THE The King farm from the road. MARSH KING--PRODUCER HE man who specializes in feeding cows for individual records may become widely known as a successful dairyman. The success of such a man is deserving of our attention and admiration as his work not only lifts the standards of the community, but provides the foundation stock for the ultimate betterment of the dairy industry of the state. But there is another type of dairyman who accomplishes much and yet may not be widely known. The man who produces large quantities of milk efficiently for a wholesale market must have marked ability, and certainly outstanding examples of success in this are deserving of our study and commendation. Marsh King of Lisbon is one of the most efficient wholesale milk producers of the state. He makes no attempt to select a few high producers and force these for a record; but the whole herd is managed as a unit to secure as much milk as possible at a low cost. Mr. King has developed a two-man farm. He and a year man do all the work a greater part of the year; extra help is hired during haying and silo filling. The two men milk and care for thirty-three cows and about twenty head of young stock, and in addition work in producing roughage, work in the woods and do considerable teaming. In previous years the receipts from teaming and road work, etc., have just about balanced the total labor bill. The most important factor about the business is the accomplishment per man. Last year 234,642 pounds of milk were sold from the farm. Can you picture 2,726 ten-gallon cans of milk in a row side by side, one half a mile long? Or can you imagine a row of 109,040 quart milk bottles in a row about seven miles long? Including the milk used on the farm each man produced over 120,000 pounds of milk. This achievement stands as a splendid record, especially when contrasted with the output of many small dairymen who are able to produce only 20,000 pounds per man. In these times we are beginning to assign definite values to denote ability. If a man is able to Most of the hay is taken from a permanent meadow in the river bottom. he secured $174 in sales from each $100 worth of feed fed to cattle. For a large herd, including cows and young stock, this is a very good record, especially when milk prices were so low. Furthermore, Mr. King does not have the advantage of large amounts of legume roughage, as most of the hay is taken from a permanent meadow in the river bottom. The hay is fine in quality, yields well, but is not rich in protein. Mr. King hires extra help for haying and pushes the work so that hay is put up at the right time. The thirty-three Holstein cows averaged over 7,000 pounds of milk and Mr. King is confident that he will secure 8,000 pounds average in the present year. He compares each year's production with that of the preyious year and is eager to do better better each time. This comparison of one year with another is like a great game to him, and the attempt to beat the previous year's record fascinates him and holds his interest throughout the twelve months. And one wonders if all this intense interest in his work may not be the biggest factor in his success. We may, in studying the cold figures of the year's business, point out that good production per man, good production per cow, etc., are the chief factors. But these cannot be maintained without the tireless energy which interest and faith alone create. And yet this intense interest in his cows does not overbalance him in the management of his farm. He uses a milking machine, observes the cows with a critical eye while feeding, and then turns his energy toward other productive work. Several years ago Mr. King kept records of the time used in caring for the cows and at the end of the year the labor required per cow was estimated at 107 hours. This shows very efficient use of time when compared to the average labor requirement of 150 hours per COW. As one enters the cow barn and looks down the row of cows, the large size of the animals impresses one; and then later when the young stock is inspected, one is convinced that Mr. King believes in "growing out" the young heifers. The herd is maintained by raising the heifers from the best cows. In fact the herd has been brought up to its present efficiency by a program of breeding and selection rather than by purchasing high priced cows. As a producer, Marsh King is doing a man's work. With a good farm, high producing cows and efficient use of labor he is making a splendid record of accomplishment. PROHIBITION A Test of Statesmanship S he a real statesman or merely a politician?" is a question which people ask of themselves as they regard the various figures in public life. The answer to that question is not to be found amid the "tumult and the shouting" of a campaign, for a candidate for office is always an archangel and an archfiend, an honest man and a grafter, a law-abiding citizen and a wifebeater, if one is to believe all that is said about him. Public utterances are a poor indication of the real man behind them, for a carefully prepared speech usually sidesteps delicate or dangerous subjects by substituting thrilling passages on Democracy, Americanism, and the Star Spangled Banner. A public servant cannot always be measured by his official acts for there is usually some underling upon whose shoulders the blame can be shifted. How then can we measure our public men? A former recruiting officer tells of a draft dodger who attempted to deceive the examiners into the belief that he was hopelessly near sighted. Fortunately for our country there are and always have been little threads which measure the sincerity and manhood of our public figures. These threads are certain vital moral issues upon which feeling is bitter. Issues in which the politician can see little chance of glory for himself and which he will avoid if possible to escape the enmity involved. His "dodge" however usually proves his undoing. Slavery was such an issue. Henry Clay wrote a letter compromising himself upon it and lost the presidency. Our own Webster made a speech for the fugitive slave law to gain the friendship of the South and for years after was despised by both North and South as a trimmer. Stephen A. Douglass answered a question at Freeport in such a way as to win Illinois and thereby lost the "Solid South." To-day we have another issue upon which feeling is exceedingly bitter and which is about as attractive to politicians as a hangman's noose. The country watched the Governor of New York sweat blood for a week before he signed his name to a bill and declared himself for all time despite his desperate attempt to put his action on a basis of "states rights." A prominent New Hampshire politician of a few years ago who began life as a clergyman was asked why he left the ministry. "Because I got tired of being such a damned hypocrite," he responded. If he were alive to-day we fear that he would return to the ministry, for it is the politicians who seem to be the hypocrites. They appear to resolve themselves into three classes: First, the politicians who talk on both sides of the question. We have in mind a self-announced candidate for the next New Hampshire Senate who told us that he believed the 18th Amendment should be repealed, modified, or enforced. We A venture to predict that he will make a good senator. Second, the politicians who talk on neither side of the question. We mean talk in public. Some of them are willing to speak quite heatedly in private conversation but are singularly loath to reiterate their statements where they may go on record. Third, the politicians who talk one way and act another. It is rather amusing at times to see who our prohibitionists are. We almost sympathize with a veteran politician who made the remark to us, "I like a drink myself. I have every respect for the prohibitionist who is sincere but I hope that every man who voted for prohibition for political reasons may choke to death within sight of a beer barrel." The GRANITE MONTHLY is interested in knowing who are the politicians in New Hampshire, and who are the statesmen. For that reason we propose to interview the leaders of both parties. in this state in regard to their attitude on the 18th Amendment, give the results of our interviews to the people of New Hampshire in our October issue and let them determine the answer for themselves. BOOKS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INTEREST CONDUCTED BY VIVIAN SAVACOOL book has just been published by Rear Admiral Joseph Foster, Supply Corps, U. S. Navy, who during the last thirty years has gathered information about the lives and services of the Portsmouth soldiers and sailors serving the United States since that day when one of New Hampshire's citizens, William Whipple, numbered among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The publication of the volume comes at a most appropriate time, just now when Portsmouth is in the midst of a tercentenary celebration, which makes all citizens of New Hampshire turn toward the past to view with pride the part their State has always played in the life of the Nation. This book will preserve for us and for coming generations a record of those who died to defend the free institutions of America, will help to bridge the vast space of time between the present day and the Continental Congress of '76. It will help us to remember that the men of '61 were the sons of the patriots of '76 and that the pages of New Hampshire's history made memorable by Langdon, Whipple, Stark, Sullivan, and a host of heroes were again illuminated in the World War by the brave deeds of New Hampshire men. In this volume a detailed table of contents and an "Indexed Record of the Graves we Decorate" enables the reader to find quickly information concerning the service of the men whose graves in Portsmouth and four adjoining towns are annually decorated. Interesting information about men of especial prominence is given in the reproduction of speeches delivered on historical and public occasions, as in the case of General William Whipple (1730-1785) and Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, U. S. Navy, America's great admiral who died in the Portsmouth Navy yard August 4, 1870. 1870. These two men stand for the things of which New Hampshire may be justly proud, her part in the defense of the flag on land and sea, and her voluntary response to her country's call to send her citizens out to fight and die for the traIditions and ideals of America. The Missing Man BY MARY R. P. HATCH Four Seas Co. THE Missing Man" as may be surmised from the title is a detective story and one of more than usual interest. Even the most experienced lover of mystery stories will find here new material to stimulate his imagination in the ingenious, intricate plot which Mrs. Hatch carries through smoothly from start to finish with many surprising pitfalls for the reader, an interesting climax, and with well-sustained suspense. The story is based on the mysterious trips, lasting for two weeks, taken by Vane Hamilton every May to a place and for a purpose unknown even to his wife, Constance Hamilton. From one of these journeys he does not return and all clues lead to the belief that he has been murdered or that he is a scoundrel, a forger and bank robber, as well as a deserter of his wife and children in the company of Lenora, the beautiful woman with whom he was last seen. A Vane Hamilton finally returns. Is he the respected bank president of the first half of the story? Is the mysterious Premier Edes the real Vane Hamilton or is he Henry Ashley, a scoundrel sought for by the police? A confusion of four identities arises based on memory lapses, mind reading, and hypnotism, thereby introducing the reader to a new atmosphere in the usual mysterious adventures of detective fiction. The psychic element in the book is thrilling and fascinating, although at times it is difficult to know whether the psychological incidents are based on the result of scientific investigation or are suppositions on the part of the author. Except for uncertainty on some of these points, the story, story, although crowded, is well told, and a fine piece of characterization created in the case of Constance, torn between the man who looks like her husband and the one who seemed like him, but who did not look like him. |