1903 
825 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC—Geo. W. Vanderbilt has leased a great 
portion of his Biltmore estate at Asheville, N. C., to hh 
B. Moore, of Kenilworth. With the exception of 1,000 
acres immediately surrounding the Biltmore mansion 
Mr. Moore will have control for 10 years of an area of 
125,000 acres. This tract of land will be converted into 
hunting preserves. A club of 100 wealthy members will 
be formed by Mr. Moore for the purpose of hunting and 
lishing on the estate.The United States Court 
Commissioner at San Francisco has handed down a de¬ 
cision in the case of Lin Lung Wong, a Chinese mer¬ 
chant, who acted as foreman in his own fruit-packing 
establishment, to the effect that a Chinese manufacturer 
who engages in any manual work about his factory, 
even for the purpose of instructing his employees, is a 
laborer under the meaning of the exclusion act, and as 
such is not entitled to enter into or remain in the country 
as a merchant. This opinion, if adopted as a rule of 
action by the Chinese Bureau, will lead to the deportation 
of a large number of Chinese proprietors of cigar facto¬ 
ries, clothing shops, broom factories, and other estab¬ 
lishments.At Kentwood, La., November 14, am 
express train dashed into the rear of an accommodation 
on the Illinois Central, causing a bad wreck. The 
Macomb City accommodation was on its way to Macomb 
City. The end coach was filled with negro section hands 
who had just been paid off and who were going to town 
to spend their money. Through some one’s error the 
Chicago express for New Orleans, going at the rate of 
50 miles an hour, dashed into the accommodation train. 
The last two coaches were completely demolished. The 
engine of the express was damaged, but the rest of the 
train was unhurt. The passengers of the express were 
bruised slightly by the shock, but none were seriously in¬ 
jured. On the accommodation, however, the cars were 
split in half and the passengers were crushed and 
mangled. The engine set Are to the splinters and the 
wreck was in flames in a few seconds. It was with dif¬ 
ficulty that the wounded were rescued from the fire, and 
it is feared that several died in the flames. The dead 
number from 25 to 40, but few bodies can be identified, 
and the exact number is unknown.Fire at 
Albia, Iowa, November 12, destroyed the business section 
of the town, causing a loss of $250,000.A strike 
among employees of the Chicago street car lines began 
November 12, and was at first marked by great disorder. 
The first day 12 non-union motormen and conductors 
were assaulted, some of them very seriously injured. 
Later quiet was restored, and many cars were running 
November 18.The Federal Grand Jury, at 
Omaha, Neb., returned indictments November 16 again.st 
United States Senator Charles M. Dietrich, of Nebraska, 
and Jacob Fisher, postmaster at Hastings. The indict¬ 
ments were the result of the investigation made by the 
jury into the charge that Fisher paid Dietrich money 
and gave him property for procuring his appointment 
as postmaster at Hastings. The penalty provided by law 
for such offences as those charged in the Indictments is 
imprisonment for not more than two years, a fine of not 
more than $1,000 and disqualification from holding office 
undei* the laws of the United States. It is said that 
never before in the history of the country has a United 
States Senator been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury 
on such charges. Senator Dietrich is in Washington. 
Several other charges of trafficking in postmasterships 
preferred against Senator Dietrich are being investigated 
by the Grand Jury.The Supreme Court of Ohio 
has placed its approval upon the right of believers in 
Christian Science to refuse to call a physician to treat a 
minor child. The decision came November 17 in the case 
of Ohio against Sylvia Bishop and her husband, brought 
upon exceptions from Butler County. The parents were 
indicted on a manslaughter charge for refusing to call 
a physician for the child, which died. They were ac¬ 
quitted, the State filed exceptions and these were over¬ 
ruled November 17. 
ADMINISTRATION.—An important land measure was 
introducer in the Senate November 9 by Mr. Hansbrough, 
chairman of the Public Lands Committee. The bill, by 
implication, repeals the Timber and Stone act, under 
which land is now acquired at $2.50 an acre, regardless 
of its real value, and authorizes the Secretary of the In¬ 
terior to make examinations and estimates relative to 
the quantity and value of the timber or stone on the 
public lands, and to sell the right to cut and dispose of 
the same in such quantities as may seem advisable to the 
highest bidder. This is the plan now being so success¬ 
fully pursued in the sale of timber on Indian lands in 
Minnesota. Under the proposed bill the title to the land 
remains in the Government, and the Secretary of the In¬ 
terior may fix the limit of time in which the purchaser 
Of the right shall remove the timber or stone. The right 
to cut the timber and make it a merchantable quantity 
is made inalienable. If this measure becomes a law all 
the timber on the public domain will be withdrawn from 
entry, and the Government will enter on the policy of 
disposing of its timber at its market value. There is 
also a provision which prohibits the entry of these lands 
under the homestead or other land laws and forbids the 
laying of scrip thereon. In this way and by retaining 
the fee to the land, reforestation will take place, and 
the sale of timber by the Government will become a 
source of considerable revenue. It puts a quietus upon 
speculation in public timber lands and an end to the 
frauds which have recently grown into a national scandal. 
. . . . Senator Hoar introduced November 16 the bill 
agreed upon in conference at the last session of Congress, 
but which failed of passage, providing for the protection 
of the President of the United States. Senator Gallinger 
also introduced a bill imposing the death penalty for 
assault to kill the President, Vice-president or any other 
person in line of succession to the Presidency. 
President Roosevelt November 13 formally received M. 
Philippe Bunau-Varilla, the duly accredited Envoy Ex¬ 
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Panama to 
the United States, The reception of the Minister marked 
the birth of the new Republic of Panama into the family 
of nations and paves the way for negotiations between 
the United States and the infant republic precisely as 
they may be conducted between any two sovereign na¬ 
tions. November 16 the Government of Colombia cabled 
a protest to Great Britain against what it apparently re¬ 
gards as the responsibility of the United States in the 
Panama affair. The following is the gist of the protest: 
“The main responsibility for the secession of Panama 
lies on the United States Government, in the first place 
by fomenting a separatist spirit, of which there seems to 
be clear evidence, and then again by hastily acknowledg¬ 
ing the independence of the revolted province, and finally 
by preventing the Colombian government from using 
proper means to repress the rebellion. The Colombian 
government repudiates the assumption that it has barred 
the way to carry out the canal scheme. It points out 
that since 1885 it has not less than nine times granted 
privileges to different people for the purpose of con¬ 
structing the canal.” 
MEXICO.—The yellow fever epidemic in Mexico is now 
beyond the control of the health authorities of that 
country, a.ccording to advices which have reached the 
Texas State Health Department. It is stated that the 
unusually long period of warm weather and the failure 
of the lower class of Mexicans to report cases of the 
disease to the health authorities has caused the epidemic 
to spread to every town between Monterey and Laredo. 
In Monterey the situation is growing worse daily. It is 
asserted that thousands of cases of the disease have 
occurred in the infected towns and cities of Mexico 
which have not been reported to the health authorities. 
The death rate is about five per cent. The United States 
Marine Hospital Service is rendering what aid it can to 
the Mexican authorities in suppressing the disease. It 
is estimated that the loss of business in Monterey alone 
as a result of the epidemic aggregates more than $1000,000. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The executive committee of 
the Texas Anti-Boll Weevil Association will ask that 
the Government establish an experimental farm in each 
of the cotton counties of the State, in order that the 
farmers may have a demonstration of what can be done 
in fighting the w’eevil. The Government has arranged to 
send about 300 tons of Improved seed into' Texas. This 
will be distributed among selected farms, so that there 
may be as thorough a test as possible. If the seed were 
given to each farmer applying there would be merely a 
pittance to each, and no good would result, because all 
would have to supplement the seed with some other va¬ 
riety. Some opposition has been shown in Louisiana to 
the proposition to quarantine against the Texas cotton 
zone along the Sabine; but S. A. Knapp, one of the best 
authorities on agricultural subjects in western Louisiana, 
insists that the non-cotton zone is impracticable and 
that it will cost $15,000,000 to maintain it. He thinks that 
Jt would be better and cost less to admit the Boll weevil 
to Louisiana and fight it on the same lines as the fight 
is being conducted in Texas. 
OUTLOOK FOR MUSKRAT FURS. 
The muskrat is a small savage little animal inhabiting 
all parts of the United States and Canada, more largely 
in some section than others, southern New Jersey, Dela¬ 
ware and Maryland being the chief source where these 
animals are caught for their fine coat. They live for 
the most part in holes in the bank or in houses built of 
mud, rushes, sticks, refuse matter of the streams. In 
the West on flat bottom lands they are rarely found 
aside from their self-made dens. They are trapped by 
all classes of people who hunt and trap for fur-bearing 
animals, some trappers catching as high as 2,000 during 
the fur season, in most States from October 1 to 
May 1. They are mostly caught In common steel traps. 
No. 0 and No. 1; also in what is known as a dive or diver 
trap; also speared and largely shot during high-water 
periods. In Delaware and Maryland the rat marshes are 
rented by trappers for a season and done on a practical 
business form. Sections where more valuable game or, 
rather, fur-bearing animals are found, the muskrat is 
generally neglected and only caught in small numbers, 
chiefly to have their flesh for bait to catch mink, coon 
and fox. There are more than three times as many 
caught, however, during the fur season than of any 
other animal, numbering all the way from 3,000,000 to 
5,000,000 a year, according to the price, principally. I am 
sorry to say that the muskrat has been for the past 15 
years, up to London sales in January, 1903, a loss rather 
than gain to all concerned, that is, generally speaking. 
Sometimes they would take a little advance caused by 
some speculative move; but since last January they have 
brought high prices and generally met with fair satis¬ 
faction to those concerned, but as a rule it is a very 
unsatisfactory fur to handle. Keen demand for mole¬ 
skins, of which the plucked muskrat properly dyed made 
a good Imitation, small size of moleskin making it dif¬ 
ficult and expensive to make up into fur garments, musk¬ 
rats being a reliable substitute entered into a new field 
of usefulness. The moleskin garments are somewhat of 
a fad affair, and may soon lose favor. "The customary 
sources are for manufacturing into gloves, linings, etc.; 
also the better grades are used for Imitating of seal. 
The muskrat skins are mostly exported to Europe, 
but a fair amount of them at times are used this side 
of the Atlantic. The muskrat business years ago previous 
to and during the Civil War was a fine industry and, in 
fact, the best of the fur business to all concernea. Taking 
all in all there is a general feeling among the fur mer¬ 
chants not to put too much dependence on the muskrat 
or, in fact, any one article of fur, only at times when 
fashion and fad demand it. Red fox. coon, mink and 
skunk have been the most staple- furs, all things con¬ 
sidered. The past two years most articles of fur have 
been in good demand, and I think the present season 
bids fair to be a profitable one, both to trapper and 
dealer, if foolish competition does not enter and cause 
our best and most staple articles to go so high in price 
as to put them out of favor. There is a limit to all 
business somewhere and some day. Lemuel black 
CANADIAN APPLE BARRELS. 
The apple crop here is unusually large and barrels for 
shipping are very hard to obtain. The price has been 
from 35 to 60 cents each. Some are shipping them in 
boxes, for which they pay 15 cents for a box holding a 
bushel. j. E. R. 
Brockdale, Ont. 
In this section apples are plentiful and of a good qual¬ 
ity. Barrels are hard to get; they are asking 50 cents 
apiece. We sold our apples delivered at railway for 95 
cents per barrel; that is for first quality. You ask 
about shipping in boxes; we do not see any shipped that 
way, but think we will try some. w. m. 
Cayuga, Ont. 
We run a cooper shop ourselves. We find it very dif¬ 
ficult to get stock. We have had one car of stock or¬ 
dered for over two months, and just received the invoice 
for it Barrels are selling from 50 to 65 cents, and we 
cannot get them at that. At the beginning of the season 
they sold for 37 cents. In regard to boxes they have not 
been in use yet. h. j. b. 
Fenwick, Ont. 
It is almost impossible to obtain barrels; the price in 
our neighborhood is 45 cents apiece. I have heard of 50 
cents being paid in other places. Barrel timber is getting 
very scarce, as there has been a great demand for elm 
lumber lately. This year the apple crop is very fine and 
free from scab. I do not think our people have had much 
experience with the box as yet, although I have heard of 
a trial shipment being sent to the Old Country. I think, 
myself, that the box would be an ideal package. j. h. 
Carlisle, Ont. 
Apple barrels are scarce and high in price, owing, the 
dealers say, to a light supply of barrel timber got out 
last Winter; 40 cents per barrel was the price at the be¬ 
ginning of the apple season. Now they are worth 50 cents, 
v/hen they can be got. The high price of barrels is 
hindering the shipping of apples, as the price in Britain 
is fairly good. Buyers are paying $1 per barrel. I do 
not know if apple barrels are the same size on both sides 
of the line; ours is 11 pecks (2% bushels). I cannot say 
how the boxes are going to do, as this is the first season 
apples have been shipped from here in boxes; crop better 
than expected. R- h. 
Dundas, Ont. 
We have had very little trouble in getting barrels. I 
only needed 550 but I had them delivered to me for 22 
cents each; and I know that some of my nelghbo^ got 
theirs for 20 cents, but I did not think them qurte as 
good. In Kings County J understood that they had to 
pay 25 cents. It was not because material was scarce, 
but one of the best barrel factories burned down just 
when barrels were needed most. We have large quan¬ 
tities of barrel wood, and it will be a number of years 
before barrels will be scarce in Nova Scotia, but I think 
we will have to pay 25 cents for them in consequence 
of lalxir being much higher; help is very scarce. Very 
few of our people have ever shipped apples in boxes. 
The Englishmen who visit Nova Scotia soliciting ship¬ 
ments tell us that they are well satisfied with the Nova 
Scotia barrel. We have a round hoop, and our barrel Is 
well known in England. It Is a little different from the 
Canadian barrel; by Canadian I mean those made in 
Ontario and Quebec. Nova Scotia has a very fine crop 
of apples this year. I think we will export 600.000 barrels; 
the apples are very fine quality without spot; the only 
fault I have noticed is that some few varieties lack color. 
Nova Scotia. wm. sangster. 
Apple barrels have been more difficult to obtain this 
year than ever before, all on account of stock (staves, 
heads and hoops) being scarce. Usually in Ontario one 
large crop of apples is followed by a considerably smaller 
crop the next year, and after a heavy crop of apples one 
year there is usually a small quantity of stock for barrels 
got out, as was the case last Winter. Last year we had 
a very large crop of apples and another large one this 
year, so before the middle of September the dry stock 
for barrels was exhausted, and they have had to use 
green stock since. Apple barrels started to sell this year 
at 35 cents each, and have continued to rise until one 
cannot buy for less than 50 cents each now anywhere, 
and there are thousands of barrels picked but unpacked 
waiting for barrels to be made. We have not had much 
experience shipping In boxes here as yet. Pears have 
been very low in price this year. One of our largest pear 
growers in this vicinity consigned his pears to the Old 
Country this year packed in boxes, and his average re¬ 
turn for them was $2 a box clear of expenses. Each 
pear was wrapped in paper. That was about twice as 
much a.s others received who shipped in barrels. I 
could not tell you how many apples will be shipped from 
Ontario this year; they ship from scores of different 
places, but from Brighton alone there will be shipped this 
season about 150,000 barrels, principally to the European 
markets. • l. h. l. 
Brighton, Ont. 
In June we secured a few hundred apple barrels at 30 
cents each; later on we paid ^ cents each for a couple 
of loads to finish our apples, but those who did not con¬ 
tract early had to pay as high as 50 cents each. The 
barrel manufacturers say material for making barrels is 
getting scarcer every year, and cooper's wages are high. 
There is plenty of wood in our forests for making barrels, 
but it is the scarcity of labor that is the trouble. I heard 
a man say they could not get men for love or money; 
boys were getting $25 to $30 per month and men in like 
proportion, and men prefer chopping down soft wood like 
pine, hemlock and spruce for pulp to elm and maple tor 
barrel staves. There is a good demand for selected apples 
in boxes, but it would never do to put second quality in 
them. This year being an exceptionally good one for 
apples in this vicinity the crop would give 60 per cent 
of XXX. The box we use is similar to the California 
box, holding about 40 pounds of apples; it is a convenient 
size to handle, and the results have been good in ship¬ 
ments to England. Some are boxes of half-barrel size 
with the lid going inside the box, so that the apples 
could be pressed in like the head of a barrel. The ob¬ 
jection I have to this size of a box is that it is too awk¬ 
ward and heavy for one man to handle, and the apples 
would be bruised by rough handling, like baggage is gen¬ 
erally handled at our railway station. For the great 
bulk of our apples, especially the Winter varieties, barrels 
are the best package and easiest handled. Our railway 
and steamship companies handle apples with greater 
care than they used to do, for our fruit inspectors keep 
an eye on the handling as well as inspection of apples. 
Westmount, Quebec. a. f. q. 
HARVESTING AND STORING CABBAGE. 
Each season many inquiries are made regarding har¬ 
vesting and storing Winter cabbage, and it seems to be 
more important this season, as the crop appears to be 
particularly light in almost all sections. Contrary to 
the idea held by many people not large growers, cab¬ 
bage will keep much better if cut from the stump. This 
fact we learned many years ago in an accidental way. 
When trenching in the old way with the stumps on we 
sometimes broke a head off the stump, and having noth¬ 
ing better to do with it we would put it in the trench 
with the others. When opening the trench In Spring we 
always found these stumpless heads in better condition 
than their neighbors with the stumps on, so one season 
we trenched half our crop with stumps on and the rest 
heads only. The latter came through almost perfect, 
while those with stumps rotted badly from frost follow¬ 
ing down the stump. Since then we have always cut the 
heads, leaving the stumps in the field. A very satisfac¬ 
tory tool for cutting is one found on about every farm— 
a long-handled round-pointed shovel about worn out. 
This, cut square across or curving somewhat Inward and 
filed or ground sharp and kept so, will cut a head out 
about as nicely as can be imagined, its shape allowing 
it to scoop the head out of the leaves. A nice way to cut 
is to have two men work together thus; beginning at one 
side of the field cut rows two and three, placing the 
heads between .these two rows, then cut rows one and 
four, placing these heads between rows two and three 
with the rest, thus putting four rows into one, which 
gives the wagons a chance to drive In between. In cut¬ 
ting we should be sure to handle the heads carefully, 
as no vegetable is more susceptible to Injury by bruising. 
In the storing of cabbage, outside of a regular cabbage 
house handled in the best manner, the only certainty Is 
its uncertainty. The changeable weather and other con¬ 
ditions that are apt to creep in render it almost an im¬ 
possibility to guard against. One of the simplest and 
most Inexpensive ways is outside pitting. A sheltered 
well-drained slope is best. Dig trenches three or four 
feet wide and down to the subsoil, perhaps one foot 
deep. In these trenches put the heads without bruising 
from a foot to 15 inches deep or about level with the sur¬ 
face of the land, taking care to put the smaller heads 
on top of the pile to chink in the holes and level up. 
Cover with earth, plowing it directly on with a plow 
fitted with a board on the mold board that the earth 
may be thrown farther in on the heap. If necessary 
finish with shovels. From eight to 10 inches will be suf¬ 
ficient. Do not use straw, as that seems to cause rot if 
too warm, and injury by. frost. If frozen while in con¬ 
tact with the earth no injury results. Cabbage so stored 
will keep finely, being more crisp and fresh than in any 
other way, but they are hard to get at during the Winter 
months, which is an objection to this method Those 
having cold cellars can keep cabbage nicely by taking 
proper precaution. Cabbage piled in large heaps with no 
ventilation will heat and rot, while if placed in crates, 
etc., having much ventilation they will lose weight, shrivel 
up, become tough and worthless. We must seek a means 
between these extremes. We must have sufficient venti¬ 
lation to carry off surplus moisture, but not enough to 
shrivel them. This result can be attained by putting in 
fairly large bins having false open floors that the air 
can pass up through the 'bins, carrying off the surplus 
moisture while the quantity of cabbage in the bln will 
prevent shrinking. Cabbage can be piled with safety 
six feet or more high, and four feet wide, provided the 
neaas are of fair size and the outer leaves are removed 
to Insure a passage of air. I wish again to call attention 
to the importance of careful handling at all stages of 
harvesting and storffig of this crop. A dealer once said: 
Handle them as if they were eggs; because thev are 
as hard as stones don’t throw them about as if thev reallv 
were stones.” ^ 
F. O. TICE. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
THB Crosbyi Friesian Fur Company. 116 Mill St.. 
Kocnester, N. Y., want our readers to send them hides 
or skip® kind for tanning*, or the company will 
buy the raw furs. Write for a catalogue giving full in¬ 
formation. 
Mi^ard SaNders says that Save-the-Horse “is doing 
great work, and there is no doubt about it if this llnl- 
mc-nt is ^ all responsible for Mr. Sanders’s feat in driv- 
ing I^u Dillon a mile in one minute 58^ seconds. Save- 
the-Horse IS made by Troy Chemical Co.. Troy, N. Y. 
The following letter shows that Kendall’s Spavin Cure 
maintains its old-time popularity with horsemen: “Dr. 
B J. Kendall Co., Enosburg Falls, Vt. Please send me 
a Treatise on the Horse and His Diseases.’ I have used 
your Kendall’s Spavin Cure and have cured two spavins. 
I consider it excellent.” 
The Electric Wheel Company, of Quincy, Ill., has per¬ 
haps done more than any other one institution to popu¬ 
larize the low wheel and handy wagon. Their “Electric” 
steel wheel is the kind that is made to last. The wheels 
being the first to give way in the wooden felloe high- 
wheel style of wagon, a great many farmers take ad¬ 
vantage of this fact and, procuring the electric wheels 
convert their old wagons into handy wagons. It must 
not be forgotten that the company makes the best handy 
wagon complete where parties desire it. 
Whoever was brought up on the farm has painful 
recollections of experiences when the calves were weaned 
and taught to drink. This hard work, like many other 
Iiieces of farm drudgery, has been largelv done away 
with. There is a new and better way, the keystone calf 
feeder, a device considered one of the best of its kind and 
carrying with it the endorsement of large dalrvmen 
agricultural colleges, experiment stations, etc ‘it is 
manufactured by M. T. Phillips, Pomeroy Pa Mr 
Phillips distributes a little book which describes the 
feeder. It will interest anyone who is still weanina and 
feeding his calves the old way. 
