1214 
Ohe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BVS1SESS FARMER'S RARER 
A National Weekly Jotirnnl for Country and Subnrbnn Ilomes 
Established iS.~o 
PrMjtliprt weekly by the Itnral Pnblishing Company. 333 West 30fli Street, New l'ork 
Herbert W. Coltjs-gwood, President and Editor. 
.Tons 1 J. Dn.txt.v, Treasurer and General Manager. 
H~m. F. Dnxos. Secret ary. Mss. E. T. Royer. Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
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S!a marks, or 104 francs. Remit in money order, express 
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“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. Rut 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 lie publicly exposed. We are also often called u; 0:1 
to adjust diffei-euees or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. Wo willingly use our good 
ofliees to this end, hut such cases should not bo 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- 
1 orker when writing the advertiser. 
T HOSE recent articles on the food value of millc 
by Dr. Osborne have attracted great attention, 
and called out a multitude of questions. What are 
those vitamines and what are tlieir functions in the 
body? Up to within a few years our scientific men 
have discussed food values chiefly on the usual an¬ 
alysis of food products. Now they find these vita- 
mines. formerly undiscovered principles, which have 
so much to do with building and maintaining the 
body. There seems little doubt that through a study 
of these vitamines we shall lie able to select our 
foods so as to maintain a higher standard of health, 
especially in the children. We have now obtained 
from Dr. Osborne what we consider to be the most 
valuable article on these vitamines and their func¬ 
tion that lias ever been prepared. Its publication 
will begin next week. Our country people are pecu¬ 
liarly interested in work of this sort. They are not 
only interested in good health as the result of sound 
food, but they are to produce that food for others, 
and there seems no doubt that the knowledge now 
being gained about these vitamines will wonderfully 
inci-ea.se the importance and demand for milk and 
certain vegetables. That is why we have made a 
point of printing these valuable articles. 
* 
As this this is almost exclusively a dairy district. I 
believe a dairy: -n should represent the district in the 
Assembly during 1 >is period of reconstruction. As such 
I am a candidate for the office of Member of Assembly, 
and request the support of dairymen generally and those 
whose prosperity depends on the prosperity of .the farm. 
During the last two years, as secretary of the local 
Dairymen’s League. I have found the present laws 
altogether inadequate in compelling the Levy Dairy 
Co. to settle with members according to their League 
contracts, which defects.I think, could be remedied with 
a representative at Albany who understood the facts 
and law and who had a personal interest in the matter. 
If the voters of this district will honor me ,with their 
confidence and their votes. I will do all in my power to 
be a credit to the district and promote its best interests. 
North Lawrence. N. Y. JOHN A. SMITH. 
T HAT is a letter addressed to the Republican 
electors of the Second Assembly District of St. 
Lawrence Co.. X. Y. It is close to a model document 
of its kind. Mr. Smith owns a big dairy and has a 
good record as a former Assemblyman at Albany. 
He knows what to do, and he has the knowledge and 
the nerve needed to go and do it. St. Lawrence 
County is solidly agricultural in its business inter¬ 
ests. In 1900 it ranked No. 1 among New York coun¬ 
ties and No. 28 among all the counties in the nation 
in value of agricultural products. The county pro¬ 
duced farm products valued at $7,211,750, while the 
value of domestic animals was $S,400,2SS more. 
Such a county ought to be represented by someone 
who knows what dairymen need, and who can if 
need lie lead the fight in the Legislature for the 
rights of farmers. Some one must put the business 
needs of farmers at the top of the list. We need 
skilled men at Albany no less than skilled mechanics 
or hired men. St. Lawrence has nearly $16,000,000 
invested in the farming business, and the lives and 
futures of nearly 100,000 people are connected with 
the great investment. She ought to send cream to 
Albany. 
* 
I very much approve the way you are getting after 
Berts: if his county send him to the Assembly it is a 
disgrace to the farmers of Wayne County. I know him 
myself. j. s. A. 
W E are making no attack upon Charles II. 
Betts. All we can do is to make the issue 
clear so that every voter in Wayne County must un¬ 
derstand it. Do the farmers of Wayne County want 
to be represented at Albany by Charles H. Betts? 
As one reader puts it, he has wished himself upon 
the Republican ticket. He thus becomes the wish¬ 
bone of contention. There will be hot opposition to 
Mr. Betts in the Republican primary. A new element 
has entered the field. The clergymen of Wayne Coun¬ 
ty have now suggested Rev. J. L. Cann of Ontario 
to oppose Mr. Betts in the primary. The necessary 
petition lias been filed and the church organization 
seems to be solidlv back of their pastor. This is a 
new movement, entirely organized and started by 
the church people as their protest against Mr. Betts. 
There will lie a hot fight in tbe primary, and that 
is a desirable thing. Mr. Cann served in Europe dur¬ 
ing the war, and he is ranked as a good fighter and 
clean public man. Wayne County is thoroughly 
aroused, for the people feel that, in a way, they are 
on trial. It will be hard now for any man or woman 
of voting age to dodge the issue or plead ignoi-anee 
regarding it. Mi-. Betts has lived many years in 
Wayne County and his record is open—his virtues 
and faults, his ambitions and his abilities are well 
known. Ilis neighbors know him for what he is. 
Do Ilian leant him to represent them? They must 
answer that question themselves, and their verdict 
must be accepted as proof of their judgment. 
* 
W HEN the railroad workmen declared that they 
must have an increase of wages or decreased 
cost of living, they started a fierce attack upon the 
“profiteers.” For several days the newspapers con¬ 
tained strong statements about what the Government 
v ill do to the big interests who have been hoarding 
food and manipulating prices. This talk is already 
dying out. It was mostly talk, and intended to be 
little more. The Government will no doubt “in¬ 
vestigate” and perhaps fine or possibly imprison a 
few profiteers, but there will be no solution of tbe 
trouble until we are ready to get down into the 
heart of it, and admit that the present system of 
distribution is wasteful and wicked. The moment, 
you attack that system with power enough to in¬ 
jure cr destroy the injustice .you incur the malig¬ 
nant hostility of the most powerful political and 
business force in this country. No political party 
will have the courage to take up the question hon¬ 
estly and force it through until it is made to un¬ 
derstand that the plain people will compel it to do 
so. The high living cost question will not be settled 
until tlie American farmer is guaranteed / nil cost 
of production and 10 per cent profit. When that is 
permanently guaranteed the farmers will get to¬ 
gether and arrange for fair distribution. Increased 
price for fanners and decreased cost for consumers 
have got to go together. 
* 
T HERE has been a great howl about the Govern¬ 
ment guaranteed price of wheat. We were told 
that the farmers were “profiteers” and that this 
price ought to be cut. A favorite argument was to 
state that wheat is selling for less money in other 
countries. Julius H. Barnes, the United States 
Wheat Director, now gives the following table to 
defend the guaranteed price: 
Per Bu. 
Average farm price to American wheat grower 
under the guarantee price.$2.0 j 
Average farm price in the United Kingdom during 
the last calendar year. 2.28 
Average farm price for four big producing coun¬ 
tries, United States. Canada, Argentina and 
Australia, producing 1,500.000.000 bushels. 1.94 
Average grower price (largely guaranteed) of Eu¬ 
rope's 15 consuming countries, producing 800,- 
000.000 bushels of wheat. 3.75 
Average of all wheat growers, weighted according 
to the size of their contribution to the total crop 
of the world, works out an average world grower 
price of. 2.40 
Thus our farmers are getting less than they did 
last year, and Jess than growers in most other coun¬ 
tries. The year's crop is almost 400,000.000 bushels 
less than was expected, and the English people are 
attempting to lay in h large surplus of wheat at the 
guaranteed price. The average cost of producing a 
bushel of wheat gives a smaller margin compared 
with the guaranteed price than will be found in the 
manufacture of any necessity. 
• 
T HAT great race at tbe New Jersey egg-laying 
contest is still neck and neck. Many thought 
rhe R. I. Reds would go broody and fall behind, but 
tbe truth is they have gained a little. At the close 
of the thirty-ninth week the race stood: 
Underhill Bros., Reds.1,901 eggs 
Pinehurst Farm. W. Leghorns.1,891 eggs 
O. S. Greene. W. Leghorns.1.844 eggs 
P. G. Platt, W. Leghorns.1.842 eggs 
Lay well Farm, W. Leghorns.1,824 eggs 
There are 10 pullets in each pen, and 92 days 
longer to run. These flying Reds are wonders, but 
how long can lien flesh stand the strain? Some of 
the Red breeders are gaining confidence and feel in¬ 
clined to stand by their colors, but it will seem to us 
much like a miracle if these Red birds can fight off 
the inclination to brood for three months more. 
* 
T HE country avus startled last week by the de¬ 
mands of the railroad workers regarding Gov¬ 
ernment ownership of the railroads. Briefly stated, 
August 16, 1919 
the railroad workers demand that the railroads be 
kept under Government ownership or strict control. 
The present owners are to be paid a “reasonable 
price” for tlieir stock either exchanged for Govern¬ 
ment bonds or in funds to lie raised through the 
sale of bonds, r„ part of any profits in conducting 
the roads to he turned over to the railroad workers, 
thus giving them an advantage over workers in other 
industries. It looks as if tbe next Presidential 
election will offer a chance for a big national refer¬ 
endum on this experiment in Government ownership. 
From our reports we feel confident that outside the 
ranks of these railroad workers a good majority of 
Americans feel that such Government control as we 
have had for the past two years lias been a costly 
and disappointing failure. 
W ITH the coming of prohibition some apple 
growers fear that the usual cider fruit will be 
a total loss. We have the following note from a 
large fruit grower in Western NeAV York: 
I am buying apples now for making cider; 3c per lb. 
for all the crop after picking time, both picked and 
drops. Old drops must be picked up before picking lie- 
gins, and all drops picked up at. once, as we want no 
rots or immature apples. I have bought 10 orchards (the 
apples) already. 
This fruit will bo pressed into juice, which will be 
promptly pasteurized and bottled. Wo think there 
will be in time an immense demand for all fruit 
juices as a result of •prohibition. In fact, tbe time 
will come when this great business in juice will solve 
the grading problem. The income from the juice and 
pomace will be so great.that it will not pay to send 
the poor stuff to market When tbe prohibition 
amendment was officially ratified we accepted it as 
final. The wisest thing avo can all do now is to de¬ 
velop industries and markets which will give a 
greater A-alue to tbe fruits which must be used for 
beverage purposes. In the future we feel sure that a 
large share of the A-ast sums formerly paid for the 
product of breweries and distilleries will be turned 
into added income for milk producers and fruit 
growers. This redistribution of income will prove 
one of the finest things for farming that the nation 
has ever known. 
* 
W E never had so many questions about top¬ 
dressing with limestone. This means spread¬ 
ing the crushed limestone on top of the sod, expecting 
it to work down and sweeten the soil. In our own 
experience wo haA-e ncA-er had any great success with 
this practice. We think the crushed limestone bet¬ 
ter than burned lime for such application, but there 
is no way of getting the full benefit from lime except 
by Avorking it thoroughly into the plowed or har- 
rowed soil. The lime will not act like nitrate of 
potash or acid phosphate, and dissolve down beloAv 
tbe sod. It must be thoroughly Avorked in mechan¬ 
ically in order to do its Avork. We do not, therefore, 
advise top-dressing with lime. 
* 
M OST farmers’ organizations are established to 
promote co-operati\'e effort. In this there are 
many that are measurably succeeding. There are 
indications, however, that with the increase of these 
organizations in number, and particularly in ag¬ 
gressiveness. Ave may yet have to have an organiza¬ 
tion to promote co-operation among organizations. 
Surely, however, it is unnecessary to load up with all 
this overhead. What is needed right now is simply 
that tlie leaders of tbe farmers’ organizations quit 
sparring for position and settle down to a long, hard 
pull together. It makes little difference Avhich one, 
of the several organizations to which a farmer be¬ 
longs, gets a given result, so long as he gets tbe bene¬ 
fit. Most results will -be accomplished because each 
organization contributes something. This means that 
in tbe long run all will be more benefited by sticking 
together than by any momentary advantage which 
may be won or claimed. 
Brevities 
Why not offer the sprouted wheat for sale as chicken 
feed? 
Any man can buy real estate easier than he can 
sell it. 
Watered stock pays good dividends when the stock is 
young chickens. 
HOW often does the accumulation of dollars go with 
the accumulation of sense? 
There have been many calls for the information about 
acid milk given on page 1173. 
There never was a piece of farm property that did not 
have its value increased by planting shrubs and fl vers 
by the house. 
There are a good many reports this year from farm¬ 
ers who used nitrate of soda and phosphate on old, Avorn- 
out meadows and pastures. In every ease this has 
brought back the good grasses and given a fair crop of 
hay. 
