668 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 9 
AMONG THE MARKETMEN. 
WHAT I SKE AND HEAR. 
A commission merchant showed me a 
letter he had received from a fruit 
grower in New York State. He wrote 
asking for quotations on some late 
varieties of pears, and explained why 
he did not ship his Bartletts to this firm, 
although having its stencil. He had 
upwards of 60 barrels of fine ones, and 
was preparing to ship them, when a man 
claiming to represent a certain New 
York commission house came along, and 
told him what facilities his firm had for 
handling such pears, and what prices he 
could get for them. The prices promised 
were far higher than those quoted to 
him by the old reliable merchant, and 
the long and short of it was that the 
pears were shipped. Three weeks passed 
and a check came so small that after the 
barrels and picking were paid for, he 
was $9 in debt. Now he is ready to stick 
to the commission merchant who has 
done him good service in the past, al¬ 
though the latter doesn’t make such 
extravagant promises. 
X X X 
“You people have been overdoing the 
matter of telling the people that there is 
such a shortage in the potato crop ”, 
said one commission merchant. “ Of 
course, there is a shortage, and prices 
have been high; but such quantities 
have been sent in that there has been a 
slump.” Which is true. But prices went 
too high, for so early in the season ; $3 
is a pretty big price for a barrel of pota¬ 
toes at wholesale in September. Receipts 
are likely to be heavier until cold 
weather checks shipments. There has 
been so much fear of rot, that many 
have been hurrying their crops to mar¬ 
ket instead of holding them. L iw potato 
prices are improbable this year. 
X X t 
The third wool auction was held 
September 29. The attendance was not 
so large as at previous sales, but those 
present were largely buyers. The bid¬ 
ding was brisk, and prices realized were 
said to compare favorably with those 
ruling in the general market. About 
1,000,000 pounds were offered, and all 
were reported sold. Some dealers say 
that the terms, which are cash, operate 
against the success of the sale ; many 
cannot conveniently put up the cash for 
large lots, or will not do so when they 
can buy on time at private sale. Another 
factor is the fact that many manufac¬ 
turers stocked up heavily before the 
new tariff law went into operation, and 
are not now in the market for wool. 
Later sales may show larger demands. 
X t X 
I saw a lot of fancy Niagara grapes 
in neat paper-lined 5-pound baskets with¬ 
out covers, three baskets being packed 
together in a light crate with solid ends, 
there being just slats enough to hold 
the baskets in place while showing off 
the contents to perfection. On every 
side and end the name of the packer was 
stenciled in plain black letters. It was 
a neat, attractive package. But the 
dealer said that these packages didn’t 
sell well. Buyers wanted four baskets 
in a crate instead of three, why, it 
would be difficult to say ; but there are 
many such cases where buyers seem to 
be over particular. Then the baskets 
were not full enough to suit buyers. 
It’s a difficult thing to get everything 
all right, especially in new packages. 
X X X 
Almost any one ought to be able to 
eat grapes. A five-pound basket of New 
York State grapes can be purchased for 
10 cents. What do the growers get at 
these prices ? The wagon boys sell 
thousands of baskets, and fruit stands 
everywhere are offering great quantities 
of them. The push-cart men sell Cali¬ 
fornia grapes, usually by the half pound. 
Their prices seem to vary considerably, 
for on some carts the grapes are offered 
at three cents per half pound, on others 
for four cents, and on still others for 
five cents. There seems little difference 
in the grapes either. 
X X X 
A few small shipments of chestnuts 
have arrived, and have sold for §10 to 
§11 per bushel. Many shippers are de¬ 
ceived by these high quotations, espe¬ 
cially new shippers ; only a few of the 
very first are sold at these prices, and 
the bulk of later shipments must be sold 
at materially lower prices. Few other 
products show such a rapid decline in 
values. 
SCIENCE FROM THE STATIONS. 
REVIEWS OF IMPORTANT RULLETINS. 
The Department of Agriculture. Wash¬ 
ington, D C., has issued Farmers’ Bul¬ 
letin No. 60, which is entitled Methods 
of Curing Tobacco, by Milton Whitney. 
Those of our readers who are interested 
in the culture of tobacco, will do well to 
send for this bulletin. Farmers’ Bul¬ 
letin No. 58 is entitled The Soy Bean as 
a Forage Crop, and also discusses the 
value of this bean as food for man. It 
appears that this Japan bean has given 
reasonably good results in various parts 
of the country, particularly in Massa¬ 
chusetts and Kansas. It is useful as a 
soiling crop, for cutting into the silo 
with corn, for hay or pasture, and also, 
as a green manure in the place of clover 
or cow yeas. At the Massachusetts 
Station, it was concluded that a ton of 
the green Soy bean fodder is worth §2 44, 
while a ton of cow peas is worth §2 23. 
The Soy beans, however, did not leave 
the ground in as good condition as clover 
or cow peas. It is possible that there 
are sections of country where the Soy 
bean will prove more valuable than 
other leguminous plants, but in most 
situations, we think that farmers will 
be more generally satisfied with clover 
and cow peas or Canada field peas. 
Bulletin No. 35, of the Iowa Experi¬ 
ment Station, is devoted largely to a 
discussion of live stock matters. It is a 
characteristic feature of the bulletins of 
Iowa that a number of different topics 
are usually grouped in one volume. In 
this bulletin, we have a discussion of 
Lamb Feeding ; an account of the ex¬ 
periments with Fattening Range Lambs; 
Raising Calves on Separator Milk ; Hog 
Cholera and Swine Plague ; Diseases of 
Sheep, and Quick and Slow Ripening of 
Cream. In general, the conclusion is 
reached that quick ripening of cream 
has advantages not possessed by slow 
ripening. By quick ripening, is meant 
the following treatment: The cream is 
not cooled but kept at a temperature of 
70 to 75 degrees until sour enough for 
churning, which requires six to seven 
hours. It is then cooled to 52 degrees, 
at which temperature it is kept until 
morning ; then cooled to 50 degrees and 
churned. In slow ripening, the cream 
was at once cooled by the use of ice, to 
a temperature of 55 degrees. It was 
held at that temperature three hours, 
then heated to 65 degrees, and held there 
until sufficient acid was developed. 
When sour enough to churn, the cream 
was cooled for churning. There was 
little difference in the quality of the 
butter, but the ripening required more 
time, and it was found that cream kept 
at a higher temperature after separation 
had a tendency to give off odors rather 
than to absor b them. Some interesting 
experiments with feeding calves on 
separator milk were conducted, and we 
hope to give the results at some length 
in a coming issue of The R. N.-Y. 
Bulletin 81 of the Ohio Station (Woos¬ 
ter) gives an account of the dreaded San 
Jos6 scale in Ohio. Ohio readers should 
certainly obtain this bulletin, as it gives 
a very complete account of this insect 
and the best methods of combating it. 
The most timely information in the bul¬ 
letin is that relating to the use of kero¬ 
sene for spraying or washing the trees. 
Several weeks ago, we stated that this 
kerosene treatment had been recom¬ 
mended by Prof. J. B. Smith, of New 
Jersey. It appears that a number of 
experiments with this treatment have 
been made in Ohio, and generally with 
considerable success. Kerosene certainly 
seems to kill the scale insect. It should 
be applied on a warm, sunshiny day, so 
that it will evaporate as quickly as pos¬ 
sible, and thus prevent injury to the 
tree. In some cases where it has been 
washed or rubbed on too thickly, trees 
have been injured ; but Prof. Webster, 
of Ohio, sums up the matter as follows, 
which, we think, is a very fair and con¬ 
servative statement : 
Judging from all the information we have 
gained, it seems that kerosene (coal oil) cannot 
be safely used on peach trees, or on plum trees 
of tender varieties; but that, if applied lightly, 
with a brush, to the more hardy plums, pears 
and apy>les, especially the latter, it can be used 
safely, especially if the trees are cut back to 
trunks and bases of limbs. In the case of the 
apple, I feel quite encouraged, believing that, if 
used sparingly and even during winter, and while 
a low temperature prevails, it will save many 
trees that otherwise would have to be destroyed. 
Whale-oil soap has, also, given consider¬ 
able satisfaction, but no other washes 
have been found effective in fighting 
this insect. We hope that our readers 
in the Ohio Valley will be able to secure 
this bulletin and make a careful study 
of it. 
Bulletin 66 of the Kansas Station (Man¬ 
hattan) is prepared by the botanical de¬ 
partment, and gives a brief account of 
the weeds commonly found in Kansas. 
This will prove of some value to those 
of our readers who are directly interested 
in botany. 
The United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture has issued in pamphlet form, 
The Proceedings of a National Con¬ 
vention, which was held at Washington, 
March 5 and 6. 1897. The object of this 
convention was to devise means for the 
suppression of insect pests and plant dis¬ 
eases by legislation ; in other words, 
these men meant to devise laws against 
bugs and fungi. The pamphlet is edited 
by B. T. Galloway and will, certainly, 
prove interesting to those who believe 
in outlawing injurious insects. 
Value of “Bunch Grass”. —West of 
the Missouri River, there lies a vast 
tract of lind which has long been known 
as the Great American Desert. The bulk 
of this region, aside from the mountain¬ 
ous portion, is mostly a dry and treeless 
plain. Here and there streams have 
been tapped so that comparatively small 
localities are irrigated, and thus made 
to produce enormous crops. But on the 
greater portion of this area, our ordinary 
cultivated crops will not thrive. Yet on 
these dry plains, millions of tons of beef, 
mutton and wool have been produced, 
and thousands of excellent horses are 
yearly sold from them. The secret of 
this apparently magical result is the 
fact that these plains produce a variety 
of valuable grasses which grow under 
the hardest of conditions, and supply an 
almost inexhaustible amount of food. 
The Bunch grass of the western plains 
provides food for 12 months in the year. 
From March to July, the plant is green 
and at its best. After ripening, it cures 
perfectly in its place, and supplies the 
finest of hay for stock during the rest of 
the year. The Nevada Experiment Sta¬ 
tion (Reno), realizing the great value of 
these grasses, has been making an in¬ 
vestigation of their habits of growth in 
the hope that they may be found useful 
elsewhere. Bulletin No. 33 gives a brief 
account of some of these remarkable 
grasses. It may be possible that this 
Bunch grass will fail to compare with 
other cultivated grasses when grown 
elsewhere. Possibly it is a special prod¬ 
uct suited only to the condition of the 
dry and treeless deserts. If, however, 
it would respond to culture as other 
wild plants have done, its possibilities 
for stock feed can hardly be estimated. 
Nothing conclusive has yet been learned 
from these station experiments. We 
hope that they will be continued, and 
that the grass seeds will be sent abroad 
for comparison. 
THE TRENTON INTERSTATE FAIR. 
The Interstate Association held its 10th 
annual exhibition, September 27 to Octo¬ 
ber 1. Considering it either from the 
point of number of exhibits, attendance 
or receipts, it must be considered a suc¬ 
cess. It is one of the largest fairs in the 
country. The managers have succeeded 
in making it popular, and the public 
always attend in large numbers. The 
attendance this year was materially 
larger than ever before in the history of 
the fair. One day is always set apart as 
Children’s Day, when all the school 
children are invited, and thousands im¬ 
proved the opportunity. Another day is 
Politician’s Day, and the politicians 
were out in force. There was less about 
this fair this year to criticise unfavor¬ 
ably than in former years. The objec¬ 
tionable side shows and fakirs have been 
largely excluded, although there are 
some yet in evidence whose room would 
be much better than their company. 
But it is a fact that this class of people 
do not seem to be so well patronized as 
Health is the best Inheritance. It leaves 
its influence even to the third and fourth 
generation. What greater happiness has 
life in store for any man than to live to a 
green old age surrounded by his children 
and his children’s children, and see them 
all robust, happy and successful. Happy 
the man who lives to carve at the wnddiiig 
suppers of his grandchildren. Picture your¬ 
self a gray-haired but hearty old man at the 
head of the table at your grandson’s wed¬ 
ding, thanking your Maker for the blessing 
of long life, and asking the blessing of 
good health for generations yet unborn. It 
lies in almost every man’s power to be thus 
blessed if he will. If he will only obey Nat¬ 
ure’s laws and be watchful of his health, 
he will have long life and happiness. 
The best preserver of health u Dr. Pierce’s 
Golden Medical Discovery. It keeps the 
digestion perfect, the liver active t and the 
blood pure. It is the best flesh-builder and 
nerve lavigorator. The man who resorts to 
it whenever he feels any symptoms of ap¬ 
proaching ill-health will live to a hearty old 
age. Druggists sell it. Nothing else ia 
“just as good.” 
J. B. Holt, of Whittens Stand, Wayne Co., 
Tenn., writes : “ In October, 1890 , I was taken 
with a hurting in the back of my neck which 
steadily grew worse. I consulted a doctor. He 
gave me a course of treatment but I gradually 
grew worse under it. At last my trouble ran into 
what was called 1 spinal affection.’ I could hardly 
walk about at all. Finally I became as helpless 
as a child. I wrote you at Buffalo, N. Y., in re¬ 
gard to my condition and you answered me 
promptly and prescribed Dr. Fierce’s Golden 
Medical Discovery. I took the ' Discovery ’ and 
soon got well. My health continues good.” 
Druggists sell Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pel¬ 
lets. They cure constipation. They cure 
quickly and permanently and never gripe. 
One is a gentle laxative ; two a mild 
cathartic. 
Kills Prairie Dogs, Woodohucks, Gophers, and Grain 
Insects. 
“Fuma” Carbon Bl-Sulphlde Did It. 
“I treated 500 Inhabited (prairie dog) holes two weeks 
ago, and not a hole opened up."— Richard Kesuch. 
Send for free illustrated pamphlet. It is beautiful, 
interesting, readable, and wili save you money. 
EDWARD K. TAYLOR. Cleveland, Ohio. 
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