790 
Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 17, 1924 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A Nutlomil Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established t8S0 
Kiblbkrd nreUlj hy the Unral I'nblishinff Company, 33S Welt 30th Street, New Tort 
Hkkbkrt W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mbs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
L. H. Murpiiy, Circulation Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 82.04. Remit in money 
order, express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New Vork Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, tl.00 per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us j and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“ A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time or 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
T HE recent notes on Cape Cod have attracted 
some little attention. One of our readers sends 
the following: 
On the way from one town on Cape Cod to another, 
a Bostonian came upon a charming house by the road¬ 
side which immediately claimed his attention. It bore 
a fresh coat of white paint, which was well set off by 
green blinds. There was a smooth piece of lawn in 
front, a group of fine shade trees, and hammocks, 
pazza chairs, brilliant sofa pillows, and all the ad¬ 
juncts of Summer comfort in luxurious profusion. 
A boy of 14 accompanied him as guide and adviser. 
To him the stranger put this query : “Whose place is 
this?” 
“Oh,” said the boy casually, “that's the poorhouse.” 
“The poorhouse! * * You seem to have luxurious pau¬ 
pers in this town !” 
“Well, sir, you see, we ain’t got but one, and she’s an 
old woman. The overseers board her out with one of 
the neighbors, and let the poorhouse to some of them 
Boston swells for the Summer, and that pays her 
keep.” 
Well, there was always one thing sure about so¬ 
ciety in those old-fashioned New England towns. 
There were few very rich and few of the very poor. 
That of course refers to the farming towns before 
the great development of “industrial centers.” We 
have a report from one New England town where 
it was found necessary to send a certain family to 
the poorhouse. They went in their own car! It was 
a battered tin pan of a car, but it had an engine 
which would work on occasions. The simple old 
farm life in New England was well nigh ideal for 
those who really loved to farm—and there are some 
localities yet where the old life continues. 
* 
A NUMBER of our readers have adopted children. 
In several cases we have helped such people 
find a suitable child. Sometimes these parents are 
childless, or they have lost a little one by death and 
desire to fill its place. The question of inheritance 
often comes up. In some cases the natural children 
feel that they have a clearer right to the parents’ 
property than the adopted one. A case recently in 
the New York Supreme Court seems to settle that. 
A man and woman living in Connecticut adopted, 
legally, a little girl living in Rhode Island. There 
seems to be no question about the legality of this 
act except that the blood relatives claimed residence 
in one State made this proceeding in another State 
illegal. The judge ruled that this had no bearing on 
the matter, and that since the child was legally 
adopted it benefited under a proper will the same as 
any natural child. Our folks should remember that. 
If they legally adopt a little one they make it a full 
heir, and it will inherit their property the same as if 
it were their natural child. Personally we have had 
much to do with bringing up children, but we have 
not actually adopted any of them. It is, however, 
the thing to do in case there is any danger that the 
little one may be taken away from you. Such adop¬ 
tion involves a moral and financial obligation which 
ought to be well considered. 
* 
S EVERAL towns in New England are making an 
effort through farm organization to come as 
near as possible to producing all the food needed in 
that town. Of course it would be impossible for 
New England to produce its supply of coffee, sugar 
or tropical fruit, but it would seem quite possible 
to grow all or nearly all the cornmeal, rye, poultry 
and eggs, milk and butter, pork, lamb and beef and 
potatoes locally. Whether this could be done at a 
profit on local farms is a question. It is well worth 
trying. We have long believed that New England 
ought to produce far more of the bread and meat 
which her people consume. At the opening of the 
great World War the New England States were pro¬ 
ducing barely 20 per cent of their needed meat and 
bread. They might easily produce far more corn 
and wheat than is now produced. The general use 
of Sweet clover for pasture, and Soy beans and other 
crops new to the section, would permit a great in¬ 
crease in beef cattle and sheep. It has become a 
habit among New England farmers to think that 
milk, potatoes, apples and poultry are about the only 
standard crops left for the section, and that the real 
substantials, like meat and bread, should be bought 
elsewhere. We think this is a mistake. At one 
period of history New England fed her own people 
and had food for export. That system was changed 
by the opening of cheap Western land. That land is 
no longer cheap, while freight rates on food pro¬ 
ducts are almost prohibitive. We think the time has 
come for New England to come back to something of 
the old system of supplying more of her own food. 
It is a good thing for these local towns to try to 
feed themselves. 
* 
My father died last year. Among the personal prop¬ 
erty was a bed of 5,000 strawberry plants which were 
appraised as personal property. A few days after we 
sold the strawberry bed for the sum of $50. The land 
that the strawberry bed was on was land rented by my 
father under a two-year lease. Now the owner of the 
land says that he holds the strawberries, including the 
gathering of the said crop of berries. The person who 
bought the berries only wishes to gather the crop. My 
father paid cash rent, but we gave possession April 1, 
3024. Now, can the party we sold the berries to obtain 
possession and gather the crop of berries this year, or 
not? Can we gather the crop, including the trespassing 
on owner’s property? We paid the amount of rent in 
advance for one year up to April 1, 1924, and father set 
out the strawberry bed last Summer. c. J. B. 
Pennsylvania. 
N one form or another this question comes up 
every year. In what case has a tenant the right 
to harvest a crop which be planted before his ten¬ 
ancy expired? A case in New Jersey some years ago 
was somewhat similar to the above. A tenant 
planted a field of strawberries, and before they fruit¬ 
ed his lease w r as terminated by sale of the land. The 
new owner refused to permit this tenant to enter the 
premises and pick the fruit, and the tenant sued to 
recover the value of the crop. The court decided in 
favor of the tenant. It was held that strawberries 
belong to the class of crops known as emblements— 
grain, potatoes or other one-year or one-season crops. 
An orchard, a field of currants or blackberries or 
other permanent crops, would not come under this 
ruling; but strawberries, which are often plowed 
under after one picking, would be held at law much 
the same as rye or wheat. The tenant would have a 
legal right to complete his job by going back to har¬ 
vest them, unless he sold out his right to the crop. 
In this case the tenant sold such right, and we think 
the court would sustain him. Some strawberry 
growers think the New r Jersey court erred in its de¬ 
cision, since berries are often fruited for several 
years, the same as blackberries, and the Pennsyl¬ 
vania courts might take that view. 
* 
T is of course too early yet to give any full report 
of what was done on school meeting day in the 
rural districts of New York. We know that many 
large meetings were held, and that the call for or¬ 
ganization was well answered. Details will come in 
time. There is no question about the renewed in¬ 
terest in local schools which has followed the battle 
over the school bill. There is sure to be a full or¬ 
ganization among the country districts. Take it 
from any point of view you like, this is a good thing. 
It is a revival of the old-time independent spirit 
which has marked the older generations of farmers. 
We have heard educators and “leaders” say that this 
independence and stubborn demand for local rights 
is the worst obstacle in the way of reform and im¬ 
proved country living. They are wrong; they are off 
the track, because they have lost sight of the real 
element of human nature which gives true flavor and 
power to our country life. The proponents of the 
school bill appeared to be content to discuss the de¬ 
tails of their bill while seemingly unable to under¬ 
stand why the great majority of country people op¬ 
posed it. Thus at the great hearing at Albany one 
side argued for details, while the other stated def¬ 
inite principles which country people knew form a 
vital part of their lives. Up to this time practically 
all the organization and consolidated power have 
been on the side of the educators, who have had an 
advantage over the unorganized farmers. This has 
been true of contests over other matters of rural 
rights besides the school question. The farmers 
have been at a disadvantage because they have had 
no real fighting organization and few if any leaders 
who are not subservient to political or social inter¬ 
ests. Now we believe these things are to be changed. 
If the contest over the school bill now serves to de¬ 
velop a new and independent organization, simple 
and honest in its desire to protect the rights of the 
school district, it will rank as the most helpful 
movement among New York farmers that has oc¬ 
curred since the Civil War. We must not expect too 
much of it at the beginning, and we must all try to 
keep it down on the ground and out of the hands of 
the politicians. We believe this Rural School Im¬ 
provement Society has great possibilities; not in any 
spectacular way, but in promoting the homely truth, 
We must do it ourselves! 
N its discussion of the new tax law the United 
States Senate voted to permit the fullest pub¬ 
licity in income tax returns. It is probable that the 
House of Representatives will agree to this. At 
present these returns are guarded. It would prob¬ 
ably be possible to obtain them, but they are'not sub¬ 
ject to public discussion. There is no doubt that 
much evasion of the income tax is practiced. There 
are plenty of tricks, and many lawyers make a 
specialty of devising schemes for outwitting Uncle 
Sam. Thousands of cases are pending over an ad¬ 
justment of these returns. No definite figures are 
available, but unquestionably millions of dollars are 
annually lost to the country through bright schemes 
for income tax evasion. Full publicity would drive 
many of these schemes out into the open, and in the 
end greatly increase the income from this form of 
taxation. On the other hand, there are many rea¬ 
sons, quickly apparent to anyone, why an honest 
man does not care to have the full figures of his in¬ 
come made public. That is, or should be, a per¬ 
sonal matter, and we can all easily see where it 
would be embarrassing and at times harmful to 
have our private business matters opened to the 
world. We think, however, that the tendency of 
Congress is to endeavor to make the rich and well- 
to-do pay more and more of the public expenses. 
The fact is that we are now going through a sort of 
bloodless revolution without quite realizing it. We 
hardly realize that what is called mildly progressive 
today would have been called red radicalism 50 
years ago. 
* 
Four years ago I bought a horse from a neighbor, 
which he told me was nine years old. Later I found 
out from other people that it was 14 years old. A 
short time ago this man I bought the horse from got 
religion and came to me and told me he had lied to roe 
about the age of the horse, and would pay me any dam¬ 
ages that I would say. Will you please give me your 
opinion of the difference in value between a horse nine 
years old and a 14-year old horse? reader. 
ELL, that must be a pure form of religion— 
honest and undefiled, and anyone who has 
ever sold or traded a horse will realize what a 
moral eruption this meant. Knowing something of 
what it must have meant to confess the sins of a 
horse trade, we should have felt impelled to forget 
the transaction and call it square. But who can tell 
the difference which five years may make in the 
value of a horse? It depends on the breed, the 
shape and the way the horse has been cared for. 
Some men, as we know, are better at 60 than they 
ever were at 50. A compact, pony-built horse, with 
good care, will hold his health and power better 
than a long, rangy beast. Where a horse is abused 
he may not be worth half as much at 14 as he was 
at nine, while with good care he may not reach his 
prime until 12. As a mere guess, without seeing the 
horse, we should say he was worth about 20 per 
cent less for the extra five years—but how we wish 
that more of that form of religion would enter the 
hearts of some men we know! 
Brevities 
A resident cannot vote at a school meeting if he is 
not an American citizen. 
It is said that in trying to get rid of the hookworm 
in Australia the natives will bargain to take the treat¬ 
ment if they are given tobacco. 
One of the most prosperous events in the history of 
any section is when Sweet clover is no longer considered 
as a weed, but as a profitable crop. 
What’s in a name? Mrs. Alice Liberty, a Pennsyl¬ 
vania woman, sues her husband, Thomas Liberty, for 
divorce. She says marriage gave her liberty only in 
name, as she became a drudge. 
We understand that many poultrymen use acid phos¬ 
phate on the droppings board under the roosts. This 
preserves and fortifies the chicken manure, but has any¬ 
one noticed any bad results from its use? Some reports 
are that it makes the feet of the hens sore. 
The simplest fact about the mosquito is that it 
breeds in stagnant water and cannot endure if all the 
ponds and puddles are dried up. A tin can half full of 
water out back of your house may be enough to fill the 
neighborhood with mosquitoes. 
Wood from the Ailanthus or “tree of heaven” was 
imported from China to New York and Pennsylvania 
and has now been found suitable for pulpwood. This is 
a rapid-growing tree, and there is a great demand for 
pulpwood. 
