1800 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Postmaster General Charles Emory Smith 
has framed his estimates to be submitted to Congress, 
and will ask an aggregate of about $121,000,000 as the ap¬ 
propriation for the entire service for the fiscal year end¬ 
ing June 30, 1902. This includes an estimate of $3,500,000 
for the rural free delivery service. By the close of this 
fiscal year 4,300 rural free delivery routes throughout the 
United States will have been established, and the gen¬ 
eral extension contemplated for next year will involve 
about 4,500 additional routes. The success of the service 
so far instituted has resulted in plans for a very general 
extension next year. The Postmaster General, together 
with other officials, is investigating the feasibility of put¬ 
ting the service in operation at every point throughout 
the country not reached by the regular free delivery ser¬ 
vices in operation in the cities.The Appleton 
farm machinery factory at Geneva, Ill., was burned No¬ 
vember 15; loss $250,000.There was a heavy 
snowfall through the Middle West, and as far east as 
central New York November 15. At Watertown, N. Y., 
30 inches of snow fell, and railroad traffic was delayed. 
In Chautauqua County it was the heaviest November 
snowfall for 24 years.Several cases of yellow 
fever are reported in Natchez, Miss., and dengue fever 
prevails in that locality.An aged couple named 
Klotow, living on a farm near Spencer, Wisconsin, were 
burned to death in their house November 15. There is a 
suspicion that the fire was of incendiary origin. 
The Minnesota State Supreme Court has decided that the 
so-called “jag-cure” law is unconstitutional because it 
applies only to counties of over 50,000 population, and it 
is limited in its benefits to a certain number in each 
county, one per year to each 10,000 of population. The 
law provides that in counties of over 50,000 population, 
indigent inebriates, upon petition signed by some friend 
or relative, may be treated at a private institution and 
the expenses shall be borne by the county. The consent 
of the inebriate must also be obtained, and the number 
which may be treated at public expense in any one year 
is limited to one for each 10,000 population.No¬ 
vember 17, Government surveyors reported at Galveston, 
Tex., the finding of 100 bodies of tornado victims in a 
swamp about five miles from the city. Reports of acute 
suffering come from Galveston and vicinity; it is said 
that at least 3,000 persons in the city are sleeping on 
bare floors, without bedding. On the mainland, along 
the Gulf coast, 25,000 persons are absolutely destitute, and 
suffering for food and clothing.A section of 
the Minnesota ore docks on Blackwell Canal, in Buffalo 
harbor, collapsed November 18 under the weight of 60,000 
tons of ore. Two boys were killed and one man was 
badly injured. The property loss is estimated at $150,000. 
.... November 18, seven persons lost their lives in a 
hotel fire at Oswayo, Pa.The battleship Ken¬ 
tucky, now in Mediterranean waters, has been ordered to 
touch at Smyrna, Turkey, on her way to the Philippines. 
The Kentucky’s presence in Turkish waters will be co¬ 
incident with renewed efforts on the part of the Admin¬ 
istration to collect from the Turkish government pay¬ 
ment of the indemnity claimed by the United States for 
the destruction of missionary property in Turkey. 
.... November 19, six men were injured, two fatally, 
in Chicago, while tearing down a condemned wall. 
.... The cashier of the German National Bank at 
Newport, Ky., has disappeared; he is $201,000 short in his 
accounts. The shortage is more than double the capital 
stock of the bank.A tornado at La Grange 
and other places in Tennessee, November 20, killed 50 
persons, injuring 100 others, and destroyed much prop¬ 
erty. At Lulu, Miss., three negroes were killed by a 
tornado on the same date. 
PHILIPPINES.—An aggressive campaign has been or¬ 
ganized against the rebels in Luzon and Samar. The 
navy is to cooperate in the operations along the coast. 
Gen. Grant captured a rebel stronghold in the mountains, 
about 35 miles north of Manila. 
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.—As a result of the Hawaiian 
election November 6 Robert W. Wilcox, Independent, has 
been chosen to be Hawaii’s first Delegate in Congress; 
there will be eight Independents, seven Republicans, and 
one Democrat in the Senate, and the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives will have 14 native Independent members, nine 
Republicans and six Independent Democrats. Wilcox 
represents the feeling in Hawaii of resentment against 
the forcible annexation of the Islands to the United 
States. His opponents describe him as a man without 
principles, and threaten to keep him out of Congress on 
the ground that he is a bigamist, although it does not 
appear that he has been convicted of that crime. His 
antagonists were Samuel Parker, a white native and a 
descendant of one of the old families of settlers, who was 
the Republican candidate, and Prince David, a relative of 
ex-Queen Liliuokalani and the candidate of the Demo¬ 
crats. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Yellow fever of a very 
bad type is reported to be prevalent in Leone, Nicaragua. 
.... The United States Government was officially no¬ 
tified November 16 that China had ordered the imprison¬ 
ment for life of Prince Tuan and Prince Chwang, and had 
also imposed punishment upon other Boxer leaders; but 
at a Cabinet meeting it was decided that the general 
commanding the China army should also be included 
among those to be punished, and Minister Conger was so 
notified.November 16, an insane woman threw 
an ax at the Emperor of Germany, while he was driving. 
The Emperor was not touched. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Alabama State Stock 
Breeders’ Association met at 'iroy, Ala., November 23. 
The Indiana State Grange will meet at Terre Haute De¬ 
cember 11-14. 
The New England Wool Growers’ Association met at 
Rutland, Vt., November 22. 
A paper mill is to be started in Oklahoma City, O. T., 
for the manufacture of paper and strawboard from cotton¬ 
seed hulls. It is said that the hulls are likely to supplant 
wood pulp. 
The thirty-fourth annual session of the National Grange 
opened at Washington, D. C., November 14. The opening 
address w r as delivered by Master Aaron Jones, of Indiana, 
who referred to the need of legislation to control corpora¬ 
tions, and the necessity for amendment of the interstate 
commerce law. The report of the secretary. Dr. John 
Trimble, of Washington, showed that 182 new Granges 
had been chartered during the year, the order now num¬ 
bering about 500,000. The delegates were received by the 
President at the White House. Portland, Me., was select¬ 
ed as the place for the next annual convention. C. J. 
Bell, of Hardwick, Vt., was elected a member of the 
executive committee for a term of three years. The 
Grange adopted a resolution establishing a Grange 
memorial day, and setting apart the third Sunday in June 
for this purpose, to be observed by members of the organ¬ 
ization throughout the country. Heretofore a Grange holi¬ 
day has been observed only in one or two States. The 
attitude of the Master of the Grange, favoring extensions 
of the rural free delivery of the mails, establishment of 
postal savings banks and the popular election of Senators 
was unanimously endorsed. Resolutions were adopted 
favoring the creation by the Agricultural Department of 
a telegraph crop report system, and asking agricultural 
colleges and experiment stations to use terms in their re¬ 
ports that are more easily understood by the farmers. 
At the convention of the Association of Agricultural Col¬ 
leges and Experiment Stations the following officers were 
elected: President, Prof. A. W. Harris, Orono, Me.; vice- 
presidents, Prof. James H. Paterson, Lexington, Ky.; 
Prof. W. H. Jordan, Geneva, N. Y.; Prof. L. G. Carpenter, 
Fort Collins, Col., and Prof. A. E. Bryan, Pullman, Wash.; 
executive committee. Prof. H. H. Goodell, of Massa¬ 
chusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.; President 
Joseph E. Stubbs, Nevada Agricultural College, Reno, 
Nev.; Prof. Alexis Cope, Ohio State College, Columbus, 
O.; Prof. George W. Atherton, State College, Penn., and 
Prof. H. C. White, Georgia State College, Athens, Ga.; 
bibliographer, Prof. A. C. True, Washington, D. C., and 
secretary and treasurer, Prof. E. B. Voorhees, New 
Brunswick, N. J. 
The Illinois Live Stock Breeders’ Association and its af¬ 
filiated bodies elected officers for the ensuing year as fol¬ 
lows: Illinois Live Stock Breeders’ Association—President, 
A. P. Grout, Winchester; secretary, Fred H. Rankin, 
Athens; treasurer, S. Noble King, Bloomington. Illinois 
Horse Breeders’ Association—President, John H. Kincaid, 
Athens; secretary, George H. Williams, Athens; treasurer, 
J. M. Smith, Auburn. Illinois Cattle Breeders’ Association 
—President, A. P. Grout, Winchester; secretary, J. H. 
Pickrell, Springfield; treasurer, Edward Puting, Mo- 
weaqua. Illinois Sheep Breeders’ Association—President, 
Jerome Leland, Springfield; secretary, Frank S. Springer, 
Springfield; treasurer, James A. Stone, Bradforton. Il¬ 
linois Swine Breeders’ Association—President, Frank 
Whitney, Athens; secretary, Charles F. Mills, Springfield; 
treasurer, J. H. Fulkerson, Jerseyville. The next meet¬ 
ing of the association will be held in the new agricultural 
building at the University of Illinois. 
The public Winter meeting of the Massachusetts State 
Board of Agriculture will be held at Worcester, Mass., 
December 4-6. 
The Connecticut State Board of Agriculture will meet 
at New Haven, December 11-13. 
The National Grain Dealers' Association opened its 
annual convention in Indianapolis, November 20. 
The fourth annual convention of the National Asso¬ 
ciation of State Dairy and Food Departments convened in 
Milwaukee, Wis., November 20. 
The estimates of the Department of Agriculture for ap¬ 
propriations for the next fiscal year aggregate $4,659,050, 
an increase of 10 per cent over this year. 
The annual meeting of the American Shropshire Regis¬ 
try Association will be held at Chicago, Ill., December 5. 
The Ohio State Horticultural Society will meet at Troy, 
O., December 5-7. 
SECOND-CROP POTATOES IN THE SOUTH. 
I have never heard of any truckers in my section ship¬ 
ping Fall-grown potatoes North in early Spring as new 
potatoes. Furthermore, they would not resemble the new 
crop; as a general thing they are dug green, and skinned 
and bruised, and these skinned places turn dark and 
old. I am harvesting my potatoes now, November 11; this 
is about as late as we let them stay in the ground. 
Portsmouth, Va. w. h. d. 
In this part of Florida potatoes are planted in Septem¬ 
ber for early and in January for late crops; late crop 
gathered in April and May, not later. I have never heard 
of any potatoes being stored, but all are shipped as soon 
as gathered. I doubt whether it would be possible to 
keep them in storage. h. t. s. 
Fruitland Park, Fla. 
I have never known anyone here (Putnam County) to 
keep potatoes in cold storage and then ship them as new 
potatoes, as they would not resemble the new crop. Our 
first crop is planted in January and February, and as soon 
as matured is shipped. Our second crop is planted in 
August and September, and with a good season is ready 
to ship in December or January. c. e. m. 
Sisco, Fla. _ 
NEW SEED WHEAT IN KANSAS. 
The papers having printed stories to the effect that 
Kansas wheat is falling off in quality, so that farmers are 
compelled to send to Russia after new seed, we wrote 
Secretary F. D. Coburn for the facts. Here is his letter: 
Kansas is not “compelled” to do this, yet many of our 
most observant wheat growers think it might be an ex¬ 
cellent thing to keep the high character of our Winter 
wheat reinforced by importations of seed from the origi¬ 
nal source of supply—the Crimea, and parts of Russia near 
the Black Sea. The Kansas Winter wheat which so dis¬ 
turbs the equilibrium of the Minneapolis and northwest¬ 
ern millers is from this Russian seed, and is originally 
a red wheat of a very hard, flinty character, and pos¬ 
sesses properties for flour and bread-making that rival 
those of any grown in the world. There has been no com¬ 
plaint from the outside of any deterioration whatever, 
but our own people are anxious to hold our grade and 
quality right up to the top notch; some feel that through 
carelessness by the growers in sowing poor seed, and on 
or near ground where other soft and less valuable va¬ 
Po5 
rieties have been, from scattered seed of which there 
have been more or less volunteer plants, there may be 
going on a mixing that is harmful. To overcome or guard 
against this the use of seed recently imported, or its 
product, is found desirable, and if desirable the Kansas 
farmer intends to have it, and is in position to buy it 
wherever it may come from, or whatever the cost. 
THE OUTLOOK FOR FEED PRICES. 
The weather has a great influence upon feed and con¬ 
sumption, and the weather we have been having is not 
calculated to increase consumption or improve the out¬ 
look. Th.ere are a variety of conditions that have to be 
considered, in guessing as to the price of wheat feeds, but 
the weather condition determines more definitely than 
other conditions the question of demand. The feed ques¬ 
tion always resolves itself into a business proposition. 
The moment one desirable feed becomes relatively higher 
than other feeds of equal value, the use of that feed will 
be discontinued and the cheaper-priced feed used. A 
farmer naturally should be able to buy large lots cheaper 
than by buying small quantities. How much he will 
make depends upon circumstances. If he buys direct he 
probably will save at least a greater portion of the in¬ 
tervening profits. The prospects for cotton-seed meal 
seem to be as good as for any other feed. In fact, the use 
of cotton-seed meal seems to be becoming much more ex¬ 
tensive every year. The radius of territory in which it is 
used apparently increases as time rolls by, and its ad¬ 
vantages and value become better known. We believe the 
sale of gluten feed is increasing and deservedly so. The 
only objection we have ever heard urged against it is 
that urged against all concentrated feeds. With an in¬ 
crease, however, in knowledge on the part of the farmer 
as to how to feed and how properly to balance the ration, 
we believe that the objection to concentrated feeds will 
disappear. Properly handled they cheapen the cost of 
feeding. There is no one single feed that properly should 
be fed to the exclusion of all others. 
COLE, CLEAVELAND & CURLEY. 
GIVE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. 
"I wish you would write an article a column long,” 
said a member of a well-known firm of produce com¬ 
mission merchants here, “telling people to be sure to 
send an invoice with full name and address when they 
ship any goods. We have lately received a dozen or 
15 shipments that we cannot make returns for because 
we do not know who the shipper is or where he lives. 
About a month ago a man sent us 12 barrels of apples. 
No letter describing the goods came, and the only hint 
we had was in the man’s initials on the barrels. As he 
was a new shipper, this did not help us any. Just now 
he writes us asking why we do not make returns for his 
12 barrels of apples. There are accounts on our books that 
have been carried over two or three years for this rea¬ 
son, and no doubt the shippers have put us down as first- 
class frauds. In most cases complaints are made after 
a time, so that such matters can be traced up and settle¬ 
ment made, but such neglect causes delay and annoy¬ 
ance all around. It is not necessary or desirable to have 
the sender s name on the package of goods, because there 
are unscrupulous parties who make a business of going 
around the markets and stealing names from packages 
and using them for fraudulent purposes; but the import¬ 
ant thing is to write a letter telling just what is sent, 
and giving full name and home post office address.” The 
matter of forgetting to give address when writing has 
often been mentioned in this paper. It is one of the most 
common and troublesome errors made, and business men 
in all lines meet the same difficulty. Every year this 
office receives remittances for subscriptions from people 
who forget to say where they live, and sometimes don’t 
give their names even. w. w. h. 
MARKET NEWS FROM WALES. 
I notice that you have the same trouble with dishonest 
traders and commission merchants that we have here. 
Still, to my mind the fault lies to a great extent with 
the growers themselves, because they do not take proper 
care in looking up the standing of those to whom they 
ship produce. In this country we have the great railway 
systems running to all large towns. Reliable receivers 
of country produce have ledger accounts with them, and 
we also have a telephone system run on the same basis. 
These companies will not open accounts for freights or 
messages with any except those whom they believe to 
be reliable. If a grower has a mind to avail himself of 
these methods of finding out the responsibility of those 
to whom he ships, he will save himself much trouble and 
loss. About two years ago two persons dropped down in 
this market and took a small store. Goods came rolling 
in, and they sold at prices far below what stuff could be 
bought at. One firm in Belgium sent them nearly $2,000 
worth of potatoes, and never received a penny. This 
thing was carried on for nine months, and the business 
of other traders in the same line was paralyzed. It was 
all profit to the rascals, for they did not pay anything for 
their goods. The general system of carrying on the fruit 
and vegetable trade here is about as follows: Goods are 
sent to commission merchants to dispose of to the best 
advantage. The higher the prices we can get the better 
for all concerned. We charge one shilling and sixpence 
(36 cents) commission per pound sterling ($4.84) for sell¬ 
ing goods, free of all expenses. Apples and pears come 
in barrels and hampers, the weight varying in different 
parts of the country. The hampers are called pots and 
half pots. A Worcestershire pot of apples contains 64 
pounds net; pears and plums, 72; cherries, 62; green peas, 
40, and parsley, 20; while a Gloucester pot contains 100 
pounds of pears and 90 of plums. Cabbages are sold at 
13 to the dozen. The trade here is strongly against top¬ 
ping or facing the stuff. The fair packer does by far the 
best trade, and makes the highest prices. Honest pack¬ 
ing gives confidence to both salesmen and buyers. With 
American apples, which we get from Liverpool, London 
and Hull, what we call the honest brands fetch the 
highest prices. Good solid Baldwins and Kings sell best 
here; Spys and Ben Davis do not take. Merthyr Tydfil 
has about 60,000 population, and is in the midst of a large 
industrial section noted for collieries and iron works. It 
is 24 miles from Cardiff, on Bristol Channel, one of the 
largest export ports for coal in the world. The apple crop 
is plentiful in this country, but the fruit rather small. 
The potato crop is short; the Irish crop almost a failure. 
We are now drawing supplies from Ghent, Belgium. A 
shipment of 1,200 bags received from there cost, after de¬ 
ducting freight, 65 shillings ($15.75) per ton. It is said 
that Holland this year has to draw supplies from Ger¬ 
many. There is likely to be a shortage in England right 
through the season. henry gray. 
Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, 
