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Editorial Page of the American 
American Agriculturist; July 5, 1924 
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 
E. C. Weatherby .Circulation Manager 
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VOL. 114_July 5, 1924_No. 1 
Stop the Fraudulent Seed Sales 
HE time has come to call a halt in the tragic 
exploitation of farmers in the purchase of 
their farm seed, particularly that of clover and 
alfalfa. We charge, with definite proof to back it, 
that at least one-half of the clover and alfalfa 
seed now being sold is not as it is represented, is 
of Southern origin, and will not stand the rigors of 
our Northern climate. Without any doubt one 
of the chief reasons for the failure of alfalfa and 
clover stands is the poor seed, seed which farmers 
have bought and paid good prices for, believing it 
to be Northern grown. 
This season New York State bought for the state 
institution farms thirty-six lots of seed. The 
purchase specifications called for domestic clover 
and alfalfa. In spite of this an investigation 
showed that 55% of the alfalfa and 40% of the 
clover was imported. The firms who sold this 
seed violated their contract and we are waiting 
with interest to see whether they are prosecuted 
by the state attorney general. If not, we are 
going to ask why not? If seed companies openly 
dare to sell such seed to the state institutions, any 
individual farmer can see where he stands in 
buying a small lot where there is not much danger 
of its being checked up. 
American Agriculturist is collecting evidence 
on this great fraud on farmers and we are going 
to publish the facts and tell the truth, no matter 
where the chips may fall, until the farmer can buy 
grass seed and be reasonably sure that he gets 
what he pays for. In the meantime, we think the 
situation is so serious that the State Department 
of Farms and Markets ought to start an investi¬ 
gation with the view to getting the facts and 
prosecuting the guilty parties. 
Nominating a President 
D OWN the avenue a few blocks from the office 
of American Agriculturist where this is 
being written is Madison Square Garden where sits 
one of the largest and most remarkable gather¬ 
ings in American history, The Democratic Na¬ 
tional Convention [is holding its session in New 
York for the first time in more than half a century. 
A few moments ago we came from a seat in the 
press gallery in this convention where we listened 
to Franklin D. Roosevelt, of Dutchess County, 
New York, formerly Assistant Secretary of the 
Navy, place the name of Alfred E. Smith in 
nomination. The pandemonium that broke loose 
at the end of Roosevelt’s speech is beyond the 
power of words to describe. It started over an 
hour ago. When we stop to listen, we can still 
hear it several blocks away. Yesterday, a simi¬ 
lar although not so large a demonstration followed 
the speech placing the name of McAdoo in 
nomination. 
Around and around the great center aisle which 
divides the delegates from the visitors marched 
two or three bands all playing “The Sidewalks of 
New York,” followed by thousands of wild men 
and women carrying huge pictures of New York’s 
governor. In the march were delegates carrying 
over their heads the names of the states which 
favored the Smith nomination. For over an 
hour screeching sirens, bells, horns and shouting 
human voices added to the bedlam of noise in the 
efforts of Smith’s thousands of friends to pro¬ 
claim him their favorite. 
* If you have never seen such a demonstration, 
you can have no idea of the intensity of sound 
when 20,000 people all shout together. Your eye 
can see a band, standing within twenty feet of you, 
going through the motions of blowing their horns, 
and pounding the drums, while your ear will not 
catch a single note above the other noise. 
As we stood watching the great crowd which 
seemed to have gone entirely mad, we could not 
help thinking what a wonderful people these 
Americans are. A few minutes before at the 
beginning of the session, a minister of the gospel 
had stepped forth on the speaker’s rostrum and 
raised his hands. Instantly all the noise of visit¬ 
ing and talking stopped, and the immense audience 
rose as a unit to their feet and bowed their heads 
in silent prayer. So quiet was it that not a sound 
could be heard throughout the vast auditorium. 
Yet a few minutes later when the nominating 
speeches began, these same people were engaged 
in a contest of noise that could be heard for blocks, 
in honor of their favorite candidate for the highest 
nomination in the land. A few days more and 
they will have decided upon the one candidate and 
all quarreling among themselves will cease, while 
they engage in a greater quarrel with the opposing 
party. 
If we are to believe their statements, or the 
statements of the Republicans on the other side, 
the country will come to utter ruin if their candi¬ 
date does not win at the polls. Then a few months 
will pass, elections will come and go, one or the 
other of the candidates will win, and both sides 
will all settle down again, forgetting all of the 
animosity, bitter hatreds, and unkind words of the 
campaign, and remembering only that they are all 
good American citizens. 
Today we heard a reporter say at the convention 
to another, “What a strange way to nominate a 
man for the greatest office in the world!” 
“Yes, it is strange,” said the other. “But the 
strangest part of it is that it seems to work, for 
whether Democratic or Republican, no country of 
the world has had a better list of chief executives 
than has the United States of America!” 
Dean Mann on Leave of Absence 
RIENDS of Dean A. R. Mann of the New 
York State College of Agriculture will be 
interested in the announcement in our news 
columns of his appointment by the International 
Education Board to carry out a project for the 
promotion of agricultural science and education 
through an international exchange. To do this 
job Dean Mann has been granted a leave of 
absence by Cornell for an approximate period of 
two years, most of which will be spent in Europe. 
More and more thoughtful Americans are com¬ 
ing to see the need of better understanding and 
working agreements between our country and the 
other great nations of the world. Rapid trans¬ 
portation and communication are constantly 
making the world smaller. On June 22, for 
instance, Lieutenant Maughan of the United 
States Army flew from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
coast in an aeroplane from dawn to dusk, covering 
in one day a distance that it used to take years to 
go. This annihilation of distance has made 
distant strangers our near neighbors, creating a 
crying need for a better understanding. We are 
no longer isolated. Therefore every work like 
that which Dean Mann will carry out is a step i n 
the right direction. 
Who Is the Champion Barnyard 
Golfer? 
RE you going to enter the Horse-shoe Pitch¬ 
ing Contest? If you are interested, get in 
touch with your county agent. County contests 
will be conducted in most counties either at the 
Grange, Farm Bureau or League picnics, or at the 
county fair. The winning teams will go to 
Syracuse to compete for the state championships 
there for American Agriculturist prizes of $100 
for the best team in the state, $50 for the second, 
and $25 for the third. Full rules and regulations 
as to weight of horseshoes, pitching distance, etc., 
will be published in an early issue. But they will 
be very simple. In the meantime, get busy after 
supper and practice up. There is going to be a 
lot of interest and a lot of fun in this contest. 
The Essay Contest 
L ET us call your attention again to American 
J Agriculturist essay contest on the subject, 
“The Most Neighborly Act I Know.” Letters 
should not be more than two hundred words in 
length, should be about some actual experience 
you have had or know about and should be in this 
office not later than July 15th. We have received 
a nice lot which effectively prove farm people are 
just as neighborly as they ever were. 
A Suggestion 
B ECAUSE of the heat and heavy {ifting, hay¬ 
ing and harvesting is the hardest' job of the 
year on many farms. But a great many men have 
made such use and application of the principles of 
machinery and the laws of mechanics that they 
have reduced to a minimum the man power re¬ 
quired for handling the hay and grain. It is 
perhaps unnecessary to say that a little extra 
time keeping the mowing machine properly oiled, 
the guards in place, and the knives sharp is the 
first fundamental in starting the haying job right. 
Not all farmers can afford hay loaders, but 
more and more are finding what a tremendous 
labor-saver a hay loader is. Perhaps where the 
job is not too big and there is only one man to do 
the work on each farm, two neighbors could 
arrange to cooperate and buy a loader to the 
advantage of both. But when it comes to getting 
the hay into the barn, there is not much excuse in 
unloading it all by hand. Horse forks, rope and 
pulleys are not too expensive compared to the 
tremendous amount of work and energy they save. 
A lot of men hesitate to use a horse fork or do not 
get the most out of it when they do have one 
because they do not understand the principles of 
operating the rope and pulleys to the best ad¬ 
vantage. We can sympathize with this because 
the proper arrangement of the pulleys used to 
puzzle us. If they bother you, why not ask your 
county agent, or some handy neighbor to take a 
couple of hours to help you to get the fork to 
operating right? 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
I HEARD this one the other night when I was 
listening in over the radio. The speaker said 
he stole it from the Narcotic Enforcement Squad. 
Two tramps were walking along a city street 
when one of them spied a paper containing a 
little white powder. He picked it up, and took a 
good long smell of it. 
Then he said to his friend; “Excuse me, but 
I’ve got to leave you.” 
“Where ya goin’?” 
“To Mexico to buy a gold mine.” 
Then the other tramp took the white powder 
and also took a long smell. 
Then he replied: “Ain’t no use your goin’ 
to Mexico to buy that gold mine. I WON’T 
SELL IT.” 
