510 
the suggestions made by Mr. O'Connor, it seems 
probable to me that we would avoid boycotts, which 
are the most senseless and the most destructive 
forces that I know of now being used in America. 
In other words, we would avoid and counteract the 
poison of prejudice which is constantly being in¬ 
stilled in city people’s minds by their daily press. 
I do not feel positive that we would accomplish very 
much more, because l do not feel at all sure that 
city people would voluntarily raise prices to us if 
they knew that we were operating at a loss. 
CI1AS. n. WING. 
(Continued next week.) 
Selling Small Lots of Wool 
I NQUIRIES about selling wool have come to me 
from about 20 sheepmen scattered over New 
York, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. 
These letters show that many small flocks have been 
established by both men and women, and that under 
the old system of collecting fleeces the returns to 
the small grower are very unsatisfactory. The 
price these people received varies from 48 cents, the 
lowest, to 07 cents, the highest. Some have doubted 
that I actually receive'" ~2 cents; as I sent the state¬ 
ment of my dealei with my first notes to The R. 
N.-Y., the figures are easily established. The R. 
N.-Y. has mentioned several instances where higher 
juices were secured for larger lots when growers of 
a section pooled and shipped direct. 
At a recent meeting in Trenton, when the New 
Jersey Sheep and Wool Growers’ Association was 
formed, I found that I had received the highest 
price per pound for an individual clip. Some fai - - 
mers from Morris County had pooled and received 
72 cents by shipping direct. There are several points 
which must be understood by small growers if they 
are to get full returns for their woi*k with sheeii. 
A pound of clean wool fibre is worth a certain 
sum at the mill, depending upon the qualities of the 
fibre itself. The price the mill can afford to j>ay for 
the raw fleece will depend upon the quality of the 
fibre in the fleece and the amount of that fibre in 
the fleece. A fleece is a mixture of wool fibre, grease 
and dii’t. It was demonstrated at the Trenton meeting 
that 100 pounds of fleece many contain as little as 30 
pounds of wool fibre, dirt and grease accounting for 
04 pounds. Another lot when scoured yielded 00 
pounds of wool and 40 pounds of grease and dirt. 
The quantity of grease and dirt in a fleece differs 
very greatly with the locality and breed, and the 
care taken of the flock, and to a slight extent even 
with the individual members of the flock. It is 
apparent that if the fibre is the same the wool clean¬ 
ing out 00 per cent fibre should bring the grower a 
much better price than that cleaning out 30 per cent 
fibre. 
The price a collector can offer a grower must allow 
a few cents less than the mill j»rice for each person 
dealing in the wool. As a collector is usually a poor 
judge of wool, and packs clean fleeces and dirty 
fleeces together, he must pay an average price and 
allow margin enough for dockings for inferior wool. 
Under this system dirty wool brings the most and 
the seller of clean fleeces is cheated. The grower 
gets the average mill price for his neighborhood, less 
the sum the inbetween dealers have to make for 
handling it. Their total commissions have to be 
subtracted from the value of your wool at the mill; 
you get the average market value, less the amount 
taken by them for their efforts to sell your wool. 
The difference between the full market value of your 
clip and what you get for it is the sum you pay the 
dealer for bis services and risks. If you prefer to 
hire your wool sold in this way you can have no 
“kick” if you get a small price. If you are going to 
employ a collector to sell your wool he is entitled 
to the profits that make up his living. He pays cash 
and makes all he can. The more he makes the more 
successful lie is rated. 
There are two factors, then, that govern the share 
we get of the price established by supply and de¬ 
mand. 1. The quality and quantity of fibre in our 
fleeces. 2. The cost of getting the fleeces from our 
farms to the mill or grading house. The sheejunen 
of several States are overcoming the difficulty small 
growers have in selling their wool by consigning to 
reputable grading houses, where the fleeces are 
sorted under the supervision -of the State Associa¬ 
tion. A farmer gets just what his clip is worth, and 
the cost of marketing is reduced to a minimum. 
Somerset Co., N. J. geo. a. post. 
Tree Growing In Rocks 
OST of us have seen a good-sized tree growing 
out of a crack in a rock. Perhaps we have 
seen it start as a little seedling and split or open 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
the rock as it grows. The Bulletin of the Missouri 
Botanical Garden prints the picture shown at Fig. 
124. 
A feature of common occurrence, noticeable through¬ 
out the various ledge formations, is the mechanical 
force exerted by the roofs of trees in cleavages and 
elevation of huge rocks. A root reaching a fissure in 
the rock is able to crack the stone and shatter it by its 
further thickening. It has been estimated that a weight 
of two tons may be lifted by growth of a root only 10 
inches in diameter. According to Iverner and Oliver, 
this burden is small in comparison to the weight lifted 
by the roots of old trees. The large superficial roots 
which Creep over tin 1 ground of the forests were not 
always situated in this position. The underground 
roots have gradually come to the surface, lifting with 
them entire trees which often weigh several tons. 
The elevation of the trunk may be explained in a 
simple manner. The first embryonic root growing down 
vertically into the ground dies off, or its growth is so 
retarded as to force lateral roots to develop, which 
Tree Growth in Fissure of Roclc. Fig. 12k- 
6pread out horizontally into a whorl around the trunk. 
Similar to the trunk, the roots form successive layers 
of wood, gradually thickening with age. The pressure 
exerted by these roots is lateral, compressing the soil 
below while raising and bursting open that above. In 
this manner tin* thickening root gradually emerges to 
the surface, raising with it the entire trunk. Fig. 124 
shows the action of a root which has penetrated a 
fissure in a rock formation, producing the appearance 
of the tree growing out of solid stone. 
A Letter From a Soldier 
1 WIS1I you could have seen some of the places 
The It. N.-Y. lias been. A friend of ours in tlio 
States has very thoughtfully forwarded bis R. N.-Y.’s 
to a comrade of mine. Needless to say we have 
enjoyed them. I’ve had the good fortune of being 
able to read them while near the lines during the 
division’s stay northwest of Toul; again before the 
drive at Belleau (July 18th. 1018), and again before 
the St. Mihiel drive (Sept. 12, 1018). 
Although I left a small start in farming just be¬ 
fore war was declared, to join a regiment which 
■r.vjy 
Rhubarb in Young Orchard in New Jersey 
helped make up the 20th Division, I have never 
given up the idea of going back to farming. I have 
enjoyed your magazine, first because it has helped 
to answer questions in agricultural lines that 1 could 
not find out in any other way “over here”; second, 
because it has given me a better idea of agricultural 
changes since T have left the States; third, it lias 
given me the market prices to date, which I compare 
with those before the war; and, fourth, because 
your magazine puts down facts and does not. picture 
farm life as merely harvesting the crops and getting 
a profit. 
In a number of your recent issues I with other 
fellows in the company have been very much inter- 
March 22, 1910 
ested in the question of back-to-the-land for soldiers. 
Much has been said “pro” and “con” for the land 
grant, which may in some cases be very satisfactory. 
I have talked with some of the men whose homes 
are in the northeastern part of the United States, 
and who would honestly like to go hack to farming. 
All of them would much rather, and some would do 
other work, if they could not, locate in that section 
of the country they were familiar with before they 
joined the service. You said as an editorial note 
in answer to Reuben Brigham's letter, pouted on 
page 14: “The best policy would be not to greatly 
increase the number of farms, hut to give these 
soldiers a chance to buy some of the farms now 
unoccupied or half tilled.” As the average soldier 
has not more than $500 with which to start, the main 
question to him is finances, which possibly may be 
overcome by the Federal Farm Loan Act. If not. 
now is the time some of our patriots can show their 
colors by helping to get something practical done 
on said lines. Were the policy you mentioned used, 
we think that it would be very practical for agricul¬ 
ture and the country at large. The “pep” that 
caused men to go “over the top” would be scattered 
to a greater extent through the rural districts, many 
of which would not receive any benefits (but possible 
harm) should a land grant policy be used. 
We, somewhere in France, certainly appreciate 
the way those “back home” stood behind us in the 
past; so all the average soldier wants is not a gift, 
but a fair chance to get on his feet again when he 
gets back to the grand old U. S. A. 
Massachusetts. tioyt d. ct.akk. 
Farmer’s Eight-hour Day Again 
Is it not a fact that the present unsatisfactory condi¬ 
tion of the business of farming has been largely brought 
about by the farmers’ competition with each other? I 
believe the business of producing food has been over¬ 
done, and is still being overdone, Mr. Hoover notwith¬ 
standing. Young Jones has just bought a farm and 
naturally has a mortgage ; what is more to the point 
than that he should get up early in the morning and 
work 10 hours a day, work to the limit to raise enough 
so as to have wherewith to make a payment on that 
mortgage? His neighbor, Brown, sees the effort Jones 
is making to get a hig crop, knows that if he is to com¬ 
pete with .Tones when it comes time to sell he must stir 
his stumps, so he also gets up at 4 a. m., and works as 
hard as Jones. In the end the buyer can play them 
against each other and make both take a low price. 
It is about time the farmers caught on to this eight- 
hour idea, and reduced their working time and their 
production accordingly. I believe if the producers of 
food would reduce their hours of labor to eight hours and 
their food production in proportion, the question would 
be solved and the producers of food would be as well 
paid as producers of brick walls or automobiles, and 
there would not In* so many pleasure cars scorching over 
the country, destroying the roads and burning gasoline. 
The money would be required for food. 
I have a good farm “down East”; in fact, I have 
1,000 acres and two boys, but as things go I shall not 
try to keep these boys on the farm. While, they are with 
me I shall try to teach them something of the farming 
business; also I shall try to educate them so they can do 
Something else, and shall advise them to learn a trade 
or profession or business that will give them a better 
living and less hard labor than the farming business now 
offers. If they should choose the farm they will have 
it ready at their hands. I fail to see why .so many i>eo- 
ple deplore the fact that the young men and girls leave 
the'farm. The farm pays less wages for Hi hours’ work 
than the city pays for eight. Why not take the best job 
one can get? 
Recently a young college man applied to me for a job 
to run my farm. He wanted $125 per month. I told 
him I had no doubt he was worth it ; his education and 
experience ought to be worth it, and I believed they 
would bring him these returns if applied in the right 
place. 1 also told him I did not believe he could take 
the best farm in Kennebec County, all stocked with 
animals, tools and money, and make the wages raising 
food for a year and return the farm in as good condition 
and with aw good an inventory as when he took it. The 
place where he could make near $5 per day is in the 
city, and not on a farm. And yet if I could get for beef 
the price the local market man pays for it 1 have no 
doubt I could earn as good wages as that on my farm. 
I wish we could get the farmers to cut down thcii 
hours of work to eight. What a change there would be. 
How many hours field work would the average New 
York State dairyman be able to do? If he had 10 cows, 
two horses, two or three hogs and a few hens, and had 
to haul his milk three miles, he would not have over one 
or two hours to work in the field; in fact, it would just 
about take two men where one is now, as each man 
would have to reduce nearly one-half. 
Let’s do it. I bet it would be fun. and money in our 
pocket. There would be no danger of losing our job. 
Even if the* heaviest thing on the farm were the mort¬ 
gage I think it would be lifted much easier. J. L. dean. 
Maine. 
