100 
January 2S, 1022 
quent to cause the members of the committee (who 
were advancing their expense money with no defi¬ 
nite assurance of its return) to feel that they had 
undertaken a much bigger problem than they had 
anticipated. The more time and study they gave to 
it the more respect they had for the man who runs a 
corner grocery store, or a big department emporium. 
By the last of January, 1921, they realized that the 
details of organizing an association capable of hand¬ 
ling the 1921 crop of syrup were too much for them. 
They decided to hold the organization committee to¬ 
gether, and to continue to gather such information 
as they could. In the Fall of 1921 they would pick 
up the loose threads as early as possible and pro¬ 
ceed with the organization. 
A DEMORALIZED MARKET.—The various locals 
continued to function in their several ways, and with 
varying degrees of success. To those who were 
watching the situation, with the knowledge gained 
from work on the organization committee, this was 
a demonstration of the fact that successful co-opera¬ 
tive marketing must depend upon a large volume of 
material. No county association was capable of sup¬ 
plying a sufficient amount to support a widely adver¬ 
tised merchandizing scheme. In the Spring of 1921 
the prices as offered by the big buyers seemed more 
demoralized than ever. Farmers were offered any¬ 
where from 05 cents to SI.50 per gallon for their 
syrup in the drums furnished by the buyers. Sugar 
brought 7 to 10 cents. And of course a large quan¬ 
tity was sold for those prices. The farmers didn't 
like it, hut what else could they do? “Take it or 
leave it" was the buyer’s attitude. “Cane sugar has 
dropped, there is a big supply of maple syrup left 
over from last year, and the tobacco companies are 
not using as much as formerly.” The big amount of 
syrup which was left over in the warehouse of the 
Cortland association was played up for all it was 
worth. A few of the northern associations sold for a 
few cents in advance of their unorganized neighbors. 
The Delaware association did fairly well by dispos¬ 
ing of their entire output to a big New York whole¬ 
saler; the Cortland people largely lost faith. With 
no contract to hind them, they were free to do as 
they pleased. They didn't want to risk selling 
through the association, and they couldn’t sell it 
alone. So most of them held. 
HOUSE TO HOUSE SALES.—Among those who 
faced this situation were two young farmers from 
near Cincinnatus. They were Ralph and Arthur Del- 
a van. They bad both been brought up on the farm 
which is still occupied by their parents. Ralph had 
been active in the rubber tire business lor a dozen 
years or so. hut the combination of critical business 
conditions and ill health had sent him back to the 
farm. Arthur had stuck more or less to the farm. 
Now a combination of circumstances found them 
with considerable money tied up in the ( ortlan i 
County Maple Sap Producers’ Co-operative Associa¬ 
tion. Not content with criticizing the offers of the 
association, they set themselves to the task of selling 
syrup. With the aid of a few men whom they hived 
they started selling both syrup and sugar through 
house-to-house canvas in Syracuse and 1 tica. In a 
comparatively short time they had disposed of prac¬ 
tically all of it. and had gained an experience which 
bids fair to he invaluable to them. By dint of hard 
work and the aid of a loyal board of directors they 
have managed to bring the county association out of 
what threatened to he a fatal hole. 
G. H. COLLING WOOD. 
(Continued Next Week) 
Warming Water in Poultry Houses 
I SAW an impTiry on page 1475, December 24.1921. 
for a device to keep drinking water in poultry 
house from freezing. I just completed a new poultry 
house with electric lights, and took that same prob¬ 
lem very seriously. Finally, after much study and 
experimental work. I hit upon a plan that has proven 
entirely satisfactory.. This idea could be modified 
Installing Electric Heater in Poultry House. Fig. 32 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
to meet almost any requirements and conditions. 
In my house I run an extra line for water heaters, 
independent of lights. M.v fountains are white 
enameled iron sinks, size 20x30 in., supported by two 
2x4 uprights from floor to ceiling, one at each eud of 
sink; top of sink 30 in. above floor; a hinged roof 
over sink, with eaves 8 in. above sink and (4 in* 0'°n 
rods set in roof, so when roof is down the spikes or 
Iron guards rest on edges of sink. Guards should be 
2*4 in. apart. The sinks is hold in position by a 
Truing to Make the Calf "Look Pleasant.'' Fig. 33 
tight box built in between the uprights, so that the 
sink fits in snug, with rim projecting to outer edge 
of box. There is a space of about 3^ in. between 
bottom of sink and bottom in box. The box is lined 
with several thicknesses of building paper. Inside 
ibis box, under center of sink, there is a small box, 
just large enough to accommodate a 60-watt carbon 
light hull). This inner box is lined with several 
thicknesses of asbestos paper, with edges left wide 
Pi flare out. and press against bottom of sink. I 
bored a %-in. hole down through all this and slipped 
in a piece of window glass between insulation, so 
that the light would shine on floor to let me know 
when heat was on. Under extreme conditions it 
might he necessary to put in the second inner box 
with another bulb to he used in most severe weather, 
hut under ordinary conditions one bulb is enough, 
The Cyclamen, a flood Wiiidoa- Plant. Fig. 3) 
(Pee Page J02) 
provided that the insulating is properly done. 
Switches should he outside, where they* can be 
reached conveniently. 
I wasted a lot of tine and material on the im¬ 
mersed bulb idea, with no satisfaction whatever. 
Radiation is always up, and if tUe bull) is enclosed 
in a tight vessel it is so thoroughly insulated by the 
dead-air space that it does not radiate heat. 
New York. c. ». cooper. 
Ex-soldiers and Unoccupied Farms 
Can you see any connection between returned ex- 
service men, married and without work, and the de¬ 
serted farms of the New England States? I am one 
who has suffered mental anguish and financial adversity 
through the war, but. no regrets or remorse for these. 
What I and my family face now is more realistic. 
I want work, like many others, of course; hard work 
that will return a living, not. riches, but an honest 
living. 
I am young, 28, married, two children, healthy, strong, 
good character, ambitious, and anxious to have a place 
to call home. I am educated, practical experience at 
farming, particularly poultry farming on a large scale. 
Y'et I have no friends with money, nor can 1 borrow 
any through regular business channels. 
We are willing to take a chance on one of these worn- 
out New York farms, with only the provision that it 
he near railroad station and school, the loan <>f 81.000 
for five years, and reasonable deferred payments on 
farm. As security I have nothing but my manhood, 
good name, and determination to succeed. I write in 
all sincerity, thinking that possibly you might know of 
some one who would give me an opportunity to make 
good. The spirit of helpfulness manifested in columns 
of your paper has prompted me to write to you in the 
hope that you might help me. Raymond w. cook. 
Ohio. 
W E print this letter just as it comes to us. We 
have had several others like it. We do not 
know Mr. Cook personally, hut we like his spirit and 
his plans. There ought to he the closest connection 
between some of these ex-soldiers and the unoccupied 
farms. Many of these young fellows can supply 
just what thousands of these country neighborhoods 
lack and need, while these idle farms can provide 
the “makings'' of a home. We do not know of any¬ 
thing more desirable at this time than the repopu¬ 
lating of our rural neighborhoods with such men as 
Mr. Cook's let ter shows him to be. Here seems to 
he another case where we mast do it ourselves. It 
is not likely that the Government will or should do 
just such work. It is more likely to he a personal 
problem, in which some farmer with reasonable cap¬ 
ital is willing to take a chance on what Mr. Cook 
calls “manhood.” If there are any such among our 
readers who would care to consider such an arrange¬ 
ment, we can give them the chance. 
Doing Away with the Open Ditch 
The open ditch is generally an expensive proposi¬ 
tion. and in a great many instances can lie entirely 
discarded, as in the following. The surface run-off 
of about 5o acres of upland passed through a culvert 
under the highway, connecting with an open ditch 
across a stretch of good cultivated upland, and dis¬ 
charged into a muck tract not yet reclaimed. The 
sides of this ditch were growing up to hushes, as is 
usual under these conditions, and the rank growth 
of weeds and grass was continually obstructing the 
flow of water. We cleaned on I and deepened this 
channel and laid in it a line of 8-in. seconds, or re- 
jeetod sewer pipe. From the roadside fence to the 
culvert the liies were laid with the ends 2 in. apart, 
connecting right up to the culvert tile. This section 
of the ditch was filled in with field or cobblestones. 
The remainder of the ditch was then filled in and 
all leveled off. free for cultivation. This work had 
to he done with grub ax and shovel, because of the 
rushes and heavy quack-grass sod. The whole job 
proved a practical proposition from every viewpoint. 
While the expense of the improvement is great at 
first sight, it is much less when the trouble and ex¬ 
pense of keeping the open ditch clear of obstructions 
and the value of the use of the land are considered. 
H. E. COX. 
Dog Kills Trespassing Hens 
A has chickens; R has a dog. A's chickens come into 
It’s yard and are killed. Can he collect for the chickens 
killed by B’s dog? C. \v. c. 
Rhode Island. 
T HE foundation fact is that A's chickens have 
no business on B's land. They were trespassers, 
and deserved what they got, if B's dog killed them. 
A may sue B for the damage done by these birds. 
Ir. would he about an offset, and the cheaper and 
more neighborly way to settle it would be to have A 
keep his chickens shut up. If the case were in New 
York State and A caught B's dog in the act of killing 
the chickens, he could shoot the dog. 
Highyy'ai/ 
