1094 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TIIE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
I'uhlUlied weekly by the Rural Publishing Company. 833 West 30th Street, New fork 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
L. H. Murphy, Circulation Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, S2.04. 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 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. Rut 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 New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
F OR some years past advertisements have ap¬ 
peared in many farm papers offering a “new 
remedy” for insects on poultry. The stuff offered 
was to be put in the food or drinking water. The 
theory of the “cure” was that this stuff, put into cir¬ 
culation through the food or drink, would prove so 
offensive to the parasites -working on the skin that 
they would drop off! We never considered these 
claims true, and refused the advertising. The story 
was very popular with people who want some easy 
way of getting rid of a troublesome job. The De¬ 
partment of Agriculture has n’ow tested these sam¬ 
ples of “dope.” Most of them seem to be some form 
of sulphur. All are “ineffective,” which is the polite, 
official word for “fakes.” Further than that, the 
department “has served notice on the manufacturers 
who may be selling or contemplating selling the 
above mentioned produces t ) be used in this manner 
for controlling external pests of poultry that they 
are guilty of violating the provisions of the insecti¬ 
cide act of 1910, and that the products are mis¬ 
branded.” All of which is a very dignified way of 
telling these manufacturers where they get off. And 
no doubt the papers which printed The advertising 
will also get off. 
* 
if/^VLD Home Day” is a New England institution, 
w started some years ago in New Hampshire. 
The plan is to devote a day, or even a week, to a 
celebration of old times. Former residents of the 
town are invited .to come back, and there is a gen¬ 
eral celebration, with particular reference to town 
history and old town memories. The idea is an ex¬ 
cellent one, and might be used to fine advantage in 
keeping' alive the spirit and feeling of comradeship 
Which have always been the strong feature of New 
England life. The celebration has fallen off in most 
of the towns. The work of preparation and man¬ 
agement falls upon a few people, who must give 
their time to it. A few towns have kept up the cele¬ 
bration successfully. Lunenburg, Mass., shows what 
a few active citizens can do. This town has kept up 
the celebration, and on July 30 it held its twenty- 
third meeting. It was largely attended. There were 
church exercises, an address, sports and games, and 
a banquet at which local people served the good old 
Yankee food. No one could question the benefit of 
such a gathering—to the town and to the people who 
came back home. In this age of material things, 
when most of us seek to measure our “success” in 
life by pur ability to buy things, it is a fine thing to 
go back home and seek for that spirit “which, seek 
through the world, is not met with elsewhere.” 
* 
T HERE are several notable characters in the 
drama of old-time farm life who stand out 
vividly in the memory of men who lived on the farm 
40 years or mbre ago. One is the old-time country 
doctor. Those were the days of soft dirt roads. 
Automobiles and telephones were unknown. Some¬ 
times we sent word by a passing neighbor that the 
doctor was needed, or in case of emergency one of 
the boys got on a horse and galloped for aid. The 
doctor was usually a man of middle age or older; a 
shrewd, kindly man of great common sense. In 
these days he would hardly be ranked higher than 
an expert nurse with old-fashioned ideas, but he had 
that rare power of understanding human nature 
which among plain people ranks above science or 
great skill. The true old country doctor was one of 
the finest and most useful characters this country 
has ever known. And then there was the faithful 
old hired man, who became a part of the family. 
He had no other home, never having been able to 
make one for himself. He seemed to have no rela¬ 
tives. He attached himself to the family, as some 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
faithful animal would have done. Often weak and 
improvident, “cranky” as he grew old, he gave in 
his humble way the most loyal service that one 
human can render another. He was more than one 
of the family. He is well described in the story “My 
Antonia,” and the deep tender pathos of his life is 
well brought out in Robert Frost’s “Death of the 
Hired Man.” Many a man who reads these lines 
will recall the comradeship and example of the 
faithful old farm servant who, next to father, meant 
more than any man in his influence upon our youth. 
Something seems to have dropped out of farm life 
with the passing of the old-time country doctor and 
the faithful hired man. 
* 
URING the past month we have had a flood of 
questions as to whether a person who cares for 
an aged relative can, on the death of such invalid, 
collect ’a bill for board and service. In some cases 
the relative is well-to-do and makes no provision in 
his will to recompense this caretaker. Generally 
speaking, unless there is a distinct agreement made 
to compensate a child for the care of a parent, no 
compensation can be recovered after the parent’s 
death. It would seem to be a moral obligation on 
the part of the other heirs rather than any legal 
case. There is usually some daughter who comes 
forward and performs the often disagreeable task 
of caring for father and mother. All too often such 
a daughter is forgotten or neglected in settling the 
estate, when in justice she should be considered first 
of all. These .things develop some strange freaks of 
human nature. In one instance a woman wants us 
to investigate the case of a soldier’s widow and see 
if she is entitled to an increased pension. If she is, 
and the pension can be made over to her, this woman 
will care for the widow! 
* 
VERY week makes it clear that the farm situ¬ 
ation as a whole is improving. Our reports 
come from everywhere, and .we know that they are 
reliable. There are some products which do not 
bring what they should, and some localities are far 
from prosperous. That is always true, even in times 
of the greatest general prosperity. Taken as a 
whole, however, the agricultural situation is better 
than last year. The purchasing power of the farm 
dollar has increased. Prices for most products will 
go higher. We are not -to have any “bumper crops,” 
but there will be a reasonable supply. The R. N.-Y. 
has never attempted to “jolly” the farmers and try 
to make them believe the outlook was good when 
ordinary common sense should show that the reverse 
is true. On the other hand, we do not believe in 
trying -to exaggerate disaster and paint the situation 
as hopeless. Just now-the'truth lies between these 
two extremes. The situation is improving, and 
there are better days ahead. If the European na¬ 
tions come to an agreement over the Dawes plan 
for readjustment it seems assured that European 
loans will be made, and this will bring back much 
of the foreign commerce America has been losing. 
This will take care of much of our present surplus, 
and thus improve the home market, and then, with 
some reasonable arrangement for regulating pro¬ 
duction we shall all have a fairer chance. 
* 
ILO-FILLING time is nearly here, and once 
more we bring up the question of using some 
inoculant to improve the silage or make it more uni¬ 
form. We all know that silage varies in quality. 
Some of it is fragrant and good. We could almost 
use it as human food. Other samples are rank and 
disagreeable, and we all understand that cows know 
the difference. It is much the same as making but¬ 
ter. As we know, good butter-makers use a “starter.” 
It may be buttermilk from a recent churning or some 
chemical mixture which we can buy from dairy 
supply houses. In either case the use is based on a 
simple theory. The general flavor and character of 
the butter is due to chemical changes brought about 
by the work of certain bacteria. We can put one 
kind of bacteria into the cream and turn out a mix¬ 
ture that will smell like a skunk, or we can use an¬ 
other kind and make the ideal, fragrant butter. It 
depends on which kind of bacteria gets going first. 
Now, it is just the same with silage in the silo. It 
goes through a chemical process, and the quality is 
determined by the kind of bacteria which start and 
control this action. Quite a number of farmers 
spray or sprinkle sour milk or buttermilk over the 
corn as it leaves the cutter. This answers much the 
same purpose as putting buttermilk into cream be¬ 
fore churning. The bacteria which sour the milk 
will, if put in the corn, spread through the silo and 
give better silage. And, as in the case of the cream 
“starter,” the chemists have separated the needed 
August 16, 1924 
bacteria, and they can be obtained in commercial 
form. We have heard farmers laugh at the idea and 
say they do not want “any bees in the silo,” but our 
reports show that in the majority of cases the use of 
this inoculant has given improved silage. We think 
it a good thing, well worth trying. 
'X 
HERE is a controversy on between the New 
York State Horticultural Society and the man¬ 
agers of the fruit department of the New York State 
Fair. We had a full discussion of this trouble last 
Winter. At the recent State meeting of the society 
it was decided by a vote of 42 to 4 “to exhibit at 
the Rochester meeting.” As we understand it, noth¬ 
ing was said about the State Fair. A writer in the 
Post-Dispatch says about this: 
The agitation by the society is by a small group, not 
the entire body, and is aided by a radical farm publica¬ 
tion which is recognized as opposing every movement 
tor the promotion of agriculture in the State. 
Some very remarkable things are happening in 
the world just now. How can it be possible for 
a paper to be “radical” and still oppose “every move¬ 
ment for the promotion of agriculture?” The gen¬ 
eral understanding of a “radical” is one who goes to 
the root of evils of society or government, and tries 
to get rid of them. If the paper here mentioned is 
really radical and at the same time opposes these 
“movements” can it be that some of these same 
movements would demote rather than promote agri¬ 
culture? 
I T seems evident that riding horses and ponies 
are coming back in popularity. We see many 
“riding clubs,” and our back country roads are be- 
gining to fill up with horseback riders. The bicycle 
and the car drove the horse and the pony out of the 
procession. We stated a few years ago that a re¬ 
action was sure to come. Many people are tiring of 
the car. They will come back to the trotting or 
driving horse as something of a new form of ex¬ 
citement. Years ago many well-to-do people felt 
tnat a pony made an excellent driving companion 
for their children. The bicycle proved too much for 
the pony, but now it is known that the living com¬ 
panionship of the little horse is far better for the 
child than any steel contrivance in which gasoline 
explodes. Too many men and women are waking 
up to find that the soft cushions of the car have 
deposited soft cushions of fat inside and outside of 
their bodies. The riding horse will harden these 
cushions or remove them. We look for a greatly in¬ 
creased demand for ponies and riding horses. 
* 
OME of these legal questions are badly snarled. 
In one case two brothers hold a warranty deed 
as tenants in common, and one brother’s wife holds a 
second mortgage on the property. Now, can the 
other brother sell or give a deed to his rights in this 
property without his brother’s consent? The rule in 
such a case appears to be that the first brother may 
convey an undivided one-lialf interest in the prop¬ 
erty in question without the consent of the brother 
or his wife, but the conveyance should be made sub¬ 
ject to her mortgage. It must be said that some of 
these joint deeds, intended to harmonize family rela¬ 
tions, throw them all out of joint. 
Brevities 
Flies are bad milk.ers. 
Time to wake up the school question. 
Which is really worse—child laziness or overworked 
childhood? 
Not always safe to “read between the lines.” You 
are likely to read wrong. 
It often happens that when the honey flow stops the 
working bees in a hive will destroy the drones. They 
cannot make them work ! 
On “grievance day” the assessors will hear com¬ 
plaints about over-assessment of property. Remember 
that in New York the decision of a board of assessors 
is subject to a review by the court. 
A reader says he has been elected school tax collec¬ 
tor. The trustee is not on good personal terms and may 
refuse his bond. What then? The natural thing would 
be to buy a surety bond. The trustee could not refuse 
to accept that. 
A reader presents a case where a will was duly pre¬ 
pared and signed. Then later on separate sheets of 
paper a memorandum was added,, changing* * the division 
of property. This new note would not stand. A will 
cannot be altered by a memorandum executed subse¬ 
quent thereto without the formalities required by law 
for the execution of a will. 
