942 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Along  tlio  12  miles  to  Newark,  farmers  were  busy 
as  bees,  the  women  were  among  the  poultry,  and  the 
children  in  the  truck  patches.  It  will  take  an  acre 
of  wheat,  perhaps  of  potatoes  or  corn,  or  a  200-lb. 
hog  to  pay  each  of  those  dawdlers  each  day.  Farm¬ 
ers  only  take  their  thoughts  off  production  long 
enough  to  look  for  help  from  legislation,  loans,  co¬ 
operation  and  other  incidents.  None  amount  to  a 
button  when  business  knows  they  have  a  surplus. 
They  can  take  a  mean  price  or  let  the  stuff  rot. 
Not  worth  a  button  when  politics  knows  it  can  run 
along  in  the  same  old,  villainous  grooves.  No  other 
business  dare  operate  as  farmers  do.  What  farmers 
need  is  to  make  business  and  politics  come  to  them 
as  suppliants,  and  they  can  do  it.  If  they  will  work 
eight  hours,  keep  their  families  away  from  produc¬ 
tion,  and  take  time  to  study,  they  can  start  along 
the  way  to  prosperity. 
Notice  this.  Several  Western  governors,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  millers,  called  a  conference  at 
Chicago  to  solve  the  wheat  trouble,  and  after  a  lot 
of  worthless,  threadbare  statements,  these  politic¬ 
ians,  wheat  buyers,  implement  manufacturers  and 
hankers  passed  the  following  resolution.  “The 
problems  can  not  be  solved  by  the  farmers  alone. 
The  situation  calls  for  united  and  sympathetic  co¬ 
operation  of  labor,  transportation,  banking  and  con¬ 
sumers.” 
If  one  will  look  behind  the  scenes  lie  will  find 
that  conference  was  to  show  how  blue  the  wheat 
situation  really  is.  It  is  claimed  there  is  a  carry¬ 
over  of  17.3,000.000  bushels  and  the  man  who  has 
wheat  to  sell  can  think  of  that  conference.  All  the 
discussion  and  the  resolution  did  not  help  the  trou¬ 
ble  any,  so  let  a  common  man  who  has  been  work¬ 
ing  in  clover  hay  today  settle  the  whole  matter. 
All  the  hints  given  by  experts,  bankers,  officials,  or 
agriculturists  piled  on  each  other  do  not  equal  it. 
“Miserable  comforters  are  ye  all.”  Stop  growing 
wheat.  It  has  not  paid,  and  will  not  until  there  is 
a  shortage.  We  must  make  that  ourselves,  then 
we  must  take  time  from  arduous,  incessant  toil  to 
look  at  everything  as  it  affects  us.  We  are  run¬ 
ning  in  ruts.  Balanced  production  is  the  only  thing 
which  will  restore  the  “independent  farmer.” 
Note  this  fact.  This  is  fast  becoming  an  indus¬ 
trial  land.  It  will  eat  and  wear  all  that  the  labor 
on  the  farms  can  grow,  if  that  labor  will  engage  in 
trying  to  grow  enough,  and  not  too  much  of  any 
thing.  On  the  other  hand  look  at  Kansas,  nearly 
“bleeding”  again  growing  wheat  to  give  away,  with 
one  sheep  to  ISO  acres.  See  a  South  Dakota  man 
getting  less  than  $2  for  four  cars  of  potatoes,  and 
Tdaho  in  wheat  and  potatoes  when  it  and  the  other 
should  be  growing  sugar  beets.  Then  think  of  a 
million  bottles  of  slushy,  colored  water  emptying 
this  June  weather  minute,  and  milk  the  best,  most 
natural  drink,  and  many  dairymen  tongue-tied. 
Much  of  the  stuff  sold  for  'buckwheat  cakes  is  ex¬ 
ecrable.  Beal  flour,  grown  in  the  right  sections  is 
a  delicacy.  Lately,  I  took  a  cake  for  courtesy  to 
the  hostess  and  after  sampling  said :  “One  week 
of  my  life,  buckwheat  cakes  for  breakfast  were  a 
delicacy  and  luxury.  It  was  in  Allegany  Co..  N.  Y. 
All  other  times  they  have  been  a  horror,  hut  you 
surely  know  how  to  make  them.  Please  let  me 
have  more,”  and  as  she  put  a  plate  of  them  by 
me.  she  said :  “This  flour  comes  -to  us  in  Ohio, 
from  friends  in  Livingston  Co.,  N.  Y.”  Sections 
where  that  good  stuff  grows  are  piling  on  a  sur¬ 
plus  of  wheat,  vegetables,  etc.,  when  they  should 
try  to  supply  the  United  States  with  pancakes. 
Sorghum  will  grow  anywhere,  and  would  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  periodical  “killings”  of  the  sugar  oc¬ 
topus.  Peanuts  should  supply  the  home  market  in 
every  section  that  has  a  fair  quantity  of  sand  in  its 
soil.  Broom  corn  is  worth  $320  a  ton  and  the  prin¬ 
cipal  supply  comes  from  Mexico  and  New  Mexico. 
Our  linen,  linseed  oil,  and  cake  money  goes  to 
Belgium,  Holland,  Ireland  and  other  foreign  lands, 
while  Americans  stick  in  the  old  production  ruts. 
I  am  in  earnest  about  balancing  production.  For¬ 
get  legislation,  loans,  transportation  and  such  al¬ 
leged  reliefs  for  awhile  and  see  if  we  will  cut  down 
surplus  products  by  trying  to  grow  all  the  different 
foods  and  fibers  needed  in  America,  that  they  will 
all  he  short  of  the  demand.  Then  by  working  eighr 
hours  a  day,  moderately,  and  making  the  families 
stay  in  the  house,  trucks  will  come  after  all  we  have, 
and  we  will  set  the  price.  w.  w.  beynouds. 
Ohio. 
The  Use  of  Hay  Slings 
IN  some  parts  of  the  country  it  appears  that  hay 
slings  are  coming  into  favor  once  more.  Some 
years  ago  these  slings  were  very  popular,  but  the 
harpgon  fork  seemed  to  drive  them  off  most  farms 
until  very  few  of  them  were  to  he  seen.  Now,  they 
are  coming  hack. 
As  most  of  our  people  understand,  a  hay  sling 
is  something  like  a  hammock  with  slats  in  it.  It 
is  made  of  half-inch  rope  held  apart  by  slats  five 
feet  long.  At  one  of  the  sling  is  a  lock  and  a  trip, 
and  a  metal  eye  at  the  other  end.  Two  such  slings 
are  laid  together,  and  the  combined  pair  are  placed 
Here  we  have  the  little  daughter  of  our  correspondent, 
A.  II.  Pulver,  and  a  box  of  Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y.,  peaches. 
The  little  girl  looks  like  the  best  “peach”  of  the  lot. 
lengthwise  on  the  load.  The  first  sling  is  put  right 
on  the  bottom  of  the  wagon,  and  the  hay  is  pitched 
on  top  of  this  sling.  When  about  one-third  of  the 
load  has  been  put  on.  another  sling  is  adjusted  in 
i  he  same  way  on  top  of  the  hay.  Another  third  of 
the  load  is  put  on  that,  and  then  another  sling,  as 
before,  so  that  each  sling  runs  under  one-third  of 
the  load.  When  the  load  is  driven  into  the  barn, 
instead  of  driving  the  harpoon  fork  down  into  the 
This  is  Lawrence  Atwood  of  Clinton  Co.,  N.  YT.,  and 
bis  calf..  Lawrence  is  11  years  old  and  has  always  en¬ 
joyed  taking  care  of  calves.  The  one  he  has  now  is  a 
good  one.  Here  we  have  the  making  of  a  good  dairy¬ 
man.  We  hope  that  when  Lawrence  comes  to  have  his 
own  herd  the  price  of  milk  will  satisfy  him. 
hay,  the  ends  of  the  sling  are  brought  together  and 
fastened  to  the  hook  on  the  hay  carrier.  It  is 
lifted  up  and  worked  out  over  the  hay  mow,  the 
same  as  with  the  harpoon  fork.  A  small  rope  trips 
one  end  of  the  sling  and  drops  it  down  so  that  the 
hay  falls  on  to  the  mow.  Three  pulls  take  the  en¬ 
tire  load  off  the  wagon,  and  there  are  practically 
no  scatterings  on  the  ground  or  in  the  mow.  The 
work  of  a  good  hay  sling  has  to  be  seen  in  order 
July  14,  1923 
to  he  appreciated.  It  certainly  takes  up  a  big  bite, 
and  throws  it  down  where  you  want  it. 
In  some  cases  where  Timothy  hay  is  used,  only  the 
bottom  sling  will  he  employed.  Hay  like  Timothy 
holds  together  well,  and  bunches  up  well  on  a  har¬ 
poon  fork,  and  by  lifting  two  good  loads  with  the 
fork  off  the  wagon,  what  there  is  left  can  usually 
he  taken  up  with  the  bottom  sling.  Small  grain 
is  often  handled  in  the  same  way.  and  the  slings 
can  he  used  fairly  well  where  hay  loaders  are  em¬ 
ployed.  Generally  speaking,  a  good  hay  sling  is 
a  labor-saver,  and  it  is  easier  to  get  the  hay  off 
the  wagon  when  labor  is  short  than  it  is  to  fork  it  off 
with  the  harpoon  fork. 
The  Bean  Crop  is  Coming  Back 
FOR  a  number  of  years  back  the  acreage  of  beans 
in  Western  New  York  has  been  falling  off  be¬ 
cause  of  the  numerous  .diseases  affecting  the  plants. 
Now  that  new  and  disease  resisting  varieties  have 
been  propagated  by  our  experiment  stations  and 
distributed  through  our  extension  service  the  acre¬ 
age  has  been  increasing  as  last  year’s  plantings 
demonstrate,  and  the  season  of  1923  shows  a  good 
old  time  acreage.  The  robust  pea  bean  pxit  out 
first  by  the  Michigan  station  is  the  leader  in  that 
variety.  On  this  farm  the  ground  was  early  plowed 
and  a  plank  drag  or  clod  crtisher  used  on  the 
furrows  as  fast  as  plowed.  I  have  proved  this 
simple  homemade  affair  to  be  the  most  efficient  as 
regards  moisture  conservation  of  anything  in  the 
way  of  a  farming  implement  that  I  have  ever  seen 
if  used  at  the  right  time  and  that  is  a  few  hours 
after  the  ground  has  been  plowed.  This  leaves  a 
rough,  level  surface,  fills  all  the  holes  made  by  the 
horses'  feet  and  leaves  the  surface  in  an  ideal  con¬ 
dition  to  absorb  the  showers  that  will  occur  before 
the  time  of  planting,  which  with  us  is  from  May 
27  to  June  5.  By  this  time  the  grass  and  weeds 
have  began  their  frolic  over  the  surface  and  the 
preparation  and  planting  puts  these  enemies  to 
the  bean  crop  out  of  commission,  also  the  ground 
has  become  settled  and  there  is  an  abundance  of 
moisture  to  germinate  the  seed  quickly,  so  that  the 
rows  will  show  evenly  across  the  field  in  about  six 
days  if  they  have  not  been  covered  too  deeply  as 
the  bean  requires  shallow  planting.  A  simple  ma¬ 
chine  operated  by  one  horse  and  planting  two  rows 
would  be  ideal  for  the  purpose  and  one  such  ma¬ 
chine  could  be  owned  and  operated  co-operatively 
in  a  neighborhood.  The  grain  drill  is  likely  to  get 
rhe  seed  in  too  deeply  and  it  is  quite  a  chore  to 
change  the  corn  planter  to  a  bean  width.  Again 
the  two  horses  walking  directly  before  the  planting 
tube  or  hoe,  make  depressions  so  that  the  beans  do 
not  get  covered  evenly.  .  There  would  be  no  such 
trouble  with  the  one-horse  machine.  After  our  crop 
was  up  nicely,  we  discovered  that  the  selected  seed 
for  next  year’s  planting  had  not  been  planted,  so  a 
strip  of  ground  in  the  same  field,  which  had  been  left 
for  hay  or  pasture  was  plowed  and  rhe  ground 
put  in  fine  condition  as  regards  moisture.  It  was 
rolled  thoroughly,  harrowed,  and  the  beans  planted 
all  in  the  same  afternoon.  This  ground  had  no  time 
to  settle  and  acquire  added  moisture  as  was  the 
case  with  the  other  part  of  the  field.  These  beans 
were  a  number  of  days  longer  in  coming  up  and 
came  very  uneven  with  many  false  stalks,  although 
they  were  choice  selected  seed.  Here  was  a  marked 
demonstration  of  the  better  results  from  the  early 
planting.  It  has  been  argued  that  it  is  better  to 
plow  late,  letting  the  grass  and  sod  attain  a  heavier 
growth,  so  as  to  increase  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  but 
this  does  not  appear  to  work  out  in  practice.  A 
good  stand  of  beans  that  has  not  been  subject  to  a 
heavy  rainfall  just  after  planting  scores  a  strong 
point  toward  a  profitable  crop.  If  the  ground  has 
received  the  preparation  that  is  suggested  here,  and 
the  cultivator  is  started  three  or  four  days  after 
the  beans  come  up,  there  will  be  little  trouble  from 
weeds.  This  makes  a  big  difference  as  regards  profit 
or  loss  on  the  crop,  for  a  weedy  bean  crop  is  an  ex¬ 
pensive  and  nerve  raking  proposition.  Results  lead 
me  to  the  strong  belief  that  the  proper  way  to  apply 
the  fertilizer  to  the  crop  is  by  drilling  it  in  over 
the  whole  field  just  previous  to  the  planting,  crossing 
the  field  opposite  to  the  way  the  beans  are  to  be 
planted.  If  a  harrow  can  be  run  over  the  field 
before  the  planting  so  much  the  better.  The  phos¬ 
phate  will  start  the  necessary  bacterial  action  in  the 
soil  that  will  supply  the  needed  plant  food,  and  the 
little  and  fast  growing  roots  need  free  range  to 
secure  this.  But  when  the  fertilizer  is  drilled  in 
with  the  seed  or  close  on  either  side  of  the  row, 
the  conditions  are  favorable  for  an  unnatural  and 
stagnated  plant  growth.  This  is  a  theory  that  works 
out  in  practice.  h.  e.  cox. 
