1422 
December lo, 1917 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Taxation. — Whoever invented this 
scheme of getting out tax bills just about 
Christmas time? He must have been a 
relative of son;5 of those old fellows I 
kno^ who think joy and good feeling will 
hurt people unless they are well peppered 
with worry and trouble. I have known 
such people to wait until some plea.sant 
family festival was on and then walk in 
with remarks about the mortgage or that 
little bill which is now overdue. I never 
could make out why these pro-grouches 
wait until the wrong time for rubbing the 
debt in, but they do it, and very likely 
they are descendants of the original tax- 
man. He seems to watch Santa Claus 
so as to put the “reminder” into the gifts 
hung on the tree. It seems like quinine 
in the candy, a tack in the new slippers—. 
a fly of some sort in the ointment. I 
have yet to see the man who pays his 
taxes willingly, though when they are 
fair this public contribution ought to be 
a grateful gift. 
Tax Rates. —I am thinking of this as 
I walk up to pay our own taxes. I give 
our local rate for comparison. 
State Road Tax..$ .10 
“ School Tax.212 
Connty TaX.003 
Poor Tax.021 
District Court.004 
Local Court.97 
Total..$1,970 
That is. for every .$100 of assessed prop¬ 
erty I pay $1.97. I also pay a poll tax of 
$1, and 75 cents for the privilege of keep¬ 
ing a dog. Our assessments have been stead¬ 
ily increased. I paid originally .$4,.500 for 
the farm and have bought 12 acres moi’e 
since then. When I came here the total 
assessment for land and buildings was .$.5,- 
500. My total assessment is now about 
three times what I paid for the farm, and 
nearly half of that is for improvements, 
such as buildings and grounds. There are 
two ways of looking at that. You may say 
a man should contribute hi^ share in pay¬ 
ment for the protection given all his prop¬ 
erty—no matter what he does with it. 
Suppose, however, two men, neighbors, 
each have $5,000. One man spends all 
or most of it in building a new house and 
laying out nice grounds with lawn and 
shrubbery. ITis place becomes an adver¬ 
tisement for the entire neighborhood and, 
in this country at least, it helps to raise 
the price of all vacant land in the com¬ 
munity. Yet this man who has helped 
the community and can get no definite 
income from his money, is taxed to the 
limit, until it really becomes a penalty 
to make such improvements. Now the 
neighbor keeps part of his money and 
loans it here and there. If be is careful 
he will make at least five per cent, and 
pays no tax on it. The balance of the 
money he puts into cheap, unoccupied land, 
which is assessed at a low figure. He 
just lets that land stand there out of use. 
People come and would like to buy it at 
a fair price so as to make homes and gar¬ 
dens, but the owner refuses because he 
knows that sooner or later the improve¬ 
ments which the first man and others like 
him are making w’ill bring up the price 
of his land until his money has been more 
than doubled. Fnder such a system one 
man is taxed in such a way that it be¬ 
comes a penalty. The other keeps his 
money where it does not pay its fair share 
of public burdens, and grows richer at 
the expense of the man wdio does pay. At 
the same time he keeps land out of use 
and prevents people from buying. In our 
community I think (he assessments are as 
fair as the system will permit, but the 
system which puts a penalty upon the 
man who spends money for visible im¬ 
provements is wrong. 
What For? —You can see where our 
money goes to. It used to be the proud 
boast of .Terseymen that they paid no 
State taxes. I never was very proud of it 
myself, since the trusts and corporations 
were supposed to pay these taxes for us. 
There never was a corporation yet that 
did not get such taxes and much more 
back from the people. It may be said 
that I do not know much about corpora¬ 
tions, and I will admit it and call upon 
those who do know to name a few of those 
benevolent organizations that pay their 
Oic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
taxes—and get nothing back from the 
public. At any rate we now pay 31 cents 
for State road and school taxes. You see 
that 871/^ cents, or 45 per cent of the to¬ 
tal, goes for schools. This is what arouses 
most of our old citizens who have no chil¬ 
dren to educate, and who do not believe 
much in modern education. In our part of 
the country such taxpayers have little 
chance to do more than growl. The com¬ 
muters, who as a rule are not heavy tax¬ 
payers, provide most of the children and 
most of the votes. The old citizen comes 
to regard himself as a sort of beast of 
burden, and he gets back by putting up 
the price of his land and charging for it 
all the commuter can stand. The commuter 
by his residence multiplies the value of 
the farmer’s land by four or five, and gets 
back at the farmer by voting most of the 
school taxes and cost of school buildings 
out of him. Surely a great system ! As 
for the “poor,” it costs us a two-cent 
stamp on every $100 to provide for them. 
They are usually well cared for, and we 
do not have so many of them in this coun¬ 
try. Our local taxes seem heavy, but they 
include road bonds in payment for a good 
road system which we voted some years 
ago. These roads have proved a good in¬ 
vestment by giving us easier travel and 
increasing the price of land, though that 
of course brings up the same old question 
of doubling the selling price of unused 
land which pays a light tax. 
Other Taxes. —And here is a letter 
from one of our people in Rockland Co., 
New York—just over the line from North¬ 
ern New Jersey. Surely we may say that 
this dog paid a dividend on the dog tax: 
I read with interest the statment con¬ 
cerning the man who was fined for pro¬ 
tecting his property by killing muskrats. 
Can you tell me whether a farm is private 
or public property, and whether the tax 
asses.sor, rural overseer, agricultural and 
other department men, including the game 
protectors, have the right to trespass upon 
such property, to go over and into any 
house and barn, wherever whim or fancy 
takes them? You know in the city no 
one has any business to enter our private 
house* without permisssion. Why should 
they be allowed to do it on our farms in 
Rockland county ? A few weeks past two 
men came to the farm and demanded to 
know how much canned or bottled vege¬ 
tables was available. One of our women 
turned the dog loo.se and one of the men 
got to the road without the largest por¬ 
tion of his pants, while the other was 
minus the entire legs of his pants, and 
we have not heard anything more of it. 
F. G. 
No man has any right on your farm or 
in your house without a search warrant 
or a badge and license. Under the game 
and agricultural laws ofiicial inspectors 
and game protectors are generally author¬ 
ized to enter farm property, but they must 
show their badge and written authority. 
Most of them are very .decent in their 
behavior, but no stranger should ever be 
permitted to roam about the premises 
without showing his credentials. 
That scheme of calling for canned farm 
products is an old one. We have warned 
our readers several times. It started as 
a part of a pro-German scheme to make 
trouble, and was taken up by rascals who 
try to get a share of such goods and sell 
them. We advised our folks to “can” 
such visitors, but no cans are needed 
where such a dog is on deck. He must 
have been an Airedale or a bull terrier, 
and the women voters in that house will 
most likely vote for him for constable. 
He surely helped the clothing trade, and 
we hope he had a good dinner as his re¬ 
ward. It may seem like rough treatment, 
but when a woman is off in the country 
in these times she might as well have a 
well-organized reception committee. With 
due regard for the feelings of some of the 
men folks, I must say that a good Aire¬ 
dale will show more fight for his mistress 
than most human beings would! 
Big Stories. —Here comes an old friend 
from Virginia with a very appropriate 
question for these times: 
Can you tell me why people think they 
must tell such big stories and exaggerate 
them so? s. H. 
I cannot. Something has surely bit the 
people; they no longer try to think in 
terms of tens or hundreds, but millions 
or billions seem all too small. It is better 
to discount what most people say in these 
times. Now and then comes a man w'ith 
the exact truth, and he seems like a small 
potato by the side of the “big thinkers.” 
However, some small potatoes make good ^ 
seed. I am reminded of this in the figures 
one of our children has made out about 
our cow Mollie. She has just been sold, 
and here are the boy’s figures in the form 
of a “sum“A man bought a cow for 
$80. He kept her five years at an annual 
cost of $125. During that time she gave 
about 12,000 quarts of milk—all con¬ 
sumed in the family. During that time 
the retail price of milk has averaged 
about 11 cents a quart. It is now 14 
cents. The cow has also given him three 
calves which have sold for ,$40—two being 
yearlings. The cow has now been sold 
as beef for $80. How much has .she 
earned- for the man?” 
Now these figures are correct as for old 
Mollie. The boy figures that the cow has 
earned $735, but as I haven’t any such 
sum of money from her I conclude that 
is about the way some of those city men 
figure out fortunes for dairymen! 
n. w. c. 
Origin and Character of Indian Runners 
Will you give the origin and general 
characteristics of Indian Runner ducks. 
New York. E- 
The origin of the Runner duck is a m.at- 
ter of dispute. The first theory in the 
field was that they originated in the 
East Indies. Later the claim wms made 
that they were a breed developed from 
the ducks reared in large numbers on the 
lowlands of Western Europe. It would 
be diflScult to prove or disprove either 
claim. The American Poultry Associa¬ 
tion has disposed of the matter by drop¬ 
ping the “Indian” part of the name in its 
latest “Standard of Perfection” and call¬ 
ing them “Runner ducks. There are three 
varieties. Fawn and White, White and 
Penciled. In <^he case of the Fawn and 
White.Runner ideal show birds have a 
line of white dividing the cap from the 
cheek markings behind the eyes and a 
narrow white line between the base of 
the bill and the head markings. The up¬ 
per two-thirds of the neck is white, the 
lower third fawn. The back is fawn with 
the exception of the white primaries and 
secondaries. The upper half of the 
breast is fawn, the lower half white. 
The Penciled Runner is of a darker 
fawn with penciled plumage, as its name 
implies. The darker portions of the head 
of the drake are dull bronze green. The 
division of fawn and white is the same as 
in the case of the lighter vai-iety. The 
White Runner is disqualified in the show 
room if it has any feathers other than 
white. 
The standard weights of Runners are 
4% and four pounds for adult drake and 
duck, respectively, with four and 314 
pounds for young birds. The Runner gets 
its name from the reputed fact that it 
does not waddle like other ducks, but 
runs. This is due, at least in part, to its 
erect carriage. In the show room the 
more nearly erect a Runner stands the 
better its chance for a prize. On account 
of its small size the Runner is not a 
profitable market bird. Its chief com¬ 
mercial merit lies in its ability as a layer. 
I think the record fov egg production by 
domestic birds is held by a Runner duck. 
All Runners, however, are not champion 
layers. The proportion of poor egg pro¬ 
ducers is probably as great as with other 
domestic fowls. w. ii. ii. 
(Illlllilllllli 
40 
9 
8 
1 6 
niiiiiiiiMii 
Six Minute 
Pudding 
Here’s a new one—a most 
delicious desert that can be 
made in a hurry. 
To one and one-half 
cups of milk add one 
cup of 
Grape-Nuts 
and one level table¬ 
spoonful of sugar, 
boil six minutes, cool 
and serve with milk 
or cream. Add rai¬ 
sins if desired. 
Get a package of Grape- 
Nuts from your grocer and 
try this pleasing recipe. 
Furnishes Electric Light and Bower 
anywhere about farm. The bat¬ 
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week, at which time power Is avail¬ 
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operating the water pump, cream 
separator, churn, etc. Built in 25, 
40, 50, 75 and 100 light sizes and 
fui’nished either with or without 
engine. Write for our New Lai’ge 
Catalog No. 100 now on the press. 
MAIN ELECTRIC MFC. CO. 
Pittsburgh 
BOOKS on all subjects of farming by leading 
authorities are for sale by The Rural New- 
Yorker, 333 West Thirtieth Street, New York 
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