Tht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1153 
The  “Line  Up”  on  the  School  Bill 
Will  you  tell  us  frankly  how  the  rural  people  of  New 
York  State  are  likely  to  ‘'line  up’’  over  the  proposed 
new  school  bill?  What  classes  favor  it,  and  what  op¬ 
pose?  It  is  likely  to  become  a  leading  issue  in  the  State 
campaign.  b.  t.  b. 
E  do  our  best  to  answer  the  question  as  we 
see  it,  without  prejudice  or  argument.  Gov. 
Smith  is  said  to  favor  the  bill.  It  has  been  publicly 
stated  that  he  would  like  to  go  further,  and  abolish 
every  one-room  school  in  the  State.  Should  this  bill 
pass  the  next  Legislature  it  will  without  doubt  be 
signed  by  the  Governor.  There  would  then  be  small 
chance  of  repealing  it. 
The  State  Senate  passed  the  bill  last  Winter  with 
only  six  votes  against  it.  We  are  told  that  this  neg¬ 
ative  vote  would  have  been  larger  but  for  the  fact 
that  some  Senators  felt  sure  the  Assembly  would 
kill  the  bill.  Therefore  these  Senators,  or  some  of 
them,  felt  safe  in  playing  the  little  political  game 
known  as  “passing  the  buck”  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
farm  leaders  who  appeared  for  the  bill.  Some  of 
the  Senators  x*eally  felt  that  these  leaders  had  a 
large  and  compact  army  behind  them.  The  fact 
seems  to  be  that  they  did  not  represent  the  rank 
and  file  of  their  organizations. 
In  the  Assembly  the  bill  never  got  out  of  commit¬ 
tee.  Opinions  vary  as  to  what  would  have  happened 
in  case  the  hill  had  come  before  the  entire  Assembly. 
One  side  says  it  would  have  passed  by  a  great  ma¬ 
jority,  while  the  other  side  says  they  never  did  have 
the  votes  needed  to  put  it  through.  The  bill  was 
held  in  committee  because  the  leaders  knew  that  the 
rank  and  file  of  country  people  either  opposed  the  hill 
or  did  not  understand  it.  They  feared  another  such 
outbreak  as  burst  forth  over  the  old  township  school 
law.  They  knew,  after  investigation,  that  the  pas¬ 
sage  of  the  bill  would  be  followed  by  a  storm  of  pro¬ 
test  that  would  shake  the  S-tate.  As  it  stands  at 
Albany  therefore,  the  Governor  favors  the  bill  and 
the  Senate  will  probably  pass  it  once  more.  The 
great  battle  will  be  in  the  Assembly.  This  year  Gov. 
Smith  is  to  make  a  personal  canvass  of  the  State  in 
the  hope  of  carrying  enough  of  the  rural  districts  to 
enable  him  to  force  through  his  “program.”  This 
will  include  city  traction  laws,  various  “welfare” 
measures  and  this  school  bill.  We  think  some  effort 
will  be  made  to  “trade”  votes  for  the  school  bill  for 
support  in  electing  members  favorable  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernor’s  program.  We  think  the  Governor  believes 
that  the  leaders  of  farm  organizations  who  have 
come  to  him  represent  the  views  of  the  plain  mem¬ 
bers.  We  state  the  situation  at  Albany  clearly,  so 
that  our  readers  may  know  just  where  they  stand. 
Those  who  oppose  the  bill  are,  for  the  most  part, 
without  organization.  The  other  side  is  well  or¬ 
ganized. 
As  for  the  “line-up,”  it  is  very  largely  the  old, 
world-wide  contest  between  the  so-called  leaders  in 
education  and  organization  and  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  great  rural  army.  Probably  the  most  in¬ 
sistent  power  back  of  the  proposed  bill  is  the 
rural  educational  department  of  Cornell  University. 
Without  question  that  department,  with  its 
teachers  and  graduates  or  students,  would  profit 
largely  by  the  passage  of  this  bill.  We  may 
say,  in  passing,  that  it  seems  doubtful  if  Cornell 
realizes  the  spirit  of  discontent  and  criticism  which 
is  gathering  among  many  of  our  farmers  at  what 
they  conceive  to  be  the  desire  of  the  university  to 
“boss”  and  regulate  them  !  The  Educational  Depart¬ 
ment  at  Albany  is  supposed  to  be  working  for  the 
bill,  but  some  of  its  members  do  not  seem  enthusi¬ 
astic,  and  some  are  quietly  opposed.  The  official 
strength  of  the  department  will  be  given  to  the  bill 
The  officers  of  the  Farm  Bureau,  Home  Bureau  and 
Dairymen’s  League  are  openly  for  the  bill.  Our 
canvass  shows  clearly  that  while  these  officials  may 
be  in  favor,  the  organizations  back  of  them  are  badly 
divided.  We  feel  sure  that  a  majority  of  the  plain 
members  of  the  Dairymen’s  League  oppose  the  bill. 
Any  attempt  of  the  leaders  to  misrepresent  the  senti¬ 
ment  of  their  followers  will  make  great  trouble  in 
these  organizations. 
The  Grange  is  frankly  and  openly  divided.  Most 
of  the  officers  say  they  favor  the  bill.  Our  canvass 
indicates  that  75  per  cent  of  the  subordinate  Grange 
membei’S  oppose  the  bill.  It  is  claimed  that  the. 
American  Federation  of  Labor  and  the  American 
Legion  are  in  favor,  though  just  how  these  organiza¬ 
tions  break  into  the  picture  we  cannot  see.  The  dis¬ 
trict  school  superintendents  were  supposed  to  favor 
the  bill.  We  find  them  divided,  with  apparently  a 
slight  majority  opposed.  Some  of  the  strongest  ar¬ 
guments  against  the  bill  come  from  these  superin¬ 
tendents.  Of  the  school  trustees  our  figures  show 
that  at  least  85  per  cent  are  opposed.  We  have 
taken  great  pains  and  spent  much  time  in  making 
a  canvass  among  country  people.  Our  figures  indi¬ 
cate  that  75  per  cent  of  these  country  or  farm  peo¬ 
ple  are  opposed  to  the  bill,  either  as  a  whole  or  in 
part.  On  the  other  hand,  many  who  live  in  the  little 
towns  favor  the  bill  on  the  theory  that  one  of  the 
proposed  high  schools  will  be  built  in  their  town  and 
at  least  partly  paid  for  by  farmers  who  live  in  the 
surrounding  country.  Political  wires  are  already 
out  to  try  to  induce  the  supervisors  to  favor  certain 
places  in  organizing  the  “community  units.”  Thus 
the  contest  is  between  ft  small,  compact,  well-organ¬ 
ized  group  on  one  hand,  and  the  great  majority  of 
unorganized  country  people  on  the  other.  The  offi¬ 
cials  of  farm  organizations,  the  educators,  a 
number  of  thoroughly  conscientious  but  not  always 
practical  people,  and  a  few  noisy  and  active  shoot¬ 
ers,  make  up  a  well-drilled  army  of  offense.  On  the 
other  hand  are  most  of  the  men  and  women  who  pay 
country  taxes  and  provide  the  school  children.  The 
proponents  of  the  bill  will  never  be  able  to  show  that 
they  have  a  majority  of  country  people  back  of  them. 
As  the  case  stands  right  now  we  must  say  frankly 
that  the  backers  of  this  bill  have  the  advantage. 
They  have  organization,  and  with  Governor  and 
►State  Senate  in  their  favbr  have  the  lead  at  Albany. 
On  the  other  hand,  those  who  oppose  the  bill 
have  the  votes  to  control  the  next  Assembly  if 
they  will  organize  and  exert  themselves.  As  a  rule  the 
Assemblyman  from  a  rural  county  will  do  what  his 
people  want  him  to  do  if  they  will  make  their  wishes 
known.  We  saw  how  this  worked  out  in  the  repeal 
of  the  township  law.  We  were  told  that  we  might 
as  well  try  to  move  the  State  House  from  its  founda¬ 
tions  as  to  make  the  Legislature  change  its  own 
laws.  Yet  the  thing  was  done.  If  the  farmers  of 
New  York  want  this  law  it  will  go  through.  If  they 
do  not  want  it  they  can  prevent  its  passage.  We 
think  they  should  decide  the  question  for  themselves, 
and  not  have  it  decided  for  them  by  others. 
September  Milk  Prices 
THE  Dairymen’s  League  Co-operative  Association 
announces  a  25-cent  increase  in  Class  1  fluid  milk 
which  will  be  $2.98  per  100  lbs.  in  201-210-mile  zone. 
With  the  exception  of  Class  3,  the  prices  to  be 
paid  pooling  farmers  for  September  milk  that  goes 
into  other  classifications  and  is  made  up  into  va¬ 
rious  kinds  of  milk  products,  will  remain  the  same. 
The  price  to  be  paid  for  Class  3  milk  which  is  made 
into  whole  milk  powder,  condensed  and  evaporated 
milk,  and  used  in  the  manufacture  of  hard  cheese, 
will  be  $2.25  flat,  instead  of  being  based  on  a  differ¬ 
ential. 
Should  Farmers  Limit  Production? 
The  answer  is  “yes.”  But  if  you  or  I  stop  produc¬ 
ing  we  are  so  small  as  to  be  unnoticeable.  The  answer, 
then,  is  co-operation.  The  fault  with  the  latter  for 
many  years,  though  we  are  outgrowing  it,  is  that  the 
farmer  who  needs  it  the  most  is  jealous  of  the  other  fel¬ 
lows,  and  does  not  trust  them  to  the  limit.  The  farmer 
should  produce  and  exert  all  his  time  to  that  end,  and 
let  his  organization  market  for  him.  Instead,  in  the 
past,  and  quite  true  of  the  present,  he  is  jack  of  all 
trades.  That  is,  he  wants  to  be  producer,  middleman, 
retailer,  and,  if  he  could,  the  consumer.  lie  spends  too 
much  of  his  time  running  around,  at  a  trade  very  few 
are  qualified  to  handle,  marketing.  To  this  some  are 
going  to  say,  “Then  this  allows  more  time  for  produc¬ 
ing,  which  you  advise  cutting  down.  It  allows  more 
time,  yes;  but  use  it  for  your  own  pleasure,  and  stop 
howling  about  long  hours.  To  be  true,  you  will  not 
make  as  many  dollars  the  first  year  under  this  plan,  but 
when  production  is  finally  limited  you  will  get  more  for 
your  product,  and  in  the  end  make  as  much  money,  with 
less  time  required. 
This  is  a  large  plan,  and  it  would  mean  unionizing, 
or  organizing  into  co-operative  associations  practically 
every  farmer,  whose  producing  power  would  be  limited 
through  the  association,  who  would  do  liis  market¬ 
ing.  In  the  above  case,  the  co-operative  association  is 
our  middleman.  I  feel  that  we  have  to  have* a  middle¬ 
man,  for  the  reasons  that  I  have  stated  above ;  i.  e.,  we 
should  devote  our  time  to  producing.  The  fault  with 
our  present  middleman  is  that  he  gets  the  lion’s  share. 
You  suggest  speeding  up  consumption.  We  are  the 
heaviest  feeding  nation  on  earth  now,  and  how  can  we 
eat  more?  Therefore,  we  must  limit  production  or  con¬ 
tinue  to  suffer.  The  farmers  could  easily  do  as  W.  D. 
Lyons  suggests;  butcher  10  per  cent  of  their  cows, 
which  perhaps  are  boarders  anyway.  I  would  say 
butcher  20  per  cent,  taking  the  poorer  ones.  Today  we 
are  milking  50  per  cent  less  cows  than  we  were  t  wo  years 
ago,  and  making  more  milk,  butter  and  cream,  wholly  by 
weeding,  testing  and  proper  feeding.  Likewise  we  have 
cut  our  labor  50  per  cent,  and  we  are  not  through 
weeding  out  yet.  The  poorest  cow  that  we  own  made 
355  lbs.  butterfat  in  10  months,  and  produced  a  living 
calf  within  13  months  of  last  calving.  She  will  be  one 
of  the  next  to  go.  No  doubt  this  is  a  big  question  and 
T  am  confident  in  time  that  the  solution  will  come 
through  co-operation.  ricjiabd  u.  faux. 
Massachusetts. 
It.  N.-Y. — 'While  farmers  have  enough  to  eat,  there 
are  millions  of  people  in  town  and  city  who  are  often 
hungry.  (Jive  them  all  they  want  and  there  would 
promptly  be  “under-production.” 
The  Game  Laws  of  New  Jersey 
In  reply  to  your  request  on  page  1095  for  informa¬ 
tion  concerning  the  results  of  posting,  I  would  like  to 
say  a  good  deal.  As  I  see  it,  there  is  but  one  thing  to  do 
• — post  every  last  acre  in  your  possession ! 
Twenty  years  ago  we  bought  our  present  estate  of 
1.200  acres,  and  moved  here  from  the  city.  The  land 
had  been  used  as  a  local  public  shooting  ground  for 
years  and  was  still  pretty  well  stocked.  Father  al¬ 
lowed  the  “natives”  to  continue  their  sport,  but  re¬ 
quested  that  they  refrain  from  killing  quail,  gray  squir¬ 
rels  and  grouse,  because,  being  a  city-bred  man,  he  liked 
to  see  these  species  living  on  the  place.  But,  alas,  you 
yannot  trust  the  public.  Nine  men  out  of  every  10  may 
be  perfectly  square  and  sportsmanlike  in  their  actions, 
but  the  tenth  will  be  a  bad  egg  clear  through,  lie  will 
care  no  more  for  your  feelings  and  rights  as  a  property 
owner  than  a  bootlegger  cares  for  the  prohibition  law. 
Anything  that  flics  or  walks  will  fall  victim  to  his 
greed,  be  it  wild  game,  guinea  hens,  cat,  or  farmyard 
fowl — all  are  “game”  to  him. 
Now,  since  you  can’t  afford  to  waste  your  own  time 
in  personally  accompanying  every  gunner  who  wishes 
to  shoot  over  your  grounds,  and  since  an  action  for 
damages  is  hard  to  place  on  the  guilty  shoulders,  or  even 
win  at  all,  there  is  but  one  alternative  ;  namely,  post  the 
entire  farm  and  allow  no  shooting  whatsoever,  except 
to  your  own  friends,  who  usually  come  to  the  farm¬ 
stead  before  going  out  to  shoot,  anyway.  We  have 
found  that  by  following  this  rule  and  by  arresting  and 
prosecuting  every  individual  caught  thereon  without 
our  permission,  knowingly  or  not,  there  has  been  little 
or  no  vandalism,  the  game  has  increased,  and  city  men 
whom  we  can  trust  are  glad  to  return  every  year  lo  a 
place  where  they  know  they  can  get  good  sport,  and 
where  their  spending  money  is  considered  a  mighty  good 
manner  to  get  “pin  money”  for  the  boys. 
The  New  Jersey  law  is  not  as  good  yet  as  it  should 
be,  because  it  compels  the  farmer  to  post  at  his  own 
cost,  prosecute  the  violators  at  his  own  expense  in  time 
and  effort,  and  gives  him  nothing  for  the  money  thus 
paid  to  the  Fish  and  Game  Commission  for  work  for 
which  they  return  no  favors.  Naturally,  farmers  are 
becoming  disgusted  with  the  commission  and  its  policies. 
New  Jersey  is  controlled  almost  entirely  by  a  powerful 
league  of  city  gunners  in  all  matters  of  fish  and  game, 
and  since  the  farmers  are  disorganized  and  cannot  get  a 
fair  deal,  there  is  but  one  thing  to  do — post  to  the  limit, 
shoot  never  so  closely  but  that  you  leave  a  few  birds 
and  rabbits  for  breeding  stock,  follow  the  laws  of  all 
good  game  conservation  regardless  of  whether  the  State 
game  laws  interfere  or  not,  and  raise  a  few  pheasants 
yourself  at  your  own  expense  for  those  who  have  learned 
that  “you  can  catch  more  flies  with  a  spoonful  of  mo¬ 
lasses  than  with  a  hogshead  of  vinegar.”  a.  m.  w. 
.  Newton,  N.  J. 
New  Horticultural  Quarantine 
The  Federal  Horticultural  Board  is  starting  a  new 
quarantine — No.  5(5.  After  November  1  they  will  ad¬ 
mit  no  fresh  fruit  or  vegetables  from  foreign  countries 
except  Canada  and  Mexico — except  special  individual 
lots  for  which  permit  is  secured.  This  is  lo  prevent  fur¬ 
ther  entry  of  the  Mediterranean  fruit  fly  and  allied  in¬ 
sects.  This  will  not  prevent  Canadian  apples  from  en¬ 
tering,  but  will  cut  out  all  competition  with  Californian 
lemons,  grapes,  etc.  The  Spanish  producers  of  Almeria 
grapes  are  greatly  alarmed  by  this  quarantine,  and  are 
appealing  to  their  government  for  aid,  as  they  say  the 
fly  is  unknown  in  their  country.  This  would  shut  out 
"  est  Indian  products  except  citrus,  which  may  enter 
northern  ports,  and  apparently  shuts  out  Central  Amer¬ 
ica,  which  sends  the  bulk  of  our  bananas.  The  former 
quarantine  order,  No.  37,  hit  England,  France,  Holland 
and  Belgium  very  hard,  and  caused  much  feeling  in 
these  countries.  This  new  quarantine  will  increase  it, 
and  lead  to  further  trade  war.  It  seems  that  Great 
Britain  is  increasing  meat  purchases  from  Argentina, 
Australia  and  New  Zealand,  and  buying  less  from  Amer¬ 
ica.  If  this  keeps  on,  within  a  few  years  there  will  be 
considerably  less  foreign  demand  for  our  meat,  as  well 
as  for  wheat. 
Prices  for  Picking  Apples 
In  regard  to  what  prices  growers  expect  to  pay  apple 
pickers  this  season,  the  general  opinion  in  this  section  is 
around  $3.50  to  $4  per  10-hour  day — and  this  price  is 
all  or  even  more  than  the  profits  will  convenienlly 
stand.  Last  year’s  price  was  $3,  but  business  in  the 
United  States,  except  farming,  has  picked  up  and,  psy¬ 
chologically,  labor  becoming  apparently  “scarce,”  the 
price  of  labor  automatically  rises,  whether  the  poorest 
paid  industry  in  this  country  can  afford  it  or  not 
The  usual  plan  of  payment  for  apple  work  is  by  the 
day — carelessness  and  more  dissatisfaction  goes  with 
“piece  work.”  By  the  day-work  system  through  a  sea¬ 
son  we  find  that  the  men  will  average  15  barrels  a  day 
in  exceptionally  good  picking,  and  around  10  a  day 
where  the  apples  only  hang  moderately  well.  These 
figures  run  for  a  large  group  of  men,  say  20  or  more. 
Where  two  or  three  men  of  the  true  working  type  get 
together  you  could  multiply  these  figures  by  three 
Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y.  ^  T. 
It  is  a  long  gamble  to  tell  what  the  growers  are  going 
to  do.  That  is  the  one  thing  in  my  estimation  that  we 
ought  to  get  together  on,  but  if  we  had  a  meeting  and 
decided  on  what  we  were  going  to  pay,  some  one  would 
go  out  the  next  day  and  offer  more  thinking  that  he 
might  get  the  pickers  away  from  some  one  else. 
(Whether  pickers  are  going  to  be  plentiful  or  not  is 
another  problem  that  enters  into  the  price.  If  there  are 
plenty  of  pickers  they  will  not  pay  so  much  as  if  there 
weren’t  enough.  The  quality  of  the  apples  seems  to  be 
inferior.  .  , 
We  ought  to  get  our  apples  picked  at  from  seven  to 
10  cents  a  bushel.  A  good  picker  will  pick  from  75  to 
125  bushels  per  day. 
As  to  the  paying.  We  usually  pay  once  a  week  or 
any  time  the  picker  wants  money.  w 
Waype  Co.,  N,  Y, 
