20 
Editorial Page 
of the American 
American Agriculturist, July 12, 1924 
Agriculturist 
American 
Agriculturist 
Founded 1S42 
Henry Morgentbau, Jr .Publisher 
E. R. Eastman . Editor 
Fred W. Ohm . Associate Editor 
Gabrielle Elliot .Household Editor 
Birge Kinne .Advertising Manager 
E. C. Weatherby .Circulation Manager 
CONTRIBUTING STAFF 
Jared Van Wagenen, Jr. G. T. Hughes H. E. Babcock 
OUR ADVERTISEMENTS GUARANTEED 
The American Agriculturist accepts only advertising 
which it believes to be thoroughly honest. 
We positively guarantee to our readers fair and honest treat¬ 
ment in dealing with our advertisers. 
We guarantee to refund the price of goods purchased by 
our subscribers from any advertiser who fails to make good 
when the article purchased is found not to be as advertised. 
To benefit by this guarantee subscribers must say: “I saw 
your ad in the American Agriculturist” when ordering 
from our advertisers. 
Published Weekly by 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, INC. 
Address all correspondence for editorial, advertising, or subscription de¬ 
partments 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. 
Subscription price, payable in advance, $1 a year. Canadian 
and foreign, $2 a year. 
price curve. They have been putting a good 
quality product before the consumer at a price 
that makes the consumer eager to buy. 
*' And finally for the past few weeks advices 
state that collections and arrivals especially 
on nearbys are falling off. It is pretty hard to 
say how long this strong condition will last but I 
don’t think we will have to worry a great deal 
about over-production until our next flush period. 
Of course, over-production is almost bound to 
come with prevailing high prices over a con¬ 
siderable period and since folks are only human, 
it is quite natural that they wall flock to the busi¬ 
ness that promises most. 
We are apt to see a wide variation in prices. 
When the market is strong some folks have the 
fault, of getting careless. Complaints have been 
made that some nearbys are showing the effect 
of heat, no doubt from standing out on a sun- 
beaten railroad platform or from being exposed too 
long on the hind end of a buggy on the trip to 
town. Inferior quality pulls down the value of 
eggs just as much as mixed colors and mixed 
sizes. It is the “year-round quality” man who is 
getting the cream of the market right now, for 
fancy nearbys are especially strong and wanted. 
And he will continue to do so. The shipper of 
mixed colors is safe when the market goes up, 
but look out when the crash comes. Poor marks 
suffer first. But right now when the condition is 
healthy, little Biddy, be she white or brown, is 
making the coin jingle. Eggs, handled right, are 
a mighty good side line.— Fred. W. Ohm. 
VOL. 114 July 12, 1924 No. 2 
Introducing the Staff 
INDITING a paper is like milking the cows. 
^ They are both hard jobs to get away from 
for, rain or shine, both have to be done, and done 
on time. But I have solved the puzzle, both to 
my own benefit and to all those who read the 
paper. 
I told our folks here in the office that I was 
going to get out and do some real farming for a 
few days for a change, and that they would have 
to write the editorial page while I was gone. 
They agreed, and their editorials are on this page. 
Personally, I think every one of them is well 
worth reading.— E. R. Eastman. 
The Present Egg Situation 
A BOUT a week ago Mr. Eastman and I were 
talking over the market situation and he 
suggested that possibly an editorial on the present 
egg deal would be very timely, especially when we 
consider the firm tone in the egg market. 
The state of affairs seems to strengthen the 
warning sounded by economists that the poultry- 
man must watch his step lest his industry be¬ 
come over expanded. Irrespective of what may 
happen in the future the fact is that right now the 
poultry business is about the healthiest of all 
farm enterprises. Milk is way down. The potato 
market during the entire winter and spring was a 
decidedly dull affair and the apple men know only 
too well what a disastrous turn their market took. 
In my mind there are three reasons why the egg 
market has been strong and those three reasons 
do more to keep prices right and farmers happy 
than all the legislative panaceas to boost farm 
prices put’ together. First, the June 1 report of 
the Bureau of xAgricultural Economy of the United 
States Department of Agriculture shows that cold 
storage holdings total approximately 950,000 
cases below holdings on June 1 a year ago. The 
men in the market have not forgotten their 1923 
experiences when accumulations ruined, many of 
them. These 1924 storage figures have acted 
like a tonic. 
The second factor to keep the market in a uni¬ 
formly healthy condition is the ease with which 
clearances have been effected. Only occasionally 
during the past few months have accumulations 
piled up and put a temporary damper on trading. 
Chain stores are heavy buyers for immediate 
retail trade needs and I believe they are responsi¬ 
ble for smoothing out a lot of low spots in our 
One Day a Year 
B Y the time you read this, we will have cele¬ 
brated our Glorious 4th of July which should 
be held so dear and sacred to us Americans. Many 
times I thought that perhaps we make too much 
noise and do not show enough real thought over 
what this day really means to us and it is on that 
I want to say just a word. 
The greatest blessing that anyone can have in 
this struggling world today is to be born an 
American and live under the American flag. 
Yes, the world does face gigantic problems and 
our country has its share, but they are nothing 
like what others had and still have to solve. I 
wonder sometimes if we half appreciate our 
country, its size, its resources, its record and its 
place in the world to-day. To live and work here 
is both a privilege and a blessing. No other 
place gives as many opportunities. 
July 4th to me is really a sacred day. God gave 
us our religion and one day a week to reverence 
Him. Surely, we owe at least one day a year to 
honor and reverence our country. America gives 
us the chance to live and work and play as we 
think best. As long as we have patriotism, we 
will have the brotherhood and fellowship of man 
and as long as we have that, life here will be worth 
working and living for.— Birge W. Kinne. 
Pros and Cons of Hospitality 
S OMEONE recently asked “is it truer hospital¬ 
ity to guests to treat them as members of the 
family or to make an occasion of their coming?” 
The answer may seem easy, offhand, but the 
longer you think about it the more uncertain 
you are. 
“Treat a guest as one of the family,” says one 
woman to whose home we love to go. “Take 
it for granted that the family circle can always be 
easily and happily enlarged; that there is no 
trouble involved in welcoming another to the 
household. If your guests feel that you are taking 
extra pains, that your work is increased and your 
mind burdened by their presence, they are made 
uncomfortable and avoid coming again even 
though you urge them to do so. If on the other 
hand, they are ‘adopted’ at once into the family, 
given what the others have, even to sharing the 
routine of your family duties, they are freed 
from the burden of uncomfortable gratitude which 
treating them as ‘company’ entails.” 
But another woman sees it differently. 
“ I don’t argue for ‘ fuss and feathers,’ ” she says, 
“but I believe that the guest should be treated as 
though his coming were indeed an honor. There is 
little extra trouble and great extra satisfaction 
in seeing that the spare room is not only fresh and 
dainty but that some bit of added beauty shows 
your appreciation that your home has been chosen 
for the visit. Then too, it doesn’t do your family 
one bit of harm to be a little on their best be¬ 
havior. It is valuable training in consideration 
and self-forgetfulness for the children. I notice 
the good effect of ‘ having company’ on my family 
for days after the guest departs.” 
During the summer the farm woman’s hos¬ 
pitality is often taxed almost to the breaking 
point. If any one is an authority on what makes 
an ideal hostess she should be. What do our 
readers think about this question?— Gabrielle 
Elliot. 
Be an Individual Farmer 
T HERE has been a lot of horse play about 
“farming the farmer,” “the 33 cent dollar,” 
“cost of production plus,” and the like, yet we 
are about where we started excepting the progress 
that time usually brings. These may seem cruel 
words. They are true words. 
The man on the farm, old or young, who is 
making money and happy with his family seems 
to be taking some part in the new things yet does 
not see the “cure” in any of them. He is right. 
Progress in any business including farming 
depends upon strong individual effort. Farmers 
who are succeeding, measured by the yard stick of 
the neighborhood, have and are using their in¬ 
dividuality. 
So we are about wnere we were many years ago. 
Farming is a business. It cannot be made so 
much better by more legislation or a lot of the 
“new plans” we hear or read about. The land 
responds to the man who knows how to farm. 
He is a man who does things himself. He is a 
fellow with head and hands. He uses both. 
There are a lot on the land who cannot qualify 
as farmers.—E. C. Weatherby. 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
TN ONE of his lectures Opie Read tells a story 
A about Lincoln which he says he had never 
read in any of the books about him. It was told 
to him he says by an old friend of his in Spring- 
field, Ill., who had known Lincoln. 
While Mrs. Lincoln was alw r ays spoken of as a 
sweet woman, she was possessed of a peculiar 
temperament. One day as Mrs. Lincoln was 
sweeping the porch a neighbor was walking by 
on the street. He stopped and spoke to her, 
“Fine day Mrs. Lincoln.” To his surprise she 
; dvanced upon him with the broom stick and hit 
h u over the head with it, exclaiming angrily, 
“Id teach you not to speak to me.” 
Josh backed away in indignation. “Look here 
Mrs. Lincoln,” he began, “Because you’re a 
woman I won’t touch you, but Lord how r I do 
wish right now that you were a man. I know 
what I’ll do though. I’ll find Abe and if he comes 
home to-night with one tooth missing, why 
you’ll know what’s happened to him.” 
Then he quickly walked down the street to find 
Abe. He heard them laughing inside at the 
corner drug store and he knew that Abe was in 
there telling some of his yarns. 
He opened the door and called to him. “Abe 
come here a minute, I want to see you.” 
Abe walked out and kindly looking into his 
face asked, “Josh, what can I do for you?” 
“Well,” Josh began, his anger mounting as he 
proceeded. “This morning as I was passing by 
your place Mrs. Lincoln was out there sweeping 
the porch and when I spoke to her as any respect¬ 
able gentleman would she hauled off and hit me 
over the head with the broom. Now I couldn’t 
hit her because she was a woman, but I’m a-goin’ 
to even it up with you.” 
Putting his hand on his shoulder Abe bent down 
and looked into his face and said, “Look here. 
Josh, can’t you stand for just once w r hat I’ve 
had to put up with for so many days? ” 
Josh looked up and started to laugh as he said. 
“Gosh Abe, you’re right! Why I guess Lean all 
right. Sure.” 
