1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i55 
Events of the Week. 
UOMliSTIC.—February 13 fire destroyed the National 
Glass Company’s tumbler works at Rochester, Pa., en¬ 
tailing a loss of $500,000.A bill has been intro¬ 
duced in the New Jersey Legislature providing a penalty 
of 60 years imprisonment and $10,000 fine for the crime 
of kidnapping a child under 14 years old.Fire 
in a bolt factory at North Tonawanda, N. Y., February 
11 . caused damage amounting to $100,000.Febru- 
ai-y 13-15 severe snow blockades were reported through¬ 
out northern New York. Intense cold and high winds 
prevailed over a wide area, and extensive ice floes hin¬ 
dered navigation around New York City.Three 
new fatal cases of bubonic plague were reported in San 
l-'rancisco February 7.A terrific explosion oc¬ 
curred February 15 in a coai mine at Cumberland, Van- 
louver Island. Fire followed the explosion, imprisoning 
111 men. None escaped alive, in spite of the heroic efforts 
re.scuers.Three men were killed and three 
fatally injured by a dynamite explosion in a railroad 
tunnel at Pinto. Pa., February 15.Owing to the 
imposition of a countervailing duty on Russian sugar by 
our Government, Russia has retaliated by a discrimi¬ 
nating duty on American manufactures of iron and 
steel amounting to about 30 per cent. The duty on Rus¬ 
sian sugar was imposed on the ground that a bounty is 
paid to the exporters.It has been announced 
dial Denmark has tinally decided not to sell her West 
Indian Islands to the United States.Chicago 
capitalists have organized a $1,000,000 corporation, known 
as the Central Sugar Company, to compete with the huge 
American trust in the home supply. Contracts have al¬ 
ready been closed by the newly-organized company for 
tlie erection of a beet sugar factory at Shelby. Ind. This 
will be the first enterprise of its kind in that State. Ten 
thousand acres of huid have been purchased by the com¬ 
pany, and contracts let for one of the largest sugar refin¬ 
eries outside of the trust.Pour firemen were 
killed by a falling wall, while fighting a fire at New 
Haven, Conn., February 19. The property loss caused by 
the fire was $50,000. 
CONGRESS.—The House Committee on Irrigation and 
Arid Lands February 14 voted to report, with an amend¬ 
ment, the Newlands bill providing a plan of Government 
aid in reclaiming the arid sections of the arid-lands States. 
.... The right of Delegate Wilcox, of Hawaii, to a 
scat in the House has been confirmed. His opponents have 
charged him with bigamy and treason.Senator 
liansbrough, of North Dakota, recently referred to the 
Interior Department for an opinion his bill providing that 
all moneys received from the sale of public lands in the 
arid and semi-arid regions shall be set aside as an “arid 
land reclamation fund” for the construction of reservoirs 
and other hydraulic works for the storage and diversion 
of water. Commissioner Hermann, of the General Land 
Office, nas recommended to the Secretary of the Interior 
that a favorable report bo made on the bill, with amend¬ 
ments to meet 'several suggestions he has offered. 
The House passed the St. Houis Exposition bill February 
IS by a vote of 101 to 41. The bill to define the word “con¬ 
spiracy” in the Sherman Anti-trust law, to avoid the 
possibility of its being held applicable to labor organiza¬ 
tions, was defeated by almost a two-thirds vote on ac¬ 
count of two amendments which the Judiciary Committee 
placed upon the bill, and which were opposed by the labor 
organizations. 
IdllT.lPPlNES.—There have been furti er incriminating 
developments in the charges against Dr. D. IM. Carman, 
the American contractor, who, with his pattnei, Theo- 
doria Carranza, a Spanish merchant, was arrested Feb¬ 
ruary 6, charged with furnishing supplies to aid the in- 
•surgents. Proof has been secured of his dealings with 
the rebels, showing that he supplied them with uniforms, 
provi.sions, money and some arms. The tnvcstlgation will 
be ccnlinncd In the province of La Quna three agents 
of the Tabacaleria Company, and William Webb, Pedro 
Lorenzo and Victoriaco Senatna, employed by ‘he Philip¬ 
pine Trading Company, have been arrested on charges 
similar to those brought against D. M. Carman, for fur¬ 
nishing the insurgents with supplies. The Tabacaleria 
Company, the richest corporation in the Philippines, is 
accused of aiding the insurgents often and extensvely. 
The parties arrested are prominent persons, and the evi¬ 
dence against them is very strong. M. Brix-Hoelterman, 
a Belgian connected with the Philippine Trading Com¬ 
pany, has been arrested at Manila, and M. Edouard Andre, 
the Belgian consul here and manager of the Philippine 
Trading Company, has hastily left Manila with his fam¬ 
ily on his way to Europe, on board the steamer Monte- 
vedo. Andre had previously been suspected. Other ar¬ 
rests are expected.Captain Novico, the insur¬ 
gent officer who commanded the band which captured 
Lieutenant Gillmore, and party held them captive for 
many months, has been sentenced to imprisonment at 
hard labor for life, on the charge of having permitted 
one of Gillmore’s party to be buried alive. The victim 
was a sailor named McDonald, who was a burden to 
the Filipinos because of his wounds. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.-'l’he capital city of Bo¬ 
livia, La Paz, has been inundated by the overflow of a 
river; many lives have been lost, and the damage is said 
to reach $1,000,000.Disturbed conditions exist in 
Spain, where the marriage of the king’s sister. Princess 
Mercedes, to Prince Charles of Bourbon, February 14, was 
the occasion of general rioting.Negotiations in 
China still proceed slowly. The United States protests 
against a punitive expedition projected by Germany. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—At a meeting of the New York 
State Fair Commission, held February 6, it was decided to 
change the dates for holding the Fair from the week 
commencing August 26 to the week beginning September 
9. The law will be amended so that any county or town 
society may hold its. fair during the same week as the 
State Fair. 
At the recent annual meeting of ihe /Xrkan.sas State 
Horticultural Society interesting papers were read, and 
it was decided to ask the State I..egislalure for a $2,00n 
appropriation. Officers for the ensuing year were elected 
as follows: President, John P. Logan, Siloam Springs; 
vice-president, S. 41. Nowlin, Hitlle Rock; secretary, \\'. 
K. Tipton, Little Rock; treasurer. Job Vestal, Little Rock. 
Seedsmen and farmers of central Iowa have formed 
the Iowa Seed Corn Growers’ Association, the officers of 
which are: President, John E. Brown, Mitchellvllle; vice- 
president, D. K. Nims, Emerson; secretary and treasurer, 
N. J. Jlarris, Des Moines. The object of the Association 
is to promote the corn-raising industry, so as to get the 
best varieties of seed corn raised and distributed among 
the farmers. 
The Women’s Agricultural and Horticultural Union of 
California, organized in San Francisco during the recent 
meeting of the State Fruit growers’ Convention, has 
chosen officers as follows: President, Mrs. M. E. Sherman, 
Fresno; first vice-president, Mrs. E. Shields, Sacramento; 
secretary, Mrs. Emma Shatter Howard, Oakland. 
The thirty-seventh annual meeting of the Nova Scotia 
Fruit Growers’ Association met at Wolfville, January 28- 
30. The transportation of fruit to the English market 
was discussed very fully. The following officei's were 
elected: President, J. W. Bigelow, Wolfville; vice-presi¬ 
dent, Peter Innes. Coldbrook; secretary, S. C. Parker, 
Berwick; treasurer. Geo. W. Munroe, Wolfville. 
'rhrough Western New York especially in Orleans 
County, fruit-growers are organizing local branches and 
will send delegates to the meeting at Syracuse, February 
27-28. The growers are strongly in favor of the bill 
compelling nurserymen to fumigate nursery stock. At the 
recent hearing on this bill at Albany a strong delegation 
from Orleans County was present. 
Connecticut Pomological Meeting 
PART II. 
At the recent meeting of the Connecticut Pomological 
Society there was quite a discussion as to varieties of red 
apples suitable for New England. The great desire is to 
find a rival for Baldwin which shall have all the good 
qualities of that variety, with a little higher quality, a 
I'riie Armour Packing Company is buying salt in Portugal, 
being driven to it by the e-vactions of the salt trust.] 
Unclk Sam: “If old Beefy can’t stand it, how can I?” —Phii.a- 
DEI.IMIIA REC'OUD. 
little more vigorous tree, and larger size. Sutton Beauty 
and Jonathan seem to be most in favor, but there was 
some talk about Rome Beauty. York Imperial, of which 
much was expected, does not seem to gain many friends 
in Yankeeland. L. B. Smith, of Iligganum, had an ex¬ 
cellent article on the “Value of Fruits as Food.” He 
said that he had been a confirmed dyspeptic, but had 
made himself a well man by eating freely of whole- 
.some, ripe fruit. For a family of four persons he would 
have four quarts of ripe strawberries each day, in their 
season, avoiding those which contained the most acid. 
Peaches and plums are also excellent, but the apple, he 
says, is the best of all fruits, superior to the orange in 
every way. No fc.:nily should go into Winter quarters 
without at least five or six bushels of apples for each 
person. This would mean u-ss meat, and a greater de¬ 
gree of health. 
Charles W. Garfield, of Michigan, gave a noble address 
on “The Signs of the Times in Horticulture.” He briefly 
reviewed some of the remarkable changes of the past 10 
or 15 years, and went on to show how the progressive 
fruit growers are to take advantage of them. It would 
be impossible to give anything like a .synopsis of this 
excellent address, which was earnest and thoughtful, and 
packed full of the soundest sort of advice. Among other 
things he said that he noticed in Europe how the farm¬ 
ers who had goods to sell dressed up for the occasion, 
and came to market presenting a neat, clean appearance 
which was bound to help the sale of their goods. In this 
country too many farmers are willing to come directly 
from the barnyard without any change of clothing what¬ 
ever, to sell food which the customers are to eat without 
washing. He thinks that farmers should take more 
pride in their business, and above all remember that the 
appearance of their goods counts for everything, with 
a fastidious customer. Prof. W. G. Johnson delivered his 
address on the San Josd scale, which w'as well received 
by the Society. This led to the usual discussion, and 
after considerable talk, a resolution was adopted, de¬ 
claring that, in the judgment of the Society, Connecticut 
ought to make an earnest attempt to save trees and 
shrubs. 'Phis is a pretty mild statement for Yankees to 
make, when threatened with such serious trouble. But 
it is a fair sample of the sort of resolution turned out 
wlienever nurserymen and fruit growers get together and 
try to pool their issues on this question. 
J. H. Hale delivered an excellent address, showing the 
progress of pomology during the past 10 years. It would 
be impossible to give a fair synopsis of this address, but 
we hope to give the greater part of it in later issues. 
Among other things he said that the only really valuable 
pear coming to us in recent years is the Worden Seckel; 
he thinks highly of it. He spoke of the fact that Con¬ 
necticut has now as many peach trees as Delaware, 
which was once the most noted peach State in America. 
The Campbell’s Early and Green Mountain grapes he 
calls the two most valuable late acquisitions. He thinks 
favorably of chestnut culture, growing the new and old 
varieties, and says that nearer the large cities canta¬ 
loupes are now being produced in great quantities, ap¬ 
parently competing successfully with the Western crop. 
Hale is rightly opposed to the Ben Davis apple, although, 
like others, he has no definite variety to take the place 
of Baldwin. He considers the Carman peach an acquisi¬ 
tion, although Champion and Elberta are the most valu¬ 
able varieties that have come to us during the past 10 
years. Red raspberries are under a cloud, selling at 50 
per cent lower, and less in demand than they were 10 
years ago. 
West Virginia State Horticultural Society. 
The seventh annual meeting of the West Virginia State 
Horticultural Society was an epoch-maker in its history. 
Never before has so much real live interest been mani¬ 
fest in fruit growing at one of these meetings. Apple 
cidture held the day from early morning till late at 
night; the papers and discussions all referred to the 
apple. Wm. Hewit referred to the tremendous influ¬ 
ence which a single man, Jacob Nessly, had upon the 
subsequent history of the county in which he was a 
pioneer. About 115 years ago this man acquired a tract 
of land in the northern part of what is now Hancock 
Co., W. Va., stretching along the Ohio River for about 
four miles, and about 1% mile in width. This area is 
now the most extensive apple orchard in the State, con¬ 
taining orchards of over 300 acres in extent, and an 
aggregate of nearly 3,000 acres, with ample storage and 
warehouses for the purpose of carrying the product over 
the season of low prices, so characteristic of picking 
time. There are no less than six of these houses, ranging 
from 2,500 up to 35,000 barrels capacity. Here numerous 
varieties are grown, but the commercial product is con¬ 
fined to Willow, Rome Beauty and Ben Davis. 
How to Make an Orchard Profitable was discussed 
by Hon. W. F. Brown, of Arroyo, W. Va., who is one of 
the most successful apple growers of his region. He 
gave the results of his own experience in the use of bone 
meal and the spray pump in improving the quality and 
quantity of his fruit. One of the most instructive papers 
read was by Prof. G. L. Stewart, Assistant Industrial 
Agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, in charge of 
agriculture and horticullure, in which he pointed out 
the areas in Preston and Barbour counties in which 
successful orchard anti garden enterprises were engaged 
in, as well as the possibilities of these counties for apple 
and peach culture and market gardening. 'Phis work, 
which the Baltimore & Ohio has undertaken, is certain 
to awaken an interest in horticultural pursuits along its 
lines. Mayor Floyd, of Charleston, gave a brief resumfi 
of his market-garden operations carried on to supply the 
city of Charleston. One of his main crops is early cab¬ 
bage, the seeds for which are sown in September; the 
plants carried over Winter in cold frames and planted 
out the last of March or early in April—20,000 to 30,000 
are annually grown in this manner. Strawberries were 
tested in a small way, the plants set one foot apart in 
the row and 18 inches apart betw'een rows. From 1-16 
acre treated in this way an income of $55 was received, 
thus producing at the rate of nearly $900 per acre. 
Spraying was discussed by Hon. Alex Clohan. He re¬ 
counted his experience with the Snow apple. While this 
variety grows well and produces a fruit of high quality 
in certain localities, with him, it produced few fruits, 
and those so scabby and inferior that they were worth¬ 
less. Fifteen trees, w'hich were at least a dozen years 
old. had not produced more than five bushels of apples 
in any one year until 1898, when they were sprayed before 
the buds opened with the 6-4 Bordeaux Mixture; a second 
treatment was made as soon as the blossoms fell; a 
third when the fruit were about the size of hickorynuts, 
and a fourth about three weeks later. As a result about 
30 barrels of good fruit were harvested, which returned 
a net price of $2.50 per barrel. The spraying was not 
confined to these apples, but was made general to all 
fruits in the plantation, w'lth the result that plum trees, 
which previously cast their leaves in August and Sep¬ 
tember, carried full foliage up to frost, and the following 
season produced a full crop of fruit. The results from 
spraying the Snow apples alone paid for all the sprayiMg 
done on the plantation and left a small margin of profit. 
The following oflicers were elected: President, Hon. R. 
C. Burkhart; vice-president, O. V. Oshel, Grimm’s Land¬ 
ing; .secretary, L. C. Corbett, Morgantown, W. Va. 
APPLE REPORTS.—Last Fall, from week to week, 
npple reports from different places were printed in your 
paper, and I told the farmers around me that if I had 
apples to sell I should not be in any hurry, but most of 
them sold their fruit for 50 cents per barrel, while a 
few held until they got from $1,50 to $1.75 per bai-rel for 
fi'iiit alone. q. w. h. 
Columbia County, N. Y. 
POTATO OUTLOOK.—The potato market continues un¬ 
satisfactory, and it is doubtful whether there will be any 
material increase in price for several weeks. From all 
that can be learned, large quantities remain in the hands 
of the growers in some of the western potato States, and 
as soon as there is any scarcity in the eastern markets 
sufficient to put prices up, western farmers will take the 
opportunity to unload their surplus stock. Taking the 
lesnlts year after year, those whose policy is to sell when 
they can get a fair price come out better than those 
who always hold for a rise, and in many cases hold until 
Ihe bottom drops out of the market. Speculation is poor 
bu.siness for a man who has not capital enough so that 
losing will not cripple him. 
