•Jht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Actual  Figures  of  Winter 
HOW  ‘'hard”  is  this  Winter?  Most  of  ns  will 
answer,  “It  is  the  limit — the  worst  ever,”  but 
it  is  doubtful  if  we  can  prove  it.  The  weather  ob¬ 
server  at  Gloversville,  N.  Y.,  gives  the  following 
table,  showing  the  number  of  inches  of  snowfall  each 
Winter  for  the  past  30  years.  This  year  the  record 
is  SO  inches. 
lS93-'94 —  96 
1894-’95—  74 
lS95-'96 —  So 
1896-'97 —  69 
1S97-'9S—  93 
1898- ’99— 105 
1899- '00—  77 
1900- ’01—  77 
1901- ’02— 115 
1902- '03—  94 
1903-’04- 
-127  1913-T4 —  63 
-104  1914-T5 —  52 
1915- T6— 122 
1916- T7 —  7S 
1917- T.S —  95 
1918-  T9 —  53 
1919- '20 —  99 
1920- -21—  37 
1921- ’22 —  90 
1904-  ’05 
1905- '06 —  87 
1906- '07 —  76 
1907- ’08 —  88 
1908- ’09 —  81 
1909- T0— 112 
1910- T1—  74 
1911- T2 —  72 
1912- T3 —  34 
This  Winter  seems  harder  than  usual,  but  that  is 
largely  because  the  snow  has  stayed  right  by  us. 
There  has  been  no  “January  thaw,”  and  no  heavy 
rain  to  melt  the  snow.  Think  of  127  inches  in 
1903- '04,  and  122  inches  in  1915 !  This  weather  ob¬ 
server  says  that  in  one  storm,  on  February  14,  1914, 
there  was  a  fall  of  24  inches ! 
More  Comparative  Prices  for  Milk 
The  comparison  between  milk  prices  in  New  York 
and  New  England,  on  page  253,  R.  N.-Y.,  was  useful 
and  instructive.  The  following  table  shows  the  net  cash 
price  to  dairymen  for  3  per  cent  milk  at  the  Borden 
plant  at  Gouverneur,  N.  Y.,  St.  Lawrence  County, 
through  the  pool,  and  the  net  cash  price  paid  dairymen 
for  3  per  cent  milk  at  four  well-known  St.  Lawrence 
County  cheese  factories: 
Pool. 
He  mi  on 
Cheese 
N.  Russell 
Cheese 
Brasie 
Corners 
Cheese 
Crm.  of 
Valley 
Cheese 
Gouverneur 
Factory 
Factory 
Factory 
Factory 
3<?o 
3% 
3% 
3% 
3% 
April 
...  1.115 
1.289 
May 
_  1.08 
1.336 
1.247 
1.261 
1.26 
June 
....  1.125 
1.61 
1.483 
1.592 
1.485 
July 
_  1.36 
1.672 
1.593 
1.43 
1 .488 
'Aug. 
....  1.485 
1.617 
1.514 
1.482 
1 .502 
Sept. 
....  1.73 
1.946 
1.885 
1.81 
1.S28 
Oct. 
. . . .  1.89 
2.356 
2.35 
2.26 
2.271 
Nov. 
_  2.145 
2.50 
2.46 
2.522 
The  missing  prices  for  April  and  November  are  not 
available;  but  you  ought  to  publish  the  figures  as  they 
are  for  general  information.  These  are  genuine  co¬ 
operative  cheese  factories.  It  is  true  that  freight  rates 
from  St.  Lawrence  County  favor  the  cheese  factories  to 
some  extent.  The  pool  price  is  the  net  cash  price  to 
producers.  The  deductions  for  certificates  of  indebted¬ 
ness  are  not  included,  because  the  money  they  repre¬ 
sent  goes  into  plants,  and  as  the  business  can  pay  no 
profit,  the  profit  or  loss  on  the  capital  invested  can  be 
counted  only  in-  a  higher  or  lower  price  to  producers 
than  other  dairymen  receive  from  other  sources.  If 
higher,  the  profit  is  the  difference,  less  interest  on  the 
investment.  If  lower,  the  loss  is  the  difference,  plus 
the  interest  on  the  investment. 
I  am  not  discussing  this  matter  as  a  partisan.  I 
think  The  R.  N.-Y7.  has  been  wise  in  excluding  contro¬ 
versy  of  a  partisan  nature  on  the  subject,  but  we  all 
want  reliable  information,  and  we  have  always  looked 
to  The  R.  N.-Y.  for  a  broad  and  comprehensive  discus¬ 
sion  on  all  sides  of  farm  problems,  and  nothing  could 
be  more  illuminating  than  these  comparative  nriee  re¬ 
turns  to  the  dairyman.  Let  us  have  all  you  can  get 
from  every  reliable  source  available.  The  information 
will  direct  milk  in  the  most  profitable  channels.  R.  B. 
A  Farmer  on  the  School  Question 
My  article  printed  on  page  242  was  not  intended  as 
a  direct  criticism  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one.  It 
was  issued  as  an  argument  against  consolidation  under 
present  circumstances,  and  I  especially  desired  it  to 
serve  as  a  protest  against  any  railroading  methods  such 
as  Governor  Smith  advised,  as  reported  by  Dr.  Graves, 
when  he  recommended  that  a  bill  be  introduced  to  pro¬ 
vide  for  compulsory  consolidation  at  once.  It  will  be 
recalled  that  Governor  Smith  estimated  that  the  trans¬ 
portation  expenses  for  a  community  unit  composed  of 
20  districts  might  reach  $2,000  a  year — ridiculous  to 
a  countryman.  I  can’t  conceal  my  surprise  that  Dr. 
Graves,  from  the  high  position  of  authority  and  influ¬ 
ence  which  he  occupies,  should  give  credence  and  pub¬ 
licity  to  such  a  bungling  of  figures  as  he  reports  the 
Governor  to  have  issued.  I  hold  no  brief  for  tax  dodg¬ 
ers,  but  agree  that  everyone  should  pay  his  just  share. 
In  effecting  any  new  arrangement,  however,  we  should 
figure  close  to  see  that  red  tape  will  not  eat  up  the  bene¬ 
fits  which  should  result. 
The  farms  in  my  district  have  an  assessed  valuation  of 
about  $92,000.  The  telephone  line  is  assessed  for  $734. 
No  other  business  in  the  district.  Our  tax  rate  is  $8.60 
per  thousand.  We  usually  have  20  or  more  pupils. 
Consolidation  of  schools  should  be  effected  only  where 
it  is  approved  by  a  majority  vote  in  each  of* the  districts 
concerned.  I  believe  rural  people  are  unanimous  in 
demanding  that  change  in  the  law.  If  any  section 
wishes  consolidation  or  centralized  schools,  certainly,  no 
other  section  ought  to  concern  itself  with  an  objection. 
Before  we  agree  to  a  larger  tax  unit  we  should  know 
what  tbe  unit  is  to  be.  Tentative  boundaries  should  be 
worked  out  and  given  publicity,  and  the  people  con¬ 
cerned  should  have  the  final  O.  K.  The  proper  proced¬ 
ure  is  for  the  country  people,  themselves,  to  clear  the 
foreground  of  obstacles.  Legislative  coercion  should  not 
be  resorted  to. 
The  greatest  obstacle  I  see  in  the  committee’s  report 
arises  from  Recommendation  4,  which  states  that  each 
community  unit  should  make  provisions  for  four  years 
of  high  school  instruction  and  for  transportation,  ex¬ 
cept  when  exempted  by  the  intermediate  board.  I  be¬ 
lieve  this  recommendation  would  go  a  long  way  toward 
destroying  optional  consolidation,  which  Recommenda¬ 
tion  3  proposes  to  establish.  I  feel  that  the  committee 
has  almost  completely  neglected  a  public  discussion,  so 
far  as  the  press  is  concerned,  of  this  important  recom¬ 
mendation.  In  a  foundation  article  prepared  by  Prof. 
George  A.  Works,  which  appeared  in  The  R.  N.-Y. 
under  date  of  July  1,  1922,  the  only  words  that  have  a 
bearing  on  this  most  important  matter  of  providing 
high  school  instruction  in  rural  communities,  and  for 
transportation,  are  found  in  his  discussion  of  the  com¬ 
munity  unit,  where  he  says :  "In  general  it  is  believed 
that  these  units  should  be  made  large  enough  so  that 
something  in  the  way  of  high  school  facilities  will  be 
provided  in  each.”  A  summary  of  recommendations  of 
the  Committee  of  Twenty-one  which  has  recently  been 
distributed  by  the  subcommittee  on  publicity  doesn’t 
seem  to  contain  a  single  reference  to  this  matter  of 
providing  high  school  facilities  and  transportation. 
I  vitally  sense  the  importance  of  supplying  the  best 
possible  educational  opportunities  for  our  rural  chil¬ 
dren,  and  I  consider  high  school  training  to  be  of  ines¬ 
timable  value,  but  I  am  equally  interested  for  develop¬ 
ment  to  take  place  along  practical  and  economical  lines. 
The  enunciation  of  a  State-wide  plan  is  not  sufficient. 
The  application  of  this  plan  should  be  studied  in  each 
community.  We  should  know  our  probable  commu¬ 
nity  boundaries,  and  what  direction  under  the  sun 
will  be  the  location  of  our  proposed  high  school  facil¬ 
ities.  . 
For  reasons  such  as  I  have  outlined  above  I  strongly 
second  the  recommendation  that'  no  drastic  change  be 
attempted  in  our  rural  education  law  during  the  present 
session.  .  d.  boyd  devendobf. 
Montgomery  Co.,  N.  Y. 
A  Farm  Mother  on  Schools 
I  am  very  much  interested  in  the  rural  school  prob¬ 
lem.  I  think  many  country  people  do  not  complain 
about  the  poor  education  some  children  receive,  as  they 
are  afraid  that  any  improvement  will  raise  their  taxes. 
Do  they  ever  stop  to  think  that  better  schools  would 
increase  population,  which  means  more  taxpayers?  I 
have  noticed  that  peopletare  worried  about  the  expense 
of  transportation  if  we  were  to  have  community 
schools.  I  have  a  little  boy  seven,  and  girl  eight,  trav¬ 
eling  1  y%  miles  through  woods.  No  one  travels  in  this 
direction,  so  their  little  feet  must  clear  their  own  path 
after  snowstorms.  How  many  realize  the  strain  this  is 
on  their  bodies,  especially  a  Winter  like  now?  Only  a 
mother  realizes  this,  and  then  the  worry  how  they 
arrived  at  school  and  how  they  will  get  back.  I  think 
community  schools  are  just  the  thing  for  country  chil¬ 
dren.  It  is  an  awful  task  for  one  teacher  to  teach  seven 
grades,  and  anyone  can  realize  that  children  receive 
only  part  of  an  education  in  a  one-room  school.  I  was 
so  discouraged  that  I  tried  to  sell  our  home  last  Fall, 
but  people  with  children  would  not  consider  buying, 
the  school  and  walk  to  school  being  their  objection.  I 
hope  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one  will  be  able  to  solve 
the  country  school  problem.  I  wish  them  success  in 
their  undertaking.  mrs.  f.  h. 
The  Proposed  Rural  School  Law 
The  bill  introduced  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Down¬ 
ing  and  the  same  bill  introduced  into  the  Assembly  by 
Assemblyman  Hutchinson  bids  fair  to  become  the 
school  law  of  the  State.  This  bill  has  the  backing  of 
the  State  Commissioner  of  Education,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Governor.  It  provides  for  a  State  Commission, 
consisting  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  as  chair¬ 
man,  and  two  others  appointed  by  the  Governor.  This 
commission  will  have  general  oversight  and  control  of 
the  rural  schools  of  the  State,  as  well  as  those  of  all 
villages  having  a  population  of  4,500  or  less. 
There  will  also  be  a  commission  of  four  in  each 
county  appointed  by  the  board  of  supervisors.  The 
duty  of  this  body  is  to  divide  the  county,  outside  of 
cities  and  villages  of  more  than  4,500  population,  into 
divisions  to  be  known  as  community  school  districts 
by  grouping  together  a  number  of  the  present  school 
districts  according  to  their  discretion.  This  community 
school  district  will  be  the  unit  of  the  school  system, 
and  therefore  the  unit  of  taxation,  and  will  be  gov¬ 
erned  by  a  board  of  education  composed  of  as  many 
members  as  there  are  rural  school  districts  in  the  com¬ 
munity  district,  one  member  to  be  elected  by  majority 
vote  of  the  voters  in  each  district.  This  board  of  edu¬ 
cation  will  have  general  control  and  supervision  of  the 
schools  in  the  said  community  district. 
This  bill  also  provides  for  an  intermediate  school 
district  to  be  territorially  coextensive  with  the  present 
supervisory  districts.  Each  community  board  of  edu¬ 
cation  will  elect  one  of  its  own  number  to  be  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  intermediate  district  board  of  education. 
The  duties  of  the  intermediate  board  of  education  will 
be  to  determine  the  course  of  study,  the  textbooks  to 
be  used,  and  to  advise  with  the  community  boards  as 
to  the  libraries  to  be  established  in  the  various  com¬ 
munity  district  schools.  It  shall  also  employ  the  dis¬ 
trict  superintendent,  medical  inspectors,  school  nurses, 
supervisors  of  physical  training,  agricultural  instruc¬ 
tors  and  other  assistants  that  may  be  necessary,  and 
have  general  supervision  of  the  community  districts 
within  the  intermediate  district. 
Each  rural  school  will  be  continued  as  at  present 
until  two  or  more  rural  school  districts  decide  by  a 
majority  vote  of  their  electors  to  consolidate  their 
schools.  The  Department  of  Education  may,  however, 
recommend  that  any  school  be  discontinued  whenever 
it  deems  it  for  the  best  interest  and  welfare  of  the 
children  therein  and  that  they  be  sent  to  some  other 
school.  It  seems  evident,  therefore,  that  consolidation 
of  rural  schools  is  the  ultimate  aim  of  this  hill. 
The  proposed  law  provides  that  the  bonded  indebtedness 
existing  on  the  31st  day  of  July,  1924,  in  any  district 
that  is  part  of  a  community  district  shall  be  a  charge 
against  that  community  district.  In  other  words,  the 
bonded  indebtedness  of  any  community  district  will  be 
the  sum  of  indebtedness  of  all  the  districts  compris¬ 
ing  it. 
It  also  shall  be  the  duty  of  every  community  board 
of  education  to  provide  high  school  education  for  all 
children  within  its  jurisdiction  who  have  completed  the 
course  of  study  in  the  local  school.  If  this  community 
district  does  not  contain  a  high  school,  the  board  of 
education  must  provide  such  instruction  in  a  neighbor¬ 
ing  school,  pay  the  tuition  and  transport  the  students. 
There  are  hundreds  of  villages  of  less  than  4,500  popu¬ 
lation  throughout  the  State  where  increased  accommo¬ 
dations  in  the  schools  are  an  imperative  necessity.  A 
large  number,  of  community  districts  will  have  to  build 
new  community  school  buildings,  if  the  evident  intent 
of  this  bill  is  carried  out.  Considering  the  cost  of  this 
necessary  building,  together  with  the  bonded  indebted¬ 
ness  now  existing,  the  Governor  was  undoubtedly  right 
when  he  said  in  his  special  message  to  the  Legislature 
that  taxes  would  be  materially  increased  by  this  pro¬ 
posed  change  in  the  school  system.  But  even  doubling 
the  tax  rate  would  be  an  inconsequential  matter,  pro¬ 
vided  it  can  be  shown  that  a  real  and  lasting  benefit  to 
the  children  of  the  present  and  the  future  will  result 
from  it. 
Would  it  not  be  well  for  all  who  are  to  be  so  vitally 
affected  by  this  proposed  sweeping  change  in  our  school 
system  to  meet  at  various  times  and  places  for  a  free, 
full,  frank,  unbiased  discussion  of  the  merits  and  de- 
401 
merits  of  this  important  bill?  The  writer  would  be 
much  pleased  to  learn  tbe  views  of  others,  especially 
of  those  living  in  the  country  and  villages  affected  by 
the  bill.  w.  s.  droman. 
New  York  State  Notes 
Despite  the  fact  that  a  blizzard  raged  over  the  cen¬ 
tral  part  of  the  State,  causing  a  tie-up  of  many  of  the 
railroads  during  the  week  of  February  11,  nearly  3,000 
farmers  of  the  State  attended  the  sixteenth  annual 
Farmers’  Week  at  the  State  College.  The  program 
was  as  comprehensive  as  usual,  providing  a  liberal 
choice  at  every  hour  for  those  in  attendance.  One  of 
the  new  features  of  the  program  was  the  Grange  con¬ 
ference,  which  had  for  its  object  aid  in  making  the 
programs  more  effective  in  the  local  Granges.  The 
pageant  that  was  put  on  by  the. New  York  State  Fed¬ 
eration  of  Farm  Bureaus  at  their  annual  meeting  was 
repeated  before  the  Farmers’  Week  crowd,  and  the 
larger  facilities  gave  the  pageant  a  tremendous  effect. 
The  cattle  sale  was  again  a  feature  of  the  week,  and 
the  animals  sold  at  a  fair  average  price. 
The  dates  selected  for  the  National  Dairy  Show  and 
World’s  Dairy  Congress  are  October  6-13.  This  show 
will  give  New  Yorkers  a  chance  to  see  the  best  in  dairy 
cattle. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
New  York  State  Guernsey  Breeders’  Association  the 
secretary’s  report  showed  a  total  membership  of  380 
breeders.  The  directors  agreed  that  they  should  have 
a  junior  membership  in  the  association  for  boys  and 
girls  under  20  years  of  age.  The  membership  fee  that 
was  set  for  this  type* of  membership  was  50  cents  per 
year.  Arrangements  were  also  made  for  the  annual 
meeting  that  will  be  held  at  the  Hotel  Ten  Eyck,  Al¬ 
bany,  N.  Y.,  on  the  first  Friday  after  the  third  Monday 
in  April.  Albany  was  chosen  as  the  meeting  place 
largely  because  of  the  fact  this  is  the  center  for  most 
breeders  of  the  State.  The  business  manager  of  the 
association  rendered  his  report  on  the  preliminary  study 
of  the  milk  marketing  trip  which  he  recently  made  to 
those  cities  that  are  now  distributing  Guernsey  milk  as 
such.  The  directors,  while  they  feel  that  the  matter 
must  be  handled  cautiously,  yet  expressed  an  opinion 
that  every  help  should  be  given  breeders  in  any  locality 
where  there  are  enough  to  warrant  the  organization  in 
organizing  to  dispose  of  what  they  believe  to  be  a  special 
product.  The  program  that  was  presented,  which  calls 
for  the  co-operative  arrangement  with  the  county  clubs, 
was  adopted  at  the  meeting. 
The  New  York  .State  Horticultural  Society  at  their 
Hudson  \  alley  meeting  continued  some  of  the  discus¬ 
sions  that  were  started  at  the  Rochester  meeting.  They 
adopted  resolutions  endorsing  a  plan  which  calls  for  the 
construction  of  a  bridge  across  the  Hudson  River  at 
Poughkeepsie.  They  also  made  recommendations  for 
the  appropriation .  of  money  for  conducting  experiments 
in  the  Hudson  River  Valley.  They  went  on  record  as 
favoring  the  building  program  of  the  New  York  State 
College  of  Agriculture.  e.  a.  f. 
Hudson  Valley  Fruit  Growers  Meet 
The  annual  eastern  meeting  of  the  New  York  State 
Horticultural  Society  was  held  at  Poughkeepsie  Febru¬ 
ary  21-23.  At  the  Rochester  meeting  in  January  the 
society  elected  J.  B.  Pease  of  Gasport  as  president,  but 
a  sudden  and  fatal  illness  has  taken  Mr.  Pease  from  us. 
C.  S.  Wilson  of  Hall,  the  first  vice-president,  is  now 
acting  president  and  presided  during  the  first  day. 
,  Rankin  of  the  Geneva  Station  spoke  on 
' I  he  Mosaic  Disease  and  Disease-free  Planting  Stock.” 
the  disease  can  be  controlled  by  thorough  roguing  and 
care  in  setting  no  diseased  plants  in  new  fields.  The 
spread  of ’this  disease  is  almost  wholly  due  to  the  rasp¬ 
berry  aphid,  and  as  no  winged  stage  of  this  aphid  has 
as  yet  been  found,  the  spread  over  wide  areas  is  slow 
unless  carelessness  in  selection  of  plants  for  setting 
has  resulted  in  diseased  plants  being  scattered  through 
the  patch.  Dr.  Rankin  gave  figures  covering  several 
nelds  in  which  roguing  has  been  carried  on,  and  very 
few  new  areas  of  disease  have  appeared,  and  these  were 
probably  lightly  infected  when  the  roguing  was  done, 
and  overlooked.  8ome  recurrence  at  the  edges  of  the 
rogued  areas  occurred,  where  evidently  the  work  was 
not  thorough  enough,  but  these  places  could  be  easily 
lerogued  the  following  year.  From  the  results  ob¬ 
tained  in  this  work  so  far  the  outlook  is  promising  for 
alujost  if  not  quite  full  control  by  thorough  roguing 
and  care  in  planting  nothing  but  healthy  plants.  The 
New  York  State  Fruit  Testing  Go-operative  Associa¬ 
tion  is  preparing  to  start  a  source  of  disease-free  plants 
in  the  leading  commercial  varieties,  and  it  will  pay 
those  who  contemplate  setting  red  raspberries  during 
(he  next  few  years  to  get  a  few  absolutely  disease-free 
plants  to  grow  their  stock  from. 
"Pruning  New  York  Fruit  Trees”  was  the  subject  of 
an  address  by  Dr.  W.  II.  Chandler,  College  of  Agri¬ 
culture,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  Dr.  Chandler  feels  the  pruning 
of  young  orchards  up  to  the  time  they  come  into  regular 
bearing  is  being  overdone  in  this  State,  and  as  a  result 
the  trees  are  not  only  retarded  in  fruiting,  but  at  the 
same  time  their  bearing  surface  is  somewhat  reduced 
and  in  some  cases  he  feels  this  latter  result  is  consider¬ 
ably  greater  than  most  growers  appreciate.  His  idea  is 
not  to  let  the  tree  go  unpruned,  but  to  prune  in  such  a 
way  that  (here  will  not  be  formed  a  lot  of  competitive 
wood  f. hat  will  have  to  be  removed  annually,  but  rather 
a  wood  growth  that  can  be  retained  and  built  into  the 
permanent  framework  of  the  finished  tree.  He  is  there¬ 
fore  adverse  to  the  severe  heading  in  of  the  current 
season’s  growth,  and  advises  where  cutting  back  seems 
necessary  to  cut  back  to  a  strong  lateral  branch  instead 
ot  cutting  merely  to  within  a  few  buds  of  the  two-year- 
old  wood.  In  this  way  the  lateral  branch  will  use  the 
extra  supply  of  sap  to  better  advantage  and  excessive 
competitive  wood  will  not  be  formed,  as  will  surely 
occur  if  but  a  few  buds  are’left  at  the  base  of  a  strong 
one-year-old  shoot.  His  idea  is  to  cut  back  the  young 
tree  when  set  to  the  best  form  possible,  and  thereafter 
to  cut  only  enough  to  shape  the  head  and  remove  in¬ 
terfering  branches,  up  to  the  time  the  trees  have  occu¬ 
pied  the  space  alloted,  then  prune  to  keep  within  bounds 
and  return  vegetative  vigor.  This  pruning  to  be  accom¬ 
plished  by  cutting  back  to  laterals  instead  of  cutting 
oil  abruptly  between  laterals.  In  this  way  more  sun¬ 
light  and  air  are  admitted  to  the  tree,  and  fruit  spurs 
are  built  up  and  encouraged.  Dr.  Chandler  had  a  nice 
two-year  apple  tree  on  the  platform,  and  when  asked  to 
prune  it  for  planting  left  three  nicely  placed  lower 
branches  end  a  central  leader,  heading  in  the  leader 
and  heading  back  the  branches  to  8  or  10  in.  in  length. 
Here  Dr.  Hedrick  of  Geneva  objected  to  the  heading  in, 
claiming  the  terminal  buds  should  be  left  on  all  the 
branches  retained.  When  the  doctors  disagree  what 
conclusions  are  we  poor  growers  to  draw?  G.  B.  s. 
(To  be  continued) 
