1104 
June 19, 1920 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Horse Sense about Roofing' 
TDOOFING that won’t last isn’t worth putting on. For it takes just as much 
time to lay a “roof-peddler’s bargain” as it does to lay the best roofing 
your money can buy. And the cost of labor is a big item these days. 
The only way to get your money’s worth is to use roofings that are sure to 
give you long service. That’s horse sense, isn’t it ? 
You can’t go wrong if you use Barrett Everlastic Roofings. They are made 
of high-grade waterproofing materials and have back of them sixty years of 
manufacturing experience. 
They sell at a low price, and you have your choice of four styles described 
below—suitable for all kinds of steep-roofed buildings. 
Everlastic “Rubber” Roofing 
A recognized standard among “rubber'’ roofings. Famous 
for its durability. Made of high-grade waterproofing 
materials, it defies wind and weather and insures dry, 
comfortable buildings under all weather conditions. It is 
easy to lay; no skilled labor required. Nails and cement 
in center of roll. 
Everlastic Slate-Surfaced Roofing 
A high-grade roll roofing, surfaced with genuine crushed 
slate in two natural shades, red or green. Needs no 
painting. Handsome enough for a home, economical 
enough for a barn or garage. Combines real protec¬ 
tion against fire with beauty. Nails and cement with 
each roll. 
Everlastic Multi-Shingles (4-in-One) 
Made of high-grade thoroughly \ waterproofed felt and 
surfaced roith crushed slate in beautiful natural slate 
colors, either red or green. Laid in strips of four shingles 
in one at far less cost in labor and time than for wooden 
shingles. Give you a roof of artistic beauty worthy 
of the finest buildings, and one that resists fire end 
weather. Need no painting. 
Everlastic Tylihe Shingles 
Made of the same durable slate-surfaced (red or green) 
material as Everlastic Multi-Shingles' but cut into indi¬ 
vidual shingles, 8x12% inches. Laid like wooden 
shingles but cost less per year of service. Need no 
painting. 
Write nearest office for free booklets descriptive of the style you prefer . 
New York 
St. Louis 
Detroit 
Minneapolis 
Seattle 
Johnstown 
Chicago 
Cleveland 
New Orleans 
Dallas 
Peoria 
Lebanon 
Latrobe 
Atlanta Duluth 
Youngstown Milwaukee 
Bethlehem Elizabeth 
Company 
Salt Lake C'ty 
1 oledo 
Buffalo 
Philadelphia 
Cincinnati 
Birmingham 
Nashville 
Bangor 
Columbus 
Baltimore 
Boston 
Pittsburgh 
Kansas City 
Syracuse 
Washington 
Richmond 
These buildings covered with 
Everlastic “ Rubber” Roofing. 
THE BARRETT COMPANY, Limited: 
Montreal 1 oronto Winnipeg Vancouver 
St. Jchn, N. B. Halifax, N. S. Sydney, N. S. 
MORE SILO A- LESS MONEY 
GRIFFIN SILOS 
DIRECT TO YOU.. 
NO AGENTS TO PAY 
We give you factory price on 
this silo. Continuous open door 
front, permanent steel ladder and 
other Griffin features. 
Ask for our new free catalogue, 
“TheStory of the Griffin Eilo.” Jt 
is a story you can’t afford to miss 
reading. Prices on application. 
GRIFFIN LUMBER CO. 
I Box 11 Hudson Falls, N. Y. 
FAMOUS GRIFFIN FRONT 
HAY CAPS and CANVAS COVERS 
Any size, weight of material or 
Style, Write for prices and samples. 
Plain 8 07.. Covers, 7k x It ft. $7.00; 
waterproofed, $8.00. 
W. W. STANLEY 
CO Church Street New York City 
BINDER TWINE 
Oet. our astonishingly low prioe to Granges, 
PiiiUi Bureaus, etc. Farmer nK®uts wanted. 
THKO. BUItT tc SONS, Box 10, 
Equity Unions, 
Fne samples. 
MKLKOSE, OHIO 
Kitchen (import 
Don’t stand overa hotstove— 
National Pressure Cooker cooks 
■whole meal on one burner, at 
low flame. No watching—foods 
Aluminum won't scorch or burn. Cooks baked 
Cooker beans in 30 minutes. Ask us why. 
Beat High Cost of Living steel 
Turn waste to profit. Can all fruits and 
vegetables the cold pack way in National 
Steel Canner. Safest method of canning. 
More effective sterilization. Write for 
book on cooker and canner. 
Northwestern Steel & Iron Works 
615 Spring St. 
Eau Claire, Wit. 
‘ A/attonal 
Canner 
New York Slake FARMS 
Wo have a number of high gi«<le farms, 100 to 400 
acres. High state of cultivation. Located in famous 
Mohawk Valley, on good roads and near finest 
markets. Modern buildings and equipment; stock 
and tools. For sale at attractive prices. Write for 
full descriptions and details. 
JACKSON & SPITZU, Farm Dept., 10 Dtweaux St, UTICA, N. Y. 
Crops and Farm Notes 
TRUCK CROP ACREAGE REDUCED ON AC¬ 
COUNT OF J.ABOR CONDITIONS. GEN¬ 
ERA!, PRICE I.EVEI.S FAIRLY 
WELL MAINTAINED, 
Probable reduction in acreage is the 
most impressive feature. Conditions ap¬ 
pear worse in the East than in the South 
and Far West. The South has always 
had a supply of cheap farm help, mostly 
negroes, and these have remained in the 
Country districts to a greater extent than 
have the white laborers of the North. 
Wages have gone up in the South and 
Southwest, as well as in the North and 
West, but not to the extreme high fig¬ 
ures, like $100 per month and board, as 
reported in some Western States. The 
South has been planting truck crops lib¬ 
erally but acreage shows reduction in the 
North and East where competition with 
highly paid factory industries has some¬ 
what demoralized the farm help. 
FACTORY HELP ON TIIE FARM 
Even those that remain on the farm 
are often affected by factory experience 
during the war and inclined to demand 
conditions which are not satisfactory on 
the farm. For instance, a factory trained 
hired man, precisely at 4:45 has been 
known to stop work and put up the horses 
no matter if there is a load of hay ready 
to go into the barn and a thunder storm 
in sight, leaving the owner to save his hay 
the best he can. Farm operations can 
hardly be conducted without long hours 
in Summer to offset time wasted in Win¬ 
ter. No doubt thousands of farmers have 
given up the attempt to raise market 
crops profitably with this kind of help at 
$4 per day. 
FARMERS GOING LIGHT 
A canvass of one thousand farms in 
Massachusetts indicated 20 per cent less 
labor employed than a year ago. Compe¬ 
tition for labor is severe in a manufac¬ 
turing State like Massachusetts, hut 
similar conditions are reported through¬ 
out New England. A report from Mich¬ 
igan indicates nearly as great shortage in 
help employed on farms and mentions the 
large number of farms not being worked 
this season, owing to the rush to the auto¬ 
mobile factory and other booming indus¬ 
tries of that state. Further West the 
supply of help seems to be more abund¬ 
ant but wages are reported extremely 
high. Under these general conditions it 
is not surprising to note reduction in 
acreage planted to some staple food prod¬ 
ucts. Farms operated chiefly by the far¬ 
mer and his family and by the less effi¬ 
cient kind of farm help, can hardly main¬ 
tain full production. The ex-factory 
hand at $4 per day for eight or nine hours 
usually does loss labor than'the hustling 
Canadians who used to come from On¬ 
tario, Nova Scotia and Quebec every 
Spring to help work the farms in the 
Northeastern States at $1.50 or so per 
day. 
Reports of a New England Field agent 
show reduction in the various States iu 
potato acreage of from 5 to 15 per cent 
compared with last season. Acreage iu 
Maine has been decreasing since 1917. 
Aroostook County, which alone normally 
produces twenty million bushels, may 
have a full acreage, although some of the 
intended plantings were given out because 
fertilizer could not he obtained in sea¬ 
son. In Rhode Island, where the fac¬ 
tories rule the labor situation, general 
crop acreage is reported only three- 
fourths of last season. It appears that 
some of the land not planted is to be 
used for hay and pasturage as there is 
an active demand for milch cows and for 
the first time in several years the num¬ 
ber seems to he increasing, although this 
is not true of all the dairy States. Dairy 
products of Maine last year alone 
amounted to about $18,000,000. Dairy 
and fodder crops lead in that State in 
the central and southern portions, to¬ 
gether with a considerable area of po¬ 
tatoes, also crops for canniner. The 
pack of sweet corn in Central Maine last 
year was 1,050,000 ca&es. 
CUTTING COSTS ON THE SELLING END 
The labor situation may he met to some 
extent by better handling of the crops. 
Cooperative associations of potato grow¬ 
ers are meeting with considerable success. 
The one in Michigan handled over 2,500 
cars for the farmers of the State the 
past season at a cost of eight cents per 
100 pounds, which is a small item in 
comparison with the price at. which the 
crop was sold. The association handled 
about $5,000,000 worth of business. The 
success of the farmers’ union in Maine 
in selling a part of the State’s potato 
crop is well known. Potato growers of 
North Dakota are organizing a potato 
exchange along the lines of the ones in 
Minnesota and Michigan. 
“while the sun shines” 
Conditions in general indicate a prob¬ 
able continuance of high prices of farm 
produce. Seldom has there been a time 
when a hard day’s work on the farm 
could produce as great a market value in 
produce. It is a case of making hay 
and other crops while the sun of pros- 
s’ > ' , 'ip". hut farmers can hardly 
Le blamed for caution in re e urd to hiring 
inefficient help at extreme prices. In 
Michigan it is reported during the past 
year that about one of every six of the 
farmers or farm help have left to work 
at city industries, the result being a de¬ 
crease of about 15 per cent in acreage 
of cultivated crops. These geueral con¬ 
ditions are so prevalent throughout the 
North and East that it is hard to see 
how food p-leos in general can decline 
in the near future. 
APPLES PROMISE GOOD CROP 
Interest in the apple situation has 
shifted from the markets to the outlook 
for the crop. Reports as yet: are some¬ 
what scattering and may he greatly modi¬ 
fied by weather conditions. So far the 
indications are good. Last year was a 
great season for boxed apples, but not 
so good for the barreled apple sections of 
the East. This year the early conditions 
are somewhat reversed. New York and 
most other leading Eastern apple sections 
start out with a much larger set of fruit 
than a year ago, although there is com¬ 
plaint that Baldwins did not set so well 
as other varieties and, of course, the 
Baldwins represent the greater part of 
the late market crop in the Northeast. 
Frost reduced the yield and caused con¬ 
siderable fruit to rot in the middle east¬ 
ern section of Virginia and Maryland. 
New England, the Hudson River section, 
and Western New York seem to have a 
rood crop in sight, or about the average 
yield. Sour cherries and pears also prom¬ 
ise well. Peaches are a very uneven crop, 
while the Southern and far Western 
peach crop is large. Orchard owners in 
many sections report paying $2.50 to $4 
per day for help and expect trouble iu 
getting the crop harvested. The North¬ 
west apple section, which ships boxed 
apples, will apparently have a large crop 
but perhaps 30 per cent less than last 
year, provided nothing happens to up¬ 
set early indications. The boxed apple 
sections in the Rocky Mountain States 
will apparently have about two-thirds 
of last year’s yield. g. b. f. 
We have just had our first raiu in a 
month, and it was a real soaker. It has 
done worlds of good, and the crops (and 
weeds) arc just jumping. I have covered 
sibcut a dozen counties in my travels, and 
never saw so much laud turned over as 
there has been this year. Tractors are 
taking the place of the hired men, as well 
as of horses. One of our students I visit¬ 
ed is running a large farm single-handed 
by the help of a tractor, and they used to 
keep two hired men. I never saw apples 
•set as heavy as they have this season. 
Cherries are a light crop in many sections. 
The rain has come just right to force the 
hush fruits on to a good crop. A great 
deal of new land, especially muck land in 
the swamps, is being cleaned and planted 
this year. I do not know exactly how 
the crops are to he cultivated, hut they 
are certainly started. Very few farmers 
in this section are “kickers.” Practically 
all are doing their utmost and are rising 
according to New York time and quitting 
on the Lord's time. I wish the city papers 
would stop telling about the disgruntled 
farmer. He can’t- be found around here. 
Madison Co., N. Y. T. H. T. 
The season is very late here on account 
of so much continued cool weather. We 
are having plenty of rain. Farmers have 
about done planting corn. We expect a 
light crop of peaches, pears and cherries; 
may be a two-thirds apple crop. Good 
work mules are selling at a fancy price; 
horses not so high. Milch cows are high. 
Hogs plentiful and not much demand now. 
Corn, $2.25 to $2.50 per bu.; wheat, $.‘>.25 
per bu.; Clay and Whip-poor-will peas, 
$0 per bu.; bran. $9 per bu.; hay, $2.25 
per 100 lbs.; Irish potatoes, $5 per bn.; 
eggs, 24e per doz.; butter, 40c per lb.; 
hens 30c per lb. w. n. 
Grainger Co.. Tenn. 
Hay. $25 per ton ; potatoes, $2.50 per 
bu.; milk. $2.74 per 100 for 2.7 per cent; 
calves, 12c per lh.; hogs, 32c per lb.; 
eggs, 40c per doz.; butter, 65c per lb.; 
cows, $80 to $120. each. This locality 
does not raise much grain to sell; mostly 
dairying and raising hay, some potatoes. 
The dairy proposition is critical. Cost of 
feed is so high; the price of milk took a 
big drop, hut I did not bear of feed cost 
going down. We pay $1.10 per 300. 
When 300 lbs. of milk will not buy 300 
lbs. of feed, it is time to quit the dairy 
business. I am not going to keep cows 
much longer if the man between the pro¬ 
ducer and consumer does not get down to 
business, both on cost of feed and milk. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. B. F. s. 
We have had a cold, backward Spring; 
Help is scarce; farmers are overworking 
to get in all the crops they can. Milk is 
low, compared with feed prices. Many in 
the countv have sold their farms to 
Western people. Cows are bringing good 
prices; potatoes sell at $4 per bushel for 
home consumption. Auctions _ are held 
often, selling stock and farming imple¬ 
ments; some are held to settle estates, 
others by farmers who cannot carry oit 
dairies or work their farms without 
help. It seems there will he a shortage 
of food before many years unless some of 
the city people get busy on the farms and 
he1»> raise farm products. ' • 
Madison Co., N. Y. 
