The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
722 
lie never would be bossing the dirt roads. As for 
the town board, they are between the devil of high 
taxes and the deep sea of bottomless mud. I pre¬ 
sume they would cheerfully appropriate more money 
if they thought the taxpayers would stand for it. 
Most of us today believe we need better supervision 
from officials higher up. We have county superin¬ 
tendents, deputy commissioners and a long list of 
experts, engineers, etc., while the cities and towns 
are connected by beautiful roads, and the dirt high¬ 
ways go from bad to worse, and the back farmer 
toils through the mud three-fourths of his natural 
life.. Nor is this the worst of the trouble. Pro¬ 
duction is retarded, land values along the abominable 
dirt roads tumble, homes are deserted, and everyone 
wants to live where he can get out without killing 
his team or spoiling a set of tires. But for all time 
the bulk of the produce must be raised on the hills, 
and some system must be worked out to give the hill 
man a chance, or our countryside will be deserted. 
The new road administration has a chance to make 
itself beloved up-State if it can make good. 
INCREASED PRODUCTION DEMANDED—We 
are asked in the face of abominable transportation to 
produce 20,000,000 tons of foodstuffs for export, be¬ 
sides feeding our own enormous population, and the 
bulk of this vast production must be transported 
over dirt roads. It goes without saying that most 
of us would have motor trucks of some kind if 
conditions were favorable. If anyone is curious as 
to why we do not invest, just ask the truck drivers 
who moved the last of the apples out of this valley 
early last Fall. Of course their remarks are not for 
publication, although perhaps, revised, they would 
make headliners. But just for a moment vision the 
vast business for the truck manufacturer, the fur¬ 
ther enormous sums due the producer, and the com¬ 
fort and high feeding coming to the urbanite once we 
rural people can get our stuff moved by motor uni¬ 
versally. We have the capital and the enterprise, 
and know exactly how to go after the business, but 
the condition of the dirt highways puts the veto on 
the proposition before we begin. 
GETTING DOWN TO REALITIES.—The country¬ 
side of today is rapidly losing the viewpoint of our 
forefathers. The people understand that political 
and party lines are too often manipulated to their 
disadvantage. Just notice, for instance, how cheer¬ 
fully they tie the can on the road superintendents, 
regardless of party, and study the highly mixed and 
complicated condition of party government at Al¬ 
bany and Washington. N^party ties or party pre¬ 
judice will save the unpopular public official, and 
our people in all walks of life demand justice in ad¬ 
ministration of the law. In the rural country, at 
least, there is no hint of the troubles which are tear¬ 
ing unfortunate Europe to pieces. But we do pro¬ 
pose that we have some share in the good things of 
life, and what the city dweller demands as the com¬ 
monest necessities of life we also desire and mean 
to have. The theory of three squares and a place to 
roost no longer goes with even the ordinary labor of 
the towns, and to deny the rural dweller access to 
reasonable comforts will surely result in hunks of 
trouble for those responsible. 
WHAT IS WANTED.—Given decent transporta¬ 
tion and everything wanted will follow, but some 
way must be found to make the hill roads passable, 
and have the valley roads good through the year, in¬ 
stead of a succession of swamps as they are two- 
thirds of the time now. Our people need little in¬ 
struction and no prodding to put themselves on easy 
street, and the remainder of the country on full ra¬ 
tions. We hope and believe the new commissioner, 
whoever he may be. will measure up to the job. 
Schuyler Co., N. Y. b. l. Hathaway. 
A Roadside Market in New England 
Getting the Entire Consumer’s Dollar 
Part IT. 
FRUIT SALES.—To go back to the strictly fruit¬ 
selling side of such a proposition: our road averages 
probably a car a minute eight hours a day, eight 
months in the year, Saturdays, Sundays and holi¬ 
days many more. The first season we started selling 
September 6, and have started each season about 
that time since, though eventually we shall start with 
strawberry season in June and carry on through 
until Christmas. In 1915 sales came to around 
.$1,700, all peaches practically; in 1916 to $1,325; 
1917, $3,050 on peaches and our own preserves, and 
$800 on a neighbor’s apples, fine McIntosh Reds 
(our own apple trees are too young to bear). In 
1918 there was no peach crop to speak of. only three 
peaches, and someone stole the whole crop before 
the writer got round to picking them himself. But 
we sold apples for our neighbor again, almost his 
whole crop of McIntosh. $3,000 in all, on commission. 
Well, you may laugh, but it was the simplest and 
most practical way of handling the crop, and when 
you hear of the fine prices we have been receiving 
for fancy fruit you will understand that he made a 
good thing of it. The trade has increased from 
year to year in more ways than one, as you will 
readily see from the fact that the first season the 
largest day’s sale was $109: the second year, $205, 
and in 1917. $300 ,on peaches alone. About $259 
the greatest amount one day in 1918. The pack¬ 
ages used, general appearance of stand and grounds, 
all count muca in keeping your old customers and 
getting new oiks. We have a neat, round four-quart 
wire bail basket that we use for many things, fancy 
fruits and No. 1, as well as some vegetables. A 
swinging shelf over the fruit baskets on the stand- 
affords an attractive way of displaying all kinds of 
preserves, and incidentally keeps them out of the 
sun. Jellies and marmalades are sold at 35 cents 
each, or “three for a dollar,” and it is amusing to 
see the way they almost always take “three.” 
PACKING.—Fully a dozen sizes and shapes of 
baskets were used the first season to find out what 
the trade wanted, and almost every type we had that 
year, except the round four-quart wire-handled ones, 
are still in the loft, and I guess will stay there for 
keeps as far as the demand for them is concerned. 
As has been noted by many others before the present 
writer, each section has its own particular preference 
as to shape and size, but give this small basket a 
trial; it is a handy size, conveniently “handled,” and 
they "take the eye.” Our customers all call them 
“cute.” They cost about $40 f. o. b. New York City. 
Larger baskets are used for the seconds or wind¬ 
falls. and all sell readily. You don’t want only one 
grade and one sized basket of fruit: the trade de¬ 
mands some of each, though mostly "fancy” and 
No. 1. Have grades to suit the "Packard” and the 
“Ford.” The "Fords” carry off a large share of the 
crop. Pack the fruit honestly for this trade, even 
if you never did it before. (Note: This admonition 
is primarily for New England growers). It is hard 
to put some of the best colored, largest fruit in the 
bottom of the baskets; they just naturally land on 
top, as I know from personal experience, but it is 
so much of a surprise for a customer to find the 
best specimens on top in a package. I beg your par¬ 
don. I shouldn’t have said that. I meant underneath , 
that, when they do. they just naturally forget about 
the price and come back for more. Try it and see 
for yourself, of course, if you can’t trust yourself 
to hold some of those finest apples or peaches in the 
bottom long enough to weight them down with some 
less finely colored, why. you’ve either got to get the 
hired man to do it 0 " your name is “Dennis.” 
PRICES.—High prices for high quality are all 
right about every day in the week except Mondays. 
Mondays we have found that people are traveling 
on business, and they buy cautiously. As the end 
of the week comes on, they “loosen up.” and on 
Saturdays and Sundays they take all the peaches 
they can eat and some for their friends. Our sales¬ 
man is onto his job. One fine day in the Fall a 
young man drove by with his best girl; our salesman 
called out: “Have a peach?” "I've got one!” the 
man called back. "Have another!” the salesman 
shouted. The salesmen have a basket of fruit in 
each hand, one stands on either side of the stand; 
the first man attracts the attention of the people in 
the car, the second nn.4 is on hand to show them 
the fruit when the car comes to a stop. Often a car 
that has gone 500 feet down the road will back the 
entire way to the stand to get a good look at the 
display. A large and attractive display of fine, 
highly colored peaches or apples and a couple of 
active salesmen out on the road make a combination 
that is hard for anyone to get by. The prices we 
get are O. Iv., a fancy price for a fancy article. We 
let the peaches get dead ripe on the tree and lose 
many from dropping as a result, but on the ones we 
do pick the quality is there, juiciness, plumpness 
and color, and they pay the price for an exceptional 
article, evidently quite willingly. In 1915 four quarts 
averaged 50 cents per basket; in 1916-17. about 75 
cents, and we have sold many four-quart baskets 
these last two years, of both peaches and apples, for 
$1 for the fanciest Each in this grade is a perfect 
fruit, large, well-colored and just ready to eat, the 
very best we grow. There is oftener a kick on the 
poorer grades than on the price of the best fruit. 
You will «ay that we are too high, perhaps, but 
there has rarely been enough of the finest. Time 
and again it has taken three men moving as quick as 
they knew how to handle the trade on a week-end or 
holiday. We have had as many as 24 cars lined up 
at once, stopping for fruit and something to eat. It 
April 2C,, 1919 
is some fun on a busy afternoon trying to supply 
the buyers! john d. pearmain. 
(Continued next week) 
Feeding and Fertilizing Value of Weeds 
C AN you tell us about the feeding value of some 
of our common weeds? We have been told that 
some of them contain more food material than our 
usual cultivated crops. Can this be true? 
SEVERAL READERS. 
Some years ago the Minnesota Experiment Station 
issued a bulletin on this subject. Among others, the 
composition of a number of weeds was given, as fol¬ 
lows. This represents the dried weeds in about the 
condition of well-cured hay. 
Carbo- 
Pry 
Crude 
Ether 
hydrates 
Matter 
Protein Extract 
and Fiber 
Ash 
Purslane . 
95.01 
26.13 
2.9 
53.70 
17.27 
Field shuttle.... 
92.76 
9.81 
4.04 
78.32 
7. S3 
Wild buckwheat. 
92.99 
14.50 
2.08 
75.92 
7.50 
Pigweed. 
97.00 
26.54 
1.36 
62.86 
9.24 
Lamb’s-quarter . 
93.54 
25.06 
1.96 
54.64 
18 34 
Chineseweed. mal- 
low . 
94.12 
24.64 
2.70 
58.95 
13.71 
Dandelion . 
17.68 
3.42 
68.87 
10 03 
Quackgrass .... 
94.6 
11.27 
1.96 
19.12 
7.65 
Russian thistle. 
93.81 
12.25 
2.15 
77.61 
7.99 
Hedge mustard.. 
94.5 
16.52 
1.43 
74.18 
7.87 
Common mustard 
91 97 
15.75 
1.55 
75.59 
7.11 
Goldenrod . 
93.89 
11.63 
4 85 
76.63 
6 89 
Catnip . 
22.25 
2.66 
63.07 
12.02 
Goosefoot . 
95.23 
13.69 
.85 
78 97 
11.49 
Pigeon grass.... 
95.26 
16.23 
2.14 
6S.S1 
12.77 
In order to compare 
these weeds with some 
com- 
mon fodder crops, the 
followin 
g figi 
ures are 
taken 
from Henry’s “Feeding 
Animals”: 
Protein 
Fat 
Carbohydrates Ash 
Clover hay. 
■ a . • . 
12 S 
3.1 
38.7 
7.1 
(’orn fodder .... 
7.8 
2 2 
47.3 
6 5 
Timothy . 
6.2 
2.5 
45. 
4.9 
Soy bean hav .. . 
16. 
2 8 
39.1 
8.6 
Oat hay . 
S.4 
2.S 
41.7 
6.8 
Millet . 
8.3 
2.6 
44.3 
6.3 
Most of us will be 
surprised 
to know that 
such 
cominon weeds as purslane, pigweed, lamb’s-quarters 
and catnip contain twice as much protein (and nitro¬ 
gen) as clover hay. yet such appears to be the fact. 
Prof. Henry Snyder, who prepared these figures, 
rightiy says: 
The large amount of protein in the dry matter of 
many of the common weeds is quite noticeable, particu¬ 
larly in purslane, lamb’s-quarters or pigweed and cheese- 
weed or mallow. There is more protein in the dry mat¬ 
ter of these weeds than in either Alfalfa or clover, and 
this fact suggests the advisability of keeping a few sheep 
on every farm, for utilizing and controlling the weed 
crop. Under such a system the land is reclaimed, and 
the weeds are utilized for both forage and green manure. 
It is well known that weeds, when grown and cut with 
grain crops, make a heavy draft upon the land; this is 
because of the large amount of protein and nitrogen 
which they contain. When we consider that nearly all 
weeds contain a larger per cent of nitrogen and protein 
than farm crops, and that often the weed yield will equal 
or exceed the crop yield, it is readily understood why the 
total loss of nitrogen from the soil through a weed crop 
is large. 
Quackgrass and thistles contain the least protein of 
any of the weeds: but in some localities they are so nu¬ 
merous that the nitrogen they remove from the soil is 
considerable. Because of the larger amount of water 
and small amount of dry matter which weeds contain, 
the total weight of nutrients present in fresh weeds is 
necessarily very small, and other than for supplementary 
use in the feeding of sheep and swine, they can scarcely 
be regarded as forage. 
The table shows wide ranges in the composition of 
weeds, some containing over two and a half times as 
much protein as others. Nearly all contain large 
amounts of ash or mineral matter, suggesting that they 
are gross and not delicate feeding plants. The alkaloidal 
or poisonous compounds in some, and also the astringent 
and bitter principles render their presence in forage un¬ 
desirable. 
A Coal Miner Talks 
Some statements of Charles B. Wing, page 559. sort 
of stir me up. I believe The R. N.-Y. showed wheie 
the farmer got a 35-cent dollar on selling hides, and I 
can readily believe it. as I have a 16^-cent dollar. Mr. 
Wing blames it on the union man. I am a member of 
the U. M. W. A. and get 68 cents a ton for loading coal. 
I pay 15 cents a bushel to buy it back. One ton loaded 
buys one-sixth of a ton back. Am I any better off than 
Mr. Wing? I think big business has the jump on both 
of us. Sure, they will tell him that labor costs so much 
that they cannot pay him any more, but I would advise 
him to watch that tannery company’s dividends and find 
out for sure. I do not think it. is union labor’s fault, 
but it is non-union labor, and that is just what most of 
the farmers are today. When the farmers organize and 
do their bargaining collectively they can dictate their 
terms. Mr. Wing suffers from the delusion that if the 
city man knew he was not breaking even he would be 
glad to pay more. Just as gladly as the coal operator 
would pay me more if I write to him individually and 
told him I could not make a living on what he was pay¬ 
ing. The farmer must change from individual bargain¬ 
ing to collective bargaining. In union there is strength, 
and as laboring people, whether farmers or industrial 
laborers, learn to use their collective strength, they will 
live better. You know we must all “eat bread in the 
sweat of our brow,” or words to that effect, but there 
are too many people eating their bread in the sweat of 
the other fellow’s brow instead of their own. 
Armstrong Co., Pa. harry reese. 
