The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1154 
July 3, 1020 
belonging to the association or those approved by the 
board. The directors are also empowered to fix 
selling charges, levy assessments, engage a manager 
and pay for his services, and to transact any and all 
necessary business. The membership fee has been 
raised from $1 to $10. the hoar service fee from $2 to 
$10, initiation fee to new members from $5 to $25. 
At first it was felt that these requirements were too 
rigid, but experience has proven that with loose 
methods and a lax organization an association can 
get nowhere. It is perhaps better to make the rules 
too rigid than too loose. It will be of interest to 
know- that the members of the Kinderhook Associa¬ 
tion only decreased after this reorganization from 
,10 to 25. With the higher fees a member will now 
only list and use his superior hogs. All herds are 
passed upon by competent swine experts, and only 
those pigs which meet the rigid requirements can be 
sold for breeding purposes. 
IMPROVING BREEDS.—One of the big advan¬ 
tages of livestock, especially swine, association, is 
the collective ownership of the sires. The farmers 
belonging to the association in question were able to 
send a buying order to a committee in the Middle 
West to purchase the best boar they could find. They 
now own three boars, the Kinderhook Critic, an 
Orion Cherry King boar, and a boar from the Crim¬ 
son Wonder family. They, are now in a position to 
sell unrelated stock, which is another distinct selling 
advantage. In forming an association the question 
of breeds, while important, is not the all-important 
one. Just now for this section the Duroc Jersey and 
the Berkshire seem to he the most popular breeds of 
swine. More important than breed,, however, is the 
fact that you have a group of plain farmers, working 
together in a community to better the breed of their 
choice and to improve their selling facilities. Such a 
group of farmers can also keep better records and 
practice better feeding methods. From time to time 
outside speakers who know their subject can be 
brought in to the community. 
GROWTH OF PUREBRED SWINE.—Iu this con¬ 
nection it will be interesting to note the gains that 
purebred hogs will make. On September 14 a bunch 
of 13 Spring pigs, weighing from SS to 140 lbs.,' and 
one yearling barrow of 240 lbs., were turned into a 
field of standing corn. October 12 the pigs had 
gained 52 lbs., average, and the yearling had put on 
75 lbs. These were very cheap gains, and very satis¬ 
factory, for you have cut the labor element entirely 
at feeding time, and have saved the cutting, husking 
and hauling of the corn, besides handling again at 
feeding time. In addition to the above, three old 
sows and IS pigs had access to this field and were not 
weighed. Roughly estimated, the six acres of poor 
land gave up 1,000 lbs. of pork, with the supplement 
of 90 lbs. tankage which they ate from a self-feeder. 
Another lot of six, farrowed May 14, dressed 217 lbs. 
average on November 2S. They were maintained 
largly on skim-milk and good pasture throughout the 
Summer, and finished in standing corn, because the 
corn harvester broke down and labor was not on the 
job. That made another convert to hogging corn. 
BOVS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS.—A community con¬ 
centrating on one breed of stock makes an attractive 
spot for buyers. In the Spring of 1919 a boys’ and 
girls’ pig club was organized in a neighboring county. 
Through tue local Farm Bureau Association they 
were able to get all the purebred pigs they wanted in 
one day. The records of this club also show what 
good purebred stock will do. The records for the 
season are as follows: Weight of pigs at beginning, 
36.5 lbs.; weight of pigs at close, 227 lbs.; total gain 
in weight, 190 lbs.; number days cared for, 153; av¬ 
erage daily gain in weight, 1.24 lbs.; cost per lb. of 
pork. 13c. Total net profit, $1S.71 : total cost of pig, 
$31.,S9. It is surprising how a few swine breeders 
working together can in a short time change the color 
Of the hog industry in that community. 
A. R. BUCHHOLZ. 
Farm Bureau Manager, Columbia Co., N. Y. 
How to Help the Government 
“This is the best country the siiii shines on. Its 
opportunities are boundless and are open to any indi¬ 
vidual who cares to avail himself of them. Its gov¬ 
ernment is the best in the world. There is nothing 
fundamentally wrong with it.” 
HAT optimistic statement was part of an ad¬ 
dress issued by a recent meeting of farmers in 
Washington. A reader wants to know if we believe 
it—particularly the last two sentences. We do. We 
think the form of a Republic organized by the men 
who wrote the United States Constitution was the 
best; the world had seen up to that time. Fundamen¬ 
tally, with the changes or amendments which have 
been made, it is still sound—still the best form of 
government on earth. True, you will hear some men 
finding fault with this or that part of it, or cursing 
the whole of it. They are at liberty to go to other 
countries where they think they can find a larger 
measure of freedom, and this country would be much 
better off for their exit. Do we claim, then, that our 
government as it stands today is perfect? Far from 
it. Much injustice and class privilege has crept in, 
and special interests have been permitted to gain too 
much control. That is not due to any fundamental 
weakness in our form of government, but is chiefly 
the result of indifference, prejudice and habit, on the 
How the Harrow is Put On Wheels. Fig.SJ/5 
part of the plain, common people. The remedy does 
not lie in violence or in smashing things. Under ex¬ 
isting conditions destructive criticism or action would 
only make things worse. We still have our remedy 
in the ballot, and it will be effective just as soon (and 
no sooner! as we can arrange a definite program 
and live up to it with t!.. .test of our lives. Roth of 
the old parties are now run on a 5 per cent basis. 
About 5 per cent of the membership are politicians 
who make their living by fooling and driving the re¬ 
maining 95 per cent. It is doubtful if either of these 
old parties can be destroyed, but they can be reor¬ 
ganized and cleaned at any time that the rank and 
file of the voters will make up their minds that the 
time has come to do it. The form of government in 
America is fundamentally right. The control by 
political bosses is fundamentally wrong. We are 
responsible for the bosses, because we have let them 
boss us. We can put them out of business whenever 
we are willing to stand up to the job without flinch¬ 
ing. 
A Saving in Power 
I N sections where animal “power” is not out of 
fashion the suggestion in Figs. 345 and 340 will 
bring joy not only to the farmers, because of the 
•saving on the wear and tear of the harrow, but it 
will also please the “good road” fathers. The scheme 
was figured out by Jesse IT. Buell of Clinton, Conn., 
and consists of a wooden block attached to the ends 
of the harrow. The shaft from the wheel is inserted 
in the wooden block and an iron pin is pushed 
through the top of the block and through a. cor¬ 
responding hole in the iron. When the harrow is to 
be used the pins are quickly released and the wheels 
are pulled from the blocks. Readjusting the wheels, 
if the harrow is to be taken along a road or over 
ground where it would have to.be pulled when not 
in use. the wheels are almost instantly replaced to 
the blocks. bktsky m. bueix. 
Connecticut. 
Inviting the Hired Man’s Child 
S OME of our readers will remember a very un¬ 
usual advertisement which appeared last Spring 
in our “Subscriber’s Exchange” department. This 
advertisement called for a hired man, and one re¬ 
quirement was that he should have five children of 
The Harrow With Wheels Attached. Fig. .!}(? 
school age. This was unusual, because usually 
farmers refused to employ men who have a large 
family of children. We have corresponded with 
many such people, and find that some of them at 
least are desperately opposed to the hired man’s 
child, and they insist that whoever they employ must 
have no family. We think that many of them make 
a mistake in this,- as they would obtain better help 
if they could get along with the family; but for one 
leason and another they refuse to harbor the child. 
Therefore the advertisement referred to is unusual, 
and we investigated to try to learn what it meant. 
It seemed that the district owned an excellent school- 
house, which stood empty because there was only 
one child of school age left in the district. The 
house and its fixtures were in good condition, and 
there was money enough to employ a good teacher, 
but as is the case in many country districts, there 
were no children. The sehool officers promised to 
open the school and employ a first-class teacher if 
six pupils could he obtained. The man who sent the 
advertisement had one child, and he wanted five 
more. We became interested in this case, and have 
followed it up to learn the results. There was a 
very large response, and we have read many of the 
letters. They were intelligent and sensible. Most 
of the people who wrote had worked on the farm for 
years. Some of them had been driven away from 
farm life because farmers did not want their fami¬ 
lies, or because it was impossible to educate their 
children. For these reasons many of them had 
drifted into town and taken up mechanical work, 
although they much preferred to live in the country. 
As a result of this advertisement" two farmers, with 
their children, were located in the district. The 
school is now open, with seven pupils, and several 
other families found worthy and useful have been 
located in nearby places. The following statement 
gives a good idea of the conditions to be found in 
many of our country places. Farmers may well take 
these words to heart and consider them carefully. 
If our country districts are to he repopulated and 
built up men with good-sized families must be 
brought in. In many ways we have found that the 
man with the family is a better workman and a 
more steady hand, because he wants to make a home 
for his child. Here is a way in which many farmers 
can help a serious situation. 
As for what Mr. McGlashan says about a sales 
agent for the farm products of a county, his plan 
would not work out as xvell as he thinks. The propo¬ 
sition of selling goods for several thousand farmers 
not fully organized, and not entirely jady for co¬ 
operation, would be a very differen', affair from 
selling tires or other products for a '.urge business 
corporation fully organized and without any chance 
for internal disagreement. The last census shows 
that Litchfield County, Conn., had $21,835,643 in¬ 
vested in farm property, while tin total value of 
farm crops was $2,S39,789. 
I have a good man with five children, three of school 
age. My neighbor, acting on the same thought, obtained 
a family with numerous children, and our school isopen 
with seven pupils. The advertisement was certainly a 
success. My man has a good wife. 1 believe the adver- 
’ tisemeut appealed to the wives of the men who answered. 
Might not one thought from this be, if farmers will 
not take families with children, where are the trained 
farmers of the future to come from? We have of course 
been not home-raising, but importing our labor for a 
good many years, though imports have fallen off now. 
and we are in trouble, and may not more of our troubles 
be from no home-grown labor? It is changing our popu¬ 
lation, our thought, our institutions. Was it not in 
Vermont or New Hampshire that some studious man 
compared the censuses of 1800, 1850 and 1910. and 
found in rural districts the population was on an 
average a full third less than in 1800? The town of 
Sherman, near here, has fallen during the reign of one 
local storekeeper from 1.500 to 300, and in New York 
you can hardly fight your way around the streets be¬ 
cause of the crowds, another argument for children on 
the farm. 
Other organizations have gone wrong in the same 
way. I see only one way to stop it. The political plat¬ 
forms agree the farmer is everything good, but even 
that boost does not start, the rush for the farming life. 
But embroider the life with cash and you will see the 
tide turn ; let the farmer live somewhat in luxury and 
the tide will turn. Stop such episodes as the price I 
get for my pigs compared to cost of raising. 
When I sold my city house the purchaser was head 
• ales agent for a certain automobile tire, and getting 
$50,000 a year salary. He said one day he wished lie 
Could get out in the country. 1 said to him: "If you 
will come tip and be sales agent for all farm produce 
of Litchfield County you can earn your $50,000 a year 
and make one, two, three, perhaps four millions for us. 
If a small tire business can pay that salary for the head 
of a sales force and make it pay, what could not Litch¬ 
field County afford to pay for a good storage warehouse 
and a competent salesman? Now my pig goes to New 
York. I pay freight, commissions, feed on the way. 
weighing charge, United States tax, and the other man 
grades the hog and sets the price. I am not present nm 
anyone representing me. Could an agent do that am 
not see his side the bigger? It is a comfort to know’ am 
get the Liverpool price less freight from Kent ttiem 
and expenses. But what has that to do with the cos 
of production? The little Liverpool pigs may have j 
raised by Hottentots, who can go around lawfully " llu 
less clothes than I can. . 
Well, to go back. If we farmers are the salt ot tn 
earth, we should be the ones living in luxury, ana i 
believe to save our republic, if history is not to repeat 
itself, we must insist upon it. M 
Litchfield Co., Conn. Archibald a. mcglashan. 
