1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The postal authorities have decided to 
issue stamps with a separate and distinct mark for each 
of the larger offices in the country. This is to break up 
the custom by which merchants in large cities place 
large orders for stamps in the small offices, where the 
postmaster is paid according to his sales. This enables 
him to sell large orders at a discount, crediting the Gov¬ 
ernment with a full rate, still making a profit. 
W. F. Miller, the Franklin Syndicate swindler, who of¬ 
fered 520 per cent interest on investments, surrendered 
himself to the New York police February 8. He has 
been in Canada. He was locked up in default of 512,500 
ball.Severe storms prevailed all over the Middle 
West February 7-8. At East St. Louis, ill., a tornado In¬ 
jured 15 persons, and caused damage amounting to 5125,000. 
Heavy rain, accompanied by high winds, prevailed over 
Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. A violent blizzard 
raged over Minnesota and the Dakotas. Floods occurred 
at Rockford and Galena, Ill., and at Beloit, Wis. 
February 8, a rear-end collision near Escanaba, Mich., 
killed nine persons.It is announced that over 
30,000 Mormons will leave Utah for Wyoming, where a 
tract of 200.000 acres of land is being selected for them. 
. . . . A fire at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, February 11, 
caused a loss of 5100,000.At Stony Creek, Va., 
February 10, a mother and her six children were burned 
to death in the destruction of their house, only one mem¬ 
ber of the family, a boy, escaping.The post of¬ 
fice at Wilmouth, Tex., has been ordered discontinued. 
The postmaster at that place had expressed a wish to 
resign, because he was threatened with assassination. 
. . . . During furious rains which prevailed over the 
Eastern States February 13, much damage was done to 
railways and bridges. There were floods at Clinton, 
Fitchburg, North Adams, and other places in Massachu¬ 
setts.February 13, the bodies of two small boys, 
who had been missing for four months, were found in a 
vacant house in the upper end of New York City, locked 
into a closet. The supposition is that the boys, while 
playing in the house, tried to hide from the janitor, and 
the closet having a spring lock, they were unable to 
escape, and perished by suffocation.Two coal 
barges, with six persons on board, went down In Long 
Island Sound February 13; no survivors.Feb¬ 
ruary 14, portions of Troy and Albany, N. Y., were seri¬ 
ously flooded. Great damage was done along the water¬ 
front, and trolley lines were stopped by the flooding of 
the power house. The damage is estimated at 5500,000, 
and nine lives are said to be lost. 
CONGRESS.—February 8, the House committee on 
labor reported favorably the bill to interdict interstate 
transportation of prison-made goods.Represen¬ 
tative Acheson has introduced a bill asking an appropria¬ 
tion of 52,000,000 for free rural mail delivery.The 
President has Issued an Executive order placing the 
Islands of Guam and Tutulla under the control of the 
Navy Department.The reciprocity treaty with 
Argentina has failed, the Senate having declined to ratify 
It.Discussion on the Currency bill was ended 
February 14.Mr. Levy, of New York, has intro¬ 
duced a bill to reduce the war tax. If passed it will cut 
off at least 550,000,000 in revenue. 
PHILIPPINES.—News brought by steamer Empress of 
China February 8 reports that the plague is increasing in 
Manila. Smallpox is prevalent among the natives, and 
some soldiers have been stricken. . . . The insurgents 
in Albay Province, Luzon, have adopted bushwhacking 
tactics, and continually harass the American garrisons. 
They camp in the hills, and maintain a continual fire on 
the American outposts. They shoot burning arrows, and 
have thus destroyed a large part of the town of Albay. 
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.—Great distress continues in 
Honolulu, as the result of the plague. Up to January 22 
there had been 46 cases, with 40 deaths. The burning of 
the Chinese quarter Is regarded as very beneficial. Two 
batteries of artillery have been on guard, to prevent riot. 
February 9 President McKinley decided to issue a procla¬ 
mation recalling the Hawaiian Legislature, giving it 
power to pass laws and enact temporary measures to re¬ 
lieve present conditions, which are causing alarm. The 
recalled Legislature went out of existence when the Fed¬ 
eral Government assumed control of the Islands. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Riotous disturbances 
continue on the Island of Martinique. The riots are the 
results of labor strikes. Large bands of rioters are ter¬ 
rorizing the planters, and though there is a large crop 
of sugar cane, no work is being done. . . . Fighting 
continues between the government and the revolutionists 
in Colombia. . . . February 13 General Roberts invaded 
the Orange Free State, the British forces crossing the 
Reit and Modder Rivers. Five Boer laagers and a quan¬ 
tity of supplies were captured. Intense heat prevails. 
■ . . . Several hundred released Spanish prisoners from 
the Philippines arrived at Barcelona February 14. They 
say they owe their release to Agulnaldo. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Oregon State Poultry As¬ 
sociation has elected the following officers for 1900: Presi¬ 
dent, R. F. Robinson, Portland; vice-president, D. O. 
Woodworth, Albany; secretary, E. Wenwich, Portland; 
treasurer, Frank Lee, Portland. 
The twentieth annual meeting of the Arkansas State 
Horticultural Society opened at Little Rock February 7. 
A resolution was adopted asking members to vote for the 
rural district parcels post bill now pending. 
The Central Short-horn Breeders’ Association met at 
Kansas City, Mo., February 7-8. S. F. Lochridge, Green- 
castle, Ind., was elected president; H. C. Duncan, Os¬ 
borne, Mo., first vice-president; Geo. Bellows, Maryville, 
Mo., secretary; D. W. Smith, Springfield, Ill., treasurer. 
There were 200 delegates in attendance, and 83,500 was sub¬ 
scribed for special premiums to be awarded at the Na¬ 
tional Short-horn show, to be held at Kansas City next 
October. 
A beet-sugar company has been incorporated at Fort 
Dodge, Iowa, with a capital of 5450,000. H. M. Olson is 
president. 
The Michigan Dairymen’s Association elected the fol¬ 
lowing officers at their recent meeting: President, Fred 
M. Warner, Farmington; S. J. Wilson, secretary and 
treasurer; Dr. Victor C. Vaughan, chemist. 
The Wisconsin State Horticultural Society elected the 
following officers at the recent meeting at Madison: 
President, Franklin Johnson, Baraboo; vice-president, Dr. 
C. E. Loupe, Eureka; recording secretary, J. L. Herbst, 
Sparta; corresponding secretary, S. H. Marshall, Madi¬ 
son; treasurer, R. J. Coe, Fort Atkinson; member of trial 
orchard committee for three years, T. G. Kellogg, Rlpon. 
The Wisconsin Beekeepers’ Association elected these offi¬ 
cers: President, N. E. France, Plattville; vice-president, 
Jacob Hoffman, Monroe; secretary, Ada Pickard, Rich¬ 
land Center; treasurer, Harry Lathrop, Browntown. 
The Lancaster County (Pa.) Tobacco Growers’ Society 
adopted February 12 resolutions viewing the admission of 
Porto Rico as an integral part of the United States in 
the light of a dangerous precedent, and protesting against 
extending reciprocity or free importation of agricultural 
products to anv tropical countries not integral parts of 
the United States. 
French agricultural bodies oppose a reciprocity treaty 
with this country. 
At the recent meeting of the Standard Delaine Merino 
Breeders, at Columbus, O., the following officers were 
elected for 1900: President, John Pow, Salem, O.; vice- 
presidents, A. Crittenden, Nova. O.; E. D. King, Burling¬ 
ton, Kan.; R. F. Bailey, Pittsford, Mich.; secretary, S. 
M. Cleaver, East Bethlehem, Pa.; treasurer, C. S. Chap¬ 
man, Marysville, O. 
The board of directors of the Kansas State Penitentiary 
has decided hereafter to sell the entire output of bind¬ 
ing twine of the penitentiary direct to the farmers. Im¬ 
plement dealers in various parts of the State had offered 
to purchase the entire output, but it is said the prison 
officials feared the binding twine trust was back of some 
of the dealers. There are now more than 75,000 pounds of 
twine at the prison warehouse. 
Alvin H. Sanders, editor of the Breeder’s Gazette, has 
been appointed an honorary commissioner to the Paris 
Exposition. __ 
EASTERN N. Y. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
A Successful Meeting. 
Part II. 
NEW INSECT TROUBLES.—Prof. M. V. Slinger¬ 
land discussed new injurious insects and remedies. 
He says that the outlook for insect pests is a dis¬ 
couraging one. American fruit growers are, how¬ 
ever, better equipped with the necessary knowledge 
and apparatus for fighting insects than any others. 
New insect pests are constantly appearing. Every 
man knows that there are more of them now than 
there were in grandfather’s days. These new insects 
are not miraculously created. Some of them orig¬ 
inally worked on the wild forest trees, until culti¬ 
vated plants came within their reach. Out of 75 
chief insect pests, 37 came from foreign countries. 
The East sent California the Codling-moth and other 
pests, and California has sent us the San .Tos6 scale. 
Prof. Slingerland is in favor of the fumigation of 
nursery stock as the best means of guarding against 
the San Jos6 scale. There will be more insect pests 
than ever to fight during the next century. None of 
the old ones will entirely disappear, while new ones 
will constantly come. The San Jos6 scale can prob¬ 
ably be held in check about as thoroughly as the 
Plum curculio or Codling-moth. The great point is 
to keep it from entering the orchard. Quite a serious 
new insect is the Cherry fly, which was discussed re¬ 
cently in Tire R. N.-Y. Speaking of insecticides, the 
Professor referred to various substitutes for Paris- 
green, such as Paragrene, Blanchard’s green, green 
arsenite and others. He said that the Paragrene was 
as good as Paris-green chemically, and better in some 
respects, when tested experimentally. The California 
Station people, however, found too much free arsenic 
in this material, and this was an objection. White 
arsenic is often used in combination with lime or 
soda to form a homemade mixture which is very use¬ 
ful. We shall give later the formula for mixing the 
arsenic and lime, for this homemade poison seems to 
be gaining in popularity. Prof. Slingerland said that 
crude petroleum is well worth testing in an experi¬ 
mental way. He said that western New York dairy¬ 
men had used it successfully against the horn-fly and 
body lice on cattle. 
HORTICULTURAL LEGISLATION.—Hon. Wm. D. 
Barns reported the progress made in legislation. A 
new apple-barrel law was passed last year, and the 
legal barrel for apples and potatoes must now have 
a head diameter of 17% inches, with length of stave 
of 28% inches, and bulge not less than 64 inches out¬ 
side measurement. As is well known, barrels of less 
than standard size must be plainly marked “short 
barrels.” Mr. Barns stated that when potatoes are 
sold by weight, the quantity constituting a barrel is 
174 pounds. He says that the apple barrel holds six 
quarts more than the pear barrel. A law was enacted 
without opposition giving the owner of any inclosed 
or occupied lands the right to hunt and kill rabbits 
and English hares on his own premises at any time 
he may see fit. It was hoped to obtain a trespass law, 
which provided that no person should go on any in¬ 
closed or occupied land to hunt for game without 
the Whitten consent of the owner or owners. This 
met with serious opposition, but even with the per¬ 
mission clause stricken out, the bill failed. Mr. Barns 
said that he was as fully convinced as ever that the 
135 
principle of this bill is right, and the theory of the 
game law is wrong. It certainly does seem as though 
the owner of land ought to have the right to say that 
strangers shall not come on his premises to kill if he 
does not want them to do so. The fruit-package law, 
which has Peon frequently mentioned in Tiie R. N.-Y., 
came in for considerable discussion. Mr. Barns ex¬ 
plained the present status of the law. The chances 
are that some growers of fruit in New York may pro¬ 
cure small packages that were made outside the 
State, fill them with fruit, and ship them to outside 
markets. Some of these very packages may be taken 
out of the original crates, packed in crates again, 
say in Jersey City, and sent back to New York for 
sale. This is one of the ways in which dishonest 
people will try to get around the law. The remedy 
seems to be to induce fruit growers in the near-by 
States to secure similar laws so that such work as 
this cannot be done. 
COLD STORAGE OF FRUIT.—Mr. A. W. Williams 
read an interesting paper on cold storage, giving the 
advantages and disadvantages of ice-house storage. 
He weighed the matter carefully, and came to the 
conclusion that it was not all sunshine for the cold- 
storage man. Those who have been led to believe 
that it i's an easy matter to put up and conduct a 
cold-storage house are quite sure to be disappointed. 
There are many things to be considered, and there 
seems to be about as much skill and care required to 
cool the fruit as there is to produce 'it. Mr. Williams 
seemed to think that apples and pears, if carefully 
watched, may pay fairly well in cold storage. He 
does not think that strawberries will make a profit¬ 
able cold-storage crop. This paper would probably 
prove an eye-opener to some enthusiastic people who 
claim so much for a cold-storage plant. 
SAN JOSE SCALE.—Mr. Van Alstyne offered a 
resolution to the effect that it was the sense 
of the meeting that it would be to the best 
interest of the fruit growers of the State to pass 
a bill this Winter, compelling nurserymen to fumi¬ 
gate all nursery stock before it was sent out. 
Mr. Stephen Hoyt, of New Canaan, Conn., opposed 
this resolution. He thought it was class legislation, 
that it bore heavily on the nurseryman, while it was 
not general enough to be a protection in fact. He 
said that nurserymen who had a specialty like some 
in the State of Delaware, who confine themselves al¬ 
most entirely to peaches, could fumigate easily 
enough, but that a nurseryman who had a large line 
of different kinds of stock would find it almost im¬ 
possible to comply with the law. Besides, he thought 
that it would be ineffectual. There was little good to 
come from fumigating the nursery stock, when the 
orchardists in the vicinity where they were to be 
planted were infested with the scale, as the new 
stock would soon be overrun as well as the old. Mr. 
Monnet't, of Kinderhook, said that he would take back 
what he said at Albany last Winter. There he said 
that he was not afraid of the scale. He has changed 
his mind, or at least, while not entirely afraid of it, 
he is satisfied that it must be fought vigorously, and 
he favored the resolution. He regretted to entail ex¬ 
tra work on the nurserymen, but he said that he had 
bought 200 trees affected with the scale, and this en¬ 
tailed work on him for the rest of his life, and prob¬ 
ably for a great share of the lives of his children. He 
insisted that while this work had been imposed upon 
him as a grower, he was justified in insisting on a few 
hours of work on the part of the nurserymen who sold 
him the goods. Mr. Geo. T. Powell and Mr. Van 
Alstyne spoke in favor of the resolution. All seemed 
to agree that if all nurserymen were as reliable and 
as painstaking as Messrs. Hoyt there would be less 
demand for the law. It was not felt that the law 
would afford anything more than a temporary relief. 
To stamp it out entirely is thought to be impossible. 
Mr. Powell thought that the law was going to have a 
good effect on the large and painstaking nurserymen, 
that there were too many small and irresponsible 
men in the business, and that this measure would 
have a tendency to put the trade in the hands of the 
larger and more conscientious nurserymen. The reso¬ 
lution was passed without a dissenting vote. 
The Indiana Farmer says that the city of Pasadena, 
Cal., owns a large farm, on which all of the sewage of the 
city is used as fertilizer. Last year the product of the 
farm amounted to 56,000, and the expenses were a little 
over 52,000. 
Wood for Fuel.— In these days of dear coal house fur¬ 
naces can, I find, be run profitably with refuse wood. 
This past Fall we got from Jack and White oaks killed 
last Winter, say seven cords coarse-split and round, 
rather knotty sled-length wood. Sawing and splitting to 
cook stove length we left out all knots and nurls for the 
furnace. The chips, bark and sawdust from wood piles, 
also from woods and woodhouse, 30 heaping bushel baskets 
(most of it quite wet from snow and rain), were also cel¬ 
lared. With this supply, not to exceed one and one-half 
cord of the chunky wood, spliced out with the small and 
mostly wet stuff, we have run the furnace for five rooms 
this mild and severe weather ending February 1, six 
weeks, very comfortably. Wood firing takes much more 
time, but otherwise is, to the writer, prompter, pleasanter 
and cheaper, as above. The wet chips and sawdust on a 
good bed of live coal and chunks soon catch and over 
night we cover all with dry ashes. x. 
