552 
V*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
April  7,  102.'? 
A  City  Man  on  the  Farm 
I  was  engaged  in  business  in  a  large 
city ;  enjoyed  a  small  but  steady  gain 
each  year.  War  time  came  and  condi¬ 
tions  changed.  Like  many  others,  1  was 
carrying  on  my  business  at  a  loss.  For 
several  years  1  had  wanted  to  try  farm¬ 
ing.  Now  I  watched  the  price  of  pota¬ 
toes  and  wheat,  and  was  sure  the  farmer 
was  the  only  fellow  raking  in  the  coin. 
I’d  have  a  farm,  by  golly  ! 
I  subscribed  to  all  the  leading  farm 
papers,  also  bought  a  set  of  books  on 
farming,  and  just  got  busy  and  studied 
things.  The  more  I  read  the  more  I 
could  see  millions  in  the  game.  Soon  1 
was  sure  I  knew  all  there  was  to  know 
about  farming.  All  I  had  to  do  was  to 
get  the  farm  and  put  my  knowledge  into 
practice.  I  knew  I  could  do  better  than 
farmers  who  were  country  'bred,  for  no 
doubt  they  never  studied  the  subject  be¬ 
fore  tackling  it,  as  a  city  business  man 
would.  Such  were  my  thoughts  as  I 
planned  to  show  folks  how  a  model  farm 
should  be  run. 
My  wife  had  never  spent  a  day  on  a 
farm  in  her  life.  She  saw  many  disagree¬ 
able  features  ahead,  and  had  many  dis¬ 
couraging  remarks  to  make.  In  fact, 
she  said  ’most  everything  except  that  she 
would  not  go.  Bui:  as  I  was  so  soon  to 
make  her  a  rich  man’s  wife,  I  thought  she 
could  put  up  with  farm  conditions  for  a 
while.  I’d  buy  her  a  car,  anyhow,  and 
would  buy  that  farm  near  to  our  home 
city,  so  that  our  friends  could  drop  in 
often  to  keep  her  from  being  lonely.  Be¬ 
sides,  all  her  relatives  were  there,  and  1 
must  not  ask  her  to  go  too  far  away. 
Now  I  proceeded  to  look  for  the  farm. 
I  wanted  a  big  one,  as  every  acre  made 
the  income  more  and  shortened  the  time 
before  I  would  he  on  ’‘easy  street.”  And 
I  wanted  one  with  an  orchard,  as  I  had 
read  about  farmers  making  thousands 
from  a  small  orchard,  1  inally  1  found 
the  farm.  A  good  big  300  acres  of  it. 
<  )rchard  and  all !  To  be  sure,  it  was 
about  1(>0  miles  from  the  home  town,  but 
what  of  that?  The  wife  and  I  would 
have  lots  of  leisure  while  the  crops  were 
growing  into  dollars  and  could  run  up  to 
the  city  whenever  we  wished. 
The  farm  buildings  were  on  a  hill  over¬ 
looking  a  lake  and  some  beautiful  coun¬ 
try.  As  the  real  estate  man  said,  ‘‘The 
view  alone  is  worth  the  price,  and  just 
look  at  the  beautiful  maples  surrounding 
the  house!”  I  knew  my  wife  would  rave 
over  the  view  and  the  beautiful  shade 
trees,  and  she  did — the  only  thing  about 
the  place  that  she  (loos  like !  1  didn’t 
stop  to  think  then  that  the  buildings  on 
a  hill  made  it  necessary  to  haul  all  pro¬ 
duce  up  a  long  hill,  but  have  realized  it 
fully  since. 
Well,  I  bought  the  farm.  The  price 
seemed  pretty  high,  and  I  had  to  go  in 
debt  more  than  I  would  have  risked  doing 
in  any  other  business,  but  as  there  was 
so  much  more  money  in  farming  I  did 
not  hesitate  for  a  minute.  The  owner 
told  me  he  sold  the  price  of  the  place  in 
produce  the  year  before,  and  no  reason 
why  I  could  not  do  better  than  that.  I 
believed  him.  My  wife  was  curious  to 
know  why  that  man  was  anxious  to 
leave  such  a  money-maker,  and  to  satisfy 
her  I  asked  him.  Well,  I  might  have 
guessed  it!  He  wanted  a  bigger  farm,  of 
course 
Now  wo  began  to  plan  in  real  earnest, 
or,  rather,  I  did,  and  my  wife  stood  hack 
and  drew  word  pictures  of  the  insanity 
of  people  that  get  the  farm  bug! 
First  we  must  have  some  cows.  They 
must  be  the  best,  of  course,  for  did  not 
everything  I  had  read  preach  against 
scrub  stock?  I  invested  in  a  herd  of 
registered  Holsteins,  which  took  over 
$5,000  of  my  capital ;  proceeded  to  buy  a 
tractor  and  the  necessary  implements  for 
farming.  All  told.  T  started  out  about 
$30,000  in  debt.  I’d  pay  that  off  in  two 
years,  maybe  in  one;  then  in  a  few  years 
more  I’d  be  a  rich  man! 
Getting  located.  I  hired  two  good  men 
who  were  country  bred  and  knew  farming 
thoroughly.  They  also  knew  my  farm. 
They  did  not  share  my  enthusiasm,  but 
I’d  soon  prove  things  to  them  !  I  am  go¬ 
ing  to  say  right  here  that  to  those  men  is 
due,  no  doubt,  what  little  success  has 
been  mine.  After  a  short  time  I  learned 
to  accept  their  advice,  which  I  found  lo 
bo  more  sound  than  what  I  could  read  in 
books!  I  told  the  men  when  we  started 
out  that  I  didn’t  care  whether  we  plowed 
an  acre  the  first  year;  that  we  would  get 
organized  and  look  after  the  orchard  and 
the  large  amount  of  Alfalfa  hay  on  the 
place,  as  I  didn’t  care  if  I  didn’t  make 
much  more  thau  expenses  the  first  year. 
The  reply  was  a  question  as  to  how  I  ex¬ 
pected  to  make  expenses  unless  1  got  in 
crops.  They  listened  respectfully  to  my 
figuring  of  what  the  cows  would  bring 
in,  what,  the  orchard  would  produce,  and 
the  amount  of  hay  T  would  have  to  sell. 
Then  the  voice  of  wisdom  spoke.  I  might 
have  a  hundred  dollars  or  so  from  the 
orchard,  but  there  will  be  no  hay  to  sell. 
What  are  you  going  to  feed  all  those 
horses  and  cows  until  hay  comes  again? 
They  have  got  to  have  full  stomachs; 
cannot  blow  them  up  like  a  flat  tire, 
which  I  found  to  be  more  truth  than 
poetry. 
We  proceeded  to  put  in  all  the  crops 
my  limited  number  of  helpers  would  per¬ 
mit,  and  we  did  well,  as  farmers  around 
ns  admitted.  I  had  two  faithful  workers 
and  am  not  lazy  myself.  I  learned  to  do 
the  necessary  duties  rather  quickly,  but 
found  I  lacked  a  lot  of  knowing  as  much 
as  I  supposed  when  I  c-ame  on  the  farm. 
In  fact,  if  l  stayed  10  years,  doubt  if  1 
would  know  as  much  as  these  men  that 
have  always  lived  on  a  farm.  My  book 
study  did  me  a  world  of  good,  but  it 
failed  to  teach  all  the  things  that  must  be 
learned  by  practical  experience. 
One  thing  1  learned :  Persian  kittens 
have  no  business  on  a  farm !  My  wife 
suggested  that  we  ought  to  have  some 
cats  around  the  barns.  As  usual,  my 
thoughts  were  to  have  the  best,  so 
dropped  $30  for  three  Persian  kittens. 
They  were  to  be  barn  cats  and  to  keep 
the  mice  away,  so  took  them  at  once  to 
the  barn  to  live,  my  wife  carrrying  their 
meals  to  them.  But  Persian  kittens  are 
not  naturally  barn  cats,,  and  in  less  than 
a  week  they  found  their  way  to  the  house 
and  have  never  visited  the  barn  since, 
except  on  rare  occasions.  And  the  lady 
of  the  house  has  blessed  my  good  sense 
repeatedly  when  she  has  to  comb  bur¬ 
docks  from  those  three  bushy  tails.  Of 
course  they  are  all  pets,  and  she  is  elected 
to  comb  burrs  to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
After  three  years,  the  car  I  expected 
to  buy  her  is  still  a  dream,  and  she  is  so 
busy  she  would  have  uo  time  to  use  it  if 
she  had  it.  As  for  running  up  to  the 
home  town,  well,  I  find  the  leisure  while 
crops  are  growing  is  a  mighty  busy  time! 
As  for  the  riches  I  have  made,  well,  I 
have  managed  to  pay  interest  and  taxes 
by  mighty  close  figuring,  and  am  told  by 
brick  building  of  the  Garrett- Buchanan 
Paper  and  Twine  Company,  Sixth  Street 
below  Market,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Several 
adjoining  structures  were  badly  damaged 
by  smoke  and  water.  The  total  loss  was 
estimated  at  $1,000,000,  of  which  more 
thau  $700,000  was  on  the  stock  and 
building.  The  woolen  stock  of  the  John 
B.  Ellison  &  Sons  Company  was  badly 
damaged.  Two  firemen  were  injured  and 
several  overcome  by  smoke. 
Assumption  College  in  Greendale,  Wor¬ 
cester,  Mass.,  established  in  1004  by  As¬ 
sumption  Fathers  who  had  been  expelled 
from  France,  was  destroyed  by  fire  March 
24.  The  130  students  escaped  in  safety, 
although  they  saved  little  except  their 
night  clothes.  Tlie  loss  is  estimated  at 
between  $200,000  and  $250,000. 
Gerald  Chapman  and  Frank  Gray, 
known  as  “the  million-dollar  New  York 
mail  robbers.”  escaped  from  the  Federal 
prison  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  March  27.  The 
convicts  bound  and  gagged  a  man  nurse 
in  the  prison  and  later  kidnaped  a  resi¬ 
dent  of  Atlanta  who  had  refused  $1,000 
to  aid  them  iii  their  flight.  Known  to 
the  prison  authorities  as  desperate  men, 
Chapman  had  been  sent  up  for  25  years 
for  the  mail  robbery  in  New  York  on 
October  31,  1021,  when  more  than  $1,- 
000.000  was  stolen,  and  Gray  was  sen¬ 
tenced  to  five  years  for  forging  money 
orders  stolen  at  the  time.  Neither  man 
had  served  more  than  six  months  of  his 
sentence.  Their  break  for  liberty  was 
carefully  planned.  They  had  converted 
their  sheets  into  ropes,  and  while  the 
prison  slept  they  had  made  their  impro¬ 
vised  ropes  fast  to  a  bed,  squeezed  them¬ 
selves  out  of  a  window  and  lowered  them¬ 
selves  to  the  ground.  Both  were  cap 
t ured  later. 
A  Busy  Com 
experienced  men  that  I  have  done  well 
to  do  that.  But  no  loss  without  some 
gain  !  In  town  our  clothing  expense  was 
several  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Here  it 
is  summed  up  very  easily.  It  reads, 
“overalls  and  gingham  dresses.”  I  like 
farm  life,  and  could  I  see  more  money  in 
the  game  would  always  stick  to  farming. 
But  never  again  would  T  go  in  debt  many 
thousand  dollars,  expecting  to  pay  it  in 
a  year  or  two.  Now  we  often  see  jokes 
in  the  papers  about  city  farmers,  and 
think  it  may  be  of  interest  to  know  the 
innermost  ideas  of  a  back-to-the-lander. 
CTTY  FARMER. 
EVENTS  OF  THE  WEEK 
D  O  M  E  S  T  I  C.— Two  bandits,  who 
worked  so  fast  that  they  had  fled  before 
a  crowd  at  Broadway  and  92d  Street, 
New  York,  realized  what  was  going  on, 
smashed  with  a  brick  the  window  of  the 
jewelry  store  of  Silberstein  Company, 
2475  Broadway,  March  23,  and  escaped 
with  diamonds  and  other  gems  valued  at 
about  $40,000.  One  of  the  men  drew  a 
diamond  cutter  across  the  plate  glass  and 
the  other  then  made  a  large  hole  with  a 
brick.  Taking  several  handfuls  of  gems, 
the  men  ran  through  tie  crowd  and 
jumped  into  an  automobile  waiting 
around  the  come.  .  A  third  man  was  at 
the  wheel  and  had  the  motor  running. 
Ilenry  G.  Brock,  Philadelphia  banker, 
was  indicted  March  23  on  charges  of 
murder  and  involuntary  manslaughter  in 
connection  with  the  killing  of  three  per¬ 
sons  by  an  automobile  as  they  stepped  off 
a  street  car  several  weeks  ago.  The  au¬ 
tomobile,  according  to  witnesses,  was  run¬ 
ning  at  high  speed  when  it  crashed  into 
the  three  persons  and  sped  away.  Brock, 
with  his  disabled  automobile,  was  found 
four  .blocks  from  the  scene  of  the  acci¬ 
dent.  When  arrested  he  denied  he  was 
involved  in  the  accident. 
Leonard  R.  Steel,  founder  of  the  L.  B. 
Steel  Cor]K) rations,  which  went  into  re¬ 
ceivership  March  S,  died  on  a  New  York 
Central  train  as  it  was  entering  the 
Union  Depot  yards  at  Toledo,  O.,  March 
23.  Ilis  death  was  caused  by  a  ruptured 
blood  vessel  in  the  brain.  Mr.  Steel  was 
en  route  to  Chicago  after  conferences 
with  Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland  financiers 
in  an  effort  to  raise  $1,000,000,  which,  his 
associates  said,  he  believed  would  pre¬ 
vent  his  firm  from  going  into  receiver¬ 
ship.  Ilis  efforts  to  raise  the  money  were 
futile,  it  was  said,  and  he  started  for  Chi¬ 
cago  to  vest. 
Fire  March  25  destroyed  the  five-story 
Fire  in  a  seven -story  house  at  322 
West  57th  Street,  New  York,  March  20, 
caused  the  death  of  three  women  and  two 
men.  Seven  others  were  hurt.  One  of 
them  is  in  a  critical  condition.  The  build¬ 
ing.  largely  tenanted  by  theatrical  people, 
had  been  made  over  into  apartments.  The 
fire,  which  started  on  the  top  floor  from 
undetermined  cause,  was  featured  by  nar¬ 
row  escapes  from  death  and  spectacular 
rescues  by  firemen. 
A  $30,000  collection  which  Dr.  Ed¬ 
mund  Bronk  Southwick,  the  naturalist, 
spent  50  years  to  accumulate,  and  which 
lie  regarded  as  his  life  work,  was  the 
outstanding  loss  in  a  fire  March  20  which 
wrecked  the  museum  occupying  the  his¬ 
toric  Lorillard  mansion  in  Botanical 
Garden,  Bronx  Park,  New  York.  Two 
alarms  were  futile  to  save  the  upper 
floors  of  the  landmark  when  the  low 
pressure  water  supply  failed  and  forced 
firemen  to  resort  to  siphoning  from  the 
Bronx  River,  30  feet  below.  Only  excel¬ 
lent  salvage  work  by  park  and  museum 
employees,  aided  by  citizen  volunteers, 
kept  the  total  loss  within  a  figure  esti¬ 
mated  at  $100,000. 
Eight  members  of  the  Industrial  Work¬ 
ers  of  the  World  were  under  sentence  at 
Sacramento,  Cal.,  March  27,  of  from  one 
to  14  years  each  to  the  State  penitentiary, 
having  been  convicted  in  Judge  C.  O. 
Busiek’s  Superior  Court  of  criminal  syn¬ 
dicalism.  When  sentence  was  pronounced 
some  of  the  men  attempted  to  sing  radical 
songs  and  to  denounce  the  prosecution. 
The  defendants  were  Frank  Bailey,  Wil¬ 
liam  Joozdeff.  P.  Mellman.  J.  Orlando, 
John  Wiza.  F.  Franklin,  James  Martin 
and  B.  A.  Gibson. 
Oil  paintings  depicting  the  heroic 
deeds  of  the  old  Twenty-third  Regiment 
in  the  Civil  War  were  destroyed  March 
27  in  a  fire  that  caused  $100,000  damage 
to  the  armory,  at  Bedford  and  Atlantic 
Avenues.  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
WASHINGTON.— The  allied  financial 
delegates  in  conference  with  Eliot  Wads¬ 
worth,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Treasury,  accepted  March  22  the 
main  lines  of  Washington’s  demands  for 
the  payment  of  the  expenses  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  army  on  the  Rhine,  namely,  almost 
$240,000,000.  to  be  spread  over  12  years 
and  taken  from  future  payments  by  Ger¬ 
many. 
Acting  Attorney  -  General  Seymour 
March  20  sent  instructions  to  United 
States  District  Attorney  Hayward  at 
New  York  to  gather  evidence  against  re¬ 
puted  sugar  speculators  for  presentation 
to  Federal  grand  juries.  TIip  order  was 
the  most  important  step  yet  taken  in  the 
investigation  of  reported  price  manipula¬ 
tions.  in  which  virtually  every  possible 
agency  of  the  Government  that  can  con¬ 
tribute  to  tin'  inquiry  is  now  engaged.- 
FARM  AND  GARDEN.— About  400.- 
000  acres  of  land  in  Emery  and  Grand, 
counties,  ¥tah,  will  be  thrown  open  to 
entry  by  former  service  men  of  the  World 
M  ar  on  April  20.  Any  land  remaining 
unentered  on  July  20,  the  Interior  De¬ 
partment  announced  March  20.  will  be 
opened  to  entry  by  the  general  public. 
The  land  is  near  the  town  of  Elgin  on  the 
Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railroad.  Mineral 
rights,  including  oil  and  coal,  have  been 
withdrawn,  so  that  prospective  home¬ 
steaders  will  have  to  file  waivers  of  this 
right. 
Governor  Smith  in  a  message  to  the 
Legislature  at  Albany,  March  26,  de¬ 
manded  the  abolition  of  the  Farms  and 
Markets  Council  and  that  the  power  to 
control  the  Department  of  Agriculture  be 
taken  from  the  Legislature  and  turned 
hack  ^to  the  Governor.  The  members  of 
(lie  Farms  and  Markets  Council  are  now 
named  by  the  Legislature  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  State  Board  of  Regents, 
and  the  council  names  the  Agricultural 
Commissioner.  The  Governor  charges 
wastefulness  in  the  Department,  and  says 
its  inefficiency  has  resulted  in  widespread 
complaint  among  producers  and  consum¬ 
ers.  He  says  he  is  helpless  to  do  any¬ 
thing,  as  neither  the  council  nor  the  Agri¬ 
cultural  Uommissioner  is  responsible  to 
him. 
An  apple  show,  combined  with  a  huge 
fruit  exposition,  designed  to  interest  the 
people  of  the  East  in  the  consumption  of 
Eastern-grown  fruit,  is  being  planned  for 
New  York  City  by  the  Fruit  Growers’ 
Associations,  State  Departments  of  Agri¬ 
culture,  Government  marketing  officials, 
consumers’  organizations  and  others.  The 
Plans  for  the  exposition,  which  will  be 
held  at  the  Grand  Central  Palace,  were 
formulated  at  organization  meetings  of 
fruit  men  and  agricultural  leaders 
throughout  the  Middle  Atlantic  States. 
The  exposition  will  bo  known  as  the  Har¬ 
vest  Festival.  The  Committee  on  Plans 
is  headed  by  Thomas  E.  Cross  of  La- 
graugeville,  N.  Y„  formerly  president  of 
the  New  York  State  Horticultural  So¬ 
ciety.  A.  W,  Lombard  of  Massachusetts 
is  vice-chairman  aud  II.  C.  C.  Miles  of 
Connecticut  secretary.  Eastern  finan¬ 
cial.  industrial  and  commercial  groups 
will  be  invited  to  assist.  -  An  educational 
program  will  be  one  of  the  features.  Spe¬ 
cial  days  will  be  designated — New  York 
Day,  Pennsylvania  Day,  New  Jersey  Day 
and  New  England  Day,  and  the  Gover¬ 
nors  of  States  so  .honored  will  be  present 
OBITUARY.— Milo  D.  Campbell  of 
Michigan,  who  recently  became  the  “dirt 
farmer”  member  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board,  fell  dead  March  22  while  playing 
golf  at  the  Columbia  Country  Club. 
Washington.  Mr.  Campbell,  whose  home 
was  in  Cold-water.  Mich.,  was  president 
of  the  National  Milk  Producers’  Associa¬ 
tion  and  was  widely  known  as  a  practical 
farmer.  Mr.  Campbell,  who  was  71  years 
old,  had  appeared  in  the  best  of  health. 
He  was  playing  over  the  Country  Club 
course  with  former  Senator  Townsend  of 
Michigan  and  was  stricken  without  warn¬ 
ing.  Death  was  due  to  heart  failure. 
Mr.  Campbell  served  as  chairman  of  the 
Michigan  State  Tax  Commission,  as  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature,  as  pres¬ 
ident  of  the  State  Board  of  Prisons,  as 
mayor  of  Coklwater  and  as  United  States 
Marshal. 
Coming  Farmers’  Meetings 
Feb.  7-April  23  —  Courses  in  agricul¬ 
ture  and  horticulture,  Columbia  Univer¬ 
sity.  New  York  City. 
May  15-10 — American  Guernsey  Cat¬ 
tle  Club.  New  York  City. 
July  30-Aug.  3 — Farmers’  Week.  Con¬ 
necticut  Agricultural  College,  Sforrs. 
Conn. 
Oct.  0-13 — National  Dairy  Show  and 
World’s  Dairy  Congress,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Dec.  13-15  —  North  Bergen  County 
Poultry  Association,  fifth  annual  show. 
Westwood,  N.  .T. 
Be'ar’s-foot 
I  have  often  heard  of  the  good  proper¬ 
ties  of  bear’s-foot,  but  do  not  seem  to  find 
anyone  who  can  point  it  out  to  me  in  the 
fields.  What  is  this  plant?  C.  H. 
West  Orange,  N.  J. 
The  plant  known  as  bear’s-foot  is  Helle- 
borus  foetidus,  a  native  of  Europe.  We 
are  not  aware  that  it  is  found  growing 
here.  It  is  a  stout  herb  with  digitate 
leaves,  flowering  in  March  and  April,  and 
grows  in  shady  places.  It  lias  an  of¬ 
fensive  smell  and  acrid  taste,  and  is  a 
powerful  emetic,  cathartic  and  anthelmin¬ 
tic.  It  is  said  to  be  the  most  acrid  and 
energetic  of  its  genus,  and  is  dangerous  in 
large  doses.  It  is  said  to  cause  the  ex¬ 
pulsion  of  tapeworm.  A  decoction  of  the 
dried  leaves,  or  a  syrup  made  from  the 
green  leaves,  is  used  in  England.  Any 
preparation  of  this  plant,  or  of  the  black 
hellebore,  Helleborus  niger,  should  be 
used  very  carefully,  as  in  addition  to 
purging  and  emetic  properties,  they  con¬ 
tain  a  principle  that  affects  the  heart  ac¬ 
tion.  Another  European  plant  sometimes 
called  bear’s-foot  is  Alchemilla  vulgaris, 
or  lady’s  mantle.  This  is  a  rather  bitter 
astringent  herb,  which  was  formerly  used 
to  cure  diarrhoea.  The  ancient  alchemists 
credited  this  plant  with  extraordinary 
powers,  but  it  is  now  neglected.  The 
name  of  bear’s-foot  may  be  given  to  some 
native  plant  with  which  we  are  not  ac¬ 
quainted.  for  common  or  popular  plant 
names  are  variable,  and  not  always  ac¬ 
curate. 
