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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
239 
1902 <TTT- - 
«>■ Ui J 
FRUIT AND VARIETY NOTES. 
THE LUTIE GRAPE.—The Lutie Is a remarkably fine- 
looking red grape, a good grower and prolific bearer, and 
unusually free from rot. It will not suit fastidious buyers 
on account of its very foxy aroma, but some people like 
it very much. I have not fruited Lucile. Delaware is 
our best red grape in the South. w. f. massey. 
MICE AND TREES.—There is much complaint of dam¬ 
age done by mice and rabbits to young trees. Where 
only part of the bark is eaten off the wound may be 
covered with grafting wax and perhaps recover. Where 
the tree is nearly or quite girdled it can only be saved by 
‘"bridge-grafting.” In this one end of the scion is in¬ 
serted below the wound and the scion bent over so as to 
put the other end into the bark above. Comparatively 
few trees are worth this. 
ABUNDANCE PLUM.—As soon as the blossoms closed 
up I commenced spraying with the Bordeaux Mixture 
weakened down half. I sprayed them three times, 10 days 
apart; between times I dusted sulphur among the trees 
with bellows, when the dew was on in the morning. My 
trees broke down over the props, when my neighbors’ 
plums all fell off from the stings of insects. I think the 
sulphur keeps down rot. The Abundance plum is a good 
one. J. t. m. l. 
Leech’s Corners, Pa. 
CURRANT REPORTS.—I have only fruited the Wilder 
and Red Cross one season, and that not a full crop. 1 
have several other new ones not yet in bearing. So far 
as one season's trial would indicate, my preference of the 
two mentioned is in favor of the Red Cross, yet the Wilder 
may be the better of the two. Further trial would per¬ 
haps change my choice. The Red Cross holds out the 
size of the berries to the ends of the bunches far better 
than any I have ever seen; this alone makes them much 
more attractive when in the package, while they seem to 
me to be equally as good in all other respects as the 
Wilder, and better than the Fay. levi bell. 
Rockland Co., N. Y. 
ONIONS IN HAY.—In Ruralisms for March 1 I see that 
you ask for information as to the hardiness and trial of 
the Egyptian onion. I should say that it is hardy enough 
here in Massachusetts. Some one tried them in the 
gardens of a small mill village about a mile up the river 
from the place where I lived 15 years ago. In the Spring 
the high water covered the gardens and brought some of 
the bulbs down stream and left them on the bank at my 
place. The sandy soil of the river bank just suited them, 
and in a few years they had spread over about an acre, 
and in some places there were more onions than grass; 
as they ripened the bulbs before haying, mowing did not 
thin them out any. The Egyptian onion may be a good 
thing in the garden, but it is a poor thing in the hay- 
field, for the cows always objected to the hay that came 
off the acre where the onions were. a. s. a. 
Massachusetts. 
“NATURAL SEEDS" FOR PEACH.—Reading Mr. 
Black's article on “Natural Seeds" on page 123 leads us 
to add a few lines. We agree with Mr. Black as to the 
advantages of natural seed. Our experience has proven 
it to be far superior to the Smock pit or any other seed 
in producing healthy seedlings. Mr. Black's idea of ob¬ 
taining buds from a healthy young nursery is all right 
as far as it goes, but he must have originally obtained 
his buds from bearing trees. We consider that nursery¬ 
men who renew their budding stock every four or five 
years from orchard trees, known to be true to name, will 
be much more sure to avoid mixtures than he who cuts 
from the nursery row year after year for an indefinite 
period, as with the utmost care on the part of the owner, 
mistakes will inevitably occur, and if a single tree gets 
in the row that is other than the variety expected, one 
is liable to propagate from it to a great extent, thus in¬ 
juring his own reputation and damaging the planter. 
New York. o. G. chase. 
TEXAS PEACH NOTES.—I am not familiar with Con- 
nett. In fact, I do not know whether this peach has fruit¬ 
ed in the State. Texas has many seedlings of her own, 
some even earlier than Sneed, that promise well. I have 
under trial several Mamie Ross-EIberta crosses; two, one 
white and one yellow freestone, the latter as large as 
Elberta, ripening fully 10 days earlier. Early Victor, 
originated in Texas, is claimed to ripen at least a week In 
advance of Sneed. My trees are not yet in bearing. Sneed 
itself is a poor thing; a shy bearer and quality very in¬ 
ferior. Greensboro, ripening soon after, is better quality, 
bears abundantly, but is too tender to ship far. Triumph 
is yet the best of its season here for market, but must 
be well thinned or else it is too small. Dewey is promising 
well, from all I can hear of it. Rot is much easier pre¬ 
vented than cured. Any variety much subject to it should 
not be tolerated in orchard because of the infection it 
spreads to others, that would be free away from the 
rotten company. Hogs in orchards will materially assist 
iu preventing rot as well as curculio. j. w. s. 
Mexia, Tex. 
THE BEN DAVIS.—Your reply to question, “Why does 
The R. N.-Y. gives space to any praise of the Ben Davis 
apple,” page 198, is a very good one. But I would like to 
ask your correspondent why should not The It. N.-Y. give 
space to such praise? No one claims it to be a fine apple 
ranking with the best, but only a money-maker, and as 
such it has a place in the world which is being filled ac¬ 
ceptably. Being a persistent bearer it often produces fruit 
when no other variety does, especially in neglected or¬ 
chards. With us, as grown on our heavy clay soil, on the 
hills above the Ohio River, and left on the trees until 
late in the Fall, the quality is very fair. We have used 
bushels of them in our home this Winter and enjoyed 
them, too. We have sold them to private families for the 
last 10 years, always telling people just exactly what they 
were, and never have had a single complaint, but I can 
readily believe that the quality would be very poor when 
grown on very rich, low soil, near a stream of water. 
However, this question of locality changes the character¬ 
istics of any apple. I have eaten Baldwins grown within 
two miles of our farm which could not be recognized by 
their flavor, or rather their want of it, while Baldwin is 
standard here, receiving as many calls as all other kinds 
combined. If my advice were asked I would say plant 
Bon Davis in a limited way; plant on the highest heaviest 
land at hand, and in the meantime give them the little 
credit which they honestly deserve. c. j. w. 
Allegheny Co., Pa. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—The steamer Providence, plying between 
Vicksburg and Lake Palmyra, Miss., was struck by a 
sudden hurricane early in the morning of March 12. The 
little vessel was lifted almost entirely out of the water, 
her upper works blown away and the hull turned bottom 
up in 40 feet of water. Most of the crew and passengers 
were asleep at the time, and were drowned like rats in 
a trap. Only nine of the entire boat’s company were 
saved, 21 persons being drowned. The property loss will 
amount to several thousand dollars. The storm proved 
very destructive in other parts of the State, killing seven 
persons in Copiah and Lincoln counties. . . . March 14 
the worst blizzard of the Winter prevailed in Colorado, 
North Dakota and the Canadian Northwest. No trains 
were moved on several roads for over 36 hours. The snow 
will put the ground in excellent condition for seeding. 
. . . According to the official reports of the Marine 
Hospital service there were 22,263 cases of smallpox in 
the United States during the week ending March 17. This 
is an unusually large number, and the officials are some¬ 
what concerned about it. For the same period last year 
only 9,406 cases were reported. The deaths from small¬ 
pox during the same week have been 661, as against 136 
for the same week of last year. The plague has also ap¬ 
peared in the United States, according to the official an¬ 
nouncement of the Marine Hospital service. A fatal case 
was reported on February 22 at Berkeley, Cal., a suburb 
of San Francisco. This is the first case of this disease 
that has occurred In the United States outside of San 
Francisco. Precautions were taken to prevent the spread 
of the disease, and there is no apprehension of other 
oases appearing. . . . Seven members of the life sav¬ 
ing crew at the Monomoy Station, near Chatham. Massa¬ 
chusetts, together with five of the crew of the stranded 
barge Wardena, were drowned March 17 by the capsizing 
of the life boat as it was returning to the shore from 
the wreck. . . . March 18 a fire on the river front at 
Hoboken, N. J., opposite New York City, destroyed one 
pier, the steamship British Queen, and several lighters. 
Two lives were lost, and the estimated damage amounts 
to $765,000. . . . The St. Louis courts have decided that 
the city is not responsible for damages in the deaths of 
the 13 children who died from tetanus caused by the 
administering of antitoxin procured from the Board of 
Health. 
CONGRESS.—The Senate Committee on Immigration 
has agreed to report favorably the Mitchell bill for Chi¬ 
nese exclusion. . . . The hearings on pure food legisla¬ 
tion continued March 12 before the House Committee on 
Commerce, Eliot Grosvenor being heard in behalf of the 
Association of Manufacturers and Distributers of Food 
Products, and George A. Shearer, speaking for the Na¬ 
tional Association of Retail Grocers. The discussion 
was chiefly on the comparative merits of the several bills 
proposed. Mr. Grosvenor favored the bill of Representa¬ 
tive Corliss providing for a National food commission. 
He argued against giving autocratic power to officials, 
and also as to the desirability of trusting to some extent 
on the intelligence of buyers and the usual laws of com¬ 
petition and trade. . . . The Chinese government has 
presented to the United States Minister at Peking, Mr. 
Conger, a strong memorial against the reenactment of 
the Chinese exclusion law by the United States. The 
Chinese government particularly objects to the exclusion 
of Chinese from the islands of Hawaii and the Philippines, 
representing that the Chinese have acquired extensive 
commercial interests there and are closely connected 
with the islands by family ties, so that repression of 
free intercourse would result in peculiar hardships. . . 
. . The Ship Subsidy bill was passed by the Senate 
March 17. There was no enthusiasm over its passage, 
and six Republican Senators voted against it. It has yet 
to be presented in the House. 
PHILIPPINES.—The court-martial appointed to try 
Major Waller, of the Marines, on the charge of executing 
Philippine natives without trial, has sustained the con¬ 
tention of the defendant’s counsel that the army lacked 
jurisdiction in the case, as the accused is no longer con¬ 
nected with that branch of the service. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Texas Cattle Raisers' As¬ 
sociation met at Fort Worth, Tex., March 11. A good 
live stock show was held in connection with it. The con¬ 
vention will meet in El Paso next year. The Association 
has 1,280 members, representing over 3,000,000 stock. 
A convention will be held at Charlottesville, Va„ by the 
National Good Roads Association and the Jefferson Me¬ 
morial Association, April 2-4. A memorial road is to be 
constructed to the home and tomb of Thomas Jefferson, 
at Monticello. A number of prominent men will be pres¬ 
ent. including Secretary Wilson, Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and 
the Governor of Virginia. 
THE TOMATO GROWER AND THE CANNER. 
C. E. Chapman, who was engaged in institute work in 
Maryland during February, reports that there was con¬ 
siderable friction between the growers and canners of 
tomatoes on the Eastern Shore. The canners fixed on $1 
per ton as the contract price, and the farmers, as a rule, 
refused to sign, asking $10 and prompter payment. The 
great failure in this crop last season raised the price of 
tomatoes so high that many farmers had hard work to 
raise enough principle with the crop, to compel them to 
deliver according to contract, and many violated it and 
sold to canners in Baltimore. The price of canned goods 
is very much higher now. and the farmers feel that they 
should have the benefit of the rise, that they take all the 
risk, claiming that the canner sells his goods ahead and 
knows what he will get for the tomatoes before he con¬ 
tracts, and that he holds back the pay till the money 
comes in from the sales. They also claim they cannot 
afford to grow them for the $6 usually paid. The canners 
claim that they are not able to sell ahead or take orders 
at the price which $10 tomatoes demand; that there is no 
likelihood of the price of canned goods remaining ab¬ 
normally high, and that the farmers can grow tomatoes 
at a good profit. The farmer has to take risks of bad 
weather, poor yields, rot and a rapid maturing of the 
crop which floods the factory so they cannot receive thorn 
properly; also, if he does not contract, of a big yield,and 
a low price, but all these things leave him, if they come, 
pay for the labor and his land for use another year: 
while a canner may under equal conditions lose every 
cent, he is worth. Speaking of the cost of growing one 
canner said: “I hire many acres grown, and I make the 
cost as follows: Plowing one aero, $1.50; dragging and 
marking, 75 cents; 3,000 plants at 50 cents, $1.50; setting 
and resetting, by hand, 75 cents; cultivating four times, 
$1.20; picking and marketing. $6; fertilizer, $1.80; applying, 
50 cents; total, $14. Returns, four tons at $7. $28; profit, $14. 
One hundred per cent profit seems like a good return.” 
The growers figure about as follows: Plowing, $2; drag¬ 
ging and marking, $1.50; 3,000 plants at $15, $45; setting, $2; 
eultivating, $3; 10 tons marketing at $1.50, $15; fertilizer, 
$25; applying it. $1.50; total. $80. Receipts, 10 tons at $7. 
$70; loss, $10. A careful study of these tables shows that 
care in producing good plants and the liberal use of ferti¬ 
lizer increases the yield wonderfully, but makes less 
profit. The way they get out of it is to sell the early 
fruit for table use. receiving from $10 to $15 per ton. “I 
think equally good plants could be grown for half the 
price charged; that one-half or nearly all of the fertilizer 
could be dispensed with, if a good crop of cow peas was 
grown after the tomatoes instead of leaving the field 
bare, and that two horses with a northern plow would 
reduce the cost of plowing in a soil so easily worked. If 
a New York State man can make money growing toma¬ 
toes in his stone piles at $6 per ton. these people ought 
to be highly prosperous in their sand at $7.” 
APPLE HUNGER.—Apples are selling in the large 
stores in New York and Brooklyn at from 50 to 75 cents 
per dozen. This is particularly satisfactory to all lovers 
of this king of fruits. When they reach such a com¬ 
mendable altitudinous price everybody wants them, of 
course. This is the time to talk boxes and small neat 
oacknges of choice selected fruit. When apples brought 
$4 per barrel in local markets last Fall, everyone knew 
we would be apple-hungry before Spring. J. y. p. 
RIJN TO VTNES.—To the Hope Farmer with his potato 
failure last year I have a little story to tell. A friend of 
mine living in Cherry County, Neb., rented a small piece 
of ground in a draw to raise potatoes: the land could be 
irrigated, so he had to pay a good rental. The potatoes 
grew nicely at first, but. there came a dry spell and the 
water was turned on and left on. The tops grew nearly 
as high as a man's head, and were the admiration of all 
the inhabitants of that sparsely-settled country. "You 
will have potatoes big as a cartwheel,” was a favorite re¬ 
mark, but at digging time a very few tubers of very poor 
quality were the result. w. e. g. 
Norfolk. Neb. 
SEED CORN AND FERTILIZERS.—The last two 
years T have used only 100 pounds of sulphate of potash, 
250 of dissolved S. C. rock, and bought my seed corn of 
an honest firm in Ohio, and more than doubled my crop 
as against planting my own seed and no commercial fer¬ 
tilizer. I think that pays, and is no exaggeration; T have 
under-estimated if anything. I believe many farmers 
plant their corn too close, and too much in a hill for best 
results. On sandy land corn grows too much to stalks, 
and on heavy land or clay smaller stalks and more to 
ears. Will some one explain the reason? I am going to 
plant Huron or some other yellow dent four feet each 
way, three stalks to the hill. p. w. j. 
Michigan. 
ABANDONED FARMS.—Twenty or more years ago the 
responses of a number of intelligent persons. Rev. E. E. 
Hale, John D. Long and others, to the question, “What 
is to be the future of our neglected country towns in 
Massachusetts?” were published in one of the monthlies. 
Mr. Long predicted that more and more, as the descend¬ 
ants of our English ancestors became intelligent and 
financially able, they would seek and make their homes 
in the country. Especially has this prediction proved 
true, since steam and electric cars. Merchants doing 
business in Boston and the score of other cities of Massa¬ 
chusetts are enabled to have their homes 10, 25 and 50 
miles distant from their places of business. Thousands 
of the unoccupied farms for 20 years back have been pur¬ 
chased and improved for Summer homes of those who 
spend the other months in the cities. n. t. a. 
“OUT THERE IN KANSAS.”—I was interested in an 
item regarding a “central Kansas town” in The R. N.-Y. 
of February 15. Does it refer to Salina? If not, it ex¬ 
actly fits our beautiful little city. Salina is to-day a 
handsome and busy little city of about 8,000 population, 
with great long avenues of shade trees and yards filled 
with trees and shrubbery, until it is really overdone in 
places where the shade is becoming too dense. From 
the surrounding country, even from the hilltops, little is 
visible of Salina but the church spires, and this is largely 
due to one Ambrose Beebe, who for years was the “tree 
planter” of Salina. I have also been much interested in 
Mr. Norton’s articles telling how Kansas farmers live in 
the natural gas belt. As I have relatives in the East 
and have visited there I know what strange and absurd 
ideas prevail of our State, so I imagine these articles 
must have been an eye-opener to many. a. w. j. 
Salina, Kan. 
NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY.—The milk interest in 
the northwestern portion of New Jersey is rather com¬ 
plex. It is getting more and more into the hands of 
renters and those working on shares. Those owning their 
farms are producing apparently only a small proportion 
of the milk. For the last year the price obtained for 
milk has been nearly equal to the cost of production. 
Whatever profits have been made have been in increased 
fertility of the land. Milch cows as selling at present are 
bringing fairly good prices. There are many being sold, 
auctions being very common, and there will be great 
changes in the farming communities this Spring. For 
the past month the weather has been the worst in 12 
years. The late storms have retarded farming opera¬ 
tions; the land is very wet, and planting will be late. 
The damage from l lie recent freshets has been great. 
Peaches are being little planted, as the orchards after 
about four years from planting bear one crop and then 
die or become worthless. The production of eggs is in¬ 
creasing rapidly, and a home market is found for them. 
New Jersey. j. b. Rogers. 
