1174 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Damage  From  Raccoons 
Last  week  a  raccoon  came  into  my  hen¬ 
house  through  a  broken  window  and  killed 
six  large  Rhode  Island  Red  hens  which 
were  worth  more  than  $2  apiece.  I 
thought  of  setting  a  trap  but  was  in¬ 
formed  that  I  have  no  right  to  do  that  as 
the  State  protects  these  animals,  but  that 
I  can  get  pay  for  the  hens.  To  whom 
should  I  write  or  would  you  take  the 
matter  up  for  me?  I.  J.  V. 
Edinburg,  N.  Y. 
On  submitting  the  question  to  the 
Conservation  Commission  at  Albany,  we 
received  the  following  reply : 
We  would  advise  you  that  raccoons  are 
protected  by  law  in  this  State,  and  can 
only  be  legally  taken  during  the  open  sea¬ 
son,  which  is  November  10  to  February 
10.  Therefore,  no  person  would  have  the 
legal  right  to  trap  these  raccoons  during 
the  closed  season,  even  though  they  might 
be  doing  damage  to  their  property.  The 
commission  has  power,  however,  to  is¬ 
sue  permits  to  individuals  who  are  suf¬ 
fering  serious  damage  from  raccoons  or 
any  other  species  of  quadrupeds  protected 
by  law. 
Commission  has  no  funds  appropriated 
by  which  it  can  reimburse  persons  who 
have  suffered  damage  from  any  species 
of  game  protected  by  law. 
JOHN  T.  MC  CORMICK,  Deputy  Chief. 
Spotted  or  Piebald  Humans 
Are  there  any  cases  on  record  of  spot¬ 
ted  or  piebald  humans,  as  a  result-  of 
crossing  various  races?  Horses,  cattle, 
dogs,  cats  and  other  animals  show  this 
spotted  color,  evidently  as  a  result  of 
crossing  different  colored  individuals. 
What  about  human  beings?  c.  ir. 
I  have  never  observed  spotted  or  pie¬ 
bald  individuals  of  the  human  race,  un¬ 
less  the  discoloration  tvas  caused  by  some 
form  of  skin  disease.  In  the  human  be¬ 
ings  and  other  animals  which  have  a 
have  often  seen  their  burrows  run  fx-om 
one  end  of  the  row  to  the  othex-,  and 
rarely  seen  any  tubers  that  I  thought 
were  eaten  by  moles.  It  is  my  opinion 
that  the  ground  mole  does  considerable 
good.  GEOROE  M.  HARING. 
New  Jersey. 
EVENTS  OF  THE  WEEK 
DOMESTIC. — Charles  A.  Stoneham, 
owner  of  the  Giants,  which  is  the  New 
York  club  in  the  National  League,  and 
former  stock  broker,  sportsman  and  as¬ 
sociated  of  powerful  politicians,  was  in¬ 
dicted  by  the  Federal  Gx-and  Jury  Aug. 
31  for  perjury  in  connection  with  the 
bankruptcy  of  the  bueketshop  of  E.  M. 
Fuller  &  Co.  last  year.  lie  was  ar¬ 
raigned  before  Judge  Bondy,  pleaded  not 
guilty  and  was  released  on  $5,000  bail. 
The  indictment  charges  that  Stoneham 
was  actually  a  partner  with  Fuller  and 
W.  Frank  McGee  in  the  bucket  shop, 
having  bought  a  25  per  cent  share  of 
WASHINGTON.  —  Diplomatic  rela¬ 
tions  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico  were  resumed  Aug.  31,  and  the 
breach  existing  for  more  than  three  years 
between  the  two  Governments  was  closed. 
The  action  of  the  American  Govern¬ 
ment  is  expected  to  be  followed  soon  by 
recognition  of  the  Obregon  Government 
by  Great  Britain,  France,  Belgium  and 
Cuba,  thus  restoring  Mexico  to  its  for¬ 
mer  position  in  the  family  of  nations. 
The  State  Department.,  through  a  pre- 
arrangement  with  Mexico  city  officials, 
announced  the  accord  of  the  two  Govern¬ 
ments  for  President  Coolidge. 
The  United  States  moved  swiftly  to 
bring  the  full  foi-ce  of  the  Government 
and  the  people  to  the  aid  of  stricken 
Japan.  'While  Government  executive  de¬ 
partments  were  directed  to  assist  in  the 
work  the  public  was  urged  in  an  appeal 
issued  by  President  Coolidge  to  contri¬ 
bute  funds  through  the  American  Red 
Cross  for  aiding  the  unfortunate  and 
riving  relief  to  the  people  of  Japan.  The 
Red  Cross  at  once  announced  that  it 
had  started  the  fund  with  a  contribu¬ 
tion  of  .$100,000  for  the  relief  of  vic¬ 
tims  of  the  earthquake,  and  in  addition 
had  appropriated  from  its  reserve  funds 
$10,000  for  the  assistance  of  Americans 
caught  in  the  disaster  zone. 
Senator  Reed  Smoot  (Utah)  an¬ 
nounced  at  Salt  Lake  City,  Aug.  30, 
The  war  over  cats  is  still  being  waged  fiercely.  To  one  side  dear  kitty  is  an  affec¬ 
tionate  pet — while  others  regard  the  cat  as  an  untamed  and  treacherous  tiger  in¬ 
capable  of  real  love  or  devotion.  We  regal’d  our  own  cats  as  useful  animals.  They 
certainly  war  upon  rats  and  mice.  The  cat  shown  above  is  a  handsome  tiger  belong¬ 
ing  to  Miss  Luella  Cairns.  This  cat  is  a  mink  catcher.  He  has  captured  several 
minks  this  Summer — a  good  job  since  the  minks  were  killing  chickens. 
uniform  coloration  there  is  rarely  any 
mottling  except  where  the  ancestors  have 
been  spotted.  As  you  probably  know,  the 
young  of  the  African  lion  and  the  moun¬ 
tain  lion  of  America  are  spotted  because 
the  ancestral  stock  undoubtedly  were  mot¬ 
tled  very  much  like  the  jaguar  or  leopard. 
The  crossing  between  the  white  and  black 
races  merely  causes  a  modification  of  the 
black,  and  as  the  offspring  is  farther  re¬ 
moved  from  the  negro  the  skin  becomes 
lighter. 
When  animals  degenerate  from  inbreed¬ 
ing  and  are  approaching  extermination 
they  ofttimes  show  spots  of  white.  One 
of  the  largest  herds  of  European  bison 
increased  in  number  for  a  time  and  then 
began  to  degenerate,  and  toward  the  close 
quite  a  number  of  the  animals  were  ster¬ 
ile  and  the  offspring  that  came  were  often 
spotted  with  white.  Possibly  the  sheep 
which  fell  to  Jacob,  as  mentioned  in  the 
Bible,  were  affected  more  by  inbreeding 
than  the  influence  of  the  striped  rod 
which  he  waved  before  the  eyes  of  the  fe¬ 
males. 
Many  problems  of  this  kind  are  based 
merely  on  opinion  and,  so  far  as  I  know, 
there  are  no  facts  upon  which  you  can 
base  a  positive  statement. 
Biological  Survey.  a.  k.  fisher, 
Acting  Chief  of  Bureau. 
A  Mole  in  Captivity 
Some  years  ago  I  was  living  on  a  farm 
in  South  Jersey,  and  one  day  while  dig¬ 
ging  sweet  potatoes  I  turned  out  a  mole. 
I  thought  I  would  keep  him  a  .while  and 
observe  his  habits,  so  I  put  him  in  a 
large  tin  pail  and  filled  the  pail  nearly 
full  of  earth,  then  set  the  pail  in  an 
empty  flour  barrel.  After  about  two 
hours  I  had  some  time  to  look  after  him. 
so  I  thought,  lie  might  he  hungry  but  as 
I  was  not  certain  what  he  would  eat  I 
put  a  piece  of  sweet  potato  in  the  pail, 
and  after  a  while  he  came  to  the  surface 
and  began  to  nibble  the  sweet  potato,  but 
not  very  vigorously.  Then  I  tried  him 
on  white  potato,  hut  he  did  not  seem  to 
care  much  about  that.  Then  I  put  a 
few  grains  of  wheat  in.  lie  came  up  and 
commenced  to  eat  the  wheat.  Then  I 
tried  some  rye.  but  he  did  not  care  much 
for  rye ;  then  I  tried  corn,  he  would  eat 
a  little.  Then  I  went  out  and  found  a 
big  white  grub.  He  came  right  up 
through  6  in.  of  loose  earth  in  about  15 
seconds,  but.  when  I  dropped  angle 
worms  on  the  earth  he  would  come  right 
up  almost  as  quick  as  they  touched  the 
earth,  so  I  thought  he  liked  earthworms 
better  than  anything  else.  During  the 
night  he  managed  to  get  out  of  the  pail, 
and  as  he  could  not  get  into  moist  earth 
he  died,  and  was  as  stiff  as  if  frozen.  I 
the  business,  and  that  he  committed  per¬ 
jury  when  he  swore  before  the  referee 
in  bankruptcy,  Harold  P.  Coffin,  that  the 
$147,500  he  had  given  to  the  firm 
through  Thomas  F.  Foley  was  a  loan 
and  not  an  investment. 
Aug.  31,  George  Miller  of  65  Carver 
street,  Long  Island  City,  N.  Y.,  a  boss 
lather  employed  by  the  Stratford  Coal 
and  Lumber  Company  of  370  Madison 
avenue,  was  killed  by  bandits,  who  in¬ 
tended  to  steal  the  10  pay  envelopes  that 
he  carried  in  his  pocket.  The  bandits 
became  frightened  after  the  shooting  and 
fled  without  stealing  the  pay  envelopes. 
A  second  payroll  robbery  in  this  city  was 
successfully  carried  out  by  bandits  when 
they  snatched  a  bag  containing  $1.S00 
from  an  automobile  of  the  Sheffield 
Farms  Dairy  Company  and  escaped  after 
threatening  Loton  Fuller,  21-year-old  son 
of  Jefferson  Fuller,  a  collector  for  the 
company.  The  same  day  a  Chilean 
sailor,  Juan  Gonzales,  was  killed  by 
bandits  during  the  hold-up  of  Juan  Mel¬ 
ba’s  tea  room  in  West  Eleventh  street. 
Postoffice  inspectors,  led  by  William 
K.  Halliday,  arrested  Frank  B.  .Sheldon, 
of  700  Riverside  Drive,  New  York,  Sept. 
4.  on  a  charge  of  using  the  mails  to  de¬ 
fraud.  Three  other  men  are  sought  in 
the  ease.  The  three,  with  Sheldon,  are 
said  to  be  active  in  a  firm  known  as 
WVirren  Hamilton  Investment  Securities, 
1834  Broadway.  Abraham  I.  Menin, 
Assistant  United  States  Attorney,  as¬ 
sented  to  Sheldon’s  release  on  $2,500  bail, 
pending  the  capture  of  the  other  men. 
at  a  hearing  before  Commissioner  S.  M. 
Hitchcock,  who  set  Sept.  12  as  the  date 
for  examination.  Mr.  Menin  said  the 
four  men  had  no  office  at  the  Broadway 
address,  but  had  obtained  mailing  privi¬ 
leges  from  a  woman  tenant  there.  The 
volume  of  mail  received  and  sent  out 
was  so  heavy,  he  said,  that  Postoffice 
officials  investigated.  They  learned,  Mr. 
Menin  asserted,  that  the  firm  was  send¬ 
ing  circulars  to  investors  through  the 
country  in  which  it  represented  that  or¬ 
ders  received  would  be  executed  on  the 
Stock  Exchange,  the  Curb  market,  the 
Philadelphia  exchange  and  elsewhere. 
Howard  Wilcox,  veteran  automobile 
race  driver,  was  hurt  mortally  in  the 
200  mile  race  at  the  new  Altoona,  Pa., 
speedway.  Sept.  4.  His  car  overturned 
and  his  neck  was  broken. 
The  ZR-1,  the  largest  dirigible  ever 
built  by  the  United  States  Navy,  was 
successfully  launched  Sept.  4,  and  made 
a  perfect  flight  lasting  an  hour  over 
New  Jersey. 
The  public  schools  of  New  York  City 
opened  Sept.  5  for  the  registration  of  new 
pupils.  The  school  year  will  begin  with 
950.000  pupils. 
that  he  is  preparing  a  revenue  bill  to  tax 
luxuries  and  extravagant  purchases, 
which  will  be  presented  at  the  next  ses¬ 
sion  of  Congress  as  a  substitute  for  the 
proposed  sales  tax.  All  farmers’  sales 
up  to  $6,000  would  be  exempt. 
FARM  AND  GARDEN.— The  recent 
contention  of  the  sugar  price  boosters 
that  a  crop  shortage  for  1922  and  1923 
caused  the  sudden  and  costly  advances 
has  been  refuted  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture.  Statistics  made  public  by 
the  division  of  foreign  and  domestic  mar¬ 
kets  show  rhe  world  production  for  1923 
to  be  4.295,683  short  tons,  compared  with 
4,007.805  for  the  preceding  year.  The 
Cuban  crop  will  fall  behind  that  of  a 
year  ago,  but  the  rest  of  the  world  will 
more  than  make  up  the  loss. 
The  miniature  farmyard  in  Central 
Park,  New  York,  was  opened  Sept.  1  by 
Park  Commissioner  Francis  D.  Gallatin 
and  his  secretaries,  John  J.  Ryan  and 
Willis  Holly,  and  several  hundred  New 
York  children  had  a  chance  to  see  cows 
and  pigs  and  other  barnyard  animals  for 
the  first  time  in  their  lives.  The  pigs 
and  the  cows  seemed  to  create  the  most 
interest  among  the  young  visitors,  many 
of  whom  expressed  their  skepticism  when 
told  that  these  were  the  animals  from 
which  came  the  milk  and  the  ham  that 
they  ate.  Other  farm  animals  now  in¬ 
stalled  at  the  park  include  chickens, 
geese,  ducks,  a  donkey  and  half  a  dozen 
rabbits. 
Although  no  direct  reaction  in  the  raw 
cotton  market  was  apparent  as  a  result 
of  the  earthquake  in  Japan,  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  that  the  Japanese,  who  are  large 
consumers  of  American  cotton,  will  be 
out  of  the  market  until  conditions  there 
have  been  readjusted.  Several  of  the 
large  woolen  mills  are  believed  to  have 
been  damaged  or  destroyed,  as  they  were 
located  in  or  near  Tokio.  Absence  of 
Japanese  support  to  the  London  wool 
auction,  which  opened  Sept.  4,  was  re¬ 
ported  in  cables  to  the  New  York  mar¬ 
ket.  The  Japanese  also  have  been  heavy 
buyers  of  wool  in  Australia  in  recent 
months,  and  their  withdrawal  from  the 
market  there  is  being  closely  watched  for 
reactions. 
Prof.  George  Washington  Carver  of 
Tuskegee  Institute  received  the  Spingarn 
Medal  for  his  discoveries  in  agricultural 
chemistry  Sept.  4  at  the  fourteenth  an¬ 
nual  conference  of  the  National  Associa¬ 
tion  for  the  Advancement  of  Colored 
People,  Kansas  City,  Kan.  The  Spingarn 
Medal  is  awarded  by  the  association  for 
notable  achievements  of  colored  people. 
Prof.  Carver,  in  commenting  upon  his 
work,  said  that  his  discoveries  would 
change  the  economic  life  of  the  South. 
He  is  said  to  have  made  118  products 
September  1.5,  1923 
from  the  sweet  potato,  including  flour, 
which  was  used  by  the  United  State 
Food  Administration  during  the  war  to 
tide  over  during  a  shortage  of  wheat 
flour.  One  hundred  and  sixty-five  prod¬ 
ucts  have  been  made  from  the  peanut, 
Prof.  Carver  says. 
Suit  asking  that  the  Curtiss  Northwest 
Airplane  Company,  and  Edward  Bellieu, 
an  aviator,  be  enjoined  from  flying  over 
their  farm  property  was  filed  at  St.  Paul, 
Minn.,  Sept.  4,  by  Gilbert  O.  Johnson 
and  Robert  Johnson.  A  permanent  in¬ 
junction  to  restrain  the  fliers  and  dam¬ 
ages  of  $7,000  each  is  sought  by  the 
Johnsons,  who  allege  that  the  damages 
were  caused  by  the  falling  of  an  airplane 
piloted  by  Bellieu  on  June  12.  Hearing 
was  set  for  Sept.  8  in  the  case,  said  to 
be  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  Northwest. 
be 
is 
of 
as 
So  vast  an  area  of  Japan  has  been  de¬ 
vastated  by  the  greatest  earthquake  in 
the  history  of  the  country  that  it  will 
long  before  the  actual  loss  of  life 
known.  The  most  reliable  estimates 
the  dead  up  to  Sept.  5  reach  as  high 
300,000  to  500.000.  Tokio  and  Yoko¬ 
hama,  with  surrounding  towns,  which 
formed  the  center  of  the  disturbances, 
are  almost  completely  in  ruins.  For  two 
days  Tokio  was  swept  by  flames,  and 
apart  from  the  loss  of  life  caused  di¬ 
rectly  through  the  falling  of  buildings, 
thousands  must  have  perished  in  their 
attempts  to  make  their  way  through  the 
fire  zones,  and  other  thousands  through 
exhaustion.  Yokohama,  Tokio’s  busy  port, 
is  destroyed.  Probably  more  complete 
destruction,  has  been  wrought  there-  than 
in  the  capital  itself,  for  its  great  docks 
were  torn  asunder,  its  shipping  wrecked, 
its  public  buildings  and  homes  leveled  to 
the  earth.  All  advices  received  indicate 
a  succession  of  earth  disturbances  in  that 
area  extending  for  many  miles  inland 
and  to  the  north,  and  everywhere  the 
first  destructive  forces  were  augmented 
by  .  explosions,  the  bursting  of  water 
mains,  the  overflow  of  rivers  and  the  ter¬ 
rible  overpowering  rush  of  tidal  waves. 
Details  of  geographical  changes  are  lack¬ 
ing.  but  it  is  reported  that  new  islands 
have  been  forced  up  from  the  bed  of  the 
ocean,  while  whole  sections  have  disap¬ 
peared.  Rivers  are  said  to  have  changed 
their  courses  and  volcanoes  are  erupting 
in  various  districts.  Many  members  of 
noble  families  have  perished,  but  thus 
far  the  only  nota'ble  foreign  resident  in 
the  list  of  killed  is  the  American  Consul 
at  5  okohama,  Max  D.  Kirjassof,  who, 
with  his  wife,  is  believed  to  have  been 
buried  in  the  ruins  of  the  consulate.  The 
first  problem  is  that  of  providing  food, 
shelter  and  clothes  for  more  than  2,000,- 
000  persons  in  Tokio  and  for  many  addi¬ 
tional  millions  in  the  other  cities  and  dis¬ 
tricts  affected. 
CONTENTS 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER,  SEPT.  15,  1923 
FARM  TOPICS 
An  Oat  Crop  After  Oats  .  1168 
Culls  in  the  Southern  Potato  Package .  1168 
The  Value  of  Rotted  Manure  .  1169 
Experience  With  Blasting  Bowlders .  .1169,  1170 
A  Suggested  Farm  Plan  .  1172 
Farm  Bureau  Tour  of  Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y, .  .  1176 
Roadside  Markets  and  Dehydration  .  1181 
LIVE  STOCK  AND  DAIRY 
Western  Competition  With  Eastern  Dairy¬ 
men  . .  1-  .1 
Ration  With  Meadow  Hay  .  1186 
Ration  for  Jersey  Heifer  .  1186 
Comparing  Various  Feeds  . .  ’  j  H88 
Lime  in  Cattle  Feed  . H88 
Cork-lined  Dairy  Tanks  .  1188 
THE  HENYARD 
Wheat  in  the  Poultry  Ration  .  1168 
Monument  to  R.  I.  Reds  . H88 
Poultry  Fattening  Crate  . ”  ‘  H69 
Egg-laying  Contest . ;i91 
Pullets  Roost  in  Trees  . ,...'.  1191 
HORTICULTURE 
Fruit  Tree  Bud  Selection  in  California, 
Part  II  .  ii67 
Greenhouse  Benches  of  Cinders  and  Con¬ 
crete  .  nog 
The  Red  Duchess  Apple  .  1169 
“Fixing”  a  New  Vegetable  Variety  ......  1169 
Skunks;  Non-bearing  Apple  Trees  .  1170 
Frost  Protection  for  Dahlias  . ”  1170 
The  Chinese  Holly  . ’  H76 
Fall  Planting  of  Evergreens  . . .  |*  1179 
WOMAN  AND  HOME 
Dill  Pickles  .  1171 
Peeling  Potatoes  Before  Boiling  . "  1176 
From  Day  to  Day  . '.  1192 
The  Rural  Patterns  . ""  1182 
Brining  String  Beans  and  Corn  HS2 
Canning  Sausage  . 1182,  1183 
A  Hooked  Rug  from  Tennessee  .  1183 
Sweet  Mixed  Pickles  .  H83 
The  New  Comer  and  the  Rural  Church 
„  „  1183,  1184 
Fruit  Butters  . H84 
Canning  Vegetable  Soup  Mixtures  . 1184 
Perfect  Parkhr  House  Rolls  .  1184 
Easy  Mending  .  H84 
Notes  from  Vermont  . 1184,  1185 
Loss  of  Liquid  in  Presure  Canning  . .’  1185 
Starting  the  Apple  Season  . .  1185 
Maple  Sugar  and  Fudge  .  1185 
MISCELLANEOUS 
Rise  and  Fall  of  Wages  .  1168 
Eat  Honey,  Talk  Honey,  Live  Honey  ....  1171 
Youth  Must  Be  Served  .  1172 
The  “Water  Witch”  and  His  Work  .  1172 
Countrywide  Produce  Situation  .  1173 
Rights  in  a  Spring  .' .  1175 
Expenditure  for  School  Repairs  .  1175 
Kerosene  for  Moles  . „ .  1179 
Editorials  .  1180 
Preparing  for  the  Rural  School  Battle  ...  1181 
Almon  R.  Eastman  .  1181 
Waste;  or  Government  Distribution,  part  I  1181 
Publisher’s  Desk  . .  119-h 
