431 
The New York Rural School Improve¬ 
ment Society 
T HE Monroe County Branch of the State Rural 
School Improvement Society was organized at 
Rochester on Feb. 23. The blizzard interfered with 
the attendance, but there was a good gathering of 
substantial people present, and much interest was 
manifested. The following officers were elected: 
President, E. W. Brigham; vice-presidents, G. L. 
Quick and S. King Brown; secretary, T. E. Martin; 
treasurer, Fred L. Hussey, Irondequoit. The fol¬ 
lowing committee on constitution was named : Frank 
Rowland, Brighton; John Fredericks, Perrington; 
Rev. J. A. Foss, Rush; H. W. Kingsbury, Wheatland, 
and C. L. Miller, Irondequoit. They presented the 
following constitution, which was promptly adopted: 
ARTICLE I—NAME 
The name of this organization is The Rural School 
Improvement Society of Monroe County, N. Y. 
ARTICLE II-OBJECTS ' 
The objects of the society are (1) the preservation 
and constructive development of the existing schools 
in common school districts along lines approved by a 
majority of the taxpayers and patrons, in co-operation 
with the educational authorities; (2) the retention of 
the fundamentals and traditions of common school edu¬ 
cation ; (3) the promotion of the convenience and wel¬ 
fare of pupils; (4) the stimulation of interest and 
pride in school buildings and grounds; (5) main¬ 
tenance of a tolerable tax rate for school purposes in 
the State, county and district ; (6) appreciation of the 
necessity, value and possibilities of the one and two- 
room school in the open country; (7) the federation of 
societies having similar objects that exist or may be 
formed in the common school districts of said county. 
ARTICLE III—MEMBERSHIP 
Any resident of a common school district in said 
county or. a taxpayer therein is eligible for member¬ 
ship. 
ARTICLE IV—OFFICERS 
The officers shall be a president, two vice-presidents, 
a secretary and a treasurer, and an executive commit¬ 
tee, composed of one member from each of the towns of 
said county. Such officers and committee shall serve 
without compensation and shall constitute the govern¬ 
ing body of this society in any matter within the ob¬ 
jects thereof and not inconsistent with this constitution 
or a duly passed resolution of the society. 
ARTICLE V—DUES 
The dues shall be 25 cents per year, payable at the 
time of joining, and thereafter at the annual meetings. 
The. treasurer shall remit to the treasurer of the New 
York State Rural School Improvement Society five 
cents for every paying member thereof, and one-half of 
the amount received from any society having similar 
objects in common school districts in said county. The 
vote of any member in default in payment shall be re¬ 
jected at any meeting, if challenged for that cause. 
ARTICLE VI-MEETINGS 
Annual meetings shall be held on the first Saturday 
of January in Rochester, N. Y., at a place to be desig¬ 
nated by the president, or, in default of such designa¬ 
tion, by the executive committee. Other meetings may 
be called by the president or by five members of the 
executive committee. Notice of the time and place of 
any meeting shall be given by publication in two Roch¬ 
ester newspapers, and by mail to every member whose 
dues are paid. 
ARTICLE VII—AMENDMENTS 
This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds 
vote of the members whose dues are paid, provided 
notice of such amendment is included in the notice of 
the meeting. 
This constitution may serve as a model for other- 
country organizations which are being formed 
throughout the State. As will be seen, the objects of 
this organization are not destructive, but in every 
way constructive. There is no good reason why any 
resident of a rural county should not join this society 
and help create a better spirit among our country 
people. This is open to all, whether they believe in 
the proposed school bill or not. 
Will the Committee of 21 Answer? 
The labors of this so-called Committee of Twenty-one 
to investigate rural school methods has called my atten¬ 
tion to some peculiarities of their methods I would like 
to have explained. 
Why have they taken isolated eases in poorer sections 
of the State where the schools may be inferior, as the 
standard of work done in all the rural schools? Because 
a few have gone astray are we all to be chastised? In 
investigating the effects of neglect, have they delved 
down deeply enough into the causes? 
We have a State syllabus for grading our rural 
schools; examinations sent from Albany; courses of 
study, with additional supplementary work recommend¬ 
ed ; "pamphlets for nature work, and agricultural State 
College at Cornell for reference; State assistance in 
securing libraries; medical board of examination, State 
officials galore ; w r e are taxed to support all this. Has 
our committee examined these departments spoken of as 
to efficiency? 
What I should like to know is this: If our present 
laws and equipments are not enforced, why should we 
have faith in any new ones these comparative strangers 
prescribe? 
Where is the fault? Can they tell us if the chosen 
school commissioners are made to carry out the work 
prescribed in Albany? Are the normal schools giving 
equal training to all students for rural as well as 
graded school work?- 
Have they investigated the workings of the State 
Medical Department for schools, and the methods used 
to decide on what maps, text books and apparatus shall 
be used? Who marks the Regents’ tests? Why are 
some standard works not permitted in libraries the 
State aids in providing? Why has not the State en- 
lhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
forced the grading of rural schools, and normal schools 
trained teachers to do it? 
Let them give all assistance to neglected schools with 
material now supposed to be provided, instead of wan¬ 
tonly wasting the entire rural educational structure we 
now have for a phantom. Personally it seems to me 
that school commissioners should be compelled to use the 
material we now have. Does the Department of Edu¬ 
cation at Albany need Spring housecleaning? 
Westchester Co., N. Y. h. t. p. 
R. N.-Y.—These questions are submitted to any mem¬ 
ber of the committee. They are being asked by country 
people. There has been some complaint that friends of 
the school bill are not permitted to talk. Here is their 
chance. 
A Goodj School; We Did It Ourselves 
If every one-room schoolhouse in the State meant as 
much in pleasure and profit and the creation of a com¬ 
munity spirit as does the little red schoolhouse in Dis¬ 
trict No. 5, town of Williamson. N. Y., no State school 
officer, no matter how autocratic, would have the face 
to suggest that they be closed. It happened on the 
13th (not on Friday)—on the 13th of February of last 
year—the residents in this district held their first com¬ 
munity meeting in their schoolhouse. They did it 
themselves ; that is why it was such a success. 
The trustee, the teacher and the writer planned the 
first program of songs, readings and recitations, and 
sent word around by the children of the school that 
there was to be a community social meeting and enter¬ 
tainment in the schoolhouse. Fifty-five people came to 
the first meeting—we had to borrow chairs to seat them 
all—and showed their appreciation of the plan by vot- 
A Satisfactory “Little Red Schoolhouse" 
* 
ing to continue the meetings through February and 
March, having meetings every two weeks. 
At each meeting a committee of three is appointed to 
have charge of the program for the following meeting. 
This gave us a varied program. One evening the local 
Red Cross nurse gave a talk on her work in the dis¬ 
trict, with some suggestions to the mothers as to proper 
nutrition, etc. One evening a local church society put 
on a little play ; a local pastor spoke one evening, and 
one evening we had a question box. One of the sur¬ 
prising things brought out by the question box was the 
number of questions having to do with the improvement 
of the school and the school property, indicating that 
the meetings had developed an interest and a pride in 
the local school, not only on the part of those who had 
children in school, but also of those who had none. 
At the last meeting in March it was decided to have 
no further meetings until the time for the annual meet¬ 
ing in May. A committee of three was appointed to 
have charge of the preparations for that meeting, and 
they were asked to plan a picnic supper for that even¬ 
ing. Yes, you’ve guessed it. It was the banner meet¬ 
ing of the year, with about 80 present, and only two or 
three of the voters of the district absent. A record 
breaker. 
Our building is located three miles from the village 
of Williamson and two miles from the village of Pult- 
neyville. At the time of the meeting it stood in the 
center of its lot facing—and too close to—the junction 
of two highways. At the annual meeting we voted to 
move it to one corner of the lot, put a wall under it, 
with basement, re-clapboard and repaint with a good 
coat of red paint, and refinish the interior so far as 
necessary. This increased the tax rate by five mills, 
but no one objected to the increase because all were in¬ 
terested in the improvements it had secured. 
We started our meetings earlier this year, beginning 
the middle of January, and are having an average at¬ 
tendance of about 65, leaving standing room only. So 
now we have under consideration the removal of the 
stove to the basement, putting a jacket around it and 
calling it a furnace, thus getting more room and a better 
heating system. 
Naturally, when it was reported that there was on 
foot a move to take from us the control of our school 
and possibly close it entirely, our people, after having 
the Downing bill explained to them, demanded its de¬ 
feat, and secured meetings in seven neighboring dis¬ 
tricts for which they furnished a speaker to discuss the 
bill, getting in all about 300 voters back of a petition 
to our representatives, asking them to vote against the 
bill. 
In the matter of education our school is proving its 
right to exist. We sent three children to the local high 
school last Fall, and they have taken their places among 
the first six in their average marks. Another has been 
leading the village eighth grade and entered high the 
middle of the year, and will doubtless give a good ac¬ 
count of himself there. 
We have proven to our own satisfaction that in spite 
of the absolute monarchical government which con¬ 
trols our schools, in spite of the faults which we know 
exist in the present system, it still remains true that 
we can have in the rural districts under the present law 
just as good schools as we ourselves demand. c. P. F. 
Not Too Much Milk 
W. C. Logan's article on page 323. urging dairymen 
to stop producing surplus milk, is all wrong. We are 
not making too much milk. The so-called surplus milk 
is simply milk over vvhat is wanted in the fluid market, 
and is used in making butter, cheese, condensed and 
other milk products that are wanted and used by every¬ 
one. It is all right to weed out the poor cows, but all 
we need is all to co-operate to take care of the so- 
called surplus milk. The pooling plan is the only way 
I know of at present. george rote. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. 
As One Man Sees It 
During the recent discussion about milk, consider¬ 
able has been saul about a “surplus.” Don’t you think 
this word has been misused a great deal by using it to 
befog the real issue? That is, pay the farmer his price 
for all his milk. 
“Surplus?” There is no such animal. How can 
there be? Doesn't this country import thousands and 
thousands of pounds of butter yearly from foreign coun¬ 
tries, and were a fairly well-bred dog to see it in the 
making might he not feel deathly sick? Think of the 
sanitary standards of these foreign countries; think of 
the labor they use; think of the price they pay for that 
labor; and think of the fact that you have not informed 
your Congressman to keep that butter out! 
And too, is not milk the basic fluid from which milk 
sugar, dried milk, powdered milk, condensed milk, evap¬ 
orated milk, cheese of all kinds, are made? And do not 
these products command fancy prices on the retail mar¬ 
ket? Buy them and see! Away with that “surplus” 
—there is no such animal! wm. g. millfr 
Delaware Co., N. Y. 
Would He Have A Fair Chance? 
I have been interested in the articles about the In¬ 
diana man coming East', and have a slightly different 
problem myself, coming here from California a few 
years ago. 
The past few years we have rented a large farm with 
option of buying for $5,500, paying $500 cash rent in 
advance. If we take up the option we shall have to pay 
$1,000 down and not less than $250 per year ; mortgage 
to run for five years, we pay recording of mortgage tax 
Taxes on farm were about $200 last year. I have four 
children ; two are old enough to help a little with the 
work. We are selling A grade milk, about two cans 
daily. We raised 15 acres corn, 15 acres buckwheat, 
nine acres oats, cut 90 loads hay. Have 10 cows (10 
heifers which we would have to sell to make payment), 
40 sheep, brood sow, and work horses. The farm 
known as a good one, though hilly, and the pasture for 
outside cattle brought nearly $200 last year. It has 
been in same family for a long time. Barns will need 
shingling before long, and fences are rather poor. There 
is no silo. From your experience with such things, 
would we have a fair chance for success to go ahead and 
make a payment, or have an auction and sell stock and 
equipment, fhen get another job working by the month? 
New York. 
LW men would care to venture a definite opinion 
on an unseen proposition of this sort. It is as 
much a question of family as of a farm. With so 
little working capital that it will be necessary to sell 
the heifers in order to make the first payment, you 
are taking a chance on paying for the farm with the 
amount of stock you have. You need more capital to 
buy better equipment or tide you over a period of 
sickness or loss. The annual cash charges and pay¬ 
ments will amount to at least $700. The amount of 
stock you are carrying will not give you a large 
enough income to take care of this and pay the usual 
running expenses. You need extra capital to give 
an income up to the capacity of the farm. It is 
dangerous business to make a payment which re¬ 
duces working capital so low unless you can get 
terms which will protect you and enable you to get 
past a failure to make a payment without losing the 
farm. We have seen so many lose their homes 
through lack of capital at just the critical time that 
we cannot advise such a struggle. On the other hand, 
there are men who have worked out of such condi¬ 
tions so as finally to own the farm, but it would 
have to be a man of unusual ability and strength 
and the best of good fortune to do it. 
Your Boy and a Training Camp 
My boy. age 16% years, wants to go to the training 
camp next August—the annual 30-day affair held at 
“strategic points” throughout the country. To let him 
go seems to me to be giving aid and comfort to the ene¬ 
my, the militant party, to say nothing of training the 
boy to be “hard-boiled.” Is there any good to be ex¬ 
pected from a month’s stay at one of these camps? I 
hear of bayonet drills, where they teach the boys to 
drive the bayonet through a dummy, the practice being 
carried on in the most realistic manner possible, the 
boys yelling like fiends and being encouraged to work 
themselves into a veritable frenzy. Where can I get a 
fair statement of the net result of this training (30 
days) on the average boy? father. 
HAT seems a good subject to present to the great 
parliament of our readers, and we do so here¬ 
with. What do you think of it? Usually our folks 
are level-headed over such things, and their judg¬ 
ment is worth while. For ourselves we would not 
send a boy to such “training.” The material ad¬ 
vantages of exercise and learning to care for himself 
might help the boy, but the spirit and the “hard- 
boiled” part do not suit us. 
