516 
March 22, 1924 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal lor Country and Suburban Homes 
Established iszo 
Published weekly by the Ktiral Publishing Company. 333 West 30th Street, New York 
HehbeRT W. COLI. 1 NGV.OOI), 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, 82.04. 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 ad vertising 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 Thk Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
T HE bill designed to reduce income taxes in New 
York State by 25 per cent has passed the Legis¬ 
lature and been signed by Governor Smith, and thus 
1 ecoines a law. State income taxpayers will de¬ 
duct one-fourth of the total of their tax bill—figured 
under the last year’s schedules. This deduction is 
welcomed by all who have an income large enough 
to demand a tax, but it does not give much relief 
to farmers. Many of them during the past year 
have had little if any net income, and of course 
this deduction does not benefit them. While the 
State is reducing its income from this tax, expenses 
local, county and State—are piling up. Assessors, 
supervisors, judges, officials of all sorts are demand¬ 
ing increased pay or getting ready to do so. The 
end of all this has got to come sooner or later. 
There must he an adjustment of taxation, but a 
reduction in public expenses is more necessary. And 
we must all begin at home instead of reaching out 
to curtail in other places while we keep up our own 
pet expenses. 
jjs 
S PRING wheat in New York State? The Ques¬ 
tion comes chiefly from poultrymen—many of 
whom have been frightened by the low figure on 
eggs into hunting for lower priced grain. Most va¬ 
rieties of Spring wheat are poorly adapted to this 
section. The wheat will usually grow and make a 
fair yield, but will probably cost more per bushel (if 
you count in labor) than what you would pay for 
Western wheat. We think beardless barley would 
be more profitable than Spring wheat. It will give 
a heavier yield, and the feeding value is about 
equal. Poultry will usually eat barley well. Some 
hen men seem to think that their birds cannot live 
and thrive without wheat. There were some who 
felt much the same about white bread before the 
war. They found themselves in better health when 
forced to live on “war bread,” and would be far 
better off today if they had kept up their war diet. 
* 
W HEN our public roads were first laid out 
through the woods and across the fields they 
were used almost entirely by foot passengers. W hat 
would old-timers have thought could they have 
known that in this year 1924 there would come a de¬ 
mand that foot passengers take out a license and 
show a light when walking the roads at night! Yet 
that is the latest insistence. It comes from car 
drivers who have barely escaped accident or death. 
They say that pedestrians will walk directly in the 
middle of the road on dark nights with no warning 
lantern or other light. Sometimes the lights on a 
car are dimmed and, almost without warning, one 
of these walkers looms up directly in front. Many a 
car has been ditched in the efforts of the dri\ ei to 
dodge out of the way. In some parts of the country 
this situation, has come to be serious. Now, as a 
matter of human rights, the poorest man who walks 
barefooted in the dust has as much right to the 
highway as the driver of a $10,000 car, but aftei 
dark, at night, seems like a very poor time to assert 
that right. As a matter of plain common sense it 
would seem as if the pedestrian should keep at the 
side of the road. The walking is usually better 
there anyway. 
❖ 
If a son 17 years of age leaves his home, what steps 
must the father take in order that he shall not be liable 
to any expenses or bills contracted by t he son. This 
in the State of Massachusetts. W ouid it make any 
difference in the case if lie was living with his mother, 
whom the father has divorced? F. G. 
W E regret to say that many question like the 
above are coming in. They betoken family 
troubles and sorrow which seem to have grown in 
volume during recent years. Family discipline is 
Vht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
breaking down. Much of it has been dissolved in tend these camps. Most of them are greatly pleased 
the gas of automobiles and more of it comes off the with what their boys receive, saying that the discip- 
seenes of moving picture shows. Unfortunately line is excellent. We will print some of their letters 
there are no more of the old-fashioned chores to keep later. As is usual in such discussions, there are 
children busy. Satan puts on spectacles with strong some who go up in the air over such things and ac- 
magnifiers and goes out hunting for idle hands, cuse the writer who on page 431 asked about these 
Under the law a father is liable for necessities fur- camps of trying to spread “alien propaganda.” We 
nished to his son who is under age. He may not he think this man was honest in asking a fair question, 
held for luxuries or things which are not essential, We may not all agree as to what is best for our 
but he is expected to provide necessities. What a 
“necessity” is is for the court to decide. Not long 
ago the mother of a boy here in New York told the 
court that an allowance of $12,000 a year was ab¬ 
solutely necessary for her son ! We would not give 
12 cents for such a boy. 
M ANY gardeners or small farmers near New York 
find themselves in a hard position through in¬ 
creasing taxes. Up to this time their small hold¬ 
ings have been assessed as farm or garden land. 
Now the assessors reaching out for more money, are 
classifying this land as city or village and multiply¬ 
ing the assessment by four or five. Of course the 
income from this garden land cannot rise in propor¬ 
tion to the assessment, and the owners are being 
taxed away from their homes. The land is being 
taxed away from them for, while it may have an in¬ 
creased speculative value, these men prefer to re- 
tain it for productive purposes. They cannot afford 
to do that and pay the extravagant taxes now de¬ 
manded. and so they must give up gardening or 
fruit growing and “retire” as land speculators, or 
move away and hunt for cheaper land. All over 
the East, near the large cities, this process is 
going on. 
* 
O N page 378 we mentioned Governor Smith's plan 
to kill the agricultural school at Delhi and 
erect new buildings at Brockport. The people of 
Delaware and nearby counties have another story 
to tell, and they are up in arms against the plan. 
They make out a good case. The school was estab¬ 
lished originally to teach improved dairying, and 
was located right in the heart of a great dairy sec¬ 
tion. The plant and equipment were designed for 
the special work of teaching dairying, and must be 
changed at considerable cost in order to meet the 
needs of any other public institution. The school has 
done thorough and practical work, and is needed in 
the section. A school to teach fruit growing in 
particular at Brockport would be well, but keep the 
school at Delhi—so say the people of Delaware 
County. 
A million books in the Congressional Library, just 
across the street, but we sit here in our loom reading 
The II. N.-Y. e. f. d. 
Washington, D. C. 
HIS is from a farmer who, with his wife, spends 
his Winters in the National capital. They raise 
fruit and garden crops, and have arranged a system 
which enables them to cut out live stock and Winter 
work. When the crops are sold in the Fall they are 
free to leave home and spend the Winter as they 
please. They prefer Washington where they can 
study National legislation and get close to the heart 
of government. And right under the shadow of the 
great library they prefer to read The R. N.-Y.—be¬ 
cause it reminds them of home. Now are these peo¬ 
ple wise in passing their later years in this way 
rather than in working to increase production? 
* 
L AST year we spoke of the seedless Fameuse 
apple which was found in a Canadian orchard. 
It seemed to be a perfect Fameuse without any seeds 
whatever. Several readers have asked where it can 
be obtained. As we understand it, these apples were 
found while picking the fruit in a medium-sized 
orchard after most of the fruit had been taken off. 
The tree could not be exactly identified at the time. 
It was planned to go through the orchard last year 
and sample the fruit on every tree, but unfortunate'y 
the orchard did not produce any fruit at all. Thus 
the owner is still in the dark regarding the exact 
origin of this seedless Fameuse. There is such a 
tree, or perhaps the limb of a tree somewhere in 
that orchard, but it is surely a case of “by their 
fruits ye shall know them.” They will find the tree 
yet. but do not be fooled into buying alleged speci¬ 
mens of this “strain.” 
* 
W E seem to have stirred up something of a 
hornet’s nest in the recent remarks about 
boys and “training camps.” The letter on the next 
page states the official opinion, and we have re¬ 
ceived several letters from parents whose boys at- 
boys, but why try to impugn the motives of those 
who do not happen to agree with you? Personally 
we have never been very strong for these “camps” of 
any sort for impressionable and high-strung hoys. 
We think they are better off at home—but that, we 
grant, is a matter of opinion, and we find no great 
fault with those who do not agree with us. 
* 
O N page 270 we stated that the oil scandals in 
Washington have touched men in both the great 
political parties. This has stirred up one of our 
readers who writes quite an elaborate argument to 
prove that no Democrat has yet been found guilty 
of any wrong-doing. It may be as this man says 
that all Democratic politicians are angels, and in¬ 
capable of using either oil or water to enrich them¬ 
selves, but our experience has been that neither 
political party has any monopoly of virtue. Thus 
far we have merely given the news about this oil 
matter. No one has yet been tried and convicted by 
any formal or legal court. We are all morally sure 
that there has been trickery or dishonesty and no 
doubt much of the newspaper talk is a form of po¬ 
litical propaganda. There is no use trying to judge 
men in advance. We are fully satisfied from what 
has already been developed that both the old politi¬ 
cal parties are organically rotten and incapable as 
they stand of safeguarding the rights of the common 
people. There are individuals who, we hope, are 
large and strong enough to stand up above the pres¬ 
ent mess and lead the people out. As for the politi¬ 
cal “machines” of the old parties neither of them 
can command moral respect or offer fearless and 
hopeful leadership. One sinister fact in all this 
trouble is the difficulty of finding any great lawyer 
to handle the government’s case who has not been 
tainted by oil or something with a yet more evil 
smell. 
* 
HE House of Representatives has practically 
accepted the offer made by Henry Ford for the 
property and privilege located at Muscle Shoals. 
The bill now goes to the Senate. It will meet con¬ 
siderable opposition there, but in the end we think 
it will pass. Most Americans are now familiar with 
this famous case. At* a point on the Tennessee River 
the hills come together in such a way as to make 
possible the development of tremendous water 
power. During or just before the Great War the 
Government started expensive works at this point, 
largely for the purpose of utilizing the water power 
for extracting nitrogen from the air and using it 
for the manufacture of explosives, for, as we know, 
the power of most explosives comes from the energy 
with which nitrogen rushes out of combination with 
other substances. The end of the war found the 
Government with this unfinished plant on its hands. 
Briefly stated, Henry Ford offers to pay a small part 
of the cost of this plant for the privilege of con¬ 
trolling its output for 100 years. He makes certain 
guarantees to produce nitrogen for fertilizer and to 
supply power at reasonable cost. It is not likely 
that any other person or corporation could have 
obtained this concession from the Government at 
this time. We think the American people will, in 
the future, regret this action in turning this immense 
privilege over to private control, but in some way 
Henry Ford has so gained the confidence of the 
American people and obtained such psychological 
influence over their minds that they seem willing to 
trust him with any industrial development. If this 
great water power is fully developed there will be 
a readjustment of manufacturing enterprise in this 
country, for manufacturing follows power, and 
there will be a vast industrial city built along the 
banks of the Tennessee River. 
Brevities 
This to at least a dozen questions—do not mix wood 
ashes and stable manure and then use on potatoes. 
In our experience 80 per cent of the soils left in 
weeds or wild grass for a few years and then plowed 
are sour. 
There is a great demand for “buttermilk” at city 
counters, but most of it never saw a churn. It is skim- 
milk tinctured with a bacteria. 
Has anyone tried seeding onions in hills instead of 
drills—cultivating like other hilled crops? Some of our 
folks think it might save hand work. 
