444 
7ht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  17,  1023 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER’S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Home* * 
Established  iSJO 
Foblished  n*rkly  by  the  Rural  Publishing  Company,  333  West  SOtb  Street,  lien  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  hacked  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 
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to  adjust  differences  or  mistakes  between  our  subscribers  and  honest, 
responsible  houses,  whether  advertisers  or  not.  We  willingly  use  our  good 
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the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it,  you  should  mention  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
Till-:  so-called  “filled  milk”  bill  passed  the  United 
States  Senate  during  the  last  hours  of  Con¬ 
gress.  The  law  as  enacted  contains  the  following : 
Sec.  2.  It  is  hereby  declared  that  tilled  milk,  as 
herein  defined,  is  an  adulterated  article  of  food,  injuri¬ 
ous  to  the  public  health,  and  its  sale  constitutes  a  fraud 
upon  the  public.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person 
to  manufacture  within  any  territory  or  possession  or 
within  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  to  ship  or  deliver 
for  shipment  in  interstate  or  foreign  commerce,  any 
filled  milk. 
The  law  carries  a  penalty  of  a  line  of  not  over 
.$1,000.  or  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  year, 
or  both.  “Filled  milk”  means  any  milk,  cream,  or 
skim-milk  with  which  has  been  blended  any  fat  or 
oil  other  than  milk  fat.  This  legislation  was  made 
necessary  by  the  operations  of  manufacturers  in 
removing  all  or  part  of  the  butterfat  from  milk  and 
substituting  cocoanut  oil  or  similar  fats.  This  fraud¬ 
ulent  practice  had  become  a  genuine  menace  to  the 
dairy  interests.  If  continued  it  would  have  ruined 
the  sale  of  entire  milk.  Many  of  us  can  remember 
the  fierce  and  long  continued  battle  which  was  neces¬ 
sary  years  ago  to  enact  the  first  oleomargarine  law. 
We  had  to  fight  the  selfishness  of  manufacturers,  the 
indifference  of  dairymen  and  the  ignorance  of  con¬ 
sumers.  The  battle  was  won  only  by  a  very  small 
margin.  Times  are  different  now,  for  the  filled  milk 
law  was  put  over  by  a  great  majority.  Public  sen¬ 
timent  about  such  things  is  changing.  Farmers  are 
more  nearly  united.  Organization  is  giving  them 
power  and  they  are  better  able  to  present  their  case 
f  i  the  public.  The  popular  education  in  proper 
nutrition  and  the  need  of  vitamines  has  helped  such 
food  legislation.  Now  to  increase  the  consumption 
of  milk  and  pure  butter. 
* 
“ Mann  claim  that  this  hill  aught  to  go  over  for 
another  gear.  If  it  docs  its  enemies  will  defeat  it.” 
HAT  statement  refers  to  the  new  school  bill  now 
before  the  New  York  Legislature.  It  is  made 
by  one  of  the  strongest  advocates  of  the  bill.  It  is 
true  that  “many”  think  this  hill  should  be  held  up 
for  further  discussion.  If  our  canvass  of  the  State 
is  correct,  at  least  75  per  cent  of  country  people  are 
of  that  opinion.  We  think  we  may  say  without 
boasting  that  it  would  be  difficult  if  not  impossible 
to  obtain  a  fairer  statement  of  public  opinion  in 
rural  districts  than  our  readers  give.  We  know  that 
a  great  majority  of  members  of  the  Legislature  who 
represent  rural  districts  are  opposed  to  rushing  the 
bill  through  under  present  conditions.  There  is  no 
such  crying  need  of  the  bill  as  makes  hasty  action 
necessary.  To  pass  the  hill  now  would  he  hasty 
action.  It  calls  for  radical  changes  in  the  law — 
some  of  them  new  and  untested.  There  should  he 
no  definite  action  until  the  voters  in  school  meetings 
have  discussed  the  hill  and  until  the  rural  voters 
have  voted  on  it,  as  they  can  do. next  Fall  at  the 
primary  and  general  elections.  How  can  delay  de¬ 
feat  this  bill  if  it  is  right  and  useful?  There  can  be 
hut  one  answer  to  that  statement,  for  if  the  hill  is 
right,  continued  discussion  ought  to  bring  a  major¬ 
ity  of  rural  voters  to  its  support.  The  true  meaning 
of  the  statement  evidently  is  that  this  year  the  Leg¬ 
islature  is  practically  controlled  by  New  York  City. 
By  making  some  sort  of  political  arrangement  it  might 
be  possible  to  pass  such  a  bill,  even  though  a  great 
majority  of  the  rural  people  and  their  representa¬ 
tives  were  opposed  to  it.  Thus  the  bill  would  he 
forced  upon  the  people,  and  before  any  amendment 
could  he  made  the  rural  districts  would  he  well  plas¬ 
tered  with  school  bonds  and  other  obligations.  For 
these  and  other  reasons  we  are  opposed  to  rushing 
this  bill  through.  It  should  be  held  up  for  discus¬ 
sion. 
THE  figures  show  that  city  people  are  consuming 
more  milk.  In  356  cities,  having  a  total  popu¬ 
lation  of  32,000,000,  the  total  daily  increase  during 
the  past  10  years  has  been  one-tenth  of  a  pint.  It 
was  six-tenths  of  a  pint  10  years  ago ;  now  it  is 
seven-tenths.  Well,  what  do  a  few  spoonfuls  of 
milk  amount  to?  If  32,000,000  people  average  a 
gain  of  one-tenth  of  a  pint  each  day  we  have  a  total 
gain  of  1,600,000  quarts,  or  584.060,000  quarts  dur¬ 
ing  the  year.  We  may  call  that  some  milk.  And 
there  is  no  good  reason  why  people  should  stop  at 
six-tenths  of  a  pint.  If  you  can  keep  at  them  pa¬ 
tiently  they  will  come  to  average  a  quart  a  day. 
The  average  in  New  York  City  is  given  at  seven- 
tenths  of  a  pint,  while  Concord.  N.  II.,  averaged  1.17 
pints.  Why  should  New  York  sit  on  a  back  seat  and 
take  the  dust  and  bacteria  from  Concord.  N.  II.? 
This  great  city  ought  to  lead  in  milk  consumption 
— a  quart  of  milk  per  day  for  each  inhabitant.  Let’s 
set  our  mark  at  three  barrels  of  apples  and  365 
quarts  of  milk  for  each  and  every  New  Yorker  per 
year.  That’s  the  way  to  fatten  the  body  of  the  city 
man  and  the  wallet  of  the  farmer. 
* 
N  every  State  of  the  Union  there  is  trouble  over 
the  present  careless  system  of  granting  auto 
licenses.  The  first  object  seems  to  be  getting  all 
the  money  possible,  instead  of  considering  the  public 
safety.  The  present  “examination”  is  a  farce,  for 
almost  anyone  can  obtain  a  license — which  too  often 
means  a  right  to  injure  property  and  endanger  life. 
The  result  is  that  our  country  roads  are  well  filled 
with  “speed  maniacs”  who  have  little  regard  for  the 
safety  of  pedestrians.  These  hogs,  in  their  reckless 
haste  to  “get  there,”  cause  more  deaths  and  disaster 
every  year  than  a  fair-sized  war.  Gov.  Smith  of 
New  York  proposes  to  change  the  law  so  as  to  make 
local  police  or  local  governments  responsible  for 
the  licenses.  That  might  help,  but  the  true  remedy 
lies  in  the  punishment  meted  out  to  these  “gasoline 
devils.”  A  fine  is  no  punishment  whatever.  We 
would  put  them  right  in  jail  at  hard  labor,  and  com¬ 
pel  them  to  live  on  prison  fare  during  their  sentence. 
No  luxuries  or  cigars,  but  brown  bread  and  soup. 
That  would  teach  them  to  work  off  their  vitamines 
in  some  less  harmful  manner. 
* 
In  a  recent  issue  of  The  It.  N.-Y.  it  is  stated  that  ice 
might  be  formed  by  carrying  tanks  of  water  high  into 
the  air.  Is  there  really  any  authority  for  such  a  state¬ 
ment?  J. 
ES,  it  is  well  known  that  very  low  temperatures 
are  found  in  the  higher  air.  Self-registering 
kites  which  accurately  mark  the  temperature  have 
been  sent  up  19  miles.  Flying  machines  containing 
human  beings  have  been  forced  up  more  than  40.000 
feet  above  the  earth.  Thus  it  has  been  learned  that 
the  temperature  falls  about  one  degree  for  each  300 
feet  of  ascent.  One  mile  up  it  will  he  about  17  de¬ 
grees  cooler.  Thus  an  ascent  of  four  or  five  miles 
would  surely  give  the  temperature  needed  to  freeze 
water.  Who  knows  what  we  may  find  in  the  air, 
stocked  as  it  is  with  electricity,  water,  cold  and  mat¬ 
ter  of  all  sorts?  The  ocean  contains  traces  of  every 
substance  known  to  nature — washed  out  of  the  soil 
and  carried  along  through  brooks  and  rivers.  And 
the  air,  no  less,  contains  traces  of  every  conceivable 
thing  in  its  gases  and  dust.  For  let  us  remember 
that  every  organic  thing — even  to  the  body  of  man 
and  his  food  and  covering — comes  mostly  from  the 
air.  As  proof,  take  anything  we  can  imagine  that 
has  ever  known  life,  and  dry  and  burn  it  to  the  last 
possibility  of  such  destruction.  There  will  be  left 
but  a  mere  handful  of  white  ash,  a  small  fraction 
of  the  original  body.  What  became  of  the  rest?  It 
has  disappeared  into  the  air  from  which  it  came  in 
the  first  place.  We  are  just  beginning  to  realize 
what  vast  treasures  of  power  and  matter  the  air 
above  and  about  us  contains.  Some  day  it  will  serve 
us  like  the  earth  and  the  ocean. 
* 
There  is  no  use  trying  to  kid  ourselves  that  we  are 
honest ;  the  very  essence  of  the  competitive  system  un¬ 
der  which  we  are  living  compels  each  one  to  make  a 
profit  on  his  brother ;  in  other  words,  “skin  him,”  but 
so  long  as  the  voters  pile  up  "landslides”  for  such  a 
rotten  system,  and  make  the  rules  for  the  game,  just  so 
l^ng  must  I  play  according  to  the  rules  or  get  out  and 
be  branded  as  an  anarchist.  j.  k.  o. 
F  we  agree  with  this  in  general  we  must  differ  in 
particulars.  It  is  true  that  the  present  com¬ 
petitive  system  has  taught  most  men  to  distrust 
others  and  to  make  a  profit  or  ••skin”  the  other  fel¬ 
low  when  they  can.  We  do  not  think  this  is  the 
natural  inclination  of  most  men.  We  know  that 
many  of  them  have  a  feeling  of  disgust  for  the  sys¬ 
tem,  yet  they  follow  it  because  they  think  everybody 
does  it.  and  therefore,  in  self-protection,  they  must 
do  the  same.  Yet  it  must  be  evident  that  just  so 
long  as  you  and  I  and  the  rest  of  us  act  in  that 
way.  the  system  never  will  be  changed.  We  need  a 
few  thousand  men  who  will  be  absolutely  honest  in 
their  dealings,  and  positively  refuse  to  take  any 
unfair  trade  advantage.  An  army  of  that  sort  would 
'grow,  for  we  shall  continue  to  believe  that  the  great 
majority  of  men  and  women  want  to  be  straight — 
but  they  also  want  to  go  with  the  crowd.  It  is  a 
true  saying  that  the  way  to  begin  at  reforming  the 
nation  is  to  reform  yourself. 
* 
E  have  made  a  good  canvass  of  our  readers 
regarding  the  question  of  disbanding  the 
State  troopers  in  New  York.  The  labor  union  lead- 
ms  are  opposed  to  the  troopers.  We  wanted  to  learn 
how  farmers  feel  regarding  them.  We  have  had 
many  reports  and  opinions,  and  fully  90  per  cent  of 
them  favor  the  troopers  and  protest  against  their 
disbanding.  Most  farmers  say  that  these  troopers 
give  them  about  the  only  protection  they  can  look 
foi  from  rural  police.  There  are  a  few  complaints 
of  heavy  expense  and  some  indefinite  charges  of 
"grafting,”  hut,  taken  as  a  whole,  our  reports  show 
that  country  people  generally  want  these  troopers 
retained. 
* 
OR  several  years  now  we  have  told  our  readers 
about  the  use  of  inoculated  sulphur  as  a  treat¬ 
ment  for  potato  scab.  During  the  past  year  much 
of  this  sulphur  has  been  used,  and  it  is  now  possible 
to  speak  definitely  about  it.  It  is  a  form  of  pow¬ 
dered  sulphur  containing  germs  or  bacteria  which, 
when  put  into  the  soil,  develop  a  form  of  sulphuric 
acid.  As  is  well  known,  the  germs  which  produce 
potato  scab  do  not  thrive  in  an  acid  soil — thus  the 
inoculated  sulphur  retards  the  disease.  It  has  been 
found  in  numerous  cases  that  300  lbs.  of  this  sul¬ 
phur,  well  harrowed  into  the  soil  of  an  acre  of  po¬ 
tato  land,  gives  more  than  75  per  cent  protection 
from  scab.  Too  much  of  the  sulphur  might  prove 
injurious,  hut  about  300  lbs.  per  acre  will  surely 
help.  The  common  sulphur,  without  the  inocula¬ 
tion,  will  not  prove  so  effective.  We  think  this 
method  has  now  been  well  tested  and  demonstrated. 
* 
E  have  enlisted  for  the  war — which  means 
that  we  shall  use  all  our  influence  toward 
helping  that  big  fruit  show  staged  for  New  York 
City  next  Fall.  Let  us  all  begin  now,  and  let  the 
idea  develop  right  along  with  the  fruit  crop.  This 
•show  must  he  the  biggest  thing  of  the  sort  ever  held 
anywhere — bigger  in  the  size  of  the  exhibits  and 
bigger  in  ideas  and  original  attractions.  Anyone 
with  fair  hacking  can  build  up  big  piles  of  apples 
and  induce  a  few  people  to  walk  solemnly  around 
and  look  at  them.  We  want  more  than  that.  The 
finest  apples  in  the  world  are  produced  in  the  East¬ 
ern  States.  That  is  true,  and  we  will  not  admit  any 
contradiction.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  great  ma¬ 
jority  of  New  York  people  have  come  to  believe  that 
rhe  Western  apples  are  better.  No  wonder,  for  they 
can  hardly  move  a  rod  on  any  of  the  travel  routes 
in  this  great  city  without  facing  some  great  poster 
claiming  everything  for  the  Western  fruit.  With  all 
the  shrewdness  they  claim,  city  people  are  the  most 
susceptible  folks  in  the  world,  and  they  fall  into  the 
habit  of  eating  with  their  eyes.  Now  there  is  every 
reason  why  the  people  of  Eastern  cities  should  pat¬ 
ronize  Eastern  fruit  growers.  We  offer  them  su¬ 
perior  goods,  and  the  money  they  spend  with  us  is 
put  right  back  to  them  in  trade.  And  so  our  East¬ 
ern  growers  are  going  right  after  the  business.  We 
intend  through  this  fruit  show  to  make  New  York 
City  wake  up  and  realize  that  the  finest  apples  on 
earth  are  grown  right  at  her  doors. 
Brevities 
When  children  learn  to  spell,  but  not  to  know  the 
meaning  of  words,  how  much  do  they  really  know? 
Remember  that  in  New  York  State  a  legally  adopted 
child  will  inherit  property  from  its  foster  parents  the 
same  as  a  natural  child. 
Farmer  :  “Every  day  in  any  way,  my  milk  must 
reach  the  spot.”  Mail  Carrier :  “Every  day  I  get  my 
pay  if  m.v  trip  is  made  or  not.” 
Do  not  get  the  idea  that  salt  is  a  full  or  complete 
fertilizer  for  asparagus.  It  is  not.  About  the  only 
value  we  have  found  for  salt  is  that  it  keeps  the  weeds 
down. 
Waterglass  is  being  used  for  painting  the  wounds 
made  by  pruning.  It  is  smeared  on  like  paint  after 
cutting.  It  may  be  used  as  it  comes  when  bought,  or 
thinned  with  water. 
The  more  we  read  about  fhe  Jerseyman’s  hens,  the 
more  we  must  agree  that  the  Jerseymau  had  some  fine 
birds,  while  the  hens  had  a  fine  manager.  No  shirk  or 
dunce  on  either  side. 
As  usual,  we  have  many  qestions  about  lime-sulphur 
solution  that  has  been  frozen.  Is  it  still  good?  Why 
not  ask  the  lime-sulphur?  Put  a  little  of  it  into  water. 
If  it  dissolves  or  spreads  out  through  the  water  as  usual 
it  is  all  right. 
