The Rights of the Country School 
No one at the hearing in Albany on Fehrnaiy llTtli 
was deceived hy the pretense that the Townsliii) 
School law was defeiuh'd on the ground oi’ con- 
^;ern for tlie better education of country children. 
If that wore the real purpose the way to ajjpi-oach 
the subject would be to improve the schools that we 
have and not to destroy them entirely. 'Phey com¬ 
plain that we are destructive in our criticism of 
the Township law. We answer they are destructive 
of the law and sy.stem that served us so well. In 
their argument destruction is all right when they 
destroy, hut all wrong when we want to remove 
the offensive measures they impose on u.s. It must 
not be forgotten that the Township system was im¬ 
posed on country districts that never wanted it. Out 
of the 77 votes, necessary to pass it last year, by a 
majority of one, 7.‘i votes came from di.stricts not 
affected hy the law. Why this haste to fon-e such 
a benevolent service on a part of the State that 
did not ask for it and does not want itV 
Again, they accuse us of being opposed only to 
save for our iiockcts. If .so, and they want to niak(‘ 
us spend for our own good, tlu‘y would merely force 
us to .spend more for the schools we have and im¬ 
prove them. Instead of doing so, they force us to 
helj) pay the expenses of town .schools, and leave 
us the same school houses we had before, and tlie 
s.ame teacher.s, with even l(*ss supplies and less ser¬ 
vice than we had before. 
In the arguments they have broken down the 
disguise they maintjuned heretofore. They }iow 
admit to destroy and remove the country school 
wherever they can, and build up the city and vil¬ 
lage .school, and they want the farmers to help i)ay 
the debts already contracted for their villa.ge schools 
as well as obligations to be a.ssumed later for new 
one.s. From a purely economic viewpoint this is 
unfair. The village school is an asset to the vil¬ 
lage, and to its real estate value.s. The ])ro))erty 
in a village with a good school ])roperty is worth 
more than it would be without the school. On this 
account tin* taxpayers of the village could not af¬ 
ford not to have a modern .school i)roi)ei'ty. So too, 
a suitable school propeiMy is an asset to a farm cuin- 
niunity. A farm Avith no school in the neighborhood 
is not salable. Destroy the country district school 
and the farms depreciate in s<‘lling value. Why 
should a l.egishiture impo.se this economic disad¬ 
vantage on the country di.strictsV .‘<ince they insist 
that farmers rebel against the Town.shii) haw only 
to save their pocket.s, we may m»t overh»ok the sus- 
incion that they favor it to save their j)ockets .at 
the expense of the people they accuse. 
We, however, lind no demand of the village p(‘o- 
ple themselves to force this system on their farm 
neighbors. The demand for it comes almost entirely 
from officialdom. It is in harmony with the estah- 
lislnat governmental i)olicy to build up the centers 
of population at the indifference and expense of the 
farm. This policy reduces the authority and la'- 
sponsibility of the county units and lodges aulhorily 
in a centralized governnnait. The county su|»eriii- 
tendents of .schools were originally <‘lected hy the 
votei-s of the county or district. The peoi»le h.ave 
lost this privilege. Heretofore, the voters of a <lis- 
Irict s(*lected their own teachers and managed their 
own local school. That ]»rivilege has now disaii- 
pe.'ired in the Townsliii) .system. The officials and 
school authorities attempt to ju.stify these change.s—■ 
this usurpation of authority—on the plea of giving 
belter .schooLs, and they said at Albany that it was 
up to us to show that they did not propose an im¬ 
provement. We deny it. It is up to them to show 
us that they have ma<le good with their cit.v .sys¬ 
tems, and we deny that. Ihu-etofore we have not 
ref(‘rred to this iihase of the argument, hut they 
have made the challenge themselves. From the 
standpoint of the children most to be considered, 
the pre.sent .State .system of education is not a sue- 
cess. The .schools are graded and courses of study 
prescribed on the theory that all of the children art* 
to go through the whole school course, including 
the college. As a matter of fact less than 5 i)er cent 
ever go to high school. The system is planiit'd and 
executed for the 5 jier cent who can afford to go 
on to the higher subjects. To be practical and fair 
and serve the greatest nuinher, the schools would 
.study the needs of the 1)5 per cent who are ohligt'd 
to go to work after completing the grammar course 
and often before. To put these children- thinugh 
the course now prescribed by city schools to the 
neglect of the studies they mo.st need, is a crime. 
Practical teachers and observing parents know that 
the country .schools with their steady drill on i)rac- 
tical subjects turn out pupils better ))r(‘pared for 
the ordinary duties of life than the city schools, do 
into any industry, business or profession and you 
Z>he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
will find men jit the hejid of tln'in who received 
their early education in the country district .schools. 
The officials propose to take these schools away from 
us. ami wo insist that it is up to fhem to show us 
lh:it th(*ir city .schools are sup«'rlor to ours before 
flK'y deimind unlimited authority oA’or u.s. The truth 
i.s they give us .so much .sy.stem, they forget I hat 
children ought to read, and write and spell. 
There is no argument for a Town.ship school sys¬ 
tem that does not lead logically to a county .system. 
In turn the argument for a county s.vstem leads us 
logically to a .State control of school.s. In State of¬ 
ficial circles, the one grcsit concern i.s the growing 
trend of city voters to .socialism, and .State control 
of school.s and education i.s one of the demand.s of 
(‘xtreme sociiilism. Without knwoTtig it the polit¬ 
ical autocracies, while fearing the city trend of 
socialism are doing just the thing to promote it. 
The city educational institution will never take 
the place of the little red .school-house for the c<nin- 
ti'y. If the county schools are now small, let u.s en¬ 
courage and enlarge them, and not destroy them. 
'I’he school is fhe civic centre of the faian community. 
We )i('<'d to make it more of a o'nfre than it has 
he<*n instead of removing it altogether. No farmer 
and no hired man with a fiimily want to locate in 
!i community where there is no school. Neither of 
them will remain long in such a coJiimunity. Mothers 
will not .send young and tender children miles from 
home to a city school. Parents recognize tlu'ir r<)- 
s] )onslbility in the education of their own children. 
They do not wish to delegate the authority or re.sixui- 
sihility entirely to strangers. They luefer to do it 
themselves. It i.s an obligation imposed upon tlu'iu 
hy divine, moral and natural law. It is a lu-ivilege 
of df'mocracy. No ar t of fJovernment can he more 
paternalistic or autocratic tlnui to take the educa¬ 
tion of the child out of the control of tin* fjilher or 
mother. The mothers on the farms of Nr'w York 
i^tate Inive no notion to submit to any such authority. 
If they Avould light for nothing else, they will fight 
for their young children, and the i)oIiticiau who 
t) verlooks that instinct of motherhood will have 
rea.son to regret it. 
Pack Down the Cover Crop 
'I’his year nniny farmers will plow under a covei* 
crop, like ryr* and vetch or rye and clover. ,'Somo 
Iieople have done this for the first time and i)lanted 
corn, only to complain that the crop was a failure. 
.Some i)eo|ile go .so f.ir as to say that rye will poison 
the ground, jiml they advise agiiinst its use as green 
manure. We have known c:is(>.s where a <‘orn crop 
following ry«‘ jilowed nndei* made a had failure. It 
failed to grow pro|)erly .ind turned yellow. The 
trouh'le was not Avith the rye, hut in the Avay the crop 
Avas handled. Some of the rye* is simply plowed un- 
di“i' j’onghly, the top sniootlu'd off ami the ground 
pl.anled. fi'his will la* almost sure to result in the 
loss of the coi-n crop when the rye is h‘ft loo.se and 
open under gi-ound. 'I'he air works in, dries out the 
soil, iind the green i-ye ferni(>nts and sours. High 
winds Avoi'k through the ground and suck the moi.s- 
tnre out, and the coiai cannot obtain its supply .‘ind 
fades away. 'I'lie only .saf(‘ i)lan Avhen ])lowing under 
rye for manure is to follow with a roller or Inaivy 
drag, so as to crush or i)ack the soil <lown Inu'd. 
'I'his prevents the air from working in so fret'ly as 
to diy out the soil, and the green rye does not fer¬ 
ment or tnim sour. Fnless this is dom* there A\'ill 
most liki'ly he I rouble, and all Avho turn umh'r a 
<'ov(*r <-rop this season should remember to pack the 
.soil firmly after plowing. 
419 
They are trying to hold back the crisis. 'Without 
realizing it the dealers are forcing it. Neither of 
them .seems to-realize that it may not be far off. The 
producer holds the key to the situation and can 
control it any time he makes up his mind to stop 
the fortune making in milk distribution and stand¬ 
ardize the service himself at reasonable cost. 
Past Aveek .lustice Whittaker of the Supreme 
C'ourt granted the motion of the officers of the 
Dairyrnen’.s Heague for a change of v'enue for the 
trial of the officers under indictim'nt. This means 
that if the causes are tried at :ill it Avill he in .some 
county outside of (Jrciiter New York. 
.Judge Whittaker said that he Avas .satisfied from 
the evidence presented that an impartial trial could 
not he had in the city. During the Detoher. Ifild, 
milk fight the city consumers Avere in sympathy Avith 
the producer.s, and their friend.ship influenced the 
city p.apers and helped win the fight. Fumhunentiilly 
the intere.sts of producer ami consumer as clas.ses 
are common to both. The friendship of the con- 
•sumer is an a.sset to the lu’oducer, and Avhen Ave in- 
.sist on an economic distribution Ave Avill luive their 
confidence and their friendship. They aamU increiise 
the consumption of milk. 
Who Shall Sow Spring Wheat and Rye ? 
T-ast year Ave were all ui’ged to i)lant potatoes 
in every spare piece of ground. In spite of 
high-priced .seed, fertilizer, tools and labor, Ave all 
fell in like good .soldiers and planted. In many 
cases the planting Avas doomed to failure before it 
Avas started. The .soil Avas unfit and the planter 
IvneAV nothing about the busiue.ss. A good share of 
those Avho planted left dollars in the .soil AA’hich 
could not he dug out. They Avill not plant again, 
and this ye.ir tlu‘re is an ominous silence about 
potato i)ljinting. Noav AA'e are advised to .seed 
Spring Avheat ami i‘ye to help out the bread sup- 
jilies. .Many farmers and gardeners in NeAV Fng- 
liind and Nenv York Avill he tempted to folloAv the 
advice. 'Will th<*y he AvisoV rule the people 
Avho advi.se such seeding do not knoAAX Like the 
potato advi.sers, they .seem to think wheat and 
rye Avill groAV an.vAvhere. Our oavii opinion is that 
in the Northern .Mlantic s!oi)e oats and barley Avill 
produce more actual food than Spring Avheat or 
rye. Fxperimenfs in Ohio shoAV good returns fi’om 
.Spring Avhe.at s(‘eding', but that is no argument for 
.seeding in Nt‘Av Fiigland. Let u.s go to the farmers 
and find out. Will readers give us all possible 
experience in seeding Si)ring rye an'd Avheat? Tell us 
the locality, the .soil, d.ate of seeding and comi)ara- 
tiA-e yield. Avith oats and barley. This is a time 
for .staying by old friends until ncAv ones prove 
themselve.s. 
The Milk Situation 
T.ast AV(‘ek the Alex.-imler (',-1111111)011 Milk ('omi)any 
of l‘rooklyn, Avas takc'ii .ov(‘r hy the F.orden’s Com¬ 
pany. During the last year one after another of 
the smaller milk distributing companies has been 
taken over by (‘ifher the I’.orden's or Shellield 
Fiirms. With a mutual understanding betAVc'en the 
responsible lu'ads of these tAvo companies Ave havt* 
virluiilly one distributing milk conc(‘rn in Noav York 
City, 'riu'i-e is besides good rea.son to b(‘li(‘V(* that 
tlu'se companit'S have common stockholders. 'Pliat 
i.s to .say, the .same interests hold stock in both <-om- 
pauies. .\ud yet as if llu'ir jioAver Avere not yet suf¬ 
ficient. Ihi'y .seek special legislativt* privilegi's from 
.\lbany. 'I'lie monopoly i.s ali-eady in control, but 
it is their jmrpose to give it a h'gal status. 
fi'he hamlAvritiiig i.s on tin* Avail, but fhey have 
not yet read it. 'I'hey long for tin* old days that 
can never return, but the longing blinds them to 
the iieAV order of thing.s. The cost of milk ilistrihu- 
fioii Avill be n'duced. If the old companies do not do 
it .some one else Avill. The producers have the 
<le.stiuy of the milk business in their oavii hands. 
Poultry Situation in California 
I .see on inige 2.‘'10 the astonishing stiiteinent that Cali¬ 
fornia ixiultrymen received cents ))er dozen for 
auction eggs in Ncav York. On that il:iti', .lanmiry 21, 
Ave received .-18S cents for select and 4M ct'nts for 
pullet eggs. Tin* above prices Avere our association 
ligiires; Los Angeles <|uotatious, about 52. and 51 cents. 
'I'ln* coiuinission nn-n in Los Augele.s have lu*en ship¬ 
ping eggs to New York all this season, live to eight 
cars jier AA-t*ek. d’hey k<*i)t the |))-ic(*s doAVU about !f to 
11 cents h<*lo\v San Francisco iiud 15 to 25 cents below 
Ncav York. 'I'hose auction eggs Avere doui)tless .shipp(‘d 
hy coiuiiiissiou men of Los Angeles or the Poultry E.x- 
• hiiiige of Siin Fi-jim-i.sco. I’lie egg-producei-s received 
no h(*nefit Avhatever. I have been a commercial poultry 
in.in .several years, and now, like thou.samis of ))tln*rs, 
must go bankrupt. Eggs and poultrv sales will not paA^ 
cost of feed, though juomi.sed bust Dr-cember a reduc¬ 
tion in prices of feed hO to 40 per <-ent hv .lauuarv I 
i.V'"' was ,$2.00, milo aiid kafir corn 
barley is milo and 
kafir .$4.0.). Pran cannot lx* had. 
We are f(*eding our poultry any old thing Ave can 
gel. Conseipienoe, the loss heavy, egg production low, 
egg fertility loAV and germs we.-ik, the hatches being 
down to less than 50 per cent in most hatcheries the 
tew that Ave can get. My baby chi<-k lo.ss is as high 
as .))) per c(*nt in thn*e Aveeks, and lots of runts in 
those left. The Hovernment is not to blame 'i'he feed 
men are killing the poultry business. The Avar cry is 
‘‘.More pimltry, more eggs.” 1 a.ssure you there \viH 
be less chicks hat<-hed this year and more poultry 
slaughtered than in any season for 10 years. The Loyf- 
ernim*nt plant in charge of the h’ood Administration 
has caiiahh* men, but they have kei)t iu commission men 
I)acker.s. Avholesalers and milling men Avho control the 
output of this country. Poiiltrymen are not trying to 
sell out. No per.son Avants ixuiltry Avho knoAvs the"sit- 
uation. 
Don’t blame the farmers, poultry men, hay raiser« 
and dairyim*!) if fhey quit. If this <-ontinues the mill 
men Avill <)Avn all the poidtry. swim* and cattle in Oali- 
fornia. If most of us sold out today our stock would 
not begin to pay our feed bills. It costs to fi*ed a 
Leghorn hen in t’alifornia .‘!<! cents a month. j)ri*sen't 
prices. Average egg .sales last year under the best <-on- 
ditions Avere .*>4.-l cents per dozen ; cost b) feed a 
thousand birds $.‘5,0()(>. This I know from actual ex¬ 
perience, and a record of the ranch for the grain. The 
record runs back for .seven years, and is complete in 
every detail, so I am in position to knoAV. 
San Pernardino Do., Cal, av. av. avalsii. 
