1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Events of the IVeek. 
DOMESTIC.—Four men were killed August 13 by the 
blowing up of the tug Jacob Kuper, in New York Bay. 
. . . . The Elgin Creamery Company, operating 135 
creameries throughout Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, 
failed August 16. The creditors are said to number 10,000, 
8,000 being farmers. The assets of the company are 
claimed to be $800,000. with liabilities of $350,000. Inability 
lo realize on outstanding accounts is said to be the cause 
of the failure.August 16 a severe electrical 
storm with high winds passed over southern Georgia. 
Buildings were wrecked and one man was killed. Great 
loss was caused by the opening cotton being blown from 
the bolls.August 16 the International Harvester 
Company, following its public declaration that economy 
in the manufacture and distribution of agricultural ma¬ 
chinery was the motive for the $120,000,000 merger, has 
made a move in that direction. Several of the Chicago 
companies that make up the combine have issued letters 
lo their general agents throughout the country, ordering 
a reduction of about three-fourths of the total number 
of employees representing these companies in the field. 
The other companies in the combine are preparing to do 
the same. Equally radical reductions in the official forces 
are bemg planned for the near future. Ten thousand men 
in all are expected to lose their positions. . . . Luther 
R. Marsh, widely known as a spiritualist, died at Middle- 
town, N. Y., August 15, aged 89. . . . August 19 heavy 
electrical and wind storms did great damage to crops 
and buildings in portions ‘of Illinois and Indiana. The 
region of Colchester, Ill., was damaged by floods caused 
by five inches of rainfall. Bridges were swept away, and 
hundreds of dollars' worth of watermelons floated into 
the creeks. At Watertoo, Iowa, 3.52 inches of rain fell 
in two hours.In a rear-end collision on the 
Long Branch division of the Pennsylvania Railroad Au¬ 
gust 19, five persons were killed and 10 wounded. Both 
trains were wrecked, 10 coaches and one engine being 
totally destroyed.By the explosion of two steel 
digesters in the Delaware Pulp Mills, Wilmington, Au¬ 
gust 20, 17 men were killed and the building and other 
structures near it were wrecked. Too high pressure of 
steam in the digesters, used for reducing wood pulp, is 
supposed to have been the cause. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—August 14 the woman’s 
franchise bill passed both houses of the New South 
Wales legislature. . . . Charles L. Fair and wife, of 
San Francisco, were killed in an automobile accident near 
Evereaux, France, August 14. The machine, a 45 horse¬ 
power racer, was running at terrific speed, when a tire 
burst, causing the machine to swerve and collide with a 
tree before it could be stopped.August 14 the 
Venezuelan revolutionists gained a decided victory by 
the capture of Porto Cabello, a point of strategic im¬ 
portance.August 15 the city of Tien-Tsin, 
China, which has been held by foreign commanders since 
the disturbance of last year, was turned over to the 
Chinese authorities with great ceremony.The 
little Island of Torshima, Japan, was overwhelmed by 
volcanic action August 15, and all the inhabitants, about 
150 persons, were killed. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Reports from Kansas indicate 
that the corn crop of that State will exceed the highest 
previous record (1899), of 225,183,432 bushels. 
The bean crop of Ventura County, Cal., is unusually 
large, being estimated at 600,000 bags. 
The date of the central meeting of the Five States Milk 
Producers’ Association at Binghamton, N. Y., has been 
changed from September 2 to August 28, 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
The price offered now is $3.50 to $4 per barrel for Win¬ 
ter apples. There is a one-half crop in best districts this 
year. K - c - 
Morgantown, W. Va. 
The estimate of Winter apples for this county has been 
placed at 110,000 boxes. A few Fall apples have been sold 
at 75 cents per box, but no Winter apples have been con¬ 
tracted for. c. f. v. 
Walla Walla, Wash. 
The outlook for apples as to quantity has gained; as to 
quality has lost. Some sales of best orchards have been 
made at $2 for No. 1 without barrel, or $2.28 at railroad 
station. No prices named on No. 2 stock, which com¬ 
prises 50 per cent of the crop, caused by the lack of 
proper spraying. J- C- 
Hilton, N. Y. 
The apple crop is very irregular, some orchards being 
well laden while others have but little fruit, but scarcely 
any orchards entirely without. I should think the crop 
in this section will average about 60 per cent of a full 
yield; peaches light, probably 25 per cent; pears not very 
much better; plums about 50 per cent; quinces none at all. 
Canadaigua, N. Y. w. h. p. 
The crop prospects here are: Corn a failure; potatoes 
good,if the blight keeps off; hay good, but much badly 
cured hay has been stored; oats and other grain are 
looking fine. The quantity of apples is about the same 
as two years ago; quality No. 1, no worm holes up to 
date. No buyers for Winter apples as yet. Graven- 
steins, $2.25 to $2.75 per barrel. G. m. w. 
Hancock, N. H. 
Prospects for apples in this part of the State are not 
very good. Baldwins are almost a failure. What little 
fruit they have is knotty and of poor shape. Spy and 
Grimes Golden are doing fairly well. The weather has 
been very favorable for apples up to the present, but 
the late frosts in the Spring did so much damage to fruit 
that everything seems to have been a failure except ap¬ 
ples, which I now estimate at about one-fourth crop. 
Buyers are not offering anything here yet. g. w. h. 
Evans City, Pa. 
Apple buyers are now in this vicinity and offering $1 per 
barrel for apples picked ready for packing; not many 
sales as yet Buyers axe willing to pay $2 per barrel for 
Bartlett pears, and some orchards are sold at that fig¬ 
ure. Bartletts are only an average crop, quality good 
Apples were never better except “Pippins," which are 
somewhat scabby. Baldwins very fine and trees break¬ 
ing. Weather has been favorable the past week for all 
fruit. Peaches are a light crop here. Plums have rotted 
on the tree from wet weather, and will be light. Straw¬ 
berries are very weedy. Raspberries look fine. e. c. b. 
Athens, N. Y. 
The apple situation is a peculiar one here in this coun¬ 
ty. From what I can see and hear I am inclined to think 
that there are in sight 75 or 80 per cent of amount of 1900 
crop. A very few orchards are practically free from 
scab or fungus; a good many are full of fine fruit, but 
have a small quantity of scab, and other orchards are 
full of from pretty poor to very poor fruit. The buyers 
dread to buy the scabby apples for they do not know how- 
well they will keep. But few have been sold so far: a 
few orchards sold by the lump but don't know of any by 
the barrel. s. s. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. 
I should say for southern Cayuga and northern Tomp¬ 
kins counties that marketable Winter fruit is less than 
half of a good crop. Perhaps the quality will be up to 
the average. I made a trip of about 50 miles a day or 
two since; upon several large promising, thrifty orchards; 
there were but few apples to be seen. I met a man yes¬ 
terday who has made quite a tour of the State and who 
is an enthusiast on the apple question. From his ob¬ 
servation he gives it as an opinion that apple buyers and 
speculators are rating the crop far too high. I have as 
yet heard no price given by buyers here. The pear crop 
is about 50 per cent in quantity and 75 per cent in qual¬ 
ity. The plum crop was badly injured by the May freeze. 
Five Corners, N. Y. J. m. c. 
As yet there are few offers by the barrel. A number 
of buyers have been looking at the fruit and in only one 
instance has there been a purchase, which was an or¬ 
chard of about 300 trees. The farmer gets $3,000 for the 
orchard. The seller is to deliver them, the buyer fur¬ 
nishes the barrels and picks them, sorts and packs them, 
doing all except drawing them to the market. A great 
many orchards will not barrel up very well; there is a 
fungus growth on many of the apples. Very few orchards 
are free from it. The farmers want $2 per barrel; the 
shippers at their convention in Rochester talked of the 
price from $1.25 to $1.50 for fancy. I think fruit prospects 
not as good for first-class fruit as a month ago on ac¬ 
count of the fungus growth showing in many of the or¬ 
chards; fruit is not fair, and many more will go to the 
dry houses to be evaporated. J. b. 
Albion, N. Y. 
In this section of the State there are few full crops of 
apples. As a rule, the fruit is very unevenly distributed 
HALF-BUSHEL APPLE BASKET. Fia. 241. 
in the orchards and on the trees. Nearly all orchards 
show some scab, but there is much less in the well- 
sprayed orchards. Those that bave been carelessly spray¬ 
ed and not treated at all are very bad. I have been in 
orchards carrying full crop in which I doubt whether 
there was a single barrel of strictly No. 1 fruit. It is 
very difficult to make a fair estimate of the amount of 
the yield, but I believe it is safe to say that there is not 
more than 60 per cent of a crop on the trees, and if our 
estimate should include only ordinary No. 1 fruit it should 
be reduced to about 25 per cent. There have been no sales 
yet of Winter apples in this vicinity. The Bartlett peat- 
crop is fine in quality but light, not more than half a 
crop. Peaches in a narrow belt along the lake (Ontario) 
are a fine crop, both in quantity and quality. The plum 
crop is very light and many orchards have lost their 
foliage by disease. Quinces are probably about a half 
crop. w. T. MANN. 
Barkers, N. Y. 
The following note is from P. M. Archdeacon, of Arch¬ 
deacon & Co., who has been for several weeks in the 
apple and grape districts of New York: 
“The apple crop in our State is very good and of ex¬ 
cellent quality. The estimate is about 70 per cent of a 
full yield. Reports that I have from Vermont say that 
the crop is the largest for a number of years, but the 
apples are covered with smut caused by the constant 
rains. Fameuse are badly blighted, and will be of little 
use. The New York grape crop is not so good as usual, 
having been injured by storms and wet weather. I be¬ 
lieve a fair estimate would be: Delaware, 25 per cent; 
Concord, 40 per cent; and Catawba, 60 per cent. Other 
varieties do not cut much of a figure; perhaps 60 per 
cent would be a fair average. Peaches are almost a total 
failure. In some sections a few are to be found, but 
generally the trees are bare of fruit. Pears are generally 
very fine, but these is only about half a crop. In the 
central part of the State the crop of hay and grain was 
one of the largest ever known, but many farmers have 
been unable to house it in time. The storms have over¬ 
taken them, and they have lost a greater part of the 
finest stand of wheat, oats and hay that they have ever 
had. The storms for the past few weeks have been the 
most severe in years. Many fine vineyards have been 
badly injured by washouts. One that I passed through 
had three bad gulleys cut into it, one being from 8 to 10 
feet deep and from 15 to 20 feet broad, causing great 
damage. Another vineyard was entirely covered with 
stones from the monntainside to the depth of several 
feet, and others had their outbuildings carried away.” 
597 
A THEORY ABOUT SPOILED WELLS. 
While you are discussing the subject of spoiled wells 
(see page 515) I will give a little experience. The old fam¬ 
ily well here that was used for about 40 years contained 
good cold water with the exception that it had a taste 
of alum that was not relished by those not used to it. 
About 30 years ago the water of this well seemed to lose 
its purity. It had a bad smell and tasted miserably. We 
made other arrangements tor water and soon piped a 
mountain spring and filled up the wen. Now in investi¬ 
gating the cause for this change the following theory was 
settled on as being the only reasonable one, which 1 
have not heard contradicted: The well was about 22 feet 
deep, and about 200 yards from the well on lower ground, 
but a little higher than the bottom of the well, there is 
rather swampy b.ack land, that I had underdrained 
about that time for an orchard. The water that collects 
on the top of the ground here is quite strong with alum, 
and in dry times the surface is whitish with the same 
substance. This is in the direction of the flowing of the 
stream, and it is altogether possible that this water that 
was drained away was the same partly as that which 
went to the well and kept it pure, and after this was cut 
off the well became foul. Can your New York man apply 
tnis theory to h*s well? J. n. b. 
Falls, VV. Va. 
Alum is used for purifying water, and this theory is 
quite possible. Alum and certain other substances when 
added to muddy or thick water will cause it to “settle" 
rapidly and thus clear it. In the case stated on page 
515 we doubt whether there were deposits of alum any¬ 
where near to affect the water. We have observed that 
sometimes, after years of service, wells are contami¬ 
nated from barnyards or other places, which formerly 
did not affect them. Probably drainage from these 
places slowly made its way through the soil until it 
finally reached the water supply of the well 
LOCAL DEALERS AND RURAL DELIVERY. 
As to country storekeepers complaining of loss of trade 
because of the rural free delivery of mail, farmers are 
into the busiiless Lo make a living. If they can buy 
cheaper somewhere else than of their next door neigh¬ 
bor why shouldn’t they do it? If the free delivery of 
their mail helps them in their business, why ought they 
not to have it? A case in illustration: I can go out of 
this town where I live to another and in the purchase of 
an article costing $3 50 save my fare on the trolley car 
and some money beside. By going to another town I 
can save 10 cents on an expenditure of 85, and can get 
about eight cents more per dozen for eggs. Why should 
farmers be obliged to go to the post office for their mail 
in the interest of the storekeepers? If the storekeepers 
cannot make a living let them go to work at farming. 
Bridgewater, Mass. l. g. 
In regard to farmers taking advantage of rural deliv¬ 
ery to purchase of large city houses I would like to say 
as a rural mail carrier I know it is so, to some extent, 
and why not? The man who lives near a city has the 
benefit of bargain sales in the large stores. Rural deliv¬ 
ery brings them within reach of the farmer, of course 
the little storekeeper suffers, but he is only “a drop in 
the bucket,” and must give way before the march of 
progress, as others have done. The large department 
store offers an opportunity for a great saving which the 
farmer can now participate in, and this is going to be 
one of the great benefits of rural delivery. As a case in 
point, I sent an order last v^eek to a large department 
store for some things needed, a small order—a faucet for 
the kitchen sink. It cost me 50 cents, the local price is 
$1; a fly net for my horse cost 70 cents, local price $1.25; 
a sweat pad 20 cents, local price 50 cents; a comb 11 cents, 
local price 25 cents; a dress for my little girl 48 cents, 
local price 75 cents, making a saving of $1.74. The ex¬ 
press was 75 cents, but I got several articles for friends 
at the same time and charged them a small advance, 
enough to cover express. 1 frequently order small ar¬ 
ticles by mail, at an equal saving; these articles could 
have been sent by mail nearly as cheaply as by express. 
When we get a parcels post the farmer can buy his goods 
as cheap as anyone and have them delivered at his door. 
Bristol, Conn. _ c. c. w. 
SOUTHERN NUT GROWERS. 
The objects of the Southern Nut Growers’ Association 
as set forth in the prospectus, are as follows: To bring 
the nut-growing industry into deserved prominence; to 
extend to farmers, investors and others authoritative and 
needed infomation regarding same; to institute and 
prosecute scientific experiments and tests for the im¬ 
provement and extension of the industry; to effect proper 
classification of varieties and establish standards of ex¬ 
cellence; to hold stated meetings for transacting of busi¬ 
ness, discussion of topics germane to the industry and for 
social intercourse; the extension and creation of new 
markets for nut products; the mutual benefit to mem¬ 
bers that follow concerted and well-directed operations. 
The nut of most value in the Southern States is the 
pecan, and it will be mainly to this nut that the atten¬ 
tion of the Association will be directed, although other 
nuts will not be entirely neglected. Within the last two 
or three years very heavy plantings of pecans have been 
made throughout all the Southern States, and I believe 
that the future of the industry is good. The demand for 
the trees has been far in excess of the available quantity, 
as there has generally been a deficiency in the amount 
of stock held by nurserymen. LProf.] h. h. hume. 
Lake City, Fla._ 
APPLES IN BASKETS.—Seeing the experience of one 
of your readers with shipping apples in boxes, page 569, 
I will send you result of my shipping Duchess in small 
packages. I use the one-half bushel climax basket with 
rack cover, a cut of which is shown at Fig. 241: July 
16, 10 baskets at 75c., net $5.55; July IS, four baskets at 
75c., net $2.20; July 21, 10 baskets at 65 c., net $4.65. I have 
just finished selling Duchess from eight trees about 20 
years old. About one-third of full crop; netted $35.15. 
Three years ago these same trees brought $63. These 
baskets give good satisfaction for early apples, and are 
handier than boxes for carrying home. I would not 
recommend them for late apples. w. s. w. 
Minnesota. 
