1903 
S7 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Events of the Week. 
ADMINISTRATION.—C. W. Post appeared before the 
House Committee on Post Offices January 6 in advocacy 
of the bills Introduced at the last session to provide for 
post check currency. He explained to the committee the 
provisions of the bills, saying that they Involved simply 
a change in the designs on the face of the Government 
paper currency of denominations of $1, $2 and $5, so that 
the holder desiring to remit $1, for instance, through the 
mails, would need but to take the bill from his pocket- 
book, fill in the name of the payee and his city and 
State, affix and cancel a two-cent stamp as a Govern¬ 
ment fee, and enclose it with his letter.Mr. 
Griffith (Dem., Ind.), January 8, Introduced a proposed 
amendment to the Constitution to prohibit the accumu¬ 
lation of private fortunes beyond the sum of $10,000,000 
and to condemn any excess as a public nuisance, full 
of peril, and to forfeit it to the United States Treasury. 
. , . . January 13 the Committee on Ways and Means 
of the House reported a bill to refund duties paid on all 
kinds of coal imported for one year following Its passage. 
It authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to make full 
rebate of duties imposed by law on all coal of every 
form and description imported into the United States for 
a period of one year from and after the passage of the 
act. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Secretary Wilson reported to 
the Cabinet December 30 that the foot-and-mouth disease 
has been absolutely stamped out everywhere In New Eng¬ 
land, with the exception of a limited area in Massachu¬ 
setts, where the work has been Interrupted by farmers 
who, under the encouragement of the State officials, were 
trying to make money out of the epidemic by demanding 
high prices for their diseased cattle. The Federal au¬ 
thorities are not able to seize and kill other people’s cat¬ 
tle, because the police powers belong to the State, but 
they can quarantine any section of Massachusetts and 
prevent the shipment of cattle and everything likely to 
carry contagion until the inhabitants come to terms. 
Mor® than 1,300 cattle have already been killed by the 
Government veterinarians in that part of the State, and 
have been paid for at the rate of 70 per cent of their 
healthy value, which has been an average of about $33 
per head. 
The Wisconsin Buttermakers’ Association will hold Its 
annual meeting at Waukesha February 24-26. 
The death is announced of M. Mlllardet at the age of 
64 years. He was a Professor In the Faculty of Science 
at Bordeaux, France, and was the first to bring the now 
well-known fungicide Bordeaux Mixture into notice. 
The annual meeting of the International Consolidated 
Record Association of Himrod, N. Y., will be held at the 
State Capitol, Albany, January 20. A number of import¬ 
ant matters are to be discussed. 
The ninth annual show of the Illinois State Poultry 
and Pet Stock Association opened at Springfield January 
6. A novel feature of the show was an auction sale of 
prize-winning animals. 
The tenth annual meeting of the West Virginia State 
Horticultural Society will be held at Charleston January 
29. The State Grange of West Virginia meets at the same 
place January 27; the State Wool Growers’ Association 
January 28, and the State Live Stock Association Jan¬ 
uary 30. 
The Pennsylvania State Horticultural A.ssoclatlon met 
at Harrisburg January 21-22. 
The twenty-eighth annual meeting of the Ayrshire 
Breeders’ Association will be held at the Fifth Avenue 
Hotel, New York City, January 29, at 2 P. M. 
The New York State Grange will meet at Syracuse 
February 3-6. 
The sixth annual convention of the National Live Stock 
Association opened at Kansas City. Mo., January 13. 
The Windsor Poultry Club, of Windsor, Conn., will hold 
its second annual show January 28-30. 
In accordance with arrangements which were made 
when the New York State Fruit Growers’ Association 
and the Eastern New York Horticultural Society were 
consolidated an eastern New York meeting of the State 
Fruit Growers’ Association will be held at Poughkeepsie 
January 30-31. At the time these dates were selected it 
was announced that the meeting of the Western New 
York Horticultural Society would be held January 22-23, 
which would place a week between the two meetings. 
However, the change in the dates for the meeting of 
the Western Society brings the two meetings on the same 
week, which is to be deplored. A strong programme has 
been prepared for the Poughkeepsie meeting. Among the 
speakers will be T. B. Wilson, Halls Corners, president 
of the State Fruit Growers’ Association; Dr. W. H. Jor¬ 
dan, director of the State Experiment Station, Geneva; 
Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University; J. H. Hale, 
South Glastonbury, Conn.; S. D. Willard, Geneva, and 
Dr. E. P. Felt, State Entomologist, Albany. Among the 
subjects to be discussed are the questions concerned in 
pruning; the future of New York State fruit growing; 
San Jos6 scale, and the lime sulphur treatment to pre¬ 
vent it; peach growing in the North; orcharding as a life 
work; the commercial fertilizer situation; the insect 
depredations of the year; the care of apple orchards; 
marketing fruit; cooperative purchase of fertilizing and 
spraying chemicals. 
DR. JORDAN ON CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS 
At the recent meeting of the New York State Fruit 
Growers, Dr. W. H. Jordan gave an excellent talk on 
fertilizers. Dr. Jordan has spent many years in the study 
of this question. His remarks were closely followed and 
drew out many questions from the audience. The fer¬ 
tilizer trade is a peculiar one, having developed as science 
has gained knowledge of new sources of farm fertility. 
The trade in the entire country probably reaches $60,000,UUO 
a year. The trade has not been conducted as its tre¬ 
mendous importance demands. Instead of being dignified 
as many other industries have been it has followed to 
some extent the patent medicine trade. Such names as 
Hawkeye, Victor, Farmer’s Friend and Mohawk have no 
significance, and tell nothing about the quality of the 
goods. The formulas that they represent are not as a 
rule based either upon science or good practice. We buy 
fertilizer to obtain plant food. There is no magic about 
any particular brand. All manufacturers must use the 
same materials, although some make better combinations 
than others, and also blend them so that they are more 
effective. Averaging 71 brands of low-grade goods, it was 
found that the selling price was 35 per cent above the 
valuation. In 27 brands of high-grade goods thi® differ¬ 
ence was only 14 per cent. These differences will usually 
follow all through the trade, and are the strongest argu¬ 
ment against any purchase of low-grade fertilizers. It 
is not claimed that fertilizer manufacturers are dishonest 
men. The farmer is eager to obtain his fertilizer for as 
little money as possible. He does not always distinguish 
between the diffei-ent sources of nitrogen or available 
plant food. He wants to buy something cheap, and often 
on credit with no cash basis. This Is always an expen¬ 
sive business. 
What can be done to cheapen the fertilizer bill? Co¬ 
operative buying is one thing. This involves difficulties; 
a cash basis is needed for doing business and a spirit of 
confidence among the farmers. Contracts must be made 
on a large basis for certain quantities of fertilizer, and 
these contracts must be lived up to. Another way of 
saving money on fertilizer is home mixing. The manu¬ 
facturer often says that the farmer does not know what 
he wants. Do they know? They have the advantage in 
the fine mechanical condition of their goods, but by go¬ 
ing at it properly a farmer could make a suitable mix¬ 
ture. Part of the nitrogen must be supplied in animal or 
organic form. As a general mixture Dr. Jordan advises 
1,000 pounds of South Carolina acid rock, 200 pounds 
muriate or sulphate of potash, 600 pounds of dried blood, 
tankage or cotton-seed meal, 200 pounds of nitrate of 
soda. Dr. Jordan said that at the Station they no more 
thought of buying mixed fertilizers than they did of buy¬ 
ing patent medicines to cure smallpox. Dr. Jordan said 
that this year the manufacturers were keeping mixed 
goods and chemicals up to the guarantee. Acid phos¬ 
phate in bulk at $11 per ton is a cheap source of phos¬ 
phoric acid. He advises the purchase of wood ashes at 
$10 per ton delivered, on the guarantee that five per cent 
is potash. On a sandy soil 1,600 pounds of acid phos¬ 
phate and 400 pounds of muriate of potash makes a good 
mixture, when clover or cow peas are plowed under to 
furnish nitrogen. Most of the soil In New York Is de¬ 
ficient in soluble phosphoric acid, especially In the heavy 
soils. Sour soils are unhealthy for most crops and re¬ 
quire lime. The litmus paper test is useful for deciding 
when the soil is sour. Chemicals can be mixed or shov¬ 
eled together on the barn floor for about 50 cents per ton. 
Dr. Jordan would use on an anple orchard 400 or 500 
pounds of his mixture the first year, and 300 or 400 pounds 
each of the following years. He thinks 15 cents per 
bushel for dry compact hen manure is not too high, but 
it pays to mix such manure with acid phosphate. In 
reply to a question from Mr. Hitchings, Dr. Jordan said 
that decaying vegetable matter helps break up the soli, 
the carbonic acid proving a solvent for making the fer¬ 
tility available. Some plants, like bearing trees in a soil 
filled with vegetable matter, may thrive well on the raw 
phosphate rock, but for most plants the acid phosphate 
is better and cheaper. Prof. Bailey also gave an excel¬ 
lent lecture on the cultivation of orchards, a synopsis of 
which will be given next week. 
NEW YORK POULTRY SHOW, 
The fourteenth yearly exhibition of the New York 
Poultry, Pigeon and Pet Stock Association was held in 
Madison Square Garden January 6-10. There were nearly 
500 exhibitors. Among the entries were 1,000 pigeons, 450 
Bantams, 300 Leghorn and Plymouth Rock, 275 Wyan¬ 
dotte, 225 Game, and 125 Orpington. At least a few in¬ 
dividuals of nearly all breeds were shown off. Of the 
subdivisions Barred Plymouth Rocks were in greatest 
number. 184. Other classes showing 50 to 125 were Light 
Brahma, White, Brown and Buff Leghorn, White Wyan¬ 
dotte, Minorca, White Plymouth Rock and Rhode Island 
Red, the latter a general purpose breed which appears 
to be growing in favor. An exhibit of Orpingtons from 
Wm. Cook & Sons, of England, attracted considerable 
attention, both on account of the fine appearance and 
high prices asked, some roosters being valued at $300 
each. A few Klondikes and Silkies were shown. They 
appear to have moved out of the chicken tribe to the ex¬ 
tent of having a coat of long white hair, the only feathers 
being on tips of wings and feet. Green wattles and a 
brownish-purple comb that looks as though it had been 
polished with stove blacking add to their odd appear¬ 
ance. The exhibit of ducks was small, but comprised 
most of the well-known breeds. The Toulouse geese and 
Mammoth Bronze turkeys are big enough for Thanks¬ 
giving and Christmas combined. The cat show was 
larger than usual, most of them being long-haired ani¬ 
mals. The highest-priced ones that we saw were a short- 
haired Siamese and brown tabby valued at $1,000 each, 
and a silver long-haired one at $250. This annual show 
is well worth visiting by unprofessionals as well as 
fanciers. The practical hen man who Is after eggs and 
meat will not find the time wasted that he spends in 
looking over these birds which represent years of care¬ 
ful breeding and selection. It is a good thing for any 
man, whether raising poultry, cattle, horses, sheep, 
grain or fruit to see the very best that has been done in 
his line, even though he may not have the time or facil¬ 
ities to duplicate it. w. w. h. 
Old Gorgon Graham 
Readers of The Saturday Evening Post need 
no introduction to Old Man Graham. They 
know him as Pierrepont’s father and the central 
figure in Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to 
His Son. In a new series, by the same author, 
Old Man Graham delivers more of the business 
philosophy and shrewd humor that have made 
him famous. 
By F. HopKinson Smith 
A Point of Honor, soon to appear, is an unusually 
readable tale in which are set forth some of the 
humors of the French duel. 
mUYG TOS 
William Allen White’s 
Washington Papers 
The country boasts of three or four political writers 
as shrewd and clever as Mr. White; but not one of 
them possesses his fresh, keen humor or his strik¬ 
ing, forceful way of saying things. Mr. White 
will write a weekly Washington letter for the 
magazine during the winter. 
Owen Wister’s New Tale 
Mr. Wister’s next contribution to the magazine intro¬ 
duces the reader to the author’s old friends, Mr. Skookum 
Smith and Mr. Frisco Baldy. 
TJke SuhscripiionPrice is One Dollar 
a year until February 1st. 
OONOW- 
,£fierFeb.lst'dieSuhscriptioiiPnce\^\imj 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
