1858 
December 20, 1ft 10 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A Natlonnl Weekly Journal for Country nnd Suburban Home* 
Established tsso 
Published weekly by the Knral Publishing Compnny, 888 West 80th Street, New York 
Hkrbert W. CollinoWOOD, President and Editor. 
John J. Iiii.i.on, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wx. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 8s. 6<L or 
81$ marks, or 10*4 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Otllce as Second Class Matter 
Advertising rates, 75 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us , and casli 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 nnd admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any lftss 
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 nnd honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly uso 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 Tim Rural New- 
Yorker whoa writing the ad .ertiser 
Our family greatly enjoyed the personal answers on 
page 1722, for we believe more than ever you are “just 
plain folks.” There are too few such, and they are 
growing scarcer all the time. If we could have more 
genuine honesty instead of so much everlasting “tact¬ 
fulness,” we would be better off. Tact is all right in 
its place, but, in my opinion, is greatly overworked. 
Connecticut. L. v. D. 
YERWORKED “tact” finally works on your 
feelings like a tack in a shoe! Lincoln said the 
Lord must love the plain people because lie made so 
many of them. There are plenty of them left—only 
the “polished” kind may shine brighter and make 
more noise. 
* 
Q UITE a number of our readers are sending us 
figures showing what their hens have done at 
private records. As a rule these figures are higher 
than those given at the official public egg-laying con¬ 
tests. Now some of our friends feel a little grieved 
because we cannot print all these private records, or 
accept them just as we do the official figures. A little 
thought will make the difference clear. We do not 
question these private figures, but they do not always 
give a full idea of the utility value of the hen or the 
flock. It stands to reason that a pet hen right at 
home with an owner anxious to gratify every whim 
or notion would lay more eggs than her sister repre¬ 
senting one of a thousand hustling for herself with¬ 
out special favors. Yet the pet hen could not repeat 
this performance or repeat it in her daughters unless 
her owner went along to give special care. The hen 
at the egg-laying contest gives a more practical test 
of her value. We knew a man who had a fast colt. 
Out in the pasture or on a good road that colt showed 
a tremendous burst of speed. When he got out on a 
race track with other colts he proved quite ordinary. 
A man buying horses would pay far more attention to 
a track record than to the report cf a fast time in 
the pasture. A woman had a boy who made a great 
success at reciting “pieces” before the local Grange. 
His mother had him down as a coming Daniel Web¬ 
ster. When he got out before a coldly critical audi¬ 
ence at college that boy found he had everything to 
learn. The private records are good and should be 
kept up, but the official record, where the hen has to 
do without petting and special care, represent the 
acid test, and this will become more and more true 
as the years go by. Whenever this matter comes up 
we are referred to Tom Barron as a man who has 
many private records which the public believe. That 
is true, but the chief reason why they believe them is 
because Mr. Barron has been one of the most con¬ 
sistent winners in official egg-laying contests. 
* 
D U. ROYAL S. COPELAND, Health Commissioner 
of New York City, recently delivered a lec¬ 
ture on women and their dress. He is reported as 
endorsing, if not defending, high-heeled shoes, cor¬ 
sets, thin silk stockings, face powders and other ap¬ 
parent “necessities” of modern life! We know little 
and care less about such matters, but the following 
from Dr. Copeland calls for a few kind words: 
The city woman with her silk stockings and flimsy 
dress generally lives longer than her sister on the farm, 
where the dull monotony of old-fashioned country life 
was so often fatal to womankind. Insanity certainly 
has always been more common among the hard-working 
housewives of the rural districts than among the dwell¬ 
ers of the city. 
We confess our inability to discuss silk stockings 
with knowledge or experience, but whep it comes to 
insanity on the farm we can lay claim to some “au¬ 
thority.” We have consulted the directors of insane 
asylums all over the country and they agree that the 
majority of their women patients come from town 
and city. Such patients are roughly grouped as 
urban and rural. The latter includes all patients 
from towns of 2,600 and under. The records show 
that a large majority of these “rural” patients are 
sent from the smaller towns, where daily life is far 
‘The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
more conducive to insanity than on the farm. The 
trouble is that most people seem to think the word 
“rural” means farm dwellers only. Thus the farm 
carries a discredit given by the depressing influence 
of life in small and dead towns. 
* 
A T the Livingston Co. (N. Y.) Farm Bureau 
meeting the women served an excellent dinner. 
The service was somewhat on the “quick lunch” 
plan. You took your plate and followed in line along 
a table where women stood with potato, meat, 
chopped cabbage, gravy, cranberries, etc., each serv¬ 
ing out a portion as the line moved on. Then we 
each found a place at the table. This made prompt 
and satisfactory service, as each one could have what 
he needed. It saved waste and also the labor of 
several waiters. One good thing about that excel¬ 
lent dinner was that with the exception of sugar, 
coffee and cranberries, every bit of it came out of 
the soil of Livingston County. We think Farm Bu¬ 
reau and other county organizations that serve din¬ 
ners in this way might well make that feature of 
home production a prominent one. We figured that 
this dinner would have cost at least $2 if served in 
equal quantity at a good city hotel. 
«e 
I S it true that potash can be made out of cement? 
Not exactly, but in cement making some potash is 
produced and saved. The clay used in cement mak¬ 
ing contains some potash. When heated to a high 
temperature this potash is made available. In for¬ 
mer years it was blown away in smoke and dust, but 
now devices are used to catch this dust apd save the 
potash. Many tons are saved and used in this way. 
Still another way in which cement saves potash is 
when used to make concrete floors for a stable or ma¬ 
nure pit; The greater part of the potash in manure 
is found in the liquids. Too often these liquids leach 
out of the pile and are lost. With a concrete floor 
under the pile these liquids cannot leach and thus the 
potash is held and saved. 
* 
A FARMER in New York State had a curious ex¬ 
perience with the game laws. This man shot 
a deer. The wounded animal ran over the line upon 
a big game preserve and fell dead. The farmer start¬ 
ed to get the deer, but a game warden stopped him 
and would not let him cross the line and enter the 
preserve. Now. did this farmer have a right to the 
deer, or did it belong to the warden when it entered 
the preserve and died there? We sent the question to 
the Conservation Commissioner and received the fol¬ 
lowing opinion: 
The difficulty with your question is whether or not 
it could be legally said that the buck had been reduced 
to your possession. Having killed it. you undoubtedly 
had the right to possession, but the right to possession 
only gives you the right to take possession of your 
property in a lawful manner. The committing of a 
trespass, even though it be a minor one, is not a lawful 
act. The farmer should have requested permission of 
the owner of the land to recover his property, and in 
the event this permission was refused, he could have 
pursued his legal remedy either in the shape of some 
action to obtain possession or damages for the refusal 
to allow him possession. 
* 
O N page 1760 “Dairyman” told of the problem of 
some farmers who have a mixed herd of grade 
and purebred cows. There is usually a fine purebred 
bull at the head. The heifer calves from the pure¬ 
bred cows are of course very valuable, and are kept 
for sale later. The grade heifers are not wanted, 
since the farmer aims to develop only purebred cows. 
Yet these grade calves will make fine dairy animals. 
What can be done with them? At the present price 
of milk the owner will seldom keep them. Since the 
note was printed several people have written saying 
they wanted to buy these calves. It, will be quite 
possible to develop a profitable trade if in some way 
dairymen in a community can get together and let 
the public know where these calves can be found. A 
little associated advertising would sell every one of 
them at a good price. It would hardly pay a single 
dairyman to do this, but a dozen working together 
would develop a good trade. 
* , 
A GOOD suggestion, under “Pasture and Barn 
Notes,” about shipping stock, and especially 
calves, by motor truck. The idea is for members of 
a breeders’ association to get together and own or 
hire a truck for this purpose. Then all or most of the 
young stock could be delivered in this way. We 
have had some experience in carrying stock in our 
own truck, and know that the work can be success¬ 
fully done. The limit of distance for such truck ser¬ 
vice has not yet been worked out; that will come in 
time. The truck will give prompt and safe delivery 
and save much of the annoyance and loss from the 
present express service. 
N O ONE could have attended the great meeting 
of the Dairymen’s League last week without 
coming away profoundly impressed by the evidence 
of spirit and strength everywhere manifested. Any 
man of thought who has studied history and knows 
what lies at the foundation of a true republic would 
have gained new hope for the future of his country. 
For these strong and earnest men felt the thrill and 
confidence which comes to a drilled and spirited 
army. For years these same men and their fathers 
before them had been unable to combine effectively. 
They were strong individually, but that strength was 
not effective because it was not combined. Every 
other interest which did business with these dairy¬ 
men had organized its power until those who should 
have served had come to consider themselves mas¬ 
ters. This had brought about the industrial condi¬ 
tions under which it had become possible to supply 
the public with milk only through the unpaid labor 
of women and children. That was, as it. ever has 
been, the result of attempting to match a large 
unorganized industry against small, rich and com¬ 
pact organizations. Again and again these dairymen 
had attempted to combine, but had never succeeded. 
Most of their efforts had been along the line of 
asking others to do the work for them. The Legis¬ 
lature, lawyers, politicians and financiers had at¬ 
tempted it. but in every case the dairymen had been 
forced to pay so much for the service that there was 
nothing left for themselves. All such combinations 
were mechanical. You may nail or rivet two pieces 
of wood together. They hold for a time, but sooner 
or later the- forces of nature destroy the metal fas¬ 
tenings and the pieces fall apart. Most farmers’ 
organizations were of that nature. You may take 
the pieces of living wood and graft them together 
so that the vital forces acting under the bark may 
unite. In time the two pieces grow together as one. 
While nature finally breaks apart the mechanical 
fastening, she only makes the grafted combination 
stronger as the years go by. So with increased 
knowledge and experience these dairymen learned 
that in order to succeed they must graft their union 
and not nail it together. Then came the conviction 
slowly but surely that in order to work that out 
the]/ must do it themselves. That great meeting in 
Jersey City was more than a demonstration of phy¬ 
sical strength. It showed the higher power of com¬ 
bining spirit and courage and determination with 
that finest element of human character—the ability 
to submit to fair discipline in a worthy cause. It 
was a great meeting. Milk is the great universal 
food which none of us can properly do without. From 
the city mother who sees her little ones longing for 
milk to the patient cow chewing her cud contentedly 
in the barn among the hills—all may feel that this 
meeting gives hope of a coming of better days. 
* 
N URSERYMEN tell us that it will be five years 
at least before their business can get back to 
conditions before the war. You cannot get needed 
trees. We have been trying to buy a quantity of 
apple seedlings suitable for grafting, and find only 
a few for sale at almost prohibitive prices. Peach 
trees are more plentiful, but the supply is not likely 
to equal the demand. There seems to be no question 
about the great possibilities in apple production 
during the next 10 years at least. The European 
orchards are badly injured or destroyed. Those 
which remain have not had proper care. The de¬ 
mand for apples in this country in increasing, and 
there can be no large increase of production for 
several years at least. One result of prohibition 
will undoubtedly be to create an increased demand 
for fruit juices, and especially cider. This will in¬ 
crease the selling price of cull fruit and keep it off 
the market in competition with good apples. Thus 
there is every prospect for a good business in fruit. 
Every orchard and every tree should have needed 
care—spraying, pruning and fertilizing. These are 
the days when time and money spent on the apple 
trees will pay. 
Brevities 
Eggs have struck the high mark. 
Cow peace follows a good feeding of cow peas. 
Can you keep sweet when deprived of sugar i A 
good test of character. 
Farmers are sometimes “gassed” by tanks or cars, in 
addition to the work of the agents. Here is the advice 
of an Ohio man who has been gassed: “Don’t run your 
auto in a closed garage. The Ohio Department of Health 
is giving warning that many are gassed in this way. 
Keep the door open or use a hose connection for carrying 
away fumes. The same is apt to occur in using a farm 
engine in a closely confined pluce. Asphyxiatious are 
particularly frequent during Winter, as the tendency is 
to keep doors closed. 
