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The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
October  13,  1923 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  B  U SIS  ESS  FARMER’S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  l'or  Country  and  Suburban  Homes 
Established  tsso 
f  ublltbrd  «r**kly  hjr  the  Rural  Publiihlnr  Company,  833  Hut  80lh  Street,  New  fork 
Herbert  W.  Collingwood,  President  and  Editor. 
John  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
Wm.  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Royle,  Associate  Editor. 
L.  H.  Murphy,  Circnlation  Manager. 
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Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
I  wonder  whether  figures  show  a  great  increase  in 
milk  used?  The  other  day  a  milkman  was  collecting 
and  along  came  a  coal  truck  with  two  black  men.  They 
each  got  a  bottle  of  milk  and  sat  there  on  the  truck 
eating  and  drinking,  and  such  a  contrast  between  black 
and  white  when  the  bottle  went  up  in  .the  air.  In  times 
past  they  would  have  gone  into  a  saloon.  Hurrah  for 
that  much  anyhow.  MRS.  R.  w. 
HE  figures  do  show  that  there  is  a  constant  in¬ 
crease  in  the  demand  for  milk.  The  increase 
is  evident  to  anyone  who  will  look  about  in  any 
large  city.  We  formerly  saw  dozens  of  people  hurry¬ 
ing  along  the  street  near  The  It,  N.-Y.  office  with 
pitchers  and  buckets — out  after  beer.  Now,  if  you 
will  look  into  these  vessels  you  will  find  that  most 
of  them  contain  milk !  Fashionable  women  are 
drinking  milk  to  brighten  the  bloom  and  deepen  the 
color  of  their  complexions,  so  that  it  was  quite  nat¬ 
ural  for  those  colored  men  to  drink  milk.  “Hurrah 
for  that  much,  anyhow!”  That's  the  way  to  regard 
it.  If  two  men  can  be  interested  each  day,  you  will 
have  730  during  the  year,  and  if  they  drink  one 
quart  each  a  day,  you  make  business  for  a  good 
many  cows!  That  is  the  way  markets  are  devel¬ 
oped. 
* 
NATURE  may  have  made  a  finer  fruit  than  the 
McIntosh  apple,  but  if  we  were  forced  to  find  it 
as  the  only  way  to  avoid  hanging,  we  should  fully 
expect  to  he  executed.  We  may  enjoy  strawberries, 
1 -eaches.  grapes,  oranges,  mangoes,  or  we  may  con¬ 
fess  that  we  have  no  bananas  left.  They  are  all 
fine,  but  when,  in  September,  there  comes  a  little 
crispy  chill  in  the  air,  with  a  blue,  cloudless  sky  and 
just  a  hint  of  smoky  haze  on  the  distant  hills,  and 
we  see  the  red  cheek  of  ripe  McIntosh  blushing  amid 
the  green  leaves,  then  we  know  that  the  most  fra¬ 
grant,  spicy  flesh  that  Nature  ever  hung  on  a  tree  is 
ready  for  us.  This  may  seem  like  extravagant 
praise,  but  in  all  the  visitors  to  our  orchard  we  never 
found  but  one  man  who  denied  it.  McIntosh  has  its 
faults — like  all  the  rest  of  us.  It  blights  readily.  It 
grows  too  much  inside  the  tree.  It  falls  badly,  and 
decays  quickly,  and  it  ripens  too  early  in  the 
season,  at  a  time  when  it  must  compete  with  culls 
and  inferior  fruit,  or  go  into  storage.  But  with  all 
its  faults  we  love  it  still.  It  is  the  king  of  eating 
apples.  We  hope  that  its  relative,  Cortland,  will 
drop  some  of  its  faults  and  retain  the  fine  flavor. 
Let  us  never  forget  such  fine  old  friends  as  Baldwin, 
Spy  and  Greening,  but  during  its  short  life  McIntosh 
is  king  of  them  all.  Its  memory  brings  a  good  taste 
to  the  mouth. 
* 
LET  us  make  it  absolutely  clear  that  The  R.  N.-Y. 
will  support  any  school  bill  which  has  the  back¬ 
ing  of  a  majority  of  country  people.  The  bill  pro¬ 
posed  by  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one  cannot  com¬ 
mand  such  backing.  We  are  making  a  thorough 
canvass  of  the  State,  district  by  district.  Here  are 
a  few  sample  returns :  District  No.  7.  town  of  Hur- 
k.v,  Ulster  Co.,  votes  55  to  2  against  the  bill  as  it 
stands.  District  No.  5,  Mentz,  Cayuga  Co.,  votes  64 
to  0  against  the  bill.  District  No.  9.  Hornellsville, 
Steuben  Co.,  voted  61  to  3  against.  At  the  school 
meeting  held  last  May  in  one  supervisory  district 
in  Madison  County,  out  of  289  voters  14  favored  the 
bill,  165  outspoken  in  opposition,  while  110  were  un¬ 
decided.  Since  then  at  least  half  of  the  undecided 
have  come  out  in  opposition  to  the  bill.  These  are 
but  fair  samples,  where  men  and  women  give  their 
names  and  thus  record  their  votes.  There  are  a  few 
country  districts  where  the  vote  would  be  closer, 
but  it  is  beyond  question  that  a  vast  majority  of 
rural  voters  oppose  the  bill.  We  take  it  to  be  the 
intention  of  the  committee  to  force  its  bill  upon  the 
country  people  whether  they  want  it  or  not.  We 
think  they  would  make  better  progress  by  adopting 
a  more  conciliatory  plan,  and  making  it  clear  that 
they  will  accept  a  modification  of  their  scheme  which 
will  satisfy  the  country  people.  A  rule  or  ruin  pol¬ 
icy  never  did  work  well  with  New  York  farmers. 
Nor  is  the  committee  frank  and  open  in  its  public 
discussions  of  the  bill.  It  presents  only  the  most 
favorable  side  of  the  case,  and  ignores  or  dodges  a 
discussion  of  the  real  meaning  and  intent  of  the 
measure.  The  farmers  understand  clearly  that  this 
bill  is  designed  to  bring  about  consolidation  of 
schools  wherever  possible.  The  people  who  framed 
the  bill  are  all  in  favor  of  consolidation  as  a  prin¬ 
ciple  of  school  law,  and  the  entire  machinery  of  the 
hill  is  built  up  with  the  evident  purpose  of  centraliz¬ 
ing  the  entire  system.  We  think  the  committee  has 
made  a  tactical  blunder  in  not  frankly  and  openly 
admitting  that  it  would  like  to  work  out  fully  the 
plan  of  consolidation.  That  would  make  a  clear, 
honest  argument,  but  all  this  attempt  to  disguise  or 
camouflage  the  real  nut  in  the  bill  has  created  a 
feeling  which  can  hardly  he  overcome. 
* 
If  a  boy,  10  years  old,  is  caught  stealing  fruit  from 
an  orchard,  and  lie  is  shot,  can  the  boy’s  parents  secure 
any  damages  against  the  orchardist?  If  A’s  cow  goes 
in  B’s  garden,  causes  a  great  deal  of  damage,  and  B, 
in  a  rage,  kills  the  cow,  can  A  sue  B  for  the  cost  of  the 
cow  ?  A.  R.  N. 
HESE  cases  refer  to  the  New  Jersey  law,  but 
we  have  similar  questions  from  other  States. 
Where  a  10-year-old  boy  is  injured  in  this  way  his 
parents  would  have  a  right  of  action  against  the 
orchard  owner.  They  might  recover  damages;  it 
would  depend  on  the  jury.  We  think  cases  have 
been  decided  both  ways.  It  is  generally  held  that 
such  a  man  has  no  right  to  “take  the  law  in  his  own 
hands.”  The  law  holds  that  this  man  would  be  jus¬ 
tified  in  using  sufficient  force  to  get  the  hoy  away 
from  the  orchard.  There  is  small  comfort  in  that 
where  the  man  is  60  or  over,  and  the  boy  is  as  active 
as  a  flea !  In  the  case  of  the  cow,  the  same  thing 
holds;  the  owner  of  the  garden  had  no  right  to  de¬ 
stroy  private  property  when  his  life  was  not  in  dan¬ 
ger!  All  either  man  could  do  would  be  to  sue  the 
parents  of  the  'boy  or  the  owner  of  the  cow  for  dam¬ 
ages.  That  brand  of  comfort  is  so  cold  that  it  would 
freeze  all  the  enjoyment  out  of  life.  The  truth  is 
that  the  untamed  small  boy  and  the  tramp  cow  are 
apt  to  become  regular  community  pests.  The  phys¬ 
ical  punishment,  if  any,  should  be  inflicted  upon  the 
parents  and  the  owner,  who  are  most  responsible. 
* 
WE  firmly  believe  that  one  reason  for  the  pres¬ 
ent  trouble  with  farming  is  the  fact  that  too 
much  public  construction  work  is  being  done  at  one 
time.  Federal,  State,  city  and  community  govern¬ 
ments  are  all  rushing  such  work — from  the  great 
highways  across  the  country  to  the  little  town  bridge 
or  schoolhouse — all  are  crowding  new  construction. 
Most  of  these  enterprises  are  being  built  on  bor¬ 
rowed  capital.  Bonds,  usually  tax-exempt,  have 
been  sold,  often  at  a  discount,  but  with  guaranteed 
high  interest.  One  reason  why  farmers  or  small 
operators  cannot  obtain  fair  credit  is  because  too 
much  of  the  public  money  is  tied  up  in  these  public 
construction  works,  and  secured  by  bonds.  There  is 
a  rush  to  put  these  jobs  through,  and  the  contrac¬ 
tors  pay  extravagant  wages  and  bid  against  each 
other  for  workmen.  In  one  case  we  know  a  farm 
boy  of  17  was  paid  $25  a  week,  an  eight-hour  day, 
for  driving  a  contractor’s  truck.  Of  course  no 
farmer  can  compete  with  such  wages  at  present 
prices  of  farm  products,  yet  this  ease  is  like  many 
others.  This  great  rush  of  public  construction  work 
is  using  up  money  so  as  to  make  it  hard,  if  not  im¬ 
possible,  for  a  farmer  to  obtain  a  fair  loan.  It  also 
creates  a  labor  competition  which  pulls  men  away 
from  the  farm  and  makes  them  discontented  or 
critical.  A  large  share  of  this  public  construction 
should  he  called  off  until  farm  conditions  are  ad¬ 
justed.  The  time  to  push  such  construction  is  when 
the  towns  are  full  of  idle  men — not  when  farmers 
are  unable  to  find  help  to  handle  their  crops. 
* 
DID  you  ever  stop  to  think  how  many  persons 
are  on  Uncle  Sam’s  payroll?  That  ought  to  in¬ 
terest  you.  for  Uncle  Sam  is  your  agent,  and  spends 
the  money  you  pay  him  as  taxes.  This  country  is 
now  paying  $3,800,000,000  for  salaries  of  those  who 
are  supposed  to  govern  us.  All  told  there  are  3,400,- 
000  persons  on  the  payroll.  There  are  670,000  pen¬ 
sioners  and  2,700,000  so-called  public  servants.  It 
costs  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  country 
about  $34  a  year  to  fill  up  these  pay  envelopes. 
That  is  nearly  half  of  all  the  money  paid  out  as 
wages  by  all  our  factories  which  produce  $5,000 
worth  of  goods  a  year.  It  also  means  that  each  per¬ 
son  over  10  years  of  age  gainfully  employed  must 
put  up  $91  each  year  to  pay  these  public  salaries. 
If  you  do  not  pay  this  $91  directly  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  you  pay  it  indirectly  in  prices  of  what  you 
buy.  As  compared  with  20  years  ago  there  are 
twice  as  many  persons  on  the  federal  payroll  at 
present.  We  are  paying  too  much  money  for  the 
privilege  of  being  governed,  inspected,  advised  and 
directed.  Too  many  of  our  schools  and  colleges  are 
being  conducted  with  the  end  in  view  of  locating 
their  graduates  in  more  or  less  fat  government  jobs. 
At  least  half  of  this  great  army  of  public  employes 
niigh  well  go  back  to  the  simple  life  of  real  labor. 
* 
THE  latest  figures  show  that  the  assessed  value 
of  real  and  personal  property  in  New  York  City 
is  $12,116,155,725.  Of  this  vast  sum.  $850,629,525  re¬ 
presents  values  of  personal  property.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  great  city  has  about  three-fourths  of  the 
wealth  of  the  entire  State.  It  is  popular  belief  that 
John  D.  Rockefeller  leads  the  world  in  personal  prop¬ 
erty,  but  he  gives  place  to  Eli  Joseph,  a  dealer  in 
scrap  iron,  who  is  assessed  for  $3,000,000.  This  indi¬ 
cates  not  only  how  wealth  is  changing  hands,  but 
also  how  much  must  be  wasted  in  the  scrap  heaps  of 
our  great  cities.  The  city  complains  that  it  is  not 
permitted  to  handle  its  own  tax  problems,  but  must 
submit  to  State  legislation.  Manhattan  Island  alone 
has  real  estate  assessed  at  $6,226,720,618,  with  per¬ 
sonal  property  assessments  of  $563,796,625.  In  its 
effect  upon  American  society,  the  dumping  of  this  vast 
wealth  upon  this  small,  rocky  island  is  not  unlike 
high  blood  pressure  in  the  human  system.  Many 
Americans  take  great  pride  in  the  wealth  of  New 
York  City,  even  though  it  may  mean  an  injury  to 
them.  The  nation  would  be  far  better  off  if  the  great 
town  could  be  broken  up  and  divided  into  50  smaller 
places — out  near  the  farms. 
* 
THE  next  big  event  to  interest  Eastern  farmers  is 
the  great  fruit  show  to  be  held  in  this  city, 
beginning  November  3.  While  all  fruits  will  be  rep¬ 
resented,  the  apple  will  be  king ;  in  fact,  this  exhibi¬ 
tion  is  designed  to  show  New  York  people  that  the 
Eastern-grown  apple  is  superior  to  any  other  fruit 
of  its  season.  As  that  season  now  extends  all  through 
the  year,  our  apple-growers  have  undertaken  a  large 
contract  They  can  make  good  on  it.  however,  and 
will  do  so.  This  great  city  must  be  made  to  realize 
that  it  represents  a  section  flowing  with  milk  and 
apples.  This  show  will  be  different  from  anything  of 
the  sort  ever  held  before.  There  will  he  many  new 
and  original  features,  and  all  who  attend  will  he 
well  entertained.  There  are  9.000.000  people  in  what 
is  known  as  the  metropolitan  district,  which  means 
a  wide  circle  around  New  York.  In  this  district 
the  average  consumption  of  milk  for  each  person  is 
less  than  150  quarts  per  year,  while  of  apples  the 
average  is  hardly  60.  Each  man,  woman  and  child 
in  this  district  should  consume  300  quarts  of  milk 
and  350  apples  each  year.  That  would  tax  the  cows 
and  the  apple  trees  to  supply  the  demand,  and  the 
farmer  would  collect  the  taxes!  This  great  apple 
show  is  designed  to  help  bring  about  this  high  con¬ 
sumption.  It  is  one  of  many  ways  of  showing  that 
the  apple  is  the  best  of  all  fruit,  and  that  the  best 
apples  are  grown  on  the  upper  Atlantic  slope. 
Brevities 
An  empty  wagon  and  an  empty  head,  make  the  most 
noise  when  all  is  said. 
Still  time  to  seed  rye  for  a  cover  crop.  Too  late  for 
vetch  in  the  latitude  of  New  York. 
One  agreeable  way  to  help  the  wheat  grower  would 
be  to  substitute  cake  for  much  of  the  candy  now  con¬ 
sumed.  That  would  help  take  care  of  the  surplus  flour. 
Can  you  tell  where,  on  the  world’s  map,  Latvia  is 
located?  It  is  getting  to  be  a  competitor  in  the  world’s 
butter  market.  During  last  June  over  one  million 
pounds  of  butter  were  exported  from  Latvia. 
The  Ohio  Agricultural  College  states  that  400  farm¬ 
ers  and  a  brass  band  at  Glendale,  O.,  turned  out  to  meet 
a  freight  train  of  35  cars  carrying  1,057  tons  of  ground 
limestone. 
The  first  freeze  in  the  North  Country  this  year  played 
some  strange  tricks.  In  some  cases  part  of  a  field  was 
frozen,  the  rest  unhurt.  Some  sections  would  be  left 
green,  while  all  around  it  the  corn  was  killed. 
Hay  promises  to  bring  higher  prices  than  last  year. 
The  crop  is  estimated  at  about  16,000,000  tons  less  than 
last  season,  while  demand  is,  if  anything,  a  little 
stronger. 
So  far  as  we  can  learn  there  has  been  no  reduction 
in  wheat  or  rye  acreage  in  our  territory.  The  low 
prices  for  small  grain  has  not  been  considered  in  seed¬ 
ing.  The  country  has  too  much  wheat  for  its  distribut¬ 
ing  facilities. 
