1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
25 
Events of the Week 
DOMESTIC.—The steamer Sun was burned at her 
wharf at Memphis, Tenn., December 25, and three lives 
lost.Three men at work on the top of a blast 
furnace near Sharon, Pa., December 27, were burned to 
death, the burning of the hoist cutting off their escape. 
.... Before the tetanus court of inquiry at St. Louis, 
Mo., December 27, Henry R. Taylor, a negro, janitor for 
the chemical and bacteriological divisions of the Health 
Department, admitted under oath that he issued for pub¬ 
lic use the toxic anti-diphtheritic serum, which caused 
Die recent death of 13 children from tetanus. He dis¬ 
tributed the vials, properly labeled, he stated, because 
the supply of diphtheria anti-toxin had been exhausted 
early in October, and he did not believe the serum was 
"bad enough to kill children.” .... At Stevenson, B. 
C., December 2G, a Japanese boarding house was washed 
away by floods during a storm and 20 persons drowned. 
. . . . Heavy rains renewed the floods throughout 
Pennsylvania December 29, and much property loss re¬ 
sulted.At Malta, Ill., five persons were killed 
and 18 injured in a railway wreck December 29, a fast 
passenger train running into a freight train which had 
taken a siding too short to hold it. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The first Cabinet changes are the 
resignation of Secretary of the Treasury Gage, who will 
be succeeded by Gov. Leslie M. Shaw, of Iowa, and Post¬ 
master-General Smith, who will be succeeded by Henry 
C. Payne, of Wisconsin.That the Nicaragua 
Canal will cost a monumental sum is freely admitted by 
Senators and Representatives who advocate its construc¬ 
tion. With the work once under way there can be no 
abandonment of the project, and Congress will be com¬ 
pelled to appropriate all the additional funds necessary 
The estimate of the Nicaragua Canal Commission is 
$189,000,000, allowing 20 per cent for unforeseen contingen¬ 
cies. The most conservative member of Congress be¬ 
lieves the completion and equipment of the canal will 
cost at the lowest figure $300,000,000. George A. Morrison, 
a member of the Commission and considered one of the 
most expert engineers in the world, computes that it may 
require $1,000,000,000 to build the canal along the Nicaragua 
route. His conclusions are that only unlimited time and 
unlimited money can successfully construct the canal. 
There is no disposition in Congress to delay legislation, 
because the work of construction will exceed the maxi¬ 
mum time limit fixed by the Nicaragua Commission. 
PHILIPPINES.—The annual report of the Philippine 
Commission gives a summary of the legislation desired 
rrom Congress. The Commission wants its present au¬ 
thority continued for two years longer, and in the plan 
of civil government proposed provides for a popular As¬ 
sembly. It Is proposed to issue bonds to buy out the 
agricultural holdings of the friars and to make improve¬ 
ments in Manila. Plans are also provided for granting 
franchises, in order to develop the business resources of 
ihe islands, principal among which will be the mining 
of coal.Colonel Dougherty is making a clean 
sweep in Laguna Province, burning all the insurgent 
barracks and a number of native hamlets. Many pris¬ 
oners have been taken, and the loss of life has been 
heavy. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Saffee, a fortified town 
on the coast of Morocco, was recently inundated by a 
waterspout, which flooded the town for 12 hours; 200 per¬ 
sons drowned. The damage to the town was enormous. 
. . . . Interest in European capitals and in Washing¬ 
ton has been aroused over possible complications touch¬ 
ing the attitude of Germany in sending warships to 
Venezuelan waters to enforce the payment of claims due 
to German subjects, but the indications are that a per¬ 
fect understanding exists between Washington and Ber¬ 
lin as to the policy that will be observed by Germany, 
and there is nothing in the situation to disclose any in¬ 
tention on the part of the German authorities to take 
steps that may lead to a controversy over the President’s 
interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The National Association of 
Hereford Breeders and American Short-Horn Associa¬ 
tion will hold their show at El Paso, Tex., January 14-18. 
The meeting of the Eastern New York Horticultural 
Society, which will be held in New York City February 
12-13, promises to be a very interesting one. In selecting 
this city as the place of meeting, the executive commit¬ 
tee was influenced by the facilities offered by the Ameri¬ 
can Institute, which holds its midwinter exhibition at the 
same time, and also by the fact that New York is the 
great apple market, which members can look over and 
study. New York is also easy of access to a large por¬ 
tion of the membership, and attracts many noted horti¬ 
culturists at the time of meeting. 
Oklahoma farmers say the dry winds of the last few 
days of December did greater damage to the Winter 
wheat crop than all the cold waves combined. Wheat 
on the uplands suffered greatly. 
The German government has decided to attach agricul¬ 
tural experts to the more important German Consulates, 
the first to go to the United States. This is one of the 
results of the increasing use of American farm machinery 
in Germany, and the belief that the American system of 
farming on a large scale might be adapted to the princely 
estates of Germany. 
A fruit exhibit car, arranged by Prof. John T. Stinson, 
director of the fruit experiment station at Mountain 
Grove, Mo., is traveling through southwestern Missouri. 
The car is fitted up with all kinds of spray pumps and 
contains a large vat in which spraying mixtures are 
made. At each stop practical demonstrations are made 
for the benefit of fruit growers. Prof. Stinson also has 
with him the collection he made last Summer of insects 
injurious to fruit trees. Much Interest is manifested 
wherever the car stops for experimental purposes. 
The seventeenth annual meeting of the Connecticut 
State Grange occurs at Hartford January 14-16. In addi¬ 
tion to the regular work a number of valuable addresses 
will be given. 
The eleventh annual meeting of the Connecticut Pomo- 
logical Society will be held at Hartford February 4-6. 
Some of the best horticultural talent of the country has 
been secured, and timely questions of vital interest to 
every fruit grower will be discussed. Complete pro¬ 
gramme will shortly be issued by the secretary, II. C. 
G. Miles, Milford, Conn. 
Wisconsin had 101 farmers’ institutes arranged for this 
season, all in the northern part of the State. All those 
held so far have been very well attended. During the 
present month H. E. Cook, of Denmark, N. Y., is ad¬ 
dressing the Wisconsin institutes on dairy subjects. 
WESTERN DEALERS ON GRAIN PRICES. 
Chances for a Decline. 
We have been in the State of Minnesota for 35 years. 
We have never known such a crop of corn to be raised 
in the State as this year, not only in the southern part, 
but clear up, almost to the British possessions, and the 
corn in most cases fully matured. We presume it is the 
same in the Dakotas, us conditions are about the same, 
although we do not know so much about this. We are 
inclined to think they are doing more in the way of 
millet, speltz and other feed grain there, and perhaps 
not raising as much corn as Minnesota. Minnesota corn 
will cut no figure in receipts at terminal points; nor will 
it ever be in the visible supply. It will, however, cut off 
entirely one of the great corn-consuming States. We 
believe there has been a great deal of wheat and barley 
consumed by stock this year, and that with bran, speltz, 
millet, fodder, etc., and also with the larger northern 
corn crop, prices on corn are high enough, and unless 
sustained by speculative buying, prices will go lower 
rather than higher. woodwakd & co. 
Minneapolis, Minn. 
It is of course very difficult to make any forecast as 
to the future prices of corn and oats. We anticipate, 
however, that as the season advances it will be found 
that farmers are feeding much less than the usual 
amount, and in consequence selling much more. The 
price of hay is not high, and it is a very easy matter for 
them to cut down the feeding of grain at least one-half. 
Everything is being sold for feed that has any feeding 
value whatever. As for instance we received a sample 
recently of Red-top seed cleanings of which the party 
had four or five cars. It is used for mixing with grain, 
and that taking the place of oats. It has no particular 
feeding value, however, except to make bulk. Taking 
these facts into consideration we feel that the shortage 
in the crop has been more than discounted in the price. 
Detroit, Mich. c. e. burns. 
It would seem to me that corn and oats are at a 
meridian in prices; in fact, our observation and infor¬ 
mation are that they have reached figures that place an 
embargo on them tor general use. These prices have 
been maintained by the demand from the south and 
southwest, Kansas City and St. Louis, the consumption 
being in the territory covered by the drought last Sum¬ 
mer. This demand, while somewhat weakened, is still 
very good. We believe that with the grass season last 
approaching in the territory above mentioned, and to 
which this stock is now moving (over 1,090,000 bushels sold 
to leave here now, as fast as cars can be secured), will 
find the South and Southwest overstocked and reselling 
these goods. From information received from our ship¬ 
pers and from personal observation' we would say that 
Iowa has raised 70 per cent of an average corn crop and 
80 per cent of oats, 50 per cent of which is on hand. Min¬ 
nesota a full crop with about the same proportion on 
hand. South Dakota, 80 per cent of a corn crop, with 
50 per cent on hand, and 80 per cent of a crop of oats, 
with 40 per cent on hand. North Dakota has an increase 
in acreage of corn and oats with a full crop, most of 
which is still on hand. The three northwestern States, 
Minnesota and the two Dakotas, have the largest hay 
crop in years, and Iowa also has a good hay crop. In 
regard to the price of bran and shorts and the con¬ 
sumption, would say that country millers in this and 
adjoining States advise me that their local trade has 
diminished with these high prices fully 50 per cent. They 
also advise me that the East, to which they looked for 
good patronage, has bought sparingly, and has been 
using cheaper feeds, but that their stocks are pretty well 
reduced. Some of the prominent feed men claim that 
notwithstanding the $2 a ton break in mill stuffs in the 
past week, we shall again see higher prices. In this 
opinion, I do not agree. The receipts of wheat from the 
Northwest are going to be large, and consequently mill 
stock products will increase in proportion. 
Minneapolis, Minn. geo. c. harper. 
We are inclined to look for rather lower prices for 
both oats and corn. The advance has been very rapid 
and very marked, and has caused the farmers to dis¬ 
continue feeding both of these grains to a very large ex¬ 
tent. They have marketed enormous quantities of stock, 
and a great deal of that which they now have on hand 
is being wintered on coarse feeds, such as corn fodder, 
straw, hay, etc., they believing it is more profitable to 
sell their oats and corn than to feed same. We have had 
a remarkably good Fall feed; Winter did not set in until 
well into December, and the feeding period will be very 
short. The farmers throughout the entire country have 
saved their corn fodder to a far greater extent than 
they ever before did; the quality of same was never 
better. The quality of the wheat and oat straw is ex¬ 
cellent and has been well preserved, so that corn fodder 
and straw will take the place to a large extent on the 
farm of oats, corn and hay, leaving a liberal quantity 
of these products to be marketed. Again, the grain mix¬ 
ers are taking advantage of the high price of grain to 
work in barley screenings, rye and low grade wheat, so 
that while there is a shortage in the oat crop, other 
grains are making up for a large deficiency. 
Chicago, Ill. T. D. RANDALI, & CO. 
Notes from Mi/k Producers. 
The price of milk, delivered at station for December, 
has been $1.20 per can of 40 quarts; only about eight cans 
per day shipped. The price of feed is from $25 to $30 per 
ton. Those who formerly produced the greater share of 
the milk in this section have either gone out of the busi¬ 
ness entirely, or largely reduced their herds, and all are 
very much discouraged, as increase in price of milk will 
not pay for increase in price of feed. i. v. r. 
Van Etten, N. Y. 
Milk is being shipped from this locality to New York. 
The farmers sell to milk dealers, who pay at present 
$1.27 per can of 40 quarts. Only about 40 or 50 cans are 
being shipped daily from here at present. At the high 
price of feed farmers are buying as little as possible. 
Hay is worth about $14 per ton; feed, corn and oats, $30; 
meal, $29; middlings and bran, $26; gluten, $24. The in¬ 
crease in quantity of milk will undoubtedly be small till 
about April 1. Stock in general is rather thin in flesh. 
Hay is going fast, and will no doubt be much higher be¬ 
fore grass. There has not been much sale for stock here 
this season. v. f. w. 
Starlight, Pa. 
There are milk shipping creameries here; they pay 
within one-quarter cent of Exchange price for December 
to April and one-half cent the remainder of year. They 
each get from 25 to 35 cans of milk a day. I ship my 
own to Newark, N. J.; 1 get the Exchange price. The 
price of all feeds is very high; wheat bran, $22 to $24 per 
ton; middlings, $25; gluten feed. $27; dried barley grains, 
$24; wet barley grains, $7 per ton; oil meal, $33. Wheat 
is 7U to 75 cents per bushel; rye, 60 to 63; corn, 70; oats, 
50 to 55; hay, $10 to $14 per ton; rye straw, $11 to $13 per 
ton. Farm help very scarce and hard to get at any 
price; wages from $10 to $40 per month, according to privi¬ 
leges given. The outlook for farming another year is 
very good, considering crops and prices. .t. s. a. 
Neshanic, N. J. _ 
New York State Agricultural Department. 
The New York State Commissioner of Agriculture, in 
his annual report, says that during the year 176 violations 
of the oleomargarine law were prosecuted, most of them 
in New York City. Good work is being done relative to 
the manufacture of cheese by State cheese instructors. 
The findings at the Pan-American warrant the conclu¬ 
sion that New York State cheese ranks with the best 
that is made, and the need of a National law to prohibit 
false branding of dairy or food products as to the State 
in which manufactured is emphasized. New York pro¬ 
duces three times as much cheese as butter. The dif¬ 
ficulties in properly handling the milk supply are noted. 
Violations to the number of 416 were reported. During 
1901 about 14,000,000 40-quart cans of milk were used in 
New York City. As a whole the vinegar sold in the State 
is pure. Only 56 cases of irregularity were prosecuted 
during the year. Under the sugar beet law 47,000 tons of 
beets were raised, enough to manufacture about 9,000,000 
pounds of sugar. The Department has examined over 
700 dairies and herds; 400 head of cattle have been tested 
with tuberculin, and 30 horses for glanders. In regard to 
San Jos6 scale 32,162,604 trees were inspected in 7,430 acres 
of nursery, and 439 certificates given to nurserymen. In¬ 
spectors have been directed to use petroleum for scale, 
and results have been generally favorable; 1,211 orchard 
trees and 26,296 infested currant bushes were destroyed. 
Crop Notes. 
Mild Winter weather at present, with but very little 
snow as yet to shelter wheat. We have not had much 
rain since last July. A great many wells are dry in this 
county. Wheat, corn and oats are the principal crops 
raised here. Wheat was a medium crop; price at present 
85 cents per bushel; corn, half crop, 65 cents; oats, good, 
48 cents. There were not enough potatoes raised in this 
county to supply it. In reference to J. H. A’s question 
on page 873, last volume, regarding the miller’s share 
would say in this part of the State millers do not grind 
small amounts individually. They buy large quantities 
of -wheat, and have great quantities of flour on hand to 
exchange with farmers, giving them from 34 to 3S pounds 
of flour for one bushel (60 pounds) wheat according to 
grade of wheat, millers then selling the bran and mid¬ 
dlings for $26 per ton. c. w. k. 
Troy,» O. 
Potatoes are one of the staple crops in Erie Co., N. 
Y. It has been the farmers’ ready money crop for more 
than 50 years. Those who have steadily followed the 
business of potato growing, have paid for their farms 
and have something laid up for a rainy day. The soil 
is a gravelly loam, with a slight mixture of clay. Ninety- 
five per cent of the crop is planted from the middle of 
May up to the first week in July. The ground is thor¬ 
oughly prepared before planting, and the soil well stirred 
once a week until the growth of tops prevents further 
tillage. The crop of 1901 in several of the towns was un¬ 
usually large, and the quality very fine. The varieties are 
mostly Rural, Carman No. 3 and Green Mountain. In 
the towns of Marilla, Wales, Aurora, Elma, West Seneca, 
East Hamburg and Hamburg 1,000,000 bushels of potatoes 
were raised last year. The rot will not average more 
than eight per cent of the entire crop. A great many of 
the growers have raised from 3,000 to 7,000 bushels. About 
one-third of the crop has been marketed. s. f. 
Orchard Park. N. Y. 
DOWN IN MAINE.—The rain of December 15 did a 
large amount of damage. One toll bridge in town was 
carried away and another was damaged so as to render 
it impassable for public travel till repaired. Many cul¬ 
verts were carried away, and the roads in places were 
badly washed. Business, since the freshet, has been at 
a standstill in the farming community. The snow was 
nearly all carried off, leaving the country roads almost 
bare. About eight inches of snow fell on December 27, 
but the smart rain of December 30 carried nearly one-half 
away, and the roads are slush, and little prospect of 
business being resumed at present. The Winter has 
been remarkable in the frequent snows and rains which 
have visited us since about November 12. The catch of 
clover the past season was good, but fears are entertained 
that bare fields, and in many places the ice formed on 
the surface of the ground, will prove disastrous to the 
clover roots for another year’s crop. Stock came to the 
barn in fair condition, and as a general thing farmers 
have fodder enough to carry their stock through, as the 
hay crop was good the past season. The apple crop has 
all been bought up and is now in cold storage—farmers 
receiving from $2.50 to $3 per barrel, according to quality. 
Madison, Me. e. d. s. 
