1102 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S FA PER 
A National Weekly Journal lor Country and Suburban Homes 
Established >SZ0 
PnbU&bed weekly by tj© Rural Publishing Compnny, 333 West 30th Street, New York 
Herbert IV. Collixgwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wjl F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLL A YEAR 
To foreign countries in tlie Universal Postal Union. $2.04, equal to 8 a tid, or 
8*0 marks, or 101 a francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, <5 cents per agato 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 
reliablo 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. W T e 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 ot' the time or 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rusal New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
N page 1052 we told of the danger to fruit and 
vegetable shippers in the proposed new freight 
rates. Unless such shippers can get together and 
make the strongest kind of protest the cost of icing 
a ear will be multiplied by four. In order to pre¬ 
vent this outrage, and other increased charges, both 
men and money are needed. A good organization . 
has been formed in the Associated Fruit and Vege¬ 
table Industries, and if it is properly backed up 
this organization will take care of the situation. 
They must have the names of growers and shippers 
who can furnish a statement regarding the cars 
of produce they have shipped. All such shippers 
should write at once to Samuel Fraser, 522 Mercan¬ 
tile Building, Rochester, X. Y. Your prompt help 
is needed. Unless you act quickly your rights will 
be put away on ice where they will never thaw out. 
* 
Your paper is the best thing on earth for the money. 
I have just returned from the hospital, and with all the 
cost, all the lost time, etc., I regret most the loss of my 
file of Rural New-Yorkers. The people I secured to 
run my farm while I and the good wife were at hospital 
(the woman cleaning up, as she called it) found file of 
It. X.-Y., and. being just old papers, they were thrown 
in the fire. “Comment unnecessary.” I'll number each 
one from now on and label it with big letters, “Impor¬ 
tant—Save.” W. P. IIABVEY. 
Madison Co., X. Y. 
Can you let me have back number of The R. X.-Y.? 
Our hired man ran off with the missing numbers and 
spoiled our files. We value them as a Mohammedan 
values his Koran. I index the subjects treated in each 
number so that we may readily refer to back numbers 
when an emergency arises. A- M. H. 
Westchester Co., X. Y. 
HAT hired man showed a high literary taste, at 
least, and we can supply the missing numbers. 
Very glad to know that The R. X.-Y. ranks as a 
necessity in many households. Our ambition is to 
make it such. We want to make it a living picture 
and report of the life of an American farmer both 
at work and at rest. In one mail recently came two 
letters. One was from a man in Chile, South Amer¬ 
ica, who says The R. N.-Y. comes “like a communi¬ 
cation from an old friend.” The other is written 
from Constantinople, Turkey, by an Armenian now in 
the British Army who will go to an American farm 
when he is mustered out. Thus The R. X.-Y. 
reaches everywhere, and we hope pulls in the best 
for its readers. 
* 
AST week Mr. Geo. E. Howell told of farmers 
who will stop working so hard, come closer to 
an eight-hour day, and not strain to produce crops. 
We think the best farmer is the man who can make 
the best proportion of profit on his investment. 
Good farming does not always mean producing the 
largest crops. It is often better farming to produce 
a medium-sized crop at a fair profit rather than a 
big crop with little margin. In some parts of the 
country the old-time farmers are inclined to imitate 
the labor union workers, and do what they can in a 
10-liour day. Their plans are often upset by the 
foreign element, who continue to work 1G hours or 
more, and turn out everything they can, regardless 
of labor cost. 
to 
It may interest you to know that I am at the present 
time contemplating selling my horses and farming im¬ 
plements in October, and letting the laud grow up with 
whatever it may until the labor questions are resolved, 
if they ever are. • T- d - R- 
New Jersey. 
HIS is from a professional man who has a good 
farm in the country. There are thousands 
more like him, and the total of the crops they produce 
is considerable. If it be shut off there will be some 
difference in the food supply. Yet in many cases it 
is impossible to conduct these farms with any degree 
of profit with hired labor. About the only way we 
know of is to get them in grass or grain, and sell the 
crops standing, or turn in stock to eat them down. 
*ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
We would not let these fields alone to grow up into 
weeds and trash, but w would seed them to grass 
and grain, and take a chance on pasturing or selling 
the crop in the field. 
* 
On page 30TG you say ^hat farmers can get any rea¬ 
sonable legislation they need if they will find just what 
they want and combine and go' after it. Why then 
has the situation got away from them, as it evidently 
has? J. R- S. 
HE answer is easy. In nine cases out of 10 
farmers have been unable to exercise their 
power over a clear-cut issue dealing with farming. 
What they really vote on is usually some parti/ issue. 
This is made by the politicians by taking the name 
of what farmers want and stuffing it full of com¬ 
promise and political expedients and graft. It is 
called farm legislation, and usually gives just about 
as much protection to farmers’ interests as a stuffed 
bulldog nailed to the gate post would give to his 
family. In the past our chief fault has been in 
standing still until the politicians made up the 
“issues” for us. Then we have to vote for or against 
them, and the way they are stuffed on us it has 
made little difference which way we voted. Thus 
we have provided the votes and taken the hide, while 
other interests always took the rich “stuffing.” It is 
easy to see the remedy for this—easier than to apply 
it. Instead of waiting for the politicians and “lead¬ 
ers” to make up the issues for us, we must make 
them ourselves. We must get together early, find 
out definitely just what we want, agree upon one 
thing at a time, and then all get back of it. The 
politicians will then fall in and work for us when 
they see we mean business. The politician will al¬ 
ways follow power. When several million farmers 
divide into groups and each group shouts for some 
separate thing there is a mere babel of sound. Xo 
one pays attention to it. When they all shout in 
chorus “Get busy!” there is immediate business. 
The daylight saving law was repealed because the 
farmers all got together on a plain, simple demand. 
Other big things fail because, somehow, we cannot 
agree. 
* 
O X June 2S a number of the Republicans of 
Wayne Co., N. Y., met at the court house, 
Lyons, and agreed to support Charles H. Betts as a 
candidate for the Legislature. This, we take it, 
means that the party organization of Wayne County 
will support Mr. Betts in the primary election. As 
we stated a few weeks ago, this puts a big question 
squarely up to the farmers of Wayne County, so that 
they cannot dodge or evade it. The State Grange, 
the Federation of Agriculture, the big fruit growers’ 
organizations, have publicly asked Mr. Betts to- re¬ 
sign his public position on the Food Commission. 
While he did finally resign, he defied these organi¬ 
zations and practically told these farmers where they 
might get off. Wayne County has probably more 
members of these farm organizations than any other 
county in the State. Now, are they going to get off, 
as they were told they might do, and retain their 
self-respect, or will they put their heads into the 
yoke and proceed to haul the band wagon? At no 
time since the Civil War has the plain, straight ques¬ 
tion of flinching under the party lash or asserting 
man-sized independence come so squarely up before 
a big group of intelligent New York farmers. What 
they do will have to be regarded as a clear indica¬ 
tion of their political independence. The R. X.-Y. 
makes no attack upon Mr. Betts. Wayne County 
folks know him better than we do—for just what 
he is. In a republic we all bow to the will of the ma¬ 
jority, which is usually an expression of the intelli¬ 
gence and character of the plain people. It is up to 
Wayne County. Do you leant Chas. Jf. Betts to rep¬ 
resent you at Albany? If a majority will answer 
“Yes” after the question is put to them straight, the 
rest of us must accept the verdict. 
* 
T HIS war has made possible many remarkable 
farm operations which will never go on record. 
A farm family in New England paid-the mortgage 
on the home and obtained a small working capital 
by selling wild cherry bark. As a rule a fringe of 
wild cherry trees along the walls and fences is re¬ 
garded as a nuisance and a badge of misfit and unfit 
farming. For the wild cherry acts as incubator and 
cradle for the tent caterpillar, or when its leaves 
and boughs are cut and wilted it becomes a poison 
factory for the cattle. Yet this nuisance and pest 
carries medical properties, which make it a necessity 
in many cough or fever remedies. The epidemic of 
influenza last Winter was regarded as a calamity by 
most of us, but it proved a blessing to a New Eng¬ 
land family It created a tremendous demand for 
certain remedies which, during war conditions, made 
July 10, 1019 
wild cherry bark a necessity. The sudden demand 
caused the price to rise from almost nothing to .$200 
per ton. It was like exchanging a rag of disgrace 
for a badge of gold. The formerly worthless trees 
along the fence rows were cleaned out and the bark 
shaved off and sold. The bark of the wild cherry 
silenced the howl of the wolf at the door, and drove' 
the mortgage off the place. This actually happened, 
but it is not likely to be done again. The influenza 
caught the medical men unprepared. The price of 
wild cherry is not likely to go soaring again. Some 
people appear to stand still and let opportunity knock 
them down and grind them up. Others put bridle 
and saddle on the back of opportunity and ride it 
to a better job. That is what the family here men¬ 
tioned did, and there are many other similar experi¬ 
ences which would show the brighter side of a calam¬ 
ity. 
to 
E VERY week we get several complaints about 
“misfit” trees. These trees are bought from 
agents or nurserymen as yearlings or two-year-olds 
and are supposed to be of certain standard varieties. 
They are cared for and make good growth until, 
when they come into bearing, the owner finds that he 
has been spraying, pruning and cultivating some 
common or worthless thing. If there is ever hot 
anger in a man’s heart it comes when a block of trees 
which he supposed were McIntosh or Jonathan prove 
by their fruit that they are Ben Davis or some 
worthless seedling. The writer will confess publicly 
that the nearest he ever came to a desire to commit 
murder was when he discovered that a block of 
cherished “McIntosh” was only a small, brown, 
worthless variety which even the United States Pom- 
ologist could not name. That was before we learned 
the best remedy, which- is to know your young trees 
and fire the misfits and drones before you spend 
your years upon them. The man who lives in his 
orchard, as he should, can tell a McIntosh, a Sutton, 
a Wealthy or a Baldwin by the shape and foliage. 
They are as distinct in these respects, to the prac¬ 
ticed eye, as are Jersey, Holstein or Ayrshire cattle, 
and no true fruit grower should ever let a misfit 
get by him to fruiting. Of course, with the peach it 
is not possible to be sure. The great trouble comes 
to the smaller grower or beginner who cannot be ex¬ 
pected to distinguish varieties. The work of helping 
him out would seem to be a fair job for the county 
farm bureau agent. During the past few years 
there has been more complaint than ever before over 
these “misfits.” We understand that in several local¬ 
ities plans are being made to start co-operative nur¬ 
series so that expert budders and grafters can be 
trained to produce the trees needed in the community. 
In California something of this has been worked out 
in selecting buds from the finest bearing trees for 
propagation. The nurserymen must expect to face 
this form of competition if this “misfitting” goes on. 
Brevities 
What’s the best salve for a sore head? 
Xow we go back to the two-cent postage stamp. 
Hay is selling in England at $25 to $45 per ton. 
Wiiat about the second brood of the codling moth? 
Work done with “the fewest motions” is what pays. 
The French people are calling for good American 
dairy cattle. 
What a world it would bo if we could catch enthu¬ 
siasm as easily as some of us catch the influenza. 
Japan is increasing its imports of butter. The Jap¬ 
anese have not been in the past, milk consumers. They 
are gaining. 
More oats will be cut for hay this year than ever 
before. Saves labor in harvesting, thrashing and feed¬ 
ing, and you get all the value of the oats. 
No use talking, many an Eastern farmer has wasted 
his substance trying to get Alfalfa permanently started 
when Alsike clover would have paid better. 
Hundreds of people seem to think the Government 
is to give away cars, or sell them at a very low figure. 
There is nothing to the story, so far as we can tell. 
Many a crop of clover, corn or potatoes fades away 
on wet soil because they cannot stand wet feet. They 
must be shod with drain tile in order to walk straight 
to profit. 
The Hessian fly is a menace to many a wheat field. 
The Kansas Agricultural College advises plowing or 
disking the wheat stubble as soon as possible after 
harvest. This buries the “flaxseed” form of the insect 
so that it cannot work out. 
The entrance of this country into thf war found a 
good many retired farmers. We are glad to see that 
many of them have been re-tired. They have fitted 
themselves out with new motives and ambitions for 
living, and are running once more on full time. 
