1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
6z9 
Events of the Week. 
.DOMESTIC.—August 17, a drunken man was discovered 
asleep on the New York tower of the great Brooklyn 
Bridge. He had partly undressed, folded up his clothes, 
and lain down in his dangerous position. The only way 
in which he could have reached his elevated position was 
by climbing the main cable, and he remembered nothing 
of it. He was fined $5 for disorderly conduct. . . Con¬ 
tractors left 150 pounds of giant powder in a box in a 
vacant lot in Harlem, New York City. Boys built a fire 
on the box August 17. They were driven away by a 
policeman, but 50 persons were injured and much prop¬ 
erty damaged by the explosion that ensued. . . At 
Washington, Ind., August 17, a carriage fell into the 
White River, while being driven on to a ferryboat; six 
persons were drowned. . . Carrie Snedicor, the babv 
supposed to have been stolen at Princeton, N. J., August 
16. was found drowned in a little pool in a stone quarry 
near her home, August 17. . . Placerville, Idaho, was 
practically destroyed by fire August 18, the result of an 
overturned lamp. The town had no fire protection. Loss 
is put at $300,000 . . Widespread fires in the Adiron- 
dacks are causing alarm. . . Near Orange, Tex., in the 
lumber district, whitecaps have killed one negro, wound¬ 
ed others, and are terrorizing the community. A race 
war is feared. . . Several cases of beriberi fever have 
appeared in Mississippi. The disease was brought from 
Cuba. . . A runaway elephant alarmed people at Read¬ 
ing, Pa., August 20. He was finally captured while 
gorging himself in an apple orchard. . . A head-on col¬ 
lision between two crowded trolley cars at Norristown, 
Pa., August 20, injured a dozen people. The accident was 
due to carelessness. . . A thrashing-machine engine 
blew up at Empire, Mich., August 20, killing three men. 
. . Three men were terribly burned at Cleveland, O., 
August 20, in an explosion in the waterworks tunnel. It 
was caused by striking a match to light a pipe. . . Five 
persons were rendered critically ill August 21, in New 
York, by eating sardines, which caused ptomaine poison¬ 
ing. . . August 21, the controller on a trolley car ex¬ 
ploded at West Hoboken, N. J. The motorman was 
thrown off, and the car dashed down a steep hill. A 
pedestrian, Emil Kennel, sprang on the car and stopped 
it, just as it struck the gates at a railroad crossing; three 
persons were seriously hurt. . . Reports of the recent 
storm along the coast report many vessels lost, but the 
loss of life Is not now known. At Big Kinnaknut, Va., 
12 houses and two churches were washed away, and home¬ 
less people are being sheltered at the life saving station. 
. . . August 20, the steamer Catania, from Daiquiri, 
Cuba, picked up one man on a raft, the sole survivor of 
the crew of the Norwegian bark Drot, destroyed by the 
hurricane August 11. When rescued, the man had been 
without food or drink for five days. . . The Commis¬ 
sioner of Internal Revenue has reversed his decision call¬ 
ing for revenue stamps on pawn tickets. . . At Darien, 
Ga., a mob of 1,000 armed negroes turned out August 23, 
to protect a negro prisoner, under the impression that he 
would be lynched by the whites. The criminal was taken 
to Savannah with a military guard. Negroes are still 
pouring into Darien, and militia has been sent there, as 
race trouble is feared. . . Four more wrecks during 
the hurricane are reported from Pamlico Sound, N. C., 
and the loss of life there is estimated at 60. . . At the 
present time, our army is costing about $500,000 a day, and 
misgivings are expressed lest the $80,000,000 for the army 
appropriated by the last Congress, should not last to the 
end of this year. . . A carriage containing six persons 
was struck by a train at a grade crossing at Seabright, 
N. J., August 23; three of the occupants were killed and 
three injured. . . A fire at Victor, Colo., August 21, de¬ 
stroyed the entire business portion of the town; loss $2,- 
000,000. . . Walter Wellman, leader of the Polar expe¬ 
dition and explorer of Franz Josef land, has landed at 
Tromsoe, Norway, permanently crippled by a fall through 
a crevasse. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The annual Grange picnic was 
held at Swinefield Bridge, N. J., August 17. About 15,000 
persons attended. . . J. K. Dew, of the firm of Bird, 
Dew & Hale, of Knoxville, Tenn., one of the wealthiest 
nurserymen in the country, was found dead at Loudon, 
Tenn., August 17. . . Drought has ruined the Winter 
and Spring wheat crops in southwest Russia.. . . Ger¬ 
many has issued an imperial decree forbidding the im¬ 
portation of beef from Belgium. This is designed to af¬ 
fect American beef, which has been admitted by way of 
Belgium. . . August 20, Chicago traders asserted that 
dollar wheat was in view, this opinion being caused by 
the reported failure of the Russian crop, and injury to 
wheat in the Northwest by rain. . . The week ending 
August 20, beef cattle reached a higher price, in Chicago, 
than they have since 1888, during the month of August, 
$6.45 per 100 pounds being paid. . . E. Dwight Sanderson 
has been appointed entomologist to the Delaware Experi¬ 
ment Station, Newark. Heretofore the office of entomo¬ 
logist has been combined with that of horticulturist. . . 
Prof. P. H. Rolfs, horticulturist at the Florida Experi¬ 
ment Station, has left the Station for Clemson College, 
Clemson, S. C. . . The Iowa Beet Sugar Development 
Company has been organized at Des Moines, and will 
build a plant to handle next season's crop from 8,000 
acres. . . The New York Retail Butchers’ Association 
is forming plans for a slaughterhouse of its own, which 
will enable the members to fight the beef trust. They 
have pledged $700,000 to support the project. . . The 
American Jersey Cattle Club will hold a public meeting 
in F. C. Pyle’s grove, near Fulton House, Lancaster 
County, Pa., September 2. . . The National Association 
of State Dairy and Food Departments will meet at Den- 
vei, Colo., September 21-23. . . Scarcity of labor has 
caused anxiety among Illinois growers of broom corn; 
August 21 the crop needed cutting, but there was not 
sufficient help to harvest it. . . The Illinois College of 
Agriculture at Champaign has let the contract for its 
new agricultural building, for which an appropriation of 
$150,000 has been made. Prof. E. Davenport, Dean of the 
College, says this will be the largest agricultural building 
in the world. 
PHILIPPINES.—The additional regiments projected for 
Philippine service will increase Gen. Otis’s force to 63,000 
men. . . August 17, 800 insurgents attacked Angeles, but 
were driven into the mountains. . . Gen. Bates met the 
Sultan of Sulu (or Jolo) recently, to discuss a new treaty. 
The Sultan seems friendly to the United States, but does 
not like the idea of flying the American flag. . . Fight¬ 
ing continued near Angeles August 20. . . Several 
Filipino mayors have been arrested for giving aid to the 
rebel cause. The mayor of Balinag, the first town in 
which our authorities established civil government, is ac¬ 
cused of soliciting funds for the use of the insurgents, 
and of communicating with the enemy. He is said to be 
a colonel in the insurgent service. The mayor of San 
Pedro Macati was arrested, with five others, while re¬ 
cruiting for the Filipino army. . . The Secret Service 
authorities are hunting for Japanese filibusters on the 
coast. . . Gen. Otis has applied the Chinese Exclusion 
act to the Philippines. The Chinese government is much 
exercised over this. 
PORTO RICO.—Reports of the ruin wrought by the 
hurricane continue to come in. Business men say that 
free trade is necessary to give permanent relief. They 
also ask for the establishment of agricultural banks to 
loan money to needy farmers. Money now commands 
from 10 to 18 per cent. It is said that taxes will be re¬ 
mitted, but this is gratuitous, as there is nothing left 
to tax. 
CUBA.—Active proceedings are being taken against 
Dominican filibusters, who are trying to make Cuba their 
base of supplies. . . A fight occurred between Cuban 
soldiers and rural guards at Cuavitas August 23, the 
trouble arising over a rumor that the Cubans would not 
receive the payment promised; five men were killed and 
10 wounded. . . More rifles intended for the Dominican 
revolutionists have been seized in Havana. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—An explosion in a 
Welsh colliery August 18 killed 25 miners. . . The Legis¬ 
lative Council of West Australia has passed a bill giving 
the franchise to women. . . Andros Island, 20 miles 
southeast of Nassau, suffered greatly during the recent 
hurricane, and it is reported that 300 lives were lost. . . 
August 20, serious riots occurred in Paris, the trouble 
originating in attacks made upon anti-Semites by an¬ 
archists. Two churches were sacked, the sacred fur¬ 
nishings being thrown into the street and burned. 
The plague continues at Oporto, Portugal, and cases are 
reported at Naples and Genoa, Italy. 
INTENSIVE GRASS CULTURE BOILED DOWN. 
SEASONABLE NOTES ON GRASS. 
Heavy Hay from an Acre. 
An acre of land has not been plowed for years. I want 
to utilize it so as to get a heavy crop of hay next year, 
and then let the hens run in it, following with the best 
crops of grass. What shall I do? 
FIT THE SOD.—You, probably, cannot do better 
than to follow the plan outlined last year in The R. 
N.-Y. In describing the operations of Mr. Geo. M. 
Clark. You are a little late now in the season to 
carry out his plan exactly, but in brief, 'it means a 
thorough preparation of the ground, heavy feeding 
and a heavy seeding to grass. Just as soon as you 
can, plow that acre. If it be dry enough to burn it 
over first, so much the better. We take it to be cov¬ 
ered now with weeds and coarse grass, and possibly, 
briers and bushes. If that is so, have it run over with 
a mower at once, and as soon as the trash dries on 
the ground, burn it over thoroughly, thus destroying 
the roots and seeds that otherwise might bother it. 
Then, go in with your plow, turn it over thoroughly, 
and then begin with a harrow and tear that sod all to 
pieces. The best thing in tne world to use for this 
purpose is a Cutaway harrow, the next best being a 
disk, and the next best a spring-tooth. The old-fash¬ 
ioned idea of plowing once and harrowing once, won’t 
do at all, if you expect to get a good crop of grass. 
We would tear that ground up at least a dozen times 
before putting the seed into the ground, and it would 
pay to do so, although possibly you cannot carry out 
this plan fully. At any rate, tear that sod up if you 
can until the weeds and grass roots have been turned 
up to the sun, and thoroughly killed out. You can¬ 
not possibly overdo this preparation, and unless you 
do get it thoroughly fitted, the weeds will come up 
later, and certainly get the start of your young grass. 
FEEDING THE GRASS—We should want to use on 
that acre after it has been cnoroughly fitted, about 
600 pounds of fertilizer. If we were mixing it our¬ 
selves on a large scale, we would use one part by 
weight of nitrate of soda, one part of muriate of pot¬ 
ash, and two parts of fine ground bone. It would, 
probably, hardly pay you to buy these ingredients 
and mix them yourself. Therefore, we would advise 
you to buy 600 pounds of some first-class grass and 
grain mixture. Put this on broadcast, and work it in 
with a fine harrow, then make a heavy seeding of 
grass, at least 14 pounds of Timothy seed, 10 pounds 
of Red-top seed and 4 to 6 pounds of Red clover seed. 
This is very much heavier than the ordinary farmer 
would use, but it will pay. Cover this with a light 
harrow, and in case the weather be dry, roll after¬ 
wards. Then, if the soil bake too hard after this roll¬ 
ing, scratch over the surface with a weeder or light 
harrow, and leave it. If you carry out this plan per¬ 
fectly, and have anything like a fair amount of mois¬ 
ture through the Fall, we can guarantee you an enor¬ 
mous crop of grass. 
CARE FOR IT.—It will run for three or four years 
without any trouble, yielding heavy crops of grass in 
the meantime as well. This may seem like extrava¬ 
gant advice in the fact that this method of preparing 
the ground is costly, and takes a good deal of time. 
It is, however, the only way of obtaining a heavy 
grass crop now. If you are not prepared to handle 
the soil in this way, we doubt whether it will pay you 
to sow grass seed on this old field. The trouble is 
that that old sod is filled with the seeds and roots of 
weeds and worthless grass, and they will either choke 
out your grass crop, or come up in the midst of it 
next year, and ruin the quality of your hay. It would 
be better, if you cannot give this careful preparation, 
to seed the land to rye or wheat, adding about 10 
pounds each of Timothy and Red-top, with clover to 
be added next Spring. You could cut the wheat just 
as it comes to a head, and thus make fair fodder for 
the horse and cow, and the grass would come in fairly 
the following year. This will cost less than the other 
plan, but you will not get as much out of lit as you 
would if you carry out the other plan. 
SECOND CROP OF GRASS.—In reference to the 
second growth of grass, it is my judgment that it 
should be harvested for Winter use wherever it is not 
needed for pasture. We began to cut our second crop 
August 17, because we felt that the clover was as 
good as it would get, and the Timothy and other 
grasses would not improve enough to counterbalance 
the losses on the clover, if it was allowed to stand 
much longer. Care must be exercised in curing this 
second-crop hay, as it dries much more slowly than 
during the regular haying season, and since it is very 
much finer and packs so much closer in the barn, it is 
liable to spoil if not thoroughly dried before storing 
in the barn. Our method is as follows:—Cut during 
the afternoon, allow it to remain until the next noon, 
and if the weather is good, it will have dried suffi¬ 
ciently to rake and put up; it is allowed to sweat 
over night, then the next morning about 10 o’clock, 
thrown out, and tedded if it is necessary, raked up 
and put in the barn before the dew begins to fall. By 
this method, it is cured perfectly, and saves well. 
This second crop is much richer in protein than the 
first crop of either clover or Timothy, shows a higher 
rate of digestibility, and makes most excellent fod¬ 
der for dairy cows. We finished the third crop of Al¬ 
falfa last Saturday—I have not figured exactly, but 
there were over 7 tons, making now a total of about 
16 tons for the acre, and a promise of a fourth cut. I 
am planning to put in a very considerable area next 
Spring or the Spring after. e. b. vooriiees. 
Director N. J. Exp. Station. 
A CRIMSON CLOVER CRANK.—I was one of the 
first, if not the first, to raise Crimson clover about 
here, and have talked clover iin season and out, till 
they call me a clover crank. I have 18 acres of land, 
and the clover has always been out of sight of the 
street; but I have four acres along the street, in oats, 
on which the dry weather was too much for the 
Medium clover I sowed in the Spring. I shall cut 
the oats this week, plow the ground and sow Crim¬ 
son clover, mow it next year and sow wheat. I have 
one bag of fertilizer, 10 per cent potash, 5 to 7 per 
cent phosphoric acid, 2 to 3 per cent nitrogen, which 
I shall sow on a part of the clover. If the clover do 
well, I shall show my faith by my works. When 1 
sow wheat, I shall put on potash and rock as you 
suggest. Farmers, as a class, are slow in regard to 
new things, but seeing is believing with a good many. 
Elmira, N. Y. e. w. b. 
A GOVERNMENT GRASS FARM.—Scarcity of 
forage on the western ranges is already exciting an¬ 
xiety on the part of sheep and cattlemen. Many 
ranges have been overgrazed and neglected, until no¬ 
thing but a radical change in treatment can bring 
them back to productiveness. Our Department of 
Agriculture 'is now giving a good deal of attention to 
this subject, in the western States and Territories, 
and is investigating and testing various grasses and 
other forage plants. At Walla Walla, Wash., a grass 
farm devoted to such investigations has been put 
under the direction of Prof. F. Lamson-Scribner, Chief 
of the Division of Agrostology. This farm was first 
established by one of the railroads, and afterwards 
turned over to the Department of Agriculture. Among 
the forage plants being tested at Walla Walla, are 
Turkestan and Oasis Alfalfa. These varieties resem¬ 
ble the common Alfalfa, but the Turkestan variety is 
hardier, and the Oasis Alfalfa is expected to with¬ 
stand drought in regions where irrigation is impossi¬ 
ble. Awnless Brome grass has shown wonderful vi¬ 
tality, under the most discouraging conditions. Some 
of the Buffalo grasses found east of the Rockies, which 
resist drought and trampling successfully, are to be 
tried on Oregon ranges. Experiments are also being 
made with binding grasses, which will hold together 
the shifting sands along the Columbia River. On his 
recent visit to the Northwest, Secretary Wilson de¬ 
voted attention to the overgrazed ranges, and ex¬ 
pressed his desire to see them regrassed. 
