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American 
Agriculturist 
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VOL. 113 April 12, 1924 No. 15 
“Tightwads” Because We Want to 
Reduce Taxes? 
W E had a letter the other day calling us a 
tightwad because of our campaign to reduce 
taxes, and the writer went on to ask us if we 
wanted to hold up progress all along the line by 
cutting down appropriations. We are prompt 
to reply that if progress depends upon unlimited 
.spending of the taxpayer’s money we are certainly 
against that kind of progress. Maybe we are a 
tightwad; in our opinion we might be called worse, 
for it seems to us that it fS about time this country 
had a few tightwads, especially among those who 
sit in high places. 
A letter from Professor G. F. Warren of the 
Economic and Farm Management Department 
of the New York State College of Agriculture, 
says: 
“The public debt shows that the net debt including 
national, state, county, incorporated places and other 
civil divisions, was a little under seven billions in 1912, 
and nearly thirty-one billions in 1922, or over four times 
as great. 
“The taxes in some of our rural communities are equal 
to a fair rental of the farm in regions of poorer hill land. 
There are many farms that could not be rented for enough 
cash to pay the taxes and could not be sold for cash for 
enough money to provide the tax money if the sale price 
were invested at 5%. ” 
Yet we are called a tightwad because we are 
determined to change this situation. 
Each week we are making a suggestion to be 
added to our tax program. When you have ap¬ 
proved the suggestions, we wall put the complete 
program together, and all get back of it. 
Here is our next suggestion for our program: 
Let taxpayers have more tax information; let 
them all know what the money is being spent for, 
and why. We believe that every government di¬ 
vision, from the nation to the last township should 
be obliged to work out a very careful budget show¬ 
ing to the last penny how and w T hy the money 
is going to be spent. This budget should then 
be published so that every taxpayer can see it. 
When the taxpayer gets his receipt, on that 
receipt should be a statement showing exactly 
what his money went for. 
Furthermore, no new work should be started 
in town or county without publicity and oppor¬ 
tunity for public discussiori. If the amount is 
higher than a certain specified amount, the matter 
should be carried over for at least a year. If 
these suggestions are unprogressive, we certainly 
must be put in that class, for we say IT IS TIME 
TO CALL A HALT. 
By the way, have you signed the tax petition? 
By the first of April 10,000 people had signed. 
Remember we can not do this alone. 
Farm Wages on the Increase 
T HE United States Department of Agriculture 
report shows that the average farm wages 
in the United States for 1922 were $29.17 per 
month with board.' In 1923, they had increased 
to $33.18. In the North Atlantic group of States, 
that is, in our own section, wages rose from 
$37.14 in 1922 to $43.42 in 1923. These were 
average wages. Of course, thousands of individual 
farmers paid much more. 
One of the things which would help to bring 
farm wages down is a shortage of food. We will 
go on letting the industrial competit : on for labor 
take all of our help until that labor begins to 
get good and hungry and then maybe they will 
realize that farmers are entitled to help at a wage 
which they can afford to pay. 
A Plan to Make School Bill Optional 
N a conference of the New York State Assembly 
on April 2, it was decided not to report out for 
passage the Downing-Porter Rural School Bill as 
it now stands, but instead, to appoint a committee 
to redraft the principles of the bill making its 
• adoption optional with the different counties or 
localities. This would give every county the 
privilege of taking tfie bill or leaving it. No 
county would have to accept it if it did not wish to, 
and therefore the criticism that somebody was 
trying to put something over on the people would 
be answered and honest opposition would be 
changed to support. 
If farmers like this plan better, we are for it. 
The only objection we can see to it is that it 
might interfere with the large amount of State 
aid provided for in the Downing-Porter Bill 
which would help to reduce local school taxes. 
Certainly some kind of a permissive or optional 
plan would give every locality a further oppor¬ 
tunity to study these principles for rural school 
betterment and to see how misleading and untrue 
have been the statements that have been circu¬ 
lated about the Downing-Porter plan. We have 
faith enough in the main proposals to believe that 
all counties would in time adopt them after it is 
thoroughly understood just what these proposed 
principles would do in actual practice. Certainly 
also, if a majority of country people do not wish 
these principles of bejtter school administration and 
fair taxation after they thoroughly understand 
them, it should be their privilege to refuse them. 
The Cheapest Food in the World 
N order to emphasize a point, will you forgive 
this little personality? There are three boys in 
the editor’s family, and three adults. Each day, 
we buy at least six quarts of milk, and a little 
bottle of cream. The milk costs fourteen cents a 
quart; a little multiplication will show you a milk 
bill of considerable size each month. Yet we 
get more value for that money than for any other 
that we have to spend for food. 
Now if that is the case with us with milk at 
fourteen cents a quart, how about our farmer 
friends who can get it at a first cost of aboid 
four cents ? It would be very interesting to know 
how many farm families use a quart of milk a day 
per person. One encouraging fact is that there 
are more of them now than there were a few years 
ago. But for some reason hard to understand, 
there are still a lot who rob their own table of the 
best food in the world in order to crowd a last 
pint into the milk can to sell for far less than it is 
worth. 
Not enough attention is paid either in town or 
city to using milk in many different palatable 
American A^rxuuuuuoi, April 
Agriculturist 
ways. For instance, to be personal again, in our 
family, we have a pleasant little evening custom 
of making home-made milk-shake. Four-year- 
old little Bobby calls it “milk-shade.” Two or 
three eggs, which we have to buy at retail prices, 
but which the farmer can have at original cost, 
are placed in a bowl and beaten. Sugar, or some¬ 
times maple syrup or molasses, is added to sweeten; 
a little vanilla or lemon flavoring is added, and all 
of it is put with the milk and well shaken in a fruit 
jar or beaten with an egg-beater, and served ice 
cold in glasses. Nothing ever offered at a soda 
fountain can beat it, and best of all, it is the 
finest food for old and young in the world. What 
a splendid luncheon a couple of glasses of such a 
mixture would be for farmers in the middle of the 
forenoon or afternoon work. 
There are many other ways of making tasty 
milk drinks, and the best of it is farm people can 
get all of the ingredients at first cost. All of the 
milk and eggs so consumed at home reduces the 
over-supply on the market and thereby tends to 
help raise the price for what is sold. 
The Problem of Good Seed 
S EED time is here. How true it is whether in 
farm practice or in life itself that “ As we sow , 
so shall we reap.” It has been said many times 
before, but it is worth repeating again, that many 
farmers largely throw away the work of the whole 
season because of poor seed. It is just as easy to 
care for a crop with a good start as it is for one 
where only part of the seed came through in 
healthy condition. 
It is a temptation, of course, particularly when 
cash is so short on the farm, to try to save money 
by buying a cheaper grade of seed. But all of us 
really known down in our hearts that cheap seed 
is dear at any price and that it not only pays to 
buy the very best but even the best should be 
tested and treated for disease before planting. 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
Y OU will like Mrs. Roberts’s interesting story 
in this issue about the rural church that 
made good. It has always seemed to me that one 
of the chief troubles of churches, whether in town 
or country, is that there has been too much em¬ 
phasis on “isms” and sectarianism and not enough 
emphasis on real religion—“ Peace on earth, good¬ 
will to men.” There are so many different kinds 
of churches, so much jealousy and bickering over 
small things that do not really matter, that many 
times folks have forgotten the real purpose and the 
real goal of the church. Then, too, many small 
places are trying to support four to seven churches 
that ought not to have more than two or three. 
I believe that more and more we are going to 
come to realize that the way to make the church 
fulfil its great purpose is to forget about the 
“isms” and the unimportant things and all come 
together on the good old fundamentals. It makes 
little difference what road we travel as long as we 
reach the same goal. 
Therefore, I must confess that I am somewhat in 
sympathy with the poor fellow in this story which 
is sent in by a friend from Trumansburg, Tomp¬ 
kins County, New York. A number of years ago 
revival meetings were being held and a certain 
person “got religion.” After it was over all of the 
converts were asked to write down their names 
and the church to which they wished to belong. 
A short time afterwards somebody said to this 
convert, “Why, John, I thought you were going 
to be a Presbyterian.” “Well,” said John, “I 
DID CAL’LATE TO BF, BUT I COULDN’T 
SPELL PRESBYTERIAN, SO I THOUGHT I 
WOULD JOIN THE BAPTISTS.” 
The eyes are of little use if the mind be blind.— 
Proverbs of Arabia. 
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with thy whole might.—Ecclesiastes ix, 10. 
