1901 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—An earthquake shock passed through a 
portion of Missouri January 4.Eight men lost 
their lives by the burning of a lodging house at Min¬ 
neapolis, Minn., January 6. ... At Gibbstown, N. 
J., January 4, a dynamite explosion in a factory for ex¬ 
plosives, killed three men.The families of a 
number of thrifty and peaceful colored farmers at Neely- 
ville. Mo., have been warned to leave the county, or 
their homes will be burned and the occupants hanged. 
. . . . January 4-5, a great snowstorm raged over 
northern California and southern Oregon, blockading the 
railroads in many places.Fire Marshal Seery, 
who has been investigating the fire and explosion at the 
building occupied by Tarrant & Co., on Greenwich street. 
New York, in October, in which seven persons were 
killed and seven buildings destroyed, with a loss of 
$1,000,000, recommends that the District Attorney be asked 
to determine if there was any criminal neglect on the part 
of Tarrant & Co. Mr. Seery says that in the building 
there was stored 35 tons of chlorate of potash, 100 barrels 
of roll sulphur, 44 barrels of flour of sulphur, 55 kegs of 
chlorate of potash, 16 kegs of nitrate of strontia and 
60 kegs of nitrate of potassium, and many other explo¬ 
sives. ... A speciflc reward of $13,000 has been offered 
for Pat Crowe, the alleged kidnapper of young Cudahy, 
at Omaha, Neb.Frederick Northway, arrested 
in St. Louis, on a charge of blowing up a cable conduit 
with dynamite during the progress of the great street 
car strike last Summer, has been sentenced to eight 
years in the penitentiary. Maurice Brennan was sen¬ 
tenced to 10 years in November last.Nine 
armed bandits invaded the town of Cavette, O., January 
3, and after terrorizing the citizens blew open a safe; 
they only secured $300.A boiler explosion 
wrecked a mill at Watseka, Ill., January 3, killing three 
men.A bill Is being drafted In Indiana against 
kidnapping, which will provide for the death penalty or 
life Imprisonment.The military board appoint¬ 
ed by Secretary Root to investigate the death of former 
cadet Booz at West Point handed in its report January 
8. Tb^'re is no censure of Col. Mills, superintendent of the 
Acadwr-iy, nor of any of the other officials. The cadets, 
however, are criticised for the extremity of their hazing, 
and hazing as practised at West Point Is strongly con¬ 
demned. One officer of the War Department, while de¬ 
clining to say what the report actually shows, expressed 
the opinion that the board did not find that Cadet Booz's 
death was the result of his treatment at the Academy. 
. . . . Fire In an orphan asylum at Rochester, N. Y., 
January 8^ caused the death of 28 children, and injuries 
to 12 more.A tenement fire in New York, Jan¬ 
uary 9, caused the death of four persons.A 
head-on collision between a light engine and a freight 
train, on a trestle near Morgantown, W. Va., January 
8, Killed six men.Three nurses at Bellevue 
Hospital, New York, have been Indicted foV man¬ 
slaughter In the first degree, they having caused the 
death of an insane patient December 22, 1900, by pound¬ 
ing, bruising and choking him. The examination dis¬ 
closed a horrible state of brutality in Bellevue, both doc¬ 
tors and nurses being utterly heartless. Political influ¬ 
ence is the cause of these conditions.A decree 
has been signed in a Baltimore court restraining a pack¬ 
ing firm of that city from selling fruit in cans bearing 
the label California, unless the fruit is the product of 
that State.Smallpox continues to appear In 
New York City and adjacent small towns. In Missouri, 
it has appeared in over 100 different places. New cases 
are developing in Chicago.P. D. Armour, the 
great Chicago packer, died in that city January 6, In his 
seventieth year. He was a New York State farmer’s 
boy, made his first $100 by working as farm hand and 
village grocer’s clerk; went west In 1852, and leaves an 
estate valued at $100,000,000. 
CONGRESS.—The Senate committee on foreign rela¬ 
tions, January 4, agreed to report favorably the reci¬ 
procity treaties with Nicaragua, British Guiana and 
Ecuador, and also a supplementary extradition treaty 
with Great Britain.The President sent a mes¬ 
sage to the Senate declining the request of that body 
for the transmittal of the Lawshe report on the Cuban 
postal frauds, for the reason that it is not deemed com¬ 
patible with the public Interests.In the Senate 
the consideration of the Army Reorganization bill was 
begun, that measure displacing the Ship Subsidy bill 
from its privileged position as unfinished business. Dur¬ 
ing the debate the opposition Senators indicated that 
their line of attack upon the bill would be against the 
creation of a large permanent standing army. There was 
intimation that objection would not be offered to a 
temporary measure to provide an adequate force to main¬ 
tain the authority of the United States in the Philippines. 
. . . . Delegates from the Philadelphia Pure Butter 
Protective Association were before the Senate Committee 
on Agriculture January 5 in support of the Grout oleo¬ 
margarine bill. The speakers were Samuel Jamison, W. 
D. Edson, J. J. Habecker, W. F. Drennen, I. C. Cleaver, 
I. W. Davis, L. S. Kaufman, William Sharpless and T. C. 
Sharpless. They represented wholesale and retail butter 
dealers, farmers, creamerymen, etc., and all urged the 
passage of the bill as in the interest of health and the 
public welfare generally.The United States 
Senate, January 9, by a vote of 34 to 15, laid on the table 
the committee amendments to the Army Reorganization 
bill relative to the canteen. The effect of this vote Is to 
abolish the canteen. The House considered the River and 
Harbor Appropriation bill, but made little progress. 
Several Western members assailed the bill for not con¬ 
taining provision for Irrigation reservoirs, and Mr. Cor¬ 
liss, of Michigan, attacked it for not giving proper recog¬ 
nition to the Great Lakes deep waterway project. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—John W. Springer, the mil¬ 
lionaire president of the National Live Stock Association, 
was placed under arrest at Denver, Col., January 6, upon 
a charge of importing a docked horse. This Is the first 
arrest of its kind in the history of the State E. K. 
Whitehead, secretary of the Humane Society, signed his 
name to a bunch of affidavits filed with the informa¬ 
tion. He takes exception to the importation last July 
of the magnificent horse, Troubadour, and also to the 
HE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
steed’s appearance at the Fall shows. The statute for¬ 
bidding the docking of horses and their importation into 
Colorado became a law in April, 1898. Mr. Springer wel¬ 
comes the prosecution as it will give him an opportunity 
of contesting the constitutionality of the statute for the 
benefit of horsemen and others who own docked horses. 
The New Jersey State Board of Agriculture met at 
Trenton, N. J., January 16-18. 
The International Consolidated Record Association met 
at Penn Yan, N. Y., January 15. 
The dairy school at the Pennsylvania State College 
opened January 2 with 40 students. There were 71 appli¬ 
cations for admission to the class, but It was impossible 
to find accommodations for more than 40. It is hoped 
to increase the facilities by another year. 
At a conference of representatives of the horticultural 
and entomological departments of several eastern and 
north central States held at Chicago, Ill., concerning the 
methods of horticultural inspection work of their several 
States in progress under legislative authority, the forma¬ 
tion of a National society of horticultural inspectors re¬ 
sulted. Prof. S. A. Forbes, State entomologist of Illinois, 
was elected president. This society will hold its next 
meeting at Washington, in connection with the annual 
convention of colleges and experiment stations. All per¬ 
sons officially connected with the Inspection of nurseries 
and other horticultural property in the United States or 
Canada are eligible to membership. 
The New York State Swine Breeders’ Association will 
meet at Penn Yan, N. Y.^ January 15; secretary, H. E. 
Kline, Himrods, N. Y. 
’rhe Western New York Horticultural Society will hold 
its forty-sixth annual meeting at Rochester, N. Y., Jan¬ 
uary 23-24. 
The Connecticut Pomological Society will meet at Hart¬ 
ford, Conn., February 6-7; secretary, H. C. C. Miles, Mil¬ 
ford, Conn. 
’rhe Pennsylvania Horticultural Society will meet at 
Harrisburg, Pa., Janury 21-22; secretary, Enos B. Engle, 
Waynesboro, Pa. 
J. F. McNamee, repx'esenting the locomotive engineers 
and the labor federation of Columbus, O., made an argu¬ 
ment before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Jan¬ 
uary 10, against the Grout Oleomargarine bill. He con¬ 
tended for the right of consumers to buy any article they 
might desire which was not deleterious to health. 
The West Virginia State Horticultural Society and the 
State Sheep Breeders’ and Wool Growers’ Association 
will meet at Charleston, W. Va., January 29-30. 
NEW JERSEY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
NEW SMALL FRUITS.—The twenty-sixth annual 
meeting of the New Jersey State Horticultural Society 
was held at the State House in Trenton, January 3-4. 
'fhe attendance was good, and much Interest was mani¬ 
fested in the practical aspects of fruit and vegetable pro¬ 
duction. The fruit committee reported the crop of 1900 
generally of poor quality and not very profitable. In 
raspberries, the Miller Red Is driving the better-quality 
Outhbert from market, on account of its brighter color, 
ijoudon is not desirable for market on account of dull 
color and adherence to receptacle. Cumberland Black is 
not an improvement on Kansas in any essential partic¬ 
ular. Among blackberries, Wilson is still favorite; Rath- 
bun is very similar, if not identical, with Wilson. El 
Dorado, best new variety, vigorous, entirely hardy, heavy 
cropper, fruit very best quality. Erie and Lawton, best 
late varieties, but subject to root gall in south Jersey. 
Iceberg, the new California white blackberry, is no better 
than the old Crystal White, and neither amounts to any¬ 
thing. The Gladstone strawberry is found to be about 
the same as the Sharpless. Johnston’s Early, a new 
berry from Burlington County, yields well and is as early 
as Michel. In Mercer County the following are com¬ 
mercially profitable; Tennessee, Gandy, on heavy soils; 
Glen Mary, Bismarck, Bubach and Pride of Cumberland. 
The Strawberry aphis, a small, blue species, works on the 
roots, and is increasingly destructive. Destroy them be¬ 
fore planting by dipping roots in tobacco water. Thor¬ 
ough work is necessary. The query: “Does it pay to 
thin strawberries?” remained unanswered. In currants. 
North Star was reported very productive, but too small 
for market. The Early Rivers peach is profitable for 
near markets. Iron Mountain was declared identical 
with Ford’s Late. Elberta is still best money-maker. 
The Black peach-louse, an old pest, has been troublesome 
in 1900. Many trees have it that are suspected of being 
infected with the yellows. It is more disastrous in some 
localities than scale. Tobacco answers on leaves, but 
not on roots. Meritorious apples of recent introduction 
are Mammoth Blacktwlg, York Imperial, Langford and 
Stayman. Makefleld apple, from Bucks County, Pa., sup¬ 
posed to be a bud variation from Smith Cider, is more 
valuable than the parent on account of color being all 
red, not splashed like Smith Cider. Tree is similar in all 
respects. Turn-of-Lane, an old variety from Salem 
County, is small and bright red, a late keeper, and of 
superior quality, little disseminated away from place of 
origin. Ben Davis is most extensively planted, and is 
the best money-maker. 
THE KIEFFER PEAR.—A most interesting debate fol¬ 
lowed the reply of President D. D. Denise to the ques¬ 
tion: “ Is It advisable to plant more Kieffer pear or¬ 
chards?” President Denise said the tree is a nice, rapid 
grower, bears young, and is less subject to blight than 
other varieties; quality is much improved of late years, 
and now equal to some others; 25 per cent of the or¬ 
chards set are neglected and never come into bearing, 
'rhe local markets are overstocked, but there is a good 
distant demand. His little orchard of 1,200 trees has made 
more money than the remainder of farm. Prices no 
lower than best apples, and the yield is greater. In 
1900 the trees yielded over 200 barrels per acre, at net 
profit of 50 cents per barrel, or $100 per acre. Neighbor 
with neglected orchard shipped ungraded Kieffers and 
got only seven cents per barrel net return! Best and 
highest-colored fruit is grown on land not too rich. 
Should be planted from 20x20 to 35x35 feet apart for best 
results. Every second year in poor soils should have 
1,000 pounds or more of good commercial fertilizer. Must 
always have good culture, thorough pruning and thin¬ 
ning. Should be picked and put in storage as soon as 
4i 
the fruit will separate from stem. J. S. Collins, the 
largest Kieffer pear-grower in the State, said that the 
prices in 1900 were very low; could not dispose of all his 
crop in southern part of State. Discussion brought out 
the opinion that the canning test of 1899 was of no value, 
as many of the heaviest canners used a chemically-pre¬ 
pared sweet, with 50 times the strength of sugar, to save 
expense. 'This was satisfactory when first put up, as 
the color was better than when sugar was used, but 
later the preparation attacked the cans, giving a tinny 
taste to contents, and even ate holes thiough the cans, 
causing a total loss. One packing firm lost $50,000. Those 
canned with sugar found a good market, though the 
chemically-prepared stock injured the sale of all; and 
doubtless caused the decline in value of Kieffers in 
south Jersey last Fall, as the chemical tests were largely 
made in that portion of the State. Kieffers, picked 
when two-thirds grown, and ripened in the dark, were 
of best quality, but carried to market poorly. Rust or 
clouding of the Kieffer received considerable attention. 
It is thought to be a weakness inherent in the Japan 
pears, as their skin is thin and tender, and is not caused 
by insects. Late frosts in Spring, after fruit is set, 
early frosts in Fall, excessive spraying, too thick foliage 
and lack of pruning were given as causes. It consists 
of a corky growth, favored by lack of ventilation. It 
will remain, but care, culture and pruning to let in sun¬ 
light will lessen it. 'i'he crop of Kieffer pears in New 
Jersey is 10 times as great as all other varieties. Other 
good pears are Manning’s Elizabeth, Clapp, Bartlett, 
Seckel, Duchess, Anjou and Lawrence, in order of ripen¬ 
ing. They soid at to $3 per barrel, while Kieffer did 
not bring more than $1.25 on the average. 
PLUM CUL'l'URE.—'rwo papers on plum culture, by 
David Baird and William Skillman, excited much inter¬ 
est. It was agreed that no European plum except the 
Lombard could be grown with profit in New Jersey. The 
trees grew well and set fruit regularly, but rot and the 
curculio so reduced it that practically none matured for 
market. 'The Lombard is a moderate success, but shows 
the same faults. No American plum except the Wild 
Goose has returned profit as yet. In many sections it 
does not bear unless pollinated with Cumberland, 'rhe 
Japan plums are the only money-makers. A number of 
varieties have been fruited and discarded. Red June, 
Abundance, Burbank, Satsuma and Chabot are liked. 
'They are named in order of ripening. Hale, for home 
use, Wickson and October Purple are thought worthy of 
planting for further trial. 'The great defects of the Japans 
are the tendency to overbear and their susceptibility to 
brown rot. Bearing trees set five times as many plums 
as they can bring to maturity, 'i'hinning must be thor¬ 
oughly done if good fruits are expected. 'They should 
not hang closer than two inches apart. A very effective 
and practical way is by shaking the trees vigorously 
when plums are the size of a hickorynut. May be re¬ 
peated several times, and then the tendency will be to 
leave too many fruits on the tree. Thinning makes size 
and checks the rot. 'i’he trees must be severely pruned, 
'i'horough thinning and pruning will do more to limit rot 
than spraying which many consider not only useless, but 
injurious to the foliage. Curculio does not injure Japans, 
and is considered to be a benefit by reducing number of 
fruits. The fruit should be picked as soon as it shows 
color, as some varieties drop. 'They can be picked before 
coloring and color on way to market, but quality Is in¬ 
jured. Peaches can also be well thinned by shaking. 
KILLING 'THE SCALE.—The San Jos6 scale received 
much attention. Prof. J. B. Smith, State Entomologist, 
said it was here to stay, and in five years every peach 
tree and Kieffer pear tree would require special atten¬ 
tion. 'rhe scale came from Japan and China, and the 
older Japanese imported trees were more resistant than 
American-grown stock, 'i'he scale often dies on the im¬ 
ported trees. New remedies must be found, as there is 
no effectual parasite. In time resistant varieties of 
fruits will be developed. J. H. Hale, of Connecticut, 
said that the Pernicious scale was the greatest blessing 
that could happen to fruit growers, as it forced careless 
cultivators out of the race. No one agreed with this 
conclusion, but thought it a serious menace. Crude pe¬ 
troleum has been largely used, with generally good re¬ 
sults. Mr. Emmor Roberts used petroleum extensively, 
spraying V/z acres of apples, using 10 barrels of petro¬ 
leum. He thinks it often benefits the trees by killing 
fungi and other insects besides the scales. The petro¬ 
leum killed many cherry trees and injures peaches fre¬ 
quently. Some apples are more susceptible to the effects 
of petroleum than others. Yellow Transparent and 
Wealthy are easily Injured. Baldwin, Smith Cider, Cor¬ 
nell Fancy, York Imperial, Gravenstein and Ben Davis 
not affected. Ohio Pippin and Williams Early died, but 
were badly weakened by lice and scale previous to the 
application. 'The cut surfaces of pruned trees should be 
painted over before applying petroleum. Some differ¬ 
ence of opinion was elicited as to method of spraying. 
Prof. Smith advised a bunch of two or three nozzles. 
Mr. Roberts says he uses a single nozzle, and takes ad¬ 
vantage of high winds, spraying down the wind. He 
often covers more than the tree operated on by this 
means. A unique recommendation was made by H. 'T. 
Jones, of the flower committee, to plant the native holly 
by the acre to cut when in berry for Christmas greens. 
NEW JERSEY VEGE'TABLES.-The vegetable com¬ 
mittee reported great loss from the pea-louse. It is 
estimated that 75 per cent of the whole value of the crop 
was lost. First and second-early peas not much injured, 
'i'he insect did not appear in force until nearly the middle 
of June. The first peas from New Jersey were marketed 
May 25. The pest can be controlled by careful spraying. 
J. Brackley, a canner, near Freehold, N. J., planted 1,436 
acres of peas, 275 Lima beans and 100 acres of spinach; 
used 3,250 bushels peas for seed, at the rate of 2^4 bushels 
per acre; applied 543 tons of fertilizers at rate of 600 
pounds to the acre; used 18 two-horse sprayers, as it was 
the first place in Monmouth County where the louse ap¬ 
peared. He used whale-oil soap solution. The sprayers 
lifted the vines and covered the lice with solution. 
Where peas were not sprayed the entire crop of the 
medium and late varieties was lost. As with the Potato 
beetle, it is necessary to have everything ready. Cab¬ 
bages suffered severely from green worms which even 
attacked lettuce spinach and celery. One grower in 
Essex County failed to get a good head from 10,000 plants. 
Total cabbage crop scarcely 25 per cent of an average, 
but quality excellent. Growers must now base prices at 
what it can be grown for elsewhere; $4 per ton pays very 
well. Tomatoes were a fine crop, though injured In 
localities by Tobacco worm. In northern part of the 
State Stone and Beauty are the favorites; in the south 
ern portion, Stone and Paragon are preferred. Perfec¬ 
tion is still grown somewhat. Acme grows well in dry 
weather, but spots too much. Conqueror is extensively 
planted for very early and does well on light soils. 
Dwarf Champion is early and of good quality, but is a 
weak grower and requires a strong soil. Potatoes, gen¬ 
erally only one-third of a crop. The sweet-potato crop 
was the largest ever grown. Storage houses for sweet 
potatoes will not pay this year. Direct shipments as far 
west as Denver have paid fairly well. Sweet corn was 
of fine quality but injured by Corn worm. Prof. Byron 
D. Halsted related some Interesting results of crossing 
varieties of sweet corn, dwarf Lima beans, egg plants, 
tomatoes and the cultivated salsify with the native wild 
species. He evidently has some good things under way. 
Prof. E. B. Voorhees, also of the State Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, made a strong plea for irrigation of garden and 
fruit crops In the East. He claims that it is only neces¬ 
sary to supply the deficiency of the seasonal rainfall, 
and not to furnish the entire amount of moisture needed 
as In the West. When the natural facilities are good a 
plant, not exceeding $600 in cost has been sufficient to 
irrigate several acres in New Jersey. w. v. T. 
