The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
June  9,  1923 
,30 
I  wish  j’ou  could  have  been  with  us 
on  May  26,  driving  from  Lockport,  N.  Y., 
across  Niagara  County  to  Somerset,  near 
the  lake.  On  a  bright,  clear  day  with  the 
sun  shining  and  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky, 
that  is  a  trip  long  to  be  remembered. 
People  go  into  ecstasies'  over  the  fruit 
lanes  of  California,  or  the. perfumed  roads 
of  the  tropics,  but  right  Irere  at  home  in 
Western  New  York  on  a  day  m  late  May 
«r  June,  one  may  ride  for  miles  as  it 
iere  through  a  fairyland  of-  color.  At 
home  in  New  Jersey  our  boys  were  put¬ 
ting  on  the  last  of  the  dust -as  we  whirled, 
ffig  this  sun-lit,.. ;oud.  1  could  picture 
t)be  outfit  on  our"  hill,  the  engine- cough¬ 
ing  and  sputtering,  while  the  dust  poured 
out  from’ the  tube  and  floated  lazily  (*ff 
sifting  through* the -trees?;  The  boys  weie 
iooking  down  the  hill  with  red ,and Little 
i„.r  eves,  glad  that  the  end  of  the  battle 
was  in  sight.  But  all  that  'vas  far  a«ay, 
Niagara  County  was  wo_  weeks  oi  more 
behind  us.  The  Baidvvni  ap  Jeii  i'ere 
just  showing  the  pink,  while jMth  us  th 
bloom  had  fallen.  The  great  glory  ot 
the  drive  was  contributed  by  the  sou 
oher rv  trees.  They  were  in  full  bloom, 
ond  the  road  was  lined  with  them.  Mile 
•ifter  mile  they  stood  along  the  road,  and 
sweeping  back  into  great  orchards  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  see.  There  seemed  to  be 
millions  of  trees — all  sour  cherries  de¬ 
signed  for  the  canning  factories. 
fije  Sjc  ♦  ♦  ♦ 
It  was  a  glorious  sight,  but  as  we 
sped  through  it  questions  were  sure  to 
•irise  in  the  minds  of  a  fruit  glow  . 
What  can  be  done  with  this  tremendous 
cron  of  fruit?  How  in  the  world  can  it 
eve?  he  picked?  Are  they  not  overdoing 
this  cherry  business?  It  would  seem  as 
if  Niagara  County  will  produce  this 
v-ear  sour  cherries  enough  to  make  pies 
for  the  entire  world.  But  these  fruit 
growers  smile  in  a  superior  way  when 
you  ask  these  questions.  They  say  the 
fruit  will  all  be  picked,  and  that  the  can¬ 
ning  factories  will  handle  the  entire  crop 
at  about  five  cents  a  pound— and  growers 
are  still  planting!  Yet  I  think  the  wiser 
heads  realize  that  the  limit  is  withir 
sight,  and  a  few  of  them  seem  to  be 
switching  off  to  sweet  cherries.  At  home 
I  have  about  300  sour  cherries  planted 
and  I  had  expected  to  put  in  many  more, 
but  when  I  saw  Niagara  County  painted 
like  a  great  checker  -board  with  these 
souares  of  white  bloom  it  began  to  look 
to  me  as  though  sour  cherries  will  be 
much  like  Wealthy  apples  m  the  near 
future.  But  to  one  who  is  not  troubled 
with  these  economic  ghosts  and  fancies 
there  could  hardly  be  anything  more 
beautiful  than  a  bright  Decoration  Day 
in  Niagara  County.  The  bright  sun¬ 
shine,  the  deep  blue  sky,  the  great  sweeps 
of  cherry  bloom,  the  dark  lines  o 
plowed  land,  the  pink  of  the  apples  and 
now  and  then  the  flash  of  red  in  some 
flower  garden — are  all  spread  out  an  l 
mixed  until  it  seems  like  a  great  flag 
rippling  over  the  level  land.  On  the  main 
road  out  from  Lockport  there  are  no 
breaks  in  the  chain.  It  is  just  one  long 
stretch  of  neat  farmhouses,  gardens  and 
orchards  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 
“Fair  as  a  garden  of  the  Lord. 
He  *  *  *  * 
There  are  those  who  like  a  level  coun¬ 
try  like  this,  where  the  fields  sweep  away 
like  a  floor,  off  to  where  the  sky  seems 
to  meet  the  earth  with  hardly  a  break  in 
the  view.  I  should  miss  our  hills.  1 
like  a  country  where  the  rain  runs  away 
and  washes  the  face  of  Nature.  I  cannot 
see  just  where  the  rain  goes  to  on  these 
floor-like  stretches.  The  open  ditches  were 
full  of  water,  and  there  were  little  ponds 
and  damp  places  along  the  fences  and  in 
little  hollows.  Quite  a  little  of  the  land 
was  too  wet  to  work.  Yet  in  time  of 
drought  I  can  see  that  our  hills  might 
burn  up  while  this  strong  land,  if  well 
worked,  will  still  carry  plenty  of  mois¬ 
ture.  Most  of  these  farmers  give  good 
culture  to  their  orchards.  The  general 
plan  seems  to  be  plowing  in  Spring  and 
working  again  and  again  with  spring-tooth 
or  spike  harrow.  I  did  not  see  many 
disk  or  Acme  harrows  at  work.  Ap¬ 
parently  they  work  the  land  well,  up  to 
late  Summer  and  then  let  it  go  instead 
of  seeding  some  cover  crop.  I  should 
think  buckwheat  and  clover  or  rye  and 
vetch  would  pay.  A  good  many  of  the 
smaller-sized  tractors  are  being  used,  and 
this  evidently  means  fewer  horses.  I 
heard  of1  one  man,  a  fruit  grower,  who 
keeps  no  horses  at  all.  lie  can  use  the 
tractor  for  hauling  the  sprayer,  for  plow¬ 
ing  and  harrowing,  but  he  gets  his  neigh¬ 
bor,  who  keeps  .horses  to  raise  his  pota¬ 
toes  and  garden  stuff.  I  was  greatly  in¬ 
terested  in  the  way  most  of  the  big  ap¬ 
ple  trees  were  pruned  and  shaped.  The 
inside  of  the  tree  is  apparently  all  cut 
out.  The  tree  may  he  compared  to  the 
two  hands  held  together  with  the  fingers 
all  spread  out.  It  looked  to  me  as  if 
they  had  been  nipped  and  pruned  and 
shaped  from  the  year  they  were  started. 
We  leave  far  more  wood  in-  our  trees,- 
and  do  little  pruning  until  they  are 
nearly  ready  to  bear  fruit.  The  result 
is  that  our  large  bearing  trees  look  more 
like  a  hand  held  up  and  clenched  into 
a  solid  fist.  Yet  I  can  readily  under¬ 
stand  how  in  this  level,  rich  and  wet 
land  a  tree  of  special  shape  and  pruning 
ini"bf  be  needed,  while  on  .our  dry. .and 
thin  hills,  it  may  be!  wiser  to  leave  ‘more 
top.  I  think  that  in  this,  as  well  as  in 
everything  else,  the  individual  must  work 
out  his  own  plan. 
*****  .  ^ 
But  while  the  trees  and  the  soil  and 
the  habits  of  work  are  interesting,  they 
must  always  take  second  place  to  the 
leading  crop  of  a  section  and  that  is 
the  human  beings  who  live  in  these' farm¬ 
houses  and  day  -  byplay  and  year  by  year 
fight  back  the  forces  of  nature  and,  keep 
Niagara  Coifnty  a  perfect  garden  spot. 
We  went  on  through  all  this  evidence  of 
beauty' and"  Comfort  to  attend  a  meeting 
of  the  -  Niagara  County  Farmers’  Club. 
That  is  a  remarkable  institution.  The 
other  day  I  heard  of  some  celebrated 
European  who  had  been  for  some  time 
in  this  country  “studying”  its  insti¬ 
tutions.  He  was  impressed  by  our  cities 
and  saw  wonderful  thing  in  our  manu¬ 
facturing  but  he  could  “see  nothing  of 
interest  or  hope  in  our  farm  life.”  No 
doubt  he  will  go  hack  to  Europe  and 
write  a  book  in  which  he  will  say  that 
American  farmers  are  “sullenly  and  ob¬ 
stinately  traveling  along  the  road  to 
serfdom,”  because  they  will  not  sur¬ 
render  to  the  city !  Every  now  and  then 
some  sour  American  comes  along  throw¬ 
ing  verbal  sulphuric  acid  upon  farmers 
and  their  views  of  life.  Very  likely  you 
have  met  such  men.  I  should  like  to  take 
this  European  and  some  of  the  fermented 
American  souls  to  just  such  a  meeting 
as  they  had  at  Somerset.  I  would  drive 
them  through  the  full  glory  of  those 
cherry  orchards,  have  them  meet  the 
kindly  people  who  filled  the  church,  and 
then  eat  several  pieces  of  the  cherry  pie 
which  the  women  served  at  dinner.  If 
that  would  not  cure  “the  spots  on  their 
liver”  and  make  them  think  more  kindly 
of  farming,  they  could  be  labelled  “hope¬ 
less.”  and  put  off  into  obscurity  to  gather 
dust. 
***** 
The  Niagara  Farmers’  Club  is  at  least 
40  years  old,  “and  still  going  strong.” 
The  usual  farmers’  club  runs  a  few  years 
and  then  somehow  stops  and  falls  apart. 
This  Niagara  club  meets  each  month. 
There  are  12‘  townships  in  the  county 
and  that  means  a  yearly  meeting  in 
each  one.  These  meetings  are  held  in 
small  country  communities,  at  a  church, 
and  the  people  flock  to  them  from  all 
over.  There  are  some  faithful  ones  who 
meeting,  but  as  a  rule  the 
of  the  attendance  is  local, 
of  the  church  serve  a  din¬ 
morning  and  afternoon  seps¬ 
is  a  strong  religious  spirit 
attend  every 
greater  part 
The  women 
ner  between 
sions.  There 
prevailing  at  every  session.  The  people 
who  maintain  this  club  are  sound  Ameri¬ 
cans  of  the  good  old-fashioned  stock. 
Many  of  them  trace  clearly  back  to  the 
pioneers  who  came  out  into  the  wilder¬ 
ness  with  “a  rifle,  ammunition,  an  axe 
and  a  wife,”  and  with  that  competent 
quartette,  turned  the  bloody  Niagara 
frontier  into  a  veritable  garden  spot. 
You  get  the  real  essence  of  rural  Ameri¬ 
ca  at  these  meetings.  For  here  are  men 
and  women  who  are  farmers  and  fruit 
growers  from  choice.  Many  of  them 
have  the  capacity  for  great  success  in 
other  enterprises  but  they  prefer  to 
live  here — with  the  thunder  of  Niagara 
in  their  ears  and  the  purple  skies,  the 
wind  off  the  lake  and  the  kindly  society 
of  old-time,  tested  friends.  Strangers 
come  and  attend  these  meetings  and  ask 
“How  do  you  do  it?”  But  no  one  can 
tell  them.  “We  don’t  consider  it  re¬ 
markable— it  just  happens,  that’s  all.” 
The  truth  is  that  this  club  has  come  to 
be  a  part  of  the  social  life  of  these  farm¬ 
ers.  There  is  a  baud  of  faithful  ones 
who  work  and  organize,  and  there  are 
only  a  few  simple  rules  or  “by-laws.”  It 
is  as  near  to  a  big  farm  family  as  any 
we  can  find.  They  have,  in  their  own 
ranks,  good  speakers  and  musicians.  I 
notice  they  keep  to  the  good  okLfashioned 
plan  of  having  a  brief  “address  of  wel¬ 
come”  and  a  “response”  at  each  meeting, 
and  some  of  the  music  given  by  local  peo¬ 
ple  is  excellent.  They  usually  have  some 
speaker  from  outside,  and  many  of  the 
best-rknown  men  and  women  in  the  State 
have  been  more  than  glad  to  appear  be¬ 
fore  the  Niagara  County  Farmers’  Club, 
because  they  know  they  will  face  an 
audience  of  thoughtful  and  sensible  men 
and  women.  No  one  can  estimate  the 
quiet  power  of  such  an  organization  and 
what  it  has  done  for  the  farm  life  of  that 
section.  It  does  not  pretend  to  be  a 
business  or  a  political  organization,  yet 
it  has  given  its  members  independent 
thought  and  vision,  and  that  pride  and 
satisfaction  in  their  business  which  was 
the  greatest  asset  of  our  fathers  when 
they  controlled  the  policies  of  the  State 
and  country. 
***** 
Yes  indeed,  I  wish  I  could  have  had 
that  European  with  his  ideas  of  Ameri¬ 
can  farming  at  that  meeting.  It  would 
have  brightened  up  his  book  wonderfully. 
He  should  have  seen  the  women  of  that 
church  serve  dinner.  It  was  a  triumph 
of  orderly  and  business  service  of  a 
good  farm  meal.  They  served  cherry 
pie — what  finer  advertising  could  there 
be  than  this — beginning  right  at  home  to 
create  a  demand  for  the  flood  of  cher¬ 
ries  now  on  the  way?  I  would  have  had 
this  European  circle  .amund  and  .talk  -to* 
these  men  and  women — simply  and' fairly. 
OKTTDic^ 
Without 
Kayso 
With 
Kayso 
Tomatoes 
sprayed  'with  Bordeaux 
Spreads  the  Spray  and  Makes  It  Stay 
Vegetable  Growers — Fruit  Growers: 
KAYSO  will  help  you  grow  better  and  more  profitable  crops — at  low 
-  cost.  KAYSO  makes  the  spray  spread  in  an  even,  unbroken  coat 
over  every  surface,  thereby  giving 
much  better  control  of  pests  and 
diseases  —  for  the  ordinary  spray 
collects  in  scattering  spots.  Rain  or 
shine — KAYSO  causes  the  spray  to 
adhere  persistently,  thereby  giving 
much  greater  protection  than  can  be 
obtained  from  the  ordinary  spray, 
which  washes  off  with  comparative 
ease  during  rains  —  requiring  fre¬ 
quent  repetitions.  KAYSO  gives 
increased  coverage  of  as  much  as 
10  to  25  percent. 
Use  KAYSO  'with  All  Sprays 
-  T.  M.  HOYT 
AROOSTOOK  COUNTY  POTATOES 
SCCO  STOCK  A  SPECIALTY 
^RESOUE  ISLE.  MAINE. 
Aug.  19*22. 
Ths  California  Central  Creaneriaa, 
San  Franolaoo,  Cal. 
Gentlenen : 
1  hare  tried  out  your  'Sayao*  and 
find  it  la  very  aatlafactory ,  and  Intend 
ualng  at  least  two  applications  nn  ay 
entlra  potato  orop  of  alx  hundred  acres. 
It  oovert  tna  entire  leaf  and  the  longer 
it  ataya  on,  the  better  It  look*. 
Youra  very  truly. 
non* 
CALIFORNIA  CENTRAL  CREAMERIES,  INC. 
Ask  your  dealer,  or  send  coupon  to  New  York  Office 
|  Enclosed  please  find  40  cents.  Mail  me  sample  pack-  J 
I  age  KAYSO,  sufficient  for  200  gallons  of  spray.  1 
R-7  ] 
Name _  j 
175  FRANKLIN  STREET 
NEW  YORK 
SAN  FRANCISCO 
CHICAGO 
LOS  ANGELES 
Send  today  for  FREE  illustrated  circular 
Address _ 
$075^ 
Just  give  size  and  we  will  sena 
you  the  biggest  work  shoe  bargain 
offered  in  rears.  Inspected  and 
built  to  rigid  specifications 
Made  on  the  Munson  last, of 
triple  tanned  chrome  lea 
ther.  Solid  oak  leather 
soles.  Dirt,  water 
acid  proof.  Pi 
postman  $2.75 
plus  postage  c. 
on  arrival.  Sizes 
Money  back  if  5/4  to  12 
not  pleased.  ^ YOU  SAVE  S2 
L.  SIMON  COMPANY,  Dept.  AS 
829  First  Ave.  New  York  City.  N.Y. 
HETZEL’S 
ELASTIC  TREE  CEMENT 
NON-POISONOUS  NON-PENETRATING 
Made  in  Red,  Black,  Brown  and  Gray  Colors 
Write  for  free  sample  and  prices 
Estate  of  J.  G.  HETZEL 
Dept.  R.  N.  Newark,  N.  J. 
FRIEND'  Traction 
POTATO  SPRAYER 
HIGH  PRESSURE 
GEARS 
'chains 
Nn8£LTS 
I  tUspRocAo; 
GASOLINE  POWtft  iRRAYtft*  TOO 
N0c 
FRIEND’ MFG.Co..  Gasport.  HY 
Vova  A  w&sBc  buwYovBovwrtFfilfJlJ 
A  STRONG  BANK  OFFERS  YOU 
4 %  COMPOUND  INTEREST 
ON  INACTIVE  ACCOUNTS 
BANK  BY  MAIL 
Simply  mail  us  a  letter  enclosing-  your  own  check  or  a  money  order 
and  in  the  names  you  direct  we  will  head  up  a  bank  book  or  cer¬ 
tificate  of  deposit  and  mail  it  to  you. 
TO  WITHDRAW — simply  sign  your  name  to  a  check  on  this 
bank  or  mail  us  a  letter  telling  us  to  send  you  New  York  exchange 
for  so  much  or  the  entire  balance  of  your  account  including 
interest — and  New  York  Draft  will  be  sent  to  you. 
IN  TWO  NAMES 
You  can  deposit  money  in  this  bank  payable  at  all  times  to  either 
of  two  persons  or  the  survivor.  A  man  will  save  HIS  WIFE  a  lot 
of  unnecessary  trouble  by  opening  a  joint  account  to  be  used  by 
her  in  many  cases  of  illness  or  other  emergencies. 
Write  for  our  Booklet  “R” 
THE  SYRACUSE  TRUST  COMPANY 
MAIN  OFFICE:  NORTH  SIDE  BRANCH  : 
330  S.  WARREN  ST.  SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.  509  N.  SALINA  ST. 
RESOURCES  OVER  TWENTY-FIVE  MILLION  DOLLARS 
— r  —  >  .  .  ^ 
When  you  zvrite  advertisers  mention  The  R.  N.-r.  and  you’ It  get  a 
Quick  reply  end  a  " square  deal.”  See  guarantee  editorial  page. 
