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The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
December  8,  1923 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  lor  Country  and  Suburban  lloinea 
Established  1SH0 
I’nblbhrd  nrrkly  by  the*  Rural  Ptiblinblng  Company,  8.78  Wrat  SOtb  Street,  New  Vorb 
Herbert  W.  Colling  wood,  President  and  Editor. 
JOHN  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
Wm.  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Mbs.  E.  T.  Hoyle,  Associate  Editor. 
L.  H.  Murphy,  Circulation  Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION  :  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
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“A  SQUARE  DEAL” 
We  believe  that  every  advertisement  in  this  paper  is  hacked  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  advertisers  or  not.  We  willingly  use  our  good 
offices  to  this  end,  but  such  cases  should  not  be  confused  with  dishonest 
transactions.  We  protect  subscriber  against  rogues,  but  we  will  not  be 
responsible  for  the  debts  of  honest  bankrupts  sanctioned  bv  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  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
ONE  of  the  most  sensible  letters  from  a  public 
man  that  we  have  seen  was  written  by  Presi¬ 
dent  Coolidge  to  the  National  Grange  at  its  session 
in  Pittsburgh.  Among  other  things  the  President 
said : 
It  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  reasons  why  the 
Grange  has  continued  to  flourish  is  that  it  has  kept  con¬ 
stantly  in  mind  the  thought  of  (he  farm  as  a  home,  and 
is  represented  in  its  membership  by  the  various  mem¬ 
bers  of  that  home.  It  has  recognized  the  need  of  a 
home  life  and  a  wholesome  rural  life,  and  has 
never  failed  to  present  these  as  things  most  to  be  de¬ 
sired.  At  the  same  time  it.  has  recognized  the  fact 
that  a  satisfactory  home  life  and  rural  life  must  be 
based  upon  reasonable  reward  for  labor  on  the  farm. 
It  is  true  that  the  Grange  has  kept  down  closer 
to  the  plain  farmers  than  most  other  farm  organiza¬ 
tions.  It  has  held  its  strength  remarkably  well,  and 
it  is  probable  that  today  a  fair  referendum  among 
members  of  Subordinate  Granges  would  give  the 
fairest  idea  of  true  farm  sentiment.  The  Grange 
believes  in  country  life,  country  culture  and  country 
control  of  country  activities. 
* 
UITE  a  number  of  our  readers  have  had  trouble 
from  gas  fumes  and  dust  driven  off  from  fac¬ 
tories.  They  were  market  gardeners  or  fruit  grow¬ 
ers.  and  the  chemical  wastes  from  factories  injured 
or  ruined  their  crops.  In  California  a  fruit  orchard 
was  nearly  ruined  by  dust  from  a  concrete  factory. 
The  manufacturers  were  compelled  to  pay  damages 
and  to  provide  traps  for  shutting  off  and  holding  the 
dust.  Then  they  found  that  this  dust  contained 
potash.  This  discovery  led  to  a  new  use  of  this 
waste  dust.  It  became  a  valuable  commercial  pro¬ 
duct.  These  factory  wastes  represent  an  unending 
battle  on  the  part  of  gardeners  who  live  near  large 
factories.  They  are  usually  able  to  obtain  dam¬ 
ages.  A  case  recently  tried  in  Pittsburgh  gives  a 
new  line  on  the  matter.  A  nursery  firm  located  near 
a  large  steel  plant  found  that  soot,  ashes  and  fumes 
from  the  factory  chimney  injured  or  ruined  their 
nursery  stock.  They  asked  for  an  injunction  to 
prevent  this  nuisance.  The  court  refused  to  grant 
it.  chiefly  on  the  ground  that  the  chief  industry  of 
Pittsburgh  depends  on  the  combustion  of  bituminous 
coal.  In  effect  the  court  says  that  other  industries, 
like  farming  or  fruit  growing,  are  of  lesser  import¬ 
ance  than  steel  making,  and  must  give  way  if  in¬ 
jured  by  contact.  The  nurseryman  can  obtain  dam¬ 
ages  for  loss  which  he  can  prove,  and  can  compel 
the  factory  to  use  reasonable  care,  but  evidently  he 
cannot  get  an  injunction  to  compel  a  more  import¬ 
ant  industry  to  stop  operating. 
MANY  of  us  can  remember  the  bitter  controversy 
which  arose  when  the  egg-laying  contests  were 
first  started.  Most  of  the  poultry  papers,  controlled 
by  the  fanciers,  objected  to  these  contests,  although 
they  did  not  make  their  reasons  very  clear.  They 
seemed  to  think  that  as  a  result  of  official  trap- 
nest  records  a  new  type  of  hen  would  be  developed. 
They  said  the  so-called  egg-laying  type  would  be  a 
mongrel  or  a  freak,  since  it  would  not  score  high  in 
the  standard  scale  of  points.  After  12  or  more 
years  of  these  contests  we  may  fairly  ask  what  has 
happened  in  this  respect.  Most  of  the  opposition  to 
the  contests  seems  to  have  died  out,  and  it  seems 
to  be  true  that  two  types  of  most  of  the  birds  have 
been  developed.  The  showroom  still  calls  for  beauty 
and  standard  shape  as  the  first  qualification.  The 
practical  egg  producer  wants  a  beautiful  bird,  but 
in  producing  business-like  layers  he  has  in  mind 
egg-laying  pedigree  and  the  shape  of  the  bird.  When 
flocks  are  culled  to  throw  out  the  drones,  the  culler 
pays  little  attention  to  the  standard  of  excellence. 
The  appearance  of  eye  and  head,  the  shape  of  the 
body  and  the  arrangement  of  the  bones  largely  de¬ 
termine  his  work.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that 
two  types  of  most  breeds  are  being  developed — one 
for  the  show  ring,  another  for  practical  egg  produc¬ 
tion.  There  are  some  cases  where  a  200-egg  hen 
will  score  high  by  the  standard,  or  where  a  high- 
scoring  bird  will  make  a  very  high  record,  but  as  a 
rule  we  think  the  types  are  quite  clearly  separated 
in  that  regard.  It  would  help  to  have  the  records  at 
the  egg-laying  contests  overhauled  to  show  whether 
the  best  layers  rank  as  score-card  birds! 
* 
About  10  years  ago,  before  my  adventure  in  agricul¬ 
ture,  I  was  quite  disgusted  by  the  apparent  pessimism 
of  The  Rural  New-Yorker  as  to  “back-to-landing,”  but 
it  was  my  salvation.  It’s  a  fine  life,  if  you  are  brought 
up  to  it,  but  a  hard  row  to  hoe  for  the  average  city 
man,  especially  after  he  is  35  and  raised  in  the  city. 
And  to  picture  ease  and  riches  to  old  folks,  and  fail¬ 
ures  in  other  lines,  is  a  crime.  I  have  often  wanted  to 
thank  you  and  commend  your  conservative  advice. 
Pennsylvania.  h.  b.  hugo. 
E  sometimes  hear  from  people  who  are  quite 
indignant  because  ’We  refused  to  be  rushed 
into  what  we  know  is  a  false  position  on  this  back- 
to-the-landing  business.  We  have,  personally,  gone 
back-to-the-land  at  three  different  times,  and  we 
think  we  know  all  qjbout  it  from  the  ground  up. 
We  were  nearly  ground  up  twice.  As  a  theory 
there  is  nothing  finer  than  this  idea  that  a  man  can 
study  agriculture  and  then,  with  limited  capital  and 
a  family  untrained  to  country  life,  go  out  and  make 
an  old  farm  yield  a  profit.  It  is  a  fine  theory,  but 
as  a  fact  it  is  a  frost.  We  know  people  who,  after  a 
hard  struggle,  have  made  a  living  and  something 
more,  but  they  are  unusual.  If  a  man  has  sufficient 
capital,  an  interested  and  courageous  family,  and 
is  so  thoroughly  disgusted  with  city  life  that  he  will 
never  again  long  for  it,  this  back-to-the-landing  has 
possibilities,  but  the  truth  is  that  the  country  is  not 
like  a  great  benevolent  mother,  welcoming  the  fail¬ 
ures,  the  discontented  and  the  broken,  and  assuring 
them  living  and  happiness  and  fortune.  On  the 
other  hand,,  you  will  find  the  country  more  like  some 
inhospitable  beast,  compelling  the  stranger  to  fight 
against  frost  and  flood  and  blight  and  insect,  or 
flood  or  drought.  It  takes  a  strong  man  and  a 
strong  woman  to  go  back  to  the  land  successfully. 
They  must  be  pioneers  as  truly  as  our  ancestors 
were  when  they  went  out  into  the  forest  with  ax 
and  wife  and  gun.  We  know  something  of  the  truth 
about  this  business,  and  we  try  to  tell  it. 
* 
THERE  are  many  fine  things  connected  with  the 
business  of  publishing  The  R.  N.-Y.  Probably 
there  is  no  paper  in  the  country  which  has  gathered 
about  it  a  group  of  readers  who  seem  more  like  a 
great  family.  The  best  part  of  it  all  is  the  fact 
that  among  this  great  family  are  hundreds  of  men 
70  years  or  older  who  still  retain  the  spirit  and 
faith  of  youth.  We  have  an  unusual  number  of 
such  people.  They  can  remember  the  Civil  War — 
many  were  in  the  army.  “Father  used  to  take  it,” 
is  what  they  say  of  The  It.  N..-Y.  When  they  made 
homes  of  their  own  the  paper  became  a  household 
fixture,  and  their  children  and  grandchildren  have 
been  brought  up  to  believe  that  they  can  hardly 
keep  house  without  The  R.  N.-Y.  It  is  impossible 
for  us  to  tell  how  this  inherited  loyalty  for  the 
paper  has  helped  us.  The  business  advantage  has 
been  and  is  of  immense  value,  and  the  thought  of 
this  confident  faith  which  these  kindly  and  earnest 
people  have  in  the  paper  has  given  us  a  sense  of 
responsibility  which  could  hardly  come  in  any  other 
way.  These  men  and  women  of  70  are  not  old. 
Some  years  ago  Dr.  Wm.  Osier  made  the  laughing 
remark  that  no  initiative  could  be  expected  from 
men  over  40,  and  that  older  men  might  well  be 
chloroformed.  Osier  said  later  that  he  got  more 
reputation  from  that  thoughtless  remark  than  from 
all  he  ever  said  in  earnest,  and  he  was  a  very  wise 
man !  He  explained  that  the  years  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it.  Some  happy  men  are  young  as  long 
as  they  live.  Even  though  the  family  Bible  should 
rate  them  as  100  years  old  they  never  reach  40. 
That  seems  to  be  the  type  of  elderly  men  who  have 
grown  along  with  us  and  with  The  It.  N.-Y.  We 
hope  they  may  be  with  us  for  25  years  to  come — 
“and  never  be  40.” 
* 
OUR  or  five  months  hence  we  shall  have  hurry 
calls  for  information  about  saving  fruit  trees 
that  were  girdled  by  mice.  In  case  of  a  snowy  Win¬ 
ter  there  will  be  great  trouble.  A  good  tree  saved  is 
worth  three  planted.  There  is  much  talk  about  tree 
protection,  mounding  and  other  plans  for  keeping 
the  mice  away.  Whether  you  use  them  or  not,  the 
following  plan  is  worth  while : 
Do  some  pruning,  a  few  cuts  to  a  tree  all  through 
the  orchards,  leaving  the  trimmings  on  the  ground ; 
if  branches  are  thrown  in  little  piles,  all  the  better. 
If  there  is  such  a  snowy  Winter  that  the  little  rodents 
^gfind  it  hard  to  get  food,  they  will  much  prefer  the  ten¬ 
der  top  branches  to  the  bark,  especially  of  large 
trees.  Ordinarily  the  mice  prefer  food  of  their  own 
choosing,  but  sometimes  they  have  to  eat  what  they 
can  get,  just  like  other  poor  folks,  and  to  provide 
something  better  than  what  they  can  otherwise  get  is 
insurance  for  us.  Several  years  ago  I  did  my  prun¬ 
ing  in  the  early  Winter,  and  the  mice — well  I  had 
’em,  and  you  ought  to  see  how  they  skinned  the  trim¬ 
mings  on  the  ground,  especially  when  they  were  in 
piles.  They  must  have  lived  in  those  piles.-  In  the 
Spring  when  there  was  a  great  wailing,  I  had  not  a  bit 
of  damage,  although  several  old  trees  of  my  neighbors 
were  partly  girdled.  F.  K.  j. 
We  have  had  much  the  same  experience.  We 
know  of  one  case  where  the  hired  man  did  some 
pruning  in  early  December  and  left  the  prunings  on 
the  ground.  The  boss  stopped  the  work  and  found 
fault  with  the  hired  man  for  doing  this  early  prun¬ 
ing.  In  the  Spring  the  rest  of  the  trees  were  badly 
girdled,  while  the  prunings  were  skinned  of  bark, 
but  not  a  tree  in  that  part  of  the  orchard  was 
touched.  Poisoned  wheat  is  recommended  as  a  sure 
cure  for  mice,  but  this  often  destroys  the  birds  and 
fowls.  The  pruning  method  costs  little,  but  may 
accomplish  much. 
* 
THE  three  pictures  on  page  1491  show  typical 
fruit  displays  at  the  great  fruit  show.  It  is 
difficult  if  not  impossible  to  illustrate  such  things 
in  plain  black  and  white,  for  the  brilliant  colors  of 
the  fruit  added  greatly  to  the  display.  Many  of 
these  exhibits  showed  genuine  artistic  skill.  The 
colors  were  grouped  beautifully,  and  from  the  dark¬ 
est  McIntosh  to  the  lighter-colored  varieties  every 
shade  except  the  lighter  blue  was  available.  New 
York  people  eat  with  their  eyes — no  doubt  about 
that. 
* 
Neither  you  nor  your  correspondent  “F”  was  fair  to 
the  proposed  bill  on  page  1342  of  your  October  27  issue. 
You  say,  “the  new  law  gives  power  to  close  3,600 
schools  for  one  year.”  The  exact  statement  of  the 
proposed  bill  in  Section  1288,  subdivision  No.  2,  is  as 
follows:  “When  the  average  daily  attendance  of  pupils 
at  a  school  in  a  school  district  is  eight  or  less,  except 
in  case  where  the  failure  of  attendance  is  caused  by  ex¬ 
treme  weather  conditions,  epidemic,  or  other  unavoid¬ 
able  cause,  the  community  board  may  on  petition  of  a 
majority  of  the  qualified  electors  of  such  district  by 
resolution  adopted  by  two-thirds  of  members  close  such 
a  school  for  a  period  not  exceeding  one  year.”  This 
you  see  clearly  leaves  the  power  to  determine  whether 
or  not  the  board  can  close  schools  in  the  hands  of  the 
people  in  that  district.  Won’t  you  give  me  and  other 
readers  of  your  magazine  an  explanation  of  your  last 
sentence  in  the  editorial,  namely,  “and  there  are  sev¬ 
eral  ways  under  this  law  by  which  consolidation  can 
be  forced  upon  the  people.”  george  a.  works. 
HE  explanation  of  this  is  that  our  correspond¬ 
ent  quoted  from  a  copy  of  the  bill  as  originally 
introduced.  He  did  not  have  a  copy  of  the  amended 
law.  On  page  1373  Mr.  Devendorf  made  this  clear 
as  follows: 
AGAINST  THE  SMALL  SCHOOL.— The  bill  ;<s  in¬ 
troduced  in  the  Legislature  contained  two  other  provis¬ 
ions  which  glaringly  discriminated  against  the  small 
school.  When  the  normal  average  daily  attendance  of 
pupils  in  a  school  falls  below  nine  the  community 
board,  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  could  close  the  school  for  a 
period  of  one  year  at  a  time.  The  Commissioner  of 
Education  was  to  be  granted  authority  to  withhold  pub¬ 
lic  money  on  account  of  schools  which  are  maintained 
with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  less  than  10  by 
the  ratio  which  the  average  daily  attendance  bears  to 
10.  These  two  provisions  were  withdrawn  as  soon  as 
unexpected  publicity  began  to  stir  up  a  tempest. 
The  other  explanation  which  Prof.  Works  asks  for 
is  clearly  stated  in  Mr.  Devendorf’s  article.  No  one 
seems  to  question  the  fact  that  the  original  bill 
aimed  at  consolidation.  We  do  not  see  how  the 
machinery  of  the  bill  could  function  unless  consoli¬ 
dation  was  brought  about  iu  some  way.  These 
things  are  so  evident  that  the  backers  of  the  bill 
would  now  occupy  a  stronger  position  if  they  had 
admitted  that  they  favored  consolidation  and  put 
up  an  open  fight  for  it. 
Brevities 
Blessed  are  the  poets  when  they  get  after  the  dairy 
problem.  Here  is  a  specimen  : 
They  looked  in  butter,  milk  and  cheese, 
The  vitamine  was  there  : 
And  so  they  said,  “Drink  lots  of  milk, 
If  your  health  needs  repair.” 
As  the  season  matures  we  think  more  and  more  of 
Darso  or  seed  sorghum,  which  we  grew  this  year.  It 
does  not  make  a  large  stalk,  and  cannot  compare  with 
corn  as  a  fodder  crop,  but  for  seed  or  grain  production 
ic  is  superior.  We  think  our  Eastern  farmers  ought  to 
try  it. 
Turnips  and  milk.  Experiment  shows  that  feeding 
turnips  an  hour  before  milking  gives  a  milk  badly  “off” 
in  odor  and  flavor.  Feeding  the  turnips  after  milking 
gives  a  normal  milk.  The  same  seems  to  be  true  of  cab¬ 
bage.  Aerating  the  milk,  or  driving  pure  air  through 
it,  will  remove  these  bad  odors. 
Strawberries.  Remember  that  we  do  not  put  mulch 
on  the  strawberry  plant  to  protect  it  from  freezing.  It 
does  not  need  such  protection.  We  want  to  keep  if 
frozen,  for  the  damage  comes  from  alternate  freeze  and 
thaw.  At  each  freeze  the  plant  is  lifted  just  a  little, 
and  at  thaw  the  ground  settles  a  little  away  from  it. 
The  mulch  prevents  this  alternate  lift  and  settle. 
