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The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  TAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  lor  Country  anil  Suburban  Homes 
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Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
MR.  DEVENDORF’S  article  on  the  new  school 
law  (next  page)  is  the  best  analysis  of  that 
measure  we  have  seen.  lie  shows  clearly  that  the 
full  intent  of  the  framers  of  the  bill  is  to  bring  about 
consolidation  whenever  possible.  The  entire  frame¬ 
work  of  the  bill  is  designed  for  that  purpose.  On 
page  97(1  we  printed  the  following,  taken  from  the 
Rochester  Herald.  It  is  reprinted  now  to  show,  still 
further,  just  what  the  backers  of  this  bill  have  in 
mind.  Members  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one 
went  to  the  Governor  and  asked  him  to  favor  the 
bill: 
1’rof.  George  A.  Works,  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Twenty-one,  and  other  speakers  argued  that  a  unifi¬ 
cation  of  the  taxation  for  school  purposes  would  bring 
about  consolidation  of  schools  without  compulsion.  They 
advocated  compulsory  taxation  unification,  but  were  op¬ 
posed  to  compulsory  consolidation. 
The  Governor  said  he  did  not  see  how  they  could  get 
one  without  the  other,  and  he  told  them  he  wanted  to 
see  the  one-room  school  wiped  out.  The  reply  of  the 
committee  members  to  this  was  that  one,  taxation 
would  undoubtedly  bring  the  other. 
No  one  has  ever  repudiated  this  report.  We  think 
Governor  Smith  sized  up  the  situation  exactly.  The 
Committee  of  Twenty-one  would  occupy  a  better  po¬ 
sition  if,  instead  of  trying  to  hide  behind  a  smoke 
screen  of  words,  its  members  had  come  out  openly 
and  said,  ''This  is  a  consolidation  measure,  and  ice 
can  argue  in  favor  of  it.”  No  one  is  deceived  by 
their  dodging  and  evasion  of  the  issue.  Mr.  Deven- 
dorf's  suggestion  of  a  meeting  in  every  school  dis¬ 
trict  is  great.  No  time  is  to  be  lost.  In  order  to  get 
it  started  will  you  get  going  in  your  district  and 
organize  such  a  meeting?  Let  us  know  at  once  what 
you  can  do.  We  must,  all  of  us,  prepare  to  do  volun¬ 
teer  work  in  this  case. 
* 
E  think  the  introduction  of  the  Cortland  apple 
is  a  great  event  in  the  history  of  New  York 
fruit  growing.  It  is  no  chance  seedling,  like  Baldwin 
or  Spy,  but  the  result  of  a  deliberate  attempt  to  re¬ 
produce  the  fine  qualities  of  McIntosh,  with  the  ad¬ 
dition  of  virtues  which  that  fine  variety  lacks.  The 
result  is  a  large,  finely  colored  apple,  retaining  much 
of  the  McIntosh  flavor,  fully  a  month  later,  a  good 
keeper,  and  with  the  -ability  to  hang  to  the  tree. 
The  tendency  of  McIntosh  to  fall  from  the  tree  is 
quite  a  serious  defect.  Baldwin  has  long  been 
known  as  the  standard  red  apple  for  this  section,  but 
of  late  years  it  has  been  failing.  The  greatest  need 
of  the  orchardist  has  been  some  good  substitute  for 
this  old-time  favorite.  When  Cortland  was  first 
fruited  it  was  not  considered  a  Baldwin  substitute, 
since  it  ripened  too  early.  With  each  year  of  fruit¬ 
ing,  however,  it  becomes  more  evident  that  Cortland 
may  l>o  considered  such  a  substitute  and,  all  things 
considered,  probably  the  best  one  that  has  yet  ap- 
pcared.  We  do  not  want  to  start  any  unhealthy 
“boom”  for  Cortland,  or  to  encourage  our  readers  to 
pay  extravagant  prices  for  the  trees,  but  it  seems  to 
us  the  most  promising  variety  for  this  section  that 
has  been  introduced  for  years. 
* 
HENEVER  the  apple  comes  up  for  discussion 
we  are  amazed  at  its  wide  range  of  use.  Like 
milk,  the  apple  is  no  longer  considered  as  a  mere 
luxury;  it  is  a  medicated  food.  It  substitutes  in 
every  requirement  of  life  from  pill  to  polisher.  “An 
apple  a  day  keeps  the  doctor  away”;  that  is,  if  you 
will  eat  the  skin  of  the  apple  along  with  the  pulp. 
Where  can  you  find  a  more  agreeaWe  form  of  medi¬ 
cal  acids  and  iron  than  may  be  found  in  a  good 
apple?  Everyone  of  normal  mind  will  understand 
the  value  of  the  apple  as  a  pill,  hut  not  all  know  it 
as  a  polisher.  It  will  put  bloom  and  beauty  on  the 
skin.  What  society  woman  could  dream  of  any 
more  satisfying  social  victory  than  to  he  known  as  a 
genuine  apple-faced  beauty?  She  may  reach  such  a 
condition  if  nature  has  given  her  a  face  capable  of 
taking  on  a  polish  by  eating  a  bowl  of  baked  apple 
and  milk  twice  a  day !  And  as  a  combined  tooth¬ 
paste  and  brush  the  apple  has  few  equals.  Probably 
the  greatest  enemy  of  our  teeth  today  is  pyorrhoea, 
the  disease  which  has  destroyed  so  many  teith  with 
its  bacteria,  and  killed  off  so  many  spellers  with  its 
combination  of  letters.  The  acids  in  a  sour  apple 
will  weaken  or  destroy  these  bacteria.  Thus  weak 
vinegar  is  a  good  mouth  wash,  while  the  act  of  eat¬ 
ing  a  mellow  sour  apple  will  brush  the  teeth  and  put 
the  acid  where  it  is  most  needed.  In  all  seriousness, 
the  act  of  eating  two  good,  mellow  apples  each  day 
will  prove  the  most  useful  exercise  you  can  take  up. 
* 
T  has  been  pointed  out  as  a  difference  between 
“labor”  and  agricultural  financing  that  when 
farmers  want  financial  help  they  apply  to  the  gov¬ 
ernment;  when  organized  labor  needs  capital  the 
members  do  it  themselves.  Something  like  a  dozen 
banks,  with  capital  exceeding  $30,000,000,  have  al¬ 
ready  been  organized  or  secured  by  labor  organiza¬ 
tions.  In  most  cases  old-established  institutions 
were  secured  by  obtaining  control  of  a  majority  of 
the  stock.  The  funds  used  for  this  purpose  repre¬ 
sent  dues  and  assessments  paid  by  members  of  local 
organizations  and  accumulated  as  surplus.  It.  has 
been  stated  that  this  great  saving  has  been  made 
largely  possible  by  Prohibition,  since  most  people 
agree  that  dues  and  debts  are  easier  to  collect  than 
when  the  open  saloon  flourished.  Be  that  as  it  may. 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  “labor”  has  learned  how 
to  finance  its  own  affairs  without  calling  upon  the 
government  for  direct  aid.  The  question  now  arises, 
why  cannot  farmers  as  a  class  do  much  the  same 
thing?  So  far  as  the  North  Atlantic  slope  is  con¬ 
cerned,  there  is  not  a  rural  county  wherein  the 
farmers  cannot  raise  cash  and  good  collateral  enough 
to  finance  every  needed  farm  enterprise  twice  over. 
At  present  a  good  share  of  this  capital  is  invested  in 
outside  enterprises  which  cause  more  or  less  direct 
injury  or  competition  to  farmers.  A  large  share  of 
the  money  is  put  into  foolish  or  gambling  chances, 
many  of  them  not  only  useless  but  immoral.  Now  if 
this  money,  or  part  of  it,  could  be  used  to  establish 
farm  banks,  somewhat  after  the  plan  of  the  new 
labor  banks,  our  farmers  would  be  put  in  a  far  bet¬ 
ter  position.  Labor  is  showing  the  way  to  agricul¬ 
ture  in  this  matter.  It  is  true  that  the  politicians 
and  the  big  financial  interests  would  ridicule  and  at¬ 
tack  such  a  proposition.  The  bankers  want  the  usual 
money-changer’s  profit  on  all  farm  trade,  while  the 
politicians  want  to  make  the  farmer  believe  that  his 
help  must  come  from  the  “government” — which  they 
will  control.  Now  the  farmers  collectively  have  all 
the  money  needed  to  finance  their  own  business ; 
in  other  words,  do  it  themselves.  Why  do  the  great 
farm  organizations  not  stop  barking  at  the  moon  and 
bite  right  into  the  money  question? 
* 
This  practice  of  killing  animals  -and  birds  in  order 
that  women  can  deck  themselves  out  uselessly  seems 
about  as  hellish  a  thing  as  anything  on  earth. 
HE'SE  remarks  are  attributed  to  Dr.  William 
Stillman  before  the  World  Humane  Conference. 
This  strong  language  was  applauded,  but  we  venture 
to  say  it  will  not  go  far  with  most  women  until  some 
substitute  for  furs  is  made  fashionable.  A  few 
years  ago  Mr.  Edward  Bok  started  a  great  crusade 
of  this  sort.  Mr.  Bok  is  noted  as  a  man  of  power 
and  persistence,  but  he  had  to  acknowledge  that  the 
women  would  not  listen  to  him  so  long  as  fashion 
decreed  that  bird  ornaments  are  to  be  worn.  Tirades 
against  the  practice,  and  ordinary  appeals  to  human¬ 
ity  will  not  avail.  Most  women  will  listen  atten¬ 
tively,  agree,  and  then  continue  to  wear  furs  and 
bird  plumage,  because  others  do.  Hindenburg  lost 
the  great  war  by  trying  to  smash  through.  Foeh 
won  it  by  side-stepping  and  getting  into  the  Ger¬ 
man  imagination.  Dr.  William  Stillman  might  learn 
a  lesson  from  that.  There  are  “fabric  furs”  so  beau¬ 
tifully  made  that  they  seem  superior  to  many  nat¬ 
ural  skins.  Make  them  fashionable!  Get  society 
women  to  wear  them.  As  for  feathers,  the  finest 
possible  array  can  be  found  right  in  the  farmyard. 
From  White  and  Brown  Leghorns,  through  R.  I. 
Red,  Plymouth  Rock,  the  various  Buff  breeds  to 
Langshans  and  Black  Jersey  Giants,  every  conceiv¬ 
able  shade  or  tint  can  be  found.  Is  it  not  possible 
to  make  a  society  woman  feel  that  the  tail  feathers 
of  a  turkey  or  a  gorgeous  rooster  are  just  as  roman¬ 
tic  and  beautiful  as  some  murdered  song  bird?  The 
thing  is  worth  trying.  Once  adopted  it  might  put 
the  World  Humane  Society  partly  out  of  business, 
but  what  a  boom  it  would  make  for  the  American 
hen !  Here  we  have  a  chance  for  a  few  “society 
queens”  to  lead  the  way  to  practical  things.  Let 
them  make  hen  feathers  fashionable  as  ornaments! 
November  3,  1923 
WE  have  seen  a  letter  written  by  Secretary 
Hoover  to  President  Harding  last  Spring,  in 
•which  this  great  question  of  public  expenses  is  dis¬ 
cussed.  President  Harding  called  for  the  facts,  and 
Mr.  Hoover  shows  that  the  public  construction  pro¬ 
gram  is  interfering  with  business.  Nation,  State, 
county  and  community  are  all  rushing  to  construct 
everything,  from  a  government  palace  down  through 
roads  and  bridges  to  a  henhouse  at  some  public  insti¬ 
tution.  Some  of  these  are  needed ;  others  might 
wait  for  years  without  injury  to  anyone.  Many  of 
these  enterprises  are  being  floated  through  the  sale 
of  bonds,  many  of  them  sold  at  a  discount  to  banks 
and  capitalists.  These  bonds  are,  for  the  most  part, 
exempt  from  taxation.  The  result  is  that  great  sums 
of  money  are  taken  from  enterprises  which  pay  a 
share  of  the  income  tax  and  put  into  securities 
which  enable  the  owners  to  evade  their  just  share  of 
government  support.  Not  only  this,  but  the  banks 
naturally  prefer  this  form  of  investment,  and  have 
less  money  to  loan  on  private  security.  The  con¬ 
tractors  who  are  rushing  these  great  construction 
programs  offer  extravagant  labor  prices,  and  thus 
compete  with  farming  and  other  lines  of  business 
on  unfair  terms.  It  is  true  that  the  money  from 
these  great  construction  operations  is  distributed 
through  city  and  town,  but  it  has  developed  habits 
of  extravagance,  and  is  today  the  most  serious 
menace  to  farming,  at  least  in  the  Eastern  States. 
At  a  time  when  men  are  thrown  out  of  employment 
such  building  would  he  a  godsend  to  the  nation,  but 
now  -it  is  quite  the  reverse,  particularly  to  farmers 
and  country  people.  This  great  construction  pro¬ 
gram  should  be  called  off  until  the  problem  of  farm 
labor  can  be  adjusted.  This  enters  into  the  discus¬ 
sion  of  the  proposed  school  law.  If  that  law  should 
he  enforced,  it  will  mean  the  immediate  demand  for 
millions  of  school  building  construction,  and  the 
rural  people  simply  c-annot  stand  it  at  this  time. 
* 
lVfOW  comes  the  season  for  “lighting  the  hens,”  or 
IN  turning  a  part  of  the  night  into  day — for  the 
feathered  queens.  The  object  is  not  to  lighten  the 
hen’s  labor,  but  to  increase  it.  The  longer  day  gives 
her  a  shorter  night,  and  thus  less  danger  of  having 
an  empty  stomach — if  a  hen  may  be  said  to  have  a 
stomach.  At  any  rate,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that 
a  flock  of  healthy  hens,  in  a  comfortable  house,  will 
lay  more  eggs  during  the  Winter  season  if  several 
hours  of  artificial  light  can  be  added  to  natural  day¬ 
light.  Of  course  the  hens  eat  more,  but  they  pay  for 
the  extra  feed.  All  agree  that  the  hen  will  crowd 
more  of  her  total  egg  yield  into  the  naturally  dark 
days  if  the  house  is  kept  lighted.  The  wonder  is 
that  the  plan  was  not  worked  out  years  ago.  We 
once  worked  for  a  farmer  who  got  his  hired  help  out 
of  bed  before  daylight.  One  man  from  the  north  of 
Europe  expressed  his  sentiments  as  follows : 
“He  ban  one  fine  country  where  they  bounce  a 
man  out  in  the  night  to  eat.” 
And,  like  the  hens,  he  responded  with  extra  work. 
Brevities 
How  many  young  men  will  run  after  duty  as  they  will 
after  beauty? 
There  seem  to  be  people  who  will  pay  for  gasoline 
before  they  will  pay  for  groceries. 
What  do  you  think  of  the  following  named  firm’  Best 
&  Wurst,  grocers!  They  probably  handle  everything 
from  oleo  to  fine  butter ! 
What  is  known  as  “Ford’s  Fertilizer”  is  sulphate  of 
ammonia.  This  is  an  acid  chemical  supplying  ammonia 
often  used  as  a  substitute  for  nitrate  of  soda. 
Someone  writes  us  a  good  letter  in  which  he  says  we 
should  count  up  our  blessings.  By  a  slip  of  the  pen  he 
gets  it  “crank  up” — which  we  think  is  good  advice. 
Remember  that  bisulphide  of  carbon  is  the  chemical 
used  for  killing  bean  weevils  or  “bugs” !  Put  the  beans 
in  an  airtight  box,  put  the  chemical  on  top,  cover  it 
over,  and  the  fumes  will  do  the  rest. 
Those  who  must  depend  partly  on  dry  corn  fodder 
for  feeding  horses  and  other  stock  this  Winter  will  do 
well  to  clean  the  stalks  up  first  and  hold  the  hay  for 
later  feeding. 
In  storing  potatoes  leave- a  chance  for  the  air  to  cir¬ 
culate  up  through  the  pile.  This  is  often  done  by  put¬ 
ting  strawberry  crates  here  and  there,  one  on  top  of  an¬ 
other.  up  through.  This  gives  good  ventilation  and  will 
usually  prevent  “sweating.” 
Out  in  California  a  tourist  saw  in  advance  a  car 
bearing  a  sign  like  this:  “This  car  is  driven  by  the 
blind  man.  Naturally  one  would  be  very  careful 
about  disturbing  such  a  driver,  until  he  found  that  the 
man  was  agent  for  some  new  brand  of  window  blinds ! 
A  famous  Maryland  nursery  and  florist  firm  gives  an 
annual  Dahlia  show  each  season  when  these  flowers  are 
at  their  best.  This  year  70.000  persons  visited  the 
show  during  one  week,  on  Sunday  the  attendance  being 
28.000,  while  7,000  autos  were  parked  on  the  grounds. 
A  convincing  tribute  to  a  beautiful  flower. 
The  scientists  formerly  claimed  that  the  reason  why 
fruit  trees  usually  grew  poorly  in  sod  is  because  the 
grass  robs  them  of  moisture.  Now  they  say  the  grass 
takes  up  the  nitrates  as  formed  and  thus  robs  the  trees 
of  available  plant  food.  This  may  account  for  the  great 
results  usually  obtained  when  nitrate  of  soda  is  used  in 
a  sod  orchard. 
