326 
7ht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
February 26, 1921 
Cross Off the Stoves too 
I IKE the old hand pump and the kerosene 
_j lamp, the stove belongs to the day of in¬ 
conveniences. Cross it off. 
Know what real heating comfort means — have 
a joyous feeling of security against bitter cold 
and big fuel bills by replacing your stoves, 
NOW, with a 
MUELLER BIG 3 CONVECTOR 
(Pineless Heating System ) 
In the thousands of homes in which it nas been installed,the Convector has 
proven a revelation in heating 1 efficiency and fuel economy. It is guaranteed 
to heat every room in the house through its one bid register. 
There is only one Convector. It is pipeless 
heating developed to remarkable efficiency by 
expert heating engineers. In it are scientifically 
combined three exclusive Mueller construction 
features, the“Bld 3,”whieh have clearly estab¬ 
lished Convector superiority. 
With the Convector you get full heat value from 
any kind of fuel without forcing or hard firing. 
You avoid all danger of overheated castings 
and save V 3 to Vz on your fuel bills. 
FREE Offer to Home Owners 
"Write today for free advice on the best method 
of heating your home and the Mueller Book 
containing complete information about the 
Mueller “Big 3” Convector. 
L. J. Mueller Furnace Co., Kw.’Si®wu! 
Established 1857 
Makers of Warm Air — Steam — Vapor — 
Vacuum and Hot Water Heating Systems 
W. A. Case & Son Mfg. Co. W. A. Case & Son Mfg. Co. 
Buffalo, N. Y. Brooklyn, N. Y. 
W. A. Case & Son Mfg. Co., Syracuse, N. Y. 
24 other distributing points. Immediate shipment to any psrt of the country. 
Note triple casing and cor¬ 
rugated, air-spaced inner 
hood of heavy galvanized 
iron that prevent heat waste 
and keep cellar cool. 
MR* FARMER 
S WORTH YOUR WHILE T O GET 
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT 
BARIUM- 
PHOSPHATE 
AN ALKALINE FERTILIZER 
Containing 
28% PHOSPHORIC ACID 
7% BARIUM SULPHIDE 
Write for booklets describing this 
material and its use on various 
crops. Carloads and less. 
NITRATE OF POTASH 
Analysing 
42% ACTUAL POTASH 
15% AMMONIA 
One ton of this material contains as 
much Potash as 1750 lbs. Sulphate 
of Potash and as much Ammonia as 
1650 lbs. of Nitrate of Soda, 3400 lbs. 
of the two combined, and you save 
$30 to $40 per ton. Carloads and less. 
GROUND PHOSPHATE ROCK 
Containing 32 °fo Phosphoric Acid 
NITRATE OF SODA and TANKAGE 
CARLOAD LOTS ONLY 
Get our prices before you order 
your fertilizers this year. 
Witherbee, Sherman & Company 
2 Rector Street, New York City 
[AGENTS WANTED 
tions for Rural New-Yorker in Ohio. Prefer 
men who have horse or auto. Address 
J. C. MULHOLLAND, General Delivery, Columbus, Ohio 
ITHE RURAL NEW YORKtR.333 W. 30tli St. NewYork City 
'orce 
e e d 
8 Foot F 
Fertilizer Sower 
Sows Lime, Ashes, Plaster, 
Fertilizers 
MO 
Thoroughly well made; box one 
inch lumber, iron braces; ends 
one piece cast iron; no gears; 
cranks or shakers; positive force 
feed agitator prevents arching 
and packing; continuous driye 
from both wheels; 34 inch solid 
steel wheels; 3 inch tire; set to 
sow 100 to 3500 lbs. to acre; 
guaranteed to give satisfaction 
or money back. Send check or 
money order or registered letter 
for quick shipment. Specify 
No. K-382—Lime and Fertilizer 
Sower, complete with 
Screens— $40.00 
We Cut Implement 
Prices 
Our new 1921 bargain prices on 
farm implements and machinery 
are so low they will surprise you. 
We have cut them to the bone— 
right back to a “before the war 
basis”. Weselldirect tothefarm- 
er—and save all unnecessary “in- 
between” profits and expenses. 
Everything on hand ready for instant 
shipment. Time payments arranged, 
if wanted, on everything. 
Get This FREE 
Book ^Fa rmTquTpm ESI? 
You can’t afford to miss '* 
this book if you are going to 
buy any farm equipment. Full 
line illustrated and described. Low¬ 
est prices you have seen for years. It 
will save you money on everything. Write 
for it—your name on a postal now. 
Rational Farm^E*quipmenf {jo. 
Dept. 100,18 Chambers Street New York City 
[ 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
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 Power of Gossip 
Gossip in rural places is fearsome, and 
I know of one town which is actually 
gossiping a great deal, yet they have 
turned gossip by strength of character 
into gossip as to the good qualities of 
their neighbors, landing some poor souls 
far beyond their worth for the good that 
is in them, and they are commencing to 
cash in on that kind of gossip. Every¬ 
thing has a good side, and if we can look 
at that and forget the bad much is really 
accomplished. G. R. h. 
Massachusetts. 
We have some correspondents who say 
that a farm paper at this time should 
print nothing but stories of the bitterness 
and poverty which soured the life of the 
farmer. They would have us do nothing 
but attack the invisible forces which we 
all believe have brought us to hard condi¬ 
tions. We do not believe the situation 
hopeless by any means. We have all made 
mistakes of judgment, and farming as a 
business has been treated unfairly. But 
are we farmers entirely blameless? Is 
there any mote in our own eye which 
magnifies the beam in the other man’s eye? 
We all admit that our only hope lies in 
co-operative working—in organizing and 
concentrating our power. We are getting 
together in great organizations, and laying 
vast plans for the future, but what are 
we doing at home with our neighbors 
and friends? Ordinary “gossip” is usual¬ 
ly the lightest and most foolish of human 
association, yet there are few things 
which, after all, have more to do with 
the real progress of a nation. The gossip 
which picks apart our neighbors and 
exposes their poor human frailties is a 
repellant force which has long made it 
impossible for neighborhoods to unite for 
any good purpose. That form of “gossip” 
which looks for the good in human kind, 
which is kindly and neighborly, is an ad¬ 
hesive force which more than anything 
else is needed today in farming. Many 
of us may think we can move the world 
by violent criticism of the government, or 
of men in power. We may succeed in 
arousing a blind, unreasoning rage which 
will usually do more harm than good. 
What we most need in farming right now 
is orderly and strong organizations and 
this can be made possible by “gossip”— 
talking on the good that we know lies in 
our neighbors and friends. Tie them to¬ 
gether in that way and they will do the 
rest. Ti e hare got to do it ourselves! 
New York State Service Bonus 
Can you tell me something about the 
bonus that the people of New York State 
voted to their ex-service men and women 
at the election on November 4, 1920? I 
enlisted at Buffalo, N. Y., and served over 
six months in the army, was honorably 
discharged and went back to Buffalo (my 
home) and lived there ufltil November, 
1919. I am now living temporarily in 
Delaware. Am I entitled to the bonus or 
does my moving from the State disqual¬ 
ify me? New York State is my home, 
and all my army records show this. If I 
am entitled to the bonus, when it is going 
to he paid and to whom should I apply? 
Wilmington, Del. J. w. B. 
Distribution of the service bonus to 
veterans of the World War of New York 
State, the proposition for which was ap¬ 
proved by a majority of the voters on No¬ 
vember 2. 3920. awaits the creation of a 
commission by the 1921 Legislature. In 
order for a person to be entitled to the 
bonus he or she must have been in the 
military or naval service of the United 
States at some time between April G, 
1917. and November 11, 191S, and the 
applicant must have been a resident of 
the State at the time of the entry into the 
service and must have been a resident of 
the State on November 2, 1920. This of¬ 
fice cannot at this time pass upon the 
eligibility of anyone to this bonus. The 
commission to be created by the Legisla¬ 
ture will decide who are entitled. If a 
person entitled to a bonus has died the 
bonus is payable to surviving relatives in 
the following order: Husband or wife, 
child, mother, father, brother and sister, 
and no other. J. Leslie kinkaid, 
The Adjutant General. 
“Courses” and “Examinations” 
The very best comment on improving 
our school system that has come to my 
notice is from the pen of Dr. Henry 
Van Dyke, published in June, 1920, issue 
of Scribner's Magazine, under the title 
“Guide Posts and Camp Fires.” We all 
know and love Dr. Van Dyke, not only 
because of his beautiful life, but for his 
sane and true views of life’s problems as 
they confront others. I quote the para¬ 
graph : 
“In education, for example, I would 
sweep away half the ‘courses’ and two- 
thirds of the ‘examinations’ and concen¬ 
trate attention on teaching boys and girls 
to use their powers of observation accu¬ 
rately, their powers of reason intelligent¬ 
ly, their powers of imagination and sym¬ 
pathy vividly, and their powers of will 
sanely and strongly; in short, to know 
things as they are, to conceive them as 
they might be. and to help make them as 
they ought to be. That is the real pur¬ 
pose of education, and I think it may oe 
reached, or at least approached, better 
through a few studies well chosen than 
through a mass of studies piled on at ran¬ 
dom.” 
Splendid! I have known many boys 
who were termed mentally deficient who 
could not, if they lived to be a million 
years old. master some of the “examina¬ 
tions” forced on them in school, yet the 
moment they left school and turned to 
what they longed to do, made the very 
best business man, and true, loyal citizens 
of our Statu. and so I wholly agree with 
Dr. Van Dyke that studies they do not 
care for. and cannot understand, should 
be secondary, and their faculties devel- 
open on lines wliieh appeal to them. 
New York. magoalene merritt. 
Co-operation 
.This is a true story for sheep farmers, 
with more than one moral. 
It was a warm day in late Summer. 
A flock of about 30 sheep were content¬ 
edly nibbling a very short pasture. One 
old ewe looked over at the lush pasture in 
the adjoining field. She made a start 
for that field. She walked along the 
fence until she found a place where she 
could get her head through. Then she 
struggled in vain to get through. Two 
or three sheep near her ran up to help 
her. Then the attention of the entire 
flock was aroused and they all ran to 
help those few sheep. MTien they were 
within a few feet of the fence each sheep 
jumped with all its might against the 
sheep in front of it. and the combined 
impart of the entire flock smashed the 
fence, and the next minute they were all 
in that lush pasture. b. f. h. 
Long Island. 
The Farmer’s House Rent 
On page 122 F. A. Putnam brings up a 
fa rm management problem entirely wor¬ 
thy of discussion ; that is. should the mat¬ 
ter of house rent enter into our farm ac¬ 
counting? Indeed, the home represents 
an investment, but I believe it should be 
held entirely apart from the business end 
of farming. . The housewife plays too 
large a part in the operation of the farm 
already, without our farm management 
experts making the condition the more 
real. To a certain extent, marriage should 
probably be considered a partnership, but 
that is not sufficient reason for assuming 
that household duties should be enlarged 
to include details in the operation of the 
farm business. I.et the women folks look 
after the home and the men the farm. 
Farming is in general a sole proprie¬ 
torship enterprise, and as such is com¬ 
parable with businesslike management, 
flow many professional men or merchants 
include the home investment in their ac¬ 
counting systems? Probably none. The 
home is necessarily closely allied with the 
farm itself, because of the nature of the 
work, while perhaps the merchant may 
live several blocks from his shop. How¬ 
ever, its proximity does not offer legiti¬ 
mate reason for including it in th^ enter¬ 
prise itself. 
Mr. Putnam protests against “padding 
up the farmer’s profit with bunk.” Yes, 
how many professional men or merchants 
include house rent in the returns from 
their business? The home is not the 
means to an end, but the end itself, and 
cannot properly be identified with pro¬ 
ductive business. I would not accuse our 
farm management authorities with at¬ 
tempts to pad the farmer’s income, al¬ 
though that is essentially what it amounts 
to. “Home is where the heart is.” so let’s 
allow it and business to function sepa¬ 
rately. 
Further, it may so happen that a farm¬ 
er is living in a $10,0u0 house located on 
a farm property valued at no more than 
the same amount. It would be an unfair 
encumbrance on the management to in¬ 
clude the investment in the house as cap¬ 
ital invested in the farm enterprise. Let’s 
hear what other readers have to say. 
Minnesota. samuel h. harvey. 
“How are the roads in this section?” 
“Fine.” replied Farmer Corntossel. 
“We’ve abolished bad roads.” “Big job, 
wasn’t it?” “Not at all. Wherever the 
going is ’specially hard we don’t call it 
a ‘road.’ We call it a ‘detour.’ ”—Wash¬ 
ington Star. 
