'1140 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban llomen 
Entablished isso 
Pnbllibrd iTH'lily by the Itnrel Piibliehini; Company, 88* We»t 80tb Street, New York 
Herbert W. Coli-iegwood, I’resident and f^litor. 
JoiiE J. r>iux)N, Trea«uror and General Manager 
Wm. F. D iu-oe. i^^retary. ,Mrs. K. T. 1{oyi,k, AsKociatc Editor. 
SUnsCRIPTION ; ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreiftn eountrie« in Hie Universal Postal Union. $2.04, equal to 8s. 6d or 
81(i marks, oi 101 b franca Hemit in inonc.v order, express ’ 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Oflice a,s Second Class Matter. 
Adv.->-1.lsinpr To cents per apate line—7 wortK References required for 
advertiseis unknown to us j and cash must accompany transient orders, 
“A SQUARE PEAL” 
We believe that every ativertlsement in this paper is backed by a respon- 
sib e tieiwin. c use every possible precaution and atlmlt the adVertisinit of 
to "lake doubly sure, we will make (rood any loss 
to paid subwribers sustain^ by tnistinpr any deliberate swindler, irrespon- 
c 1 ."? «<iverti8cments in our columns, and any 
P'lbllcly exposed. We are also often called upon 
twites between our subscribers and honest, 
.i. M "'^'/^ther advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
no"* ^'"^t 'iuch cases should not be confused with dishonest 
hie Subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
, r Ih honest b.ankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
• f ransnefir ^.*1 ’^"t to US within oiic month of tlic time of 
YoRSXn SuiUng the^TO^^^ mention The Rural New- 
J L f>'/' received o leticr from my son in France, in 
irhUh he says “If there is any one thing that 
we enjoy more than another J think it's The R. 
A.-l, ‘t^pud’ (his chum) begins to call for it before 
/ get the package open. Keep them coming, no mat¬ 
ter how old they are.” lie is in the garden service, 
and has 500 acres in crops; J/O acres beans; planted 
four carloads potatoes—planted them whole as the 
ground was tcet; 100,000 tomato ptlants, 200,000 cab¬ 
bage plants, etc. geo. h. Lincoln. 
I'ennsj^lvania. 
We are .safe in sa.vins that The R. N.-Y. lia.s a 
wider reading among tlie soldier.s in France Ilian any 
other farm iiaper. Alany of our .‘^iihscrihers are now 
in the army, and they say “our jiaiier” gives them 
a real view of tlie old farm life. When they come 
home the.v will he lietter farmer.s than ever. 
do not know whether the discus.sion of the 
✓ 
farmers’ institutes has had an.y influence in 
deciding their character or not. We think it is one 
of the things that ought to he opened up for inspec¬ 
tion, and that the farmers .should do most of the 
opening. Frof. AI. C. Burritt of Cornell says: 
It should be said that the way in which we propose 
to hold farniers’ institutes this next year, Avith county 
agents and in .some cases local farmers participating in 
the program, and with much le.ss formality than for¬ 
merly, there is not a A’er.v great difference between the 
farmers’ institute and the local community meeting. It 
is jirobahle that the one will he merged into the other 
as time goes on. However, this is for the farmers of 
the various counties to say for themselves. 
At any rate, no one can say The R. N.-Y. has not 
done its hest to give the subject a full airing. 
* 
W E have a good nian.v letters from country 
Avomen asking us to help find their hoys! 
These boys, usuall.v 10 years old or thereahouts, sud- 
denly disappear and have not been heard from. 
The chances are that many of them have enlisted in 
the .\riny or Navy, and very likely are now in 
active service. These hoys are of good size, and in 
their eagerness to enter the conflict declare them¬ 
selves older than they really are. They do not write 
because they fear their age Avill he discovei’ed, so they 
will be forced to leave the service. The great ina- 
.iority of the.se boys will i-eturn after the war all 
the better for their experience. 
I F wo Avere a.sked to name the one thing Avhich 
does most to hold uii progress and true co¬ 
operative Avork among farmers Ave should say it is 
the inabilit.v to separate fair criticism from rebel¬ 
lion or destruction. There never Avas a perfect man 
or a perfect pai*t.v or perfect organization, Avhether 
it be for church or social or business develoinnent. 
There are ahvays methods or policies of management 
which may he improved. As a rule such organiza¬ 
tions finall.y come under control of a small body of 
citizens Avho are strong and far.seeing enough to 
gain poAver. In a political party this little con¬ 
trolling group is called the “machine.” In a church 
or Grange it may he a “cliiiue” or as is iioaa' termed 
a “hunch.” This group comes to control the organi¬ 
zation unless the plain Avorking members as.sert 
themselves. It is human nature for this small grouj) 
of men to play politics in such a position, and, if 
they are not restricted, to use the poAver of the 
organization to advance their oAvn interests. The.A'^ 
may not do this in any dishonest way, hut sooner 
or later unrestricted jioAver eomes to be used selfi.shly 
and for personal interests. Fair and strong criti¬ 
cism is the only Avay to correct any such abuse Avith- 
out iibiiiring the organization, hut the machine or the 
“bunch” are often able to use such criticism to in¬ 
crease their own poAver. They knoAV that many 
l»eo]ile cannot separate such honest criticism from a 
di.shouest attempt to smash the entire organization. 
Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
So they appeal to this nari’ow vieAv, inflame the 
passions or prejudices of the members and thus 
make their own position more secure. It is likely 
that every strong man or Avoman who reads this 
has been called a heretic or “knocker” or Avorse 
names hecau.se of fair and hone.st criticism of the 
methods of some machine or “bunch.” They may 
have the most loyal affection for the organization 
and be read.A' to make sacrifices for it, but they fail 
becau.se peojile cannot .separate criticism from de¬ 
struction. It is hard to see such things go on, but 
Ave belioA’e that a better and more liberal view of life 
is coming—partly as a result of the stern discipline 
and necessity of this Avar. 
w 
E get an idea of the size of this Avar when 
AA'e think Avhat it Avill cost. The government 
calls for twent.A'-four billion dollars before next .Inly. 
This Avill he needed to equip, transport and maintain 
the great army Avhich is to be sent to Europe. From 
the time of lieginning of this gOA'ernment in 1789 
doAvn to and including 1017, the total disbursements 
for po.stal service, public debt and Panama Canal 
AA’ere $27,207,710,4.71. fl’lius in one year Ave must 
spend more than all these expenses for 128 years! 
The fearful job noAV undertaken cannot he done for 
less, and every man, Avoman and child in the country 
must help. .lust as our Fourth Liberty Loan cam¬ 
paign starts, Germany also starts a neAV bond is.sue. 
’riiu.s, while our boys are pre.senting bayonets to the 
enem.A% Ave must ju-esent our dollars for bonds. The 
ho.A's risk their lives. We risk nothing, for in ex¬ 
change for our money Ave receive the finest security 
and the hest “scrap of paper” on earth. The idle 
oi- hoarded dollar becomes a slacker in .such times. 
Bind it to a bond and make it free. 
T’ 
HIIS plan suggested by Secretary Lane of pro¬ 
viding land for the soldiers is not ne\AL Great 
Britain and her colonies have already prepared for 
the close of the Avar. They all realize that many of 
these soldiers Avill demand the right to a piece of 
land Avhen they take ofl; their uniform.s. And they 
.should have it. The English plans vary, but in a 
general Avay the soldier Avill be given a chance to liny 
land on ea.sy terms, and he can borroAv money from 
the Government to purchase his eiiiiipment. Men 
Avho do not knoAV hoAV to farm Avill he given a chance 
to learn at some special school or on some good farm, 
and Avill be jiaid Avhilo learning, fl’lie English people 
hav'e had their full le.s.son in food .shortage and Avill 
novA-^ go the limit in encouraging farmers. In this 
country we need to find places for the soldier.s, but, 
at the same time, aa^c need greater encouragement for 
the peojile already on the farms. We think many 
of these soldiers aa’III jirefer to .settle on the upper 
Atlantic slope, and the Eastern States ought to get 
ready for them by classifying the vacant land and 
making it ready. The XeAV England States in partic¬ 
ular haA'e a great opportunity in this, lint the soldiers 
are not the only ones to he provided for and financed, 
’riiere are many soldiers of the .soil, noAV farming, 
who need help. 
* 
OMMERGIAL flori.sts are endeavoring to meet 
a serious jirohlem in cutting down their fuel 
consumjition to 70 jicr cent of former suj)plie.s. In 
many cases part of the gla.ss area must he closed, 
and ill every case a lower general temiierature must 
be adopted. Exotics calling for high temperatures 
must be given uii entirely, or carried over under 
discouraging condition.s. An immense quantity of 
tender palms and similar stock have been disjiosed 
of through fi\’e and lO-cent stores. Forced vege¬ 
table plants are likely to occujiy much glass formerly 
devoted to fioAvers and ornamental plant.s. O'he de¬ 
mand for floAvers seems likely to continue good; 
many patriotic people substitute floAvers for candy 
ill making gifts, as one means of saving sugar. After 
seeing the soldiers at a big rest camp begging every 
floAver in sight, with the assertion that “Mother has 
that kind of floAver in the front yard back homo,” 
one is hardly prepared to view floAver growing as a 
non-essential industry. 
* 
T he rejiort is that President Wilson Avill finally 
fix a jirice on cotton on much the same principle 
as that employed in jiricing Avheat. There has been a 
long controversy over this point. Northern grain 
farniers haA'e undoubtedly lost money through the 
price fixing of Avheat. They comiilained tliat cotton, 
akso an absolute necessity, Avas left to the law of sup¬ 
ply and demand. This they claimed Avas class dis¬ 
crimination or faA’oritism, Avhichever Avay you look 
at it. Of couLso the Southern farmers opposed price 
fixing, and for many months they ha\-e been able to 
prevent it. The issue Avas likely to become .sectional, 
October 5, 1918 
a revival of the old argument between the North and 
South, and the price Avill be fixed to stop the rising 
price of cotton. Personally we do not believe in 
price fixing. The demand caused by a fair and un¬ 
restricted distribution Avill do more to stimulate 
production than any price the GoA-ernment can .safely 
guarantee. Cotton and wheat are both essential 
product.s—one of the South and the other of the 
North and aa’o can see no reason AA’hy AA'heat growers 
.should he restricted and hampered while cotton 
groAvers are left free. 
* 
^^HE National Grange will meet at Syracuse, N. 
1 Y., this year and it will be a notable gathering. 
Many farm organizations come and go, but the 
Grange remains strong, steadfast and hopeful. There 
can be no doubt that the members of the Subor¬ 
dinate Granges are the cream of country dAvellers, 
and no one can over estimate the uplifting influence 
these Gianges huA’e had upon country communitie.s. 
The best thing about the Grange is that it is a country 
home product. !Many farm organizations make the 
mistake of aping or imitating the methods or man¬ 
ner of city people. This always ends in disaster, 
for, being close to nature and natural forces, the 
farmer is at his best Avhen he is natural and direct. 
The early leaders of the Grange seemed to realize 
this, and, from the beginning, the organization has 
been strongest and most effective where it sought to 
pet feet a culture and an education based upon coun¬ 
try life and country ideals. We think much of the 
success of the Grange has resulted from this policy 
of develojiing the hest in country life, rather than in 
trying to fit over the more artificial life of the toAvn. 
The relations hetAveen the subordinates and the 
State or National Grange are not always as clo.se as 
thej .should he, and thii.s the latter are not always a.s 
truly representative as they should he. We hope the 
connection Avill be made closer, and that the Grange 
Avill remain as noAv, the great social representative 
of the farm home. Every Patron in Noav York and 
Eastern States .should be personally interested in 
making the coming National Grange meeting a Avon- 
derful success. Make it take rank Avith other great 
war activitie.s. 
Nc 
TWOW that the neAv campaign for .sale of Liberty 
■LN bonds is on let us repeat the statement about 
the sale of junk. Within a foAA’’ mile.s of .Amur church 
or school or Grange may be found enough old metal 
or rubber or rags to pay for several of the.se bonds. 
This junk is noAv scattered about in small lots, for 
Avhich, .separatekv, there Avould be but little .sale. 
Get the.se lots together so as to make a carload, and 
they can be sold to advantage. Here is a chance for 
a good community eiiterjirise. In .some localities 
much of this junk has been cleaned up for the Red 
Gross, but .you Avill find more of it if you hunt. We 
are told of turning the SAA'oi'ds into pruning hooks 
and ploAvshares. That Avill come a little later, Ave 
hope. .lust noAV it is more in line to turn a rusty old 
moAver or a di.scarded harroAv into a cannon and a 
shell to bloAV doAvn the Avails of GGrman.y. Use the 
Junk to put the German .Tiinkers in the junk heap! 
Brevities 
Broiled tbmatoes make you think of beefsteak— 
without the price. 
The very foumlation of service to the country means 
giving up something that Ave value.' 
O.NLY rich people and farmers can afford to cat fresh 
eggs this season. 
Packing beans Avitli unslaked lime—about equal 
quantities— Avill de.stroy mo.st of the Aveevils. 
The best thing to do Avith wild or foolish rumors is 
to forget them. The Avorst thing is to repeat them. 
A GOOD Avay to pass idle time is to practice writing 
with the left hand. 
In Noi-Avay each adult is limited to about one-half 
pint of .skim-milk per day. 
8ay Avhat you Avill—if the .shipyard workers Avorked 
as long and as faithfully as the farmers do the .shipping 
question Avould be settled. 
Great Britain Avill clean out .all but the “essential” 
dogs as a Avar measure. Could you prove that your dog 
does “essential” Avork? 
The farmerettes, the farmerettes, they .save the farm¬ 
er toil and frets. Yet Avife, inside, the records beats, for 
she must cook the farmer’s cats. 
Our friend o'n page 11.84 tells of eating woodchucks 
to get rid of them. We have known them to be salted 
down to be msed as iiork. In some cases they are 
canned and held for Winter feeding poultry. 
Some of our friends say they Avill hunt for buried 
treasure on their farms, using a magnet. A pick and 
spade employed in tile drainage A\ill get nearer the treas¬ 
ure. 
The neAv taxes on soda Avater are expected to net 
the government ,$.87,000,000! We quit drinking this 
“.soft drink” long ago and switched off to milk. Why 
not create such a demand for milk that it will tax tlie 
fanners to keep up Avith it? 
