I  198 
Tht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
their  request  for  a  conveyance  was  never  complied 
with.  Other  children  have  been  allowed  to  stay  out 
for  long  periods,  because  their  parents  could  not 
get  them  to  school.  After  all,  the  most  important 
part  of  the  school  is  the  teacher.  One  can  overlook 
much  if  the  teacher  is  extra  line.  We  have  a  woman 
for  principal  who  though  she  may  have  but  little 
education  beyond  the  high  school,  has  many  years 
of  successful  teaching  experience,  and  is  unquestion¬ 
ably  fair  and  just.  But  she  has  her  time  so  filled 
with  class  work  that  she  cannot  supervise  the  other 
teachers,  who  are  frequently  teaching  for  the  first 
time,  and  making  many  mistakes,  sometimes  at  the 
expense  of  the  pupils.  I  certainly  do  not  believe  in 
consolidation  unless  the  consolidated  district  can  and 
will  provide  suitable  buildings,  transportation  for  all 
pupils  beyond  walking  distance,  and  such  well- 
trained  teachers  that  there  will  be  no  doubt  of  the 
increased  berfefits  to  be  had  from  the  consolidation. 
THE  PROPOSED  BILL.— “How  does  this  pro¬ 
posed  bill  cover  the  matter  of  consolidation?” 
It  will  help  out  those  districts  that  do  not  want  to 
consolidate,  for  it  allows  consolidation  only  on  ma¬ 
jority  vote  of  both  districts  affected  when  the  pres¬ 
ent  law  allows  the  district  superintendent  to  order 
consolidation.  Although  I  believe  that  in  some  in¬ 
stances  the  community  plan  will  work  toward  con¬ 
solidation,  in  others  it  will  show  the  trustees  the 
inadvisability  of  it.  The  proposed  bill  makes 
•  furnished  transportation  obligatory  when  needed  and 
requested.  It  will  be  a  good  plan  to  have  all  the 
text  books  alike  in  the  several  schools  adjoining. 
This  would  not  necessarily  work  toward  consolida¬ 
tion.  but  toward  uniformity  of  work  and  promotion. 
“Do  you  not  think  the  several  boards  will  prove  a 
cumbersome  piece  of  machinery?” 
I  do  not  know  what  to  think  about  the  boards.  If 
we  have  the  community  plan  of  taxation,  we  would 
have  to  have  a  community  board  to  decide  on  teach¬ 
ers,  the  purchase  of  supplies,  and  to  take  care  of 
the  duties  that  usually  fall  to  any  school  trustee. 
T  believe  that  the  intermediate  board  is  to  elect 
the  district  superintendent,  and  do  away  with  the 
board  of  directors  now  elected  at  our  regular  Fall 
election  which  has  no  further  duties.  That  ought 
to  give  the  ■pe°lfie  a  closer  touch  with  the  superin¬ 
tendent  and  take  the  matter  away  from  politics, 
which  would  be  an  improvement.  The  proposed  law 
seems  to  give  the  intermediate  board  several  duties 
that  some  have  thought  the  district  superintendent 
should  have;  deciding  on  text-books;  hiring  medical 
inspectors,  physical  training  teachers,  and  nurses; 
have  chief  power  in  condemnation  of  buildings.  If 
we  must  have  some  board  to  elect  our  district  super¬ 
intendent,  why  not  make  them  of  some  further  use 
in  school  affairs,  and  answerable  to  the  local  dis¬ 
tricts?  It  does  seem  cumbersome  to  think  of  a 
county  board  too,  but  of  course  that  would  act  only 
the  once,  to  arrange  the  community  districts,  and 
then  forever  be  disbanded. 
“With  all  these  changes,  won’t  our  taxes  be  a 
great  deal  higher?” 
When  all  the  rest  is  said  and  done,  probably  all 
of  us  really  want  to  know  how  it  will  affect  our 
pocketbooks.  The  community  plan  was  designed  to 
equalize  taxes.  It  will  succeed  in  some  instances. 
But  in  our  hill  districts,  where  all  the  districts  are 
poor,  it  will  not  help  us  at  all.  But  here  is  the  thing 
that  will  help  us.  Let  the  Legislature  apportion 
from  some  source  the  sum  asked  for,  to  aid  our 
poorer  districts.  Of  course  some  districts  that  have 
had  an  unusually  low  rate  of  taxation  will  have 
a  higher  rate,  but  those  that  have  had  such  a  high 
rate  will  have  a  lower,  and  be  enabled  at  the  same 
time  to  have  better  equipment,  to  pay  for  better 
trained  teachers,  and  to  give  their  scholars  better 
advantages.  I  am  sorry  that  some  method  of 
equalized  State-wide  tax  could  not  have  been  de¬ 
vised.  It  seemed  to  me  that  we  were  all  under  the 
same  head,  working  for  the  same  ends,  and  since 
some  money  had  to  be  apportioned  to  each  district, 
why  not  tax  each  community  alike,  and  portion  back 
to  it  according  to  its  rating  as  planned  for  the  Ktate 
aid?  But  State  aid  must  be  given  if  we  aj'e  to  im¬ 
prove  our  rural  schools. 
“What  good  will  it  do  for  us  to  decide  what  we 
want?” 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  time  has  come  for  each  and 
every  rural  school  district  to  have  a  special  school 
meeting.  Get  a  copy  of  the  proposed  law  from  your 
Farm  Bureau,  Grange  or  Assemblyman,  or  district 
superintendent.  Talk  over  how  the  law  will  affect 
your  district  and  then  write  your  representatives 
at  Albany  letting  them  know  whether  you  want 
them  to  vote  for  this  bill  or  not.  If  that  were  done, 
t'  e  would  no  longer  be  any  doubt  as  to  whether 
the  ural  people  will  uphold  the  bill  or  not.  I  think 
that  there  are  more  good  points  than  bad  points 
about  the  bill.  This  still  allows  anyone  thinking 
himself  unfairly  treated  by  the  decision  of  any  board 
or  meeting  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  commissioner. 
We  need  some  improved  laws  for  the  schools  opened 
nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  as  well  as  the  improved 
tools  for  the  farms  cleared  over  a  hundred  years  ago. 
Let  us  take  the  best  one  offered  until  some  one 
comes  forward  with  a  better,  mabel  f.  e.  berry. 
Handling  Some  Tough  Land 
My  vegetable  garden  is  100  ft.  by  125  ft.  in  size. 
The  soil  cakes  or  hardens  like  rock,  and  is  pretty  poor. 
It  is  sour  by  the  litmus  test,  and  the  fact  that  sour 
grass  is  abundant.  Although  this  garden  is  only  three 
years  old,  it  has  only  been  fertilized  by  barn  manure, 
both  cow  and  horse,  mostly  the  former,  in  the  Fall. 
What  should  be  done  this  Fall,  use  lime  and  no  ma¬ 
nure?  If  so,  how  much,  and  what  kind  do  I  require, 
and  how  and  when  should  it  be  spread?  Should  I  use 
this  lime  where  my  potatoes  are  to  be  planted?  Also, 
what  about  50  asparagus  roots  and  500  strawberry 
plants?  Is  lime  injurious  to  this  vegetation?  Is  lime 
Here  is  a  duck  of  a  boy  with  his  ducks.  Ilis  grand¬ 
father  says  that  if  this  yearling’s  picture  can  be  printed 
in  The  R.  N.-Y.  “my  ambition  will  be  realized.” 
all  right  for  grapes,  fruits,  berries  and  flowers?  What 
is  the  best  Winter  crop  to  plant  to  be  turned  in  for 
fertilizer,  in  another  plot  of  150  ft.  by  150  ft.  that  was 
plowed  in  May,  and  is  now  covered  with  goldenrod? 
New  York.  h.  m. 
ANY  large  tracts  of  land  arc  in  much  the  same 
condition  as  this  garden.  The  land  is  sour 
and  brick-like.  It  probably  lacks  good  drainage,  and 
the  lime  has  been  worked  out  of  it.  It  probably 
needs  some  sort  of  under  drainage,  but  if  that  can¬ 
not  be  had  now  the  following  treatment  is  suggested. 
Plow  the  land  this  Fall  early,  and  scatter  600  lbs. 
of  burnt  lime  over  it.  The  garden  covers  nearly  30 
per  cent  of  an  acre,  which  means  at  the  rate  of  one 
ton  of  lime.  Harrow  this  lime  thoroughly  into  the 
upper  part  of  the  soil,  and  seed  about  20  lbs.  of 
rye.  If  this  could  be  done  before  Sept.  15  we  would 
add  0  lbs.  of  vetch  seed  but  after  the  date  named  it 
will  be  too  late  to  get  a  full  growth  of  vetch.  In 
the  Spring,  when  the  rye  is  about  IS  in.  high,  put  on 
all  the  manure  you  can  get — right  on  the  green  rye, 
and  plow  it  all  under  together.  Then  broadcast  200 
lbs.  of  acid  phosphate  and  harrow  it  in.  Such  soil  is 
not  usually  in  need  of  potash.  In  late  Summer  and 
Fall,  as  the  garden  crops  come  off,  sow  rye  alone, 
or  rye  and  vetch,  and  plow  the  crop  under  as  here 
suggested.  The  lime  will  break  up  the  soil  and 
make  it  crumble,  and  the  manure  and  green  crops 
will  fill  it  with  organic  matter.  The  thing  to  re- 
member  is  that  for  such  soils  the  most  necessary 
things  are  lime,  organic  matter  and  phosphorus.  On 
the  land  now  covered  with  goldenrod  we  should  fol¬ 
low  about  the  same  plan.  Rye  or  rye  and  vetch  will 
make  the  best  green  manure  crop  for  this  late  sea¬ 
son.  Some  farmers  prefer  to  mow  the  weeds,  dry 
them  and  burn  the  field  over  before  plowing.  The 
idea  of  that  is  to  destroy  as  many  weed  seeds  as 
possible.  We  take  a  chance  on  the  weeds  and  plow 
everything  under  for  the  organic  matter. 
The  Combination  Family  Basket 
R.  HARRY  SPRACKLAND  of  Philadelphia 
hands  us  the  picture  figured  on  first  page. 
This  shows  what  he  calls  a  combination  family 
basket  of  produce  to  be  sent  direct  from  the  farm 
to  the  consumer.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  this 
September  22,  192.“ 
plan  is  worked  out  successfully.  It  is  an  expensive 
way  of  buying,  but  there  are  always  some  city 
people  who  want  the  best  and  will  pay  the  price. 
It  requires  salesmanship  to  secure  such  customers, 
but  some  farmers  have  been  able  to  do  it,  and  we 
present  the  plan  as  one  of  the  methods  farmers  are 
trying  in  order  to  get  closer  to  the  consumer.  Mr. 
Sprackland  describes  his  package  as  follows: 
Contents:  Six  courses  for  four  or  more  persons;  soup, 
roast,  vegetables,  salad,  cheese,  dessert. 
r  .  ...  .  „  .  Retail  Wholesale 
I  pair  chickens  for  frying,  broiling  or 
roasting  $3.00  $1.65 
1  package  with  4  parchment  paper  in¬ 
serts  containing  peas,  carrots  and  kohl 
rabi,  string  beans,  Lima  beans  ( y2  pint 
each  ready  for  immediate  cooking) . 50  15 
1  head  lettuce  .  15  q^ 
10  tomatoes . ’  ’ 'iq  'q- 
1  cucumber  .  '  qr  V>!> 
1  stalk  celery  .  15 
4  green  and  red  peppers . !  h(>  01 
1  bunch  parsley  . ; .  ^0  03 
1  bunch  combination  herbs . 10  03 
1  bunch  okra  .  qq  'q'9 
1  bunch  radishes  . ' " '  ’  'q5  q5 
1  lb.  cottage  cheese . ’  [[  ’  ’  ’15  'q2 
5  large  peaches . .  '  15  ’q’- 
1  dozen  eggs  . !  .50  >5 
Jotnl  . $5.20  $2.51 
An  j  fa  ini  can  produce  ami  pack  the  same  without 
disarrangement  of  present  methods  by  preparing 
early  in  the  Fall  one  acre,  more  or  less,  and  con¬ 
structing  a  cold  frame  100  ft.  long,  using  plant  bed 
cloth  for  sash  covering,  if  glass  is  not  available.  The 
sash  should  be  stored  and  the  bed  covered  with 
roughage  and  banked  up.  This  will  give  an  early 
start  for  all  the  small  products.  That  will  mean 
cash  collections  from  two  to  three  weeks  in  advance 
of  outside  growth  and  also  furnish  plants.  Then 
appoint  one  suitable  person,  preferably  of  the  fam¬ 
ily,  make  a  definite  statement  of  reward  or  profit 
and  support  that  person  in  his  or  her  efforts  to  con¬ 
centrate  and  study  out  details,  and  plans  for  the 
distribution  department  and  solve  the  problem  of 
“I low  to  make  the  farm  pay.” 
GETTING  THE  BUSINESS.— Select  any  given 
territory,  prepare  a  real  letter  telling  of  the  new 
kind  of  farm  and  the  service  you  are  prepared  to 
furnish.  Solicit  an  order  stressing  the  point  that 
you  guarantee  satisfaction.  Make  your  price  right 
and  you  will  be  rendering  service  in  all  that  the 
word  implies;  Sequence,  success. 
By  leaving  eggs  out  of  pack  uncovered,  precooling 
in  ice  box  over  night,  delivering  to  post  office  one 
hour  before  morning  mail  leaves,  marked  “Perish¬ 
able,”  stamped  special  delivery,  your  pack  should  be 
delivered  the  same  day  within  50  miles. 
Chemical  Toilets  in  New  York  Schools 
To  what  extent  is  the  chemical  toilet  used  in  the 
country  schools  of  New  Y~ork  State?  Does  it  give  gen¬ 
eral  satisfaction?  B 
Tioga,  Pa. 
A  RULING  of  the  Department  of  Education  of  this 
State,  made  several  years  ago,  required  that 
outside  toilets,  situated  some  distance  from  the 
school  building,  should  be  replaced  by  toilets  open¬ 
ing  from  the  building  and  equipped  with  either  flush 
or  chemical  closets.  As  very  few  country  schools 
had  the  needed  water  supply  for  flush  closets,  this 
was  equivalent  to  requiring  the  use  of  tanks  and 
chemicals,  though  not  necessarily  those  of  the  make 
that  you  mention.  There  was  much  opposition  to 
this  requirement,  and  the  friction  that  arose  over  it 
is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  retir¬ 
ing  of  the  then  Commissioner  of  Education,  which 
Commissioner  your  State  has  since  had,  and  has 
now  dismissed.  The  ruling  of  the  department  still 
stands,  but  it  has  been  allowed  to  become  a  dead 
letter.  Some  schools  still  use  the  chemical  closets, 
some  have  returned  to  the  outside  toilets;  some 
never  made  the  change.  Thus,  a  needed  movement 
toward  sanitation  and  decency,  more  particularly 
the  latter,  has  at  least  partially  failed,  and  awaits  a 
change  in  sentiment  toward  these  matters  upon  the 
part  of  the  patrons  of  rural  schools. 
So  far  as  the  satisfactory  operation  of  the  chem¬ 
ical  closets  is  concerned,  this  has  depended  upon 
the  care  given  them  after  installation,  though,  at 
best,  they  seem  to  be  short-lived.  Where  properly 
cared  for  and  cleaned,  they  have  been  generally  sat¬ 
isfactory.  When  neglected,  as  they  very  frequently 
have  been,  they  are  unsatisfactory.  It  is  evident 
that,  if  installed  at  all,  they  should  be  provided 
with  au  outlet  into  a  pit,  making  it  possible  to 
empty  them  without  the  use  of  a  pump.  Chemical 
closets  are  not  wholly  automatic  in  operation,  and 
require  some  attention  and  care.  Where  there  is 
no  one  to  become  responsible  for  this  care,  or  where 
the  responsibility  must  rest  upon  unwilling  shoul¬ 
ders,  it  is  a  question  whether  it  is  worth  while  to 
install  them.  Dry  closets  can  be  made  sanitary  and 
decent  where  there  is  the  will  to  do  it.  m.  b.  d. 
