1010 
7hf RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 19, 1924 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S RARER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established iSSO 
1* iblUhed ir*ekly by the Rnral Publishing Company, 3.13 West 30th Street, New York 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wjl F. Dillon, Secretary. Mbs. E. T. Hoyle, 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, tl.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 Toss 
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 or 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
E VERY American will join us in offering most 
profound sympathy to President and Mrs. Cool- 
idge in this sad hour of trial. They have lost their 
boy, and this great nation of home-loving people 
will fully realize the meaning of the deep shadow 
which has fallen upon the White House. Calvin 
Coolidge, Jr., was “a good boy.” That is what his 
grandfather, a silent, keen, observant man, called 
him, and all who know the shrewd New England 
character realize what that means. The boy had 
been brought up simply and honorably. He had 
been taught to work; he lived the clean, hopeful life 
of thousands of other ambitious boys of the middle 
class, self-reliant, ambitious and full of faith. Wise 
men who have lived beyond the allotted span of life 
have said that it is better to die in youth, when life 
is fresh and full, before disappointment and the 
blighting of cherished hopes have filled the mind 
with a cynical or hopeless spirit. Yet they do not 
consider what death in youth may mean to older 
people—parent, friend or guardian. People of mid¬ 
dle age see their children growing up to manhood 
and womanhood, giving every promise of developing 
into strong, beautiful lives. The older people see 
in these richly blooming lives more than an object 
of affection and pride. There is a deeper hope and 
meaning. These strong young lives are to “carry 
on” for them—carry on the plans, the dreams, the 
hopes of life which they have tried so imperfectly 
to work out, only to find that a human life is all too 
short to finish their work. At middle age this 
thought comes to everyone, and it is one of the 
supreme joys of life to feel that we can leave some 
worthy child to go on with our life work and try 
to finish it. That is why the death of a pi-omising 
child stabs at the human heart as few other things 
can do. This is a great sorrow which all men and 
women must know, actually or by intuition, and it 
is why the great heart of the nation turns today 
to Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge—not as our President and 
his lady, but as father and mother—in the deepest 
grief which the human mind can contemplate. 
* 
Does not our stability as a nation depend largely 
upon the stability of our rural population? Stirring 
school meetings here. Who can advise us jis to form¬ 
ing a unit of the Rural School Improvement Associa¬ 
tion? H. F. C. 
ES, we think so, and history appears to show 
that the strong and enduring movements of the 
■world have come from the country. This nation will 
not endure through the influence of its millionaires, 
but through the spirit of its small freeholders of 
land. It is hard to make people realize that in the 
present craze for great wealth and political power, 
but it is one of the gi’eat truths of all times that no 
nation can permanently endure which loses respect 
for the homely virtues of country people. Right now, 
more than ever before in our history, we have devel¬ 
oped a large class of educators and advisei’s who 
pi-esume to tell our country people what they should 
do, and just how they should do it. Earnest and 
well-meaning, many of these people have convinced 
themselves that country people must be directed and 
led away fi*om the fundamental principles of plain 
country living into an artificial system of living and 
thinking. The second sized city apes New York or 
Chicago in its public view of life, and so on down 
through the various cities to the small town. From 
Broadway to Main Street we have an imitation of 
an imitation, and the attempt to carry it along still 
further into the counti’y should be forcibly resisted. 
It would be amusing, if it were not ti’agic, to see the 
way educatoi*s and uplifters attempt to destroy the 
independence and individuality which have ever been 
the chief asset of the farmei\ The attempt to revo¬ 
lutionize the rural school laws from the outside, 
without seriously considering the rural point of 
view, is a good illustration of what is coming. We 
think the Rural School Improvement Society one of 
the most promising organizations ever stai’ted in 
New Yox-k State. There ought to be a branch in 
evei’y rural school district D. Boyd Devendorf, 
R. D., Amsterdam, N. Y., is secretary of the State 
society. Write him for particulars. 
* 
HE question of selling farm produce or plants 
from a public institution so as to interfere with 
local growers came to a head in Minnesota. The 
State Florists’ Association of that State brought suit 
against the Lakewood Cemetery Association to re¬ 
strain it from selling to the general public or to 
retail florists any of the horticultural products “gen¬ 
erally raised and sold in the customary business of a 
florist.” The coui’t gi’anted an injunction. Here¬ 
after this association may sell such plants to Lake- 
wood Cemetery, but is pi’ohibited “from making sales 
of such plants outside the boundaries of said cem- 
etei’y.” This is carrying the matter out to the limit 
in pi*otecting the retail dealer. The theoi’y of this 
decision evidently is that a public association of this 
sort has no right to compete with legitimate pi’ivate 
business. Very likely the same outcome would fol¬ 
low if any local dealer could show that sales from a 
public institution interfered with his regular trade. 
* 
HE R. N.-Y. favors Elbert S. Bi’igham for elec¬ 
tion to Congress in the first district of Ver¬ 
mont We think he is the type of man who should 
represent the State and country at Washington. Let 
it be clearly understood that we have no thought of 
telling our Vermont friends wlxat they should do. 
Vermont people are peculiarly able to do things for 
themselves in their own way. No country people 
are moi’e independent or self-reliant than those who 
live among the green hills. A Congressman at Wash¬ 
ington does moi’e than represent his home State. In 
a way he belongs to the entire people, for he must 
help decide matters which are of national impor¬ 
tance. There are great problems of agriculture loom¬ 
ing up in the future. They are not limited to any 
one State. They concern all of us, and they are 
worthy the attention of the lai-gest and best equipped 
men that can be found. We favor Mr. Bingham be¬ 
cause he will firing ripe experience, mature judg¬ 
ment and sound character to help in the solution of 
these problems. He lives in Vermont. We have 
known him for yeai’s. If he lived in any other State 
between Alaska and Florida we should support him 
in the same way. 
* 
HE time has come for talking “cover crop” 
seriously. We have done our best to explain 
that a cover ci’op is one which oovei’s the soil dui’ing 
Fall and Winter. It is usually seeded in the corn 
at last cultivation, or just after the potatoes are dug. 
After the Summer crops are liaiwested this living 
cover comes on to protect the soil. It saves the 
nitrates which would otherwise be lost out of the 
land, adds organic matter, prevents washing, gives a 
cei’tain amount of nitrogen and, in wet locations, 
will help dry out the soil in Spring and thus give 
earlier cultivation. Where some good legume is used 
with rye, such a crop will mean the equivalent of 
eight to 10 loads of good manure hauled and spread 
on the ground for the price of seed and seeding. 
* 
I T is not generally known by country people that 
the last Congress passed the following proposed 
amendment to the United States Constitution : 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled 
(two-thirds of each house concurring therein), That the 
following article is proposed as an amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States, which, when rati¬ 
fied by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
States, shall be valid to all intents and purposes ae a 
part of the Constitution : 
“ARTICLE -. 
“Section 1. The Congress shall have power to limit, 
regulate and prohibit the labor of persons under 18 
years of age. 
“Sex’. 2. The power of the several State is unim¬ 
paired by this ai-ticle except that the operation of State 
laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give 
effect to legislation enacted by the Congress.” 
This will now go to the legislatures of the differ¬ 
ent States, and when thi’ee-foui’ths of them ratify 
it will become a part of the Constitution. We are 
not in favor of giving Congress this remarkable 
power. We warn our country people that this 
amendment will go through unless they wake up and 
carry on an active campaign against it. Judging 
from some of the acts of recent sessions of Congress 
it would be a mistake to trust our representatives 
with any such power unless they are definitely in¬ 
structed by the people. For some years there has 
been a concerted effort on the part of a powerful 
group of educators and uplifters to prohibit any 
young person under 18 years from working. There 
are, without question, many cases where children are 
injured by woi’king them too early and too hard. 
There are probably just as many more who are in¬ 
jured in character by not being worked hard enough. 
We think such an amendment would work hardship 
and trouble to farmers, and we shall oppose it to 
the best of our ability. 
* 
There has been a very serious accident near here re¬ 
cently in which two men lost their lives and a third is in 
very serious condition after over a week. The accident 
occurred while cleaning a cider vat. While all of the 
details are not yet available, it seems to be a case of 
gas poisoning. 
IMILAR reports are coming fimu all over about 
death or serious injury in wells, silos, or even 
cellars, where there is poor ventilation. It means an 
accumulation of carbonic acid gas at the bottom of 
wells or enclosures where it cannot drain away. This 
deadly gas is heavier than air, and will sink down 
like water into low places. Thei’e are many cases on 
record where this gas has gathered at the bottom of 
wells or silos. Men go down into such places, not 
realizing the dangei-, and are promptly overcome. 
Unless they are relieved by being brought into the 
air they will die. No one should ever venture into 
such places without first testing the air. This may 
be done by lowering a lighted lamp or candle down 
into the well or silo. If the light continues to burn 
it will be safe for a human to enter. If it goes out, 
keep away from the place until fresh air has been 
mixed in with the gas. 
* 
N OW comes a new scientist who claims to have 
discovered some new medicine (or may be it's 
a serum) which will increase the height of the avex*- 
age man by sevei’al inches. We have in times past 
had readers beseech us for help in adding the frac¬ 
tion of an inch to their height. Most of them were 
to take a civil service examination. They could pass 
all requirements except that of size. 
“Which of you by talcing thought can add one cubit 
to his stature?'’ 
We have no faith to believe that medicine can do 
any moi’e than thought, and we imagine that most 
of this talk now appearing in the papei’s is a form 
of pi-opaganda preparing the way for the sale of 
some new “dope.” Our advice to the short man is to 
take a long look at the part little folks have played 
in history and be content. The world is ruled by 
brains rather than bulk. It is not likely that any 
adult can have his body stretched out to greater 
length without breaking a joint or two. We can, 
however, inci'ease the size of our children by proper 
feeding and care. Train them to drink all the milk 
they can swallow. Let them eat entii’e grains in 
place of meat until their second teeth are firmly 
placed, and encourage them to eat butter and leafy 
vegetables. Have them examined regularly by some 
good physician, and if possible have some skillful 
osteopath manipulate their joints and bones at in- 
tei’vals. With proper care there is no good reason 
why the child born this year should not develop a 
large frame and carry within it the picture of health 
up to the year 2124. 
Brevities 
'The stamp tax on promissory notes or drafts has 
been repealed. 
We are having questions about how to build a “spite 
fence” to keep “horrible neighbors” out of sight! Co¬ 
operation is better. 
Of all the small grains, barley is best suited to late 
seeding for a hay crop. Northern farmers often seed 
barley in August and cut a ton of hay to the acre before 
Winter. 
How much truth is there in the report that wood¬ 
chucks and skunks occupy the same hole? We think 
skunks often live in holes which the woodchucks have 
abandoned—but do they ever live together? 
Reports are made of experiments in Europe of feed¬ 
ing c-odliver oil to cows for the purpose of producing a 
form of milk for feeding children afflicted with lnc-kets. 
It is stated that such children cannot always assimilate 
the pure codliver oil, but find relief from the milk pro¬ 
duced through feeding it. 
Our old friend, J. W. Stubenrauch of Texas, has 
made peach money out of oil. Years ago his section was 
noted for its peach orchards. The business was over¬ 
done, and most growers got out. Then came the oil strike, 
and practically everyone abandoned peaches except 
Mr. Stubenrauch. He hung on and now has almost a 
monopoly in a section whei’e oil has put money in cir¬ 
culation. 
