970 
7ht  RURAL.  NEW-YORKEi 
July  21,  1923 
Crops  and  Farm  Notes 
Countrywide  Produce  Situation 
MOST  CROPS  BELOW  AVERAGE  ;  FRUIT  STILL 
PROMISES  WELL;  PRODUCE  LOWER. 
July  crop  reports  show  grain  a  little 
below  average  production,  also  hay  and 
most  vegetables.  Cotton  promises  a  lit¬ 
tle  more  than  average  because  of  in¬ 
creased  acreage.  Fruits  are  generally 
above  the  average  at  present  indications. 
Apples  show  some  injury  from  drouth 
and  scab  in  the  East  but  the  forecast  for 
total  commercial  crop  is  33  million  bar¬ 
rels  which  would  be  3  million  ahead  of 
last  year  and  millions  above  the  5-year 
average.  There  are  complaints  of  scab 
in  New  York  and  of  uneven  set  in  New 
England.  Peaches  and  pears  promise  a 
good  crop  in  the  Northeast.  Geoigia 
peaches  comprise  most  of  the  present 
supply.  They  are  scarcely  up  to  expec¬ 
tations  in  quantity  and  quality  but  like 
other  early  fruit  have  brought  good 
prices. 
POTATOES  LIGHT  CROP 
The  Indicated  potato  crop  of  382  mil¬ 
lions  of  busiiels  would  be  6  millions  be¬ 
low  average  and  70  millions  below  last 
rear’s  great  crop.  The  explanation  is 
the  light  acreage,  poor  stand  and  dry 
weather.  Southern  potatoes  have  been 
selling  at  $6  or  more  per  barrel  at  ship¬ 
ping  points  and  during  the  first  week  of 
July  the  city  markets  rose  sharply  to 
about  $7,  which  looked  high  beside  $4  to 
$5  a  vear  ago.  The  price  outlook  seems 
good  for  the  Northern  crop  both  early 
and  late.  It  is  the  old  story ,  a  light 
crop  the  vear  after  a  big  crop.  It  hap¬ 
pens  so,  or  the  other  way  around  about 
four  times  out  of  five,  yet  most  farmers 
plant  as  if  such  a  thing  never  took  place. 
It  is  almost  safe  to  predict  that  most  ot 
us  will  go  in  big  for  potatoes  next  season 
when  we  should  go  light.  AN  hen  a  South¬ 
ern  planter  gets  $500  per  acre  for  his 
potatoes  all  the  neighbors  resolve  to  plant 
spuds  next  season.  The  next  big  shipping 
section  is  New  Jersey  but  drouth  has 
reduced  the  yield  and  we  may  expect  the 
market  to  keep  in  fairly  good  state  to_  re¬ 
ceive  the  Northern  crop.  Unless  the  yield 
exceeds  present  indications,  not  a  bushel 
ought  to  sell  below  a  living  price. 
COST  AND  DEMAND 
Cost,  is  a  little  higher  than  last  year 
because  of  lighter  yield  and  the  higher 
wages  paid.  In  some  parts  of  the  West 
farm  hands  are  getting  almost  as  much 
as  in  the  boom  of  1920,  but  from  now  on 
the  labor  situation  is  likely  to  ease  up, 
on  account  of  slackening  of  some  of  the 
city  industries.  Business  in  general  is 
not  quite  so  active  as  it  was  in  the 
Spring.  Some  authorities  think  it  will 
pick  up  again  in  the  Fall,  others  say 
we  are  booked  for  several  years  of  fairly 
good  times  without  any  boom,  while  the 
gloomy  ones  predict  hard  times.  _  Any¬ 
how  there  is  reason  to  expect  active  de¬ 
mand  for  this  season’s  crops,  and  even 
the  hard  luck  prophets  do  not  see  signs 
of  another  bad  slump  like  that  of  1921. 
The  declines  in  mnnv  lines  of  produce  the 
early  pa”t  of  July  are  explained  by 
heavy  shipments.  Even  at  the  lower 
prices  most  lines  are  higher  than  a  year 
fi«r0.  Altogether  the  Southern _  truck  and 
fruit  growers  have  had  a  paying  season. 
Soon  the  North  and  West  will  take  over 
the  field. 
From  now  until  the  end  of  November 
is  the  season  of  market  gluts.  Every 
few  weeks  there  is  some  line  of  produce 
in  an  over  supply  and  not  salable 
at  any  decent  price.  The  five  months 
July  to  November  include  the  main  skip¬ 
ing  season  for  country  produce  from,  the 
country’s  heaviest  producing  sections. 
Oar'ot  shipments  increase  rapidly 
through  July,  August  and  September. 
They  reach  top  during  October  but.  con¬ 
tinue  very  heavy  in  November  .  It  is  al¬ 
so  the  time  when  the  sections  close  to 
the  great  city  markets,  are  pouring  . in 
additional  supplies.  It  is  a  period  which 
includes  the  season’s  hottest  weather 
when  such  food  must  be  sold  quickly  at 
whatever  price  can  be  had. 
WHEN  EVERYBODY  LOSES 
Everybody  loses  when  the  markets  are 
over-supplied.  Only,  the  railroads  gain. 
Even  the  consumer  gets  little  benefit  be¬ 
cause  he  doesn’t  know  when  the  bargain 
times  are  on,  and  very  likely  his  dealer 
keeps  right  on  charging  the  same  old 
prices.  But  the  dealer  doesn’t  like  glut 
because  he  is  likely  to  lose  a  lot  of  stuff 
that  spoils  in  the  store. 
A  good  deal  of  attention  is  being  given 
to  find  the  best  ways  to  prevent  oversup- 
ply.  The  National  League  of  Commission 
Merchants  is  studying  how  to  imnrove 
the  city  outlet,  whether  by  both  distri¬ 
bution  or  some  kind  of  advertising.  Some 
way  is  needed  to  enable  the  producer, 
wholesaler,  retailer  and  consumer  to  pull 
together  at  the  right  times  and  clear  up 
the  surplus.  It  may  be  a  new  class  of 
effort  is  needed  ;  perhaps  a  publicity  of¬ 
fice  in  every  big  city  to  tell  the  retailers 
and  consumers  just  when  a  big.  supply  is 
at  hand  and  securing  co-operation. 
A  CANTALOUPE  TEST 
Just  now  the  cantaloupe  dealers  of 
New  York  are  doing  the  most  conspicuous 
advertising.  Thev  have  been  paying  for 
space  in  one  of  the  big  newspapers  to 
show  how  delicious,  convenient  and  satis¬ 
fying  are  cantaloupes  in  warm  weather. 
Most  of  the  early  Summer  melons  were 
from  California  and  ordinarily  they  would 
have  made  good  all  such  claims,  but  the 
shippers  picked  most  of  the  first  ship¬ 
ment  a  little  too  soon  this  season  to  get 
the  high  opening  prices,  and  there  were 
some  cantaloupes  no  better  from  Texas 
and  other  States.  The  man  who  was  in¬ 
duced  by  the  advertising  to  try  early 
cantaloupes  sometimes  stopped  in  disgust 
after  the  first  bite,  and  this  chap  would 
be  a  poorer  customer  for  late  cantaloupes 
than  if  he  hadn’t  seen  the  advertisements. 
It  pays  to  advertise  only  good  reliable 
stuff,  and  the  first  step  is  to  see  that  the 
goods  will  back  up  the  claims  of  the  ad¬ 
vertisement. 
The  success  of  the  campaign  for  Cali¬ 
fornia  oranges,  Northwestern  apples,  and 
Eastern  cranberries  shows  what  can  be 
done  to  extend  the  demand  through  pub¬ 
licity  and  skilful  marketing.  But  first 
make  sure  that  the  goods  will  hold  the 
new  customer  when  he  is  caught. 
CROP  CONDITIONS 
Dry  weather  caused  damage  in  the 
East.  Fruit  prospects  continue  fair  in 
the  East,  good  in  the  West.  The  out¬ 
look  is  fair  for  grain  crops  w’ith  some 
Western  storm  damage.  Altogether  the 
crop  situation  is  fair  and  is  catching  up 
with  the  season  except  when  set  back  by 
drouth.  g.  b.  F. 
EVENTS  OF  THE  WEEK 
DOMESTIC.  —  A  successful  wireless 
experiment  accomplished  recently  by  an 
amateur  at  Avalon,  Cal.,  may  revolution¬ 
ize  the  radio  industry,  according  to  a 
statement  made  at  the  Department  of 
Commerce  July  5.  A  message  was  sent 
by  the  amateur  at  Avalon  to  Auckland, 
New  Zealand,  a  distance  of  6,000  miles. 
The  remarkable  feature  about  it  was 
that  the  sender  used  extremely  low  power 
— half  a  kilowatt — for  transmission  and 
only  one  valve  was  employed  in  reception. 
Unfavorable  atmospheric  conditions  and 
frequent  interruptions  from  ships  in  the 
Pacific  prevailed  at  the  time,  it  was  said. 
Five  persons  were  killed  and  several 
injured  in  a  wreck  on  the  Chicago,  Mil¬ 
waukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad  near 
Rockford,  Ill.,  July  5. 
Negroes  do  not  desire  to  leave  Georgia 
and  the  South  and  the  remedy  for  ex¬ 
isting  conditions  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
white  man,  according  to  a  communication 
to  the  General  Assembly  and  the  people 
of  Georgia  adopted  at  a  Statewide  con¬ 
ference  of  leaders  of  the  negro  race  at 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  .Inly  4.  The  conference 
was  presided  over  by  Bishop  J.  F.  Flip¬ 
per  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Atlanta.  The  communication 
sets  forth  these  evils  which  the  negroes 
claim  they  labor  under  in  that  State: 
Low  w’ages  for  farm  labor,  poor  housing 
conditions,  bad  working  conditions  on 
plantations  managed  by  overseers  in  the 
absence  of  the  owners,  lack  of  educational 
facilities,  poor  accommodations  for  ne¬ 
groes  when  traveling,  inequality  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  law’s,  the  contract 
labor  law,  the  repeal  of  which  is  asked, 
ar.d  mob  violence.  The  Legislature  was 
urged  to  pass  an  anti-lynching  law. 
A  Law  Enforcement  League  was 
formed  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  First 
Congregational  Church  at  Riverhead, 
Long  Island,  July  6,  for  the  avowed  pur¬ 
pose  of  u’aging  relentless  war  upon  boot¬ 
leggers  on  the  north  fork  of  Long  Island, 
who  smuggle  shiploads  of  liquor  ashore 
every  night  and  even  warn  citizens  to 
keep  out  of  sight  on  peril  of  getting  shot. 
Goldfield.  Nev.,  boom  gold  mining  camp 
established  in  1904,  was  burned  to  the 
ground  July  6,  with  the  exception  of  six 
buildings.  Nine  city  blocks  in  the  center 
of  the  towni  were  burned  by  flames  fanned 
by  a  40-mile  wind.  One  man  is  dead  from 
causes  attributed  to  the  fire,  a  woman  is 
missing  and  is  believed  to  have  perished 
and  several  persons  were  treated  for 
burns  as  the  result  of  the  conflagration 
now  believed  to  have  been  of  incendiary 
origin,  started  as  part  of  a  bootleggers’ 
feud.  The  wrater  supply  was  not  suffi¬ 
cient  to  extinguish  the  flames  and  dyna¬ 
mite  only  scattered  the  frame  structures 
and  added  kindling  to  the  flames. 
Three  major  demands  of  the  155.000 
anthracite  mine  workers  were  emphasized 
by  John  L.  Lewis,  president  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America,  at  the  open¬ 
ing  of  negotiations  at  Atlantic  City,  N. 
J.,  July  6,  for  a  new  wage  and  working 
agreement  between  the  full  scale  commit¬ 
tee,  representing  the  mine  workers,  and 
the  general  committee  of  anthracite  op¬ 
erators.  These  demands  were  the  follow¬ 
ing  :  1.  Demand  for  a  20  per  cent  wage 
increase  for  contract  miners,  and  a  $2  a 
day  increase  for  day  labor.  2.  Extending 
the  provision  of  the  eight-hour  day  in 
the  present  agreement  to  4,000  pump¬ 
men,  compressors,  engineers  and  other 
mechanics  now  wmrking  10  and  12  hours. 
3.  Complete  recognition  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America,  District  1, 
7  and  9,  which  is  in  effect  a  demand  for 
the  closed  shop. 
Four  persons  were  burned  to  death 
July  5  w'hen  fire  swept  through  the 
Schmidt  Hotel  at  McKeesport,  Pa. 
The  Pines,  a  new  hotel  at  Chase’s 
Lake,  N.  Y.,  and  an  annex  were  de¬ 
stroyed  by  fire  July  8.  The  resort  opened 
but  recently.  The  loss  will  total  about 
$25,000. 
A  water  power  development  project, 
involving  expenditure  of  several  million 
dollars,  to  harness  the  Salmon  River  in 
the  eastern  part  of  Oswego  County,  N.  Y., 
is  under  consideration  by  the  Niagara, 
Loekport  and  Ontario  Company.  The 
project,  ii  carried  out,  would  be  the  big¬ 
gest  hydro-electric  undertaking  in  New 
York  State  since  the  Niagara  River  was 
harnessed.  Engineers  are  at  work  sur¬ 
veying  the  Salmon  River.  Early  con¬ 
struction  of  a  hydro-electric  plant  on  the 
river,  near  the  village  of  Altmar,  is  con¬ 
templated  as  the  first  step  in  the  enter¬ 
prise. 
Nine  persons  were  killed  and  26  in¬ 
jured  in  an  explosion  July  10,  in  the 
metallic  shell  department  of  the  Western 
Cartridge  Company’s  plant  at  East 
Alton.  Ill  Three  of  those  injured,  it  is 
feared,  will  die,  while  several  others  are 
in  a  serious  condition.  In  addition  to  the 
16  reported  seriously  hurt  10  other  em¬ 
ployees  were  said  to  have  been  injured 
slightly.  The  cause  of  the  explosion 
could  not  be  ascertained.  It  occurred  in 
a  fireproof  structure  in  which  about  50 
employees,  mostly  women,  were  extract¬ 
ing  powder  from  cartridges. 
Twenty-six  Texas  oil  promoters,  in¬ 
cluding  Dr.  Frederick  A.  Cook,  former 
Arctic  explorer,  and  Seymour  E.  J.  Cox, 
were  indicted  by  the  Federal  Grand  Jury 
at  Cleveland,  July  10,  on  charges  of  using 
the  mails  to  defraud  and  conspiracy  to 
make  fraudulent  use  of  mails  Trial  of 
the  promoters  both  in  Cleveland  and  Fort 
Worth  was  predicted  by  Federal  authori¬ 
ses  in  view  of  the  fact  that  separate  of¬ 
fenses  are  charged  in  the  indictments  re¬ 
turned  in  the  two  cities.  In  Fort  Worth, 
Cook  and  his  associated  promoters  were 
charged  with  mailing  alleged  fraudulent 
stock  offers  in  the  post  office  there. 
Samuel  Solomon,  Max  Prushan  and 
William  Frederick  Herman,  officials  of 
the  Marine  Relief  Society,  were  indicted 
by  a  Federal  Grand  Jury  in  New  York, 
July  9,  for  alleged  forgery  of  Govern¬ 
ment  documents  in  manipulating  a 
scheme  to  defraud  steamship  companies. 
Hundreds  of  inexperienced  men  went 
aboard  American  vessels  as  seamen  on 
papers  alleged  to  have  been  supplied  by 
the  organization. 
Lake  Erie,  July  9,  gave  up  the  body  of 
Lieut.  L.  J.  Roth,  pilot  of  navy  balioon 
A-6698.  Strapped  to  the  basket  of  the 
balloon  and  clad  only  in  his  underwear, 
around  which  had  been  tied  a  life  pre¬ 
server,  Roth’s  body  was  found  in  the 
basket  14  miles  off  Port  Stanley,  Ontario, 
by  Capt.  George  Wilson,  master  of  a 
fishing  boat.  Apparently  caught  in  the 
terrific  storm  of  July  5.  Lieut.  Roth 
evidently  took  the  precaution  to  strap 
himself  to  the  side  of  the  basket  after 
divesting  himself  of  his  clothing,  and 
then  cut  the  basket  loose  from  the  big 
bag,  trusting  to  the  buoyancy  devices 
with  which  the  basket  was  equipped  to 
keep  it  afloat.  Lieut.  Null,  the  other 
occupant  of  the  balloon,  is  still  missing. 
The  Navy  balloon  A-6698  was  one  of  13 
contestants  in  the  national  elimination 
race  that  started  from  Indianapolis, 
July  4. 
WASHINGTON.  —  Stabilization  of 
the  coal  industry  in  the  interest  of  the 
public  by  government  regulation,  with 
authority  for  governmental  intervention 
and  operation  of  the  mines  in  emergen¬ 
cies,  as  well  as  a  new  program  of  labor 
relations,  was  outlined  July  8  by  the 
United  States  Coal  Commission  in  an  ex¬ 
haustive  report  on  the  anthracite  indus¬ 
try.  The  commission  does  not  recom¬ 
mend  government  ownership  and  opera¬ 
tion,  but  it  advocates  government  regula¬ 
tion  on  the  broad  theory  that  the  public 
interest  transcends  the  rights  of  the  coal 
land  owners,  operators,  mine  workers, 
carriers  and  dealers.  It  recommends  that 
this  interest  may  adequately  be  protected 
“by  the  creation  of  a  governmental  au¬ 
thority  with  power  to  require  financial 
and  operating  reports,  to  prescribe  uni¬ 
form  methods  of  cost  accounting  and  to 
determine  the  conditions  on  which  coal 
may  be  shipped  in  interstate  commerce.” 
Attorney  General  Daugherty  has  been 
asked  if  there  is  any  legal  power  to 
rescue  the  nation’s  flag  from  profiteering 
bunting  trusts  “whose  methods  are  so 
destructive  to  patriotism,”  by  Edward  C. 
O’Brien,  chairman  of  the  Lake  Cham¬ 
plain  Historical  Pageant  Review,  in  a 
letter  made  public  July  9.  Mr.  O’Brien 
urged  that  if  there  is  no  such  legal  power, 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Flag  should  be  under  the  direction 
and  control  of  some  Governmental  depart¬ 
ment.  He  charged  that  certain  flag  man¬ 
ufacturers  would  not  supply  flags  for  the 
celebration  of  his  organization  and  that 
prices  quoted  him  were  from  50  to  500 
per  cent  above  the  pre-war  level. 
FARM  AND  GARDEN.— The  Farm¬ 
ers’  Union  of  Canada  voted  July  5  at 
Saskatoon,  to  form  a  voluntary  wheat 
pool  for  the  1923  crop  and  communicated 
with  other  farmer  organizations  in  the 
Western  provinces,  seeking  co-operation. 
A  wheat  pool  for  the  three  prairie  prov¬ 
inces,  with  the  fullest  possible  interprov- 
incial  co-operation,  was  recommended  at 
Winnipeg,  July  5.  by  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  United  Farmers  of  Mani¬ 
toba.  meeting  in  special  session. 
Wages  of  farm  labor  are  moving  up 
while  prices  of  farm  products  are  travel¬ 
ing  downward.  From  all  parts  of  the 
Middle  West  come  reports  that  scarcity 
of  hired  hands  is  sending  up  monthly  and 
day  wage  rates,  increasing  the  labor  cost 
of  production,  while  what  the  farmer 
gets  for  his  products  is  dropping.  Ad¬ 
vices  from  typical  districts  in  the  wheat, 
corn,  hog  and  cattle  belts  indicate  that 
the  agriculturists,  who  have  been  hard 
pressed  since  1920.  are  trying  to  adjust 
themselves  through  longer  hours  and 
harder  work  by  the  farmer’s  family  and 
by  pooling  resources  of  labor  and  imple¬ 
ments  in  groups  of  five  or  six  farms. 
Wages  have  been  mounting  ever  since 
the  labor  shortage  began,  six  or  eight 
months  ago.  Barney  Cohen,  district  di¬ 
rector  of  the  United  States  Employment 
Service,  who  has  just  made  a  survey,  says 
farm  wages  in  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Michi¬ 
gan.  Indiana  and  Ohio  are  almost  back 
to  the  “peak”  year.  In  the  region  withiu 
a  100-mile  radius  of  Chicago,  Mr.  Cohen 
reports,  male  farm  labor  is  running  $50 
to  $70  a  month  with  room,  board  and 
washing.  Men  are  being  sent  out  as  day 
farm  labor  now  to  take  jobs  at  $5  a  day 
with  board.  The  wages  by  month  or  day 
are  more  than  double  whnt  they  were  be¬ 
fore  the  war.  In  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
day  hands  are  reported  to  be  getting 
$3.50  to  $4  a  day  with  board,  which  rep¬ 
resents  an  increase  of  50  cents  and  more 
over  a  year  ago. 
Secretary  Wallace  and  his  assistants 
in  the  Department  of  Agriculture  are 
supporting  a  movement  for  “full  crop 
insurance.”  Th<  y  hold  that  general  crop 
Insurance  is  feasible  and  necessary. 
These  officials  are  preparing  data  for 
the  Senate  Committee  which  was  ap¬ 
pointed  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  to 
investigate  and  renort  on  the  practica¬ 
bility  of  extending  the  scope  of  crop  in 
su ranee.  This  committee  held  a  series 
of  hearings  at  Washington  in  April,  and 
will  reconvene  in  December. 
The  Gypsy  Moth,  the  army  dirigible 
which  was  sent  to  New  Hampshire  for 
experimental  tests  in  spraying  forests 
with  poison  in  an  effort  to  check  the 
spread  of  gypsy  moths,  made  its  first 
flight  for  the  purpose  July  10.  It  was 
announced  that  the  spraying  was  a  suc¬ 
cess. 
Fifteen  cents  an  acre  is  what  a  com¬ 
mercial  aviator  charged  to  distribute  poi¬ 
son  over  cotton  fields  at  Corpus  Christi, 
Texas,  July  10,  and  the  plane  required 
only  three  hours  to  dust  the  460-acre 
field.  The  farmer  who  employed  the 
aviator  said  it  would  have  taken  more 
than  three  days  to  dust  the  cotton  in 
the  ordinary  way. 
Coming  Farmers’  Meetings 
July  30-Aug.  3 — Farmers’  Week,  Con¬ 
necticut  Agricultural  College,  Storrs, 
Conn. 
Aug.  2-3 — Northeastern  Conference 
Farm  Bureau  Federations,  Educational 
Building,  Albany,  N.  Y. 
Aug.  9-10 — International  Baby  Chick 
Association,  eighth  annual  convention, 
New  Ebbitt  House,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Sept.  10-15 — New  York  State  Fair, 
Syracuse,  N  Y. 
Sept.  26-28 — Northern  Nut  Growers’ 
Association,  fourteenth  annual  conven¬ 
tion,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Oct.  6-13 — National  Dairy  Show  and 
World’s  Dairy  Congress,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Nov.  27-Dec.  1 — Poultry  Show,  Wash¬ 
ington,  D  C.  Secretary,  D.  Lincoln  Orr, 
Orr’s  Mills,  N.  Y. 
Dec.  13-15  —  North  Bergen  County 
Poultry  Association,  fifth  annual  show, 
Westwood,  N.  J. 
Jan.  23-27,  1924 — Poultry  Show,  Madi¬ 
son  Square  Garden,  New  York  City, 
Secretary,  D.  Lincoln  Orr,  Orr’s  Mills, 
N.  Y. 
Poll  Tax 
Will  you  advise  me  whether  or  not  a 
village  or  town  or  any  other  municipality 
has  a  legal  right  to  charge  $1  poll  tax, 
and  can  they  collect  same  if  payment  by 
a  regular  taxpayer  is  refused? 
New  York.  m.  j.  m. 
Unless  a  village  decides  not  to  impose  a 
poll  tax,  all  men  between  the  ages  of  21 
and  70  years  residing  in  the  village  are 
liable  to  an  annual  poll  tax  of  $1  except 
exempt  firemen,  active  firemen,  honorary 
discharged  soldiers  and  sailors  who  lost 
an  arm  or  leg  in  the  seiwice  of  the  United 
States  or  who  are  unable  to  perform 
manual  labor  by  reason  of  injuries  re¬ 
ceived  or  disabilities  incurred  in  such 
service,  clergymen,  paupers,  idiots  and 
lunatics  (we  assume  no  responsibility  for 
the  Legislature  placing  the  above  named 
persons  in  the  same  class  as  idiots  and 
lunatics.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  doctors 
and  lawyers  are  not  included  in  this 
class).  No  personal  property  is  exempt 
from  levy  and  sale  in  the  collection  of 
poll  tax.  N.  T. 
Fencing  Against  Strays 
Does  a  land  owner  have  to  build  a 
road  fence  or  can  he  collect  any  damage 
done  by  cattle  and  so  forth?  I  have  the 
opinion  one  has  to  build  a  road  fence,  as 
well  as  a  line  fence. 
Pennsylvania.  A.  L.  M. 
Under  a  rule  of  the  common  law  the 
duty  was  upon  the  owner  of  cattle  to  keep 
them  out  of  his  neighbors’  crops.  Where 
a  statute  has  been  passed  requiring  the 
adjoining  owner  to  build  a  division  fence 
and  he  has  neglected  so  to  do.  and  cattle 
enter  on  his  premises  through  his  neglect, 
then  the  common  law’  rule  is  no  longer  in 
force.  The  common  law  rule  applied  to 
road  fences.  n.  t. 
