I i 14 
‘Ihe RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal l'or Country and Suburban Homes 
Established 1850 
fnblishrd wreltly by the Rural Publishing Company. 333 West 30th Street, New York 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Diulon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mils. E. T. Roylk, Associate Editor. 
L. H. Murphy, Circulation Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04. Remit in money 
order, express order, personal cheek or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, tl.OO per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; 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 of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorkkr whan writing the advertiser. 
S EVERAL readers have made serious complaints 
regarding the new automobile law for New 
York. In these cases school children are affected. 
It has been customary for these children to be car¬ 
ried to high school in light cars driven by boys and 
girls of good size and judgment—about 17 years old. 
These young people are competent drivers, and their 
use of the car in conveying children has been a 
great service to the parents. The new law prohi¬ 
bits anyone under 18 years from obtaining a license, 
and this ruling will cause great inconvenience in 
these cases where children are to be carried to high 
or consolidated school. We had hoped that some 
exemption might be made in such cases, but on ap¬ 
peal to the Commission of Motor Vehicles we have 
the following. We think this rule should be re¬ 
vised, and that young people who successfully pass 
a severe road test should be granted a license. 
riease be advised that Article II of the New York 
State highway law provides that no person shall oper¬ 
ate a motor vehicle on a public highway of this State 
after October 1, 1924, unless he is a duly licensed 
chauffeur or operator. Subdivision 2 of section 282 
further provides that no chauffeur’s or operator’s li¬ 
cense shall be issued to any person under 18 years of 
age. No exception is contained in said law granting 
anyone under 1£ years of age the privilege of operat¬ 
ing a motor vehicle upon a public highway in this 
State. CHARLES A. HARNETT. 
* 
T HERE must always be a pioneer in every line 
of thought and action. The first man to ride 
a horse or run for office or walk to church got far 
more advertising for his initial performance than 
any million men who do these things today. It takes 
time to cut the un out of unusual and make it com¬ 
mon. The first woman to milk a cow or goat, rub 
a skin coat over a pine slab and call it a washboard 
or invent regular hours for dinner was a great 
character, though her name is now lost in the ob¬ 
scurity of history. These remarks are submitted in 
calling attention to the fact that a Texas woman 
has come forward as a new pioneer. She is run¬ 
ning for the nomination for Governor with a reason¬ 
able chance of winning. Mrs. Miriam Ferguson is 
the wife of a former Governor of Texas who was 
as she claims unjustly impeached. Under the State 
laws this makes it impossible for him to seek a 
vindication in the usual manner, so Mrs. Ferguson 
entered the contest in behalf of her husband. Their 
canvass was something of a family affair—the hus¬ 
band promising to act as his wife’s private secretary 
while she promised to take his advice as Governor 
or Governess. She ran second in tlie primary and 
in the “run-off” has more than a fair chance of 
winning. This is an entirely new thing in American 
politics. The R. N.-Y. knows nothing about this con¬ 
test except what we read in the daily papers. We 
never saw Mrs. Ferguson, but we hope she will win. 
When a woman stands by her husband in this way 
and takes what we may call the family group into 
politics to obtain vindication—well, we like the 
spirit of it, and we sincerely hope that Mrs. Miriam 
Ferguson will be the next Governor or Governess 
of Texas with Mr. Ferguson to represent the man 
of the house. 
* 
T HE great American society of uplifters and farm 
meddlers has apparently decided to push a 
new law. We understand that bills will be intro¬ 
duced into various State legislatures to prohibit the 
growing of poison ivy. Every farmer must within 
one year clear his farm of this pest. A large army 
of salaried inspectors will be appointed. They will 
inspect all farms and owners who permit an ivy 
plant to grow will be fined or imprisoned! Wonder¬ 
ful, isn’t it, how these uplifters are so concerned 
about our farms and farmers. In this case we are 
told that protection must be had for the town people 
uho enjoy walking over the farms and hills! But 
what about a new.form of protection for the farm¬ 
er against some of these human pests who pull down 
stone walls, leave gates open, break down fences, 
steal fruit and take a shot at the live stock? They 
are worse than poison ivy. We favor a law putting 
a fine of $25 on every person caught on private land 
without permission—all to go to the land owner! 
* 
E hear from a number of readers who seem 
to be making a good profit at growing the 
so-called “everbearing” strawberries. These peo¬ 
ple are mostly located near some famed Summer or 
Fall resort where wealthy people go for a time to 
loaf or “recuperate.” Such laborious exercises as 
golf or horseback riding require agreeable and stim¬ 
ulating food, and any luxury a little out of sea¬ 
son will always be popular at such places. Thus 
strawberries in August or September find ready sale 
at high prices. The true “everbearers/ when prop¬ 
erly grown, will produce berries of fair quality dur¬ 
ing late Summer and Fall. How these plants can 
fruit freely in June and then start another crop in 
50 days is a mystery, yet we know they can be made 
to do it, and where one is situated so that the late 
crop is appreciated there is money in it. There is 
no room in all this for a “boom.” with everyone 
rushing head over heels into it. The suggestion is 
for the few who a re properly situated and properly 
fitted, mentally and physically, to make these Fall 
bearers behave. 
* 
HE child labor amendment will come directly 
before the people of Massachusetts at the No¬ 
vember election. The Legislature was asked to 
ratify the amendment, but it wisely declined to act 
until the people of the State expressed an opinion. 
That was wise, for this proposed amendment pro¬ 
vides for such a complete surrender of both State 
and family rights that it should not be carelessly or 
hastily considered. The Federal government has, 
in one way or another, secured control of many 
rights which were originally given to the States. 
Probably in some cases this concentration has tjeen 
wise, but in the case of this child labor the pro-- 
gram is being pushed too far, and it is time for the 
plain American people to tell the highbrows and up¬ 
lifters “Hands off our children!” They have just 
about ruined too many children already. To any 
man or woman, struggling to maintain a home and 
to make good citizens out of their children it should 
be a plain case of mind your own business! 
* 
EADERS are constantly writing us to ask about 
“free” or government land. The general im¬ 
pression is that all desirable land has been taken 
up by settlers—so that what was formerly known 
as “the frontier” has disappeared. The truth is 
that there are still 185,933,242 acres of government 
land to be given away, yet anyone who took it as a 
gift would be “sold.” More than 150,000,000 acres 
are in the rough mountain States where a goat 
would find it a job to get a living. There is prac¬ 
tically nothing left but grazing land—all desirable 
farm lands being taken up long ago. The lands con¬ 
tained in the original 13 States never formed any 
part of the public domain. Their disposition is gov¬ 
erned by State laws. As to government land today, 
what the average citizen of this generation lacks is 
a great-grandfather who had the courage and vision 
to take up free land in the Mississippi Valley and 
hang on to it for his descendants. Very likely these 
old-timers asked as we do: “What has posterity 
done for us?” Those who want to know more about 
the subject may write the Commissioner of the Gen¬ 
eral Land Office, Interior Department, Washington. 
* 
W E ask you to read the little story of that “Ed¬ 
ucational Crime” in Wayne Co., N. Y., print¬ 
ed on page 1107. The absurdity of appealing to the 
Educational Department under the circumstances 
will at once occur to anyone who is capable of think¬ 
ing. It simply illustrates the padlocked, czar-like 
rules and powers of the Department. Here we have 
a great body of men and women, Americans, sen¬ 
sible and thrifty, forced into a school change which 
is offensive to them and opposed to their judgment 
and common sense. Who can think of any other 
situation in American life wherein citizens are more 
completely deprived of thedr common rights? We 
August 23, 1924 
think these Wayne County farmers are right in their 
plan first to change the law so that they may con¬ 
trol their schools without complications or “jokers” 
hidden under a barrel of words. They should make 
sure of these rights before consenting to any blanket 
bill which will change the entire school system. We 
foresee a great battle in the next Legislature over 
this school question. The backers of the late bill 
seem to have learned nothing from their defeat last 
year. If they were wise they would come to the 
opposition and attempt to agree upon several fun¬ 
damental points, but they seem determined to force 
their unpopular measure upon the people. Well, 
let them come. We want our readers to understand 
clearly that the situation is up to them. Right now 
is the time to organize and -work—'not next January. 
The men who represent you Will settle the question, 
and it is clearly your business to find out how the 
candidates stand. Take nothing for granted, bul 
absolutely refuse to vote for any man who does not 
satisfy you on this school question. 
* 
O N the next page a reader tells of his experience 
in smearing “tanglefoot” on the posts and top 
of a fence to keep out trespassers. It worked better 
than barbell wire. For a trespasser to have his 
clothes torn by a barb is bad enough, but to be stuck 
to the fence is worse yet. Imagine some plump 
man or woman struggling at the top of a fence with 
their clothes holding in a grip like glue. We have 
heard of one case where a man found his clothes 
so tightly held to the fence that he had to slip out 
of them in order to run away. He left his money 
and his card—and never came back for either one. 
* 
I N our reports of the handling of the milk supply 
in various western cities you notice reference to 
Ine glass-enameled tank. This tank is built much 
on the principle of a big thermos bottle. Some of 
them hold 10,000 lbs. of milk, and are mounted on 
railroad cars. Others are smaller and are carried 
on trucks. The cooled milk is pumped into them 
and often carried long distances without serious rise 
in temperature. We understand that these big tanks 
have not been found practical in the Eastern States, 
but they are evidently being used in the West with 
some success. They seem to fit into the conditions 
uhich prevail in the far Northwest, where popula¬ 
tion is sparse and where farmers are changing from 
wheat production to dairying. The glass-lined tank 
can carry bulk milk from this territory without the 
great expense of cans and the labor of handling and 
cleaning them, and we think it is likely to play a 
large part in the development of the Northwest as 
a source of liquid milk. The North Dakota Experi¬ 
ment Station has been testing the plan of pasteuriz¬ 
ing milk in these tanks before it is pumped out for 
use. These experiments were fully successful. The 
milk was satisfactory and the process saved time 
and labor. This is sure to have an effect upon the 
liquid milk market by cheapening the cost of trans¬ 
porting and treating milk. We may not feel it 
immediately in the East, but sooner or later any¬ 
thing that affects the milk industry in one territory 
is sure to make itself felt all over. 
* 
O N page 1074, in discussing the new automobile 
law, we gave the impression that the clause 
covering vehicles used “in the business of transport¬ 
ing or carrying passengers for hire” would apply 
only to cities of the first class. It seems that all 
motor vehicles engaged in such business are included 
—in the country as well as in the city. Thus all 
who carry passengers for hire, no matter where 
they are located, must offer two approved sureties 
or corporate bond or an approved insurance policy 
for $2,500. This sweeping rule will include every 
form of passenger vehicle, from the big overloaded 
“bus” on Fifth Avenue to the flivver which carries 
an occasional passenger from the station at Lonely- 
ville. 
Brevities 
Take a day off and play! 
ViT amines lead to vital minds. 
Again we say that barley is the best grain you can 
seed now for growing a hay substitute for this season. 
While the plant of Alsike clover is smaller than 
that of Red we think the Alsike grows more root. 
If it were possible to can or condense milk over 
the kitchen stove the dairy business would be well 
upset. 
A good horse appreciates a fine, well-fitting harness 
just as a man “feels good” in a new suit of clothes. 
We all do our best work when we feel good. 
