1902 
649 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MARKET NOTES 
POTATOES.—Owing to lighter receipts a 
decided improvement in price is noted. 
The great bulk of first-dug tubers has been 
disposed of, and the recent heavy drop in 
price caused others to put off digging for 
the time. Reports of a serious amount of 
rot in some sections of New York State 
also have a hardening effect on prices. 
TOBACCO.—The local call for domestic 
cigar leaf is quite active. Sales of 2,300 
cases during the last week are reported. 
Among these were 300 cases of Onondaga 
at 11 to 13 cents; 400 cases Pennsylvania 
broad leaf at 11 to 12 cents; and 800 cases 
1901 Connecticut Havana, the latter being 
sold on private terms. Reports from Cin¬ 
cinnati give enormous prices for fancy 
burley leaf. One hogshead sold for $46 per 
100 pounds, and another brought $49. The 
quality of the latter was said to be the 
finest ever seen. The color was just right; 
it was strong and smooth; and so thin as 
to be nearly transparent. Other fine lots 
brought from $27 to $35 per 100 pounds. 
STERLING SILVER.—A reader asks: 
“What is the meaning of the word sterling 
as stamped on silverware? What does it 
stand for?” As understood by silver¬ 
smiths this mark means that the metal 
so stamped is solid silver of a certain de¬ 
gree of fineness. In England this term is 
applied to gold and silver currency, the 
word probably originating from easterling, 
a term used in the twelfth century In Eng¬ 
land to designate certain German traders, 
whose money was noted for its purity. 
Butter dealers speak of butter that scores 
90, 94. etc. Sterling as referred to in the 
inquiry means that the silver “scores” a 
certain degree of fineness. 
FIRE NOTES.—Reported fires of $10,000 
or over in the United States and Canada 
for August amounted to $6,457,000, being 
very light as compared with other months. 
The largest single item was a dry goods 
store at Hamilton, Ohio, $216,000. Ranging 
from this amount down to $100,000 were 20 
fires; 53 ran between $30,000 and $85,000; and 
the remaining 76 were below $27,000. Fac¬ 
tories burned numbered 36; lumber plants, 
12; stores, 12; grain elevators and store¬ 
houses, seven; schoolhouses and icehouses, 
four; and churches, steamboats and brew¬ 
eries, two. These fires were distributed 
through 40 States and Territories. Penn¬ 
sylvania led in number with 16; New York, 
14; Washington, nine; Michigan and Texas, 
eight; Ohio, six; Illinois and Iowa, five; 
Indiana, Minnesota, Kentucky and Cali¬ 
fornia, four; and Wisconsin, Tennessee 
and Georgia, three. 
FRESH FRUITS.—The market is still 
loaded down with large quantities of or¬ 
dinary Fall apples, some of which sell as 
low as 50 cents per barrel. Peach receipts 
have dropped off greatly. A limited 
amount of Michigan peaches in bushel 
baskets are on hand, selling from 30 cents 
to $1.50. Choice eastern Bartlett pears are 
scarce. The later Anjou, Sheldon and 
Louise Bonne are quite plentiful. Seckel, 
except when of fine size and color, goes 
slowly. It looks as though plantings have 
been heavier than the market will warrant 
for a pear of this type, not usually includ¬ 
ed in the preserving list. We have tested 
some excellent California Seckels, melting 
and fine-flavored, and much larger than 
eastern-grown. Grape conditions have not 
improved materially. The demand will 
doubtless increase during the next week 
or two, and the grape will take its annual 
turn as the leading fruit in this market. 
SECOND-HAND NEWSPAPERS. — At 
the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, and 
other places where many newsboys con¬ 
gregate. anyone carrying a newspaper finds 
a dozen grimy little hands stretched out, 
within a short radius, ready to receive the 
paper if the reader has no further use for 
it. Nor do the boys stop at begging 
papers; it is not uncommon for a person 
occupying the outside seat on a street car 
to have his paper snatched from him by 
an impish urchin who has acquired acro¬ 
batic dexterity in jumping on and off 
moving cars. These second-hand papers 
are carefully folded, and pressed out 
among the rest of the newsboy’s stock. 
Most people who have finished reading the 
morning paper hand it over very cheer¬ 
fully, with the idea that the boy is anxious 
to sell it over again. Sometimes he does, 
but more often he returns it to the pub¬ 
lisher, and gets a rebate on it as an un¬ 
sold paper. The publishers do not look 
kindly on the practice, and wish the pub¬ 
lic would be less benevolent. 
APPLE BUYERS are busy in the fruit 
sections. Some are paying all that the 
fruit is worth; others are trying to get it 
for considerably less; and once in a while 
a man offers more than he can afford and 
do an honest business. There are two 
ways open to the producer: He can sell 
to these traveling buyers, or handle the 
fruit himself and market it through com¬ 
mission merchants. If one has the facili¬ 
ties for picking and packing the fruit him¬ 
self, he will usually get more out of it 
in selling the latter-named way, provided 
he has a commission man who knows his 
business and will deal squarely. The rea¬ 
son that this method may be more profit¬ 
able is that in many cases the commission 
man sells direct to the retailer, while the 
traveling buyer sells through a commis¬ 
sion merchant unless he happens to be one 
himself; and anyway he would expect to 
get an extra profit to pay for time and 
traveling expenses. Buying orchards when 
the fruit is but half grown is risky busi¬ 
ness, and it is not wise to deal with those 
who are willing to buy the fruit at a big 
price and “take your word” about it with¬ 
out looking it over personally. There must 
be something wrong with such a man. He 
certainly cannot afford to do business on 
such lines, and, when the fruit is deliv¬ 
ered, will probably dock the seller for 
some reason or other more than enough to 
bring the price paid below market figures. 
Occasionally a buyer of this type beats 
the growers out of the last deliveries, thus 
making enough so that he can go slightly 
above market figures for the remainder of 
the crop. His tactics are something like 
this: He is at the railroad station where 
the apples are hauled, with a big wad of 
bills, and makes a great display and 
splurge over paying cash for each deliv¬ 
ery. Sellers are suspicious of him, but so 
long as he hands over the money every 
day he continues to get plenty of fruit. 
The last day of the operations he arranges 
to have the deliveries larger than ever. 
He wishes to load and get off several cars 
that day. Things are humming, and busi¬ 
ness is 100 in the shade! About the middle 
of the afternoon he gets a telegram call¬ 
ing him at once to another place. He 
leaves two or three men in charge; is 
sorry that he has to go; but will be back 
in the morning and straighten up every¬ 
thing. Those cars must go on the evening 
freight, so some of the growers who are 
hauling turn in good-naturedly and help 
finish loading. They get done just in time. 
The train comes along and picks up the 
cars. That is the last they see of the 
fruit, and they never see the pay for the 
last day’s delivery, for the buyer does 
not come back the next morning or any 
other morning. With slight changes this 
scheme is worked over and over again, 
and one man actually had the cheek to 
“do” the same neighborhood two years in 
succession, his stock in trade of bluff and 
cheek being surprising. w. w. h. 
FARMING IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY 
A Reply to Dr. Smead. 
PART XIII. 
I have read Dr. Smead’s interesting com¬ 
ments on agricultural methods and condi¬ 
tions as practiced in the Northwest, the 
Red River Valley in particular (page 553). 
I have no doubt of the sincerity with 
which Dr. Smead writes, or of the truth 
of the statements he makes in regard to 
the particular part of the Valley he visited, 
but it seems to me a shame to allow the 
readers of The R. N.-Y. to carry away the 
impression of our Valley they will get 
from his article. 
He says he has traveled from Moorhead 
on the south to Hallock on the north. Now, 
if Dr. Smead has been no nearer Wolver- 
ton than Moorhead, he has a very poor 
impression of the character of our country, 
locally. In fact, it is necessary to travel 
at least 10 miles- south or west of Moor¬ 
head before reaching land that can com¬ 
pare favorably with ours. The bed of old 
Lake Agassiz, on the present Red River 
Valley, extended over an area greater 
than Lake Superior (32,000 square miles). 
Its length north and south in the United 
States was about 230 miles, width at the 
Canadian line 200 miles, while in the vi¬ 
cinity of Moorhead the width was not over 
50 miles. The southern terminus was Lake 
Traverse, and it was drained through a 
water course now partially occupied by the 
Minnesota River. There are thousands of 
acres of land in the Valley that should 
never have been broken, it being either too 
wet or too dry, but for every thousand 
acres of such land there are tens of thou¬ 
sands of as fine wheat land as can be 
found. 
Dr. Smead seems to “have it in” for 
the railroads, and land agents especially. 
One would infer from the tone of his letter 
that he had lost some hard earned dollars 
himself in investing in some of our worth¬ 
less (?) land. Speaking of land sharks (as 
he calls them); there may be many of them 
between Moorhead and Hallock, because 
there are immense tracts of land there or 
directly tributary that may be obtained 
cheap, and are ideal for such speculation. 
However, one would be led to believe by 
the terms used by Dr. Smead that all land 
dealers out here were sharks. Permit me 
to say that some of the finest business men 
I know, gentlemen in every sense of the 
word, are engaged in the land business in 
our Valley. As to railroads, that part of 
the Valley traversed by Dr. Smead and his 
party is crossed principally by the Great 
Northern Railway. I question whether 
there is any man in the Northwest more 
interested in the settlement, development 
and prosperity of the Valley than J. J. 
Hill, the president of the above company. 
The railroads have done many things to 
aid in the settlement and development of 
the country. They have made very low 
rates for immigrants, sold them land at 
reasonable prices, on long time, and with 
low rates of interest. Let me say also that 
our land has risen in value from $10 and 
$12, 10 years ago, to $40 and $50 an acre at 
the present time, simply because it is 
worth it. Men come here from Wisconsin 
and other points east and tell us our land 
is fully equal to theirs worth $80 an acre. 
I must have made my statements too 
strong in regard to noxious weeds. Dr. 
Smead would have the readers believe that 
thousands of acres of our land grew wild 
oats, mustard and rose bushes, and noth¬ 
ing else. Those may be the conditions 
where he has been, but I have failed to 
see them. What I meant was that nearly 
all fields have some of these weeds in 
them. Some farms are perfectly clean, and 
others very badly infested, depending upon 
the farmer. 
When Dr. Smead says that our system Is 
a system of soil robbing he strikes the 
keynote of the entire agricultural situa¬ 
tion in the Northwest. But that is just 
why the western farmer came West, to be 
fed and not to feed the soil, and we are 
doing it and feeding a good share of the 
world besides. I should be led to infer from 
Dr. Smead’s article that we were to begin 
using commercial or other fertilizers as 
soon as the ground was broken. What did 
Nature store up all this fertility for if not 
for man to use? Again, he ridicules our 
methods of maintaining fertility. A piece 
of land (64 acres) broken in 1890, that has 
never been Summer-fallowed, seeded down 
nr manured, and has grown two crops of 
flax and the remainder wheat and oats, has 
on it this year a crop of wheat that prom¬ 
ises 25 bushels to the acre! This field 
was run very low in fertility, but a crop of 
oats cut for hay last year and the field 
then being plowed during August is respon¬ 
sible for the crop. 
Yes. those farmers were right when they 
told Mr. Gould clover could not be grown 
successfully in the Valley. It will grow 
on our subsoil, but unfortunately <?) this 
subsoil is covered, as Dr. Smead says, 
with “from a few inches to several feet of 
black soil.” Where this black soil is re¬ 
moved clover will thrive, as along a road¬ 
way. I have seen Red Clover growing 
only in one place since coming West, and 
that was in a road ditch near Moorhead. 
White clover was seeded on this place sev¬ 
eral years ago, and made a fair stand. Of 
course, I understand that Mr. Gould recom¬ 
mended Red clover as a nitrogen gatherer. 
A neighbor has seeded a piece this year, 
and we shall watch its progress, which i 
promising up to the present time, with in¬ 
terest. Our experiment stations and farm 
papers do not recommend clover to us, and 
farmers who have tried it have demon¬ 
strated that it cannot be grown success¬ 
fully up to the present time. Is it not bet¬ 
ter for us to grow those crops best adapted 
to our soil, that is, Timothy and Blue 
grass? j. D . B 
Wolverton, Minn. 
LIGHT A HO DARK, 
Day and night, sunshine and shadow 
are not more different from each other 
than a healthful from a sickly woman. 
The healthful woman carries light and 
sunshine with her wherever she goes. 
The woman 
who suffers 
from ill-health 
casts a shadow 
on her own hap¬ 
piness and the 
happiness of 
others. She 
cannot help it. 
Those who suf- 
fer cannot 
smile and sing. 
Ill-health in woman is generally trace¬ 
able to disease of the delicate womanly 
organism. Many women have been re¬ 
stored to happiness by the use of Dr. 
Pierce’s Favorite Prescription. It estab¬ 
lishes regularity, dries weakening drains, 
heals inflammation and ulceration and 
cures female weakness. It makes weak 
women strong, sick women well. 
” I feel it my duty to inform you that I had 
been a sufferer for many years from nervous- 
ness with all its symptoms and complications.* 
writes Mrs. O. N. Fisher, of 1861 Lexington Ave., 
New York, N. Y. «I was constantly going to 
see a physician or purchasing medicine for thia 
or that complaint as my troubles became un¬ 
bearable. In the spring of 1897 my husband 
induced me to try Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Pre- 
scription. After taking one bottle and follow¬ 
ing your advice I was so encouraged that I took 
five more bottles of ‘ Favorite Prescription ’ and 
then I did not take any more for several weeks 
as I felt so much better, but still I was not com¬ 
pletely cured. I commenced taking it again and 
felt that I was improving faster than at first. I 
am not now cross and irritable, and I have a 
good color in my face; have also gained about 
ten pounds in weight and one thousand of com¬ 
fort for I am a new woman once more.” 
The dealer who offers a substitute for 
* Favorite Prescription ” does so to gain 
the little more profit paid on the sale of 
less meritorious medicines. His profit is 
your loss, therefore accept no substitute. 
Dr. Pierce’s Common Sense Medical 
Adviser is sent free on receipt of stamps 
to pay expense of mailing oniy. Send 21 
one-cent stamps for the paper-covered 
book, or 31 stamps for the cloth bound. 
Address Dr. R. V. Pierce, Buffalo, N. Y. 
RUPTURE 
CURED, TRUSS FREE. You pay 
$1 when cured. No cure no pay, 
ALEX. SPEIRS, Box 831, Westbrook, Maine. 
h-— v/vx -1 AW oujicp, auu um IV 1UUB per Ulty, 
HorHo-hiKh, Hull strum?, IMg and Chlcken-tlght« 
THE DUPLEX MACHINE 
—, makes it. The Machine Is Automatic, simple 
in construction, runs easy, works rapidly. 
Sent on Trial. Plain, barbwire and 
—-x 53 Gates at wholesale prices. Catalog free. 
KITSELMAN BROTHERS, 
Box 1)92 IVIuncie, Indiana* 
20 CENTS PER ROD 
H 
for a fence that will only last three to five years Is 
an exorbitant price when you can buy the FROST, 
which will last a lifetime, for a trifle more. It’s 
better than the best wire fence on the market 
Catalogues, illustrations, etc., free. 
THE FROST WIRE FENCE CO.. Cleveland, Ohio 
~T 
s sssssgsstSKjSS'TjSj 
— 
, ifc 
SAVE ONE-HALF 
the staples and stapling, by using PAGE FENCE. 
PACK WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., ADRIAN, JIICH. 
Watch for the Hessian Fly. 
The Ohio Experiment Station says that 
little complaint about the “fly” has been 
made this season. It may, however, sud¬ 
denly appear. Farmers should find out 
whether the insect is likely to come in 
large numbers next year. 
“To accomplish this, let a small strip 
of wheat be sown along one side of the in¬ 
tended wheatfield about two weeks before 
the time when the main crop is usually 
sown in that particular locality. As soon 
as the wheat comes above the ground ex¬ 
amine the young shoots carefully every 
day with a magnifying glass. A cheap lens, 
magnifying about three diameters, which 
can be bought of any optician or depart¬ 
ment store for a dollar or less, is sufficient. 
If the fly is present its minute, reddish 
eggs, one-fiftieth of an inch long, will be 
found in the creases of the young wheat 
blades. Once seen under a glass these 
eggs can easily be seen by the unaided 
eye as red specks. Often two or more are 
found together, lying end to end. Usu¬ 
ally egg laying occupies about a week, 
and if the fly, on her appearance, finds a 
little wheat ready for her. she will soon 
deposit all her eggs, after which the main 
crop may safely be sown in the assurance 
that by the time it appears above ground 
the eggs will all have been laid on the 
earlier sown wheat.” 
[— ■ NO SPAVINS — 
The worst possible spavin can be cured in 
45 minutes. Ringbones, Curbs and Splints 
just as quick. Not painful and never has 
failed. Detailed information about this 
new method sent free to horse owners. 
Write today. ARk for pamphlet No. 88 
Fleming Bros., Chemists, Union Stock Yds., Chicago. 
Gold-Shell Rings. 
Most people like a 
nice ring. We show 
three styles. These are 
made by drawing a 
shell of gold over a rod 
of composition metal. 
They are better and 
will wear longer than 
solid gold rings of a 
ow carat. The retail 
price would be from 75 
cents to 81. We will 
send one of these rings 
postpaid as a reward 
’or sending one new subscription at fl. 
Cut a slip of paper tne size of finger and 
send for size. 
