<Ibe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
623 
The Automobile Problem 
T HE VILLAGER’S LUXURY.—In a recent issue 
the editor seems to be doubtful of the value of a 
car to the average town dweller, and while I hold no 
brief for the villager, am sure the small towns of the 
East were never more prosperous than they are right 
now. Observation, bank balances and appearances 
make this opinion unanimous. Where 25 years ago 
the middle-class villager had little chance to move 
around, today there is a steady stream of cars going 
and coming, especially Sundays and holidays, and 
everyone seems to he enjoying existence. 
THE FARMER'S TIME-SAVER.—But to the 
farmer, and especially those some distance back, the 
car has come to be a time-saver and practically a 
necessity. Where formerly usually once a week 
someone had to make a trip to town, now the farmer 
goes in some evening and does the trading, perhaps 
sees the pictures and does his regular 14 hours on 
the land without a break, which means a lot in these 
days, with no help and many tasks. Also, it is less 
expense. In the old days most of us kept one or two 
driving horses, which were of little use on the farm 
if in shape for driving, and cost a considerable sum 
to keep in nice shape, and were a daily 
job. Now we back out the car and are 
home again in an hour or two, and run 
the machine in until the next trip. 
ECONOMICAL UP - KEEP. — This 
past year has been easy with the gas 
bill, and besides the saving in time I 
do not think a car will cost one-lialf as 
much to run per mile as a team. Of 
course, there is the depreciation, hut a 
team does not last long, and rigs and 
harness soon play out. Where the 
hitch sheds used to be crowded with 
teams, especially Saturdays, you will 
now find a garage, with parking space 
at a premium on the streets, and where 
we used to take all day and pay two 
bits for hitching, and a dollar or so for 
dinner, now we never go until the 
afternoon, even on business, and do our 
trading evenings. We live eight miles 
from the nearest railroad town and 
trading point, and even in Winter, 
when the teams are idle, I find a dis¬ 
tinct saving in using the car when we 
can get through. It is a long day to do 
the chores and go with the big horses, 
while the car is home by noon. Then, 
about two trips over the concrete 
means a trip to the shop with the 
horses, which is from $2 to $4 now, 
while the car will go for a gallon of 
gas, and come home without any aches, 
but the old team hates to get out of the 
stall for a day or two- after 10 miles 
over hard roads. 
MOVING CROPS.—In moving crops 
gasoline has it all over horse power. 
Last Spring I had 100 bushels of potatoes to move, 
and the buyer sent up a truck which did the job in 
about one-half day, as we farmers count time, while 
it would take the old man and team over two days 
for the same task. Formerly I have sold a few cars 
of hay. My neighbors were always accommodating, 
and it took some six teams at $5 each all day to 
move a carload of 10 tons. Now a man with a big 
truck will load a car in a long day on good roads, 
leaving the teams for home work. Also, there are 
plenty of men to drive trucks, and none except the 
old farmers to bump long distances with produce be¬ 
hind the old farm teams. 
LACK OF LABOR.—This is one reason why the 
short-handed farms continue to feed this and other 
nations. Another reason is the neglect of all im¬ 
provements which cost long years of toil to those 
who have passed on. Everywhere ditches are filling 
up, fences are decaying and growing up to brush, and 
paint is a curiosity, while the undesirable farms in 
bad locations are abandoned to the woodchucks and 
the crow. But, of course, there will be changes. Too 
many farmers are leaving, tempted by high wages, 
and the least slowing up of industrial operations will 
see them back, and farming will take its place with 
other desirable occupations. n. l. Hathaway. 
Schuyler Co., N. Y. 
part of those who have so far taken part in it. As 
I have, during the past quarter of a century, spent a 
number of years in the building trades, 10 of them as 
a union man, and have left the building trades and 
become a farmer, because I found that I could make 
a better and pleasanter living by doing so, it may be 
that I can add a little information that is not gen¬ 
erally known. In the first place, the eight-hour day 
does not lessen the productive power of the building 
workman. His work is done under high pressure, 
and it has been repeatedly demonstrated that his 
maximum day is eight hours. I have worked more 
than that long at different times. One of the locals 
I belonged to at one time had a 10-hour day, and as I 
have always been of an investigative turn, I checked 
up on the amount of work done in comparison with 
other locals that worked eight hours. The difference 
in production was very much in favor of the short 
day. At another time I was doing piece-work in an 
automobile body factory, and the whole force went 
on overtime, working 11 hours. The work was not 
so hard as that of a building workman, and I found 
that my maximum production was made on a nine- 
hour day, with Saturday afternoon off. Other piece¬ 
workers told fne their results had been the same. 
of them hire him to plow corn. And more results are 
accomplished now than under the old system. 
THE SHORTER DAY PAYS.—I am a market gar¬ 
dener. As I have a small place. I hire very little: 
but when I do hire a man it never pays me to work 
him more than eight or nine hours. Sometimes 
I get a brainstorm and work myself a good deal 
longer, but I'm not sure it pays. My experience has' 
been that the boss can work longer than a hired man 
before reaching the point where his production falls 
off too far to leave a profit. Every man who amounts 
to shucks wants to work for himself sometimes, and 
the shorter day gives him a chance to do so. For 
that reason I prefer to hire men who can go home at 
night. And I want them to be able to hear the 
whistle, too. When I see a man digging along after 
quitting time I wonder if he hasn’t sense to quit, or 
is he trying to impress the boss? Neither idea looks 
good to me. Not only is the long day not necessary: 
it often operates to curtail production. A farmer's 
hands must follow his head, and if he gives the 
hands all his strength they will have a poor leader. 
Again, any man who works to the point of exhaus¬ 
tion every day isn't going to do very much the next. 
That is one point I have seen repeately demonstrated 
in shop and building work, when some 
emergency was supposed to demand 
overtime. It always loses money in the 
end. I like to see a man show some 
zip, and the only way to see it is to 
take care of all the zip there is in him. 
Illinois. b. w. davis. 
“Intensive Grass Culture 
n 
Mrs. John X. White of Vermont, well known to our readers as “Mother Bee, 
She here appears with other members of her busy hive. 
About two years ago you published an 
article on renewing meadows without 
plowing, under a process of disking and 
tearing up the turf-bound grass, applying 
top-dressing, and broadcasting Timothy 
and clover seed. I have some old mead¬ 
ows on which I would like to experiment, 
and would appreciate your advice on the 
following questions: Land is located in 
Vermont; sandy loam, stony, not consid¬ 
ered poor in humus; has not been plowed 
nor re-seeded in 10 years or more ; only 
producing about one-half ton of hay per 
acre at present; clover has practically 
disappeared, and has been crowded out by 
daisies and weeds. How late could this 
disking be done so as not to retard growth 
for hay this season? I plan also to broad¬ 
cast lime and commercial fertilizer. 
Should these be sown prior to the Tim¬ 
othy and clover seed? How much fertil¬ 
izer and what f . mula should I use? How 
much Timothy and clover seed should I 
use? In case I could not have time to try 
this experiment early enough this Spring, 
would it be better for me to wait until 
next Spring, or could I get results by cut¬ 
ting the crop this year and then cutting 
and disking immediately after taking off 
the crop, and treating it exactly as if it 
were done in the Spring? My idea is to 
avoid the necessary clearing of stones if 
plowed and re-seeded in the usual way. 
C. E. G. 
T HIS probably refers to what was 
called the Clark system of grass 
The Eight-Hour Day Pays 
H IGH-PRESSURE WORK.—I have been follow¬ 
ing your discussion of the eight-hour day, 
through several issues. It seems to me that there is 
a great deal of misunderstanding of the facts on the 
These facts were experimentally determined. Over¬ 
time does not pay. 
TRAVELING TO WORK—Another fact that 
farmers who have never worked at city trades over¬ 
look is the time taken on the road to and from work. 
I have often worked 10 miles or more from home. 
That meant about an hour and a half on the street 
car, each way. I remember working on a barn 20 
miles from home, and being severely criticized by the 
farmer because I was “an eight-hour lazy-bones.” 
We reached that job by Ford, and the shortest day 
we saw on it, from the time we left home till we got 
back again, was 13 hours. The farmer finds his 
work close at hand, with no long journeys either 
way. That is a more important item than he real¬ 
izes. 
EXHAUSTING THE WORKER. — Just what 
would be the result of the adoption of a shorter 
working day hy the farmer has not yet been proved. 
Most farmers know the name Moline. The Deere 
shops are among the largest manufacturers of farm¬ 
ing tools. A few years ago their regular schedule 
was 10 hours per day and six days per week. Now 
their working week is five and a half days of nine 
hours each. The change was made simply because 
it paid, in dollars and cents. A man’s earning power 
in those shops is higher today than under the old 
long day. Most farmers in Western Illinois aban¬ 
doned the 12 or 13-hour day some years ago. It was 
found that horses did a bigger month’s work at 
about nine hours than working longer, and that hired 
help did a bigger and better day’s work when no one 
day left a man exhausted. There are still a few 
who think they hire a man to wear him out. but most 
culture. It was made popular by the 
late George M. Clark of Connecticut, 
but most farmers have found it impossible to obtain 
the labor needed to carry out the work. Clark re¬ 
seeded in the late Summer or early Fall. It would 
not be possible to follow out the plan fully and ob¬ 
tain a grass crop this year, because the work of fit¬ 
ting the soil must be done during July and August.4 
A modified plan may be carried out, as follows: 
Plow as early as possible and use one ton of good 
lime per acre, well harrowed in. Such soil is prac¬ 
tically always sour, and if you are seeding down for 
a number of years, considerable lime will be needed. 
Seed as early as possible three bushels of oats to the 
acre. Cut this crop when the oats are soft in the 
head, and cure like clover for a hay crop. Then 
work up the ground carefully. Clark never used a 
plow at all for this work, but a cutaway harrow well 
weighted down so that it dug deep into the soil. His 
argument against plowing was that by turning the 
furrow-slice over you put too many weeds and old 
grass roots down under ground where the harrow 
could not reach and destroy them. Thus, after a 
year or two they would work back and damage the 
seeding. What he aimed to do was thoroughly t<> 
kill out the old sod by destroying every root. Thus 
he used a cutaway disk, which chops and cuts and 
tosses the sod up to the sun and air until every 
plant is killed out. Most farmers want to fill the soil 
with organic matter, but Clark’s idea was to destroy 
all grass and weeds, get a strong seeding, and then 
depend on fertilizers for plant food. Following out 
this plan the ground was worked 15 to 20 times be¬ 
tween cutting the oats and seeding time. Again and 
again, as often as any green growth showed on the 
field, the cutaway or a spike-tooth harrow was run 
