1180 
Ihe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER’S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes 
Established  )S60 
Pnblbbrd  weekly  by  the  Rural  Publishing  Company,  833  'Vest  3<>th  Street,  New  Vort 
Herbert  W.  Collingwood,  President  and  Editor. 
John  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
Wm.  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Royle,  Associate  Editor. 
L.  H.  Murphy,  Circulation  Manager. 
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Advertising  rates,  $1.00  per  agate  line — 7  words.  References  required  for 
advert  isein  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 
to  adjust  differences  or  mistakes  between  our  subscribers  and  honest, 
responsible  houses,  whether  ad vertisers  or  not.  We  willingly  use  our  good 
offices  to  this  end,  but  such  cases  should  not  be  confused  with  dishonest 
transactions.  We  protect  subscribers  against  rogues,  but  we  will  not  be 
responsible  for  the  debts  of  honest  bankrupts  sanctioned  by  the  courts. 
Notice  of  the  eomplaint  must  be  sent  to  us  within  one  month  of  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it,  you  should  mention  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
IT  is  one  of  the  essential  things  connected  with 
the  future  of  New  York  dairying  that  we  crowd 
Syracuse  to  the  limit  at  the  great  dairy  show  on 
October  5-13.  A  great  crowd  at  that  exposition  will 
be  the  strongest  possible  evidence  that  New  York 
dairymen  are  awake  and  ready.  They  will  have  to 
be  if  they  expect  to  stand  up  against  the  immense 
competition  which  is  to  come  from  the  Northwest. 
As  grain  growers  in  that  section  swing  away  from 
one-crop  production  they  will  keep  more  cows. 
This  will  mean  more  butter  and  cheese" and  milk  to 
be  thrust  upon  our  market  in  competition  with  our 
own  products.  We  never  can  meet  this  competi¬ 
tion  as  individuals.  An  army  must  be  organized, 
and  whenever  there  is  a  chance  for  us  to  stand  up 
and  be  counted  we  must  accept.  The  big  meeting 
at  Syracuse  offers  just  such  a  chance.  Come  out 
and  be  counted.  We  need  you  there. 
* 
The  entire  Rice  family  are  having  a  wonderful  trip 
across  the  continent  and  return  in  two  automobiles. 
We  went  west  to  Seattle  via  Lincoln  Trail  and  down  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  now  returning  by  Southern  route. 
JAMES  E.  RICE. 
O  quote  a  popular  song,  “Everybody’s  doing  it!” 
Not  a  day  passes  without  hearing  from  some 
old  friend  who  has  taken  the  road  with  his  family 
and  gassed  himself  off  into  some  obscure  corner  of 
the  country.  Some  are  crossing  the  continent,  some 
are  urging  their  ears  up  toward  the  North  Pole, 
while  others,  seem  headed  for  the  equator.  “Every¬ 
body’s  doing  it.”  Humanity  is  being  stirred  and 
mixed  as  never  before  and,  on  the  whcfle,  it  is  a 
good  thing,  especially  for  country  people,  to  see  how 
the  other  fellow  lives.  We  are  spending  a  billion 
and  a  half  for  gasoline  this  year,  and  all  this  mix¬ 
ing  up  and  “seeing  things”  is  part  of  the  investment. 
At  any  rate,  no  one  can  stop  it.  and  we  should  all 
make  the  best  of  it.  And  while  the  ears  are  sput¬ 
tering  and  coughing  on  their  way,  our  old  friend  J. 
<\  Berrang  is  toiling  westward  on  his  ox-team  ex¬ 
press.  We  have  another  letter  from  him.  soon  to  be 
printed.  When  a  tire  gives  out  the  ear  man  puts  on 
another  and  goes  a’head.  When  an  ox  gets  balky  or 
balled  up  you  have  to  train  another.  But  they  are 
all  traveling. 
* 
OUR  suggestion  to  Eastern  poultry-men  that  they 
feed  more  wheat  meets  with  a  prompt  response. 
Many  have  already  revised  their  grain  ration  and 
will  feed  more  wheat.  On  the  principle  that  “every 
little  helps,”  all  such  things  should  be  encouraged, 
but  some  of  our  folks  say,  “It  will  depend  on  what 
they  charge  for  wheat.  It  is  a  matter  of  cost.  Thus 
far,  in  spite  of  all  this  complaint  from  Western 
farmers,  we  are  forced  to  pay  as  much  as  ever  be¬ 
fore  for  wheat.  Make  it  a  bargain  and  we  will  buy.” 
No  one  can  fairly  lind  fault  with  that.  Some  of  our 
Western  people  say  they  are  selling  at  about  60  cents 
a  bushel,  while  our  Eastern  poultrymen  are  paying 
$2.50  per  100  lbs.,  or  even  more.  Such  a  “spread” 
as  that  separates  buyer  and  seller  so  far  that  they 
get  out  of  sight.  Under  normal  conditions  wheat  is 
a  food  for  humans — not  for  beasts.  If  we  are  to  use 
it  at  all  for  stock  feeding  it  must  be  put  down  for 
us  here  at  a  reasonable  price. 
WENTY  years  ago  when  the  bicycle  marked  the 
social  idiifference  between  the  American  on 
horseback  and  the  American  on  foot,  we  told  the 
following  true  story.  In  a  New  England  State  the 
selectmen  decided  to  send  a  certain  family  to  the 
poorhouse.  In  a  thrifty  neighborhood  that  happens 
only  to  the  lazy — the  friendless  aged  and  the  moron. 
They  went  with  a  wagon  to  carry  the  women  and 
children,  but  the  man  of  the  family  went  on  Ms 
bicycle!  So  it  went  about  the  country  that  in 
Yankee  land  even  the  paupers  owned  bicycles.  And 
now,  in  this  age,  comes  a  new  story  to  match  it.  In 
another  New  England  town  a  family  applied  for 
admission  to  the  poorhouse.  Their  request  was 
granted  and  they  drove  to  the  poorhouse  in  their 
automobile!  It  was  a  Ford,  ancient  and  not  very 
honorable,  but  it  had  wheels,  body,  top  and  frame, 
and  it  made  the  journey  with  several  applications 
of  the  crank.  We  do  not  name  the  State;  there 
might  be  a  rush  for  the  section  where  agrieuulture 
is  so  profitable  that  even  the  paupers  own  automo¬ 
biles  ! 
# 
Mr.  Spiekerman  said  that  one-tbird  of  the  population 
of  the  United  States  lives  within  30  miles  of  New  York, 
and  the  feeding  of  this  vast  number  offers  an  unparal¬ 
leled  incentive  to  the  farmers  of  this  and  other  nearby 
sections  to  raise  better  and  better  live  stock  and  keep 
improving  the  quality  of  their  vegetables  to  supply  the 
food  demands  of  these  people. 
HAT  is  taken  from  the  report  of  a  farmers’ 
meeting  in  Connecticut.  Mr.  Spiekerman  is  the 
proprietor  of  a  well-known  farm.  It  seems  doubtful 
to  us  if  be  ever  made  such  a  statement.  The  total 
population  of  the  United  States  is  now  about  112,- 
000,000.  Inside  the  territory  within  30  miles  of 
New  York  City  Hall  are  about  9,000,000.  That  is  a 
tremendous  group  of  humanity,  but  it  represents 
only  7y2  per  cent  of  Americans.  It  is  true  that  a 
man  can  stand  on  Eagle  Rock  in  New  Jersey  on  a 
clear  day  and  have  within  his  view  the  homes  of 
more  people  than  may  be  found  in  half  a  dozen 
Western  States!  It  is  also  true  that  nowhere  in  the 
world  can  one  find  so  many  consumers  packed  into 
limited  space  as  are  to  be  found  in  this  30-mile 
circle  around  New  York- — part  of  it  uninhabited  salt 
water  at  that.  At  least  SO  per  cent  of  these  con¬ 
sumers  will  not  produce  the  food  required  by  a  hum¬ 
ming  bird!  It  is  a  great  market,  and  it  affords 
great  opportunity  for  farmers  who  live  close  by — 
but  let’s  get  the  figures  straight.  You  could  hardly 
pack  one-third  of  our  total  population  into  this 
circle. 
* 
A  PIONEER  goes  into  a  new  country  with  little 
besides  a  plow,  an  ax  and  a  wife.  He  works 
like  a  slave,  and  conquers  Nature  like  a  king.  By 
middle  age  he  has  landed  property  and  a  full  com¬ 
petence,  which  he  hands  over  to  his  son.  Then  men 
wonder  why  the  son  does  not  work  as  his  father  did. 
A  foreigner  comes  to  this  country  from  Europe.  He 
lives  on  the  poorest  fare,  denies  himself  the  neces¬ 
sities  of  life,  works  himself  out  and  acquires  a  small 
fortune,  which  passes  on  to  his  son,  born  in  Amer¬ 
ica.  Again  penple  wonder  why  this  son  of  the  sec¬ 
ond  generation  will  not  work  and  deny  himself  as 
the  immigrant  did.  Dozens  of  similar  cases  might 
be  noted  where  the  second  generation,  handling  the 
proceeds  from  the  labor  of  their  parents,  show  a 
falling  off  in  energy  and  power  to  acquire.  Why  is 
it?  The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  familiar  story 
of  the  dog  and  the  rabbit.  The  dog  chased  the  rab¬ 
bit  for  a  time  and  then  gave  up  the  pursuit.  Asked 
by  the  other  dogs  why  he  quit,  he  said  it  was  a 
matter  of  psychology ;  the  dog  ran  only  for  his  din¬ 
ner,  while  the  rabbit  ran  for  his  life.  The  pursuit 
of  life  was  a  stronger  impulse  than  that  of  a  desire 
for  dinner.  The  immigrant  and  the  pioneer  must 
work  for  their  lives.  In  providing  for  their  son 
they  cannot  give  him  their  ambition  and  life  purpose, 
because  the  proceeds  of  their  labor  have  made  it 
unnecessary  for  him  to  run  for  his  life.  All  he 
needs  is  his  dinner.  Many  a  man  wakes  up  at  mid¬ 
dle  age  to  find  that  he  has* *  worked  too  hard  for  his 
children,  because  in  his  fear  that  they  may  not  be 
provided  for  he  has  destroyed  the  incentive  to  run 
for  their  lives! 
THE  great  question  now  in  the  orchard  districts 
is,  what  price  will  apples  bring  this  Fall?  We 
have  a  few  reports  from  the  Hudson  Valley  where 
fine  McIntosh  apples  have  been  sold  at  $5  a  barrel, 
orchard  run.  It  is  too  early  to  figure  on  Baldwins 
and  other  Winter  varieties  yet,  but  we  expect  first- 
class  fruit  to  bring  somewhere  around  $4.  The  fruit 
situation  is  much  better  than  at  this  time  last  year. 
There  is  less  early  fruit  on  the* market,  there  will 
not  be  any  over-production  of  good  fruit,  and  most 
people  in  town  and  city  are  working  and  buying 
freely.  The  new  Federal  quarantine  will  shut  out 
much  fruit  from  other  countries,  and  we  think  that 
will  help  the  sale  of  apples.  In  fact,  the  outlook  for 
fruit  growers  this  Fall  is  good.  Those  who  have 
good  fruit  will  find  a  fair  market  for  it.  In  our  own 
case  a  few  light  showers  have  done  wonders  to  the 
late  apples.  Comparatively,  at  least,  the  fruit  men 
are  twice  as  well  off  as  the  grain  growers. 
September  15,  1923 
HUS  country  has  recognized  the  Republic  of 
Mexico,  which  means  an  endorsement  of  the 
present  government  of  that  country.  This  ought  to 
lead  to  closer  relations  between  the  two  nations. 
Mexico  is  a  big  country,  astonishingly  rich  in  min¬ 
erals,  oil  and  agricultural  possibilities.  We  need 
the  things  which  Mexico  has  in  natural  abundance, 
and  she  needs  the  things  which  we  manufacture. 
Trade  across  the  border  is  cheaper  and  better  than 
trade  across  the  ocean  with  Europe.  There  are  great 
possibilities  for  our  trained  young  men  in  Mexico 
and  South  America  as  teachers,  engineers  and  in 
the  various  professions.  At  present  the  Mexicans 
view  our  people  with  suspicion.  They  see  no  reason 
why  wre  should  have  an  patent  on  the  word  Amer¬ 
ican,  for  they  feel  that  they  are  as  truly  Americans 
as  we  are.  They  also  feel,  with  justice,  that  the 
Yankees  or  “gringoes,”  have  robbed  them  of  oil 
and  mineral  rights  and  land.  Life  has  not  been  safe 
and  property  has  not  been  secure  in  Mexico,  but  con¬ 
ditions  are  improving.  It  is  a  country  so  “tempera¬ 
mental”  that  it  needs  a  strong  government.  A  “re¬ 
public”  in  that  country  must  have  much  the  power 
of  a  strict  monarchy  in  order  to  endure.  The  first 
thing  for  our  people  to  do  is  to  show  the  Mexicans 
that  we  do  not  want  to  annex  their  country  or  run 
it  for  them.  We  have  hard  enough  work  to  run  our 
own  machine.  The  only  business  we  have  in  the 
affairs  of  Mexico  should  be  that  of  a  sympathetic 
neighbor. 
* 
HE  other  day  an  old  soldier  of  the  Civil  War 
was  recounting  some  of  his  exploits,  as  old  sol¬ 
diers  do.  “Why,”  said  the  old  veteran: 
“I  marched  with  Sherman  from  Atlanta  to  the 
sea.” 
A  young  man  listened  carefully  and  then  turned 
to  a  bystander  and  asked,  in  all  seriousness: 
“Now,  who  is  this  man  Sherman  I  hear  so  much 
about?  Where  did  he  come  from?  What  did  he 
do?” 
The  old  soldier  was  shocked  as  he  never  had  been 
before.  To  think,  for  an  instant,  that  any  American 
failed  to  know  of  Gen.  Sherman  and  his  famous  ex¬ 
ploit!  It  suddenly  dawned  upon  the  old  man  that 
a  new  generation  had  come,  with  new  ideals,  new 
sentiment  and  entirely  new  view  of  life;  with  none 
of  the  old  background  which  has  meant  so  much  to 
the  older  generation.  There  are  too  many  men  who 
stop  growing  at  50  or  even  younger.  They  harden 
up,  live  entirely  in  the  past  and  cannot  understand 
or  appreciate  the  spirit  of  the  newer  generation. 
This  great  throbbing  world,  with  all  its  glorious 
possibilities,  becomes  as  narrow  to  them  as  it  must 
appear  to  the  ostrich  with  his  head  in  the  sand,  or 
under  a  bush.  Such  men  are  about  the  most  daL 
gerous  citizens  we  have,  because  they  lock  that 
priceless  gift  of  life — experience— inside  a  shell  and 
hide  it  away  from  youth.  It  does  seem  hard  to  thinK 
of  a  healthy  young  American  who  does  not  know 
who  Sherman  was,  hut  he  is  not  hopeless.  It  is 
probably  our  fault  if  young  people  fail  to  get  the 
thrill  which  comes  to  our  generation  when  we  think 
of  those  old  Civil  War  days.  One  of  the  most  un¬ 
fortunate  things  about  life  is  the  fact  that  when  we 
come  to  be  over  50  most  of  us  forget  the  language  of 
youth,  and  thus  cannot  properly  repeat  our  message 
to  our  boys  and  girls.  When  you  find  a  man  of  60 
who  can  talk  to  his  children  as  hopefully  as  they 
talk  to  each  other  you  have  found  a  great  citizen. 
Brevities 
Mexico  is  importing  cattle  from  Brazil  for  feeding 
and  breeding  purposes. 
The  middleman  who  robs  us  and  the  inner  man  who 
makes  us  rob  ourselves  are  first  cousins. 
The  American  grapefruit  has  suddenly  become  popu¬ 
lar  in  England.  Another  competitor  for  the  apple. 
The  Illinois  Experiment  Station  has  suggested  the 
following  seed  mixture  for  pasture :  4  lbs  each  of  Sweet 
clover,  Alfalfa,  Timothy  and  Alsike  clover.  That  is  the 
seeding  for  an  acre,  and  if  for  very  early  pasture  half 
a  bushel  of  oats  may  be  added.  The  seeding  is  made 
in  Spring. 
Every  month  comes  the  old  request  for  information 
about  testing  the  soil  for  acid.  Tho  following  brief 
statement  is  taken  from  a  New  Jersey  lime  bulletin : 
When  clover  persistently  fails  to  make  good  growth,  it 
is  a  good  indication  of  soil  acidity.  Soil  acidity  may 
be  tested  by  means  of  blue  litmus  paper,  which  turns 
pink  when  in  contact  with  acid  soils.  Take  a  hand¬ 
ful  of  wet  soil  and  make  it  into  a  ball.  Break  it  in 
two  and  place  a  blue  litmus  paper  in  the  center ;  then 
close  the  ball.  After  five  minutes  break  the  ball ;  if 
the  paper  has  become  pink  the  soil  is  acid.  Although 
this  litmus  paper  test  indicates  whether  or  not  the 
soil  is  acid,  it  does  not  determine  very  accurately  the 
degree  of  acidity. 
