The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
877 
Things  To  Think  About 
The  object  of  this  department  is  to  give  readers  a  chance  to  express  themselves 
on  farm  matters,  Not  long  articles  can  be  used — just  short,  pointed  opinions 
or  suggestions.  THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER  does  not  always  endorse  what 
is  printed  here.  You  might  call  this  a  mental  safety  valve. 
Agricultural  Graduates  as  Hired  Help 
I  have  been  a  continuous  reader  of 
your  paper  since  I  was  old  enough  to 
read,  and  my  father  was  one  of  your  sub¬ 
scribers.  I  was  born  and  reared  on  the 
farm,  and  my  occupation  has  been  and 
is  farming,  and  I  have  employed  consid¬ 
erable  labor  from  time  to  time.  I  am 
glad  to  state  that  I  class  myself  as  a  col¬ 
lege  farmer;  I  regret  that  I  cannot  be 
classed  with  the  college  farmers  who  have 
been  engaged  in  Farm  Bureau  work,  be¬ 
cause  I  hold  among  my  friends  a  number 
of  such  agents  in  many  counties  in  sev¬ 
eral  States,  and  a  more  sane,  practical 
and  worth-while  group  of  agricultural 
workers  does  not  exist.  I  also  know  a 
number  of  college  farmers  who  are  oper¬ 
ating  their  own  farms,  and  are  very  suc¬ 
cessful.  and  I  know  many  other  success¬ 
ful  farmers  who  have  tfot  had  a  college 
education,  but  I  would  add  that  they  have 
its  equivalent  because  of  their  open 
mind,  their  great  storehouse  of  common 
sense,  and  their  personal  characteristics, 
which  show  a  fine  type  of  good  citizen¬ 
ship.  All  these  farmers  are  more  inter¬ 
ested  in  law  enforcement,  better  schools 
and  roads,  a  bigger  Farm  Bureau  and 
college  of  agriculture  than  they  are  in  the 
“gap  between  producer  and  consumer.” 
The  R.  N.-Y.  from  time  to  time  has 
contained  serious  indictments  of  the  col¬ 
lege  farmer  from  several  sources,  but  I 
have  not  had  occasion  to  make  any  de¬ 
fense,  because  I  considered  the  complaints 
were  from  men  who  had  not  been  blessed 
with  a  respect  for  such  education,  but 
when  W.  L.  N.,  a  college  man,  comes 
along  and  drops  a  bomb  on  education  in 
farming,  and  pats  the  Italian  laborer  on 
the  back,  I  am  inclined  to  make  an  analy¬ 
sis  of  the  reason  W.  L.  N.  is  so  hard 
oh  lis. 
I  would  first  point  out  that  from  un¬ 
questioned  surveys  that  have  been  made 
in  many  sections  of  farm  business,  the 
labor  incomes  of  farmers  were  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  education,  and  that  college  farm¬ 
ers,  as  compared  with  farmers  of  the 
same  amount  of  education  as  Italian  rail¬ 
road  laborers,  earned  incomes  three  times 
as  great.  Again,  I  have  found  that  the 
present-day  farmers,  who  are  the  greatest 
success,  are  not  worrying  over  the  “gap 
between  producer  and  consumer.”  The 
ones  who  are  not  “standing  with  back  to 
a  crumbling  wall,”  are  the  farmers  who 
in  the  main  have  the  combination  of  ex¬ 
ecutive  ability  and  labor,  with  much  em¬ 
phasis  on  the  labor. 
W.  L.  N.  had  much  difficulty  with  his 
labor,  and  I  can  find  where  his  trouble 
lay  from  his  own  statement  that  “the 
only  time  they  wanted  to  see  me  was  the 
first  day  of  each  month.”  W.  L.  N.  might 
have  been  a  very  efficient  handler  of  Ital¬ 
ian  labor,  but  farm  labor  certainly  comes 
under  a  different  head,  and  he  was  doomed 
to  failure  in  applying  railroad  track  sec¬ 
tion  methods  to  farm  help  of  American 
nationality,  and  this  is  proven  by  his 
statement  that  his  Italian  labor  brought 
him  through  the  Winter  at  “much  less 
cost,”  but  he  fails  to  state  why  this  same 
Italian  labor  did  not  keep  his  wall,  which 
his  back  was  against,  from  crumbling. 
In  his  paragraph  on  the  college  farmer 
his  statements  are  too  general  and  one¬ 
sided  to  be  accepted. 
One  is  amused  at  his  phrases,  especially 
in  his  paragraph  on  the  “amount  that 
sticks.”  He  uses  the  stock  word  “if” 
which  is  so  common  with  back-to-the- 
landers.  “If”  'W.  L.  N.  could  sell  the 
production  from  his  hired  farmers  at 
present  prices,  and  buy  their  labor  at 
prices  of  10  years  ago,  perhaps  he  would 
be  on  easy  street,  but  I  am  sure  that  if 
he  had  everything  his  own  way  he  would 
not  be  financially  able,  from  his  own 
farm,  to  buy  his  Rolls-Royce. 
The  cure-all  comes  in  the  last  para¬ 
graph  in  his  statement  that  “both  the 
farmer  and  the  manufacturer  must  bridge 
the  gap  between  themselves  and  the  ulti¬ 
mate  consumer,  and  let  the  men  who  play 
in  between  get  in  the  producing  line.” 
What  a  wonderful  formula  ;  place  all  the 
men  in  between  into  production.  A  fine 
scheme  to  insure  better  prices !  F arming 
has  not  any  gaps  to  bridge  with  the  man¬ 
ufacturer.  The  men  in  between  the  farm¬ 
er  and  the  consumer  as  a  class  are  not  out 
of  place.  Leave  them  where  they  belong, 
where  each  is  trained  and  efficient ;  in  fact, 
leave  all  back-to-the-landers,  all  trades¬ 
men  or  professional  people,  where  they 
are  most  proficient,  and  the  farmers  will 
solve  their  own  problems. 
The  problems  of  a  better  and  more 
profitable  country  life  are  being  worked 
out  in  the  communities  all  over  this  land, 
and  our  agricultural  schools  and  colleges 
are  blazing  the  trail.  Our  problems  will 
all  be  solved  by  our  intelligent  application 
to  the  business  in  hand  and  by  the  labor 
of  our  own  hands,  I  believe  in  The  R. 
N.-Y.  slogan — “We  have  got  to  do  it  our¬ 
selves.”  F.  K.  BROOKS. 
Outwitting  a  Trespassing  Hen  Owner 
He  wasn’t  a  farmer  ;  just  a  tenant  at 
will  in  a  cottage  tenement.  He  kept  no 
hens  or  live  stock.  He  had  one  hobby — 
the  family  strawberry  bed.  He  tried  out 
the  new  varieties ;  even  dabbled  at  times 
with  seedlings.  His  neighbor  was  a  pros¬ 
perous  farmer,  a  financier — money-lender. 
He  kept  hens.  Everybody  knows  how  at¬ 
tractive  a  mulched  strawberry  bed  can 
be  to  20  active  hens.  My  friend  was  sup¬ 
plied  with  eggs  by  the  grocer,  and  one 
morning  he  went  into  his  wife’s  pantry 
and  gathered  up  the  grocer’s  last  deposit. 
Making  sure  that  there  was  no  observer 
on  the  other  side  of  the  fence,  he  took  his 
eggs  and  planted  them  in  his  strawberry 
bed.  A  day  or  two  later,  when  his  neigh¬ 
bor  was  busy  on  his  side,  he  took  a  shal¬ 
low  basket  and  ostentatiously  gathered 
the  eggs  he  had  planted.  He  was  a  prac¬ 
tical  joker,  and  enjoyed  the  joke  he  was 
planning  fyiite  as  much  as  lie  did  the  re¬ 
sults,  which  were  all  he  could  desire, 
since  the  hens  were  shut  up  as  soon  as 
the  yard  wires  could  be  repaired,  all  with¬ 
out  a  quarrel  or  word  of  controversy  with 
the  neighbor  beyond  the  fence. 
This  story  varies  but  slightly  from 
others  that  have  appeared  in  The  R. 
N.-Y.  within  a  few  years.  One  such  I 
remember  w'as  that  of  a  clergyman  who 
was  too  conscientious  to  appropriate  the 
eggs  laid  on  his  premises.  Yet  it  was 
good  as  a  protest  when  he  rang  the  bell 
ar  his  neighbor’s  side  door  and  with  suit¬ 
able  apologies  presented  the  community 
eggs.  u.  s.  b. 
Investigating  the  Rural  Mail  Box 
k  Hundreds  of 
farmers  are  mak- 
Srr  Jnq  additional moneif 
during  dull  months'7 
HHow  about 
yourself  1 
Now  is  the  time  to  be 
planning  for  the  quiet 
months  during  the  fall 
»and  winter. 
How  can  you  keep  your 
tractor  and  your  men 
profitably  busy? 
By  securing  a  Lane 
Tractor  Sawmill  and 
turning  into  lumber  the 
isolated  wood  lots  in  your 
vicinity, — wood  lots  so 
far  from  the  sawmill  and 
railway  that  ha.ulagc 
would  be  too  expensive, — 
wood  lots  too  small  to 
pay  for  the  erection  of  a 
mill. 
This  little  portable 
J  mill  is  really  portable, 
yet  of  large  capacity. 
It  is  a  Lane  product 
throughout, — strong,, 
durable,  efficient,  low 
in  first  cost,  cheap  to' 
operate 
^.5'"’  Better  v/rite  today 
for  more  information. 
Lane  Manufacturing 
Company 
Montp«U«r(  Vermoru 
large 
LANE 
SAW  MILL 
5430 
Bale  Direct 
from 
Sure  Relief 
FOR  INDIGESTION 
<»wMsohj 
6  Bell-ans 
Hot  water 
Sure  Relief 
ELL-ANS 
25$  and  75$  Packages  Everywhere 
You  can  cut  down  ex¬ 
pense  handling  hay.  You 
can  bale  it  when  it  has  the 
highest  feeding  value,  make 
better  bales,  and  get  more 
profit  from  your  hay  crop 
by  using  the 
John  Deere-Dain 
Junior  Motor  Press 
The  John  Deere-Dain  Junior 
is  exactly  the  right  size  outfit 
for  baling  direct  from  windrow. 
It  makes  14  x  18-inch  bales — 
1  to  2  tons  per  hour. 
Press  can  be  driven  by  portable  en¬ 
gine  or  light  tractor,  or  engine  can  be 
mounted  on  press.  Sliding  engine  base 
makes  a  clutch  entirely  unnecessary — 
you  can  start  the  engine  light  and  grad¬ 
ually  tighten  the  belt  by  means  of  a 
crank  screw  to  start  the  press.  Eccen¬ 
tric  gears  give  self-feed  arm  and  plunger 
a  powerful  working  stroke  and  quick  re¬ 
turn,  resulting  in  increased  power  when 
needed,  and  more  time  to  fill  the  hopper 
for  the  next  stroke.  The  hopper  has 
sloping  sides,  making  it  easy  to  feed. 
Distinctive  motion  of  the  tucker  makes 
well-formed  bales.  Sold  by  John  Deere 
dealers. 
FREE  BOOKLETS  describe  the 
John  Deere-Dain  Junior  Motor 
Press  and.  the  larger  16  x  18  and 
18  x  22  inch  presses.  Write  today. 
Address  John  Deere,  Moline,  Ill., 
and  ask  for  Booklets  GC-637. 
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We  will  send  you  as  many  gallons  as  you 
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ow  prices.  We  can  save  you  money  hy  shipping 
direct  from  our  factory.  SatisfactionGuaranteed. 
On  orders  for  thirty  gallons  or  over  we  will  prepay  the 
freight  within  a  radius  of  three  hundred  miles. 
AMALGAMATED  PAINT  CO. 
Factory:  372  WAYNE  ST.,  JERSEY  CITY,  N.  J. 
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FOR  SALE  BY 
ROOk  The  Rural  New-Yorker 
333  West  30th  Street,  New  York 
tJlIlllllllllllIlllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHI^ 
I  THE  BEST  BIRTHDAY  PRESENT  I 
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|  AUTOGRAPHED  COPY  | 
!  of  i 
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