1904 
449 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—The largest award of damages made in years 
to compensate a victim of a grade crossing accident was 
given May 16, when Robert Jackson, a boy, was given a ver¬ 
dict against the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company 
for $11,404. It was shown that the gates were raised when 
the boy was crossing the tracks. ... .At the second ses¬ 
sion of the National and International good roads conven¬ 
tion, at St. Louis, May 17, the principal speaker was Gen. 
Nelson A. Miles, who declared himself to be thoroughly in 
sympathy with the movement for better roads. He recom¬ 
mended that 5,000 men In the army be used in times of peace 
as an engineering corps to locate the best and most feasible 
roads and co-operate with the surveyors of various States, 
lie said that the Government would be vastly benefited by 
such a plan when it became necessary to use such roads. 
The preliminary work of surveying could be done by the 
army, he said, and the work then left to the State to be car¬ 
ried to completion. General Miles said he would have in¬ 
troduced in Congress a resolution or bill to this effect. . . . 
One hundred striking union coal miners, who refused to be 
registered by the military authorities of Las Animas Co., 
Col., which is under martial law, were brought to Trinidad, 
May 19, as military prisoners from the strikers’ camp near 
Ludlow. They were forced to march 18 miles under cavalry 
escort. As the county jail is already full, a “bull pen” will 
be constructed in which the strikers will be herded. Major 
Zeph T. Hill, commanding the military forces, decided on 
the policy of registering all the 3,000 idle men in the county 
in consequence of a number of fires that have occurred in the 
vicinity of strikers’ camps. . . . An explosion in the 
factory of the Lake Shore Novelty Company, at Findlay, O., 
a concern which makes Fourth of July explosives, killed 10 
men, women and children, May 22, injured 20 more and 
completely wrecked the plant. The cause probably will 
never be known, and such of the plant as was not destroyed 
by the explosion was consumed by the fire which followed. 
The force of the explosion was felt for 20 miles. Not a 
window in the town was left whole. The loss is $60,000. 
Laura Walton, of Oklona, and Lena Hilliard, of 
Lamont, Miss., aged 15 and 16 years, respectively, who at¬ 
tended the Columbus, Miss., Industrial Institute and College, 
were swallowed up May 21 by the quicksands of the Tom- 
blgbee River, at Waverly, while at a college picnic. Thirty 
of the college girls were at the picnic, and several went In 
wading. A Mrs. Holmes, of Perry County, fell Into a quick¬ 
sand, or deep hole, in the river, and screamed for help. The 
Misses Walton and Hilliard went to her assistance, but in 
saving her life lost theirs. . . . Three persons were 
blown to pieces and nine were injured May 23 by an explo¬ 
sion in the factory of the Independent Fire Works Company, 
on the outskirts of Camden, N. J. Two of the injured will 
die. The dead were so badly mangled that it was hours 
before they could be identified. The plant of the fireworks 
company consists of a two-story brick building and four 
frame sheds which are used as storehouses for the ingredients 
of the explosive which the company manufactures. The.ex¬ 
plosive is said to be patented and is a secret. 
FRUIT AND CROP PROSPECTS. 
Apples, pears, plums and cherries promise well; no 
peaches in my immediate vicinity. Wheat badly winter- 
killed; not 50 per cent of full crop probable. 
Avon, N. Y. w. G. M. 
The fruit trees in this section are looking fine; all kinds 
are in full bloom. I think perhaps there was some damage 
done to peach trees in some low places. I have 500 peach 
trees situated on top of a hill that are in full bloom. 
Clyde, N. Y. w. b. m. 
As far as my observations go the prospects are good; all 
fruit tree blossoms full. We have had no frost to speak of; 
it was a little cold and wet when the cherries and plums 
were in bloom. It has been and is so wet that a good many 
of the farmers have not sown their oats yet 
East Penfield, N. Y. w. a. b. 
I am happy to say the present outlook for fruit In our sec¬ 
tion is very good indeed. Apples, early and late; peaches, 
pears, plums and cherries are all blossoming full; damage 
done by severe Winter much less than we feared. Orchards 
will be well cared for, pruning, spraying and cultivation all 
receiving more attention than in former years. 
Kent, N. Y. I. w. c. 
I have been through Wayne County along the lake section. 
The prospects for a large crop of fruit were never better 
along the lake; through the western half of the county the 
prospect for a large crop of peaches is good; this is the 
peach section of Wayne County. Through eastern Wayne 
along lake it was from five to ten degrees colder during 
past Winter; not many peach blossoms in sight. 
North Rose, N. Y. G. L. D. 
The outlook for fruit in this locality is fully as good as 
it was last year. Peaches, cherries, plums and pears are 
now in full bloom, as full as they can be. Apples will be 
equally full in a few days. I don’t think that fruit trees 
ever wintered, any better than last season In this locality. 
Bugs and worms are very few, although I am spraying the 
same as ever. The weather having been cold and wet this 
Spring there has been a great deal more trimming and prun¬ 
ing done in this locality than usual. 
Wyoming, N. Y. w. H. R. 
Here with us it is almost too wet just now; is cool and 
backward. Wheat harvest will be later than usual. The 
early-sown oats are somewhat thin on the ground, but with 
wheat looks well. Our lead mines have helped the farmers, 
and given them a good cash market for all they raise, and 
the large number of saloons give us two courts the year 
through with the crime and distress they cause. I don’t 
see how it is possible for one who calls himself a Christian 
to say they have to be licensed. c. s. l. 
Jasper Co., Mo. 
The season is very backward, and but very little sowing 
done as yet, and no prospect at present of any being done 
very soon, as the ground Is wet and it is still raining. 
Wheat is looking very bad, worst in years, but grass la 
looking well and promises a good hay crop. On the whole, 
farmers are pretty blue, but as they have been in hot water 
so much during the past two years they are becoming some¬ 
what hardened. Fruit promises well excepting pears and 
peaches, which show the effects of the hard Winter. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. e. d. o. 
The apple trees of this section are fairly outdoing them¬ 
selves with bloom ; the hardier varieties of peaches are blos¬ 
soming full, and nearly all varieties have plenty of bloom. 
Pears and plums are full, and the damage of last Winter 
to fruit trees seems very small. Strawberries are badly 
injured, some pieces more than half dead; Alfalfa nearly 
all ruined; wheat poorest in years; grass in good shape, but 
late; oats not half sown and farm work generally very back¬ 
ward (May 20). j. q. w. 
Shortsville, N. Y. 
The fruit crop is all right in this locality ; no apparent 
damage can be observed by a careful microscopical exam¬ 
ination. Anthers are strong and perfect, with abundance of 
pollen; pistil perfect. This statement applies to apples, 
pears, plums, cherries and quinces. My peaches were se¬ 
verely injured by spraying for several years past. What 
bloom is on them is all right. Altogether the fruit outlook 
is good, but little, if any, on those trees which bore last 
year. d. r. 
Canandaigua, N. Y. 
It Is too early yet to give much of an idea as to fruit pros¬ 
pects ; so far, however, everything appears all right, and 
outlook for a crop of fruit is good. The weather so far 
has been cold and damp; good weather to grow fungus. 
No trees yet in full bloom (May 18), though the cherries, 
pears and plums begin to show very well. The apples are 
yet in the bud, no blossoms showing pink except the 
Duchess and such early varieties. We are on the lake shore. 
Farther south a few miles only the apples are showing the 
pink of the blossom; the cherries, plums and pears are out 
and full of bloom; peaches are blossoming full enough, so 
that at present writing we may say the prospects for a 
fruit crop are good. More trimming is being done than 
usual, and more spraying, though I think it would be a 
hard job for some of those who spray to tell why and what 
they spray for. There has been some one on our road 
spraying every week since the snow went off. Some of them 
have sprayed lately for the curl leaf on the peach, and I 
guess they will get it. The buds on peach trees are just 
ready to burst, and show the pink very plain, and yet the 
people are spraying for curl leaf. Not much farming done 
yet. I cannot yet tell just how much damage, if any, has 
been done by the Winter; I Imagine some. The trees may 
have vitality enough to bloom, set the fruit and partly 
develop it, and then it may drop, so it may be some time yet 
before we can get at the facts. w. H. o. 
Olcott, N. Y. 
Pears, plums and cherries have blossomed very full. Apple 
trees are just coming into bloom, and as far as I have seen 
there will be a full average of blossoms. The apple and 
pear crop last year was very large, of the finest quality. 
One firm in Batavia shipped about 50 carloads of pears, 
most of them wrapped in paper and shipped in boxes, many 
of them going to Europe. Peaches will be almost a total 
failure. The writer has 400 trees of bearing age, and we 
will not have enough for our own use; four trees of Triumph 
have blossomed. There are not as many blossoms on the rest 
of the trees as on one Triumph. The trees are not leafing 
out as they should, and I am afraid they have been badly 
injured by the Winter. Spraying has commenced. The most 
successful growers spray extensively and cultivate • their 
orchards. Wheat will be the next thing to an entire failure; 
many pieces will be plowed up and sown to oats or planted 
with corn, beans or potatoes. We have had rain and cloudy 
weather for the past seven days (May 21) ; grass is growing 
nicely; stock just turned out. c. f. t. 
Batavia, N. Y. 
Apples, peaches, plums, pears and cherries are blossoming 
full. The applek will blossom as full as in 1896. I have 
been through about 30 orchards in this section, and have 
not found a tree that does not show a full blossom. Trees 
are looking very well, foliage starting very rank, and very 
few insects. It is yet too early to say anything as to fungus. 
Work is very backward. Our Spring was so late that 
farmers have only fairly started to work their land. The 
outlook for strawberries is good. Raspberries were badly 
broken by snow. F- **• 
Ontario, N. Y. 
Our apple prospects were never better, nearly every tree 
having all the bloom it- can carry. I may have some expe¬ 
rience in thinning this year. I regret to say our peach trees 
are about used up, being frozen to the snow line. I can see 
no difference in Stringfellow or In those set the regular way, 
or in the block cultivated; all suffered the same, those out 
of the range of the wind being practically uninjured. Some 
varieties of Japan plums suffered severely, others adjoining 
in bloom; European plums and pears not injured at all. 
Crops in general are looking fine. g. g. h. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
Wheat here is almost an entire failure. It will not aver¬ 
age one bushel per acre through this county. But grass is 
doing fine and looks like making heavy crop. Peaches show 
a better bloom than last year, and pears, cherries, plums and 
apples are as good a show as was ever made. The weather 
is cold and very rainy, and but little Spring grain is yet 
sown. Our power canal seems now assured; i. e., the pro¬ 
posed power canal from Niagara River to the head of the 
Gulf just west of the city, and thence down the Eighteen 
Mile Creek (so-called) to Lake Ontario. This will go right 
by one of our farms and give us a fine mill site. This is a 
much more valuable franchise than the Falls plant, and we 
are all happy. J. s. woodward. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
The prospects were never better for a full bloom for all 
kinds of fruit trees than now. A week ago some peach 
trees indicated that a part of the branches had been- so 
injured by the cold Winter that no buds would start, but 
at this time the buds have started and they, look as though 
they would blossom out as full as the rest of the tree. No 
other kind of fruit trees seem to be affected in that way. 
May 15 there was quite a tad hailstorm that went across the 
southeast corner of this county, and now it has been raining 
for two days with prospects of more rain. I cannot te.ll 
w'hat effect it will have on the fruit blossoms, but am 
afraid It will do more or less injury. Oats are not all sown 
yet, and but very little planting has been done. 
Honeoye Falls, N. Y. R. c. p. 
With us there will be a fair bloom for most fruits. Kings, 
Greenings and Russets will blossom full, also most Summer 
and Fall varieties. Baldwins, which bore heavily last year, 
will not bloom much, but others are full enough for a fair 
crop. Peaches were nearly all killed by the severe Winter. 
Plums, pears and cherries have a full bloom. Apple trees 
are just beginning to bloom. Our trees are looking fine, and 
there seem to be fewer insects than for several years. This 
years I have a gasoline engine to run the spray pump. I use 
four nozzles on one line of hose, and can spray from 200 to 
300 30-year-old apple trees per day. If I had a larger pump 
I could use eight nozzles instead of four, and two lines of 
hose. The engine is a three-horse power vertical, and uses 
about a gallon of gasoline in 10 hours. One can do much 
better and more thorough work with power than by hand. 
We have sprayed once and shall spray twice more. 
Le Roy, N. Y. c. e. a. 
Peaches are now in full bloom, and I never saw them look 
so promising. If nothing happens to them I do not see 
where we can get help to thin them as they should be done. 
I have thousands of trees, and have not seen one but what 
has plenty of buds. We have no trees In this section that 
were injured by the cold last Winter. The cold late Spring 
has delayed the blossoming time about two weeks, and we 
feel pretty safe from frost now. Apples and pears will 
blossom full; cherries have been white as snow ; in fact, I 
don’t think all fruit has looked so well in years, if it ever 
did. Apple growers are very busy spraying at present; 
some use power sprayers and more hand pumps. My neigh¬ 
bor, Foster Udell, who had a power sprayer a year ago, is 
now using a hand pump. He has two men to pump and 
they pump 15 minutes each and keep up a pressure of 130. 
How is that for hand power? g. b. n. 
Clarkson, N. Y. 
I have made most careful Inquiry for the Government as 
regards the conditions of the peach crop, and can assure 
you it will be a total failure In this county. We have 400 
trees, and on one tree there are two blossoms; that is all. 
The loss in our nursery is very heavy, but the plums, apples 
and pears are in no way affected. There is a growing ten¬ 
dency to put out peach orchards, but this heavy loss 
among the young trees is quite discouraging. We have 
had an exceedingly cold week. Still the country never was 
more beautiful, although vegetation is far behind, and farm¬ 
ing operations much delayed. We are now (May 18) sell¬ 
ing from our gardens radish, lettuce, rhubarb and aspar¬ 
agus, and have been quite as early as last year, as the 
drought kept everything back. Fully 35 per cent more 
potatoes are being planted or have been In Riverhead town¬ 
ship. F. R. T. 
Suffolk Co., N. Y. 
I have recently passed through 13 counties of western New 
York and made observations of 228 apple orchards, with the 
following results: One hundred and sixty-five show appar¬ 
ently full blossoming; 34 about two-thirds of full bloom; 18 
about one-half; 6 one-quarter; 5 nothing. The general con¬ 
dition of the trees is good, and spraying in most sections is 
well under way. Apparently more care is being taken of 
orchards than ever before. My observations also covered 
many pear, plum, cherry and peach orchards. Pear and 
cherry are blossoming full, plum about two-thirds and peach 
very light except near the lakes. In the grape belt of Chau¬ 
tauqua County grapes are starting well and vineyards well 
up on the hill showing no apparent Injury from the Winter. 
I am speaking now of the Concord grape, which is grown 
almost universally here. Niagaras have not generally fared 
so well. Everything now points to a full crop of Concords, 
except in vineyards injured by root-worm, Fidia Viticida. 
This pest is general from Brocton to Ripley, and several 
vineyards have been destroyed by it, while many more have 
been seriously injured. Many vineyardists are preparing to 
take advantage of the results of my investigations and exper¬ 
iments looking to the control of this pest, which I have car¬ 
ried on near Westfield for the past two years—I have demon¬ 
strated the futility of the use of any poison spray for the 
destruction of the beetle, but have shown conclusively that 
this insect can be controlled, cultivation breaking cells of the 
pupm, usually about the first to tenth of June. This will 
destroy from 50 to 75 per cent of the pupae. Then by col¬ 
lecting the beetles before they have deposited their eggs, not 
enough grubs will find their way to the roots to do any 
appreciable injury. Several very ingenious beetle catchers 
have been devised the past year, some of which will do 
effective work over an area of 10 acres per day. Many v.ine- 
yardists who have hesitated about planting for the past two 
years, fearing the result of the attack of the Fidia, are 
planting freely this year after noting the results of my work. 
The vineyards in the Keuka Lake region and the Naples 
Valley are apparently in good condition and a full crop 
seems to be assured. J. jay baudbn. 
Inspector Department of Agriculture. 
My observations are limited to the southern part of 
Wyoming County and the eastern part of Genesee County, 
in which section I have the superintendency of quite a 
number of farms; this embraces the main fruit belt of this 
section. As to apples, 1 can see no injury from the Winter, 
some of the succulent growth of last season is dead, but 
I think it the work of the Apple aphis of last Summer. All 
varieties are blossoming fully with the possible exception 
of Baldwins, which bore last year. The blossoms have not 
yet opened and are quite late. Pears are in bloom and 
promise a full crop, although some of the trees are weakened 
by the effects of the Pear psylla, which was very prevalent 
last season; varieties raised here are nearly all Bartlett and 
Duchess. Peaches on high land show some blossom ; many 
of the small limbs are killed by the severe Winter. Quinces, 
which are raised here commercially to some extent, are quite 
seriously injured by the Winter. Up to the present time 
there is a notable decrease of insect enemies and fungus, 
although spraying is being done to the common extent. Our 
season is very backward, and not one-third of the oat crop 
has been sown (May 19), orchard trimming has been quite 
thoroughly attended to, but not much cultivation of orchards 
as yet. Scarcity and cost of labor will probably cause it to 
be neglected to a large extent. The wheat crop has been 
the greatest sufferer from the season, and will not make 
one-third of a crop. Tenant farmers are feeling quite dis¬ 
couraged over the outlook, as it Is now raining and the 
ground is too wet for cultivation. w. l. b. 
Pavilion, N. Y. 
Apples are showing a phenomenal blossom, with very clean 
bright foliage. The fruit caterpillar seems to be almost 
exterminated. I have seen but one nest thus far, whereas 
two years ago there were scores on nearly every tree. 
Cherries, pears and plums show a large blossom, with indi¬ 
cations of a heavy crop of fruit. I have heard it said that 
Bartlett pear buds were injured by the Winter. Not having 
that variety old enough to bear on my place, and there 
being none nearby, I am unable to say whether this state¬ 
ment is true or not. The peach crop is somewhat in doubt. 
On Elberta, which constitutes about one-half my orchard of 
1,000 trees, four-fifths of the buds were killed by the Winter. 
The other half, Fitzgerald, show up much better; 50 per cent 
of the blossoms probably lived, enough for as large a crop 
as the trees ought to bear, being young. I was not familiar 
with the characteristics of this variety, It being the first 
year of bearing with me. The blossoms looked rather pale 
and sickly, and I feared injury either to the buds or trees, 
but fruit seems to be setting all right. This variety cer¬ 
tainly seems hardier in the bud than Elberta, and for sev¬ 
eral reasons I am hoping much from it. Small fruits so far 
as my observations go all promise a heavy yield of fruit. 
Of course the danger period is not yet past. We may yet 
have killing frosts, or cold rain may blast the blossoms, but 
we are getting pretty well past the time for heavy frosts at 
least. It was May 1 last year when cherry and peach buds 
were killed in this vicinity, and the record of the weather 
department shows that it is seldom we get anything severe 
enough to kill fruit buds after that date. 
Pittsford, N. Y. a. d. p. 
CALIFORNIA NOTES.—Our first mess of strawberries 
came on to the table in a short cake on April 18. Aspar¬ 
agus had been coming along for several weeks. Logan and 
Mammoth blackberries are in bloom and look very promis¬ 
ing. Sweet corn of the earliest kind was up and growing 
nicely. I plant Sibley squash seed for table use and the 
large stock squash seed for the cows from the first to middle 
of May. It is astonishing what crops of stock squash we 
can raise by planting after the rains are all over, provided, 
of course, that the land is in good order now and kept 
well cultivated so as to retain moisture. By late planting 
we avoid the bugs. I have planted enough sets for family 
use of Gray’s Gardena dewberry, Phenomenal and Primus 
blackberry. The two latter are of Burbank origin. We 
look forward to plenty of berries next year from these 
new varieties. This has been a favorable season for Burr 
clover to start, and we have plowed under acres of very 
heavy growth. This clover will not grow readily unless the 
rains are followed by fogs or cloudy weather. I am sure 
that the burrs will remain several years either on top of 
the ground or covered up under the ground unless the con¬ 
ditions are right for its growth. There is nothing that I 
know of better for an orchard than Burr clover. It roots 
deeply and rapidly, having the effect of thoroughly pulver¬ 
izing the soil as well as enriching it. I have a problem 
to solve in one of my orchards, whereby to replace foxtail 
with Burr clover. Early plowing will kill the foxtail, but 
will likely leave the land too loose for the clover seed. I 
have thought of plowing and rolling, sowing plenty of clover 
and rolling again; will try it next season and report. 
Santa Clara Co., Cal. _ h. g. keesling. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
It is not uncommon to meet people who are always well 
shaven, but always have sore faces. In most cases the cause 
is In the soap used. When the very best shaving soaps, such 
as Williams’, are to be had for so little money, there is abso¬ 
lutely no excuse for using unfit articles. If such people 
would send for the free sample of Williams’ soap mentioned 
in the advertisement elsewhere they would never go back to 
common soaps. 
No engine on the market has more good points than the 
Rumely. It works on any road that can be traveled over 
by a traction engine, and goes freely over places that many 
engines of this type would fail to cross. Backed by skill 
and experience, the Rumely traction engine has stood every 
test it has been subjected to. Those who are interested should 
write to the M. Rumely Co., La Porte, Ind., for their cata¬ 
logue. This book is sent free to every reader of this paper 
who asks for it. 
Farmers who do hauling of any kind ought to send to the 
Electric Wheel Co., at Quincy, Ill., for their new booklet, 
“Wheel Sense.” This is a booklet which will not take many 
minutes to run through and it is so full of good, sound sense 
on the hauling question that you ought not overlook it. Of 
course it tells about the Electric metal wheels and the Elec¬ 
tric handy wagons, wide-tired, convenient and labor-saving. 
Send for the booklet and see what hundreds of wide-awake 
farmers have discovered. 
Among the large agricultural machinery exhibits at the 
St. Louis World’s Fair, that of the Dederick Agricultural 
Machine Works deserves notice, being the largest, finest and 
most complete exhibit in its line ever made in the world. 
Presses of all kinds are included in the exhibit. The 
Dederick Works at Albany, N. Y., now conducted by P. K. 
Dederick’s Sons, are known the world over as the oldest and 
largest in existence, confining their output to the Dederick 
patents, of which there are about 300. 
The old “hit or miss” method of scattering manure from 
a wagon was always wasteful of material and time. Oper¬ 
ating a Twentieth Century distributor is less work for driver 
and team because the whole mechanism works easily. It 
doesn’t clog, distributes evenly, can be instantly regulated 
without the driver leaving his seat. The Twentieth Century 
distributes lime or fertilizer as well as manure. The J. S. 
Kemp Mfg. Co. is located in Newark Valley, N. Y., and 
Waterloo, Iowa. They have issued recently a new catalogue, 
which they send free anywhere. 
“Jones, he pays the freight,” has become a well-known 
phrase in every farming community. The phrase was coined 
by General Edward F. Jones, the present head of the scale 
company, “Jones, of Binghamton.” General Jones Is a 
unique character in the history of industrial America. He 
is a veteran of the Civil War, a popular public official of 
New York State, having been lieutenant-governor for six 
years, a public spirited citizen at all limes and an author of 
renown. Ills recent book. “Richard Baxter.” is now in its 
sixth edition. Ills idea of “paying the freight” or telling a 
customer the exact cost of a scale at his railroad station has 
forced nearly all manufacturers to make a delivered price 
on all of their products. Any of our readers desiring it can 
obtain a photograph of the General by writing to Jones of 
Binghamton, Binghamton, N. Y., or a free price list of scale* 
at the same time. 
