The Young Farmer: Some Things He Should Know Part 14

The adoption of this law by certain states has served to make other states the dumping ground for inferior stock foods, thus increasing the necessity for similar protection. The law does not apply to the ordinary grains produced by farmers or to the usual by-products of millers.

SEED CONTROL

From time immemorial it has been the universal custom of seedsmen to disclaim all responsibility for the purity and germinating power of their seeds. But as the importance of good seed--good in hereditary power, good in germination, good in its freedom from adulteration, good in its absence of noxious weed seed--has become better understood demand for some method of control has arisen. In at least one state there is a seed-control law modeled quite closely after the fertilizer-control law.

However, the usual method of protection consists in purchasing by sample or the insistence of a guarantee, with a subsequent "a.n.a.lysis" of a sample of the purchased seed.

The germinating power and purity of seed can be determined cheaply by an expert within from five to twenty days, depending upon the species.

The federal government has a division of seed control in its Department of Agriculture at Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C. Any person may send a sample of seed to this division and have its purity and germinating power determined, and in some of the states the experiment station will perform similar services without charge. Clover, alfalfa, gra.s.s and other small seeds should always be purchased subject to such inspection, unless the purchaser is prepared to make his own inspection, which a very little training makes possible.

NURSERY INSPECTION

There is no national law concerning the importation of insect-infested or diseased plant stock.

Several of the states have pa.s.sed both state and interstate regulations concerning the sale of nursery stock. The insects usually legislated against are San Jose scale, gypsy moth and brown-tail moth, while the diseases usually interdicted are yellows, black knot, peach rosette, and pear blight.

The enforcement of the law is usually placed in charge of a person having special knowledge of economic insects and fungous diseases. In addition to these police regulations this officer may, by various means, attempt to bring into practice methods calculated to eradicate or, at least, lessen the severity of existing attacks.

Commerce in vinegar, dried fruits, insecticides and fungicides is also regulated in some states.

DAIRY, FOOD AND DRUG INSPECTION

An adequate discussion of the rise and development of the control in the sale of dairy and food products would require a chapter by itself, if not an entire volume. Suffice it to say here that the laws on this general subject have acquired an importance in many ways quite beyond that of any of the other control measures discussed in this chapter.

In the extent of funds handled, the number of agents employed and the public interest incited, the office of dairy and food commissioner outranks any other control agency. In some states the office is an elective one, and the questions with which the office has to deal become a part of the state political campaign.

The importance of the inspection of dairy and food products grows out of the fact that not only is the consumer, hence all the world, interested, but the execution of these laws touch large commercial interests. Not only are meat packers, distillers and brewers deeply interested, but the wholesale and retail grocers and, more recently, the manufacturing and prescribing druggists, are vitally concerned.

Not many years ago the inspection of dairy products, particularly control of the traffic in oleomargarine, was the chief function of this office. To-day the enforcement of laws concerning pure foods, liquor and drugs is of much greater importance.

Interstate commerce in oleomargarine is now regulated through the enactment of an internal revenue law requiring a tax of ten cents a pound on colored oleomargarine and one-fourth of a cent a pound on uncolored oleomargarine and, further, by prescribing the character of package and method of marking all oleomargarine entering into interstate commerce. State agencies are charged with the duty of requiring the compliance of local dealers and restaurateurs with the general features of the federal law. Some states, however, prohibit entirely the sale of colored oleomargarine within the state.

PURITY IN DAIRY PRODUCTS

Attempts to define what is pure milk, cream, b.u.t.ter or cheese have been fraught with much difficulty. Thus, for example, legal definitions of pure milk have resulted in some cows giving illegal milk. In some instances the law has declared simply that whole milk is milk from which no cream has been removed; in others, the minimum amount of b.u.t.ter fat has been prescribed; in still others, the minimum amount of total solids containing a minimum proportion of b.u.t.ter fat has been made the basis of legal milk. In like manner full cream cheese has been defined as cheese made from whole milk or from milk from which only a given amount of cream has been removed, while in other instances the minimum amount of b.u.t.ter fat which full cream cheese may contain is prescribed. The wide variation in the amount of b.u.t.ter fat carried by cream has caused much jocular comment and some serious discussion as to what is cream.

While it is not feasible to indicate the laws for the several states, the ruling of the federal government as to what const.i.tutes purity in dairy products under the national food and drug act may be accepted as a general guide. A circular giving the required information may be secured by addressing the Secretary of Agriculture, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.

LIVE STOCK SANITATION

The control of contagious diseases in domestic animals and the inspection of meat products have been the chief work of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture since its establishment.

The bureau inspects all imported live animals and under certain conditions will inspect live animals intended for exportation. It inspects all meat products intended for export. Its inspection of meats intended for interstate commerce is less rigid than that exported. Meats sold within the state in which they are slaughtered cannot be required by the federal government to undergo inspection. It thus happens that the people of the several states enjoy less protection in the consumption of meat than the foreign purchaser of American meats unless there is a state meat inspection law. However, it is becoming more and more the custom for the large packers to have all their products inspected without regard to their destination. The meats slaughtered in the locality in which they are consumed are the ones that receive the least supervision.

The federal government has been especially active and efficient in the prevention of interstate commerce in cattle suffering with Texas fever, and sheep attacked with scab and foot rot. Through the agency of the bureau dipping tanks have been provided in all the great live stock markets for the disinfection of cattle and sheep when needed.

Several of the states have laws controlling the importation of diseased animals from other states and the transfer of them within the state. The following are the diseases most commonly mentioned in the laws of the several states: Anthrax, black quarter, hog cholera, swine plague, rabies, glanders and tuberculosis. The law is generally enforced by a state veterinarian, whose acts are supervised either by a state live stock commission or the state secretary of agriculture or these two agencies acting conjointly.

Perhaps the disease which has required the greatest amount of attention in the several states is tuberculosis in milch cows. It is customary for this office to apply the tuberculin test, free of charge, under certain stipulations, to any herd upon the request of the owner and to supervise the slaughter and disposition of the reacting animals. In some states the owner is indemnified in part or in whole for his loss. The amount of indemnity as well as the general features of the law concerning the control of tuberculosis in domestic animals has been the subject of much controversy and cannot be said to have reached an altogether satisfactory solution in most states.

The young farmer should clearly understand that under no circ.u.mstances can he afford to have a tuberculous animal in his herd. The contact of a diseased animal with other animals of the herd is certain to entail a greater loss than the destruction of the diseased animal. The farmer must in his own interest rear healthy animals whether or not it is necessary for the protection of the consumer.

FISH AND GAME LAWS

The motives underlying the enactment of laws concerning fish and game are varied. The controversies over these laws in the legislatures of the several states indicate that there is a belief, whatever may be the fact, that there are opposing interests; viz., those of the hunter or sportsman on the one hand, and those of the farmer or landowner on the other. The law of trespa.s.s has been one over which has raged much bitterness, both with regard to the form of the law to be enacted and concerning its subsequent enforcement. Sportsmen have usually held that a distinction existed between wild animals occupying private property and domestic animals. The landowner has urged that others should not trespa.s.s upon his property for the purpose of shooting wild animals, although his proprietary right in them was no greater.

In like manner, laws concerning the closed season, made to protect animals during the breeding period, are the subject of extended discussion and are being constantly changed; both because there is a difference of opinion concerning the habits of the different species and because the motive varies for maintaining the supply. Some animals are protected on account of their benefit, supposed or real, to agriculture. Other animals are protected because of their gaming qualities, even to the extent of sometimes injuring farm crops. The money spent by sportsmen in the pursuit of game is an element in the varied interests involved. Humane motives and a desire to prevent the further restriction of a not too varied fauna have helped, also, to save certain species from extinction. On the other hand, in some states commercial interests are involved, as where large quant.i.ties of birds are taken for their plumage.

Some attempts have been made to introduce foreign species, as the j.a.panese pheasant. It is, however, with fish that the most has been accomplished in replenishment. The federal government and several of the states have been active in regularly restocking, each season, certain streams with "fry" of edible and game fish.

Information concerning the open season can be obtained from the proper state officer. The fish and game laws are usually under the control of a commission with a secretary as the executive officer.

CHAPTER XXII

RURAL FORCES

The United States is a vast domain. Its material resources are enormous. Its fertile and easily tilled soil, its magnificent forests, its great stores of ore, coal, oil and gas; its fine water-power sites and its temperate and healthful climate have all contributed to the making of a prosperous and progressive nation. Without these natural resources the United States could not be what it is.

The waste of some of these resources is almost beyond belief. In mining, one-half the anthracite and one-third the soft coal is left in the ground in such a manner that it may never be economically recovered. A ton of coal will produce 1,400 pounds of c.o.ke, worth $1.50, and 20 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, worth 50 cents. If all the nitrogen in coal which is turned into c.o.ke in Pennsylvania were recovered, it would furnish enough of this element to supply the needs of every acre of tillable soil in that state. Only about 44% of the wood in the trees now harvested in the United States is incorporated into buildings, apparatus and furniture. The rest is wasted in the process of cutting, sawing and manufacturing into the finished products.

Facts like these have led the nation to realize that the conservation of our natural resources is an immediate and pressing problem. The United States has, however, a greater inheritance than these great and beneficent gifts of nature and a more fundamental problem than the preservation and efficient use of them. In a single sentence, the greatest inheritance of the American people is their Puritan ancestry.

The word Puritan is here used to apply not only to the New England Pilgrims, but to all our early forefathers, whose traditions and practices have served to set this country apart from the other countries of the world. Because of the traditions which have been handed down to us, we are healthier-bodied and cleaner-minded men and women. We are more efficient, not merely in making money, but in everything that goes to make a full and well-rounded life.

It is well to realize the resources of other nations. The agricultural possibilities of France appear to the casual observer to compare favorably with any equal area in the United States. One may see farm land in Italy which has been cultivated for at least two thousand years which is evidently as fertile as any of the limestone valleys of the Atlantic States, the prairies of the Mississippi valley or the Palouse district of the Northwest. Russia has enormous areas of fertile soil. Careful observers report that in Manchuria there are great stretches of country, which today possess natural opportunities similar to those which the Mississippi valley offered one hundred years ago. The recent stories of the deposits of coal and mineral wealth in China are almost fabulous. Europe has rich mines, great forests and unrivaled water-power.

Some years ago a native of Argentina and a native of the United States were dining together. The Argentinian had served his government as consul to Canada. He related that he had recently written an official letter in which he had occasion to refer to the people of Canada and to those of this country. He explained that in alluding to the former he could say the Canadians, but the latter he could not call Americans, since his people were also Americans. After due consideration he referred to us as "the Yankees." "But," turning to his hearer, he said, with great emphasis, "I do not look upon the people of the United States as a nation, but as a new civilization." In other words, our nation is not simply one of fertile farms, enormous mines, great forests, unparalleled railroad systems, palatial stores, or wealthy cities, but he saw that we are a people of different economic, political, educational, social, moral and religious ideals.

There are in every rural neighborhood certain forces whose objects are to increase the educational advantages, the social opportunities and the moral aspirations of the people. This subject need not be discussed merely in the abstract. There are in every community concrete evidences of these forces. There is the rural church. There is the rural school. In many localities are to be found, also, buildings, for social and fraternal purposes, as grange halls, structures for holding fairs and picnics. These are tangible evidences that there are rural agencies at work in the community whose chief purpose is to increase the educational advantages, the social opportunities and the moral aspirations of the people.

How are these existing rural forces to be made more effective? If co-operation in financial affairs is essential under modern conditions, it is more needed in social matters. Such co-operation does not imply that these separate forces shall be fused into a single one. Each of them has its particular and peculiar work to do, but each should work in harmony and not in the spirit of antagonism with the others.

There should be formed in each locality a committee for which the following name is proposed: The Community Committee of Rural Forces.

Emphasis should be placed upon the word "community." Like all moral movements, progress must come from within, and not from without. The movement must be adapted to its environment. Like the plants that grow there, it must be indigenous to the soil.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., has a son Jared, 3d, who is the fifth of the name that has lived upon a farm of 224 acres at Lawyerville, N. Y. Mr. Van Wagenen graduated from Cornell University in 1891, and is a noted farmers' inst.i.tute lecturer. He has taken great interest in the country church and the betterment of the rural community. The view shows the pond that furnishes the power for the farm's electric light plant.

The plant was installed by Mr. Van Wagenen with his own hands and has proved a really satisfying success.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mr. Lowell B. Gable, Glen Gable Farms, Wybrooke, Pa., a graduate of Cornell University, is developing 812 acres of land in Chester county. He has a herd of 80 Guernsey cows in milk and is breeding Percheron, registered polling horses and Chester White hogs. Mr. Gable has been supervisor of the towns.h.i.+p for two years, during which time nine and one-half miles of macadam road have been built without materially increasing the taxes. Mr. Gable firmly believes that one of the best opportunities to be of help to a rural community lies in the work to be done for the improvement of social conditions--"to help make what little leisure there is clean and refres.h.i.+ng." Hence on return from college he played baseball and football with local teams and helped out at every opportunity at dances, musicales and other social entertainments.]

This committee should be composed of representatives of the churches, the schools, farmers' clubs, granges, fair a.s.sociations, farmers'

inst.i.tutes; and other organizations which are striving to increase the educational advantages, the social opportunities and the moral aspirations of the people.

Oftentimes the object of these rural forces is confused with efforts to increase the financial prosperity of the farmer. It goes without saying that the maintenance of the fertility of the soil is essential to the food supply of the nation. The problems of the economic production of plants and animals are of great importance to the prosperity of the farmer. The idea, however, that the proper solution of these economic problems is to be the means of solving the educational, social and religious problems is simply putting the cart before the horse. Economic questions can only be satisfactorily adjusted through the application of intelligence and right ideas.

Let it be supposed that when a young man decides to pay attention to a young woman that instead of meeting her at the church door, or it may be at the railway station, it is considered better form for him to get permission of the mother to call upon the young woman in her own home.

This is the most fundamental question in every neighborhood. What has it to do with the price of wheat?