1242 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 27, 1924 
A Farm Woman’s Notes 
The Change of the Moon 
A week ago water was thought worth 
saving. The land was too dry to plow, 
the weather was too hot for the horses 
to work, the cisterns were empty cav¬ 
erns, and the mirrors at the bottom of 
the wells reflected only the faintest glim¬ 
mer. The corn, racing Jack Frost, was 
encouraged by the sultry weather, which 
put wings on the heels of growth. Grow¬ 
ing days had been rare in the month of 
August, and the finish was to be very 
close indeed. But the scene has changed 
with September. No more stifling 
drought. A series of heavy showers have 
brought us to the opposite extreme. The 
State Fair in progress this week was a 
panorama of moving umbrellas in a cold 
drizzle lasting well through the three 
opening days. A newspaper editorial re¬ 
marks that man may propose, but the 
elements dispose. It matters little that 
the exhibits themselves are under cover, 
while the way to them lies over slippery 
roads and through cold wet misery. No 
doubt the fair would be more interesting 
under these adverse conditions. It is 
easier to see and move through this mist 
than through the crush of people that 
fair weather brings. There would be 
more chance conversation with strangers 
from other parts of the State, which 
alone would be worth going for. How¬ 
ever, I haven’t gone to see. It’s the mat¬ 
ter of a little chap whose face wrinkles 
up like a dried prune with silent tears 
running down the creases, that keeps me. 
Another year and the partings won't be 
so sad. 
The impulsive red-headed one is be¬ 
ginning school, and the first reader she 
holds in her hand is a novel of adven¬ 
ture, no less. She is heard exclaiming. 
“Fannie can fan Dan!” in a resonant 
whisper, and in her face is displayed an 
enthusiasm, a sincerity of purpose before 
which the law of the school prevails not. 
Even gentle reproof brings easy tears be¬ 
cause the little girl meant well, yet per¬ 
haps quite soon it will happen all over 
again. 
The schoolroom seems pleasant this 
year. The six tall, deep-set windows are 
dressed in clean new paint, and these 
bright large areas of light are toned into 
softness by ecru-colored holland shades 
which represent Teacher’s care for the 
eyes of her pupils. One can see the black¬ 
board perfectly with these shades pulled 
down, where with the old dark oil shades 
the room would be in darkness. To be 
able to look steadily at the blackboard 
without squinting to fend off harsh rays 
of light is surely a comfort. The pendu¬ 
lum swinging in the big clock on the 
wall, the glint of blue from the top of 
the stone cooler, the long row of new 
maps, the library of interesting well- 
chosen books (parents like to borrow 
them), the organ in the corner, are other 
touches that make the room look habi¬ 
table. But the children say that the 
pleasantest sight of all is Teacher’s face 
shining at them across the desk as they 
come in. It’s a glad feeling they have 
seeing Teacher there again this year, and 
knowing her for the true friend she has 
been to them. For there is much that is 
unfriendly in the attitude of this harum- 
scarum motor age toward our children. 
Like the children of the cave men 
their way is fraught with dangers swift 
and terrible. The mothers who send 
children along the State road have un¬ 
easy thoughts of a hasty step, a moment 
of inattention, the little life snuffed out. 
Our family has a dreadful recollection 
of Pete, the dog. following up the forbid¬ 
den trail to the sehoolhouse yard. lie 
was reckless with good spirits, and then 
looking back we saw him being ground 
under the wheels of a car, his kind face 
turned toward us, a great sadness in liis 
eyes. Progress, it seems, while vanquish¬ 
ing one set of enemies, the wild beasts, 
has created another, the speeding motor 
car. 
We are obliged to build a strong fence 
around the school yard to keep out the 
increasing number of motorists who have 
no respect for school property. It seems 
hard to imagine this being necessary, per¬ 
haps, but one can hardly be explicit in 
print. This element among our passing 
motorists which makes a practice of leav¬ 
ing school yards in a condition unfit as 
an environment for civilized beings after 
one night’s camping, seem to consider the 
school equipment their lawful prey. They 
are constantly breaking into the build¬ 
ing itself and taking what pleases, usual¬ 
ly books. In one case lately, not very 
far from here, the entire library was car¬ 
ried off. We have been puzzled to ‘de¬ 
fend our sehoolhouse from such people, 
and the fence' that will prevent parking 
is our only solution. That it will keep 
out good as well as the bad is our regret ; 
this cannot be helped. 
There seems to be only one refuge from 
this hurly-burly of hustling automobiles. 
This is the calm acres that lie back 
from the house. No great change is re- 
fiected here among the growing things. 
The farm is a great garden. The strang¬ 
ers from North Carolina, these new pea¬ 
nuts, are going to be a large crop. And 
when the man from Florida came back 
north he brought the seed of some six- 
ear corn. Daddy is skeptical as to this 
corn ever producing six ears to a stalk 
in this climate as it did in Florida. 
There are some little orange trees grown 
from the seed which will soon have to be 
taken in from the cold. Another experi¬ 
mental crop is a few rows of tobacco. 
We know very little about the raising of 
this crop for this is our first attempt. )\ e 
were curious to know what grade of leaf 
this ground will produce. We suppose 
that there must be some particular stage 
of development for the cutting of the 
crop, but we don’t know exactly when it 
is. Some of it is already gathered and 
hung on the rafters of the machinery shed. 
The lower leaves were turning yellow, 
which is either ripening or disease, we 
hardly know which. It has been inter¬ 
esting to watch these plants grow. Ap¬ 
parently the frost will hold off for an¬ 
other two weeks, or until this protecting 
mist is swept away. There is hope we 
may not have to lose the cantaloupes and 
tomatoes just as they are starting to bear. 
In our locality potatoes are large, and 
many in the hill, and there are more acres 
planted than usual. Wheat starts on its 
way to market the day it is thrashed al¬ 
though it is a smaller crop than usual. 
There seems to be a feeling that wheat 
will go down after election. Cabbage is 
a lost hope and when the time comes will 
be $3 a ton. Thus reads the tape in 
spite of last Spring’s anticipation. 
Yesterday, in this section, a farm 
hand inherited close to a million dollars. 
He had worked on the farms hereabouts 
for the last four years. It is hard to 
imagine what can be done with a million 
dollars to get more enjoyment out of life. 
First there is our capacity for enjoyment. 
Perhaps now we have a keen appetite 
for theater going, for dancing, for travel. 
This appetite is whetted by the contrast 
between our environment and our ideals. 
To fully enjoy life there must be some¬ 
thing unattainable to be striven for. Sup¬ 
posing then, that the unattainable is re¬ 
moved by great riches, so there is no de¬ 
sire that cannot be immediately satis¬ 
fied. Is not the victim of such condi¬ 
tions to 'be greatly pitied? Nature is the 
one element that cannot be bought off 
with money. The sooner that the very 
wealthy find out the blessed inspiration 
that comes from struggling against na¬ 
ture. the sooner this country will settle 
down to making a sensible, dignified 
thing out of living. Amerioa has yet to 
build her country estates. 
Jilts. F. H. UNGER. 
Valuable Japanese Citizen 
You see the little dog pictured in the 
cut? It may be hard for you to believe 
it, but the owner has refused $S00 for 
him. That would, at present prices, buy 
10 good dairy cows, and it seems incredi¬ 
ble that this little piece of dog meat can 
be worth so much. This dog is a Japan¬ 
ese chow named Josehi, imported from 
Japan. He is 2% years old and weighs 3% 
lbs., about 10% in. high. It is said that 
the nobility in Japan greatly prize these 
little dwarfs. There are not many of 
them in America, and they have value 
with people who search for novelties. 
Some of these toy dogs receive far more 
care than the majority of children. No 
need of a Federal law to prevent these 
dogs from working until they are IS years 
old. There is no reason why they should 
toil or spin so long as there are human 
beings who will lavish their affections 
upon a dog. This little Jap, with his liv¬ 
ing value of more than $210 per pound, is 
a popular citizen, and will not be kept out 
by exclusion acts! Well, why not all 
hands go to breeding Japanese dogs and 
make a fortune? Nature has provided 
against any great increase of dwarfs, and 
if she had not they would become as 
cheap as cats and as hard to give away. 
ersize Heating 
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off the fire pot and consequently off your 
pocketbook. 
The first cost of a Moncrief Furnace is more 
than reasonable, and will be entirely absorbed 
in a few years by the fuel savings. 
Only the finest grey iron is used for Moncrief Furn¬ 
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each furnace assembled as a unit 
before shipment from the foun¬ 
dry. This means tight joints,— 
no escaping gases to foul the 
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the free combustion of fuel in 
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Ask a Moncrief Dealer or Write for our 
Unusual Proposition 
E. L. GARNER F. H. HANLON 
177 23rd St., Jackson Hts., Long Island, N. Y. Batavia, N. Y. 
Made by The Henry Furnace & Foundry Co., Cleveland, Ohio 
MONCRIEF 
FURNACES 
Pipe - Pipeless -ThreePipe - Maiest ic-Moncriet 
Cold air 
Flo oi» 
Dfails 
% 
V 
4 
h 
A big roaring fire piled bigli in 
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not even in the severest winter 
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Summit Pipeless 
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Our special system of installa¬ 
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Write us for particulars and 
name of nearest dealer. 
Summit Foundry Co 
Geneva. N.V 
CO.3 a.;* 
ALL WOOL YARN FOR SALE. From manufacturer. 
11. A. BARTLETT 
75c to S2 per lb. Free samples 
•!- HARMONY, MAINE 
The sure way to put pep into your job 
on a rainy day is to $et into a 
FISH 
BRAND 
Reflex 
Slicker 
'XQWER's 
A JTOWER CO. BOSTON 
The 
“Pride” 
Send for 
Catalog 80 
A Modern Bathroom, $60 
Juat one of our wonderful bargains. Set com¬ 
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bath tub, one 19 inch roll rim enamelled flat- 
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water closet with porcelain tank antf oat post 
hinge seat; all china index faucets, nickel-plated 
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J. M. SEIDENBERG CO.. Inc. 
254 W. 34 St. Bet. 7th .nd 8th Avei. N. Y. C. 
Sunbeam Pipeless Furnaces 
AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION CO. Toms River. N. J. 
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USEFUL FARM BOOKS 
Fertilizers and Crop, V’an Slyke... .$3.25 
American Apple Orchard. Waugh.. 1.75 
American Peach Orchard. Waugh.. 1.75 
Book of Cheese, Thom and Fisk.... 2.40 
Butter Making, Publow.90 
Commercial Poultry, Roberts.3.0 
Edmonds’ Poultry Account Book... 1.00 
Intensive Strawb’ry Culture, Graton. 1.00 
Manual of Milk Products, Stocking. 2.75 
Milk Testing, Publow.90 
Pruning Manual Bailey. 2.50 
Successful Fruit Culture, Maynard. 1.75 
Turkey Book, Lamon. 1.J5 
Vegetable Forcing, Watts. 2.50 
Vegetable Garden. Watts. 2.50 
For sale by 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 W. 30th St. New York City 
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