1328 
Vht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 18, 1924 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TIIE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established tsso 
Pnblkhrd weekly by the Rural Publishing Company. 833 West 80lh 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, $2.01. 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. 
A N exciting race is on at the Connecticut egg- 
laying contest. For several months a pen of 
R. I. Reds were so far ahead that it seemed 10 to 1 
in their favor. On August 1 the Reds led the pro¬ 
cession by 94 eggs. It seemed safe enough, but sud¬ 
denly a pen of Leghorns crawled up on the home 
stretch, and by October 1 had cut the lead to 3(5 
eggs. The flight to the wire during October will 
he close. As a rule the Reds are best at Fall laying, 
hut these Leghorns are holding on. A race of this 
sort is far more important to humanity than the 
world’s baseball series, but it never gets on the 
radio. 
* 
A T the southeastern corner of this country a long 
spot of sand sticks out like the thumb on a 
mitten. Florida! Years ago New England had a 
mighty influence upon the habits and thought of 
America. Now, in a different way, this thumb of 
sand which separates the Atlantic from the Gulf of 
Mexico is exerting a new influence which our fore¬ 
fathers never expected. For Florida is showing 
Americans how to be comfortable in Winter and 
how to play. Thousands of men and women who in 
former years considered it something of a crime to 
relax and stop working, now speed south as cold 
weather comes on and exchange snow drifts for 
sunshine. The effect of all this upon the American 
habit and the American view of life is sure to be 
great and remarkable. People who have regarded 
constant, grinding work as a form of religion are 
begining to play, and Florida is largely responsible 
for it. Some of these people have an entirely wrong 
idea of Winter life in the South. There is good, 
sound sense in Mr. Kille's article on “Farming 
Both Ends of the Country.” Many an egg has been 
about ruined for digestion by overdoing the order 
to have it "done on both sides.” Instead of trying 
to raise profitable crops at the North in Summer 
and in the South in Winter the man of middle age 
will do better to follow Mr. Kille’s advice and push 
his northern farm hard through the growing season, 
and then take a vacation in Florida! At first 
thought this would seem impossible to most of our 
people, hut think again and see how others do it. 
* 
C AN any of the consolidationists tell us of a 
case where, in a district when the local school 
is given up and the children carried several miles, 
farm values have risen and new farmers have come 
in? One of the arguments advanced for school con¬ 
solidation is that new people will appreciate the 
fact that children will be carried some distance to 
an improved school! AYe never could quite under¬ 
stand that argument. In our own experience in 
selling country property we have found that most 
buyers ask how near to a school the farm is located. 
We never heard of one who wanted to locate so 
that his children could be carried away from home. 
Still some of the consolidation champions make so 
much of this argument that they must have specific 
eases to prove it. AYe would like to know of a few 
cases where this grouping of districts has increased 
land values—away from the center. 
B Y all means read that letter from C. R. Bashore 
on the next page. Those Pennsylvania tax¬ 
payers have the right idea and the right spirit, and 
their plan is the only practical one for country peo¬ 
ple. Nearly every town will have a Republican or 
a Democratic club. They are usually quite effective 
for getting out the party vote, but who ever heard 
of one of these political clubs actually influencing 
legislation that would benefit all the people? If 
there could be in every community a club like the 
one Air. P.ashore tells us about, many of our political 
troubles would be on the way to settlement. As it is 
many of our representatives in Congress or the Leg¬ 
islature never know just what the people want. That 
is because the politicians or the so-called farm lead¬ 
ers assume to speak for country people and do not 
usually represent them fairly. The plain people 
must find some way of expressing their desires if 
they expect any true help. In New York State 
such a means is offered in the Rural School Improve¬ 
ment Society. If there could be a branch of this 
society functioning in every country school district 
in New York State the result would, in a few years, 
be beyond estimate by simply organizing country 
sentiment and finally crystalizing it so public men 
would be forced to give it attention. 
“Joy in the Job” 
L AST year, one of our boys, home from college 
spent his Summer vacation working for a con¬ 
tractor. This boy must work his way for an educa¬ 
tion, and the contractor paid far more than the farm 
could afford—so the boy drove a truck hauling sup¬ 
plies and handled brick and mortar in “idle hours.” 
A few weeks ago we were out driving and the boy, 
with his hand on the wheel, drove a few blocks out 
of the way and halted before a new church building. 
“There,” lie said, “I helped build that!” 
lie had hauled the brick and stone and handled 
some of the sand. He played a minor part of small 
importance perhaps, but he helped build the church, 
and he expressed something of the joy of labor as 
he saw the result of his work. We have seen a com¬ 
mon workman in the great city of a Sunday after¬ 
noon standing before some great sky scraping build¬ 
ing with eyes raised to the clouds, saying in his 
heart, “I helped build that.” Perhaps he drove 
bolts into the iron framework, mixed mortar or 
carried brick. No matter how humble his part, he 
helped in the building, and as the finished edifice 
towered above him this great joy of labor swelled 
up in his heart like a great wave of religious feel¬ 
ing, and he went home, a better man because of this 
ability to take joy in his job! And we have seen 
many a farmer, stand with his wife, as evening 
came on, looking off to the sunset over the pleasant 
farm. These two are practical people, little given 
to sentiment, far far away from the old courting 
days, yet as they look over the happy prospect they 
are thinking, “I helped build this—my labor is 
buried here!”—and they feel that joy of labor which 
only the faithful worker may know. And we have 
seen the faithful hired man, bound to the family by 
ties of long service, stand by the orchard gate. He 
sees the trees heavy with fruit and can remember 
how he helped plant those little seedlings years ago. 
He has seen them respond and grow as the result of 
his labor. They do not belong to him, but he is 
happy to think, “I helped produce that orchard!” 
God help the man or woman who can take no joy in 
the job, whose heart does not thrill with some sort 
of victory over hard conditions through some sort 
of sacrifice and toil. Joy in tlTc job! It is the great 
sweetener of toil, the yeast which raises the dull, 
drab, hopeless existence into the sweet wholesome 
bread of life. And what is true of the labor of our 
hands is also true of the larger part in the communi¬ 
ty which we must all play. It is a greater joy to 
feel as the years pass swiftly by, that the world is 
growing better, that men and women have larger 
opportunity, that humanity has risen a little, and 
that we may justly claim that we have helped 
build it. 
Where cau I get a good, bright, up-to-the-mmute 
book on horticulture, telling the latest news and facts 
and written so that we can understand it and not go 
to sleep over it? j. s. K. 
E do not know any such book. There ought 
to be several of them—as well as similar 
books on other lines of farming. There are hundreds 
of so-called farm books, but only a very few of 
what may be called “human documents.” Alost of 
them are written like the average station bulletin, a 
dry collection of facts without imagination, human 
interest or sparkle of language. AVkatever may 
he said about the great contributions to knowledge 
w hicli the colleges and stations have made it will be 
generally admitted that they have “doped” and chlo¬ 
roformed the literature of agriculture. The im¬ 
mense output of bulletins and essays from the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture and experiment stations has 
frightened most book publishers, who feel that they 
cannot stand the competition from this tremendous 
flood of free information. The government enters 
into a direct competition with publishers far more 
serious than any other line of business must face. . 
Not only that, but the Department and the stations 
have adopted a general style for their publications 
too heavy and dull and dry to give the power and 
enthusiasm so potent in other lines of literature. 
That seems to be the reason why there are no such 
books on farming as our correspondent calls for. 
There ought to be such books as a volume on 
“Sheep” by our old friend W. W. Reynolds; George 
Cosgrove or Dr. Dean should write a book on poul¬ 
try ; Wm. Perkins should tell his experience at gar¬ 
dening, and dozens of others with a talent for tell¬ 
ing things interestingly should get into print! But 
how cau they get there? If they wrote the real hu¬ 
man story, as common folks want it, the college 
men would, for the most part, laugh at it while pub- 
lishers would make impossible terms because their 
scientific advisers would object to the “style.” That 
is about the situation. What can de done about it? 
For some reason the powers that be in American 
agriculture have decided that it is not dignified to 
treat the American countrymen as a full human 
being in his study of the literature of his profession. 
There are a few excellent government publications, 
but most of them are too heavy to sink into the 
mind! The mind sinks with them. 
* 
Y OU have probably noticed many cars with pic¬ 
tures pasted on the windshields around this 
section most of these pictures represent a young 
woman dressed in a rather scanty bathing suit—in 
the act of diving off a high bank. The Superintend¬ 
ent of Alotor A T ehicles has rightly decided that such 
pictures are not helpful to the eyesight of most 
drivers, and he has issued strict instructions to all 
police chiefs: 
A few days ago I made a ruling to the effect that 
all pasters be removed from windshields of automobiles 
in this State. 
The reason for my ruling is that pasters prevent 
100 per cent vision of the operator, and 100 per cent 
vision is absolutely necessary in driving a car. 
Will you please co-operate with this bureau and in¬ 
struct all officers of your department to warn opera¬ 
tors of this ruling and that licenses may be suspended 
for a continuation of this practice. 
In these days of crowded roads and reckless driv¬ 
ers “100 per cent vision” is all too small to prevent 
accidents, and the windshield is no place for a pic¬ 
ture gallery. 
* 
HE frost has held off well, and the corn crop is 
in much better shape than was predicted a 
month ago. The price, however, will be high and 
eastern feeders must prepare for it. The commercial 
poultryman must, of course, depend, almost entirely 
upon western grain for feeding, and corn as usual 
will largely determine the cost. It is a great prob¬ 
lem with many poultrymen as to what the future 
lia» in store for them. AVithout question the cost 
of feeding will rise. There can be little doubt about 
that. The question of egg prices cannot be answered 
yet, but at this time it seems probable that there will 
be no drop this Winter. Some poultrymen expect 
higher prices than last year, hut we doubt it. It 
seems to be true that fewer chicks than usual have 
been raised. AA r e think there is something of a 
shortage of good pullets. Of course no business man 
has any right to keep an unbusiness hen. This sea¬ 
son, of all years, there ought to be close culling in 
every flock even if it takes out half the birds. There 
is no use putting .$2 corn into a drone hen. She is 
more at home in a 25-cent frying-pan. While we 
think the present outlook calls for conservative ac¬ 
tion the poultry business is fundamentally sound, no 
matter where feed prices may go. Prices of eggs 
and meat will follow feed in the market. The 
plungers and those who have gone out over their 
heads in debt will have hard swimming if corn goes 
to $2, but the man who understands his business 
and does not try to gamble will be safe to pin his 
faith to the hen. 
Brevities 
Take your fears by the throat and master them. 
A breakage in the apple skin will let the bad bac¬ 
teria in. 
The cornstalks and leaves carry from 43 to one-half 
the total value of the crop. 
The professor is all right in his place, but the prac¬ 
titioner beats him for common work. 
We have cotton in bloom on our farm in Bergen Co., 
N. J., but the season has been too cool and late to pro¬ 
duce lint. 
Practically every part of the tobacco plant is now 
used for some purpose. It has followed the cotton 
plant in its development. 
A new machine for harvesting corn is reported from 
South Africa. It straddles the row, pulls off and loads 
the ears and leaves the stalks standing. 
