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The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
October  27,  1923 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  TAPER 
A  Nation ul  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes 
Established  ISSO 
FublUhrd  weekly  by  tbe  Rural  PublUhlne  Company.  333  Wejt  30th  Street,  New  Y  ork 
Herbert  W.  Colling  wood,  President  and  Editor. 
John  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
W«.  F.  Dilixw,  Secretary.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Roylk,  Associate  Editor. 
L.  H.  Murphy,  Circulation  Manager. 
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Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
1  never  feel  smaller  than  when  I  send  you  the  price 
you  ask  for  your  paper.  I  get  so  much  out  of  it ;  every¬ 
thing  worth  knowing  about  hens.  A.  E.  B. 
UT  you  make  us  feel  big  when  you  talk  in  that 
way,  for  it  is  no  small  job  to  live  up  to  a  repu¬ 
tation  for  giving  full  and  heaped-up  measure. 
HE  promoters  of  the  new  school  bill  declare  that 
it  is  not  a  consolidation  measure.  We  think  it 
is.  We  think  there  are  several  provisions  in  the  bill 
under  which  schools  may  be  closed  and  the  patrons 
forced  to  send  their  children  to  other  schools,  if  they 
are  to  have  any  schooling  at  all.  One  such  provision 
is  pointed  out  in  the  following  note: 
The  committee  lays  particular  emphasis  upon  its  rec¬ 
ommendation  that  there  shall  be  no  consolidation  of 
schools  except  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  people  in  each 
district  affected  by  a  proposed  consolidation.  They 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  is  a  marked  distinction 
between  the  consolidation  of  districts  and  the  closing 
of  the  school.  If  the  recommendation  of  the  committee 
does  not  constitute  compulsory  consolidation  of  school 
districts,  I  will  have  to  revise  my  understanding  of  the 
definition  of  compulsory  consolidation.  Under  the  pro¬ 
posed  law,  what  are  the  functions  of  the  district?  Only 
the  election  of  a  trustee  once  in  two  years,  who  shall  be 
a  member  of  the  community  board.  The  community 
board  can  close  the  school  in  any  district  for  one  year, 
where  the  average  daily  attendance  of  pupils  is  eight 
or  less  (Section  1288.  Sub-div.  2).  Wait  until  the  law 
is  enacted  and  see.  There  are  3.611  one-teacher  schools 
in  the  State  with  less  than  an  average  daily  attendance 
of  eight  pupils.  That  is  the  number  given  by  the  com¬ 
mittee  in  its  report.  F. 
Thus  tbe  new  law  would  give  immediate  power  to 
close  3.600  schools  for  one  year,  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  they  would  be  re-opened.  The  children  in  these 
little  schools  would  be  sent  elsewhere.  That  would 
surely  mean  consolidation,  and  what  would  the  resi¬ 
dents  of  the  district  have  to  do  about  it  under  this 
new  law?  We  are  not  saying  that  the  committee 
would  advise  closing  all  these  schools,  but  under 
their  law  every  one  of  them  could  be  closed  without 
any  vote  of  the  residents.  And  there  are  several 
other  ways  by  which,  under  this  law,  consolidation 
can  be  forced  upon  the  people. 
* 
ANEW  YORK  farmer  sends  us  a  bill  which  he 
has  received  from  the  town.  They  charge  him 
$2S  for  cutting  weeds  and  brush  on  the  road  in  front 
of  his  farm.  The  charge  is  50  cents  an  hour,  with  no 
great  inclination  to  work.  At  this  rate  a  few  fav¬ 
ored  workmen  can  dawdle  through  a  couple  of 
months  and  make  more  than  they  possibly  could  at 
farming.  The  taxpayer  must  foot  the  bill.  With  the 
present  shortage  of  labor  most  farmers  ai’e  driven 
beyond  their  strength  to  do  their  usual  work.  Many 
of  them  cannot  stop  to  cut  weeds  just  when  they 
are  ordered  to.  To  be  forced  to  pay  $28  for  such  a 
job  is  an  outrage.  When  this  weed  law  was  passed 
the  labor  conditions  were  entirely  different.  It  was 
quite  possible  for  a  farmer  to  do  the  work.  In  many 
cases  it  is  now  impossible  to  do  this  work  on  time, 
and  a  rigid  enforcement  of  such  a  law  under  present 
conditions  is  all  wrong.  The  man  who  tells  us  about 
this  incident  says : 
You  say  if  we  want  things  done  we  must  do  them 
ourselves.  Please  explain  how  we  are  to  get  rid  of 
nincompoop  appointees  who  do  such  things  to  us  when 
we  have  all  the  load  now  that  we  can  stagger  under. 
Of  course  in  this  case  the  only  way  to  “do  it 
yourself”  is  to  cut  the  weeds,  but  we  know  from  ex¬ 
perience  that  this  is  often  impossible ! 
* 
DISPATCH  from  St.  Louis  says  that  176  shares 
of  the  Helvetia  Milk  Condensing  Company,  par 
value  $100,  have  just  been  sold  by  Mrs.  Louisa  Wildi 
of  New  York  City  at  $20,000  a  share,  or  $3,520,000 
for  the  176  shares.  The  sale  was  made  to  other 
stockholders  of  the  company.  The  dispatch  says  that 
the  company  was  organized  38  years  ago  on  a  capital 
of  $15,000.  It  is  estimated  that  only  about  4  per  cent 
of  the  fluid  milk  produced  in  this  country  goes  into 
condensed  milk.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  the 
business  of  condensing  rolls  up  bigger  fortunes  than 
the  business  of  producing  the  raw  product.  Such  a 
business  condenses  dollars  as  well  as  milk ! 
* 
PEAK'ING  of  the  apple  show,  the  New  York 
Tribune  says: 
It  is  now  more  than  twoscore  years  since  Charles 
Francis  Adams  presented  his  famous  barrel  of  Newtown 
Pippins  to  Queen  Victoria.  For  many  years  thereafter 
an  order  came  from  Windsor  Castle  to  Massachusetts 
every  Fall  for  another  consignment  of  such  fruit,  as.  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  royal  taste,  no  English  orchard  could 
equal.  The  trees  of  New  England  and  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey  bear  every  whit  as  perfect  apples  to¬ 
day. 
The  point  is  that  there  are  many  thousand  house¬ 
keepers  in  New  York  City  who  will  imitate  Queen 
Victoria  if  they  ever  have  a  chance  to  know  what  a 
good  apple  is.  Once  get  the  taste  finely  grafted  into 
the  family  and  it  will  never  be  pulled  out.  The  big 
apple  show  will  start  apple-eating  in  many  a  city 
home. 
* 
“Every  citizen  has  a  right  to  support  whomsoever  he 
or  she  chooses  at  any  election,  and  to  take  a  normal 
interest  in  politics,  but  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  do 
not  pay  the  State  employes  to  electioneer ;  they  pay 
them  to  work. 
“Under  this  Administration  State  employes  will  do 
no  electioneering  at  State  expense.  The  custom  which 
has  heretofore  obtained  of  using  the  employes  cf  the 
State  as  political  lighthorsemen  to  campaign  for  favored 
individuals  is  morally  wrong  and  politically  indefensible, 
and  if  practiced  will  lead  to  immediate  dismissal.” 
HAT  is  part  of  a  message  from  Gov.  Pincliot  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  we  hope  he  will  live  up  to  it 
and  promptly  “fire”  every  State  employe  who  neg¬ 
lects  his  work  to  play  politics.  The  same  rule 
should  be  enforced  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 
In  both  States  there  are  a  goodly  number  of  “pub¬ 
lic  servants”  who  seem  to  hold  down  a  job  and  do 
little  for  the  State  in  return  except  draw  their  pay. 
One  of  the  worst  features  of  political  life  is  the  fact 
that  office-holders  through  these  official  positions, 
have  a  great  advantage  in  politics,  and  they  use  the 
time  and  money  which  belong  to  the  State  in  boost¬ 
ing  themselves  or  their  party.  They  are  not  hired 
for  that  work.  If  they  were  employed  by  a  big  cor¬ 
poration  and  should  leave  their  regular  work  to 
push  their  private  business  they  would  be  promptly 
discharged.  The  same  should  be  true  of  political 
office-holders.  They  should  stay  right  on  the  job. 
or  get  right  off.  One  way  to  cure  this  evil  has  been 
suggested,  and  that  is  to  disfranchise  all  govern¬ 
ment  employes — that  is  say  to  a  man:  “If  you  ac¬ 
cept  public  office  under  the  government  you  cannot 
vote  while  you  hold  it.  All  there  is  for  you  to  do  is 
to  work  at  your  job.”  That  would  take  several  mil¬ 
lion  voters  out  of  politics  but  the  rest  of  us,  who 
have  no  political  job.  would  have  a  fairer  chance  at 
getting  what  we  need. 
* 
RUIT  growers  in  the  upper  Atlantic  slope  are 
likely  to  stop  planting  the  Carman  peach  and 
the  Wealthy  apple  for  commercial  purposes.  Both 
of  these  varieties  have  seen  their  best  day.  Carman 
is  a  good  peach  in  many  ways,  but  of  late  years  it 
has  not  given  satisfaction  in  the  market.  When 
picked  early  for  long  shipment  it  is  too  much  like 
a  cling,  the  color  is  not  satisfactory,  and  in  a  dry 
season  like  the  past  one  it  will  not  make  good  size. 
We  think  some  of  the  newer  varieties  now  coming 
on  the  market  will  be  more  satisfactory  in  providing 
a  yellow,  freestone  peach  at  about  the  season  of 
Carman.  As  for  the  Wealthy  apple,  it  has  been 
greatly  over-planted,  chiefly  as  “fillers”  for  McIn¬ 
tosh  and  Baldwin.  With  us  it  ripens  as  an  early  ap¬ 
ple  and,  as  it  drops  badly,  it  must  be  picked,  so  as 
to  compete  with  the  flood  of  early  fruit  from  the 
South.  The  situation  is  such  that  it  should  be  re¬ 
garded  as  a  sort  of  economic  crime  to  advise  people 
to  plant  Wealthy.  True  it  bears  early,  and  its  shape 
'and  size  fit  it  well  to  act  as  a  “filler,”  but  the 
truth  is  there  are  already  too  many  bearing  Wealthy 
trees  for  the  good  of  the  market. 
* 
In  a  recent  issue  you  say  that  the  New  England  peo¬ 
ple  ought  to  produce  more  of  their  food  supply.  I  think 
that  is  bad  advice.  Most  New  England  soils  are  worn 
out  and  cannot  be  restored.  The  section  must  always 
depend  on  other  parts  of  the  country  for  its  food  supply. 
New  Hampshire.  J-  K. 
E  do  not  believe  it!  If  New  England  decides 
that  her  soil  is  “worn  out”  and  attempts  to 
live  the  life  of  a  parasite — drawing  its  food  from  a 
distance — her  manufacturing  supremacy  will  slowly 
fade  away,  and  she  will  lose  her  place  in  the  busi¬ 
ness  sun.  In  the  future  the  food  supply  will  de¬ 
termine  the  fate  of  nations  and  sections.  The  soil 
of  New  England  is  not  “worn  out.”  We  know  of 
one  garden,  in  a  town  where  the  soil  is  naturally 
light,  which  has  produced  more  than  300  crops  in 
succession,  and  this  year’s  crop  is  best  of  all.  Around 
Concord,  Mass.,  are  fields  which  were  used  by  the 
Indians  as  gardens  before  the  white  settlers  ap¬ 
peared.  These  fields  have  been  in  continuous  cul¬ 
tivation  and  still  produce  great  crops.  In  Europe 
there  are  farms  which  have  been  under  cultivation 
for  1,000  years  and  more — still  productive  and 
strong.  Most  of  the  New  England  soil  is  capable 
of  producing  good  crops,  and  with  the  proper  han¬ 
dling  will  continue  production  for  centuries.  It  is 
no  more  “worn  out”  than  the  sun,  the  moon  and  the 
stars.  Much  of  it  is  “resting.”  More  of  it  has  been 
so  abused  that  it  is  sulky,  and  no  wonder,  but  it  is 
not  “worn  out.”  By  using  Soy  beans,  Sweet  and 
Alsike  clover  as  is  done  in  parts  of  the  Middle  West, 
thousands  of  acres  of  New  England  soil  can  be  made 
to  produce  bread  and  meat  for  home  consumption. 
Just  as  soon  as  the  New  England  people  stop 
listening  to  the  pessimists  and  really  believe  that 
their  soil  has  these  possibilities  the  food  supply  will 
increase.  It  is  just  a  matter  of  belief  in  the  soil  and 
its  possibilities. 
* 
HE  political  issue  in  New  York  State  this  year 
is  provided  by  Governor  Smith  in  his  efforts  to 
elect  an  Assembly  which  will  act  in  sympathy  with 
his  plans.  The  present  State  Senate  is  Democratic 
by  one  vote.  With  an  Assembly  of  the  same  politi¬ 
cal  faith  various  advantages  would  be  gained  by 
the  Governor,  in  addition  to  the  general  party  ad¬ 
vantage  in  the  political  conflict  next  year.  Gov. 
Smith’s  well-known  program  of  “welfare”  legisla¬ 
tion  would  go  through,  and  the  Governor’s  chance 
for  the  Presidential  nomination  would  be  greatly 
increased.  Should  Governor  Smith  succeed  in  se¬ 
curing  an  Assembly  to  act  in  full  sympathy  with 
him  the  chances  would  favor  a  repeal  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  agricultural  law  and  the  passage  of  the  proposed 
school  bill.  This  raises  a  question  of  supreme  in¬ 
terest  to  farmers  and  country  people.  Few  people 
will  fight  for  the  agricultural  law  as  it  stands  at 
present,  but  there  is  no  sound  argument  for  chang¬ 
ing  it  until  something  better  is  proposed.  Governor 
Smith’s  plan  would  simply  transfer  the  political 
power  of  the  department  from  one  party  to  another 
without  improving  the  service.  In  the  school  bill 
the  farmers  have  a  definite  and  vital  issue.  The 
Governor  evidently  favors  the  bill,  which  was  in¬ 
troduced  last  session  and  will  work  for  its  passage. 
It  passed  the  Senate  and  would  be  likely  to  pass  an 
Assembly  controlled  by  the  Governor.  We  believe 
the  bill  would  be  used  for  trading  votes,  as  was  evi¬ 
dently  done  last  year  in  the  State  Senate.  We  be¬ 
lieve  that  now,  before  the  election,  friends  of  the 
school  bill  are  dickering  for  political  support  and 
are  prepared  to  endorse  some  of  the  Governor’s  can¬ 
didates  in  order  to  make  sure  of  votes  in  the  As¬ 
sembly  for  the  school  bill.  Our  canvass  shows  that 
at  least  85  per  cent  of  rural  voters  oppose  the  bill. 
It  is  the  most  important  issue  that  has  been  pre¬ 
sented  to  them  for  50  years  and  their  only  hope  of 
defeating  it  lies  in  the  control  of  the  Assembly  this 
year.  Unless  they  make  a  supreme  effort  in  the 
next  few  days  and  force  this  issue  to  the  front  they 
are  likely  to  see  a  combination  at  Albany  next  Win¬ 
ter  that  will  force  this  school  law  upon  them,  and 
we  may  tell  the  politicians  that  the  effect  of  that 
upon  the  political  events  of  next  year  would  be  be¬ 
yond  our  power  to  describe. 
Brevities 
The  farmer  grows  a  crop  during  the  Summer,  and 
makes  a  growth  himself  during  the  Winter. 
You  must  have  money  to  be  a  gentleman  farmer,  but 
it  is  not  such  a  necessity  to  be  a  farmer  gentleman. 
Massachusetts  has  suspended  the  hunting  laws  for 
a  time,  chiefly  to  avoid  fire  troubles.  The  woods  are  as 
dry  as  powder. 
One  of  the  big  bread  makers  advertises  that  he  uses 
only  pure  creamery  butter  for'  shortening.  This  is  a 
good  sign  that  the  public  will  appreciate  a  good  thing. 
Shall  we  cut  the  tops  of  asparagus  this  Fall  or  let 
them  alone  until  Spring?  That  old  question  comes  up 
every  year.  We  let  them  alone.  They  hold  the  snow 
and  give  some  protection. 
Some  corn  was  frosted  this  year  before  it  could  be 
put  into  the  silo.  We  think  it  will  still  make  good 
silage  by  using  water  when  cutting  it  and  adding  some 
of  the  bacteria  as  a  “starter.” 
It  is  10  to  one  that  whenever  you  hear  men  or  women 
go  out  of  their  way  to  praise  themselves  or  their  goods 
you  begin  to  suspect  that  all  is  not  well.  Selfpraise 
will  rarely  stand  investigation. 
“Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty.”  True 
now  as  it  ever  was  ;  in  fact,  more  true  than  ever.  Yet 
some  folks  will  not  invest  the  price  of  a  postage  stamp 
with  which  to  express  their  opinion  to  their  representa¬ 
tive. 
The  Ohio  Experiment  Station  tells  of  receiving  ac¬ 
counts  of  potato  vines  that  produce  tomatoes.  This  is, 
of  course,  impossible,  and  investigation  shows  that  what 
the  reporters  took  to  be  tomatoes  are  ordinary  potato 
seed  balls. 
