1022 
It*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
We  had  our  first  green  apple  pie  on 
.July  15  and  the  first  baked  apples  July 
18.  These  are  important  dates  with  us. 
Apples  mean  much  in  our  plan  of  living, 
both  as  food  and  as  a  source  of  income. 
This  year  the  Ben  Davis  and  Newtowns 
lasted  until  the  first  week  in  May.  We 
have,  in  former  years,  been  able  to  carry 
such  varieties  through  until  the  new  crop 
is  ready.  A  Ben  Davis  in  June  has 
nothing  to  comipend  it  except  that  is  is 
apparently  an  apple.  This  first  pie  was 
made  from  Porter  apples,  while  the  haked 
fruit  was  the  old-fashioned  Summer 
Sweeting.  We  find  .a  few  old-fashioned 
people  who  still  want  sweet  apples  for 
baking.  They  use  such  fruit  Avith  milk — 
a  fine  old-fashioned  dish — now  largely  lost 
out  of  memory  by  our  modern  folks.  No 
one  would  think  of  planting  such  sweet 
apples  as  a  commercial  venture.  I  found 
a  dozen  or  so  of  these  trees  when  we 
bought  this  farm.  They  must  have  been 
planned  about  the  time  of  the  Civil  War, 
before  imports  of  bananas  were  common. 
These  sweet  apples  actually  substituted 
for  the  tropical  fruit.  Modern  transpor¬ 
tation  has  ended  that.  Still,  if  you  came 
in  hot  and  tired  and  we  gave  you  a  bowl 
of  milk  with  a  piece  of  ice  in  it  and  about 
three  of  these  baked  sweets  sliced  in, 
you  would  call  for  more  and  wonder  why 
modern  society  has  dropped  a-  great  deli¬ 
cacy  from  its  bill  of  fare.  I  knew  a  man 
Avho  planted  an  orchard  of  sweet  apples 
for  a  hog  pasture.  It  was  in  clover,  and 
the  falling  apples  fed  the  hogs  quite  well 
for  about  six  weeks.  I  would  like  to  see 
the  former  trade  in  sweet  apples  come 
back,  but  the  demand  now  is  for  a  red 
jacket  and  a  sour  heart  when  apples  are 
wanted. 
*  *  *  *  * 
Another  thing  worth  recording  hap¬ 
pened  last  week — we  sent  our  first  load  to 
market.  The  strawberries  and  cherries 
were  all  handled  at  the  door  or  near  by. 
Our  first  load  was  made  up  of  string 
beans  and  early  apples.  These  beans 
represent  a  “catch”  crop.  The  dry  weath¬ 
er  killed  many  of  our  strawberry  plants. 
We  planted  them  over,  and  again  they 
dried  up.  Then  we  planted  string  beans 
in  the  missing  places.  As  soon  as  Ave  get 
rain  I  shall  plant  berries  the  third  time, 
for  we  are  determined  to  have  these 
patches  filled  in  properly.  The  beans  grew 
well  and  last  week  we  made  our  first 
picking  of  about  15  bushels.  We  put  in 
a  few  bushels  of  small  early  apples  as 
a  trial.  The  beans  brought  $1.75  a 
bushel,  sold  to  peddlers,  and  the  apples  50 
cents  for  a  peach  ’basket  full.  That  is 
better  than  last  year.  The  chances  seem 
fairly  good  for  the  early  fruit.  The 
trouble  is  that  too  many  people  pick  up 
windfalls  and  all  sorts  of  trash  and  rush 
it  to  market.  This  stuff  decides  the 
price  except  for  the  finest  grades.  We 
would  all  be  better  off  if  this  inferior  stuff 
were  left  at  home.  One  of  the  great 
troubles  with  co-operative  selling  of  farm 
produce  is  the  fact  that  farmers  think  the 
organization  will  enable  them  to  get  rid 
of  anything,  when  in  reality  the  success 
of  such  a  system  lies  in  correct  grading 
and  keeping  the  culls  off  the  market. 
The  outlook  for  farmers  in  this  section 
depends  on  the  weather.  Prices  are,  on 
the  whole,  better  than  last  year,  but  the 
fearful  drought  is  ruining  our  crops.  On 
most  of  our  land  corn  is  drying  up  and 
potatoes  are  dying  of  thirst.  The  apples 
do  not  groAv  properly.  The  soil  is  hard  as 
a  rock.  We  have  been  unable  to  plow  the 
old  strawberry  beds  so  as  to  plant  cab¬ 
bage,  and  the  cabbage  plants  are  getting 
past  the  size  when  they  will  stand  trans¬ 
planting.  After  several  years  of  rather 
too  much  rain,  we  iioav  have  the  other  ex¬ 
treme.  I  notice  that  where  soil  is  well 
drained  and  where  we  have  plowed  under 
green  crops  and  packed  them  down  the 
ground  is  in  much  better  shape.  Where 
rye  was  plowed  under  and  left  loose  in 
the  soil  there  is  no  hope  for  crops  this 
year.  The  hot  winds  work  into  the  land 
and  dry  it  out  in  short  order.  In  a  year 
like  this  some  plan  for  overhead  irriga¬ 
tion  would  pay  for  itself  in  one  season. 
***#*!: 
It  is  clear  to  me  that  in  the  future,  at 
least  in  localities  close  to  the  big  cities, 
the  Avater  problem  is  to  be  the  great  ques¬ 
tion  in  practical  farming.  Here  on  our 
land  we  have  10  or  15  acres  on  the  lower 
farm  which  are  naturally  heavy.  In  a 
wet  season  it  is  often  water-soaked.  We 
cannot  work  it  early,  and  even  when  we 
get  our  crops  in  they  often  suffer  from 
wet  feet.  This  soil  would  be  great  for 
ducks  and  geese,  but  poor  for  chickens. 
There  is  a  spring  on  the  hillside  above  it, 
and  a  little  brook  runs  through  the  lower 
part.  It  is  evident  that  we  must  equalize 
the  distribution  of  water.  Some  form  of 
drainage  must  take  the  surplus  Avater  of 
the  Avet  season  out  of  the  soil,  and  some 
plan  of  irrigation  must  be  used  to  put  the 
water  back  Avhen  it  is  needed.  Under¬ 
ground  drains  would  take  that  surplus 
water  off  into  the  brook.  A  dam  thrown 
across  the  stream  Avould  store  up  water 
in  a  pond  so  it  could  be  forced  back  over 
the  land  in  a  season  like  the  present.  It 
is  probable  that  this  would  double  the 
capacity  of  this  soil.  Would  it  pay  to 
spend  the  money  needed  to  Avork  out  such 
a  plan?  That  is  one  of  the  big  problems 
for  a  farmer  in  this  section.  There  are  a 
number  of  men  Avho  have  done  something 
of  the  sort.  They  are  usually  back-to- 
the-landers  who  have  plenty  of  capital  and 
do  not  need  to  make  any  profit  on  their 
farms.  It  is  more  of  a  pleasure  or  a  de¬ 
sire  to  'show  their  power  and  executive 
ability  which  prompts  them  to  make  such 
development.  As  a  rule  their  “overhead” 
is  so  heavy  that  they  make  no  profit,  and 
the  produce  they  market  makes  a  severe 
competition  with  men  who  have  no  in¬ 
come  except  from  their  farms.  When 
you  talk  about  this  question  of  controlling 
the  water  supply  as  a  practical  invest¬ 
ment  you  come  up  against  a  complication 
of  troubles. 
*  *  *  *  * 
Where  is  a  man  to  borrow  the  capital 
needed  to  put  in  an  efficient  irrigation 
system?  I  figure  that  it  would  cost  me 
something  over  $350  an  acre  to  fix  my 
wet  land  so  that  we  could  be  independent 
of  flood  and  drought.  Suppose  a  man 
went  to  a  bank  to  borrow  such  a  sum. 
How  far  would  he  get?  A  manufacturer 
who  proposed  harnessing  a  mountain 
stream  so  as  to  obtain  cheap  power  could 
command  attention,  and  very  likely  get  a 
loan.  A  farmer  with  rich  wet  land  and 
full  water  supply  would  really  have  a 
stronger  proposition  than  the  manufac¬ 
turer,  but  how  can  he  make  the  capitalist 
see  it?  Then  again,  the  value  of  such  a 
proposition  lies  in  the  future,  and  it  must 
cover  many  years  in  order  to  pay  out.  If 
the  land  were  sold  for  building  purposes, 
or  if  some  man  took  it  without  any  par¬ 
ticular  pride  or  interest  in  making  the 
land  produce  heavily,  the  investment 
would  not  pay.  Where  I  live  the  land 
will  probably  go  for  small  town  locations 
within  15  years,  and  there  are  feAv  young 
people  who  care  to  develop  an  intensive 
business  in  farming.  All  these  things 
would  make  one  hesitate  about  investing 
money  in  an  expensive  irrigation  and 
drainage  system.  Where  a  man  is  locat¬ 
ed  in  a  section  which  is  not  likely  to  be 
turned  into  a  city,  and  also  has  a  good 
family  of  boys  who  take  naturally  to  soil 
culture,  it  is  my  conviction  that  money 
spent  for  a  good  irrigation  outfit  would 
be  about  the  best  investment  he  could 
make.  We  might  as  well  look  at  the 
filing  sensibly.  The  way  events  are  de¬ 
veloping  now  it  looks  as  if  farming  were 
in  for  a  great  shake-up.  For  a  long  time 
it  was  possible  for  almost  anyone  to  make 
a  sort  of  living  on  the  farm.  That  is  to 
say,  through  the  unpaid  labor  of  women 
and  children  they  got  shelter  and  food 
and  clothing.  In  many  cases  that  was 
about  all  they  got,  but  as  most  or  many 
of  their  friends  were  in  the  same  boat, 
they  paddled  along  together.  Then  came 
the  age  of  “gas,”  which  we  may  call  the 
age  of  extravagance,  and  the  killing  taxes 
August  4,  1923 
on  incomes  and  real  estate.  The  man 
who  made  a  bare  living  before  gas  and 
taxes  got  their  teeth  into  him  cannot  well 
increase  his  income  without  a  new  and 
expensive  outfit,  and  unless  he  can  get  a 
new  start  in  some  way  he  must  drop  out. 
And  while  it  is  hard  to  say  so,  his  drop¬ 
ping  out  is  going  to  improve  the  condition 
of  those  farmers  who  are  able  to  stay  in 
and  work  the  land  properly.  Honestly,  I 
cannot  see  any  better  business  opportu¬ 
nity  in  the  future  for  a  capable  and  in¬ 
dustrious  young  man  who  can  command 
fair  credit  or  cash  than  some  of  the  finer 
branches  of  farming.  The  demand  for 
high-class  farm  products  will  surely  in¬ 
crease,  and  as  farming  goes  more  and 
more  into  factory  methods  of  production, 
the  man  who  produces  the  finer  goods 
will  come  nearer  and  nearer  to  a  monop¬ 
oly.  There  are  a  great  many  of  such 
people  now.  They  are  not  talking  much, 
but  they  are  doing  things. 
*  #  *  *  * 
But  what  of  the  rank  and  file  of  farm¬ 
ers  who  are  just  producing  common  crops 
in  smaller  quantities?  Well,  many  of 
them  simply  cannot  keep  up  their  pres¬ 
ent  work  much  longer.  Co-operative 
work  will  help  many  of  them.  By  unit¬ 
ing  for  selling  and  buying  they  can  im¬ 
prove  their  situation  to  some  extent,  but 
many  of  them  need  new  outfits,  new 
credit  and  new  ambitions.  I  know  of 
many  cases  where  farms  are  sold — often 
under  foreclosure.  The  buyer  makes 
Drain  Your  Land 
Through  the  Fall  Months 
YOU’VE  more  time  for  ditching  work  during  the 
autumn  than  at  any  other  period  of  the  year.  Drain 
the  swamp  land,  marshy  patches  and  wet  spots  on  your 
farm  now — and  get  bigger  crops  and  bigger  profits 
next  year. 
Ditching  and  draining  the  du  Pont  way  is  saving  money 
for  farmers  in  this  state.  Du  Pont  50%  or  60%  low- 
freezing  straight  dynamite  does  the  work  cheaper  and 
better — and  it  won’t  freeze  in  any  weather.  Your  dealer 
carries  a  stock  or  will  get  it  for  you. 
Write  us  for  our  free  110-page  Farmers’  Handbook)  of 
Explosives.  It  contains  complete  information  on  ditching, 
land -clearing  and  tree-planting. 
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Equitable  Bldg.  Fulton  Bldg.  Harvey  Bldg. 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.  PITTSBURGH,  PA.  BOSTON,  MASS. 
for  DITCHING  -  STUMPING  -TREE  PLANTING 
