192 
Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 5, 1921 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE RUSIXES 8 FARMER'S PAPER 
K National Weekly Journal lor Country and Suburban llomen 
Established i860 
•’ublbhcd nerklj by the Rural PublUhinc Company, 883 Welt 80th Street, New Fork 
Herbert W. Collixgwood, President and Editor. 
Jobs J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
iVn. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle. Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
'o foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04. equal to 8 s. 6 d., ot 
8 I 4 marks, fir 10 I 4 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
advertising rates. $1.00 per agate line—7 words. References required for 
dvertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“ A SQUARE DEAL” 
vVe believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon 
able person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
-eliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
o paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
-uch swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
o adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest. 
,-csponsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
dices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
rnnsactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts, 
.<01100 of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time of 
'.he transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
My father. .las. S. Whitaker, died during the year, 
and I wish The R. N.-Y. to eoine in my name now. In 
looking over his papers we found a copy of Moore’s 
Rural New-Yorker dated June 24, 1851, when his 
father. S. B. Whitaker, took it. It has been coming to 
the family ever since. Stephen b. whitaker. 
New York. 
A ND we hope it may continue to go to the family 
70 years more. We would all like to be here to 
see what the future years will bring. 
* 
H ALF a dozen bills relating to ‘’daylight saving” 
have been introduced in the New York Legis¬ 
lature. The farmers favor complete repeal of the 
present State law. The city representatives favor a 
bill making five months of daylight saving each year. 
These city men are well organized and have plenty 
of money for their campaign. They are determined 
to save “daylight saving” if they possibly can. On 
the other hand, at least 95 per cent of country peo¬ 
ple are opposed. There has been no change of senti¬ 
ment on their part, and every member of the Legis¬ 
lature who represents a rural county fully -under¬ 
stands what is expected of him. The present admin¬ 
istration has pledged itself to repeal the law. Even 
with all this we advise our people to take nothing 
for granted. The opposition is strong and will try 
to make some sort of political deal or trade so as to 
satisfy the city people. In order to hold our repre¬ 
sentatives in line we must keep right after them 
without any let-up until the repeal hill is passed. 
r llE Farm Bureau Federation has offered to do¬ 
nate 15.000.tXK) bushels of corn to feed the starv¬ 
ing people in Europe and Asia. The idea was started 
at the Illinois Agricultural Association meeting at 
Chicago. President J. R. Howard said that one-third 
of the population would furnish the corn and expect 
the other two-thirds to pay transportation: 
Immediately there arose from the audience a young 
larmer from Stronghurst. Ill., Robert N. Clark. “God 
has been good to us.” he said. “Let us market our sur¬ 
plus in relief, and take our pay in goodwill.” A few 
minutes later 70.500 bu. of corn bad been pledged by 27 
Illinois counties, and sections which do not produce a 
surplus of corn had signified their willingness to fur¬ 
ther the cause by the donation of those products which 
he.v do have in abundance. 
It was a tine thing to do, and shows the spirit of 
rhe American farmers willing to “take our pay in 
goodwill” We can all remember how, during the 
milk strike, the Dairymen's League offered to supply 
free milk to the hospitals and children’s homes. The 
farmers are now offering to reduce the price of milk, 
vhile the distributors hold up their prices. This 
broad and liberal policy is not only the finest but the 
wisest plan that farmers can follow. We have got 
o show the world that our proposition is so fair and- 
just and reasonable that every honest man will agree 
to let us have our fair share. The Farm Bureau and 
every other organization can fight with double power 
for farmers’ rights when they feel that they have 
moved above every small, narrow and petty position. 
And we cannot get above any such position except 
hrough a broad charity and honest sacrifice. 
* 
T WO years ago a few faithful men met and or¬ 
ganized a State Federation of Wool Growers. 
They could not then realize what would come from 
this. Last week the annual meeting of this federa 
tion was held in Syracuse. There are now 35 county 
associations federated into one State society. The 
one great object is to build up a marketing organiza¬ 
tion. 
Despite the present wool marketing situation these 
delegates present voted unanimously to hold the wool and 
prepare to pile the next clip in the same warehouse. 
They now have 425.000 lbs. in Syracuse, one-third of 
which has been graded. It bulks large. Our wool 
grader has had 23 years’ experience, and knows wool 
and wool market conditions. They will employ a State 
secretary to look after the many details. The officers 
for the coming year are E. L. Moody, Rushville, On¬ 
tario County, president; A. W. Densmore. Albion, vice- 
president; W. A. Mather. Adams. Jefferson County, 
treasurer; A. W. North. Delaware County, and H. L. 
Mills, Cayuga County, directors. 
That is only one illustration of the way our farm¬ 
ers are “bunching” or getting together. The speed 
with which they are doing it is bewildering. It took 
years to work up to the point of combining, but when 
that point was reached the rest followed naturally. 
* 
ARCH 20 of this year will mark the tenth 
birthday of county agent work in this country. 
The start was made in Broome Co.. N. Y., in 1911. It 
is proposed to hold at Binghamton a big jubilee cele¬ 
bration which will mark the date on the face of his¬ 
tory. From this small beginning 10 years ago the 
county bureau system has spread all over the coun¬ 
try and is now the livest business force in all agri¬ 
culture. New York originated the system and it is 
now a good thing for her to make much of it. 
* 
Musical concerts by wireless telephone are among the 
new experiments tried by the wireless station at the 
University of Wisconsin. They are given from 7 to 8 
every Friday night, and persons within a probable ra¬ 
dius of-about 200 miles may “listen in” at that time if 
they have the inexpensive receiving sets that are neces¬ 
sary. 
These concerts will he given with the same equipment 
used in the sending of the daily weather reports from 
the university. Yietrola music and music by various 
instruments will be played. It is expected that the 
music may be clearly heard at long distances. 
HAT announcement is made in the most matter- 
of-fact way by the Wisconsin University. Those 
of us who date back far beyond the telephone and the 
electric light can realize something of what this is 
to mean for the future of farming. Think of it! a 
farm family (out of sight, it may be. of neighbors) 
mtay listen to concert music given 200 miles away! 
What would grandfather have said to that? Those 
of us who were farm boys 50 years ago well under¬ 
stand how farm life would have developed differ¬ 
ently could we have had such things then. And the 
future is to bring even greater wonders. We think 
science will adapt the great discoveries and carry 
them out to the farm. This will serve to check the 
flow to the city and even bring hack many who have 
already gone. For country life, with the best of city 
privileges, will always be the life to be desired. 
* 
E have been surprised to find that many of our 
people are so interested in that journey with 
an ox-team which Mr. Berrang and his wife are tak¬ 
ing across the continent. The average man these 
days thinks he knows all about a car. but has little 
knowledge of oxen. Perhaps, however, some of our 
readers can help Mr. Berrang in this trouble: 
I have found by being a subscriber to The R. N.-Y. 
that when a problem is presented to the readers some¬ 
one, somewhere, has a method of solving it. My prob¬ 
lem at this moment is to keep the oxen on their feet. 
The roads now are built principally for automobiles; the 
smoother and harder they are the better for the “shoes” 
of the machines. Not so with the oxen. Could some 
reader of The R. N.-Y. suggest a shoe or hoot that 
could be used on the oxen’s feet to prevent slipping? 
Blacksmith shops for shoeing oxen are becoming extinct, 
so*we must devise new methods to meet present condi¬ 
tions. Perhaps someone can suggest a plan of rubber 
pad boot like the horse uses now. J. c. berrang. 
Our folks have never failed us yet. The ox and 
the ear are certainly coming together on many farms. 
While the cars have captured the roads, the ox- 
should be permitted to have a footing there, too. 
Can you help him get it? 
* 
IGH-PRICED war labor forced many farmers to 
figure out new methods of doing work. The 
use of the disk or cutaway harrow in place of the 
plow is one of them. Tn many orchards little if any 
plowing is done. A disk harrow, well weighted down, 
behind a tractor or team, rips or chops up the ground. 
While it does not cut as deep as the plow, it covers 
far more ground, gives good cultivation and saves 
labor. Another way in which the disk helps is in 
chopping up the cover crop. Formerly the usual 
plan was to hitch a chain on the plow and turn the 
cover crop under. There has been some trouble from 
this, as the soil was left too open and the cover crop 
did not decay rapidly enough. Now the practice is to 
run over the cover crop with the disk before plow¬ 
ing. This chops up the soil and crop and packs it 
down so that when the land is plowed the whole 
thing goes under, out of sight, and leaves the soil in 
much better shape. 
* 
IVE STOCK commission companies in Chicago 
holding Federal licenses were in the habit of 
charging shippers of live stock for feed which was 
purchased for, but not consumed by their stock. This 
feed was later sold to other stockmen, so that it was 
bought and paid for by more than one shipper. -Sec¬ 
retary of Agriculture Meredith stopped this prac¬ 
tice. and ordered the money accumulated, from this 
practice distributed among the shippers. He pro¬ 
posed to revoke the license of such dealers if the 
practice was not given up. These commission men 
brought suit to enjoin the Secretary from revoking 
their license, but the courts have decided in his 
favor. He was within his authority. 
* 
C ERTAINLY! We feel disposed to let the oleo 
farmers state their reasons for eating that 
product, if they care to do so. Mr. Coon comes out 
openly on page 202 and tells why he sells butter and 
buys oleo. We are not greatly impressed by his argu¬ 
ment that if all farmers used butter some of the city 
people would go without it. Why should not a farm¬ 
er sit at the “first table”? In every other industry 
that we ever heard of an increased demand is met 
by larger production. As it is now. many farmers 
are unable to sell milk at a living price because the 
increased use of oleo has decreased the demand for 
butter. Mr. Coon may help his own trade by selling 
all the butter he can and substituting oleo for his 
own use, but by doing so he. up to the limit of his 
trade, injures other dairymen who need new mar¬ 
kets for their milk. We think it better to permit 
these oleo men to have their full say. When we 
learn why they do it. we can be better prepared to 
act. Thus far it cannot be said that any of them 
have produced any uplifting or patriotic argument 
Someone asks how much oleo is made in this coun¬ 
try. We have the following statement, from the 
Treasury Department: 
During the fiscal year ended June 30. 1920, there 
were 15,023.740 lbs. of colored and 375.055.700 lbs. of 
uncolored oleomargarine produced in the United States. 
Of this amount 5,009,407 lbs. of colored and 4.725.978 
lbs. of uncolored oleomargarine were exported to foreign 
countries. The remainder was sold in the United 
States, with the exception of a small amount remaining 
in the factories at the end of the fiscal year. 
According to the records of this bureau no manufac¬ 
tured oleomargarine was imported during the fiscal year 
A. c. nOLDEN. 
Acting Deputy Commissioner. 
* 
E all know the popular saying regarding the 
rapidity with which the world’s supply of 
“suckers” is renewed. The fakers, too, are not in 
any danger from race suicide. The Geological Sur¬ 
vey tells of frauds Avho are wandering about, promot¬ 
ing mining schemes: 
Such a man who was recently operating in Colorado 
represented himself as one of “the 80 registered geol¬ 
ogists in the government service,” but one of his intended 
victims found, on telegraphing to the Geological Survey 
at Washington, that he was not among its employees 
and that his name was not on the membership lists of 
either the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the 
Geological Society of America, the Association of Petro¬ 
leum Geologists, or any other well-known geological so¬ 
ciety. 
One of the most popular frauds now is to tell a 
farmer that there are valuable minerals or oils on 
his farm! You would think this fraud would have 
died of old age long ago, hut it is even more vigorous 
than ever. Who but a child could possibly give up 
for it now? 
* 
EYERAL times during the past few months we 
have referred to the ocean of “soft drinks” con¬ 
sumed each year by the American people. We be¬ 
lieve' that the nation would be far better off if in¬ 
stead of this soft stuff the people would drink milk 
and pure fruit juices. It is true that we refer to 
the average soft drink as plain water, sweetened and 
colored, flavored by chemicals and blown up with 
gas. Now we learn that the soda water people ob¬ 
ject to this and that some professor is proving that 
the soft drink has “feeding value.” We do not dis¬ 
pute it. but we challenge any professor or any doctor 
to show that America would not be better off if our 
people cut the soft stuff and substituted milk and 
fruit juice. We take it that the suggestion is taking 
hold. 
Brevities 
Lettuce is a great storage for vitamines. The crop 
cannot mature without sunshine. 
No, we do not advise readers to dig up old blackberry 
vines in an abandoned field to start a new bed. 
Ox the island of Manhattan there are still five farms 
left. In 1910 there were S5, and in 1900, 184. 
Say' nothing but saw wood. That advice is always 
good. But to make it work you must saw something 
besides dust. 
Now they are holding "Winter picnics”—which means 
a co-operative gathering to fill the ice house with hot 
stove accompaniment for dinner. 
“Pulverized poultry manure” is offered at $56 per 
ton ! Of course that, is too much. At any such rate the 
manure from one hen would be worth more than the 
hen! 
One of our readers sends apples by parcel post, and 
prints the fact on his labels. He finds this a direct invi¬ 
tation to someone along the way to steal the apples out 
of the packages. Better advertise elsewhere. 
