1376 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 28, 1920 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established tsso 
Published weekly by the Rahil Publishing Company. 333 West 80th Street, New York 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
Jons J. Dillon', Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. P. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION ; ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, §2,04. equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8^ marks, or 1014 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank d raft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 90 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; 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 "ill 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 of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
S OME of our readers will find that the coupons 
on their Liberty bonds have been all used. The 
bond is still good, but no further interest can be 
drawn until a new bond is obtained. This can be 
easily done by offering the old bond in exchange at 
any bank where you do business. The new bonds 
will have all the needed coupons up to maturity, 
and it will not be necessary to exchange them again. 
Just take your present bond to the bank and ask for 
the new one. Your interest is safe, but you cannot 
collect it until you get the new bond with its coupons. 
* 
D URING the seven days ending August 14 the 
annual Sweet clover growing on our farm grew 
a little over 11 in. It then stood 39 in. high, from 
seed put in the ground June 12. Perhaps you think 
we are making too much of this plant. We believe 
it is to prove the greatest manurial crop our North¬ 
ern gardeners and fruit growers have ever known. 
Where Crimson clover will thrive this annual Sweet 
clover may not prove as valuable, but In most sec¬ 
tions north of Philadelphia we regard it as a great 
acquisition, sure to change methods of farming and 
fertilizing in many sections. Here is a new-comer 
capable of adding to an acre about as much nitrogen 
as you can buy in 500 lbs. of nitrate of soda during 
the working days of late Summer. We call anything 
capable of doing that a friend in need, and we feel 
like passing his name along to our friends. 
* 
T HERE is a great crop of apples in sight. The 
cost of apple barrels will run close to $1.50, and 
the cost of picking close to 35 cents. The car short¬ 
age makes transportation difficult, and the high ex¬ 
change and ocean freight rates will reduce foreign 
shipments. Add to these facts the determination of 
the buyers and dealers to combine and secure the 
crop at the lowest possible price, and the fruit grow¬ 
ers face a hard situation. Thus far the early crop 
has been disappointing in prices. Our own crop is 
bringing at least 25 per cent less than similar fruit 
last year. While that is true, consumers have had 
no benefit in lower-prices, and are not buying freely. 
The dealers have charged such extortionate prices 
for the past few years that many people have stopped 
buying apples. We shall have to start another cam¬ 
paign in order to make apple eating popular. The 
chief trouble in the apple market thus far has been 
the awful flood of .inferior fruit dumped into town 
and city from all over. Most of this stuff does not 
bring the cost of package and transportation, but it 
means ruin to the market for good fruit. We think 
prices will rise when the early varieties are cleaned 
up, for the crop of late varieties does not seem to 
be so heavy, but if this flood of inferior fruit is to 
continue it will spell calamity for many growers, 
who will be forced to pay nearly $2 for barrel and 
picking alone. Some way must be found to keep the 
culls back, or the bottom will drop out. 
# 
What significance is there in the fact that as soon as 
futures on the wheat market were permitted the price 
began to fall and fluctuate? Do gamblers, by betting 
on the future value of wheat, have an important bearing 
in determining the price, almost irrespective of the law 
of supply and demand? If so, why do farmers and the 
agricultural public permit it? - F. 
E think they do. Buying “futures” is at best 
a gamble. One man bets that the price will 
rise, while another bets that it will fall. Stripped 
down to the naked truth that is all there is to it. 
Of course the buyers or gamblers claim that their 
business stabilizes prices, and prevents sudden 
changes up or down, but their work is a clear inter¬ 
ference with the law of supply and demand—a part 
of the great scheme to control the food of the coun¬ 
try by dictating its price. Why do farmers permit it? 
Largely because the public has not yet brought itself 
to separate public needs from party desiies. 
CiT^ANRED” is the name of a new variety of 
JY wheat which was developed at the Kansas 
Agricultural College. The name stands for Kansas 
Red. It is a hal’d red Winter wheat, and is very 
superior for the section in which Kansas is located. 
We hear fine reports of its behavior from every part 
of the Western Winter wheat district. Some of our 
Eastern readers have heard of Kanred and would 
like to try it. They want to know whether the new 
variety is suitable for seeding on the upper Atlantic 
slope. Apparently it is not. Prof. L. E. Call, ag¬ 
ronomist of the Kansas college, writes us as follows: 
Kanred is a variety of hard red Winter wheat. In 
our opinion it is not likely to prove a satisfactory vari¬ 
ety to grow on the Atlantic slope. Your climate is too 
humid for hard wheat. The Kanred variety is pri¬ 
marily adapted to the central and western parts of the 
United States. It is a valuable variety for this section 
of the country because it is somewhat earlier than the 
Turkey wheat that is now commonly grown in this 
region. It is also a little more Winter hardy and is 
resistant to leaf-rust and to certain strains of black 
stem-rust. 
Our advice is not to seed Kanred for general crop¬ 
ping in this section. Our experiment stations might 
well try it. There is a good chance that it may be 
useful for crossing with other varieties. We would 
not, however, advise its general use any more than 
we would advise the York Imperial apple for New 
England or Baldwin for Virginia. 
• * * 
T WO things of great farm importance now are gas 
in the silo and weevils in the grain and beans. 
We usually have dozens of questions about them. 
Let us get in ahead this year. The gas is carbon 
dioxide. This forms during silo filling, and being 
heavier than air falls to the bottom of the silo, as 
it does in some wells. It is poisonous, and if a man 
goes down into it he faces death. The silo doors 
should be left open as long as possible. So long as 
the blower is running there will be no danger. If 
there is any doubt lower a lighted lantern into the 
silo before going down into it. If the light goes out. 
keep out of the silo until the blower has been work¬ 
ing several minutes. As for weevils in beans or 
wheat, the remedy is a tight bin or lid and a quan¬ 
tity of bisulphide of carbon. Put the grain into the 
airtight bin. Put the bisulphide in a deep dish on 
top, cover with a blanket and walk away. The 
fumes of the chemical, being heavier than air. will 
work down through the grain and destroy every 
breathing thing. 
* 
D It. E. V. McCOLLUM tells in his recent book 
how, for some years, the scientific investigators 
were puzzled to know why rations varied in their 
effects upon animals. When two animals were fed 
rations containing equal amounts of protein, carbo¬ 
hydrates and fat, one might make excellent growth, 
while the other failed. Then it was noticed that 
when the fat in the food mixture was butterfat, 
growth could be secured. When this was replaced by 
lard, or vegetable oils, there was no growth. Then 
it was found that the fat of egg yolks also produced 
growth. .That led to the conviction that the fats are 
not all of the same value in feeding. It was shown 
that butterfat is the most useful of all fats, espe¬ 
cially for feeding the young. That accounts for the 
high feeding value of milk, and has led to the con¬ 
viction that milk is absolutely essential to the 
growth and proper development of children. It is 
the most useful food in the world. When the cow 
makes grass and grain over into milk she performs 
a service to humanity second only to that of the 
housewife who turns raw grain into bread. 
* 
W E have many letters from Western people 
who ask about farm lands in New York and 
New Jersey. It is one of the hardest things in the 
world to make these people understand the plain 
truth about farm conditions on the Atlantic slope. 
Some of them never saw a steep hill. Others have 
no conception of what it means to work a stony field. 
Many of them have never found it necessary to build 
a comfortable barn for wintering stock. To them 
a 100-acre farm is a stretch of level prairie, when in 
truth it may be built like a washboard. It is little 
less than robbery to work an abandoned farm off on 
one of these unsuspecting strangers. On the other 
hand, where a Western man can take a really good 
farm he will usually make a great success of it, and 
become a first-class citizen. New York and New 
Jersey have many farms that will produce more 
corn or Alfalfa or wheat to the acre than most farms 
in Illinois or Indiana, while the prices for crops in 
these Eastern States will run at least 20 per cent 
higher. But these are not cheap farms. While their 
values are not inflated, as is the case in parts of the 
West, they are worth good money and will never be 
given away. Just now, with labor running to the 
city, many of these fine farms can be bought at a bar¬ 
gain. and they ought to go into the hands of experi¬ 
enced farmers who will know how to handle them. 
* 
O N Thursday, August IS, Tennessee ratified the 
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States 
Constitution. This makes 36 States—the necessary 
number to make ratification complete. The amend¬ 
ment reads as follows: 
ARTICLE XIX. 
Section 1.—The right of the citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the 
United States or by any State on account of sex. 
Section 2.—Congress shall have power, by appropriate 
legislation, to enforce the provisions of this article. 
As we write there is a possibility that the Ten¬ 
nessee Legislature may reverse the decision—which 
was, on the whole, unexpected. When the amend¬ 
ment was first passed by Congress The R. N.-Y. 
thought it would be delayed or held up through a 
combination of the South and New England. This 
proved true, for with the exception of Texas and 
Arkansas the Southern States have steadily opposed 
ratification. The objection is a social one, which 
cannot he clearly understood by those who have not 
lived in the South. In New England, Vermont and 
Connecticut have not yet ratified. We think both 
the people and the Legislatures of those States favor 
ratification, but the Governors refuse to call the 
legislators for that purpose. In Connecticut we have 
the singular spectacle of a Governor afraid to leave 
the State, for in case of his absence the Lieutenant- 
Governor would promptly call the Legislature and 
ratify. That, however, is not needed now. The 
women who have fought for suffrage have certainly 
won a great victory, and they deserve their success. 
It means that about 27.000.000 women will be privi¬ 
leged to vote this year. It is not generally known 
that women outnumber the men in Maryland, Massa¬ 
chusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island and South 
Carolina, and about equal them in New Hampshire 
and Delaware. This ratification will please the 
great majority of our readers, and we believe history 
will justify the wisdom of this decision. We feel 
sure that women will exercise this new privilege 
wisely, and use the ballot with greater courage than 
most men have done. 
* 
W E sometimes meet men and women who say 
they cannot understand why country people 
should object to laws or regulations which city “up- 
lifters” attempt to put through. . This seems to be 
particularly true of proposed school laws. Qity edu- 
^ cators or college men attempt to make laws to regu¬ 
late country schools, and they are surprised when 
farmers and their wives object and fight back. It is 
strange that these people, with all their wisdom, do 
not seem to realize that people who live in the coun¬ 
try may know what is best for them after all. A 
farmer's wife who has taught school in her day and 
now has a family of her own is a far better judge of 
what is needed in rural education than any distant 
observer who tries to fix some theory or experiment 
upon country schools. If there is to be any revising 
of the school laws, the patrons of the rural schools 
and the parents of country children must have most 
to say in making the revisions. Unless they are con¬ 
sulted there will be a desperate fight against revision. 
Let our city friends remember this. The country peo¬ 
ple see many habits and conditions of city life which 
they know are uneconomic if not foolish. Yet they 
do not attempt to “uplift” the city by proposing laws 
which would force city people to change their mode 
of life. Why should the city “uplifters” assume that 
they are qualified to upset common sense in the coun¬ 
try ? 
Brevities 
Spontaneous combustion. A little of it is needed in 
politics. 
Not much use building a silo for less than seven or 
eight cows. 
Plenty of men can get more than their share of 
booty, but they do not seem able to raise a good boy. 
Remember that the State College of Forestry at Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y., offers a prize for the biggest tree in New 
York. 
In Ohio co-operative silo-filling rigs are being formed. 
A good organization is seven or eight farmers P r 2,'' u1 ' 
ing at least 10 men and a 20-horsepower outfit, lhat 
makes quick work of silo filling. 
People are writing us about hay made from green 
buckwheat. It can be made by handling about as you 
would clover, but we doubt if you would be satisfied 
with it. 
Idaho has about 12.000 carloads of hay.for shipment, 
but there is a quarantine against most of it. The State 
is also shipping well-bred livestock for slaughter or tor 
someone else to feed'. Why not keep the stock at home 
to eat up the quarantined hay? 
