1904 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
433 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The National Broom Company, the recently 
organized broom trust, will, it is expected, take over the 
plants of the different broom manufacturing companies in the 
country on which the trust has options. The capitalization 
of the broom trust is $13,000,000. . . . The Chicago 
Great Western Railway Company has adopted a novel plan 
for protecting its right of way from drifting snows, which so 
frequently impede train operation. The company has or¬ 
dered several hundred thousand evergreen trees from an Iowa 
nursery and will plant them thickly along the right of way 
on all of the main tracks of the company. In time the trees 
will take the place of the board snowbreaks, which are con¬ 
tinually getting out of place, need almost constant repair and 
frequent replacing at considerable expense. . . . The 
United States Supreme Court upholds the action of the New 
York immigration authorities in ordering the deportation of 
the Englishman, Turner, allegeu to he an Anarchist. The 
Federal law excluding Anarchists is upheld in the opinion 
delivered by Chief Justice Fuller, May 1(5. The Chief Jus¬ 
tice points out that Turner himself did not deny that he is 
an Anarchist. The decision of the Circuit Court, Southern 
District of New York, which refused a writ of habeas corpus 
to Turner, is affirmed. Turner is in Europe, having been re¬ 
leased on ball that he might return there. . . . Three 
Chicago highwaymen attempted to hold up a registered mail 
wagon, May 17. but were frustrated by the accidental dis¬ 
charge of a pistol . . . The retirement of Miss Clara 
Barton from the head of the Red Cross Society, May 14, 
terminates an acrimonious contention that has been in prog¬ 
ress for a long time, and which threatened the efficiency and 
usefulness of the organization. Clara Barton was born in 
Massachusetts in 1830. She has been president of the Amer¬ 
ican Red Cross Society since its organization in 1881, and 
has done much valuable and efficient work for the relief and 
amelioration of suffering from war, flood, and every form 
of disaster that has afflicted liuman.iy. During the Civil 
War, before the organization of the Red Cross, Miss Barton 
did relief work on the fields of battle, organized relief parties 
to search for the missing, and laid out the grounds'of the 
National Cemetery at Andersonville. She was associated 
with the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussiau 
war and represented the United States at several inter¬ 
national conferences of the Red Cross. She visited Russia in 
1892 and administered relief during the famine of that year, 
and also during the Armenian massacre of 189(5. She car¬ 
ried relief to Cuba in 1898, conducted field work during the 
Spanish war, and subsequently during the great disaster at 
Galveston, Texas, in 1900. She has decorations and diplomas 
from Germany, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Switzerland, and 
other countries of Europe, and has written several volumes 
on the relief work of the Red Cross. Mrs. John A. Logan 
succeeds Miss Barton as president of the Red Cross Society. 
. . . The whole business section of Waverly, Va., was de. 
stroyed by fire, May 17; loss $60,000. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The President has signed the proc¬ 
lamation opening the Rosebud (South Dakota) Indian Reser¬ 
vation to settlement. The reservation contains 41(5,000 acres 
and will be opened August 8. The proclamation provides 
that the lands shall be entered under the general provisions 
of the homestead and town site laws, and all entries under 
the homestead law are to be made in person except in tlie case 
of ex-soldiers and ex-sailors, who may employ an agent. 
Entries under the homestead law will be permitted at the 
rate of 100 a day from the day of the opening. Persons de¬ 
siring to establish town sites on the reservation will be per¬ 
mitted to make application at any time before the opening. 
FAR EAST.—A Russian naval officer, with three sailors, 
left Port Arthur in a launch carrying three torpedoes, and 
crept into Talienwan Bay, May 14, where they exploded a 
torpedo under a Japanese cruiser, badly crippling her and set¬ 
ting her on fire. The damaged cruiser was taken in tow by 
a sister vessel. The Russians escaped. . . . Chinese sol¬ 
diers looted Russian mines at Port Adams, and drove off the 
officials. A force of Chinese bandits attacked Russian troops 
and frontier guards near Liaoyang. They were afterward 
surrounded and about 50 of them were killed. One of the 
prisoners said the bandits were hired by the Japanese. The 
Russian authorities at St. Petersburg say they have evidence 
that the Chinese are secretly in league with the Japanese 
to help the latter against Russia. .... The third Japa¬ 
nese army, under General Ozaba, landed in Kaichou Bay, a 
few miles southwest of Ivaiping, May 17, after a bombard¬ 
ment of the town of Siungyucheng by the warships which 
conveyed the transports. The army, which was unopposed 
by the Russians, at once began its march toward Kaiping, 
llalcheng and Liaoyang. Newchwang was completely evac¬ 
uated by the Russians, and is almost in the direct line of the 
third Japanese army’s advance. The Russians destroyed their 
gunboat, Sivoutch, which lay in the Liao River at Newch¬ 
wang. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Prof. A. Koebele, who has been 
employed for several years past by the Hawaiian planters 
and the Hawaiian Government as an entomologist, has made 
an offer to Massachusetts to go there, and discover, intro¬ 
duce, and propagate, the natural parasitic enemies of the 
gypsy moth, agreeing to get that pest under control within 
four years. For his compensation he asks $15,000 a year. 
Holmes Hall, the new building at the Maine Agricultural 
College, Orono, was dedicated May 25. The building con¬ 
tains the office and class rooms of the professor of agricul¬ 
ture, veterinarian, class rooms for the professors of forestry 
and horticulture, and the rooms of the Experiment Station. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
On account of bad weather farm and garden work Is two 
or three weeks later. Lettuce, radishes and other vegetables 
in the greenhouse did not do so well as usual, and frozen 
ground hindered early work with hotbeds and cold frames. 
At present writing (May 10) early garden work, near the 
lake shore. Is about all done; potatoes, corn, beaus and other 
early garden seeds are planted. However, there is some risk 
yet from late frosts. The acreage in garden products (as in¬ 
dicated at present writing) will be larger than in future 
years. South of Lake Erie here oats are about all sown. 
Wheat is very poor, being only about 10 per cent of a crop; 
however, for want of time very little was turned under. 
There is a good catch of Timothy this Spring and old 
meadows are in fine condition; a few showers, only, are 
necessary to assure a full crop of hay. Buds at present are 
opening out and the prospect for all kinds of fruit is very 
promising. Farmers and gardeners feel a little timid with 
regard to contracting produce for the canning factories, as 
last year better prices were received in the open market than 
were received on contracts. Last year on account of drought 
through corn plowing time the acreage in corn was un¬ 
usually small. This year about the average amount of corn 
will he planted. c- w. z - 
Erie, Pa. 
Fruit prospects at this time are quite favorable here. 
There will be fair peach bloom, and plums, cherries and 
apples are making a good Show. On low and unfavorable 
locations there has been some loss from freezing, and in such 
locations there will bo few, if any, peaches. Mice have 
caused some 'oss, but nothing serious as far as I have seen. 
It is a season when the hardier varieties of peaches show to 
good advantage. H. o. M. 
Lunenburg, Mass. 
The prospect for a fruit crop could not be better tban at 
present in Idaho. Trees are just done blooming except an 
occasional belated apple, and such a crop of blossoms I think 
was never before seen. The Winter was exceptionally even 
and mild, the temperature at Nampa only reaching a point. 
11 degrees above zero as the lowest. Every hud went through 
sound and if Jack Frost lets us alone there will be a large 
crop of everything in the fruit line. Farm work is well ad¬ 
vanced, an increased acreage of grain and meadow has been 
put in this Spring and crops are looking exceedingly prom¬ 
ising. ROBERT MILLIKEN. 
Sec’y Idaho Horticultural Society. 
At this date, May 14, vegetation is coming forward nicely, 
having made great progress in the last two weeks. Apples, 
pears and Japan plums have fully bloomed and promise ex¬ 
cellent crops. Peaches will be a total failure. Not only the 
buds, but root and branch of the bearing tree appear to have 
been damaged beyond recovery. Strawberries where not well 
covered much injured. Raspberries and blackberries 50 to 
100 per cent killed. Niagara and I.indley grapes show little 
or no life, while Concord and Salem appear to he all right. 
Most varieties of the rose are badly affected—Crimson Ram¬ 
bler killed to the ground, Ruby Queen nearly so, and others 
in like proportion: in fact, scarcely anything came through 
the severest Winter on record unscathed. 
Jewett City, Conn. H. n. B. 
Is Ruby Queen Rose Hardy? 
I would like to get more reports through The R. N.-Y. 
how the Ruby Queen rose stood the Winter in different sec¬ 
tions of the country. Mine all killed back almost entirely 
to the ground. My rose basket (described on page 721 last 
year) is all black and dead clear to the ground, but is now 
starting a “thousand more or less” strong canes from the 
ground. The handle of the Rambler is all right, clear to the 
tip, so this season I shall have a basket handle minus the 
basket. But never mind, I shall retrain the new canes and 
form a better basket than I uad before. I found by counting 
the dead canes there were 77 of them that formed the body 
of the basket, all the product of two year’s growth. Our 
Winter here was never lower than 15 degrees below zero, but 
there was at any time but very little snow to protect, and 
only branches of the Queen that lay flat on the ground are 
alive. Philadelphia is received and doing well. 
Brooklyn, O. A - 
THE TRUTH ABOUT GINSENG. 
Has any cultivated ginseng as yet been sold in this 
country? 
Small quantities of cultivated ginseng have been shipped 
to China, However, the quantity is so small that it is not 
yet a factor in the market. Practically the total supply is 
still the wild root. The quantity of cultivated ginseng ex¬ 
ported is under 500 pounds. It will be some time before 
sufficient quantity will be exported to show in the market. 
Cincinnati, O. Sam’l wells & co. 
We have bought during the past season the bulk of the 
cultivated ginseng that has been grown in gardens. We 
think, however,' that most of it has been grown from small 
wild plants got in the woods, and from wild seeds. We 
understand that roots grown from cultivated seed are thriv¬ 
ing. It is too early as yet for the strictly cultivated roots 
(grown from cultivated seed) to be placed on the market, as 
it takes them five years to develop into good-sized roots. 
The growing of ginseng is in its infancy, and we do not think 
the quantity marketed last season over 2,500 pounds. It 
was sold at from $8 to $12 per pound (dry), according to its 
size and quality. The ginseng market is still mainly sup¬ 
plied through the wild root dug in the woods, there being 
about 150,000 pounds exported the past season. The quan¬ 
tity of wild root is diminishing, and the only way the amount 
needed can be obtained is by cultivation, and we look for a 
good demand at high prices for many years to come. The 
cultivated root is much larger and more solid than the wild, 
and commands $3 to $5 per pound more. Some growers of 
course greatly exaggerate, hut our statement is well within 
the bounds of fact. belt, butler co. 
New York. 
I commenced in ginseng in 1901; have now over one-fourth 
acre. I have over 20,000 seed-bearing plants, 10,000 two- 
year and 40,000 yearlings. Of course the short time I have 
been in the business prevents my having much dried stock for 
sale. Last Fall I had two pounds of imperfect roots, which 
were shipped with a neighbor's five pounds. We got $8.50 
per pound, it is reported that a grower at Apulia, N. Y., 
who sold last Fall two barrels and two boxes of dried root, 
weight considerably under 400 pounds, received a check for 
$4,443. J. E. F. 
Fahius, N. Y. 
My garden is only one year old. Most of the gardens are 
young; no roots are ripe enough to dry under five to seven 
years of age. Most of the older gardeners are selling to 
growers seed and young plants. 1 do uot know of a pound of 
cultivated dry root being sold. My private opinion is that 
we young growers are being worked; all the same I am buy¬ 
ing and planting, aud shall risk one acre in cultivation, as 
my means will permit. I have 20,000 seeds planted, 11,000 
growing roots under shade; have no stock for sale, but 
handle some wild roots on commission. e. h. h. 
Atwater. O. 
Only comparatively small quantities of cultivated ginseng 
have so far come to market, owing to the fact that the reve¬ 
nue derived from sale of seeds and young plants has been so 
great that it paid better than to sell the roots. Ten years 
or more ago I bought cultivated root in 50-pound lots, paying 
$6.50 to $7.50 per pound, aud this year somewhere about 
500 pounds brought $12 per pound or a little over, but this 
was sold for less in China. The main supply does come 
from wild and must continue to until gardens get older and 
demand for seeds and plants is better satisfied. In many 
sections wild is dug out and becomes so scarce that it does 
not pay to hunt it. By cultivated I mean root grown from 
seed or transplanted wild roots. 
New York. t. a. broxsox. 
EXPERIENCE WITH TREE AGENTS. 
Reading the article of II. E. A., Murphysboro, Ill., page 
396, and the answer to the same, brings to mind that I have 
just received a notice from a firm at Troy, Ohio, saying that 
“although it will entail a great loss to them,” but owing to 
a change in business management, they would discontinue 
sending a man to trim the apple trees, and would waive their 
ownership in the half of the apples to be gathered on the first 
crop. Their agent came in our neighborhood in 4901, saying 
that he wished to set out a sample orchard of apple trees 
with other fruit trees mixed in, and would send a man every 
year for five years to trim the trees, and all he had to do was 
to pay for half of the bill cash down, which, by the way, was 
as much as the stock was worth, and they would wait until 
the fifth year, when they would send their man to gather all 
ofr the apples, and would then take half of it for payment of 
the other half of the hill. They kept to their fine promises 
for two years, and now “at a great loss to them they will 
he compelled” to waive their contract, leaving the “suckers,” 
as 11. E. V. 1). calls us, mourning for the sight of the ageut. 
I shall hereafter steer clear of any Ohio nurseryman, al¬ 
though ordinarily this section is too far east-for them, aud 
will content myself with buying from men of our own State 
whose reputation is at stake, and who will deliver goods as 
promised. ' H. a. ii. 
Maryland 
It. N.-Y.—There are some honorable nurserymen In Ohio. 
They should not suffer loss through the work of such rogues 1 
Tell II. E. A., on page 396, to have, nothing to do with 
those Ohio tree agents, who offer to plant an orchard on the 
plan he mentions. They are a fake. The plan they work 
here in central Pennsylvania was to induce the farmer to 
buy a lot of trees at the low price of 50 cents, the farmer to 
plant on a northwest exposure; then the firm would send 
an expert nurseryman every year for seven years, and would 
take the seventh year’s crop as pay for their work of prun¬ 
ing and spraying, etc. All this was well in theory, hut when 
it came to the practical side of the scheme the tree agent 
was nowhere. The trees, whether apple or peach, were of 
a low-grade quality, small aud crooked, such as can he pur¬ 
chased at any honest nursery for about 10 cents or $1 per 
dozen, and after the agent had collected the bill and worked 
as many suckers as he could find left for new pastures to 
work and skin more unsuspecting farmers with northwest 
exposures. That inquirer on page 396 tells the truth when 
he says that the agent has worked for 20 years iu Penn¬ 
sylvania, but tiie localities that he worked are to-day the 
wiser, if the poorer, for his work ! Set the dog on all agents 
with such schemes; tell them to set out the trees on their 
own hook and care for them as they claim they will, and at 
the end of seven years you will pay the cost of the trees and 
give them the crop for their work, and see how they will 
skin out. x. F. m. 
BALL BEARINGS ON FARM WAGONS. 
One of our readers wishes to know whether there is 
any farm wagon made with ball or roller bearings. We 
understand that carriages are made with these ball bear¬ 
ings on the axle, but we are r.ot sure that anyone has yet 
put on the market a farm wagon with this attachment. 
Do you think that such bearings would be desirable? 
We know of nothing in the way of farm wagons made 
with ball or roller bearings, and, in our opinion, it would 
not be advisable or practical to try to place farm wagons 
on the market with such bearings. 
Racine, Wis. mitchell & lewis co. 
We have never seen a farm wagon made with roller 
bearings. Roller bearings undoubtedly somewhat dimin¬ 
ish the draft. On the other hand, they are rather deli¬ 
cate, and if not properly cared for will soon come to 
grief. The only way that they could be used would be 
on wagons having solid steel axle, and the additional 
expense would be not far from $60 per wagon. 
Owego, N. Y. champion wagon co. 
We do not understand there has been anything suc¬ 
cessful brought out yet in this line. There are several 
different makes that are being experimented with, but 
we know of nothing satisfactory having been brought 
out. We have no doubt the ball bearing made in a sub¬ 
stantial manner would be a success, but anything of this 
kind has to have so much experimenting with before it 
becomes popular. new conklin wagon co. 
Olean, N. Y. 
There have been several attempts to make a farm 
wagon with ball bearings, but so far as we know at pres¬ 
ent there are no farm wagons manufactured with ball or 
roller bearings, and there would not be any particular de¬ 
mand for a wagon of this kind for the reason that two 
horses can readily pull all the load that is desirable to 
handle by an. ordinary farmer upon the ordinary farm 
wagons as now built. There is no farm utensil which is 
sold so cheap to the farmer as a wagon. A ball-bearing 
wagon would be expensive to build, and would not, there¬ 
fore, be in general demand, because It could not be sold 
In competition with regular wagons as now made. 
Troy, O. the troy wagon works co. 
About five years ago we experimented along this line, 
but were not satisfied with the result, and as it material¬ 
ly qdded to the cost of the wagon, and at that time there 
had been quite an advance in the price of farm wagons 
owing to the extreme advances in the prices of material, 
labor, etc., w’e did not attempt to follow the matter any 
further. It will undoubtedly be a very good thing, and 
the writer, who is interested in a local retail implement 
store here, lecalls a sale of a heavy dray the past sea¬ 
son to a bre^very at Cambridge, O. The deal hinged on 
our being able to equip the dray with roller bearings. 
This was done by our purchasing the roller-bearing axlo 
stubs and having them put on the dray by a local con¬ 
cern here, the cost being about $10. This you see would 
be entirely out of reason for equipment on farm wagons, 
but it might possibly be that a cheaper equipment could 
be got up. BROWN MFG. CO. 
Zanesville. O. _ 
THE COOPER JERSEY SALE.—The annual event among 
Jersey breeders is the auction sale of T. S. Cooper, Coopers- 
burg, l’a. This is held on Decoration Day (May 30), and 
this year's offering is said to be one of the best of the entire 
series. About 90 head of Jerseys will be sold. Some years 
ago Mr. Cooper bought the celebrated Jersey bull Golden 
Fern's Lad—called the best bull ever seen on the Island of 
Jersey. This bull has been bred to a number of imported 
cows, aud these cows will be offered for sale. Thus a 
breeder has a chance to buy a fine cow aud also secure some 
of the blood of Golden Fern’s Lad. It should be remembered 
that the cows are fine specimens, combining some of the best 
blood in the Island. Every person who is interested in 
Jersey cattle should, if possible, attend this sale. The large 
catalogue will be sent upon application to Mr. Cooper. 
