1903 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
661 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Edward C. Rushmore, a physician of Tux¬ 
edo Park, was seriously injured, and his niece. Miss Cor¬ 
nelia Herrick, of Southampton, was killed in an automo¬ 
bile accident at Arden, N. Y., September 10. While going 
up a steep incline the power of the automobile seemed 
to give out and the machine backed down the hillside. 
Dr. Rushmore applied the brakes, which refused to hold, 
and the machine toppled over a rocky embankment. , . 
. . Fire at Nashville, Tenn., September 10, damaged 
property valued at ?125,000 and brought death to one man 
and injury to eight others. The dead man is Dr. Wm. H. 
Smith, who was crushed by a falling wall which at the 
same time Injured others. . . . Rural letter carriers 
of the United States met in Chicago September 11-12 to 
form a National association. Delegates were in attend¬ 
ance representing 17,000 rural letter carriers. Better 
roads, more salary, fewer privations, holidays, and nu¬ 
merous other improvements in their condition are the 
hope of the rural carriers. . . . Fifteen cases of dy¬ 
namite in a car in the Michigan Central yards at Bay, 
City, Mich., exploded September 13 while a switching 
crew were making up a train, killing two men and in¬ 
juring three of the switch crew, damaging over 400 
houses, school buildings and business places in the neigh¬ 
borhood and slightly injuring a dozen persons by broken 
glass. ... In the investigation into the counterfeiting 
of silver coins by convicts at the Eastern Penitentiary, 
Philadelphia, it was found that considerable of the ma¬ 
terial was obtained from outside the prison. Including 
block tin, antimony and cyanide of silver. It has not yet 
been shown conclusively that there was collusion on the 
part of the attaches or the institution, but at least 
three of the overseers are under surveillance. The prin¬ 
cipal counterfeiter is one who has been three times be¬ 
hind the bars for making bogus coins. He is comparative¬ 
ly young and of great intelligence. . . . According to 
despatches received at Chicago September 14, snow and 
rain damaged crops in the Northwest during the pre¬ 
vious week to the extent of millions of dollars. Nearly 
all the grain in shock, estimated at 50 per cent, and all 
standing grain, much of it flax, was buried under snow 
and water. The rainfall has been eight inches in 48 
hours. Rain and sleet and snow prevailed all over the 
Northwest. Evidence of danger to the corn crop became 
so strong on that date that the price on the Board of 
Trade advanced one and three-quarters to two cents a 
bushel. Farmers in Minnesota were building great bon¬ 
fires in the hope of protecting their best fields of corn 
from frost. It is thought that not more than 25 per cent 
of the entire western crop will mature, and the heavy 
frosts followed. Snow to the north and west of the corn 
belt is almost certain to bring a series of frosts. The 
great fall of rain during the week previous further con¬ 
tributes not only to the loss of corn, but will damage 
some of the grain that has not been put under cover fully 
75 per cent. There are thousands of acres of flax and 
late wheat yet uncut, and some of the former is still 
green. The greater part of Manitoba and Northwest Ter¬ 
ritory experienced September 13-14 the worst storm in 
years. High winds accompanied by a heavy downpour of 
rain which later turned to snow swept the entire coun¬ 
try, doing much damage to farm buildings, crops and 
stock. The snow covers the ground in many places to 
the depth of three feet. . . . The hurricane which 
swept over southern Florida September 11-12 cut a wide 
swath clear across the State. From Miami on the south 
to Melbourne on the north on the east coast the hurri¬ 
cane had full sway. In this stretch of 250 miles there are 
dozens of small villages and every one has been damaged. 
Buildings were blown down, roofs blown off, fruit trees 
uprooted and boats wrecked. Miami suffered heavily, 
many buildings being destroyed. Palm Beach suffered 
also, nearly a score of business houses being damaged. 
Sweeping past the coast the hurricane, with a wind veloc¬ 
ity of 75 miles an hour, went across the peninsula be¬ 
tween Ocala and Tampa, striking the west coast towns 
with full force. Then veering to the northwest it went 
up the Gulf, striking Cedar Keys. Then it cut through 
the cotton belt of Alachua and Madison counties. In the 
line of the hurricane it is reported that from 10 to 30 per 
cent of all standing pine was levelled, thereby greatly 
injuring the turpentine Industry. Oranges were whipped 
from the trees in great numbers, while large quantities 
were “thorned,” causing them to decay. Along the coast 
in many places all the pineapple sheds were blown down 
and at places the pines blown entirely out of the ground. 
The loss from the damage to pineapples and grape fruit 
will be great. The orange loss is estimated at from 25 
to 30 per cent of the entire crop. The crop was reckoned 
the week before at 1,800,000 boxes. Wrecks are scattered 
all along the east coast. At Delray there were 19 desti¬ 
tute sailors from a British ship. Near Jupiter the 
schooner Martha A. Thomas from Appalachicola to Bos¬ 
ton, lumber laden, was a wreck, while near Fort Lau¬ 
derdale there were three schooners and two steamers 
ashore. The loss of life is not known, but several bodies 
have been washed ashore. The British steamer Juhulva 
was driven ashore near Boynton and 13 men lost. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The surrender of Geo. W. Beav¬ 
ers, formerly Chief of the Division of Salaries and Allow¬ 
ances in the Post Ofllce Department on an indictment 
handed down by the Washington Grand Jury, charging 
him with conspiracy to defraud the Government, and 
the issuing of warrants for the arrest of Isaac S. Mc- 
Giehan and Geo. H. Huntington, proprietors of the Co¬ 
lumbia Supply Company, who have been Indicted for 
bribery as the result of transactions relating to the fur¬ 
nishing of supplies to the Post Office, marked the most 
important local developments in connection with the 
Post Ofllce scandal September 11. The complaint charges 
that during the period between July 1, 1901, and May 5, 
1903, Beavers had been engaged with August W. Machen, 
Superintendent of the Free Delivery System. In the of¬ 
fice of the First Assistant Postmaster General, and Jas. 
W. Erwin, a former Post Ofllce employee, in defrauding 
the Government by giving to and obtaining for the Pos¬ 
tal Device & Improvement Company, a California cor¬ 
poration, in which they are said to be heavily Interested, 
the exclusive opportunity of furnishing to the Govern¬ 
ment a time indicating device at unreasonable and ex¬ 
orbitant prices, and that they divided between them.selves 
and others the excess moneys thus realized. 
ALASKA.—What is termed by Judge Wickersham of 
the United States District Court of Alaska the most im¬ 
portant legal questions brought before him in the north 
developed at Rampart. They involve the question of 
jurisdiction in Alaska, and a peculiar point involved is 
whether dog^, almost Invaluable in the north, are a sub¬ 
ject of larceny in Alaska. B. C. Burkell, a tailor of Ram¬ 
part, was convicted of stealing a valuable dog. His at¬ 
torney applied for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground 
that under Federal laws a dog is not a subject of larceny, 
alleging that Commissioner Green at Rampart had re¬ 
versed the Federal Supreme Court and otlier courts in 
finding Burkell gpiilty and sentencing him. Judge Wick¬ 
ersham denied the writ, and appeals have been made to 
the Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco. 3,000 miles 
distant. The dog in the case belongs to Mail Carrier Old¬ 
field and was used in the transportation of United States 
mails. Burkell is serving time in Rampart jail. 
The channels at the mouth of the Yukon River are 
changing so that they threaten to force steamships to 
take a new course 200 miles out of the present route fol¬ 
lowed in crossing the delta to reach St. Michael. The 
change in the channel is taking place at forks of tlie 
river near Old Kwiklok and Kwikpak Passes. The Kwik- 
lok Pass or right channel, which always has been used, 
is filling with sand, and steamships are having difficulty 
there, and already have been forced out of their course. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The annual meeting of the New 
Jersey State Horticultural Society will be held on Janu¬ 
ary 7-8. 1904, in State House, Trenton, N. J.; H. I. Budd, 
secretary. Mount Holly, N. J. 
Farmers and live stock men in Iowa will be interested 
in the movement just started in the State looking to the 
arrangement of a fine live stock dislay at the St. Louis 
Exposition next year. Senator VV. F. Harriman, who is 
chairman of the stock display department for Iowa, has 
appointed E. H. White, of E’stherville, as superintendent 
of the department of live stock, and he will at once start 
a campaign among the breeders of tine stock in the State, 
with a view to sending to the Exposition the very best 
Iowa can offer in the way of higii-bred live stock, in¬ 
terest will be stimulated this Fall so that some definite 
action can be taken at the annual meeting of the Iowa 
Improved Stock Breeders’ Association, which will be held 
at the State Agricultural College on January 8 and 9. The 
annual stock-judging classes will be held the first week 
in 1904. The display to be made at the Exposition will 
be held during September and October of next year. 
W. W. P. McConnell, Minnesota State Dairy Commis¬ 
sioner, has issued an order, effective January 1 next, 
forbidding the use of aniline or coal tar colors for but¬ 
ter making. This action is taken under the new State 
pure food law, it being held that such colors are in¬ 
jurious. 
The Anti-Barge Canal Committee has organized with 
the following membership: James Wood, chairman, Mt. 
Kisco. N. Y.; F. C. Stevens, treasurer, Attica, N. Y.; 
John I. Platt, secretary, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; E. B. Nor¬ 
ris, Sodus, N. Y.; Robert Spiuer, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Har¬ 
lan P. Dunlap, Watertown, N. Y.; Lewis P. Ross, Ro¬ 
chester. N. Y. 
At the Minnesota State Fair E. T. Davis, of Johnson 
Count. Minn., sold to W. A. McHenry of Iowa Falls, la., 
a two-year-old Aberdeen-Angus bull for $2,500. This is 
the new high price for purebred stock in Iowa. The two- 
year-old is called Western Star, and took first prize in 
his class. He will be shown next year at the St. Louis 
Fair at the head of Mr. McHenry’s famous herd. 
CROP PROSPECTS, 
Tlie following reports came to hand just previous to the 
severe storm of September 16-17. This has changed con¬ 
ditions, particularly in the coast sections of New Jersey, 
where it is reported that the entire apple crop was 
whipped from the trees. 
There is about 60 per cent of a crop of fruit in North 
Carolina. Prices promise to be good owing to light crops 
in other sections of the country. t. k. b. 
Raleigh. N. C. 
The apple crop in this section will be about one-third 
of last year’s in quantity, but of much better quality; no 
fungus of any account, and quite free from worms. Buy¬ 
ers are offering from $1.50 to $2 per barrel for Fall fruit. 
1 have heard of no sales of Winter fruit. f. h. g. 
Holley. N. Y. 
Pears are a good crop. Prices one cent to IV^ cent per 
pound. Apples are a good crop; quantity about 70 per 
cent of last year; quality better than last year. Early 
Fall apples are selling at $1.50 to $2 per barrel. No sales 
on Winter apples. This section has not got a short crop. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. J. b. coll,ambr & sons. 
The apple crop in Missouri in this section, does not 
amount to much. 1 would say not to exceed 10 per cent 
of a crop, but some of the shippers are shipping them 
in from Michigan laid down at $2.65 per barrel. The 
quality of what we have is very poor, and selling at 50 
cents per bushel. J. w. t. 
Nichols, Mo. 
The apple crop in this section will be from 50 to 60 per 
cent of a full yield. Early kinds have sold for $1 a bar¬ 
rel. I have only heard of one orchard being sold yet at 
$2 a barrel; it was good quality of Winter fruit. Evap¬ 
orators are paying 15 to 25 cents per 100. Plums and pears 
were a full crop; peaches rotted badly here. x. x. 
Ionia, N. Y. 
The apple crop in this part of Monroe County is very 
uneven. It is difScult to estimate quantity. I think there 
will be an average yield of excellent quality. The crop 
is ripening unusually early, and that may impair the 
keeping quality. There are plenty of windfalls for the 
evaporators. o. f. w. 
Fairport, N. Y. 
Apple crop is very poor for this locality. On low 
ground all fruit was killed by late frost. t>rchards on 
high ground are blighting badly and apples scabby. For 
No. 1 buyers offer $;i to $4 a barrel, grrowers holding for 
better prices. Peaches have been very scarce, those hav¬ 
ing good ones are getting 76 to $1 per peck. h. h. c. 
aec’y Missouri Valley Hort. Society. 
There was a good crop of plums. Very few peaches. 
Pear trees are yielding about one-half as many as usual, 
and the same may be said of grapes. Apples in this neigh¬ 
borhood are perhaps 80 per cent of a full crop, and the 
fruit appears to be good. In some of the hill towns 
where I have been very few growers expect more than 
40 per cent of last year’s crop, and the quality, except in 
well-kept orchards, is not first-rate. I should feel safe 
In estimating this section within 40 miles at less than one- 
half the quantity of Winter apples produced last year. 
Prices are not fixed, but buyers admit that they will be 
somewhat higher, when $1.25 to $1.65 per barrel was paid. 
Empty barrels then cost 40 and 45 cents. This year, one 
or more of the largest growers are putting together new 
barrels which is another step in the direction of using 
boxes, which some orchardlsts say will cost less and 
benefit both seller and buyer. j. w. a. 
Springfield, Mass. 
Apples have improved about 10 per cent in both quan¬ 
tity and quality. Local wind and hall storms have cut 
out certain qualities. We shall harvest a crop of high¬ 
est quality since 1894. The Ben Davis bids fair to break 
ail previous records. Local buyers are still very conser¬ 
vative. Greenings mostly sold for $1.50 delivered at rail¬ 
road station. There are several outside prospectors, and 
rumors of $2 fruit. If export market keeps up I expect 
to see better prices before November 1. e. w. c. 
North Rose, N. Y. 
The apple crop is normal or 100 per cent. Last year it 
was 200 per cent, so it is just one-half what it was last 
year; the territory Is the lower tier of towns in Albany 
County and the northern tier of towns in Greene County, 
but it is an uncommonly good section for fruit. Land is 
$6 per acre with good buildings. The reason for such 
low prices is that it is so far away from nowhere and a 
living is made here so easily that people put off until 
to-morrow what they can do to-day. w. h. t. 
Greenville, N. Y. 
It would seem that there was about 75 per cent of a 
full crop in this section; quality somewhat uneven, but 
as a rule very fair; will put up well. There are many buy¬ 
ers in the field, but they do not make any price, say it 
is too early. No sales of Winter stock as yet; I heard 
of dry-house men paying 20 to 50 cents per 100 for some 
lots. Dealers are paying about $1.50 per barrel for Fall 
fruit and some talk of $2 for Winter fruit. There seems 
to be a good deal of dry stock In cold storage. c. r. j. 
Penfleld, N. Y. 
Fruit ranks as good this year and full, except straw¬ 
berries and peaches. Apples and pears are quite free from 
scab, and of finer quality than usual, which will result 
in packing more apples and drying less, which with quite 
a surplus of dried stock will make a good balance. No 
price is offered here for picked fruit, and but 20 cents 
per 100 for the drop apples for drying. I estimate apples 
at 70 per cent of full crop, and price per barrel about 
$1.75 to $2.25. J. o. 
Weedsport, N. Y. 
Apples in this section are far below an average crop; 
fruit small and Codling moth doing more damage than 
for several years. Winter apples of red varieties colored 
better than usual at this time of year, and picking will 
begin 10 days earlier than most years. The crop through¬ 
out the State is very uneven, but I think it less than 60 
per cent of a full crop. Few buyers are here as yet; have 
heard of no offerings above $1.30 delivered at railroad, 
and know of no sales being made. Grass is a good crop 
and farmers looking for dry stock to consume surplus. 
Worcester Co., Mass. s. r. w. 
The apple crop in this section will reach about 75 per 
cent of last year’s yield, and the quality is very fine 
with the exception of now and then a low limb of very 
small apples which was caused by the green aphis. Prob¬ 
ably 25 per cent of the apples are contracted for in this 
locality, ranging in price from $1.75 to $2 per barrel for 
No. 1 fruit down to 2% inches in diameter. Some have 
sold at what Is called tree run (which means take all ex¬ 
cept cider apples); they get from $1.50 to $1.75 per barrel, 
according to quality and kinds. t. b. wilson. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
The apple crop in this section is nearly if not quite as 
large as last year, and of much better quality. Apples 
are uncommonly smooth and free from fungus. More ap¬ 
ples are fit for sale than last year. Buyers have con- 
iz-acted quite a number of orchards at $1.60 per barrel, the 
grower to pick the apples and furnish the barrel, the 
buyer to sort and pack. Just now buyers are offering $2 
per barrel packed, and some are selling. This is for No. 
1 apples in both cases. Some farmers are afraid to hold 
and others refuse to sell, looking for the price to advance. 
Buyers talk “big crop.’’ F e. v e 
Stanley. N. Y. 
Apples are not grown in Georgia to any commercial 
extent, though some rather extensive orchards are now 
being planted in the northern portion of the State. The 
crop is very light this year. I have just returned from a 
visit to some of the apple sections of Virginia, where I 
found a good crop of Pippins, Yorks and Ben Davis, but 
a rather light crop of Winesaps. Some Winesap orchards 
were well cropped, but as a rule I found an inferior crop 
of this variety. Bitter rot is doing much damage in many 
V irginia orchards, and 1 think the crop will not yield 
what is expected. w. m. s. 
Apples in the Annapolis Valley are a full off-year crop, 
nothing more; quality choice; no defects from fungus or 
other causes, and well colored, would estimate the quan¬ 
tity for export at about 300,000 barrels. Majority of buy¬ 
ers have not named a price, but are buying on a price 
to be fixed later on, and in the meantime are industrious¬ 
ly circulating reports of a large apple crop of especially 
good quality in the United States, particularly in the At¬ 
lantic States and New York. The chief business of buy¬ 
ers just now is to depress prices. Quite a few farmers 
are shipping on their own account, and if first-class 
transportation from Halifax could be obtained no doubt 
growers would realize much better prices by shipping 
than they would to sell. e. i. l. 
Kingsport, Nova Scotia. 
We have talked with a number of apple growers, and 
have yet to find one who will have as many apples as 
last year. About 60 per cent of last year’s crop would be 
the average for this county. The quality is above the 
average. Unsprayed Greenings and Pippins are showing 
some scab. Buyers are very backward about making 
offers, and no apples have been sold yet to our knowl¬ 
edge. it is quite evident that buyers are preparing to 
scare the farmers If they can. We talked with several 
prominent apple men at the recent State Fair, and it was 
their unanimous opinion that $2 per barrel was none too 
much for good fruit. Including the package. Apples are 
unusually large and fair in this section, and a large per 
cent will grade up fancy. w. a. b. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. 
I put the crop in this locality at 40 per cent of a full 
yield; quality good. Apples that were not sprayed are 
free from defects, the best I ever knew. Buyers have 
been offering $1.50; none sold for that, and now buyers 
are offering $2 and the farmers are selling at that price 
here. Buyers from the West have just come, and it 
looks as if apples would bring a fraction over $2. I have 
been through a number of counties and in Wyoming 
County the crop will not average over 30 per cent of a 
full yield. Buyers are not telling this year of the big 
western crop, but are telling how they lost money last 
year, to get the soft side of the farmer. We tell them we 
are sorry, and if they will pay the prices this year they 
will be happy. w. r. f. 
Rushville, N. Y. 
The apple crop in this section is very light indeed, not 
over 10 or 15 per cent of a crop, and quality very poor. 
The prospect on fruit is not as good as we expected in 
June and July. I have not heard buyers make any offer 
as yet. There is one orchard in this town that the owner 
allowed canker worms to eat thoroughly in 1896, the year 
you remember when there was such a glut everywhere. 
This man got no fruit, but when apples were $4 per bar¬ 
rel, the odd year, he got 600 barrels. He has had his crop 
the odd year ever since, and this year will have 1.000 
barrels. Is not that good pay for neglecting one’s trees? 
I met a buyer this week in Springfield who said he had 
bought 300 barrels in the western part of State for $1 per 
barrel. A windfall, and poor at that, will bring $1 per 
bushel in Boston market this week. j. e. 
Sherborn, Mass. 
The August report on the condition of the fruit crop 
in Iowa indicates that less than half of the usual crop 
will be gathered this season. The percentage on apples 
is as follows: Summer, 50 per cent; Fall, 53 per cent; 
Winter, 42 per cent. The local markets have been well 
supplied with Summer apples, which sold at 50 to 75 cents 
a bushel: though the Winter supply will probably be 
short and prices higher than last year. The fungus dis¬ 
eases have been more destructive than usual, and fre¬ 
quent rains have made spraying mixtures less effective 
in controllin.g them. The apple crop Is light in the Mis¬ 
sissippi Valley caused by a freeze the last of April while 
the trees were in bloom. Unless the apple crop in the 
East should prove much larger thon last year, growers 
here expect an advance in the prices paid for good fi-ult 
over those of a year agro. WHsr.Kv orkene. 
Sec’y Iowa Horticultural Society. 
