1052 
Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
fulilbhed ivrrkly by the Kami Publishing Company. 333 West 80th Street, New York 
Hekbkrt W. Collingwood, 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, $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, 41.00 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 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 The Rural Nkw- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
E ACH week brings us new reason to believe that 
general farm prices will be higher this Fall. 
This has become quite evident with wheat, corn and 
most other grains. We think it will follow with po¬ 
tatoes, most kinds of fruit and general farm prod¬ 
uce. This will help. A moderate crop with good 
prices is always better for farmers than a bumper 
crop and prices completely controlled by the middle¬ 
men. In the latter case no one receives any great 
benefit except the distributing classes. Consumers 
rarely benefit from a bumper crop. A little illustra¬ 
tion of this is seen in the present watermelon crop 
from the South. There is an immense production 
and the wholesale markets are flooded so that these 
melons bring only a few cents each. Yet consumers 
v ho buy at retail are paying (15 cents or more. If 
the retail price were reduced, as it should be, if the 
law of supply and demand were working properly, 
there would be three times as many melons sold and 
the crop could be handled. The “bumper crop” so 
highly praised by dealers and middlemen simply 
gives these gentry the power to dictate prices at 
will and squeeze both farmer and consumer. The 
prospects now are for medium sized crops of most 
products and that will give some advantage to the 
producer. There will still remain the fact that the 
purchasing power of the farmer’s dollar is too low. 
T WO weeks ago we printed the proposed child 
labor amendment to the United States Consti¬ 
tution. It has already been passed by Congress and 
will now go to the States for ratification. Should 
this amendment be ratified, Congress will have th? 
power to prohibit all labor by persons under 18 
years of age. We are opposed to giving Congress 
any such power. Of late years we have seen Con¬ 
gress do some very foolish things when complicated 
by partisan or sectional prejudice. Frankly we 
would not care to entrust this important matter of 
child labor legislation to such a Congress as we have 
had for the past 10 years without some definite 
check on the part of the people. Let us all hear in 
mind first of all that if this amendment is ratified, 
we shall as parents or guardians have no control 
over the labor of our children. We may assume that 
the people who are pushing this amendment are well 
meaning and sincere, that they are patriotic and that 
they honestly think a work-free childhood will give 
us more energetic and sound Americans for the fu¬ 
ture. So far as we know them they are chiefly 
theorists, people who have never had any children of 
their own and have had little practical experience in 
bringing children up to manhood and womanhood 
under hard circumstances and with meager re¬ 
sources. We imagine that the backers of this amend¬ 
ment represent about the same noisy group who so 
strenuously seek to revolutionize our public school 
system and change the entire character of our rural 
schools. They are quite willing to experiment by 
removing some of the soundest stones in the very 
foundation of our government. They remind us of 
some young and untried engineer who wants to re¬ 
move the solid stone foundation of a house (put 
there by some old mason years ago) and substitute 
some new formation of concrete or tile! Thousands 
of middle-aged men who read this will testify that 
the enforced labor of their youth had as much as 
anything to do with the formation of character. 
The writer feels justified in saying that he has had 
as much to do with raising children as the next one. 
Several of our children would have been positively 
ruined if such an amendment had been enforced. 
They never could have acquired self-reliant habits 
cf industry and energy after 18 years. They would 
have felt, and we think with some justice, that if a 
paternal government made labor under 18 years a 
crime, there was no good reason why the limit should 
not be extended to 80. While it is true that some 
children are put at work too early in life, and thus 
denied the right to a reasonable childhood, we hon¬ 
estly believe that far more of them are ruined be¬ 
cause they are not put at work and given the disci¬ 
pline of useful labor. The future of America would 
be far more secure if every child of a millionaire 
were forced by law to work at some useful trade a 
part of every year from 15 to 21. We think farmers 
are particularly interested in the defeat of this 
amendment and we shall do our best to help them as 
a defense of their common rights. 
A CASE where a prophet has honor outside his 
own country is found in a recent article in Die 
Do ere K or rant, a farm paper printed in South Africa. 
A correspondent complains that African farmers do 
not work together, and make little effort to control 
legislation. Then he points to the nohle example of 
this land of the free and home of the brave: 
That is what is now being done in Congress in Amer¬ 
ica, I understand, with the best results. The farmer 
members all stick together on all points that affect pro¬ 
duction of crops, railage, market facilities, protection, 
fertilizers, seeds and export of cattle and all produce. 
Do they “all stick together”? They do not seem 
to use a very adhesive form of glue. A large part of 
the national legislation promoted for fanners last 
Winter was defeated through sectional feeling. For 
example, representatives from the South were ready 
to defeat grain legislation unless cotton and other 
southern products were taken care of. Represen¬ 
tatives from eastern farm sections were opposed or 
indifferent to the needs of western farmers unless 
their interests were fully protected. It cannot be said 
that the farmers of America have yet shown the 
world how to get together and stay put, through 
prosperity and adversity. About the nearest ap¬ 
proach to it was the uprising of New York farmers 
over the school bill last Winter. There they had a 
common cause, which was presented to them so that 
they fully understood it. 
HUS far the political campaign seems very slow 
to start. There is no excitement. The politi¬ 
cians are having great trouble in stirring up inter¬ 
est. Part of this is undoubtedly due to the great 
extention of the radio system. Millions of people 
heard almost every sound made at the great con¬ 
ventions. They heard the arguments, the cheering 
and the quarreling as never before. Thus they 
know that both of the old parties are split, and that 
the so called "platforms” are, for the most part, 
meaningless straddles which may be stretched like 
a rubber band to suit almost anything. The “third 
parties” are for the most part built around some 
strong personality who could not, even if elected, 
carry out any of his ref onus in the face of a hostile 
Congress. The apathy thus far shown is due to this 
lack of interest and lack of faith in the mangement 
of either great party. While the people are not 
talking much thus far they are thinking. They will 
elect the man who seems best able or most likely to 
carry out their wishes and then work to directly 
influence the executive as they have never done be¬ 
fore. They would do well to drop out more than 
half our present Congressmen and put a new set of 
abler men in Washington. 
* 
HERE are a good many farms in the East, near 
large cities, where rye will still pay. Years 
ago rye was quite profitable. There was a good de¬ 
mand for both straw and grain. The great increase 
of the wheat crop and the substitution of cars and 
trucks for horsepower drove rye off many of our 
farms. Now we think it will, in some cases at least, 
pay better than wheat. There is a strong demand 
for the straw. It can usually be sold in the local 
market. The grain can be ground with corn, and 
oats for stock feed. We would not advise growing 
rye in a regular rotation. Some years ago many 
eastern farmers worked out a rotation of corn, po¬ 
tatoes, wheat or rye and two years of grass. With 
changes in labor and general crop production, this 
rotation does not now suit many of our farms. The 
more sensible plan now is to run a few of the 
stronger and better located acres in some intensive 
crops like berries or other fruits and truck crops and 
put the balance of the farm in rye or rye and grass. 
We may seed to rye and clover, cut the rye at the 
right time, then in the Fall plow under the clover 
and seed to rye once more. This can be kept up for 
some years. Considering the light cost of labor, the 
rye will pay a little profit. This plan is not sug- 
August 2, 1924 
gested for any general use but there are localities 
wkere it could be worked out. 
sk 
HE following statement from a local New York 
paper will interest many of our readers who 
are watching the battle for the district school: 
The $15,000 verdict, returned by a jury in Justice 
Cheney’s court. May 2, 1923, in favor of Mabel Wil¬ 
liams against the board of trustees of District 1 of the 
town of Eaton, was unanimously affirmed by the appel¬ 
late division at Rochester last week. 
This verdict must be paid by a hundred or so resi¬ 
dents living in the district as the result of an accident 
April 17, 1921, when Mabel Williams, eight, had her 
leg wrenched in the wheel of a conveyance in which she 
and other children were being carried to Hamilton high 
school. Residents in the district had voted to contract 
with Hamilton high school for the education of the chil¬ 
dren of the district and had closed their own district 
school. They hired May C. Coleman to drive the con¬ 
veyance. She was in charge of it on the day of the 
accident, which was caused when the young girl allowed 
her legs to swing over the side of the conveyance and 
caught one of them in the rear wheel. The leg was 
broken in three places and she is crippled for life. 
Through her mother, Lillian Williams, as guardian, she 
sued for $25,000. 
We merely give this as a matter of news at this time. 
Fuller details wall come later. Apparently the school 
district, as the contracting party, was held respon¬ 
sible for this damage. We have had reports of sev¬ 
eral cases where, in like manner, the district was 
made liable. Rather an expensive price to pay for 
the privilege of consolidation. It seems evident to 
us that under the proposed new school bill the art 
of consolidating, if we may put it that way, would 
be 'greatly promoted "without lessening the responsi¬ 
bility of the people. 
5k 
HE statement on the next page shows some 
things about the wool market that are not well 
understood. It seems that this country has been 
actually shipping back to Europe wool which it pre¬ 
viously imported. Habit and fashion are affecting 
the market. The new plan of selling two pairs of 
trousers with each suit lessens the demand for 
clothing, since the coat and vest will “last longer.” 
Then the change in women’s garments from wool to 
cotton and silk (and artificial silk, at that), makes 
the sheep’s overcoat look shabby. And think how 
the automobile and the radio are affecting trade. 
Last year some $4,000,000,000 was spent for cars, 
and some $350,000,000 for radio fixtures. There were 
no increased earnings, so that this vast sum must be 
adjusted to “living expenses.” That means among 
other things cheaper clothing or more patching and 
repairing. We see this working out in the shoe trade 
in the immense increase in cobblers and shoe repair¬ 
ing outfits. It is strange to think how listening in 
at a radio may affect the price of wool, yet that is 
what is happening. And a thing not mentioned in 
this report is the increased use of substitutes. The 
sheep must compete with the rag bag. Shoddy is 
selling out wool. And “artificial silk,” too. Even 
the silk worm has its imitators just as soon as its 
product becomes worth while. The poet tried to 
humble the vanity of human peacocks by exclaim¬ 
ing— 
“And the poor sheep and silkworm wore 
That very clothing long before.” 
These animated fashion plates are now clothed 
from the rag bag. All this makes it more necessary 
than ever to push the national law prohibiting the 
use of fiber substitutes without plainly marking them 
as such. 
Brevities 
One criticism of the ordinary station bulletion is that 
it contains too many “ifs” and “probabilties.” 
A half-fed child makes a half-baked man, and a half- 
baked man never can provide the real bread of life. 
We notice that some people have a bad case of “leg 
weakness” when it comes to walking up to their duty. 
It has been claimed that poisoned dust used on apple 
trees is more injurious to bees than the liquid spray. 
What is your experience? 
Have you found out how your candidate for the 
legislature stands on the rural school bill? Do it now! 
Do not wait until the man is safely elected. 
We are all told just when we should cut hay so as to 
get the finest quality. It’s all true enough, but most 
farmers have a dozen necessary things to do at one time. 
Sometimes the hay must wait. 
Now comes a scientist who claims that the continua¬ 
tion of the practice of bobbing the hair will result in a 
breed of bearded women, and that shaving the neck will 
finally result in a new skin disease. A brave scientist 
that—he never could be elected President. 
Remember this! If you stand still and permit a 
backer of the new school bill to be elected from your 
county—the fact can be accepted as evidence that your 
folks are all back of the bill. A vote at the primary 
may be worth 10 at the election. 
The woodchuck will ruin many an experiment with 
Soy beans this year. Talk about the bees love for 
honey ©r a boy’s liking for mince pie or the neighbor’s 
hens and your favorite lettuce—the liking for Soy 
beans which the woodchuck shows—tops them all. 
