Meeting of the New York Federation of 
Agriculture 
The New York Federation of Agriculture has been 
fortunate in securing Pres. E. F. I,add. the newly 
elected United States Senator from North Dakota, 
to make an address at its annual convention in 
Convention Mall. Rochester, on Tuesday and Wed¬ 
nesday. the 14th and loth of December. The con¬ 
vention opens at 1:30 P. M. on Tuesday. December 
14, with an evening session at 8 P. M., with morning 
and afternoon sessions the following day. Pres. Ladd 
will speak on the afternoon of the loth on the “Prob¬ 
lem in Agriculture.’' Pres. Ladd is today one of the 
foremost agricultural leaders in this country. There 
is no better authority on the subject he is to discuss 
at Rochester. He is an old New York boy. He was, 
before going to the West, a professor at the Geneva 
Agricultural Station. It will be worth a trip from 
any part of the State to Rochester to hear Pres. 
Ladd. We think he will have a full house. 
Other subjects on the program are: Co-operative 
Principles: State Supervision of. Co-operation ; New 
York’s Agricultural Policy; The Movement of Farm 
Crops; Marketing Potatoes: Railroad Transporta¬ 
tion and Tariffs; Wool Problems; Carnes Laws on 
the Farm, and Local Control of Country Schools. 
Among the speakers scheduled in addition to Pres. 
Ladd are: Dr. Eugene II. Porter, State Commis¬ 
sioner of Foods and Markets; Charles R. White, of 
the Bureau of Co-operation; .T. G. Hickey, president 
of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce; Samuel 
Fraser, Daniel Dean, W. W. Reynolds. Herbert G. 
Reed. E. L. Money, Prof. Geo. F. Warren of the State 
Agricultural College, R. Ingalls, a son of the famous 
Kansas agriculturist: R. C. Philips, secretary of the 
International Apple Shippers’ Association; Mayor 
George It. Luunand ex-Congressman of Schenectady; 
Vice-president Booth, the farm credits expert of the 
Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, and others not 
yet definitely booked. 
The question box, and short, free-and-easy discus¬ 
sions, will be features. Everybody is invited. All 
will be welcome. This is the first important general 
agricultural meeting in New York State. It will be 
entirely free and open—absolutely without any po¬ 
litical or personal interests. By getting together in 
this free and independent way, without any bias in 
favor of particular organizations, the farmers of 
New York can start off this Winter's campaign with 
great power. There should be a crowd at this meet¬ 
ing, with an open and fair discussion without dicta¬ 
tion or political engineering. Rochester is well locat¬ 
ed to attract a great gathering of practical farmers. 
The bigger the meeting the more effective will be its 
power in shaping legislation. Here is a case where 
we can start to tin it ourselves. 
State Breeders’ Meeting 
T HE annual meeting of the New York State 
Breeders’ Association will be held December 15, 
16 and 17 at the Onoudaga Hotel, Syracuse, N. Y. 
An interesting and instructive program has been 
prepared by Secretary Albert E. Brown, and breeders 
who attend the meeting are promised one of the 
liveliest conventions in the history of the associa¬ 
tion. 
The Wonders of “The Rural Family” 
What’s in a name? Just about everything, it ap¬ 
pears, if you find it in The R. N.-Y. Witness the 
following. It is taken from the West Bend (VVis.) 
\etrs and sent us by C. G. Jones, who says The R. 
X.-Y. has been in his home “since it was Moore’s.” 
Until very recently Chas. Silberzahn, our venerable 
nonagenarian and retired manufacturer, believed that 
he was the only human being that walked the globe un¬ 
der that name. Pietilrc his surprise when he found out 
that there was another party who went by exactly the 
same name and also called America his country. About 
six years ago Chas. Silberzahn No. 2. who lives at 
Brooklyn, N. Y., saw an advertisement in The Rural 
New-Yorker, in which the good points of the Silber¬ 
zahn silage cutter, manufactured by the Gehl Bros. 
Manufacturing Company of this city, were promulgated. 
His inquiry of the firm led to his correspondence with 
Mr. Silberzahn of this city. The former, his wife and 
three children, arrived here ou Monday to pay a visit 
to his namesake. Just in what degree of relationship 
they stand to each other they do not know. Mr. Silber- 
zahu of Brooklyn possibly is a grandnephew of the local 
bearer of the name. They will try to find out by in¬ 
quiring of the authorities at Mosbach. Baden, Germany, 
where the ancestors of both parties lived. 
A man with such a name might well imagine be 
Was “the only one.” but we feel safe in saving that 
if there is another The R. N.-Y. can find him. Some 
of the things our people have done in locating the 
missing is almost beyond belief. Be it information, 
missing friends, goods of any sort, our people can 
supply what is needed if such a thing is possible. 
Only recently we printed a picture of the pickers in 
a Canadian apple orchard. Now comes one of our 
readers who recognizes one of the boys as his niiss- 
RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
ing son. We feel safe in saying that it would be 
impossible for any reader to think of any legitimate 
wish for information or for goods which could not be 
supplied by some other reader. In all the history of 
• * * 
journalism there never was a collection of people 
like those who belong to the “Rural family.” 
It is Time to Get Together 
In these days of price adjustments the farmers 
seem to be the first to suffer. But in periods of por¬ 
tending adversity those who smile and hang together 
are the ones who really save the day. Corn is selling 
near one cent per pound; wheat at $1.50 per bushel; 
acres of cabbage not worth marketing; dairy cattle 
falling in price, and a hundred and one other things 
that the farmer has to depend on for an income are 
reduced in value. Strong men are needed now. 
History tells ns that wiien leaders are needed they 
arise out of the masses. Shall we wait for miracles 
t<> happen? The problems of today are before us; 
as farmers we. ourselves, must solve them. First of 
all, optimism is needed. Every long face is a de¬ 
pressing factor in any community or gathering. Too 
much talk of “why don't somebody do something” 
gets us nowhere. Here is part of our job: We must 
confer together—Grange, League, Farm Bureau, mar¬ 
keting associations, educational institutions, all the 
various groups, for we are all farmers interested in 
outlining the big tasks of common interest. This is 
no time for selfish factional squabbles. Harder times 
may confront us. but today we must start doing those 
things that need to he done. To perfect the things 
we have begun is the immediate and pressing job. 
This involves the completion of the milk pooling 
plan, financing the G-L-F-Exchange. the wool mar¬ 
keting organization, financing the Farm Bureaus. 
In adversity people with common interests stick 
together. This is the time for farmers to be opti¬ 
mistic; get out to your meetings, get into the game, 
lend a hand and an encouraging word. If adversity 
is before us, as farmers let us hitch up our overalls 
and prepare to meet that scarehead with a united 
front. e. T. 
The Great Cotton Injustice 
The letter of J. T. K. and editorial comment on same 
(page 1773), was just read with much interest. No 
doubt everyone living out of the cotton belt has thought 
cotton sold at profiteering prices for the last two years. 
It cost from 25 to 30c per lb. to raise cotton. The 1020 
crop is the most expensive crop the South has ever 
raised. The item of labor, for this year, has increased 
50 per cent, ginning 30 per cent. There has been a 
scramble for pickers. This Fall farmers hauled negroes 
back and forth from the towns in their automobiles, 
paying them $1.50 per 100. and an average picker can 
pick 250 lbs. per day. It was no use to go after them in 
wagons ; nothing less than a “Henry” would move them. 
Many of the share croppers have given up their crops 
and gone to pick for someone else. What cotton is be¬ 
ing picked out now is off grade and sold on local market 
today (Nov. 10) for 10c. 
I know of a returned soldier who borrowed $4,000 to 
raise a crop, and when all of his crop is sold he will 
still owe around $3,000. His yield was an average one. 
This young man was in France when cotton sold at a 
profitable price. He who thinks cotton was too high at 
40c should weigh some of the dry goods he buys and 
give the farmer credit at 40c per lb.; the balance of the 
amount was left somewhere along the road from pro¬ 
ducer to consumer. There will be a vast cut iu the acre¬ 
age next year if prices do not climb fast between now 
and planting season. j. w. m. 
North Carolina. 
R. N.-Y.—We have bought ordinary cotton cloth at 
retail and weighed it carefully. It cost us $2.45 per lb.! 
Cotton brings less than 20c. There should be. of course, 
a fair “spread” between the raw cotton and the cloth, 
but $2.25 per lb. is too much. It is impossible for the 
Southern farmer to receive this injustice without having 
a reflection of the calamity all over the country. 
A Discussion of the School Law 
I am heartily in favor of the full discussion of the 
school conditions and shall heartily co-operate with the 
effort made by the committee now investigating. It is 
most earnestly desired that whatever changes shall be 
made in the school laws that sufficient publicity shall be 
given to the changes proposed and opportunity for dis¬ 
cussion given so that the laws enacted may be reason¬ 
ably entitled to remain on the statute books long enough 
to be thoroughly tried out. 
Three things it seems to me are fundamental in the 
making of good rural schools: A sufficient salary to 
attract the best mimls from homes of refinement, cul¬ 
ture and solid worth. Requirements compelling a rea¬ 
sonable education and training. Perhaps the training 
of boys and girls to be good and intelligent citizens and 
men and women of moral worth and vision does not de¬ 
maud quite as good a training as to care for a sick pig, 
but it would seem as if it ought to approach it. The 
school should have a reasonable equipment to do the 
work intended iu the school, Hence, there should be a 
1861 
definite standardization of what is essential equipment, 
and such equipment compelled by law beyond the possi¬ 
bility of quibble by a penurious trustee. Permissible 
equipment should be permissible in fact and not possible 
of compulsion by an order from any source except the 
local initiative. 
Personally I am not yet convinced that the dav of 
usefulness of the rural school is past, nor that consoli¬ 
dated schools will cure our ills and turn out better men 
and women. I do believe that the three things men¬ 
tioned above will help. I feel that, the task of presenting 
to the rural people the report of the findings of the 
Committee of Twenty-one and the discussion of them 
will be yours to a large extent. 
A DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT. 
R. N.-Y.—We favored the repeal of the school law 
three years ago for reasons given on page 1801. At the 
same time we realize that the present law must be 
changed and brought up to date. When it is changed 
the people Avho support the schools and provide the 
pupils should have most to do with changing it. It 
should not be changed until there can be some fair agree¬ 
ment and until the people fully understand in detail just 
what the proposed changes are and how they will work 
out. We shall be only too glad to open our columns to 
a full and fair discussion. We cannot print many long 
and exhaustive articles for lack of space, but we will 
give a fair showing to all sides and interests. 
Sad News From Apple Orchards 
Usually I buy a large part of the apple crop of the 
eastern end of Orange Co., N. Y„ picking and packing 
the apples from about 25 of the best orchards, spraying 
most of them. This year I have bought just eight; the 
balance have all gone to waste, scarcely any of them 
being picked, and the apples not even sold for cider, as 
there has been no demand whatever for them. I fin¬ 
ished picking before the cold snap, so lost nothing. A 
friend of mine rode up through Ulster County on that 
day, who said orchard after orchard had the apples all 
piled up under the trees, and must have all beeD frozen. 
Yesterday in New York T heard of one of the big fruit 
growers of Columbia County who lost his entire crop of 
Baldwins. He picks and packs as he goes. I picked 
12,000 barrels, putting them in orchard run. If I 
had waited to pack them, one-half of them would have 
been lost. Of course the help question was all-impor¬ 
tant. Help was paid double and wanted to do one-half 
the work. T have wondered where the big cider men 
got their apples. Letters from the different sections as 
to the disposition of the crop would be very interesting 
reading, I think. c. R. shous. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
What the Public Market Does for a Farmer 
I have attended the Johnson City market since it was 
started, which was over three years ago, except when the 
snow was so deep I could not get through. When I first 
started to attend the market I could not get money 
enough ahead to pay the taxes on the little place of 60 
acres where we then lived. T have this year made and 
now have more money than the 60 acres cost me, taxes 
and all. This is money in the bank, over and above sup¬ 
porting a wife and five children. 
Attending the market makes long hours for me. and 
often for the family. We often work until 12 o’clock at 
night getting a load ready and on the truck ; then we 
get up at 4 o’clock iu the morning and start about 
;» o’clock for Binghamton and Johnson City, arriving in 
Binghamton between 7 and S o’clock, make a few deliv¬ 
eries to regular customers in Binghamton and get to the 
market about 0 o’clock. Each one attending the mar¬ 
ket regularly has his own place, and one is not allowed 
to sell anything on the market until 10 o’clock, with the 
exception of dressed meats, so from 9 until 10 we ar¬ 
range our loads and talk with our neighbors. 
Each producer on the market has his own customers 
and it is just like keeping store: the better you treat 
them the better they will treat you. I never take any¬ 
thing on the market but what is good : I always give 
good weight and large measures, and by that means I 
have a large trade. Saturday is the big day on the 
market and I have to take my wife and sometimes some 
of my neighbors. I live 25 miles from the Johnson City 
market. I have sold everything I ever took on the mar¬ 
ket, with the exception of my wife, and have had an 
offer for her. They sell anything on the market, from 
live cows to name plates for doors. 
The market lasts about two hours, and in that two 
hours I have sold over $200 worth of produce. T take 
on the market eggs, butter, live and dressed poultry, 
dressed meats of all kinds, all kinds of vegetables, nuts, 
honey, berries, apples, and all kinds of fruit. I have 
sold this year at the market a thousand bushels of early 
and Winter apples, which brought me from $1 to $1.50 
per bu. As apples were very plentiful in this section, 
this shows you that things sell ou the market when there 
is a surplus. 
To show the difference in prices between here and the 
market, apples were worth 50c here and poor sale; 
chickens 25c here, market 35c; eggs here 75c, market 
S5c: potatoes here $1. market $1.30; turnips, carrots 
and beets no sale here, market $1; blackberries here 25 
and 30c, market 30 and 35cj pears here $1. market 
$1.50; plums here $1.25. market $2 and $2.50; butter 
here 65c. market 66c; honey here 25c. market 30c. 
Toward the last of the market each farmer is given a 
slip, on which he makes out a list of what he brought 
on the market and how much he has sold, and how much 
money he has taken in. and if he has sold over $16 
worth of produce at the market prices and he is a regu¬ 
lar attendant to the market, when he turns the slip 
in to the market master he is paid $2, which he receives 
three times a week, if he attends the three market days 
of the week. This money, I understand, comes person¬ 
ally from George F. Johnson. 
The total sales ou Johnson City market for the week 
of November 9 were $7,665.77 ; there was a total of 231 
loads that week. 
As to what the farmers are doing with their money. I 
don’t know, because I am the only one from this sec¬ 
tion that attends the market. Some of my neighbors 
have tried the market, and say that it is no good. What 
I did with my extra money was to pay for my truck, a 
player piano, ear and buy another farm, paying part 
down, besides having our home wrecked and burned by 
the explosion of an acetylene gas plant, which left us 
with the clothes we were wearing, the first day of last 
March, out in four feet of snow. This has made my 
expense unusually large last Summer, but for all that 
we have been able to save and keep over $1,000. T can¬ 
not always have a good assorted load of my own. so I 
buy eggs, chickens and anything else that sells well, 
from my neighbors. The profits on what I buy pay all 
the expeuse of running my truck and some besides. 
Pennsylvania. f. c. willson. 
