LAWS AFFECTING LAND AND
LABOR
Thus far property has been treated as invested capital upon which
interest must be charged in determining the labor income. Labor,
likewise, has been considered principally in its effect upon profits.
Society has thrown around the transfer of property and the use of
labor certain restraints for the protection of all individuals.
Through the ages certain procedures have become fixed by custom. These
legal practices are largely the inheritance of old Roman law and are
usually known as common law. Various legislative bodies having
jurisdiction enact from time to time other laws. This body of enacted
law is called statute law and is much more variable than common law.
In the briefest possible manner it is the purpose here to state a few
of the principles and applications of the law, chiefly the common law,
as it affects the farmer in acquiring or disposing of his property and
in his dealings with labor.
PROPERTY
Property may be defined as anything which is a subject of ownership.
It possesses the characteristics of being acquired, held, sold, willed
or inherited and is of two kinds: (1) Real property, real estate or
realty; (2) chattels or personal property. These two kinds of property
are subject to quite distinct legal practices. In general, real estate
consists of land, things attached to it, such as trees, buildings,
fences and certain rights and profits arising out of or annexed to the
land. The term land as ordinarily used includes all these things, so
that when land is said to be worth so much an acre it includes all
fixtures. Ponds and streams are, under this definition, land. The land
not only has surface dimensions, but extends upward indefinitely and
down to the center of the earth, and hence includes a right to ores,
coal, oil, gas or other materials whatsoever.
An article may, however, be real property or personal property
depending upon circumstances. Thus a tree growing on the land is real
property, but when cut into cord wood becomes personal property. New
fence posts ready for use are personal property. When set in the
ground they become real estate. Just what goes with a farm or what are
fixtures is frequently a subject for legal determination.
FIXTURES
The general rule is that "fixtures are any chattels which have become
substantially and permanently annexed to the land or to buildings or
other things which are clearly a part of the land."[D] The annexation
may, however, be purely theoretical, since the keys to the house or
barn, which may be in the owner's pocket, are real estate. One rule
concerning fixtures is that they must be so annexed that they cannot
be severed without injuring the freehold. The intention of the party
making the annexation also often determines, since if the article is
annexed with the intention of making it permanent, it then becomes a
part of the land. Among the things held to be fixtures, and therefore
a part of the land, are: (1) All buildings and everything which is a
part of any building, such as doors, blinds, keys, etc.; (2) fence
materials which have been once used and are piled up to be used again
are a part of the land, but new fence material not yet used is
personal property. (3) Growing crops are real property. They go to the
purchaser of the land unless specially reserved in the deed. A verbal
agreement is not sufficient. (4) Trees, if blown down or cut down and
still lying where they fell, are real property; if cut or corded up
for sale they become personal property. (5) All manure made on the
farm is real estate and passes with the land. (6) All the ordinary
portable machines and tools are considered personal property, but
certain machines held to be of permanent use upon the land are real
estate. Among the things which courts have held to go with the land
are cotton gins, copper kettles encased in brick and mortar for
cooking food for hogs, cider mills, pumps, water pipes bringing water
from distant springs. In general, motive power machinery and the
shafting go with the land, but the machinery impelled may or may not,
depending upon the way it is annexed. (7) If stones have been quarried
for the purpose of using upon the farm, they go with the farm, but if
quarried for sale they are personal property.
CONTRACTS
The difference between personal property and real property may be
indicated by considering the essential features of a contract. A
contract is an agreement between two or more persons. The foundation
rule concerning a contract is that every man must fulfill every
agreement he makes. An ethical practice grows out of this legal rule
which, if strictly adhered to, will save much embarrassment, viz.,
make but few promises and always keep your engagements.
There are seven requirements generally necessary to a valid contract.
(1) Possibility. The thing to be done must be possible. (2) Legality.
It must not be forbidden by law. (3) Proper parties. The parties to a
contract must be competent. Contracts with idiots or drunken persons
are not binding. Some contracts with minors are not binding, although
contracts for the necessities of life are. (4) Mutual assent. A
proposition not assented to by both parties is not binding on either.
(5) Valid consideration. A man is not regarded as injured by the
breaking of a promise for which he has paid, or is to pay, nothing.
(6) Fraud or deceit. A contract obtained by fraud is void as against
the party using the fraud, but may be enforced by the innocent party
if he sees fit. (7) Written contracts. Here comes the most important
difference between real and personal property. Real property can only
be conveyed by a written instrument, properly executed and recorded,
while personal property passes by mere possession. Contracts relating
to the sale of real estate are not binding unless in writing, while
verbal contracts are sufficient for personal property if accompanied
by payment of a part of the purchase price or the acceptance of the
goods. For amounts under $50 verbal agreement in itself is binding.
TRANSFER OF REAL ESTATE
The purchaser should require of the seller evidence that the title to
the land is straight and clear; if not, exactly what the defects are.
This is done through an abstract of title, which should be prepared by
a competent lawyer. This is not an official document, and its value
depends largely upon the ability and watchfulness of the party making
the abstract. Ownership of land is conveyed by means of a deed. A deed
is an instrument conveying at least a life interest in the land. Care
should be taken that the deed contains the essential parts and that it
is properly executed.
DEEDS
Deeds are of two kinds: Quit claim deeds, which convey all the rights,
title and interest which the seller has in the land, but does not
warrant the title; and warranty deeds, which, in addition to what a
quit claim does, contain covenants which agree that the seller and his
heirs, etc., shall warrant and defend the title to the purchaser
against the lawful claims of all persons.
THE REQUISITES OF A DEED
The requisites of a deed are: The parties to the deed, the
consideration, the description; and with a warranty deed, the
covenants. The seller must be of full age, sound mind and if married
his wife should always join in the deed. Her name should appear
following his at the beginning of the instrument. She should sign and
acknowledge the deed, and the certificate of acknowledgment should
state that she is the wife of the seller. If the seller is a married
woman, her husband does not need to join in the sale of her own
property. It is customary to state the consideration upon which the
deed is given, but this is not necessary, nor will a false statement
as to the amount paid invalidate the deed.
The description of the land conveyed should be as minute and careful
as possible, and preferably in the exact language of former deeds. In
case former description is in error, it should be referred to and
correct description given. Where land is conveyed by metes and bounds,
this description governs, although it may not convey the number of
acres of land stated. In describing boundaries the location of
monuments takes precedence of distances mentioned.
EXECUTION OF THE DEED
A deed must be signed, witnessed, acknowledged, delivered and
recorded. In some states deeds must be sealed, but in other states the
law has dispensed with this formality. Witnesses to deeds are not
required in all states. Some states require one, but usually two
witnesses are required. The parties signing the deed are required to
appear before an official designated by statute, usually any
magistrate, justice or notary public, and acknowledge the same to be
his or her free act and deed.
A deed has no effect until delivered, and should be immediately
recorded by the purchaser. Generally an unrecorded deed is not good as
against a subsequent purchaser in good faith. It is well to note that
the laws relating to the transfer of land are those of the place where
the land lies and not necessarily those of the place where the deed is
made.
METHOD OF LAYING OUT PUBLIC LANDS
The public lands of the United States are, whenever practicable, laid
out into townships each six miles square, "as near as may be," whose
sides run due north and south and east and west. The townships are
laid off north and south of a base line which is a parallel of
latitude, and are numbered north and south from the base line: Thus,
T. 3 S., means Township No. 3 south from the base line. Each row of
townships running north and south is called a range, and is numbered
east or west of the principal meridian: Thus, R. 2 E., means Range 2
east of the given meridian.
The townships are then laid off into sections or square miles of 640
acres, "as near as may be," and these are numbered, beginning always
at the northeast section, as shown in the accompanying diagram.
N
+-----------------------------+
| 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
W | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | E
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
|----+----+----+----+----+----|
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
+-----------------------------+
S
Each quarter section is referred to as the northeast or southwest
quarter of the section, and each forty acres as the northwest or
southeast quarter of a particular quarter. For example, an eighty-acre
field may be referred to as the west half of the southwest quarter of
Section 3, Township 5 North, Range 3, west of ----. Base line and
meridian, or in some cases merely the meridian is mentioned.
The curvature of the earth's surface makes it impossible for the sides
of townships to be truly north and south and at the same time six
miles square. The excesses and the deficiencies due to the convergency
of meridians and the curvature of the earth are by law added to or
deducted from the western and northern ranges of sections and half
sections of the townships. While the above has been the rule in laying
out public lands for more than a century, there are many exceptions,
due to many causes.
In the older settled sections the land was laid out in lots, often in
a very irregular manner, although in some cases within a given tract
the area was more or less regular. In these cases, the land must be
described minutely and carefully by metes and bounds. In some of the
southern and western states, also, where there were Spanish grants,
much irregularity in the surveys exists. Over much of the north
Central states this rectangular system of laying out lands obtains and
has worked well in most respects.
THE LANDLORD AND TENANT
Leases of real estate follow the same procedure as deeds, except that
a verbal lease, if for a term of not to exceed one year, is valid in
most states. A written lease should be carefully drawn, because,
according to common law, there are few things implied in a lease that
are not stated. Definite statement concerning repairs and insurance is
desirable. A tenant should also acquaint himself with the law of the
state concerning the surrender of the farm upon the expiration of his
term.
It is the duty of the tenant not only to guard the property, but to
conduct the farm in a husbandlike manner. Unless otherwise stated in
the contract, the tenant must pursue those methods of husbandry which
are customary in the vicinity.
THE RELATION OF THE FARMER TO HIS
WORKMEN
The requirements of a valid contract, as previously stated, control
most of the relations which the employer has with his employees.
Contracts for labor, unless for more than one year, need not be in
writing. If, however, the service to be rendered is unusual, the
agreement should be reduced to writing, because, in the absence of
specific agreement, the law assumes that customary service and wages
are implied.
Like all other employers of labor the farmer is under obligation to
protect his workman from injury. He must not subject them to unusual
and unreasonable risks. He must hire workmen suited to the employment.
For example, if he employs a young boy to drive a fractious horse, he
would be liable for any injury that might occur. In like manner, he
must exercise proper care concerning the safety of the machinery
placed in the hands of his workmen. He must keep his premises in a
safe condition and must not expose his workmen to risks not incident
to the employment for which they are hired.
The farmer is liable in damages for the acts of his workmen which are
within the scope of their employment, although the authority may not
have been expressly conferred. "He who acts by another acts himself."
In case one is sued for the acts of his employee, the burden is upon
him to prove that the act of the workman was without authority,
expressed or implied.
-----
[D] Haigh's "Manual of Law," p. 69.
CHAPTER XXI
RURAL LEGISLATION
Various laws have been enacted by federal and state legislatures for the
better protection of producer and consumer. Much of this legislation
affects in a very special way the interests of the farmer. Not
infrequently, in fact, generally, the state department of agriculture
has more or less direct jurisdiction over their enforcement. State
departments of agriculture usually publish a collection of the laws of
this character. These laws vary greatly in the different states and only
the most general outline, as they affect the interests of the farmer,
can be given here. Persons can inform themselves as to the details as
enforced in a given state by applying to the state secretary of
agriculture.
A number of these acts affect interstate commerce, concerning which
the United States Constitution says: "No state shall, without the
consent of the Congress, lay any impost or duties on imports or
exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its
inspection laws." By a series of judicial decisions it has been
determined that a State has a right to enforce laws affecting
interstate commerce when traffic in the articles thus modified or
prohibited affects the public welfare. When it is necessary to have a
police regulation to prevent fraud in the traffic of an article or for
the purpose of guarding the public health or morals, police laws, so
called, may be enacted and enforced. Around this general question
there has waged a bitter controversy which has occupied some of the
best legal minds and is one involving some difficulty.
FERTILIZER CONTROL
One of the first of the "control" measures to be enacted, and the one
which has been most universally adopted by the several states, is the
law requiring the manufacturer and dealer in commercial fertilizers to
guarantee the percentage of the so-called essential fertilizing
elements--nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium--contained in each bag of
fertilizer offered for sale. Subsequent control laws have been modeled
more or less closely after this law. Hence a description of the
operation and execution of it will serve for all.
The execution of this law is usually under the immediate supervision
of the state secretary of agriculture, while the necessary chemical
analyses are made by the state experiment station. In some states the
enforcement of the law is in charge of the state experiment station,
while in others the state department of agriculture has its own
laboratories or employs a private chemist. It is, however, becoming a
more and more settled policy to place all police regulations in charge
of the state department of agriculture, while at the same time the
chemical analyses and other scientific and technological inquiries are
made at the state experiment station.
In order to facilitate the taking of samples and in order to raise
funds for the execution of the law, the manufacturer is required to
take out a license and to make a statement of the brands of fertilizers
which he will place upon the market in the given state during the given
season.
During the spring and fall season agents traverse the state and sample
the bags of fertilizers as found on sale by local merchants. The
samples are sent by number under seal to the designated chemist, while
at the same time the agent transmits to the state officer in charge of
the enforcement of the law the necessary information concerning these
samples. Upon the receipt of the analysis made by the chemist, who has
had no knowledge of the origin of the sample, the state officer
compares them with the guarantee of the manufacturer, and if he finds
it necessary enters legal complaint. While these laws have been in
force for many years in some states and in many states for some years,
prosecution has seldom been found necessary. The honest manufacturer is
protected from dishonest competition, and the dishonest manufacturer,
if there be such, cannot afford the publicity which noncompliance with
the law would entail.
It has been customary to publish, with the results of analysis, also
an estimate of the commercial value per ton of each brand of
fertilizer. This estimated commercial value is obtained by multiplying
the pounds of each element or combinations of the element in a ton by
a value per pound. To the value of the fertilizer thus obtained is
added something for cost of mixing, bagging and freight, and something
for profit. The price per pound given to each element or combinations
of the elements is based upon the commercial value of the element when
purchased in raw materials. The price for each year is usually
determined by a conference of those in control of the execution of the
law in the several states for certain groups of states. As a matter of
fact, the price varies little from year to year.
The published figures, therefore, constitute a table of comparative
commercial values as determined by the most expert knowledge. While
not constituting a statement of absolute commercial value for any
given locality, they do enable the purchaser to determine whether the
price quoted on a given brand of fertilizer is within reason. Persons
who are unacquainted with the principles controlling the use of
commercial fertilizers may, however, be led to believe that the price
of the fertilizer is an indication of its value for the production of
a given crop. As is well known to all students of the subject, there
is no necessary relation between the commercial value of a fertilizer
and the fitness of its formula for a given soil and crop. For these
and other reasons, the publication of tables of commercial value has
been strongly opposed by some manufacturers, and in certain states the
custom has been discontinued. While granting that tables of commercial
value are subject to misinterpretation, it is perhaps fair to say that
such tables have been of most benefit, and, moreover, have been of
great value to those who were most likely to misinterpret them.
It has been customary in most states to make analyses only of mixed
fertilizers. Thus such raw materials as nitrate of soda, sulphate of
ammonia, dried blood, bone meal, rock phosphate, tankage, muriate of
potash, sulphate of potash, have not been brought under the operation
of the law. If one wishes to purchase nitrate of soda, muriate of
potash and tankage with the intention of mixing them according to a
formula of his own, he may not find any protection in his state.
However, these products can be obtained through reputable dealers who
will willingly guarantee the contents. In case of doubt, the purchaser
may secure an analysis by his state experiment station at a moderate
cost.
The law requires that there shall be affixed to every package of
fertilizer offered for sale a statement about as follows:
The minimum per centum of each of the following constituents
which may be contained therein:
(a) Nitrogen.
(b) Soluble, available and total phosphoric acid, except in
cases of undissolved bone, basic slag phosphate, wood ashes,
unheated phosphate rock, garbage tankage and pulverized natural
manures, when the minimum per centum of total phosphoric acid
may be substituted. This latter applies only in those states
where raw materials are subject to inspection.
(c) Potash soluble in distilled water.
It is possible to comply with the law and yet state the guarantee upon
each bag of fertilizer in such a manner as to mislead the uninformed.
It is not the purpose of this book to deal with such technical
details, but if the purchaser of commercial fertilizers is not already
well acquainted with fertilizer terms, he should secure an elementary
textbook on the subject or write to his state experiment station for a
bulletin discussing them.
FEEDING STUFF CONTROL
The law controlling the sale of stock foods is of more recent origin
than the fertilizer control act and has not been so universally
adopted up to the present time. The necessity for such a law arises
from the growing use as stock foods of various by-products in the
manufacture of liquors, starch, glucose, sugar, cottonseed and linseed
oils and breakfast foods. Various mixtures, varying widely in chemical
composition, especially in protein and crude fiber, were placed upon
the market. In some instances mixtures were grossly adulterated with
such things as oat hulls and ground corn cobs.
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 "analysis" 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 Washington, 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, grass
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 passed 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, butter 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
butter fat has been prescribed; in still others, the minimum amount of
total solids containing a minimum proportion of butter 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 butter fat which full cream cheese may contain is
prescribed. The wide variation in the amount of butter 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 constitutes 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, Washington, 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 circumstances
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 trespass 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 trespass 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 quantities of
birds are taken for their plumage.
Some attempts have been made to introduce foreign species, as the
Japanese 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 coke, worth
$1.50, and 20 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, worth 50 cents. If all
the nitrogen in coal which is turned into coke 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.
[Illustration: 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' institute 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.]
[Illustration: 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 township 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 refreshing." 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 associations, farmers'
institutes; 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?
This illustration has been used to emphasize two points. First, there
are many problems in every community that are in no way related to the
material prosperity of the neighborhood. Second, there is, at present,
no single force in the community with sufficient influence to cope
properly with many of these problems.
A young college graduate who is now managing eight hundred acres of land
recently wrote: "I firmly believe that one of the best opportunities to
be of help to a rural community lies in the work that is to be done for
the improvement of social conditions--to help make what little leisure
there is clean and refreshing." Hence on return from college this young
man has found time to play football and baseball with local teams and to
help whenever opportunity offered at dances, musicales and similar
entertainments. Games and other forms of recreation may be clean and
wholesome, or they may be quite the reverse. It would be the duty of the
community committee to see that dances occurred under proper
environment--not next an open saloon--and that the young women were
properly chaperoned.
In many communities the boys and girls are almost wholly dependent
upon the neighboring towns for their amusement. This condition may or
may not be desirable. If the town and country are virtually one
community, there is every reason why the boys and girls from the farms
should find recreation and social intercourse with the boys and girls
of the village. It is a relationship that should be fostered wherever
possible. When, however, the town and the country are separate
communities, which prevent the ordinary social relationships, it is
usually unfortunate when the young people of the one community are
dependent upon the other community for their amusements.
A deeply earnest man recently said: "I was born and raised upon the
farm. I never knew a dull day in my life. I went fishing. I went
hunting and----"
"Stop right there," said the listener. "There is not the same
opportunity today for a boy to go hunting that there was when you were
a boy."
"That is true."
"Our ideas about such things have changed, also."
"Yes," he replied, humbly enough, for he was a man of fine fiber.
"I propose a substitute," said the listener. "There is much more
pleasure and recreation to be obtained from photographing animals than
from killing them. What is needed in every rural community is a camera
club."
When a boy wishes to go hunting, he merely has to buckle on his
ammunition pouch, shoulder his gun and he is ready. A camera club,
however, requires a social organization and a social center. The
community committee would thus be required to decide whether the
facilities for developing and printing pictures may best be located at
the church, the schoolhouse, the grange hall or elsewhere.
A little reflection will show how many possibilities such a club might
have on its social, moral and educational side. The suggestion has
been made here, however, only as an illustration of the problems which
arise when a rural community is organized for social welfare. The
organization of a book club, or a magazine club in a rural community
presents precisely the same problems. Some method must be devised for
exchanging the books or magazines. Whether they are exchanged at the
church, the grange hall or through the school children will depend
upon local conditions requiring a community committee to decide.
This community committee will do something more than reach immediate
results. It may project its influence far into the future. Not all of
life is comprised in a porcelain bathtub and nickel adornments.
Nevertheless modern methods of heating and plumbing are desirable in
the country as well as in the city. In Indiana there is a one-room
school building. In the basement there has been placed a furnace and a
gasoline engine. The engine is used not only to teach the boys how to
run a gasoline engine, but it makes possible a modern system of
plumbing.
It is well known that many of the states within the past decade have
voted to abolish or very materially restrict the sale of alcoholic
beverages. No great temperance orators have roused the people as was
the case thirty years or more ago. Why, then, has such progress been
made in recent years? In large part because twenty-five years ago, the
teaching of physiology was introduced into the public schools, which
taught the evil effects of alcohol to the human system. During the
past decade young men who studied these physiologies have been voting.
What has the teaching of physiology to do with the one-room schoolhouse
in Indiana with its modern system of plumbing? The girls between the
ages of six and fourteen are now becoming accustomed to modern systems
of plumbing. When they grow older and marry they will find some way to
introduce similar conveniences into their homes without regard to the
price of wheat. A wise community committee will find many ways to
influence future generations. Such a committee would be a priceless
heritage to any community.
The natural resources of the United States are necessary to the
prosperity of the people. The preservation and economic use of these
resources are of vast importance. The natural resources of the world
were, however, as great five thousand years ago as they are today. The
soil was no less fertile then than now. The difference between the
prosperity of the human race at these two periods is caused by a
difference in human motive and efficiency. It is the result of ideals
and knowledge. Sit at the banquet table with men who are the real
powers in shaping the affairs of the world. The chances are that the
champagne remains untouched. These men are not in the habit of
partaking of midnight suppers. They must keep themselves fit for the
next day's work. They have the approval and loyalty of their wives
because they deserve it. In other words, the men who do the world's
work are not drunkards. They are not gluttons. They are not libertines.
They are efficient because they have healthy bodies and clean minds. It
is this efficiency which the critic from Argentina saw when he said, "I
do not look upon the people of the United States as a nation, but as a
new civilization."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
STANDARD BOOKS
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=First Principles of Soil Fertility=
By ALFRED VIVIAN. There is no subject of more vital importance to the
farmer than that of the best method of maintaining the fertility of the
soil. The very evident decrease in the fertility of those soils which
have been under cultivation for a number of years, combined with the
increased competition and the advanced price of labor, have convinced
the intelligent farmer that the agriculture of the future must be based
upon more rational practices than those which have been followed in the
past. We have felt for some time that there was a place for a brief,
and at the same time comprehensive, treatise on this important subject
of Soil Fertility. Professor Vivian's experience as a teacher in the
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subject in plain language, practically devoid of technical and
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especially valuable to those who desire an introduction to the subject,
and who intend to do subsequent reading. Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 265
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Net, $1.00
=The Study of Corn=
By PROF. V. M. SHOESMITH. A most helpful book to all farmers and
students interested in the selection and improvement of corn. It is
profusely illustrated from photographs, all of which carry their own
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=Profitable Stock Raising=
By CLARENCE A. SHAMEL. This book covers fully the principles of
breeding and feeding for both fat stock and dairying type. It tells of
sheep and mutton raising, hot house lambs, the swine industry and the
horse market. Finally, he tells of the preparation of stock for the
market and how to prepare it so that it will bring a high market
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statistics show a production far short of the actual requirements.
There are many problems to be faced in the profitable production of
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=The Business of Dairying=
By C. B. LANE. The author of this practical little book is to be
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students, producers and handlers of milk, and all who make dairying a
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various business methods and systems which will help the dairyman to
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=Questions and Answers on Buttermaking=
By CHAS A. PUBLOW. This book is entirely different from the usual type
of dairy books, and is undoubtedly in a class by itself. The entire
subject of butter-making in all its branches has been most thoroughly
treated, and many new and important features have been added. The
tests for moisture, salt and acid have received special attention, as
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=Questions and Answers on Milk and Milk Testing=
By CHAS. A. PUBLOW, and HUGH C. TROY. A book that no student in the
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=Soils=
By CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT, Director Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station. The most complete and popular work of the kind ever
published. As a rule, a book of this sort is dry and uninteresting,
but in this case it reads like a novel. The author has put into it his
individuality. The story of the properties of the soils, their
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farmer, student and teacher. Illustrated. 303 pages. 5-1/2x8 inches.
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=Weeds of the Farm Garden=
By L. H. PAMMEL. The enormous losses, amounting to several hundred
million dollars annually in the United States, caused by weeds
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question is, therefore, a most important and vital one for American
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=Farm Machinery and Farm Motors=
By J. B. DAVIDSON and L. W. CHASE. Farm Machinery and Farm Motors is
the first American book published on the subject of Farm Machinery
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development of many of the more important farm machines, and the
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practical book like Farm Machinery and Farm Motors will fill a
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authors before their classes for several years, and which were
prepared from practical experience and a thorough review of the
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=The Book of Wheat=
By P. T. DONDLINGER. This book comprises a complete study of
everything pertaining to wheat. It is the work of a student of
economic as well as agricultural conditions, well fitted by the broad
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=Farmer's Cyclopedia=
=of Agriculture=
_A Compendium of Agricultural Science and Practice on Farm, Orchard
and Garden Crops, and the Feeding and Diseases of Farm Animals._
=_By_ EARLEY VERNON WILCOX, Ph. D.=
=_and_ CLARENCE BEAMAN SMITH, M. S.=
_Associate Editors in the Office of Experiment Stations, United States
Department of Agriculture_
This is a new, practical, and complete presentation of the whole
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use of agriculturists who desire up-to-date, reliable information on
all matters pertaining to crops and stock, but more particularly for
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=Detailed directions for the culture of every important field,
orchard, and garden crop=
grown in America, together with descriptions of their chief insect
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contains an account of modern methods in feeding and handling all farm
stock, including poultry. The diseases which affect different farm
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Every bit of this vast mass of new and useful information is
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8vo pages and nearly 500 superb half-tone and other original
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=_Handsomely bound in cloth. $3.50; half morocco (very sumptuous),
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