694 
•Jhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 19, 1919 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S rAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company. 333 West 30th Street. Xew York 
Herbert W. Corlingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dhaon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Roylk, Associate Editor. 
growers, sheep men. gardeners and meat producers, 
interested in making the Dairymen's League a sound, 
solid and enduring organization. Its policy should 
be made by an open, democratic discussion, and op¬ 
erated by tlie strongest, men that may be found in 
the ranks. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, S2.04, equal to 8s. 6d, or 
8k; marks, or 10^ francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 75 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to ns , and cash must accompany transient orders. 
"A SQUARE DEAL" 
We believe that, every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon- 
“ble pm^on. \V e use every possible precaution aud admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make prood any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
T HE fly and mosquito pests will soou be upon us, 
:iml wp must fight them. The filthy fly walks 
all over the most disgusting materials and then uses 
our food as a doormat. The mosquito carries disease 
from one human to another—cursed pests, both of 
them, to comfort and health. Each year finds the 
public putting up a better fight against these pests, 
and this fight is made effective through knowledge of 
the breeding habits of these insects. There is no use 
waiting until these insects are mature and then try¬ 
ing to kill or catch them one by one. That is a hope¬ 
less task. The fly eggs are usually deposited in horse 
manure. It will sometimes breed in other forms of 
filth, but the great majority of young flies come from 
the stables or manure piles.. The most effective way 
to fight flies is to keep the stables clean and to carry 
the manure away or keep it away from the flies. 
Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water. Small ponds 
and puddles are mostly responsible for these pests, 
Often an old tin can or a neglected bucket left partly 
filled with water around the barn will make a breed¬ 
ing place for enough mosquitoes to upset the home! 
Fly-traps and fly-paper and screen doors are needed, 
but the big thing in the fight against flies is to take 
care of the horse manure. The big thing in fighting 
mosquitoes is to drain the puddles and ponds and 
see that no cans or pails half filled with water are 
left around the house. We can control some of these 
things far better than we can handle the League of 
Nations! 
* 
W HENEVER the daily papers get short of fool 
stories about farmers they bring out the old 
one about the hired man who gets drunk from drink¬ 
ing juice from the silo. That, is a great card to play 
whenever the daily papers want to show how these 
wicked farmers forced prohibition upon the simple, 
trusting city man! We have followed up many of 
these clues and never could get nearer than some 
man whose mother-in-law heard from a cousin, who 
was told by a hired man that he drank silo juice! 
The ferments in the silo seem to he less like those in 
the distillery and m<ye like those in the manufac¬ 
ture of sauerkraut »<>r. to he patriotic. Liberty cab¬ 
bage). At any rate, we are interested in running 
down the silo juice story. If we can get a sample of 
this invigorating stuff we will have it analyzed. 
* 
A FRUIT grower or a gardener or a sheep man 
might claim that he was not interested in the 
Dairymen’s League because he does not sell milk. 
That would he a narrow position for any farmer to 
take, as a little thought will show. There is no 
farmer or fruit grower on the Atlantic slope who can 
say that he does not need the help of a strong organi¬ 
zation. Farmers as a class have suffered in business 
and in reputation because they have been unorgan¬ 
ized while every other industry has been fully or¬ 
ganized. not only to defend what they now have, 
but also to gain more. The Dairymen’s League is 
the strongest and most hopeful organization of farm¬ 
ers yet started in this section. No one will claim 
that its plans and methods are yet perfect, hut it 
has that strong and rugged loyalty which has ever- 
been the soul of every co-operative society. Thus 
upon the success of the Dairymen’s League depends 
the success of other organizations to defend or pro¬ 
mote agriculture. The League represents a great 
principle. We should all help as best we can to 
maintain that principle, and extend it. This does not 
mean that no one should offer constructive criticism 
or suggestion or follow blindly without clearly un¬ 
derstanding where the path leads to. The awful 
social situation in Europe today is due to the fact 
that men are plunging blindly from one extreme to 
another without thinking out some reasonable mid¬ 
dle course and holding right to it. We are all, fruit 
* 
W E would like to have some of the entomologists 
tell us about the following: Last year we 
used the dust of sulphur and dry lead arsenate in 
place of the liquid spray for apples. This dust went 
on at just about the time the young of the San Jose 
scale were exposed—before they had succeeded in 
covering themselves securely. We concluded that 
some or many of these young scales were killed by 
the sulphur dust. Now we would like the entomol¬ 
ogists to tell us if such a dusting at the time of 
breeding would be likely to kill many of the scales. 
What would he the most effective dust material for 
such use? Our experience makes us think there is 
something in this. We do not say that the scale can 
he controlled by using dust alone. We think the 
liquid is necessary when the trees are badly infested, 
but will not the dust kill some of the young scales? 
* 
W E think every person who believes in temper¬ 
ance should help make a new market for 
grapes and cider apples. The market for wine and 
hard cider will, we believe, he greatly curtailed, but 
this ought not to he permitted to injure the vine¬ 
yard or orchard business. We can all help by de¬ 
manding pure, natural vinegar. Such a demand will 
give a value to such vinegar that apple juice will 
he a more valuable by-product than ever before. As 
for grapes, not one family in 25 ever has enough of 
them for the table. Good grapes can be shipped by 
parcel post, and we believe there are thousands or 
millions of families who would gladly give a standing 
order for three or four baskets a week if they knew 
how to get them. Here is a chance for some grape 
growers’ association to turn off thousands of baskets 
by mail and net more for the grapes than the wine¬ 
growers ever paid. The public can help in such 
things by providing a new demand which will absorb 
the product formerly used for wine and hard cider. 
# 
T HE first-page article gives a good statement of a 
roadside market This plan of selling farm pro¬ 
duce is being developed along all roads where cars 
are numerous. It would he hard to estimate the vast 
quantities of produce sold in this way. Many people 
object to it because it makes double work on Sunday, 
and a six-day laboring week is as much to he re¬ 
spected as a nine-hour day. But this roadside mar¬ 
ket is only one of the efforts which farmers are mak¬ 
ing to deal direct with the consumer. It all helps. 
In one way and another producers are learning that 
they are depending on many unnecessary middlemen 
(and paying them) to perform a service which they 
can do cheaper and better themselves. The roadside 
market does more than increase the size of tlie 35- 
eent dollar. It is an educator—one of the many little 
school teachers now giving the public practical in¬ 
struction in direct buying. 
* 
W E have spent some time in looking up the 
grape situation as it is affected by the pros¬ 
pects of prohibition. Strange to say, the trade in 
grapevines has been good this year. In spite of high 
prices there has been a heavy demand. There is no 
apparent let-up in planting on the whole. Some com¬ 
mercial grape growers are discouraged, as they fear 
that the prohibition of wine-making will hurt the 
business. Others are sure that the increased de¬ 
mand for table grapes and for grape juice will more 
than offset the demand for wine. One nurseryman 
who is having a good grapevine trade advances the 
theory that many people are planting vineyards with 
the idea of providing their own wine supply in the 
future. With everything fairly considered, we con¬ 
clude that most grape growers are not afraid of pro¬ 
hibition and that they expect to keep up their vine¬ 
yards, 
* 
T HE other night one of the children was studying 
“civil government,” and as part of the day’s 
work he was expected to give a list of the town, 
county and State officers of New Jersey. He ap¬ 
pealed to us as high authority, hut to save our life 
we could not name orie-third of them. Here we were 
voting, paying taxes and doing our share of growling 
about public affairs, and yet, when put to the test, 
we did not even know who were doing U'e public 
business! Not knowing who they were, how could 
we reasonably judge the value of their work? Be¬ 
coming interested in (he matter, we began to look 
about, and found that most of the neighbors knew 
less than we did about it. For years we had all been 
voting for a set of men to do our public business. 
During the primary they could not get close enough 
to us. but once elected they faded away from mem¬ 
ory and seemed to be known only to a few long¬ 
headed gentlemen who knew how to capitalize such 
friendship. The result is that many of us provide the 
votes and pay the taxes and forget who or what we 
do it for. As a reward for this we receive a fine 
assortment of reports, bulletins and seeds, and the 
privilege of emitting more or less violent language 
harmlessly into the air! On the other hand, the few 
who know these public servants and, knowing them, 
control them, receive the plums and other choice 
fruits of politics, and who is to say it is not our own 
fault for permitting such a state of things to exist? 
Are you guilty? ITow many of your town, county 
and State officers can you name offhand? Honest, 
now, can you beat us? We conclude that the study 
of political science begins right at home! 
* 
In your editorial upon the daylight-saving law on 
page <512 you make the same argument which I have 
often advanced, viz., why cannot the manufacturers and 
business men begin an hour earlier each day, and thus 
secure the benefits of daylight, saving for' themselves 
and their employes without disturbing the clock or dis¬ 
commoding the great majority of the farmers? Why it 
is any easier to go to work at six o’clock and call it 
seven than it would be to use the true time passes my 
comprehension. It reminds me of devices which I have 
seen practiced to deceive a child. a. b. Roberts. 
Connecticut. 
W E have repeatedly asked why, in order to get 
the city people out of bed an hour earlier, it 
is necessary to enforce a law which is unfair and 
injurious to a large proportion of the people. Thus 
far we have had no answer. An attempt to answer 
it would seem like an admission that town and city 
people are incapable of helping themselves! When 
there was need of saving gasoline no law was passed 
to forbid useless travel on Sunday ! A plain request 
was enough! If daylight saving ranks with saving 
gasoline, why go to law about it? 
A-' 
I cannot forbear telling you of a ittle instance that 
developed the other night at a Dair; men’s League meet¬ 
ing. The man himself did not tell it. for he is too mod¬ 
est. and would not allow it to be shouted from the house¬ 
tops. for he does not consider it anything special or any¬ 
thing but that we all ought to be willing to do. It came 
from a discussion of the fact that farmers are using 
oleo. This man hired last year a man who had lived 
in town. After beginning work he found the man was 
buying oleo, and he remonstrated with him. and told 
him that no man could work for him and use it. The 
reply was, “I cannot afford to buy butter at the price, 
though I would much rather.” The result was that the 
farmer told him to buy butter and what it cost over oleo 
he would pay. and he did so not only last year, but. is 
continuing it for another year. f. e. b. 
Seneca. X. Y. 
T HAT is the kind of spirit which wins because it 
deserves to. The dairyman who buys and uses 
oleo is the worst enemy that the dairy business can 
have, for, as the Scripture says, a man’s worst foes 
are “they of his own household.” When such a man 
uses butter substitute he not only directly injures 
his own business financially, but he does it a greater 
moral injury because he shows that he is not sin¬ 
cere. He is like a man openly attacking an enemy 
and at the same time secretly aiding him. The man 
mentioned in the above note is a true-blue dairyman. 
He stands right up to defend his own product, and 
is willing to make a sacrifice for the cause. When all 
farmers act in that way—the rest will he easy. 
Brevities 
No use talking, a cover crop of rye on the wet land 
sucks the moisture out and makes it earlier to plow. 
Remember that Red-top is the grass and Alsike is the 
clover that will do best on wet or sour land. They heat 
Timothy and Red clover for such soil. 
Under the New York road laws any owner of a stage 
or other passenger line who employs an intoxicated 
person as driver is liable to a penalty. 
Yes, our advice is to seed the Soy beans by' them¬ 
selves, and not to mix with the corn. We think Soy bean 
hay fed with corn silage is better than the two mixed 
in the silo. 
What can I raise after a crop of peas aud Canada 
oats? We hear that question oft repeated. It depends 
on soil and location. You ought to get the peas and oats 
off in early July. With us buckwheat or millet will do. 
In a very late season potatoes might get through—or 
cabbage—if the soil is well manured. 
A Jerseyman writes us for the names of Western 
readers from whom he can get 20 live jack rabbits. We 
advise him to consult the State Fish and Game Commis¬ 
sioners before he sets jack rabbits free in New Jersey. 
His scheme may be to keep them in an enclosure to pro¬ 
vide meat for poultry. 
