7hf RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1447 
New York State Wool Growers Organized 
Earlier in the Summer, at a meeting of the delegates 
from .35 county wool growers’ associations, held in 
Syracuse, E. L. Moody of Rushville, president of the 
State Federation of County Sheep Growers’ Associa¬ 
tions, was instructed to select a committee to be known 
as a wool marketing committee, to act with him in 
organizing a State pool of the 1020 clips. Following 
this request, Mr. Moody selected John C. Cottrell of 
Washington County, A. W. North of Delaware, S. E. 
Budd of Wayne and A. W. Mason of Tioga County. 
These men constitute the Wool Marketing Committee. 
The committee has rapidly whipped into shape a plan, 
and on August 23, at a meeting with the directors of 
the Co-operative Grange League Federation Exchange, 
Inc., in Syracuse, a formal agreement was entered into 
whei-eby the Grange Federation League Exchange will 
act as warehousing agent for the New York State Fed¬ 
eration of County Sheep Growers’ Associations in re¬ 
ceiving, handling and storing of the wools produced by 
the members of about 35 county associations. 
This is an event of much greater significance than 
may be at first apparent. It makes for a new day 
in the co-operative efforts of the farmers of New York 
State, but it is only in keeping with the demands of the 
times. It is conservatively estimated that a pool of 
between 000,000 and 800,000 pounds of wool will be 
formed this year. Approximately 300,000 lbs. of the 
1020 clip have already been sold at the market or con¬ 
signed to commission men. The balance of the wool 
is in the hands of the growers. 
According to the above plans the wool pool will be 
located in Syracuse, in the large warehouse of the 
G. L. F. Exchange. Arrangements have also been made 
whereby this exchange will attend to the bookkeeping, 
supply laborers at the warehouse and help finance the 
pool until other funds become available. The grading 
of the wools and the selling of them will be under the 
direction of the marketing committee and their grader 
and sales manager. With this provision in effect the 
control of the wools will remain with the committee. 
Direct selling to manufacturers will be fostered. Fa¬ 
vorable comments from manufacturers have already 
been received approving the plan, whereby they may 
be able to purchase wools directly from the growers. 
Such an opportunity will be rather novel in wool-trade 
economics, but it only points the way to practice that 
is perfectly sound, and will doubtless prevail in the end. 
The old-established wool dealers are already reported 
as being active in belittling the efforts of this co-opera¬ 
tive movement, and by the usual tactics are endeavoring 
to break down the morale of the growers. This is not 
a serious matter, since the motives back of such state¬ 
ments are well understood by the farmers. 
An event that should be noted in this connection is 
the admirable decision on the part of the marketing 
committee to utilize the machinery of the Co-operative 
Grange League Federation Exchange, Inc., to handle 
this pool. This is real co-operation, and will add much 
in the matter of good faith and confidence on the part 
of all concerned. It is illustrative of the spirit of the 
times among the farmers. The marketing committee is 
using every effort to complete all of the details of the 
pool, so that the county wool associations can be in¬ 
structed to begin shipping by October 1. 
In this connection here is an interesting side thought, 
not new, and it may not be altogether a dream. There 
are manufacturers who make a business of manufac¬ 
turing woolen cloth, blankets, etc. The wool growers, 
according to the present plans, will control their wools 
until sold to some manufacturer. Would it not be en¬ 
tirely feasible for the wool growers’ organization to 
enter into agreement with a manufacturer to make up 
the wools, say, into blankets, and after being reimbursed 
for the cost of manufacturing, plus a reasonable profit, 
turn the finished blankets back to the growers’ associa¬ 
tion to be sold to the consumers? Such a plan might 
insure the growers getting what their wool is worth. 
Is this socialism or just good business? 
F. E. ROBERTSON. 
Judge Miller on Agricultural Problems 
We sent a list of questions on agricultural prob¬ 
lems in New York State to all the people who were 
suggested as candidates for Governor. Most of them 
replied, although some of those who wrote to us 
did not care to have their views printed. These 
questions were sent to Judge Nathan L. Miller, the 
candidate suggested by the Republican convention. 
Me never received a reply from Judge Miller, but he 
now sends us a copy of an address which he delivered 
on August 29 before a meeting of farmers at Weeds- 
port. We assume therefore that this gives a fair state¬ 
ment of Judge Miller's position, lie does not in any 
way refer to daylight saving, although that is the most 
important State issue in the minds of most of our 
farmers. The Republican platform favors a repeal 
of the daylight-saving law, and as Governor Smith 
vetoed that repeal, the Democrats are put in the 
position of advocating daylight saving as it now 
exists. Judge Miller gives the usual general remarks 
about farming and its necessity to the nation. We 
should judge from his speech that he has not given 
very close attention to New York State’s agricultural 
problems. He is in favor of co-operation and realizes 
that the present system of distribution is all wrong. 
He is absolutely opposed to any price-fixing of farm 
products. He favors the encouragement of co-opera¬ 
tive selling, and he encourages organization and 
educational work. He thinks the State should en¬ 
courage all wise co-operative efforts and “aid in 
every.legitimate way by collecting and disseminating 
information.” lie thinks the power of the State is 
ample to deal with the subject of distribution. He 
says that the question is not one as to the extent of 
power, but as to the manner of its exercise. We 
quote exactly what he says about the Council of 
Farms and Markets so that our readers will under¬ 
stand just what he proposes to do if elected: 
Now the Legislature has already and, in my judg¬ 
ment. wisely taken this matter out of politics by creat¬ 
ing the Council of Farms and Markets, composed of a 
member from each judicial district in whose selection 
the interests involved, through their representatives in 
the Legislature, may have a voice. 
I favor keeping the matter out of politics and retain¬ 
ing the Council of Farms and Markets. It mav be that 
the department may need strengthening, it may be that 
some changes may have to be made in the law—experience 
always suggests improvements. But I favor the reten¬ 
tion of the general plan, with such changes and improve¬ 
ments as experience may suggest. 
Now I am not sufficiently advised intelligently to 
speak of the work already done by this department. I 
have examined the law, and what I do know is that the 
machinery is there v the plan is there, the authority is 
there to apply. What will occur to anvone, upon re¬ 
flection, is the. obvious remedy for one of‘the difficulties, 
indeed, the chief difficulty, of which I have been speak¬ 
ing, and if the Department of Farms and Markets is not 
proceeding along right lines, or doing what the law in¬ 
tended, then it is high time that it got busy ; and let 
me add, lest any criticism should be implied from that 
remark, which I assure you is not intended, I fully 
realize that up to date the department has labored under 
handicaps which may have retarded its work. 
He says that the law provides for the construction 
of storage warehouses, and he thinks that law pro¬ 
perly applied will afford the remedy desired. His 
idea would be to build these storage warehouses, let 
the farmer store his products for a reasonable 
charge, and use the warehouse receipts at banks for 
borrowing money. With a proper system of storage 
and economical distribution, Judge Miller thinks that 
the market gluts and shortage should be avoided so 
that the farmer will be assured of a reliable market 
at better prices. He says this plan does not involve 
the elimination of the middlemen, but it would 
eliminate waste and expense. Judge Miller also 
favors improved terminal facilities, and favors 
prompt building of the tunnel under the river be¬ 
tween New Jersey and Manhattan Island. In this 
brief synopsis we merely give an outline of what 
Judge Miller stated in his speech. 
Those American-Born Hunters 
We fanners in this section cannot agree with Mr. 
Plumb’s letter, on page 1353, about foreign-born hunters 
causing all the trouble. We know different. The 
trouble-makers here are American-born “sportsmen” 
from the village near by and from Buffalo. They drive 
their cars (both laboring men and more high-toned 
sports hunt with cars these days), and bring dogs and 
guns. Often there are several hunters and dogs in a 
party. They have no respect for property rights, leave 
gates open, tear down fences, run their dogs in grain 
fields, and are careless in shooting. One of our neigh¬ 
bors had a cow shot and killed in a pasture by one of 
these hunters; another found a bullet hole in a bed¬ 
room window next to the woods. The bullet was im¬ 
bedded in the wall opposite. Posting does no good. 
These fellows tear down posting notices and utterly 
disregard trespass signs. They are offensive, and some¬ 
times threatening if ordered off the farm by the owner, 
and there seems to be no relief if we try to resort to 
the law. There is no adequate punishment for such 
offenses, and it is very hard to get town officers to act, 
as most of them live in the village and know the of¬ 
fenders personally. 
Beside the damage they do when actually hunting, 
they use their hunting as a cloak to cover stealing 
(though they do not call it that, because they say the 
farmers never miss what they take). In the Fall they 
wear hunting coats with big pockets, and also carry 
along canvas bags. A neighbor caught two “hunters” 
in a choice apple tree filing a bag with the fruit. When 
accosted by the farmer they insisted they were only 
hunting for “squirrels,” though the bag was there 
partly full of apples! In this way they take our nuts, 
our fruit, and sweet corn and potatoes. The truck 
growers lose their cauliflower, etc., in the same way. 
t is hard to catch them in the act, because they have 
their cars, and if the owner of the farm is seen ap¬ 
proaching they crank up and speed away with their 
loot. These fellows are most of them married men 
who have steady jobs and own homes of their own. 
They seem to have the point of view that the farmer’s 
land, crops, game and fruit are public property. Cer¬ 
tainly they would resent like trespass on the part of 
anyone who came onto their lawns and did as much 
damage as they do to us. 
It doesn’t seem right that the State should allow 
trespassing and hunting on farm lands more than on 
city property. The city property owner is well pro¬ 
tected by the police, but the farmer is not only left 
unprotected, but the law discriminates against him as 
well in allowing shooting on farm lands by other than 
the owner. We need a law with teeth to prevent such 
promiscuous hunting, not only against the foreign-born, 
but against the American-born rough as well. We find 
the latter the worst offender against decency and prop¬ 
erty rights in this locality. Though there are foreigners 
in the village near by, they do not seem to be interested 
in hunting, and cause no trouble that way. 
Erie Co., N. Y. Mrs. m. a. b. 
I have read the statements of hunters that only a few 
nave bad manners or do damage when they trespass on 
farms. Forty to 50 cross our farm on the open days 
for pheasants. A wild mob on the run enters the back 
fields before it is fully light, hoping to find the birds 
before they are scattered. In their haste they break 
down the wire fences, leave the gates open and the bars 
down. They all help themselves to fruit, some shoot 
the chickens when they have the chance, and many who 
come in autos load them with apples if no one is near 
when they leave. They pay no attention to trespass 
signs except to tear them down. These outrages must 
cease. No candidate will get my vote this Fall unless 
he pledges himself to vote for a real no-trespass law 
that will enable the farmer to keep these good-mannered 
sportsmen off the farm. r. b. b. 
I think it might surprise Leon A. Plumb a little to 
find what the experience of Wayne County people has 
been with trespassers. There are four or five towns in 
the county with a fairly large foreign-born population. 
Lyons has probably the largest, but these men do most 
of their hunting within a few miles of the town where 
they live. It is doubtful if one per cent of the tres¬ 
passing in the northern half of the county is done by 
such persons. I very much doubt if five per cent of all 
the trespassing in the State is done by unnaturalized 
aliens. 
The person who makes most of the trouble for the 
farmer is the merchant, broker, banker or other pros¬ 
perous business man, who takes a few friends, some 
arms and ammunition and a cargo of stimulants in his 
high-powered car and goes out for a good time. A close 
second is the person, usually of little education, who, 
living in the country or in a small village, spends most 
of his time fishing, hunting and trapping. In amount 
of game destroyed he probably exceeds the business man 
in the aggregate, but in the matter of wanton depreda¬ 
tions he is far behind. Every village has several such 
persons, and their anger at real closing of farms may 
take more practical forms, but when unmolested they 
are usually careful to close gates or to avoid injuring 
live stock. Unless one wants to start a game farm 
their presence is rather a benefit, because they keep the 
game from getting numerous enough to entice the city 
hunters. a. c. w. 
The Farm Bureau Must Justify Its 
Existence 
It is easy to admit the general principle in Mr. Feet’s 
remarks on page 1327. Fundamental moral principles 
must be recognized in any work that is to be perma¬ 
nently successful, but while moral teaching and moral 
practice are proper and necessary accompaniments of 
1* arm Bureau work, as of all other successful human en- 
terprises, the Farm Bureau cannot justify itself on this 
appeal alone. This is a work of the church and of the 
school. The Farm Bureau is essentially an institution 
for material gain. The farmer has a right to expect not 
only his .$2 worth of material benefits, but return also 
for the public funds contributed to the work. If the 
Bureau fails in this, it cannot justify its existence by 
an appeal to its moral influence. The tendency in all 
public work is to avoid responsibility for definite results, 
and to plead general and intangible results. This ten¬ 
dency is helping to build up great armies of non-pro¬ 
ducers who become unproductive consumers at the ex¬ 
pense of the real producers. Do not encourage the Farm 
Bureau to believe that they can escape responsibility for 
material results by pointing to moral influences. ‘ The 
member of the Bureau has a right to expect, yes. to 
insist on material benefits in proportion to the cost of 
the work. The moral element is a matter of course. 
Without it there would be no Rureau. Moral principles 
are to human institutions what sunlight and heat are to 
plant and animal life. It is well that the Bureau is 
mindful of these great, truths, but it must show ma¬ 
terial benefits to justify its existence. A member. 
Federal Land Banks 
Several readers .write finding fault with the Federal 
l.and Banks, because they cannot obtain loans. We 
have tried to explain several times that through no 
fault of the banks it has been impossible to obtain 
loaning capital. A case testing the constitutionality of 
the law has been before the Supreme Court for some 
months. Instead of deciding it the court has called for 
a new argument. Until this question is settled no 
further bonds can be sold, and this banking system de¬ 
pends on the sale of bonds for its capital. Thus there 
is no use finding fault with the bank. The directors 
want to loan money and enlarge their business. They 
are in no way responsible for this trouble, and should 
not be blamed for it. No one can safely venture any 
opinion as to what the court will decide. We hope the 
court will declare the act constitutional, and that Con¬ 
gress will improve the law. As it is, the conditions in 
the West make it more satisfactory than it seems to 
have proved in the East. There are two banks on the 
Pacific Coast, in California and Washington. These 
two have made loans amounting to $62,459,735. There 
are also two on the upper Atlantic Coast, in Massa¬ 
chusetts and Maryland. These have loaned $27,216,195, 
while the three Southern banks have loaned $83,240,990. 
The present plan is evidently adapted to the South and 
"West. 
