‘Ihc RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1605 
.1 siicc/i h'iUi)i(j Tragedy in Pennsylvania. Fig. al'i 
accident in Maryland which should be a warning 
to all our readers. In Harford County, Maryland, 
Mr. Samuel Poplin had two large stone and concrete 
silos on his farm. They were built together, with 
division walls between, each about 10x15 feet and .'10 
feet high. Only one silo was to be tilled this year, and 
this was partly filled up. The lower entrance into 
the silo No. 2 was closed, and this cut oft" the bottom 
circulation of air. Mr. Poplin’s two boys, 10 and 15 
years old, were playing about the silo, and dropped 
one of their shoes down into it. This silo had been 
tilled the day before up above the lower entrance. 
The boy begged his father for permission to go down 
into the silo and get the shoe. After some hesita¬ 
tion Mr. Poplin put a rope down into the silo and 
promised to hold it while the boy went down after 
the shoe. A short distance down the rope the boy 
suddenly shouted that he was blinded. Mr. Poplin 
thought that the youth had been confused in the 
darkness but he told him to come back at once. The 
child was apparently unconscious by this time, for 
his father called him repeatedly, but received no 
answer. The other boy, 15 years old then asked 
to go down and find out what the trouble was. The 
father hesitated, but thought that the first boy had 
bumped hi head on the sides of the silo and was 
dazed at the bottom, so lit* let the other boy go down 
in search. The second boy disappeared in the dark¬ 
ness of the silo, and silence fell upon them. The 
father leaned over the top and called repeatedly to 
A Tragedy of Sheep Killing 
The Cost of Dogs in Pennsylvania 
Stacked on Racks. Fig. 5/5. See Page ItiUS 
Annual Sweet Clover in Western A. 1. Fig. oil! 
lsirge. and particularly those without a license, will 
be in danger of prompt destruction in Pennsylvania. 
Death in the Silo 
W E have spoken several times of the great 
danger which comes from gas accumulating 
in the bottom of silos. Word now comes of a sad 
his boys but received no answer. Thoroughly 
alarmed he ran to a neighboring farm and obtained 
help from his neighbor. This man remembered about 
the dangerous gas but with great courage tied a 
handkerchief over his face and a rope under his 
arms and was lowered into the silo. A little more 
than half way down he began to feel the effects 
of the gas. and creeping about he found the bodies 
of the two boys. One of them was still breathing, 
but the man fell unconscious before he could bring 
the boy out. Mr. Poplin finally succeeded in pulling 
bis neighbor from the silo and then telephoned for 
aid. Neighbors, including two doctors rushed to 
the faa-rn at once. One of them brought a gas mask 
with him. but even with this it was found impossible 
for anyone to live in the silo. The neighbor in the 
meantime was revived. They finally thought of the 
corn blower which had been used in blowing the 
silage into the pit. This was started down into the 
silo and after half an hour's use. several men went 
down through the lower door. The two lifeless 
bodies of the little boys were found on the silage, 
and the doctors said they had been dead for more 
than two hours. The gas which caused this tragedy 
was carbon dioxide, which is always formed by fer¬ 
mentation in the silo when the door's are closed and 
there is no escape for the gas. It is heavier than air 
and remains at the bottom. A lighted lantern was 
lowered into this silo and immediately the light went 
out. a sure indication that human life cannot endure 
in such a place. This sad accident should be a 
warning to all who have anything to do with silos. 
The danger comes after the closed silo has remained 
unopened for several hours. If the lower doors are 
left, open the gas will generally leak away, and no 
one should ever dream of entering such a silo in the 
morning until the blower has been worked into it 
for at least half an hour. This stirs up the air and 
drives out the gas. so that one can safely enter 
the silo. The danger in entering a newly-tilled silo 
should never be forgotten. 
The Problem of the Hill Farm 
T 1IE picture at Fig. 517 shows a bunch of sheep 
in Washington County, Pa., which were killed 
|>v two dogs. These dogs were shot, and are shown 
in the picture. They killed 20 and seriously injured 
40 sheep. One of the dead dogs is apparently of the 
hound type, while the other looks as though it has 
some of the blood of a collie in its veins. This is 
not an uncommon sight in many sections where 
sheep are kept. These dogs are the worst obstacles 
in the path of the American sheep grower. In the 
State of Pennsylvania, at this time, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, Mr. Fred Pasmussen, is trying to make 
the present dog law effecti\*\ lie says that practi¬ 
cally ever since the Revolution it has been found 
necessary to legislate against dogs. The first law 
to cover such dog control was'approved March 22. 
1 s00. or Ill years ago. This law provided for re¬ 
cording of dogs by assessors. It meant paying a tax 
;ind giving some indemnity for sheep killed. Since 
that time there have been constant amendments or 
changes of the laws. It lias never proved effective, 
because enforcement was lbft to local authorities, 
ruder the present law the Secretary of Agriculture, 
through his officers and agents, is given the general 
supervision of the enforcement of the dog law, and 
this is having some effect in preventing damage. 
Mr. Rasmussen says that during the year 1919 there 
were SSI.071 sheep in the State. This was an in¬ 
crease of 18,830 over 1918. There were (5.530 sheep 
damaged by dogs, and damages were paid to (lie 
owners amounting to $70.-4.’53.30. The indemnities for 
poultry were $55.47(5.50. There were 207.42(5 dogs 
licensed and 70,428 dogs were killed. In all there 
was’ a decrease of 69.519 dogs under the preceding 
year. The revenues from the license fee were $383,- 
410.07.. During the two past years 14.753 dogs have 
been killed by various officers. Section 21 of the 
Pennsylvania law reads as follows: 
Any person may kill any dog which he 
si*cs in the act of pursuing, worrying or 
wounding any live stock, or attacking 
human beings, whether or not such dogs 
bear the license tag required by the pro¬ 
vision of this act. There shall be no lia¬ 
bility on such person for damages or 
otherwise for such killing. 
Any unlicensed dog that enters any 
private field shall constitute a private 
nuisance, and the owner or tenant of 
such field, or their agent or servant, may 
kill such dog while it is in the field with¬ 
out liability or any responsibility of any 
nature for such killing. 
Licensed dogs, when accompanied by 
their owner or handler, shall not be in¬ 
cluded under the provisions of this sec¬ 
tion unless caught in the act of worrying, 
wounding or killing any livestock or at¬ 
tacking human beings. 
Under this law dogs are declared to 
be personal property and subjects of 
larceny; except as provided in Section 
21 it is unlawful for any persons not 
officers of the law to kill, injure or 
poison any dog. The owner or keeper 
of such dog. however, must under this 
law keep the dog confined between sun¬ 
set and sunrise, and if the dog is 
found straying about at night, he may 
be killed. The Secretary of Agriculture 
has now taken steps for the enforce¬ 
ment of the dog law. The result is that thus far in 
1920 there have been 1,538 prosecutions for failure to 
license dogs or observe the law regarding these 
animals. The enforcement has not in any way been 
an easy matter, for in many localities it has been 
regarded as unfair and a form of'oppression. The 
department, however, will give such enforcement a 
thorough and fair trial, and any dog running at 
I T lias been said that "just because 
someone came along and put up a 
house and a barn on a piece of land is 
no reason for saying it is a farm.” 
Now most of the hill farms in my sec¬ 
tion of the country remind me of this 
epigram, which must be credited, 1 be¬ 
lieve. to Mr. Warren of Cornell. Our 
hill farms contain anywhere from 100 
to 200 or more acres, with about 20 to 
50 acres of accessible plow land, and 
the rest is in hill pasture, partly cov¬ 
ered by woods, including, usually, a 
sugar bush of varying size. 
Now the correspondent who said that 
the products of the hill farm received 
as good a price as the products of the 
broad, flat acres of the valley was cor¬ 
rect. but he failed to mention two ob¬ 
vious facts in connection with this 
comparison, which in the main holds 
true. 
1. The amount of stuff raised on an 
average 200 acres of this hill land is a 
much smaller amount than can be raised on 200 
acres of valley land. To have 100 acres of plow 
land in my section of Vermont one would have to have 
about (500 acres of hill pasture and woods, which 
is quite all right for some limited kinds of farming, 
but is not so good for most kinds of farming. For 
