1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
58i 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—A limited train on the Chicago, Burling¬ 
ton & Quincy Railroad was held up by robbers near Sa¬ 
vanna, Ill., August 6. There were eight robbers; one was 
killed. They blew up the express car, and are said to 
have taken about $25,000; they did not molest passengers. 
. . . . Harry Tracy, the Washington outlaw who has 
been hunted for two months, shot himself in a wheatfleld 
near Fellows, August 6. He was surrounded by a sheriff's 
posse, and had been wounded so that he could not es¬ 
cape. . . . Five collieries in the Shenandoah region of 
Pennsylvania have been permanently abandoned as a re¬ 
sult of the anthracite strike, entailing an aggregate loss 
of $1,500,000. Daniel J. Sweeney, a watchman at the Bliss 
mine of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Company, 
was murdered near the colliery August 5, the supposi¬ 
tion being that he was killed by strikers, who had warn¬ 
ed him on several occasions that he must not go to work. 
Three men are under arrest. Strike leaders deny that 
union men committed the crime. . . . Reports come 
from Lamoreaux, Wyo., of 19 herders brutally beaten, 
gagged and blindfolded, then, with the foreman strapped 
to the wet ground, where they remained helpless for 24 
hours; one herder massacred; 4,500 sheep, worth $3 a head, 
driven into a corral and slaughtered; thousands of oth¬ 
ers driven to the timber indiscriminately; all saddles of 
a score of herders seized and burned, together with their 
outfits; theft of all shotguns, ammunition, horses and de¬ 
sirable clothing. This was the work of cattlemen, who 
are conducting a bitter warfare against sheep. 
At Indianapolis, Ind., August 6, two women were ar¬ 
rested for stealing corn silk, thus ruining acres of ear 
corn. One farmer testified that about 400 bushels of corn 
were ruined, and another stated that the silk had been 
torn from 23 acres of corn. The women were selling the 
corn silk to a manufacturer of patent medicines for four 
cents a pound. . . . The Retail Butchers’ and Meat 
Dealers’ Protective Association in Washington August 7 
adopted resolutions providing for efforts to elect members 
of Congress who will favor the elimination of the tariff 
on cattle and live stock. William G. Wagner, of New 
York, was reelected president. .... A destructive 
hailstorm passed over northern Lancaster County, Pa., 
August 7, doing great damage to the growing tobacco 
and the corn. In some places the hail was several inches 
deep, and many of the stones were as large as walnuts. 
Near Eden a farmer had already cut a lot of tobacco, 
which was hanging on racks in the field, and this and 
the uncut plants were cut to pieces. ... At Rhodes, 
Iowa, August 6, a collision between a freight and con¬ 
struction train on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Railroad killed 11 persons and injured 39 others, all rail¬ 
road employees. . . . Fire in a hotel at San Angelo, 
Tex., August 10, destroyed the building and burned seven 
persons to death. . . . August 10, great forest fires 
were raging in the Fishbank district. Montana, and the 
Siskiyou region of Oregon. Much valuable timber has 
been destroyed. . . . C. F. W. Neely, who was convict¬ 
ed of Cuban postal frauds and afterwards pardoned by 
the Cuban legislature, has applied to the Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral to be reimbursed for the money found in his posses¬ 
sion at the time of his arrest, amounting to $6,234. This 
money was sent to Cuba as an exhibit at the trial of 
Neely, and was returned by the military government to 
the War Department.Peoria, Ill., has been suf¬ 
fering for four months from a series of incendiary fires. 
A disastrous blaze August 11 caused a loss of $175,000. 
Great alarm exists, extra precautions being taken to 
guard property. 
ADMINISTRATION.—It is now reasonably certain that 
the President will call the Senate in extraordinary ses¬ 
sion to ratify a Cuban reciprocity treaty. No definite date 
has been fixed, but it is understood that the extra ses¬ 
sion will convene in November. The condition of affairs 
in Cuba is such that something must be done at an early 
date to prevent the young republic from going to financial 
and commercial ruin. The business people of the Island 
are desperate, and there is talk of turning toward Eng¬ 
land in order to secure advantageous commercial rela¬ 
tions. There is great distress in Cuba, according to reli¬ 
able reports, and this condition bids fair to become worse, 
now that many planters have decided to shut down soon. 
In consequence many workmen will be thrown out of 
work. There is no question, too, that talk of annexing 
the Island is growing, both in this country and in Cuba. 
The business interests in the little republic are solidly in 
favor of this course. The only opposition to such a union, 
it is said, is from the politicians and office holders, who 
naturally wish to retain their positions. The Spanish in¬ 
terests would gladly see Cuba under our flag, but they 
are afraid to voice such views. 
PHILIPPINES.—According to information received by 
the Vatican, almost all the real estate belonging to Span¬ 
ish friars in the Philippines was sold before American 
occupation to syndicates and corporations, duly regis¬ 
tered and legally recognized, headed by Americans living 
in New York. It is alleged by the same authority that, 
although the friars hold some shares in these corpora¬ 
tions, they do not own controlling interests. The War 
Department has known for some time that portions of 
the friars’ lands in the Philippines have been disposed 
of to companies, and all of the recent negotiations con¬ 
ducted by Secretary Root have carefully taken into ac¬ 
count any contingencies which might arise through these 
transfers. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The ninth annual picnic of the 
farmers of Gloucester County, N. J., under the auspices 
of the county Granges, was held at Alcyon Park August 
6. Over 7,000 people were present. The exhibition of live 
stock, farm products, women’s handiwork and farm ma¬ 
chinery was the best and largest since the inauguration 
of the annual gatherings. The display of farm produce 
was made in the buildings and tents on the tract adjoin¬ 
ing the grove, and included almost every vegetable that 
grows in this agricultural community. Many kinds of ma¬ 
chinery, farm wagons and carriages were placed along 
the walks for the inspection of the farmers, and during 
the day representatives of the machine manufacturers 
gave tests of the operation of the labor saving device*. 
Worthy Master W. F. Gaunt, of the State Grange, and 
other prominent speakers gave addresses. 
The leading feature of the second day’s convention of 
the National Apple Shippers’ Association at Rochester, 
N. Y., August 7, was a paper prepared and read by Prof. 
W. A. Taylor, Pomologist in charge of field investigation 
in the United States Department of Agriculture, Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. Its subject was “The Commercial Apple 
Areas of the United States.” Professor Taylor said: 
“The total trees of bearing age in the commercial or¬ 
chard areas of the United States up to June 1, 1900, ac¬ 
cording to the twelfth census, is 210,000,000, an increase of 
75,000,000, or more than 40 per cent over the apple area of 
1890. The statistics show that in the great Ben Davls- 
Winesap section of the country there are to-day nearly 
twice as many trees as in the famous Baldwin-Northern 
Spy region. It is now assuredly true,” says Prof. Tay¬ 
lor. “as has often been remarked of late, that the great 
apple bin of the United States has been shifted to the 
west of the Alleghenies.” 
Elwood Mead, chief of the Irrigation Investigation Bu¬ 
reau of the Agricultural Department, was in Topeka, 
Kan., August 5, conferring with Governor Stanley and 
Attorney-General Goddard with reference to the best 
manner of irrigating the western portions of the State. 
Congress appropriated $65,000 to study up irrigation meth¬ 
ods and a large portion of this sum will be spent in Kan¬ 
sas. Mr. Mead will endeavor to procure the cooperation 
of the State Agricultural College at Manhattan. From 
Kansas he will go to Colorado. He will make a full in¬ 
vestigation of the controversy between Kansas and 
Colorado regarding the water rights on the Arkansas 
River. He thinks the matter can be settled amicably in a 
manner satisfactory to both States. 
The Atlantic City Poultry Club will hold its first an¬ 
nual poultry, pigeon and pet stock show on Young’s 
Ocean Pier, Atlantic City, N. J., September 2-6. Address 
all correspondence concerning it to T. Farrer Rackham, 
450 Market St., Newark, N. J. 
“SAVE A FARM 
PART III. 
I am trying to discuss this subject from the highest 
possible ground. I understand that unless farming can 
be made profitable as compared with other occupations 
wo cannot hope to attract those who look at business 
from the commercial side only. Personally I have great 
faith in the future of American agriculture. Because 
the old proprietor lost faith in his farm there is no good 
reason why I should accept his dismal view of farming 
as a first mortgage on the property. We should remem¬ 
ber that this lack of faith has cut the price of the land 
in two, while the earning capacity can probably be 
doubled. The land has not deteriorated in value since 
Nature took it in charge. It may be rougher and harder 
to till, but the old strength is in its heart, and the market 
possibilities have been enlarged. Exports of corn have 
so increased the market for that grain as to make it a 
far more valuable crop than wheat. The present high 
prices for beef will probably continue long enough to 
give the eastern beef grower an opportunity not known 
before for 20 years. I may give a single illustration to 
show what may be done on cheap eastern lands. A 
farmer of my acquaintance on a Connecticut farm which 
could not be sold for the cost of the buildings grows, 
each year, three acres of potatoes. These potatoes are 
sold in a manufacturing town nearby and bring enough 
to buy all the western grain needed for 30 cows and young 
stock! In this way one Connecticut acre buys the pro¬ 
duct of five western acres, and pays freight and middle¬ 
man’s profit beside! It is also true that thousands now 
demand the finer and more delicate products where hun¬ 
dreds called for them 20 years ago. The competition from 
South and West will become more and more a matter of 
food produced on large farms or by bonanza farmers— 
ripened away from the plant that bore it. Products 
grown in such vast quantities, thrown together and 
picked and packed by hirelings, can never compete in 
the market with the best products of the smaller farms, 
where the master’s eye can cover everything. As well 
expect the factory-made shoe turned out by the thou¬ 
sand on the same last to compete with the handmade 
shoe exactly fitted to the foot. Again, the graduate of to¬ 
day takes to the old farm the condensed result of 30 
glorious years of agricultural research, which were 
locked up to the old farmer! Combine these things—the 
cheaper land, the doubled market, 20 years of education 
in market desires and 30 years of patient agricultural 
research, and what business can offer a better opportu¬ 
nity to the individual who loves country life? 
And there we strike the key to the whole situation. It 
is worse than folly to send people to the country with 
the small contracted souls that can be satisfied with the 
city prison of stone and brick. If a true patriot by any 
possibility be nurtured in the city it is because his an¬ 
cestors brought from the farm a land instinct strong 
enough to bore through the brick walls and let the 
country in. No one would put a natural mechanic into 
a doctor’s office. We do not want our bones handled as 
though they were iron pipes. In like manner it will be 
folly to send one to the country to serve the Fatherland 
who does not prefer the whisper or the shout of Nature 
to the prattle and gossip of the town. A great majority 
of townsmen seem content to limit their reading and 
study to the daily and Sunday paper—a shrewd combi¬ 
nation of prejudice and advertising. The man in the 
country may find time for calm and thoughtful study of 
the words of the great masters whose thoughts are un¬ 
bought and without prejudice. It seems to me that the 
inspired words of the world’s master minds would nearly 
die out save with the few professional students were it 
not for the possibilities of calm study in country homes. 
The bread and butter side of farming is a stern and hard 
fact, yet we must ever remember that the educated 
American farmer has a higher duty to country than the 
mere accumulation of property. To him more than to 
any other citizen comes the duty of saving the best of 
American traditions. The business man who accumulates 
a vast fortune and then gives it away for noble and 
helpful charities does well for his country. He may well 
be called a captain of industry; yet the real strength of 
the army lies In the privates and lower officers who drill 
them. Save In the magnitude of his enterprises the rich 
man may not rank highest in true service to the Father- 
land. The old pioneers saved a farm and found running 
through the cloak of its salvation strong threads that 
were used to make the fabric of government. In like 
manner, to-day, I take it that the truest patriot is he 
who will use his money wisely to save a farm so that 
its salvation will mean the uplifting of the men and 
women whose untrained lives have been broken upon 
the great wheel of what we call industrial progress! 
That man who will save a farm and save it by giving 
labor and home and hope to untrained ones who can 
barely live as individuals does most for the Fatherland. 
Such a man does more than he who hoards his life’s 
earnings and then gives it away, because he gives his 
life from day to day and removes the conditions which 
place the unbridged gulf between the rich and the poor! 
h. w. c. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Apples will be about a half crop of Winter fruit. Buy¬ 
ers are as yet making no offers. Fall fruit plenty and no 
sale at present. c. R. J. 
Penfield, N. Y. 
The apple prospects in southeast Nebraska indicate a 
full crop and good quality, mainly Ben Davis, Winesap, 
Jonathan, Missouri Pippin and Genet, with many other 
varieties in limited quantities. c. h. Barnard. 
Nebraska Horticultural Society. 
There are three quite large evaporators within four 
miles of my place, all of which are expecting to run this 
Fall. The apples so far as I have seen and heard in this 
locality are of good quality, very smooth and nice; a 
little over half of a full crop. Buyers are around look¬ 
ing. f. e. v. E. 
Stanley. N. Y. 
The consensus of opinion seems that there will be a 
fair crop of apples in this section. Twenty Ounce and 
Greenings are somewhat affected by the scab. I have 
not heard any price for barreled apples; have heard of a 
few offers by evaporators of 50 cents per 100 pounds. Most 
evaporators are cautious about making contracts on ac¬ 
count of the uncertainty of obtaining coal. J. s. d. 
Webster, N. Y. 
The general prospect for apples is better than a month 
ago, as they are increasing in size rapieny, on account of 
the wet weather. I should estimate about 65 per cent of 
a crop. Quite a section in this locality suffered complete 
loss on account of a severe hailstorm. Plums are rotting, 
and pears are about 50 per cent. I do not understand that 
buyers are making many offers, but are trying to produce 
the impression of a very large crop. These are their 
usual tactics, and will undoubtedly soon produce effect; 
farmers will be induced to accept such prices as they 
are willing to offer. w. H. c. 
Gage, N. Y. 
This is the wettest Summer in many years. Grass has 
grown continuously. There are no brown pastures or 
dusty roads, and no need to cultivate hoed crops to “con¬ 
serve moisture.” Flat lands are water soaked; corn can¬ 
not yield more than half a crop. On the flat lands cab¬ 
bage and potatoes are very poor. Oats are heavy in 
straw but lodged badly; wheat and rye had plenty of 
straw, and thrash out good yields of grain, but most 
wheat shows some growth of the germ. Some fields of 
hay are not yet cut, and very much that has been cut 
is badly damaged; quantities lost entirely. The bean 
crop stands in with corn. I look for a light yield of po¬ 
tatoes with blight and rot. Cattle and sheep have done 
finely, as pastures are excellent. G. f. w. 
Fairport, N. Y. _ 
ALL SORTS. 
INDIANA NOTES.—The outlook for crops in Tippe¬ 
canoe County was good, but for the last 10 days of 
June we had very heavy rains which drowned out thou¬ 
sands of acres of corn. All the corn in low places and 
ponds is gone; all the corn in the Wabash River bot¬ 
toms is flooded. Corn and oats on upland look fair, al¬ 
though corn is small yet on account of the cool weath¬ 
er, but garden truck is looking fine. Apples are drop¬ 
ping fast on account of too much rain. We shall have 
a good crop of pears; cherries were about half crop; no 
peaches this year; some plums, not as many as other 
years. Hogs and cattle are scarce and high priced. 
There will be lots of Timothy and clover hay if the 
weather will permit us to save it now. Most of the 
wheat is in shocks, but too wet now on account of 
heavy rains. This county raises lots of poultry for 
market; at present prices are for old hens, nine cents 
live per pound; young, 15 cents per pound; eggs, 15 cents 
per dozen; butter, 20 cents a pound; potatoes, 60 to 80 
cents a .bushel. s. p. l. 
Dayton, Ind. 
KANSAS POTATO GROWERS.—The Kansas river bot¬ 
tom. or Kaw Valley, as it is called here, is one of the 
most important potato growing sections in the country. 
From Kansas City to Topeka, a distance of 60 miles, the 
bottom averages about a mile wide, and is devoted al¬ 
most exclusively to potatoes. Not a single Colorado beetle 
has ever invaded this section, I cannot tell why. Scientific 
men have advanced various theories, but none of them 
satisfactory. No one knows why he should have jumped 
clear over this luxuriant pasturage to plague the grow¬ 
ers farther east. Perhaps, seeing how rank potatoes 
grow here he realized that it would be a hopeless task 
to try to head them off, and so passed on to the thin soil 
of New York State. The growers are busy now harvest¬ 
ing one of the best crops they ever raised. From 250 to 
300 bushels per acre will be the average for the entire 
valley. Prices are low, however, and the crop is moving 
slowly. We have had an abundance of rain since June 1 
and all crops are looking well. Apples are a light set, 
not more than 40 or 50 per cent, but they are smooth, 
free from worms, and unusually large for this season. I 
have just cut a good heavy crop of Red clover that was 
sown this Spring. The third cutting of Alfalfa Is being 
harvested. w. d. c. 
Edwardsvllle, Kao. 
