1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
34i 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The Champion Fence Works at Kenton, 
O., were burned April 23, throwing 300 men out of em¬ 
ployment; loss $225,000. ... A tornado struck Joplin, 
Mo., April 25, killing two persons and fatally injuring 
five others. The property damage amounted to $250,000. 
. J. Sterling Morton, President Cleveland’s Secre¬ 
tary of Agriculture, died April 27, his seventieth birth¬ 
day, at his son’s home in Lake Forest, Ill. He had been 
failing for some time. The illness which caused his 
death really began last November, when he caught a 
severe cold while speaking at the stock show at Chicago. 
Grip followed and Mr. Morton was in a hospital for some 
time. He was taken to his home at Nebraska City, Neb. 
A relapse followed and he took a trip to Mexico, return¬ 
ing home much worse. Mr. Morton was born at Adams, 
N. Y., April 27, 1S32. He attended college in Michigan, 
being graduated from Union College. He married Miss 
Caroline Joy French, of Detroit, and settled at Bellevue, 
Neb. He preempted a lot of land near Nebraska City 
and moved there. He was a practical farmer on this 
place for over 40 years. He took a foremost part in Ne¬ 
braska politics, often receiving votes for United States 
Senator. He was the editor and founder of the Nebraska 
City News. Four times, without any campaign, he was 
nominated for Governor of Nebraska and twice for Con¬ 
gress. President Buchanan appointed him Secretary of 
the Territory of Nebraska in 1858, and later acting Gov¬ 
ernor. President Cleveland appointed him Secretary of 
Agriculture in 1893. His aggressiveness and his outspoken 
manner of speech made him known all over the country. 
It was at his instance that April 22 is celebrated as Arbor 
Day. His home was known as Arbor Lodge, and is sur¬ 
rounded by trees planted on the woodless prairies. . . . 
Secretary Hitchcock, of the Interior Department, in an¬ 
ticipation of the passage of the Irrigation bill, has is¬ 
sued an order withdrawing from entry 77 townships in 
Montana. The tract comprises about 1,000,000 acres of 
semi-arid land and is what is known as the St. Mary’s 
and Milk rivers project for irrigation. This action was 
taken by the Secretary to prevent speculators from filing 
on the land in order to reap the benefits of the Govern¬ 
ment’s work of irrigation and reclamation. . . . Five 
persons were killed and 25 injured by the wreck of an 
express train near Medill, Mo., April 29. The accident 
was caused by spreading rails at a curve which the train 
rounded at great speed. . . . Glen Rose, a small town 
and county seat of Somervell Co., Tex., was swept by a 
tornado April 28; eight persons killed and 50 injured. The 
property loss is estimated at $250,000. 
CONGRESS.—In the Senate April 25 Mr. McCumber, of 
North Dakota, discussed his bill to prevent the misbrand¬ 
ing and misrepresentation of food products which enter 
into interstate commerce, and Mr. Carmack, of Tennes¬ 
see, one of the minority members of the Philippines Com¬ 
mittee, spoke in opposition to the Philippine government 
bill. . . . The Senate Committee on Relations with 
Cuba decided April 25 to report favorably that portion 
of the Teller resolution which provides for an investiga¬ 
tion of the charge that the greater part of the present 
crop of Cuban sugar is held by the Sugar Trust of the 
United States. . . . Representative Sims, of Tennes¬ 
see, introduced April 25 a bill abolishing the duties on im¬ 
ports of beef, mutton, pork and veal. An extended pre¬ 
amble recites that the present high price of these food 
products is due to trusts and monopolies. . . . The 
conferees on the Chinese Exclusion bill reached an agree¬ 
ment April 28, and their report was adopted in both Sen¬ 
ate and House, thus passing the bill finally. It was 
signed by the President April 29. . . . The Senate 
agreed April 28 to the House amendments of the Oleo bill. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—A society has been formed 
by a number of Georgia producers interested in nut cul¬ 
ture, under the title of the Southern Nut Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation. The following temporary officers have been 
elected: President. G. M. Bacon, DeWitt, Ga.; vice-presi¬ 
dent, Robert J. Bacon, Bacon ton, Ga.; treasurer, J. M. 
Tift, Albany, Ga.; secretary, J. F. Wilson, Poulan, Ga. 
The Department of Farmers’ Institutes is planning to 
hold Summer institutes in northern Wisconsin in June, 
at points in the State that are too far north to make 
Winter meetings advisable. 
Reports from sections of Wyoming indicate that the 
great April storm killed 12,000 or 13,000 sheep, the losses 
running from two to 10 per cent. 
State Grain Inspector George P. Wright, of Washing¬ 
ton, says that, from the present outlook, the wheat crop 
this season in that State will be 25 per cent less than 
the crop of last year. Various misfortunes will contribute 
to a marked lessening of the yield, but cold, frost and an 
unusual amount of high wind are the chief factors. The 
winds have done much to dry out the ground and hinder 
the development of agriculture. A considerable portion 
of the Fall wheat in the Walla Walla, Umatilla and Pa- 
louse districts was frozen out during the Winter, and the 
Spring wheat has met disaster in prolonged droughts. 
It is declared that considerable of the Spring wheat has 
not yet sprouted, owing to a lack of moisture, and what 
is growing is small, yellowish in color and unpromising 
in looks. 
Prof. H. M. Cottrell has resigned from the Kansas 
Agricultural College and will manage a large farm in 
Missouri. _ 
FARMING IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY. 
Farm work began here about the middle of April, a few 
days earlier than last year, though the season usually 
opens about April 10. We are running at present one 
four-horse 24-foot wood-frame harrow and an 18-foot 
steel-lever harrow. A small three-horse harrow is used 
for working in odd horses and colts. The steel harrow 
is the best on Spring plowing, or if the fields have had 
water standing on them before seeding, and contain wet 
or hard spots, it cuts the soil up better, but for large 
fields and fast work the large wooden one is the thing. 
Our Fall-plowed land is seldom harrowed more than once, 
because our soil is of such a nature (a rich black soil 
formed from decayed vegetable matter, from six inches 
to two feet deep) that the action of the frost in the Win¬ 
ter and Spring breaks up the clods of soil, and with one 
harrowing the land is pulverized thoroughly. All our 
wheat land Is Fall-plowed, and we prefer to seed oats, 
flax, and part of our early potatoes on Fall-plowed land. 
We cover from 40 to 50 acres a day with the large harrow 
and about 30 acres a day with the steel one. All our 
fields are at least one-half mile long, and we always try 
to work as long lands as possible. A day’s work con¬ 
sists of 20 miles in the field; that is, a man and team are 
expected to travel that distance. 
We raised about 20 acres of fodder corn last year and 
disked about one-third of the stubble before seeding to 
wheat this Spring, the remainder being too sticky. The 
entire piece was then drilled without any further prepara¬ 
tion whatever, though the shoes were set rather deep to 
insure covering the seed well. It will be Interesting to 
note the difference in the crop, if any. A small strip 
that had potatoes on last year, and was seeded with the 
corn ground, was prepared simply by harrowing it once 
across the rows, with the steel harrow. The remainder 
of the potato land will be disked and then drilled without 
any plowing whatever. Under favorable conditions, that 
is when the soil is fine and mellow on top, we seed ®ur 
potato land without any preparation whatever. The rea¬ 
son why we work our potato land as little as possible in 
preparing for another crop is because of the tendency of 
the soil to blow away when so finely pulverized. Wheat 
seeding began as soon as the ground was fit to harrow, 
and will continue for about 10 days or two weeks. No 
Winter wheat is raised, because of the usual very dry 
weather in the Fall and light snow fall. 
We have wintered our horses on fodder corh, oat hay, 
and flax straw, with about two quarts of grain each, 
twice a day. Most of them have been idle all Winter, 
and consequently they were all in good shape for Spring 
work. Daytime they spent in a large yard, where they 
had plenty of straw, and at noon were fed corn around 
the yard. Hay was fed in the barn mornings and fodder 
corn at night. Their feed now consists of prairie hay 
(wild) with corn fodder at night and oats in the morning 
and at noon, with bran and shorts at night. We feed 
from four to five quarts to a horse each time, depending 
on the size of the horse and the work. J. d. b. 
Wolverton* Minn. 
Government Crop Report. 
In the Rocky Mountain and North Pacific States the 
week was too cool for favorable growth. A snowstorm 
in Montana and the Dakotas has hindered farm work. 
Temperature conditions in the Southern States have been 
favorable. The central valleys and Middle Atlantic States 
have suffered from drying winds. Corn planting is pro¬ 
gressing in Illinois and southern Ohio. Farther south 
the plant is making a good growth, and in some sections 
cultivation is nearly finished. Winter wheat is looking 
well, although needing rain in the upper Ohio Valley. 
Seeding of Spring wheat is nearly completed. Oats in 
the South are making a good growth. Poor stands are 
reported in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Tobacco trans¬ 
planting is about half finished in the Carolinas. Grass in 
the North is backward, although improvement is noted in 
the central valleys. In Florida melons are fruiting, and 
peach prospect is fine. Fruit trees are blooming heavily 
in the Middle Atlantic States and Central West. Peach 
outlook in Illinois and Ohio is poor. In California heavy 
crops of all deciduous fruits are expected. 
A Curse of Blackberries. 
We are cursed with blackberries introduced by the 
early settlers. Many of us could keep them at bay if we 
could introduce diseases into the original clumps. Many 
of us have our entire farms overrun with them; they 
hardly cease to grow the entire year, nearly always hav¬ 
ing a few leaves on them. I have managed to keep them 
under on my farm, but every year it requires more time 
to cut them off under the ground with a sharp spade, 
four times a year at least. Our Government has now 
passed a law compelling farmers to clear their places, 
beginning with the boundary lines and water courses the 
first year one chain wide and extending one chain per 
year until the whole is cut. Many of us will be ruined 
and driven from our homes if this law is enforced, as, 
of course, all the land previously cut must be recut every 
year. The blackberries are spread by birds of all kinds 
eating them. If we could only kill the original clumps, 
where they have obtained a firm hold before being dis¬ 
covered we should have made a great advance, and in 
many cases as in mine, the source of seed supply being 
gone, it. would be possible to keep the country clear and 
in time kill the young plants. We are keeping them in 
check by cutting. 
Every part of the blackberry grows in our climate, the 
smallest part of root,.so that we have abandoned the 
plan of digging them up, as with the most careful dig¬ 
ging there was always a lot to come up, also every 
branch roots down of itself, forming a new plant. I would 
ask you or our brother farmers in America, through you, 
whether you could help us to get rid of these black¬ 
berries; if you could get me some disease to kill or even 
prevent fruiting (even if we had to inoculate every 
shrub) you would be worthy of the blessing of every 
farmer in north New Zealand. l. b. wyatt. 
Auckland, New Zealand. 
DELAWARE FRUIT.—At present there is a good pros¬ 
pect for all kinds of fruit on the Peninsula. There was 
an abundance of bloom and a good setting of fruit. 1 
do not imagine that the crop of strawberries will be much 
above the usual quantity of former years. It is too early 
yet to estimate the peach crop, for it is not unusual for 
a frost in May to kill a large portion of little fruits. A 
great many bearing trees have been removed on account 
of the San Jos6 scale, but probably not enough greatly 
to influence the entire crop. As it stands at the present 
time there is promise of a good average crop of this fruit. 
Delaware Exp. Station. c. p. close. 
BUY DIRECT FROM FACTORY, BEST 
MIXED PAINT-S 
At WHOLESALE PRICES, Delivered FREE 
For Houses, Barns, Roofs, all colors, and SAVE Dealers 
profits. In use 5 8 years. Officially Endorsed by the 
Orange. Low prices will surprise you. Write for Samples. 
0. W. 1N0ERS0LL, 840 Plymouth St., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Several owners of 
the “ U n c 1 e Sam’s 
Favorite” RURAL 
MAIL BOX have 
treated them with a 
full charge of buck 
shot without damage. 
We do not approve of 
of this, as it might lead to some 
one trying it on some other 
•re of box, and then there 
would be trouble sure. 
All tests should be made 
before the boxes are put in service. Thou¬ 
sands of people are ready to back the “Fa¬ 
vorite” against the field. Let us tell you 
what “they say”. 
BOND STEEL POST CO., 
Adrian, Mich. 
The Pump 
That Pumps 
SPRAY 
PUMPS 
Double-acting, Lilt, 
Tank and Spray 
pumps 
Store Ladders, Etc. 
[JShAYTOOLS 
of all kinds. Write for 
Circulars and Prices. 
MYERS STAYON 
Flexible Door Hangers 
with steel roller beaRngs, 
easy to push and to pull, 
cannot be thrown off the 
truck—hence its name— 
“Stayon.” Has no equal. 
Thousands sold. Ask your 
dealer or write us for de¬ 
scriptive circularH. 
BRO., Ashland, Ohio. 
M F Roofing Tin la tha original 
old-atyl# roofing tin—made en¬ 
tirely by hand labor from per¬ 
fect black platee and the greatest 
amount of pure tin and new lead. 
Roofing Tin 
baa been used since the early 
f iart of the Nineteenth Century 
n Great Britain and America, 
and covers a great number 
of Important buildings in this 
great territory, where it has 
lasted more than 50 years. 
^ Specify M F Roofing 
tin In your buila- 
lng estimates. 
IW.CCROiVcHuYEk A(]t 
CARNf.'O.’E ‘’ 'UniNG 
IhiTS^ °a 
Free book ct. .(ot fr q 
The next best thing to ac¬ 
tually using or trying an 
EMPIRE 
Easy Running 
Cream Separator 
is reading the book which 
tells about this machine. 
The EMPIRE is an up-to- 
date machine, built accord¬ 
ing to up-to-date ideas; so 
is the book. This book 
not only tells about the 
EMPIRE, but tells a whole 
lot of other things Which 
prove of interest and value 
to every cow owner and 
milk handler. Your name 
on a postal will fetch it. 
UNITED STATES 
BUTTER EXTRACTOR CO., 
Blooiiilield, J. 
