<Ihe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1209 
Turn  Out  for  the  Dairy  Show 
LAST  year  leading  men  representing  agriculture 
and  dairying  worked  hard  to  locate  the  great 
National  Dairy  Show  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  There  was 
great  competition,  for  far-seeing  men  readily  under¬ 
stand  the  advantage  in  locating  this  great  exposition. 
It  is  a  great  advertisement.  It  shows  the  world 
where  dairy  products  are  produced  in  large  quan¬ 
tities,  and  concentrates  public  attention  upon  the 
section.  New  York,  the  leading  dairy  State  of  the 
Union.  All  the  way  from  the  dairy  cow  to  the  con¬ 
sumer,  New  York  contains  within  her  borders  the 
best  of  everything  connected  with  dairying.  It  was 
fitting  therefore  that  the  show  should  be  held  here. 
Now  we  must  support  the  men  who  brought  the  great 
exposition  here — back  them  up  to  the  limit.  To  make 
the  show  a  complete  success  there  must  be  a  crowd 
so  great  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  close  the  gates 
of  Syracuse.  It  will  not  do  to  say  that  others  will 
go  and  help  make  the  crowd.  We  must  do  it  our¬ 
selves.  We  hope  that  every  reader  of  The  It.  N.-Y. 
who  can  possibly  do  so  will  plan  to  attend  this  show. 
Get  your  neighbor  to  go  with  you.  The  reputation 
of  New  York  State  as  a  farm  host  is  at  stake.  No 
matter  whether  you  milk  cows  or  drink  milk- 
come  on ! 
An  Explosive  for  Farmers 
HE  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
announces  that  it  has  a  great  store  of  a  new 
war  explosive  for  distribution.  There  are  18,000,000 
pounds  of  sodatol,  a  surplus  war  explosive.  This  is 
very  similar  to  dynamite,  and  is  made  by  mixing 
together  TNT  and  nitrate  of  soda.  The  cartridges, 
weighing  seven  ounces  each,  are  packed  in  wooden 
boxes,  each  containing  50  lbs.  of  sodatol.  This  ex¬ 
plosive  is  more  sensitive  than  TNT,  but  there  is 
no  danger  whatever  in  handling  it  with  the  ordinary 
care  used  in  the  handling  of  dynamite.  It  will  burn 
without  exploding,  at  least  in  small  quantities.  It 
can  be  used  in  any  outdoor  blasting,  and  will  not 
cause  headache  or  stain  the  hands.  The  seven-ounce 
cartridge  of  sodatol  is  about  equal  in  explosive  power 
to  eight  ounces  of  dynamite.  It  will  not  freeze,  and 
should  be  stored  in  a  dry  place,  although  it  can  be 
handled  successfuly  with  care  in  wet  holes.  The 
sodatol  can  be  completely  exploded  by  a  No.  G  cap 
of  either  the  electric  or  the  fuse  type.  The  sodatol 
cannot  be  distributed  in  small  lots,  and  there  is  no 
use  applying  to  the  department  for  individual  orders. 
No  land  owner  is  permitted  to  secure  more  than 
1,000  lbs.  Farmers  should  apply  to  their  County 
Farm  Bureau  Agent  or  the  State  Agricultural  Col¬ 
lege,  the  explosive  being  distributed  from  some  cen¬ 
tral  point.  It  is  said  that  the  sodatol  is  made  from 
surplus  war  material.  There  is  no  charge  for  the 
explosive  itself,  but  the  consumer  will  have  to  pay 
the  cost'  of  preparation  and  transportation  charges. 
Usually  these  will  amount  to  about  one-third  the 
cost  of  the  equivalent  amount  of  dynamite.  This 
seems  to  be  a  chance  to  obtain  a  powerful  explosive 
at  a  low  figure.  We  repeat  that  there  is  no  use 
writing  direct  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
about  this.  Apply  to  your  County  Farm  Bureau 
Agents  or  direct  to  the  State  Agricultural  College. 
Waste,  or  Government  Distribution 
Part  II. 
CALIFORNIA  EXPERIENCE.— California  has  been 
thrust  forward  as  an  example  of  co-operative  success 
in  her  growers’  organizations.  Yet  I  have  before  me  a 
letter  from  a  farmer’s  wife  in  that  State  in  which  she 
says,  “I  have  awakened  to  find  we  have  problems  of 
production  of  our  own.  We  are  to  have  no  final  pay¬ 
ments  on  any  of  our  last  year’s  fruit,  and  have  had  to 
help  refinance  the  reorganization  of  our  Raisin  Asso¬ 
ciation.  When  we  formed  it  on  a  $1,000,000  basis,  we 
produced  about  85.000  tons,  and  had  about  00  per  cent 
of  the  growers.  The  crops  have  gone  up  to  240,000 
tons  last  year,  with  a  prospect  of  250,000  or  more  this 
year.  A  big  acreage  of  young  vines  has  just  been 
planted.  And  SO, 000  tons  hold-over  in  our  packing 
houses.”  That  letter  is  an  illuminating  commentary 
on  the  co-operative  system.  If  the  government  had 
control  of  those  raisins,  they  would  be  moved  in  an 
orderly  manner  from  the  producer  to  the  consumer.  I 
am  assuming  an  existing  market  for  those  raisins,  and 
I  believe  I  am  right  in  my  assumption.  Today  when  I 
go  to  town  for  raisins  I  must  pay  25  cents  a  pound. 
Yet  the  raisin  growers  are  having  trouble  marketing 
their  crop.  Who  gets  the  enormous  profit  on  that 
pound  of  raisins— which,  by  the  way,  does  not  have  10, 
but  14  ounces  printed  on  the  package?  Here  is  a  scan¬ 
dalous  failure  in  the  present  marketing  system. 
SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND.— I  used  to  believe  that 
the  price  of  products  was  really  regulated  by  the  law 
of  supply  and  demand.  But  I  learned,  as  a  farmer’s 
wife,  that  it  was  actually  regulated  for  both  consumer 
and  producer  by  the  amount  of  profit  the  commission 
man  expected  to  make.  On  the  same  day  that  we  were 
offered  65  cents  for  prime  bakers  out  of  our  potato  field, 
Idaho  bakers  were  selling  in  the  Chicago  market  for 
84.75.  I  saw  the  newspaper  market  report  of  this 
fact  Since  65  cents  would  not  pay  for  the  expense  of 
digging,  sacking,  feeding  men.  hauling  to  the  train,  etc., 
we  allowed  12  acres  to  freeze  in  the  ground.  Where 
are  the  poor  people  in  the  cities  who  should  have  had 
those  potatoes?  I  suggest  that  when  the  next  census 
is  taken  Uncle  Sam  will  find  out  how  many  people 
there  are  in  his  great  nation  who  ate  potato  substitutes 
this  year  for  lack  of  money  to  buy  the  tubers.  And 
why  'shouldn’t  there  be  a  food  census?  Is  anything 
more  important  to  a  nation  than  to  know  whether  the 
national  stomach  goes  hungry  or  is  provided  with 
proper  rations?  Why  this  flood  of  bulletins  from  the 
government  on  food  values  when  the  government  fails 
to  place  that  food  within  the  reach  of  everyone? 
FICTITIOUS  PRICES— When  the  food  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  government  the  price  will  no  longer  be 
governed  by  a  fictitious  law  of  supply  and  demand,  but 
by  several  considerations  of  a  real  nature,  viz.,  (1) 
number  of  hours  necessary  to  produce;  (2)  difficulty 
of  labor;  (3)  skill  necessary;  (4)  cost  of  labor.  The 
price  would  represent  the  real  value  of  the  product, 
and  not  the  fluctuations  of  the  markets  It  would  be 
stable.  That  very  fact  would  turn  farming  into  an 
ideal  occupation  instead  of  the  greatest  gambling  game 
in  the  world.  And  not  only  would  it  stabilize  the  price 
of  farm  products,  it  would  steady  the  whole  of  busi¬ 
ness  and  industry.  For,  believe  it  or  not,  when  the 
farmer  receives  less  than  his  labor  is  worth;  when  the 
farmer  cannot  make  a  good  living,  the  financial  circles 
receive  just  as  great  depression  as  he  does.  You  can¬ 
not  knock  the  farmer  down  without  making  the  entire 
structure  of  society  totter,  for  the  farmer  is  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  society,  no  matter  how  reluctant  the  aristocrats, 
and  thoughtless  city  people,  are  to  admit  it.  Says  the 
Wisconsin  Agriculturist:  ‘‘The  people  of  the  city  .  .  . 
will  wake  up  some  day  and  exercise  a  little  good  hard 
sense  and  sound  reasoning;  .  .  .  they  will  under¬ 
stand  that  to  help  business  of  all  kinds  they  must  help 
the  farmer  and  not  hinder  him.” 
REGULATING  OUTPUT— And  now  I  wish  to 
refer  to  the  remarkable  editorial  from  the  Idaho 
Statesman,  the  foremost  newspaper  of  my  home 
State,  which  precedes  my  last  words :  “  .  .  . 
When  the  farmers  of  the  'West  kneel  down  to  ask 
blessings  of  God,  they  seek  to  be  saved  from  the 
evils  of  over-production,  potatoes  rotting  in  the  fields, 
markets  glutted,  mortgages  foreclosed.”  .  .  .  With- 
this  introduction  the  conclusion  is:  “So  such  solutions 
of  the  problem  as  one  hears  have  to  do  not  with  abolish¬ 
ing  machinery  ‘but  with  the  getting  more  machinery, 
with  the  reorganization  of  markets,  the  organization  of 
co-operative  associations,  price  fixing  and  the  like.  .  .  . 
Is  there  a  better  solution?”  I  believe  I  can  answer  that 
ciuestion  by  suggesting  governmental  marketing — and 
without  any  claim  to  being  more  than  Moses,  Napoleon 
or  Lincoln.  The  trouble  is  that  our  people  are  looking 
for  a  Moses  who  will  bring  about  changes  without  dis¬ 
turbing  the  pocketbooks  of  those  who  have  hitherto 
absorbed  all  the  profits.  Mention  government  control 
of  anything,  except  possibly  the  letter  service  (  and  I  re¬ 
member  when  even  that  was  not  exempt),  and  you  are 
a  Socialist.  With  the  risk  of  being  branded  such,  an 
honor  which  I  have  never  claimed,  I  shall  still  say  that 
crops  need  not  be  decreased  under  government  control, 
but  with  the  immense  system  for  obtaining  information 
which  the  government  already  possesses,  the  output  of 
the  different  crops  could  be  regulated  to  fit  the  needs  of 
the  country  with  positive  benefit  to  the  farmer  and  his 
land.  It  would  be  the  service  of  the  government  to  find 
exactly  what  food  would  be  needed,  how  much,  and  to 
inform  the  individual  farmer  how  much  he  could  raise 
at  a  profit.  Of  course  he  would  be  at  liberty  to  raise 
more  at  his  own  risk.  But  what  farmer  would  do  so 
after  such  information?  We  have  our  parcel  post  sys¬ 
tem  regulated  by  means  of  zones,  and  our  crops  could 
be  marketed  in  the  same  manner.  By  means  of  crop 
information  bureau,  which  is  already  in  existence,  the 
government  would  advise  the  farmers  exactly  what  crops 
were  needed.  The  County  Agent,  could  impart  this  in¬ 
formation  as  easily  as  he  now  tells  the  farmers  what  to 
do  to  exterminate  jack  rabbits.  The  government  would 
never  submit  to  the  freight  robbery  which  the  farmers 
are  compelled  to  endure,  but  crops  would  be  handled  as" 
cheaply  in  proportion  as  our  parcels  are  now  carried. 
NON-POLITICAL.— Government  marketing  need  not 
enter  politics,  contrary  to  prophecy  of  those  whom  such 
a  plan  would  inconvenience.  Our  scientific  bureaus, 
which  are  part  of  the  government,  are  kept  out  of  pol¬ 
itics,  and  are  highly  successful.  Practically  everybody 
in  the  United  States  would  be  dependent  on  the  food 
market,  so  that  if  it  were  not  efficiently  handled  the 
public  would  immediately  raise  a  howl  that  would  in¬ 
evitably  bring  about  better  conditions.  Regulation  of 
the  present  system  will  not  work.  Government  regula¬ 
tion  did  not  insure  prompt  handling  of  the  crops  this 
year,  nor  the  adequate  handling  of  coal  in  the  past. 
Large  salaries  need  not  be  paid  men  in  the  employ  of 
this  department  of  the  goveimment,  since  the  government 
obtains  able  men  for  its  scientific  bureau  at  moderate 
salaries.  Let  the  commission  men  whom  this  plan 
would  throw  out  of  business  get  into  the  government  em¬ 
ploy  in  the  same  work,  or  get  into  some  business  where 
the  man  with  whom  they  deal  does  not  have  to  give  his 
life  blood  to  pay  for  the  luxuries  of  the  commission  man. 
GOVERNMENT  BENEFITS.— It  would  be  just  as 
easy  for  our  government  to  manage  the  marketing  of 
our  crops  as  to  manage  the  post  offices,  the  navy,  or 
any  other  department  of  the  nation.  All  other  indus¬ 
tries  seek  government  benefit;  why  not  the  farming  in¬ 
dustry?  The  sugar  companies  have  the  tariff,  and  the 
banker  has  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank.  And  the  farmer 
has  the  echoes  from  Washington  as  to  what  somebody 
is  going  to  do  for  him  some  day.  But  a  new  day  is 
dawning.  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  to  wonder  at  the 
portent  of  the  sudden  interest  in  the  farmer  in  Con¬ 
gress?  As  the  advertisement  has  it,  there’s  a  reason. 
Government  marketing  of  crops  would  eliminate  crop 
gambling;  end  the  wasting  of  crops,  as,  for  examnle. 
the  thousands  of  acres  of  unharvested  potatoes  this 
year.;  it.  would  do  away  with  the  speculators ;  it  would 
feed  the  hungry;  it  would  prevent  the  criminality  of  the 
undernourished  ;  every  child  could  be  sure  of  a  square 
meal,  and  none  sent  to  school  without  breakfast,  as  hap¬ 
pens  in  all  the  big  cities  today;  the  price  would  be 
stable,  so  that  the  farmer  would  not  be  forced  into  a 
disheartening  gamble  as  at  present,  when  everything, 
from  the  commission  man  to  the  wTeather,  may  be  against 
him. 
CROP  INSURANCE. — And  speaking  of  the  weather, 
one  of  the  greatest  things  the  government  would  do  for 
the  prosperity  of  the  whole  country  would  be  to  offer 
crop  insurance  to  every  farmer  who  would  promise  to 
follow  the  advice  of  government  agents.  That,  at  once, 
would  rob  farming  of  its  terrors.  With  a  crop  or  with¬ 
out,  the  farmer  could  look  the  world  in  the  face  and  be 
sure  that  his  children  would  have  shoes  to  wear.  There 
is  no  other  industry  in  the  world  where  a  man’s  faithful 
work  may  count  for  nothing  in  the  end.  People  who 
have  never  lived  on  a  farm  cannot  conceive  the  torture 
of  seeing  the  children  go  threadbare  after  a  year’s  con¬ 
stant,  never-ceasing  labor.  The  government  is  at  pres¬ 
ent  committing  a  crime  not  only  against  the  poor  of  the 
cities,  but  against  the  faithful  “man  with  the  hoe,”  the 
woman  of  the  fiery  cook  stove,  and  the  “choring”  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  farm.  I  believe  that  it  is  only  because  the 
eyes  of  our  nation  have  not  been  opened  to  the  enormity 
of  this  injustice  that  conditions  arc  still  permitted  to 
slant  back  the  brow  of  the  “peasant  class”  of  America. 
Forty  per  cent  of  the  population  of  this  country  live  on 
farms.  Their  taxes  help  support  this  government. 
What  do  they  get  in  return  ? 
THE  DARK  AGES. — The  day  will  come  when  the 
world  will  look  back  on  the  period  when  our  government 
failed  to  distribute  the  food  of  the  nation  as  we  look 
back  on  the  dark  ages.  Think  of  the  bungling  manner 
in  which  our  governing  body  has  handled  the  sugar  situ¬ 
ation?  Not  enough  interest  was  aroused  in  Congress  by 
the  staggering  rise  in  price  even  to  appropriate  a  few 
million  dollars  for  an  investigation  that  would  result 
in  raising  the  price  of  whitewash  to  that  of  sugar.  No  ; 
this  national  food  problem  remains  unrecognized  as 
such  except  by  the  women’s  housekeeping  clubs,  which 
attempted  to  boycott  the  sugar  manufacturers.  We  need 
not  exclaim  over  the  Chinese  brigands  while  we  have 
such  a  thing  as  the  sugar  hold-up,  and  no  weapon 
against  it  except  the  puny  boycott  of  a  few  conscien¬ 
tious  women.  We  should  all  deprive  ourselves  of  sugar 
and  let  the  government  slumber  on  in  the  security  of  a 
dream  that  the  food  problem  of  the  nation  is  nof  a  gov¬ 
ernmental  matter.  In  commenting  on  a  passing  event, 
the  New  Haven  Journal-Courier  says:  “It  is  no  more 
the  business  of  government  to  direct  or  indicate  the  con¬ 
venience  and  expediency  of  citizen  conduct  within  the 
limits  of  the  common  law  than  it  is  the  business  of  gov¬ 
ernment  to  dictate  the  price  of  eggs.”  Ah,  but  there  is 
just  where  you  are  mistaken,  dear  Journal-Courier. 
Nothing  is  more  vitally  the  business  of  the  government 
than  the  dictation  of  the  price  of  eggs.  Only,  the  gov¬ 
ernment  is  not  yet  awake  to  that  fact.  But  the  time  is 
ripe  for  someone  to  set  off  a  giant  firecracker  under  the 
window  of  the  slumbering  nation,  and  may  it  be  the 
boom  of  peaceful  progress  which  will  fall  on  the  ears, 
and  not  the  explosion  of  red  revolution  caused  by  long 
injustice  and  blindness  toward  both  city  and  country. 
Idaho.  MRS.  ANNIE  PIKE  GREENWOOD. 
Hen  Thief  Gets  Six  Months 
The  following  clipping  from  today’s  local  paper  is 
largely  self-explanatory.  As  soon  as  sentence  was 
passed  one  of  the  directors  whispered  to  me,  “Miss 
Hill  must  have  a  substantial  reward,”  although  not  a 
member  of  our  poultry  association,  which  offers  a  re¬ 
ward  of  $100  for  evidence  leading  to  the  conviction  of 
a  person  stealing  poultry  from  members. 
“East  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  Sept.  4. — Six  months  in 
the  House  of  Correction,  the  maximum  sentence  allowed, 
was  imposed  on  John  Buiezky,  29,  of  East  street,  this 
town,  in  the  District  court,  Brocton,  this  forenoon 
when  he  pleaded  guilty  to  larceny  of  hens,  the  property 
of  Miss  Anna  Hill,  West  street.  He  appealed  and 
provided  surety. 
“In  giving  sentence  Judge  King  suggested  to  the  of¬ 
ficers  of  the  Plymouth  County  Poultry  Association, 
which  prosecuted,  that  they  petition  the  State  Legisla¬ 
ture  for  a  higher  maximum  sentence  for  the  offense. 
Attorney  A.  F.  Baker,  for  the  association,  reported 
losses  through  hen  thefts  this  year,  up  to  Sept.  1,  totalled 
about  $8,000. 
“About  1:30  Monday  morning  Miss  Hill  heard  a  dis¬ 
turbance  in  her  yard  and  rushed  down  stairs  in  time  to 
see  a  buggy  being  driven  off  with  the  squawking  hens. 
On  investigation  she  found  the  hen  coop  empty.  At 
daylight  she  reported  to  Chief  Everett  F.  Russell,  who 
was  able  to  trace  the  buggy  tracks  to  the  house  of 
Buiezky  on  East  street. 
“Miss  Hill  accompanied  him  to  the  Buiezky  place  and 
"hile  Chief  Russell  interviewed  the  family  at  the  front 
of  the  house,  Miss  Hill  went  around  back  to  the  hen- 
yard  and  was  able  to  pick  out  her  own  flock.  Chief 
Russell  placed  Buiezky  under  arrest  and  compelled  him 
to  bag  the  hens  and  return  them  to  the  owner. 
“Chief  Russell  reported  the  capture  to  E.  H.  Castle 
of  the  Plymouth  County  Poultry  Association.” 
The  chief  facts  with  regard  to  the  Plymouth  County 
I  oul try  Association  are  the  following :  A  few  men  in 
the  vicinity  worst  afflicted  with  thieves  last  year  formed 
an  association  for  protection  primarily  and  invited 
more  of  us  to  join.  The  fee  was  $5,  the  constitution 
mighty  brief  but  comprehensive.  Over  one  hundred 
joined. 
1  he  association  is  run  by  its  directors,  since  it  is 
rather  risky  business  to  lay  plans  and  suspicions  of 
certain  persons  as  the  possible  evil  doers  before  a  large 
audience.  At  once  the  officers  got  in  touch  with  the 
State  constabulary  and  clung  on  tight  when  they  did 
touch  them.  .  Members  took  their  own  cars  and  rode 
for  hours  with  the  State  police,  holding  up  autos  on 
both  primary  and  back  roads,  under  the  pleasing  fic¬ 
tion  of  the  auto  registration  laws,  but  with  no  results 
in  chickens  or  feathers.  Some  one  in  each  town  had  a 
long  heart  to  heart  talk  with  the  police  chief,  and  as¬ 
sured  him  of  our  cordial  support  and  all  the  backing 
that  we  could  give  him.  In  return  we  almost  invariably 
received  a  mass  of  information  with  regard  to  the 
“centers  of  infection”  in  our  town  which  was  duly  re¬ 
ported  to  our  directors,  so  that  they  knew  pretty  well 
the  local  offenders,  or  those  likely  to  be  so.  When  needed 
we  promised  to  provide  lawyer  to  conduct  any  cases  re¬ 
quiring  it. 
Thus  it  happened  that  when  Chief  Russell  got  his 
man  Tuesday  morning  the  first  thing  lie  did  was  to  ap¬ 
pear  at  my  house  and  with  a  grin  inquired  “What  we 
proposed  to  do  about  it  in  the  way  of  help.”  I  at  once 
called  up  the  directors  and  they  planned  the  defense 
Attorney  A.  F.  Baker,  who  has  a  fine  farm  and  is  a 
member  of  our  co-operative  association,  a  former  dis¬ 
trict  attorney  and  one  of  our  best  known  lawyers  ap¬ 
peared  to  represent  us.  and  said  so  at  the  outset  of  his 
talk.  The  prisoner  pleaded  guilty  and  would  usually 
have  received  a  much  lighter  sentence,  but  the  plain 
statement  of  our  losses  and  the  results  of  thieving  to 
the  county  in  general  were  sufficiently  convincing  to 
have  the  judge  balance  the  rights  of  all  with  the  best  in¬ 
terest  of  the  prisoner,  for  the  sentence  was  not  passed 
before  the  prisoner’s  rights  were  fully  considered 
Our  experience  shows  that  the  path  of  wisdom  lies 
in  forming  a  good  association  with  sufficient  funds  to 
work  with,  to  cultivate  the  good  will  of  the  local  police, 
and  to  back  them  fully  ;  to  present  our  side  of  the  case 
in  the  proper  manner  and  by  able  talent  to  the  judge 
before  sentence  is  passed,  and  then  to  see  that  the  news 
is  in  all  of  the  local  papers.  But  eventually  we  hope 
to  locate  “the  fence.”  e.  ir.  castie. 
Plymouth  Co.,  Mass.,  Poultry  Association. 
