884 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PArER 
A National Weekly Journal tor Country and Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
Publish'd weekly by the Rural Publishing Company. 333 West 30(h Street, New l'ork 
Herbbrt W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer ayd General Manager. 
Wn. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in tlie Universal Postal Union, §2.01, equal to 8s. Cd, or 
8!* 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 us , and cash 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, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, ami any 
such swindler will bo 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 wo 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 New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
If you have any more of the medicine left that you 
gave Charles H. Betts I wish you would give it to 
Postmaster-General Burleson. A large majority of the 
farmers feel just as I do. GEO. MUHLENBACHER. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. 
W E have an abundance of the same medicine. 
Lime and sulphur for a spray and sulphur 
and molasses for a tonic is a good dose. Mr. Betts 
finally resigned, after solemnly stating that he never 
would do so. We think Mr. Burleson is getting 
wise, since he has ordered an “investigation.” Now 
turn the facts close up to his investigators. That is 
the way to get the sulphur up to them. We have 
done our part! 
L AST year wool growers in several New York 
counties combined and held “wool sales.” This 
year the number of such sales will be doubled, and 
the effect of last year’s work is evident. We are 
told that the wool in Orleans County has already 
been sold at 60 cents. Previous to this sale dealers 
offered 45 cents. The representative of a big wool 
house come into New York State with authority to 
bid up to 50 cents per pound for medium wool. As 
a result of organization among wool growers this 
man was unable to purchase any wool at his price 
limit and was obliged to wire home asking for 
authority to raise his bid. Five years ago this wool 
would have gone for about what the buyers saw fit 
to offer. It is now possible for farmers to say not 
“What will you please give?” but “The price is so 
much” 
* 
T HE Farm Bureaus of New York are doing good 
work in collecting evidence of damage done to 
farmers in this rural mail rouje mix-up. The agents 
will canvass their counties and get the facts from 
the farmers. These facts will be sifted and con¬ 
densed and made into a strong protest to be sent to 
Washington. In order to make any dent on the 
Washington “authorities” it is necessary to present 
facts. Opinions will never get far. There must be 
facts, and they must he bunched into a club big 
enough to hurt when it hits. This is good work for 
the Farm Bureau. 
* 
The article on the “Food Value of Milk.” by Thomas 
B. Osborne, on page 765, was fine, and I can find but 
one fault with it. and that is this: He demonstrates the 
correctness of his opinions by a series of experiments on 
rate, and comparatively few people will be inclined to 
accept deductions from such experiments as being ap¬ 
plicable to the human race. He should have cited the 
fact that the finest race of people, physically, mentally 
and morally, that the world has ever seen, was developed 
in New England during those years when milk, in com¬ 
bination with some form of coarsely prepared corn, 
formed the principal article of food for both rich and 
poor. And. furthermore, that that race of people began 
to degenerate with the very generation that adopted 
ipore delicate and palatable articles of pastry as a daily 
ration. C. o. 0. 
F OR many years the New England people used 
very little wheat bread. Probably what they 
did use was made from wheat meal—the entire grain 
coarsely ground. They used some rye, but the greater 
part of their bread food was made from flint corn, 
ground and sifted and made into mush or johnny- 
cake. Tlie world has rarely if ever seen a finer or 
more industrious race of people than these corn-fed 
Yankees of a former age. Yet every scientist will 
tell you that corn is not a balanced food for either 
man or beast. When used as the chief of any diet 
the result will be soft and brittle bones, imperfect 
growth and arrested mental development. New 
England produced mighty men and women because 
the diet of flint corn was “balanced” with milk. 
The favorite dish of old times was mush and milk. 
The corn mush provided the fuel and the milk built 
up the strong human machine which made use of 
the fuel. Many people credit the New England 
‘The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
baked beans with providing the driving power of the 
corn, and this belief has become so fixed in the popu¬ 
lar mind that beaus have become a standard dish 
everywhere. The real foundation of Yankee great¬ 
ness was milk —used to finish out or balance the ra¬ 
tion of vegetables, cereals and fat meat. Milk is the 
miglilu mother of mankind—the big balance in mak¬ 
ing backbone, and it has become our business to try 
to make the world understand that fact. 
* 
T HE Victory loan went through with a rush. Tlie 
Government called for 4 y> billion dollars, but 
nearly six billions were offered. It was a good in¬ 
vestment. and the people were ready to “finish the 
job.” We shall hear no more about those “miserly 
farmers” who would not buy bonds, because the 
agricultural States and farm communities were 
among the first to over-subscribe their quotas. With 
the close of this loan people begin to ask how large 
our public debt has come to be. The following state¬ 
ment has been made regarding the chief items: 
First Liberty loan. $1,988,799,500 
Second Liberty loan. 3.612.518.500 
Third Liberty loan. 4.055.687.050 
Fourth Liberty loan. 6.993.073.250 
Victory loan . 4.500.000.000 
Stamps . 1.100.000.000 
Total.. 
422.250.07S.200 
On April 1, 1917, our public debt was $1,207.s27,- 
SS6. So that the debt as it stands represents a total 
of nearly or quite twenty-five billions. We under¬ 
stand that nearly ten billions were loaned or credit¬ 
ed to other nations—10 in all. Most of this will be 
paid with interest. Thus Ave may say that the end 
of the AA’ar finds the United States carrying a debt 
of between fifteen and twenty billions. In 1910 there 
Avere 1,903,289.600 acres of land in this country. 
Thus Ave start with a mortgage of over $13 on each 
acre, and a foreign credit of about $5 per acre! 
On the other side of the account Ave must remember 
that the farm crops- of last year alone had a value 
large enough to wipe out all our net debt and leave 
a surplus. This great debt must be finally paid, as 
all debts are, out of the labor of the plain people. It. 
will prove a curse if present conditions of distribu¬ 
tion of wealth are continued. If these conditions can 
be changed so that the real producers can obtain a 
fairer share of the final consumer’s dollar, the pay¬ 
ment of this debt Avill be easy, and it will prove a 
blessing to the country. 
T HE average city man has got it into his head 
that the Government established a fixed price 
for wheat in order to make rhe farmer a nice pres¬ 
ent. You cannot get that idea out of the city man’s 
head without cracking his skull. Tlie truth is that 
farmers did not ask for any fixed price on wheat. 
They Avere opposed to it. because they knew that un¬ 
der tlie law of supply and demand, left, undisturbed, 
wheat would have gone to at least $3.50 per bushel! 
The price was "fixed,” not to boost or favor the 
farmers, but to prevent them from obtaining Avhat 
their wheat would naturally have brought. In order 
to obtain clothing, shoes, guns and powder for the 
army, the Government Avas obliged to guarantee man¬ 
ufacturers "cost price and 10 per cent profit” —this 
cost being figured on a large increase in wages. The 
present price of $2.26 per bushel does not. in most 
cases, provide this cost price and 30 per cent to a 
farmer, if the figuring is done on the basis em¬ 
ployed by manufacturers. The fixed price on wheat 
does not make the farmer a “profiteer”; he would 
have been better off if the Government had let his 
wheat alone! 
* 
T HERE are some men in the world ayIio can see 
only tAvo mental colors—coal black and pure 
white. They cannot distinguish or separate any 
shades of color, or any honest difference of opinion. 
Suppose they belong to some farmers’ organization 
or to some political party. They know that the 
party or tlie organization has made mistakes or 
worse, yet if someone points out these mistakes he 
is fiercely accused of trying to wreck the party. His 
motives may be entirely honest, and he may be doing 
a patriotic thing, but the politicians promptly accuse 
him of “treason,” and the unthinking members are 
ready to crucify him. This inability to distinguish 
between fair criticism and rebellion is the great 
weakness of most farm organizations. Honest criti¬ 
cism is like a tonic, and when accepted in good spirit 
is the life and vigor of a society. When distorted 
by narrow hatred or self-interest it may become a 
malignant poison, checking growth and starting de¬ 
cay at the heart. Most of our big industrial and 
manufacturing interests are controlled by directors. 
May 24, 1019 
Among them are often men who are bitter personal 
enemies. Yet when it comes to the business policy 
of the company these men sink their differences, 
accept criticism, act upon it, and give no public 
evidence of any controversy. That is one way in 
which tlie big commercial interests have been able 
to dominate business. However narrow the directors 
may be in private affairs, they know they must fol- 
Ioav a broad policy in public matters. Thus they 
learn how to see more than two colors, and they 
recognize differences of opinion and respect them. 
The men who rush to accuse every honest critic of 
being a rebel do far more than the politicians to 
keep up a form of party slavery, because they give 
such politicians the only power they possess. 
* 
At a meeting of the Plattekill branch of the Dairy¬ 
men’s League of Ulster County, held at Plattekill May 
9, it was unanimously voted that a joint meeting of the 
dairymen of the counties of Orange and Ulster be held 
at some central point (Nowbnrg was suggested), to 
discuss the proposed organization for the sale and man¬ 
ufacture of League milk, and that Mr. Dillon and Mr. 
Bradley Fuller be invited to address the meeting. I am 
a member of the Dairymen’s League, and personally I 
would like to hear both sides of this question. A com¬ 
mittee was appointed to arrange for this meeting. D. c. 
By all means discuss this problem until dairymen 
thoroughly understand it. Then give every member 
an opportunity to vote on it, and Avliatever that de¬ 
cision. every man will back that decision to the limit 
of his strength and his resources. Every great pub¬ 
lic question, including human slavery, that has been 
settled in this country has first been analyzed and 
opened up in this way. No great question can ever 
be settled in any othei way, because there is no other 
way of reaching the mind of the common people. 
Until that is done there can be no settlement. 
* 
P ROF. J. L. HILLS of the Vermont Experiment 
Station makes the following statement which, 
Ave think, is true of most dairy farms and dairy 
sections: 
The analyses of some thousands of soil samples from 
all over the State show that our soils, as compared with 
those in most States, run relatively high in organic 
matter. The Vermont farmers, as you know, have had 
more coavs to the square inch, both of total area of the 
State and likewise of improved lands, than the farmers 
of any other State; and to that fact, as avcII as to the 
inherent richness of our soils, I attribute the high 
organic matter of our soils. I think they need to buy 
nitrogen less than do most farmers, and potash noAV 
being practically out of the question and fertilizers very 
high in price, they are turning more and more to acid 
phosphate, and the field results, speaking in a broad 
way, seem to be satisfactory. 
The time will come when every first-class dairyman 
will consider the use of phosphorus with the manure 
just as necessary as feeding grain with hay or silage. 
On most of our Eastern farms phosphorus is the most 
needed element. Nitrogen is obtained in the pur¬ 
chased feed and through clover, and most of our 
soils have enough of potash. Phosphorus is greatly 
needed by all dairy crops. Most soils lack this ele¬ 
ment. and we obtain comparatively little in the grain 
ration. We have all got to realize that manure is 
not a complete plant food. It needs phosphorus. 
Brevities 
A last call for that new asparagus bed. 
Ice cream is a food—and a good one. 
What to do with the hen that eats eggs? Eat the 
hen! 
Europe has started an international poultry asso¬ 
ciation. 
When dirty politics dominate the dirt roads, what 
can you expect? 
Does it pay to tramp down the silage in the silo? 
More and more farmers are coming to the point of 
bloAving the silage in and letting it settle. 
When an open Aveil is exactly on the line between 
the farms, both farmers ha\’e a right to take the water 
from their side. 
The usual strength of poison for codling moth is 
three pounds of arsenate of lead to 50 gallons of Avater. 
For smaller quantities remember this means 48 ounces 
of arsenate, or practically one ounce per gallon. 
England has prohibited tlie importation of dogs, ex¬ 
cept after six months’ quarantine. It seems that British 
officers took dogs with them when they joined the army 
in France. The order prevents their return, as the dis¬ 
ease of rabies prevails in France. 
During the war at least 2,500.000 new acres were 
put into cultivated crop in England. These acres were 
formerly in pasture and meadoAV. Will they now go 
hack to grass? The answer means something to Amer¬ 
ican farmers. 
