39-4 
l oss advantages of a Grange composed of members 
of a farming community with so many similar prob-. 
loms and interests getting together and obtaining 
mutual help. It is also easy to understand the fin¬ 
ancial advantages in buying wholesale and saving 
20 to 50% on the many things needed in running the 
houses and farms; bought several hundred pounds 
of best coffee at less than the price of common 
/ grades, and many other savings in groceries, and 
also a good saving in binding twine. I attend many 
fruit growers' and other conventions where there 
are displays of all kinds of things requisite on the 
farms, and by being constantly on the watch and 
talking it over obtain many desirable bargain prices 
lor the Grange. I have just made arrangements 
whereby this Grange will save .$10 per thousand on 
the average on the different styles and sizes of 
fruit baskets needed, and for which settlement will 
not be needed before Fall, where desired, by giving 
notes payable after fruit is marketed. 
Last Spring the Lockport manager of the New 
York Telephone Company, in effort to make larger 
dividends by curtailing the number of operators in 
the exchange and in the repair work, made a dis¬ 
tinction between the city and country users of tele¬ 
phones, and in spite of much opposition changed all 
the rural telephones out of the exchange to the ob¬ 
solete crank type in vogue 20 years ago. The coun¬ 
try users strongly objected to the nuisance of hear¬ 
ing the ring of every subscriber on the same line, 
the necessity to crank the pesky thing for consid¬ 
erable time to get the operator, or if some one on 
the same line was wanted, to do the ringing per¬ 
sonally without help of central. It cost the tele¬ 
phone company $9,000 to make the change, but it 
would take days to tell of all the inconveniences of 
the system to the users. Individuals were power¬ 
less to obtain satisfaction of any kind, and many 
in disgust ordered their telephones taken out. The 
Lockport Grange, a concerted unit of outraged 
farmers, through committee, forced the telephone 
company to reinstate their former satisfactory ser¬ 
vice as it was before the change, and the same as 
the city users* had through the same exchange all 
the time. This shows what cooperation can do. 
While we numbered less than two hundred then we 
had thousands and thousands of other Grangers 
back of us and the fear of the Public Service Com¬ 
mission in the telephone company, and we accom¬ 
plished what would have been otherwise impossible 
without organi ation. 
"The editor of The R. N.-Y. has asked for a de¬ 
scription of a cooperative pleasure and improvement 
trip made last August by 25 members of our Grange 
in a large automobile fruit truck, covering two days 
and many miles through the fruit belt of the county, 
along the historical Niagara Frontier and over the 
new Niagara Boulevard into Buffalo, and then over 
State roads home. While we have more than a 
dozen auto trucks in the immediate neighborhood, 
we went in the largest of these marketing trucks, 
and it comfortably seated the 25 members of the 
party. The occasion was the annual Summer meet¬ 
ing of the New York State Fruit Growers’ Associa¬ 
tion held at Olcott Beach, where 1,500 gathered to 
hear State Commissioner of Agriculture Calvin J. 
Iluson, and other prominent speakers. One of the 
local papers said, “A feature of the entry of dele¬ 
gates this afternoon was the arrival of the big red 
motor truck of Albert Eighme loaded to the gun¬ 
wales with well-known Grangers from the towns of 
Lockport and Cambria who started shortly before 
noon and came to show Commissioner Iluson how 
progressive Niagara farmers are in the matter of 
using gasoline.” 
On this outing we heard some very valuable lec¬ 
tures on fruit growing conditions and transportation 
problems. We made a side trip and inspected apple 
and peach orchards. All along the Lake Road are 
found extremely valuable farms, and their orchards, 
loaded with fruit, were of much interest to the 
party. There are always worth-while ideas obtain¬ 
able in carefully noticing how others are handling 
similar problems to your own. 
After short stops at Wilson and Youngstown we 
arrived at Lewiston and staid at the Frontier 
House, which was built nearly a century ago, and 
quite in harmony with the historical village. A 
heavy rain early the next morning delayed the start 
away, but sight-seeing along the river and across 
into Canada, by some, and singing and dancing in 
the large parlor whiled away the morning hours 
pleasantly and immediately after dinner the trip 
was resumed to Niagara Falls, and after a couple 
of hours there, on into Buffalo and theatre. It was 
late, very late, when the party of tired Grangers 
reached home, and there was not so much singing 
on the home trip, as everyone was tired, but each 
and all considered it a very successful, enjoyable 
THIS RURAL 1M E\V-VORK2n 
outing. It was not expensive, dividing the cost of 
oil and gasoline between the men, and the wives 
supplying large baskets of good things, it made the 
individual cost very low. 
If farmers ever could band together and cooper¬ 
ate in the best ideal of organization what right 
farm products prices could be obtained and what 
i\ power in the land and in better government. But 
admitting the fact that farmers cannot, or will not, 
ever act entirely together as a harmonious unit to 
any great extent, it is cure that the trend c ; the 
work of the Grange in cooperation is well wortiiy of 
emulation, and it would be interesting and in¬ 
structive to hear from others what they are doing or 
have done along similar lines. It has been said that 
the ones who know the most about farming are the 
ones who have the least time to write out their val¬ 
uable lessons for others, but in the Winter months 
time could be found, it would seem, for mutual help. 
DANIEL N. POMEROY. 
CHICKEN THIEVES AND RURAL POLICE. 
Having considerable experience, let me say a few 
things about shooting at chicken thieves. We have 
been so pestered by these vermin, in addition to 
those that are winged, furred, clawed and four¬ 
legged, that I have for years kept young and old 
chicks surrounded by an electric alarm; which I 
am sure has saved us much further loss. But it 
is a perennial nuisance! By chance, I discovered 
the very last attempt (out of a dozen) before my 
alarm was completed. I tired, they ran. dropping 
the chicks. Another time, I fired to accelerate the 
progress of one who sprung the alarm. I intended 
only to “pink ’em” enough with bird shot at say 
200 or more feet, to make them sit standing for a 
time, and conclude thieving is a dangerous busi¬ 
ness. I believe 1 now have a pretty fierce reputa¬ 
tion. Well, the blacker they paint me the better 
I like it; the less probability I shall needs have 
occasion to “make good.” 
What, shall we try to capture a thief bare¬ 
handed? Several men have lost their lives so. 
Common knowledge teaches us that the thief is 
both armed and unscrupulous about killing when 
cornered. We have the right to more than equal 
footing when meeting outlaws! Moreover, being 
unknown, he runs very small risk of capture even 
if he murders you. This brings, me to my main 
point, which is, that what this country needs is a 
trained rural mounted police, with dogs. The 
present political constabulary is about as efficient 
as a “busted” musket at catching criminals, let 
alone preventing crime. They are 100 per cent, 
efficient when it comes to haling honest, peaceable 
and busy citizens to court on jury duty, to waste 
their time listening to quibbling lawyers wrangling 
over technicalities and other irrelevances that 
haven’t the least bearing on substantial justice! 
This will continue, 1 suppose, until the people be¬ 
come sufficiently wrathy to boot the whole crew 
out and put in men actuated by common sense. Our 
laws are administered far too much for the protec¬ 
tion of criminals and far too little to protect and 
encourage law-abiding people. 
I suggest that part of our military be assigned to 
police duty, instead of loafing in barracks. Why, 
there has been an awful series of the most atrocious 
crimes committed recently in rural districts, and a 
trained rural i>olice ought to have some deterrent 
effect on such, as well as being ready to pursue 
criminals before they get half a day’s start, as at 
present. The Aqueduct police have reached here in 
four minutes from Cornwall, 1% miles away, when 
telephoned for. 
Keep a dog, eh? Fine—if they'll let you keep 
him! But a dog is only good when backed by a man 
—with a gun. I’ve been told chickens were stolen 
in Cornwall under the noses of a bunch of bulldogs 
so savage they nearly killed an honest man in the 
daytime. There are several ways of getting ’round 
a dog! LEO A. MAPES. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
“CHICKEN BUSINESS” IN SWITZERLAND. 
The chicken boom is on in this country, and the 
lien fever has a high temperature. Some of the 
gentlemen who are responsible for this, ought to 
move over to Switzerland and give the Swiss a run 
for their money, and then get the money. Consul 
Phillip Holland, Basel, Switzerland, makes a cur¬ 
ious report of poultry conditions in his district, 
lie says the average Swiss farmer considers his 
land too valuable for raising chickens. In the 
Spring and Fall the birds run in the field, but when 
the crop starts, the hens are shut up. The result is 
that cooking eggs are imported from Italy. Fresh 
eggs appear to be worth 40 to 60 cents a dozen the 
March 14, 
year round. There would seem to be a wonderful 
opportunity for our friend Philo, (better than in 
Florida), or some of the other poultry system- 
makers. Why should they waste their energy in a 
country like this, when the Swiss do not keep 
chickens, because there is only room enough in the 
backyard for the pet dog? These gentlemen ought 
to be able to tell the Swiss people how to convert 
that dog kennel into an egg factory, which would 
turn out several hundred eggs a week. Mr. Hol¬ 
land says that after a careful search he found only 
one incubator in Basel, and that was a baby incu¬ 
bator. Certainly here is an opportunity for a poul¬ 
try contest to see which manufacturer can strike 
the Swiss market in the quickest time. Mr. Hol¬ 
land makes the following statements about the poul¬ 
try market, lie says that young roosters are called 
by what he terms a polite fallacy, “pullets,” and that 
the Swiss have no way of telling the difference ex¬ 
cept by hunting for the spurs. 
Search as one will, it is not likely that a hen, fat or 
lean, young or old, will be found in the local markets. 
The only chickens prepared for the market are the 
joung cocks, the surplus of which are killed, their body 
leathers picked off, and the chicken, including head, 
feet, and entrails, retailed at 50 to 60 cents a pound. 
The pullets and hens are kept for brood purposes. If 
a hen, through age of service, should cease to be prolific 
she, too, might be killed, after being fattened, and of¬ 
fered for sale. There is an instance of this which has 
been ascertained by diligent inquiry. However, when an 
offer was made to purchase, the would-be buyer was 
told that the hen was good only for soup, as it would 
be a useless waste of fuel to render the fowl tender 
enough for eating. The hen appeared fat and eatable, 
but the market man demonstrated that he was telling 
the truth by showing that it was impossible for a strong 
man to break the breastbone, which is the usual pre¬ 
cooking method of ascertaining whether a chicken is 
tender. 
The average farmer usually keeps 12 to 20 hens, 
and no one seems to think of raising chickens for 
profit Such a practice as killing hens after their 
first season is unknown. The Swiss seem to believe 
that liens improve with age, perhaps something after 
the manner of old wine. Thus, old Spot, or Speckle, 
will be kept until she drops dead, and is as much 
a member of the family as the veteran old horse 
or cow. 
FITTING SOIL FOR VIOLETS. 
I am in the greenhouse business, growing violets. 
I have a dark, heavy loamy soil. For my next year’s 
soil I have put on one ton of ground lime to the acre; 
1 have plowed a crop of rye and a crop of clover. 
My soil seems to go down hard after it has been in 
the greenhouse a while, and it gets a green moss on it. 
It seems to get a crust on it, and I do not g£t good 
root action. What do you advise? n. b. 
Red Hook, N. Y. 
The soil here described is evidently very similar 
to our own, and judging from our experience would 
suggest that it is deficient both in humus and lime. 
It was a great mistake to plow the rye or clover 
and leave the soil bare during the Winter, and the 
best thing that can be done now would be to pro¬ 
cure 50 to 75 tons of horse manure and spread over 
the acre you wish to remove to your violet houses 
during the Summer. If you do not use an acre of 
soil, manure what proportion you do use at rate of 
75 tons per acre. Even more will not do any harm, 
as the best crop of violets we ever grew was in a 
house built over a piece of land plowed in Spring, 
containing a heavy stand of clover, and having a 
coat of manure so heavy plowed under that each 
furrow was filled before the next one was turned 
on it. 
Plow the manure you put on early in Spring and 
sow a heavy crop of turnips or any quick-growing 
crop that will add humus, to be disked and worked 
in soil before removing to house. This green crop 
should be disked and turned under several weeks 
before soil is to be used. After soil is in house, and 
is being prepared for planting crop, apply half ton 
per acre of hydrated or thoroughly air-slaked lime. 
If the green mold appears apply more lime after 
plants are set, and work soil up lightly between 
plants, then water at once. Do not be afraid to 
use lime, as high fertilization and a large amount 
of humus require plenty of lime to correct accidity. 
If you can spare the land, take a plot the size 
you generally use this Spring and sow a heavy crop 
of cow peas in May. Plow these under about August 
15. Apply lime, a ton or more per acre (I do not 
mean ground limestone, but burned lime, finely 
slaked) ; then sow at least one bushel Hairy vetch 
seed per acre, which plow the following Spring 
when 12 to IS inches high; then apply good coat 
of manure and disk it in and keep stirring up every 
few weeks till wanted. This treatment will have to 
be supplemented with chemical fertilizers according 
to crop requirements. We have never yet found 
anything better than vetch to cover the ground 
during Winter and make it in fine planting condi¬ 
tion in Spring. elmkr j. weaver. 
Pennsylvania. 
