596 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National WeeUy Journal lor Country and Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
Pobli.lifd nrrkly bj the Rural Publishing Company, S33 West 30th Street, New Yorb 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
Joits J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
W, 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.M. 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 oi ders. 
“ A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a. respon- 
eible oei-son We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable*houses on'l'yf 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 swdndler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our andhonest. 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned b v the co’>rts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one n' ont h of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
D URING the past week more than a dozen impor¬ 
tant questions came in without any signature. 
There was no possible way of identifying the writers. 
It seems strange that this should continue when we 
have stated, so many times, that no attention is paid 
to anonymous communications. Some of these ques¬ 
tions must be of personal importance, though few 
are of enough general interest to warrant a printed 
answer. We would give personal replies if we knew 
where to send them. Now, for at least the tenth 
time, let us repeat that no attention will be paid to 
unsigned letters. 
* 
I T is hard to think of any Congress in recent years 
which has thus far been more useless than the 
one,now in session at Washington. What has it done 
besides holding investigations which thus far have 
been inconclusive? It has delayed any reform of 
the income taxes, while the House has passed the 
soldiers’ bonus bill and started to give away the 
most valuable water power concession ever known 
in the history of the world. If Congress would go 
home leaving behind a few investigators to keep up 
the noise the country would be better off, but there 
seems no such luck for the nation. If one or the 
other of the two great parties could be in absolute 
control something at least would be done, but with 
a small group holding the balance of power it be¬ 
comes a play for political power and in no way 
helpful to public business. There are a dozen things 
which farmers need at once, but they are all liable to 
be lost in this selfish fight for political advantage. 
Far better let one great party or the other take re¬ 
sponsibility and stand for it. 
W HENEVER you do a mailage business with 
commission men or merchants always save 
the letters and the envelopes. Keep these with 
copies of letters. They will all be needed as evi¬ 
dence in case trouble comes and there is any effort 
to swindle people by mail. In many cases wheie 
charges are made and there is little doubt about 
guilt we cannot prove that the mails were used to 
defraud, simply because there is no evidence in en¬ 
velope or letters. 
* 
W E want reports from country school districts 
where improvement in houses, grounds, 
teachers and community spirit have been developed 
in the district by local influences. There are many 
such cases, and the story of how the work was 
done will prove invaluable. Our plan now is to en¬ 
courage school improvement by the local patrons, 
and we promise to carry the idea of it out into e\eo 
rural school district in the State. We think the 
strenuous battle over the rural school has been on 
the whole the most wholesome thing we have had in 
the State for many years. The friends of the bill 
may not agree with that, but they will live to learn 
the truth of it. At the great Albany meeting they 
were largely outnumbered and clearly beaten in the 
argument. They must realize the strength of the 
opposition and the futility of trying to force their 
bill upon such determined farmers as those who 
crowded the Assembly chamber. Had they gone 
about their work with a fairer spirit and less arbi¬ 
trary demands it would have been entirely possible 
to find some point of view upon which all sides 
could concentrate. The backers of this bill never 
can settle or even improve the rural school situation 
until they gain the full confidence of rural people. 
We shall endeavor to show during the coming yeai 
that our country people are quite capable of irnprov- 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ing the quality of the country school and the spirit of 
the community. Our country people cannot be 
driven into school improvement with a club, but they 
can be approached in such a way that they can be 
induced to do it themselves. First of all, therefore, 
we want to show how it has been done already, and 
we ask all who are interested in school improve¬ 
ment to join us in the Rural School Improvement 
Society. 
* 
T HE House of Representatives passed the bill 
granting compensation or “bonus” to soldiers 
by a great majority. It now goes to the Senate 
where it will have a different reception. From the 
best reports available we judge that the Senate will 
pass the bill, and that the President will veto it. 
The House seems likely to pass the bill over the 
President’s veto while the Senate will refuse to do 
so—thus leaving the situation as it is now. We 
made something of a canvass of our readers on the 
subject and we are frank to say that a large ma¬ 
jority of those who expressed any opinion favor a 
bonus of some sort. While the plan is .popular and 
while we think a majority of Americans favor it, 
we still think it unwise and should object to our own 
boys accepting any share of this government gift. 
* 
S PEAKING of Henry Ford and the Muscle Shoals 
proposition, one of our readers makes this state¬ 
ment, which, perhaps, has not occurred to you! 
I visited the place about two years ago. It’s a won¬ 
derful proposition from a power standpoint, but not less 
wonderful from that standpoint than from one display¬ 
ing the curious atttitude of the public toward Henry 
Ford. Imagine Standard Oil, or any other big interest, 
making the same offer to the government for a 100-year 
lease of the property. 
Well, what about that? Have you ever thought of 
it before? Henry Ford is probably as rich as Rocke¬ 
feller, and his wealth is held tightly in one family. 
He has not been specially benevolent; in fact, other 
wealthy men have probably given $50 to public bene¬ 
factions where he has given one. Yet Congress 
seems ready to turn over to him for a mere pit¬ 
tance the most valuable public gift ever handed out 
in the history of the world. Who can tell why Henry 
Ford enjoys this confidence, while other wealthy men 
are viewed with distrust? 
* 
T HE labor question has forced some attempts at 
readjustment in farming which are quite re¬ 
markable. Many business men invested in farms 
close to the city a few years ago. Their object was 
to keep up their business for a few years (until they 
had accumulated fair capital) and then retire to the 
farm. In the meantime, they expect to keep the farm 
going with hired labor and absent management. 
Those who ever try that plan know how it always 
turns out. The farm drags along, a constant ex¬ 
pense and worry, because the owner sees that it is 
failing, and yet he is powerless to help himself. The 
last few years have made it harder than ever, since 
competent help is almost impossible to obtain. This 
has presented a new problem to these farm owners. 
One of them proposes the following plan for solution. 
He has more than 200 acres of good land with full 
equipment (including a tractor) and excellent build¬ 
ings. He is prepared to rent this farm at $1 a year 
to a tenant who will carry out his wishes. He will 
only ask that this tenant carry out the following: 
I would rent this entire equipment for $1 a year on 
condition that the man would plant for me about hve 
acres of peach and apple trees each year and inter-crop 
them and keep them cultivated. I would furnish the 
trees and help to plant them and furnish all fertilizer 
that I would want to use. I would, however, not allow 
the man to sell off the place any hay, straw, or fodder. 
I want him to keep cattle enough and all that is pro¬ 
duced in order to make manure. 
He will pay all taxes and interest and keep the 
outside of buildings in repair. At the end of the 
lease, if the man showed proper spirit, he would be 
given a good salary and 25 per cent interest. This 
is, we believe a real offer. We print it to show how 
curiously the present conditions of farm labor are 
affecting land owners. In this case the advantage to 
the owner is that he gets his farm well cared for 
and has his young orchards brought to fruiting. 
With such a farm and equipment a tenant, with the 
right spirit, ought to find a great opportunity, but he 
will have to be a superior man to get the job. 
April 5, 1924 
ures that there are fewer apples trees, both bearing 
and young, than 10 years ago. Then he will show 
that city people do not eat 10 per cent of the apples 
they can or would if the fruit could be put before 
them at a fair price. In Europe millions of apple 
trees were destroyed during the war and will not be 
replaced for years. All this is evidence that more 
apples will be needed in the future, and that planting 
of good varieties will pay. At the other extreme 
comes the man who claims that there is already a 
great over-production—that far more apples are pro¬ 
duced each year than can ever be sold. We think 
the truth lies about midway between these two ex¬ 
tremes. Apple growing in the future will be no 
business for the amateur and careless grower. It is 
a sure invitation to disaster for some man who 
knows nothing about fruit growing to gamble with a 
large planting. A true fruit grower, however, who 
knows what he is doing and is prepared to stand by 
it through sunshine and storm may regard the future 
with confidence. In the years to come only high- 
class, well-handled fruit will be salable. All the rest 
will go for cider and vinegar. Many varieties for¬ 
merly planted will pass out of use and newer and 
better ones will come in. We still believe in con¬ 
servative planting and good care. 
* 
W E have a reader who makes a somewhat new 
comparison in classifying the four great 
necessities of plant food—nitrogen, potash, phos¬ 
phorus and lime. They are compared with the four 
great essentials for conducting a farm business— 
cash, credit, equipment and good judgment. Nitro¬ 
gen represents the cash. No growth of crops or 
quick return is possible without available nitrogen. 
We see this in dozens of cases where farmers try 
to produce a crop on poor, wornout land. Just as 
cash will often save a business hy giving a chance 
to buy goods to advantage, so the use of nitrogen 
will save the crop. And potash represents credit, 
because it gives character to the crop. Aside from 
its direct value as plant food, potash helps in the 
formation of starch and in the life of the plant, and 
also to some extent in helping to overcome disease. 
Credit can only be obtained by people of sound 
character and health, which makes them a good 
risk. Phosphorus represents equipment, such as im¬ 
plements and working outfit. No animal can have 
a strong skeleton or frame, no plant can stand up¬ 
right, no seed can form a vital germ unless there 
be an abundant supply of phosphorus. No farmer 
can expect to keep up his business if he is con¬ 
stantly lending or losing his tools or leaving them 
out in the frost and rain. The comparison between 
lime and good judgment may not be so clear, but 
lime does correct the faults of the soil and gives it 
what we may call a better organization. Some men 
keep their cash in their pockets or in some place 
where they can always get at it. They find it 
slipping away from them for all sorts of useless 
purposes. If they had most of it in a bank or in 
good securities it would not back away—just as 
nitrogen does from an unprotected barnyard or in 
a soil without a Fall cover crop. On most of our 
stock and grain farms the most essential need is 
phosphorus, because that element has been sent 
away in the crops. Every ton of live stock carries 
away 35 pounds or more of phosphorus, and every 
ton of wheat nearly 20 pounds. When this drain 
is kept up for 50 years the available phosphorus in 
that farm is greatly reduced. It is like a farm from 
which half the machinery has been borrowed and 
never returned, so that even with money and good 
judgment it is not possible to produce full crops. 
Homely comparisons of this sort will help a farmer 
to understand the principles of fertilizing. 
* 
W HAT is the outlook for apple culture? You 
can get just about any answer you like, and 
all from practical orchard men. One man will tell 
you that the prospect never was better—the outlook 
never more rosy. He will prove by government fig- 
Brevities 
We get quite a number of reports from people who 
say they have killed white grubs by using snuff or pow¬ 
dered tobacco. 
It seems necessary to repeat over and over that we 
advise a mixture of 1 00 lbs. dry and fine hen manui e 
and 300 lbs. acid phosphate. This makes a good mix¬ 
ture for most crops. The addition of 100 lbs. muriate of 
potash would strengthen it. 
This discussion of the eight-hour day is surely stir¬ 
ring things up. This comes from a Nebraska man: 
“On page 412 G. O. Warford is exercising his imagina¬ 
tion and at the same time telling the truth. I for 
one never thought we farmers were working 12 to 15 
hours a day in order to keep union men’s expenses down, 
but it sure gives the farmer something to think about 
when, he is working overtime, not for himself but be¬ 
cause he is so used to giving his time that it would be 
too sudden a change to do otherwise. 
