‘Iht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
3 
What  Do 
New  York  Farmers  Need? 
HAVE  given  much  thought  to  things  which 
the  new  administration  might  do  to  help 
our  farmers.  It  is  easy  to  talk  these 
things  over  with  the  neighbors,  but  hard 
to  put  them  down  on  paper.  Last  night 
_ _  at  the  store  we  had  quite  an  argument 
about  the  many  things  that  are  constantly  acting  as 
a  tax  on  the  farm.  There  is  the  workmen’s  compen-' 
sation,  which  one  feels  obliged  to  take  out.  There 
are  membership  fees  in  many  organizations  whose 
benefit  is  doubtful.  There  are  the  excessive  freight 
rates  for  all  produce— rates  which  are  taking  the 
life  right  out  of  our  business.  There  is  now  in  New 
Vork  State  the  new  license  fee  on  motor  vehicles. 
This  goes  into  effect  in  January.  As  I  figure  it.  the 
tax  on  my  truck  will  be  about  $50.  This  tax  will 
of  course  discourage  trucking,  and  trucking  was 
just  beginning  to  help 
us  solve  the  transporta¬ 
tion  problem.  W  h  y 
trucking  should  be  dis¬ 
couraged  I  can’t  make 
out.  unless  the  railroads 
have  decided  to  act  the 
part  of  the  dog  in  the 
manger.  This  truck 
license  is  hard  on  the 
f  a  r  m  e  r.  because  his 
truck  is  in  use  only  a 
part  of  the  year.  There 
is  constant  hauling,  of 
course,  during  harvest, 
but  most  of  the  year  the 
truck  is  idle,  and  is  not 
wearing  the  roads. 
I  wish  also  that  the 
coming  administration 
could  see  the  Agricul¬ 
tural  Department  as  it 
appears  to  most  of  us. 
The  idea  right  off  the 
bat  is  that  the  common 
farmer  regards  the  in¬ 
spectors  as  inspector  de¬ 
tectives  looking  for  in¬ 
fringements  of  the  law. 
He  becomes  afraid  10 
try  to  pack,  and  so  is 
driven  to  sell  his  pro¬ 
duce  to  middlemen  or  to 
join  co-operative  asso¬ 
ciations.  Now.  this  is 
all  wrong.  We  should 
feel  free  to  go  to  the 
department  for  help, 
confident  that  we  will 
get  it.  I  believe  also 
that  the  great  drive  of 
the  Agricultural  De¬ 
partment  at  the  present 
time  should  be  to  save 
the  waste.  Plenty  is 
raised,  but  I  was  going 
to  say  more  is  wasted. 
This  is  a  problem  wor¬ 
thy  of  the  best  and  most 
untiring  efforts  of  our 
best  minds.  Peaches,  the  cream  of  the  crop,  are 
picked  carefully,  packed  perfectly,  and  then  allowed 
to  rot  because  there  are  no  cars  on  hand.  Apples 
in  the  olden  days  of  dry-houses,  blew  oft’  the  trees 
just  as  they  do  now.  But  then  it  paid  to  pick  them 
up  and  dry  them,  and  few  were  lost.  Now  there  are 
so  many  charges  piling  up  before  the  dried  apples 
can  reach  the  consumers  that  many  dry-houses  are 
not  operating,  and  many  apples  spoil  on  the  ground. 
We  see  tons  of  onions  drawn  out  in  the  Spring  and 
dumped  on  the  land.  Cabbages  go  the  same  way. 
Every  farmer  can  add  to  this  list  of  waste.  Save 
the  waste! 
This  subject  of  waste  naturally  suggests  transpor¬ 
tation.  We  all  believe  that  in  order  to  feed  the 
world,  in  order  to  give  to  the  farmer  his  just  wage 
for  honest  toil,  there  must  be  unimpeded  movement 
ol  food,  food  must  move  from  the  source  of  supply 
in  the  quickest,  easiest  and  cheapest  way  to  those 
demanding  it.  If  this  movement  can  be  accom¬ 
plished  more  quickly,  more  easily  and  more  cheaply 
hy  blasting  rocks  out  of  a  river  or  digging  a  canal 
or  by  building  roads,  then  that  should  be  done.  New 
York  State  has  vehemently  opposed  the  building  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  Barge  Canal.  I  hope  the  new  ad¬ 
ministration  will  not  be  swayed  by  any  sectional 
feeling,  but  will  see  that  this  canal  could  be  made  a 
most  important  avenue  for  foreign  trade.  In  a  sea¬ 
son  of  abundance  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  our 
State  to  use  the  European  markets.  At  the  present 
writing  the  United  States  has  exported  apples  to  the 
amount  of  984,667  barrels  and  1,742.645  boxes. 
To  summarize.  I  might  say  : 
We  need  a  change  in  the  law  taxing  motor 
vehicles.  This  tax  should  be  based  not  only  on  the 
load,  but  on  the  number  of  miles  traveled. 
We  need  an  Agricultural  Department  which  can 
inspire  confidence  and  is  actively  friendly  toward 
the  farmer:  which  will  not  only  assist  him  when 
called  upon,  but  defend  him  if  necessary. 
We  need  a  Public  Service  Commission  that  will 
insist  on  a  fair  distribution  of  freight  cars.  It  is  a 
Harvesting  the  Family  Horse.  Fig.  1.  (Photo  by  H.  Armstrong 
notorious  fact  that  some  have  been  able  to  get  more 
cars  than  they  could  use,  while  others  have  been 
unable  to  get  any. 
We  need  lower  freight  rates. 
If  we  can  get  all  these  things  we  won’t  need  any 
more  “farmers’  credits”  than  we  can  get  from  our 
local  banks. 
In  conclusion  I  would  like  to  say  that  I  believe 
you  are  doing  a  great  work  in  getting  suggestions 
from  the  common  farmer.  Suggestions  regarding 
farming  should  come  from  those  who  earn  their  liv¬ 
ing  on  the  land,  and  not  from  some  power  higher  up. 
Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y.  f.  w.  Cornwall. 
backing  to  buy  a  good  farm,  I,  for  one.  and  some  others, 
would  Idee  to  know  how  to  go  about  it.  u  w  i 
Jefferson  Co.,  N.  Y. 
/"TMIE  Federal  Land  Banks  loan  money  on  mort- 
A  gage  up  to  about  one-half  of  the  value  of  the 
farm  property.  The  expenses  are  considerable,  and 
there  is  quite  a  little  red  tape  about  placing  a  loan. 
I  he  theory  is  that  the  borrower  must  have  some 
responsibility  and  a  title  to  real  estate  before  he  is 
considered  a  good  risk.  It  could  hardly  be  expected 
that  the  government  would  finance  a  man  for  land, 
tools  and  capital,  all  complete,  without  any  security. 
No  bank,  and  very  few  individuals,  would  ever  do 
that.  A  large  share  of  the  money  thus  far  loaned 
by  the  Federal  Land  Banks  seems  to  have  been 
used  for  replacing  mortgages.  A  man  will  have  a 
fa l  m  canj  ing  a  mortgage  of  seven  per  cent  or 
more,  and  liable  to  fore¬ 
closure  at  almost  any 
time.  He  may  borrow 
from  the  Federal  Land 
Bank  money  enough  to 
pay  off  this  mortgage. 
That  leaves  him  with  a 
Federal  mortgage  on  his 
property  at,  a  little 
lower  rate  of  interest 
and  a  system  of  pay¬ 
ments  which  will  prac¬ 
tically  prevent  any  fore¬ 
closure.  The  farmer 
may  not  have  much 
more  working  capital, 
but  he  feels  secure  re¬ 
garding  his  title.  The 
weakness  of  this  system 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it 
offers  little  chance  for  a 
tenant  or  superior  hired 
man  to  obtain  a  farm 
and  stock,  unless  some 
individual  will  help. 
That  is  sometimes  done 
where  an  individual  is 
found  willing  to  assume 
a  second  m  o  r  t  g  a  g  e 
which  will  come  in  be¬ 
hind  the  Federal  mort¬ 
gage.  That  would  give 
the  buyer  a  chance  to 
use  his  small  amount  of 
capital  for  stock  and 
equipment.  Last  Spring 
we  gave  the  story  of  a 
man  in  Broome  ('o..  N. 
Y.,  who  bought  and 
stocked  farms  and  then 
sold  them  to  deserving 
men  on  contract,  under 
which  they  agreed  to 
pay  a  certain  sum  each 
year  toward  interest 
and  principal.  Many  of 
such  men  have  paid  out 
and  now  own  farms. 
Roberts)  Others  paid  part,  ac¬ 
quired  title,  and  have 
now  obtained  a  Federal  mortgage.  Such  work  can 
and  should  be  done  by  private  individuals.  It  is  an 
investment  in  character,  but  it  can  hardly  be  expect¬ 
ed  that  the  National  government  can  make  such 
loans.  One  of  the  most  patriotic  things  that  any 
citizen  can  do  is  to  loan  money  on  contract  to  deserv¬ 
ing  tenants  or  hired  men,  and  thus  enable  them  to 
gain  title  to  a  farm.  Some  men  come  to  the  great 
cities  and  accumulate  fortunes.  Then  they  wonder 
what  they  can  do  with  the  money  which  society  has 
turned  over  to  them.  If  they  would  send  it  back  to 
the  old  home  county  and  have  it  loaned  to  deserving 
tenants  and  invested  in  small  manufacturing  enter¬ 
prises  they  would  become  public  benefactors. 
Farm  Loans  For  Landless  Men 
'Will  you  explain  how  the  Federal  Land  Bank  helps 
put  the  farmer  on  the  farm?  I  mean  by  that,  that  ar¬ 
ticles  in  rural  magazines  claim  farms  by  the  thousands 
are  begging  men  to  come  out  of  the  cities  and  work 
them.  I  say  this ;  there  are  thousands  who  want,  long 
and  are  willing  to  work  them,  but  it  is  next  to  impos- 
v^ble  to  buy  a  decent  farm  without  at  least  $2,000  to 
$.->,000  to  put  down.  I  have  been  very  successful  in 
managing  farms  for  others,  but  when  it  comes  to  buying 
a  place  to  start  in  for  myself,  the  Land  Bank  agent 
said:  “Have  you  got  your  place  half  paid  for?  If  not. 
I  cannot  help  you  any.”  If  there  is  a  way  one  can  get 
Is  An  Egg  An  Egg? 
I  notice  on  page  1472.  of  December  16  issue,  you 
remarks  as  regards  the  composition  of  an  egg,  or  hov 
does  the  feed  affect  such  composition?  After  being  ii 
the  poultry  game  over  17  years  I  am  inclined  to  thinl 
or  know  that  the  feed  the  hen  eats  has  all  to  do  witl 
the  composition  or  quality  of  the  eggs,  for  I  can  feed  i 
hen  so  that  her  eggs  are  not  fit  for  food.  We  make  it 
a  rule  to  give  only  feed  that  is  pure  enough  for  us  tc 
use  as  food,  and  when  a  person  says  “Oh.  that  feed  ii 
a  little  oil  in  quality,  hut  it  will  do  for  the  chickens,’ 
he  is  losing  out.  Hence,  if  hens  were  fed  good  pun 
