820 
May 10, 1019 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Ilomea 
Established isso 
Pnblllhr'd weekly by the Kami Piiblishinff Company, 333 West 30tli Street, New York 
Herbert W. Coli.ingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wit. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2.04, equal to 8s. fid. or 
8!* * marks, or 10}<j francs. Kemit 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 agato line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us , and casli must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, wo will make good any loss 
to paid subscribei-s 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 rot bo confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not bo 
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*Nkw- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser 
W E assume, of course, that our readers will go 
to the limit of fair economy to invest in the 
new Victory bonds. We have all got to help put 
this war through, and pay the cost of cleaning it up. 
You may not think this big thing has been handled 
in the most economical way, hut it has now got to 
• e put through, and in helping pay for it you get 
the best security for your money that you can find 
anywhere. And when you do buy do not take the 
Liberty bonds in coupon form. Take the Govern¬ 
ment’s advice and have them registered. In that 
form the bonds cannot be stolen and you are less 
likely to be swindled out of them. 
* 
R EPORTS about the German apple crop have 
been circulated. It was said that during the 
■war Germany has greatly increased her orchards, 
and that German apples will now supply Europe with 
fresh and evaporated fruit. These reports are not 
true. Germany has never been a large apple-growing 
country. Before the war the Germans bought from 
this country in one year nearly 275,000 barrels of 
apples and 27,000.000 pounds of dried fruit. There 
has been some increase in apple tree planting, -while, 
on the other hand, many orchards were neglected 
during the war. A more serious competition will 
come from Australia and New Zealand in boxed 
fruit for the English market. We believe that when 
trade is once more adjusted there -will be a larger 
demand than ever before from Europe. The increased 
demand for sweet apple juice and the new uses for 
apple pomace will make apple growing more profit¬ 
able than ever before. 
» 
F ROM all over the country farmers are sending 
angry protests against the proposed changes in 
the rural mail routes. Some routes are being cut 
off. while others are made so long that carriers 
cannot possibly cover them. The mean and niggardly 
policy of the Post Office Department is causing great 
loss and trouble to farmers and all who do business 
with them. The rulings of the Department are very 
arbitrary—as much so as military orders in time of 
war. The farmers on the back roads always get the 
worst of such mean and stupid regulations—when 
from their very isolation they ought to have the fairest 
chance at mail service. With mud in the road and 
mud in the brains of public officials there is a poor 
chance for justice. In a republic the distribution of 
public service should not be planned to give the 
well-favored more than they have, but rather to give 
the backward a fairer show. What nonsense to say 
this robbery of mail service is done in the interests 
of economy when the graft of franking privileges 
by Congress costs far more than the abandoned rural 
routes ever did! 
* 
W E ask you to read that article on the first 
page carefully. Then x-ead it again and then 
spend some time thinking about it. We know this 
to be a true story, and we also know that it gives a 
fair statement of the struggles of thousands of other 
"ordinary” farmers. We are sometimes asked why 
we print such stories. Why not let the “ordinary” 
people alone and confine our space to the record of 
highly successful men and women? Well, about 90 
per cent of our people seem to have a close fellow 
feeling for these “ordinary” farmers. The “highly 
successful” ladies and gentlemen are not always the 
best models. They are likely to have special advan¬ 
tages of inherited wealth, a successful business or 
very superior ability. The R. N.-Y. tries to tell the 
truth about farming, and this truth, as we see it, 
lies between the bitter discontent of the hopeless 
man and the pleasant dreams of the optimistic back- 
to-the-lander. Our friend who writes on the first 
page is no growler or "knocker.” lie is hopeful and 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
full of courage, but he knows the truth about farm¬ 
ing, and we cannot think of any better way of spread¬ 
ing that truth than by printing such sensible and 
human documents as he has written. 
* 
T HERE are thousands of our readers who can 
make very effective use of the Farm Bureau 
organization. They need help which can hardly be 
given without personal investigation. They want to 
buy or sell co-operatively, or they want to organize. 
The machinery of the Farm Bureau is at their service. 
It has been well developed, and the young men who 
operate it are ambitious and energetic. We have 
found them ready to help without being in any way 
offensive or presuming. Everyone who owns or tries 
to cultivate a piece of ground should keep the ad¬ 
dress of the Farm Bureau agent. He can prove far 
more helpful than the Congressman or member of 
the Legislature. 
* 
W E are informed that the proposed peace treaty 
between the nations so long at war will in¬ 
clude the following, among other labor agreements : 
Every worker has a right to a wage adequate to main¬ 
tain a reasonable standard of life, having regard to the 
civilization of his time and country. 
Equal pay should be given to women and to men for 
work of equal value in quantity and quality. 
A weekly rest, including Sunday, or its equivalent, for 
all workers. 
Among others is a statement that no child under 14 
years should be employed in commerce or industry, 
and also the following: 
In right and in fart tlir labor of a human being 
should not be treated as merchandise or an article of 
commerce. 
It is also stated that 48 hours shall constitute a 
week’s work. Now we are told that all this applies to 
“organized labor”—that is. the workers in town and 
city. If they are to enjoy these privileges, where are 
the farmers to come in? Is the “civilization” of the 
country different from that of the city? I.et us sup¬ 
pose two brothers of equal ability growing up on a 
farm together. John goes to the city and works into 
a good job. He is able to demand as a price for his 
labor money enough to support his wife and children 
so that they need not be wage-earners. It is not ex¬ 
pected that they must work for wages, except in case 
of accident or death. The other brother. Henry, stays 
on the farm. The price paid for his labor is decided 
for him by people who make more out of his products 
than he does. It is expected by the public generally 
that Henry’s wife and children shall work and charge 
nothing for their labor. That seems to be the main 
difference between the two types of “civilization.” If 
we are to have equal pay for men and women, the 
present unpaid labor of women and children is to 
be added to the price of farm products! Why not? 
The farmer is a laborer. At times it may be impos¬ 
sible for him to enforce the eight-hour day or the 
“weekly rest,” hut you may be sure he is going after 
the labor payment for wife and children if others are 
to have it! This labor payment will appear in prices 
of food at the farm and when the rest of the working 
people understand it there will be full agreement that 
it is just. 
* 
T HE United States Department of Agriculture 
gives the total value of all farm products for 
1918 at $21,396,000,000. The value of the crops was 
$14.220,000,000. and that of animals and animal pro¬ 
ducts $7,164,000,000. Twenty yea'rs ago this total 
was given as $4,777,069,975. The total debt of this 
country has now mounted to nearly $25,000,000,000. 
which means a mortgage of nearly $15 on every acre 
of land! Yet we see that the farm products of one 
good year will very nearly wipe out the entire debt. 
The surest way to prolong the payment of this great 
debt and make it a staggering burden is to continue 
to give the farmer 35 cents of what the final con¬ 
sumer pays. The quickest and easiest way to get 
rid of the debt is to increase the farmer’s share to 
50 cents. That would increase the farmer’s buying 
power by several billions and practically all of the 
money would go back into business for purchasing 
supplies of all sorts. That would stimulate trade 
and manufacturing, keep up wages and pay the big 
debt without great sacrifice. 
* 
T HE figures given on page 812 to show how the 
barrel of apples passed through the hands of 
the middleman are correct. The farmer who grew 
the apples received $3 per barrel in the orchard. 
The consumer in Kentucky whose teeth closed over 
the last act of the drama paid at the rate of $15.40 
per barrel. At Rochester, N. Y.. about one million 
barrels were handled at these figures and the buyers 
cleaned up about $6,000,000 of easy money. I here 
was a margin of $12.40 per barrel between the pro¬ 
ducer and the consumer. As we figure it, the apple 
grower in Niagara Co., N. Y., received a trifle over 
19 cents of the consumer’s dollar and every handler 
who touched the fruit received more for an hour’s 
work than the farmer did. Of course we realize 
that this reference to a 19-cent dollar will he re¬ 
garded as "the vain repetition of an economic 
fallacy," but from the way things are turning it 
looks to us more like the effective presentment of 
a burning truth. 
* 
S OME of our readers ask what really happened 
to the New York Farms and Market Council. 
The Legislature adjourned without changing the 
plan of administering the agricultural work. Mr. 
John Mitchell resigned as president and member of 
the council. The officers of some of the farm organi¬ 
zations met at Albany and selected Dean L. II. 
Bailey as first choice to fill the vacancy and C. Fred 
Boshart as second choice. The Legislature elected 
Mr. Boshart. Mr. Mitchell was originally a labor 
leader with a workingman’s point of view and a 
strong belief in organization. It is not clear, how¬ 
ever, that he has contributed greatly to the efficiency 
of farm organizations while president of the council. 
Mr. Boshart was originally opposed to the Farms 
and Market Council plan. lie favored independent 
heads for the Agricultural and Market Departments 
and was a strong supporter of the original Foods 
and Markets Department. 
* 
A PROFESSIONAL man who owns a good farm 
took a little vacation recently and spent it 
working in the country. Now he says: 
I worked very hard, hut enjoyed myself greatly. 
Weather conditions were bad, and I think they had a 
mental effect upon me. This continual uncertainty as 
to the weather, and the necessity to fight through jobs 
in the face of unfavorable weather conditions, may be 
somewhat accountable for the streak of “cussedness” 
which city people remark upon in farmers. I succeeded 
in acquiring my share of it. 
The usual city man cannot understand the life 
and mental attitude of a farmer, because he does 
not know how a farmer must work. Some years 
ago most city people were close to the country. Now 
one more generation has come in between and the 
city consumer has gone far from the thought of the 
farm. The man who in the city works under cover, 
in a warm, dry place, without great personal respon¬ 
sibility, cannot realize what a farmer’s life must be 
until he goes out and gives it a trial. When he does 
go he realizes, just as our friend did, that farming 
is not entirely a physical battle, hut a mental 
struggle against hard and depressing conditions, and 
he comes to have great respect for the faithful 
citizen who fights back the forces of nature and 
produces the nation’s food. The greatest thing that 
can happen in this country is a clearer understanding 
of the farmer’s real life by city people. 
* 
O N page 806 is a description of the Ontario rasp¬ 
berry. This is first of the seedling fruits to be 
distributed by the New York State Fruit Testing 
Association. These fruits for the most part 
originated at die Geneva Experiment Station, or 
are recommended by it. Many of these excellent 
varieties are not listed in Eastern nurserymen’s cata¬ 
logues or are hard to obtain anywhere. Of course 
the Station cannot take up the nursery business and 
grow enough stock for any general distribution. So 
this association was formed for distributing these 
varieties to those who desire them. It is a good 
plan, and the Association will not attempt to propa¬ 
gate or distribute varieties which are generally 
handled by nursery companies. 
Brevities 
Let us not get into a light over the peace terms. 
The sneer is the chief weapon of the snob. 
We would not feed moldy grain to stock without full 
cooking. 
Au, men have more or less "horse sense,” but a small 
proportion only use it. 
TinNiv" of a hard-working man exchanging bis Liberty 
bonds for a “bubble of soap inflated with hot air!” 
Porto Rico is in need of dairy cattle and dairy 
products. 
Spain lias limited exports of peanuts to 16.000 tons, 
and the Island of Java has prohibited exports of Sago. 
WllAT will be done with the barley when the brew¬ 
eries close? Feed it. Recent trials are showing great 
values in barley meal. 
The horse may be sound and strong, without a spavin 
or weak point, but if you let his shoulders get sore his 
work is ended. 
Hong Kong in China imported during 1918 over 
$4,000,000 worth of condensed milk. This is only one 
instance oi the way the war has changed and developed 
< rade. 
