536 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S rAPER 
A National Weekly Journal tor Country and Suburban Home* * 
Established ff>50 
Piib v .«b«'d ltrrkly bj thr Rural Publishing Company. 333 Wost 80th Street, »tt Tork 
Herbert W. Collinowood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wh. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Koylk, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.(d. equal to 8s. Cd., or 
8!|j marks, or lo 1 * francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 81.00 per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cush must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. Hut. to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are 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 eases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must he 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. 
P RESIDENT HARDEN'D announces that one of 
tlie first things to he taken up by the new Con¬ 
gress will be what lie calls a “two-inch tariff.” That 
means a tariff containing only a few agricultural 
items, such as meat, hides, grain, eggs, dairy pro¬ 
ducts and wool. This will he passed in place of the 
“emergency tariff” which was vetoed by President 
Wilson. Farm/ers insist that agricultural products 
must he protected by a tariff. They are generally 
convinced that low prices for hides, wool, eggs and 
some other products are due to heavy imports of for¬ 
eign goods. In the case of hides and wool there 
seems no doubt that great imports of these products 
have cut the price of the American crops down to the 
lowest limit, while cloth and shoos have been kept 
at a high price. In theory free trade in hides and 
wool should have brought down thepricQs of clothing 
and shoe leather, hut in fact it lias done nothing of 
the sort. The public have been robbed through high 
prices for what they bought, while farmers have been 
nearly ruined by low prices for what they had to sell. 
We doubt if there will ho any particular argument in 
Congress over such a tariff on farm products. It will 
he promptly put. through. 
* 
HE Utica (N. Y.) Obcrvcr recently had an edi¬ 
torial pointing out the difference between the 
French peasants and the American farmer. As the 
peasants accepted daylight saving when it was thrust 
upon them, while the American farmers “kicked day¬ 
light” out of the law. the Obcrvcr seems to think the 
peasants are superior. Now comes one of our read 
ers: 
I have just written this editor, congratulating him on 
his mental penetration in making this discovery, and 
suggesting that he take up the" study of the animal 
known as the American farmer as a regular thing. I 
assured him that there were many things connected with 
this creature that are bound to be interesting to the 
average city man within the next few years, and. as a 
eit.v editor, it would be well to inform himself in ad¬ 
vance of the general herd. He may take it as an insult 
just now. but I'll bet. that if he remembers it five years 
from* now he will say 1 was right. J. g. 
We would not take the hot. It is a sure thing. Of 
ai the mental awakenings since the birth of time 
f< >.v U( i. i .'ffTore with the great surprise in store 
for many of our city men. Some of the local papers 
have si nick great surprise already. Their coun¬ 
try readers have plastered them with stamps until 
in many cases they have turned right about face on 
State or local issues and now stand for the farmer—■ 
who feeds them! 
* 
T HE Vermont Legislature has appropriated $200.- 
000 to finance a campaign for clearing the State 
of tuberculosis among cattle. This amount will he, 
given for two successive years. Vermont is one of 
the few States left in this country where dairying is 
the most important business. The prosperity of Ver¬ 
mont rests upon a milk basis—grass is her chief 
asset. That being so, the health of the dairy cows 
comes to he most important. This amount of money 
may not seem large to the millions of New York 
City, hut it will mean much to Vermont. A good 
investment. 
* 
HE R. N.-Y. will make a business of seeing that 
the rural people of New York have a full chance 
to tell just what they want in the rural schools. To 
that end we solicit short and pointed suggestions. 
Do not send long, exhaustive articles discussing the 
wrongs of our present system. Wo all realize about 
that, and of course if we are all to take a hand in it 
the article must be brief. Just what. do non want the 
rural school to be? We want that without elaborate 
argument or long personal opinion. It may require 
more thought than you now imagine to put your 
ideas into strong, concrete shape, hut try it. We 
shall stand with the majority of our rural people, as 
The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
we did on Hie old school law. because we believe that 
tiie rural people are essentially right when they can 
get together and agree. It is possible that The It. 
N.-Y. can obtain a fairer idea of public opinion in 
this matter than would naturally be given to the 
Committee of Twenty-one. We have no theories to 
promote and nothing to “put over.” We do recog¬ 
nize tlie great importance of this rural school ques¬ 
tion. We all know that while some of these schools 
are doing well, others are not efficient, and the pupils 
who attend them are not having a fair chance. That 
condition is unfair to the rural districts, and unsafe 
for the country. We want to help make it right. We 
think our rural people can get just about.what they 
will agree upon and demand. It is of the utmost 
importance that we all get together and agree upon a 
fair program. We have no thought of interfering in 
any way with the work of this committee in asking 
for opinions. Under the circumstances we think w< 
can obtain true opinions perhaps better than any 
other agency, and that is what, we are after. So toil 
us. if you will, what ire want in our rural schools. 
* 
E find a good many people of middle age or 
older who are interested in schools. Perhaps 
they have no children of their own. but they see the 
need of good schools and good training for the young. 
Some of these people regret that they are not rich, 
so that they can leave vast sums of money for edu¬ 
cation:! 1 work, as others have done. The money left 
hv the big millionaires has not been entirely a bless¬ 
ing by any means. Much of our modern system of 
education is hollow and superficial because there is 
no sacrifice about it. It feeds upon millions which 
do not represent clean and honest work. The money 
comes too easily to provide the strongest, manhood. 
The men and women of limited means who want to 
do something for education can find a great field for 
their endeavor in the country schools. Some of these 
schools need proper equipment, better teachers and a 
better spirit, and they are not likely to have any one 
unless some man or woman makes a business of sup¬ 
plying them. Here is a great field for these people 
of moderate means who want to do somethin® for 
their country. Begin right at home with the local 
school, and stay by it. for results. ‘'The Greeks arc 
at your door /” 
* 
O continue the figures showing the condition of 
agriculture on Ihe North Atlantic slope consider 
the following: 
Urban Rural Number of 
State Population Population Farms 
New York. 8,589,044 1,794,985 193.060 
New jersey. 2,482,298 573,611 29,672 
There are now in New York 22.537 less farms than 
in 1900. and 3,815 less farms in New Jersey. In 
these two States there are 11,072,242 who live in 
towns larger than 2,500 inhabitants. That means 
for each local farm nearly 35 people who produce 
practically no food whatever, in addition to about 
eight for each farm who live in smaller places. 
Remember in ail those figures that “rural” popula¬ 
tion means those people who live in towns smaller 
than 2.500. The fact, is that in these two States 
there are not. over 1.200.000 who live on farms—-or 
one for each seven of town and city. There is no 
other spot of equal size where the proportion in pop¬ 
ulation between city and farm is so great. If you 
will take the city of Trenton. N. J.. as a center and 
stretch around it a circle with a radius equal to the 
easy day's journey with a truckload of produce, you 
will cover the homes of about 12,000.000 people, the 
great majority of whom do not produce enough food 
to feed a canary bird. And inside of this circle you 
will also find some of the most productive land in the 
world—producing garden crops and fruit., and also 
giving greater yields per acre in corn, potatoes and 
wheat than any other soil in the country. Further¬ 
more. inside this circle will he found a large propor¬ 
tion of country people who can command needed 
cash or credit and possess real purchasing power 
than may he found in any other territory of like size. 
With the increase of population demanding food sure 
to come with the revival of business and the building 
of the great Hudson River tunnels, this territory 
will continue to provide the greatest food market in 
the world. 
* 
Will you send me information anent the seriousness 
and extent of the habit of automobilists in inflicting the 
losses from crops stolen from farms? I’d like these 
facts, for if they are as true as represented, there is 
no law which will compel the cessation of these rob¬ 
beries. or at least control them, as the moral law or law 
of conscience. rev. john a. m’carthy. 
F course no one can give full statistics on sued) 
a subject. All of us who live near town or city 
know the nuisance and loss from these auto robbers. 
The great majority of tourists go on about their 
April 2, 1921 
business or are willing to pay for what they take. 
The minority are hogs and thieves—no more, no less 
—and they discredit all car drivers. They begin in 
the Spring by breaking off great limbs from the fruijt 
trees, to carry away in bloom. They follow up with 
cherries, berries, peaches, apples—anything they can 
get their hands on. They will tfamp through culti¬ 
vated crops, dig nji lawns and laugh at or insuit 
women and children who may he alone at home. 
There is no question about tlie damage and the nui¬ 
sance, and in our county it is getting worse each 
year. It is true that a certain type of city man or 
woman lias come t<> regard the farmer as “chump,” 
and his farm as a place for gathering, spoils. Some 
of the specimens who come our way appear to have 
their substitute for a conscience located in their 
stomach, and they never heard of a moral law. With 
a high-power car they can easily get away before the 
sheriff or constable can lie located. Our remedy is a 
vigilance committee organized in each neighborhood. 
I.et them gather on call when these rascals are 
caught in the act, and horsewhip men or women 
thus caught in tlie old-fashioned way. 
* 
It seems .to me that the Maine Sheep and Wool Grow¬ 
ers’ Association lias put the nub on now in the shape of 
a plan, and I believe the more publicity given to it the 
better. I have just learned through the Kennebec 
County Farm Bureau News that the secretary of the 
association has been instructed to send the greater part 
of the 1920 wool pooled to a local mill for cleaning, and 
from there to two other mills in Maine to he worked 
into overcoating and suiting, for sale to members of the 
association and others. We have the independent mills 
right, here and it. looks to me like a great scheme. It 
seems to me that the different farmers’ organizations 
ought, to take hold of this, and make the distribution of 
the goods almost without cost, excepting, of course, for 
freight and express. J. L. o. 
Maine. 
AST year it was reported that a Maine fanner 
went about taking orders for woolen cloth and 
blankets. When he secured enough he went to a mill 
and contracted for the cloth, taking tlie wool from 
farmers and exchanging cloth at coat. This worked 
well, and the present larger plan seems to have de¬ 
veloped from it. We understand that Montana wool 
growers have supplied seven carloads of wool to he 
made into cloth, blankets and robes. Michigan farm¬ 
ers have placed orders for 2,000 blankets, and Illinois 
and Iowa are following. We are constantly receiving 
letters from individuals who ask where they can send 
a few pounds of wool and have it made into cloth or 
blankets. For many reasons that is not the best way 
to do it. The mills cannot handle these small lots of 
wool to advantage. Their machinery is large and 
complicated .and in order to run economically they 
must have large quantities of wool. The way to do it 
is for a large group of farmers to combine, agree 
upon the goods they want, make up a good-sized 
combined order, and then send the necessary wool. 
That plan is now being worked out in many places. 
* 
IIE hoard of directors of the Geneva, N. Y., Ex¬ 
periment Station elected Dr. Itoscoe W. Thatch¬ 
er to succeed Dr. Jordan as director. Dr. Jordan’s 
resignation goes into effect July 1. Dr. U. P. Hed¬ 
rick. who has been urged for the position, was made 
vice-director. Dr. Thatcher was born in Ohio in 
1872. He is a thoroughly trained man. regarded as 
one of tlie big men of the Central West. He is at 
present dean of the Minnesota College of Agriculture. 
He is said to he a forceful speaker and writer, and 
has spent much time in economics and research work. 
While primarily a chemist. Dr. Thatcher is big 
enough and broad enough to cover such lines of work 
as New York agriculture demands. The hoard of 
control seems to have made a good selection in thus 
bringing to the State a live, energetic Western man 
who can study our hard problems from a new angle. 
While we favored tlie selection of Dr. Hedrick, we 
think, all things considered, the hoard has acted 
wisely. A picture of Dr. Thatcher is shown on the 
next page. 
Brevities 
Farmers’ week makes farming strong. 
The place for whitewash in the dairy business is in 
the barn. 
A good rape pasture is nearly as good as clover for 
producing poik. 
We are told how. in California recently. 500 people 
from Maine got together for a “baked beaus and brown 
bread sociable.” 
“Lime fertile” is a highly praised plant food. The 
Connecticut Station says that one package costing 35 
edits contains about 2 1 4 cents’ worth of plant food. 
There are many calls for a “hen pasture.” What 
seeds should be used? This combination is good: Oats, 
Alsike. clover and Dwarf Essex rape—all seeded to¬ 
gether. 
Well, gentlemen, while the poultry-men are demand¬ 
ing a tariff on eggs from China, this Government is 
trying to develop a great market for American fruit 
among the Chinese people. Can both things he done? 
