline Engines. Pumps. Tanks, 
Water Supply Goods and Steel Frame Saws. 
IVrite AERMOTOR CO., 2500 Twelfth SL. Chicago 
Your cliance is in Canaria. Rich land.s iintl 
Inisinossopportunitiesr)tTer you imlependencr'. 
I'’ai m lands Sll to 830 an acre; irrigated lands 
pXt to $50. Twenty years to {tay; 33,000 loan 
in improvements, or ready-made farms. Loan 
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Special homeseekers’ fare certiticates. Write 
for free brxiklet.s. Allan Faineron, General 
Superintemlent Lanrl Hranch, (Janadiau I’a- 
cilic Railway, 510 NintJi A\(*iiue. Calgary, 
Alberta. 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a ’‘square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
] 
