414 
Ibe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 28, 1920 * 
t 
Successful Farming 
Secrets Disclosed 
How the World’s Greatest Farming Authorities Got Their 
Sensational Results—Told in Simple Language So Any 
One Can Understand and Apply Their Plans and Methods 
I F everybody did tilings in the same way year 
after year there would be no progress except 
through accident. 
Fortunately for the world thero aro people who 
try new tilings, and even if only one new thing 
out of a thousand succeeds wo have progressed to 
an extent which moro than justifies the 000 experi¬ 
ments that failed. 
This is particularly true on matters of farming. 
Take corn production, for example. Thero are 
3,556 hills of corn on an acre, planted 3 feet 6 
inches apart. If you could increase your corn 
production by ail average of two ears to every hill 
you would got 00 bushels of com per acre. Many 
men are doing it by following tlio methods used 
by the country’s leading farming authorities de¬ 
scribed in FARM KNOWLEDGE. 
In Indiana there is a farm where the land was 
So poor that much of it had been abandoned. Clover 
had not been grown on it for twenty-five years; 
wheat never yielded more than 12 bushels per acre 
and sometimes as little as 4 bushels per acre. All 
Other crops were just about as bad in proportion. 
Along came a man who decided to farm with his 
brains as well as with his hands, and in a re¬ 
markably short time increased the yield of wheat 
to 47 bushels per acre, getting S3 bushels of oats 
per acre, as high as 250 bushels of potatoes per 
acre, and there are nearly 300 acres of alfalfa on 
land that formerly only grew sheep sorrel. 
This is but one example of what can bo done 
and is being done throughout the country by farm¬ 
ers Who are taking advantage of what specialists 
have learned about various farming operations. 
A $50,000 Work 
At an expense of over $50,000 for the editorial 
material alone, the successful farming experiences 
of recognized authorities in ail parts of the coun¬ 
try have been collected and placed within the 
covers of FARM KNOWLEDGE—a complete manual 
of successful farming, written by recognized au¬ 
thorities in all parts of the country; based on sound 
principles and the actual experiences of real farm¬ 
ers. Never before has a work of this scope and 
value been produced. There is nothing else like 
it. It is by far the most complete and the most 
practical work over prepared for the farmers. It 
helps to eliminate the costly personal experimenting. 
It is a clearing house of answers to the problems 
you must solve every year. 
Above all. FARM KNOWL- ^ 
EDGE is practical. It is not ■ 
a collection of theories; it is | 
not an idle treatise on "wliv > 
you should farm better.” it _ 
Is not technical: it is not made J 
up of extracts: it docs not ■ 
present plans and methods which I 
are out of the reach of the | 
average farmer. Instead FARM ■ 
KNOWLEDGE contains the re- . 
suits of actual experience in ini- ■ 
proving methods and increasing 
profits; it was- specially written I 
in interesting and easy to under- | 
stand language. ■ 
100 Experts on Your Farm 
Just think of having at your finger tips the 
help of Hugh G. Van Felt, ono of the foremost 
authorities in the country on dairy matters: just 
think of having the help of Frof. F. C. Minkler on 
hog raising—Minkler, who is Live Stock Commis¬ 
sioner of New Jersey: think of having the advice 
of Frof. O. B. Hutchison on corn, the man who 
organized the Corn Growers’ Association of Mis- 
souii and was head of Ihe department of farm crops 
of Missouri College of Agriculture; think of having, 
in your own home, the boiled-down knowledge of 
men like Dr. A. S. Alexander on the diseases of 
live stock: of Frof. Eckles on the handling of milk: 
of Alva Agee on soil fertilization, of J. K. Wright 
on the silo, of ,T. C. Hackelman on small grains, 
of Raymond Olney on the farm tractor, of H. IT. 
Neiman on bam construction, of over a hundred 
others of equal prominence on subjects they have 
specialized on. 
Free Booklet Explains 
FARM KNOWLEDGE contains 
over 2,000 pages. 128 full page 
photographic reproductions, frontis¬ 
piece in each volume in colors and 
over 3,000 other illustrations scat¬ 
tered throughout. 
We want every farmer who is in¬ 
terested in increasing his production 
and profits to send for a copy of this 
free booklet called “The Secret of 
Success in Farming,” illustrating 
and describing FARM KNOWL¬ 
EDGE. Read what FARM 
KNOWLEDGE must mean to you. 
Read about the new farming secrets 
which have revolutionized old re¬ 
sults, doubling and trebling profits. 
Don’t miss this valuable booklet. 
Mail coupon or write a postal card 
or letter, Sears, Roebuck & Co., 
Dept. 66R60, Chicago, Ill. 
SEARS. ROEBUCK & CO., Dept. 66R60, Chicago, 111. 
Please send mo your free booklet, "The Secret of Success In 
Farming,” illustrating and describing Farm Knowledge. 
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The City Man Talks 
In this department we give town and city people a chance to present their 
side of life. They have their food and fuel troubles—and they have some 
strange views of farming and farmers. We get them here for discussion. 
The R. N.-Y. is not responsible for the ideas here expressed. We just want 
our readers to know what the “other half thinks.” 
The Farmer’s Discontent 
The writer has read much lately about 
the farmer, his loug hours, his inability to 
get living prices for his products, bis 
trouble in finding reliable help at a satis¬ 
factory price and finally his indirectly 
implied threat to strike. All of this is 
passing in review and I, as one of the 
consumers of farm products, wonder if 
there really is a cause for all of the mani¬ 
fest discontent among the farmers. In 
many of our medium-sized cities in the 
West there can be found almost hundreds 
of retired farmers, many of them yet 
fairly young and active, who own and are 
living in homos such as the average shop- 
worker or tradesman can never hope to 
possess, and probably more than one-half 
of these same farmers still own their 
original farm and i-eeeive an annual 
rental exceeding in amount the average 
earnings of the town worker. These 
same lands, acquired in many cases in re¬ 
cent years at a cost of $75 to $100 per 
acre, are now yielding an income of O 
per cent on a valuation of over $150 per 
acre. 
Query: If farming docs not pay, how 
can tho o\ nor retire from the farm so 
soon, and how can these farms, still owned 
by those retiring, find renters} who can 
afford to pay the price they have to pay, 
or do pay, for the use of these lands? 
There is no need of any breach between 
the farmer and the city worker. The 
writer, for many years a farm hand, 
knows the weary grind on the farm. It is 
admitted by all that farm labor is tedious 
and monotonous, at times, but the town 
worker lias troubles of his own. If the 
farmer can retire at 50 with a compe¬ 
tency, then the shopworker at GO is en¬ 
titled to an existence. w. c. baker. 
Illinois. 
We try to give all sides a fair chance 
to talk. Granted that our friend can find 
hundreds of well-to-do retired farmers, 
they represent hut a small fraction of one 
per cent of our total farm population. 
I'or every one such that he can show we 
will guarantee to find 500 to whom the 
struggle of life is a fierce proposition. If 
there were not a strong basis for the 
present unusual complaint it never would 
continue. It could not he kept up. 
“Recreation” in the Country 
I have been a subscriber to The It. 
X.-Y. eight years or over, and have lived 
in the city over 30 years. I sometimes 
get tired of city life; I was born on a 
farm, where I lived until I was 10. Now 
when Fall comes round I like to take my 
gun and go out. to some friendly farmer, 
where I may he made welcome, and be a 
boy again and enjoy myself. Being 
brought up on a farm. I know how to 
behave when I get there; never to hunt 
on any land without tile consent of the 
owner. Now wouldn’t it he a good thing 
if The B. N.-Y. would open a column to 
some of us city people, so we may have 
a few days of recreation in the Winter or 
hunting season, which we cannot have in 
the Summer in the city? E. M. iierron. 
Ohio. 
Wants to Deal Direct 
I am not a farmer—in fact, was born 
and brought up in the city ; hut neverthe¬ 
less I find much pleasure reading in The 
I t. N.-Y., and do not care to miss even 
one issue. I get tired of reading the ur¬ 
ban press accounts of the “profiteering 
farmer.” and it certainly is relaxation to 
read the accounts of the “profiteering 
farmer” himself as to his profits. I be¬ 
lieve the only way is, as you say, for the 
farmer to “do it himself,” and in this 
connection perhaps all farmers should or¬ 
ganize into a company to distribute their 
wares direct to the retailors, thus cutting 
out the middleman—and the cause of high 
prices, for we know that the middleman 
sells products many times over, and each 
turnover means added profit for him, and 
a higher price to the consumer. I sin¬ 
cerely hope to see such methods eradicated 
in the near future, and in eradicating 
them I believe the farmer will reap his 
just reward in a fair price for his labor. 
Jersey City, N. J. it. k. t. 
B. N.-Y.—This is already being done in 
some places. Read the note from a man 
in Washington. The first thing of all is 
for country and city people to have con¬ 
fidence in each other, and arrange some 
mutual plan for business. 
A Community Buying Organization 
There is an effort on foot here to bring 
producer and consumer closer together 
that I wish to call your attention to. Our 
section of the city (Washington), some 
10 or 12 blocks square, called Petworth, 
has organized a community center—a co¬ 
operative buying organization. There is 
now being perfected a farmers’ co-opera¬ 
tive selling organization to deal with our 
organization and furnish daily supplies of 
milk, buttei*, eggs and many lines of farm 
produce. The parcel post will be usedl 
to link up the two ends of the chain. It 
looks to me like a big step in advance. 
The individual farmer cannot reach the 
individual consumer in the city even by 
parcel post to any large extent, but by 
conducting . co-operative associations at 
both ends it looks as though something 
good would result. f. n. c. 
The Shoemaker’s Side 
Farm papers seem to have the idea that 
labor union men, like the capitalists, are 
grabbing more than their share of the 
wealth produced. 
Let us take Brockton for an example. 
Ilere. the shoe workers are nearly all un¬ 
ionized. For 1019 tho average weekly 
wage was $30, probably as high an aver¬ 
age as any place in the country. During 
1010 the 13.400 workers in Brockton pro¬ 
duced 19.000,000 pairs of shoos, an aver¬ 
age of practically five pairs per day for 
each worker. The retail price of these 
shoes averages $10, so that a worker pro¬ 
ducing five pairs a day must work two 
days to buy one pair. Of course, tho 
leather and findings and other expenses 
cost money, hut the making of the shoe is 
the big labor cost. It is a well-known fact 
that the tanners and the manufacturers 
ami the jobbers are waxing fat on the 
sands of Palm Beach, while the makers of 
the shoes barely hold their own. 
It is plain to me that any solution of 
this problem of imperfectly distributed 
wealth must lift the industry out of the 
control of private hands, because while 
under so-called good times people can 
work and buy shoes, under hard times, 
such as now threaten to overwhelm us, 
private control fails to operate, and peo- 
ule are unable to get work because no 
profits are in sight. 
In the coming fight for democracy in 
industry I believe that the small farmer 
and unign man have great interests in, 1 
common. geo. j. alcott. 
Massachusetts. 
The Shop Man’s Wages 
Being a reader and subscriber of your 
paper for a number of years, and know¬ 
ing your motto is justice to all, I would 
like seme one to figure out how we shop 
men are getting overpaid. 
In 1016 we were getting 45c per hour; 
in 1018 we were getting 68c; per hour; in 
1016 we worked 11% hours; in 191S we 
worked eight hours. 
Overtime or Sunday gave use 72 hours 
per week at 45c, or $32.40; 52 hours per 
week at 6Ss, or $35.36. 
We are working on three shifts, but are 
doing the same work With the same num¬ 
ber of men. We had on two shifts, so the 
railroads are not paying shopmen tho big 
wages some claim. Here are some of tho 
prices we pay here : Eggs, OGc doz.; but¬ 
ter. 7Sc, 50 to 100 per cent over 1016; 
beans, $14; coal, $10.15; milk, 15c; hay, 
$30. Get some one to figure out my 35- 
ceut dollar, if you please. E. N. 
Hornell, N. Y. 
Hard to Decide This Case 
I read with great interest your back-to- 
tbe-laiul column. Being one of those who 
are ambitious to got on the land, may I 
submit my case for discussion? The facts, 
briefly, are these: 
I am a teacher in a New York City high 
school, salary $2,500. I am offered a 
county supervisorship in a neighboring 
State at a salary of $2,000. Have $3,000 
equity in my house in New York and have 
a small place rent-free in the county, 
where I would teach. Invested in Liberty 
bonds, this equity would add about $120 
per year to my income. Within three years 
the New York salary will be $3,150, and I 
have no assurance that the county salary 
will never be more than $2,000. 
Have been successful with backyard 
gardening and poultry keeping and believe 
I could take a considerable slice out of 
the II. C. of L. by enlarging on these ac¬ 
tivities in the country. The big question 
in my mind is: How does $2,000 in the 
country with no rent, to pay, compare 
with $3,150 in New York with its high 
prices and carrying charges of $500 per 
year on my house? C. o. H. 
New York. 
No honest man would attempt to an¬ 
swer or decide such a question. It is a mat¬ 
ter of personality and of family feeling. 
What do the wife and children say? Have 
they ever lived in the country, or in a 
country town? Could they be satisfied to 
live away from New York? Many a back- 
to-the-lander has had the heart taken out 
of him when in the midst of the struggle 
he finds that the women folks are un¬ 
happy and lonely. In our own case we 
should feel inclined to take the country 
position, but there are plenty of people 
who never should go very far from Broad¬ 
way. That is their nature. 
