1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
889 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—A fire occurred in a large hosiery mill in 
Reading, Pa., December 7. Nearly 500 employees, young 
girls, in a panic, blocked the fire escape, and leaped from 
second and third-story windows. Two were burned to 
death; 55 injured, some fatally; property loss $250,000. . . . 
Several months ago the Hoboken (N. J.) Health Board 
imposed a fine of $10 to $25 for expectorating in public 
conveyances or buildings. No arrests have ever been 
made under this ordinance, and the fine is now reduced 
to $3. . . . An explosion of gas in the Carbon Hill mines, 
near Tacoma, Wash., December 9, killed 32 miners. It is 
supposed that the men broke into an old working full of 
gas, which exploded on contact with their lamps. . . . 
The lumber steamer Niagara, from Amherstburg, Ont., 
for Buffalo, foundered in Lake Erie December 6; 16 lives 
lost. ... A street car at Springfield, 111., was destroyed 
by dynamite December 9, one passenger being slightly in¬ 
jured. ... A fire in Atlanta, Ga., December 10, de¬ 
stroyed property to the value of $1,000,000. . . . Six in¬ 
dictments have been found against men concerned with 
Capt. O. M. Carter in the frauds at Savannah harbor, by 
which the Government was defrauded of over $5,000,000. 
. . . The Madison Square Garden has been offered to the 
Government authorities for the new post oliice for New 
York City. A bill appropriating $2,500,000 for the new 
building and other postal needs is to be introduced at 
once, it is expected that the new post office will be near 
the Grand Central Station. . . . Nine persons were in¬ 
jured in a collision between a horse car and an electric 
car in New York December 11. ... A severe storm 
swept over the Great Lakes December 12. Two vessels 
foundered near Detroit. Snow accompanied a furious gale, 
ami at Harmony, Minn., drifts 15 feet high are reported. 
... A farmer at Auburn, Ind., recently filed a petition 
in bankruptcy; liabilities $1;600, assets $500. ... At 
Triechlers, Pa., December 13, a passenger train dashed 
into a coal train on the Central Railroad of New Jersey; 
four persons wex - e killed. . . . An attempt to rob a 
bank at Deep River, Conn., December 13, was frustrated 
by the watchman, who shot and killed one of the bur¬ 
glars. . . . The New York Board of Health has released 
from quarantine the three coffee ships from Santos, Bra¬ 
zil. The coffee is to be roasted, and the bagging burneu. 
CONGRESS.—Senator Chandler introduced, December 7, 
a bill to substitute football for mathematics and foreign 
languages at West Point and Annapolis. He thinks that 
encouragement in athletics is needed. . . . December 3, 
a bill was introduced providing for territorial government 
in Hawaii. . . . December 11, debate began on the 
Overstreet Currency bill. McClellan, of New York, urged 
gold Democrats to vote against the bill, saying that it 
would cause contraction of the currency. . . . Decem¬ 
ber 13, Senator Lodge introduced a bill providing for the 
laying of a Pacific cable. 
CUBA.—A meeting of Cuban soldiers at Santiago De¬ 
cember 8 was the scene of incendiary speeches against 
the Americans. President McKinley’s message was de¬ 
nounced as a confession of treacherous intent. 
PHILIPPINES.—A number of Spanish prisoners re¬ 
cently released by the insurgents will bring claims against 
the United States for damages. They surrendered to 
Capt. Coghlan, of the Raleigh, at Subig Bay in June, 1898, 
on the promise that they should not be given over to the 
Filipinos. They were disarmed, and then left to the 
natives. . . . Gen. Young’s command is still pursuing 
Aguinaldo, but is shoeless, and reduced one-third by sick¬ 
ness. Lieut. Gillmore and his men are still being hurried 
forward with the insurgents. . . . Many guerillas are 
being captured in Luzon, where they are terrorizing the 
people, and harassing our troops. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS—December 2, the authori¬ 
ties besieged at Ladysmith made a strong complaint to 
the Boer commandant of their continued bombardment of 
the hospital, but the complaint only induced further fire; 
12 hospital attendants have been wounded and one killed. 
. . . December 10, Gen. Gatacre met with a serious re¬ 
verse at Stormberg, the Boers capturing 366 men. Gen. 
Methuen, whose men have been destroying Boer in- 
trenchments and building bridges since their 14-hours’ 
fight at Modder River, again engaged the Boers success¬ 
fully December 9. Near Ladysmith, Gen. Hunter cap¬ 
tured several Boer guns December 9. December 11, Gen. 
Methuen was driven back at Modder River, after two 
days’ fighting; both Boers and British suffered heavy loss. 
The Marquis of Winchester was killed while leading the 
Coldstream Guards. . . . Details of the tidal wave 
which swept the Island of Ceram November 2 state that 
over 5,000 persons were killed. Ceram belongs to the 
Molucca group, between Borneo and New Guinea. The 
tidal wave was coincident with the earthquake which af¬ 
fected the coast of Japan. . . . Severe cold and heavy 
snow prevails all over Europe; at Berlin the temperature 
was 15 degrees below zero December 12. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The annual meeting of the 
American Beet Sugar Association was held at Omaha, 
Neb., December 5. Resolutions were adopted demanding 
tariff protection for the sugar and tobacco industries 
against the competition of the cheap labor of the tropics, 
and opposing reciprocity treaties that allow these products 
to come in at a reduced rate. Henry T. Oxnard, of New 
York, was elected president; Julius Stroh, of Detroit, 
treasurer, and R. M. Allen, of Ames, Neb., secretary. 
The next meeting will be held in Detroit. 
The Michigan State Horticultural Society opened its 
twenty-ninth annual session at Holland December 5. 
The South Dakota State Horticultural Society will meet 
at Parker January 16-18. 
A German expert says that the restrictions on the entry 
of American fruit should be removed, inasmuch as the 
fruit pests cannot survive in Germany. 
The Aroostook County (Maine) Pomona Grange Seed 
Association has been organized for the purpose of fur¬ 
nishing reliable potato seed. It is said that unscrupulous 
dealers have almost driven Aroostook seed out of the 
market by furnishing worthless stock, and this new cor¬ 
poration purposes guaranteeing every barrel of seed sent 
out. F. P. Grant, Fort Fairfield, is president. 
The Illinois Corn Growers’ Association met in special 
session at El Paso, Ill., December 4. The main business 
of the meeting was the revision of the score card. J. H. 
Beagley, Sibley, Ill., acted as secretary. 
The Ohio State Dairy Union met at Cleveland De¬ 
cember 5. 
The Ohio State Poultry Association will meet at Co¬ 
lumbus January 18-23, 1900; secretary, Chas. McClure, 
New London, O. 
The Ohio Jersey Cattle Club will meet at Columbus 
January 10; secretary, A. T. Dempsey. 
The dairy herd at the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, Daven¬ 
port, Iowa, was recently examined for tuberculosis, and 
23 cows out of 38 were condemned. After a post-mortem 
examination, 10 of the carcasses were passed for beef, 
and the remaining 13 recondemned. There has been no 
illness at the Home which could be traced to the herd, 
and local milkmen are agitated by the condemnation. 
German importers are complaining of the poor quality 
of American apples now being sent to them. They say 
that proper care is not exercised in packing and selection. 
The Indiana State Dairy Association, at its meeting at 
Cambridge City, selected the following officers: Presi¬ 
dent, C. B. Benjamin, Leroy; vice-president, J. N. Shu- 
gart, Marion; secretary and treasurer, H. E. Van Nor¬ 
man, Lafayette. Gov. James A. Mount delivered an ad¬ 
dress on general farming. 
The Missouri Botanic Garden, St. Louis, will hold a pre¬ 
liminary examination of candidates for two Shaw scholar¬ 
ships March 6, 1900. These scholarships entitle the holder 
to a four-years’ course of instruction in garden craft, at 
the Botanic Garden. 
The New Jersey State Horticultural Society will hold 
its twenty-fifth annual meeting at Trenton January 4 and 
5, 1900; secretary, Henry I. Budd, Mount Holly, N. J. 
There was another flurry in flaxseed at Duluth, Minn., 
December 12. December flaxseed sold for $1.53 and futures 
for $1.55 a bushel,about 100,000 bushels changing hands. 
The highest previous prices were in December, 1894. when 
spot sold for $1.53, and May for $1.46 per bushel. 
The twenty-seventh annual session of the Pennsylvania 
State Grange began December 12, at Lock Haven, a 
strong address being delivered by Master W. F. Hill. 
The Southern Pacific Railroad has advanced the rate on 
grain from Utah west from $4 to $7.60, and justifies its 
action on the ground that the old rate was made for the 
purpose of securing traffic for cars which must otherwise 
go west empty. The heavy westbound traffic has now 
changed this condition. Unless Texas and Oregon lines 
give relief, Utah grain growers will be practically unable 
to market their grain. 
The Union Broom Supply Company, which controls 90 
per cent of the broom corn now on the market, announces 
that the price will shortly be raised to $200 a ton. 
The principal farm-implement and carriage makers of 
the Central West met at Areola, Ill., December 12, with 
the idea of centralizing their business interests. They 
say that they must combine in self-defense, owing to the 
rise in construction materials, as they have been com¬ 
pelled to raise prices, thus causing great dissatisfaction 
among farmers. 
There is an epidemic of glanders in a livery stable in 
the up-town district of New Y’ork City. It is said that 
20 horses have been killed, and the State Board of Health 
has quarantined the stables and ordered the planking on 
the first floor burned. Instead of informing the authori¬ 
ties, when the first horse was taken sick, the owner of 
the stable tried to keep the matter secret for several 
days, and thus the disease gained a strong footing. 
N. Y. STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
The twenty-third annual meeting of the New York 
State Dairymen’s Association, at Cortland, N. Y., last 
week, was a great success. The show of dairy products 
and dairy machinery was one of the largest and finest 
ever seen in the State. The attendance on the first day 
was estimated at about 800, and the second day it ex¬ 
ceeded 1,000, just about equaling the record made last 
year at Gouverneur. Judge J. E. Eggleson welcomed 
the convention to Cortland on behalf of the people of the 
village. The Judge gave everyone the feeling of being 
really a guest of the townspeople. He was brought up 
on the farm himself, but was led away from it by the 
allurements of town life and his dislike for picking stones 
and turning the grindstone. He would, however, rather 
have the foundation of his boys’ life laid in a farm home 
than in any other place. In the course of his remarks 
he took occasion to say that he had been brought up on 
The R. N.-Y\ His good mother used it as supplementary 
to the Bible on Sunday, and permitted him on work¬ 
days to read the farm information and the story. 
George G. Royce, of Gouverneur, made an eloquent ad¬ 
dress of response. He discussed the relative progress of 
other things with the farming industries. Among many 
good things he said that while we boast of the products 
of our mines, the cackling hen, for the last year, put to 
shame the output of the mines of both gold and silver, 
and that the export of farm products was three times 
that of the factory and the shop. 
Hon. S. Brow'n Richardson, of Lowville, followed with 
an address. Space will permit only a few brief extracts 
from his address, but I wish to say right here that much 
of the success of the meetings is due to Mr. Richard 
son’s energy and w'ork. He is alert in every detail, and 
his persistent courtesy and attention to every demand 
interests the eager support of everyone. He said that the 
organization of the New York State Dairymen’s Associa - 
tion, a quarter of a century ago, shows that advanced dairy¬ 
men then saw the need of dairy reform. While a gen¬ 
erous Government assisted private capital in solving the 
great problem of transportation, competition, keen, in¬ 
cisive and healthful, came to the dairymen of the State 
of New York, and added to the powerful need of dairy 
reform. Stimulated by these conditions the dairymen of 
the Empire State have revolutionized the methods of 25 
years ago. The consumer applies the crucial test of a 
dainty appetite to our milk, butter and cheese, three 
times a day, and 365 days in the year. New inventions 
facilitated greater production at a reduced cost. Better 
products produced at a less cost filled the markets to 
overflowing, and introduced the problem of new markets, 
and the means of seizing and holding them. Wise is 
the man who goes far to seek new markets for his dairy 
products, but wiser by far is he who, having once ob¬ 
tained such a market, furnishes it with the best of goods; 
goods so fine in quality, so pure in manufacture, so rich 
in flavor, that it makes for itself a market, from which 
competition retreats, and which cannot be taken from 
him. It is the mission of this great Association to form 
a nucleus around which the dairymen of the State can 
gather to promote the welfare of the dairy interest as a 
whole, to advance the standard of dairy goods, and to 
raise the intellectual standard of the dairy farmer; that 
Ihe dairy industry attract men of brains and character, 
and furnish him and his family actual comforts and at¬ 
tractive environments. It is the mission of the Associa¬ 
tion to occupy the front ranks in dairy progress. It 
should oppose all kinds of vicious substitutes and fraudu¬ 
lent imitations of honest dairy products. Such imitations 
are foul vultures which, like the “angel of darkness.” 
masquerade in our honest garments. So far as condi¬ 
tions will permit, we should invite the co-operation of 
other States in our fight on this plague of our dairy 
interests. 
Ex-President J. S. Shattuck, of Norwich, gave some in- * 
teresting reminiscences of early farm life in Chenango 
County, and spoke of some of the mistakes of dairymen. 
These were the want of proper care of the cows they 
have, the keeping of too many cows, and buying of west¬ 
ern feed, and buying cows at high prices instead of rais¬ 
ing them. He has been able to raise calves two years 
old for $15. He advised dairymen never to swear at 
their cows and their wives. 
Prof. H. H. Wing, of Cornell, spoke on the conditions 
of butter and cheese factories in New York State. He 
had formulated a number of questions relating to the 
condition and cleanliness of factories and workmen in 
them, and had received reports from 15 factories in¬ 
spected. No one factory was reported fully satisfactory 
on all the questions asked, but a great majority of them 
were satisfactory as a whole. Poor drainage, neglected 
floors and walls, untidy workrooms, and the use of to¬ 
bacco by makers were the principal faults complained of. 
Thursday afternoon, Gov. Hoard gave his illustrated 
lecture on the conformation of the dairy cow. I have 
heard the Governor at least three times on this subject, 
and it seems to improve with repetition. I believe I 
could listen to it 100 times with interest. I think it is 
because he makes a new lecture of it every time. By 
use of the charts he pointed out the outward physical in¬ 
dications of the best type of a dairy cow. The wide 
muzzle, large nozzle to indicate large breathing capacity, 
the protruding eyes and high forehead to indicate nerv¬ 
ous force and brain power; thin feminine neck, lean 
slanting withers, strong back, with open processes, and 
high pelvie arch to protect the nervous connection of the 
brain and maternal organs. He laid unusual stress on 
the strength of the umbilical wall, and navel develop¬ 
ment. He also dwelt at length on what he calls the 
prepotency of the sire; that is, the tendency to transfer 
the individual characteristics of his maternal ancestors 
to his get. This quality is indicated in strong, vigorous 
appearance, resolute bearing and abundant nervous en¬ 
ergy. He would have the rudimentary teats of the sire 
placed well apart, of good size and forward of the scro¬ 
tum. This, he thinks, will result in square well-shaped 
udders in the resulting heifers. 
The following officers were elected for the ensuing year - 
President, George H. Smith; vice-president, H. H. Wing; 
treasurer, F. E. Dawley; secretary, H. H. Hall. Direc¬ 
tors: H. E. Cook, Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., D. P. Witter, 
R. P. Grant, M. T. Morgan, Dr. W. H. Jordan. Vice- 
presidents: Hon. Theo. Roosevelt, Hon. Timothy Wood¬ 
ruff, Hon. Charles A. Wieting, W. Cary Sanger, George 
Hide, Charles H. Royce, F. H. Merry, W. E. Dana, J. P. 
Clark, R. H. Bent, E. J. Preston, C. M. Lament, F. A. 
Converse, E. Van Alstyne, A. D. Harrington, V. C. Beebe. 
D. 
QUICK RETURNS FROM POOR SOIL 
[Last week we gave an account of Mr. Newton Osborn’s 
experiments with poor soil. This week the account is 
continued, but the following statement of how he handled 
the field will make the story more complete.] 
HOW IT WAS DONE.—Mr. Osborn is quick to act 
when he sees a good thing, and slow to change away 
from i't. He saw that the complete fertilizer would 
do the business, and he has kept using it ever since. 
The fertilizer was much easier and quicker to spread 
than the compost or manure. By its use, time could 
be saved in the Spring, when Connecticut time is valu¬ 
able, for Winter sometimes lingers close to June. By 
using fertilizer on the outlying fields, he could make 
short hauls of manure to the fields near the barn. 
ThJis latter point has since proved of great importance, 
for Mr. Osborn makes great use of ensilage in feed¬ 
ing his cows, and has found it an advantage to have 
the corn close to the silo. 
As soon as he was satisfied that fertilizers would 
take the place of his compost, Mr. Osborn went at his 
seven acres of poor soil. That was in 1880, and two 
tons of fertilizer were used on the seven acres of corn, 
wtith a little hen manure dropped in the hill. Usually 
in starting a rotation of this sort, farmers use pota¬ 
toes the first year, but Mr. Osborn tried corn, no 
doubt thinking that with this crop in hills, he could 
kill out the weeds and briers quicker. The yield was 
85 bushels of ears per acre. Thiis was long before the 
days of Crimson clover in Connecticut, but Mr. Os¬ 
born followed the next year with corn again, this 
year making 104 bushels of ears per acre. After two 
years of cultivation, the ground was well subdued, and 
for the next two years potatoes were planted, using 
fertilizer alone. The yield for the two years was 
2,195 bushels, not being by any means what would be 
called an excessive yiield. After two years in potatoes, 
Mr. Osborn thought that the field needed humus, so 
he put on more fertilizer, and sowed oats, seeding to 
Timothy and clover. This gives an idea of the new 
possibilities that have come into farming during the 
past few years. Twenty years ago tit was thought 
necessary to give the land up for three years to grain 
and grass, crops of comparatively low earning capac¬ 
ity, in order to fill the soil with humus. Now we have 
found that with Crimson clover or rye sown in the 
potatoes and the clover seeded in the corn, it is pos¬ 
sible to produce three or four crops of potatoes in five 
years, instead of one or two, as was formerly done. It 
is easy to see what an advantage this is on small 
farms, where the potato crop is the money crop, which 
under ordinary circumstances could have only a small 
share of the farm. 
