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The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal l'or Country and Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
Published meekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 833 West 30th Street,New fork 
Herbert W. Colling wood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs, E. T. Roylb, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION r ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2.01, equal to Ss. 6d., or 
Sis marks, or 10k francs. Remit in money order, express 
order^ personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 75 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us j 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 
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. We 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 bv the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time or 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. _ __ 
Champion prize-fighters come and go. but it seems 
you are going to hold the title in the publishers’ ring 
for life, and right, too. For a clear, square stand-up, 
give-and-take, you deserve it. Success to you. Cer¬ 
tainly I want a seat at the ring side. 
Ohio. JOSEPH II. SMITH. 
M OST of these so-called champions whip them¬ 
selves. They become puffed up with pride or 
else become possessed of a fear that they are going 
down. Thus the other man gets what is called “the 
psychological drop” on them. The R. N.-Y. knows 
that progress never marches very much in advance 
of the common thought of the plain people. “Speak 
as the common people; think as the wise!” 
* 
M OST of our readers have heard of Dr. W. T. 
Grenfell, whose work among the fishermen of 
Newfoundand and Labrador has been wonderfully 
blessed. Up in that frozen, cheerless land this wise 
and brave physician has performed miracles for 
character and good citizenship by seeking to help 
men and women to gain a clean, healthy body. You 
cannot do much to improve the mental and moral 
character of humanity until you can make them com¬ 
fortable and give them some pride of occupation. 
One great part of the work of helping these fisher¬ 
men is an effort to provide some sort of agriculture 
for that cold section. There must be a varied food 
supply and an improved diet before any race or class 
can he made fit for its possible improvement. We 
have uo doubt that a good share of the improved 
prosperity of the negro race at the South is due to 
its increased consumption of beans, cow peas, fruits 
and vegetables—as against the old-time “hog and 
hominy.” Some of the efforts made by the people of 
Labrador to start farming are remarkable. In one 
garden potatoes were planted with frames or stakes 
beside the rows. Every night sacks or blankets were 
thrown over these frames to form a protective tent 
over the potatoes and keep out frost. Protected and 
petted in this way the potatoes actually made a fair 
crop. We smile at this, but think what the old Puri¬ 
tans would say could they come hack now and see the 
square miles of glass outside of Boston under which 
vegetables and flowers flourish during the coldest 
Winter. What is out of sight today may he very 
oidinary tomorrow. Men who know most about the 
so-called frozen North insist that 50 years from now 
this apparently useless country will become the 
g> eatest dairy and wool-producing region in the 
world. The milk is to he provided by the reindeer 
and the wool by the musk ox. Nonsense, you say; 
but were you ever in the North? Stefansson, who 
has spent years there, says it is to become a great 
food-producer in the future. Remember that as 
great a man as Daniel Webster once said that the 
country west of the Missouri River would never 
produce anything except cactus, rattlesnakes and 
Indians! 
* 
If you had stopped sending the good old R. N.-Y. you 
would have heard from me right away, for no matter 
how busy or tired I am, I always read it, and it is one 
of the papers I am going to take for life. I have been 
working on a farm since I was 13; now I am 60. and 
still work from 5 A. M. until about 7 P. M., with only 
about one hour out for rest and meals. I am happy and 
contented, but not out of debt yet. K. P. H. 
New York. 
S UCH a record puts the city shop man to shame. 
It is 14 hours a day, against eight hours for the 
city man. This farmer knows no half day Saturday, 
seldom celebrates the legal extra holiday which 
comes on an average once a month, and does not 
even escape necessary work on Sunday. The 
value of wealth depends on the amount of labor 
devoted to the production of it. When the farmer 
works eight days of 16 hours each to produce milk, 
and exchanges it for a pair of shoes that was pro¬ 
Qhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
duced by two days’ labor at eight hours each, the 
exchange is neither fair nor equitable. To equalize 
this system of exchange is the important problem of 
our time. 
* 
L AST week the daily papers made a great parade 
on their front pages of a statement made by 
the Postoflice Department. It seems that 40.000 
farmers replied to questions about farm conditions. 
The great majority of them reported such a shortage 
of labor that it would be impossible to keep up pro¬ 
duction. The daily papers paraded this as a new 
thing, hut it is what The R. N.-Y. has been reporting 
for years. We have voiced the opinion of 250.000 
farmers, and told the truth about it in ample time 
for the Government to work out a remedy. The 
following letter is from one of the best farmers in 
New Jersey—a man who, if given a fair chance, 
would gladly do more than his share to increase 
food production: 
The coming season looks worse for the farmers here¬ 
about than ever before. The talk is that wages will be 
$5 per day, and then two days used to get one day’s 
work done. Furthermore, we do not know that even at 
that price we will have the help available when needed 
the most. What is the use of a farmer keeping $20,000 
invested, paying exorbitant prices for manure and fer¬ 
tilizers, equally high prices for seed, repair bills, paint 
and all overhead expenses, then work hard to get his 
farm under way, only to realize later that because of 
lack of help he falls down and loses? There never was 
a time in my memory when the outlook was so bright 
for a farmer to make money who is so situated he can 
grow the crops, but for one like myself, who is well 
past threescore years and entirely alone, 1 see only one 
way out of this dilemma, and that is to sell out. Here 
in the middle of a severe Winter we can’t hire a man 
to chop a load of wood at any price. There are no 
men to hire. 
That is a genuine case, and we can show 
many more like it. These men are not quitters by 
nature, but they are forced to the wall by the farm- 
labor shortage. As was pointed out last week, the 
Food Administration, during the war, seemed to 
have no idea of the fundamental necessity of pro¬ 
tecting agriculture. Every other industry was petted 
and stimulated, while farmers were urged to their 
limit as a patriotic duty! Naturally under such 
conditions labor drifted to the better-paid occupa¬ 
tions as naturally as water runs down hill. Thus 
farmers find themselves unable to compete with 
labor wages in town and city. The present situa¬ 
tion is the inevitable result of the policy of feeding 
farmers patriotism and other interests profit. There 
is nothing new about it. The story has been told 
over and over, with convincing proof offered. Yet 
the so-called leaders have played or scolded over 
smaller matters, and now suddenly wake up to find 
the foundation class of society and the most faithful 
class in all history driven to revolt by unjust treat¬ 
ment. 
* 
R EPORTS from the South indicate a heavy plant¬ 
ing of potatoes—even at the present high cost 
of seed and fertilizers. In all the potato sections 
farmers are attracted by present high prices, and 
many of them seem ready to plunge heavily with 
the potato crop. This will be in most cases a gam¬ 
ble, with labor conditions and prices as at present. 
We have had two rather unfavorable seasons, and 
weather conditions have cut the crop and contributed 
greatly to produce the present high prices. With a 
heavy planting and a favorable season there will he 
a tremendous crop, and the production cost will be 
immense. With such a crop as we have had several 
times in former years prices of this season could not 
possibly be maintained. It is a time to use good 
judgment rather than to juggle with chances. In 
any event, there ought to he a nation-wide organiza¬ 
tion among potato growers to obtain sure informa¬ 
tion about, the planting, growth and sale of the crop. 
Organization will help dispose of it. The Federation 
cf Farm Bureaus might help greatly in this. 
* 
T HE referendum vote by readers of The R. N.-Y. 
is proving a great success. Thousands of votes 
have been recorded already, and they are pouring 
in day by day. Through this plan we shall be able 
to obtain a true report of the feeling of farm voters 
on any subject which interests them. In voting it 
will make the result more impressive if you give 
the number of actual voters your statement covers. 
There seems to he a little misunderstanding about 
the daylight-saving question. While the national 
law has been repealed, there is still a State law in 
New York calling for the change of time. The ques¬ 
tion is whether this Sate law shall be repealed. 
There is evidently a difference of opinion among our 
readers, but the great majority favor repeal. The 
vote is almost unanimous in the affirmative for the 
other questions, except that No. 4 is practically 
unanimous against commissions to fix prices. The 
vote on No. 5—regarding the limit of State damages 
February 14, 1920 
for animals killed by dogs—is divided. The best 
part of it all is that farmers see the great possi¬ 
bilities of such a referendum and are eager to make 
use of it. 
* 
The New York Times contains an article on “farmers’ 
unrest.” It seems that the Post Office Department sent 
out 200.000 copies of a questionnaire, asking farmers 
for their opinions on conditions. About 40,000 replies 
were received. These apparently gave information 
which everyone who knows anything about farming 
already knows. Assistant Postmaster Blakslee read a 
resume of these opinions to the Senate Post Office Com¬ 
mittee. The interesting part of the whole article is in 
one paragraph, which I quote: 
"llis opinion was expressed by Mr. Blakslee after a 
member of the Senate committee had remarked that the 
replies seemed to have come mostly from a bunch of 
Bolshevists.” 
It is a sad commentary on the mentality we are pay¬ 
ing to act as Senators when a statement of facts, as 
presented in the letters referred to, makes such an 
impression on those supposed to represent us. It is 
also sad that we must have to look to such representa¬ 
tives to find the best way out of the difficulties of the 
present day. M. M. w. 
T must be admitted that some of the Senators at 
Washington are remarkable specimens. One 
wonders at times how they ever got there. The 
great majority of them appear to he lawyers, with 
minds narrowed down to some particular line of the 
law, until they are incapable of taking a broad view 
of large questions. We consider these narrow¬ 
minded.. prejudiced, party-soaked Congressmen as 
about the worst barnacles that cling to the ship of 
state! And who is responsible for them? Usually 
the very people who find fault—since Senators are 
now elected by popular vote. Since we are respon¬ 
sible for them we must stand for these evidences of 
our work—until we have the independence needed 
to keep them at home. 
* 
T HE Hope Farm man’s discussion this week 
brings up an old question. Shall a farmer wait 
for the slow, methodical work of the experiment 
stations to determine the value of a new product 
or method, or shall he try it himself on a fairly large 
scale at once? Naturally this will come to he a 
matter of reason or common sense. Some of these 
new propositions are on their face improbable to the 
mind of a practical farmer. There is little use 
wasting time over them. There are others which 
offer a fair chance for successful use, as judged by 
common experience. We find that some of our best 
farmers are inclined to test these out themselves 
without waiting for the experiment stations. We 
think this is wise, provided the farmers understand 
they are taking a chance, and have no good reason 
to complain if the experiment does not work out 
fully. There is some complaint about the delay of 
most experiment work, both in testing and reporting 
results. There is also a feeling that whenever a 
proposition is opposed to the standard rules of agri¬ 
cultural science as now taught, the scientific men 
at once regard it as an enemy and feel that they 
must “knock” it on general principles. We do not 
think this feeling is fair as regards most of the 
station workers, but from a very large correspond¬ 
ence with farmers we know that it exists. 
* 
S INCE the passage of the prohibition amendment 
there have been many gloomy stories about the 
future of grape-growing. It was claimed that pro¬ 
hibition would destroy the wine-making industry and 
thus kill all business connected with the vineyard. 
There is little to indicate this outcome at present. 
Orders for grapevines are large, and we know of 
many eases where new vineyards will be planted. 
There will he table grapes. There seems every in¬ 
dication of a new and large demand for this fruit. 
Many small vineyards of wine grapes are also being 
planted. We think there is to be an immense busi¬ 
ness in the preserving and sale of fruit juices. We 
believe that millions of dollars which would for¬ 
merly have gone to the owners of breweries and dis¬ 
tilleries will in the future go to farmers and fruit 
growers. There is now a pasteurizer of convenient 
size which can handle and save this product. 
Brevities 
Vert few people drink as much water as they should. 
Reports from New England indicate great loss in the 
peach crop. Few live buds are left. 
Have you found that a heavy dose of lime on the 
meadows acts to drive out Alsike and bring in Red 
clover ? 
North Dakota authorities will hereafter register 
and guarantee seed of Grimm Alfalfa taken from fields 
which can stand inspection. This action became neces¬ 
sary since much bogus and mixed Grimm seed were 
being sold 
All this great run for information about tanning 
small hides means that people are going to save on their 
leather bills. The latest scheme with woodchucks is to 
take their hides for damage instead of smothering them. 
Then if we can the woodchuck meat for chicken feed 
there will be no waste. 
