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American Agriculturist, June 14, 1924 
Editorial Page of the American Agriculturist 
I 
American 
Agriculturist 
Founded 1842 • 
Henry Morgenthau, Jr .Publisher 
E. R. Eastman . Editor 
Fred W. Ohm .Associate Editor 
Gabrielle Elliot .Household Editor 
Birge Kinne' .Advertising Manager 
E. C. Weatherby .Circulation Manager 
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Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., G. T. Hughes, H. E. Babcock 
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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 Ne w 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 June 14, 1924 No. 24 
The Ball Is Started—Keep It Going 
I T begins to look as if both the state and national 
governments were beginning to feel the demand 
of the people that taxes must be reduced. In re¬ 
cent months income and business taxes have been 
reduced by law by both the New York State gov¬ 
ernment and by Congress, and Governor Smith 
and the New Y r ork State Legislature, following 
the demand of farm people, reduced the direct 
land tax. All of this is very encouraging. 
These reductions are steps in the right direc¬ 
tion, but they are only steps—only beginnings. 
We have a long ways yet to go. American Agri¬ 
culturist is going to open up its campaign for 
tax reduction again as soon as the Government 
starts its activities, in legislature and Congress, 
this coming fall. To be ready for what we hope to 
do, we must have ammunition, that iswe musthave 
the unanimous backing of the farmers. Are you 
discussing this subject of tax reduction in your 
grange and other farm meetings? Have you 
signed the tax-reduction petition and sent them 
into us so we can have them ready for business? 
We have already demonstrated that with your 
help we can do something effective in this tax- 
reduction campaign. Will you not do your part 
by getting informed and by registering your name 
with us on the petitions? A supply will be sent 
free of charge on request. We should have your 
name and the name of every taxpayer in your 
family by September first. 
National Tax Reduction 
AFTER protesting vigorously against some of 
/\ its details, President Coolidge has just 
signed the new tax-reduction bill which has been 
under discussion in Congress for several months. 
This bill will reduce national taxes $761,000,000 
per year. It repeals levies on candy, beverages, 
telegraph and telephone messages, and cuts in¬ 
come taxes 25%. It adds taxes on gifts and on 
certain luxuries, such as playing cards, and mah 
jong sets. There was a reduction of from 50% to 
40% of the surtax on large incomes, not as much 
as President Coolidge thought there should be. _ 
One of the chief objections of the President is 
that big fortunes will largely escape taxation 
under the new law because of tax-exempt securi¬ 
ties. He also said that the high surtaxes will 
crowd these big fortunes into investing in tax- 
exempt securities so that new enterprises will be 
“throttled,” being deprived of investing funds.* 
On the whole, this new tax law is a step in the 
right direction, and while it will not help farmers 
much directly, it will help a lot indirectly by stim¬ 
ulating business and by reducing the indirect 
taxes which the farmer in the end pays his share 
of in the purchases which he makes. 
Tent Caterpillars Again 
T ENT caterpillars are back with us again. 
Several years ago the countryside was overrun 
with these pests that defoliate trees and orna¬ 
ment them with their repulsive nests. It is some¬ 
thing like nine or ten years ago that we had a 
scourge of these insects. At that time a number 
of campaigns were started to overcome their 
spread. In some sections contests were organized 
by the Farm Bureaus and prizes given to the child 
in each school district who collected the largest 
number of egg clusters. In many counties mil¬ 
lions of clusters of eggs were gathered by the boys 
and girls, and for several years little or no trouble 
has been experienced with tent caterpillars. Due 
to the fact that they have been less common, folks 
have become less vigilant and the caterpillars are 
now as numerous as ever. 
It is too late now to look around to collect egg 
clusters. That is work to be carried on in the fall 
and winter after the moths or adults have laid the 
eggs. Right now about the only way we can con¬ 
trol tent caterpillars is to burn them out and 
spray with arsenate of lead to kill the worms that 
have already left the nests. 
It is not always practical to cut out the nests for 
that will often destroy the shape of a tree and 
reduce its value, as the caterpillars invariably 
build their nests in a heavy crotch. A simple con¬ 
trivance to burn these nests consists of a tin can, 
such as a large tomato can or an old paint can 
nailed to the end of a sixteen-foot shingle lath. 
In the absence of a shingle lath a long thin sapling 
may be used. Into the can is placed a piece of 
burlap or cotton waste saturated with kerosene. 
When this is ignited there is sufficient fuel to 
destroy a dozen or more nests. 
The Most Neighborly Act I Know 
W E heard a farmer say the other day that it 
seemed to him that folks nowadays were 
not, so neighborly and so hospitable as they used 
to be. We argued with him some, but he seemed to 
be pretty well able to hold his own by the reasons 
he brought to prove his point. Anyway we 
thought it was something worth thinking about, 
because every time we think kindly about a 
neighbor or a friend we have advanced a little. 
, Therefore in order to start some thinking and a 
discussion, we have decided to offer some prizes 
for the best letters on the subject “THE MOST 
NEIGHBORLY ACT I KNOW.” For the three 
best letters on this subject, cash prizes of $5, $3, 
and $1 will be offered. In case of a tie, the full 
amount will be awarded to each contestant. The 
editorial staff of American Agriculturist will 
be the judges. Contest will close July 15 and the 
winning letters, together with others that are 
worth while, will be published in one of the early 
August issues. Letters are not to be more than 
200 words long, and shorter ones are preferred. 
Letters must describe actual occurrences either 
in your own experience or that of some one you 
know. Letters will be judged from two stand¬ 
points—first, by the story interest, and second 
how well it is told. 
A Horse Laugh 
F EW men can look at the picture on the coyer 
page of this issue without recalling boyish 
struggles in trying to put a bridle on a high-headed, 
obstinate horse. 
One time Pa was up in the field, and Ma wanted 
to go to town. She was pretty good at harnessing 
horses herself, but for some reason she sent us to 
do it. Probably she thought it was time a nine- 
year-old farm boy learned the trick. 
Maybe we didn’t have a nice time getting the 
harness on that brute! The memory stays with 
us so vividly yet that we could write a whole book 
on it, and not express all the emotions that boy 
felt. The trouble is that most of the boy’s feelings 
and sayings would not do to print. 
Finally, however, we got the harness all on and 
fastened, except the bridle and the crupper. The 
harder we pulled up on the confounded tail, the 
harder the horse pressed it down. So we left that 
for Ma to wrestle with, and tackled the bridle. 
The horse then held his head so high we could 
not even reach his nose, let alone the top of his 
head. Finally, we went and got a potato crate, 
climbed upon it, and then while we could reach 
his head all right, we could not crowd his ob¬ 
stinate old jaws open to get the bit in. While we 
were tugging at him, he jammed forward, the 
potato crate broke, and we fell in a heap in the 
corner of the stall. 
Then after adjourning for a little while in order 
to shed a few tears, we returned with the bridle 
and climbed into the manger. Then the horse 
sagged back to the end of the halter rope so we 
could not reach him. While we were shaking our 
fist at him, amid sobs and expressive language, 
Ma came into the barn, scolding because she had 
had to wait so long for her .steed. She took the 
bridle from our not unwilling hands, and while 
the horse held his head meekly down and his 
jaws open, she slipped it easily on and then 
wondered why we had had so much trouble. 
The horse knew, though, for while Mother was 
backing him out, and we stood disconsolately 
still in the manger, he looked at us and gave us 
what we certainly thought was a horse grin! 
Keep After Tax Reduction 
I JUST received your letter stating that the New 
York Legislature had passed the tax-reduction bill. 
I felt so good about it that I wanted to throw up my 
hat and shout, “Hurrah for American Agriculturist.” 
The credit belongs to you. You started the ball rolling. 
This is only the beginning. It makes me think of when 
I was a boy, how we used to roll snow balls. No doubt 
you know "all about it. We used to start with only a 
little and keep rolling until it got so large we could not 
move it. It will be just like that with this tax business 
if we can only get the signatures, and it is no trouble 
to do so, for everyone is more than willing to sign. I 
just sent the second list to Mr. Weatherby to-day. I 
used the last one I had, and I want one with me all 
of the time. It shows the people that American 
Agriculturist is doing all it can to help the farmer. 
When I started this letter I had in mind the deepen¬ 
ing of the Hudson. Although this no doubt would be a 
great benefit, it seems to me that this is the wrong 
time to saddle this extra tax burden on the State. 
The people, especially farmers, are taxed to death now. 
What do you think about it?—W. K., New York. 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
T HE following true story, sent to me by my 
friend Charlie Taylor, is not intended to 
be in any way humorous, but it illustrates so well 
the feelings of every law-abiding citizen and its 
point is so much in agreement with what we have 
been saying recently on law' enforcement in 
American Agriculturist that I take pleasure 
in passing it on to you. 
Joe, a French-Canadian by birth but a natur¬ 
alized citizen, was a lumber-jack in his camp 
eleven miles from the nearest town. That spring, 
following the passage of the Yolstead Act, Joe 
W'alked eleven miles to town to spend his winter’s 
wages in the way of lumber-jacks, by having a 
good spree, getting “rolled” by the booze dis¬ 
penser, and then after a week of town life, looking 
for another job. 
Joe went to the hotel and asked, as in previous 
springs, for a drink of whiskey. The proprietoi 
said, “come out in the back room. I can serve 
you there but not in the bar room. It’s too near 
the street and the prohibition agents may come 
in any minute.” . . 
“Whadda mean,” said Joe. “Cant I drink 
my booze any place I’ve a mind to?” . 
“Not since the Volstead Act w r ent into effect. 
It’s against the law to sell booze,” said the hotel 
keeper. 
“Well is that so?” said Joe, “I’m a law-abiding 
citizen. Go to H-with your booze,” and he 
walked back to camp eleven miles, w ithout booze 
or dinner and stopped only long enough to buy a 
new plaid shirt and a pair of boots. 
