The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
53 
South  Jersey  Agriculture 
N  the  section  known  as  “South  Jersey,”  which, 
roughly  speaking,  covers  that  part  of  the  State 
south  of  Trenton,  most  farmers  suffered  severely  last 
year.  This  section  has  no  “hack  door.”  It  backs 
up  to  the  ocean  or  river,  with  few  good  harbors. 
Most  of  its  surplus  must  go  out  at  the  front  door  to 
Philadelphia  or  New  York.  There  was  a  heavy 
acreage  last  year,  but  when  prices  broke  it  was  al¬ 
most  impossible  to  dispose  of  goods  at  paying  prices. 
Farming  in  this  section  is  expensive;  great  quan¬ 
tities  of  fertilizer  are  needed,  and  labor  is  high  and 
hard  to  get.  Truck  crops  and  fruit  demand  constant 
hand  labor,  and  this  adds  to  the  cost  of  production. 
It  was  a  hard  year  for  the  South  Jersey  farmer,  and 
it  will  be  a  problem  to  decide  what  to  do  this  season. 
Our  repoi'ts  indicate  a  lighter  acreage  of  truck  crops 
and  potatoes.  There  will  be  a  slight  increase  in 
dairying  and  poultry,  but  there  seems  to  be  no  or¬ 
ganized  effort  to  change  the  general  character  of 
farming  in  that  section.  There  is  not  much  expec¬ 
tation  of  better  prices  this  year. 
Suggestions  in  the  Governor’s  Message 
N  his  first  message  to  the  Legislature  Governor 
Smith  proposes  some  radical  legislation.  On  this 
page  will  be  found  a  complete  copy  of  what  he  says 
about  agriculture,  the  chief  suggestion  being  a  com¬ 
plete  overhauling  of  the  State  Agricultural  Depart¬ 
ment.  Much  interest  was  manifested  as  to  the  Gov- 
ex’ixox’’s  attitude  on  prohibition.  He  recommends  the 
Legislature  to  pass  a  resolution  asking  Congress  to 
amend  the  Volstead  law  so  as  to  permit  the  sale  of 
light  wine  and  beer.  The  Governor  asks  the  Legis¬ 
lature  to  restore  the  direct  primaries.  lie  advocates 
a  law  under  which  only  the  Governor,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  and  Comptroller  will  be  elected  by  popular 
vote,  the  other  otticers  to  be  appointed. 
He  calls  for  a  referendum  on  the  question  of  an 
amendment  permitting  a  State  soldiers’  bonus. 
He  also  recommends  a  Federal  amendment  under 
which  amendments  to  the  United  States  Constitu¬ 
tion  must  be  submitted  to  a  popular  vote  to  the 
State,  instead  of  to  the  Legislature.  The  Governor 
urges  the  abolition  of  the  Public  Service  and  Transit 
Commission,  and  would  transfer  their  powers  to  the 
municipalities  under  the  powers  of  home  rule.  He 
also  requests  the  Legislature  to  exempt  from  the 
income  tax  incomes  of  less  than  $5,000,  and  he  also 
calls  for  laws  requiring  an  eight-hour  day  minimum 
for  women  and  minors.  It  is  not  likely  that  all  these 
suggestions  can  be  carried  out,  but  they  indicate  the 
tendency  of  the  new  administration. 
Gov.  Smith  on  New  York  Agriculture 
THERE  has  been  much  interest  and  speculation 
as  to  what  Governor  A.  E.  Smith  would  have 
to  say  about  agriculture  in  New  York  State.  The 
following  is  taken  from  his  first  annual  message  to 
the  Legislature: 
The  present  condition  of  agriculture  in  our  State  is 
such  that  it  requires  relief  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  Since  the  harvest  of  1020  conditions  have 
grown  steadily  worse,  until  from  every  section  of  the 
State  reports  are  coming  that  farmers  by  the  hundreds 
are  giving  up  farming  and  many  are  selling  out  and 
flocking  to  the  industrial  centers,  already  overcrowded. 
It  is  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  to  recite  the 
various  reasons  advanced  for  these  conditions.  It  is  suf¬ 
ficient  for  our  purpose  to  know  that  they  exist.  The 
last  Legislature  appropriated  for  the  promotion  of  agri¬ 
culture  $5,282,642.24.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  State  is 
not  getting  the  return  from  its  expenditure  that  it 
should,  and  I  am  satisfied  further  that  the  State  is  not 
doing  all  it  can  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  farming 
communities,  and  this  is  due  to  tne  inability  of  the 
Department  of  Farms  and  Markets  to  function  properly 
under  its  present  organization.  Its  whole  structure 
stands  on  a  false  foundation. 
A  council  as  a  regency  over  this  department  has  been, 
maintained  by  the  State  long  enough  to  demonstrate 
that  it  is  useless.  To  the  Department  of  Farms  and 
Markets  there  has  been  granted  by  the  Legislature 
broad  powers,  but  results  are  lacking.  There  should  be 
at  -the  head  of  the  Department  of  Farms  and  Markets  a 
single  commissioner  charged  with  the  responsibility  for 
this  department.  Too  much  of  its  efforts  at  present  are 
devoted  to  the  exercise  of  the  police  powers  of  the  State. 
While  that  is  undoubtedly  necessary,  it  should  not  prac¬ 
tically  be  the  entire  purpose  of  the  department.  The 
greabdifferenee  between  the  earnings  of  the  farmer. and 
the  cost  of  the  produce  in  the  markets  is  something  that 
requires  the  vigorous  attention  of  the  State.  There  is 
something  wrong  in  a  commonwealth  that  permits  so 
much  of  the  produce  of  the  land  to  rot  on  the  farm 
while  such  high  prices  are  being  obtained  for  what  is 
being  sold  in  the  cities. 
Our  agricultural  educational  and  experimental  insti¬ 
tutions  should  receive  the  generous  support  of  the  State, 
especially  secondary  schools  of  agriculture  and  the 
short  courses  in  our  agricultural  colleges,  so  that  the 
boys  who  are  to  be  tbe  future  farmers  may  have  the 
advantage  of  the  very  latest  technical  advice  and  as¬ 
sistance  in  the  shortest  possible  time. 
The  Farm  Bureau  agents  should  assist  all  the  farm¬ 
ers  in  a  county  without  confining  their  activities  to  the 
members  of  the  various  Farm  Bureau  associations  and 
should  be  enabled  to  make  the  ordinary  routine  office 
work  secondary  to  their  actual  service  to  the  farmer  on 
his  farm,  and  should  have  assistance  to  the  end  that 
they  may  continue  a  close  contact  with  and  render  more 
timely  service  to  the  farmers  who  are  struggling  with 
the  present  conditions. 
In  another  part  of  my  message,  I  have  referred  to 
the  necessity  for  prompt  payment  of  claims  for  the  de¬ 
struction  of  tubercular  cattle  by  the  State.  A  vigorous 
Department  of  Agriculture  would  not  have  permitted 
this  condition  to  exist  without  having  called  it  forcibly 
to  the  attention  of  the  public. 
In  the  section  of  my  message  dealing  with  education, 
I  have  referred  to  our  rural  school  problem  which  also 
presses  the  farmers  of  the  State  for  solution. 
I  am  convinced  from  past  experience  that  before  we 
talk  further  of  remedies  we  must  repair  the  agency.  It 
is  senseless  to  clothe  a  department  with  great  power  and 
great  authority  only  to  find  that  it  seems  unable  to 
function  or  make  use  of  it.  A  vigorous  handling  of  this 
problem  requires  that  the  present  council  and  the  pres¬ 
ent  Department  of  Farms  and  Markets  be  abolished 
and  in  their  place  there  be  created  a  single  Commis¬ 
sioner  of  Farms  and  Markets  to  whom  should  be  granted 
ample  power  to  reorganize  the  department  and  bring  to 
his  aid  the  best  brains  and  ability  that  the  State  can 
secure. 
Carbon  From  the  Air 
IT  has  been  know  for  many  years  that  clover  and 
other  legumes  or  pod-bearing  plants  had  some 
power  of  improving  the  soil.  When  such  plants 
grew  and  died  upon  the  soil,  or  were  plowed  under, 
the  crops  which  followed  were  better  than  those 
grown  on  soil  where  no  legumes  were  used.  For 
centuries  that  fact  was  observed  and  accepted  as 
one  of  the  great  mysteries  of  nature.  Finally  it  was 
demonstrated  that  these  legume  plants  were  able  in 
some  way  to  attract  and  retain  free  nitrogen  from 
the  ail-.  Then  came  further  proof  that  this  great 
work  was  done  by  tiny  bacteria  which  live  on  the 
roots  of  the  legume  plants.  Step  by  step  the  in¬ 
vestigation  went  on  until  the  scientists  were  able  to 
separate  these  bacteria,  each  one  for  a  certain  plant, 
cultivate  them  artificially  and  distribute  them  where 
needed  for  inoculation,  much  as  yeast  cakes  are  dis¬ 
tributed  to  bread  makers.  It  is  barely  25  years  ago 
that  the  leading  scientists  predicted  a  nitrogen 
famine.  They  knew  that  the  air  contained  uncounted 
millions  of  tons  of  this  element,  but  they  solemnly 
declared  that  the  legume  plants  possessed  the  trade 
secret  of  extracting  it — a  secret  tvhich  man  cannot 
imitate! 
That  sounded  well  25  years  ago,  but  since  then 
the  chemists  have  learned  the  secret.  There  are  now 
a  dozen  processes  for  extracting  nitrogen  from  the 
air.  They  range  all  the  way  from  the  electric  cur¬ 
rent  playing  through  copper  at  a  fierce  heat  to  liquid 
air  at  a  temperature  almost  unbearably  cold.  At 
any  rate,  immense  quantities  of  nitrogen  are  taken 
from  the  air,  until  it  has  become  an  article  of  in¬ 
ternational  commei’ce.  In  fact,  France  has  de¬ 
manded  from  Germany  a  vast  quantity  of  this  aerial 
nitrogen  as  part  of  her  reparations. 
Fifty  years  ago  such  a  thing  would  have  been 
considered  a  mere  dream  of  some  visionary  crank, 
yet  with  the  opening  of  the  new  year  comes  a 
prophecy  of  still  greater  wonders.  As  is  known  by 
all  students  of  plant  life,  our  growing  plants  de¬ 
pend  on  the  air  for  their  supplies  of  carbon.  Most 
of  us,  who  have  little  thought  about  the  air,  except 
that  it  is  something  we  take  into  the  lungs  and  then 
expel,  will  find  it  hard  to  believe  that  coal,  wood — 
all  our  sources  of  fuel — were  originally  taken  from 
the  air  by  plants  and  stored  up  as  solids  in  their 
leaf  and  stem !  As  was  said  of  the  legumes  in  rela- 
tion  to  nitrogen,  all  common  plants  possess  the  trade 
secret  of  taking  carbon  from  the  air  and  storing  it 
as  a  solid.  And  the  scientists  are  now  going  after 
that  trade  seci*et  as  they  did  in  the  case  of  the 
legumes!  If  they  succeed  in  doing  it,  and  are  able 
to  take  carbon  from  the  air  without  the  aid  of  the 
growing  plants  which  now  serve  as  middlemen,  the 
dullest  of  us  may  realize  what  mighty  changes  in 
industry  and  human  life  will  he  opened  up.  There 
is  nothing  definite  to  repoi’t  yet,  but  thei’e  are  fain 
promises  of  hope  that  the  i-iddle  may  be  solved.  As 
we  think  of  these  mighty  possibilities  those  of  us 
who  are  past  the  meridian  of  life  may  well  speculate 
a-s  to  the  tremendous  future  which  our  children  are 
to  enter.  We  have  faith  that  humanity  will  settle 
down  and  so  adapt  itself  to  these  mighty  changes 
that  the  world  will  still  be  a  goodly  place  for  the 
deserving. 
New  York  State  Notes 
The  program  of  the  New  York  State  Horticultural 
Society  has  been’  published.  The  program  suggests 
some  very  interesting  items  for  the  Rochester  meeting. 
The  place  of  the  meeting  is  the  same  as  last  year,  at 
the  Exposition  Grounds.  The  dates  are  January  10, 
11  and  12.  On  Wednesday  the  program  is  taken  up 
with  the  appointment  of  committees  and  a  discussion  led 
by  Prof.  G.  H.  Herrick  of  the  State  College  on  “Recent 
Results  with  Some  Old  Pests.”  In  the  afternoon  Prof. 
F.  C.  Stewart  of  the  Geneva  Station  will  discuss  “Fruit 
Disease  Problems  of  Today.”  Prof.  L.  M.  Massey  of 
the  State  College  will  discuss  “Some  Results  of  Dusting 
Experiments  for  Apple  Scab  and  Peach  Leaf  Curl  in 
1921  and  1922.”  The  annual  address  of  the  president 
will  be  given  on  Thursday  morning.  The  president,  T. 
E.  Cross,  is  a  fruit  farmer  of  Dutchess  County.  The 
reports  of  the  secretary  and  treasurer  will  also  be  given 
on  Thursday  morning,  followed  by  the  election  of  offi¬ 
cers.  The  program  of  the  afternoon  consists  of  an  ad¬ 
dress  by  John  B.  Shepard  on  “How  the  Fruit  Crops  of 
the  State  Are  Estimated.”  Richard  Wellington  of  the 
Geneva  Station  will  discuss  "The  New  Fruits.”  Prof. 
U.  P.  Hedrick,  who  has  spent  some  time  during  the 
past  year  in  Europe,  will  tell  of  his  experience  in  the 
fruit  growing  sections  of  the  European  countries.  Dr. 
W.  II.  Chandler,  who  has  conducted  a  large  number  of 
experiments  at  the  State  Station  on  pruning  of  fruits, 
will  tell  of  his  observations.  The  program  on  Friday  is 
more  varied  than  any  of  the  other  days.  Prof.  H.  C. 
Thompson  will  discuss  “Vegetable  Industry  as  a  Part 
of  Horticulture.”  Prof.  E.  A.  White  of  the  Department 
of  Floriculture  will  lead  the  discussion  relative  to  the 
“Floriculture  Problems  of  Horticulturists.”  N.  II. 
Peet,  manager  of  the  Fruit  Growers’  Co-operative  As¬ 
sociation,  who  has  been  actively  engaged  in  the  market¬ 
ing  of  fruit  for  a  number  of  years,  will  discuss  “Co¬ 
operative  Marketing  of  Perishables.”  Ralph  W.  Curtis 
will  discuss  the  place  of  ornamental  horticulture  which 
is  a  part  of  many  of  the  nursery  sections  of  the  State, 
viz.,  “Evergreens.”  II.  H.  Whetzel,  who  spent  last 
year  at  the  Experiment  Station  at  Bermuda,  will  tell  of 
his  year’s  experience  there.  Paul  C.  Stark  of  Louisiana, 
Mo.,  has  had  an  unique  experience  in  his  wide  travels 
and  will  discuss  “Seven  Thousand  Miles  by  Auto 
Through  Orchard  Regions  in  the  East.”  The  grape 
growers  of  the  State  will  have  a  round  table  discussion 
at  the  morning  session  on  Friday.  There  will  be  inter¬ 
spersed  plenty  of  opportunity  to  take  up  the  questions 
that  are  in  the  question  box.  The  usual  fruit  exhibit 
will  be  held  this  year.  The  Eastern  meeting  of  the 
Association  will  be  held  in  Poughkeepsie  on  February 
21,  22  and  23. 
On  January  23  and  24  the  grapegrowers  from  several 
States  and  Canada  will  meet  at  Buffalo  for  the  purpose 
of  reorganizing  the  National  Grape  Growers’  Associa¬ 
tion.  The  importance  of  a  central  grape  association  has 
been  a  subject  of  interest  to  growers  for  some  time.  The 
importance  of  the  industry  in  New  York  State  is  greater 
than  is  normally  supposed  by  those  not  thoroughly  fa¬ 
miliar  with  it.  Last  year  growers  received  approxi¬ 
mately  $5,000,000  from  the  sale  of  their  product. 
The  annual  meeting  of  the  Co-operative  Grange- 
League-Federation  Exchange  will  be  held  at  Syracuse 
February  5.  This  is  one  of  the  State-wide  co-operative 
associations  that  has  the  interest  of  a  large  number  of 
farmers  because  of  the  wide  distribution  of  the  capital 
stock. 
For  three  years  the  farmers  of  Cayuga  County  have 
held  a  seed  fair  to  bring  together  the  best  that  the 
county  could  produce  in  competition.  The  show  not 
only  embraces  an  exhibit  based  on  the  crops  that  are 
selected  for  a  plate  and  shown  at  the  competition,  but 
requires  that  the  crops  be  inspected  in  the  field.  Since 
grain  crops  occupy  one-fourth  of  the  farm  acreage  of 
Cayuga  County,  any  effort  to  improve  the  crops  means 
a  great  deal  to  the  county.  A  local  bank  has  thought 
so  well  of  the  effort  that  they  have  donated  liberal  prizes 
for  the  best  exhibits. 
It  may  be  interesting  to  many  of  the  readers  to  know 
that  32  towns  and  cities  in  New  York  State  have  regu¬ 
lations  that  no  milk  can  be  sold  there  unless  from  tuber¬ 
culin-tested  cattle.  There  seems  to  be  a  growing  feeling 
in  this  direction. 
The  Guernsey  men  are  interesting  themselves  through 
their  county  clubs  in  a  better  price  for  what  they  term 
quality  milk  ;  that  is,  milk  that  has  a  high  per  cent  of 
butterfat.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Washington 
County  association  this  matter  was  brought  up  and 
thoroughly  discussed.  A  resolution  was  passed  request¬ 
ing  that  a  committee  from  the  State  association  meet 
with  the  executive  committee  of  the  Dairymen’s  League 
for  the  purpose  of  working  out  a  more  equitable  dif¬ 
ferential  for  Guernsey  milk. 
The  Forest  Nursery  at  Lowville,  Lewis  County,  has 
600,000  three-year-old  white  pine  seedlings  ready  for 
distribution  next  Spring.  White  pine  does  well  in  this 
area,  and  as  the  amount  of  white  pine  blister  rust  is 
comparatively  negligible,  it  should  be  a  good  place  for 
most  of  these  trees  right  at  home. 
The  advisory  council  of  the  New  York  State  Holstein- 
Friesian  Association,  at  their  meeting  in  Syracuse  re¬ 
cently,  acted  on  a  large  number  of  matters  that  have 
accumulated  since  their  last  meeting.  The  date  of  the 
annual  meeting  was  set  for  January  16.  At  this  meet¬ 
ing  officers  will  be  elected  for  the  coming  year.  Twelve 
directors  will  also  be  elected  and  23  delegates  to  the 
annual  convention  of  the  National  Association  will  be 
selected.  The  annual  banquet  will  be  held  on  the  even¬ 
ing  of  the  16th.  Prof.  II.  II.  Wing  is  chairman  of  the 
banquet  committee.  One  of  the  speakers  selected  for 
the  evening  is  former  President  Aitken  of  Flint,  Mich. 
Here  are  some  of  the  high  points  in  the  resolutions 
passed  by  the  advisory  council.  They  passed  a  resolu¬ 
tion  favoring  additional  work  on  the  control  of  the  ox- 
warble,  and  urged  Congress  to  appropriate  funds  suffi¬ 
cient  to  continue  this  work  in  the  State.  They  sent  a 
resolution  to  the  National  Dairy  Association  urging 
that  the  dairy  congress  be  held  at  Syracuse  next  year. 
They  pledged  their  support  in  this  project.  They- 
passed  a  resolution  urging  the  Governor-elect  to  appoint 
President  Bigler  of  the  State  Association  as  State  Fair 
Commissioner.  They  passed  a  resolution  urging  the  State 
Legislature  to  appropriate  sufficient  funds  for  the  con¬ 
struct  ion  of  a  proper  live  stock  judging  pavilion  and 
coliseum  for  the  State  Fair  Grounds.  There  were  dele¬ 
gates  from  21  clubs  present  at  the  State  advisory  coun¬ 
cil,  and  a  large  part  of  the  delegates  took  part  in  the 
discussion.  Considerable  time  was  taken  up  in  consid¬ 
eration  of  the  membership  plans  for  the  coming  year. 
It  was  brought  out  that  sufficient  funds  were  not  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  National  association  to  carry  on  the 
work  adequately.  Owing  to  the  high  cost  of  securing 
members  last  year,  it  was  voted  to  make  the  county 
clubs  responsible  for  the  membership  in  the  county. 
That  New  York  State  Ilolsteins  are  coming  to  their 
own  is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  New  York  made  the 
largest  consignment  of  cattle  at  the  national  sale  and 
was  awarded  the  prize  of  $300  for  the  best  State  herd 
competing  with  seven  other  States.  The  animals  con¬ 
signed  from  New  York  sold  for  the  third  highest  aver¬ 
age. 
