1052 
July 5, 1919 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PArER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established IS50 
Published weekly by the Rnrai PnWlshlng Company, 333 West 30th Street, New fork 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. 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. 6d. or 
8!t 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 pei'son. 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 time of. 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
ANYTHING ABOUT FARMING AND COUNTRY" LIVING 
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD 
ANY TIME AND ANY’ PLACE 
If anybody can yet it for you, we can 
* 
EVERAL readers write us in worry and trouble 
over reports that all diseased chestnut trees 
must be cut and burned. These people fear that the 
Government will compel such destruction under a 
penalty. The Federal Government has advised cut¬ 
ting these trees in order to save the timber. That is 
all there is to the rumor. No compulsion will be 
used. Nothing can be done to check the ravages of 
this disease. It has now appeared as far west as 
Rochester. N. Y r . When it appears in new places the 
most thorough work is done to find the diseased 
trees and destroy them, but it is almost impossible 
to detect them in time. But do not worry about be¬ 
ing compelled to cut all the trees. We have nearly 
30 acres of such trees on our farm. Many have been 
cut for post timber, but if the Government wants to 
cut the rest for us—welcome! 
* 
HEN it came before Congress one of the 
strong arguments against, “daylight saving” 
was the claim that it had been put on the people 
without any authority from them. It was passed as 
a “war measure.” We all stood up and agreed to 
practically anything which might help win the war. 
That was no reason why we should submit to it in 
time of peace unless it proved surely useful. The 
people have never had any chance to express them¬ 
selves on the subject. There has never been any¬ 
thing like a referendum. Under a republican form 
of government no proposition which vitally affects 
the lives and habits of the people should become a 
law without giving the people some chance to vote 
on it. To do otherwise would strike at the first prin¬ 
ciple of representative government. That is true of 
“daylight saving” or of any other proposition which 
affects the habits of citizens or the business of co¬ 
operative societies. It is true also of farm organi¬ 
zations. There should be no decision regarding plans 
which affect the business of the organization without 
some sort of a referendum to obtain popular opinion. 
* 
For more, further, and instructive light on the subject 
of “silo juice.” see McClure’s for July. 11)10, page 22, 
third column ; begin reading at the thirty-sixth line. 
The article, before that and soon after, amounts to noth¬ 
ing. But when my city aunt’s nephew reads it I’m due 
for another wigging. He has already told me that the 
farmers (he pronounces it “fahmuhs”) have all the first- 
class food they can eat. all for nothing, and are making 
barrels of money besides Now. when he learns that, 
with the poor man deprived of his beer by a lot of 
fanatics, same “fahmuhs” are going to have plenty of 
rmn —likewise free—he’ll sure have a spasm. By the 
way, I’ve known the boys to bore a gimlet hole in the 
bottom of the silo and try it just once, and that was 
plenty, but this idea is a new one. They hadn’t gone as 
far as that in the days of my golden youth. J. w. 
Pennsylvania. 
HE statement referred to is made by Mrs. Ger¬ 
trude Atherton in an attempt to argue against 
prohibition. She says: 
As most people know, farmers stow away large quan¬ 
tities of corn for the Winter. It has been recently dis¬ 
covered—in dry States, of course—that large jars of 
unglazed pottery, set in the middle of these corn depos¬ 
its, absorb bv natural distillation enough pure alcohol 
to give every member of the family a periodical jag for 
the rest of the year. 
It is true that most people know (or have heard) 
that farmers cut corn or other crops into a silo. No 
one knows the rest of it, however (including Mrs. 
Atherton), because there is no truth in it. For years 
we have issued a public challenge to anyone who can 
prove that juice from the silo made anyone drunk, 
but no one has ever been able to give any evidence 
that is worth considering. The nearest we ever came 
to it was about as follows: A man will claim that 
his mother-in-law (by a former marriage) had a 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
neighbor who heard a friend tell of a farmer in the 
next town who saw the hired man lying on the 
ground near the silo, Three days later this farmer 
saw some dark-colored juice near a crack in the silo 
wall! That is about the nearest we have come to it, 
and Mrs. Gertrude Atherton is hereby requested to 
try to obtain any more convincing proof. Of course 
the whole thing is merely a part of the stupid and 
malignant campaign to prove that the farmer is a 
dishonest hypocrite and robber. Unfortunately, some 
of the so-called “thinkers” are aiding this campaign 
by just such foolish sneers and slurs as this silo 
story. Strange that they cannot see how they thus 
betray an ignorance and prejudice far more dense 
than anything they attribute to country people. 
* 
Adults may obtain their “salts” through the compara¬ 
tively large amount of green vegetables and fresh fruits 
they are able to consume, but not so with the very little 
people. Ash starvation is the remote and unseen cause 
of many diseases and even death. Every mother should 
move heaven and earth if necessary to provide at least 
a quart of milk per day for the little ones, and egg yolk 
for iron after weaning. A. H. B. 
Kentucky. 
1GHT! The coming man must not only have 
good blood, but he must be milk-fed. He will 
not be a full man unless his growing years are well 
supplied with milk. Milk is not a luxury, it is a 
necessity, ranking as such with air, water and sun¬ 
shine. It is our .business to make the public under¬ 
stand these things, and we are going to do it. 
* 
H AVE you noticed what a race has developed in 
the Vineland egg-laying contest? Up to June 
19 the leading pens ranked as follows: 
Underhill Bros., R. I. Reds. 1,605 eggs 
Pinehurst Poultry Farm. White Leghorns.. 1.595 eggs 
U. S. Greene. White Leghorns. 1.529 eggs 
Pi G. Platt, White Leghorns. 1.521 eggs 
Oak Hill Estate, White Leghorns. 1,504 eggs 
There are 10 pullets in each pen, and they have 
been laying 231 days, with 134 days still to go. A 
very prerty race, with the leaders zig-zagging back 
and forth at the front. What do you think? Can the 
Reds beat the Leghorns at the finish? The Reds are 
more likely to become broody and that may make 
them stumble, but the Leghorns are rather more 
likely to quit during September and October. It is a 
great race. Do you want to go on record and try to 
pick the winner? 
* 
W IIAT shall' be done for the men who have 
started the business of producing American 
potash? That is the question now before Congress. 
At present the interests of these few producers seem 
to be more considered than that of the farmers who 
use potash in fertilizers. When the war broke out 
this country depended almost entirely upon Germany 
for its potash supplies. It was a part of the German 
programme to hold its monopoly of potash as a club 
over this country to enforce neutrality. Our scien¬ 
tific men at once went hunting for American potash 
deposits—and found them. The brine lakes in 
Nebraska, the seaweeds, salt mines and concrete 
works all contributed supplies, until last year we 
•produced nearly one-third of what was thought 
necessary before the war. But among other things 
war experience taught us that on many of our 
heavier soils we had been using potash needlessly. 
Now that the war is over farmers on the lighter 
soils will demand increased potash supplies in their 
fertilizers. They also demand a return to the prices 
at which potash was sold before the war. lhe 
potash producers—that is, the men who have in¬ 
vested money in a new business—demand protection 
until they can hold their own against the natural 
potash of Europe. They are first in the field with 
a bill before Congress to cover the imports of potash 
by a system of licenses. The plan is to make an 
estimate of the probable amount of potash needed 
for anv year in advance. Then an estimate would 
be made of the amount of American potash likely 
to be produced. The balance of what is required 
is to be imported, but no one can import without 
taking out a Government license and limiting his 
imports to a certain definite figure. A price for this 
imported potash is to be set by the Go\eminent, 
and this of course would also make the price for 
domestic potash. For the first two years this price 
would be 12!/o cents a pound for potash, about $125 
per ton for muriate. For the third year the price 
would be $100, and $75 for the next two years. Be¬ 
fore the war prices ran about $10 per ton for muriate, 
and it was well understood that the potash could 
then have been sold at $25 with fair profit, lhe 
proposed bill would multiply the old price by three. 
We believe that this is too big a price for several 
million farmers to pay in order to protect several 
hundred producers. The license system may work 
well, and we think these-potash men should have ,a 
fair chance to establish their industry, but $125 per 
ton is too much. 
* 
T HE American Federation of Labor, during its 
recent convention, adopted a report containing 
the following: 
Labor organizations for many years have been fight¬ 
ing to secure the eight-hour day, once known as the 
shorter work day. This eight-hour day meant 48 hours 
of labor per week. Because of the changed condition 
brought about by the war a number of the industries 
have been able already to introduce the 44-hour week, 
continuing the eight-hour day with a Saturday half 
holiday. Your committee believes it will be but a short 
time until the eight-hour day with the Saturday half 
holiday will be the universal hours of labor and adopted 
in all industries. 
It is also stated that a six-hour day will be de¬ 
manded in the future. There is no disguise or 
apology about the reasons urged for these demands. 
The labor leaders propose to find work for working- 
men. If there is work which requires 800 hours of 
men’s labor it would mean SO days at a 10-hour day. 
or 100 days at an eight-hour day, or work one day 
for SO or 100 men! The cost of the 20 extra men 
must be added to the price paid for what they 
produce! Now is farming to be considered "an 
industry,” or is this 44-hour week intended for city 
workers alone? These men, who sell their labor 
collectively, realize that an over-production of labor 
must cheapen the price and throw laborers out of 
work. What about the farmer? He is expected 
to work 12 hours or more and produce “bumper” 
crops so as to bump his chances for obtaining a fair 
profit. Every farmer knows that years when all 
have big crops do not bring him prosperity, because 
the surplus of food creates strong competition, and 
leaves him at the mercy of the handlers and specu¬ 
lators. The good financial years on the farm are 
those of medium crops and high prices, when the 
speculators cannot corner the surplus and use it as 
a club to beat down prices. The city workmen 
intend to have “double time for all overtime.” Sup¬ 
pose our farmers adopted that and demanded “dou¬ 
ble time” for all their labor over 44 hours a week. 
And yet, why not? 
* 
T HE strike of the drivers of produce trucks in 
this city caused a terrible loss to farmers. 
Hundreds of carloads of green produce spoiled. For 
a time the streets in the produce market districts 
seemed like the barricaded streets of a European 
city. Each side accused the other of hiring “gun¬ 
men.” The dealers managed to save some of the 
produce by sending trucks across the river or into 
the country, but a strong guard was needed for 
every truckload. The dealers claimed that the city 
authorities did not protect them properly. The 
strikers claimed that the dealers had unfair pro¬ 
tection ! One speaker told the Mayor and council 
that unless the produce was protected and distri¬ 
buted he would go up the State and organize a regi¬ 
ment of farmers armed with shotguns to come and 
see that their property was not destroyed. The 
strike was finally settled by paying the truck 
drivers and porters $2S and $30 per week for hand¬ 
ling the farmer’s goods! This hold-up has saddled 
a frightful loss upon farmers, and they now see 
men paid more dear money for merely handling 
their goods than they receive for producing them! 
There will always be this danger of hold-up until 
the producers take the business into their own hands 
and do their own distributing. 
* 
T HE fruit and vegetable growers of New York 
are up against a proposed new railroad tariff 
for perishable freight Under the new tariff the 
cost of icing a car will be $35 for what previously 
cost $8. You cannot ice your own cars without 
special permission. A hearing will he held in New 
York on September 2. Then the growers and ship¬ 
pers must give certain evidence about the cost of 
icing or submit to this ruinous tariff. Money must 
he had to fight this change, and the money and the 
fighting must be provided by the growers and ship¬ 
pers. The New York Federation of Agriculture 
has come into this fight and is trying to raise the 
needed money to put it over. This is one of the 
things which the Federation can do. Will you as a 
grower of perishable produce come in and help.' 1 
Will you give $5? Send the check to Samuel 
Fraser, Geneseo, N. Y. 
Brevities 
Cupidity’ is the child of moral stupidity. 
Millet, barley. Soy beans and fodder corn may still 
be seeded as hay substitutes. 
Do not chance your future business on any verbal 
agreement. If you make a contract, have it in writing. 
