1904 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
465 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Fire at Yazoo City, Miss., May 25, resulted 
in a loss of $2,000,000. . . . Ten miners were suffocated 
by gas and sulphur fumes from a small locomotive May 25 
in the workings of the Summit Branch Coal Company ac 
Williamstown, Dauphin County, Pa. The accident was one 
of the most peculiar in the history of the anthracite mines, 
and no reason for it can be assigned by the officials. The 
dead are: Michael Golden, general inside foreman of the 
company, and nine miners and laborers. The tunnel in 
which the disaster occurred is a mile long, and is used to 
convey the coal mined in the workings in the Bear Valley 
to the breaker in the Williams Valley. . . . Former 
Assistant Attorney-General James N. Tyner, who was Post¬ 
master-General in the Cabinet of President Grant and who 
has held many important offices of trust under the Govern¬ 
ment, and Harrison J. Barrett, former Assistant Attorney of 
the Post Office Department and nephew of General Tyner, 
were acquitted in Criminal Court No. 1, May 25, of the 
charge of conspiracy and bribery in connection with the 
postal scandals.' . . . Charles Lester Murphy, a big, raw, 
barefooted boy living in a ramshackle farmhouse at Berke¬ 
ley Heights, N. J., was arraigned before United States Com¬ 
missioner Whitehead at Newark, May 27, for swindling 
through the mails. lie admitted his guilt. He was arrest¬ 
ed in his bare feet at the farmhouse in the morning by 
Postal Inspector Meharg, but was allowed to put on shoes 
before being taken to Newark. Murphy is a tall, fair haired 
boy without more than a country education. lie appears to 
be 18 years old, but says he is 21. lie denies that he has 
any accomplices. lie was committed to jail in Newark in 
default of $1,000 bail. The accusation against Murphy is 
that he solicited mail orders for stock in the Lunar Oil 
Company, which has no existence except in his own imag¬ 
ination, and that he took flights in offering to sell Western 
Union and Marconi Wireless at ridiculously low prices. lie 
admitted buying a mailing list of promising rural victims 
and said that he had received $500 from gullible people in a 
few weeks. lie smiled when somebody said that “Lunar” 
was a good name for his fictitious company. Murphy’s hands 
are covered with tattooing and he appears to be as raw as 
any backwoods boy could possibly be. He got his mail 
through Fanwood and Scotch Plains under the name of 
James B. Murphy, and was easily traced by the inspector, 
lie said he had a brother who was a draughtsman and had 
been working for an Arkansas mining company, but he him¬ 
self had read considerably about mining schemes. 
May 29 seven freight and" coal piers belonging to the Lack¬ 
awanna Railroad and a number of tugs and canal boats were 
destroyed by fire on the river front between Jersey City 
and Hoboken, N. J. It was near the scene of the former 
disastrous Ilamburg-American Line lire. The damage will 
reach $l,000,o00. ... A fire in New Orleans, La., May 
29, caused by crossed electric wires, resulted in loss amount¬ 
ing to $350,000. . . . The trial of the case of the State 
of Texas against the .T. M. Guffey Petroleum Company and 
the Beaumont Confederated Oil and Pipe Line Company, 
both of Beaumont, for penalties aggregating $2,250,000 for 
alleged violation of the anti trust act, has been begun in tne 
District Court of Travis County. It is alleged that the 
Guffey company acquired the holdings of the Beaumont 
Confederated for the purpose of limiting the production of 
the latter company, and that it committed other acts in re¬ 
straint of trade. The case is being tried before a jury, most 
of whom are farmers. Testimony was offered by the State 
showing that the holdings of the Beaumont Confederated 
were acquired by the Guffey company and that some of the 
officers of the two companies were the same. . . . Mat¬ 
thew Stanley qjuay, senior Senator for Pennsylvania, died at 
Beaver, May 28, aged 70. 
ADMINISTRATION.—In connection with the decision of 
the Post Office Department to take steps to eliminate objec¬ 
tionable advertisements from the newspapers, it was stated 
May 25 that all these cases will be taken up individually on 
their merits. Each case will be considered carefully by the 
law officers of the Department, and when it is found to in¬ 
volve violations of the law governing such matters the 
American Newspaper Publishers’ Association will be notified. 
That body, according to the present plan, is to notify all 
papers that are members of the organization that the adver¬ 
tisement is contrary to law. Papers that are not repre¬ 
sented in the Publishers’ Association will be notified directly 
by the Department, and wherever papers so notified refuse 
to eliminate the objectionable matter I he Post Office Depart¬ 
ment will exclude them from the mails. . . . The Bogota 
Government has intimated that it does not care to receive 
a Minister from the United States, because of the bitterness 
felt by Colombia against this country. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Missouri State Horticultural 
Society will hold its Summer meeting in the Horticultural 
Building of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis 
June 7-10. Special premiums amounting to $150 are offered 
for strawberries. 
The next session of the New York State Grange will be 
held at Ogdensburg, beginning February (, 1905. 
The American Seed Trade Association will hold its twenty- 
second annual convention at the Forest Park University 
Hotel, St. Louis, June 21 to 23. 
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society offers its usual 
special prizes this season for gardens and garden products. 
For schedules address tne secretary, William P. Rich, Hor¬ 
ticultural Ilall, Boston, Mass. 
Professor Bailey, of the Cornell College of Agriculture, an¬ 
nounces that the college will add to its curriculum a school 
of landscape gardening. The recent appropriation of $250,- 
000 made by the State has enabled the college to branch 
out in this ‘direction. This school of landscape work will 
be started with the city of Ithaca as the laboratory in which 
the students will work. One of Professor Bailey’s schemes 
is to induce the city of Ithaca to give one street to the 
College for experiment. This thoroughfare the college will 
beautify and develop in a systematic manner as an example 
of what may be done by scientific landscape work. The 
low swamp lands at this end of Lake Cayuga have always 
been unsightly and a menace to health. These Professor 
Bailey proposes to convert into a park system as soon as the 
present plans for lowering the lake level mature. Professor 
Bailey asserts that when the plans of the college are carried 
out it will be the garden city of America. The university 
has also bought two farms which later will be transformed 
Into parks. 
The cornerstone of the machine shop of the Farmers’ 
Co-Operative Machine Company was laid at Springfield, O., 
May 21, in the presence of 1,500 people. The principal ad¬ 
dresses were made by S. H. Ellis, of the National Grange, 
General J. Warren Keifer and A. O. Bradfute, President of 
the International Live-stock Association. William N. White- 
ley is at the head of this new enterprise, which is backed by 
the Grangers of the country. The shops will make every¬ 
thing in the way of agricultural implements. In time the 
company expects to give employment to 3,000 men. 
At the meeting of the Central Montana Wool Growers’ 
Association, held at Miles City last month, one of the chief 
subjects of discussion was the exorbitant prices the sheep 
shearers' union is endeavoring to enforce this year for shear¬ 
ing. The shearers of the range country have formed a strong 
union and have fixed an average price of 12 cents per head 
for shearing sheep. The leading association of wool growers 
have entered into an alliance called the Montana Wool 
Growers’ Alliance, and are endeavoring to secure an agree¬ 
ment with the shearers on a basis of eight cents per head 
for ewes, yearlings and two year olds, and nine cents per 
head for three year old wethers. 
A NURSERY CASE IN IOWA. 
A nurseryman of Des Moines, Iowa, whom we will call 
Brown sold to a citizen who will be known as Smith early 
in the Spring of 1902 a quantity of nursery stock. Mr. 
Smith came to Mr. Brown representing that he, Smith, had 
a suburban place which he desired to convert into a fruit gar¬ 
den or orchard, and then and tnere contracted an order with 
Brown for trees and plants to the amount of one hundred or 
more dollars. Brown, acting in good faith, prepared and 
delivered the goods in due season to the place as contracted, 
and the trees were left in charge of a woman who renre- 
sented to be the mother of the man Smith. The order was 
contracted on the installment plan, but after a few small 
payments had been made Smith acquired bad habits, and 
was thrown out of work, rendering him unable to pay the 
remainder. After Brown failed to get anything but promises 
from Smith, on further investigation Brown found the place 
on which the trees were left to belong to the mother, who 
received the goods, and in no way did Smith have any title. 
Brown then proceeded through a legal course and filed a 
mechanic's lien against the property. Mrs. Smith, the 
widowed mother, set up a plea that the place being her 
homestead, was exempt, but suit for foreclosure was brought 
and the Smiths came Into court, with the evidence that Mrs. 
Smith had bought the trees from her son and paid him cash 
for them, and that in no way had she contracted with 
Brown. Mrs. Smith swore that her son was not nor ever 
had been her agent legally or otherwise, and that he had been 
a paying boarder at her house from the time he was 14 
years old. Mrs. Smith also swore that a large part of the 
stock had been sold to another party for cash and was 
planted on another place. Mrs. Smith admitted the fact, 
however, that the goods had all been delivered in one bunch 
and at the same time on her grounds. The main plea of the 
defense was that the man Smith was the only party known 
in the contract with Brown, and that Mrs. Smith should 
not be held liable for her son, who was judgment proof. The 
vital points in question were introduced and the defense 
made a vehement effort to convince the court that nursery 
stock was not a proper consideration for a mechanic’s lien, 
as the statutes declared. The court held that the planting 
of nursery stock on a place was a permanent and useful 
Improvement and that Mrs. Smith had knowingly and with¬ 
out protest allowed and permitted the stock to come and 
remain on her premises, with the knowledge that Brown 
expected the trees to be planted thereon, rendering her liable 
for the payment of the remainder of the bill. Though the 
defense had a good lawyer for their legal adviser the judg¬ 
ment was paid as rendered and the defense was reconciled. 
History of economics declares that no law can be made 
that can cover justice in all cases, but the general interest 
of the greatest good must be the ruling power of all courts. 
It being a known fact that every locality has scheming in¬ 
dividuals who manage to be judgment-proof for the express 
purpose of avoiding honest obligations under all Jaw of 
business and equity, and this decision being the test case 
in Iowa, it will be the stepping stone to other like cases in 
this and other States, and will no doubt be an added means 
to a legal means of reaching justice that under all other 
heads of the statutes would fail. s. n. l. 
Des Moines, la. 
FRUIT AND CROP PROSPECTS. 
Crops are looking fine so far. Potatoes are up from six 
to 10 inches, corn the same ; a large acreage of both. Peas 
for the canning factory are the finest I have ever known, 
and will be ready for canning inside of 10 days. I should 
say about 2,000 acres. Beans are also looking very well; 
they need hot weather. With the exception of cherries 
(which are very promising) the outlook for all kinds of fruit 
is very poor. j. l. ii. 
Freehold, N. J. 
The weather is cooler again, 45 degrees at sunrise (May 
27). Fine for work, but too cool for corn. Only three 
or four days yet that have reached 80 degrees in warmest 
part of day. There is much complaint of seed corn and 
oats. Pastures and meadows are fine; just rain enough in 
this section. All fruit trees are blooming and setting well. 
Blackberry and other small fruit canes are nearly destroyed 
by mice and rabbits. Potatoes $1.50 per bushel; butter 18 
cents per pound. w. s. s. 
Elmoville, Ill. 
Prospects are generally good. I don't know that I ever 
saw apple trees blossom fuller: pears, cherries and plums 
bid fair to yield a full crop; in fact, all tree fruit with 
exception of peaches, which were very badly winterkilled. 
Grapes are looking fine at present, with prospects for a 
full crop. They stood the severe Winter very well. Straw¬ 
berries are badly injured by the hard Winter, and will not 
be over half a crop ; red raspberries are also Injured to some 
extent. Most of the fruit growers in this section have 
their pruning done, and are spraying and cultivating when 
weather permits, but are hindered a great deal by rains. 
North East, Pa. j. m. b. 
In this section apples and pears have blossoms and are 
setting very full; cherries quite full and plums about one- 
half crop. Peaches varied in different orchards from no 
bloom to one-half and very full. In my one orchard, on 
rather low ground, the trees winterkilled very badly. As 
far as I have been able to observe, with the exceptioii of a 
few peaches, there was no damage done to the fruit by the 
severe Winter, and there is a good prospect of a large crop 
of fruit. Spraying is being quite generally done, but the in¬ 
sect enemies seem to be much scarcer than usual, especially 
the aphis. I think there may be considerable fungus on ac¬ 
count of the wet weather. f. r. h. 
Le Roy, N. Y. 
Apples bloomed abundantly, and promise a bountiful 
crop, also cherries, both sweet and sour. Pears, standard 
and dwarf, both showed a nice lot of blossoms. Plums, 
European and Japan varieties, promise well; peaches will 
be scarce, and quinces have not flowered yet. Small fruits, 
currants, raspberries and strawberries pronfise good re¬ 
turns. Planters and orchardists are taking better care of 
their trees, bushes and plants; more careful pruning, spray¬ 
ing and cultivation, and owing to t.ie good work of the news¬ 
papers, agricultural experiment stations, Grange and insti¬ 
tute work, are able to detect and destroy fungous diseases 
and insect foes in time to save their fruit and have the 
product of their labors reach the table and market in bet¬ 
ter condition than formerly. f. m. h. 
Dansville, N. Y. 
All apples are blossomed full. Spy, R. I. Greening and 
Baldwin that bore a good crop last year are in full bloom 
now. Aphis, bud moth, case-bearers and tent-caterpillars 
are very scarce. Up to the present time we have had con¬ 
siderable weather very unfavorable to setting of the fruit, 
perhaps not enough to do serious damage. Quite a large 
percentage of young trees set last year winterkilled. Pears 
generally blossomed full, but some orchards gave a light 
showing; a few trees badly hurt or killed by cold. Japan 
and domestic plums blossomed full. All peach trees are 
hurt severely by cold, and many thrifty young trees five or 
six years set are killed to the ground. Our lowest temper¬ 
ature last Winter was 32 degrees below zero. The acreage 
of strawberries is much less than usual, but all beds win¬ 
tered well, and are showing up now for a nice crop. The 
Spring has been cold and backward. Farmers are very late 
with Spring work; many have just sown oats, and some 
have it yet to do. Very few have potatoes or corn planted 
(May 20). Several copious rains have assured a hay crop, 
and made the pastures good. d. d. s. 
Oswego. N. Y. 
The outlook for fruit in Orleans County is excellent at 
present. Apple trees came through the ’ Winter in good 
condition, and are blooming profusely. Pears and peaches 
also promise well, but little damage from cold being re¬ 
ported. There is some damage reported to plum trees, espe¬ 
cially prunes, but on the whole the prospect for a large 
crop of fruits of all kinds was never tletter. The cold 
and wet Spring has delayed farm work so that many have 
failed to spray as yet. Some have failed to sow their oats, 
and much plowing yet remains to be done. There is little 
or no development of the scab fungus on apple trees, and 
but few insects as yet, so that the early spfaylng does not 
seem so necessary this season. However, most of those 
who have not sprayed before blooming will make an effort 
to do so immediately after. That spraying has come to be 
considered as part of the necessary work of the fruit grower 
is evidenced by the large number of power spray rigs in 
operation. Steam, gasoline, compressed air, and gas spray¬ 
ers are extensively used. On account of the scarcity and 
high price of labor, the man who has any considerable 
amount of orchard cannot afford to spray by hand power. 
There is a probability that apple barrels will be high again 
this year, especially should the crop prove to be large. The 
coopers are talking 40 cents to begin with. Some growers 
are predicting a large crop, and consequent low prices for 
the fruit, which with the high price of barrels will not 
make the crop very remunerative. a. w. b. 
Albion, N. Y. _ 
POULTRY DEALERS ON SQUAB MARKET. 
Squabs are bringing from $2 to $2.75 per dozen, and 
have been holding up very well this year. Certainly there 
are times when the market is stuck, but it always reacts 
in a week or two. I don't think that the squab business 
will fail, as there is always enough trade for the quantity. 
New York. abe. kassel. 
Demand for squabs is good; prices $2 to $2.50 per dozen 
the past four months. Severe cold killed a great many that 
were not well housed. The arrival of Spring chickens will 
reduce the price of squabs, also demand. More are being 
raised, and we look to see low prices from now on up to 
cold weather; they sell best December to May; we are pay¬ 
ing $2.25 per dozen to-day here. romer Bros. 
Cincinnati, O. 
Squabs are selling now, as to the quality of them, from 
15 to 30 cents apiece. In dealing with them around here, 
we talk by the piece. Good, big, large, fat birds are worth 
25 to 30 cents, and I do not see any reason why the de¬ 
mand will not be kept up. Of course'a large supply means 
lower prices; short supply means higher prices. The de¬ 
mand and the quality will regulate the price. I hardly 
think they will be overdone for the next few years. Prices 
have been very fair so far this year, and I am quite sure 
they will be kept up, because they are cutting out other 
small wild game, and squabs take their places in a meas¬ 
ure. I do not think anyone who has a chance to raise a 
few of these birds will make any mistake. 
Boston, Mass. j. r. kimball co. 
In the past several years we have been unable to get 
enough squabs to supply our trade, and we are buying at 
all times all we can get. Since the wild game birds have 
been so scarce, and will be so in the future, it has made a 
better demand for squabs, especially for banquets or for 
extra dish on hotel tables on special occasions, and we 
cannot see any reason for decline in prices, excepting Sum¬ 
mer, when they are all breeding so fast; then 11m price 
declines 5 or 10 cents a pair, but very seldom it lasts over 
two weeks. There is one mistake a great many people 
make who think of raising squabs; they read books on 
squabs which tell that they can sell all they can raise at 
50 to 00 cents a pair, which is too high, and at such prices 
it will stop all sale of them. We pay our people 30 cents 
a pair by the year for all they raise; those who ohly bring 
us some occasionally we pay 25 cents a pair, and at these 
prices it pays well. We have a coop with GOO in, and it is 
a fine investment. We should advise anyone to start in 
with a few pairs and steadily increase, and they will have 
a nice investment all the year. b. d. ROGERS’ sons. 
Buffalo, N. Y. 
I do not think the demand for squabs any less than It 
has been in the previous years, but, on the other hand, 
believe it is growing from year to year. Of course the 
thing may be overdone in years to come, but I do not 
think the raising of squabs is going to such an extent 
that it will have a great effect on the market for several 
years. It is like the poultry-raising business; a great 
many people start in with great expectations, and let it 
fall through. But I think to a good legitimate business 
man, the raising of squabs would be a very profitable busi¬ 
ness. The price ruling in this market at present is $4 
to $5 a dozen for No. 1 stock, and $1.50 to $2.50 for No. 2. 
The price of squabs last year at storing time during July 
and August was $2.25 to $2.75 a dozen for No. 1 stock. 
The stringent game laws of the United States at present 
have a great deal to do with the squab business, as very 
little game in the feather line can be sold in open market. 
Consequently, it creates a demand for squabs to take the 
place of quail, pheasants, etc., and as long as the game law 
remains thus I look for a good market for squabs. The 
only kind of pigeon that should be raised for squabs is the 
Homer. It produces a large white squab, -which is much 
more valuable than a small dark bird. c. r. ferguson. 
Pittsburg, Pa. _ 
SALE OF JERSEYS.-—About 150 people assembled at the 
closing-out sale of the Fort Hill Farm herd of Jersey cattle 
at Thompson, Conn., on Wednesday, May 25. As a rule the 
stock sold low, but the “picks” occasionally elicited some 
spirited bidding. The highest price was $420 for the splen¬ 
did young cow Ilood Farm Torono 153471, which was well 
worth the money. The cow Koffee's Winnie 113001 went 
apparently cheap at $1G0, for she had milked up to her 
Hood Farm record of 52 pounds the day preceding the sale. 
Her years (nine) were construed to be somewhat against 
her, but with a cow of her constitution should not have 
prohibited a higher price. Few of the cows were fresh, and 
those that had milked off correspondingly sold off. There is 
nothing quite so taking with buyers as a booming fresh 
udder. The bulls sold propoftionafely better than the cows 
and heifers. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The letter printed below is certainly a strong endorse¬ 
ment of Sloan’s Liniment as a preventive and cure for hog 
cholera. We know it has much merit as a horse and family 
remedy. “During the Fall of 1903 I was losing my hogs 
with cholera. A. P. Williams, of Burnett’s Creek, recom¬ 
mended your liniment to me a sure cure for all kinds of hog 
cholera. I used it with great success and have not lost a 
hog with cholera since. I can cheerfully recommend Sloan’s 
Liniment as a sure cure for hog cholera and will never be 
without it.”—Marion Swartzell, Iieadlee, Ind. 
The hard work of hauling out manure has disappeared 
since the Kemp & Burpee machines appeared, and the new 
“Success” has widened the field of usefulness for such ma¬ 
chines until now there is nothing lacking. The new cata¬ 
logue of this company illustrates and describes the “Success” 
as well as the older machines made by it, and contains be¬ 
sides many useful hints as to saving and preparing farm ma¬ 
nures to secure the most benefit from them. It will pay 
anyone needing a manure spreader, and every farmer needs 
one unless already supplied, to send for the catalogue of this 
company and give it a careful reading. It is sent free to all 
inquirers. Address Kemp & Burpee Mfg. Co., Syracuse, N. Y. 
To-day the hay crop represents an annual income of over 
$500,000,000 to the farmer of the country. The invention 
of the hay press is wholly responsible for this, as without 
this means of preparing hay and straw for transportation 
it would be impossible to market it. The inventor of the 
hay press was George Ertel, whose attention was called to 
the subject by seeing some men in a field trying to tie up 
hay in bundles with ropes. His first.press was a crude af¬ 
fair compared with the steel presses turned out by the firm 
to-day. The Geo. Ertel Co. is located at Quincy, Ill., and 
publishes an illustrated catalogue of information about the 
hay business called “Hay Press Hints.” A copy can be ob¬ 
tained without charge by addressing them. 
The exhibit of the A. B. Farqulmr Co. in the Palace of 
Agriculture at the St. Louis Exposition, comprising engines, 
boilers, thrashers, sawmills and agricultural machinery, is a 
revelation in mechanical improvement. Even the last year 
has seen some remarkably advances along this line. For in¬ 
stance, the Farquhar Co. are exhibiting the only mechanical 
log turner in the world that can be used with a portable 
mill. The thrashing machines, grain drills and other agri¬ 
cultural machinery exhibited possess unique features of 
merit that make them worthy of careful inspection. To 
those who cannot see this exhibit at the Fair, the next best 
thing is to possess a catalogue describing and illustrating 
this machinery just as it is. The A. B. Farquhar Co., Ltd., 
York, Pa., will send one free for the asking. It is worth 
having. 
