1540 
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 fencing proposition, but I have him 
beaten on the pasture. My Blue grass 
is better today than ever, aiid it has kept 
the steep hillside soil from washing away, 
while Mr. Thomas was compelled to plow 
and reseed Bed-top and Orchard grass in 
his pasture three times, and his steep land 
has washed badly. j. w. ray. 
Can Farmers Manufacture Wool? 
History repeats itself in a manufactur¬ 
ing way. In former years, scattered 
through this country, were the milling 
centers. Wherever there was a water 
power there were usually a grist mill, 
a saw mill, woolen mill, blacksmith shop 
and store. Railroads have changed these 
conditions largely. These mills have 
largely disappeared to the large centers, 
especially the woolen mills, which used to 
card, make into rolls, spin the yarn and 
weave the wool which the farmers clipped 
from the sheep which were on most farms. 
Now we are again turning to the sheep 
industry, and the wool is subject to the 
buyers of the great manufacturers, and 
the farmers do not get what they ought 
to for it. Our cities and large towns 
have cheap electric power, and it has oc¬ 
curred to me that if a carding machine, 
a fulling outfit, and a loom to weave 
woolen cloth could be obtained, the real 
old high-grade woolen cloth could again 
be manufactured in a small way as a 
beginning in our home centers at a great 
advantage to the farmer and the sheep 
grower, thereby fostering the wool indus¬ 
try. Perhaps some second-hand machin¬ 
ery of good quality could he obtained and 
the sheep breeders’ association here in 
this county could set it in motion, and 
perhaps from a small beginning turn our 
wool clip to a better advantage to this 
industry. Perhaps you know of some 
woolen factory that might have such ma¬ 
chinery for sale chean. What is your 
pleasure on this idea? E. V. R. 
Sussex Co., N. .T. 
This is a new one. We print it to help 
such an enterprise along, if possible. 
Our people can provide almost anything 
if the want is made known. Our wool 
now seems to be handled by a set of hogs, 
who grind our farmers down on prices 
paid for the raw material, and then pull 
them off the earth when they are obliged 
to bin- the finished goods. We think that 
sooner or later farmers will be obliged to 
own or eonfi'ol the manufacture of at 
least part of their wool. 
The Remarks of a Hill Farmer 
As it is a. common practice for me to 
take The R. N.-Y. for my reading lesson 
the first evening it arrives, at my home, 
tonight I saw an article that, has been in 
my mind for some time. This article 
is in criticism of Mrs. Willeox. and my 
answer to it i« short, as I am a man past 
62 years, and have paddled my own canoe 
from a boy of IS years. I have had all 
kinds of jobs in city, town and country. 
My last choice was back to the land, and 
I settled on the farm that my great¬ 
grandfather bought 132 years ago. My 
grandfather was born and died on it; 
my father was born and djed on it. and 
I was born on it and expect to die there, 
unless the Lord calls me when I am away. 
With the object in view of being the 
owner of the old homestead. I am in 
debt for the farm, stock and utensils. I 
said I would pay for this place or die in 
the attempt, so I started up early in the 
morning (4 o'clock) and late at night 
(8. 9. 10 and 11 o’clock). It was up¬ 
hill business, but I never got discouraged. 
I kept the buildings in good repair and 
improved them, always planned my work 
and then worked my plan, and in so do¬ 
ing I made a success. I always set my 
stakes to accomplish in the day. and then 
saw 1 how far I could go beyond that. In 
this way I succeeded, and I have had men 
on my farm who get up because the sun 
is up and go to bed because it is dark, 
work because they have to. make two or 
three trips to the barn and the lot when 
they could have done the same work in 
one trip. They have no system to their 
work, and no plan, and growl because 
they do not get along, but find time to 
visit when they should he making hay. 
These are the two ways that spell success 
or failure. No man can expect to suc¬ 
ceed 1 if lie is afraid of doing too much. If 
he expects to succeed on a farm he will 
have to make up his mind to use his head. 
Nine dollars out of every ten is made 
above his shoulders. I know lots of farm¬ 
ers who seem to have no use for their 
heads—only to use them to breathe 
through. They kick because they don’t 
get more for their milk, and blame the 
Dairymen’s League for it. and when the 
League had a strike they said they did 
not belong to the League, and they Were 
going to take their milk, strike or no 
strike. Tf a man wants the best living 
that this world can afford, he can get it 
on the farm, if he will stick to his job 
and _ work early and late. This is my 
version of success or failure on the farm. 
Schoharie Do.. N. Y. edward kilts. 
on them about one inch in thickness. 
This charred end was placed in the 
ground 2’ 1 /j ft. deep. When the posts 
were all set. he had his hired man paint 
them all thoroughly with red lead. I 
laughed at him at the time for going to all 
this extra trouble and expense. 
In 1909 I fenced in a pasture field of 
28 acres similar to the one he had fenced. 
I put the posts in the ground just as they 
came from the woods, bark and all. and 
without paint, thus saving some time and 
money. I seeded this pasture to Ken¬ 
tucky Blue grass. Now let us see how 
we both succeeded with those pasture 
fields: 
Last Pall I was compelled to put new 
posts around my pasture, as the first ones 
were so rotten the wire would not hold, 
and the expense of reposting was heavy, 
as I had to take the wire down, and this 
consumed valuable time. When I had 
finished my fence I went across to inspect 
Mr. Thomas’ fence, which he had built 
in 1907. It was as solid as a wall, the 
posts stood firm, and they looked good 
for another 13 years. 
Mr. Thomas had clearly beaten me on 
Care of the Child’s Feet 
In modern education most attention is 
paid to the head and often not enough to 
the feet. Many people come to middle 
age with "flat feet” or diseases of the feet 
and leg muscles, due very largely to poor 
shoeing. The Colorado Xeirs Xoics has 
some good advice about children's shoes: 
Symptoms of fiat foot are pain along 
the instep or even in the calves of the 
legs, knees, thighs, hips or back, often 
mistaken for rheumatism or other 
troubles. The person stands with feet 
well apart and toes turned outward. The 
ankle bends inward and the weight falls 
on the inner side of the foot, so that the 
entire sole rests flat on the ground. 
Teaching children to toe outward is 
very bad practice, as it helps to produce 
flat foot. They should be taught to toe 
straight ahead or slightly inward rather 
than outward. Flat foot is caused pri¬ 
marily by weak muscles and ligoments of 
the foot, especially when general con¬ 
dition is poor or the occupation requires 
October 2, 1920 
too much standing, and brought on bv 
unhygienic shoes and improper directing 
of the toes in walking. 
The hygienic shoe should be made so 
that the sole is as wide as the foot and 
its inner edge should conform to a straight 
line: that is, the toe should point direetlv 
forward instead of receding outward 
The heels should be broad and never over 
one and one-half inches high. The tooth¬ 
pick shoe with high I^onis heel is a crimi¬ 
nal abuse of the foot, and' besides brimr- 
nal abuse of the foot. _ 
Sweat and Spectacles 
lama regular reader of The R. N -Y 
and see that you are getting used as a 
regular encyclopedia. I am a farmer and 
have to wear glasses always, and the 
sweat runs down on the glasses so that I 
cannot see any more. I)o you know of 
any way to prevent this? a. w. e. 
_ One of the baseball pitchers in the Na¬ 
tional League is nearsighted, and is forced 
to wear glasses. He has a great aim and 
a fine head, but his eyes prevent him from 
“locating the plate” without his spec¬ 
tacles. Baseball is a sweaty business 
and in order to keep his glasses dry this 
Pitcher wears a band across hte forehead 
just above the eyebrows. A band of cot¬ 
ton batting is held in place by a thin strip 
of cloth with an elastic to pass around the 
head, about as one would keep an eve 
patch in place. The cotton batting ab¬ 
sorbs the sweat as it rolls down the fore¬ 
head and keeps it out of the eyes. 
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My Neighbor Beat Me on Fencing 
In the Fall of 1907 my neighbor. Mr. 
1 homas, fenced a 35-acre pasture. This 
land was hill and bluff, and he seeded it 
down to Red-top and Orchard grass. He 
used round chestnut posts, this being the 
only timber suitable for posts that we 
have in this neighborhood. After taking 
off the bark, lm burned or charred one 
end of each post as follows: He pre¬ 
pared a log heap and set it afire. Then 
he laid the ends of these posts crosswise 
upon the fire; ho could char 30 posts at 
a time in this way. A c-oal was burned 
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