121 t 
The Henry Wolohon Defense Fund 
The following persons have, up to September 30, 
subscribed to what they call “The Henry Wolohon 
Defense Fund.” This money will go to help in the 
defense of Ilenrv Wolohon, whose story was told by 
his daughter on page 1159, It. will be remembered 
that Mr. Wolohon found a man robbing his bon¬ 
in',use. After giving fair warning, Mr. Wolohon tired 
and killed the thief. lie was arrested, and is now 
cut on bail awaiting trial for murder or man¬ 
slaughter. The ease has attracted wide attention, 
and many of our readers want to have a hand in 
the defense, as this is a common cause in which all 
poultryiuen and farmers generally are interested. 
The contributions are entirely voluntary and are 
coming freely. We give below brief extracts from 
some of the letters. 
George F. Allen, Westchester County. N. Y. 
R. H. Chandler, Middlesex County, N. .1. 
II. Seager. Allegany County, X. Y... 
.Tames Pillow, Putnam County, X. Y..... 
■Tames O. I.e Fevre, Ulster County, X. Y. 
Frank M. Uilley, Suffolk County, Mass.... 
George C. Feld, Westchester County. X. Y. 
C. H. Holmes, Franklin County. Mass. 
A. IT. Klein. Madison County. X. Y. 
Wm. II. S. Greenwood, Monmouth County, X. J. 
Henry Tobey, Otsego County, X. Y. 
G. F. Shepard, Tolland County, Conn.......... 
Harvey C. Campbell, Rensselaer County, X. Y.. 
S. Friedlander, Somerset County. N. .1. 
J. C. Xicholls, Macon County, Ill. 
H. II. Brigham, New York. 
Mrs. E. J. Benwell. Passaic County. N. .1. 
C. H. Wells, Suffolk County, X. Y. 
Melvin E. Seavey. Penobscot County. Me. 
Buchanan Burr. Barnstable County. Mass. 
C. H. Van Mons, Bergen County. X. J. 
S. C. Rees, Howard County, Ind. 
W. Halbert. Chenango County. X. Y. 
Mrs. C. C. Eewis, Clarke County. Ya. 
$ 2.00 
2.00 
1.00 
2.00 
5.00 
1.00 
2.00 
5.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
2.00 
2.00 
1 00 
1 00 
1 00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
i.uo 
“I think the way he used that chicken thief is 
the proper way to deal with such trash, and I would 
like to meet the man and tell him so.” 
"I am not now in the chicken business, but I will 
join an association whose object would be to keep 
on hand a fund to lie used to defend farmers who 
are brought into court for protecting tlioir property, 
and also to run down the thieves.” 
“I am a farmer, and have to work hard for what 
I get. but I will gladly do more it' this is not enough. 
Speak up. friends, and let your voice be heard.” 
“I am far from being a millionaire, but as long 
as I. have a dollar left, I will donate it to a fund 
to defend any man who will go and do likewise; 
that. is. protect his property from the thief.” 
"I admire your stand in this matter, and hope the 
farmers will do their duty. If the jury votes to 
convict Mr. Wolohon. I will give $10 to hang the 
jury.’ 
“Money is a scarce article with us because chicken 
thieves took a heavy toll last year, hut we are send¬ 
ing $5, as we feel Mr. Wolohon deserves the help of 
every poultryman. He deserves far more credit lor 
taking the action he did than the man who sits with 
folded hands and lets these rascals have full sway.’ 
“I desire that Mr. Wolohon he given absolute 
freedom. Every now and then 1 sleep in my chicken- 
house, and I will say thai. if I caught a thief steal¬ 
ing. 1 would shoot him on the spot.” 
"I hope that Mr. Wolohon gets clear and shoots 
a dozen more chicken thieves. Where I live, we 
have a different class of thieves. They come from 
nearby cities in automobiles, and steal fruit and 
vegetables. In many cases they are wealthy people. 
T have arrested a good many, but. our local justices 
make the fine too light.” 
The Egg Situation and Prices 
Those who have watched market reports in the New 
York daily papers recently have seen heavy advances 
and drops in prices and a high premium put on white 
eggs. 
For the past two years California has been sending 
jo New York earlots of carefully graded white eggs, 
shipped in new eases. They struck the trade so favor¬ 
ably that they have sold regularly up to, and in snipe 
instances above, the price received for nearby whites. 
When the New Jersey Poultry Association eggs began 
to arrive here, California eggs met their first serious 
competition. The New Jersey eggs are shipped in new 
cases, as carefully graded as the Oalifornias, and can 
be put into New York over night, while the others 
require four to six days, /hose handling the New Jer¬ 
sey Association eggs, from tli<* packing-house to the eity 
market, realized that they had not only as good looking 
a product as the California, but it was several days 
fresher, so they put the price live cents per dozen above 
the top quotation, and found ready sale at that figure 
f«,r tip' quantities offered. 
This at once hit a class of dealers who handle small 
shipments of nearby white eggs from New 5 ork State. 
Pennsylvania. Maryland and New Jersey producers not. 
in the Association. Some of these eggs are just as good 
<Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
in grading and freshness as the Association eggs, though 
mainly packed in second-hand cases, and the shippers 
naturally feel that they ought to have the same price, 
or very near that. To hold the shippers some dealers 
increased the price where they could, and others are 
said to have returned the higher figure, and done the- 
selling for nothing. But it is well known that many 
of these small shipments have sold regularly above the 
top quotation, as they were handled in a jobbing way 
or actually retailed by the first-hand receivers. Some 
of these dealers return the full premium price to the 
shippers, while others frankly say that “the quotation.” 
or a trifie above—for looks—is all that the shipper is- 
entitled to. The balance goes into their own pockets 
to pay for their extra trouble—a sort of “honest graft.” 
Naturally dealers of this type who want to hold their 
shippers by paying close to the Association prices v ill 
have to take smaller rake-offs—not an agreeable out¬ 
look to them. 
Considerable excitement has been worked up because 
of the generally unsettled market, and the determination 
that the Association eggs shall he put in their proper 
price relation to other eggs. There has been talk of a 
strike of buyers, a boycott of white eggs. etc., and some 
newspapers have frothed at the mouth over what they 
called an outrageous hold-up of consumers by the 
farmers. No doubt the noise and dust throwing will 
subside, after a little time, and the market will move 
along at its normal even tenor. 
The large number of egg grades listed in the New 
York quotations in daily papers is bewildering to most 
people. There are now 35 of these egg grades quoted. 
The writer has never been able to discover more than 
a small fraction of them used in actual buying and 
selling. If is true that expert candlers can detect 
shades of difference in eggs that are invisible to the 
layman, but it is very doubtful whether any two experts 
could take a ease of mixed eggs and put the same 
technical grades on the individual eggs, or come any¬ 
where near doing it. 
But these fine-spun, hair-splitting grades come handy 
when one wishes to boost the price of a ease a cent or 
two a dozen on a bill, or chop ofl a like amount from 
an account sales. It is as easy to do that as to name 
a dog Sport or Towser. w. u. 
The Farmer’s “ Soft Job ” 
I find most city people seem to think the farmer has 
it soft, until they try their hand at it. Then they begin 
to sort of realize how-the farmer really earns his living 
by the “sweat of bis brow.” They think all the farmer 
has to do is to plant the seeds one week, take a rest for 
a week or so. and then go gather a bumper crop, which 
turns into gold at once. It is a crime how little some 
people know of the things which should vitally interest 
them. C. w. S. 
You are right. It. is an unpardonable crime, but 
what can be done about it? It is one of those 
crimes which only bring self-punishment, and men 
who must punish themselves always blame some one 
else when the blow falls. Farming is the foundation 
business upon which all the world's activities must 
stand. Yet some of these city people regard it as 
a form of punishment. They seem to think that 
when a man goes to farming he goes to jail, when 
in reality it ought to he a move toward freedom. 
Those of us who love to live in the country can 
afford to laugh at these poor feehle-minded children 
of brick and stone. 
New Jersey Criminal Law 
Some weeks ago we were asked whether there 
is a law in New Jersey under which a jury may 
determine sentence for a convicted criminal, thus 
taking the right to sentence out of the hands of the 
judge. An attorney in New Jersey calls attention 
to the following law, which was approved in April, 
1919: 
Every person convicted of murder in the first degree, 
his aiders, abt ttors. counsellors an cl procurers, shall 
suffer death unless the jury shall by their verdict, and 
as a part thereof, upon and after consideration of all 
the evidence, recommend imprisonment at hard labor 
for life, in which ease this and no greater punishment 
shall be imposed: and every person convicted of murder 
in the second degree shall suffer imprisonment at hard 
labor not exceeding 30 years. 
Conditions are Improving 
We do not wish to arouse any fa 1 so hopes in 
our readers, hut it is hard for us lo escape the 
conviction that conditions are improving. That is 
true of farmers on the upper Atlantic slope, what¬ 
ever may he the facts as regards the West. Our 
farmers have not been speculating in land, and are 
not. as a rule, forced to liquidate obligations on 
in.fluted values. Most of our farmers sell their pro¬ 
ducts for cash, and co-operative selling is gaining, so 
that prices are more stable. There are still many 
cases where farmers are at the mercy of middlemen 
and agents, hut the proportion of such is lower than 
in former years. The general nsi 1 of trucks and im¬ 
proved mads has widened the circle around every 
large market within which farmers may sell direct. 
It is true that this does not greatly help many farmers 
who live far hack where the roads are poor. It lias, 
however, made a great difference in the total farm 
business, and those farmers hack on the side roads 
will find improved facilities within a few years. We 
never have fallen in with the argument that the 
reduction in number of farmers is an unmixed evil. 
The weeding out process has been going on for years, 
and some of the desirable ones who have left the 
farms will come back. The country must be fed, and 
with fewer farmers to provide the food, those who 
remain on the farms will have a better chance. While 
there will not be any sudden or remarkable “boom” 
in farming, we think the tide has turned and that our 
people on the upper Atlantic coast are. as a whole, 
in better condition than the farmers of any other 
section in the country. They have the best local 
markets, fewer mortgage obligations, a smaller sur¬ 
plus of crops on hand, and a more reasonable out¬ 
look. 
How New York Dairymen Feel 
Farmers in this section are not very optimistic as to 
the outlook for the dairyman. The pooling plan has dis¬ 
turbed many, and but few have signed up in this imme¬ 
diate locality. How this will affect them remaibs to he 
seen. Hay crop was up to average, and silage will be 
plentiful. Dairies will not he much reduced, though 
non-producers will bo more carefully-sorted out. Prices 
are low, ranging from $25 for heifers to $75 for good 
milk cows. Potatoes are about half a crop, but free 
from rot. Most root crops are good. M. w. Q. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. 
Farmers seem to be satisfied. What is the use of be¬ 
ing any other way? There is plenty of hay and silage; 
no frost yet to hurt, tomato vines. Cows are changing 
hands some ; all will winter about the same as usual. 
Fresh cows and springers are anywhere from $75 to 
$125. Dealers ask $125. 1 live five miles from rail¬ 
road; have to pay 15c a can to get my milk hauled there, 
and get the pool price. Help is high—10c an hour and 
board—for helping thrash and filling silo. One can get 
all. the help he wants if he can pay the price. Farmers 
are not hiring any more than they can help. N, A. M. 
< 'henango Co.. X. Y. 
The dairymen generally, while not satisfied that they 
are getting as much as they should for their milk, still 
have Confidence in the League, and expect that eventu¬ 
ally the men who do the work and produce the milk 
will receive at least part of the profit that now goes 
into the pockets of a mosquito fleet of middlemen who 
skin both producer and consumer. We have had an 
unusually gOod season for corn, consequently there will 
he plenty of silage. The hay erop is short; late rains 
have made Fall pasturage unusually good. Not so many 
cows will he milked this Winter: a great many have 
been sold. Prices are low; good cows can be bought for 
from $00 to $75. Personally. I do not believe dairying 
will ever pay what it should until we sell direct to the 
consumer. To my mind, it is the height of folly to 
leave the best paying end of the business in the hands of 
profiteers. I saw *a statement today that 2,000,000 
quarts of milk are consumed in New York City per 
day. As there are something like 0.000.000 people 
there, somebody’s children must go without an adequate 
amount of milk. Too many middlemen, too big prices. 
Tioga Co., N. Y. j. r. r. 
Taking the milk situation as a whole, I think the 
dairy farmers are satisfied with the outlook. Of course 
there is once in a while a squealer, as there always is 
and always will he. We did not cut our usual amount 
of bay; about one-fourth short. Wo have an abundance 
of silage, and it is eared- very nicely. I think there 
will be about the same number of cows put through the 
Winter. There do not seem to be many cows for sale, 
and prices are somewhat lower than usual; from $00 to 
$110 for the best. Some buyers showing up lately. 
Beef worth practically nothing. Oats were a light crop. 
Buckwheat lias a good growth of straw and seems to be 
well filled. Early potatoes no good ; late ones better. 
Tioga Co., N. Y. L. E. w. 
Dairymen are not satisfied with present conditions, 
but think the outlook better than fur some time, relying 
on the League to bring about better conditions. The 
hay crop in this vicinity, taking a radius of 50 miles, 
is fair to good; offered at approximately half of last 
year's prices. The corn crop is equal to or better than 
the one of 1913 in quality, and a much larger acreage. 
Silos will be all filled, and considerable corn still in the 
fields. The number of cows milked will be about the 
same, as there is practically no market at 40 to 50 per 
cent of prices prevailing US months ago. I think the 
majority of dairymen would reduce their herds if they 
could got fair prices for their stock. J. c. S. 
Tioga Co., N. Y. 
Madison County lias had a warm, dry Fall. Water 
very low in many places. Feed in pastures poor and 
in need of rain. Hay a light crop; oats yielded poorly. 
Potatoes in most fields a light yield, although some 
farmers report a normal crop. Early potatoes brought 
S2.25 per bu. to farmers who sold them in Syracuse. 
Cars are being loaded at PeRuyter at $1.10 per bu. this 
week. There never was a better crop of corn, which 
will make up for the shortage in hay. Everyone lias 
enough and to spare for silo tilling. Cows are cheaper 
this Fall. Although buyers are plenty, the dairymen 
are keeping about the same number of milk cows. Some 
are enthusiastic over the pooling plan, while others 
think there are too many salaries to come out of the 
price of milk before reaching the farmer's pocket. 
Madison Co., N. Y. w. j. w. 
