1904 . 
769 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The courage of Archie McFee, an engine 
driver, and W. C. Keifer, a brakeman, of the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, in extinguishing a blaze in the end of a car 
loaded with ten thousand pounds of dynamite in the Balti¬ 
more and Ohio yards at Connellsville, Pa., October 5, saved 
the east end of the yards, including the shops, round house 
and thousands of cars from destruction. For their bravery 
the men will be recommended for the Carnegie hero medal. 
. . . An automobile containing nine persons, while speed¬ 
ing in the upper part of New York City October G, plunged 
down a 20-foot embankment and was struck by a train. 
Three of the occupants were killed, three badly hurt, and 
three slightly bruised. ... Six railroad men were killed 
by gas in the Grand Trunk tunnel under the St. Clair River, 
between Sarnia and Port Huron, Mich., October 8. A freight 
train broke in two in the tunnel, and during the delay, before 
the cars could be hauled out, the men were suffocated. The 
weather was foggy, there was no draft through the tunnel, 
and coal gas from the engines accumulated. . . . One 
man was killed and one dangerously hurt during the auto¬ 
mobile race for the Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island October 
8. One man was killed while speeding over the course be¬ 
fore the race. ... A collision between a World's Fair 
special and a freight train on the Missouri Pacific, near 
Warrensburg, Mo., October 10. killed 27 persons. The 
wreck was due to neglect of orders. . . . Fire started 
in the wholesale district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 11, 
extending over a large area; loss said to be over $700,000. 
. . Thousands of property owners are affected by a 
decision rendered by Judge Beitler in the Philadelphia Com¬ 
mon Pleas Court October 11, respecting the legal interpreta¬ 
tion of a clause in virtually all policies of fire insurance. 
Judge Beitler's finding, upholding a clause which declares 
that Insurance shall not be recovered after a fire in a build¬ 
ing which has been unoccupied 10 days, means that many 
householders, who believe that they are protected, would not 
get a dollar if their homes were to be destroyed by fire. 
Patrick Ilardiman sued the Fire Association of Philadelphia 
to recover $10,500 insurance, due, as he said, when buildings 
on his place, near Moorestown, N. J., were burned on Sep¬ 
tember 13, 1900. He left the farm in the Fall of 1S99, and 
went to Philadelphia to live. lie returned to the farm in 
the following May and occupied it until the time of the fire. 
The main contention advanced was that Ilardimau's policy 
became void when he left the farm untenanted more than 
10 days, the instrument providing that it would be void 
“if a building herein described, whether intended for occu¬ 
pancy by owner or tenant, be or become vacant or unoccu¬ 
pied and so remain for 10 days.” The judge sustained the 
company’s contention, and in directing a verdict for the 
company said that he arrived at the conclusion with great 
reluctance, as a similar clause appeared in almost every 
policy of fire insurance. He was satisfied, he added, that 
there were thousands of householders holding similar policies 
who could not collect in case their property was destroyed 
by fire. This was principally because the families had gone 
away in the Summer, leaving their houses unoccupied. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The College of Agriculture of 
Cornell University announces three short practical courses 
in agriculture, as follows: General Agriculture, Dairying 
and Poultry Husbandry. All these courses begin January 5 
and end March 21, 1905. Tuition is free to residents of 
New York. The total cost of taking one of these 11 weeks’ 
courses, including living expenses, is less than $75. Instruc¬ 
tion is given by lectures and by practical work in the barns, 
poultry houses, dairy building, greenhouse, orchards, etc. 
Further particulars may be obtained by addressing the Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y. 
The ninth annual meeting of the American Association of 
Farmers’ Institute Workers was held in the Agricultural 
Building, World’s Fair Grounds, St. Louis, October 18-20. 
The first National Conference of Horticultural Society 
Officers and Workers will be held at the Horticultural Build¬ 
ing, St. Louis Exposition, October 2G; secretary, Chas. E. 
Bassett, Fennville, Mich. 
The annual convention of the Association of American 
Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations will take 
place at Des Moines, Iowa, November 1. 
The twelfth annual meeting of the West Virginia State 
Horticultural Society will be held at Charleston, January 
20-28, 1905. Alex. Clohan, Martinsburg, president; Fred 
E. Brooks, Morgantown, secretary-treasurer. 
The first Provincial Fruit, Flower and Honey Exhibition 
will be held at Toronto, Ont., November 15-19. It will be 
the thirty-third annual convention of the Ontario Fruit 
Growers’ Association; annual Chrysanthemum Show of the 
Toronto Horticultural Society and the Toronto Florists' and 
Gardeners’ Association, assisted by the Toronto Electoral 
District Society; annual convention of the Beekeepers' Asso¬ 
ciation. assisted by the Ontario Department of Agriculture. 
Full information concerning the exhibition may be secured 
from II. B. Cowan, secretary, Parliament Buildings, To¬ 
ronto, Ont. 
The famous stallion Hamburg, which was owned by the 
lale W. C. Whitney, who paid $60,000 for him, sold for 
$70,000 at an auction of Mr. Whitney's stud October 10. 
Hamburg was bought by Harry Payne Whitney. 
The third annual convention of the National Nut. Growers’ 
Association will be held at St. Louis, Mo., October 2G-28, 
1904. _. 
NOTES ON WINE FENCING. 
Your campaign on the wire fence business is all right. 
My neighbor put up a very fine wire fence six years ago. 
It is rotten and falling to pieces, just as a twine siring 
fence, although the twine fence probably would have lasted 
longer. ’Ibis precinct will probably have two good fields 
of corn. Oats 75 per cent; wheat 50; hay 100, and apples 
100. J- h. 
Beloit, Ohio. 
Please continue to cut the steel trust and galvanized 
wash. I have had stovepipe become worthless in three 
years from rust, while some old Russia iron pipe has stood 
20 years. Wire nails will not bold shingles as long as the 
shingles will last. The cut nails are coming in use again. 
They are somewhat better, being a little larger. They are 
not made of iron, but steel. The firms that will make 
genuine iron will get the trade. c. M. 
I have read with much interest the discussion of wire 
fencing and noticed tiie idea seems to be that the zinc coat¬ 
ing protects the wire in the same manner as a coat of paint. 
If this was the case, why would it not protect steel as well 
as iron? But it would seem that the protection from rust 
was more by galvanic action than by mechanical protection. 
Most people are familiar with the anti-rust tinware that is 
quite commonly sold, and of course have noticed that the 
small piece of zinc protects by some other means than by 
covering up the surface of the article, and it would seem 
that the protection of wire was more in the same manner. 
If so, the thickness of zinc, coating would not make so much 
difference as would the electric relation of the zinc and 
steel or iion. If this reasoning is correct, the fault must 
be in the wire before it is coated, and of course it is also 
true that steel is much inferior to iron in its power to 
resist rust, so it would seem that if we could get a good iron 
wire, even if it were not heavily coated, we would have 
what we want. I shall need a few hundred rods of fencing 
next Spring, and shall buy galvanized iron wire fencing if 
I can get it. s. h. b. 
Tompkins Co., N. Y. 
What Wire Fence Makers Say. 
There is no question about the quality of wire to-day in 
comparison with what was sold some years ago. and we do 
not think but what the wire end of the United States steel 
business is one of their most profitable ones. The mills 
reduced the price on galvanized wire about a year ago, and 
(here was also a reduction about four or five years ago 
from what prices were before that. Whether they are using 
lead in place of zinc, we are unable to state, but we believe 
that some mills are using a lead bath for annealing wire, 
while others are using a furnace for annealing. We do not 
believe that the thickness of the zinc, if properly placed on 
the wire, would make any difference with the wearing, as 
in any case this coating is so thin that it would never be 
noticed, and we understand that the machinery to-day, for 
wiping off this galvanizing, is so thorough that it almost 
takes off everything, and the coating that is left has to be 
measured by a very small gauge. Your method of going 
after this is a good one and may result in getting better 
wire, but (he farmer must expect to pay more for his goods 
if he expects to get good quality. The trouble has been (bat 
they want to get a good fence for nothing, and they have 
been satisfied to buy the very cheapest and most inferior 
fences that could be obtained, and when they do purchase 
fencing of this quality, they ought not to expect too much 
for their money, and ought to take lasting quality into con¬ 
sideration when buying at cheap prices. We do not believe, 
however, that it would be possible for any person to buy a 
good quality of wire to-day, as the mills are not making it. 
MAKER. 
'I'here are several different grades of spelter used in gal¬ 
vanizing. It is like anything else, the cheaper the grade the 
poorer the wire is after il is galvanized. We also think 
that steel wire will rust quicker than iron wire used to, but 
as all wire is made out of steel at the present time, that 
is, all fence wire, it is out of the question to talk of using 
iron wire. You know probably that steel will rust quicker 
than iron. We do not know of any way this defect can be 
remedied, unless people are willing to pay (he price that it 
costs to make good wire. There are dozens of small wire 
plants over the country, and they must have business to 
keep them running, and still the men who run them do not 
know anything about manufacturing wire. 'I'hey can make 
wire that looks smooth and bright, and that is about all of 
it, and as long as the farmer or consumer of wire looks at 
the price only, just that long we will have poor wire. The 
people who make complaint to you no doubt have good 
reasons for it, and no doubt these same people have bought 
the very cheapest wire they could find. dealer. 
NOTES FROM SOUTHERN NEW YORK. 
APPLES.—Never before in this vicinity have I seen so 
many apple tree limbs propped up, nor have I seen so many 
limbs broken down for want of props. This is not what is 
called a fruit section, but there are thousands of bushels of 
apples this year, for which there appears to be at present 
no outlet. Buyers are off in other sections, and about 
all we can do with ours is to pick and store the finest, and 
feed the rest. We have been feeding apples to our cows 
since about August 20. There is one thing about it, the 
cows relish them, and I am satisfied they are benefited by 
tHo feeding. We feed them in the barn, and each cow is 
given a definite quantity, about one-third of a bushel. In 
this way we have fed already about 150 bushels, and have 
enough to keep up the feed as long as the weather will per¬ 
mit keeping the apples in the barn. Feeding tables make 
the worth of apples when bran is at its present price 15 
cents a hundred pounds. 
QUITTING OATS.—Thrashing is over, and we are saying, 
as we always do, “Glad it is done." Very little grain is 
grown here for thrashing except oats, and fewer oats are 
grown every year. Last year, a neighbor says, thrashing 
last till November, and this year it was over by 
October 1. Next year is likely to see still less 
grain grown. The dusty, dirty, disagreeable job of thrash¬ 
ing, being disliked by almost everyone, lias much to do with 
lessening the amount of grain grown, but the necessity, 
which appears to be growing, of omitting all the jobs that 
call for extra labor, is the largest factor in deciding the 
question. Not much matter if grain is high in price, the 
Stern necessity of doing one’s own work largely dictates its 
purchase rather than its local production. Not in every 
instance, to be sure, but this appears to be the prevailing 
opinion. It costs us about seven cents per bushel for thrash¬ 
ing, and harvesting cost over 10 cents. As all this or its 
equivalent had t'o be hired, it is difficult to figure very great 
profit on the oats when the whole expense is figured. 
WEEDS GROWING.—While visiting in the Green Moun¬ 
tain State a week or two ago I saw fields that were so badly 
filled with chickory as to be practically worthless. That 
weed they told me is to be dreaded, and wild carrot is no 
comparison. I never saw the plant till I went to Glens 
Falls a few years ago, but since (hen I have seen it once 
or twice here. Evidently it seeks a higher latitude than 
ours, though we are near the line. I was pleased to find 
the plants when I saw them, but since coming from Ver¬ 
mont I shall take good care that none of it remains long on 
our farm. It appears to be very persistent where it grows. 
Plowing only makes it grow the better they say. h. h. l. 
CROP NOTES. 
Wind blew off from one-tenth to one-half of the apples 
in this section, but ours were under the hill and escaped. 
Apples^ are 75 cents net to grower per barrel tor Winter 
kinds. Growers do not sell; buyers are afraid, and bulk 
apples and the wind are reducing the supply. I think good 
hand-picked apples will be worth $1 soon. c. E. c. 
Tompkins Co., N. Y. 
The weather is unusually warm for this date. Showers 
are not general, and some sections needing rain very much 
to make the Fall-planted vegetables do well, ’l'he necessity 
for Fall and early Spring irrigation is becoming more apparent 
each year, and those who are making such arrangements as 
to insure plenty of water to the growing crops are reaping 
a rich reward. As yet only a very few plants have been 
installed, although lakes are abundant and water from shal¬ 
low wells can be secured in volume by use of gasoline engine. 
Dade City, Fla. w. e. e. 
The apple crop is very large, with no buyers as yet: only 
offer made is G5 cents per barrel for picked Winter fruit. 
Potatoes about half rotted, which with the price at GO cents 
per bushel does not make a very profitable crop. At Leb¬ 
anon they have cut the price of milk for the Providence 
market from 35 cents per can to 32 cents, which does not 
make a very encouraging outlook for the Winter feeds at 
present prices. Many crops of corn were cut by the frosts, 
so it is badly damaged. a. h. p. 
New London Co., Conn. 
Not many apples have been bought yet in western New 
York as compared to former years. The buyers are in the 
county, finding out where the good crops are, but not doing 
much buying. I understand that a few offers of $1.50 per 
barrel for No. 1 fruit have been made where a large crop 
of good quality and varieties was for sale, but that they 
think $1.25 is about the right price. The well-informed 
growers do not intend to sell their apples at that price, 
and many are making arrangements to store their fruit in 
chemical and common storage houses. The apple market 
should come to a settled condition soon. b. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
The crop situation in Yates Co., N. Y., for 1904. is as 
follows: Wheat about 25 per cent of a crop; oats and barley 
large straw, but the former light berry and not up to expec¬ 
tations as to yield. Corn about half a crop and late pieces 
badly injured by frost. Hay good yield, but much damaged 
by rain. Early potatoes badly rotted, and late ones affected. 
Beans (Red Kidney) large acreage, but some blighted; crop 
no more than normal. Apples somewhat less than last 
year, and from 25 to 40 per cent on the ground. Buyers 
have been trying to buy Winter fruit for $1 per barrel 
(barrel included), but without success to any extent. 1 
think they should, and believe they will, bring from $1.50 
to $2 later, as the barreling stock has been depleted nearly 
one-half by high winds. e. d. o. 
Yates Co., N. Y. _ 
COMING HORTICULTURAL MEETINGS. 
Nut Growers, St. Louis, October 26, 28; Chrysanthemum 
Society, Boston, November 3; Apple Growers, St. Louis, 
November 9, 11 ; Pennsylvania Society, Philadelphia, Novem¬ 
ber 8, 12; Ontario Fruit Growers, Toronto, November 8, 12; 
Massachusetts, Boston, November 19; Michigan, Benton 
Harbor, December G, 8; Minnesota, Minneapolis, December 
G, 9; Iowa, Des Moines, December G, 9; Indiana, Indian¬ 
apolis, December 7, 8 ; Connecticut, Hartford. December 14 ; 
Illinois, Bloomington, December 14, 10; Missouri Valley, 
Kansas City, Mo., December 17; Ohio Horticultural, Chil- 
licothe, December 20, 22 ; Western Nurserymen, Kansas City, 
Mo., December 22, 23; Kansas, Topeka, December 27, 29; 
Maryland, College Park, December 28, 29 ; New York Fruit 
Growers, Geneva, January 4, 5 : New Jersey, Trenton, Jan¬ 
uary 5. G; Pennsylvania Association, Harrisburg, January 
17: Cranberry Growers, Philadelphia, January 17; South 
Dakota, Huron, January 17, 19: Peninsula, Seaford, Del., 
January 17, 19; Nebraska, Lincoln. January 17, 19; Rhode 
Island, Providence, January 18 : Western New York, Roches¬ 
ter, January 25, 26: Carnation Society, Chicago, January 
25, 27 ; Wisconsin, Madison, February 2, 5. 
CHEAP FARMS IN LOWER DELAWARE 
In the lower part of Delaware, in the fruit belt, between 
Harrington and Seaford, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
there are some splendid opportunities for the trucker and 
the fruit grower. The Winters here are milder, the Springs 
open sooner, fruit and vegetables ripen earlier. Bridgeville 
is one of the great fruit markets in this country. As high 
as 42 carloads of strawberries were sliipped from there in 
a single day this year. Farmers cleared as much as $600 
and $800 on two acres of strawberries. As many as 17 car¬ 
loads of peaches a day were shipped from this station this 
year, buyers from everywhere coming here and purchasing 
the fruit right at the station, bidding against each other, 
which means good prices for the grower. Eight years ago 
a farmer set out 208 Elberta peach trees. For five years 
he has been harvesting peaches. This year he picked 
1,140 % baskets from them and he averaged a dollar a bas¬ 
ket. A young man allowed himself to be persuaded to buy 
a small, somewhat run-down farm for $1,400. He bought 
it with all borrowed capital, had a little struggle the first 
year. This year from a small patch of strawberries, 40 
sprayed apple trees and sweet potatoes, etc., he takes $1,000, 
and he is away out in the daylight. I can mention a dozen 
similar cases. No region offers better opportunities. Easily 
improvable land can be had from $30 to $85 per acre with 
buildings on them. Labor can be had for 75 cents per day 
of from 10 to 12 hours. A dollar here goes as far as two 
dollars does as far north, east or west of Philadelphia as 
this is south, 110 miles. Smaller farms and more inten¬ 
sive farming is the new order in this rapidly improving 
region. x. 
Norristown, Pa. 
TEXAS NOTES.—The boll-weevil has not affected the price 
of land in a general way. In some parts of middle south 
Texas they are numerous and have ruined the cotton grow¬ 
ing business. They are spreading, and are found this year 
farther north. I have good reason to believe they will 
spread over the entire cotton growing section of the South. 
As to what they will amount to, no one knows. The price 
of land in Texas is not based on actual valuation, but in¬ 
fluenced and controlled to a great extent by trades unions, 
real estate men and so on. Nearly all that is produced or 
consumed in Texas passes through the channel of commerce. 
Texas is a whopper in way of a State, and when all that 
is produced passes through the hands of the trades and they 
compile statistics and send them abroad they make grand 
impressions. We, the producers, are the ones left in the 
lurch. We take no account of cost of production or expenses 
and profits. e. c. m. 
Gainesville, Texas. 
FEEDING A BABY PIG.-—A correspondent of Forest and 
Stream, who had experienced the usual trouble in bringing 
up a pig by hand, gives the following suggestive experience: 
“He managed to absorb enough to live, and about the third 
day approved of a plan of feeding we had by that time de¬ 
vised so as to take his meals gladly and skillfully. All ordi¬ 
nary human methods of feeding a pig had been tried and 
discarded while experimenting with the other two. Watch¬ 
ing this one’s instinctive rooting and kneading motions, I 
at once conceived the idea of giving him something to sat¬ 
isfy that propensity, instead of merely something to drink : 
and which at the same time should yield him nourishment. 
I tried light, spongy bread, soaked full of warm milk. But 
this was too tender: he soon punched it to pieces, scattered 
it, and squeaked with disappointment (not in a discordant, 
hateful manner, as had the others, but in tones that were 
either plaintive or comical, always). So I tried the tough¬ 
est, most insoluble biscuit I could find (probably one of my 
own making—no woman nor professional cook could hope to 
equal me in evolving indestructible biscuit). It was a suc¬ 
cess. The battle of life was won. He was delighted—and 
so were we. In a few days he began to gnaw off portions 
of the bread and swallow them with the milk. After that, 
it. was easy to coax him to eat warm potatoes, boiled cab¬ 
bage, beans and peas. I have told this in detail, hoping 
some other benevolent would-be pig-saver may grasp easy 
success at once, and be spared the usual annoyances.” 
BUSINESS BITS . 
The advantages of feeding cob-meal and other ground 
food are now so well understood that we need not pre¬ 
sent argument along that line. Without any regard to the 
market value of the grain, the mere fact alone that stock 
thrive better and mature better makes the grinding of the 
feed profitable. The P. N. Bowsher Co., So. Bend, Ind., have 
for 15 years been successful manufacturers of feed mills for 
farmers’ use. One set of grinders crush the ear corn and 
grind small grain. The mills are made for either sweep or 
Delt power, and are fully described and illustrated in a little 
book which will be sent free to any of our readers re¬ 
questing it. 
Before you buy a heating stove of any kind, a range or 
a cook stove, send to the Kalamazoo Stove Company, Kala¬ 
mazoo, Mich., for their new Fail catalogue No. 114. It con¬ 
tains a gcod many stove bargains in which we feel sure you 
will be interested. There are two distinguishing features 
about this company and its methods of doing business. It 
manufactures only the highest grade goods and sells od a 
3G0 days' approval test. If you buy a Kalamazoo stove or 
range and find that it is not perfectly satisfactory, you can 
send it back, and the company will pay freight charges both 
ways. We have investigated this offer very thoroughly and 
find that the Kalamazoo Stove Company does exactly as it 
promises. You can save money by buying direct from the 
Kalamazoo factory. Ask for catalogue No. 114. 
