158 
American Agriculturist, February^24,1P23 
A Thousand Grangers Gather at Syracuse 
Annual Session Acts on Rural Schools, Prohibition and Legislation 
W HEN the New York State 
Grange opened its annual ses¬ 
sion in the Mizpah Auditorium 
at Syracuse, Tuesday, February 
(i, there were 796 delegates in their places, 
representing 53 Pomonas, 919 subordinate 
Granges and over 130,000 Grange members 
in every part of the great Empire State. In 
addition to the delegates, several hundred 
visitors were present, swelling the 
large gathering to well over a . 
thousand people. 
Immediately after organization 
and seating of the delegates the 
Grange got busy with one of the 
best and most important business 
sessions in its history. 
The problem that received the 
largest amount of interest and 
discussion during the week was 
that of the rural schools. The 
work and report of the Committee 
of 21 has greatly increased the 
interest of rural people in their 
schools and this interest was man¬ 
ifested in the Grange sessions by 
the introduction of many resolu¬ 
tions, both for and against the 
Committee’s suggestions. In the 
final sessions the Committee went 
on record in favor of many of the 
suggestions of the Committee of 
21. 
The delegates yoted for a larger 
school-tax unit, but such unit 
should not contain any city or vil¬ 
lage of more than 1,500 inhab¬ 
itants. A resolution was adopted 
that there should be no consolida¬ 
tion of rural school districts with¬ 
out the approval of a majority of . . 
taxpayers in the district. This is 
practically in line with the suggestion of the 
Committee of 21 that any consolidation of 
the rural schools should be optional with the 
local patrons. A resolution was adopted 
calling for greater financial support of 
teachers’ training classes and of the rural 
schools. The Grange Committee on Common 
Schools declared against,all false economy, 
which limits expenditures for educational 
purposes. A very important achievement 
was a vote authorizing the Executive Com¬ 
mittee to appoint a special committee to con¬ 
sider the establishment of a fund by the State 
to aid farm boys and girls who cannot edu¬ 
cate themselves to secure an education. 
A number of Important resolutions on 
Legislation w ere 
passed. The Grange 
voted for the return 
of the direct prima¬ 
ries ; against Gover¬ 
nor Smith’s proposed 
reorganization of the 
State Department of 
Farms and Markets; 
for repeal of the 
clause making it op¬ 
tional for cities to 
have daylight sav¬ 
ing ; a strong vote 
was recorded againfft 
the proposed repeal 
of the Mullen-Gage 
Act for modification 
of prohibition laws; 
against the abolish¬ 
ment or' weakening 
of the State police, 
and against the pro¬ 
posed transfer of 
highway supervision 
from towns and 
counties to the State 
Department. 
A very important resolution was the one 
opposing any change in the present restrict¬ 
ive immigration laws. A statement was em¬ 
phatically made that while farmers need a 
larger supply of labor, they did not care for 
the kind which comes in hordes from foreign 
countries. 
National Legislation increasingth'e amount 
of loan available to individual farmers 
in favor of a rural school representative on 
the State Board of Regents; one commending 
the work of the Grange League Federation 
Exchange, and one in support of enforce¬ 
ment of State and National prohibition laws. 
One of the important miscellaneous resolu¬ 
tions passed was one in favor of holding the 
World’s Dairy Congress and the National 
Dairy Show in the City of Syracuse in the 
Fall of 1923. 
The Way to Sell Apples 
\ 
AS one of the officers of the Horticultural Society, I want to thank 
you for the splendid write-up given our annual meeting in last 
week’s issue of your paper. 
Your criticism regarding the large number of varieties grown in 
the East is well taken. There have been innumerable remedies pre¬ 
scribed during the past few years to cure the bad marketing condi¬ 
tions that confront the New York State apple grower, but two most 
important features of the subject have bpen given scant attention. 
The present requirements of the trade in all kinds of fruit require 
the small package and a choice product. The man who produces 
fancy apples, of any one, of not to exceed a dozen of the best 
varieties, selects them carefully and packs in small containers, so 
that when exposed for sale every apple will be in good con¬ 
dition, will as a rule have very little trouble in getting fair prices for 
his apples. 
The waste caused by packing and shipping in barrels, in too many 
instances, is greater than would be the extra cost of a smaller con¬ 
tainer and a better pack. It is very generally true that the ultimate 
consumer pays about as much per pound for apples out of the barrel 
of very common quality as for those out of the box of superior quality 
because the consumer in the final purchase pays for all of the imper¬ 
fect and bruised apples in the barrel whether they are sold or not. The 
better class trade demand the better varieties of apples and it wants 
them in good condition and the sooner we meet these requirements the 
better for the New York apple grower.—T. E. Cross, Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
through Federal Land Banks'from $10,000 
to $25,000 was favored. 
Another important and significant resolu¬ 
tion was the one calling on the National 
Government to support Armenia, even if it 
led to this country’s taking active part in 
foreign affairs. 
A resolution in favor of abolishing tax- 
exempt securities by amendment to the Con¬ 
stitution failed of passage. 
Federal Legislation was favored for the 
Voigt Filled Milk Bill, the French Truth In 
Fabric Bill and for the forced settlement of 
labor disputes by arbitration instead of 
strikes. 
Among miscellaneous resolutions was one 
DIRECTORS, MANAGER, AND ATTORNEY OF THE G—L—F 
Standing, left to right—E. J. Walrath,Evans Mills; F. C. Porter, Crown Point; G. A. Kirkland, Dewit-^ille; 
H. Burden, Cazenovia; Attorney Morse, New York; Manager H, E. Babcock, Ithaca. Seated—R. C. 
Hitchings, Syracuse; Harry Bull, Campbell Hall; N. F. Webb, Cortland; H. L. Brown, Waterport 
F. J. Freestone Elected Lecturer 
' The Grange elected Fred J. 
Freestone of Interlaken as State 
Lecturer to fill the position left 
vacant by the death of Mrs. 
Blanche Alexander of Pulaski; 
H. E. Aiken of Jamestown was 
elected to fill a three-year term 
on the Executive Committee. 
Albert Manning voiced the 
spirit of optimism in the Grange 
in his opening address when he 
said: “While agriculture has 
been passing through a most de¬ 
pressing period, still the farmers 
of New York State have much to 
be grateful for. When we com¬ 
pare agricultural prices in any 
State in the Union with New 
York State, we find the New York 
farmer coming through as well or' 
better than any other section.” 
Prohibition Here to Stay 
S. J. Lowell, Master of the 
National Grange, also told the 
delegates that they could be 
thankful that they lived in New 
York State. Master Lowell said 
— “Conditions in the West are seri- 
' ouS; Hundreds of farm are posted 
for sale to meet taxes.” The remarks of the 
speaker on prohibition drew applause when 
he said “Prohibition has come to stay. Ninety 
per cent of the farmers of the country are 
for it, and 100 per cent of the Grange is for 
it. While the farmers present this sort of 
a front the prohibition laws cannot be over¬ 
thrown or seriously modified.” 
With the strong spirit of optimism that 
better times are ahead, there was an equally 
strong feeling that certain definite things 
must be done to bring about better times, 
not the least of which is a lessening of Gov¬ 
ernment activity with a resulting lowering 
of the present too high taxes. 
Dr. R. W. Thatcher of the Geneva Ex¬ 
periment Station, 
gave a fine talk at 
the Wednesday ses¬ 
sion, telling of the 
needs for a research 
laboratory at Geneva. 
Dr. Frank Graves, 
Commissioner of 
Education, also ad« 
^dressed the bodyt' 
pointing out some 
of the disadvantages 
of the present edu¬ 
cational system. 
At the final even¬ 
ing session the sixth 
degree was exempli¬ 
fied on a large class 
of candidates from 
all sections of the 
State. Wednesday 
evening the jubilee 
pageant was given hy 
the Onondaga Coun¬ 
ty Grange, depicting 
the origin, early 
struggles and growth 
of the Grange. 
i 
