Ih* -RURAL NEW- Y O RKER 
I 153 
Potato Growers Co-operate 
HE Empire State Potato Growers' Co-operative 
Association starts off with a big business in 
handling potatoes and cabbage. This year there are 
20 locals, against 10 last year, with more in sight. 
The association wants a good trade mark name— 
something that will rank with the names which have 
made certain brands of oranges, cereals, soaps and 
other products popular. Three prizes of $5, $3 and 
$2 are offered for such an appropriate name. It is 
proposed to advertise the brands of potatoes and 
cabbage handled by the association and push the 
sale. They have purchased 45.0(H) potato bags 
already. The outlook for cabbage sales at. this date 
is not encouraging. There is an immense surplus 
all over, and buyers are not operating as they should. 
Even the kraut makers are buying but little. The 
potato market is, as we all know, in the dumps just 
now. We look for an improvement later. The big¬ 
gest part of the reported increase is in the West. 
According to all reports, there seems tin actual 
shortage of late potatoes on the upper Atlantic 
slope, and we think prlees^will come back "when the 
early crop is cleaned up. This association surely 
has its job cut out this year. 
The Old Apple Packing Trouble 
I am sending you under separate cover two apples I 
look from a box of Georgia packed fruit. The man who 
packed these apples thought that the box would sell the 
fruit. It might sell the first one, bur certainly would 
not sell the second one to the same buyer. Northern 
Georgia is producing some of the finest apples to be 
found anywhere, undoubtedly surpassing the Western- 
grown fruit in flavor. Some growers are packing and 
grading their fruit as it should be and are holding their 
«*wn against the best the Northwest eau produce. What 
moral right has a man to put the name Georgia on a 
box of such fruit, samples of which 1 am sendingV A 
box of such fruit will do inestimable harm to the Geor¬ 
gia apple trade. Tt seems that the packers of real qual¬ 
ity fruit should have some means of protecting them¬ 
selves against this class of men, because they nee bound 
io suffer loss by having such fruit placed upon the mar¬ 
ket. Some will argue than an honest grower's brand 
will protect him, but until his brand is exceedingly well 
known, buyers are too apt to conclude that all Georgia 
apples are alike, j. l). trickett. 
NE of the apples was a fair specimen; tbe other 
was very inferior. It had no legitimate place 
in a box of fruit, particularly in sucli a season as 
this. Many of our people do not know that North 
Georgia is producing some excellent apples. There 
are several local varieties which are very satisfac¬ 
tory. Growers there have a good opportunity to de¬ 
velop a special trade, but we can tell them right now 
I hat if they begin packing such apples as Mr. 
1 Tackett sends us they never will get anywhere with 
their fruit. 
Hunt for Nearby Markets 
What are the consumers paying for cabbage and po¬ 
tatoes in your city? Here the farmers are offered $5 a 
ton for cabbage, and 40 cents a bushel for potatoes, de¬ 
livered to the ear. These prices just about pay us wages 
for drawing them to the station. We farmers have re¬ 
ceived 5 cents per quart for milk the past Summer. We 
cannot, continue farming and sell our products at these 
prices. I thought if a few of ns farmers could go in 
together and sell our own produce and save a few mid¬ 
dleman profits it would pay us to do so. n, s. 
Cortland Go., N. Y. 
ABBAGE retails here at 8 to 10 cents per head. 
Some extra flue heads bring 12 to 15 cents. 
Potatoes bring 2G, to 4 cents a pwund at retail, de¬ 
pending on quality and market location. This man 
is located about MOO miles from New York, and we 
hesitate to advise carload shipments here. This 
market is simply glutted with produce. Big auto 
trucks are bringing in great quantities from Long 
Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Southern New 
York, and there is really too much produce for the 
present system of distribution. We realize what it 
means to fell farmers to look up nearby markets, 
but at. this time potatoes and cabbage are so cheap 
that tlie freight will eat up practically all profits. 
Within 100 miles of this man's place are cities con¬ 
taining nearly half a million people. No doubt cab¬ 
bage and potatoes are being brought to these mar¬ 
kets from a distance. Most farmers would consider 
it poor advice to hunt in these cities for a market, 
yet we think something of this sort will have to he 
done, instead of sending everything to New York. 
We should put the best farmer salesman on the job 
and let him make a search of these smaller markets 
with telephone and personal calls. Get the local 
Granges and Farm Bureaus at work. For the pres¬ 
ent this big market«is clogged. 
The Report of tbe Committee of 21 
In issue of July 1 yon gave considerable space to 
Hr. G<*orm‘ A". Works and bis ’’Goinniittee of 21.” I 
wish to offer some comments on Dr. Works’ article. 
DISSEMINATING THE REPORT. -Evidently the 
reports have been sent to those who are supposed to 
favor the scheme of the •‘Committee of 21.” In travel¬ 
ing about the State I find very few of the “reports" in 
circulation. Farmers who are most vitally interested 
in our rural schools do not have them; in fact, the 
farmer must pay 50 cents each for a copy, aud they are 
not buying them. It looks as though the purpose of 
the ‘‘committee” is to withhold information from the 
farmer and not to “disseminate” it. A good way to 
inform the farmer is to make him pay for this report, 
with milk selling at a loss! 
IMPORTANT FACTORS.—Dr. Works is consistent 
when be says the most important factor is consolidation. 
That fs the intent of the Committee, to wipe out the 
rural school ; but in this paragraph the doctor is unusu¬ 
ally meek when he says that the “rural people of the 
State should have an opportunity to discuss the sub¬ 
ject." This expression is quite iu contrast to his earlier 
utterances. The position of our education department 
disproves the statement, for instructions sent out from 
Albany to district superintendents urge them to delay 
consolidation of school districts, construction of build¬ 
ings, repairs, etc., as in all probability the report of 
the “Committee of 21" will soon be embodied iu legisla¬ 
tion. In fact, word has gone out that our next legis¬ 
lative session will adopt the report and enact a law 
completely changing our school system. 
OPTIONAL CONSOLIDATION.—If the “commit¬ 
tee” now believes that "consolidation of schools should he 
made optional,” its position has been completely changed, 
and such reversal of judgment brought about, by rural 
public opinion—a veritable stone wall which this cora- 
mittce faced. Why was this sentence italicised? If there 
are districts that need to be consolidated there are 
ample legal provisions to accomplish it. Now. in fact, 1 
believe there are many districts that ought to be con¬ 
solidated. 1 asked our district superintendent recently 
to consolidate an adjoining district with ours, and she 
said she believed it the thing to do, but she had been 
advised by the department to wait, pending the adop¬ 
tion of the "report of tlie Committee of 21.” 
SCHOOL SUPPORT.—The Education Department 
holds that schools are State institutions, that children 
are wards of the State, aud that teachers are State offi¬ 
cials. The “Committee of 21” must concede this claim. 
I do. Then the only consistent unit of taxation is the 
State, and when this taxation unit shall have been 
adopted many of the perplexing school questions that 
brought into existence this "Committee of 21” will be 
solved. If tlic teachers of the State are State officials, 
the State should pay them, and nor tin- districts, or the 
proposed "conununity units." 'When the teachers are 
paid entirely by the State, then the rural inhabitants 
will provide suitable school buildings aud up-to-date 
surroundings, as many of them do now. 
TIIE COMMUNITY UNIT.—The proposed com¬ 
munity unit reminds me of Sir John Locke's "Grand 
Model” of government devised at the instance of the 
Earl of Shaftsbury—a complex, unworkable, visionary, 
untried scheme. The more intricate a piece of machin¬ 
ery. tlie more apt to get out of repair. The larger a 
board of education for a district or a "community unit.” 
the less practical. 
REORGANIZATION NEEDED.—Hr. Works' sug¬ 
gestion that our .State Department of Education lie re¬ 
organized will meet with a ready response from our 
rural friends, and in such reorganization it is hoped 
that tlie old timers will be replaced by more efficient 
and more modern school officials. Reform in educa¬ 
tion should begin at the ton. The ludicrous side of the 
work of the “Committee of 21” consists of its proposed 
plan of reorganization. 
1. It would keep in office the same force of employes 
at the State Education Department, with life tenures, 
as now. 
2. It would retain the same 208 district superintend¬ 
ents iu office for life, only change their mode of election 
so as to make their tenure more secure. 
o. It would continue the present school districts and 
their officials as now. 
4. It would complicate school supervision by some 
more rod tape and an increased number of officials, with 
added local cost. 
5. It would bring about a reorganization of our pres¬ 
ent school system, not "over night.” hut during a period 
of years, and during these years, under the same officials 
at Albany, the same dk-nict superintendents, the same 
school trustees aud boards of education, the same teach¬ 
ers, the same school houses, the same districts, the same 
support with just a little larger tax unit. It is hoped 
that the "rural people of the State” will come to the 
rescue of the committee with some "constructive sug¬ 
gestions" that will enable it to afford "to the country 
child education facilities that will compare favorably in 
quality with those ihat are available to the children in 
the renters of population,” 
Disclaiming Conceit or egotism, l may add that no 
man in tin* State is more conversant with rural school 
conditions or understands public sentiment regarding 
our rural schools better than myself, and the only 
chance Dr. Works or the Education Department has to 
enact this report into law is to secure its passage before 
it is discussed or understood. Discussion and publicity 
will kill it. I would recommend the Stall bv made the 
tux unit for purposes of payment of teachers’ irat/cx at 
once, and no attempt be made to a wholesale consolida¬ 
tion of our rural schools without first submitting it to 
a vote of our rural inhabitants. The vote would deter¬ 
mine their position better than a few ijite.*fio«<riie.v_ 
Gonstantia, N. Y. E. G. reaxkaian. 
New York State Notes 
The picnic season is practically over, and the season 
for thi‘ county district and community fairs is coming 
on. Each year the question is asked if the old fair 
will be as good this year as formerly, and each year 
they come and go with the usual ups and downs, and 
comparatively few fall by tbe wayside, although there 
are many predictions to that effect. I have iust heard 
some of the early reports from some of tbe fail’s already 
held, and one person who has been rather keen at 
observing fairs says that concessionaires are complain¬ 
ing about the small amount of money that, has been 
spoil for trinkets and the like. I cannot help but feel 
that this is a Mgn of progress. I can think »f no place 
where there is so much silly, worthless junk offered for 
sale as at an average county fair at. a concessionaire's 
booth. Barnum wasn't far wrong when he said that 
the American people are the easiest people in the world 
to humbug. I hope that this non-buying habit con¬ 
tinues to grow and that our county fairs and district 
fairs become a pride rather than a stench. A county 
fair can become an inspiration to a farming community 
or it can be a disgrace to the intelligence of civilized 
folks. One thing that we must remember, however, ami 
that is that tbe directors of a fair are not always to 
blame. If a community wants a fair to be of interest 
to the agriculture of that community the farm folks 
must take a more active interest. 
The damage that was done by the recent raius to 
many country places cannot be thoroughly understood 
until actually seen. I have just returned from wi.- 
nessing a home that was built on a shield! 1 where there 
never was known to be trouble from water. Suddenly, 
a few nights ago, a heavy shower caused the creek to 
change its course, and where the cook stove stood in 
the kitchen there is now two tons of stone and dirt. 
Does this type of damage come under tornado in¬ 
surance? 
Canning corn is now under way in the canning sec¬ 
tions of Western New York. That the 8tate is out to 
prevent the spread of corn borer was impressed upon 
me While motoring from Buffalo a few days ago, when 
I was hailed by an inspector and asked if I was carry¬ 
ing any sweet corn in my car. This ppst can only be 
subdued by radical means such as this. 
When the representatives of the various grape asso¬ 
ciations met in Buffalo, August 28, they discussed thor¬ 
oughly the advisability of taking steps to encourage 
grape growers to discontinue the production of Cham¬ 
pion grapes. This grape is of poor quality, they state, 
comes on the market early, and many are shipped in 
an immature condition, which is very detrimental to 
the interest of all grape growers. Tlie meeting recom¬ 
mended that the present Champion vineyards be grafted 
to other varieties or destroyed. 
At the annual picnic of the Niagara County Holstein 
Club, at Wheat field, the officers of the. State associa¬ 
tion were asked to organize the Western New York 
Fall Sale, and it was decided to hold this sale on the 
newly constructed Fair Grounds at Loekport. Novem¬ 
ber 2. The sale is put on to meet the increasing de¬ 
mand for good cattle among the fruit growers of West¬ 
ern New York, who are in some case - carrying on a 
more diversified agriculture. Consignments will be 
selected from the several counties in that section. 
The Holstein breeders of Columbia County are carry¬ 
ing on a new plan of organization. Instead of organ¬ 
izing a county club, they have appointed a Holstein 
Breeders' Committee of the Farm Bureau, and this 
committee will work with the County Agent and will 
assume the responsibilities for future Holstein activi¬ 
ties in that county. F. R. Sherman of Copakc Falls 
is the chairman. It is believed that for couuties having 
only a small number of Hoi stems this plan will he more 
effective than to attempt to organize a county club. 
The wheat market in Western New York opened in 
many localities at -SI a bushel. The lowest mark 
reached was 85 cents, and that was for wheat that had 
been slightly damaged. Dealers claim that the yield 
is uot_ so high as last year, but approximately an aver¬ 
age yield. Dry weather early in the season, followed 
by plenty of rain, caused the wheat to grow rapidly and 
did not allow it time to head out fully as last year. 
Many of the farmers within easy range of rhe Buf¬ 
falo market are looking forward to the establishment of 
a co-operative live stock terminal at the Buffalo Live 
Stock Shipping Terminal. The National Live Stock 
Producers’ Association is soon to open offices and start 
business there. 
Since the controversy started over the use of sulphur 
on Long Island soils for the control of potato scab 
there has been much said both pro and eon that could 
not he substantiated. Here are the results that have 
been secured by the careful recording of the plots: 
i >n the inoculated (dot there were 4B.20 per cent of 
clean tubers. 40.23 per cent of salable scabby, and 13.57 
per cent of unsalable scabby. On the untreated check 
24.40 per cent clean. 50.10 per cent salable scabby, and 
50.50 per cent unsalable shabby. 
It is quite the belief that we read about the good 
Samaritan ofteuor than we see him iu action. Here is 
one case that happened in Oneida County which leads 
ns to believe that there is such an individual abroad, 
lie appears this time in the person of Clarence Klock. 
who displayed before his residence on the State road 
near Sherrill many varieties of bulbs on which was 
pinned the sign: “Help Yourself." Rather than eon- 
sign these bulbs to the dump. Mr. Klock preferred to 
give them to the neighbors and travelers who might 
pass by. 
The farmers of Dutchess County are finding that 
Rosen rye is a winner for tbeir section. This same rye 
has been found to he practical in many other parts of 
New York State. Yields have been reported as high 
as 40 to 50 bushels to the acre, and a great deal of it 
has gone as high as 50 bushels to the acre. E. a. f. 
Proposed New Jersey Market 
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has a 
plan for establishing a great market in the city of 
Newark or nearby. It is possible that such a market 
should he the headquarters for the selling of farm 
produce through Northern New Jersey, and plans will 
be made to develop it in conjunction with the scheme 
for developing the markets of New York City. Newark 
would be an excellent place for such a market. The 
present market in Newark is crumped for room and has 
almost outgrown its usefulness. All seem to agree that 
the time has come for establishing a great market some¬ 
where in Northern New Jersey that can handle farm 
produce To an advantage. Such a market it of near 
Newark would attract thousands <>f buyers from all 
over lower New York and New Jersey. It would bring 
a great number of farmers with produce direct from 
the farm. The plau is a good one and right iu line with 
the general development of marketing and the selling 
of farm goods. 
Much plowing to do yet, due to continued drought. 
Corn is fast ripening, and a good crop in most instance'-. 
Buckwheat short and below rhe usual acreage was 
planted. It is surprising that more of this valuable 
grain is not grown here where conditions are most 
favorable for its growth. Thrashing continues, with 
i -ports of some good jields. Picnics are over for this 
year and were better attended than ever before. The 
county fair at Huntingdon was crowded and successful 
in all its features. Wheat. 05c; corn, 65c; oats, 55c: 
potatoes, 75c hn.: ham. 25c lb.; lard. 12c; butter. 30 to 
35c : eggs, 23 to 25c. c. G. 
Huntingdon Co., Pa. 
