1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
453 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The Chippewa Indians on the Leech Lake 
Reservation in Minnesota are again in an excited state, 
one of their lesser chiefs having proclaimed himself their 
Messiah. There are no United States troops in the vi¬ 
cinity, they having been removed to Alaska, and it is 
feared that the white people are in danger. These In¬ 
dians went on the warpath two years ago.The 
United States Court of Claims has decided that Rear Ad¬ 
miral Sampson was formally in command during the sea 
light with Cervera.Eight men were killed by 
an explosion in a coal mine at Canmore, Alberta, June 
13.June 14, live men were killed by an explosion 
in a dynamite factory at Biwabik, Minn.A ten¬ 
ement-house fire in New York June 15 caused the death 
of 11 persons, and seven others were seriously injured, 
some fatally. June 16, another fire, in the near vicinity 
of the first, caused the death of one person, and serious 
injuries to nine others.A fire at Bloomington, 
Ill., June 19, destroyed five solid blocks of business houses, 
and the McLean County Court House. The spread of the 
flames was checked by blowing up buildings with dyna¬ 
mite. One life was lost, and the property loss is esti¬ 
mated at $2,000,000.Moscow, Livingston County, 
N. Y., a town of 800 inhabitants, was almost totally de¬ 
stroyed by fire June 17. It is supposed that the fire was 
started by a spark from a locomotive.The 
Navy Department has decided to establish a coaling sta¬ 
tion at San Diego, Cal.A fire in the Morrison 
Hotel, South Bend, Ind., June 20, caused the death of 
one guest, and injuries to six others. 
NATIONAL CONVENTION.—The Republican Nation¬ 
al Convention opened at Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 
19. On the opening day Roosevelt, of New York, and 
Dolliver, of Iowa, were in the lead for the Vice-Presi¬ 
dency, though many eastern delegates were disposed to 
stand for Long, of Massachusetts. Senator Wolcott, of 
Colorado, as temporary chairman, delivered the intro¬ 
ductory address, in which expansion, protection, and 
sound money were the leading issues. It was generally 
considered that the opening was not as enthusiastic as 
expected. June 20 Mr. Dolliver withdrew his candidacy, 
and Senator Hanna withdrew his opposition to Roosevelt. 
It was then expected that a McKinley and Roosevelt 
nomination would go through with a rush. Dolliver was 
selected to make the nominating speech. There was no 
talk of any Presidential possibilities other than Mc¬ 
Kinley. The President’s renomination was unanimous, 
and Roosevelt received every vote in the convention ex¬ 
cept his own. 
PHILIPPINES.—As a result of military operations in 
the Islands during the week ending June 16, 60 Filipinos 
were killed, 200 were captured, and 300 rifles and 23,oou 
rounds of ammunition were surrendered. Three Ameri¬ 
cans were killed. 
CUBA.—Yellow fever has broken out at Quemados, 
eight miles from Havana, where United States troops 
are stationed. Several soldiers have been stricken. The 
general health of the city itself is good. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Mrs. Gladstone, widow 
of the statesman, died June 14, aged 88 years. By special 
arrangement, her remains were interred in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey.Conditions in China continue alarm¬ 
ing, and the Ninth Regiment has been ordered there from 
Manila. June 17 the Chinese forts at Taku attacked the 
British, Russian, French, and Japanese warships, which 
bombarded the forts for seven hours. By this China de¬ 
clares war against the world. June 20 it was reported 
that Admiral Seymour (British) commanding a column of 
international marines, had reached Peking, and that the 
legislations there are safe. The Boxer outbreak is 
spreading all over China, and it is said that 60,000 men 
will be needed to quell it. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The corner stone of the Mis¬ 
souri State Fruit Experiment Station building was laid 
with appropriate ceremonies at Mountain Grove, June 23. 
Jesse K. Cope, a Quaker farmer of West Chester, Pa., 
has been appointed by Gov. Stone to succeed Major Wells 
as State Dairy and Food Commissioner. Mr. Cope has 
been extensively engaged in farming and dairying, is 
greatly respected, and the appointment is regarded as a 
good on. 
W. Atlee Burpee & Co., of Philadelphia, Pa., have been 
awarded a first prize at the Paris Exposition for a display 
of sweet peas. 
The Missouri Pomological Society has taken another 
first prize on apples at the Paris Exposition. The varie¬ 
ties shown in this exhibit were Ben Davis, Gilpin, 
Hopewell, Minkler, Willow Twig, York Imperial, Clayton, 
Grimes, Ingram, Geneton and Winesap. 
A scarcity of labor is reported in central California. 
In the vicinity of Vacaville the growers are having great 
difficulty, although they are paying white men 25 and 50 
cents daily more than before. There has been a strike 
of the Japanese pickers there, and their wages have been 
advanced from 85 cents per day to 90 cents, $1 and $1.15, 
showing that the Japanese, because of the scarcity of 
labor, are able to demand almost their own figures. At 
Visalia the growers complain that they are not able to 
handle their fruit. 
The Winter meeting of the Missouri Horticultural So¬ 
ciety will be held at Farmington Dec. 4-6. 
The farmers of Ness County, Kan., have been holding 
meetings to decide on the best way of killing prairie 
dogs. It was decided to use bisulphide of carbon. 
Wholesale horse stealing has been going on in eastern 
Oklahoma and the Creek Reservation. The farmers have 
united to break up the band of thieves. 
J. Stein & Co., hide, fruit and general merchandise 
dealers, of 330 No. Water street, Philadelphia, failed! 
June 10, leaving a number of creditors among Delaware 
berry growers. It is asserted that they ruined the berry 
market in Philadelphia by selling large consignments at 
low figures, for cash, making no payments to the grow¬ 
ers. The creditors have obtained fugitive warrants, and 
detectives are searching for the members of the firm. 
The Agricultural Department is about to issue a report 
entitled “Field Operations of the Division of Soils, 1899,” 
with maps on a scale of one inch to the mile. The series 
includes a soil map of a portion of the Connecticut Val¬ 
ley, covering about 250,000 acres; soil, alkali and under¬ 
ground water maps of about 160,000 acres in Salt Lake 
County, Utah; soil, alkali and underground water maps 
of about 38,000 acres around Carlsbad, in the Pecos Val¬ 
ley, New Mexico, and a similar set of maps for about 30,000 
acres around Roswell, in another portion of the same 
valley. The report describes the character of the soil 
and the relation of the soil of the Connecticut Valley to 
tobacco and other farm crops; in the western districts 
the kind and amount of alkali, the treatment necessary 
to prevent injury from the rise of alkali and the methods 
of reclaiming land already injured by alkali and seepage 
waters. Application for this report should be made at 
once to a member of Congress or to the chief of division 
of soils, United States Department of Agriculture. 
The twenty-fifth annual convention of the American 
Association of Nurserymen was held at Chicago June 13- 
14. The following officers were elected for the ensuing 
year: President, Theo. J. Smith, Geneva, N. Y.; vice- 
president, N. W. Hale, Knoxville, Tenn.; secretary, Geo. 
C. Seager, Rochester, N. Y.; treasurer, C. L. Yates. The 
next meeting will be held at Niagara Falls. 
MORE ABOUT THE GRASS CROP. 
Nine Months from the Seed. 
We have had two reports from Geo. M. Clark, the 
Connecticut grass man. We feel like keeping track of 
this grass culture, and so we give another account, 
which brings the statement down to June 14. Read¬ 
ers will remember that when the grass was three 
inches high, on May 14, an application of 500 pounds 
of fertilizer per acre was) made. On June 1 one square 
foot of ground which was seeded September 2, 1899, 
yielded nine ounces of grass which was 12 inches 
high. The same area in a field four years from the 
seed gave grass 17 inches long, weighing 12 ounces 
to the foot. On June 14 Mr. Clark cut other samples 
to show how the grass is growing. In the field which 
was seeded September 22, 1899, one square foot gave 
15 ounces of grass, an average of 20 inches long. This 
shows a gain of six ounces or over 60 per cent in 
weight in 14 days. The grass from one square foot of 
the field, seeded four years, weighed 16 ounces, with 
an average height of 24 inches. These samples have 
been sent us, and we observe that in the older grass 
the Timothy and Red-top heads are beginning to 
show, but are not so marked in the grass from the 
new field. This grass does not show any evidence of 
having oeen through a drought, although Mr. Clark 
says that not two inches of water has fallen since it 
started to grow. We have had so much to say about 
the average yield under average culture that Mr. 
Clark went out and cut samples from various fields 
in the neighborhood. These samples may be num¬ 
bered for convenience as follows: 
“Sample No. 1 field contained 3*4 ounces. This field 
has been top-dressed with yard manure every year 
since it was seeded. No. 2 field had 1% ounce to the 
foot; had been top-dressed with commercial fertilizers 
every year, but not the kind I use. No. 3 field had one 
ounce to the foot. Had been top-dressed sparingly 
with yard manure every year. No. 4 had three-quar¬ 
ters ounce to the foot. It has had nothing except at 
the start.” 
Just think what this means as compared with the 
fields which Mr. Clark has prepared with so much 
care. He went out and cut the grass from one square 
foot of the original field; that is, the field with which 
he started, a small part on which no work has been 
done. He found on one square foot 11 spears of grass, 
which weighed less than one-quarter of an ounce. 
Think of this as compared with the grass now four 
years in seed, with 406 spears of grass to the square 
foot, and 16 ounces of first-class grass! The four 
fields mentioned above were well filled at the time of 
seeding with stable manure. They were all seeded in 
the usual way, and were cared for about as father and 
grandfather thought it best to produce grass. The 
samples sent us show that practically all of the orig¬ 
inal grass seed has 'been killed out. There is nothing 
but the foul or native grass left. Mr. Clark says that 
he was obliged to take over 1,000 tons of rock from 
each field of his grass, so thickly was it set with 
“hard heads.” He now says he thanks God they have 
been carted off, and the money to pay for the work 
has come from the sales of grass on that field. He 
has used nothing but commercial fertilizers from the 
start. His watchword, he says, is perseverance and 
constant cultivation, and he has certainly made a won¬ 
derful showing under that banner. Just think what 
this means. Here were four fields seeded four years 
ago in the usual way! The good grass has practically 
died out. The native grasses produced all the way 
from three-quarters af an ounce to 3*4, ounces per 
square foot. On Mr. Clark’s field, also seeded four 
years, there is practically nothing but the cultivated 
grasses, and the square foot produced 16 ounces, or 
more than four times the yield of the best field under 
the old system. Again, think of what it means to seed 
grass on September 22, and less than nine months 
later to cut 15 ounces of fine grass on each foot, on 
June 14. This means 41,000 pounds of green grass to 
the acre, and not more than two-thirds grown yet. 
Mr. Clark wants some one to tell him why a farmer 
should destroy the future of his grass crop by chok¬ 
ing it with any kind of grain. He says, if you must 
have grain, sow it by itself; when you have cut it, 
sow your grass alone. You will get it just as soon, 
have more of it, and have it much better. He says 
that he wishes he could “holler” loud enough so that 
all could hear these words, “Sow your [/rain when you 
must, and your grass when you want to!” We have a 
good deal to say about this grass culture, and some 
readers may wonder why we keep hammering away 
at it. The chief reason is that hundreds of our read¬ 
ers have followed out Mr. Clark’s method in whole 
or in part. Every one of them, so far as reported, 
agrees that this system of thoroughly preparing the 
land, seeding with grass alone, and using fertilizers 
every year, has been one of the most profitable farm 
operations he ever attempted. Thus it is that we 
keep talking about it, in the hope that still others will 
try it in a conservative way. 
DURABILITY OF STEEL NAILS. 
A recent copy of The R. N.-Y. refers to the unsatis¬ 
factory results of using the modern wire nail, and 
wonders why it should be inferior to the old-fashioned 
article. The wire nail of to-day and many of the cut 
nails are made of steel, while the old-fashioned cut 
nails were made of iron. In recent years the steel 
wire nail has come into general use, and almost driven 
the cut nails from the market. The wire nails were 
handy to drive, and were used extensively for shing¬ 
ling. Now the farmers who have used them have 
abundant reason to regret it, as in a very few years 
the steel nail will rust off, and the shingles loosen 
here and there over the roof. There are to-day acres 
of otherwise good roofs, costing thousands of dollars, 
that are practically ruined by the use of the steel 
nail, for it costs money to put on a good shingled roof, 
ana it makes bad work to have the nails rust off long 
before the shingles are worn out. The cut steel nails 
are little, if any, better than the wire steel nail, as 
they are both pretty sure to rust and make trouble. 
Where one is going to the expense of buying good 
shingles for a roof, better use the old-fashioned cut 
iron nails, and have a nail that will last as long as 
the shingles. The old-fashioned shingle nails used to 
be good when they had been on a roof for 40 years. 
The manufacturers of steel nails recently made the 
assertion, through the columns of a leading farm 
paper, that the steel nail was more durable than iron. 
The manufacturers were either ignorant of the dura¬ 
bility of their product, or were imposing upon the 
farmers with a claim that had no foundation. Their 
assertion brought out numerous replies from the 
farmers to prove that the steel nail is not the most 
durable, and none of the manufacturers ever had the 
courage to come back and say that these replies were 
not true, for the farmers knew by dear experience 
what they were talking about. Some have an impres¬ 
sion 'that if a thing is made of steel it will last a 
long time, when really steel is not very durable, as it 
will rust whenever there is an opportunity, and that 
quickly. Steel roofing must be kept well painted, or 
it will rust. m. c. h. 
Portage Co., Ohio. 
STEEL AND IRON NAILS.—Referring to the note 
on page 263 regarding nails, this failing is well known, 
and has been for years, all lumber journals advising 
against the use of steel nails in any place where 
water or dampness can come in contact with them. 
This applies also to steel roofing (which, by the way, 
is about as good as brown paper for covering barns, 
etc., where dampness from fresh hay, animals, etc., 
can affect it). No one should use any tin for roofing 
or exposed portions, unless they have positive guar¬ 
antee that the plates are not steel. Steel nails, wire 
or cut, should never be used to put on shingles; they 
are utterly worthless. In places where soft coal is 
used for fuel they will sometimes rust off in three 
years, rarely anywhere will they hold shingles in 
good shape 10 years. Iron cut nails were driven out 
by steel, but when users began to find the failings of 
steel, a demand for the old-fashioned nail caused 
them again 'to be put on the market. All hardware 
dealers of any account now keep iron nails for special 
uses. a. i. ii. 
North East. Pa. 
The Miles Hotel.— I was very much interested in your 
account of the great Mills Hotel No. 1, as I roomed there 
myself last Winter, from about November 1 until March 
1. I did not like New Vork; Delaware County is good 
enough for me, but that is a great hotel. e. j. w. 
Granton, N. Y. 
I wish to thank the Hope Farm man for his experience 
testimony, though I don’t agree with him about Old 
Dan’s eyes. All the blind pedigree in this part of the 
West came from across the Atlantic Ocean, through the 
imported (?) sire ($1,000) that should have been turned 
into a $10 plug work horse before he was ever started 
across the sea, but I can forgive all that as long as The 
R. N.-Y. and H. W. C. say what they honestly believe. 
Missouri. h. r. m. 
