77G 
•Px  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
May  26,  1!)23 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  TAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Home* 
Established  1850 _ 
publish'd  weekly  by  the  Rurml  Publiuhlnr  Company.  333  West  30th  Street,  N«n  lurk 
Herbert  W.  Collikowood,  President  and  Editor. 
John  J.  DnxoN,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
Wm.  F.  Dili.on,  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  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 
to  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  Nbw- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
At  our  annual  school  meeting  the  question  came  up 
of  fencing  the  school  grounds  from  the  highway,  as  autos 
’come  there  and  park  for  the  evening,  and  on  some  school 
.grounds  camp  for  the  night.  Some  claimed  that  people 
passing  through  the  country  had  a  right  to  district 
school  grounds  for  that  purpose.  W.  A.  w. 
New  York. 
THE  school  board  has  control  of  the  district 
school  grounds,  and  can  prohibit  camping  or 
use  by  outsiders  if  it  cares  to  do  so.  There  is  a  mis¬ 
taken  idea  that  selioolliouses  and  grounds  belong  to 
the  public,  without  local  control.  In  some  places 
tramps  claim  the  right  to  sleep  in  the  school  houses 
without  permission.  In  some  districts  no  objection 
is  made  to  camping  near  the  school,  with  the  result 
that  the  place  becomes  a  resort  or  haunt  for  strange 
cars.  We  think  this  is  a  mistake.  It  is  usually  safer 
and  better  to  keep  strangers  and  strange  cars  out. 
It  is  a  matter  of  judgment  for  the  district  to  decide, 
but  the  foundation  fact  is  that  the  school  grounds 
are  fully  under  control  of  the  district,  and  the 
school  officers  have  the  power  to  prevent  camping. 
* 
THOSE  Connecticut  farmers  are  surely  persistent 
in  fighting  daylight  saving.  After  repeated 
efforts  they  have  finally  put  through  both  houses  of 
the  Legislature  a  bill  carrying  the  following: 
No  persons,  firm  or  corporation,  organization  or  asso¬ 
ciation  shall  wilfully  display  in  or  on  any  public  build¬ 
ing  or  on  any  street,  avenue  or  public  highway,  any 
time  measuring  instrument  or  device  which  is  calculated 
or  intended  to  furnish  time  to  the  general  public,  set, 
Dm  or  indicating  intentionally  any  other  time  than  the 
Standard  time  as  defined  by  Chapter  37  of  the  Public 
Acts  of  1021.  Any  person,  or  any  officer  of  any  corpora¬ 
tion  or  organization  or  association  violating  any  pro¬ 
visions  of  this  act  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  .$100. 
That  means  a  fine  of  .$100  for  showing  daylight  sav¬ 
ing  time.  Strong  efforts  .were  made  by  the  daylight 
savers  to  modify  this  strenuous  law,  but  every  prop¬ 
osition  was  voted  down.  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Hampshire  also  have  laws  compelling  the  use  of 
standard  time.  It  ought  to  be  thoroughly  evident  by 
this  time  that  farmers  are  utterly  opposed  to  day¬ 
light  saving.  Some  of  its  advocates  say  that  farm¬ 
ers  are  “dropping  their  opposition”  to  the  plan. 
These  men  are  either  attempting  deliberate  decep¬ 
tion  or  they  are  blind  and  mentally  incapable  of 
understanding  public  sentiment. 
* 
E  hear  of  a  very  close  or  “near”  man  who 
was  induced  to  give  50  cents  to  the  church. 
They  could  not  get.  it  out  of  him  any  other  way. 
The  ladies  of  flic  church  gave  a  “rummage  sale,” 
and  this  man’s  wife  hunted  some  of  her  husband’s 
discarded  clothes,  brushed  them  up  a  little  and  put 
them  in  the  sale.  The  man  thought  he  saw  a  good 
bargain  and  paid  50  cents  for  an  old  vest  which 
he  had  given  up  to  the  rag  bag  the  year  before! 
There  is  no  patent  on  this  method.  The  psychology 
of  it  is  as  old  as  the  hills.  We  all  know  people  who 
will  invest  their  money  in  things  which  they  would 
not  look  at  when  dressed  in  everyday  clothes.  When 
the  same  thing  is  brushed  up  by  some  eloquent 
tongue  or  pen  they  just  throw  their  money  at  it 
for  fear  they  cannot  get  it  soon  enough. 
* 
FRUIT  growers  report  some  curious  behavior  of 
apple  trees  this  year.  In  some  cases  varieties 
like  Baldwin,  Greening  or  Spy,  which  gave  a  good 
crop  last  year,  are  again  filled  with  bloom  this  sea¬ 
son.  These  varieties  are  known  as  biennial  bearers. 
Under  usual  conditions  they  will  give  a  heavy  crop 
one  year  and  then  take  a  full  rest  the  next  season. 
McIntosh  usually  bears  every  year,  but  the  “off” 
year  is  usually  a  light  crop.  Many  trees  of  McIn¬ 
tosh  which  gave  their  full  yield  last  year  start  this 
season  with  another  full  bloom.  In  our  own  orchard 
we  have  many  cases  of  this  sort,  including  several 
trees  of  Gravenstein.  We  never  knew  this  variety 
to  act  in  this  way  before.  Most  growers  are  inclined 
to  attribute  this  phenomenon  to  a  wet  season.  They 
think  that  an  abundance  of  moisture  during  the  late 
Summer  and  early  Fall  stimulated  the  trees  to  pro¬ 
duce  more  fruit  buds  than  usual.  This  heavy  bloom 
in  the  “off”  year  is  not  likely  to  follow  a  very  dry 
season.  In  our  own  case  we  notice  this  heavy  bloom 
on  trees  that  were  heavily  fertilized  with  chicken 
manure  late  last  season.  It  is  not  thought  good 
practice  to  use  manure  in  an  orchard  after  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  Summer.  Tn  our  own  case  this  late  manuring 
in  connection  with  a  rather  damp  Fall  seems  to 
have  induced  this  heavy  bloom.  We  should  like  to 
know  what  effect  the  late  season  irrigation  of  or¬ 
chards  has  had  on  this  annual  bearing  of  varieties 
which  naturally  give  an  “off”  year.  It  would  be 
an  advantage  to  change  this  overloading  of  one  sea¬ 
son  into  a  reasonable  crop  each  season. 
* 
IIE  McIntosh  apple  at  its  best  will  take  good 
rank  in  any  contest  to  determine  the  finest 
fruit  grown  in  any  part  of  the  world.  On  any  “scale 
of  points”  which  include  color,  beauty,  perfume  and 
flavor  it  Avill  go  well  up  in  G.  Yet  sometimes  or 
often  it  is  thrown  upon  the  market  at  a  time  when 
it  must  compete  with  culls  and  windfalls  and  taste¬ 
less  apples  of  low  quality.  For  McIntosh  is  a  late 
Summer  or  early  Fall  apple.  It  ripens  at  a  time 
when  the  market  is  flooded  with  green  Wealthy  and 
low-grade  fruit.  When  wo  see  baskets  of  beautiful 
McIntosh  competing  in  the  common  market  with 
Wolf  River,  Twenty  Ounce  and  poor  windfalls  it 
makes  us  think  of  some  delicate  and  shapely  Jersey 
cow  turned  out  to  rough  it  with  a  herd  of  tough  old 
scrubs.  McIntosh  is  not  an  apple  to  strip  from  the 
tree  and  throw  into  the  market  whirlpool.  It  should 
be  hold  in  storage  and  put  on  the  market  like  a  gen¬ 
tleman  after  the  frost  lias  ended  the  sale  of  unpro¬ 
tected  common  stock. 
MONG  the  points  which  we  intend  to  bring  into 
the  discussion  of  the  school  question  is  this : 
“fs  there  anything  about,  the  modern  high  school 
that  u:ill  influence  country  boys  and  girls  to  remain 
on  the  farm?” 
Part  of  the  plan  suggested  by  the  Committee  of 
Twenty-one  is  the  establishing  of  rural  high  schools, 
with  transportation  to  them.  We  ask  in  all  serious¬ 
ness  if  the  course  of  study  worked  out  at  the  ordi¬ 
nary  school  would  be  likely  to  induce  your  boy  or 
mine  to  become  a  farmer  or  stay  at  home?  Of  course 
we  realize  what  name  will  be  applied  to  us  for  sug¬ 
gesting  such  a  question,  but — what’s  the  answer? 
FROM  all  the  reliable  reports  we  can  obtain  the 
farmers  of  Europe  are  in  comparatively  better 
condition  than  any  other  class  of  workers.  Many 
big  estates  have  been  broken  up,  and  it  never  was 
easier  to  obtain  land  in  Central  Europe.  Millions 
of  dollars  earned  by  foreigners  in  this  country  have 
been  sent  to  Europe  for  land  investment.  Tn  many 
eases  the  depreciated  currency  of  European  coun¬ 
tries  lias  enabled  farmers  to  pay  mortgages  and 
debts  which  were  contracted  before  the  war.  Prices 
for  food  have  ranged  higher,  and  there  is  good  de¬ 
mand.  Tn  many  parts  of  Europe  improved  machin¬ 
ery  has  been  introduced.  Some  years  ago  in  the 
corn-growing  countries  along  the  Danube  River  the 
grain  was  scattered  broadcast  and  land  cultivated 
with  hues.  Labor  was  so  abundant  and  cheap  that 
the  introduction  of  machinery  would  have  meant 
idleness  and  suffering.  The  Great  War  attended  to 
this  surplus  labor  supply,  and  now  American 
machinery  is  coining  in.  With  its  introduction  the 
grain  crop  of  Europe  will  be  greatly  increased. 
Europe  has  millions  of  acres  of  unoccupied  grain 
lands  (perhaps  more  than  we  have  in  this  country), 
and  as  cultivation  is  improved  less  and  less  of  our 
surplus  will  be  required.  The  Great  War  has  taught 
Europe  the  fundamental  lesson  of  economics — that 
the  farmer  is  the  foundation  of  civilized  society.  In 
this  country  our  statesmen  cannot  seem  to  grasp  that 
simple  proposition. 
* 
IIE  other  day  we  saw  a  man  put  four  large 
spoonfuls  of  sugar  into  his  cup  of  coffee.  No 
effort  was  made  to  stir  up  the  mess.  There  must 
have  been  a  good-sized  part  of  an  ounce  of  sugar 
left  in  the  cup.  We  also  saw  a  hired  girl  or  “maid” 
add  sugar  to  a  dish  cooking  on  the  stove.  She  took 
a  handful  of  sugar,  dropped  a  little  into  the  dish, 
and  threw  the  balance  of  the  handful  into  the  coal 
hod.  We  are  told  that  such  practices  are  quite 
common  in  city  restaurants  and  households,  and 
they  will  account  in  large  part  for  the  great  increase 
in  the  consumption  of  sugar.  They  will  also  inter¬ 
fere  with  any  real  effort  to  reduce  sugar  prices  by 
curtailing  the  demand.  Many  conscientious  and  ear¬ 
nest  people  will  use  less  sugar  and  thus  try  to  con¬ 
trol  the  market,  but  tlie  sweet  fiends  and  the  lazy 
sweeteners  will  make  little  effort  to  save.  Self- 
denial  and  energy  are  both  needed  in  order  to  make 
any  food  reform  successful,  and  there  is  always  a 
large  element  in  society  too  selfish  and  lazy  to  help 
in  any  movement  which  requires  co-operative  incon¬ 
venience.  Most  of  us  eat  too  much  sugar,  anyway. 
Tt  is  a  form  of  intemperance.  We  would  all  be  bet¬ 
ter  off  with  less  sweetening,  but  how  sour  the  sug¬ 
gestion  will  make  some  of  the  sugar  fiends. 
UBAM  clover  is  practically  the  same  thing  as 
the  old-time  Sweet  clover,  except  that  it  makes 
its  growth  in  one  season,  while  the  old  Sweet  clover 
requires  two  years.  As  the  Hubam  makes  a  more 
rapid  growth  some  writers  have  advised  mixing  the 
two  kinds  together  and  seeding  with  Spring  grain. 
In  this  way  there  ought  to  be  good  pasture  after 
the  grain  is  cut.  In  theory  the  Ilubam  ought  to 
come  on  first,  with  a  quick  growth,  to  be  followed 
more  slowly  by  the  old  Sweet  clover.  Prof.  H.  D. 
Hughes  tells  us  that  this  plan  has  been  tried  out 
in  the  West.  While  some  reports  are  good,  as  a  rule 
mixing  the  seed  is  not  advised.  It  seems  better  to 
use  the  Hubam  alone,  or  the  biennial  Sweet  clover. 
The  Ilubam  makes  a  rapid  growth  after  harvest, 
and  is  good  pasture  for  slieep  and  cattle,  but  it 
quickly  grows  out  of  the  reach  of  hogs.  The  com¬ 
mon  Sweet  clover  is  almost  ideal  for  pasture.  Seeded 
with  barley  or  oats  we  may  get  a  good  crop  of 
grain  or  fodder,  and  then  turn  in  stock  to  eat  the 
clover.  This  will  leave  the  soil  in  fine  shape  for 
another  crop. 
WHEN  the  new  tariff  law  was  passed  the  charge 
was  made  that  it  would  practically  stop  im¬ 
ports  and  greatly  reduce  the  yearly  revenue.  Returns 
for  March  show  the  heaviest  imports  ever  known 
for  that  month,  with  one  exception.  Our  exports 
for  March  were  heavier  than  one  year  ago,  but  the 
balance  of  trade  has  turned  against  us.  We  are  now 
buying  in  foreign  countries  more  than  we  are  sell¬ 
ing,  and  this  will  mean  shipment  of  gold  from  this 
country.  Add  to  this  the  great  swarms  of  Americans 
who  are  touring  Europe,  each  one  probably  leaving 
several  thousand  dollars  there.  Our  imports  are 
largely  raw  material,  such  as  wool,  hides,  certain 
grades  of  cotton  and  sugar,  all  or  most  of  which 
might  he  produced  in  this  country.  Most  of  our 
manufactured  goods  find  a  market  here.  Europe  is 
rapidly  coming  back  in  food  production.  It  was 
formerly  assumed  that  the  European  people  would 
never  be  able  to  provide  their  own  food.  With 
changes  of  land  ownership,  improved  machinery  and 
the  new  use  of  great  tracts  of  formerly  waste  land 
we  think  that,  as  the  years  pass  on,  Europe  will 
become  less  and  less  dependent  on  America  for  her 
food,  and  that  this  country  will  consume  about  all 
our  farmers  can  supply. 
Brevities 
And  now  China  is  preparing  to  grow  oranges,  largely 
for  export. 
Milk  is  the  greatest  food  for  two-legged  chicks — 
human  or  feathered. 
Better  keep  the  edge  of  the  hoe  on  file.  Here  is  one 
case  where  it  pays  to  have  a  sharp  tongue. 
Pennsylvania  now  lias  a  law  granting  old  age  pen¬ 
sions  to  persons  over  70  who  have  less  than  $3,000 
worth  of  property  ! 
Pennsylvania  has  found  a  combination  of  silage, 
dry  cornstalks  and  cottouseed  meal  the  best  ration  for 
steer  feeding. 
Reports  from  Vineland,  N.  J.,  are  that  a  local  aviator 
who  flies  low  has  so  scared  the  hens  on  commercial 
plants  that  egg  production  lias  fallen  off.  We  under¬ 
stand  that  these  “scarey”  birds  are  Leghorns. 
Two  Italians  in  this  city  were  recently  fined  $100 
each  for  altering  the  names  on  milk  cans.'  These  tin¬ 
smiths  were  caught  with  124  cans  thus  altered — cer¬ 
tainly  an  easy  way  of  raising  the  “tin.” 
The  Indiana  Legislature  has  made  the  bloom  of  the 
tulip  tree  the  legal  State  flower,  replacing  the  carna¬ 
tion.  Hoosiers  can  wear  their  State  flower  for  only  a 
few  days  or  weeks  each  year. 
Quite  a  number  of  readers  tell  us  that  the  neighbors 
say  the  milk  of  a  sow  is  sour — therefore  all  little  pigs 
should  be  fed  sour  milk.  We  often  wonder  how  such  an 
idea  originated.  Many  of  these  common  notions  are 
based  on  truth — at  least  in  part — but  this  one  seems  to 
have  gone  wrong. 
A  number  of  readers  write  us  about  the  advertise¬ 
ments  of  killing  vermin  on  chickens  by  putting  some 
form  of  “dope”  in  the  drinking  water.  This  is  probably 
some  form  of  sulphur,  but  we  do  not  consider  the  prop¬ 
osition  sensible  or  efficient.  It  looks  like  an  appeal  to 
laziness.  Blue  ointment  or  insect  powder  and  cleanli¬ 
ness  suit  us.  The  theory  of  this  water  treatment  seems 
to  be  that  the  chemicals  used  will  make  the  birds  per¬ 
spire  and  thus  send  out  body  poisons,  which  kill  the 
lice.  The  trouble  about  that  is  that  hens  do  not  per¬ 
spire  ! 
