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‘The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  31,  19-23 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER’S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Home* * 
Established  /SCO 
I'liblixlird  w«klj  by  the  Rural  Publithlng  Cumpany,  333  Weit  30th  Street,  Ren  fork 
Herbert  W.  Collinowood,  President  and  Edit  >r. 
John  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
Wi  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Rotle,  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 
t<>  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  Nkw- 
Yorkku  v/hen  writing  the  advertiser 
WHY  does  tlie  average  city  man  consider  him¬ 
self  so  superior  to  a  farmer?  Did  you  ever 
try  to  analyze  the  question  and  see  what  you  can 
make  of  it?  Take  a  good  farm  home  and  a  w ell- 
kept  city  flat,  and  compare  the  two  libraries  or 
hooks  that  are  read  in  each.  On  the  average,  the 
farmer  will  have  twice  as  many  good  books,  and  he 
spends  twice  as  much  time  reading  them.  The  same 
i>  true  of  papers  and  magazines.  The  average  city 
man  would  hardly  know  where  to  go  and  find  a 
public  library.  Take  the  occupations  of  the  two 
men.  The  farmer  is  a  producer  of  necessities,  lie 
has  a  skill  and  experience  equal  to  that  of  any  high- 
class  mechanic.  The  city  man,  if  he  be  in  business 
or  a  “profession,”  is  merely  one  of  1,000.  Inside  of 
a  week  his  place  in  the  ranks  would  be  tilled  so  that 
he  never  would  be  missed.  He  is  not  a  necessity  in 
industry.  Take  the  two  families.  The  city  children 
may  he  more  flippant  and  showy,  but  in  most  cases 
they  lack  the  self-reliant  character  which  work  and 
rural  associations  bring.  In  like  manner,  compare 
the  food  and  its  preparation,  the  religious  observ¬ 
ances  of  the  two  families,  their  neighborly  duties 
and  their  relations  with  other  human  beings.  Go 
through  them  all  carefully  and  fairly,  and  then  tell 
us  just  what  reason  the  city  man  lias  to  feel  that 
he  is  superior  to  a  farmer! 
* 
WE  used  to  call  Vermont  the  bashful  State, 
hut  after  her  newest  automobile  law  we  take 
it  back.  Governor  Proctor  lias  just  signed  a  law 
under  which  the  Secretary  of  State  shall  revoke 
for  a  period  of  three  years  the  motor  vehicle  license 
of  any  person  convicted  of  operating  a  motor  vehicle 
when  intoxicated,  six  years  for  a  second  offense  and 
for  life  foi*  the  third  offense.  Well,  gentlemen,  why 
not?  The  stoutest  advocate  of  the  repeal  of  the 
Eighteenth  Amendment  will  never  claim  that  booze 
has  any  business  at  the  steering  wheel  of  a  car. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  deaths  and  accidents  due 
to  reckless  driving  trace  back  to  intoxicated  drivers. 
We  have  seen  them  escape  death  or  disaster  by  the 
width  of  a  hair  or  a  miracle.  They  have  no  business 
driving  a  car.  They  should  be.  regarded  as  outlaws 
— as  this  law  will  class  them. 
* 
AS  we  stated  last  week,  we  are  willing  to  let  the 
discouraged  and  disgruntled  state  their  case. 
We  think  Mrs.  Willcox,  on  page  50G,  speaks  effect¬ 
ively  for  them.  We  know  just  exactly  how  they 
feel,  having  known  such  circumstances  in  years 
I iast.  Mr.  Coon  takes  another  side — that  of  passive 
contentment.  One  would  think  he  leads  the  old- 
time  truly  pastoral  life — not  often  found  in  this 
rushing  age.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  such  a 
life  as  Mr.  Coon  pictures  is  really  of  great  benefit  to 
modern  society.  There  must  be  something  of  what 
is  called  “divine  discontent”  if  the  human  mind  is 
to  keep  pace  with  material  progress  and  help  to 
direct  it  In  the  past  the  purely  pastoral  people 
who  refused  to  take  part  in  the  large  affairs  of  life 
have  finally  been  trampled  on  and  abused.  As  for 
Mr.  Perry’s  argument,  no  one  can  possibly  dispute 
the  fact  that  so  far  as  material  things  are  concerned 
there  never  was  a  time  when,  if  he  would  work  as 
our  fathers  did,  and  live  their  simple  lives,  a  strong 
and  willing  young  farmer  could  more  easily  earn  a 
farm  and  a  competence.  The  question  is,  how  many 
young  farmers  in  these  days  can  take  the  girl  of 
their  choice  and  live  as  the  pioneers  did?  The  men¬ 
tal  and  social  i>oint  of  view  has  changed.  You  may 
have  your  idea  as  to  what  caused  the  change,  and 
we  may  have  ours.  Meu  like  Mr.  Perry  and  Mr. 
Coon  may  succeed  in  training  tfieir  children  for  ad¬ 
ventures  in  prosperity  through  contentment,  but  the 
forces  of  modern  education  and  “society”  are  too 
strong  for  most  of  us.  We  do  not  fully  agree  with 
either  of  these  writers.  The  Farm.  Bureau  has  its 
uses.  It  is  not  a  crime  to  be  young  and  enthusiastic. 
The  world  demands  something  from  us  besides  pleas¬ 
ant  contentment.  It  is  a  fighting  age,  and  there  must 
be  a  certain  amount  of  discontent  in  the  hearts  of 
men  if  the  human  forces  which  control  us  are  to  be 
held  in  check.  We  think  Mrs.  Willcox  has  too  bit¬ 
ter  and  black  an  outlook  on  life.  Much  that  she 
says  is  absolutely  true,  but  we  do  not  regard  the 
future  as  hopeless,  for  we  have  seen  many  years 
come  and  go,  and  we  have  gone  up  and  down  with 
the  tide  too  many  times  to  believe  there  will  be  no 
safe  anchorage  again.  And  then  comes  the  article 
by  Mr.  Demarest,  on  page  519.  Here  is  another 
view  of  the  subject;  that  of  the  natural  born  farmer, 
who  would  rather  farm  than  do  anything  else. 
* 
E  hear  of  a  man  who  will  try  to  make  use  of 
the  new  farm  credits  plan.  He  wants  to 
make  a  Government  loan  and  use  part  of  it  for 
paying  off  several  private  obligations  which  are 
now  due.  Somehow  this  man  thinks  that  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  will  prove  an  easier  creditor  than  the  local 
banks  or  money-lenders.  One  thing  lie  has  in  mind 
is  trading  off  his  present  cheap  car  and  paying 
about  $500  extra  for  a  ear  of  more  fashionable 
make.  This  is  one  case  where  we  think  the  man 
would  be  better  off  if  be  were  denied  further  credit. 
He  would  be  forced  to  cut  off  several  expenses  which 
are  neither  productive  nor  necessary.  His  family 
would  be  forced  to  do  more  work  and  stop  some  of 
their  futile  imitations  of  the  fast  living  of  wealthy 
neighbors.  It  would  come  hard,  but  in  the  end  the 
farmer  would  work  out  of  his  troubles  and  the 
entire  family  would  have  a  chance  to  gain  real 
character.  Whether  they  would  take  kindly  to  the 
discipline  or  rebel  is  a  question,  but  at  any  rate 
Fate  would  give  them  tlie  chance  to  become  self- 
reliant  and  independent.  With  further  easy  credit 
it  is  not  likely  that  they  ever  can  be.  The  assump¬ 
tion  of  a  new  debt  does  not  set  us  free  from  the  old 
one.  It  just  transfers  the  end  of  the  chain  on  tlie 
collar  to  a  new  hand. 
* 
JUST  now  the  world  is  excited  over  the  rubber 
supply.  Just  after  the  war  a  great  surplus  was 
reported,  and  prices  dropped.  Now  the  demand  is 
ahead  of  supply,  and  the  nations  are  scouring  the 
earth  for  new  rubber.  They  will  find  it  in  time,  but 
during  the  next  few  years  we  expect  to  see  a  great 
revival  of  the  old  schemes  for  selling  stock  in  rubber 
plantations.  In  years  gone  by  millions  were  lost  in 
these  wildcat  schemes  for  growing  rubber  at  long 
distance  with  other  people’s  money.  The  plan  as 
outlined  by  the  promoters  is  impractical,  and  we 
warn  our  readers  to  keep  away  from  them,  no  mat¬ 
ter  how  alluring  the  bait  may  be. 
* 
T  seems  to  be  common  report  in  Western  New 
York  that  the  Legislature  has  passed  the  bill 
which  would  compel  owners  of  bobsleds  to  make 
them  as  wide  as  automobiles.  The  Legislature  has 
not  done  anything  of  the  sort,  and  will  not  do  it. 
The  proposed  bill  is  a  joke.  It  never  should  have 
been  introduced — probably  inspired  by  a  few  “speed 
fiend”  automobilists.  It  might  get  a  hearing  in  the 
S^ate  Senate,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  six  members  of 
the  Assembly  would  vote  for  it. 
* 
HE  State  of  New  York  should  get  behind  the 
big  fruit  exposition  slated  for  next  November 
and  make  a  good  appropriation  for  it.  That  will 
be  a  legitimate  and  needed  expense.  New  York  ex¬ 
cels  as  a  dairy  and  apple-growing  State.  There  are 
thousands  of  acres  of  land  well  adapted  to  apple 
culture,  but  not  well  fitted  for  any  other  productive 
use.  It  is  certainly  a  legitimate  part  of  the  public 
business  of  any  State  to  increase  the  value  of  its 
land  and  the  purchasing  power  of  its  people.  The 
State  must  have  revenues,  and  these  must  be  raised 
on  property  values  and  from  incomes.  A  successful 
fruit  show  in  New  York  cannot  help  but  increase 
the  value  of  fruit  lands  and  the  incomes  of  fruit 
growers.  As  we  stand  today,  the  Western  growers, 
through  organization  and  advertising,  bid  fair  to 
control  this  great  market  with  fruit  grown  o,(X)0 
miles  away.  While  this  is  being  worked  out  we  are 
producing  within  half  a  day’s  travel  of  the  great 
city  the  finest  apples  in  the  world.  Yet  we  have 
not  been  able  to  make  the  proper  appeal  to  the  pub¬ 
lic.  This  can  and  will  be  done  at  the  proposed  fruit 
show.  It  should  receive  the  sanction  and  support 
of  the  State.  New  York  has  backed  many  expo¬ 
sitions  of  this  sort,  but  never  one  which  promises 
more  direct  and  substantial  benefit  to  a  well-deserv¬ 
ing  class  of  producers. 
NO  one  would  expect  a  Cape  Cod  man  while  in 
his  right  mind  to  buy  a  carload  of  sand  for 
general  distribution  over  his  farm.  It  is  doubtful 
if  you  could  sell  a  shipload  of  ice  in  Labrador  or 
a  pipeless  furnace  in  Brazil.  Yet  we  think,  that 
heavy  planting  of  Wealthy  apples  right  now  will 
rank  in  folly  with  either  of  the  remarkable  enter¬ 
prises  named  above.  There  has  been  a  heavy  over¬ 
planting  of  Wealthy,  largely  as  fillers.  They  are 
picked  while  small  and  green  and  dumped  upon  a 
local  market,  with  the  result  that  many  fine  Sum¬ 
mer  and  Fall  apples  cannot  be  given  away.  Last 
year  this  flood  of  Wealthy  swept  the  affairs  of  men 
to  poverty.  As  the  trees  grow  larger  and  more  pro¬ 
ductive  this  trouble  will  increase.  We  think  it  is  a 
downright  violation  of  an  economic  law  to  plant  the 
Wealthy  apple  for  commercial  orchards  in  Eastern 
New  York,  New  Jersey  or  Pennsylvania. 
* 
HE  final  hearing  on  the  milk  can  law  was  held 
in  tlie  room  of  the  Assembly  agricultural  commit¬ 
tee  at  the  Capitol  in  Albany  on  Wednesday  of  last 
week.  The  milk  dealers  were  represented  by  I.  Elkin- 
Nathans,  secretary  of  the  New  York  Milk  Conference 
Board,  and  by  attorneys  from  Rochester,  Newr  York. 
The  farm  interests  were  represented  by  Commis¬ 
sioner  Pyrke  of  the  Farms  and  Markets  Depart¬ 
ment  and  Mr.  Dillon  of  The  Rural  New-Yorker. 
Agent  Walsh,  who  has  made  a  business  for  years  of 
demanding  money  under  this  law,  was  there  to 
represent  his  personal  interests. 
The  bad  features  of  the  original  law  were  pretty 
thoroughly  aired,  and  the  system  of  extortion 
practiced  in  the  execution  of  the  ol,d  law  was 
properly  and  unsparingly  condemned.  No  one  ap¬ 
peared  to  defend  them. 
The  agricultural  committee  was  a  unit  in  con¬ 
demnation  of  the  law  as  it  stands  and  of  the 
abuses  that  have  grown  up  under  it.  A  revision 
was  practically  agreed  upon,  that  will  remove  the 
worst  features  of  the  law.  Under  the  proposed  re¬ 
vision  any  penalties  collected  for  actual  violations 
of  law  because  of  the  use  or  possession  of  milk  cans 
without  tlie  consent  of  the  owner  will  go  to  tlie 
State,  and  no  private  agents  or  attorneys  will  have 
an  opportunity  to  extort  money  from  dairymen  for 
their  own  use  under  the  pretense  that  the  farmer 
has  violated  the  law. 
On  behalf  of  dairymen  we  want  to  thank  Chair¬ 
man  Witter  of  the  Assembly,  Chairman  Nathan 
Straus,  Jr.,  of  the  Senate  agricultural  committee, 
and  Commissioner  Pyrke  of  the  Department  of 
Farms  and  Markets  for  the  interest  they  have  taken 
in  these  hearings.  Most  important  of  all,  we  thank 
the  dairymen  who  wrote  their  experience  and  ap¬ 
peals  to  Senator  Straus  at  our  suggestion.  Several 
hundred  of  these  letters  were  received  by  Senator 
Straus,  and  they  were  convincing  of  the  need  of  a 
revision  of  the  law.  Without  these  letters  we  could 
talk  ourselves  hoarse  without  effect.  Witli  them 
the  argument  was  complete.  It  is  the  kind  of  sup¬ 
port  that  makes  it  possible  to  get  things  done  for 
the  farm. 
* 
EVERAL  readers  write  that  they  have  lost  or 
destroyed  War  Savings  Stamps  or  Treasury 
certificates.  In  one  case  tlie  certificates  were  lying 
on  a  table  in  a  room  where  a  little  child  was  at 
play.  It  seems  that  this  child  liked  to  see  a  blaze 
in  the  fire,  so  she  evidently  took  the  certificates  and 
used  them  like  an  old-fashioned  lamp  lighter!  An 
expensive  blaze — but  now  the  owner  wants  to  know 
if  tlie  certificates  will  be  duplicated  in  case  of 
proof  of  loss!  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  says 
no,  not  unless  the  certificates  were  registered.  An 
ordinary  certificate  would  be  considered  much  the 
same  as  money.  If  lost  or  destroyed,  the  owner 
must  stand  the  loss.  If  tlie  certificate  was  regis¬ 
tered,  and  proof  to  satisfy  the  Postmaster  General 
is  presented,  a  duplicate  will  be  issued  or  the 
money  will  be  paid.  In  some  eases  a  bond  of  in¬ 
demnity  must  be  given  by  the  claimant. 
Brevities 
We  have  seen  no  advantage  from  using  salt  on  aspar¬ 
agus  except  that  the  salt  keeps  down  weeds. 
It  is  said  that  when  two  corn  ear-worms  come  close 
together  they  fight  until  one  is  killed.  This  sort  of 
fighting  may  well  be  encouraged. 
One  ounce  of  corrosive  sublimate  dissolved  in  eight 
gallons  of  water.  This  solution  poured  along  the  rows 
of  cabbage  so  as  to  wet  the  soil  around  the  roots  will 
kill  maggots. 
March  15  has  come  to  be  a  form  of  American  holi¬ 
day-1 — income  tax  day.  Well,  it  may  not  rank  with 
Washington’s  Birthday  as  the  holiday  on  which  one 
cannot  tell  a  lie. 
At  least  a  dozen  people  have  come  to  tell  us  that 
they  cure  the  egg-eating  habit  in  their  hens  by  hanging 
a  piece  of  fat  pork  where  the  birds  can  jump  up  and 
eat  it.  Is  it  the  pork  or  the  exercise? 
