1904 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
721 
THE LITTLE ENVELOPE 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 409 Pearl Street, NEW YORK. 
GENERAL NEWS. 
Os account of the Rio Grande floods GOO persons near 
I’residio, Texas, are homeless, and crops are destroyed. 
President Diaz, of Mexico, in his message to Congress, 
slates that there are now 10,220 miles of railway in the 
republic. 
The loss by fire in the dockage warehouses, Halifax, N. S., 
September 19, amounts to $200,000. Large quantities of tar, 
pitch and explosives were stored there. 
The French prune crop is large. This will cut the trade 
in American prunes, and the demand for other dried fruits 
from this country will also be lessened. 
The Russian warship Lena, which recently entered the 
harbor of San Francisco in a damaged condition, has been 
dismantled. The crew will be obliged to remain in San 
Francisco until the close of the war 
The Nathan Straus Pasteurized milk Summer depots in 
this city dosed September 10. The business for the season 
was tlie heaviest since their establishment 12 years ago, 
S00,000 glasses being sold at the booths and 2,140,104 bottles 
of Pasteurized milk distributed otherwise. Several depots 
on the crowded East Side will remain open all Winter. 
Central Europe is having a very severe drought. River 
navigation in some sections lias stopped, fruit and garden 
truck is scarce, and mills operated by water power are closed. 
The Governments of Servia, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and 
Roumania have forbidden the exportation of grain, potatoes, 
hay, and even the waste of sugar beets, which is fed to 
animals. These countries usually send large quantities of 
foodstuffs to western Europe, which will probably require 
more from the United States and South America. 
The fruit growers of Ontario believe that the demand for 
their fruit will be largely increased if the public is once in¬ 
formed as to the varieties best adapted for eating, cooking, 
preserving, etc., and are arranging for a larjje exhibition of 
fruit in Toronto. November 8-12. In connection the bee¬ 
keepers and florists have been asked to make exhibits. All 
exhibits will be labelled with a full description of their qual¬ 
ities, dale of maturing, etc. Demonstrations in cooking and 
preserving will be given and recipes showing the various 
ways in which fruit may be cooked, preserved, or otherwise 
prepared for use, will be distributed. Opportunity will 
be afforded the public to order fruit of tlie different varieties 
direct from the growers at the exhibition. A number of im¬ 
portant gatherings will be held, including the thirty-sixth 
annual convention of the Ontario Fruit Growers’ Association, 
the twenty-fifth annual convention of the Ontario Beekeepers' 
Association, meeting of the delegates from the various 
horticultural societies and a convention of farmers’ institute 
workers. 
FRUIT AT THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR. 
The exhibit was smaller than last year, the shrinkage 
being more in the number of plates than in the number of 
varieties. Experience seems to have shown that mere quan¬ 
tity is not a reasonable basis of competition. This point, of 
course, lias been much discussed by those who have had any¬ 
thing to do with that part of the show in which the two 
big societies are interested. The Fair catalogues which in¬ 
stituted that particular competition specifically states that 
the prize is given for the “largest and best collection.’’ 
Moreover, those who wrote the law, and whose intent ought 
to furnish a just interpretation of it, say that they intended 
to put a premium on quantity. Here was a large new hall 
designed for the exhibition of fruit and built so large that 
nothing short of a colossal show would fill the tables. 
Something, therefore, had to lie done to attract liberal ex¬ 
hibits. The difficulty lias been that nobody lias ever under¬ 
stood exactly what value should be placed upon quantity as 
compared with quality in this great and instructive exhibi¬ 
tion. When I judged the fruit a year ago this point was 
not involved, but this year it had a deciding influence. In 
conference with tlie superintendent of this exhibition before 
the judging began, it was determined that ttiis year the 
valuation should be made up as follows: First, quality of 
exhibition as shown by score card. GO points; second, quan¬ 
tity (number of varieties), .’50 points; third, quantity (num¬ 
ber of individual exhibits), 10 points. The Western New 
York Horticultural Society had considerably the largest 
number of varieties on exhibition and their pre-eminence in 
this respect gave them first’place. After having judged this 
exhibit for two years I have felt at liberty to suggest to 
all those most interested that some scheme of adjusting the 
awards should be adopted in advance. This ! s not because 
there has been any friction or ill feeling regarding the work, 
but simply because it is fairer play when one knows the 
rules of the game before he goes into it. The display this 
year was not only smaller than last, but slightly poorer in 
its general quality. The season has been cold, gloomy and 
backward. Many varieties were far from full grown and 
none of the apples and pears except the earliest were prop¬ 
erly colored. There was also a mentionabie lack of uni¬ 
formity in the specimens exhibited. Possibly there was less 
fungus damage in evidence this year than last, but the spec¬ 
imens attacked by fungi seldom form a conspicuous part in a 
fruit show. In very few cases there was slight evidence of 
San .Tosd scale. 
One of the most interesting features of any fruit exhi¬ 
bition is the nomenclature of the varieties shown. One 
always expects to find a certain number of plates wrongly 
named. There are always some also marked with more or 
less local synonyms in place of the standard names of the 
pomologies! books. In this respect, however, the exhibit at 
Syracuse was notably above the average. Especially was 
this true of the fruit shown by the western New York 
nurserymen. For years these men have made a business 
of distributing fruit trees, and most of them have spent 
great effort in having the trees true to name. They know, 
therefore, solnething about varieties and the names they 
ought to bear. Although there will naturally be some im¬ 
provement from year to year, especially if this competition 
is continued under favorable management, the high standard 
already reached is something to be proud of. One of the 
main features of a show like this, at least theoretically, is 
the opportunity it offers for the study of varieties. No one 
has a better chance at this, ot course, than the judge. One 
would expect in a collection of this sort to meet -a large 
number of novelties. It seemed to me, however, that the 
strictly new sorts were remarkably scarce. Especially when 
one considers that the exhibit was largely furnished by nur¬ 
serymen who are interested in introducing all the current 
novelties, it seems strange that such things are not more 
conspicuous. Two or three men were looking about for 
Black Ben Davis, but there was not a sample of it in the 
entire 5,000 plates. The unusual varieties in this collection 
are much more apt to be old ones known and almost for¬ 
gotten years ago. Even among plums, where new sorts have 
been especially frequent during recent years, the exhibit was 
made up largely of old varieties. In fact, the western New 
York growers seem, lo take little interest in new plums, 
especially those of Japanese extraction. f. a. waugh. < 
THE CABBAGE CROP. 
This State itself will have about half crop of cabbage, 
which is principally kraut cabbage. Wisconsin has a large 
crop, also New York, and comparing that of former years, we 
think that the crop in the East as well as in Wisconsin is 
larger this year than it has been for the past few years. 
We think that low prices will prevail as soon as New York 
cabbage starts moving. henry ransick & sons. 
Cincinnati, Ohio: 
The acreage of cabbage throughout western New York 
this year is about tbe same as last year, or about two-thirds 
as great as the year before, but the tonnage will be consid¬ 
erably heavier. The weather has been ideal for the growth 
of the cabbage crop throughout the Summer, there being 
plenty of rain, and 1 think the crop will cut on an average 
15 tons per acre, which is about as heavy as we have ever 
known. The acreage, however, not being heavy, will not 
make an unusually heavy crop. The cabbage crop through 
Ontario, Orleans and Monroe counties is looking very line. 
Adams Basin, N. Y. e. f. Blackwood. 
CROP NOTES. 
Apples are a very uneven crop, some good and some very 
poor. Peach trees quite badly killed, but we have a fair 
crop and fine quality. Michigan is a pretty good State in 
spite of the cold weather. l. j. i>. 
Lowell, Mich. 
Potatoes here are rotting some, yield poor, about one-half 
of last year; blighted early; not many dug as yet. Apples 
a Dig yield and of good quality. Corn late and if frost holds 
off will be good crop. No plums here; at Oswego a big crop. 
Oats good, best in a number of years. s. 
Mexico, N. Y. 
Apples in this vicinity are 75 per cent of a crop, 50 per 
cent barreling stock. Poaches 75 per cent, but poor quality, 
selling for from 25 to 70 cents per basket. Pears short 
crop, poor in quality, selling for 1 V 2 cent per pound. Corn 
half crop. Potatoes half crop, acreage small: beans two- 
thirus of a crop; buckwheat good; cabbage fine. Hay a 
large crop, selling for $12 to $14 per ton: oats fine crop] 40 
to 50 cents per bushel. Wheat one-tliird crop. Farmers liar¬ 
vesting beans and potatoes; potatoes from 50 to GO cents 
per bushel No market for beans as yet. Large acreage of 
wheat going in this Fall: farmers busy putting in their wheat 
at present. g. h. k. 
Spencorport, N. Y. 
Since writing you some time since as to the apple crop, 
there have been two heavy windstorms; the last one on the 
15th inst. was very severe and certainly one-fourth of the 
crop came to the ground, ’the crop in this district is large 
and good; in Kings County, which is the largest apple dis¬ 
trict, the crop is very large, but very poor in quality. In 
Annapolis tin 1 crop is said to be good in quality : market is 
very dull. There were shipped last week 17.000 barrels of 
Gravensteiu to London, and we are anxiously waiting the 
results. char, m’clkllan. 
Nova Scotia. 
The apple crop is fully as large as last-year, and the fruit 
seems very fail'. Nobody is picking yet. The peach, plum 
and pear crops are all we can ask for. Potato crop 1 think 
is better than last year, and some farmers are digging early 
ones, which bring 50 cents per bushel in small lots to re¬ 
tailers. Wheat was very poor here this year, in many in¬ 
stances not worth cutting. Very little barley is grown. Oats 
very large straw and very light in weight and poor yiel,< 
per acre considering the straw. Hay was a heavy crop, 
and as a rule well made. North of Waterloo River there 
exists 7.000 acres of muck land on which potatoes and onions 
are mostly grown. I’ratt & Middlewood. shippers of hay 
and produce, of our town, nave three acres of onions on ttiis 
muck, for which they pay -S30 per acre, and it is estimated 
they have 2.G00 bushels of onions from these three acres, 
worth $1 per bushel now. . w. tt. 
Waterloo, N. Y. 
We have finished delivering our Sumatra tobacco crop 
from 20 acres at 40 cents per pound, pole cured: made 10,300 
pounds on the 20 acres, and finished shipping it on Septem¬ 
ber 8. The tobacco stalks we pulled up in August, and 
planted the land to Irish potatoes, egg plant, green peas, 
tomatoes, Bermuda onions, etc.: these crops are growing well: 
the Irish potatoes run over six inches high and will need 
only one more plowing and hoeing to make what we think 
will be a 100-bushel crop or over, that we sell in December, 
January and February as dug at from $1.50 to $2 tier bushel. 
The green peas will ripen from November to December 25, 
and usually sell at $3 to-$G per bushel basket. After the 
potatoes are dug in January we plant string beans and 
gather same in March and April, and in May plant tobacco 
again. w. 1 . 
Dade City, Fla. 
The grain crop has proved quite light, with the exception 
of oats, which as a rule have been very good and in some 
small sections exceptionally heavy. Potatoes seem to have 
done generally well until lately, when the blight, struck them. 
There are very few but what have been struck. Not much 
rot showing yet. Pears in this section are very plentiful. 
Prices low; 50 cents per bushel near lioneoye. Apple crop 
has excellent prospects. Grapes are generally very poor. 
Delaware and Niagara seem to lie the worst, although in this 
section none seem extra good. The first, lot was shipped 
from Naples September 12. They consisted of Champion, 
Hartford and some other early varieties. Peaches are just 
getting in market here. The crop is very light. I saw three 
different parties selling on the street yesterday. They asked 
$1.70 per bushel, and all reported light crops. I think the 
price will be much higher. j. m. c. 
Naples. N. Y. 
POTATO AND ONION CROP. 
Present indications point to an excellent potato crop in 
this section. We are advised from points in Michigan, as 
well as western Ohio and northern Indiana, that the potato 
crop will be both large and good. We do not know of any 
section that will have a shortage of potatoes this season. 
Cleveland, O. h. m. strauss & co. 
The potato crop in this State is quite large, considerably 
above the average. Prices no doubt will rule low, as the 
crop seems to be good all over the country. The Michigan 
crop will be exceptionally fine, both in yield and quality. 
Relative to the onion crop, as far as our information goes it 
will be somewhat less than it was a year ago, perhaps fully 
10 to 12 per cent. It is also about two weeks later than 
ordinary. lichtenberg & sons. 
Detroit, Mich. 
It is yet too early to predict accuratelv the late potato 
crop, but the indications are it will be the largest for several 
years. All of the northern tier of Stales, as well as New 
York and Ohio, report excellent prospects, with the excep¬ 
tion of occasional small spots, which complain of shortage. 
The heaviest growing sections all report fine crops. In re¬ 
gard to prices as yet no market level has been reached, but 
figures will no doubt rule lower than last year. It is diffi¬ 
cult to say which sections will have the surplus, from the 
fact this depends greatly on which sections buyers favor. 
Onions apparently are short, but almost all dealers in the 
ctiy markets are' looking for an opportunity to speculate. 
This in our opinion does not promise well for prices late in 
the Winter and early in the Spring. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. ar.macost, riley & co. 
Our information indicates that the potato crop of the 
country is quite a good deal in excess of last season, and 
that prices are sure to be much lower than last season anr» 
much lower than they are at present. It is fair to assume 
that as soon as the crop begins to move prices will decline 
rapidly. We know really of no section that is absolutely 
short of potatoes. Here in our own neighborhood, where 
we grow two crops a year, our second crop .maturing in 
October, has suffered greatly for want of rain, but this crop 
cuts no figure in the country supply; indeed, it is mostly 
used for seed for next Spring. We would look for lower 
prices on potatoes than for a number of years. As to the 
onion crop our information is not as far reaching in this 
section of the country. Our onions mature in Summer and 
are marketed at that time. We understand the crop in 
northern Indiana is large and excellent quality. The acreage 
is also large in Michigan. Ohio and in the Far West, but 
hear there lias been some damage from floods in northern 
Ohio and some injury from insects in Michigan. Altogether 
we think we are going to have a fair crop of onions and 
prices will rule lower than last year. 
Louisville, Ky._" k. it. bowen & co. 
BUSINESS BITS . 
Du. David Roberts, lot) Grand Avenue, Waukesha, Wis.. 
has devoted his life to the study of the diseases of cattle and 
has attained great success, as men do who make a special 
study of one line of work. The doctor has a very extensive 
practice in His own section, one of the great cattie'districts of 
the country, but says he will lie pleased to give his personal 
advice free to any of our readers who have sickness in their 
herd. His book on Abortion in Cows is very interesting and 
may be had for tbe asking. 
The letter printed below speaks well for the “Paroid’' 
roofing. It is manufactured by F. W. Bird & Son, East Wal¬ 
pole, Mass. This firm also make the well known “Neponset” 
Red Rope Roofing. “Gentlemen :—The Paroid roofing bought 
of you last Fall for roofing a cow stable on one of my 
farms has given entire satisfaction—in fact, if is far supe¬ 
rior to steel, that cost me just four times as much. You 
can refer those who inquire for rooting from my section to 
me. Yours truly. Francis Sanderson. Walbrook. Baltimore, 
Md., November 13, 1903. 
