252 
‘Ihs  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
February  17,  1023 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSIHESS  FARMER’S  PAPER 
A  Killontl  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  llomtt 
Established  is.;o 
rnbll>tr*d  by  th«  Rural  Fnblisbtnt  Compauy,  833  belt  80th  Street,  >*w  Iork 
Herbert  W.  C'ollingwood,  President  a nd  Editor. 
.John  .7.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
bVn.  K.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Rotle,  Associate  Editor. 
L.  H.  Ml'RTIIV,  Circulation  Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION  :  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
To  foreign  countries  in  the  Universal  Postal  Union,  $2.01.  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  lose 
to  paid  subscribers  sustained  by  trusting  any  deliberate  swindler,  irrespon¬ 
sible  advertisers  or  misleading  advertisements  in  our  columns,  and  any 
«uch  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  N*w- 
Yorkek  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
Wo  arc  not  farmers  anyway,  as  our  only  live  stock 
consists  of  three  eats,  but  we  cannot  give  up  Tiik  R. 
N.-Y.  A.  K. 
OUR  remembrance  is  that  we  were  able  to  pre¬ 
scribe  for  one  of  these  cats  and  save  its  ninth 
life.  Almost  in  the  same  mail  came  a  letter  from  a 
Western  man  who  owns  5,000  cattle,  and  who  says 
he  “cannot  run  the  ranch  without  The  R.  N.-Y.” 
There  are  not  many  papers  which  put  the  cat  and 
the  beef  herd  on  common  ground. 
* 
The  minister  and  some  of  the  congregation  are  sick, 
the  rest  unable  to  get  out  on  account  of  drifted  roads, 
so  no  services  for  a  week  or  so.  But  we  hear  the 
church  services  of  distant  cities  by  radio,  so  don’t  feel 
so  isolated.  c.  b.  f. 
Vermont. 
THERE  are  a  number  of  such  eases  during  this 
hard  and  disagreeable  Winter.  It  is  evidence 
of  the  wonderful  changes  that  are  coming  to  country 
life.  The  wireless  will  he  likely  to  keep  people  at 
home.  The  ear  has  been  taking  them  away  from 
home  after  excitement  of  some  sort.  The  radio  will 
bring  the  world  to  them  by  their  own  fireside.  For 
example,  thousands  will  listen  to  church  services 
who  never  would  attend  church.  These  same  thou¬ 
sands  will  listen  over  the  ’phone  to  good -lectures 
when  they  would  not  walk  50  rods  to  a  lecture  room. 
What  is  to  be  the  effect  of  all  this  upon  society?  In 
particular,  how  will  it  affect  the  business  of  journal¬ 
ism?  What  will  become  of  the  newspaper  when  the 
cream  of  news  is  given  out  hours  before  it  can  be 
printed  and  distributed?  Evidently  the  paper  of  the 
future  must  develop  a  living  personality — that  being 
about  the  only  part  of  news  which  cannot  he  sent  by 
wireless. 
r!4 
There  is  a  general  feeling  among  farmers  that  most 
of  our  rural  legislation  is  suggested  and  put  through 
by  theorists,  constantly  creating  more  jobs,  increasing 
the  taxes,  and  in  the  end  not  much  if  any  advantage  to 
the  farmers.  There  seems  to  be  a  tendency  to  centralize 
the  government  and  the  governing  power  taken  from 
the  farmers,  both  as  to  school  and  other  matters,  and 
leaving  him  only  the  increased  taxes  to  pay,  which 
are  beginning  to  be  a  real  burden.  c.  J. 
THAT  is  a  clear  and  compact  statement  of  the 
view  taken  by  a  majority  of  our  working  farm¬ 
ers  in  the  Eastern  States.  We  feel  competent  to  say 
that  after  many  years  of  close  association  with  coun¬ 
try  people.  Our  farmers  feel  that  a  combination  of 
small  groups  of  educators,  uplifters  and  politicians 
have  assumed  the  right  of  thinking,  speaking  and 
legislating  for  the  masses  of  country  people.  We 
may  grant  that  the  educators  and  the  uplifters  are 
sincerely  desirous  of  helping  the  farmers.  They 
often  fail  because  they  do  not,  somehow,  credit  the 
farmer  with  enough  constructive  ability  to  know 
just  what  he  needs  and  how  to  go  after  it.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  work  it  out,  but  we  should 
like  to  see  the  experiment  tried  of  having  the  three 
groups  mentioned  above  absolutely  take  their  hands 
off  all  rural  legislation  for  10  years  and  let  the 
farmers  do  it  themselves  through  their  own  selected 
leaders.  If  you  say  they  would  fail  at  the  job,  we 
answer  that  it  has  never  been  tried,  in  the  Eastern 
States  at  least,  and  that  the  farmer  lias  never  yet 
failed  at  any  job  be  lias  controlled. 
Why  isn’t  a  New  Yorker,  State  in  general,  as  much 
of  a  booster  for  his  State,  at  home,  as  he  is  for  Cali¬ 
fornia  after  he  becomes  a  resident  of  that  State?  The 
East  is  “God’s  country,”  but  what  are  those  dry  States 
where  the  people  have  to  use  a  man-made  scheme  in 
order  to  grow  a  crop?  I’ve  been  there,  and  the  last 
time  motored  there  and  back,  but  didn’t  get  roped. 
New  York. 
W.  H.  11. 
YOU  are  trying  to  solve  one  of  tlie  great  mysteries 
of  the  universe.  Even  the  New  Yorker  cannot 
answer.  He  ought  to  go  around  claiming  that  New 
York  is  the  “only  place,”  and  back  it  up  by  good  evi¬ 
dence,  but  someho.v  be  does  not  seem  to  realize  that 
right  here  in  "Old  York  State”  we  have  the  makings 
of  a  new  Garden  of  Eden,  with  several  things  which 
Adam  lacked.  Why  not  boost  for  the  old  home 
State? 
* 
In  hiring  a  farm  hand  by  the  year  we  wish  to  know 
the  correct  way  to  reckon  lost  time.  Are  Sundays  in¬ 
cluded  in  finding  amount  of  wages  per  day?  That  is, 
should  we  divide  yearly  price  by  305  or  313  to  find  the 
amount  for  one  day,  and  if  Sunday  comes  within  time 
lost  is  it  counted  as  a  lost  day?  J.  m. 
STRANGE  as  it  may  seem,  we  have  many  such 
questions.  They  seem  to  arise  from  a  difference 
between  master  and  man  when  tlie  latter  for  any 
reason  quits  or  is  discharged.  It  would  all  depend 
on  the  contract  or  agreement  when  the  man  was 
hired.  Was  it  understood  that  be  was  to  work  on 
Sunday?  On  a  dairy  farm  this  would  be  understood 
and  agreed  to  at  the  beginning.  Legally,  all  work  is 
prohibited  on  Sunday,  except  work  of  necessity,  such 
as  chores  and  caring  for  stock,  but  the  hired  man 
man  may  agree  to  do  certain  labor.  On  the  "whole, 
we  think  it  would  be  more  equitable  for  the  em¬ 
ployer  to  divide  by  313  rather  than  305. 
3- 
BlY  do  they  call  it  McIntosh?  What  does 
VV  tiie  name  stands  for?”  That  was  the  ques¬ 
tion  we  got  last  year  from  a  man  who  bit  more  than 
lie  could  chew  out  of  the  crimson  cheek  of  a  Mc¬ 
Intosh  apple — and  was  none  the  worse  for  it.  We 
often  have  such  questions,  and  we  conclude  that 
brief  stories  about  the  origin  of  some  of  our  popular 
fruits  would  be  welcome.  So  we  begin  this  week 
with  McIntosh.  Others  will  follow  weekly.  It  will 
interest  many  of  us  to  know  where  our  good  friends 
come  from. 
* 
WHAT  is  the  difference  between  a  farmer  dic¬ 
tating  the  price  and  being  dictated  to?  The 
children  gave  us  that  question..  One  answer  is  the 
difference  between  happiness  and  misery.  Some 
farmers  produce  a  crop  so  fine  or  so  rare  that  they 
name  their  own  terms.  A  man  may  produce  superior 
strawberries  or  apples  and  have  tlie  town  running 
after  him.  Or  lie  may  have  made  such  a  record  at 
an  egg-laying  contest  that  every  strong  chick  he  can 
raise  is  demanded.  We  know  a  farmer  who  worked 
for  years  and  cleared  barely  50  cents  a  day  over 
expenses.  A  lot  of  back-to-the-landers  moved  into 
the  neighborhood  and  this  man  used  his  team  to 
plow  and  harrow  for  them  at  .$0  for  an  eight-hour 
day!  He  still  had  tiine  to  make  a  good  garden — 
about  the  only  part  of  liis  farm  that  ever  paid.  In 
one  case  he  was  dictated  to — in  tlie  other  lie  dictated 
the  price. 
* 
HERE  is  the  statement  of  a  ease  which  will  in¬ 
terest  all  who  have  children  at  school.  On 
the  grounds  of  a  certain  schoolliouse  tlie  teacher 
and  officers  erected  a  large  swing  for  the  children. 
Through  some  accident  one  child  was  thrown  out 
and  injured.  The  parents  want  to  know  if  they  have 
a  ease  against  the  school  board  for  damages.  Such 
a  thing  might  happen  at  any  school,  and  these  par¬ 
ents  feel  that  tlie  teacher  or  the  school  board  should 
be  held  rsponsible.  If  such  a  case  ever  came  into 
court  tlie  question  would  probably  be  one  of  negli¬ 
gence.  Did  the  child  take  what  you  may  reason¬ 
ably  call  proper  care  of  itself?  We  know  how  care¬ 
less  and  daring  some  children  are  at  times.  Some 
of  them  like  to  “show  off,”  and  incur  danger  by  do¬ 
ing  so.  On  the  other  hand,  was  the  swing  inspected 
by  competent  people?  Probably  it  was  safe,  and  the 
child  fell  out  of  il.  The  school  board  could  not  well 
be  censured  for  putting  up  a  fixture  to  aid  the  chil¬ 
dren’s  play.  Personally  we  doubt  if  the  parents 
could  collect  damages. 
tk 
WE  understand  that  a  school  bill  embodying 
the  suggestions  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty- 
one  will  be  introduced  at  Albany — if  it  has  not  al¬ 
ready  been  presented.  We  have  not  yet  studied  the 
bill,  though  we  understand  that  it  contains  some 
good  provisions.  We  cannot  fairly  discuss  the  bill 
until  it  lias  been  thoroughly  studied,  but  we  are 
opposed  to  its  passage  this  year.  Tlie  impression 
has  been  given  that  no  bill  would  be  introduced  dur¬ 
ing  the  present  session  of  tlie  Legislature,  and  coun¬ 
try  people,  wlio  are  most  interested,  do  not  yet  un¬ 
derstand  tlie  matter  well  enough  to  pass  full  judg¬ 
ment.  After  a  fair  canvass  of  the  State  we  are  con¬ 
vinced  that  a  good  majority  of  rural  people  are  op¬ 
posed  to  any  legislation  this  year.  They  feel  that  an 
effort  is  being  made  to  “rush”  them  into  something 
which  they  do  not  understand.  The  proponents  of 
the  new  legislation  may  claim  that  country  people 
ought  to  know  all  about  it.  but  the  fact  remains 
that  they  do  not  fully  understand.  They  are  sus¬ 
picious,  remembering  how  the  old  township  school 
law  was  plastered  upon  them.  They  feel  that  tlie 
present  Legislature  is  dominated  by  New  York  City,' 
and  that  the  representatives  from  this  great  city 
care  nothing  for  rural  education,  except  as  they  can 
trade  votes  for  some  city  measure.  That  was  really 
the  way  the  old  township  school  law  was  put  over. 
The  same  thing  lias  been  true  of  other  educational 
measures  in  tlie  past,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  tliat  our 
rural  people  want  no  more  of  that.  The  only  fair 
way  to  settle  the  question  will  be  to  make  it  a  clear 
issue  in  the  next  election  of  members  of  the  Legis¬ 
lature.  That  will  be  the  nearest  approach  to  a  ref¬ 
erendum  on  the  subject  that  we  can  have,  and  we 
favor  that  plan.  We  are  convinced  that  any  attempt 
to  “rush”  the  bill  through  this  Legislature  will  sim¬ 
ply  result  in  another  battle,  such  as  came  up  over 
the  former  law.  In  this  we  are  not  attempting  to 
argue  against  the  proposed  lawr,  as  we  do  not  yet 
know  just  what  it  is.  A  full  discussion  of  it  will 
come  later.  Just  now,  and  for  the  reasons  here 
given,  we  think  it  a  mistake  to  try  to  push  it  through 
the  Legislature. 
* 
VETCH  will  rank  as  one  of  the  acid  soil  legumes. 
It  does  not  respond  greatly  to  lime,  and  will 
make  a  good  growth  on  soil  that  is  quite  acid.  Cow 
peas  and  Soy  beans  act  in  much  the  same  way. 
These  acid  soil  legumes  will  make  a  good  growth 
without  any  application  of  lime.  They  are  all  excel¬ 
lent,  either  for  feeding  or  for  green  manuring,  it, 
Avould  not  be  good  economy  to  use  lime  when  seeding 
them.  Far  better  keep  tlie  lime  for  clover,  Alfalfa 
or  peas.  Too  many  of  our  Eastern  farmers  have 
gone  off  the  track  in  their  belief  that  Eastern  farms 
cannot  be  profitably*  conducted  without  lime  and 
Red  clover  or  Alfalfa.  The  sour  soil  on  some  of 
these  farms  is  not  suited  to  Red  clover,  and  it  is 
often  a  losing  job  to  try  to  make  it  fit  with  lime  and 
clover  culture.  These  acid  soil  legumes  are  fitted  to 
tbe  soil,  and  will  make  it  highly  productive  with 
little  or  no  lime.  It  is  hard  to  make  a  farmer  real¬ 
ize  that  Soy  beans  without  lime  cau  improve  the 
soil  like  clover  with  lime — yet  that  is  what  they  can 
and  will  do. 
THE  New  Hampshire  State  College  reports  the 
case  of  a  farm  woman  who  was  obliged  to  carry 
all  household  wat  *r  from  the  back  of  the  house  to 
her  kitchen.  She  averaged  15  trips  a  day,  and  on 
figuring  it  out  she  found  that  it  meant  114  miles  a 
year  to  get  the  water  supply.  This  meant  a  trip 
from  her  home  to  Boston  and  return.  When  her 
husband  saw  the  figures  he  paid  $14.95  for  pipe  and 
piped  the  water  to  the  kitchen  sink.  But  why  didn’t 
lie  think  of  it  before?  There  are  many  other  farm 
women  who  have  tramped  nearly  from  Maine  to 
Florida  carrying  water  for  the  kitchen,  when  a  pipe 
would  have  carried  every  pound  of  it.  There  are 
many  other  husbands  who  may  be  waiting  to  see  the 
figures.  Why  wait  any  longer? 
Brevities 
A  prejudiced  opinion  cannot  be  broad. 
Certainly  we  favor  power  fanning — brain  power. 
We  would  not  plant  dwarf  trees  for  a  business 
proposition. 
The  man  who  is  convinced  against  his  will  must  act 
like  one  who  takes  a  bitter  pill. 
It  would  require  a  fine  salesman  to  sell  refrigei'ators 
to  the  citizens  of  Labrador,  a  pipeless  furnace  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Brazil,  yet  if  you  struck  them  right  after 
pay  day  it  might  be  done. 
Patrick  Co.,  Va.,  claims  the  champion  apple  tree. 
It  is  said  to  be  120  years  old,  12  ft.  in  circumference. 
00  ft.  high,  74  ft.  spread,  and  a  record  of  132  bushels  of 
apples  iu  one  season.  “Can  you  beat  it?” 
D.  L.  Hartman,  the  Florida  strawberry  mau,  writes 
that  he  picked  57  quarts  on  January  8.  These  were 
from  plants  set  in  October,  and  brought  05  cents  a 
quart. 
'Someone  recently  asked  about  raising  puppies  as  a 
side  line.  We  have  a  cartload  of  answers.  It  appears 
that  with  all  the  restrictive  legislation  against  dogs,  the 
business  of  supplying  well-bred  animals  is  increasing. 
In  a  recent  New  York  case  a  woman  admitted  a  de¬ 
tective  to  her  home.  He  found  a  bottle  of  whisky  and 
arrested  her  husband.  On  trial,  the  judge  dismissed 
the  case  because  the  detective  had  no  search  warrant 
when  he  entered  the  house.  It  was  stated  that  a  wife 
has  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  constitutional  rights 
of  her  husband. 
By  a  statute  which  went  into  effect  May  5,  1921,  any 
person  practicing  or  offering  to  practice  professional 
engineering  or  land  surveying  in  the  State  of  New  York 
shall  be  required  to  submit  evidence  that  he  is  qualified 
so  to  practice,  and  shall  be  licensed.  By  the  same  act 
a  License  Board  was  established.  It  is  appointed  by 
the  Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
The  license  fee  for  professional  engineers  and  laud  sur¬ 
veyors  was  fixed  at  835.  The  State  Board  of  Licensing 
for  Professional  Engineers  and  Land  Surveyors,  Al¬ 
bany.  N.  Y„  will  give  full  information. 
