<P* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
I 183 
The 37-Cent Dollar Now Appears 
1 *, * \ • ! *• 
For .something more than 20 years Tiie It. N.-Y. 
lias been talking about the 35-cent dollar—mean¬ 
ing the share of the consumer’s dollar which 
lias come to the farmer. Every farmer who has 
ever shipped goods to the city and then followed his 
goods to see what town people pay, will agree that 
on the average 35 cents is rather more than he has 
received. We havfe been branded as ignorant, fool¬ 
ish, dishonest, malignant, and a score of other hard 
names, the branding being usually done by poli¬ 
ticians and middlemen, though a few scientists have 
tried their hand. Through it all we have tried to 
keep cheerful, -and have kept right on talking 35-cent 
dollar. Now comes Representative Sidney Anderson, 
Chairman of the Joint Congressional Commission of 
Agricultural Inquiry. That long-named commission 
has studied for many months, and gets within two 
cents of our estimate. • 
Goods are sold, not so much by offering a price as by 
offering service, convenience, dependability, reputation, 
credit; The consumer pays all of this. It is like the 
invisible tax, easy to pay because it is not apparently 
camouflaged in the price. In general. 37 cents of the 
consumer’s dollar represents the cost of producing the 
article, and the cost of material that went into it; 14 
cents represents all profits, and 40 cents the cost of 
service. 
For the past few years the average farmer has 
received no profit on any fair basis of figuring. The 
1 1 cents mentioned by Mr. Anderson has gone to 
someone who does business away from the farm. At 
any rate. Mr. Anderson makes it a 37-cent dollar, 
which means our old dollar with a postage stamp 
added. And Mr. Anderson also says: 
Some people say there are too many middlemen. 
Probably they arc, blit they could not exist without 
customers, and they could not make either wages or 
profits without serving someone’s convenience in selling 
or buying. 
After all, the producer and the consumer are the 
largest factors in the problem. They are the most nu¬ 
merous, but they are at the same time the least influ¬ 
ential, because the products and the selling power of 
the one, and the requirements and the buying power of 
the other, are unorganized. 
The present habit of doing business lias encour¬ 
aged the middleman system, under which most of us 
now pay several men for doing work which we for¬ 
merly did ourselves. One reason why we find it 
hard to add to the size of the 35-cent dollar is (lo¬ 
calise we have got to dig every penny of additional 
size out by our own labor, and break habits which 
have come to be a part of us. It will be like training 
the left hand to do the work of the right. 
A “Recall” Election in North Dakota 
On October 2$ the State of North Dakota will 
have a “recall" election, directed at three (stale 
officers, Governor Lynn Frazier, Attorney-General 
Win. Lernpke, and Agricultural Commissioner J. -T. 
Hagen. We think this is the first time in American 
history that efforts have been made to “recall” State 
officers. Such officers have, before now, been im¬ 
peached by Legislatures, but in this case the people 
who elected these officers are now to decide whether 
they want them to remain. Under the North Dakota 
law a “recall" election may be had whenever 30 per 
cent of the number of votes cast at the previous 
election, for Governor are represented on a petition. 
This meant 08,SSI signatures. There were about 
75,000 ou the petition. Candidates for the three 
offices are named, and they are on the ticket opposed 
to the present incumbents. There will he a desper¬ 
ate battle. The present officers represent the Non- 
partisan League, and the “recall” is aimed directly 
at the League through its officers. The League has 
made some mistakes. Some of its plans have gone 
wrong, and some of its leaders are unpopular. On 
the whole, the League has been helpful to North 
Dakota farmers. They are undoubtedly in a better 
position now than they would have been without the 
League campaigns. At the same time there has been 
a reaction—as is always the case in any such indus¬ 
trial and political movement. The politicians of 
both the old parties are concentrating their efforts 
to push through this “recall." Our reports as to the 
outcome vary. All admit that the battle will be 
close. At this moment the chances seem about even, 
with a slight margin against the “recall.” 
Renting Farms 
As an off-hand estimate we should say that we 
have at least 500 letters each year asking about 
renting farms. Home of them, of course, refer to 
particular cases which cannot be answered generally, 
but most of them deal with the usual plan of cash 
or share rent. The Ohio Experiment Station at 
Wooster has just issued Bulletin 348 , on “Methods of 
Renting Lan(l iu Ohio." It contains copies of leases 
arranged' for both share or cash rent, and would 
prove very useful for any person who propuses to 
rent a farm. Work of this sort seems to us very 
appropriate for a live experiment station. It appears 
that in 11)20 20.5 per cent of the farms in Ohio were 
rented. This is about one per cent more than was 
reported 10 years ago. while in 1880 19.3 per cent 
were thus conducted. In one county, Madison, 51.7 
per cent of farms are reared, while in Meigs County 
only 11.2 per cent. The bulletin states that “tin 1 
farm operator who at some period of liis fanning 
has not been directly interested in rental contract is 
the exception rather than the rule.” It seems that 
09.1 per cent of those Ohio tenants are renting on 
the share basis. Tenants generally prefer the share 
method, while landlords prefer cash. It is an excel¬ 
lent bulletin, which would help hundreds of our 
readers. 
A Book on The Grange 
One of the most notable books on farming mat¬ 
ters of recent publication is “The Grange Master 
and the Grange Lecturer,” by Jennie Buell. Dr. 
K. T.. Butterfield of the Massachusetts College says 
that Miss Buell is better fitted to write such a hook 
than any other person in the country. We think 
that is true, and surely no one has written the essen¬ 
tial story of the Grange as well as Miss Buell puts 
it in this volume. One of the handicaps of Grange 
work is the fact that the organization has not devel¬ 
oped a large group of literary people—men and 
women who are capable of putting the really great 
work which the Grange lias done into the imagina¬ 
tion of the American people. For this work has 
been truly great and wonderful in its reaction upon 
the life and habits of country people. The Master 
and the Lecturer of the subordinate or local Grange 
have played a great though quiet part in the devel¬ 
opment of culture and intelligence in rural neighbor¬ 
hoods. These officers, in places which may appear 
to the great educators as humble and unimportant, 
have done much to direct and encourage clean and 
forceful thinking, without which the present won¬ 
derful development of organization and co-operation 
among farmers would have been impossible. Miss 
Buell recognizes the importance of these Grange 
officials and from a long experience she gives the 
most sensible and kindly advice for their guidance. 
We have never read a book which, in its definite 
appeal to a certain class of instructors and officials, 
contains more practical information. Every member 
of the Grange should read this book, and we would 
like to have it studied by town and city people, that 
they may understand what this great organization 
has done for American farmers. 
Notes on Auto and other Thieves 
Westfield, Me.. September 14.—Joseph Gut of Ells¬ 
worth Street war driven from his garden at the point 
of a gim last night, he told the police today. Gur dis¬ 
covered a thief in the garden, busily digging potatoes. 
He ordered the man off, and when Gut advanced toward 
the man the latter drew a gun and told the owner of 
the plot to make himself scarce. Gut did. and took no 
further steps to molest the marauder.—Boston (Hole. 
This is the first record we have seen of a man 
driven out of his own garden. Can it be that Mr. 
Gut lacked some of the evidences of capable self- 
defence which were so frequently associated with 
his name during the war? 
Depredation on the property of Westchester County 
farmers has already begun, and Sheriff Werner has 
appointed sufficient special deputies to meet the exi¬ 
gency. But there is one thing to remember, and it is 
this: The trespasser and offender must be seen to 
actually pick up the fruit, otherwise no conviction can 
be scoured in a justice’s court. This year substantial 
fines will be imposed and for which there is a law passed 
during the last Legislature. Farmers can make their 
own arrests and order the offenders to appear in any 
local court they may designate. 
This year the Westchester County farmers are acting 
in concert in order to break up the wanton destruction 
of valuable fruit trees as well as the loss apples and 
vegetables, which these outsiders do uot seem to think 
cost the farmer anything to produce, although help has 
been costly and high, not to speak of the seed problem 
of the past year, the price of which reached a high- 
water mark.—Port Chester (N. Y.) News. 
< >n page 1109. “A Jerseyman Shoots Straight.” 
solicits some comment from other quarters, and in this 
particular I will introduce a case which is of similar 
kind, and tell how it was disposed of in our county 
court somewhat recently. 
A down-river farmer had been missing chickens. One 
night, armed with a killing gun, he concealed himself 
within range of the hen-coop, prepared to settle xvith 
any marauder that entered. Tie came in the shape of 
a pretty decent white man who resided nearby, and 
while in the act of securing some of the hens the farmer 
fired to kill, and he succeeded. The trial followed, and 
the farmer was freed, due, doubtless, to many pre¬ 
cedents, which sustained the verdict. Much indigna¬ 
tion. however, against this act was general, the chicken 
thief having very respectable family connections, and 
indeed many a good honest man. failing to secure redress 
either by a square deal in business or in a legal suit 
for claims he conscientiously feel- belong to him. 
undertakes to make good by some nightly attachment 
against his unfriendly and crooked neighbor, with sad 
and fatal results. It is not altogether desirable to 
resort either to the law or to pilfering, and in either 
case^ a square deal is eminently uncertain. ’J’HE It. 
N.-Y. suggests a local friend’s words for which he has 
paid dearly in the failure of the courts to secure jus¬ 
tice. It is worth quoting: 
“When laws and lawyers have me bled. 
I find no law like good old lead !” 
But circumstance alter cases. We have had 43 sheep 
Killed in a single night. with a 20-acre field strewn with 
the wool and carcasses of many mangled, and the re- 
cress was almost nothing. A nearby colony of for¬ 
eigners actually conspired to train dogs to kill sheep, 
selling beforehand the 'test, then finding more money in 
the county assessments for the slain and mangled. This 
was proven. Dogs are so much like men in general 
that it is hard to draw the line, it being a good rule 
not to trust any of them when business or pleasure is 
on. My father trusted one of his oldest and best 
friends, and thereby lost: 812,000 through his fail¬ 
ure. which was very much a surprise to all. This fact 
has caused the writer to take the man-dog issue as 
standard. I’wo young women of our city were recently 
invited to enter a car one evening, to be driven to their 
homes to an environ a couple of miles. The ladies 
regarded the young men as specially kind and accepted. 
Instead of taking them home thev steered into a dis¬ 
tant woods and forcibly attacked the two women. The 
fase was just settled by each getting a fine of 8500 and 
from 18 months to two years! Hanging would be the 
Proper punishment. In the same court a dope-seller 
got a flue of 81.000 and two years. c. w. griggs. 
Pennsylvania. 
New York State Fair Notes 
The one thing that everybody saw at the fair was 
probably the monster cheese, weighing over 24,000 lbs. 
The milk output <>f 30 cheese factories went into its 
making, and four barrels of salt went into its seasoning. 
One hundred dollars wm-th of cheesecloth bandage alone 
went into the making of the bandage for this behemoth 
ol all cheeses the world has ever seen. Its making and 
transportation to the fair, and into its position in tin- 
big dairy building, makes a story in itself. Suffice it 
to say th-'t the usual parade of the mammoth through 
the city streets was called off for fear that bridges and 
pavements might not stand the strain of the huge 
truck, which, with its load, weighed over 20 tons, and 
that, after trying to haul it into the building with two 
motor trucks and a tractor, 200 men seized the ropes 
aid dragged the giant into its final position. 
Tin- county exhibits were never better, as the ad¬ 
vanced season had matured all fruits and vegetables as 
never before at this season of the year. Cayuga County 
farmers skill as growers of farm crops and their prog¬ 
ress in co-operative efforts was recognized by the judges, 
who awarded the exldl it of this county first honors.' 
This county won first place two years ago. The Albany 
County exhibit won second place, Madison County 
third. Tompkins County fourth, and Onondaga County, 
which took fit'st place last year, ranked eighth this 
yea r. 
The Cayuga County exhibit was one of the simplest 
of the booths exhibited. Many were far more elaborate 
and would attract the eye more quickie. But the award 
was plainly made on pure quality of products, which 
was indisputably very high. 
In tins respect the awards in one other class, that of 
general exhibits of vegetables by some rural organiza¬ 
tion were interesting. In this class the New York 
State Vegetable Growers’ Association competed, and of 
course carried off the blue ribbon, as the qualitv of their 
products was unsurpassed. The New Woodstock 
Grange’s exhibit was a very worthy one. and took sec¬ 
ond honors. The Sennett Presbyterian Sunday School 
registered originality, pluck and skill in its' exhibit, 
which won third money. 
T here was one class regrettably scanty in its exhibit, 
that of the maple syrup and maple sugar display. But 
two quart cans of syrup and one of maple butter greet¬ 
ed. the eyes of those interested in maple products, it 
being understo< d that this belonged to one exhibit, the 
sugar section of which had been stolen early in the fair. 
Inquiry of the attendant disclosed the fact that this was 
the only entry in this class this year, despite the in¬ 
crease of prize money to .8 .'10 for first premium. .820 for 
second and 810 for third. For years past interest in 
these exhibits has languished, and it is a pity. Makers 
of these products in thus ignoring tin's opportunity to 
display their goods are losing a valuable opportunity to 
advance the interests of the industry, while aiming at 
a fairly good premium, which in the past has been all 
too easily secured. The attendant said lie himself was 
going to make an entry next year on a scale more com¬ 
parable to the wonderful entries of the bee men, win* 
do not hesitate to set up a hundred dollars’ worth of 
stuff as an advertisement of their wares, as well as a 
contest for prize money. 
The G. L. F. Exchange had an imposing pyramid in 
the center of the county exhibits’ building, showing the 
business this farmers’ organization is doing. 
The Country Theater was as popular as ever, even 
more so. A new and better location had been secured, 
where the noises outside were not so disturbing. Four 
performances per day were given, and an interesting 
disolay of literature on tL■ development of this new 
and very valuable form of rural recreation was avail 
able in the lobby of the theater, with attendants to 
answer questions. A full new repertoire of plays, from 
thrillers to comedies, was offered, with a complete 
change of program from one day to the next. The 
plays were all high-class one-act ones, with stage prop¬ 
erties of a simple nature made by the players. Prof. 
Alex. Drummond of Cornel? is the father of this amuse¬ 
ment feature for rural communities, and had charge of 
all the plays of the week. The Fair Commission is doing 
its best to stimulate rural talent in this direction by 
offering prize money to the amount of $205 to be dis¬ 
tributed next year for original plays dealing sympa¬ 
thetically with some phase of rural life. The plays 
may be tragedy, drama, comedy, or farce Knowledge, 
observation and keen interpretation of the country and 
its folk will be counted heavily in awarding prizes. Plays 
may be long or short. One-act or five-acts may be sub¬ 
mitted. Suitability for production by amateur clubs 
should be considered, simplicity and ease of staging, 
action and plot are desirable. Plays will become the 
property of the Fair Commission and are to be submit¬ 
ted to Prof. C. IV. Whitney, who will submit further 
details of the contest. State College of Agriculture, 
Tthaca, before February 1. 1922. The first prize will be 
8100. second prize .850. third prize $30. and fourth 
prize $25. High-class plays dealing sympathetically 
with actual farming conditions are exceedingly scarce 
at present. m. g. f. 
