952 
7ht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER’S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  llomM 
Established  isso 
Publbtird  neekly  by  the  Rural  Publinhinr  Company,  133  Went  10th  Street,  Kew  York 
Herbert  W.  COMJNGWood,  President  and  Editor. 
John  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
W«.  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Royle,  Associate  Editor. 
L.  H.  Murphy,  Circulation  Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION  :  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
To  foreign  countries  in  the  Universal  Postal  Union,  $2.01.  Remit  in  money 
order,  express  order,  personal  check  or  bank  draft. 
Entered' at  New  York  Post  Office  as  Second  Class  Matter. 
alone.  So  they  went  ahead,  built  up  dairy  herds  and 
carried  the  business  of  dairying  to  the  Gulf  Coast. 
It  is  now  a  standard  line  of  farming  in  the  Gulf 
States.  Of  course  the  case  of  cotton  culture  working 
to  the  North  is  different,  but  the  way  to  learn  about 
it  is  to  proceed,  as  hundreds  of  our  readers  are 
doing.  We  need  not  point  out  the  importance  to 
many  Northern  localities  if  a  hardy  strain  of  cot¬ 
ton  can  be  found. 
* 
Advertising  rates,  11.00  per  agate  line — 7  words.  References  required  for 
Advertisers  unknown  to  us  ;  and  cash  must  accompany  transient  orders. 
"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 
t<i  adjust  differences  or  mistakes  between  our  subscribers  and  honest, 
responsible  houses,  whether  advertisers  or  not.  We  willingly  use  our  good 
nffiees  to  this  end,  but  such  cases  should  not  be  confused  with  dishonest 
Iransactions.  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  Nitw- 
Yorker  <•,  hen  writing  the  advertiser. 
THEY  took  a  gallon  of  water — very  ordinary 
water  at  that.  A  little  sugar  was  dissolved  in 
it.  and  a  small  amount  of  syrup.  A  small  amount 
of  dye  made  from  coal  tar,  and  a  chemical  product 
made  in  imitation  of  a  fruit  flavor  was  poured  in 
and  stirred  up.  Then  a  little  gas — enough  to  bubble 
up  when  the  bottle  was  opened — was  injected,  and 
the  stuff  was  ready  for  consumption.  Under  the 
name  of  “pop,”  “ginger  ale.”  “soda”  or  other  similar 
names  this  gallon  of  stuff  sold  for  $2  or  more,  and 
the  public  rushed  to  buy  it.  Something  like  70,000,- 
000  gallons  of  this  sweetened  and  colored  water 
were  sold  last  year.  It  cooled  the  American  throat 
for  a  few  seconds  and  did  no  other  service.  It 
provided  no  nutriment  and  made  no  market  for  farm 
produce;  so  far  as  any  economic  value  is  concerned 
it  was  practically  a  waste  product.  There  are  soft 
drinks  in  which  milk  or  cream  and  genuine  fruit 
juices  are  used.  They  have  some  economic  value, 
but  this  “pop”  and  similar  stuff  represent  a  greater 
economic  loss  than  tobacco,  for  the  tobacco  ashes 
have  some  value.  Now  while  the  American  public  is 
drinking  enough  of  this  useless  stuff  to  float  several 
warships,  great  quantities  of  milk  and  fruit  juices 
barely  bring  the  cost  of  production  because  of  a 
light  demand.  The  milk  and  the  fruit  juice  would 
be  far  more  satisfying  and  far  more  nutritious.  The 
money  obtained  from  their  sale  would  be  well  dis¬ 
tributed  and  would  come  back  into  trade.  This  col¬ 
ored  water  fad  is  doing  the  dairy  and  fruit  busi¬ 
ness  more  harm  than  oleo  ever  did.  The  remedy  for 
it  is  psychological.  Induce  or  train  the  American 
public  to  change  their  soft  drink  habits.  If  you 
want  colored  water,  take  milk:  water  colored,  sweet¬ 
ened  and  loaded  by  the  good  old  cow. 
* 
IN  our  territory  the  season  of  roses  is  just  closing. 
It  was  unusually  brilliant  this  year;  it  was  sur¬ 
prising  to  see  how  many  farmhouses  have  climbing 
roses  spreading  over  them.  The  It.  N.-Y.  is  partly 
responsible  for  this,  for  some  years  ago  we  gave 
away  thousands  of  these  bushes.  They  were  plant¬ 
ed  and  nursed  along  by  our  readers,  and  finally  they 
burst  into  bloom,  and  the  neighbors  followed  the 
planting.  So  that  now  as  you  drive  along  our  coun¬ 
try  roads  you  find  great  patches  of  red  or  pink 
spread  over  these  farmhouses.  The  beauty  of  all 
this  is  having  its  effect  upon  the  family.  Life  is 
happier,  sweeter  and  more  restful  for  these  patches 
of  color.  And  in  a  commercial  way  the  home  is  more 
attractive  and  salable.  The  R.  N.-1L  has  tided  to  do 
many  things  for  its  readers,  but  in  rose  blooming 
time  it  seems  that  the  gift  of  these  little  bushes  in 
years  gome  by  was  most  successful  of  all. 
* 
THERE  are  many  small  patches  of  cotton  grow¬ 
ing  in  Maryland,  Delaware,  Pennsylvania  and 
Southern  New  Jersey.  By  July  1  our  own  cotton 
plants  were  nearly  two  feet  high.  The  R.  N.-Y.  is 
largely  responsible  for  these  cotton  patches,  and  we 
are  greatly  interested.  The  object  is  to  find  if  we 
van  how  far  North  the  earlier  varieties  of  cotton 
will  mature.  The  experiment  stations  are  appar¬ 
ently  not  much  interested.  We  think  most  of  the 
scientists  believe  that  such  work  has  little  practical 
value,  since  they  are  sure  that  cotton  cannot  safely 
be  grown  very  much  above  North  Carolina.  We  are 
not  so  sure — at  least  we  feel  that  it  is  a  wise  plan  to 
try  cotton  out  as  a  new  crop.  A  generation  ago  the 
wise  men  felt  sure  that  dairying  never  could  succeed 
south  of  the  Ohio  River.  Here  and  there  were  men 
who  did  not  pretend  to  be  very  wise,  yet  they  had 
that  unquenchable  thirst  for  experimenting  which 
cannot  be  satisfied  with  the  opinions  of  wisdom 
A  CANADIAN  physician.  Dr.  F.  G.  Banting,  dis¬ 
covered  a  material  or  substance  known  to  the 
medical  profession  as  “insulin.”  used  as  a  remedy  for 
diabetes.  There  seems  little  doubt  that  this  remedy 
has  great  value  and  that  it  ranks  among  great 
medical  discoveries.  It  is  likely  to  prove  a  great 
boon  to  humanity,  but  the  question  arises,  what 
financial  benefit,  if  any,  will  come  to  Dr.  Banting  as 
a  reward  for  the  patient  investigation  which  led  to 
this  discovery?  Our  laws,  both  social  and  business, 
deal  kindly  with  the  inventor.  He  may  put  together 
a  few  pieces  of  wood  or  metal  or  fiber  in  some  new 
adjustment  and  make  a  new  mouse  trap,  or  a  mop. 
or  a  motor  car.  The  government  grants  him  a 
patent,  giving  him  a  monopoly  of  manufacture  which 
will  enable  him  or  his  agents  to  take  toll  from 
every  one  who  desires  to  use  that  particular  com¬ 
bination.  This  causes  higher  prices,  but  most  of  us 
have  been  willing  to  pay  this  form  of  bonus,  on  the 
theory  that  the  inventor  must  be  encouraged  and 
protected.  It  is  probably  true  that  some  of  our 
worst  trade  extortions  are  based  on  this  idea.  Now 
and  then  some  great,  high-minded  soul  refuses  to 
accept  this  patent  right.  There  was  Stephen  M. 
Babcock,  the  inventor  of  the  Babcock  milk  test. 
Nothing  did  more  to  stabilize  and  develop  our  great 
dairy  business  than  that  simple  machine,  yet  Bab¬ 
cock  gave  it  fi* *eel.v  to  the  public.  Had  he  acted  as 
most  other  inventors  do,  he  might  easily  have 
ranked  high  among  our  modern  milionaires.  The 
ethics  of  the  medical  profession  will  prevent  I)r. 
Banting  from  exploiting  his  great  discovery.  It  will 
be  given  freely  to  humanity.  Yet  we  will  all 
admit  that  such  a  man  should  receive  substan¬ 
tial  recognition  from  the  people  who  will  benefit 
from  his  work.  The  Canadian  government  proposes 
to  provide  for  him  a  life-long  pension  of  $7,500  per 
year  in  recognition  of  his  services.  It  is  a  worthy 
suggestion.  We  hope  it  will  be  carried  out.  It 
seems  to  us  that  something  of  the  same  plan  might 
be  developed  with  many  inventors.  They  might  well 
be  rewarded  and  put  beyond  the  danger  of  poverty 
or  want  while  their  inventions  are  given  freely  to 
the  public.  We  have  always  felt  that  Ephriam  W. 
Bull,  the  originator  of  the  Concord  grape,  richly  de¬ 
served  just  such  recognition.  He  gave  untold  wealth 
to  the  world,  yet  he  died  practically  an  object  of 
charity.  It  might  be  difficult  to  decide  which  inven¬ 
tions  are  really  worthy  of  such  recognition,  but  some 
such  plan  would  provide  for  the  inventor  and  pre¬ 
vent  the  monopoly  or  extortion  which  sometimes  fol¬ 
lows  the  sale  of  an  invention. 
* 
DOZEN'S  of  people  write  us,  asking  where  they 
can  find  a  child  to  adopt  or  take  into  their  fam¬ 
ily.  We  confess  that  when  the  call  is  for  a  child  of 
some  size  who  can  “work  for  its  board”  we  are  a 
little  shy  in  advising.  We  had  a  personal  course  in 
such  experience  many  years  ago.  The  thing  that 
interests  us  most  is  what  we  may  call  the  spiritual 
call  for  a  little  one.  That  comes  when  men  and 
women  wish  to  take  some  neglected  baby  and  give  it 
home  and  ca re  and  love,  rega rd  1  ess  of  any  reward  or 
recompense.  There  are  thousands  who  are  doing 
that,  and  they  represent  the  finest  practical  benev¬ 
olence  and  Christian  charity  that  can  now  be  found 
in  the  world.  But  it  is  getting  rather  hard  to  find 
the  childi*en.  There  ai*e  fewer  of  these  outcasts 
than  formerly.  Our  experience  and  observation 
show  that  family  life  among  many  of  the  city  work¬ 
ers  is  easier  than  formerly.  There  is  more  money 
spent  for  food  and  comforts.  And  this  has  had 
much  to  do  with  this  matter  of  giving  up  children. 
The  women  tell  us  that  the  closing  of  the  saloons 
has  made  much  of  this  difference.  Their  men  still 
drink  more  or  less,  but  they  bring  their  money  home. 
The  open  saloon  does  not  get  it,  as  formerly.  Local 
grocers  and  butchers  tell  us  that  their  bills  are  paid 
more  promptly  since  the  legalized  saloon  passed  out. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  condition  is  partly  re¬ 
sponsible  for  the  shortage  of  abandoned  children. 
Our  advice  to  those  who  want  a  little  child  is  to 
advertise  their  need.  Let  your  desire  be  known 
wherever  you  go  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  see 
what  comes  of  it. 
July  14,  1923 
IN  Ontario,  Canada,  the  farmers  seem  to  have  lost 
control  of  the  government  after  holding  it  for 
several  years.  In  that  province  the  Legislating  ideal¬ 
ly  governs,  and  the  farmers  were  able  to  make  a 
combination  with  the  labor  party  which  gave  them 
control.  They  put  through  many  legislative  acts 
and  proposed  others,  but  at  the  recent  election  they 
were  swept  out  of  power.  It  is  always  difficult 
fully  to  understand  the  politics  of  a  foreign  country. 
The  habits  and  temper  of  the  people  have  much  to 
do  with  deciding  public  issues.  When  one  crosses 
the  St.  Lawrence  River  he  cannot  detect  any  differ¬ 
ence  in  the  air  or  sunshine,  but  he  quickly  learns 
that  there  is  a  different  public  feeling.  As  we  see 
it,  the  Canadian  farmers’  movement  was  set  back 
by  the  radicals.  They  wanted  to  go  too  fast  and  got 
too  far  ahead  of  the  solid  “average”  mind  of  the 
Canadian.  He  just  reached  out  with  his  vote  and 
said  “Whoa !”  That  same  thing  has  happened  in 
this  country  a  dozen  times  when  some  reform  move¬ 
ment  was  started.  The  radicals  are  never  satisfied 
with  slow  growth  or  modest  trimming  of  the  tree. 
They  either  want  to  jump  things  or  use  the  broadax. 
After  they  cool  off  the  great  mass  of  the  people  do 
not  want  either  process.  Many  of  them  do  not  want 
to  be  forced  to  think  or  assume  responsibility.  So 
they  knock  out  the  reformers.  “  ’Twas  ever  thus,” 
and  will  continue  to  be  so  until  the  great  public  can 
gain  patience  and  understanding.  In  the  meantime 
the  farm  movement  never  stops — it  will  keep  right 
on  growing. 
* 
FARMERS  may  talk  about  the  great  need  of  tar¬ 
iffs,  farm  credits,  co-operation  and  other  bene¬ 
ficent  things  which  we  feel  the  government  owes  us, 
directly  or  indirectly.  Perhaps  in  our  great  desire 
for  these  great  public  benefits  some  of  us  are  neg¬ 
lecting  two  minor  blessings  which  ought  to  be  found 
on  every  farm.  We  refer  to  full  supplies,  abundant 
and  running  over,  of  rhubarb  and  asparagus.  These 
are  the  easiest  of  all  vegetables  to  grow,  and  the 
most  important — not  excepting  potatoes.  Both  rhu¬ 
barb  and  asparagus  have  genuine  medicinal  proper¬ 
ties,  and  they  come  early  in  the  Spring  when  the 
human  body  has  most  use  for  what  they  can  offer. 
Can  any  man  who  has  control  of  a  piece  of  land  give 
any  sound  reason  why  his  family  should  not  have  all 
they  can  eat,  and  more,  of  these  vegetables?  All  you 
have  to  do  is  to  put  the  roots  into  the  soil,  keep  the 
ground  reasonably  clean  of  grass  and  weeds,  and  you 
"may  cut  full  supplies  for  20  years.  We  have  found 
the  thing  so  simple  and  so  satisfactory  that  we  can¬ 
not  understand  why  nearly  50  per  cent  of  farmers 
go  without  these  life-giving  vegetables.  We  would 
not  serve  them  in  little  butter  plates — by  the  spoon¬ 
ful — but  in  good-sized  bowls — 'providing  half  a  full 
meal.  It  is  little  short  of  a  crime  to  bring  up  a  child 
without  a  craving  for  milk,  asparagus  and  rhubarb. 
That  may  be  called  the  gi’eat  trinity  of  farm  food. 
Rhubarb  and  asparagus  certainly  give  men  faith  and 
hope,  and  these  must  lead  to  charity.  Now,  can 
you  or  anyone  else  tell  why  you  do  not  have  a  full 
supply? 
Brevities 
We  find  Sweet  clover  better  for  pasture,  but  when 
handled  right  it  makes  good  hay. 
Hog  men  suggest  salt,  ground  limestone  and  bone- 
meal.  equal  parts,  as  a  mineral  side  dish  for  hogs.  Keep 
it  before  them. 
One  tin  can  half  filled  with  water  and  hidden  away 
out  of  sight  will  give  the  mosquitoes  all  the  chance  they 
need  to  pester  your  home. 
During  the  past  few  weeks  many  people  seem  to  have 
been  pitting  their  stomachs  against  sour  cherry  pie  or 
pudding.  Sometimes  the  effect  is  disastrous. 
The  crop  of  old  hay  is  reported  well  sold.  Not  much 
remains  in  farmers’  hands,  and  Alfalfa  hay  has  been 
sold  even  closer.  The  new  crop  promises  to  be  short. 
Where  the  Hessian  fly  has  troubled  the  wheat,  plow 
the  stubble  as  soon  after  harvesting  as  possible.  Then 
firm  the  surface  for  a  new  seed  bed.  The  plowing 
buries  the  fly. 
“Say,  we  tried  one  remedy  for  ants  advised  in  your 
paper  by  someone,  borax  and  sugar.  It  was  the  grand¬ 
est  thing  out ;  in  about  four  days  not  one  ant  to  be  seen 
anywhere  about,  nor  since  then.  It  drove  them  away, 
O.  K.” — A.  D.  H. 
A  number  of  farmers  are  asking  if  they  can  sow  Soy 
beans,  cow  peas  or  similar  crops  now  for  a  cow  pasture 
in  August  or  September!  They  will  do  better  to  sow 
the  Soy  beans  or  fodder  corn  in  drills,  or  millet  broad¬ 
cast,  and  cut  green  for  cattle.  This  is  called  soiling, 
and  will  give  better  satisfaction  than  trying  to  pasture 
such  crops.  There  will  be  great  waste  about  such  pas¬ 
turing. 
This  year  the  Iowa  State  Fair  will  stage  a  contest 
in  animal  draft  power.  This  will  mean  a  contest  to  see 
how  much  a  pair  of  mules  or  horses  can  pull.  A  wagon 
with  a  special  power  pump  will  be  used.  Here  is  one 
of  the  rules:  “Whipping  or  shouting  will  cause  imme¬ 
diate  disqualification  of  an  entry.”  Some  people  think 
they  cannot  get  speed  or  power  out  of  a  horse  without 
yelling  at  him. 
