1900 
9 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Bishop Henry M. Turner, of Georgia, col¬ 
ored, being ill with paralysis, tried to buy a sleeping 
berth on :he Georgia Central Railroad December 21. The 
railroad company refused the berth, having a rule that 
no negro shall travel in a sleeper, and the sick Bishop 
had to ride in a day coach set apart for colored persons. 
Georgia has just passed a bill making sleeping-car com¬ 
panies provide separate coaches for white and colored 
persons. Negroes protest against this, as it will compel 
them to change cars on entering or leaving the State. 
. . . A fire in the hay market at the foot of West Thir¬ 
ty-fourth street. New York City, December 21, destroyed 
several lighters loaded with hay, and one man was burned 
to death. Property loss $15,000. . . . Swift & Co., of 
Chicago, are to be paid $25,000 for the 300,000 pounds of 
meat thrown overboard from the transport Manitoba 
about a year ago. . . . The Lanyon zinc works, at Lee 
Harpe, Kan., were destroyed by fire December 21, with 
a loss of $50,000. Two men were killed. ... At Quincy, 
Ill., December 22, 11 girls were burned to death, and eight 
injured, while rehearsing a Christmas entertainment at 
St. Francis's Parochial School. The children, who ranged 
in aged from eight to 12 years, wore flimsy frocks trim¬ 
med with cotton batting. The dress of one caught fire 
at a gas jet, the flames quickly spreading to the others. 
The priest in charge and several Sisters of Charity were 
badly burned in their efforts to save the children. . . . 
Another street car was blown up by dynamite in Spring- 
field, Ill., December 22, being the third since the street¬ 
car strike began November 10. . . . Dwight L. Moody, 
the famous evangelist, died at Northiield, Mass., Decem¬ 
ber 22, of heart failure. He was born in 1837. ... A 
league has been formed in Maine to enforce the prohibi¬ 
tion law. . . . Five men were killed in a freight col¬ 
lision near Bearmouth, Mont., December 25. ... A 
severe earthquake shook southern California December 
25. At San Jacinto the County Hospital and a number 
of other buildings were destroyed; Hemet suffered severe¬ 
ly; 10 Indians killed at Saboda; Los Angeles severely 
shaken. . . . An explosion in a coal mine at Union- 
town, Pa., December 23, killed 23 men. . . . The War 
Department has issued a report on conditions in Porto 
Rico, which shows that Government relief must be con¬ 
tinued for several months yet. . . . December 24, the 
British steamer Ariosto was wrecked off Cape Hatteras, 
N. C.; 21 lives lost. . . . Charles H. Cole, former presi¬ 
dent of the Globe National Bank of Boston, Mass., which 
failed December 22, is under arrest on the charge of em¬ 
bezzling $900,000. . . . December 26, three feet of snow 
covered portions of Chautauqua County, N. Y., and se\- 
eral trains were stalled at Dunkirk. ... A race riot 
occurred at Ridgeland, S. C., December 26; two negroes 
and one white man were killed, and others injured. 
CONGRESS.—The bill to meet the deficiency in the ex¬ 
penses of the Government last year will carry an appro¬ 
priation of $51,000,000. . . . Congress adjourned until 
January 4, when the first urgency deficiency bill, calling 
for an appropriation of over $50,000,000, will be presented. 
With the presentation of the biil, the first debate on the 
Philippine question is expected, as the proposed appropri¬ 
ation is largely for military expenses in those Islands. 
PHILIPPINES.—The British steamer I.abuan was 
seized by the gunboat Castine, while trying to run the 
blockade around the Island of Mindanao. The captain 
of the British steamer had asked permission to go to Cat- 
tabato, to take off British residents who, it was feared, 
would be muxdered. Permission was refused, and the 
Labuan tried to run the blockade, being seized in conse¬ 
quence. . . . Aguinaldo’s wife is dead, as the result of 
the hardships of her husband’s forced march. . . . De¬ 
cember 27, the insurgents under Gen. Santa Ana attacked 
Subig, and there were minor engagements in others parts 
of the Islands. . . . December 27, Col. Lockett defeated 
a strong force of rebels near San Mateo. The insurgent 
loss was large, a heavy fire being directed into their 
trenches, for three hours. . . . Gen. Otis has issued an 
order aiming at the suppression of bribery in the Philip¬ 
pines. He states that the persistence of reports concern¬ 
ing this practice, touching both civil and military authori¬ 
ties, forces him to the conclusion that there is some foun¬ 
dation for the charges. 
CUBA.—An epidemic of burglaries is reported in El 
Vedado, the American quarter of Havana. The police ap¬ 
pear unable to stop the robberies. It is said that many 
disreputable Americans are in the city, and they are sup¬ 
posed to be concerned in the robberies. 
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.—The bubonic plague has ap¬ 
peared at Honolulu. It is probable that the disease was 
introduced by Japanese coolies brought over to work on 
the sugar plantations. These coolies are herded like ani¬ 
mals in huge buildings, which would form congenial breed¬ 
ing places for plague. The plague patients have been 
carefully isolated. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—A landslip, caused by 
heavy rains, occurred at Amalfi, Italy, December 21. 
Many houses and a convent used as a hotel, were hurled 
into the Gulf of Salerno, burying four boats moored in 
the bay; 10 lives lost. The building, which was 230 feet 
above the sea, was founded in 1212, and the sea has been 
undermining it for centuries. A similar catastrophe oc¬ 
curred at the same place in 1343. . . . While a number 
of children were skating on the Lys River, at Frelingheim, 
Belgium, December 22, the ice broke, and 33 were drowned. 
. . . The bubonic plague is raging in New Caledonia, 
the French penal colony in the southern Pacific, north of 
New Zealand. . . . Conditions are unchanged in South 
Africa. All the besieged towns are holding out. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Pennsylvania State Horti¬ 
cultural Association will meet at Pittsburg, Pa., January 
16-17. Programmes and other information may be ob¬ 
tained from the secretary, E. B. Engle, Waynesboro, Pa. 
The Wisconsin State Sheep Breeders’ and Wool Growers’ 
Association will meet at Eagle January 16; secretary, J. 
N. Crawford, Mukwonago, Wis. 
The Michigan State Dairymen’s Association will meet 
at Detroit February 6-8; secretary, S. J. Wilson, Flint, 
Mich 
Nebraska beet-sugar makers are asking their Congress¬ 
men to oppose legislation which may expose them to 
competition from the West indies and the Philippines. 
At the recent convention of manufacturers and jobbers 
in thrashing machines, at Indianapolis, it was decided to 
advance prices 10 per cent, because of the advance in ma¬ 
terials. 
The New York poultry and pigeon show will open at 
Madison Square Garden January 20. Entries close with 
H. V. Crawford, Montclair, N. J., January 15; 700 classes 
have been provided. 
January 1, Oregon put in effect a wide-tlre law. Each 
person using a wide-tire vehicle gets a rebate, each year, 
of $1 per wheel, from his road tax, and where, in addition 
to the broad tire, there is a difference of at least eight 
inches in the length of front and rear axles, there is a 
further rebate of $2 annually for each vehicle. 
Oregon stockmen are inoculating their cattle against 
blackleg, in accordance with the Pasteur system. 
At Hamilton, Ont., December 20, 56 Short-horn cattle 
from W. D. Flatt’s Trout Creek herd, including 42 fe¬ 
males and 14 bulls, sold at auction for $22,904, an average of 
$409 each. The highest price for a single cow was $630; 
for a bull, $900. 
The Montana State Board of Horticulture will meet at 
Plains, Mont., February 20-22; secretary, C. H. Edwards, 
Missoula, Mont. 
The Connecticut State Dairymen’s Association will 
meet at Hartford January 15-20. 
The Wisconsin State Beekeepers’ Association will meet 
at Madison February 8-9; N. E. France, Platteville, Wis., 
secretary. 
The Vermont State Merino Sheep Breeders’ Association 
will meet at Middlebury January 24; secretary, L. A. Skiff, 
Middlebury, Vt. 
The Dutch Belted Cattle Association of America will 
meet in New York February 8; secretary, H. B. Richards, 
Easton, Pa. 
The Minnesota State Beekeepers’ Association will meet 
at Winona January 23; secretary, C. A. Gile, Winona, 
Minn. 
The Boston (Mass.) poultry show will be held January 
17-22; secretary, A. R. Sharp, Taunton, Mass. 
The Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, is distributing cardboard posters 
bearing 50 short practical rules for the production and 
handling of pure milk. 
NEW YORK SMALL FRUIT PACKAGE LAW. 
A law concerning small fruit packages in the State 
of New York took effect January 1. It defines the 
capacity of standard measures for buying and selling 
small fruits thus: The quart, when even full, shall 
contain 67 cubic inches; the pint, when even full, 
shall contain 33^ cubic inches, and the half-pint 
which, when full, shall contain 16% cubic inches. It 
also provides that all manufacturers of small fruit 
packages, such as quarts, pints and half-pints, that 
are of less than the standard size or capacity, shall 
mark each such quart, pint, or half-pint with the 
word “short” on the outside, in letters not less than 
one-half inch high. The penalty for selling or offer¬ 
ing for sale fruit packages of less than the standard 
capacity, that are not marked as above, or for selling 
or offering to sell fruit in smaller-sized packages that 
are not so marked, is that each such person shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction 
thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction, shall 
be fined not less than $5 and not more than ?25, and 
shall stand committed to the county jail until such 
fine and costs are paid. 
In the discussions that preceded the enactment of 
this law, through the press and at horticultural meet¬ 
ings, the extent to which undersized or dishonest 
packages were used, and the injury inflicted on both 
growers and consumers, were clearly shown. Now 
that the Department of Agriculture will endeavor to 
enforce the penalties of the law on all violators of its 
provisions, it is safe to foretell that but few snide 
packages of fruit will be put on sale in New York 
City markets hereafter. Neither will dealers empty 
strawberries from full-sized packages to those of four- 
fifths their capacity, and sell them to their customers 
at the same price per package as they paid for the 
full-sized one. But unless our adjoining States speed¬ 
ily come to a realization of the situation, it is certain 
that the markets in their cities will be flooded with 
fruit in dishonest packages. For while the law pre¬ 
vents anyone from selling or offering to sell small 
fruit in packages of less than standard size in this 
State, there is nothing to prevent a sharp fruit¬ 
grower from purchasing snide packages of a manu¬ 
facturer or dealer in New Jersey, filling them with 
his fruit in this State and shipping them to Boston or 
Philadelphia. Of course early strawberries from 
some parts of the southern States, that have for sev¬ 
eral years been shipped in notoriously small packages, 
will be diverted from New York, and be offered for 
sale in our neighboring cities. 
The fruit growers, dealers and consumers of fruit 
in New England, and all adjoining States, are par¬ 
ticularly interested in this subject. If they would 
promote honest dealing, by compelling the growers 
and dealers to furnish the full amount of produce they 
profess to sell, all should unite in securing in each of 
these States the enactment of a law with the same 
provisions as that of the State of New York. It is not 
at all likely that any fruit grower will order under¬ 
sized packages that are labeled “short.” So it is 
fair to suppose that the manufacturers in this State 
have cleaned out their stock of under-sized quarts, 
etc., and are now preparing for next season’s trade by 
making all their packages of standard size. The facts 
above stated make it reasonably certain that the only 
way to protect the markets in neighboring States 
from an immense quantity of snide packages of small 
fruit next season, will be to make an early and de¬ 
cided effort to secure the enactment of a law similar 
to ours in each of the New England States, and in 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. w. d. b. 
Middle Hope, N. Y. 
A COUPLE OF "VETCH CRANKS.” 
A LONG ISLANDER.—On page 838 you ask if 
there are any vetch cranks present. I think vetch is 
ahead of Crimson clover, rape, or cow peas, or Japan 
beans, from what little I have seen. I have some 
planted in rows where I dug potatoes; the rows are 
from one to two feet wide and from one to three 
inches thick in places. One vine I measured was 18 
inches long; this was planted where the rows of pota¬ 
toes were, and there are two rows of wheat between 
the rows of vetch; there are 25 rods; this will be let 
grow till ripe. Will then know more about it. It 
has lived here the last two Winters. 
I have known cow peas 18 or 20 years, Crimson 
clover some eight years, Soy beans three years, vetcn 
three years. I have a little planted in corn, also in 
buckwheat; both alive and seem to be growing all the 
time. D. C. OVERTON. 
Suffolk County, N. Y. 
WHERE ROLLS THE OREGON.—As I see you are 
looking for a “vetch crank,” would say that I am fast 
getting to be one. The vetch (Vicia sativa) has many 
points which to my notion put it far ahead of the 
Crimson clover, cow peas, Soy beans, and the Velvet 
bean, all of which I have given fair and intelligent 
trials as soil improvers. When I sow the seed I 
know I will have something growing there, which is 
more than I can say of the Crimson clover, which I 
have for four years tried in every conceivable way, 
and got just enough of a stand that I can say I know 
what the plant and its flowers look like. As to 
nodules, the roots on the smallest seedling up to the 
mature plants, are plumb full of them, but I am getting 
nearsighted looking for any on the beans or cow peas. 
It produces a great amount of green Stuff. I have 
some growing in my grape-yard, seeded at last culti¬ 
vation, that are at this writing over four feet in 
length, and chickens and ducks are thus provided with 
an abundance of choicest green food. The seed can 
be produced right at home. Like Crimson clover, if 
seeded in the Fall—the surest way with us—it will be 
ready to plow under in the Spring in time for other 
crops, and being soft and pliable, will soon decom¬ 
pose. If not desired to plow under it can be cured 
into hay, and not only produce a great amount, but 
also of the choicest kind, well liked by all kinds of 
stock, and being somewhat laxative will keep animals 
in good condition. If desired for hay, although being 
somewhat difficult in cutting, it comes in almost at 
regular haying time, and can usually be cured without 
any trouble. 
Above are facts, not theories, but it may be that our 
“13-months-a-year rains” are the cause of Its suc¬ 
cess. I have it growing In the vineyard and orchard— 
clean seed—also mixed with wheat in the cornfield, 
and vegetable garden, and our Winters being mild it 
grows almost all Winter. c. e. 
Forest Grove, Oregon. 
THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER—At the recent 
Connecticut State Board meeting, Professor William 
H. Brewer, of Yale College, spoke upon Evolution in 
Farming. While one of the most stable of industries, 
farming continually changes. It must, however, con¬ 
tinuously go on, for people must eat, even though 
times are hard. Modern business methods, while 
bearing on agriculture, cannot govern it. The limit 
to the productiveness of soils is a bar. Mixed farm¬ 
ing is, in most cases, safest with New England farm¬ 
ers. There may be a leading selling product, but it 
is safer to have more than one thing to sell. The 
fluctuation is no greater in farm values than in other 
property, and the farmers of New England have suf¬ 
fered less by depreciation in the last 25 years than 
those of almost any other part of the world. The 
building of railroads has worked great changes in 
agriculture. Half a century ago the food of a city 
must be grown near by, but now the freight on a bar¬ 
rel of flour from Minneapolis to New Haven is no 
more than the cartage from the railroad station to 
the consumer, and the freight from Minneapolis to 
London is no more than the cost of distributing the 
flour in the form of bread. Speaking of trusts. Pro¬ 
fessor Brewer said that he doubted the power of the 
law to stamp them out. If farmers may lawfully fix 
on a price for milk in any town or city, the same law 
governs other productions. He deprecated any at¬ 
tempt by separate education, or otherwise, to make 
farmers a class. We have, and should have, nothing 
akin to the classes of older countries. The sidewalk 
peanut vender may differ from the head of a great 
department store to-day, but time may bring changes. 
B. H. H. 
