968 
‘Pie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A Nntionnl Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established iSoO 
TnhlUhod weekly by the Knral Publishing Company, 33d West 80th Street, New York 
Herbert YV. Collingivood, President and Editor. 
Jons J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mits. E. T. Koyi.e, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, equal to 8s. 6d„ or 
.Sis marks, or lO 1 ^ francs. Remit in money order, express 
r 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 everv 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, 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 t ime of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
A FTER a battle of over 50 years Congress has 
passed an amendment to the Constitution giv¬ 
ing full suffrage to women. In the last. Congress 
this amendment failed by one vote. This amend¬ 
ment must now be ratified by the Legislatures of 
36 States, and we have no illusions about the task 
before the suffrage advocates. There is likely to he 
a combination in opposition between the old slave- 
holding States and New England. Fifty years ago 
anyone who said that Georgia and Virginia would 
combine with Massachusetts and Connecticut, in a 
plan to restrict the ballot would have been called 
insane. Yet this is just what has happened. The 
South opposes suffrage chiefly because of its effect 
upon the negro women. The New England leaders 
are “conservative” and do not think women are 
ready for the ballot. Thus far 20 States have given 
the ballot either fully or in part to women. Can 
the suffrage people control seven more States? We 
think so, but it will be no easy task. Senator Wads¬ 
worth of New York, as usual, voted against suffrage. 
4c 
Have you ever made inquiries among the teachers 
as to the effect of “daylight saving f” I am told 
that it affects pupils injuriously . as they do not get 
the required amount of sleep , and arc unfitted for 
their work the next day. J. t. p. 
E have not investigated this, but we would 
like to. We would like reports from any 
teacher. Judging from our own children we think 
that under the new time they lack sleep. It is next 
to impossible to get them in bed an hour earlier. 
“They sleep by the sun." They must be up an hour 
earlier and they evidently do not have sleep enough. 
The same is true of many farm women, who are 
breaking down under the strain. Of course we shall 
he told that they ought to go to bed earlier. In 
some eases they cannot do this, and at any rate 
sleep is impossible in the hot, early hours of the 
night. At Washington hills have been introduced to 
repeal the law. but Congress has decided that they 
must stand on their own merits, and not go through 
as a “rider” on ah appropriation bill. There will he 
long “hearings,” and the present indications are that 
these will drag on into the Fall. There has been 
much argument as to the way the nation would vote 
on the question. Our own opinion is that a good 
proportion of city people would favor daylight sav¬ 
ing. Some city people would oppose, and they would 
he joined by the great majority of the country people. 
There would be many city people too indifferent to 
vote either way, with the result that, as in Canada, 
the majority would be against the law. 
4c 
F ARMERS who took the advice to sow cover crops 
after corn and potatoes last Fall got full benefit 
this wet season. The only expense to such cropping 
is the cost of the seed. The corn would be cultivated 
anyway, and this last cultivation covers the seed. 
On our own farm, where rye was seeded in the corn, 
we had this Spring a full stand of grain. It sucked 
the water out of the soil, and several naturally wet 
fields were made fit for plowing by the growing rye. 
In other fields too wet to plow this cover crop will 
give us nearly $50 per acre in grain and straw, while, 
had there been no cover crop, there would have been 
little or no income. In other cases the rye gave us 
all the organic matter to be found in eight to 10 tons 
of manure. Ail this from merely seeding a bushel of 
rye to the acre in corn at the last cultivation. 
Where clover and vetch are used with the rye the 
benefits will be even greater. Few farmers can 
realize, until they try it, how much this cover crop 
adds to the soil, and how little it costs to put it in. 
It is time now to begin to plan for it. There should 
not be a single cornfield left bare for next Winter. 
H OW many successful “war gardens” are due to 
“daylight saving”? In our locality there have 
always been good gardens, and we cannot find one 
that has been started and maintained by the “extra 
hour” saved by the new time. Last year a number 
of our farmers cut down their own work and plowed 
or cultivated these gardens at 70 cents ah hour! 
This was more profitable than cultivating farm crops, 
and in many cases the farmers also sold vegetables to 
the people who paid for the plowing! Where we live 
the “saved hour” is mostly spent in riding out in 
cars. How is it in your section? 
I N the fight to prevent the Postoflice Department 
from stealing the rural routes several daily 
papers in New York have been of great service to 
farmers. Three deserving special mention are the 
Syracuse Post-Standard, Troy Record and Albany 
1\ nickerbock of-Press. They helped organize the cam¬ 
paign and helped fight the battle, both at home and 
in Washington. We have always said that the 
newspapers in the smaller cities could he of great 
service to farmers, and would be just as soon as the 
farmers made their wants and wishes clear. For 
the farmers and country people are essential to the 
success of these daily papers, and there will he 
strong and active service from these papers just as 
soon as the farmers come forward and dominate 
them. There are many instances where the entire 
policy of some of these daily papers has been changed 
because a group of strong and fearless men and 
women gave expression to what they believed, and 
kept right at these papers until that belief was 
printed. 
4 
W E find a good many farmers who are behind 
with their season's plans. The bad weather, 
shortage of help, handicaps of “daylight saving” and 
other things have prevented them from doing what 
they blocked out. We have much the same situation 
on our own farm, and we have decided to meet it 
by dropping part of the original plan. We shall put 
in more barley, buckwheat, fodder corn and millet, 
and cut out some of the crops which demand hand 
cultivation. The production of actual food may not 
be so great, but there will he more grain and fodder 
and much less worry and work. Some farmers take 
an obstinate attitude, and will not change their 
plans even when man and Nature combine to oppose 
them. This is often a mistake, and in a time when 
labor is so uncertain it is far safer to keep within 
our strength and do what we can well, rather than 
block out a lot of work which must be neglected. 
Last year the farmer was urged and driven to raise 
food even beyond his limit, and it cannot, he said that 
he was even fully thanked for doing it. It will he a 
mistake to attempt too much this year. Do what 
you can with cultivated crops, and seed the rest of 
the farm, is our advice. 
4 
S OME of our readers seem to think there is a 
sort of bureau in New York State for listing 
teachers or school needs. The following note from 
the Education Department tells the story as thus 
far written: 
There is no real Teachers’ Bureau connected with the 
State Education Department. From time to time can¬ 
didates for positions and school boards desiring teach¬ 
ers write to us for information and assistance. For 
convenience in answering, and also as a matter of cour¬ 
tesy, this office has instituted a ready reference tile and 
card record for all such communications. In time the 
work may develop and its sphere of influence be widen¬ 
ed : just now it can scarcely be called a “Teachers’ Bu¬ 
reau.” B. T. CONG DON, 
Assistant Director. 
There is need of all good teachers. Many schools 
have not been well supplied, and many good teachers 
have not been able to place themselves properly. 
The R. N.-Y. would like to help bring the school and 
the teacher together. If you will tell us your needs 
perhaps we can help. 
4 
W E have a letter from a hired man who says 
he does not think workers of his class have 
a fair chance to express their views in print. Well, 
we feel like giving the hired man a full chance to 
state his case. The majority of us may he called ex- 
hired men, having served our full time at farm ser¬ 
vice. In the present troubled condition of farm 
labor the hired man is a very important element. 
He deserves fair treatment, and he ought to give the 
employer fair treatment in return. We believe in 
giving the hired man everything that belongs to him, 
and then expecting him to give all the fair service 
that belongs to the boss. So we will give the hired 
men and their wives a chance to tell their story if 
they will let us have it briefly, reasonably and with 
good spirit 
June 14, 1019 
T ills has been a season of hard trial for most 
of the tractors, for the wet ground has put them 
to the test. There has been a great demand for their 
work, and in some localities farmers have willingly 
paid $1.50 an hour or more for their services. On 
many farms these machines have become a necessity, 
and could not be dispensed with. On others they 
have not yet proved successful. To have any advan¬ 
tage over a horse a tractor must get into a place 
where it can go along hour after hour without slow¬ 
ing down or changing gears. This means good-sized 
fields and land without too many hills or stones. 
We would like to have fair reports of tractor op¬ 
eration during this wet season. 
4 
A GOOD many of our readers have been and are 
still troubled about the returns for farm in¬ 
come taxes. The forms sent out for filling in such 
items are complicated, and cannot be fully made out 
unless a full set of books is kept. Comparatively few 
of our people can make out these itemized forms, and 
some of them are quite worried at receiving letters 
from Washington calling for a full report. We wrote 
the Treasury Department, explaining the situation, 
and have obtained the following ruling: 
Whore a farmer does not keep an accurate record of 
the value and amount of stock and crops on hand at the 
beginning and end of the taxable year, he is required to 
calculate his not income on the basis of actual receipts 
and disbursements. In such cases a farmer is required 
to enter on Form 1040-F only the quantity and number 
of crops and live stock sold during the year and the 
amount received therefor, together with the various 
items of expenses incurred in carrying on farm opera¬ 
tions during the period for which the return is ren¬ 
dered. 
This will simplify the matter, and we advise our 
friends to make out the forms as best they can from 
their books and send them promptly to Washington. 
The Government will be fair about it, but it will 
save worry and trouble if the forms are made out 
and filed promptly. 
4 
N OW and then we strike an honest back-to-tlie- 
lander who has learned what farm products 
cost, even if he has not learned how to farm. One 
of them sends us the following: 
No city fellow who has never left the paved streets 
could know less about what might really be called crops 
and the price thereof than I do. Judging by actual costs 
to me, I would say that good milk ought to be worth 50c 
a quart and fresh eggs should be considered cheap at $1 
a dozen. 
Whenever the Government seeks to put a price on 
farm products it selects a number of prominent gen¬ 
tlemen and tells them to “investigate.” These men 
are usually great lawyers or manufacturers or busi¬ 
ness men, who are very successful in their chosen 
field, but they know nothing of practical farming. 
They think they can set a price for wheat or milk 
or pork, just as they would for shoes or clothing or 
watches. Some of these men have farms which they 
run as side lines. As they are masters of successful 
business, why would it not be fair for them to give 
the cost of producing food on their own farms and 
add 10 per cent for profit? We are quite sure most 
farmers would he willing to accept such figures. Or 
let these price-fixing experts each take a farm of 
average capacity and raise a series of crops in their 
own way in order to determine cost. Some of the 
milk distributing companies are said to own dairy 
farms, and of course they keep accurate figures. Are 
they willing to pay farmers what it costs them to 
produce milk? If not, why not? It would certainly 
seem that the price fixers ought to have personal ex¬ 
perience in producing what they price. 
Brevities 
Against the grain—the present price. 
Let him prove himself the “farmers’ friend” by action 
rather than advertising. Often the best friend is lie 
who does not agree with popular demand. 
One man grieves because when the breweries close he 
ean get no more dried grains. But he can get the entire 
barley—bettor and cheaper than the grains. 
The average wages paid farm help in New Hampshire 
are given as about $3 for single men by the day. $4(1 
per month for single men, and $7 per day for man and 
team. Now, what farmer can make a profit out of 
ordinary crops with such prices? 
We get many letters from inexperienced people who 
say they will act as their own lawyer in drawing up 
deeds and searching records. It i.s a great mistake, and 
a sure way to tangle up legal matters. Hire a good 
lawyer if you have legal business. 
Severe losses are reported where chickens are per¬ 
mitted to feast on 17-year locusts. The wing and leg 
parts of the locusts are quite indigestible and clog up 
the outlet to the crop. Turkeys and geese seem to 
feast on the locusts, but the chicks have trouble. 
This is the season for “bloat” in cattle. This is a 
formation of gas caused by eating too much clover or 
green fodder. The danger is not so much to the stom¬ 
ach as to pressure on the lungs and heart. The remedy 
i.s “tapping” or letting out the gas by introducing a tube 
from the outside. 
