384 
The Rural New-Yorker 
tub BVSIFES8 FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country unci Suburban lloniew 
Establish'd, i960 
Published weekly by (lie Rural Pnbliihlnr Company, 333 We«t 30 tli Street, New York 
Herbert W. Colunowood, President anil Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wh F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. K. T. Royi.e, Associate Eilitor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $ 2 . 04 , equal to 8s. 6d. ( or 
8>4 marks, or 10Wj francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or hank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, * 1.00 per agate line—T 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- 
Blble i>erson. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, wo will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by truUing any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisera or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We aro 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 coses should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not bo 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by 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. 
We believe there has never been printed in this 
country, or in any other country, a paper or maga¬ 
zine containing more serious, practical, timely and 
original matter on horticultural topics than is to be 
found in this issue of The Rural New-Yorker, 
* 
HE New York Assembly passed the daylight sav¬ 
ing repea 1 by a vote of 70 to 60. There is new 
opposition in the Senate, but the bill is likely to 
pa ss. We have word from New Jersey that the 
Senate of that State will kill the bill recently intro¬ 
duced. In Massachusetts there is a desperate light, 
with the chances at this time favoring daylight sav¬ 
ing. The other New England States and Pennsyl¬ 
vania seem to he opposed. 
* 
1TR old friend Clark Allis deserves well of New 
York fruit growers. We think he has one of 
the biggest ideas in the business. He is working to 
make pasteurized apple juice the great American 
drink. We consider this juice superior to grape- 
juice. Its general use would create such a demand 
that a profitable market could be found for every 
apple. Only tbe better class fruit need then be sold 
for eating purposes; all lower grades of clean apples 
could be used for juice. This would steady the mar¬ 
ket, help to standardize our Eastern apples, and 
greatly increase the income from orchards, and the 
public would also be well served. At present Amer¬ 
icans spend half a billion dollars each year for “soft 
drinks” which, as we have frequently stated, are 
plain water colored and flavored, mostly with chem¬ 
icals. They cannot possibly compare with pure 
apple juice in value. The use of half of this "soft 
drink” money for buying pure fruit juices would be 
one of the most useful changes in social habits that 
can be imagined for American society. We have got 
to leach the American people to drink apples. Mr. 
A l lis is doing good work when he insists that the pure 
pasteurized juice is best. We do not want “cider” 
drugged with preservatives. If all will take hold of 
the pure juice proposition we can put it over. 
* 
HE Committee of Twenty-one” is the name 
given the body of men and women who &rein¬ 
vestigating the rural school problem. A majority of 
these men and women are farmers, or at least know 
farm life. We think they will do their best, to get 
down to facts. There is some prejudice against this 
committee. Many farmers are suspicious, and fear 
that the committee will be finally dominated by the 
Influences avJi i<*1 i flow out from the State Educational 
Department. The Albany officials have succeeded in 
convincing many fanners that the States policy is 
not sympathetic toward the rural school, as such. 
These farmers feci that Albany desires to force the 
methods of the town and city schools upon ilie coun¬ 
try whether they lit or not. We might as well face 
the situation and admit that tbe State Department of 
Education has not. gained tbe confidence of a large 
number of our farmers. As for the Committee of 
Twenty-one, we favor giving them a square deal 
and every chance they need to investigate. Their 
report, whatever it may be, will not be a new law, 
but a suggestion, which we can all discuss. At pres¬ 
ent we have nothing definite up for discussion. The 
committee’s report will lie a definite issue which we 
can support or oppose, as seems best. W e favor re¬ 
serving criticism until the committee goes on record. 
Hive them a chance. 
* 
RE you reading any of those letters which the 
children are writing to Mr. Tuttle’s Boys’ and 
Girls’ department? If not, it will pay you to do so. 
Many of them are remarkable for their earnestness 
and plain common sense. These letters show that 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
country children (or at least many of them) are 
developing as they should, and preparing to take 
their share of responsibility when they grow up. 
That Boys’ and Girls’ department has become one 
of the most popular features of the paper—largely 
so because the children really conduct it themselves 
in the simplest and easiest manner. 
* 
HAT is the plain truth about fruit growing on 
the Upper Atlantic slope? The time has come 
for us to ask that question and examine the facts 
squarely. All through New England, New York, 
New Jersey and nearby sections it would seem that 
the production of good fruit is the logical business 
for all suitable land. The greatest markets of the 
world are to be found in this territory, and also the 
best ports for handling export trade. The produc¬ 
tion of perishable, short-lived fruits, like peach and 
plum, is always more or less of a gamble. It is not 
a permanent industry in the sense that a good apple 
orchard may be called such. We shall therefore 
consider the probable future of apple culture in this 
section. 
There are without question some discouraging 
things about the outlook. The last crop did not, on 
the whole, pay. There were too many apples for the 
markets as now organized to absorb. Millions of 
bushels were wasted, or not even picked. They could 
not have been sold (with our present system of dis¬ 
tribution) for enough to pay for the labor cost. In 
the face of this apparent over-production we must 
remember that millions of new trees are shortly to 
come into bearing. They are mostly in the bands of 
men who will give them good care, so that produc¬ 
tion is likely to be Increased. The labor problem 
has been particularly hard for the fruit growers. 
Competition in our markets from Western apple 
growers will surely increase. 
These,things are true, and if we considered them 
alone the outlook might, seem black indeed. There is 
another and more favorable side. The slump in this 
year's market was not due to over-production en¬ 
tirely, but chiefly to poor distribution. While apples 
were wasted in tbe orchards, people in cities 100 
miles away barely had an apple to eat. Many city 
people average less than it dozen apples a year, when 
they would gladly eat 250. Our Eastern markets 
can absorb three times this season’s crop, and will 
do so when distribution is made right. For every 10 
young trees that are planted less than three will 
ever come to profitable bearing, and thousands of 
older trees, unsprayed and uncared for, will die each 
year. Many orchards have been planted on unsuit¬ 
able soil. They will never live to give serious com¬ 
petition. There is to be a tremendous increase in 
thfypconsumption of pure apple juice. We think it 
will become tbe great national drink inside of 10 
years, and its production will utilize most of the 
lower grade apples, and thus keep them off the mar¬ 
ket. We shall learn to standardize our fruit and 
perfect a system of distribution that will take care 
of our markets. Freight rates from the West are to 
increase. There will proha lily be some shipments 
by water, but tbe high cost of bringing fruit here 
will ever give an advantage to the Eastern grower. 
The best varieties for export or for American use 
are those which find themselves at home on the 
upper Atlantic hills. We believe that the labor ques¬ 
tion will grow easier, particularly for fruit growers 
who can handle their work as business men. 
We do not therefore view the future with great 
apprehension. Our growers have every natural ad¬ 
vantage—soil, climate, varieties, transportation and 
markets. Our disadvantages are those imposed, not 
by nature, but by man himself through his inability 
to combine and take full advantage of co-operative 
work. Is there any reason why our Eastern growers 
should not come together as the Pacific coast men 
have done? We cannot conceive of any reason for 
answering no. If that is the truth, the future of 
Eastern fruit growing must depend upon the men 
who are back of the orchards. If they do their full 
part we cannot think of any line of farm work in 
this country that offers a brighter outlook. 
* 
HE surest thing in horticulture today is the 
“come-back” in the culture of small fruits. Dur¬ 
ing the war many gardeners abandoned the culture 
of strawberries and bush fruits. These crops require 
too much hand labor, and that could not be found. 
>So strawberries were plowed up and bush fruits cut 
out. Scarcity followed, and prices went soaring. 
Many who stayed in to the limit of their labor made 
money. Now the labor situation is settling down, 
and we think it a good time to get back into small 
fruit culture. We are past tbe period of extreme 
high prices for any farm product, yet it is reasonable 
March 5, 1921 
to conclude that for several years at least small 
fruits will pay. When we say this we mean reason¬ 
able culture. There is no sense in “plunging” over 
novelties or into any sort of fruit. We have no 
advice to offer to plant gamblers, but to sober men 
who know 7 how to do the work our advice is to get 
back into small fruit culture. 
* 
OR a good many years now Prof. Hedrick has 
been reporting new 7 and well-tested fruit nov¬ 
elties in the annual Horticultural Number. He con¬ 
tinues tbe list this year. There are not many “nov¬ 
elties” w r hich survive the test of time. The fact is 
that there are now so many really superior fruits 
that a new one must be exceptionally good in order 
to survive. Thus while thousands of new seedlings 
are started out, most of them fall by the wayside— 
and are not missed. In former years each planting 
season found some “wonderful” production well 
groomed for a run with the planter’s money. These 
days are now mostly ended. Startling “novelties” 
are still offered, but mostly by personal agents. As 
a rule they are kept out of print. There is a sort of 
pleasure in testing the “novelties,” in a small way, 
as they appear, but most of us have come to size 
them up for just what they are—something to ex¬ 
periment with. The man who is raising fruit as a 
business will stick to standard varieties until the- 
new ones work into the standard class through 
superior qualities. We are told of a man who, when 
the J. II. Hale peach was first announced, “plunged” 
to the extent, of 1,500 trees at about. $1 a tree. When 
the trees came into bearing the variety proved in¬ 
ferior to Elberta—trees of which cost 15 cents. 
* 
My answer to your question on page 286, “What 
shall these elderly men do with themselves when their 
days for hard work are over, and they have gained a 
competence?” is that they take up breeding experiments 
with animal or plant life.. Their life work has given 
them a working knowledge and love of such things. The 
labor may be readily adapted to their limited capacity. 
The variety for choice is large, and that branch may he 
chosen which i's most liked, whether plants or animals, 
fruits, flowers, vegetables, poultry, dogs or birds. It is 
occupation for the contemplative man, splendid prizes 
and perhaps lasting fame may be won, and additions 
mode to tbe wealth of man. w. e. iieming. 
O question about it. When a man permits him¬ 
self to rust out he dies a long and lingering 
death, and also puts his share of rust upon the 
springs of the world. Some form of horticulture 
offers the finest line of endeavor for elderly men, 
when they retire from harder service. One of Na¬ 
poleon's marshals would long ago have been forgot¬ 
ten had his fame rested upon his battles alone, but 
the Jacquemiot rose will keep his memory fresli and 
fragrant forever. Horticulture was the chief busi¬ 
ness in the Garden of Eden, and it still affords op¬ 
portunity as a battle for youth and a refuge for age. 
* 
T becomes more evident all the time that farmers 
and gardeners on the upper Atlantic slope are 
tu have new advantages in the future. Railroad 
service is bad, and freight rates are reaching the 
point where it. is almost a financial crime to ship 
produce by rail. There seems to be little hope that 
these rates will come down. They will, in a way, 
net like a tariff to “protect” the farmers and gar¬ 
deners of New York and New Jersey. In some cases 
Western growers will he forced to abandon ship¬ 
ments to the Atlantic coast; in others, the in¬ 
crease of freight will add to the cost of market¬ 
ing, and thus add to the final price. All this will 
benefit the farmers near the large markets who can 
deliver their crops with trucks, independent of the 
railroads. We think this advantage will be greater 
than most people imagine. It will help to make this 
northeastern part of the country the most prosperous 
farming section in the United States. 
Brevities 
The proposed tariff on lumber is unpopular. 
'Pub grafter must be as smooth as wax to work his 
graft. 
The wind is tempered to tbe shorn lambs that bunch 
together for protection. 
A use for old shoes. Burn them and use the smoke 
for cleaning clothes carrying the scent of a skunk. 
In Brigham Co., Idaho, the Farm Bureau member¬ 
ship has been put at $25. The first county to reach that 
figure. 
Just as we thought Winter had passed on a blizzard 
came out of tbe West and heaped the snow all over us. 
It promises to be there for weeks. 
We did not realize how completely the cars had 
driven the horses out of our country until this blizzard 
struck us. It was hard to find horses strong enough to 
clear the roads. 
