124 
Editorial Page of the American 
American 
Agriculturist 
Founded 1842 
Henry Morgenthau, Jr 
E. R. Eastman 
Fred W. Ohm . 
Gabrielle Elliot 
Birge Kinne . 
E. C. Weatherby. 
. Publisher 
Editor 
Associate Editor 
Household Editor 
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Circulation Manager 
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Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., G. T. Hughes, 
H. E. Babcock 
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Published Weekly by 
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Entered as Second-Class Matter, December 15, 1922, at the Post Office 
at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
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VOL. 113 February 9, 1924 No. 6 
“Sam Farmer” on Taxes 
U NCLE SAM farmer let the saw come to 
rest (see cover picture), straightened up to 
take the kink out of his back and growled sternly 
across the log at Young Sam at the other end of 
the crosscut. 
“‘Pears to me, Samuel,” he said, “that ye 
get worse and worse. No cooperation ’bout ye 
at all. We’re too near of a strength to make any 
progress when all the time ye pull when I pull and 
push when I push. Why don’t ye never listen 
to what I say ’bout how to run a crosscut? ” 
“Tain’t no sech thing. The trouble’s witli you, 
Dad. With them long ape arms o’ yourn, you 
pull me clear off’n my feet every time, and 
wrap your end of the saw clear round your body. 
Then lay it to me ’cause it pulls so hard.” 
“Mebbe so,” unexpectedly agreed the old man 
“You’n me never could git along sawin’ wood 
together.” 
“Ought not to have to,” said Young Sam. “If 
you didn’t take all the money that’s been in the 
house in three months to pay taxes, we could 
buy a little coal and wouldn’t have to put in 
every minute all winter sawin’ wood to keep the 
stoves a-goin’.” 
“ ’Spect you’re right, son, but what ye goin’ to 
do? Taxes have to be paid.” 
“Not so many of them don’t have to be, and by 
ginger, if this country is to go on much farther 
not so many of them are going’ to be! It’s ’bout 
time the farmers stood up on their hind legs and 
made the darn politicians cut out some of the 
“pork” and office-holding chair-warmers. 
“ Jest last night I was readin’ ’bout some scheme 
to deepen and broaden the Hudson River, costing 
millions of dollars. Every Congressman thinks 
his record depends upon gettin’ a lot more post 
offices every year in his district. The first day 
Congress met, 767 bills were presented, AND 
OVER 40% OF THEM WERE FOR APPRO¬ 
PRIATIONS. I for one am gettin’ kind o’ fed 
up on workin’ for the tax collector all the time. 
Farmers have had to scrimp and save and count 
every penny ever since the war. I say it’s 
’bout time somebody else and especially the 
politicians, began doin’ a little close fig- 
gerin’ too.” 
“That’s all right to talk,” said old Sam, “but 
what can we do ’bout it?” 
“That’s just the trouble with us farmers. We 
grumble among ourselves, but that’s all the good 
it does. The least we could dp is to let the poli¬ 
ticians know where we stand on it. Now there’s 
these tax exemptions. The rich fellers get away 
without payin’ taxes because everybody lets them. 
There is one rich man’s estate I was reading about 
worth sixty million dollars. TWO-THIRDS, 
OR FORTY MILLION DOLLARS OF THIS 
DOES NOT PAY ONE CENT OF TAXES 
BECAUSE IT IS INVESTED IN TAX EX¬ 
EMPT SECURITIES. But here’s our whole 
place worth mebbe seven or eight thousand 
dollars, and we’re payin’ taxes on every cent of 
it. Same’s true of every other farmer.” 
“Well, mebbe we can get some relief now,” 
said old Sam, “since Secretary Mellon has got his 
scheme a-goin’ for a big reduction of taxes.” 
“WHOSE TAXES?” shouted Sam. > “BY 
GINGER! As near as I can figure, Mellon is talk¬ 
ing about income taxes. WHOEVER HEARD 
OF A FARMER HAVING AN INCOME?” 
“Mebbe it’ll help some.” 
“Yes,” admitted the boy, “it will help. Any 
kind of tax reduction will help, and I’d rather see 
the Mellon plan than no plan at all. But what we 
need, and got to have, IS TAX REDUCTION 
FOR FARMERS. It makes me tired to read all 
of the time ’bout the fool schemes in Congress to 
help the farmers by givin’ them more credit. 
Cash, good cold cash, is the help farmers need— 
more cash for what we sell, less cash to pay out 
for unnecessary taxes.” 
“Well,” said the old man, “what you hollerin’ 
to me for? I know all ’bout it. Over to the 
Grange meeting to-morrow night, why don’t you 
get up and say these same things to the boys and 
start a move to get every farmer in the county 
to tell the politicians that we farmers don’t want 
a blame thing from them this whole year ’cept 
to cut out the appropriation bills, fire ‘bout a 
third of the office-holders, and cut down the real 
taxes, the farm taxes. 
“Meantime, s’pose we saw a little wood?” 
League Buys New Business 
T HE Dairymen’s League Cooperative As¬ 
sociation announces the purchase of the 
Empire State Dairy Company. This company 
consists of fifteen country plants, thirteen of 
which we understand handle fluid milk, and two 
of which are condenseries. In the city, the prop¬ 
erty includes five milk handling plants. The 
amount of money involved was not made public. 
The Empire State Dairy Company is the third 
largest retail milk distributing concern in New 
York City. 
The purchase of this retail milk business by the 
Cooperative Association is A STEP IN THE 
RIGHT DIRECTION. American Agricul¬ 
turist has said several times that the biggest 
asset of dairymen in the metropolitan milk shed 
is our great city market for fluid milk. Because 
of this, we have thought it a mistake for the 
League to try through big advertising campaigns 
to force canned milk on the New York City 
housewife, for every time the consumer uses more 
canned milk, she uses less fluid milk. But the 
League claims that it was merely advertising 
League products and paving the way in the 
consumer’s mind for League fluid milk. 
The purchase of this great retail business bears 
out this argument that the policy of the League 
is to extend the farmer’s market for fluid milk in 
New York City. We wish the dairymen success 
in their new venture. 
Getting Ready For Spring 
A LTHOUGH it was cold, and there was no 
L feeling of spring in the air, yet just as the 
clear sun went down last night the “spring light” 
showed for a few moments in the western sky. 
The “spring light” is hard to describe but every 
country-bred person knows just what we mean 
without describing it. Along late in January 
or early February, the days begin to grow a little 
longer and one gets somehow a little feeling of a 
promise of the resurrection of Nature again in the 
coming season. Just enough of a promise per¬ 
haps to set us to planning and to getting ready for 
the coming work. 
American Agriculturist, February A 
Agriculturist I 
We have a farmer friend who spends M 
a pleasant and profitable evening gl 
about this time of the year making defl 
plans for planting time. One of his I 
is to take a large piece of paper and sketch! 
roughly the boundaries of his farm wifi I 
different fields blocked in. On this rough I 
he then lays out the lots he expects to plo^ I 
the approximate acreage for each crop, 
he indicates what lots are to be limed and 
much lime will be needed; what lots will I 
farm manure; and those for which he will 
commercial fertilizer. He indicates also 
amount of seed he will need for his dig 
crops. From this outline, which any farme 
work out in a short time, our farmer friend 
proceeds to make up his order for his dig 
supplies, lime, farm seeds, and fertilizers 
seems to us that some such plan is w 
while. 
Also, while father lays out the plan fo 
whole farm, mother can get some fun out ol 
lining in a similar way, PLANS FOR 
GARDEN. 
We know from our own experience that 
practice of getting everything possible out c 
way before the rush of spring work comes sa 
lot of time and nervous energy. It is botl 
voking and costly for instance to get a 
ready for a crop and then find that becaus 
ordered the seed at the last minute it was 
there when we wanted it. 
Now is the time to haul lime, AND J 
ESPECIALLY IS IT NECESSARY TO ( 
IN ORDERS FOR SEED AND FERTILI2 
Also, now is the proper time for overhauling 
tillage machinery and ordering any necei 
repairs. Unfortunately, because farmers 
had to tinker up old machinery so long, ma 
them will find this year that some new purcl 
will have to be made. 
Eastman's Chestnuts 
O NE of my doctor friends of the older gei 
tions used to be fond of relating some o 
adventures as a young student in an old-fashii 
medical college. Part of the training all 
consisted of a large amount of dissection wort 
the boys, and the college authorities too for 
matter, were rather put to it to get dead be 
upon which to work. 
So one night when this rather gruesome 
terial was getting pretty scarce in the co 
laboratory, five or six of the young students n 
it up among themselves to make a raid on ar 
by cemetery and get a body that they knew 
just been buried there within a day or 
Everything would have gone as planned, es 
that another student, who was a great pract 
joker, unfortunately overheard the plans. 
The night came on which the raid was t« 
made. The boys, in the cold, the dark and 
rain, repaired to the cemetery, and proceede 
dig up the body, after which, they put it ini 
gunny sack and laid it one side in the dark 
while they filled up the grave again. 
Engrossed in the task, they did not hear 
practical joker come up, remove the dead t 
from the sack and crawd in it himself. So, w 
the grave was filled again, they picked up 
heavy body and with much grunting and fl 
plaining, started on the two-mile walk bad 
the college, each holding a corner of the i 
The windy, rainy night and their unpleasant 
had gotten under the skin of even the rat 
hardened medical students, so going back t 
were nervous and took it out with much qua! 
ling and bickering among themselves. 
Finally, they came to the last long hill that 
up through the woods to a sort of park to 
college building. One of the boys stumbled,! 
the quarrelling broke out afresh, all complain 
that he was carrying more than his share,! 
the other fellows were “soldiering” and that 
darn “stiff”' was confounded heavy. 
Whereupon came a deep, rumbling voiced 
the gunny sack, which said, “PUT ME DO' 
THEN AND I’LL WALK.” 
THEY PUT HIM DOWN!!! 
