56 
January 12, 1924 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established 1850 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company. 838 West 30th Street, New fork 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
L. H. Murphy, Circulation Manager.__ 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04. 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 
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¬ 
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 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 cases 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 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. 
You have noted we are again in revolution here, but 
that does not matter much, as one gets used to it. Our 
trouble is to get The R. N.-Y. regularly. Latterly I 
have lost but few numbers; before, many. Father took 
The R. N.-Y. when it was Moore’s Rural New-York¬ 
er 50 years ago. L. E. benton. 
Mexico. 
Y OU see our Mexican readers come to regard a 
revolution as a very common part of evolution. 
But the world goes wrong when they fail to get the 
old paper which father used to take. 
5k 
I read your “baek-to-the-land” stories with interest, 
sympathy or amusement, as the case impels. I am one 
myself, a real genuine back-to-the-lander. I served 
through the World War, have lived a life of adventure, 
but never, in varied and dangerous experiences, have I 
found so much hardship, need of endurance and courage 
as in the training and conquering of our 10 acres of 
apple orchard. G - s - G - 
Connecticut. 
HIS man ought to know, and thousands of others 
who have been over the road will say “Amen!” 
to his statement. The average city man will eat a 
mellow apple and growl at the price, or claim that 
the grower must be getting rich, but he cannot un¬ 
derstand what that apple means to the man back on 
the hillside who picked it from the tree. The little 
tree, cut back to a mere stick, was planted in rough 
ground, and from the moment that the soil was 
stamped around it, a fierce, relentless battle began. 
Rabbits, mice, borers, scale, worms, frost, blight, 
drought, pests of all sorts attacked it, and through 
the long years the farmer fought them off and put 
up a desperate battle for the tree. It was a long 
period, stuffed full of adventure and fight, but when 
at last the trees responded, burst into bloom, and 
the fighter saw the crop slowly develop through the 
Summer until the great crimson globes hung in the 
Autumn sunshine—well, it is hard to conceive of a 
finer feeling of victory after the long struggle. 
Would that our complacent city people could realize 
what this beautiful fruit stands for. 
sk 
“No requirements for entrance are made excepting 
ability to read and write, a good character, and a real 
desire to learn.” 
HAT is part of the announcement made by the 
State Institute of Applied Agriculture at Farrn- 
ingdale, Long Island. There has been some criticism 
from people who say they cannot find a place to 
study agriculture without showing a certificate from 
some high school. They can get eight weeks of good 
schooling at Farmingdale by showing evidence of 
good character; they should carry that certificate 
printed on their face. Farmingdale is a good insti¬ 
tution, well located for busy people who want to 
know something of real value about agriculture. The 
new director, Prof. H. B. Knapp, is one of the ablest 
men in the profession, and he will make the school a 
useful spot on the map of Long Island. There are 
many men and women near the big city who expect 
to live in the country some day. Some of them al¬ 
ready own land. They have got to know how to 
spray, how to handle a hen, how to put a tractor to¬ 
gether, and dozens of other things which the modern 
farmer must know. They cannot learn all these 
things in eight weeks, but they can get the founda¬ 
tion facts at Farmingdale. 
* 
What do these school men, as you call them, have to 
sav to that letter from Gov. Smith about consolidation? 
J J. S. B. 
W ELL, you may read the article by Prof. Howe 
on page 39. We have talked with several 
of them, and they say the Governor did not under¬ 
stand. He must have misunderstood. We repeated 
that opinion to a very practical friend of the Gov¬ 
ernor, and here is his comment; 
qbt RURAL NEW-YORKER 
“7/ any man can fool Al Smith about a bill and 
make him misunderstand, I'll tell the world that he 
is a wise guy.” 
We have an idea that this man is right. Perhaps 
we do not quite understand what “a wise guy” is. 
but it looks to us as if some of these gentlemen back 
of the school bill are wise at least. Whether they 
are “guj 7 s” or not may be a matter of opinion. They 
evidently made Gov. Smith believe that the bill 
which passed the Senate was what he calls a consoli¬ 
dation bill. He is said to favor closing every one- 
room school in the State. Thus it looks as if the 
backers of the bill attempted to take advantage of 
an abnormal situation at Albany and rush through a 
bill which they knew would be offensive to farmers. 
They may be “wise guys” or not. We do pot know, 
but at any rate it was a very pretty political scheme 
which went wrong. 
* 
I N one New Jersey county a proposition to tax 
roadside markets has been made. The claim is 
made that hucksters set up these stands—either 
squatting on the land or renting a place. They buy 
goods on the wholesale market and disguise them¬ 
selves as farmers. They work off poor quality goods, 
and as they have no permanent interest in the place 
usually give the business a poor reputation. They 
pay no taxes and compete with producers whose 
taxes are heavy. There is no fair reason why such 
fellows should be permitted to do business in this 
way. A farmer should have the right to sell his 
own products freely, but these shysters should be 
taxed when they try to pose as farmers. In New 
Jersey this is a matter for the local town govern¬ 
ment to handle. Make the shyster pay his share of 
taxes. 
T HE soldier’s case for “adjusted compensation” is 
presented by Mr. Johnson on page 52. He 
thinks the term “bonus” is an insult, and we presume 
that this brief and concise article states the case as 
most soldiers see it. We do not favor a bonus or a 
compensation, or whatever you call it, at this time. 
Yet we want our readers to understand what it 
means. Let us have all sides—top and bottom. That 
is why we print this clear statement of the soldiers’ 
point of view. It is not what we call an unselfish or 
patriotic view of the case. One of our boys volun¬ 
teered for the navy and another for the army, and 
we are frank to say that we should feel ashamed to 
have them take such a position. They went into the 
war because they felt it was their duty; they had no 
mercenary object in view. We think every man 
should feel that his country has first claim upon him 
in time of peril or need. The idea of a republic be¬ 
ing represented by mercenary soldiers who stop to 
measure their duty to the nation in dollars and 
cents does not appeal to us, and we decline to stand 
for such a doctrine in our own family. Those who 
suffered physically and have been left unable to earn 
a fair living should be made comfortable at public 
expense, but we have no sympathy with the theory 
that able-bodied men should be provided for. 
?k 
I am glad that The R. N.-Y. has been so pronounced 
in its endeavor to call the attention of rural people to 
the true meaning of the school bill. The resulting dis¬ 
cussion has done more to awaken an interest in these 
rural school problems than anything that has ever oe 
cur red before along that line. In our school this is 
very pronounced. Things are being done ; the attend¬ 
ance at flag day and Christmas exercises was the largest 
and best ever. This school and the conntry church 
close by are the community centers of this locality. 
Rush, N. Y. H. E. C. 
UCH the same report comes from many other 
school districts. The discussion over the pro¬ 
posed bill has in many cases created a genuine inter¬ 
est in school matters. Something never seen before 
—and it will lead to far greater interest and action 
if wisely handled. Instead of cursing The R. N.-Y. 
for its course in this matter, the friends of school 
improvement ought to thank us for developing an 
interest in the question. They certainly have not 
been able to do it unaided. 
* 
I T seems impossible to make clear this matter of 
paying tuition for pupils who go to high school in 
a neighboring town of New York when the local 
school does not provide the advanced course. The 
State pays $50 toward such tuition, but in one case 
the town authorities charge over $100 for each 
pupil. The controversy comes up between the par¬ 
ents of these high school children and the voters in 
the district as to who shall pay the excess charge. 
The law in the case may be briefly stated as follows: 
Section 493 of the education law provides that the 
tuition charged in excess of the State tuition is a 
;-harge upon the district from which such non-resident 
pupil attends, subject to the right of the district to des¬ 
ignate the school where instruction shall be given, but 
such designation of such school shall be made at the 
annual meeting. The duty of providing for the tuition 
of academic pupils is now extended to all pupils under 
the age of 21 years. 
* 
S HOULD reformers be expected to practice their 
own preaching? That is a pertinent question 
right now when the atmosphere is so full of sound 
waves of advice that the raidophones are melting 
in hot air. Some of the reformers talk because they 
feel that they must do so in order to hold their 
jbbs. Others prefer talking to working. This in¬ 
creasing army includes educators, statesmen, or¬ 
ganizers, advisors and bunk dealers, and for some 
(reason hard; to understand, their great volume 
of Avind is directed almost entirely at farmers. Now 
we must have reformers and leaders. The history 
of the world shoAvs that. Preaching always precedes 
progress. But should preaching and practice go to¬ 
gether? The private life of the reformer ought to 
be an index of his larger work for the public. Should 
not the great educator be able to show super¬ 
children of his own in order to prove his theories? 
Should not the man who advocates farm organiza¬ 
tion on a large scale be able to show that he has the 
full confidence of his neighbors and friends so that 
they will combine with him to form a strong unit? 
Should not the man Avho advocates easy and large 
government loans to farmers prove that he, to his 
limited capacity, has loaned to farmers poorer than 
himself? That is what we Avould call practice by 
a reformer. We are well aware that if rules cover¬ 
ing such ideas were fully enforced the great army 
of uplifters would be reduced to a mere skeleton— 
but Avould not the bones of practice be about as use¬ 
ful as the full flesh of preaching? 
* 
W E do not hear much now about the Torrens 
system of registering land titles. Not long 
ago we had occasion to transfer a piece of real estate 
in Western Canada, and we expected endless trouble 
and expense from lawyers and guaranty title com¬ 
panies. To our surprise, it was the simplest pro¬ 
ceeding possible. We were merely asked to produce 
the certificate of title. This certificate guaranteed 
our right to the property, for it meant a registration 
of title as well as of the deed. The government had 
made the original search, and this certificate iden¬ 
tified it. It was not necessary to make any expen¬ 
sive search of the records, or correct some hair¬ 
splitting “errors” Avhieli some guaranty company 
could discover. We merely produced our certificate, 
and that was all. The plan was safe, rapid, sure 
and inexpensive. In some of the 'States efforts have 
been made to introduce this system. Usually when 
laws are passed the lawyers are able to nullify most 
of the promised benefits by making the law optional. 
At first thought this seems fair enough, but in prac¬ 
tice the money-lenders make good use of it, for they 
can refuse to lend money or give a note or mortgage 
unless the borrower agrees not to take advantage of 
the law. The object of this evidently is to compel 
the borrower to pay all the little fees which go with 
the old system of holding or registering property. 
The Torrens system, with its permanent certificate, 
would save much of this expense, and practically all 
of the money goes to the lender. Unless the law is 
made mandatory it will give only partial relief. 
Brevities 
Coal ashes for mulching around fruit trees. 
The Ohio Experiment Station finds that when the 
soil is mounded too high around fruit trees it may at¬ 
tract mice rather than repel them. 
If you have a chance to buy a quantity of wood ashes 
or other fertilizing substance it will pay to have a fair 
analysis made. Then you know what you are buying. 
The worst thing you can do for a boy is to try to push 
him through college when he is not fit to go. Even if 
he gains a piece of sheepskin it will not make him a 
man—more likely a goat. 
Of course you realize that years do not always bring 
maturity to men and women. One of the hardest of 
family tragedies is based on the fact that children may 
mature before their parents. 
Try it and see how young pigs respond to a feeding 
of clover or Alfalfa leaves in Winter. It is because the 
leaves furnish vitamines which the Summer-fed pigs 
obtain from green grass or clover. 
There can be no good school Avithout the co-operation 
of the home. There can be no good home without sac¬ 
rifice on the part of parents. There will be no sacrifice 
without the highest ideals. The Legislature- cannot 
make good schools without the aid of home and parents. 
Over and over we find cases w T here a man wanted to 
leave his wife comfortably off after his death. He made 
no will, having a hazy sort of idea that his property 
would pass automatically to his wife. He dies sud¬ 
denly, and the wife’s legal share is too small to provide 
for her. Make a definite will. That’s the safe Avay. 
