52 
January  13,  1923 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Horae* * 
Established  1830 
Published  weekly  by  the  Kur»l  Publishing  Company.  333  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.  Royle,  Associate  Editor. 
L.  H.  Murphy,  Circulation  Manager.  _ _ 
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“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  Nbw- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
A  NOTE  from  the  New  Hampshire  State  College 
says  that  a  dentist  operating  in  a  country  dis¬ 
trict  found  the  following  conditions  in  the  mouth  of 
a  14-year-old  boy: 
He  found  the  following  work  needed  :  Thirteen  syn¬ 
thetic  fillings,  10  alloy  fillings,  two  extractions,  2  syn¬ 
thetic  refills  and  two  gutta-percha  fillings  in  addition 
to  the  prophylaxis  and  treatment  and  polishing  of 
fillings.  This  meant  15  hours’  work,  but  it  is  likely  to 
mean  that  many  years  in  the  boy’s  life,  or  at  least,  his 
health. 
This  is,  of  course,  an  exceptional  case,  yet  we 
believe  there  are  many  instances  where  the  teeth  of 
young  children  are  on  the  sure  road  to  decay.  That 
will  mean  a  loss  of  at  least  25  -per  cent  of  human 
efficiency  if  the  teeth  are  not  repaired.  If  a  child 
can  have  at  least  one  quart  of  milk  per  day,  eat  an 
abundance  of  raw  apples,  rinse  the  mouth  in  weak 
vinegar  and  scrub  the  teeth  regularly,  he  will  be 
likely  to  start  into  the  adult  years  with  strong,  en¬ 
during  teeth.  There  will  naturally  be  cavities  in  the 
teeth  which  should  be  filled,  but  the  basis  for  satis¬ 
factory  dental  tools  must  be  laid  in  childhood — 
even  before  the  child  is  born — and  milk  is  the  tooth 
builder.  It  is  a  serious  crime  to  send  a  child  out  to 
fight  life’s  battle  handicapped  by  inferior  and  de¬ 
fective  teeth. 
* 
If  a  man’s  wife  is  sued  for  slander,  etc.,  and  a  verdict 
in  county  court  is  rendered  against  her,  is  the  husband 
liable  for  the  award?  If  so,  to  what  extent?  Suppos¬ 
ing  tin*  wife  owns  nothing  or  has  nothing,  and  the  man 
is  a  workingman,  with  nothing  to  speak  of?  L.  L. 
New  York. 
WE  hope  that  very  few,  if  any,  of  our  people 
will  ever  get  into  such  a  predicament.  If 
they  chance  to  do  so  the  answer  is  that  under  the 
statute  in  New  York  State  a  married  woman  is 
liable  for  her  wrongful  or  tortious  acts ;  her  husband 
is  not  liable  for  such  acts  unless  they  were  done  by 
the  actual  coercion  cr  instigation,  and  such  coercion 
or  instigation  shall  not  be  presumed,  but  must  be 
proved.  In  the  case  you  name,  where  the  judgment 
was  obtained  solely  against  the  wife,  the  husband 
is  not  liable.  There  have  been  cases  where  the  hus¬ 
band  took  a  hand  (or  a  voice)  in  such  proceedings. 
He  was  really  the  moving  spirit,  though  his  wife 
was  the  one  to  be  moved.  As  we  see.  if  that  fact 
can  be  proved,  the  husband  is  liable.  Rut  what’s 
the  use?  While  it  is  true  that  Jeremiah  said,  “Every 
neighbor  will  walk  with  slanders,”  he  was  evidently 
greatly  depressed  when  he  spoke.  We  like  the  blunt 
statement  in  Proverbs  better:  “He  that  liideth 
hatred  with  lying  lips  and  he  that  uttei*eth  a  slander 
.  is  a  fool.” 
* 
Montreal,  Dec.  6. — Much  enthusiasm  was  evoked  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Pomological  and  Fruit  Grow¬ 
ing  Society  of  the  Province  of  Quebec  at  McDonald 
College,  St.  Anne,  by  the  announcement  of  the  discov¬ 
ery  at  Abbotsford  of  a  seedless  and  coreless  variety  of 
Fameuse  apples.  Rnsiness  was  suspended  for  a  time 
while  the  apple  growers  assembled  examined  and  tested 
specimens. 
The  fruit  was  found  to  be  genuine  Fameuse,  slightly 
different  in  shape  to  the  typical  variety,  longer  and 
flatter  at  the  ends,  but  of  the  same  coloring  and  flavor. 
A  slight  marking  in  the  heart  of  the  apple  was  the  only 
indication  of  where  the  core  of  an  ordinary  specimen 
would  have  been. 
HIS  appeared  in  a  Canadian  paper,  but  we  have 
not  been  able  to  verify  it  yet.  A  true  Fameuse 
apple  without  any  seeds  would  be  a  great  acquisi¬ 
tion.  for  while  seeds  are  needed  for  propagation,  no 
one  likes  to  eat  a  core.  We  hope  the  report  is  true, 
but  former  experience  with  the  Spencer  seedless 
apple  makes  us  very  doubtful.  Older  readers  will 
remember  the  Spencer  fraud,  and  the  efforts  made 
to  boom  it  at  a  high  price.  It  was  a  quite  inferior 
apple,  which  grew  usually  without  seeds.  It  had 
little  if  any  quality,  and  seemed  to  be  just  an  ordi¬ 
nary  fence  corner  fruit.  We  hope  the  seedless 
Fameuse  has  greater  value.  There  is  nothing  im- 
Ibe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
possible  about  such  an  apple,  but  we  must  be  shown 
before  we  wall  admit  its  value. 
* 
OW  about  this  tariff  on  wool  and  its  effect  upon 
clothing  prices.  We  have  this  week  a  debate 
between  two  United  States  Senators  and  a  prominent 
Congressman  on  one  side,  and  a  representative  of 
the  clothing  makers  on  the  other.  Last  Summer 
and  Fall  many  tailors  and  dealers  declared  publicly 
that  the  new  tariff  would  increase  the  cost  of  a  suit 
of  clothes  $5  or  more.  We  have  written  many  of 
these  same  advertisers  asking  them  to  explain  their 
statements,  but  not  one  of  them  has  made  any  reply. 
We  conclude  that  they  were  bluffing  at  that  time. 
This  week  Senator  Ladd  thinks  the  tariff  will  ulti¬ 
mately  reduce  clothing  by  increasing  the  production 
of  American  wool.  Mr.  Goldman,  on  the  other  hand, 
states  that  there  is  sure  to  be  a  future  increase  in 
prices.  He  does  not  seem  to  take  into  consideration 
the  fact  that  the  ordinary  suit  contains  a  large  pro¬ 
portion  of  shoddy  or  worked-over  wool.  He  does 
not  attempt  to  defend  or  deny  the  evident  fraud  and 
bluff  worked  off  by  dealers  and  tailors  while  the 
bonded  warehouses  were  full  of  foreign  wool  wait¬ 
ing  to  be  unloaded  at  a  lower  tariff  rate.  The  tariff 
has  without  question  raised  the  price  of  wool.  It 
seems  evident  that  the  future  price  of  cloth  must 
rise  in  sympathy  with  wool  prices.  We  think,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  passage  of  the  “truth  in  fabrics”  bill 
would  partly  remedy  that.  Under  such  a  law  man¬ 
ufacturers'  and  dealers  would  be  obliged  to  state 
what  proportion  of  shoddy  they  used  in  the*  cloth. 
The  result  would  be  to  separate  cloth  into  classes, 
and  much  that  is  now  marked  “all  wool.”  thougn 
containing  quite  a  little  shoddy,  would  be  sold  at  a 
reduced  rate. 
* 
HE  New' York  Supreme  Court  has  decided  that 
vinegar  must  not  be  sold  as  apple  and  cider 
vinegar  unless  it  is  made  from  whole,  fresh  apples. 
In  a  recent  trial  case  a  brand  of  vinegar  was  made 
from  evaporated  apples  and  cores  and  labeled 
“apple  cider  vinegar.”  An  action  was  brought  by 
the  Farms  and  Markets  Department  for  the  collec¬ 
tion  of  a  penalty  for  misbranding.  The  court  de¬ 
cided  that  vinegar  made  from  such  evaporated  apples 
and  cores  cajmot  legally  carry  the  name  of  “apple 
cider,”  even  though  it  may  have  practically  the  same 
analysis  as  vinegar  made  from  pure  apple  juice 
The  only  vinegar  entitled  to  the  name  of  “apple”  or 
“cider”  must  be  made  from  the  juice  of  whole,  fresh 
apples.  The  judgment  seems  rather  far-fetched  if 
the  analysis  is  practically  the  same,  but  it  will  stand 
unless  reversed  by  a  higher  court. 
* 
ELL,  now,  on  page  49,  comes  a  country  doctor 
with  a  strong  dose  of  physic  for  those  school 
teachers  who  may  be  termed  lazy  or  incompetent. 
As  you  know,  whenever  a  great  question  is  up  for 
discussion  we  are  disposed  to  let  all  sides  have  a 
fair  chance  for  expression.  Just  now  the  school 
question  is  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  our  people. 
Most  of  them  appear  to  confine  their  comments  to 
the  schools  and  methods  of  conducting  them,  but 
this  country  doctor  goes  down  to  fundamentals,  and 
gets  at  the  teacher.  Now,  honestly,  how  near  is  he 
to  getting  it  right?  You  and  I  know  plenty  of 
teachers  who  do  full  and  conscientious  work.  They 
are,  as  this  man  says,  the  most  deserving  of  any 
public  servants.  On  the  other  hand,  do  you  know 
of  any  lazy  and  incompetent  teachers  who  are  as 
bad  as  “Country  Doctor”  claims?  What  proportion 
of  them  are  of  such  character,  and  what  are  we 
going  to  do  about  it?  Publicity  is  a  good  weapon, 
but  it  may  be  a  dangerous  one  to  handle  unless  we 
start  with  the  facts! 
* 
EVERAL  of  the  experiment  stations  are  investi¬ 
gating  the  various  vitamine  preparations  now 
on  the  market.  A  few  years  ago,  when  the  scien¬ 
tists  described  vitamines  and  showed  the  value  of 
milk,  butter,  fruits  and  vegetables,  we  predicted  that 
a  flood  of  commercial  vitamines  would  be  put  on 
the  market.  They  have  come.  The  theory  is  that 
they  can  be  used  with  any  kind  of  food  and  thus 
supply  the  needed  growth  elements.  Investigation 
shows  that  most  of  this  high-priced  stuff  is  inferior 
to  the  germ  of  wheat.  The  extravagant  claims  made 
for  this  stuff  cannot  be  realized.  Dr.  Robert  Mor¬ 
ris,  in  discussing  medical  quacks  and  patent  medi¬ 
cines,  wonders  how  intelligent  people  can  make  them¬ 
selves  believe  the  absurd  claims  which  some  of  these 
quacks  put  out.  In  like  manner,  we  wonder  why 
people  will  pay  great  prices  for  these  commercial 
vitamines  when  the  real  thing  may  be  found  in  milk, 
fruit,  leafy  vegetables  and  butter. 
I  digested  D.  L.  Hartman’s  articles.  The  war  for 
democracy  has  taught  him  nothing,  and  his  spirit  of 
individualism  sounds  more  to  me  like  the  spirit  of  sel¬ 
fishness.  They  do  not  seem  to  be  able  to  comprehend 
that  under  true  co-operation  that  spirit  of  selfishness 
will  give  way  and  true  individualism  reign  supreme. 
A.  c.  c. 
WE  published  Mr.  Hartman’s  articles  for  a 
double  purpose.  One  was  to  show  by  exam¬ 
ple  the  record  of  a  successful  salesman  who  feels 
that  he  does  not  need  co-operation.  Such  men  are 
usually  found  in  every  community.  They  prefer 
individualism,  which  is  a  polite  name  for  “go  it 
alone.”  They  do  not,  as  a  rule,  join  co-operative 
organizations.  Another  motive  we  had  in  mind  was 
to  induce  a  discussion  of  the  two  methods  of  doing 
business.  Shall  a  man  naturally  strong  and  capable, 
and  with  a  good  individual  business,  stick  to  his 
own  personal  trade,  or  shall  he  unite  with  others  and 
use  his  undoubted  talents  for  the  benefit  of  his 
neighbors  and  friends?  Sooner  or  later  we  shall  all 
be  obliged  to  realize  that  the  great  enduring  thing 
which  holds  co-operative  enterprises  together  is  a 
moral  influence  going  back  to  the  Golden  Rule.  We 
just  wanted  to  present  that  thought  for  discussion, 
and  Hartman’s  articles  have  brought  it  to  a  head. 
* 
I  am  a  farmer,  and  I  would  like  to  know  what  is 
the  law  on  cutting  weeds  along  the  highway.  I  know 
they  are  to  be  cut,  but  dare  they  charge  three  times 
what  the  job  is  worth?  I  am  charged  $8.47  for  what 
one  man  could  have  done  easily  in  one  day.  What 
time  of  the  year  should  they  be  cut,  and  to  whom  would 
I  have  to  write  at  Albany  for  the  law  on  that? 
New  York.  G.  r.  t. 
HIS  is  evidently  a  case  for  the  direct  applica¬ 
tion  of  our  slogan,  “We  must  do  it  ourselves .” 
The  safest  way  to  avoid  this  tax  is  to  cut  the  weeds 
yourself  in  August.  The  law  provides  that  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  owners  or  occupants  of  lands 
situate  along  the  highway  to  cut  and  remove  all 
briar  and  brush  growing  within  the  bounds  of  the 
highway  fronting  such  lands  once  in  the  month  of 
August  of  each  year.  If,  as  you  say,  one  man  could 
cut  these  weeds  in  one  day,  here  was  your  chance  to 
save  $S.47,  and  “a  penny  saved  is  a  penny  earned.” 
The  tax  seems  extortionate  if  your  statement  is  cor¬ 
rect,  and  you  can  apply  to  the  county  tax  commis¬ 
sioner  for  redress.  It  is  not  likely  that  they  will 
remit  such  a  penalty.  This  is  one  of  the  expenses 
we  must  cut  out  with  our  own  scythe. 
* 
I  got  two  run-down  farms  in  good  shape,  and  then 
the  owners  refused  to  rent  to  me,  but  took  them  over 
themselves.  I  did  the  dirty  work  and  spent  my  money 
improving  these  places ;  then  the  owners  step  into  clover, 
so  to  speak.  Can  you  blame  me  for  not  wanting  to 
rent  any  more  farms?  H.  F.  H. 
New'  York. 
O,  we  do  not  blame  you  for  waiting  until  you 
have  fair  capital  and  then  buying  your  own 
farm.  We  have  seen  cases  like  yours  where  some 
conscientious  tenant  rents  a  poor  farm  and  builds  it 
up.  He  will  buy  lime  and  manure  and  fertilizer, 
plow  under  green  crops  and  fatten  up  the  soil  at 
some  little  cost.  Then  when  he  gets  going  well,  his 
lease  expires,  and  the  owner  refuses  to  rent  again, 
or  demands  such  a  high  price  that  the  tenant  cannot 
pay.  We  know  just  how  a  man  feels  under  such 
conditions.  This  policy  is  responsible  for  much  of 
the  criticism  of  tenant  farmers.  In  England  there 
is  a  lawr  under  which  the  tenant  is  compensated  for 
such  farm  improvements.  If  he  can  show  that  he 
has  improved  the  farm,  or  added  to  its  fertility,  a 
certain  share  of  the  expense  he  has  incurred  is  paid 
back  to  him  when  he  leaves  the  farm.  Such  a  cus¬ 
tom,  followed  in  this  country,  would  greatly  improve 
tenant  farming. 
Brevities 
Try  to  get  a  grip  on  grippe  before  it  gets  a  grip  on 
you. 
It  is  a  good  thing  to  get  the  thermometer  habit.  Go 
by  the  mercury — not  by  guess. 
There’s  many  a  woman  feels  her  vigor  go  because 
her  kitchen  sink  is  built  too  low. 
Henry  Ford  has  made  his  money  selling  cheap  cars, 
but  he  never  made  anything  selling  for  less  than  cost. 
It  is  time  wre  all  decided  about  farm  plans  for  1923. 
We  shall  plant  less  than  usual,  and  give  the  best  pos¬ 
sible  care  to  what  we  do  put  in. 
On  page  1487  we  mentioned  a  “blight-proof”  potato 
which,  a  few  years  ago,  was  sent  us  by  some  unknown 
friend.  We  have  now  located  the  sender  in  Nova  Scotia. 
The  potato  is  known  locally  as  “Northern  Spy.” 
’Tis  vitamines  that  give  the  snap  to  every  little 
growing  chap,  and  nothing  brings  the  bones  to  time  like 
our  old  building  friend,  good  lime ;  while  muscle, .  sinew, 
meat  that’s  lean  cannot  be  made  without  protein,  and 
the  one  food  that  fits  like  silk  and  gives  all  three  is  good 
old  milk. 
There  is  a. report  of  a  town  in  Sweden _where  fat 
people  are  to  be  taxed.  The  man  weighing  150  lbs.  will 
pay  a  small  tax.  Then  the  tax  is  regulated  so  that  as 
the  man  puts  on  added  flesh  the  tax  increases.  The  tax 
is  based  on  the  theory  that  excessive  fat  represents  glut¬ 
tony  and  laziness — both  indicating  fat  purses! 
