1914. 
THE R.URA.L NEW-YORKER 
799 
LAND BANK OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 
System of Mortgage Credits Explained. 
Part VI. 
VOID EASY CREDIT.—An easier method of secur¬ 
ing money on mortgage could be provided, but this 
system was not devised to invite the largest possible 
risk in order to secure the corresponding greatest pos¬ 
sible profit to the lender. It was devised to enable 
an owner to sell a safe and conservative credit at 
the lowest possible interest rate, and on the easiest 
possible terms of repayment. It was not the purpose 
of this particular plan to make it too easy to go into a 
heavy mortgage debt. Every virtue may be cultivated 
until it becomes a sin. Instead of a blessing a mortgage 
may become a curse. Since the dawn of history one 
set of men through cunning and device have sought to 
profit by other men’s labor. They have never found a 
means more subtle or more suited to their purpose than 
the instruments of credit. Away back where Roman 
history begins to escape from the mists of allegory and 
fable we find the astute money-lender alluring the less 
crafty tiller of the soil into debt. We read that the 
Roman law gave the creditor possession not only of the 
debtor himself but also of the debtor’s family. The 
debtor may be cast into prison ; but this extreme priv¬ 
ilege was seldom resorted to, for the reason that the 
prisoner working in the fields to reduce his indebted¬ 
ness was a better asset to his owner than a man in 
jail. Within writer’s memory, the company store in 
New York State encouraged the factory operatives to 
exceed their wages in store credit so as to control their 
trade and their liberties better. Today in the South¬ 
ern States the factor controls the cotton planters 
through advances on loans. Ills purpose is to keep the 
planters always a little in debt. If by any chance the 
crop is sufficient to clear up the advance loan, then the 
ingenuity of the factor is exercised to sell the planter 
some article of luxury, such as a horse or a buggy, 
in order to keep him in debt and in the power of the 
factor. So instead of making loans too tempting, this 
system was surrounded with safeguards to make it save 
and protect the borrower by putting the control into 
his, own hands. Mortgage banks to be controlled by 
bankers and capitalists have been proposed to finance 
farm mortgages. We bid farmers to have a warning 
of them. If organized at all, such banks will exist for 
the purpose of making dividends. Provisions simple 
enough will appear in the mortgage, but later on they 
may have a serious meaning. The expense of conduct¬ 
ing such an institution would be burdensome, and the 
owner would pay the expense. What may be altruistic 
at this time may turn out to be a “pound of flesh” to the 
next generation. 
Other systems than the one here mentioned may, of 
course, be successful; and in some situations may be 
needed. Some earnest and sincere advocates of farm 
credits favor a duplicate system, and this may yet 
come. There is room for another system, but the plan 
would need to be developed with care. It would be 
an easy matter under the allurements of good profits to 
accumulate money on stocks and bonds of a mortgage 
bank to loan on farm mortgages involving unusual 
risks and high rates of interest and expensive disburse¬ 
ments. But there would be a day of reckoning, as 
there has been with some institutions in the past. A 
brief period of easy money would encourage speculation 
and risk. Losses and demoralization would be the 
inevitable result of an expensive and wasteful system. 
To avoid this some plan of local supervision and re¬ 
sponsibility must be provided in any system adopted. 
Cooperative credits should, however, furnish all the 
cash the individual credit will warrant on a safe basis. 
The rules of the savings and loan associations are 
elastic and comprehensive. They permit considerable 
latitude in individual requirements; and it is believed 
that any case of safe requirements can be accommodated 
under them. People of small means will be invited to 
invest their money in the bonds of the Land Bank, and 
safety was necessarily the first consideration in making 
a law for its organization. If the law has any fault 
it is on the side of safety. Later on it may be that ex¬ 
perience will justify removing some of the restrictions 
that safety seems on the start to demand. No man 
unworthy of credit should hope to get it through this 
system. It is believed that every man will he able to 
get the portion of credit to which he is entitled. The 
system is new and needs to be worked out and de¬ 
veloped. The first step is local organization and the 
sooner this is effected, the sooner the benefits and con¬ 
veniences will materialize. 
SAVINGS AND LOAN LOCATIONS.—The fol¬ 
lowing shows the location of savings and loan 
associations in the State by counties and post offices. 
The figures following the post office indicate the number 
of associations in that city or tow n. For example there 
are four associations in Binghamton, Broome County: 
Albany—Albany, 15. 
Alleghany—Alfred. 
Broome—Binghamton 4, Deposit, Gowanda. 
Cattaraugus—(Mean, Salamanca. 
Chautauqua—Jamestown 5, Dunkirk 2, Silver Creek. 
Chemung—Elmira 5. 
Chenango—Norwich. Oxford. 
Columbia—Hudson 2, Stuyvesant Falls. 
Cortland—Marathon, Cortland. 
Delaw a re—Wa 1 ton. 
Dutchess—Poughkeepsie. 
Erie—Buffalo 24S, Springville, Tonawanda 3. West 
Seneca, Lancaster, Hamburg, East Aurora, Depew. 
Franklin—Saranac Lake. 
Fulton—Gloversville 3. 
Genesee—Batavia 2. 
Greene—Catskill 2. 
Herkimer—Dolgeville, Frankfort, Herkimer, Ilion. 
Jefferson—Carthage, Clayton, Watertown 2. 
Kings—Brooklyn 49. 
Lewis—Lowville. 
Livingston—Dansville. 
Madison—Canastota, Oneida. 
Monroe—Rochester SI, Brighton, Brockport. East 
Rochester, Fairport, Gates, Irondequoit. 
Nassau—Hempstead, Port Washington, Rockville 
Centre. 
New York—New York 172. 
Niagara—North Tonawanda, Loekport, Nigara 
Falls, Suspension Bridge. 
Oneida—Utica 3, Whitesboro, Rome, Oriskany Falls. 
Onondaga—Syracuse 19. 
Ontario—Geneva 2. 
Orange—Newburgh, Port Jervis 9, Goshen. Middle- 
town 3, Central Valley 2. Monroe. 
Orleans—Medina, Albion. 
Oswego—Oswego 12. 
Otsego—Oneonta. 
Queens—Long Island City 3, Woodhaven, Flushing, 
Jamaica, Whitestone. 
Rensselaer—Castleton, Iloosick Falls 2. Troy 4. 
Richmond—Stapleton. Mariner’s Harbor 2. New 
Brighton, Port Richmond 2, West New Brighton 3, 
Tottenville, Tompkinsville. 
Rockland—Spring Valley 3, Nyaek, Pearl River, 
Haverstraw, Suffern. 
St. Lawrence—Canton, Gouverneur, Norwood, Og- 
densburg, Potsdam. 
Saratoga—Mechanicsville. 
Schenectady—Schenectady 2. 
Seneca—Seneca Falls. 
Steuben—Avoca, Bath. Cohoctou, Corning, Ilornell 
2, North Cohocton, Wallace, Wayland. 
Suffolk—Amityville, Babylon, Sayviile. 
Tioga—Waverly 2. 
Tompkins—Freeville. 
Ulster—Rondout 2, Kingston, Saugerties. 
Warren—Glens Falls. 
Washington—Whitehall. 
Wayne—Lyons, Palmyra. 
Westchester—Yonkers 2, White Plains 2, Hastings- 
on-IIudson, Mount Vernon, Mamaroueek, New Rochelle, 
Peekskill, Tarry town, Tuckahoe, Williamsbridge. 
Wyoming—Attica. 
Yates—Penn Yan. 
Farmers living in the vicinity of any of these places 
may very readily find the officers of any of these savings 
and loan associations. It would be well for a number 
of farmers to send one or more delegates to confer with 
the town association with a view of farmers becoming 
members of the existing association. To accommodate 
the farmers it would be necessary for the existing asso¬ 
ciation to become a member of the Land Bank, and to 
change its charter and by-laws so that dues could be 
paid quarterly or semi-annually, or possibly annually 
in some localities. The prospect of a large increase in 
membership of substantial farmers will encourage any 
association to give their requirements proper considera¬ 
tion. Societies which have made the change in their 
rules to meet farm conditions have found that the new 
rules worked most satisfactorily, and it is probable that 
any association would be glad to adopt rules within 
the law, and in accordance with successful practice 
elsewhere to attract and accommodate the new mem¬ 
bers. If for any reason the existing association does not 
wish to change the rules and the farmers find the 
monthly payments impractical, they may form a new 
association for themselves. J. J. D. 
A LETTER FROM TOM BARRON. 
Those Wyandottes and Leghorn Hens. 
[We are at liberty to print the following extracts 
from a personal letter received from Mr. Barron, the 
English poultry breeder. After what has been said re¬ 
garding the type of the English Wyandottes it is only 
fair to let Mr. Barron make this plain and candid 
statement.] 
£ 6T TTILITY BIRDS.”—Evidently the great point 
at issue in your country is the same as in 
mine. That is, the exhibition men are try¬ 
ing to set up anything that will mislead peo¬ 
ple. in respect to the utility poultry keepinv and go 
so far as to say that the fowls are “crossed,” “little 
weedy birds.” etc. But the point really is that these 
men have lost in this country a tremendous amount of 
business, through the utility men teaching the work¬ 
ing people that the bird that would lay was the bird 
for them, and not the exhibition bird, because the lat¬ 
ter was only to look at. The utility men have pro¬ 
vided the bird that will benefit them. Apparently the 
same thing applies to the exhibition men of your coun¬ 
try, and they are now beginning to say that our birds 
are not purebred, because they may lay a tinted egg, 
or the birds may not be as good a type as the exhibition 
bird, or may be a different type. 
THEY SCORE LOW.—My birds may possibly score 
very low in your exhibition pens in America, and may 
do the same in this country. In fact I do not think 
they would get a “highly commended” card. But the 
point is that we have never bred for exhibition purposes, 
nor admitted doing so, but have bred hens specially to 
lay eggs, and have tried to make this quite clear. By 
using the trap-nest it has brought out a different type 
of bird altogether, to what was started with. For in¬ 
stance. we find from long use of it. the smallest bird 
lays the most eggs, and the longest-backed bird makes 
the heaviest layer. Now this is absolutely against the 
show type of English and American birds. The utility 
White Wyandottes weigh four to five pounds, while the 
exhibition bird of this same breed will scale S% pounds 
—that is the female—and the cockerel weighs 9 1 •_> 
pounds. The reason that my birds are tinted in lobe 
is that the trap-nest seems to have brought out this 
defect—if utility people can call it a defect—in addition 
to the long back mentioned. But we cannot help it if 
the trap-nest does produce the bird with these, in bring¬ 
ing out the layer. The birds must necessarily breed 
their type in producing the high record bird. 
NEVER WAS “CROSSED.”—Personally, I do not 
care a hang if I do not sell a bird to an American breeder, 
for I do not wish to uudo anything that the American 
may have done as regards putting up a standard type. 
My point is that type is but a small consideration, see¬ 
ing that I absolutely breed with the idea of getting the 
highest layer. In the matter of my birds being “off 
color” in the leg the same thing holds good. It is the 
effect brought about in getting the heaviest layer by the 
trap-nest, the best layers being the worst in this re¬ 
spect. and in some cases are absolutely pure white in 
the leg. Now, my White Wyandottes have never had 
a cross put into them since I have had them, this last 
15 years, and the same is precisely the case with the 
White Leghorns. The trap-nest is therefore entirely 
responsible for this change in type, etc. 
THEY NEED NOT BUY.—I am positive that even 
if I did not sell a stock bird, or any eggs for hatching 
purposes, I could still get a living out of my poultry, 
and that without any fear of the world denouncing me 
as a fraud. I am certain that from my utility poultry, 
being bred specially for laying, I could make three dol¬ 
lars per bird per year for egg production alone. But 
mind you, if America—or England if it came to that— 
did put me down as a fraud. I would see to it that I 
did not sell any more stock, so that they could not 
take away my good name. All the same, I am very 
sorry that some of my friends in your country should 
have attempted to denounce my birds as hybrids. There 
are always people who will willingly or otherwise be¬ 
lieve adverse reports on any matter whatever, but I 
have always tried to show your people that it is layers 
that I do breed. toji barrox. 
England. 
New York State News. 
IIEESE MAKERS CONVENE.—A cheese makers’ 
conference was held May 2G to 28 at Hogue’s 
Lower Five Mills cheese factory at Allegany and 
on the two following days at Varysburg cheese 
factory. The cheese instructors of the State dem¬ 
onstrated the latest and most improved methods on 
scientific cheese making. 
SUPERINTENDENTS OF HIGHWAYS.—On 
June 25th and 20th the annual meeting of county 
superintendents of highways of the State will be held 
at Ithaca, when over 300 are expected to be in attend¬ 
ance. State Superintendent Carlisle and Senator Mur- 
taugh are to deliver addresses. Some of the innova¬ 
tions which have been worked out on the roads of the 
county will be pointed out on a trip over the roads 
under direction of the special route committee. 
OTSEGO POTATO CONTEST.—The district super¬ 
intendents of Otsego County, in conjunction with the 
Farm Bureau, will conduct a series of potato growing 
contests among the pupils of the rural districts in the 
county and prizes will be awarded to the winners, a 
Holstein bull calf being first premium. The contest 
will be conducted after the “tuber unit method.” Each 
contestant will plant 25 potatoes of a purebred variety 
and each tuber will be cut into four pieces, one piece 
to the hill. By a unit is meant the four pieces of each 
potato. Except the plowing, all the work must be done 
by the contestant. 
CONVICTS ON ROADS.—State Superintendent of 
Prisons Riley is credited with the statement that 250 
miles of convict-built dirt roads will be constructed 
this year in this State. He was granted $50,000 by the 
Legislature to test convicts as road makers. Instead 
of making macadam roads he will make a much longer 
mileage of dirt roads. Officials in Warren, Washing¬ 
ton, Saratoga and Essex Counties have applied for 
convict help. 
COLD STORAGE VIOLATIONS.—Since January 
1 there have been 39 prosecutions for violation of the 
cold storage law. There have been 13 convictions. 11 
dismissed by consent, five held for Special Sessions and 
10 not returned. 
LEADERS WANTED.—A personal note from Prof. 
Lauman says, respecting the School for Leadership in 
Country Life to be held at Ithaca June 23 to July 3, 
“We have sent an announcement of the school to every 
Subordinate Grange in the State, hoping that wherever 
there is a real leader who may be persuaded to come 
to us, we may get in touch with him.” Community 
leaders or those who would like to be. will surely gain 
much by attendance on this brief session in the interest 
of rural life. j. w. D. 
The Continuous Wheat Harvest. 
W ITH the exception of one month (January) wheat 
is being sown in some part of the world, and 
there is a wheat harvest somewhere every 
month but October, according to the Inter¬ 
national Institute of Agriculture. 
Starting with January, Argentina and neighboring 
South American countries, New Zealand and Australia 
are finishing their Winter wheat harvest, the principal 
part of the work having been done in December. Win¬ 
ter wheat cutting starts in British India in February 
and lasts three months. March and April complete the 
Egyptian harvest. 
In May. the United States. China, Japan, Spain and 
Portugal start with Winter wheat, and the first Spring 
wheat in the United States is harvested. 
June marks the beginning of harvest in many coun¬ 
tries of South Central Europe. Germany and North¬ 
ern Europe begin in July. Great Britain and Cana¬ 
da’s heaviest cuttings are in August and September, 
and in the latter month Denmark, the Netherlands, 
Russia and Switzerland close. 
In a normal season practically no wheat is cut in 
October. November starts the first cuttings in Argen¬ 
tina and Ethiopia, and closes the last of Great Bri¬ 
tain’s wheat harvest. 
Crop Notes. 
T HE Government report shows that in the Winter 
wheat and chief corn-growing States the weather 
is favorable though rain is needed in the Ohio 
Valley. In the western part of the corn belt, 
planting has been completed under good conditions. 
Pastures and oats are prospering in the northern sec¬ 
tions, but suffering from drought in the south. Weath¬ 
er in the Spring wheat belt is favorable. Oklahoma 
and parts of Texas have suffered from continued rains, 
hindering planting and cultivation. The Atlantic 
States need rain badly. 
B. W. Snow says. “There is a marked deficiency in 
rainfall for the present season over the greater part of 
the corn and oats territory. It has been particularly 
dry through central and southern Illinois. Missouri, 
eastern Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, and a period of 
hot weather before rain is received will bring wide 
complaints from corn and oat fields.” 
