1002 
can be maintained or his injury or destruction unless 
it can be shown that the tag was lost or removed 
without tlie owner’s knowledge. Any representative 
of the Commissioner or peace officer may seize an 
unlicensed dog on or off the owner's premises. If 
the owner will not deliver such a dog and if the 
dog cannot be caught “without reasonable effort” 
the agent may, after pursuit, kill him. If, after 
c:ii)ture, the owner does not, within 10 days, pay 
costs, the dog may be killed or sold. The Com¬ 
missioner may contract with incorporated societies 
for the prevention of cruelty to animals to handle 
these dogs. 
DOGS AND ANIMALS.—The most important 
thing about the law is probably the following: 
Any person may kill a dog while it is attacking, chas¬ 
ing or worrying any domestic animal having a commei’- 
cial value, or attacking fowls, or while such dog is be¬ 
ing pursued thereafter. 
As we understand it, this Avould include all dogs, 
whether licensed or otherwise, if caught attacking 
w >rrying a domestic animal. It would seem as if 
this would prevent a landowner from keeping an 
active little dog to chase the neighbor’s chickens out 
of the yai’d when they come without permission and 
tear up his garden. This point may be decided 
later, but on the face of it, it would seem as if this 
would permit the owner of the chickens to kill such 
a dog, or it inight justify the owner of a cat shooting 
a dog Avhen in pursuit of the cat. Under this law 
the Commissioner may on the application of at least 
two residents issue an order restraining the owner 
of a dog described as “dangerous to persons, do¬ 
mestic animals, or fowls,” from permitting such a 
dog to run at large off the pi’emises of the owner. 
Such an order must be served personally or by reg¬ 
istered mail on the owner of the dog, or in case of 
his absence on an adult member of the family or 
person in charge. If a dog owner is served with 
such an order and still permi^^s the dog to run at 
largo he is subject to a penalty of $25 for each of¬ 
fense. 
FUKTHEll EEGULATION.—The Commissioner 
also has the power further to regulate the keeping 
of dogs in any town. When in his judgment the 
other regulations of this act prove inadequate for 
l»rotecting domestic animals and fowls the Commis¬ 
sioner may publish an order that all the dogs in that 
town must be securely confined between sunset and 
one hour after sunrise from May 1st until November 
1st, or any shorter period in any 3 ’ear. Such order 
'must be posted in three public places' and published 
in a newspaper. If, after such publication, any 
owner of a dog or anyone hai-boring a dog, refuse 
to confine his dog, within one Aveek after .such pub¬ 
lication he .shall forfeit the sum of $10, and any 
representative of the Commissioner or any peace 
officer may seize and hold such a dog running at 
large, and hold him until the penalty is paid. If 
the penalty is not paid Avithiu five days, such officer 
may kill the dog as though he had not been licensed 
and tagged. Such peace officer .shall, and any other 
person maj’, kill on sight any dog running at large 
in violation of this section of the laAA% but he must 
first have made a reasonable effort to catch .such 
dog and fail. The oAvner of .such, a dog must be 
notified immediately after his dog has l)een taken, 
thus giving him a chance to redeem the dog by pay¬ 
ing the penalty. 
SAVAGE DOGS.—If a dog .shall attack a ]ierson 
l)eaceably travelling on road or street or higlnvay, 
or shall attack his team or any domestic animal 
having a commercial value peaceabl.v ti’avelling in 
charge of such a person, and complaint is properly 
made to a justice of the peace, such justice shall 
inquire into the complaint Avith not less than three 
days’ notice to the owner of the dog. If he is sat¬ 
isfied Avith the truth of the complaint, such a justice 
of court shall order the OAvner to kill the dog imme¬ 
diately. Any oAvner Avho fails to kill such a dog 
Avithin 48 hours after such an order shall be subject 
to a penalty of $10 and $2 additional for each 24 
hours thereafter until the dog is killed. When such 
an order is Issued and the OAvner fails to kill the 
dog, any peace officer or representative of the Com¬ 
missioner shall kill such a dog on or off the premises 
of the OAvner, and any person may kill such a dog if 
running at large off the oAvner’s premises. 
TJNIJCEN.SED ANIMALS.—If a dog OAvner neg¬ 
lects or refuses to obtain a license and pay the 
license fee to the tOAvn clerk, the toAvn clerk shall 
make a report to the justice of the i>eace or other 
magistrates. Such legal officer shall at once issue a 
signed order directing any constable or peace officer 
to seize and hold the dog. He may keep the dog for 
five days and if the OAvner pays the license fee and 
obtains a license in that time, Avith $2 added, he 
may take his dog. If he does not do so. and does 
not obtain the license, the dog shall be killed by the 
officer, the latter reporting Avithin 24 hours to the 
'She RURAL NEW-YORKER 
justice. Fees are given to the officers and justices 
for doing this Avork, and if a tOAvn clerk fails to 
make full report of the najnes of dogs, OAvners, and 
other facts called for in the laAv. or if any officer 
refuse to seize or kill any dog Avhen ordered,, he 
shall forfeit the sum of $10. 
EEPOKTING KILLING OF DOG.—Any person 
Avho kills a dog under the provisions in this laAV 
must promptlj' report the fact to a justice of the 
peace or magistrate. This report mu.st state the 
name and address of the person Avho killed the dog, 
the description of the dog killed, the time and place 
and circumstances, and the disposition of the dog’s 
carcass. Such reports are open to public investiga¬ 
tion, and any person killing the dog shall dispose of 
the carcass. A failure to make out this report ren¬ 
ders a person subject to a ])enalty of $10. 
PAYMENT OF FEES.—On or before the fifth day 
of each month the town or city clerk remits to the 
An Old Hay Tedder. Fig. 454 
State Treasurer the amount of all fees received dur¬ 
ing the previous month, Avith exceptions of certain 
cities. A full statement of all dogs licensed must 
go along Avith this money. The money thus collected 
is to be expended for the enforcement of the laAv and 
the payment of compensation for damages caused by 
dogs. I’rovision in the laAV is made for recovery 
of i)enalties and action for damages, by the Commis¬ 
sioner, Avho ma.A', AA'hen he deems it for the best in¬ 
terest of the State, bring an action in his name 
against the oAvners of dogs that ai-e knoAvn to have 
caused damage. The hnv is to l)e enforced by 
the Commissioner of Agriculture, Avho may appoint 
thA'ee or four Commissioners, each of AA’hom shall 
receive an annual salary of $1500 and his expenses, 
and ample proA’ision is made in all details for carry¬ 
ing out the provisions of this drastic laAV, under 
Harvest Time on a Monmouth, Maine, Farm. Kg. 455 
Avhich it Avould seem that the onlj’ safety for poor 
•■] )og Tray” hereafter Avill be to remain safelj" at 
home, either in the barn or curled up on the doormat 
In front of the house. 
FUKTHER POSSIBILITIES.— Some complica¬ 
tions Avill undoubtedlj'’ arise under this laAA^ For 
example, some dogs have a playful habit of running 
cart into the I'oad and jumping or dancing around a 
irassing hoi’se. Thej’ do not intend to attack the 
horse, and there is no danger from them, yet Ave can 
see that under this laAV some nervous or excitable 
l)erson or some one Avho had a grudge against the 
dog’s OAvner might make complaint and compel the 
OAvner to kill his dog. The hiAV is certainly very 
strict, and Avill cause opposition in many neighbor¬ 
hoods. The object of it is AAmrthy, for if it be 
backed up by public sentiment it Avill Aindoubtedly 
result in killing off a large number of miserable curs 
that have done .so much to imin the sheep business. 
August 25, 1917. 
We think, too, that it will finally result in farmers 
keeping a higher grade of dog, for, as one man puts 
it to us, “If I have got to pay any such money for 
keeping a dog I might as Avell have a good one 
Avhile I am paying the license.” 
An Old Hay Tedder 
W ILL a farm machine hold up for a number of 
years? That depends upon the care that is 
taken of it I am sending a photograph of a tedder 
at work on July 1.3, 1917, after more than .30 years’ 
service. I haA’e forgotten the exact date of its ad¬ 
vent, when I bought it on my OAvn initiative and 
brought it home as a surprise to my conservative 
father. He accepted it as one of my “notions,” and 
proceeded to use it The season happened to be a 
Avet one and at the end he declared that the ma¬ 
chine had paid for itself. It has duplicated the per¬ 
formance several times since then, and noAv Avith 
the third generation on the seat it is doing as good 
work as ever. 
Of course, forks and springs have been broken and 
replaced, and Avhen I came back to the old farm eight 
years ago I found that the frame needed stiffening. 
This j’ear for the first time the tires have been reset 
and a neAv rim put into one Avheel. The.se are about 
the .sum of the repairs that have been made. The 
secret of the long service lies in the fact that Avith 
rare exceptions the tedder has been put under cover 
every night, and at the end of the haying sea.son has 
been packed Avith the other machines in a barn 
where it has been protected from all inclemencies of 
the Aveather. It goes Avithout saying that nuts and 
bolts have been inspected regularly and often. Our 
machines are incapable of rising up and calling us 
blessed, but they Avill stand up and give us good 
service if properly cared foi’. w. h. ii. 
NeAv Hampshire. 
Killing Frosts in Maine 
Several readers in Northern New England have sent 
us clippings of articles on Fall frosts. These articles 
claim that a killing frost in that northern region is 
not likely to occur until after a full moon. Thei-e are 
two full moons in September this year. Reasoning from 
these claims Avill there be an early September frost, 
or Avill it be held off until October? The folloAving 
statement is from the U. S Weather Bureau: 
N the State of Maine the average date of first 
killing frost in Fall ranges from about Septem¬ 
ber 15 in the northern portion, to October 10 in 
the southern. Consefinently frosts occur more fre¬ 
quently in the last than in the first half of Septem¬ 
ber, Avhicli accounts for the comparatively feAv oc¬ 
curences before the Aveek of September full moon 
as shoAvn in the folloAving summary. 
Summarizing observations of first killing frost at 
about 20 points in different portions of NeAv Eng¬ 
land during the 25-3’ear period 1892 to 1916, inclu- 
stye, and embracing about 500 ob.servations: Of 
these, the first killing frost occurred in September 
265 times, and later than that month 2.32 times. Of 
the 265 frosts in September, 92, or about .35%, oc¬ 
curred during the Aveek of full moon, 28 before that 
Aveek, and 145 betAveen the end of the Aveek and the 
end of the month. (The Aveek of full moon is here 
considered as a seven-day period, including the three 
days next preceding the day of full moon, and the 
three days folloAAing it). 
Of the 500 observations, the full moon Aveek in 
September closed before frost occurred in 377 cases, 
or oA’er 75% of the Avhole record. Of these .377 ca.ses, 
before the end of the month, hoAvever, frosts Avere 
reported 145 times, about 38%, Avhile its occurence 
was delayed till October’, or later, 2.32 times, or 
about 62%. Superficially considered, this last state¬ 
ment apparently tends to substantiate in a measure 
the contention of your clipping, but in analyzing 
statistics of this character great caution should be 
exercised, as the question is very much involved, 
and the only relation of the full moon to the event 
is simply that of a Avell-knoAvn event of reference. 
Whether or not frost is likely to be delayed till 
after the full moon Aveek in September, depends 
largely upon the time of month the latter occurs, 
Avhether near the beginning or the end. For ex¬ 
ample, in the present year, there Avill be tAVO full 
moons in September, one on the first and the other 
on the last day of the month. Most of Noav Eng¬ 
land has never experienced a killing frost before 
the first of September, and thei’e is nothing to in¬ 
dicate that this year Avill be an exceptional one in 
this re.si)ect, consequently killing frost probably Avill 
not have occurred at the end of the first full-moon 
Aveek. As the second full moon occurs on the last 
day of the month, if this too passes Avithout killing 
frost, the first killing frost Avill necessarily occur 
in October, or later. c. f. makvin. 
Chief of Bureau. 
