I 152 
barrel is much more effective than a double oue with 
s hort barrels. Anyway, if juries, male and female, 
insist on our using single barrels instead of double, 
we are not going to discuss the question with them. 
We are situated directly west of Asbury Park, 
N. .1., which is said to be the best home market in 
the world, and we believe it is. This farming sec¬ 
tion is within the (tine belt which extends for 25 
miles along the New Jersey coast. The soil is a 
sandy loam and is more adapted to the growth of 
melons, and in this line we can please the most fas¬ 
tidious bon vivant. even if he should live in Asbnry 
Park. 
Now. like Mr. Dakin, our patience was tried even 
I i the point of [tacking a gun by people stealing and 
breaking the melons. A small officers’ tent was 
erected so as to command a good view of the patches. 
Due might sit in this tent during his leisure hours, 
reading and watching. This is just what we did. 
Being loyally supported by our two young friends, 
Ned and Donnie, and with a shotgun within easy 
reach, we waited for the game. It came in the form 
of a man and woman in a high-powered roadster, 
and after making a circuit of the patch they stopped 
and began to select the melons. The laws of New 
Jersey do not permit the shooting of the female deer, 
no matter how the word is spelled, so the gun was 
trained on the male at a point slightly below the 
bottom button of his vest, and then he was permit¬ 
ted to turn his face in the opposite direction. Al¬ 
most without effort on the part of the gunner the 
gun was discharged. The effect was truly startling. 
The man was bowled over as though he had been 
shot with a ”0-30 rifle, and he struggled like a roped 
steer to regain his feet. lie did manage to reach his 
ear, however, and his dear, and if the marvelous 
speed with which lie got away has been continued 
until the present time lie should be on bis sixth lap 
around the earth. 
We are not disposed to throw either bouquets or 
melon rinds, but the attitude taken by The It. N.-Y. 
in tins matter is indeed gratifying to the farmer and 
market gardener, and when we consider that this 
journal is published in the largest city in the world 
it gives the blue pencil to a lot of stuff written about 
the attitude of the city man toward the “hicks.” 
WM. REUS HAN. 
Locating Water with a Forked Stick 
I was out on the Jersey mountains recently and saw a 
man with a forked stick locating a good place lo dig a 
well. When I told them there was no virtue in the 
forked stick I found that the party of six all believed 
in it. l i occurred to me that The It. N.-Y. must have 
thrashed out this problem, and I told them I would like 
to know your opinion. They all expressed the same de¬ 
sire. . 1 . g. F. 
Orange, N. J. 
FEW years ago we bad quite a long discussion 
of this matter. It did not prove anything, and 
both sides remained unconvinced. The scientific 
men generally ridicule the notion that the forked 
stick has any power to locate water. As a rule the 
scientists claim that nothing can lie regarded as 
demonstrated until sound and accurate reasons can 
bo given for it. They say no one can give any scien¬ 
tific reason why the forked stick should turn down 
in a man’s hands—therefore the principle is un¬ 
sound. On the other baud, there are many persons 
who have seen this plan worked out successfully. 
The operator takes a forked or crotched twig in his 
hands—one hand on each fork—and walks along the 
ground. At certain points the bud of the st ick will 
turn down in his hands until it points toward the 
earth. Right at this place is where the operator 
claims water will be found. It is easy to ridicule 
such an idea, but many of us have actually seen the 
stick perform in that way, and water was found at 
the point indicated. We must put it down as one of 
the strange things often observed in human life, 
which cannot he easily explained. For the “water 
witch” cannot give any reasonable explanation for 
his strange powers. Several of them have discussed 
electricity, “personal magnetism” and similar the¬ 
ories, but most of them seem to be people of very 
moderate scientific knowledge who are quite unable 
to develop any sound theory regarding their un¬ 
doubted power. 
Most scientific men seem willing to admit that the 
‘ water witches” do possess the ability to locate 
underground springs or water streams. They claim 
there is nothing more than uncommon shrewdness 
and observation about it. They think these “witches” 
have made a careful study of soil conditions and 
surface formation, until they are capable of making 
a very good estimate of the underground waters. 
That is about as far as we have ever been able to 
get in the discussion. We are forced to admit that 
some men are actually able to make very much more 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
than a good guess at water locations by using the 
stick. While this is true, such men are not able to 
give any scientific reason for their power. 
A Right of Way in New York 
Here is an obstacle my neighbors and I have run 
into this year, and have not as yet been able to over¬ 
come, though we have used all the sources within our 
means. We are located on one of numerous hill farms. 
There is and lias been a wood road right above my 
house, that lias been used as an accommodation road by 
the farmers on this hill for over 100 years. This road 
not only saved a half day in time and horseflesh, but 
did away with most severe hill, both up and down. 
Last Fall a newcomer bought one of the farms this road 
goes through. He promptly closed said road with a 
barbed wire fence and other obstacles, and forbade us 
to use it. We tried to get the road supervisor to take 
some action on it; he only referred me to the County 
Superintendent of Highways. I wrote him and re¬ 
ceived a very unfavorable reply; wrote him again and 
have received no reply. I have seen various articles in 
The R. N.-Y. where a road when used by the public 
for 20 years without being closed, becomes a public 
road and cannot be closed. If that is the case, can you 
help us to get this road opened? There are a dozen 
deserted farms above us which would not be deserted if 
we could manage to get this road through. s. f. 
New York. 
HE highway law of tlie State of New York pro¬ 
vides “all lands which have been used by the 
public as a highway for a period of 20 years or more, 
shall lie a highway with the same force and effect 
Second Crop Medium Red Clover in Pennsglvouiu 
Fig. 480. 
as if it had been duly laid out and recorded as a 
highway.” 
The courts have said, however, that the mere fact 
Unit a portion of the public travel over a road for 20 
years or more cannot make it a highway, and the 
burden of making a highway and sustaining bridges 
cannot be imposed upon the public in that way. 
There must be more. The user must be like that of 
highways generally. The road must not only be 
traveled upon, but it must be kept in repair or taken 
in charge and used as a public highway. 
Judge Tannin, the case of the City of Cohoes vs. 
the IX II. & C. Co., said: "Public highway may be 
created * * * by prescription where land is 
used by tlie public for a highway for 20 years with 
the knowledge but without the consent of the owner. 
The presumption of a claim of the right of way 
springs from the mere lapse of said period of time 
in connection with the adverse user by the public.” 
It seems then, that in order to obtain a public 
highway by 20 years’ use. that it must have been 
used generally by the public for a period of 20 years 
or more, worked by the public officials during this 
time and used without the consent of the owner of 
tlie premises. From all the facts you state it would 
seem as if the owner of the premises had a perfect 
right to close the driveway. If however, the prop¬ 
erty has been acquired under the above rule, you 
may then bring action in equity to restrain the land 
owner from closing the road. If you can convince 
file town board that this right of way is needed 
now, no doubt you can induce them to procure it 
for you. x. t. 
A Red View of a Leghorn 
I AM considerably interested in your article on bens 
on page 789, and in S. D. Benedict’s reply to the 
same on page 1970. As you say, there is room for all 
breeds. But there is only one best breed for any 
person to keep, and to my mind which that "best” 
breed is depends entirely upon the circumstances 
September 24, 1021 
under which hens are bred and raised and their 
product sold, just as the best crop for any farmer to 
raise depends upon the kind of soil he lias and bis 
market 
My own experience, covering a period of 14 years 
and tests of Leghorns. Wyandottes, Orpingtons. 
Rocks, Reds and Anconas (in different years, for 
only once did I attempt to handle two breeds at one 
time), has convinced me that tlie Leghorn is more 
<»f a superstition than anything else. It reminds me 
«»1' your story about the man who called for milk 
at the soft drink counter and started the habit. If 
Leghorn breeders would forget the superstition that 
this lightweight is the champion ben. try some 
American breed and give it equal care and use equal 
judgment in selection, many of them would become 
firm friends of the American breeds. 
Yet notwithstanding this I can conceive of cir¬ 
cumstances under which Leghorns would be the most 
profitable. Hive Leghorns a range of at least 10 
acres, forego a garden altogether and make up your 
mind you don’t care what else they destroy, so that 
during the Summer you have to feed them prac¬ 
tically nothing, and the Leghorn will be a more 
profitable bird than an American breed under the 
same circumstances. But if the flock is kept under 
circumstances necessitating feeding in Summer, then 
the leghorn is a loser when compared to half a 
dozen other breeds. This is because of its wildness 
and the well-known fact that it not only weighs so 
little it is hardly worth drawing to market when its 
time is up, but actually is penalized by tlie market- 
men in tlie amount paid per pound. It eats more 
than it is worth. And when the damage a flock of 
Leghorns will do in the garden is deducted from the 
price of the eggs, or the value of the time someone 
wastes chasing escaping ones and clipping their 
wings to save the garden, or the price of the extra 
high fence that has to be erected to keep them con- 
lined is counted, the Leghorn makes a pretty poor 
showing, especially in view of the fact that since 
breeders of American liens have begun to use care in 
selecting their pens the Leghorns hardly ever win 
an egg-laying contest. 
Mr. Benedict’s argument on the egg-laying contests 
overlooks a point. Tn the Storrs contest he points 
out that 50 of the [tens are Leghorns and they occupy 
seven of the first I 4 [daces. As the Reds Hold five, with 
only 27 entries, is it not reasonable to figure that with 
50 they would hold 10 places? Or when the Wynn- 
dottes bold first place with only four entrants, might 
they not have 12 of the’first 14 places if 50 pens 
were there? Why stop at 14 pens? Fourteen is not 
a so-called round number. Why not count just the 
first 10 pens and admit that the Leghorns, with half 
the entrants, have but two-fifths of the 10 places of 
honor? 
The fact that the American breeds are tame and 
easy to handle makes them more valuable than. Leg¬ 
horns, even if the American breeds did not now 
excel them in egg laying. A four-foot fence with no 
top on is ample to keep them in their pens. I have 
seen a Leghorn climb an eight-foot fence hand-over¬ 
hand and go down outside. 
The Red may be a barnyard conglomeration, as 
Mr. Benedict, says, but it was bred to a type a good 
many years ago, and produces more eggs than Leg¬ 
horns if properly fed. and also produces enough meat 
to pay for its keep for almost its entire life. 
Michigan. moRris j. white. 
Getting Back to Clover 
1 a inenclosiug you a picture (Fig. 480) of myself 
in my clover field on a run-down farm in Beaver County. 
Pa. This is the second crop Medium Red clover. I 
sowed 1M> bu. of seed <>n 12% acres, half and half of 
Medium Red and Alsike. I cut the first crop about 
June 10, and this picture was taken about August 1. 
The only treatment 1 gave the ground was 250 lbs. It; 
per ceut phosphate and one-half ton hydrated lime per 
acre. I think it is pretty good for a worn-out. no-good 
• arm, as I often heard it was after I got it five years 
FRANK JUSTICE. 
Pennsylvania. 
N.-Y.—M itli such clover as is shown in tlie 
• picture, a man can do anything he likes with 
that soil. The land was not “worn out,” but was 
probably too sour to enable the soil bacteria to work. 
It had no “life.” Then it was probably lacking in 
available phosphorus. Tlie lime sweetened the soil, 
and thus gave the clover a chance, while the acid 
phosphate supplied the phosphorus. There are thou¬ 
sands of acres of Eastern land in just the condition 
<>f this soil when Mr. Justice started with it. They 
are not "worn out.” There is long service still in 
i hem, and lime will, in eight cases out of 10, start 
•horn back into clover. As a rule, phosphorus is all 
the clover needs to make its growth, and when you 
can got any such growth of clover as is shown in the 
picture, the rest is easy. 
