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American Agriculturist, Jun? 30,1923 
Editorial Pa^e of the American 
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, VONDERLIETH . . . Circulation Manager 
CONTRIBUTING STAFF 
H. E. Cook, Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., H. H. Jones, 
Paul Work, G. T. Hughes, H. E. Babcock 
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Published Weekly by 
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Address all correspondence for editorial, advertising, or 
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Entered as Second-Class Matter, December 15, 1922. at the 
Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
Subscription price, payable in advance, $1 a year. 
Canadian and foreign, $2 a year. 
VOL. Ill June 30, 1923 No. 26 
A Fourth of July Excursion 
« 
T he cultivating and the hoeing were pretty 
well caughl up. The haying had not be¬ 
gun. To-morrow was the Fourth of July, 
and the boys were going on an excursion 
trip to faraway Penn Yan. Oh, boy, what a 
grand and glorious feeling it is after working 
for a year through the dull monotony of 
farm work without going anywhere or seeing 
anything, to go on a..^ excursion farther away 
from home than you have ever been before! 
The next mornin^- the cows were hustled 
into the barn and milked. The chores were 
finished early, and by five o’clock breakfast 
was over and the boys ready to start. One 
of the farm plugs was hitched to the old 
buggy and down the valley they went ten 
miles to the nearest railroad station where 
they would catch the excursion train. 
Can you remember when it was fun to 
ride on the steam cars? If so, you will ap¬ 
preciate the joy of the boys who had never 
been on the cars more than three or four 
times in their lives, as they climbed on the 
excursion train and rushed for fifty miles 
or more through the fine river valley. If 
you have lived all of your life, never having 
seen a body of water bigger than a mill pond, 
you will appreciate also the joy and wonder 
and anticipation of the youngsters when they 
boarded the excursion boat, ready to make 
the trip down one of New York’s beautiful 
Finger Lakes. 
If you were once a green, lonesome, coun¬ 
try boy, you may perhaps be able to under¬ 
stand the feeling of awe and the little twinges 
of homesickness which they felt as they 
looked from their boat, off towards the east, 
and knew that between them and their home 
there lay many beautiful, but strange valleys 
bordered by an unknown number of ranges 
of hills. What a fearful feeling just to 
think what would happen if they should lose 
their excursion tickets and the few cents of 
extra change which they had in their pockets, 
and have to walk all the long and unknown 
distance home! Rapid transportation has 
come so fast with the automobiles, that few 
of us realize how long the country miles once 
were, or how small the radius within which 
country people were confined even a -few 
years ago. 
If when you were young, you did not hear 
a band or an orchestra more than once a 
year, and were so starved for music that 
even an old mouth-organ sounded mighty 
good, you will know how fine the orchestra 
on the boat seemed to the boys when it be¬ 
gan to play the songs and the tunes that were 
popular twenty years ago. Why is it that 
nowhere is music so sweet as on the water; 
or is it the holiday spirit which makes us 
like it so well? 
So short is the life of most popular music, 
that out of the long list of songs and tunes 
which the boys heard the orchestra play that 
day,, and which were being played, sung 
and whistled all over the land, hardly one 
is left to-day. One of these in particular had 
a lilt and a swing that ought to have given 
it longer life. How many of you can still 
whistle the tune the words of which went 
something like this: 
The good old summertime, the good old summertime, 
I’ll hold her hand and she’ll hold mine in the good old 
summertime. 
So accompanied by the lilt of the music, 
the rhythni of the boat’s propeller, and boy¬ 
hood’s happy dreams, they sailed away to 
Penn Yan, and back again to their train and 
so came at eventide to the livery stable, where 
the old horse had been patiently waiting all 
day to carry them home. How good the 
familiar scenes looked to them, for while they 
were gone only a day, it seemed a very long 
time indeed, for within that day had they 
not traveled far, and had there not been 
“strange lands and sights for to see.” So 
ended a holiday and a Fourth of July always 
to be pleasantly remembered. 
In these modern days when the automobile, 
the movies and the radio have brought the 
whole world to the farmer’s front door, our 
boys take trips and see sights beyond the 
wildest imagination of boys of a generation 
ago; but we sometimes wonder if the very 
abundance of travel and entertainment does 
not lessen enjoyment and appreciation so 
that a modern youngster can never know the 
real fun of an old-fashioned once-a-year holi¬ 
day excursion. 
Farm Prices Slowly Rising 
N ot before in years have farmers paid 
so much attention to the trend of prices 
of farm products. These prices are improv¬ 
ing somewhat and the question in every¬ 
body’s mind is whether or not this improve¬ 
ment is going to continue. 
On this point, G. F. Warren, the farm 
economist of the New* York State College of 
Agriculture, said in a recent statement: “Of 
the five most important agricultural prod¬ 
ucts—butter, cotton, hogs, beef and wheat— 
the first two are now as high as the general 
price level. Hogs, beef and wheat are still 
far below the general price level. There is an 
excessive production of hogs. Therefore, it is 
to be expected that hogs will be low in price 
for some time. The grain products usually 
rise in price about two years after prices qf 
industrial stocks rise. The reaction from low 
grain prices and the high demand for grain 
to feed animals will probably make high 
priced grain next year, unless weather is un¬ 
usually favorable this summer.” 
This information will be interesting to 
dairymen who purchase large supplies of cat¬ 
tle feed. Since Dr. Warren issued this state¬ 
ment, the government crop reports show that, 
with the exception of oats and barley, the 
principal grain crops of the country will be 
smaller this year than last. The reduction 
in wheat is estimated to be about five or six 
per cent smaller than last year. 
Dr. Warren further points out that the 
most striking change in New York farm 
prices is in the price of milk. The pool price 
Agriculturist 
of milk is now 59 per cent above the pre-war 
average. A year ago it was only 9 per cent 
above the pre-war average. Of tv^enty- 
four farm products in New York, six are 
as high as the general price level. These 
are beans, butter, chickens, lambs, wool 
and cabbage. 
“The purchasing power of New York farm 
products is now 88; last month it was 82; 
last October it was only 78. This shows that 
farm prices are gradually being adjusted to 
the general price level.” 
Eastern Apples to the Front 
I N looking over an exhibit from the New 
York City Department of Markets re¬ 
cently, we were very agreeably surprised to 
note that New York State furnishes more 
than 45 per cent of the apples consumed in 
the big city. _ The State of Washington is 
next in line with about 25 per cent; Oregon 
sends 8 per cent; California, 3 per cent; Vir¬ 
ginia, about 31/2 per cent; British Columbia, 
3^2 per cent; and all other sources about 
12 per cent. 
It is practically impossible to buy eastern 
grown apples on the fruit stands in New York 
City. For this reason, one easily comes to 
the conclusion that nearly all of the apples 
consumed in the city come from the West. 
But even though New York and other eastern 
States are the deciding factors in the New 
York market, there are still too many west¬ 
ern apples sold here to the exclusion* of our 
first class eastern fruit. 
It is for this reason that we are heartily in 
sympathy with the plans for the Eastern 
Apple Exposition and Fruit Show to be held 
in the Grand Central Palace, New York Citj'", 
November 3 to 10. City consumers are go-] 
ing to have an opportunity through this ex-' 
position, as never before, to get acquainted! 
with the beautiful and high quality easterri 
fruit; and the show, together with the publ 
licity it will receive, will, without question,* 
do much to increase the consumption of east¬ 
ern grown apples. 
For a Standard Rivet 
T hree mowing machines, all of different 
manufacture, were recently being put in 
order on our farm to cut a large acreage of 
alfalfa. When we came to the cutter bars, 
we found that a different rivet was necessary 
for the knives of each machine. This lack 
of standardization of even the simplest and 
commonest parts of farm machines is absurd, 
expensive and annoying. Farmers will bless 
the day when the manufacturers simplify and 
standardize the parts of different makes of 
farm machinery. 
Buy Your Coal Now 
F armers are large consumers of coal. 
Last year because of the coal famine, 
many farmers burned wood again for the 
first time in years, and unfortunately a good 
deal of it was green wood. This is just a 
hint to put in your winter supply of coal the 
very first time you get a let-up in the farm 
\work this summer. There is no prospect of 
its being any cheaper; it may even go higher, 
and the authorities tell us that it will be 
mighty scarce again this coming winter. 
Quotations Worth While f 
“Music is the common language of alfl 
nations and tribes. The man who knows howv 
to play, knows how to reach the heart J)f 
anybody in any country, climate or condWi- 
tion.”— Burley Ayres. I 
4 : 4 : m 
To believe in men is the first step towaird 
helping them. — Anonymous. 1 
