18 
January  6,  1923 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER’S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Home* 
Established  1850 
Pnblltbed  weekly  by  the  Itural  Publiahlng  Company,  333  We«t  30th  Street,  New  fork 
Hkrbert  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” 
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sible  person.  We  use  every  possible  precaution  and  admit  the  advertising  oi 
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the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it,  you  should  mention  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser^ _ _ _ 
WE  would  like  to  have  our  readers  fully  under¬ 
stand  the  following  points  about  contracts. 
When  you  sign  a  written  agreement  you  cannot  hope 
to  avoid  it  on  the  ground  that  the  talk  about  terms 
was  different  from  the  printed  statement.  Some 
people  sign  agreements  without  even  reading  them 
carefully  because  the  agent  who  presents  them  says 
the  signer  will  not  be  liable.  Whatever  you  sign  you 
must  stand  for,  unless  you  can  prove  actual  fraud 
in  delivery  or  the  quality  of  goods.  Read  what  you 
sign,  and  understand  what  you  read.  Never  sign 
any  paper  that  you  do  not  fully  understand.  If  it 
could  only  hurt  us  to  sign  our  name  to  a  contract  as 
much  as  it  hurts  to  have  a  tooth  pulled,  we  would  all 
be  better  off. 
* 
1  want  to  know  if  green  rye  or  oilier  forms  of  green 
manure  will  not  fully  take  the  place  of  stable  manure. 
S.  F.  J. 
NO,  it  will  not !.  Plow  under  a  ton  of  clover  hay 
and  feed  another  ton  of  similar  hay  to  live 
stock,  save  all  the  manure  and  plow  it  under,  along¬ 
side  the  ton  of  hay.  In  nine  cases  out  of  10,  condi¬ 
tions  being  equal,  you  will  get  a  larger  crop  from  the 
manure.  The  hay  contains  nitrogen,  potash,  phos¬ 
phoric  acid  and  organic  matter;  the  manure  con¬ 
tains  all  these,  but  in  addition  certain  bacteria  which 
may  be  called  the  “life”  of  the  soil.  In  any  system 
ot  green  manuring  it  is  best  to  use  some  manure  if 
possible  when  the  green  crops  are ‘plowed  under.  In 
this  way  the  needed  bacteria  are  put  in  the  ground 
and  they  multiply  and  work,  spreading  all  through 
the  mass  of  organic  matter.  That  is  one  of  the  best 
tricks  of  successful  farming  with  green  manures.  A 
small  quantity  of  stable  manure  spread  ou  the  rye 
or  clover  or  other  manurial  crop  will  give  greatly 
improved  results.  It  is  not  unlike  putting  yeast  into 
bread,  or  inoculating  the  soil  for  Alfalfa  or  beans. 
* 
THERE  has  been  a  wonderful  increase  in  Alfalfa 
growing  in  New  York  State.  On  the  limestone 
soils  of  New  York  this  plant  is  gaining  faster  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  country.  It  is  well,  for 
dairying  will  always  represent  the  backbone  of  New 
York  farming,  and  Alfalfa  and  clover  represent  the 
foundation  of  dairying.  Some  years  ago  dairying 
was  considered  a  business  for  pastures  and  cheap 
land.  Soil  which  now  produces  great  Alfalfa  crops 
was  considered  too  valuable  for  cow-keeping.  Now 
this  is  changing,  and  dairying  is  crowding  in  upon 
richer  and  more  productive  land.  We  think  this 
will  continue,  and  that  cow-keeping  will  become  less 
and  less  a  business  for  cheap  pasture  land.  Many 
of  the  hill  lands  are  being  made  to  produce  good 
crops  of  grain  or  fruit  by  using  lime  and  phosphorus. 
Then  there  are  many  so-called  pastures  which  never 
should  have  been  cleared.  It  would  he  better  to  let 
them  alone,  or  plant  them  to  forest  trees. 
* 
DURING  the  past  month  we  have  had  at  least  a 
dozen  cases  much  like  the  following.  A  man 
and  wife  lived  together  for  over  40  years.  They 
started  with  little  or  nothing.  Both  worked  hard 
and  lived  frugally,  and  paid  for  a  farm  and  acquired 
a  little  personal  property.  The  woman  worked  as 
hard  as  the  man  and,  in  fact,  she  was  the  planner 
and  brains  of  the  combination.  The  man  dies  quite 
suddenly,  with  all  the  property  in  his  own  name.  It 
is  found  that  he  left  no  will,  and  his  relatives  are 
of  the  type  known  as  “mean”  and  grasping.  His 
wife,  now  nearly  70.  imagined  that,  having  worked 
for  the  property,  it  would  naturally  come  direct  to 
her  in  the  event  of  her  husband’s  death.  Now  she 
will  receive  only  her  "dower  rights.”  and  after  ex¬ 
penses  are  paid  her  share  is  not  likely  to  provide  for 
her!  It  is  a  most  unjust  and  pitiful  situation,  and 
Iht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
might  easily  have  been  avoided  if  the  husband  had 
made  a  will,  and  made  out  and  recorded  a  joint  deed 
for  the  real  estate  and  bank  account.  He  loved  his 
wife  and  appreciated  her  sacrifices,  and  intended  to 
do  his  duty  by  her— but  he  delayed  too  long.  Now, 
in  spite  of  her  long  years  of  devotion,  the  wife  will 
lose  most  of  the  property.  Such  an  experience  may 
make  all  of  us  thoughtful  when  this  question  is 
asked :  Is  the  wife  fairly  provided  for? 
* 
AT  the  dinner  of  the  New  England  Society  of  New 
York,  Senator  Geo.  H.  Moses  of  New  Hamp¬ 
shire  undertook  to  he  “funny”  at  the  expense  of  the 
“farm  bloc”  in  Congress.  He  said  that  the  efforts 
of  this  organization  were  designed  to  bring  about 
‘•the  free  coinage '  of  Alfalfa.”  He  was  very  witty, 
and  no  doubt  the  lawyers  and  hankers  who  listened 
agreed  that  the  farmer  is  a  blundering  socialist  and 
that  Alfalfa  is  a  fit  symbol  of  everything  that 
smacks  of  “hayseed.”  The  great  man  of  ancient 
days,  whose  name  has  come  down  through  the  years 
to  Senator  Moses,  did  not  send  his  penetrating  vision 
and  faith  along  with  his  name.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  “free  coinage  of  Alfalfa”  -would  do  more  for  New 
England  than  anything  else  that  could  possibly  hap¬ 
pen  to  her.  New  England  has  money  and  skill  and 
brains,  and  much  of  that  subtle  quality  which  men 
call  “class,”  but  she- cannot  hold  her  position  with¬ 
out  cheaper  and  more  abundant  supplies  of  fuel, 
power  and  food.  We  think  the  fuel  and  the  power 
will  be  supplied  through  electric  currents  direct 
from  the  coal  mines  or  from  water  power,  but  the 
food  supply,  or  a  large  share  of  it,  must  come  out  of 
New  England  soil,  if  the  section  is  to  retain  her  man¬ 
ufacturing  supremacy.  Unless  home  supplies  of  food 
are  increased,  New  England  will  assume  the  position 
of  a  parasite,  drawing  most  of  her  food  from  long 
distances,  and  that  is  a  position  which  a  healthy 
business  cannot  maintain.  “The  free  coinage  of  Al¬ 
falfa,”  with  its  attendant  use  of  lime  and  good  cul¬ 
ture,  would  double  the  farm  production  of  New  Eng¬ 
land,  stabilize  her  industry,  and  bring  back  much  of 
the  old-time  independence  of  the  Yankee  farmer — 
the  best  asset  New  England  ever  had.  No,  indeed ; 
Senator  Moses  does  not  rise  knee-high  to  the  vision 
and  power  of  his  famous  name-giver.  The  original 
Moses  did  not  want  to  take  up  his  great  work.  It 
was  disagreeable  to  him  at  the  start,  hut  he  endured 
and  pushed  it  through.  Senator  Moses  can  merely 
make  fun  of  the  only  thing  which  offers  real  hope  for 
New  England’s  future — and  that  is  an  improved 
agriculture  and  a  satisfied  farmer. 
* 
A  FARMER  was  walking  along  a  country  road 
with  his  mother.  The  woman  was  old  and  a 
little  uncertain  in  her  steps.  A  car  containing  two 
gilded  young  road  swifts  came  up  behind  them,  and 
the  driver  decided  to  try  a  few  tricks  on  these  hay¬ 
seeds.  He  drove  so  that  the  car  darted  about  six 
inches  from  the  old  lady’s  faltering  steps,  and  just  at 
the  psychological  moment  the  horn  brayed  like  a 
mule.  Naturally  the  old  lady  jumped  in  fright.  She 
held  her  hand  to  her  poor  fluttering  heart,  while  those 
two  road  swifts  looked  back  and  laughed.  Their  joy 
was  short-lived.  There  was  a  sharp  report — no,  the 
farmer  did  not  train  a  shotgun  on  them,  but  a  tire 
popped  and  the  car  halted.  And  then  the  farmer  got 
into  action.  It  was  a  case  where  the  race  was  not  to 
the  swift,  hut  the  battle  was  to  the  strong.  The 
closing  scene  presented  the  road  swifts  down  on 
their  knees  in  the  road,  apologizing  to  the  old  lady. 
One  held  a  fast  reddening  handkerchief  to  his  nose, 
the  other  fingered  a  rapidly  closing  eye — two  very 
humble  “sports.”  They  got  what  they  needed.  They 
cannot  all  be  punished  properly — and  more’s  the 
pity. 
* 
OUR  friend  I).  L.  Hartman  of  Florida  has  told  us 
in  former  years  about  his  strawberry  growing. 
In  that  country  they  start  the  plants  in  Spring  sim¬ 
ply  to  produce  a  large  crop  of  runners.  These  run¬ 
ners  are  transplanted  in  the  Fall,  and  if  well  fed 
and  cultivated,  proceed  to  bear  in  60  days  and  more. 
Hartman  tells  us  that  last  Fall  he,  with  his  men, 
set  out  474.200  plants,  which  cover  10  1/5  acres!  We 
realize  that  when  some  of  our  people  read  such 
figures  they  will  exclaim:  “ Hartman ,  have  a  heart!” 
but  we  think  the  figures  are  correct.  One  thing  is 
sure,  if  these  berries  are  not  killed  by  frost,  our 
friend  Hartman  will  need  all  his  skill  and  diplomacy 
as  a  salesman  to  get  rid  of  the  crop. 
* 
IN  the  discussion  of  the  ship  subsidy  in  Congress, 
most  of  the  agricultural  representatives  seem  to 
he  against  the  proposition.  The  bill  has  passed  the 
House,  but  is  at  this  moment  held  up  in  the  Senate. 
The  bill  proposes  to  grant  a  subsidy  or  bonus  to 
American  ships  in  the  hope  of  building  up  a  large 
fleet  of  merchant  vessels,  so  that  American  goods 
may  be  carried  by  American  ships.  Western  farm¬ 
ers  are  divided  on  the  question.  A  few  of  them 
favor  the  measure  on  the  theory  that  it  will  help 
develop  our  European  trade  in  farm  products.  The 
great  majority  oppose  it  on  the  ground  of  economy, 
and  because  they  feel  that  it  grants  a  great  special 
privilege  to  classes  which  least  need  it.  Evidently 
the  only  hope  for  the  measure  is  to  push  it  through 
this  Congress,  which  has  been  called  a  collection  of 
“lame  ducks,”  or  men  who  will  not  come  back  to 
public  life.  We  think  it  will  probably  pass  by  a 
small  majority. 
* 
SEVERAL  people  have  sent  us  the  following  clip¬ 
ping,  asking  if  it  can  possibly  be  true : 
Statistics  show  that  the  average  American  farmer 
will  get  this  year  a  net  income  of  $465.  That’s  a  little 
better  than  $1  a  day.  And  it  isn’t  "the  pay  of  one 
man  alone.  It  represents  the  earnings  of  himself,  his 
wife,  and  children.  It  is  the  pay  for  getting  up  before 
daylight  and  working  until  after  dark  in  the  mud  of 
the  barnyard,  in  the  cold  of  the  windy  fields,  where 
late  husking  is  done.  No  wonder  there  is  a  big  “farm 
bloc”  in  the  Senate.  It  is  needed. 
We  do  not  know  where  the  “statistics”  come  from, 
but  the  statement  is  entirely  true  of  thousands  of 
fanners.  On  any  such  bookkeeping  as  is  imployed 
by  city  business  men,  most  of  us  would  show  a  dis¬ 
tinct  loss  on  the  business  for  1922.  Raising  farm 
mortgages  has  been  about  the  most  profitable  farm 
crop  during  the  past  year.  There  are  many  reasons 
for  this  condition.  Some  of  them  may  fairly  be 
placed  upon  our  own  shoulders,  and  we  should  be 
ready  to  admit  them.  The  greatest  trouble  of  all 
lies  in  the  present  criminally  inefficient  system  of 
distribution.  It  is  in  the  hands  of  a  group  of  people 
who  are  virtually  robbers  and  hold-up  men,  protected 
by  feeble  law  enforcement  and  by  the  bitter  contempt 
which  many  city  people  have  for  fanners.  We  be¬ 
lieve  the  situation  can  be  remedied,  but  we  have  no 
thought  that  any  present  Government  agency  is 
going  to  do  it  for  us.  We  have  got  to  do  it  ourselves. 
* 
OUT  of  the  Northwest  come  reports  of  an  indus¬ 
trial  revolution  which  with  far  less  noise  is  ac¬ 
complishing  as  great  results  as  the  Non-Partisan 
League  did  in  politics.  Formerly  farmers  banked 
everything  hut  their  life  (and  in  some  cases  nearly 
that)  -on  a  single  crop — wheat  or  corn.  With  a 
combination  of  good  weather  and  fair  prices  they 
would  do  fairly  well  on  what  the  railroads  and  the 
middlemen  left  them.  When  weather  and  price  (one 
or  both)  went  wrong,  the  industrial  parasites  got 
their  full  share,  but  the  farmers  went  lean.  They 
had  nothing  to  fall  hack  on  if  the  grain  failed. 
There  were  no  side  lines.  Now  these  farmers  are 
keeping  a  few  cows,  a  flock  of  poultry,  a  few  sheep, 
hogs  or  fat  cattle.  These  animals  provide  a  good 
market  for  the  shrunken  or  inferior  wheat,  or  in 
times  of  low  prices  they  will  buy  and  pay  for  the 
entire  crop.  The  income  from  these  side  lines  will 
help  to  pay  debts,  taxes  and  expenses.  In  some 
cases  they  take  care  of  all  running  expenses,  leaving 
the  grain  as  a  source  of  solid  income.  These  out¬ 
side  crops  or  products  help  the  farm  by  forcing  a 
sort  of  rotation  and  increasing  the  supply  of  manure. 
The  plan  is  changing  the  agriculture  of  the  North¬ 
west  for  the  better.  It  will  make  farmers  more 
secure  and  prosperous.  And  it  will,  in  time,  affect 
other  sections,  for  as  the  output  of  butter,  cream  and 
other  dairy  products,  with  poultry  and  eggs,  is  in¬ 
creased,  distribution  will  affect  even  our  markets  in 
the  East. 
Brevities 
Hard  cider,  hard  character. 
Do  you  believe  in  co-operation  ?  Not  unless  you 
would  rather  help  a  man  “get  there”  than  to  "beat  him 
to  it.” 
And  now  Palestine  has  an  experiment  station  located 
at  Tel  Aviv,  near  Jaffa.  Well,  why  not?  Did  not  Jacob 
conduct  a  good  experiment  with  spotted  cattle? 
Figures  show  that  the  average  consumption  of  meat 
in  America  is  151  lbs.  for  each  man,  woman  and  child. 
It  seems  that  some  men  consume  over  1  lb.  per  day. 
We  learn  that  50  nearby  farmers  have  combined  to 
conduct  a  retail  store  in  Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  where 
their  farm  products  are  sold.  That  is  what  must  come 
in  other  places. 
And  now  we  are  told  that  Mr.  W.  H.  Gilmore  of 
Licking  Co.,  O.,  averaged  131.1  bushels  of  air-dried  corn 
on  10  acres  of  land.  That  is  what  you  might  call  a 
licking  good  yield.  It  was  grown  on  a  clover  soil,  heav¬ 
ily  manured  with  500  lbs.  of  acid  fertilizer  per  acre. 
There  may  be  some  of  our  readers  who  can  profit  by 
the  experience  related  on  page  4,  where  the  husband, 
after  years  of  work  on  his  wife’s  farm,  finds  himself 
without  funds.  It  cannot  be  a  great  source  of  satisfac¬ 
tion  to  find  that  his  labor  goes  for  the  benefit  of  a  step¬ 
child  ! 
