Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1083 
■ 
Bt&t&fflSgg&Si 
Some Plowing Job This! 
It takes a lot of Reserve Power 
to pull two 24 inch bottoms 
through stiff sod land like this 
and turn clean furrows ten 
inches deep. 
This Reserve Power is only available when the fuel is fired 
by the hottest spark known, such as that delivered 
by a K-W High Tension Magneto. 
This K-W equipped Holt tractor pictured here only natural because K-W Magnetos are bu 
makes easy work of jobs like this, because for tractor service and made their reputati 
the K-W Magneto gives the hottest known for reliability on tractors. Two manufacture 
spark, timed accurately. This intense spark have used K-W Magnetos as standard equi 
tires the mixture rapidly, thus releasing the ment for over 9 years; 18 for over 5 year 
energy contained in the fuel in the shortest as many more for from one to 5 years, 
possible time and delivering maximum power i „ .. .... 
Cleveland. Ohio. U.S.A. 
MARK 
2827 CHESTER AVE. 
Things To Think About 
The object of this department is to givo readers a ohance to express themselves on farm 
matters. Not long articles can be use' 1 —just short, pointed opinions or suggestions. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER does not always endorse what is printed here. You might 
call this a mental safety valve. 
An Appreciation 
• I am enclosing $1 for renewal, as I 
would miss your weekly visits. I get a 
great deal of information and pleasure 
from your paper, and heartily disagree 
with your campaign against daylight sav¬ 
ing. However, that doesn’t prevent my 
realizing the value of the paper. As you 
have won out. all we can do is take our 
medicine gracefully. F. A. Y. 
Rhode Island. 
Our friend is what we may call “a good 
sport.” It is a good indication of char¬ 
acter when we find one who takes his 
“medicine” standing up. Another indi¬ 
cation of sound sense is the ability to 
realize that a person may differ with us 
on one matter and still be worthy of con¬ 
fidence. There are too many men who 
cannot separate a difference of opinion 
from treason! 
Experience with Tractors 
You ask for reports of tractor opera¬ 
tion this w r et season. I will give mine in 
as few words as possible. I have one of 
the well-known two-wheel tractors, equip¬ 
ped with tw r o 12-in. plows. The tractor, 
I think, is an advantage in wet weather, 
as when the land does dry you can do so 
much more in a given time. We plow as 
much as five acres per day in a level field, 
disking 1*4 to two acres per hour, which 
is about one-third more than I could ever 
do with horses. From my experience, the 
wetter the season the more use for the 
tractor. 
To change the subject, I would like to 
ask a question. What do the readers 
think of the Government order or request 
that all wagons be 56-in. tread? I, for 
one, think it is another arbitrary order 
of political boneheads. 
Pennsylvania. GEORGE D. COATES. 
The Moon and Crops 
For a number of years I have attempted 
to verify by my own observations some 
of the theories regarding the moon and 
the weather, with which I have been 
familiar since boyhood. In this I have 
been considerably baffled by finding, that 
just when I noted a number of instances 
where some theory failed, I would meet 
some believer who would assure me that 
the instances that I had noted as failures 
were only proof of the infallibility of a 
rule which he went by. Thus, instead of 
verifying any theory, I have only dis¬ 
covered a number of conflicting theories, 
each with its own advocates; but none, 
as far as I have been able to observe, 
holding good in very much more than 50 
per cent of the cases. 
Until the last year or so the moon and 
growing crops have not received much 
thought from me, although. I am familiar 
with several old sayings iu regard to this, 
and could give several instances where 
they have not proven reliable. In the 
issue of June 14 Mr. Fred Abare speaks 
of the increased weight of seeds, which 
he ascribes to sowing at the full of the 
moon; now I assume in this connection 
that he refers to grain crops, and if this 
assumption is correct, his theory comes 
directly iu conflict with the one that I 
have most often heard with regard to 
growing crops and the moon, namely, that 
crops growing in the ground should he 
planted at the full of the moon, while 
crops growing above the ground should 
be planted when the moon is growing. 
This leads me to believe that an investi¬ 
gation of this subject would discover a 
conflict of theories as great on this sub¬ 
ject as I have found regarding the moon 
and the weather. 
To my mind any comparison of one 
man’s crops with his neighbor’s in this 
connection is inconclusive, as there are 
too many other elements entering into 
successful crop production, among which 
there are always some that vary greatly 
betweeu different farms. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. ciias. d. smith. 
What the Soldiers Want 
On page 994 of The R. N.-Y. you say 
“The war seems to have made some men 
and women hopeless," ”we need some rad¬ 
ical legislation,” etc.; “it is probably true 
that all wars are more or less inspired 
and directed by the big financial inter¬ 
ests.” Does not this mean that you and 
the people realize vaguely the power of 
economic government that finds scant rec¬ 
ognition by our political government? 
They who control opportunity—transpor¬ 
tation. manufactures, mines, lands, etc. 
—control our legislators and control us. 
1 wish I could share your sanguine hopes 
of the returning soldiers. They went 
dumbly from the masses of the ignorant 
and selfish, and they return to the same 
conditions and associations. I have yet 
to hear of any effort by any of them to 
give the people the “right” to vote on the 
question of war. a power delegated to 
Congress when there were no railroads 
nor telegraphs, nor oversea transports, 
as now. One would think that the first 
thought of these soldiers would be to see 
to it that only at the clear behest of the 
majority could they or their children be 
sent to war. As they are indifferent to 
this, the most important thing that can 
concern a people, so will they be supine 
as their fathers were. j. l. w. 
Virginia. 
We report what comes to us from the 
soldiers, and we have had rather unusual 
facilities for learning what they want. 
Most of them seem to regard the war as 
helpful to the nation and to themselves 
individually. They will not take any very 
radical action at once, but their influence 
will • appear in the next election The 
worst thing which men of middle age or 
older can do is to assume a hopeless view 
of the future. That will most certainly 
react upon the soldiers. 
Countrywide Produce Situation 
PRICES RECOVER SLIGHTLY UNDER LIGHTER 
SOUTHERN AND WESTERN SHIPMENTS. 
The bulk of supplies now is nearby 
stock, moved chiefly in wagons and 
trucks or shipped in less-than-carload 
lots. The volume of distance shipments 
is comparatively light, except for com¬ 
paratively new lines, like melons and 
peaches. Prices show a tendency to re¬ 
cover part of the heavy decline noted 
last month. 
1 OLD POTATOES . PRACTICALLY. DONE. . 
The slump in old potatoes was due 
mainly, to lack of quality. What little 
good stock arrived brought fully $2 per 
100 lbs., and other stock ranged any¬ 
where from that price down to 40c. 
Probably a range of 70c to .$1.25 repre¬ 
sents the prevailing range in most mar¬ 
kets, applying closely to Maine Green 
Mountains, which comprised about half 
the shipments of recent weeks. The sea¬ 
son is supposed to end July 1. but a few 
carloads are still coming, ehiefly from 
Maine. Probably some siock from Cana¬ 
dian border sections classes with Maine 
potatoes. 
NEW POTATOES IN MODERATE SUPPLY. 
New potatoes are coming heavily from 
Virginia and adjoining States, but the 
crop appears even lighter than expected 
and shipments already tend to decrease. 
Early estimates of the Virginia crop were 
700.000 barrels. Shipments so far have 
been rather less than one-half that 
amount, and the reported condition of 
the undug crop suggests that the ex¬ 
pected total may not be reached. Prices 
in terminal markets range $5.50 to $7 
per bbl. The specially branded stock put 
up by the growers’ associations sells 25 
to 50c above the regular run of No. 1 
shipments, for the reason that buyers 
have learned fo depend upon the full net 
measure and good grading. 
GOOD PRICES FOR EARLY ONIONS. 
The onion season has about completed 
the annual cycle and is back to Northern 
.stock again, with New Jersey leading in 
shipments. Some of the early stock is 
rather immature, but has been bringing 
$3.25 to $3.75 per bushel hamper in New 
York. Kentucky stock, slightly better 
ripened, sold a little lower by the 100 
lbs. at $5,50 to $6. or a little less than 
$3 per bushel. Early reports of the 
Northern acreage show decreases in most 
sections. The crop may be large, but 
evidently not so large as last year. 
THE SEASON MOVES NORTH. 
The cabbage season is also centering 
farther north, with heavy shipping sec¬ 
tions now in the South Central States. 
Another line that is being restored to the 
Northern shipping sections is the early 
apple crop, of which about one-half the 
shipments are now from Illinois. Mary¬ 
land and adjoining States are beginning. 
Georgia is leading, as usual at this sea¬ 
son in melon shipments, and receiving 
50c to $1 each iu large lots in Northern 
distributing markets. 
Southern California’s record-breaking 
cantaloupe crop of 6.000 to 8,000 cars is 
nearing the end, but Central California 
is about ready to begin. In recent years 
California has put in the shade the mod¬ 
erate shipments from Colorado, Georgia, 
Maryland and other old-time shipping 
sections. California also produces about 
one-half of the peach crop, although most 
of the California product is canned or 
dried. The State is a favored garden 
spot, but the handicap of distance allows 
other sections to compete successfully as 
a rule. . - b. f. 
✓ 
