the  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1391 
N.  Y. ;  third,  J.  Willard  Ramsey,  Lebanon,  N.  J. ; 
fourth,  Eckhardt  Beck,  Milford,  N.  Y. 
Ayrshire  yearling  heifers :  First,  John  Barrow, 
Forest  Hill,  Md. 
Guernsey  yearling  heifers:  First,  Lida  Amoss, 
Fallstou,  Md. ;  second.  Georgia  Hadley,  New  Bruns¬ 
wick.  N.  J. ;  third,  Courtney  Woodside.  Mount  Holly. 
N.  J. ;  fourth,  Harold  Smith,  Boonton,  N.  J. ;  fifth, 
Melva  Smith,  Bound  Brook,  N.  J. 
Guernsey  calves :  First,  William  Amoss,  Fallston, 
Md. ;  second,  Riggs  Darby,  Boyds,  Md. ;  third,  James 
Kelly,  Towson,  Md. ;  fourth,  Mary  E.  Lynch,  Stanley, 
N.  Y. 
As  an  example  of  the  competition  in  the  Holstein 
heifer  calf  class  there  were  33  entries  in  line.  In 
the  yearling  Holstein  class,  there  were  16  entries. 
There  were  10  Jersey  calves  shown,  and  as  many 
Ayrshires,  and  even  more  in  both  the  Guernsey 
classes.  There  was  one  Jersey  cow  in  milk,  shown 
by  her  calf  club  owner,  W.  Melrose  Harper,  of  Har- 
persfield.  N.  Y. ;  an  Ayrshire  cow  in  milk,  shown  by 
Lawrence  Shepard,  West  Boylston,  Mass.;  and  three 
Holstein  cows  in  milk,  cared  for,,  developed  and 
shown  by  Walter  Burd,  Mary  Hansen,  and  George 
Wooden,  all  of  Lambertville,  N.  J.  These  cows 
varied  in  age  from  two  years  to  five  years,  and 
showed  the  perseverance  that  young  people  will  de¬ 
velop  when  given  the  right  materials  to  work  with, 
the  proper  encouragement,  and  the  incentive  of  real 
ownership.  When  we  remember  that  the  'Great 
War  was  won  by  minors  and  those  on  the  verge  of 
their  majorities,  it  seems  very  splendidly  worth¬ 
while  to  foster  activities  of  this  sort  among  the 
coming  generation. 
There  are  other  wars  of  divers  sorts  on  the  hori¬ 
zon.  or  on  our  very  doorsteps,  and  the  strength  and 
skill  of  youth  must  be  the  salvation  of  tomorrow. 
All  honor  to  the  practical  education  of  boys  and 
girls  of  today.  The  heartiest  support  and  co-opera¬ 
tion  of  farmer-parents  in  training  of  this  sort  is  a 
wise  investment  for  the  future.  M-  G-  F- 
The  Problem  of  Fuel  Peat 
On  page  1283  there  is  an  article  entitled  “Peat  Fuel 
in  New  England.”  And  why  not?  I  do  not  believe  in 
sitting  down  and  allowing  the  coalmen  to  squeeze  out 
our  last  dollar  and  then  throw  us  aside  to  freeze.  In 
about  1870  or  1871,  when  I  was  a  boy  in  \\  isconsin, 
there  was  an  attempt  to  put  peat  in  shape  to  burn. 
This  was  at  a  place  seven  or  eight  miles  west  ot  1  onu 
du  Lac,  Wis.  On  a  large  tract  of  peat  swamp  a  ma¬ 
chine  was  built  in  the  shape  of  a  boat  with  a  set  ot  cut¬ 
ting  blades  on  the  front  end  similar  to  a 
rotary  snow  plow.  A  canal  was  dug  ahead 
ot  rhe  boat,  and  the  material  was  carried 
back  and  through  a  grinding  process,  and 
then  in  a  set  of  long  spouts,  which  dis¬ 
tributed  it  in  layers  on  each  side  some 
6  in.  thick  where  it  was  allowed  to  dry 
sufficiently  so  that  it  could  be  cut  into 
bricks  and  stacked  up  to  cure  further.  It 
did  not  last  long,  because  the  overhead 
expense  was  too  high,  owing  to  lack  of 
transportation.  Possibly  this  might  have 
been  a  promotion  scheme.  I  remember 
my  father  bought  some  of  this  fuel  and 
found  it  to  be  a  good  substitute  for  wood, 
as  very  little,  if  any,  coal  was  used  out¬ 
side  the  larger  cities  at  that  time. 
Connecticut.  a.  c.  INNIS. 
IG.  614  shows  a  sample  of  prepared 
peat  sent  us  by  Mr.  Win.  Clement 
of  Michigan.  We  received  a  small  bag 
of  this  fuel,  and  have  tried  it  in  va¬ 
rious  fires.  It  burns  freely  to  a  fine 
ash  when  mixed  with  coal  or  wood, 
and  gives  off  a  good  supply  of  heat. 
This  peat,  as  we  understand  it,  is  sub¬ 
jected  to  some  chemical  process  to  de¬ 
stroy  the  cells,  and  is  then  dried  and 
pressed.  We  do  not  know  whether  the 
process  is  economical.  In  some  past 
experiments  we  are  told  that  while  the 
peat  can  be  prepared  for  fuel  the  cost 
of  handling  it  is  too  great.  We  must  remember  that 
peat  is  organic  matter  on  the  road  to  coal  forma¬ 
tion.  Left  to  itself  for  thousands  of  years  the  peat 
deposits  would  slowly  change  to  coal  beds.  The 
modern  problem  is  to  find  a  way  for  chemistry  to 
do  in  a  few  days  what  nature  requires  thousands 
of  years  to  bring  about  in  making  usable  fuel  out  of 
peat.  We  think  a  plan  will  finally  be  worked  out, 
and  it  will  mean  great  things  for  New’  England, 
where  man  has  accumulated  mechanical  skill,  while 
nature  has  given  the  section  no  deposits  of  coal  or 
oil.  Fuel  is  needed,  and  the  peat  beds  may  supply  it. 
Electric  Light  and  Plant  Growth 
NCREASING  egg  production  in  Winter  toy  arti¬ 
ficial  light  in  the  henhouse,  at  first  sneered  at  as 
ridiculous,  has  become  common  commercial  practice. 
The  hens  are  better  nourished  because  of  the  longer 
time  given  them  for  eating  and,  if  of  good  laying 
strains,  work  better. 
Is  it  possible  to  apply  this  idea  successfully  to 
plant  growth?  We  recently  saw’  the  results  of  an 
experiment  which  appears  to  show  that  some  plants 
at  least  respond  to  artificial  light.  Ip  the  Peter 
Henderson  &  Co.  trial  grounds  greenhouse,  at  Bald¬ 
win,  Long  Island,  32  flats  w’ere  filled  with  earth 
of  uniform  character,  so  nearly  as  could  be  judged, 
and  in  them  vegetable  and  flower  seeds  were  planted. 
Half  the  seeds  in  a  packet  were  put  in  a  flat  to  be 
lighted  and  half  in  another  flat  as  a  check.  The 
flats  w’ere  put  on  benches  on  each  side  of  the  center 
path  of  the  greenhouse,  one  side  to  be  under  strong 
Samples  of  Prepared  Fuel  Peat.  Fig.  614 
artificial  light  five  hours  every  night,  beginning  at 
9  I*.  M.,  and  the  check  row  of  flats  shaded  from  this 
light  as  much  as  possible.  The  planting,  watering 
and  other  care  were  attended  to  by  a  competent 
gardener  and  greenhouse  man.  Julius  Heinrich,  w’ho 
told  us  that  he  was  apprenticed  to  Peter  Henderson 
56  years  ago. 
To  secure  a  dependable  electric  current,  a  plant 
of  the  home  light  and  power  type  was  installed  by 
the  Westinghouse  Co.  in  a  nearby  building.  It  con¬ 
sisted  of  a  100-volt  capacity  kerosene  engine  genera¬ 
tor  run  as  needed  for  charging  the  proper  amount  of 
storage  batteries  to  supply  the  desired  light,  a  row’ 
of  500-watt  lamps,  2%  ft.  apart,  about  3  ft.  above 
the  flats  to  be  lighted.  Bell  reflectors  threw  the 
light  down  where  needed.  The  lamps  made  no  no¬ 
ticeable  difference  in  heat  on  the  flats  treated. 
The  experiment  wras  started  the  last  of  August, 
and  our  observations  made  October  19.  Some  of 
both  vegetable  and  flower  plants  seemed  to  have 
paid  but  slight  attention  to  the  effort  to  make  them 
work  overtime.  With  others,  the  difference  in  growth 
was  striking.  Lettuce  under  the  light  was  approxi¬ 
mately  four  times  as  large  as  the  check  flat;  cu¬ 
cumbers  and  bush  beans,  about  one-third  larger. 
Radishes,  tomatoes,  celery,  beets  and  carrots  showed 
slight  difference.  In  flowers,  Gypsophila  made  the 
greatest  increase  being  five  times  as  large 
under  the  light,  and  in  bloom.  Wallflow’ers, 
Antirrhinum  and  Didiscus  were  about  twice  as 
large. 
Should  future  tests  confirm  the  results  apparent 
in  this  case,  or  some  of  them,  a  w’ide  field  of  useful¬ 
ness  might  be  developed  in  both  amateur  and  com¬ 
mercial  greenhouse  w’ork.  Anyone  writh  a  green¬ 
house  and  electric  current  available  can  easily  ask 
a  few  of  the  plants  wdiat  they  think  of  this  idea. 
w.  w.  H. 
Wm.  Goat — MiniatureTractor 
E  have  heard  much  of  late  about  the  milk  goat 
and  her  great  value  to  society.  She  is  an  econo¬ 
mical  producer  of  milk,  clean,  healthy,  and  accom¬ 
modating.  So  far  as  we  can  learn  the  milk  goat  is 
really  a  most  economical  animal.  As  years  go  by 
she  is  likely  to  have  considerable  influence  upon  the 
dairy  business.  Her  place  will  be  in  providing  small 
quantities  of  milk  for  small  families  on  small 
places.  You  might  call  her  a  piano-box  cow.  She 
will  live  in  small  quarters,  mind  her  own  business, 
eat  economically  and  give  a  small  family  about  as 
much  milk  as  they  require.  In  all  this  discussion, 
however,  little  has  been  said  about  the  husband  of 
Mrs.  Goat,  Billy.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  case  of 
the  least  said  about  him  the  better,  yet  it  appears 
that  he  has  his  uses  too  on  some  small  places. 
Most  of  us  have  seen  families  w’liere  the  mother,  a 
fine-looking  woman,  exhibits  her  family  and  her  ac¬ 
complishments,  but  little  if  anything  is  ever  head  of 
the  “man”  of  the  house.  At  times  we  see  an  in¬ 
dividual  sifting  ashes,  or  working  in  the  garden  or 
going  out  as  bread-winner — tout  he  doesn’t  count! 
He  is  much  like  Mr.  Wm.  Goat. 
Mr.  Wm.  Hoffmeister  of  Bucks  Co.,  Pa.,  sends 
us  the  picture  engraved  herewith.  He  calls  Billy 
a  champion  animal.  This  goat  was  seven  years  old 
last  May,  and  he  has  been  trained  to  plow  and  culti¬ 
vate  in  a  small  garden.  Of  course,  the  plow  used 
is  a  little  garden  tool,  but  Billy  knows  his  business 
and  turns  over  the  soir  like  a  homeopathic  tractor. 
This  is  certainly  a  new  use  for  the  goat.  These 
animals  are  strong  enough  to  haul  a  little  plow  and 
work  a  garden,  and  if  one  can  have  patience  enough 
to  train  them  for  the  job  we  see  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  help.  With  Mr.  Billy  taking  care 
of  the  garden  and  Mrs.  Nanny  providing  milk  the 
family  will  become  part  of  every  suburban  household. 
A  Sensible  School  Trustee 
S  TO  CONSOLIDATION. — It  is  becoming  more 
and  more  evident  from  the  discussion  of  the 
school  bill  that  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York 
do  not  want  consolidation.  They  will  resent  having 
it  forced  upon  them,  or  indirectly  brought  about. 
We  honestly  believe  that  wholesale  consolidation 
will  not  solve  the  rural  school  problem.  We  have  a 
vision  of  a  large  village  union  consolidated  school 
to  which  all  the  children  in  a  town¬ 
ship  must  be  sent  willy-nilly,  no  mat¬ 
ter  what  the  distance,  the  moral  re¬ 
sults  or  the  kind  of  teaching.  Perhaps 
this  vision  is  wrong,  but  we  seem  to 
have  it  and  we  shrink  from  it.  Well 
then,  let  us  accept  this  fact  and  with¬ 
out  stopping  to  waste  more  words  or 
to  use  up  the  word  consolidation  com¬ 
pletely,  which  is  beginning  to  show 
signs  of  wear,  go  to  work  and  study 
hard  on  other  improvements.  It  is 
not  a  question  necessarily  of  only  two 
conditions:  consolidation  or  the  pres¬ 
ent  system ;  but  a  choice  of  three  con¬ 
ditions:  consolidation  or  the  present 
system  or  an  improvement  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  system. 
THE  TWO-TEACHER  SCHOOL.  — 
The  first  improvement  I  would  sug¬ 
gest  is  that  our  districts  be  enlarged 
enough  to  bring  from  40  to  80  children 
together  with  two  teachers.  The  one- 
room  has  the  great  disadvantage  of 
having  the  oldest  and  the  youngest 
pupils  all  together,  and  only  a  few  in  a 
class.  When  it  comes  to  the  general 
work  of  a  room  it  is  a  wonderful  improvement  to 
have  the  lower  grades  by  themselves,  the  upper 
grades  by  themselves.  There  are  many  things  to 
discuss  in  this  connection,  but  I  .vill  not  take  more 
time  now.  If  we  could  have  two  teachers  in  our  dis¬ 
trict,  and  if  I  could  pick  them  out,  I  know  our 
school  could  be  made  just  as  good  as  a  city  school. 
And  I  will  wager  that  the  parents  who  were  fa¬ 
miliar  with  both  would  choose  to  send  their  chil¬ 
dren  to  our  school.  But  I  do  believe  that  it  is 
necessary  for  the  two-room  school  to  take  'the  place 
of  the  one-room.  This  can  toe  done  with  our  present 
law,  the  machinery  we  now  have,  see  the  old  Article 
5  and  the  new  Article  6B.  Has  anyone  tried  to 
work  out  the  plan  of  Article  6B?  This  was  added 
to  the  law  in  1914.  The  State  also  offers  more  aid 
as  an  inducement  towards  this  plan  of  a  two-teacher 
school,  see  Assembly  Bill  Print  No.  2156.  This  bill 
was  signed  by  the  Gpvernor  in  June.  We  seem  to 
have  everything  we  need  in  this  direction.  Has  any 
The  Goat  Furnishes  Motive  Power.  Fig.  615 
