1908 
393 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The fishing schoonei- Gloriana, of Glouces¬ 
ter. Mass., ran ashore on the cliffs at Whale Cove. N. S., 
during a thick fog May 5, and 15 men were drowned, 
leaving only three survivors. . . . Nine men were kill¬ 
ed and three mortally wounded by a fall of rock in a 
tunnel near Roanoke, Va., May 7. . . . The first im¬ 
portant conviction at Pottsville, Pa., growing out of the 
miners’ strike was secured May 7, when Edward Wonn, 
of Gilberton, was found guilty of blowing up the home 
of Malachi Holihan with dvnamite. He was sentenced 
to jail for 2^ years. . . . May 10 a fire, supposed to be 
of incendiary origin, began in lumber yards at Ottawa, 
Canada, spreading over an area of 40 blocks; nearly 1,000 
persons were rendered homeless, and the loss is esti¬ 
mated at $400,000. The fire-swept area is in part identical 
with that of the big fire of 1900, which caused a loss of 
$18,000,000. ... At Hartford, Conn., May 9, a woman 
and child were fatally burned, and another child seri¬ 
ously hurt as the result of heating whale-oil soapsuas 
and kerosene on a small oil stove, the mixture being in¬ 
tended for spraying. It is supposed that the mixture be¬ 
came so hot that gas formed and exploded, but this is 
merely conjecture. . . . The Federal Salt Trust plead¬ 
ed guilty at San Francisco, Cal., May 12. to having vio¬ 
lated the provisions of the Sherman Anti-Trust law. This 
sudden culmination of the famous case is a great victory 
for the Government as it is the first instance wherein a 
criminal proceeding instituted under the Anti-Trust law 
has resulted In a conviction. . . . Judge Dickinson, in 
the Omaha, Neb., District Court May 12, on application 
of the labor unions whose members are on strike, issued 
an injunction against the business men and employers 
even more sweeping than that issued by the Federal 
Court agaist the unions. The order restrains the busi¬ 
ness men from refusing to sell goods to dealers who 
employ union labor; prevents them from boycotting union 
labor; requires the Business Men’s Association to cease 
holding meetings or conspiring against the unions or in 
any way interfering with the unions in the management 
of their affairs. 
ADMINISTRATION.—May 8 the authorities investi¬ 
gating the Post Ofiice Department gave indefinite leave 
of absence to A. W. Machen, General Superintendent of 
the free delivery system, and one of the most widely 
known Government officials in the United States, and 
Post Ofiice Inspector M. C. Fosnes wiis designated to 
take charge of that service. At the same time that ser¬ 
vice will pass under the control of the office of the 
Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General. Heretofore it has 
been under the jurisdiction of the First Assistant. Mr. 
Machen has been under fire ever since the investigation 
began. Charges of various kinds have been preferred 
against the administration of the free delivery branch 
of the postal service. These included allegations of col¬ 
lusion with letter box manufacturers in the furnishing 
of boxes to Post Office patrons, particularly on rural 
mail routes, the furnishing of advance information re¬ 
garding the selection of routes, and the appointments of 
carriers. There also has been a confiict between Mr. 
Machen and First Assistant Postmaster-General Wynne 
ever since the latter assumed office. Mr. Wynne charges 
Mr. Machen with insubordination. The strained rela¬ 
tions between the head of the free delivery service and 
other officials resulted in an embarrassing state of af¬ 
fairs, and for several months correspondence between 
the General Superintendent of the Free Delivery Service 
and his immediate superior, the First Assistant Post¬ 
master-General. has been conducted, on the part of the 
former, through one of his subordinates. 
CUBA.—The clothing, shoe, hat and hardware dealers 
in Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Remedios and Sancti Spiritus 
have closed their stores as a protest against the taxes 
imposed by the councils of the provinces in which they 
are situated. Among the new taxes proposed is one of 
10 cents on each pair of shoes sold, which, it was esti¬ 
mated. would yield a revenue of $10,000 in three months; 
and another of 10 cents on each hat sold of the value of 
60 cents In Spanish silver, which. It was calculated, 
would give the provincial treasuries $25,000 a quarter. 
The councils have also levied a tax on patent medicines 
similar to that imposed in Havana which led to the 
closing of the drug stores, only the tax imposed in the 
other provinces is a graduated one. As a result of this 
the drug stores have stopped selling patent medicines on 
which the tax had to be paid. A tax of five cents has 
been imposed on every toy that costs over 50 centa The 
clothing and hardware dealers closed their stores in sym¬ 
pathy with the other merchants. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The eighteenth annual meet¬ 
ing of the Holstein-Friesian Association will be held at 
the Yates Hotel, Syracuse, N, Y., June 3, Election of 
officers will take place, and an address will be given by 
Prof. H. H. Dean, of the Ontario (Canada) Agricultural 
College. 
Dr. W. H. Jordan, of the Geneva Experiment Station, 
will deliver the commencement address June 16 at the 
Rhode Island College of Agriculture. 
Prof. T. F. Hunt, dean of the College of Agriculture of 
Ohio State University, has accepted the professorship of 
Agronomy in the College of Agriculture of Cornell Uni¬ 
versity. Prof. Roberts will retire in June and his pro¬ 
fessorship is to be divided between two or three profes¬ 
sors, of whom Prof. Hunt is the first to be appointed. 
Governor Pennypacker, of Pennsylvania, has vetoed a 
bill which sought to establish a division of horticulture 
in the State Department of Agriculture. The bill pro¬ 
vided for a chief of the division at a salary of $2,500 an¬ 
nually and a clerk at $1,500. 
The trustees of Storrs (Conn.) Experiment Station have 
advanced the official rank of Prof. L. A. Clinton from 
Acting Director to Director of that Station. 
The new Minnesota State Live Stock Sanitary Board 
which will relieve the State Board of Health of the care 
of domestic animals’ diseases, is made up as follows: 
John J. Furlong, Mower County, for five years; Dr. M. 
H. Reynolds, St. Anthony Park, for four years; Dr. 
Charles E. Cotton, Minneapolis, for three years; Forest 
Henry, Olmsted County, two years; W. W. P. McConnell, 
State Dairy and Pood Commissioner, for one year. 
These names were all recommended at a conference of 
the stock men and veterinarians. Dr. Reynolds and Dr. 
Cotton are veterinarians, and the other three breeders of 
live stock. _ 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
I do not think the frosts have hurt the fruit crop here, 
except early cherries and some strawberries. Peaches, 
pears and plums seem to be all right, and are now in 
full bloom. Apples are not in bloom yet; it is fine 
weather now, but we need rain. There will not be as 
much cabbage planted as usual. Some are planting as¬ 
paragus, onions and sugar beets instead. a. l. b. 
Ionia, N. Y. 
I have examined our Black Tartarian cherries and out 
of a dozen blossoms opened I found one good cherry; all 
the others are black. That is the report I hear from 
people here who have examined their fruit. Pears are 
also damaged. The other fruit was not hurt much, as 
it was not so far advanced, unless it be currants; they 
suffered some. n. E. H. 
Pittsford. N. Y. 
As nearly as I can guess, peach blossoms are nearly 
all destroyed, with a few good ones on higher land, and 
there may be about a tenth of a crop. All strawberry 
blossoms that were out or nearly out are ruined, but 
this only applies to the early varieties, and will not take 
more than half of them, as many were not forward, so 
I guess that about one-fifth of strawberry crop is spoiled. 
1 do not know of any damage to any other kinds of fruit. 
Weedsport N. Y. J. Q. 
Apples promised an abundant crop; peaches not over 
30 per cent; plums a failure, all dead; this applies to 
Japan plums, as no others are grown here. Of pears 
about 50 per cent seem to be good now. All strawberry 
bloom that was open before the recent freeze Is dead; 
probably fully one-half of the crop. It is exceedingly 
dry here now; all plowing stopped, which must neces¬ 
sarily affect the hay crop adversely, and if it continues 
long it will affect the apples. i>. b. 
Baird, N. J. 
I think no kind of fruit has been seriously injured by 
the hard freeze of May 2, except it may be a few of the 
very early kinds of peaches, cherries and plums. Fruit 
trees of all kinds are blooming full, except Baldwin apple 
trees that were very full of fruit, last year. On account 
of the cool weather, the trees have leaved out very slow¬ 
ly, but are looking healthy. No insect enemies have ap¬ 
peared yet. A very favorable time for putting in crops 
but we need rain. Wheat is looking very fine. 
Hilton. N. Y. B. w. B. 
May 2. in the morning, mercury stood at from 22 to 24 
degrees. Sweet cherries and peaches, also Japan plums, 
are practically all killed. We found a few live Windsor 
cherries and a few Hill’s Chill peaches. Dwarf pears are 
also Injured, but not seriously. Early apples. Greenings 
and Kings, will bloom quite freely, but few Baldwins. 
The problem is getting to be not how the fruit buds will 
stand the Winter, but how to get them safely by the 
May freeze. w. a. b. 
Farmer. N. Y. 
I think the freeze did very little harm to any portion 
of the fruit crop in my immediate vicinity; my apri¬ 
cots. cherries, plums, prunes, grapes and apples seem 
almost entirely unharmed. Apples were not enough ad¬ 
vanced to be hurt; cherries, plums, pears, prunes and the 
like the most abundant bloom for a long time. We 
have a wonderful absence of Tent caterpillars; hope 
other pests will prove as scarce. Everything now indi¬ 
cates a bountiful crop of all kinds of fruit, apples in¬ 
cluded. All farm crops of grain are late in starting; 
wheat showing less favorably than earlier. c. b. 
Spencerport, N. Y. 
From my own observation and what I can learn of 
others there is but little harm done to the fruit by the 
recent frosts in Orleans County, and especially in this 
section. Early plums, cherries and peaches were thought 
to be affected and badly hurt by the frosts at the time, 
but at this writing they do not appear to be very much 
hurt. Other fruits are not seemingly hurt at all. Apple 
trees are blossoming out quite freely, and present pros¬ 
pects are that there will be a fair crop of apples this 
season, but it is early yet to make any estimate of a 
crop. Cherries and plum trees are blossoming very full; 
also peaches show quite well, and I think farmers need 
not have any fears from the effect of recent frosts on 
this year’s crop of fruit. J. b. 
Albion. N. Y. 
I do not consider that recent frosts here have done 
any damage to fruits except to strawberries; open blos¬ 
soms of this fruit have been blackened. Other fruits 
show no damage. Comparatively few strawberry Dlos- 
soms are open, however, and the damage can be but 
slight. The outlook at the present time is very favor¬ 
able for fruits in this section. Plums and cherries are 
showing a superabundance of bloom; pears and peaches 
sufficient for a good crop, and apples are unusually well 
budded for an “off year.” It will be a week yet before 
many blossoms show. The dry, cool weather has had 
the effect of retarding the development of vegetation, 
but has been very favorable for farm work, and rapid 
progress has been made. w. t. m. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
Apples appear to be practically uninjured. Peaches are 
apparently badly damaged; quite a difference in varie¬ 
ties. however. Wager and Crosby and some others may 
have sound buds enough for a fair crop, while Craw¬ 
ford. Elberta and others are almost entirely wiped out; 
Japan plums are utterly ruined, while some other sorts 
show some injury. The European plums are practically 
unhurt; quinces entirely wiped out and sweet cherries 
just about the same, while Montmorency and other sour 
sorts seem as though they may have enough sound buds 
to give a reasonable crop. A few varieties of pears 
(notably Howell and Kieffer), are badly hurt, while most 
sorts are not materially injured. Wheat and grass are 
suffering severely for want of rain, of which we have 
had none for about four weeks, while the early Spring 
was so constantly rainy that all are very much behind 
with their work, and now the ground la so dry and hard 
as to render plowing and fitting for Spring crops very 
difficult, and seeds already sown ao not come up as yet. 
Canandaigua, N. Y. w. h. p. 
Fruit prospects are very discouraging in the central 
part of this State; the unseasonably warm weather in 
March brought out vegetation at least two weeks earlier 
than usual, which being followed by killing frosts during 
the last week In April, also on May 1, has practically 
left us without tree fruit except apples, which we can 
hardly tell about yet, though we know they are dam¬ 
aged much. All the peach buds were killed in February; 
gooseberry and currant suffered a like fate In the latter 
part of March. Plums, cherries and pears were all In 
full bloom the last of April, when they were nearly all 
killed. The apples suffered most on May 1. Some of the 
late blossoms, however, may make fruit. Strawberries 
suffered considerably on May 1, but as many blossoms 
were not open at that time we may have a fair crop yet. 
Raspberries and blackberries are not yet open, and look 
all sound. Grapes are also in good condition and have 
not yet opened. Q. J. p. 
Normal. Ill. _ 
BUSINESS BITS. 
A REAL, self-opening gate is one of the luxuries which 
few can afford to do without. Besides the convenience 
in not being obliged to “get out to open the gate” the 
danger of your horse running away while you are doing 
it is removed. Write for catalogue to Manlove Gate Co., 
272 Huron St., Chicago. Ill., and learn about this trouble- 
saving gate. 
F. E. Luther Brothers, No. Milwaukee, WIs., are 
making an exceptionally liberal offer to introduce their 
sickle and tool grinder to The R.-Y. readers. One of 
these grinders will come in handy during haying and 
harvest, and will save time enough in these busy seasons 
more than to pay for itself. They ask no money in ad¬ 
vance and grinder can be returned if not entirely satis¬ 
factory. 
Those interested in hay presses will do well to send 
for the Illustrated catalogue Issued by Whitman Agr’l. 
Co.. St. Louis. Mo. This firm manufactures over 40 dif¬ 
ferent styles for baling everything balable. One of the 
latest Inventions by this house is a new automatic self- 
feeding straw baler which takes the straw direct from 
the thrasher without any manual labor. Catalogue will 
be sent free. 
Childs’ So-Bos-So Kilfiy is a preparation for killing 
flies and insects upon cattle. Ever since its first Intro¬ 
duction, It has been steadily growing in favor among 
dairymen and farmers. The ease and rapidity with 
which it may be applied and the generous terms under 
which it is sold have proved Important factors in estab¬ 
lishing its popularity. Chas. H. Childs & Co., Utica, N. 
Y.. who are the sole manufacturers, will gladly mall 
full particulars upon reqiiMt 
The Ohio Carriage Mfg. Co. Cincinnati, Ohio, has been 
making a specialty of split hickory buggies for many 
years, and turns out many thousands yearly. The pur¬ 
chaser may take 30 days after receiving the buggry to de¬ 
cide whether It Is what he wants or not. If not suited, 
the buggy may be returned and the money paid for It 
will be returned without grumbling. A full description 
of the newest style split hickory buggy will be sent our 
readers on request. 
“Bickmore’s Gall Cure has done the business. My 
horse had a chronic sore back of one year’s standing. I 
had offered ten dollars repeatedly to anyone who would 
furnish a cure and let me drive him. I drove 25 days In 
the month of May, and applied the cure before putting 
on the pad as directed, and the sore got better every day. 
You cannot say too much for it. It is worth $10 a box 
to anyone who has a horse as mine was. 
“R. S. Borradaile, Sodus Centre, N. Y.” 
That the centrifugal separator ia a necessity in every 
dairy no one has for many years attempted to refute. 
The only question for dairymen to decide is which 
make will best suit his requirements. We will ask any 
of our readers wanting a separator at this time to write 
for a catalogue to American Separator Co., Bainbridge, 
N. Y.. and look carefully into the merits of this machine. 
Farmers are more and more coming to the conclusion 
that the broad low wheel has peculiar fitness for their 
everyday duties. It saves many a useless high lift, 
avoids cutting in meadows and fields and saves draft 
for the team. It saves many a trip to the shop for re¬ 
setting, and there is strength to bear up many times 
the burden that will be put upon it. These things are 
emphatically true of the popular “Goshen” wheel made 
by the Hickox, Mull &,Hill Co., of Toledo. Ohio. It is 
made to fit any axle. Write for information. 
POTATO GROWING IN OREGON.—The potato indus¬ 
try of the Willamette Valley has grown rapidly of late 
years. Farmers raise from a few acres up to 40 acres. 
The potatoes are mostly dropped by hand in every third 
furrow. Some farmers mark the land crossways so as 
to cultivate both ways. A few of the larger growers use 
potato planters (mostly Aspinwall). Potatoes are mostly 
planted between April 15 and June 1. Digging time be¬ 
gins about September 20. A good many cheap two- 
horse potato diggers have been tried with very poor 
satisfaction. The Hoover digger does good work here if 
ground is reasonably clean and not too wet. Most of 
the potatoes are dug with forks. Potatoes are picked 
up in 30-pound candy buckets, putting two bucketsful 
making one bushel in each sack. Second-hand Calcutta 
grain bags are used (costing three to five cents each). 
The sacks are not tied, but from 40 to 60 bushels are 
loaded on wagon and hauled to cellar and emptied. The 
Burbank potato Is the principal one raised. All smooth 
long creamy white potatoes sell as Burbanks. Our mar¬ 
ket Is San Francisco. Choice potatoes were selling De¬ 
cember 28 for one cent per pound in San Francisco, Cal. 
Our freight rate in carload lots (of 30,000 pounds) is 20 
cents per 100 by rail or water. Small Burbanks are ship¬ 
ped for seed during the first three months of the year. I 
raise 3,000 to 5,000 bushels of potatoes each year; dig with 
Hoover and plant with Aspinwall. o. h. b. 
New Era, Oregon. 
