292 
American Agriculturist, March 22 , 1924 
Editorial Page of the American Agriculturist 
American 
Agriculturist 
Founded 1842 
Henry Morgenthatj, Jr . Publisher 
E. R. Eastman . Editor 
Fred W. Ohm . Associate Editor 
Gabrielle Elliot . Household Editor 
Birge Kinne .. . Advertising Manager 
E. C. Weatherby . . Circulation Manager 
CONTRIBUTING STAFF 
Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., G. T. Hughes, H. E. Babcock 
OUR ADVERTISEMENTS GUARANTEED 
The American Agriculturist accepts only advertising 
which it believes to be thoroughly honest. 
We positively guarantee to our readers fair and honest treat¬ 
ment in dealing with our advertisers. 
We guarantee to refund the price of goods purchased by 
our subscribers from any advertiser who fails to make good 
when the article purchased is found not to be as advertised. 
To benefit by this guarantee subscribers must say: “I saw 
your ad in the American Agriculturist” when ordering 
from our advertisers. 
Published Weekly by 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, INC. 
Address all correspondence for editorial, advertising, or subscription de¬ 
partments to 
461 Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y. 
Entered as Second-Class Matter, December 15, 1922, at the Post Office 
at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
Subscription price, payable in advance, $1 a year. Canadian 
and foreign, $2 a year. 
VOL. 113 
March 22, 1924 
No. 12 
Down With Farm Taxes 
O YER seven thousand farmers have signed the 
American Agriculturist tax-reduction up- 
peal and written to us on this great problem up to 
March 12th. We received nearly one thousand 
petitions on one day alone. Many hundreds are 
coming in every day at this writing, and the 
campaign has only just begun. In fact, this very 
point should be emphasized, that if we are to 
accomplish anything in the reduction of taxes we 
must prepare for a long fight. American Agri¬ 
culturist is prepared and we can go as far as we 
have the backing of our people. 
Have you signed the petition? You will find it 
in every issue of American Agriculturist. 
Already we have many of the best legislators 
working and studying on this problem of trying 
to bring some tax relief to farmers. The more we 
study this tax-reduction job, the more we realize 
that Assemblyman Kirkland was right when he 
said that the people themselves must take at 
least a part of the responsibility for high taxes. 
This is particularly true with local taxes. 
At this writing, we are getting together the 
facts concerning the cost of running county 
governments. THESE FACTS ARE AP¬ 
PALLING. The cost of operating the work 
carried on by the various counties has in almost 
every case doubled and tripled within the last four 
years, and these county and local taxes au the 
ones which the farmer feels the heaviest because 
he alone pays practically all of them. In an early 
issue we are going to publish some county budgets 
showing where the taxpayers’ money goes. 
We hope that you will read carefully all of the 
information that we will print during the next 
few months on this tax situation so that all that 
we decide to do later in putting forward a farmer’s 
tax program will be based upon accurate knowl¬ 
edge of facts. We want to be careful not to do 
anything that is destructive or unfair. There are 
certain kinds of public work which must go for¬ 
ward; there are certain government jobs which 
must be carried on; but we believe if the people 
themselves and their representatives actually set 
their minds to it, that there are hundreds of places 
from the government of the nation to that of the 
town where unnecessary and extravagant enter¬ 
prises can be stopped and where real savings in 
government expenditure can be made. 
Read all that you can find on the subject, study 
it, think about it, sign our tax petition and send 
it in, write us about it, and in short, work with us 
and with every other agency that is honestly and 
sincerely interested in this hard job of getting the 
farmer’s taxes back somewhere in proportion to 
his income. 
Hearing on the School Bill 
B Y THE time you receive this paper, the 
legislative hearing on the Downing-Porter 
Rural School Bill will be over. It was scheduled to 
be held in the Assembly Chamber at 2 P. M., 
Wednesday, March 19th. This is written before 
the hearing, but it will doubtless be one of the 
most largely attended of any legislative hearing 
that has been held in many years. And it should 
be, for the principles involved in this bill, if put 
into practice, will affect the welfare of country 
people and their children for generations to come. 
Its passage also will mean a tremendous saving 
to farmers in the poorer districts of the State in 
lessening the school taxes. We have done what 
we could to get the real facts in regard to this bill 
before our people. We are saddened because of 
the misunderstanding that may stand in the 
way of something really worth while for our boys 
and girls. We feel sure that thousands of farm 
folks are going to be bitterly disappointed if this 
bill does not pass. But in spite of bitter criticism 
directed at us, we have continued to publish 
information in regard to this proposed legislation 
because we know that it is founded on right 
principles and because we know it will bring 
benefit to our people. 
But the final responsibility rests on the people 
themselves. We have no desire to urge anything 
on anybody that is not wanted. If a majority of 
country folks are sure that they do not want this 
legislation, then it is their responsibility and not 
ours. We feel that our part is ended when we 
make a careful study of any proposed measure 
and tlu'ii present the facts, as we see them, as 
fairly as ive can. 
It is still possible for you to express yourself 
where it will count on this School Bill, if you 
write, or better still, telegraph immediately to 
your own Assemblyman, or to Speaker II. Ed¬ 
mund Machold, or Dr. F. S. Cole, Chairman of the 
Assembly Education Committee. The lists of 
Assemblymen and Senators were printed on Page 
271 of our last week’s issue. Any of these men 
may be addressed at the Assembly Chamber, 
Albany, New York. 
ship the same day on which the information is 
obtained. All of this is in addition to the enter¬ 
tainment of every kind that the radio brings into 
the farm home. Recognizing early what the radio 
was going to mean for the farm, American 
Agriculturist made arrangements with one of 
the best broadcasting stations, WEAF, owned by 
the American Telephone and Telegraph Com¬ 
pany, to broadcast the best farm talent and in¬ 
formation that could be obtained. 
Every Wednesday evening, for months now, 
at 7.50 P.M., we have furnished a farm speaker who 
talks on some farm subject, and in the list of men 
that we have had have been some of the greatest 
leaders in farm thought in America. In addition 
to this, a little later we made arrangements with 
the New York State Department of Farms and 
Markets, and through cooperation with them, 
there is broadcast every day from WEAF up-to- 
the-minute market reports. 
Good practical radio receiving sets can be 
obtained for a small sum of money, particularly 
if one has a little mechanical ability so that he 
can set it up himself. Anyway, there is at least 
one in every farm community, so that you get 
some of this service from your neighbor even though 
you do not have a receiving set yet yourself. 
The Prohibition Vote 
W ELL here it is, the final vote on the prohibi¬ 
tion question; and the strange thing is that 
New York State—the State which defeated the 
Mullen-Gage Law—has a higher percentage of 
dry votes than the general average. The final 
count follows: 
For the 18th 
Amendment as 
N. Y. 
N. J. 
Pa. 
All Others 
Total 
it now stands.. 
For modification 
of the 18th 
10,154 
475 
2,247 
689 
13,56,5 
Amendment.. . 
Total votes re¬ 
961 
163 
517 
163 
1,804 
ceived. 
11,115 
638 
2,764 
852 
15,369 
Quarter Million Farmers Have Radios 
“IX/TAY I express my appreciation of your efforts to 
iY 1 provide a series of farm talks through WEAF station.” 
P. J. L. 
“Will you please send me some radio market service 
blanks. I shall try to have them posted and also keep one of 
them by the telephone as almost all of the neighbors have 
telephones and I can.reach them.” M. N. S. 
“Farmers as a‘ rule only seem to write a letter when ab¬ 
solutely necessary. Yet radios mean much more to us than 
to people in the cities. * * * The time that should be spent in 
writing their appreciation of each and every speaker or artist 
whom they enjoy listening to, they spend in worrying for 
fear that something will happen and broadcasting will be 
given up.”—E. L. B. 
T HE above are brief samples from many let¬ 
ters of appreciation from our people for the 
farm radio service that we have been furnishing 
for the past months through cooperation with 
the WEAF broadcasting station. When radio 
first began, we expressed an opinion that it would 
take its place with the telephone and the auto¬ 
mobile in helping to reduce farmers’ isolation and 
put him injiractical touch with the world. That 
opinion is already justified. The Secretary of 
Agriculture reported sometime ago that there 
were at least a quarter million radios on farms in 
the United States, that there were 5,502 in New 
York State, and that the radio receiving instru¬ 
ments were increasing in number by leaps and 
bounds every day. 
Radio has many more practical uses on the 
farm than it has for city folks. There are the 
weather forecasts, the crop reports and the mar¬ 
ket quotations, which give the farmer right-up- 
to-the-minute information and enable him to 
Totals N. Y. State Alone 
Per cent, for the 18th Amend¬ 
ment as it now stands. 88% 91 % 
Per cent, for modification of the 
18th Amendment. 12% 9% 
We want to thank our people for the great, 
response they made on this important question. 
It shows that farm people can always be counted 
upon when a problem is important enough to 
deserve their attention. Almost half of the votes 
were accompanied'' by strong letters. Most of 
these letters gave in no uncertain language the 
writer’s views on prohibition. 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
D ID you ever read Ellis Parker Butler’s 
story, “Pigs is Pigs?” Mr. Butler had been 
writing stories for years, but when he published 
“Pigs Is Pigs,” his reputation as a writer and 
humorist was made. It has been run through 
many editions, been printed in several languages, 
and has made many millions of people laugh. 
Well, the other night I went to hear Mr. Butler 
give a talk on wit and humor. He illustrated the 
different kinds of humor by reading from his own 
story, “Pigs Is Pigs,” and by telling enough 
chestnuts which would, if I could remember them 
all, fill this column for weeks. 
One of his best was the story of Nora, the poor 
old Irish lady whose husband, saddened and dis¬ 
couraged with the trials and tribulations of this 
life, had neatly hanged himself in the spacious 
garret of their home. On a gloomy and rainy 
Monday a few days later, kind-hearted neighbor 
Maggie ran across the road “to set with poor 
Nora a spell” and cheer her up. 
When Nora came to the door, Maggie saw the 
wet apron, showing that Nora was busy with the 
Monday wash in spite of the rain, so she began 
to apologize. 
“Ghure, with all th’ gloom and th’ rain, I ran 
over to set a spell with ye, thinkin’, yez couldn’t 
wurrk.at the wash at all, at all. But I might have 
known THAT WITH SUCH A NICE BIG 
GARRET TO HANG THINGS IN, yez would be 
busy.” 
