1134 
<Xht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BVSIS ESS FARMER'S PAPER 
K National Wfflly Jouriiul fur Country and Suburban llomrn 
Enlablishfd ISiO 
l'ut>li*h«d tnokly by th» Karol I’nbiiahlnr Company, 3 JtJ! Writ 301 h Mrrrt, New York 
Herbert W. Collinowood, I’resident and Kditor. 
.lout i. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wit. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate F.ditor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, erpial to 8s. Cd., or 
HUi marks, or 10V$ francs. Itemit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 1100 per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“ A SQUARE DEAL" 
We believe that every advertisement in this pa)>er is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subseribers 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 cases should not he 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 tic 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. 
U NDER the heading “Another Recantation"’ the 
Boston J’ost prints the following: 
It is worthy of note in this region of two differing 
N< w England times that the British government has 
just decided to drop the whole “daylight saving" scheme 
sifter this Fall. 
It seems that there was before it si proposal to make 
the plan permanent; hut this sit once aroused so great 
and so effective an opposition that the government made 
up its mind to ditch the thing entirely, and next year 
British time will go back to “normalcy.” 
With this latest recantation on the part of a great 
government, with France silso dropping it. and with 
only a fringe of the United States still clinging to its 
ragged edge, it is pretty safe to predict that we have 
seen nearly the last of this anomaly of war time. 
Wo had not scon this announcement, hut we are 
not surprised. We cannot see that “daylight sav¬ 
ing," after a fair trial, has added anything to na¬ 
tional efficiency. It has, no doubt, proved a pleasant 
thing for some city people. Perhaps the habit of 
early rising lias now become fixed with them. no that 
they will not require the strong arm of the law to 
pnll them out of bed. If they have acquired this 
habit they never will know whether (here is any day¬ 
light saving law or not. 
* 
EVERAL readers on Long Island complain that 
(lie State police are stopping farmers who drive 
large trucks, measuring flic wheels and weighing 
Hie load. What right have they to do this? 
Section 282-a of flie motor vehicle law. reads as 
follows: 
Auto Trucks and Trailers in Excess of Certain 
Weights, Heights and Widths.—Aftr*r this section takes 
effect no person shall operate or drive on the public 
highways of the State outside of cities an auto truck 
or trailer having the width of body, inclusive of load, of 
more than S ft., a height from pavement to top of 
vehicle or load of more than 12 ft. 0 in., nor having a 
combined weighr of truck and load or of trailer and 
load of more than 25.000 lbs., the load to he so dis¬ 
tributed that there shall not be more than S00 lbs. per 
inch in width of tire on any one wheel; provided, how¬ 
ever, that racks for carrying empty barrels, baskets and 
boxes, and for carrying hay. straw and unthrashed 
grain, may have a width of not to exceed S ft. itt the 
bi.se of the rack and 12 ft. at the top. The width of 
rubber tires, for the purpose of this section, shall he 
ascertained by measuring width of the tire base channel 
or between the flanges of the metal rim. 
The object of this section is to help preserve our 
roads. There is no doubt that these roads are badly 
smashed and torn by heavy loads on narrow wheels. 
It is not likely that many farm loads would cause 
this damage, hut so long as nil classes of truck 
drivers are treated alike, this rule is not unfair. If 
you can refer us to any cases where farmers have 
not been reasonably treated we will do our best to 
make it right. 
* 
HIS question of tax-free securities has come to 
lie a great national problem. It is said that 
there are now over $1 (5,000,000,(MX) worth of securi¬ 
ties on which little or no taxes arc paid. They are 
chiefly municipal bonds issued by cities and towns 
for improvement purposes. Of course the Federal 
Land Bank bonds are also exempt. The investment 
of these vast sums of money in such securities means 
injustice and trouble. Business men or men with 
large capital have been withdrawing their money 
from manufacturing or business enterprises and in¬ 
vesting it so that they will escape the income tax. 
entirely or in part. Some of them give as a reason 
for doing this the troubles with organized labor and 
the injustice of some features of the income tax 
law. Many a manufacturer feels that lie is no 
longer the master of his own bus'ness, and that lie 
would better give it up and invest bis capital where 
the public, or at lo<ist the tax-paving public, will 
provide him with an income. There can be no doubt 
that this feeling is partly responsible for the present 
slow recovery of business, for much capital which 
should have been invested in working enterprises 
lias been put into these exempt, securities. Then 
there are people who seek to hide their income and 
its sources as far as possible. They can best do that 
through these investments. This explains why there 
lias been a rush to purchase municipal bonds while, 
in most cases, farm loans have been impossible. Ho 
into Hie hanks in any rural town and ask advice 
about investments, and you will generally be advised 
to buy 0 per cent bonds for building sewers, school 
houses or similar improvements in some town or 
city, while straight farm loans are neglected. The 
result of this is that before long about. 50 per cent 
of the property holders in the country will be ex¬ 
pected to pay nil the expenses of government. The 
system also gives the town and city a great advan¬ 
tage over the country. Through the sale of bonds 
these communities are able to make their life so at¬ 
tractive that more and more of the young people are 
drawn away from the country. All this increases the 
rental value of city-owned property, and increases 
the advantage of the city over the town. One mo¬ 
ment’s thought should show any serious-minded per. 
son what all this will lead to if the system is not 
changed. There is only one form of relief that we 
can see, and that is to prohibit the tax exempt fea¬ 
ture entirely. Make oil forms of investment pay 
just and reasonable taxes. Cut out all special priv¬ 
ilege and make these billions now untaxed pay their 
just share. 
* 
n\NE(’TI(TT has a new scheme for providing 
money for road repair. This is a new State 
tax of one cent a gallon on all gasoline brought into 
the State, the proceeds to be applied for road pur¬ 
poses. This will provide a considerable sum. but of 
course the tax is passed along to the consumer. Driv¬ 
ing through Connecticut the other day we saw many 
signs, “(las 20 cents and tlie State tax.” The owner 
of the car or truck will pay it, and the usual argu¬ 
ment is that lie should be expected to do so. lie 
enjoys the privileges of the road and complains if 
the roadbed is rough. Money is required to keep 
the roadbed in good condition. Why should not the 
car driver pay his share? The State officials say 
that this tax is one of the easiest to collect and one 
of the surest to provide funds. And it certainly is 
passed right along to the consumer. 
tk 
HE latest news from our ox express passengers, 
Mr. and Mrs. .T. C. Berrang, shows that they 
reached Cumberland. Maryland, August 22. They 
seem to have picked up another couple who will 
accompany thorn to the Pacific Coast. They are 
making slow progress, but why hurry? Not long 
since we drove over 200 miles in one day—rushing 
over the roads with hardly a glimpse of the country. 
We “got there,” but. the Berrangs with their daily 
trip of about 10 miles have far more of the satis¬ 
factions of life. Our friends are happy and hopeful. 
They will pass on down through Ohio and strike Hie 
old Santa Fe trail. To ns there is something very 
tine about the spirit of this gray-haired couple— 
people with grown-up children—jogging on so hap¬ 
pily toward the setting sun—as fast its tlie oxen can 
cany them. Ho not be offended if we say that we 
wonder if you are on such beautiful terms with your 
wife that “just the two of you" could make such a 
trip and be satisfied! It would be a fine test of 
character for both of you if such u trip were possible. 
* 
S we expected, (lie “vitamine” lias now been 
commercialized. Many drugstores are now 
selling bottles and package's of stuff said to contain 
these food principles. Organized dairymen missed 
ar. opportunity when they did not make a strong 
effort at advertising milk just as soon as these vita- 
mines were brought to attention. That would have 
firmly identified them with milk, for that is the best 
f< rm in which (hey can be supplied. We would pay 
no atfention to the commercial product whenever it 
j> possible to buy milk. 
# 
A LL throughout New England the high freight 
rates seem to have been an indirect benefit to 
many farmers. Where (be roads are good motor 
trucks are being used more, and produce is now 
curried for long distances by private conveyance, 
'flic increased freight rates make prices on food 
1 nought from the West higher, and this helps to 
raise local prices. As part of the effect, of all this 
the production of certain crops will increase, so 
that in (ime (lie New England States will be nearer 
self-supporting than at any time during the past 25 
years. The same thing will be true, to some extent, 
of Eastern New York and New Jersey. We think 
Hie production of corn and small grain will he 
greatly increased. Barley, wheat, buckwheat and 
oats can all be grown to advantage in New England. 
September 17, 1921 
This grain will he useful chiefly for feeding to 
poultry, and there is no great need of thrashing it, 
foi the hens can do that with advantage to them¬ 
selves. The general use of Ilubam clover in con¬ 
nection with grain raising will do great things for 
Eastern farming. In fact, it is true now, as never 
before, that a good farm on the upper Atlantic slope 
presents today the best opportunity in American 
farming. There is no question about the opportunity 
— the trouble is that too many young people have 
been educated away from farm life. 
r*' 
HE Agricultural Department icports increased 
sales of grass and clover seeds. This seems to 
indicate an increase of sod or hay and pasture crops. 
During the war it is true that many acres of meadow 
and pasture were plowed and planted to corn, pota¬ 
toes or other crops which do well on sod land. In 
nearly every community such fields were to be seen. 
With the fall in farm prices and the great expense 
<>f operation many of these fields have now been 
given up for cultivated crops. They are going back 
to sod, meadow, pasture, or in some cases left to 
grow up to wild grass and weeds. There they will 
stay until conditions and prices improve so that it 
will pay to work such land once more. Land in sod 
is not idle, though it may not earn as much jis when 
it. is planted to cultivated crops. It, is much better 
to seed it. to grass Jind clover rather than to let it 
alone. Much the same thing is true of England. 
'Die opening of the war found a great proportion 
of English soil in sod, low prices for grain being 
responsible for it. During the war much of this sod 
was plowed and planted to grain and potatoes, and 
now the English farmers are trying to keep it in cul¬ 
tivation. 
* 
AST year we spoke of a variety of potato which 
seemed to be blight-proof or nearly so. We 
secured a small lot of these potatoes from an un¬ 
known friend. Planted in the usual way, they out¬ 
lived all other varieties on the farm. This year we 
determined to give them a hard test. We have a 
Piece of ground which seems ideal as a blight trap. 
It is shaded and so situated that there is little circu¬ 
it* Bon of air. It has been an ideal season for blight, 
with much rjiin and hot, scalding weather. The 
vines have not been dusted or sprayed, yet today they 
are still green and vigorous, while every other va¬ 
riety on Hie farm shows evidence of blight, most of 
them being practically killed. The scientists seem 
to agree there can be no such thing as a blight-proof 
variety. Our experience this year seems good evi¬ 
dence tlmt some varieties sire more immune than 
others. Just, why this variety should stand up and 
fight off Hie blight while others fall down and “take 
Hie count” is beyond our comprehension. But it lias 
certainly done so thus far. 
* 
T^OR Hit- past few years Tiie R. N.-Y. has talked 
A about utilizing apple pomace for feeding. For 
many years this product of cider mills was dumped 
out in some back field to rot and foul the air for 
many rods around it. Tt. is equal in feeding value to 
silage, and lias been a great, economic waste in its 
handling. It should be dried or “evaporated” and 
us(*d for feed, for it. is as useful in its way as dried 
beet pulp. We have kept at this idea for some 
years; now it seems likely to be worked out. The 
United States Bureau of Chemistry has fed this 
dried pomace to cows, testing it, against corn silage. 
The dried pomace was soaked in water before feed¬ 
ing. about three times its weight of water being 
used. It was found Hint Hie dried pomace fed in 
this way was fully equal, pound for pound, to the 
corn silage as a milk producer. Naturally the fresh 
pomace would he better, but drying if will permit 
shipment anywhere the same as with beet pulp. 
We think this opens the way for a new and very 
valuable local feed for Eastern farmers. II ought 
to be promptly utilized. It is as important in its 
way as would be the discovery of rich deposits of 
phosphate rock in New York State. 
Brevities 
The roadside stands in Rhode Island make a feature 
of offering cider. We do not see anything like this any¬ 
where else. 
Pennsylvania reports cases where children were 
poisoned by handling blooms of the trumpet vine, Tccomo 
roil irons. Children should be taught not to handle or 
eat strange flowers or berries. 
Some farmers must stand Jit the straw pile and face a 
cloud of black smut from the oats. It’s bad, but why 
not make a resolution never to do it again? How pre¬ 
vent it? Treat the seed oats with formalin next year. 
THERE have been some complaints of dodder in the 
clover or Alfalfa. This plant is a parasite which twines 
around the clover plants and kills them. If there are 
patches of it here and there in the field the most sensible 
treatment is to mow these patches, let the plants dry 
end then burn them thoroughly. 
