1048 
Tbt RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 2, 1924 
Journey of a Day 
I like The R. N.-Y., because it is 
‘ voices from the farms.” Here is another 
of them. We were haying today on our 
jjlace. The work was somewhat similar 
to that on thousands of others, and the 
owners, by the time they read this, can 
look back to the pleasant work they had 
at theim I have been sitting on the 
porch in my easy chair as the sun sinks 
out of sight, too wearied to read, think 
or speak, just experiencing relaxation, 
and a gentle evening breeze carried ozone 
to further the work. Eight loads went 
into the top of a mow 33 ft. to the cone, 
and they will stay there until Winter 
winds blow, when they will be rolled down 
to the floor in bunches and forked on 
down to the sheep underneath. This hay 
came from the field behind the barn, and 
the average time for each load was 50 
minutes. 
The day began with two teams mowing 
for tomorrow, tedding, and later raking 
with the side delivery. My work was to 
see that the loader, ropes and fork, would 
run in the afternoon without delay, then 
chore about the place at anything handy. 
One was to fill the troughs in the creeps 
for 103 lambs at their barn in the wood- 
lot. The wild things know about the 
corn, oats and bran there. Birds were 
in and about the barn, and when I poked 
out an old groundhog from behind the 
feed boxes, for the dog to interview, a fox 
squirrel ripped around chattering and 
finally settled on the ladder until 1 would 
leave. 
After noon hour the loader was hitched 
on. My work was to run the horse on the 
rope, keep the floor clean and everything 
adjusted, and then sit on a nail keg 
watching the windrow under the wagon 
mercilessly run up behind it and fall on 
the platform. A boy stood on the front 
standard to drive, while two hands built 
about two tons on in the time it took the 
team to go around 12 acres. How I 
would like to be one of those builders 
when I think of the amount I pitched on 
with a fork, but am thankful at 73 to be 
able to make or save a hand in places 
that fit now. We have three other mows 
to fill before we start for New England 
on the upper course through New York, 
and then back by the lower one. I once 
asked a Dutch boy how he happened to 
get away out here, and he said: “I thinks 
I comes out and see how Ohio gets along.” 
Like him, we want some information. 
I was too tired at quitting time to eat 
half a supper, but will down some bread 
and milk to sleep on, and be ready for 
oatmeal, bacon, bread and coffee in the 
morning. Having sat motionless until 
the weariness left, I said to wife: “This 
is a pretty nice old world, and how thank¬ 
ful we should be to have our own porch 
to sit on, and see how good nature is to 
fan us and the shade trees with that nice 
breeze. Only farmers have real enjoy¬ 
ment-” A 
Once when advising a hand to save his 
money, he said: “The world owes me a 
living.” I told him it owed him nothing 
except what he earned for it, and it was 
a mighty poor place finally to be buried 
in dirt belonging to others. I belong 
here; I have a proprietorship in this 
world. I have a partnership with the 
Creator, who helps me grow things. I 
walk about with a feeling of part owner¬ 
ship. I have improved soil, live stock and 
buildings, and grown a lot of food for a 
hungry world, and that the eaters gave 
me no credit does not matter. The pleas¬ 
ure of industry and possession is mine, 
and now I have no apologies to make for 
being here. Tomorrow we start on an¬ 
other field and haymow. 
Ohio. W. W. REYNOLDS. 
Water and Divining Rod 
Among the traditions and superstitions 
(?) more or less generally held by com¬ 
mon people, at which scientific men have 
looked askance, or which they have boldly 
pooh-poohed, the attempt to locate water 
by means of a forked stick or divining 
rod, has long held a prominent place. In 
some instances the scientific man has in 
time come over to the side of the plain 
man. Years ago, when the New England 
farmer said that barberry plants growing 
near wheat brought rust, he was told that 
he did not know what he was talking 
about; that it was all his imagination. 
Now the scientific man, because he has 
traced out the life history of this fungus 
and has learned that it spends part of its 
existence on the barberry and another 
part on the wheat plant, goes into con¬ 
niptions over the fact, and tries to banish 
all barberries, even from lawns and city 
parks, where the chance of their causing 
injury to wheat is about as remote as that 
of a man being stricken with sunstroke 
by working in the light of the moon. 
An interesting ease of the use of the 
divining rod recently came under my ob¬ 
servation. A few years ago a man in our 
village bought a spring on a hillside some 
distance from his house. This was piped 
to his own home and two adjoining dwell¬ 
ings. The spring was near a boundary 
line. This last Summer persons in con¬ 
trol of the adjoining land did some blast¬ 
ing, hoping to improve a spring on their 
side of the fence. The underlying l-ocks 
have been greatly shattered by some geol¬ 
ogic force, and this blasting apparently 
diverted the vein supplying the spring 
which had been taken to these dwellings. 
This meant a serious problem to these 
homes,' where modern plumbing had been 
installed, dependent on this supply. Meet¬ 
ing the owner of the spring, he asked me 
if I believed in the possibility of locating 
water with a forked stick. I said I 
hardly knew, and mentioned several cases 
which I had known ; one a well near my 
own doorstep, located in this way, and 
within 10 or 12 ft. of a dry well which 
had been previously dug, both having 
been put down by former owners. The 
man who located this well missed hie 
reckoning as to the depth at which water 
would be found by some 3 or 4 ft., if I 
remember correctly, the well being a deep 
one, but he found the water and it is 
there still, though not in use, because 
very hard, and a spring has been brought 
into the house from higher ground. The 
The following directions for a three- 
liorse hitch on a pole are reprinted from 
issue of July 26, 1919, by request. 
The eveners shown in the sketch are 
rigged for a left-hand binder; where a 
right-hand binder is used the position 
should be reversed. The pieces A and 
B are each 36 in. long from center to 
center of end holes. The large end of A 
is bolted to the center of B by a single 
bolt, so it is free to swing, and B is 
bolted to the pole in the same manner. 
Nine inches, or one-fourth the length 
grandfather of the man to whom I was 
talking told me of taking the man who 
located this well, an Englishman not ac¬ 
quainted with the locality, back into lus 
fields after dark and asking him to locate 
veins of water. He followed one until, m 
the darkness lie splashed into a spring 
and called out “’Ere it is.” Then he 
found another and followed it until the 
owner felt satisfied he was coming to an¬ 
other spring and asked him to go no fur¬ 
ther. 
The man who had asked me the ques¬ 
tion then told me of an experience of lus 
own in driving a well for water at his 
barn. This was on gravelly bottom land, 
where water was to be expected at almost 
any point, without going very deep. He 
and a helper had worked nearly two days, 
if I remember correctly, without success. 
He then got a man who professed to be 
able to locate water to come and investi¬ 
gate. After going over the ground _with 
his stick this man said to him : “Will, if 
you drive here at this corner I think you 
will find it.” He obeyed directions and 
within about two hours had an abundant 
supply. 
But to come back to the lost spring on 
the hillside. My friend said they had 
called on a man who told them he had 
never failed. He had marked out the 
location of veins, also pointing out a 
small vein which the owner knew exist¬ 
ed, though it did not show at the time, for 
he had worked at it when first locating 
his original pipes. They had then sent for 
another man, living some distance away. 
When he came he was told nothing about 
the first man’s work, but on going over 
the ground located the veins in the same 
place as the first man. From this advice 
it appeared that by going back some IS 
ft. into the hillside and digging to the 
depth of the original spring, two veins 
could be tapped which apparently came 
together. This meant an expensive opera¬ 
tion, for the hillside is very steep, and 
the depth to dig was almost as great as 
the distance back. 
In going over the matter thus, the 
business partner of the owner found that 
the stick would work in his hands as well 
as in those of the men they had employed, 
though it would not in the hands of the 
owner himself. One of the men engaged 
in doing the work found, as they neared 
the level of the former spring, that the 
stick indicated for him that the vein was 
at one side of the quite large excavation 
they were making; and that was just 
where they found it when they got low 
enough. It was an expensive job, but 
they now have a better supply than be¬ 
fore. I might add that as located by the 
divining rod, these veins do not come 
straight out of the hill, as might be ex¬ 
pected, but wind around down the side, 
one from one direction and one from an¬ 
other. 
When I was first asked my opinion in 
regard to the divining rod I said I be¬ 
lieved that some day somebody would get 
at the underlying principles involved and 
explain the phenomenon. The business 
partner referrd to above, who was as 
deeply interested as the original owner of 
from point of its attachment to B. A is 
attached to the pole by a half-inch rod 
and staple as shown. The eveners are 
held in position by a strip of iron over 
them, bolted to pole at each end. An 
ordinary two-horse evener, 32 to 36 in. 
long, is used on the small end of B, while 
a single-tree is all that is needed at A. 
The exact lengths given need not nec¬ 
essarily be used if the work seems to re¬ 
quire other sizes, but proportions should 
be kept the same. 
the spring, since his own house is one of 
those supplied by it, offers an explana¬ 
tion. I am not competent to pass judg¬ 
ment on the soundness of his theory, but 
it seems plausible, and at least offers a 
suggestion for investigation. He starts 
with the fact that water is a ready con¬ 
ductor of electricity. With that he 
couples another statement, that I suppose 
is true, that some persons carry much 
more electricity in their bodies than do 
others. He then believes that the forked 
stick, held so that it can be moved by 
such an outside force, affords a line of 
passage for the electric currents between 
the body and the ground. In order to do 
this the stick must be green, full of wa¬ 
ter itself. They found that one which had 
been cut a day before was worthless. If 
this theory is correct it would account 
for the fact that the rod will not work 
for everybody. I should like to see some 
one who is wise enough attack this prob¬ 
lem and solve it. fred w. card. 
R. N.-Y.—We would all like to see that 
done. In former discussions of this ques¬ 
tion we have been overwhelmed with re¬ 
ports offered to prove that water can be 
found in this way. Now let us concede 
that it can be so found. We do not need 
any more reports about that, but if any¬ 
one can explain how it is found we want 
to know about it. 
Rights of a Dog 
The following little article is taken 
from the Watertown (N. Y.) Daily 
Times. It will interest many of our peo¬ 
ple who believe in justice for the dog. 
The courts have decided that canine 
rights equal human rights as far as the 
sidewalks are concerned. Fido, the 160- 
lb. dog belonging to John Roach, Jr., of 
New York, in a playful mood, bumped 
against one Harold Smith and knocked 
Smith down. Mr. Smith decided that his 
dignity had been damaged to the extent 
of .$5,000 and he brought action to re¬ 
cover that sum. The judge declared that 
it was the inalienable right of a dog to 
romp and play and if Mr. Smith hap¬ 
pened to get in his way he must accept 
the loss of his dignity as one of the perils 
that go with modern civilization. Prob¬ 
ably if Fido had been of lesser stature, 
Smith would have contented himself with 
giving him a kick in the ribs. The 160 
lbs., however, convinced him that it 
would be safer to trust to the courts. 
Tails will wag and dogdom will be 
much happier as the result of this learned 
decision. We do not know whether the 
jurist owns a dog or not, but we assume 
that he does. If he does not, he is a 
man who loves dogs. Dogs will be dogs 
and that is all there is to it. Our sym¬ 
pathies are entirely with the dog. A dog 
lives a precarious existence at best es¬ 
pecially in the cities. He has to be con¬ 
stantly on his guard against speeding 
automobiles. Then there is the inexor¬ 
able processes of the law which decree 
that he shall be fully clothed to the ex¬ 
tent of wearing a collar and license tag. 
Then, too, is the hazard which he must 
constantly face of meeting a bellicose 
member of the dog family who disputes 
with him his right to live. Again there 
is that meanest creature which claims to 
be a member of the human race, who is 
a dog poisoner. It is indeed refreshing 
to find that our faithful friend the dog is 
given certain rights and liberties by a 
court decision. He may tear up flower 
beds, bring mud on to the living room 
rug or chew up rubbers, but those are 
matters of purely domestic concern. The 
owner can punish him as he sees fit. But 
the courts have defined his rights as re¬ 
gards society and the decision is in favor 
of the dog. His head will be lifted high¬ 
er, his tail will wag with renewed as¬ 
surance, and he will romp with more 
eagerness, filled with the joy of living. 
It is the establishment of the bill of 
rights for the dog. 
Jersey Justice for Dogs 
I have suffered heavy loss from poul¬ 
try destroyed by strange dogs. Is it law¬ 
ful to kill such dogs when on my prop¬ 
erty? I have often gone to different peo¬ 
ple who I know own the dogs, but in 
every ease they do not own the dog, he 
always belongs to some one else, or is a 
strange dog and I have to stand the 
loss. J. B. 
New Jersey. 
Under the law of New Jersey: 
“If any dog shall be found killing 
worrying or wounding any sheep, lamb, 
domestic animal or poultry, and the 
owner or person having such dog being 
informed thereof, shall neglect or refuse 
to kill such dog within 24 hours from the 
time of receiving such information, such 
owner or person shall forfeit and pay to 
any person who shall sue for the same, 
the sum of ten dollars ($10), to be re¬ 
covered with costs by action of debt be¬ 
fore any justice of the peace of the coun¬ 
ty or district court of the county, and 
moreover shall pay triple damages for 
any injury done by said dog as afore¬ 
said and it shall be lawful for any per¬ 
son to kill any dog which may be found 
chasing, killing or wounding any sheep, 
lamb, poultry or domestic animal.” Sec¬ 
tion 3, Chapter 149, Laws of 1922 of 
New Jersey. 
From the above quotations of the haws 
of 1922, it appears that J. B. would be 
justified in killing these dogs. From the 
above context we construe this section 
to mean however, that if J. B. knows who 
the owners of the dogs are, he must give 
said owners notice and that notice should 
be in writing. If, however, on the other 
hand he does not know the owners, he 
would be justified in shooting the dogs 
upon entering his premises, when seen 
chasing or killing his chickens. 
Releasing Chattel 
Mortgage 
I bought a farm about three years 
ago; part of the purchasing amount was 
paid in cash, and part in land and chat¬ 
tel mortgage. At the time I bought the 
farm we made a contract that as soon 
as the principal was reduced to a cer¬ 
tain amount the chattel mortgage would 
be released. I paid and reduced the 
principal to the certain amount seven 
•months ago, and the chattel mortgage is 
not yet released. How can I get the chat¬ 
tel mortgage released, without much trou¬ 
ble and expense? Can I sell the farm 
with bonds and mortgage without hold¬ 
er’s permit? A. s. 
New York. 
Have a discharge of chattel mortgage 
executed by the mortgagee. You can 
sell the property without the mortga¬ 
gee’s consent by having a px-ovision in 
the deed that the grantee takes the prop¬ 
erty subject to the mortgage which the 
grantee assumes and agrees to pay. 
