The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
987 
The Political Parties on Agriculture 
W E have been asked to state what the various political parties promise the 
farmer, and what they intend doing for agriculture. Below we give, side 
by side, the agricultural “planks” in the Republican and Democratic platforms. 
Should there be a third party in the field, we will present their “plank” later. 
Agricultural Aid for the Farmer 
Republican 
In dealing with agriculture the Repub¬ 
lican party recognizes that we are faced 
with a fundamental national problem and 
that the prosperity and welfare of the 
nation as a whole ie dependent upon the 
prosperity and welfare of our agricul¬ 
tural population. 
We recognize our agricultural activities 
are still struggling with adverse condi¬ 
tions that have brought about distress. 
We pledge the party to take whatever 
steps are necessary to bring back a bal¬ 
anced condition between agriculture, in¬ 
dustry and labor, which was destroyed by 
the Democratic party through an unfor¬ 
tunate administration of legislation passed 
as wartime methods. 
We affirm that under the Republican 
administration the problems of the farm¬ 
ers have received more serious considera¬ 
tion than ever before, both by definite ex¬ 
ecutive action and by Congressional ac¬ 
tion, not only in the field of general legis¬ 
lation but also in the enactment of laws 
to meet emergency situations. 
The restoration of general prosperity 
and the purchasing power of our people 
through tariff protection has resulted in 
an increased domestic consumption of 
farm products, while the prices of many 
agricultural commodities are above the war 
price level by reason of direct tariff pro¬ 
tection. 
Under the leadership of the President 
at the most critical time, a corporation 
was organized by private capital, making 
available $100,000,000 to assist the farm¬ 
ers of the Northwest. 
In realization of the disturbance in the 
agricultural export market, the result of 
the financial depression in Europe, and 
appreciating that the export field would 
be enormously improved by economic re¬ 
habilitation and the resulting increased 
consuming power, a sympathetic support 
and direction was given to the work of the 
American representatives on the Euro¬ 
pean Reparation Commission. 
The revival in 1921 of the War Finance 
Corporation, with loans of over $300,000,- 
000, averted in 1921 a complete collapse 
in the agricultural industry. 
We have established new intermediate 
credit banks for agriculture and increased 
the capital of the Federal Farm Loan 
system. Emergency loans have been 
granted to drought-stricken areas. We 
have enacted into law the Co-operative 
Marketing act, the Grain Futures and 
Parker Control acts; given to agriculture 
direct representation on the Federal Re¬ 
serve Board and on the Federal Aid Com¬ 
mission. We have greatly strengthened 
our foreign marketing service for the dis¬ 
posal of our agricultural products. 
The crux of the problem from the 
standpoint of the farmer is the net profit 
he receives after his outlay. The pro¬ 
cess of bringing the average prices of 
what he buys and what he sells closer 
together can be promptly expedited by 
reduction in taxes, steady employment in 
industry and stability in business. 
This process can be expedited by lower 
freight rates, by better marketing through 
co-operative efforts and a more scientific 
organization of the physical human ma¬ 
chinery of distribution and by a greater 
diversification of farm products. 
We promise every assistance in the re¬ 
organization of the market system on 
sounder and more economical lines and, 
where diversification is needed, govern¬ 
ment assistance during the period of 
transition. Vigorous efforts of this ad¬ 
ministration toward broadening our ex¬ 
ports market will be continued. 
The Republican party pledges itself to 
the development and enactment of meas¬ 
ures which will place the agricultural in¬ 
terests of America on a basis of economic 
equality with other industry to assure its 
prosperity and success. We favor ade¬ 
quate tariff protection to such of our ag¬ 
ricultural products as are threatened by 
competition. We favor, without putting 
the government into business, the estab¬ 
lishment of a Federal system of organiza¬ 
tion for co-operative marketing of food 
products. 
Democratic 
During the four years of Republican 
government the economic condition of 
the American farmer has changed from 
comfort to bankruptcy, with all its at¬ 
tendant miseries. The chief causes of 
this are: 
(a) The Republican policy of isola¬ 
tion in international affairs has pre¬ 
vented Europe from getting back to its 
normal balance and, by leaving un¬ 
solved the economic problems abroad, 
has driven the European city popula¬ 
tion from industrial activities to the 
soil in large numbers in order to earn 
the mere necessities of life. This has 
deprived the American farmer of his 
normal export trade. 
(b) The Republican policy of a pro¬ 
hibitive tariff, exemplified in the Ford- 
ney-McCumber law, which has forced 
the American farmer, with his export 
market debilitated, to buy manufac¬ 
tured goods at sustained high domestic 
levels, thereby making him the victim 
of the profiteer. 
(c) The Republican policy of high 
transportation rates, both rail and wa¬ 
ter, which has made it impossible for 
the farmer to ship his produce to mar¬ 
ket at even a living profit. 
To offset these policies and their dis¬ 
astrous results, and to restore the 
farmer again to economic equality with 
other industrialists, we pledge our¬ 
selves : 
(a) To adopt an international policy 
of such co-operation, by direct official 
instead of indirect and evasive un¬ 
official means, as will re-establish the 
farmers’ export market by restoring 
the industrial balance in Europe and 
the normal flow of international trade 
with the settlement of Europe's eco¬ 
nomic problems. 
(b) To adjust the tariff so that the 
farmer and all other classes can buy 
again in a competitive manufacturers’ 
market. 
(c) To readjust and lower rail and 
water rates, which will make our mar¬ 
kets, both for the buyer and the seller, 
national and international, instead of 
regional and local. 
(d) To bring about the early com¬ 
pletion of internal waterway systems 
for transportation, and to develop our 
water powers for cheaper fertilizer and 
use on our farms. 
(e) To stimulate by every proper 
governmental activity the progress of 
the co-operative marketing movement 
and the establishment of an export 
marketing corporation or commission 
in order that the exportable surplus 
may not establish the price of the whole 
crop. 
(f) To secure for the farmer credits 
suitable for his needs. 
(g) By the establishment of these 
policies and others naturally supple¬ 
mentary thereto to reduce the margin 
between what the producer receives for 
his products and the consumer has to 
pay for his supplies to the end that we 
secure an equality for agriculture. 
A Little Mushroom Talk 
On page 908 there is a note on “Grow¬ 
ing Mushrooms in Old Icehouse.” I think 
it extremely probable that the mushrooms 
H. B. H. asks about are the fawn-colored 
Pluteus (Pluteus cervinus), which is edi¬ 
ble and more tender and delicious than 
the common commercial mushroom, when 
properly cooked. When found in the 
woods the cap is smoky fawn color and 
slightly varnished appearing when dry, 
and when mature the gills are a weak 
pink from being powdered by the rosy 
spores, but the identification can be made 
certain by taking a full-grown specimen 
and twisting the stem out of the cap and 
noticing that the stem fits into the cap 
after the manner of a ball and socket 
joint, i. e., the flesh of the stem is not 
continuous with that of the cap. It is 
probable that these mushrooms, when 
growing in the dark, will be white. To 
cook, first discard the stems, wash as lit¬ 
tle as possible; washing off the spores 
will destroy its flavor. Then peel the 
skin off the caps and break them into 
pieces and place in a granite pan over a 
moderate fire and let them simmer for 15 
minutes; then add one-half cup rich milk 
and season and let simmer 15 minutes 
longer, spread on dry toast (the gravy 
will soften the toast), and serve. They 
must not cook hard and fast at any time. 
By wetting down the sawdust occasion¬ 
ally, successive crops can be had till 
frost. They would be marketable if peo¬ 
ple were not so densely ignorant about 
mushrooms. This mushroom can be dried 
(preferably in hot sun), stored in mois¬ 
ture proof paper bags and used in Winter, 
by simply soaking in cold water. It seems 
to dry as readily as Marasmius oreades 
(fairy ring). As a part of the menu it 
fully takes the place of any meat, and 
over-indulgence in it will cause the same 
kind of sickness as eating too much beef¬ 
steak. 
I am writing this because I think it 
would be a pity to let so much good food 
go to waste, and hope H. B. II. can make 
his own identifications by observing, first, 
the ball and socket joint where stem en¬ 
ters cap, and the comparative ease in the 
way it twists out; second, a faint pink¬ 
ness of the gills on a full-grown speci¬ 
men ; third, the rather tender flesh, easily 
broken, and somewhat shiny, dry, white 
or smoky-gray cap. There is a woodland 
mushroom (Collybia platyphilla), which 
resembles Pluteus cervinus, but the gills 
never turn pink. It is also edible 
Connecticut. joiin n. brown. 
Turning Sand Into Soil 
I have purchased a two-acre plot in 
South Jersey. It is white sand, covered 
with huckleberry bushes, scrub oak and 
pine. Would you advise me how to bring 
this ground to a fertile condition, as at 
present I cannot grow even grass upon 
it? G. j. w. 
Jersey City, N. ,T. 
This is evidently a piece of coarse sand, 
quite acid. Not much besides the huckle¬ 
berries and weeds will grow there until 
the soil is eweetened, filled with organic 
matter and given a fair quantity of plant 
food. If you care to start at once, our 
advice is to put on one ton of ground 
limestone to the acre. Then seed on the 
two acres four bushels of buckwheat and 
2 lbs. of turnip seed, with 600 lbs. of 
some good fertilizer. The buckwheat and 
turnips will make a fair growth. In 
early September plow this crop under and 
seed two bushels of rye and 5 lbs. of 
Alsike clover. Let these crope remain 
until next Spring and then plow them 
under. Pack the ground firmly after 
plowing and plant corn in hills, using a 
good dose of fertilizer. Give the corn 
good culture, and at the last cultivation 
seed rye and vetch in the corn as a cover 
crop. It may be necessary to leave out 
the corn next year and repeat with buck¬ 
wheat and rye. The soil will be better 
for doing that. The thing to remember 
about all this is that sand is changed to* 
soil by the use of lime, organic matter 
and fertilizer or manure. 
WEED KILLER 
For walks , gutters , tennis courts 
1 gallon 5 gallons 1 drum 
$2.00 $8.00 $50.00 
Dilute with water 40-1 
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Catalog also contains useful information 
to TRAPPERS 
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FREE—INSIDE FACTS About WELLS 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th St. New York City 
i nio iron /vge uigger is a laDor-saver, time-saver and money-maker. It gets all 
A the potatoes without injury. For ease of operation and low upkeep it has no equal. 
Made of the best materials by skilled workmen from designs worked out and tested by practical 
farmers. Used in all the big potato sections where potato growing " 
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Potato 
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625 So. Washington Square, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Digger No. 220—Latest Model 
THIS BABY DOES A MAN’S SIZE JOB 
BABY 
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Cutlery 
^ steel disks, 
forged 
xh v p ■ 
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same price 
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421 Main Street, Higganum, Conn. 
