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American Agriculturist, July 7,1923 
A 
Editorial Page of the American Agriculturist 
American 
Agriculturist 
Founded 1842 
Henry Morgenthau, Jr .Publisher 
E. R. Eastman .Editor 
Fred W. Ohm .Associate Editor 
Gabrielle Elliot .... Household Editor 
I BlRGE Kinne ..... Advertising Manager 
H. L. VONDERLIETH . . . Circulation Manager 
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H. E. Cook, Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., H. H. Jones, 
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Published Weekly by 
AMERICAN 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. 
Subscription price, payable in advance, $1 a year. 
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VOL. 112 July 7. 1923 No. 1 
Look Out For San Jose Scale 
I F you look closety you will be very likely 
to see some San Jose Scale in your orchard 
This scale is dangerous. It was once bad 
throughout the East, but was pretty well 
cleaned out by the efficient spraying cam¬ 
paign aimed against it. Because of the lack 
of recent attention, it is now on the increase 
again. Look for it carefully and have it in 
mind to spray to control it during the next 
dormant season. 
By the way, do you know about the splen¬ 
did spray service which existed in ten coun¬ 
ties in New York State during the past sea¬ 
son? In each of these counties an expert 
k is employed with laboratory facilities. Con- 
„ stant use is made of the telephone to get the 
spraying at the right time, and numerous 
field demonstrations are held. If your county 
wishes to line up with those who already 
have this service for the coming year, you 
should get in your application immediately 
in order that the proper arrangements may 
be made and qualified men secured. Write 
the New York State College of Agriculture 
for further details. 
Cool the Milk 
M OST dairymen have learned that it is 
easier to cool milk below the require¬ 
ments than it is to quarrel with the dealer’s 
representative at the local station. If he 
obeys orders, there is but one thing for him 
to do and that is return the milk if it is not 
down to the required temperature. 
The critical time of the whole year in 
the care of milk is now at hand. During 
July and August, and. usually extending into 
the fall, there are hundreds of thousands 
of dollars lost because milk has not been 
properly cooled. If you have plenty of ice, 
now is the time when you will appreciate 
it and will realize that it is practically im¬ 
possible to dairy it under modern regula¬ 
tions without it. This is particularly so if 
you have a large body of milk. 
If your ice is limited, or you have none 
at all, or the volume of your milk is small, 
you may be able to worry along through 
the hot spell by taking extra precautions. 
Nearly everyone knows that frequently 
stirring the milk helps to cool it rapidly. 
If the can is put into the water and the milk 
poured into it as it is milked, without wait¬ 
ing to fill the can, the milk will be much more 
likely to keep longer. 
If only well water is used, it should be 
changed more than once on hot nights. If 
spring water is relied upon, it shohuld be 
arranged so that there will be a constant 
flow of water through the tank. Blankets 
soaked in ice cold water and placed on the 
cans before starting to the station will help 
to keep the temperature down. 
Alfalfa in the Orchard 
ILL alfalfa retard the growth of a 
young apple orchard? The experience 
on American Agriculturists’ farm indicates 
that it will. 
All but about twenty acres of the. hundred 
odd acres in our young orchards are under 
cultivation. There has never been any doubt 
in our minds that the only way to get an 
apple tree to make its best and most rapid 
growth is by constant cultivation, but we are 
such great believers in what alfalfa will do 
for the soil that with a twenty-acre orchard 
we made exception to our cultivating practice 
and sowed it to alfalfa. The result for two 
years has been a splendid growth of alfalfa, 
but a slowing up in the growth of the apple 
trees, as compared with the same age trees 
in the cultivated orchards. 
Is it possible that the alfalfa aids trees to 
get enough nitrogen, but not enough of the 
other plant food elements? If this is the 
case, then would applications of acid phos¬ 
phate with some potash applied close to the 
trees help them? Or must we plow under 
this splendid alfalfa sod? Does the alfalfa 
hurt the trees by taking moisture away from 
them ? 
The whole question of what is best, the sod 
mulch or frequent cultivation Tor young and 
old orchards, has never been really settled. 
If you have had some experience with either 
method, or if you have any observations on 
any part of the problem of bringing fruit 
trees to their maturity as quickly and with 
as little expense as possible, let us hear from 
you that we may pass on your experience to 
others. 
The Cost of Going It Alone 
AT the recent annual meeting of the 
A Dairymen’s League Cooperative Associa¬ 
tion, President Slocum said in his report: 
“Cost of production plus a reasonable profit 
is now within the realm of possibility, and I 
ask this question, ‘Why are we not getting 
it, why was the price of milk reduced last 
month and this, why were four millions of 
dollars taken from the incomes of the dairy¬ 
men in this territory in just two months?’ 
Why? Because some farmers still believe in 
going it alone or in competing groups. 
“By such a state of affairs, no relief can 
ever come. I am speaking now to all dairy¬ 
men, both organized and unorganized. We 
are standing in our own light. Our petty 
difficulties should be cast aside and we should 
all get together. In comparison to the big- 
broad viewpoint a farmer must take in solv¬ 
ing this gigantic marketing problem* the dif¬ 
ference of opinion existing between us as in¬ 
dividuals or as groups are mere details easy 
of solution.” 
President Slocum’s words hit the nail 
squarely upon its head. This is the day of 
cooperation and organization. There are 
three great units in our industrial system 
to-day, labor, capital and that combination 
of both of these, known as agriculture. Capi¬ 
tal is well organized; so is labor. While the 
farmers have made wonderful progress in 
organization, the last few years, there are 
still thousands of them unorganized. This is 
true of the milk business in this section. 
There are still many dairymen not in any or¬ 
ganization, and the organizations themselves 
are not cooperating. 
Two things, therefore, are needed before 
cost of production plus a reasonable profit 
can be hoped for. First, dairymen must join 
some good milk producers’ organization, and 
then these organizations themselves must 
work together in some kind of a federation. 
The Gasoline Age ! 
OT so many years ago we had a horse 
on the home farm that was afraid of 
automobiles. Not more than one car a week 
passed, but that was one too many. In spite 
of the strongest hamL on the rein, the 
moment the car came in sight Old Prince 
would turn squarely around, overturning the 
wagon, or else make an attempt to drape 
himself and his unfortunate driver over the 
top cross-piece of the nearest telephone pole. 
The word “detour” was not so common as 
it is to-day, but it was Prince’s middle name. 
The slightest sign of an approaching car was 
the signal to his driver to get him hastily 
through the roadside fence for a long side 
trip through the meadow or pasture lot. 
Yesterday we drove a hundred miles along 
a main highway and we could not help think¬ 
ing what a whale of a time Old Prince and 
especially his driver would have if they could 
have been along. There were at least four 
thousand automobiles on the road. What a 
change in transportation methods in a short 
ten years! 
This has indeed been well called the “gaso¬ 
line age,” and one of the good things about 
it, is that there is just as large a proportion 
of country as city folks who own and drive 
automobiles. The moderately pricted cars 
have brought out-door life, fresh air and re¬ 
creation to millions of people. 
The constant wonder is, where does all 
the money come from to buy so many car's, 
and the gasoline to run them. Of course, 
not all of them are paid for, but probably 
most of them are, and anyway, some one has 
to put up money for those that are not. 
Watch almost any main highway in America 
on a Sunday or a holiday, count the thousands 
of cars that pass and you will agree that the 
majority of common folks of this country, 
the great rank and file, have had more money 
to spend in the last decade than ever before 
in American history, and this is as it should 
be, providing that at least a small sum is 
constantly saved for the times that may not 
be so good. 
Quotations Worth While 
A friend! What is a friend? My friend 
is he who laughs with me, who weeps with 
me: one who encourages, praises, rebukes; 
who eats terrapin and turkey or bread and 
salt with me: who comes to me at the 
wedding feast, or stands with me beside the 
coffin: who listens to my hopes, my fears, my 
aims, my despair: who rejoices in my suc¬ 
cesses : who does not despise me in my mis¬ 
fortunes.— Chicago Tribune. 
* * * 
The fact is, ’squire, the moment a man 
takes to a pipe he becomes a philosopher. 
It’s the poor man’s friend; it calms the mind, 
soothes the temper and makes a man patient 
under difficulties. It has made more good 
men, good husbands, kind masters, in¬ 
dulgent fathers, than any other blessed thing 
on this universal earth.— Sam Slick, the 
Clockmaker. 
* * * 
The most completely lost of all days is 
the one on which we have not laughed. — . 
Anonymous. 
* * * 
“Success comes in cans—failure in cant's.” 
