1178 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
December 24, 
This nearness to a receptive market is often over¬ 
looked in considering the ultimate profits of the farm. 
Cumberland Co., Me. Walter l. hannah. 
R. N.-Y.—We are still cheerfully waiting for the 
western com growers to accept the challenge. Not 
one has come forward yet Several Eastern farmers 
want to compete, and we feel sure that we can get 
any reasonable number whenever the Western men 
say they are ready. The following note is from the 
Wisconsin man who on page 1119 told how those old 
glaciers had scraped New England bone dry: 
I shall be interested in that corn contest, if you get 
it started, and I think it will be a mighty good thing 
for both sections to stimulate competition between them. 
There ought to be some kind of a banner or trophy in 
connection with it. At the same time, it w'ill not prove 
anything. I have never disputed the fact that there are 
as fertile patches of ground in New England as there 
are anywhere else, and if not naturally so, they can be 
made so by fertilizers. Of course, you will find plenty 
of farmers with an acre or two of rich land, who can 
grow as much corn as Easterners on an acre or two they 
might select. And probably they can do better, because 
having smaller farms they will be able to cultivate more 
intensively. I note you limit the contest to $50 land, 
but it would be more sensible to limit it to $5 land, be¬ 
cause $5 land in New England is probably pretty lean 
pickings, but there is lots of $5 land in Wisconsin that 
is virgin, I mean the cut-over areas of the northern and 
western couties in particular. As long as there is lots 
of such land with nobody to plant on it, what is the 
use of trying to scratch a living out of the annual stone 
crop of a New England hillside? New England can af¬ 
ford to cultivate more intensively than the West, be¬ 
cause they have less ground, and they are closer to mar¬ 
ket, which gives them a big advantage, and furthermore 
they are, or should lie, more enlightened, and better able 
to make the soil pay its way than the Westerners, con¬ 
sequently they will always have big advantages and if 
with those they cannot do better on an equal acre, they 
ought to be ashamed of themselves. With all that, it 
still appears to me that the bulk of New England ground 
is best adapted for apples and stock raising. 
Suppose we admit that last. All the easier for the 
Western men on natural corn land to win the contest. 
Our people will accept the handicap and still start in 
the race. We will waive the price of land and accept 
any land, any culture or any care or seed. 
DAMAGES FOR IMPURE SEED. 
I seeded a piece of land down with Red clover last 
Spring, and in looking it over this Fall find quite a lot 
of dodder in it. Is there any redress from the seedsman 
for damages? Is there any State law against selling seed 
with dodder in? Of course the seller says he did not 
know it, and that he does not warrant his seeds, but if 
the State protects us against dodder he will have to 
settle for it. F. J. 
New York. 
There is no provision of the agricultural law on 
this subject, and the general business law does not 
cover it. The right of action for damage is a com¬ 
mon law right and not a statutory one. A lawyer 
has gone over the records for us and finds the follow¬ 
ing: 
In the case of White vs. Miller, 71 N. Y. 118, the 
plaintiffs, who were market gardeners, purchased of 
defendants, who were growers of seed of a variety 
known as “Large Bristol Cabbage,” a quantity of seed 
of that description. The seed in question was raised 
on Bristol cabbage stocks, which were planted in the 
vicinity of stocks of other varieties, and in conse¬ 
quence of the crossing of the varieties, the seed in 
question became impure and not genuine Bristol cab¬ 
bage seed, and the plants raised therefrom were worth¬ 
less. This case was decided in favor of plaintiffs, and 
the court stated the law on this subject as follows: 
A dealer who sells an article, describing it by the name 
of an article of commerce, the identity of which is not 
known to the purchaser, must understand that the latter 
relies upon the description as a representation by the 
seller that it is the thing described ; and this constitutes 
a warranty. . 
The court further held in this case that the measure 
of damages was the difference in value between the 
crop raised from the defective seed and a crop of 
Bristol cabbage, such as would ordinarily have been 
produced that year. 
In the case of Bell vs. Mills, 78 App. Div. 42, a seed 
growers’ catalogue contained the following provision: 
My guarantee. I guarantee that all seed . sent 
out from my establishment shall reach the purchaser, .... 
in good condition, be fresh and true to name, to grow if 
properly planted, and if such should not prove the case, 
I will refill the order, free of charge, providing sufficient 
proof is given me within a reasonable time. I cannot 
guarantee crops and will not be held responsible for them. 
The court, however, held that the express warranty 
contained in the catalogue and the redress provided 
for a breach thereof, did not extend to a defect in the 
seed oats arising from the presence of mustard seed 
therein; in such a case a warranty that the seed oats 
were free from mustard seed will be implied. 
In the case of Depew vs. The Peck Hardware Com¬ 
pany, 121 App. Div. 28, (reported in July, 1907,) the 
facts were as follows: 
The plaintiff, a farmer, purchased of defendants, in the 
Spring of the year, five bushels of Alfalfa, to be sowed 
on his farm. In the late Summer the first growth was 
cut and allowed to remain on the land. In the Spring of 
the following year there was a fairly heavy growth on 
the land, but the product came out with Yellow trefoil 
blossoms. There were also patches of dodder from one to 
even feet in circumference scattered over the field. The 
plaintiff plowed the land under and sued the defendants 
for his loss. 
The court decided in favor of the plaintiff, holding 
the measure of damages to be the difference between 
the value of the crop actually grown and the value of 
what would have been produced had the seed been of 
the kind ordered. 
The case of White vs. Miller, 71 N. Y. 118, has 
been frequently cited in other decisions and has never 
been overruled. In view of this decision and other 
decisions I am of the opinion that on the sale of 
seed of a certain kind which cannot be distinguished 
from other seed by ordinary inspection, there is an 
implied warranty by the seller that the seed is of the 
kind ordered, which warranty survives acceptance. It 
would seem, therefore, that if F. J. can bring his 
case within this propositon of law, he would have a 
right of action for any damages he has sustained on 
account of purchasing the impure seed. 
LEANING UP AGAINST HIS LAND. 
In these days of “boom towns” and shadow farms 
it is hard to get some of the people to look at facts 
cahilly. When the cold winds cut the North and 
frost .and snow prison the land thin-blooded individu¬ 
als dream of the Sunny South. A farm in Texas 
or Florida seems like the gateway to the Garden of 
Eden when the mercury goes down, and land boom¬ 
ers find many an easy mark. A Texas man who 
knows the State well tells the following: 
I am going to toll you a joke that's going the round 
about Texas State school lands. It is a lvell-known fact 
that all of the best lands have been selected, gobbled up 
by big interests or more or less settled upon by actual 
farmers, and what is left is either dry lands on which 
water will never be gotten, or mountainous or badly 
broken lands- (similar to the Bad Man's Lands of Arizona) 
which can never be used for any purpose—unless for 
minerals yet undiscovered. It seems that certain un¬ 
scrupulous real estate men encourage people to buy these 
lands from the State from a distance, they acting as 
agents in the transaction for a certain fee, giving out 
that they are agricultural lands and worth many times 
more than the $1.25 per acre that the State asks. The 
40 years’ time in which to pay for it at four per cent 
sounds attractive and lots of people invest, pay a few 
years and then visit their holdings—to their great dis¬ 
may. A certain prosperous farmer took up eight sec¬ 
tions (the maximum) and after paying thereon a few 
years decided to emigrate there and “settle on his land” 
and in writing the Land Office for its exact location, etc., 
advised them of his intention. He made the visit all 
right, but found the land so mountainous, he sat down 
and wrote the Department: “I came out here to settle on 
my land, but since inspecting it, I find the only thing 
I can do is to lean up against it.” , 
If a farmer wants a strong support to lean upon 
let him start right with his own farm. If he has 
surplus capital let him invest part of it right at 
home. Drain the wet land, make the house comfort¬ 
able and get needed tools and conveniences. In 
seven cases out of 10 this will pay better than 
pulling up stakes and hunting a new location. 
IMPROVING NEW ENGLAND SOCIAL LIFE. 
How One Woman Did It. 
The present deplorable lack of social life in New 
England country towns is the direct result of one 
cause; find the one cause and the remedy is easy. 
Two generations ago everyone in this town farmed 
their land in Summer, and nearly everyone made 
boots and shoes in the Winter. Nearly every third 
house had a small shoe shop, and the men from the 
next house each side worked with the owner. The 
shoes were “taken out” from some dealer who usually 
ran a general store in connection with his shoe busi¬ 
ness. Every family in town was of the old New 
England stock. Everyone knew everyone else, and 
had known them ever since they knew anything. 
Whenever anyone finished a lot of shoes he drove to 
his dealer and “turned them in.” Here was where he 
stocked up on whatever groceries, etc., were needed, 
and many of his neighbors sent by him to purchase 
theirs. In the evening everyone called to take home 
whatever they ordered and a general social good time 
was held. All the fresh news brought home was dis¬ 
cussed pro and con, and plans laid for the next trip 
by some other shoeman who had his work nearly 
finished. If there came an especially good day for 
a rabbit hunt the men left work and went, working 
evenings until the time so spent was made up. 
The women meanwhile held their quilting bees, and 
discussed the school and child question. The young 
folks danced, coasted and skated, and from what 
the old folks have told us, took quite as much pleas¬ 
ure as any of them do now. This was in the day 
of hand work; machinery made a big change. As 
long ago as I can remember it had begun. The shoe 
business had been concentrated in a city twelve miles 
away and was rapidly drawing everyone, except the 
old people, to the city. It was no longer possible 
to work by hand and compete with the large factories 
using steam power and rapid machines. When an 
old couple died, or became too old to keep up the 
farm, and went to live with the children, the place 
was on the market, and there was no one to buy 
but a foreigner. Here was where the trouble began. 
The old native stock looked down on all outsiders 
as unworthy to call on or take any interest in. Most 
of the people who came to our town were from Nova 
Scotia, and they soon had their own good times, 
and were as independent as the natives. To show 
how they were regarded by some I cannot do better 
than tell the story of a known happening. One even¬ 
ing a half dozen old veterans were sitting around the 
stove in the store and post office and they fell to 
discussing the coming of so many foreigners, and one 
old fellow said: “Wall, they say the Indians used 
to live here, and I vow I dunno but they’ll be back.” 
Things drifted along and grew worse all the time. 
More people passed on, and the farms were sold to 
Swedes, Germans or Canadians. People grew more 
and more self-centered, and took less notice of their 
neighbors, until three years ago, when one woman 
turned the tide, and to-day no one can say they 
go not have a chance to have all the social good 
times the country can give. 
A Canadian, who had lived in Massachusetts several 
years, moved into the town because the doctor had 
told him his wife could only live a few years at best, 
but that she would be much better out in the country. 
He still kept his business in the city, going early in 
the morning and returning late in the evening. One 
day the lady who lived in the next house decided that 
it was her duty to do something to make life more 
cheerful for this poor woman. She at once took a 
radical step; she sent a special invitation to 12 of 
the nearest women to call at her house on a certain 
afternoon. She included the feeble one, and everyone 
came. She proposed that they form a club and call on 
a member one afternoon each week. Everyone agreed, 
and my mother invited them to come to her house 
the next time. When she got home she looked as if 
she was inspired. As they became better acquainted 
with each other they found more to like and less 
to scorn in each other. They found that all women 
love babies, and those who had them carried them 
to the meetings. The next step was to start a sick 
fund in which they each put five cents a week, and 
whenever a member was sick the treasurer bought 
fruit or flowers or whatever the case seemed to 
require to the amount of $1.50. All the members 
made an effort to call if possible, or to send some 
little token of fellowship, which showed that they 
were thinking of the unfortunate. Next they decided 
to hold an annual supper, and take their husbands, 
brothers, children and company along. A member 
with a big house was selected to entertain, and it 
was a great success. This led to more informal 
evening socials, and all this time the club was grow¬ 
ing. Every member when she entertained the club 
invited all who lived near her to come. Most of 
them came, and most of them stayed, until now the 
club covers about four square miles and has so 
many members that the next annual banquet will be 
held in the town hall, because no common house could 
hold it. 
They hold special parties at or near the holidays, 
with a Christmas tree for the children at Christmas, 
hatchet souvenirs on Washington’s Birthday, etc. If 
a member is caught in a hard place the others all 
help out, and there is no way to get from house to 
house aside from walking or driving. Practically 
everyone owns a horse, but the people are not wealthy 
enough to own automobiles, and the roads are bad. 
It is neighborly good feeling and interest that bids 
them do it. Now this change has all come about in 
little over three years, in a neighborhood where if I 
should start from my old home and travel three miles 
in any direction, I would not pass more than two 
houses that have not changed hands since I was a 
boy. Some of them are owned by Americans, others 
are not, but human nature is pretty much the same 
if you go after the good in it with the good in yourself. 
In social life in the country as in everything else, 
cne gets just about what he is willing to give. If 
you call on your neighbor twice he will be only too 
glad to pay it back. The first formal call doesn’t 
break the ice unless one has a very magnetic per¬ 
sonality. 
Massachusetts. A. t. w. 
I li ivE the way you go after the grafters; it sounds 
good when so many supposed reliable magazines are 
lotting so much get-rich-quick stuff and utterly worthless 
schemes get into both their advertising and reading 
matter, when they certainly must know conditions. But 
it is the same old story, daily bread interfering with 
morality. I was down in southeast Nebraska last Fall 
during the apple harvest. Iland-picked Ben Davis and 
Winesaps were selling for 50 cents a bushel, while the 
same varieties were being sold from the cars in Humboldt 
for 81 25. The great problem there is for the grower to 
study his markets. Distribution is the great fault of 
modern marketing and a big factor in our high prices. 
Humboldt, Iowa. Q. J. b. 
