1482 
•D* RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
November 29, 1924 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established 1850 
t'libltahed weekly by the Rnral Publishing Company, 338 West 80lh Street, New fork 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wn. 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, $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. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to mid 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. 
Kindly state the law governing the State money is¬ 
sued to schools according to the number of weeks taught. 
I should like to teach 40 weeks, but the trustee doesn’t 
seem to know the law; that more State money goes to 
district schools having a 40-week term than for a 38- 
week term. A. R. K. 
A T one time there was a provision for extra pay- 
- ments to districts which maintained a longer 
term than 38 weeks. It has now been repealed, All 
appropriations are based on 180 days of instruction. 
Longer terms are optional with the district, but will 
not be entitled to State aid. At least 180 days’ in¬ 
struction must be provided, or the department may 
withhold public money. 
S HORTLY after the election President Coolidge 
gave a radio talk on the prospects of farming. 
He takes a hopeful view, and thinks that in the near 
future population will increase so rapidly that our 
own food and fiber products will all he consumed at 
home, so that instead of exporting food this country 
will be forced to import. With real co-operation in 
selling and an organization which will enable farm¬ 
ers to regulate production to suit demand, our farm¬ 
ers will then be in far better condition. There must 
be a readjustment of crops and methods. We are 
now importing great quantities of sugar and wool, 
practically every pound of which could be produced 
in this country. There are, without doubt, many 
farmers who barely make a living at dairying as at 
present conducted, who might do far better by grow¬ 
ing sugar beets or keeping more sheep. There are 
some good opportunities in poultry keeping, for we 
are sti'll importing great quantities of poultry and 
eggs. We cannot encourage any great plunge in 
fruit growing. The orchards we now have need bet¬ 
ter care. In the East one great trouble with dairy¬ 
ing is that too many farmers are producing milk at 
a loss. As they are situated in relation to their soil 
and to the market it is not likely that they can pro¬ 
duce milk at a profit. It would be far better if they 
could plan to work slowly, into other crops or stock 
and leave milk production to those who are best fit¬ 
ted to keep a dairy. Sooner or later, following nat¬ 
ural law, the unprofitable dairy must go. No legis¬ 
lation can save a business which is naturally un¬ 
profitable. From the Genesee Valley across the 
country to California, time after time this truth has 
been worked out with grain growers. Farms and 
farmers grow poor at raising wheat continuously, 
and then come back to prosperity by slowly abandon¬ 
ing grain for other farm products. In a way the 
production of liquid milk in the East is reacting 
upon many of our farmers much the same as ex¬ 
clusive grain growing affected the farmers of the 
West. Full enforcement of the laws we now have, 
and honest and full co-operation, will help, but there 
must also be a readjustment of farm crops and a 
better regulation of milk production. 
v - * 
Personally, I am a bit shocked at the way the Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture is handling extension work. No 
farmer is employed for it except a little from a few 
who undoubtedly will be cast off before long. When 
the Agricultural Department handled institutes, etc., 
it was important that most of the workers had experi¬ 
ence. Now it is college boys to the front. The Farm 
Bureau, I fear, will some day get a reaction from this, 
and they are having their hands full to live now. 0 . s. 
T HIS opens a subject which is rather diflicult to 
discuss candidly. The lid is sure to blow off 
some day, and it may be well to bring it up before 
the matter ferments and changes from sugar to al¬ 
cohol. There seems to be no question about the fact 
as stated in the above note. College men, some of 
them quite immature, are being substituted for ex¬ 
perienced farmers in extension or institute work. 
Before long, if the present method prevails, the col¬ 
lege will hold a somewhat arbitrary monopoly on 
this method of farm teaching. Starting with this 
evident fact, or tendency, the real question is wheth¬ 
er this is the best plan for conducting extension 
work. Thus far there seems to have been no argu¬ 
ment about it. The college people have apparently 
assumed that their plan of concentrated authority is 
best, and they have gone ahead with it, perhaps 
without consulting the farmers. We have our own 
opinion on the subject, but many years of experi¬ 
ence in working with farm people have taught us 
that in matters of this sort we should first learn 
what the farmers themselves desire. It is much like 
the school question. The promoters of the rural 
school bill seemed to assume that the desires of the 
plain country people were not entitled to great con¬ 
sideration, and they went ahead in their efforts to 
jam their bill through against the evident wishes of 
a majority of country people. We cannot say that 
the college people act on this principle, for the ques¬ 
tion has not been publicly debated. We now open 
the discussion, and we will welcome any opinion as 
to the best method of conducting this extension 
work, or as to its value as a part of farm education. 
But we ask you all to get this right! The R. N.-Y. 
will favor anything which can be shown to be in the 
interests of farmers as a whole. We feel that too 
many of the schemes proposed for helping farmers 
have developed into class or society privileges, with 
the advantages going to officials, institutions or con¬ 
trolling (groups, rather than to the rank and file of 
country people. That is largely due to the fact that 
plain, working farmers are seldom interested or con¬ 
sulted at the starting of these enterprises. We feel 
that both safety and sense in the future of farming 
lie in giving those who are to be taught and “im¬ 
proved” a fair chance with the teachers in deciding 
how the work shall be done. For taking this stand 
we have been accused of adopting a “dog in the man¬ 
ger” policy. What we try to do is to put the dog 
outside the manger, where he may try to give the 
smaller stock a fair chance at the crib. 
School Meeting; Syracuse, December 16 
T HE annual meeting of the New York Rural 
School Improvement Society will be held at 
Syracuse on Tuesday, December 16. Fuller notice 
and programs will be printed later. This will be a 
most important gathering, and we hope that every 
friend of the district school, who can possibly do so, 
will attend. With good weather and good roads 
there should be a great turn-out. This will be a get- 
together of all friends of the rural school. All are 
interested, and every side will be given a reasonable 
hearing. This is the only State society which stands 
squarely for the best interests of the rural school. 
It is the only medium through which the rural 
school and what it stands for can 'get a straight, 
square-toed hearing and endorsement. This will not 
be a meeting of obstructionists or destructionists, 
but a gathering of earnest men and women who will 
come to organize for active service in the cause of 
local education. We want you Tvith us. Come out 
and help. 
sk 
E are hearing from readers about that pro¬ 
posed new horticultural building at Geneva. 
Thus far the great majority favor such a building. 
There seems to be a genuine demand for it among 
the men who are making a business of fruit growing. 
They think such a building at Geneva would be a 
far better investment than a new building at the 
State Fair. The latter would be in use only one 
week in the year, while a building at the station 
would give continuous service. These fruit grower's 
seem to mean business, and we can safely tell them 
that there is only one way to secure their appropria¬ 
tion, and that is to create a popular demand. Al¬ 
bany does not care very much for “resolutions” 
passed by various societies. It is pretty well under¬ 
stood that a plausible speaker might go into almost 
any meeting and pass a resolution to hang a man. 
That is why resolutions are usually discounted. The 
thing that counts is strong personal pressure brought 
to bear upon members of the Legislature. If you 
want this building at Geneva, you must get right 
out after it with personal work, and create a popu¬ 
lar demand. 
* 
STITCH in the forelock of Time may save a 
case of bobbed hair later. Thanksgiving may 
seem an unseasonable time for fighting tent-cater¬ 
pillars, but you can get them while they are young 
to better advantage than when they are grown. A. 
good share of the eggs for next year’s brood will be 
found on wild cherry trees. Some are laid on peach 
or apple, but the wild cherry is the favorite breed¬ 
ing ground. If these wild cherry trees can be cut 
and burned this Fall or Winter the greater part of 
the eggs will be destroyed. There will be a few left, 
but the backbone of the enemy will be broken. It 
would be a great thing for any fruit growing com¬ 
munity if all the workers could come together and 
make an organized raid on the wild cherry trees. 
There would be no loss to the community if every 
one were killed, while the gain would be enormous. 
This is thanksgiving work that carries its own 
thanks. 
* 
FEW weeks ago we made incidental reference 
to a book which is based on a legend connect¬ 
ed with the French Dauphin—son of Louis XVI. 
The general belief is that this boy was killed at 
about the time his mother was executed. Now comes 
a reader of The R. N.-Y. who claims that he is a 
direct descendant of the French king and that he 
has the papers to prove it. Well, we did not know 
that we were harboring royalty in the Rural fam¬ 
ily. The hero of the story “Lazarre,” which was 
mentioned, was offered the throne of France, but he 
wisely remarked that 25 years in America as a plain 
citizen had unfitted him for playing the part of a 
king. He could never succeed as an aristocrat after 
working for a living as a plain, common man. He 
was wise to refuse to go chasing after a name and 
a throne well filled with thorns. We do not believe 
this unhappy boy, the Dauphin, ever lived to grow 
up. 
* 
NE of the things that is having a great influence 
upon the new T er farm life is the modern habit 
of camping—on automobile tours. Most of us have 
failed to realize how thousands of farm families 
each Summer pack into the car and go off like gyp¬ 
sies, in search of adventure. The entire family will 
often go. There will be a little hammock swinging 
at the back of the car for the baby’s rest, and some¬ 
times a milk goat in a little pen on the running 
board for the milk supply. With a tent, and cots, 
and now and then a sleep under some roof, the en¬ 
tire family will see life from a dozen new angles. 
The exorbitant rates demanded by hotels and board¬ 
ing-house keepers have driven people of moderate 
means to this modern tent life. These nomads are 
not only having a great time, but they are doing 
their country a real service by mixing the people to¬ 
gether, making new friendships and giving life in 
general a broader and more investigating outlook. 
The fact is that these new domestic habits which 
have come with the car, the radio and moving pic¬ 
tures, are doing more to Influence modern civiliza¬ 
tion than all the legislation of modern times. The 
people are doing it themselves, often without know¬ 
ing it. 
* 
INCE the note on the next page was written, re¬ 
port comes that the Board of Supervisors of 
Ontario Co., N. Y., finally voted an appropriation of 
$10,000 for the Farm Bureau and its associated or¬ 
ganizations. As we understand it, a majority of 
country people opposed, while the organization 
favored the appropriation. We are told that it is 
now proposed to make the question a local issue in 
the next election of supervisors. 
Brevities 
Clover seed is a light crop. 
Milk consumption, like charity, should begin at home. 
Whitewashing is bad for the politician, but good 
for the barn. 
“No good seed corn in Michigan this year,” is what 
they tell us. 
The German rye crop is short, while the demand for 
rye bread is long. 
Too many people dig themselves in and then fail to 
dig themselves out. 
The county surrogate does not receive fees for his 
work, but you may have to pay for copies of necessary 
papers. 
The Baltimore Poultry Show has opened a new class 
for utility birds; Each hen entered in this class must 
prove a record of at least 175 eggs at some recognized 
egg-laying contest. 
The old-fashioned worm remedy was pumpkin seed. 
Has any poultryman tried it on hens? The medical 
books speak of using an ounce and a half of the seeds 
as dose for an adult. 
It is said that the bean weevil may be killed by heat¬ 
ing the beans to 140 degrees for one hour, but the heat 
must not go higher. The trouble about such advice is 
that few can properly regulate the temperature of the 
oven. 
Figures show that people are eating more butter. It 
is claimed that in 1920 each person in America con¬ 
sumed on the average 43 gallons of whole milk and 14.7 
lbs. of butter. In 1923 this average consumption rose 
to 53 gallons of milk and 17 lbs. of butter. Keep it up* 
