2076 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BVSIXESS FARMER'S TAPER 
A National Weekly Journal 1'or Country un* *l Suburban Homes 
Established tS.:o 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 833 West 30th Streel, New York 
Herbert IV. Collisgwood, President and Editor. 
Joiim J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. IIoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreipn countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.01, equal to 8s. 6cL, or 
81a marks, or 101<j francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post O.Tice 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 ordera 
"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 ad vertising 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. Wo 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 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. 
HERE are in this country both patriots and 
profiteers. The trouble is we are likely to mix 
up the labels. We have followed many a profiteer 
disguised as a patriot, and we have regarded some 
true patriots as mere scarecrows, because it is hard 
to imagine a human being who honestly tries to give 
in his public life a practical imitation of the life of 
the great Master of mankind. 
* 
A NUMBER of shippers of fruits and vegetables 
who lost their property during the recent 
strike of drivers and porters in this city write to 
ask if it would be possible to collect this loss from 
anyone. We have gone over the matter with our 
attorneys, and they can give little encouragement. 
The express companies are exempt through a clause 
in their receipts. If they sold any of the goods 
which they could not deliver they must return the 
price secured. The commission men, who “fell 
down” so badly and were largely responsible for 
the loss, could not be held legally responsible unless 
they definitely bought or contracted for the goods 
at the shipping point. The labor unions which 
called the strike could not be successfully sued in 
court. Some growers speak of bringing suit against 
the Mayor or Police Department for failing to pro¬ 
tect property, hut there would be no satisfaction in 
that. If all shippers could combine and make a 
claim large enough to attract national attention it 
would help in a general way, hut unfortunately we 
cannot give much hope that under our present 
wicked system of distribution anyone can he found 
directly responsible for this loss. If our attorneys 
can find a way to do it The It. N.-Y. will help 
prosecute claims of this sort. They should he com¬ 
bined, if possible, so as to make an impressive 
amount. Our growers must stand these galling and 
ruinous losses just as long as they are, as at present, 
at the mercy of the handlers and dealers. They 
will be under the shadow of just such experiences 
until they organize a distributing system of their 
own. 
* 
N EW JERSEY, through its Department of Con¬ 
servation and Development, makes some good 
suggestions to returned soldiers. Among other sen¬ 
sible statements is the following: 
New Jersey has no public land, and is so thoroughly 
settled that it offers no attractions under the Federal 
plan, but it does offer what we believe to be a better 
proposition iu au opportunity to buy, rent, or take on 
shares a readymade farm. It may be run down, or it 
may be idle for lack of capital or labor, but it can be 
fanned note. We also have considerable uncleared land 
of good quality. Run-down farms with buildings can 
be secured for as little as $50 an acre (half the cost 
of new-made land in the West) ; cleared land without 
buildings for $20, and wild land for from $5 to $20. 
Rents in proportion. 
The agricultural college and Farm Bureau agents 
will help with advice, and the Federal Land Bank 
and local banks will finance the farm up to their 
limit. New Jersey wants good citizens, and there is 
no bluff or gush or sentiment about this offer she 
makes. 
* 
Has it occurred to you that some of the “up-State” 
towns, when making new traffic laws regarding parking 
of cars, one-way streets, etc., are rather hard on the 
farmer and his horses, notwithstanding the fact, in 
many cases, the nearby farmers are absolutely a “bunch” 
their business men uot only need but must have to keep 
their stores on a paying basis? H. s. R. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
T has so occurred. Some of the smaller towns 
would fade away from the landscape were it not 
for the support given them by the surrounding farms. 
Yet in many cases the passing car which simply 
raises a dust in the town or possibly stops for ice 
cream or for gasoline, is favored above the farm 
team, which brings life to the town. This is not 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
true of all country towns. Some of them realize 
just what they are—fruit and flower of the solid, 
surrounding farms. Such towns will realize what 
is back of them, and will fairly represent the farm¬ 
ers. The town, being a part of the country, ought 
to represent a rose of civilization and not a weed. 
* 
O F course you realize that practically all the 
present movements to “uplift” or educate the 
farmer are engineered and dominated by people who 
do not make tlieir living by farming. These move¬ 
ments are usually directed with energy, and the peo¬ 
ple back of them honestly desire to help the farmers. 
They make slow progress usually because they do 
not quite get down into the real foundation life of 
country people. It is something like trying to build 
a house without getting down deep enough for a 
solid foundation. In the present temper of the coun¬ 
try, solid and enduring progress in improving rural 
life must be worked out by the farmers themselves. 
They will have to dominate any movement for rural 
improvement that is worth while. The farmers them¬ 
selves must be interested and inspired before the 
educators and philanthropists can develop their 
plans, and we think the rural school is the best place 
for interesting the community. In the old days this 
rural school, when directed by a teacher with char¬ 
acter and human nature, was the heart and soul of 
the district. No one can tell what these old-time 
rural schools did to develop power and culture in New 
England and then in the Central West. Some of the 
strongest men and women this country has produced 
taught iu these old district schools. Many of these 
rural teachers were stronger than those in town 
schools before the craze for city life and city sal¬ 
aries started. The best teachers and the best preach¬ 
ers are now needed in the country. If they really 
want to serve their country like soldiers in battle 
let them go out and take rural schools; put their 
lives into them and put the hopeful power of their 
education where it i: most needed. 
* 
N EW YORK, New Jersey and the Federal Gov¬ 
ernment have all gone on record as favoring 
the new tunnels under the Hudson River. These 
tunnels will be large enough to permit a constant 
flow of wagons and trucks both ways. At present 
practically all food and other merchandise reaching 
this island must be floated over the river. This sit¬ 
uation has made it possible for the handlers to de¬ 
velop a system which has become plain robbery. The 
tunnels will permit farmers to drive their trucks 
right through into the heart of the city. It will then 
he impossible to shut off the demand for proper 
terminal markets and direct sale to consumers. This 
will destroy the present involved and wicked system 
of distributing food, and this change will help all 
who send food here, whether through the tunnels or 
in the present way. The way to improve a system 
js to improve it. "We think this tunnel will drain a 
lot cf the graft and extravagance out of the produce 
business. 
l 
Lime, Lionel and Sour Soils. 
My neighbor and I have a controversy over lime. I 
have a piece of land covered with sorrel. I claim that 
this proves the land is sour and will not produce good 
crops until lime is used. My neighbor claims that if I 
plow this sorrel under the land will be sweeter than 
before. J. B. R. 
HEAVY growth of sorrel indicates a soil de¬ 
ficient in carbonate of lime. Yet we have seen 
sorrel growing around limekilns or in well-manured 
ground. Whenever you see a rather poor piece of 
ground quite red with sorrel, you may conclude that 
the soil is sour. This does not mean that nothing 
will grow well on it. Alsike clover may make a fair 
growth; so may Soy beans, and rye may do fairly 
well, as well as some varieties of corn. For Red 
clover, wheat and Timothy, and most garden crops, 
you must use lime on such soils to obtain even a fair 
yield. Sorrel has power to take up forms of lime 
which cannot sweeten the soil. Thus sorrel may 
make a strong growth on soils which coixain no car¬ 
bonate of lime. Such lime as it does take forms an 
insoluble oxylate of calcium in the sorrel. Yet when 
the sorrel dies or is plowed under this Insoluble 
lime compound may be broken up so that carbonate 
of lime will be formed. In this way the sorrel may 
take from the soil forms of lime which other plants 
cannot use, and make them into sour, insoluble 
forms. Then when the sorrel decays in the soil 
these insoluble forms of lime may be changed into 
the carbonate, which is the form needed to sweeten 
the soil. Thus it is true, as we know from experi¬ 
ence, that if a heavy crop of sorrel is plowed under 
there is a gain iu carbonate of lime, and to a slight 
July 12, 1019 
extent (lie soil becomes sweeter. It is one of the 
most interesting things about plant life and growth 
that this sour plant is able, through its wonderful 
chemistry, slightly to overcome the acid condition of 
the soil by changing the form of the lime. We be¬ 
lieve that a study of other plants, now known as 
weeds, will reveal great possibilities for fertilizing 
or acting upon the soil. We have no doubt that our 
scientists will some day find that common plants, now 
regarded as pests, have a power to obtain plant food 
'or make over the soil fully equal to that possessed 
by the legumes like clover or cow peas. Practically 
every cultivated farm on the upper Atlantic slope 
needs lime. A good time to use it is this Fall, with 
the grain and grass seeding. 
* 
T HERE will he a big potato meeting at Holmdel, 
N. J., on July 12. The significance of this meet¬ 
ing lies in the work of the Ilolmdel Potato Club. 
This organization is one of the things which have 
grown out of the conviction that the war has com¬ 
pelled changes in all lines of industry—farming as 
well as others. For many years farmers lived and 
enjoyed fair prosperity without any special appli¬ 
cation of science or organization to their business. 
Other industries went ahead and organized, while 
farming remained unorganized: The years before 
the war brought to many farmers a clear vision of 
ruin. The war itself is to force changes into farm¬ 
ing which will make it free and more prosperous, or 
make it even more dependent upon other industi’ies, 
according to the way farmers themselves decide. 
These Ilolmdel potato growers want to know just 
how to fertilize their particular soil. They want 
new varieties with the vigor of the Giant, but with 
far higher quality. They want a system of dis¬ 
tribution which will enable them to take full advan¬ 
tage of the new tunnels between New Jersey and 
New York. These things are right in line with the 
things which have developed manufacturing. These 
Monmouth County farmers are going after them 
right, starting on the ground and bossing the job 
themselves, with the earnest help of the scientific 
men. That is why this big potato meeting ought to 
interest any farmer. 
* 
T HOUSANDS of city people are still wondering 
how it was possible to kill “daylight saving.” 
These folks seem to think the sun rises and sets 
at the east and west edges of their city. Most of 
them never read anything except a city paper, and 
have no conception of the real power which rules 
America. We are often told of the enlightened 
culture of city life, yet the average city man is far 
more narrow in his view of national life than is the 
average country man. Therefore it comes as a sur¬ 
prise to city men when they learn that Congress is 
dominated by the expressed opinion from the country 
districts. Congressmen know that farmers will 
prove more persistent and steadfast than town folks 
when they once really agree upon what they want 
and need. The country people surely have the power 
to obtain any reasonable legislation if they will 
agree upon what they want and get solidly together 
in support of it. The present conditions of govern¬ 
ment by big interests merely represent the price we 
have paid to others for doing the public work which 
we should have done for ourselves. 
Brevities 
This weather is bringing up the corn crop. 
No use talking, peace without victory to crab grass. 
Who eau tell us about buckwheat as a fodder or bay 
crop? We notice some of the experts advise it. 
We hear much about the man behind the gun, but 
who is the man in front of the gun that we are to shoot 
at? Too much of our powder has been fired into the 
air. 
A reader wants to know what would be the effect of 
a spray of fine birdshot on the robin. We can quickly 
tell him. A prompt and strict fine of $25 for each r< bin 
thus sprayed. That bird has greater legal rights than 
most human beings. 
Mr. Rogers in his fruit report says many of the apples 
are inside. The outer fruit seems to have suffered most 
from the cold. Some varieties, like McIntosh, form 
much of their fruit on the inside branches. There may 
be more apples than now appears, but the indications 
are for a light crop. 
Can we use nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia 
to bring up a second cutting of grass? Yes—either 
chemical will force a new growth if there is a fair 
supply of water. This soluble nitrogen will whip the 
.plant food out of the soil, and you will see the difference 
next year unless you fertilize well. 
