802 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Things To Think About 
The object of this department is to give readers a chance to express themselves on farm 
matters. Not long articles can be used—just short, pointed opinions or suggestions. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER does not always endorse what is printed here. You might 
call this a mental safety valve. 
The Grange and the Renter 
In bis article*on page 22S, M. Y. seeks 
to convey tlie impression that tin* Grange 
represents a rural aristocracy in which 
the poorer class of farmers have no place. 
I have been a member of the order for 
nearly 20 years, have filled most of the 
offices in the Subordinate Grange, includ¬ 
ing that of Master ; have had considerable 
opportunity to associate with members of 
the order in (his and from other States, 
and I wish to say that, as far as my ob¬ 
servation goes, the rank and file of the 
Grange is composed of plain, hard-work¬ 
ing farmers. I have known farm renters 
and farm laborers who were .iust as well 
received in the Granges as those in more 
prosperous circumstances. 
M. Y. also regards the Grange as a re¬ 
actionary organization. As a matter of 
fact, the Grange has been a leader in re¬ 
forms for the benefit of the rural popula¬ 
tion too numerous to recite here. It does 
show a proper conservatism against the 
radical ideas and half-baked Socialism 
which are so prevalent at the present day. 
It fights against such organizations as the 
Bolshevists and the I. W. W., who aim to 
overthrow the Government and inflict 
upon this country the same doom which 
has 'overtaken Russia. It very properly 
refused to affiliate with the labor unions 
and their ideas of government ownership 
and exorbitant wages for little work. I 
think it was the late Josiah Strong who 
said, in substance: “As long as the 
farmers possess the least intelligence they 
will refuse to affiliate with the working 
men of the cities.” About the worst ene¬ 
my which the farmer has is the radical 
labor element of the cities. It is from 
that source whence comes the principal 
part of the agitation for lower prices for 
farm products. The labor unions are pos¬ 
sessed of a spirit of selfishness and tyran¬ 
ny unsurpassed by any trust or monopoly. 
The Grange represents the element 
which has always been the chief support 
of true democracy and free institutions. 
II has stood for a sane progressiveuess on 
the one hand and has opposed the schemes 
of radical visionaries on the other. Any 
honest, self-respecting farmer may be sure 
of a welcome in the Grange, whatever may 1 
be his material circumstances. 
Connecticut. a. b. Roberts. 
A Carpenter on Farming 
As a reader of The R. N.-Y. I. of 
course, get the opinions of all those who 
write about farming, from the plain, prae- ' 
tical farmers to the city man’s idea of 
farming. Some of the lather have inter¬ 
ested me very much, and it is a very 
strange thing to me why it is that any 
man should have, to farm it after he is 
•40 years old. He should have obtained 
enough of those 35-ceut dollars to be a 
millionaire by that' time; but a man 
would be pretty young to retire at that 
age. so I think the most men do it just 
for fun. 
In looking over the list I find that 
none of the differentl trades is getting 
any too much for the eight-hour day, and 
time and a half for overtime; but I am 
going to tell you a little experience I j 
had a few years ago. I started as a 
farm hand. I got what was considered 
as top-notch wages for that! time—$20 a 
month and my board for eight months and 
$35 a mouth for four months. I worked 
for one man six years and eight mouths. 
The last two years I got $22 a month 
for the eight-month period. At different 
times in mv life, for short periods. I had 
worked at carpenter work, for which I 
had a considerable talent. At the end of 
my farm-hand contract I took a job of 
carpenter work, and in just 50 days I 
made $175 and my board. It lacked only 
$1 of whati I got for an eight-month-con¬ 
tract on the farm, which called for 14 and 
1<» hours a day. I worked nine hours a ; 
day on the carpenter job. Do you think 
any sane man would have wanted to go 
right hack and work on (the farm by the 
month V 
There are not. many farm people who 
carry any idea of their children being 
farmers. They don’t educate them for any 
such purpose. They don’t want their chil¬ 
dren to remain to spend a life of drudgery, 
such as they have experienced themselves, 
and it will continue the same until the 
farmer is able to obtain more than 35 
cents of the consumer’s dollar, which the 
good old R. N.-Y. has advocated so long, 
and has had so little to help it in its light. 
M. B. GIFFORD. 
TR. N.-Y.—You are wrong. We have 
as good au army as any ever organized, 
and they are slowly making good at the 
job.] 
Clearing the Back Country Roads 
After reading the article entitled 
“Breaking Country Roads” on page 55(5, 
.1 would like to give other readers an idea 
of the opinion of the farmers and team¬ 
sters'of the surrounding country. The 
snow was unusu.- ly deep here last Win¬ 
ter. as it has been in nearly all other 
places, and sleighs wore the only vehicle 
in use. It seems very impracticable to 
open a wide track or to keep roads swept 
clean of snow, as some autoists would 
like to have them, and as for the wide- 
truck. sleighs mentioned in the discussion 
of Mr. Allis, lmw would our lumbermen 
get around in the woods and on narrow 
back-country roads with them? This is 
quite a lumber country, and more than 
one teamster was heard to say when t In¬ 
roads became impassable for autos, 
“There, we are rid of that nuisance for 
a while,” for even ou our State roads ii 
would bo next to impossible to keep a 
double-width track broken, and when a 
team of horses and an auto meet, in a 
single track, the horses are expected to 
draw their load out of the track, 
through the deep snow, and around the 
auto. Everyone knows very well that if 
a law was passed to clear the roads of 
snow, the back-country roads would not 
be kept in that condition. It is not worth 
the expense that would be necessary. 
I enjoy auto riding as much as anyone, 
but when the snow gets too deep to make 
April 17, 1!)20 
motoring safe and sane. I can leave lin¬ 
ear in the garage until there is better 
going. To break roads for sleighing, we. 
do not use a harrow, as Mr. Allis sug¬ 
gested. as that implement is kept for soil 
cultivation only; but we have a very sat¬ 
isfactory homemade snow plow made of 
plank set edgewise in A shape, made wide 
enough to open the necessary width of 
track. There are boards nailed on the 
top for the driver to stand on. This is 
drawn by one or two horses, as neces¬ 
sary (usually two). A narrow . snow 
plow of this type is very convenient to 
use in making paths around the house and 
farm buildings, or for sidewalks. We are 
quite interested in the subject of good 
loads, and would be very glad to see the 
ideas of others farmers published in The 
It. N.-Y. , e. K. 
Ulster Co., N. Y. 
A Hired Man’s House 
Mr. L. C. Williams of Yates County, 
N. Y._. sends a picture of the tenant house 
shown on this page. He says the way lie 
keeps a good man is to make him com¬ 
fortable. Give him a suitable house to 
live in and a fair chance to feel that he 
has a good home. This house cost .'•52.000 
and has wood house, concrete cistern and 
good cellar. The roof is steel, and the 
house is kept well painted and cared for. 
We have had many letters from tenants 
and married hired men. and they tell us 
frankly why they are not satisfied. The 
great majority say that living conditions 
are not fair. In many cases they move 
to town in order to find a more comfort¬ 
able house. They fiud the house, perhaps, 
but the other conditions do not suit them 
in town. Better housing would keep them 
on the farm. 
A Solid Cutting Foundation 
[/ yT VI 
[ J tf. 
zssol 
A FTER all, the principal thing is to 
get the grain cut — all of it. And 
in order to do this successfully, a 
binder must have a smooth-working 
sickle that will not jam or bind, even 
when the binder is working on rough 
ground. 
McCormick, Deering, and Milwau¬ 
kee Grain Binders cut clean—and con¬ 
tinue to do so during the entire life of 
the machine. There is no twisting, 
sagging or springing of the cutter bar, 
because the knife works forth and back 
on a solid foundation — a Z-shaped 
steel sill that effectually resists heavy 
strains imposed 
by operation 
in rough, uneven 
fields. There is 
no rubbing of 
sickle sections 
against guards 
nor binding due 
to springing or 
twisting of the 
sill, for it does not 
twist or spring. 
This is only one of many features 
that make McCormick, Deering, and 
Milwaukee Grain Binders so efficient 
and dependable — that have won for 
these harvesting machines a world¬ 
wide reputation for economical, satis¬ 
factory service. 
Your local International full-line 
dealer handles these standard-setting 
harvesting machines. See him, and 
place your dependence also in McCor¬ 
mick, Deering, or International twine, 
and your harvest will be well within 
3'our control. Place your order early 
— service will follow.- 
International Harvester Company 
_ __ T QF AMERICA .. _ 
Chicago iincokkiutcoi u s a 
