The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1525 
An  Open  Letter  to  the  Rural  New-Yorker 
My  attention  lias  been  called  to  an  article  in  your 
issue  of  Nov.  3  last,  entitled  “The  Fruit  Judging  Farce 
at  Syracuse.”  I  was  the  superintendent  of  the  exhibit 
therein  referred  to.  I  am  writing  this,  letter  to  you, 
believing  that  you  will,  in  all  fairness,  give  it  the  same 
prominence  in  your  journal  that  you  devoted  to  your 
attack  on  me.  At  the  outset,  you  are  badly  informed 
as  to  the  facts,  and  your  statements  are  therefore  a  slur 
not  only  upon  me,  but  upon  everyone  concerned  in  the 
exhibit.  ,  , 
In  the  first  place,  I  resent  your  attempt  to  belittle 
the  commissioner  in  charge  of  the  fruit  exhibit,  Mrs. 
Margaret  L.  Stofer  of  Buffalo,  who  is  held  in  high  es¬ 
teem  by  everyone  who  knows  her,  and  who  worked  fiiith- 
fully  and  loyally  for  the  success  of  the  1923  State  Fair. 
Secondly,  the  fruit  judges  were  the  following:  Prof. 
U.  P.  Hedrick  of  Cornell  University,  whose  reputa¬ 
tion,  experience  and  ability  are  beyond  question.  Prof. 
Hedrick  has  been  a  judge  of  fruit  in  similar  competi¬ 
tions  for  many  years  and  has  traveled  all  over  the 
United  States  in  that  capacity.  I  do  not  know  what 
Prof.  Hedrick’s  politics  are.  Hiram  McComber  ot 
Wayne  County,  formerly  of  Orleans  County,  a  farmer, 
fruit  grower  and  nurseryman,  well  known  in  Western 
New  York  and  in  Northern  New  York,  an  intimate 
friend  of  Dr.  Frank  H.  Lattin,  Assemblyman  from  Or¬ 
leans  County  ;  Mr.  McComber  is  a  Republican.  William 
W.  Crowley  of  the  town  of  Gaines,  Orleans  County,  an 
intelligent  and  educated  gentleman,  an  experienced  and 
active  farmer,  a  Democrat  of  such  standing  among  Re¬ 
publicans  who  know  him  intimately  that  he  came  with¬ 
in  10  votes  of  being  chosen  supervisor  of  his  town, 
where  the  normal  Republican  plurality  is  260.  Grant 
P.  Travis  of  Penn  Yan,  a  grower  of  small  fruit,  who 
was  highly  recommended  to  me,  but  with  whom  I  had 
no  previous  acquaintance.  I  do  not  know  Mr.  Travis  s 
politics.  .  , 
As  to  my  assistants  in  preparing  the  exhibit  1  have 
no  apologies  to  make.  The  results  of  their  work  were 
apparent  to  everyone  who  saw  the  exhibit  at  the  State 
Fair.  I  can  only  say  that  no  complaints  were  reported 
to  me ;  that  I  received  many  compliments  from  persons 
theretofore  unknown  to  me,  and  who  sought  me  out  and 
made  my  acquaintance ;  that  many  of  these  stated  to 
me  that  they  had  refrained  from  exhibiting  at  the  State 
Fair  in  recent  years,  but  that  the  192,5  exhibit  so 
pleased  them  that  they  intended  in  the  future  to  enter; 
that  I  had  a  larger  exhibit  than  was  displayed  in  3922. 
Politics  did  not  enter  into  consideration  when  I  chose 
my  helpers,  but  as  the  question  has  been  raised  I  will 
state  for  your  information  that  two  of  them  were  Re¬ 
publicans..  .  ,  „ 
The  article  in  your  newspaper  to  my  mind  bears  all 
the  earmarks  of  having  been  instigated  by  a  harvester 
of  sour  grapes.  This  person  may  or  may  not  be  Mr. 
Charles  G.  Porter  of  Albion,  my  predecessor,  but  he 
was  the  only  man  at  the  State  Fair  who  caused  me  any 
embarrassment,  or  who  in  any  way  attempted  to  injure 
the  fruit  exhibit.  He  did  this  by  tactics  so  mean,  small 
and  childish  that  I  dismiss  the  subject  without  further 
comment.  ... 
For  a  man  who  received  his  early  training  in  agri¬ 
culture  and  horticulture  in  the  Patent  Office  at  Wash¬ 
ington,  and  whose  pursuit  of  these  professions  was 
undertaken  only  in  recent  years,  I  will  say  that  Mr. 
Porter  has  achieved  in  one  way  and  another  a  consid¬ 
erable  amount  of  prominence  therein. 
If  there  are  any  questions  which  you  or  your  sub¬ 
scribers  desire  to  raise  I  am  ready  to  meet  them.  I  am 
the  person  responsible  for  the  fruit  exhibit,  and  I  am 
not  afraid  to  stand  on  my  record  in  regard  to  it. 
JOHN  D.  LANGHAM. 
MR.  LANGIIAM’S  insinuations  regarding  Charles 
G.  Porter  are  unjust  to  that  gentleman.  He 
had  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  the  article  in  ques¬ 
tion.  We  have  not  seen  him  or  had  any  communica¬ 
tion  with  him  for  more  than  a  year.  It  is  true  that 
Prof.  Hedrick  helped  judge  the  fruit.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  men  who  came  with  the  experiment  station 
exhibit  turned  in  and  helped  display  the  fruit.  Had 
they  not  done  so  there  would  have  been  about  the 
worst  mess  ever  seen  at  a  large  fruit  exhibit.  The 
judges  mentioned  are  good,  honest,  intelligent  farm¬ 
ers,  yet  they  will  no  doubt  admit  that  they  never  be¬ 
fore  had  any  experience  in  conducting  a  fruit  show. 
No  attempt  has  been  made  to  “belittle  the  commis¬ 
sioner  in  charge.”  All  we  said  ivas  that  she  lives  in 
Buffalo  and  has  never  had  anything  to  do  with 
fruits  or  farming.  We  stated  that  Mr.  Langham 
himself  is  an  auctioneer.  We  said  of  the  three  assis¬ 
tants,  one  is  a  bank  clerk,  another  a  barber  and  an¬ 
other  a  laundryman.  We  said  that  not  one  of  the 
judges  had  ever  judged  fruit  before,  and  that  one  of 
'them  is  a  cooper  who  wanted  to  award  prizes  on 
barrel  stuff.  If  Mr.  Langham  wants  to  deny  any  of 
these  statements  he  may  have  full  opportunity  for 
doing  so.  They  are  all  good  men,  and  we  will  not 
do  them  any  injustice,  but  they  did  not  know  any¬ 
thing  about  judging  fruit,  and  that  is  what  they 
were  supposed  to  be  hired  for.  Our  point  is  that 
these  men,  personally  good  fellows,  were  given  the 
job,  not  because  they  were  fitted  for  it,  but  because 
of  politics  or  some  political  pull.  It  was  a  very 
small  piece  of  very  small  politics,  and  if  the  practice 
is  kept  up  without  protest,  the  great  fruit  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  State  Fair  will  be  mined. 
Poultrymen’s  Losses  By  Theft 
IN  Mercer  County,  New  Jersey,  farmers  make  quite 
a  business  of  fattening  capons  and  turkeys  for 
Thanksgiving  and  other  holiday  trade.  The  birds 
are  kept  in  individual  pens.  The  capons,  when 
dressed,  run  as  high  as  10  lbs.  or  more,  and  turkeys 
up  to  15  lbs.  or  better.  This  year  the  capons  sold 
for  40  to  50  cents,  and  turkeys  up  to  75  cents  a 
pound.  The  business  is  usually  profitable  because 
the  quality  is  especially  fine,  and  many  people  are 
willing  to  pay  for  quality. 
The  producers,  however,  have  heavy  losses  from 
chicken  thieves.  It  is  estimated  that  feeders  lost  as 
many  as  2,000  birds  in  Mercer  County  during  the 
week  preceding  Thanksgiving.  The  total  cash  loss 
is  estimated  as  high  as  $10,000  from  theft.  State 
troopers  have  been  unable  to  capture  the  thieves. 
Several  have  been  arrested  on  circumstantial  evi¬ 
dence,  but  some  more  substantial  protection  must  be 
found  if  the  industry  is  to  attain  its  possible  devel¬ 
opment  and  volume. 
The  New  Congress  Meets 
ON  December  3  the  new  Congress  met  to  open 
what  promises'  to  be  one  of  the  most  exciting 
sessions  in  our  history.  A  group  of  17  radical  Re¬ 
publicans  attempted  to  delay  matters  by  refusing  to 
vote  for  the  party  candidates.  After  several  days 
of  voting  a  compromise  was  effected.  Speaker  Gil¬ 
lette  was  re-elected  and  the  radicals  were  promised 
a  fair  chance  to  try  to  change  the  rules  of  the 
House.  That  is  probably  all  they  expected  to  gain 
by  their  tactics  of  delay.  Congress  is  very  clearly 
divided.  While,  on  paper,  the  Republicans  are  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  a  majority,  there  is  a  group  of  from 
15  to  20  Western  members  of  that  party  who  will 
endeavor  to  put  through  a  radical  program,  by 
combining  with  either  party  that  most  needs  their 
help.  Practically  all  these  men  are  from  the  North¬ 
western  States.  It  is  evident  therefore  that  the 
coming  session  is  likely  to  be  a  long  series  of  bar¬ 
gains  and  deals.  Both  parties  will  maneuver  for 
position  in  the  Presidential  election  next  j*ear,  and 
both  are  more  or  less  split  into  radical  and  con¬ 
servative  groups.  The  great  questions  most  likely 
to  come  up  are  tax  reduction,  the  soldiers’  bonus, 
prohibition  enforcement,  immigration,  railroad  rates 
and  agricultural  legislation.  The  Eastern  States 
generally  favor  Secretary  Mellon’s  plan  for  tax  re¬ 
duction.  The  greater  part  of  the  income  tax  is 
paid  from  the  section  east  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
West  pays  less  of  this  tax,  and  will  generally  favor 
even  higher  rates  on  large  incomes.  This  Congress 
is,  we  think,  generally  in  favor  of  a  soldiers’  bonus. 
We  expect  to  see  some  legislation  along  that  line 
passed,  though  we  believe  it  unwise.  This  is  a 
“dry”  Congress,  and  we  think  the  various  factions 
will  unite  on  strict  enforcement  of  the  liquor  law. 
As  for  agricultural  legislation,  no  one  can  tell  what 
Congress  will  do.  Both  parties  will  bid  for  the 
farm  vote,  but  neither  of  them  has  any  definite 
program,  and  it  looks  like  a  long  and  bitter  factional 
fight  with  very  little  real  accomplishment. 
Proposed  Changes  in  the  Trespass  Laws 
I  have  prepared  an  amendment  to  Section  1425  of  the 
Penal  Law  which  will  make  such  section,  if  amended, 
read  as  follows  : 
1425.  Malicious  Injury  to  and  Destruction  of  Prop¬ 
erty. — A  person  who  wilfully : 
1.  Cuts  down,  destroys  or  injures  any  wood  or  tim¬ 
ber  standing  or  growing,  or  which  has  been  cut  down 
and  is  lying  on  lands  of  another,  or  of  the  people  of  the 
State ;  or, 
2.  Cuts  down,  girdles  or  otherwise  injures  a  fruit, 
shade  or  ornamental  tree  standing  on  the  lands  of  an¬ 
other.  or  of  the  people  of  the  State  ;  or, 
3.  Severs  from  the  freehold  of  another,  or  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  the  State,  any  produce  thereof,  or  anything  at¬ 
tached  thereto  ;  or, 
4.  Digs,  takes  or  carries  away  without  lawful  author¬ 
ity  or  consent,  from  any  lot  of  land  in  any  city  or  in¬ 
corporated  village,  or  from  any  lands  included  within 
the  limits  of  a  street  or  avenue  laid  down  on  the  map 
of  such  city  or  village,  or  otherwise  i*ecognized  or  estab¬ 
lished,  any  earth,  soil  or  stone ;  or, 
5.  Enters  without  the  consent  of  the  owner  or  occu¬ 
pant  any  orchard,  fruit  garden,  vineyard  or  ground 
whereon  is  cultivated  any  fruit,  with  intent  to  take,  in¬ 
jure  or  destroy  anything  there  growing  or  grown  ;  or, 
6.  Enters  upon  the  lands  of  another  or  of  the  people 
of  the  State  and  cuts  down,  girdles,  destroys  or  in  any 
way  injures  any  shrub  or  vine  being  or  standing  upon 
such  lands,  or  destroys  or  in  any  way  injures  any 
building,  fence,  structure  or  improvement  erected 
thereon,  or  destroys,  injures  or  carries  away  any  do¬ 
mestic  animal  or  fowl  or  any  fruit,  vegetable,  grain  or 
product  of  such  lands,  is  punishable  as  follows : 
a.  If  the  value  of  the  property  destroyed,  taken  or 
carried  away,  or  the  diminution  in  value  of  the  property 
injured  is  more  than  $250,  by  imprisonment  for  not 
more  than  four  years. 
b.  In  any  other  case  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  $250, 
or  by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  six  months,  or  by 
both  such  fine  and  imprisonment. 
c.  In  addition  tor  the  punishment  hereinbefore  pre¬ 
scribed,  by  a  fine  which  shall  be  equal  to  treble  the  dam¬ 
ages  of  the  injury  done,  and  which  shall  in  any  event 
be  for  not  less  than  $25.  Such  fine  shall  be  payable  to 
the  owner  of  t'be  property  injured. 
The  first  five  sections  are  as  the  law  now  stands,  but 
Subdivision  6  has  been  substantially  altered  and  Sub¬ 
divisions  a,  b  and  c,  which  provide  the  penalties  for 
the  infraction  of  Subdivisions  1,  2,  3,  4,  5  and  6  are 
entirely  new. 
The  law  as  it  now  stands  makes  the  violation  of  any 
of  the  subdivisions  a  misdemeanor  which  is  punishable 
by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  year  or  by  a 
fine  of  not  more  than  $500.  or  by  both  ;  all  of  the  fine, 
however,  is  payable  to  the  State,  w'hereas  the  real  party 
injured  is  the  owner  of  the  property  to  which  the  dam¬ 
age  was  done.  Under  the  common  law  the  owner  of 
the  property  had  a  right  of  action  by  a  civil  suit  by 
means  of  which  he  could  recover  a  judgment  against 
the  offender  for  the  damages  done.  As  offenders  are 
usually  financially  irresponsible,  such  right  of  action 
was  generally  of  no  avail.  The  amendment  provides  for 
an  additional  fine  equal  to  treble  the  damages  done, 
and  which  shall  not  in  any  event  be  less  than  $25, 
which  is  payable  directly  to  the  owner  of  the  property 
injured.  If  this  law  is  passed  it  will  enable  farmers  to 
effectually  put  an  end  to  the  invasion  of  their  property 
by  lawless  persons,  who  not  only  steal  their  fruits,  veg¬ 
etables  and  other  farm  products,  but  wantonly  break 
down  and  destroy  natural  and  cultivated  fruit  trees  for 
the  sake  of  the  blossoms  and  fruit.  Section  290a  of  the 
Highway  Law  provides  that  any  magistrate  or  county 
judge  may  suspend  the  certificate  of  registration  o’*  any 
license  issued  to  any  person  if  such  person  violates  such 
section  by  “knowingly  permitting  or  suffering  any  motor 
vehicle  under  the  direction  or  control  of  the  holder  to 
be  used  in  aid  or  furtherance  of  the  commission  of  any 
crime.”  If  any  person  should  violate  any  of  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  Section  1425  his  certificate  of  registration  or 
license  could  be  canceled,  and  no  new  license  could  be 
issued  to  such  person  for  a  period  of  30  days,  and 
thereafter  only  at  the  discretion  of  the  tax  commission. 
HENRY  M.  BRIGHAM. 
How  Consolidation  Will  Work 
In  a  former  article  on  the  rural  school  bill  I  stated 
that  this  bill,  while  masquerading  as  a  non-consolida¬ 
tion  measure,  would  create  conditions  which  would 
close  up  half  the  one-room  schools  of  the  State.  Now 
I  notice  statements  by  friends  of  the  bill  that  it  is  a 
non-consolidation  measure,  notwithstanding  misrepre¬ 
sentations  to  the  contrary.  That  hits  me.  I  therefore 
wish  to  show  one  way  that  the  bill  will  close  our 
schools.  When  the  bill  has  become  a  law  and  the  rural 
people  awake  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  they  must 
support  the  village  school,  but  that  they  may  send  their 
children  there  without  tuition  fees,  if  they  wish,  it  wiil 
be  found  in  many  cases  that  it  will  cost  less  to  trans¬ 
port  the  children  to  the  village  than  to  run  their  own 
school  and  make  needed  repairs  on  the  school  building. 
Now,  along  comes  Mr.  Consolidationist  with  his  petition 
in  one  hand  and  the  sledge-hammer  of  economy  in  the 
other,  and  without  much  difficulty  secures  the  signatures 
of  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  district,  and  the 
school  is  closed  in  spite  of  the  protest  of  most  of  the 
parents  of  the  children  in  the  district.  I  fully  believe 
that  every  member-  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one, 
every  officer  of  every  farm  organization  in  the  State, 
every  editor  of  a  farm  paper,  and  all  other  men  and 
women  who  have  given  the  subject  careful  considera¬ 
tion,  know  that  this  bill  will  work  out  in  this  way,  and 
I  call  upon  them  to  come  out  in  the  open  and  declare 
that  the  intention  of  the  bill  is  to  close  up  as  many  of 
the  one-room  schools  as  possible,  and  stop  hiding  behind 
so  thin  a  screen  as  “a  petition  of  a  majority  of  the 
legal  voters  of  the  district.”  In  conclusion  allow  me  a 
word  of  prophecy  :  I  will  give  this  bill  just  six  years  of 
operation  to  close  one-third  of  the  one-room  schools  of 
the  State.  p.  l.  f.  jansen. 
Orange  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Outlook  for  Hay  Prices 
Can  you  give  me  any  information  on  the  ljay  ques¬ 
tion?  I  am  offered  $18  per  ton,  and  have  to  pay  $3  a 
ton  for  pressing  and  $1.50  a  ton  to  get  it  drawn  to 
market ;  with  the  high  price  of  labor  in  haying  there  is 
not  much  left.  Is  there  a  chance  of  it  being  a  better 
price  a  little  later?  e.  e.  s. 
New  Y^ork. 
There  are  many  factors  which  influence  the  hay  mar¬ 
ket,  but  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  reports  of 
the  conditions  in  the  field,  the  indications  are  that  there 
will  be  a  good  demand  for  hay  this  Winter.  Taking  the 
country  as  a  whole,  the  estimated  crop,  according  to 
the  latest  figures,  is  about  86,000,000  tons,  or  approxi¬ 
mately  10  per  cent  smaller  than  last  year,  much  of  the 
shortage  occurring  in  areas  supplying  the  Eastern  mar¬ 
kets.  New  England  cut  about  the  same  amount,  and 
New  York  State,  while  suffering  considerably  in  spots, 
on  the  whole  had  a  fair  crop.  The  crop  in  Pennsylvania 
and  New  Jersey  was  the  worst  in  years.  Ohio  also  had 
a  poor  yield,  and  the  Central  Atlantic  States  were  not 
up  to  expectations.  The  production  in  Indiana  was  be¬ 
low  the  average  of  recent  years,  and  in  Wisconsin, 
Michigan  and  Illinois  the  crop  was  smaller  than  last 
year,  about  the  same  as  in  1920,  and  larger  than  in 
1921.  Although  last  year’s  crop  was  large,  it  is  un¬ 
likely  that  much  hay  was  carried  over,  as  the  drought 
made  it  necessary  to  start  feeding  hay  earlier  than 
usual  this  Fall.  Furthermore,  before  the  receipt  of 
new  hay  late  in  the  Summer,  dealers  had  difficulty  in 
obtaining  enough  good  hay  to  meet  their  demands.  The 
chances  are,  therefore,  for  a  better  demand.  b.  w.  s. 
Pippins  for  English  Royalty 
On  page  1342  there  is  an  extract  taken  from  the  New 
York  Tribune  in  which  it  is  stated  that  more  than  40 
years  ago  Charles  Francis  Adams,  then  Minister  to 
Great  Britain,  sent  to  Queen  Victoria  a  barrel  of  New¬ 
town  Pippins.  Some  time  previous  to  this,  Mr.  Steven¬ 
son,  then  our  minister  to  the  same  country,  sent  to  the 
Queen  three  barrels  of  what  are  now  called  Albemarle 
Pippins,  which  are  very  much  like  the  Newtown  Pip¬ 
pin.  There  is  in  this  county  (Albemarle),  on  the  Blue 
Ridge  Mountains,  an  orchard  called  the  Royal  Orchard, 
from  the  fact  that  these  apples  were  selected  from  it. 
Mr.  Stevenson  died  in  1857.  Massachusetts  is  taking 
the  first  settlement  of  the  country  from  Jamestown  to 
Plymouth  Rock.  Please  leave  us  this  small  honor  of 
the  apples.  wm.  r.  duke. 
Charlottesville,  Va. 
R.  N.-Y. — Surely  Virginia  should  have  this  honor. 
We  are  glad  to  present  the  statement. 
And  now  comes  a  new  claimant  for  similar  hon¬ 
ors — New  Jersey.  The  daily  papers  are  printing 
the  following:  Give  them  all  a  chance: 
Atlantic,  City,  N.  J.,  Dec.  5. — Princess  Mary  of 
England  and  her  husband,  Lord  Lascelles,*  who  a  year 
ago  tasted  some  of  the  apples  which  had  been  exhibited 
at  the  New  Jersey  State  Horticultural  Society,  have 
asked  for  more.  And  as  a  result  Daniel  Fitzpatrick,  a 
visiting  Briton,  stopped  at  the  apple  exhibit  on  the 
Steel  Pier,  where  the  society’s  convention  is  being  held, 
and  ordered  a  crate  of  Winesaps  shipped  to  the  Prin¬ 
cess  for  Christmas. 
Mr.  Fitzpatrick  was  at  the  exhibition  a  year  ago  and 
took  home  some  of  the  apples.  Princess  Mary,  who  is 
his  neighbor,  tasted  some  of  the  apples  and  made  Fitz¬ 
patrick  promise  that  if  he  ever  went  to  the  United 
States  again  to  send  her  some  more. 
