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Editorial Pa^e of the American 
/ 
American Agriculturist, February 10, 1923 
Agriculturist 
American 
Agriculturist 
Founded 1842 
Henry Morgenthau, Jr .Publisher 
E. R. Eastman .. . Editor 
Fred W. Ohm .Associate Editor 
Gabrielle Elliot .... Household Editor 
BiRGE Kinne .Advertising Manager 
H. L. VoNDERLElTH . . . Circulation Manager 
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 
Herbert E. Cook . . . . Flow Handle Talks 
Jared Van Wagenen, Jr. . Van Wagenen-Corner 
Herschel H. Jones . . . Market Department 
K. J. T. Ekblaw . Farm Engineering Department 
Paul Work .Vegetable Department 
George T. Hughes .... Investment Adviser 
Dr. S. K. Johnson .... Veterinary Adviser 
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Published Weekly by 
A'MERICAN AGRICULTURIST, INC. 
Address all correspondence for editorial, advertising, or 
subscription departments to 
461 Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y. 
Entered as Second-Class Matter, December 15, 1922, at the 
Post Office at New York, N. Y,, under the Act of March. 3, 1879. 
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VOL. Ill February 10, 1923 NO. 6 
Help the Voigt Bill 
F or over two years farmers ' and those 
interested in public health have been 
working hard to secure the passage of the 
Voigt Bill. This bill prohibits the manufac¬ 
ture and sale of filled milk—^that is, milk 
from which the butter fat has been Removed 
and coconut oil substituted—in interstate 
and foreign commerce. 
The Voigt' Bill was passed by a large ma¬ 
jority in the House of Representatives, and 
was recently reported favorably by the Sen¬ 
ate Committee on Agriculture. It will surely 
pass if it can be brought up before Congress 
adjouPns. But there is less than five weeks 
of this Congress, and unless it can be brought 
up before the Senate, the bill will fail and 
all the tremendous amount of effort made for 
it will be lost. Its passage means millions 
of dollars every year to the dairy industry 
and much that cannot be measured in dollars 
to the public health. 
As soon as you read this editorial, will you 
not sit down and write or telegraph both 
of the Senators in your State, and to any 
others that you know of outside of your 
State, urging them as emphatically as you 
can to help bring the Voi^ Bill before this 
Congress? This is a definite job that you 
can do in the marketing of your own prod¬ 
ucts that will be of more value to you than 
several days work on the production part 
of your business. 
Our Market Service 
I N answer to our recent offer to assist 
farmers with their marketing problems, 
we have had a large number of interesting 
letters and* have done our best to help these 
correspondents to better markets. Some of 
the letters, together with our answers, are ot 
enough general interest so that we publish 
them in another part of this issue. If you 
have marketing problems, and most of you do, 
let us know about them and we may be able 
to giye you some help. Of course we cannot 
do the impossible, but one of the things that 
most farmers need in market service is in¬ 
formation, and we are in position to give this 
in accurate and unbiased form. 
Unfortunately, the business of marketing 
farm products is a technical and difficult 
trade in itself, and a business in which in¬ 
formation may be right to-day and wrong 
to-morrow because of constantly changing 
conditions. Therefore, the farmer who has 
not the time, or will not make the effort to 
put himself in touch with information re¬ 
garding the markets, and to constantly study 
this changing information, will not get very 
far in doing his own marketing. Local deal¬ 
ers who make a business of buying farm 
products have made a lifelong study of the 
trade, ahd many of them do not make much 
money at it. But there is opportunity for 
better prices for the farmer who produces 
high-quality eggs, veal, hay, or other prod¬ 
ucts, learns how to pack the product in the 
way that the market wants it, and then puts 
it on the market at the right time and under 
the right circumstances. 
The Farm Doctors 
NCLE SAM FARMER was sick. His 
wife thought he was dangerously ill. He 
felt so himself, but he did not say so because he 
remembered, back in ’73 and that other time 
in the early ’90’s, when he was sick and his 
wife had insisted on calling the doctors, with 
the result that they had nearly finished him. 
But the secret of his illness was too im¬ 
portant to keep, for most folks have come 
to know that when Uncle Sam Farmer stops 
working, the rest of the world will soon stop 
eating. So the doctors and the councilors 
• came hurrying to Sam’s bedside uninvited, 
and with ominous and important head-shak¬ 
ings, spent much time “investigacting” and 
“surveying” poor Sam. Now, Sam was a 
quiet, retiring sort of fellow and much pre¬ 
ferred minding his own business and having 
other folks mind theirs, particularly so when 
he remembered that he had been too tired 
last Saturday night to follow Mrs. Sam’s 
emphatic advice about getting the old wash- 
tub out for a bath. Besides, as aforesaid, 
he mistrusted doctors and Their fool reme¬ 
dies, anjway. • ' 
But after a while the doctors withdrew 
for a “conference” Said Dr. Allopath: “I 
know what ails this farmer fellow. He needs 
a good dose of ‘farm credit.’ Lots of credit 
will buck him up so that he will produce more 
food and we can buy it cheap again.” “You 
are wrong, as usual, doctor,” replied Dr. 
Homeopath. “Our patient is still suffering 
from an overdose of ‘credit’; in fact, it is 
one of the things that made him sick. What 
he really needs is an injection of ‘immigra¬ 
tion germs,’ which will enable him to get 
cheap labor from Europe. Then, with lots 
of labor, he will produce more food than we 
need and we can buy it cheap.” “I am with 
you on buying our food cheap,” said Dr. 
Autosuggestion, “but your remedies are 
ridiculous. All that has put that fellow on 
his back is poor management, and all that 
he needs is ‘good advice.’ ” 
Finally, after much further discussing and 
conferring, the doctors, after much disagree¬ 
ment among themselves, appealed to Dr. 
Sawbones, the surgeon, who had up to then 
maintained a sad and dignified silence. “I 
cannot at present add any light to your dis¬ 
cussion, gentlemen,” said Dr. Sawbones. “I 
came over here expecting and hoping to re¬ 
move Sam Farmer’s ‘spondulix,’ but after a 
careful ‘investigation’ I find that some one 
has beaten me to it, and now my only hope 
is to wait until it grows again.” Unable to 
agree, the doctors each left a separate set 
of remedies for the patient and departed 
after assuring Sam that they would return 
soon and bring more advisers. As soon as 
they had gone, Sam painfully arose from his 
bed, and, gathering the many bottles in his 
arms, threw them all out of the window. 
Next day old neighbor “common sense” 
came in for a visit, and Sam told him about 
the doctors. “Ain’t it funny,” said the neigh¬ 
bor, “that them fellers don’t know that the 
best kind of medicine for you is a little let¬ 
ting alone. All you need is a chance to co¬ 
operate with me and your other farmer 
neighbors to solve your own problems. Then 
you won’t be so liable to get sick again like 
you qre now with an overdose of high taxes, 
hard work, and no spondulix.” 
The League is Legal! 
W ILL the Dairymen’s League Coopera¬ 
tive Association’s contract with its 
members stand the test of the courts? A 
Supreme Court jury says “Yes.” The League 
sued two farmers of Chenango County on 
January 26 for breaking their contract, and 
won a judgment of $228.16. Before render¬ 
ing its verdict, the jury first made sure that 
the contract was just as binding on the 
League as it was on the member. 
This victory of the Cooperative Associa¬ 
tion, together with the one against Fred C. 
Barnes, who sued the League for restraint 
of trade, have done much toward strengthen¬ 
ing the Association and convincing farmers 
that it is operating along right lines and mak¬ 
ing a real effort to get fair prices for milk. 
There will naturally be some cancellations 
of contracts during the coming cancellation 
period by men who are going' out of busi¬ 
ness and by a few others. But there is every 
indication at this time from all parts of the 
League territory that the dairymen are go¬ 
ing to stick by the only weapon they have to 
maintain their rights in the milk market. 
For a General Meeting Week 
T he idea of a winter show of all of New 
York State’s products, advocated by the 
State Holstein-Friesian Association and by 
others, is excellent. Such a show would help 
to emphasize the fact that New York is a 
leader in agriculturel products and pursuits, 
and it would bring together all or nearly all 
of the annual meetings of the State’s rhany 
associations at the same time and place. 
As it is now, many of these meetings con¬ 
flict in date, and, because they are held at 
widely separated points, it is difficult to se¬ 
cure good attendance A big Winter Show 
and Convention Week in Syracuse would im¬ 
prove the different conventions, cost 6ach or¬ 
ganization less money than at present, and 
help all of the organizations to-work closer 
together for the benefit of the farmer. 
A Warning to the Editor 
EAR SIR: I have a faint recollection of 
an adventure with chicken thieves in my 
younger days, but, as I remember it, the 
Duff Collection of American Firearms was 
not at that time even projected. It is now, 
however, pretty well completed. When the 
present stress of weather and finances has 
somewhat moderated, I might possibly be 
able to demonstrate at your editorial parlors 
fifteen minutes of a good time and the theory 
and practice of the breech-loading small-arm. 
With this on your mind, I trust that you will 
be moved to a satisfactory explanation of 
that editorial entitled “Chicken Thieves,” in, 
which your memory failed to remind you 
that I was the one who chased the thieves 
away while you cowered under the bed! 
With kindest regards, George Duff. 
