The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
181 
The Rural School Fight 
T HE following editorial appeared in the Rochester 
Hcrahl for Jan. 21. This calm and sensible 
statement will appeal to all thoughtful men. The 
Herald is not quite correct in saying that a great 
majority of the school superintendents support the 
proposed school bill. We have letters from most of 
them, and find a majority opposed to the bill as it 
now stands. The Herald is right in saying that the 
proponents of the bill are as a rule more noted as 
spenders of the public money than as producers or 
taxpayers. Also in saying that the tendency to spend 
"is augmented by the itch which specialists have to 
create complicated systems of doing things”: 
Teachers and educators believe that the education of 
the future citizens of the republic is the most impor¬ 
tant task imaginable. They are to be commended for 
their enthusiasm and for the forcefulness with which 
they are bringing their views to the fore. But whether 
those views should be indorsed in their entirety is an¬ 
other matter. 
Led by a group of educational experts at Albany and 
Ithaca, educational forces of the State are pressing for 
more centralized control of education in this State. This 
is taking two forms; one, the complete divorce of city 
school affairs from other municipal functions, and the 
other, the creation of community districts in the coun¬ 
try by the consolidation of existing districts. Recent 
court decisions, especially the one in the case brought 
by the Rochester Board of Education against Mayor 
Van Zandt and the City of Rochester, in which the 
Court of Appeals held that money raised for education 
in a city is money raised for a city purpose, have halted 
for a time activities in ^hat direction. But the tem¬ 
porary defeat of the experts in the cities has left them 
free to attack the rural school problem with undivided 
attention. 
Those who are leading the fight for greater centralized 
educational activities are frank to admit that they want 
more money spent on schools. Voices are raised among 
the taxpayers in the rural districts, objecting to any 
radical change and asserting that whatever changes are 
necessary can be made without disturbing the prevailing 
system of district schools. 
The campaign of the specialists at Albany and Ithaca, 
strongly indorsed by the great majority of teachers, 
school superintendents and boards of education through¬ 
out the State, has the weakness that always inheres in 
the arguments of specialists. The enthusiasm they have 
for their work renders them unable to see in proper 
perspective. No one will belittle the value of properly 
educating the girls and boys of the Empire State, and 
every person imbued with the love of children and of 
country will want to see they have the best possible pre¬ 
paration and will furnish it to the limit of their ability 
to pay. But what is the limit? 
There is an analogy between the home and the school. 
A father idolizes his family and bends his energies and 
talents from morning to night, to furnish his boys and 
girls with the best he can afford. He is, however, limited 
by his economic resources, and although he would like to 
give all his children a university education, he perhaps 
has to struggle to send them to high school. The differ¬ 
ence between educators and the father in the home is 
that he is in the vise of economic laws. They look upon 
the State as a money bag which is deep and wide and 
full, and appear to believe that all they have to do is 
to put in their hands and get the money they want for 
their ideals. 
Unfortunately this tendency to spend the people’s 
money is augmented by the itch which specialists have 
to create complicated systems of doing things. Ruralists 
see clearly that those seeking to bring about consolida¬ 
tion of rural districts would eventually appoint paid sec¬ 
retaries and other employes to carry into effect the 
changed educational policies that must follow consolida¬ 
tion. 
This hits the taxpayer in the country school districts 
in two ways. It takes from him home rule in' education 
and makes him pay high for what he does not want. 
Propagandists for the Albany and Ithaca experts con¬ 
tinually hold before the rural taxpayer the bait of State 
moneys. The State, they say. will pay the bills. But 
the farmer well understands that he and the man who 
lives in the c-ity are the State and that the people of the 
State will have to furnish the funds. Even though it be 
admitted that the specialists are genuinely of the opinion 
that the time has come for a new day in education, they 
ought to know that they will get farther if they treat the 
farmer more as a rational being than as an irresponsible 
child. 
Comparative Milk Prices 
T HE comparison of milk prices for December for 
the same month since 1916 is contained in the 
following table: 
,-December-, 
Milk 1910 1917 1921 1922 1923 
Borden’s . $1.96 
League . 2.15 $3.10 $2.19 $2.55 $2.10 
Eastern States— 
High plant . 2.70 
Average, 8 plants.. 2.52 
Sheffield Farms . 3.10 2.58 
Non-Pool Ass’n . 2.55 
B. and C. value. 2.18 2.41 2.10 3.225 2.39 
Butter, c. per lb.3987 .4945 .4374 .5421 .5404 
Cheese, e. per lb.24 .235 .215 .27875 .213% 
$2.10 is the League cash return, and 5c was re¬ 
served for certificates. 
If these prices for 1923 were reduced to the com- 
parative purchasing price of the dollar, it 
show the relative 1916 prices as follows: 
would 
Borden’s . 
65 per cent of $1.96 
$1,274 
League . 
Eastern States— 
65 per cent of 
2.15 
1.397 
High . 
65 per cent of 
2.70 
1.755 
Average 8 plants .. 
65 per cent of 
2.52 
1.638 
Sheffield Farms. 
65 per cen t of 
2.5S 
1.677 
Non-Pool Association. 
65 per cent of 
2.55 
1.657 
B. and C. value. 
65 per cen t of 
2.39 
1.553 
Butter, c. per lb. 
65 per cent of 
.5464 
.355 
Cheese, c. per lb. 
65 per cent of 
.21375 
.139 
The heavy decline in the December price of cheese 
ig reflected in this comparison. Butter about holds 
ts own with the 1916 comparison, but the milk prices 
make a sad comparison. 
New Dairy Organization in Delaware Co. 
Delaware County dairymen in this section have 
formed an organization to be known as the Dairymen’s 
Union Co-operative Association. None but dairymen 
can belong. John Ammermann has been elected presi¬ 
dent. The headquarters are at Andes, but Arena, Bo¬ 
vina and Shavertown are also organized, and farmers 
generally in this section are in favor of the organiza¬ 
tion. 
The work of organization is going on. and help will 
be extended to any community ready for it. 
Andes, N.Y. john ammermann, President. 
N. Y. State Horticultural Society Meeting 
A FINE DISPLAY.—It gets to be an old story to 
hold aloft continually each successive meeting 
of the New York State Horticultural Society and 
shower it with praise. Yet when a meeting is de¬ 
serving of such treatment, what else can be done? 
And certainly the recent gathering at Rochester, 
January 15, 16, 17, and IS cannot be passed without 
its rightful share. In the “first place the attendance 
was the largest ever recorded. On one occasion there 
were 1700 people counted iii the exhibit halls, while 
at the same time the Assembly hall was accommo¬ 
dating an audience of 500 or 600. In the second 
place, the exhibits were the largest and best ever 
shown at a gathering of this kind in the East, both 
of the large exhibit buildings at Edgerton Park 
being filled to the last available square foot of 
floor space. Third, the meetings were extended over 
a longer period of time than previously, beginning 
on Tuesday afternoon instead of Wednesday morn¬ 
ing and continuing through Friday, with the addi¬ 
tional attraction of two evening programs. All this 
makes no mention of the interest of the attenders or 
of the high quality of both the exhibits and the 
program. 
SPRAY MATTERS.—That spray matters were of 
unusual interest is indicated by the fact that the 
entire first afternoon of the program was devoted to 
this subject. In regard to oil sprays for the control 
of scale it was brought out that on mature trees 
where an infestation of scale could not be controlled 
with lime-sulphur, oil sprays could be used with 
safety, but that repeated applications were not to 
be recommended. One grower reported excellent re¬ 
sults from the use of the New Jersey dry-mix sulphur 
spray on pears, with perfect control, and no injury 
whatever, in comparison with slight injury from 
the customary 1 to 50 lime-sulphur spray. Those 
who had been unable to control grape leaf-hopper 
were glad to learn that in Canada the insect had 
been easily controlled by spraying with nicotine 
sulphate and Bordeaux one week after the fruit had 
set. It was pointed out that early spraying was 
highly desirable since there was evidence to show 
that, nicotine sulphate will destroy leaf-hopper eggs 
as well as nymphs. There was considerable interest 
shown in sulphur compounds, especially finely 
divided and colloidal sulphur. It seems that colloi¬ 
dal sulphur has a high efficiency as a fungicide, but 
that it has in some eases caused foliage injury. The 
suggestion was made that growers be prepared for 
some radical developments in spray materials within 
the next few years. 
SPREADERS.—The oft-discussed “spreader” ques¬ 
tion came up again, this time not with regard to its 
effect upon the adhesiveness or spreading of a spray 
but with regard to its effect on the spray itself from 
a chemical standpoint. Calcium caseinate, the spread¬ 
er found most upon the market, has the property of 
retarding the reaction between lime-sulphur and ar¬ 
senate of lead when the three are mixed. Everyone 
is familiar with the black color produced when lime- 
sulphur and arsenate of lead are put in the tank 
together. But whether this retarding action of cal¬ 
cium caseinate is for better or for worse is left to 
actual field trials to demonstrate. 
ABOUT PSYLLA.—The psylla problem was* given 
an hour and a section to itself, and judging by the 
activity of the gathering to discuss this question, 
the plan was a wise one. The recommendations 
finally given ran: (1) Practice thorough pruning, 
eliminating the conical tops of the Bartletts and the 
long limbs of the Kieffers, keeping most trees under 
14 ft. in height; (2) use spray for the soft-shells 
and the nymphs, and use dust for the hard-shells 
and adults; (3) use spray in the orchard consisting 
of 350 trees or less; (4) use dtist in the large 
orchard where difficulty is experienced in covering 
the entire orchard ; (5) use sufficient material to cover 
or envelop the entire tree, oVa gallons of spray or 
1 lb. of dust per tree on an average. At the same 
time it was recognized that the control measures 
recommended for one locality would not suffice for 
another. One grower said that he secured excellent 
control year after year with the usual cluster-bud 
lime-sulphur spray, while another said that the only 
way that he could get control was to spray every 
week. 
NEW FRUITS.—Among new fruits the Cortland 
held supreme. The important attributes brought out 
were that the variety hung on the tree as well as anv 
commercial variety grown today, and that it would 
stand handling as much as the Baldwin. The I.obo, 
a McIntosh seedling originated in Canada, was 
recommended as worthy of trial where an apple of 
McIntosh type was desired that ripened just before 
McIntosh. To the list of new fruits brought to atten¬ 
tion by the Geneva Station must be added several new 
improved Delicious crosses of good size, and of better 
quality than the Delicious. A number of growers com¬ 
mented upon the small size and poor color of both De¬ 
licious and Golden Delicious when grown in the Finger 
Lakes region and in Western New York. It is hoped 
that the new crosses will give the growers in these sec¬ 
tions a Delicious type variety that they can grow prof¬ 
itably. 
DISCUSSION OF VARIETIES.—A very interest¬ 
ing evening was spent in discussing varieties. Dr. U. P. 
Hedrick told very briefly how the new fruits were orig¬ 
inated at the experiment station and showed the im¬ 
portance of introducing and testing new sorts. Prof. 
R. W. Rees then took up the matter of eliminating odd 
varieties from the commercial orchard and told what 
varieties, in his mind, were the best to grow. The up¬ 
shot of the discussion was that the Greening, Baldwin* 
and Spy were again proclaimed the best commercial 
varieties for Western New York, with Tompkins King 
and McIntosh desirable in certain sections. 
MARKETING.—This seemed to be of more than 
common interest, with most of the effort being expended 
in the direction of uniformity, honesty and quality in 
the pack. One grower in response to a plea for adver¬ 
tising of fruit, rose to remark: “When you advertise 
you have got to have something to advertise,” while 
another member declared that the men who were not 
in the co-operative packing movement were putting out 
poor stuff, and getting fair prices on the strength of 
what the co-operatives were doing. Still another speak¬ 
er said that there was too much time spent picking out 
“facers” and too little time spent in picking out wormy 
and undergrade fruit. The sentiment of the entire gath¬ 
ering was to the effect that New York State growers 
must do more than merely attempt to comply with the 
law. A resolution was finally adopted, recommending a 
change in the State grading law so as to include all bas¬ 
kets, hampers, boxes and packages with covers,'and so 
as to make it compulsory to have the face of the pack¬ 
age truly representative of the contents. 
RESOLUTIONS.—Among other resolutions adopted 
was one (passed unanimously) recommending that in 
the future the names of commissioners of horticultural 
departments at the State Fair be submitted to the exec¬ 
utive committee of the society for approval. Anyone 
present at the session would have had no difficulty in 
feeling out the sentiment in regard to the handling of 
the fruit department at the last State Fair. Resolutions 
were passed favoring appropriations for a new horti¬ 
cultural building on the State Fair Grounds, and for a 
horticultural laboratory at the New York State Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station at Geneva. 
EXHIBITS.—Turning for a moment to the exhibits, 
the visitor could not help but be impressed with the at¬ 
tention that is being given by commercial concerns to the 
development of highly efficient machinery and materials 
for horticultural usage. Spray machines carried, for the 
most part, pumps revolving in oil or otherwise thor¬ 
oughly lubricated, while motive power tended towards 
the multiple cylinder engine—one outfit being equipped 
with a regular Ford motor. A bushel basket v^th 
straight sides occasioned much favorable comment, and 
the small tractors were closely examined by the small 
fruit and vegetable men. The fruit display was quite 
up to standard. The Geneva Station was represented 
with its usual attractive exhibit of varieties and meth¬ 
ods of combatting diseases and insects, and Cornell Uni¬ 
versity staged an effective display of evergreens, showing 
proper and improper plantings about the home. Several 
of the big barrels from the Eastern States Apple Ex¬ 
position were to be seen, while from one of the prom¬ 
inent windows of a department store beamed the same 
manikin from his pile of apples and displaying to pass- 
ersby the virtue of the apple and the importance of the 
meetings of the New York State Horticultural Society. 
H. B. T. 
A Civil War Veteran on the Bonus 
I thoroughly appreciated your reply to Mr. Johnson, 
on page 52. It was refreshing once to see the word duly 
mentioned. I have tried to find any valid reason for 
anyone either asking for a bonus or for granting one. I 
served from 1861 to 1S64, and from that day to this 
have never thought the country owed me anything for 
that service. I entered it from a sense of duty, and 
have been satisfied for having done my share in pre¬ 
venting our country from being divided. It takes eight 
months to make a soldier; short of that time a man does 
not earn his rations, so the men who did not leave this 
country owe the government for over-payment. 
There were certainly no hardships connected with the 
life. The men who went across did not have the op¬ 
portunity to see fighting as I saw i't. As fighters, the 
Germans are not in the same class as our Southern 
men; men who quit when half whipped never possessed 
the fighting spirit of the men I fought against, who 
fought to the limit. A large proportion of the men en¬ 
rolled were, with their pay, clothing, rations, etc., bet¬ 
ter off than ever before in their lives, or than they are 
likely to be in the future. It is natural for them to 
ask for a bonus. A depressing feature of it, to me, is 
the number of Senators and Congressmen advocating 
it. We naturally expect common sense from them, and 
in this case they do not show it. JOHN B. DAY. 
Westchester Co., N. Y. 
