1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
2 i9 
Events of the IVeek. 
domestic.—A delegation of Illinois manufacturers 
called on Secretary Gage March 6, protesting against the 
countervailing duty on Russian sugar, which has pro¬ 
voked retaliatory tariff measures on the part of Russia. 
The Secretary explained at some length that It was per¬ 
fectly useless for any association of manufacturers or 
anyone else to demand of the Treasury Department the 
repeal of the countervailing duty order. The duty in 
question, he said, was imposed In obedience to the law 
of Congress, and was a matter over which the Treasury 
Department had no control except to carry out the law. 
.... The Prohibition State Convention In Michigan, 
by an almost unanimous vote, refused to endorse the 
work of Mrs. Carrie Nation In smashing the saloons in 
Kansas.A bill just Introduced in the New Jer¬ 
sey Legislature prohibits “treating” to drinks. Temper¬ 
ance influence is backing the bill.March 9, the 
Utah Senate passed a law permitting polygamy. The 
new law grants immunity from prosecution, except under 
the United States statute, to all persons living in polyg¬ 
amy. The Federal statute applies only to the celebration 
of a plural marriage. The avowed object of this act, 
which is passed at the dictation of the Mormon Church, 
is to allow men now having several wives to live with 
them undisturbed. In consequence, preparations are al¬ 
ready being made to resume openly polygamous relations. 
The measure, which is known as the Evans bill, passed 
the Senate March 9 and it was put through the House 
March 11 under “gag” rule.March 10, violent 
storms prevailed over a wide area throughout the United 
States. At Wills Point and Terrill, Tex., wind and rain 
demolished property and caused the loss of seven lives. 
At Chicago, Ill., wind caused a property loss of $175,000. 
At Detroit, Mich., over 1,000 telephones were rendered 
useless by the rain freezing on the wires. Missouri suf¬ 
fered from heavy snow, which crippled transportation. 
In Arkansas, there was widespread damage from wind 
and flood, and 16 persons were killed, many of them being 
drowned.The grand jury at Anderson, S. C., 
has reported 20 cases of negro laborers held in slavery, 
.... Two Chicago men have been arrested for com¬ 
plicity in the $30,000 robbery of revenue stamps at Peoria, 
Ill., January 25 last.By the explosion of a 
boiler in an old theater building In Chicago, occupied by 
a laundry, March 11, the structure was wrecked and many 
persons were killed or injured. Fire followed the explo¬ 
sion, and a dozen small business establishments were 
wrecked.An explosion in a brewery at McKees¬ 
port, Pa., March 12, blew the building to pieces, and killed 
several persons. A dozen adjoining houses were wrecked 
by flying iron and timber, and many persons were In¬ 
jured. The property loss is $150,000. The cause of the ex¬ 
plosion is unknown.The Archer starch factory, 
at Kankakee, Ill., was burned March 12, with a loss of 
$325,000. The Are was caused by an explosion of the large 
grinders from combustion, due to wet starch and Iron 
nails.A Are at the University of Iowa, Iowa 
City, March 10, destroyed the College of Medicine and 
literary buildings; loss $250,000. 
CONGRESS.—The United States Senate, March 6, re¬ 
ferred to the Committee on Rules the amendment placing 
a limit upon debate, offered by Senator Platt, of Connecti¬ 
cut. The debate developed the fact that there was inten¬ 
tion to urge Its discussion at the extraordinary session. 
Mr. Morgan, of Alabama, who on March 6 offered a reso¬ 
lution declaring the abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer 
treaty, addressed the Senate for nearly two hours upon 
his proposition.March 9, the President appoint¬ 
ed and the Senate confirmed the following members of 
the Spanish Claims Commission: William E. Chandler, of 
New Hampshire; GerrIt J. Diekema, of Michigan; James 
Perry Wood, of Ohio; William A. Maury, of the District 
of Columbia, and William L. Chambers, of Alabama. 
This country by the Treaty of Paris relinquished all pri¬ 
vate claims against Spain growing out of the Cuban war 
and undertook to adjudicate and settle them. The Com¬ 
mission appointed will pass upon claims aggregating al¬ 
most $100,000,000, and including everything from the loss 
of a horse to damages for false imprisonment, from kill¬ 
ing of relatives to destruction of sugar mills and cane 
fields. In almost every Instance the claims are regarded 
as excessive, and the Commission will undoubtedly award 
considerably less than is asked for.The Senate 
adjourned March 9, the extra session having lasted six 
days.The answer of the British government to 
the Hay-Pauncefote canal treaty, as amended by the Sen¬ 
ate, was submitted by Lord Pauncefote to the State De¬ 
partment March 11. The treaty is rejected, and no counter 
proposals are made. The subject will have future con¬ 
sideration, but not immediately, both in the United 
States and England. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Smallpox continues to 
spread in Glasgow, Scotland. March 6, there were 42 
new cases, and 435 smallpox patients in the hospitals. 
■ . . . A severe earthquake occurred at Lima, Peru, 
March 9.Serious friction exists between Japan 
and Russia. The latter power is attempting to grab 
Manchuria. Conditions in China are unchanged. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Keystone Poultry, Pigeon 
and Pet Stock Association, at its annual meeting March 
6, elected these officers for the ensuing term: President, 
Edward L. Welsh; vice-presidents, Alfred C. Harrison, 
William Disston and George W. Childs Drexel; secretary 
and treasurer, James Cheston, Jr.; assistant secretary, 
Joseph Baird; directors, the above named and A. P. 
Groves, Robert E. Glendlnning and Louis A. Biddle, 
Chestnut Hill; George Corson, Plymouth Meeting; C. E. 
White, Fox Chase; Henry D. Riley, Strafford; Louis Blanc 
and Howard Reifsnyder, Philadelphia; Pennock Powell, 
Swarthmore, and J. D. Nevins, Beverly, N. J. 
Breeders of Andalusians are at last to organize. The of¬ 
ficers elected at the initial meeting held during the Boston 
Poultry Show are: President, E. L. C. Morse, South Chi¬ 
cago, Ill.; vice-president, Newton Cash, London, Ontario; 
secretary and treasurer, R. W. Lovett, Boston. 
The New Jersey Fanciers’ Association, at the annual 
meeting in Newark, March 6, named December 10-14 as 
the date of the next exhibition. This is to be held In 
Newark. The officers for the new year are: President, 
E. C. Slater, Washington; secretary and treasurer, How¬ 
ard Van Sickle, Lebanon. 
The American Cattle Growers’ Association, in conven¬ 
tion in Denver, March 6, elected the following officers: 
President, F. C. Lusk, California; first vice-president, E. 
C. Goudy, Colorado; second vice-president, M. K. Par¬ 
sons, Utah; treasurer, F. A. Keener, Colorado. 
At the Wornall-Robbins sale of Short-horns at Kansas 
City, Mo., March 4, the five-year-old cow Lady Valentine 
was sold to W. D. Flatt, Hamilton, Ont., for $1,195. The 
imported heifer Graceful Rose was sold to F. H. Gilchrist, 
Hope, Ind., for $890. The average price of the first 25 
cattle sold was $415. 
The judges in the prize competition at the recent con¬ 
vention of the National Creamery Butter-Makers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, at St. Paul, Minn., have discovered errors in their 
computation of averages, and, as a result, Minnesota has 
been awarded the silk banner for the highest State aver¬ 
age. According to the prior announcement Kansas had 
.05 per cent better average than Minnesota, but the errors 
discovered give Minnesota .42 per cent the better of it. 
Homer Charles Price, assistant in horticulture and 
forestry at the State University of Ohio, has been se¬ 
cured as head of the department of horticulture at Iowa 
State College, Ames, la. 
The March report of the statistician of the Department 
of Agriculture shows the amount of wheat in farmers’ 
hands on March 1 to be 128,100,000 bushels; corn, 776,200,000; 
oats, about 292,800,000. 
The trustees of the Maryland Agricultural College met 
in regular session at the college March 8. The board 
authorized the president to offer the use of the college 
building during the months of .Tuly and August to such 
teachers of the public schools of the State as desired to 
avail themselves of a Summer scientific course, the un¬ 
derstanding being that the college would be put to no 
expense on this account. 
The Lake Charles (La.) Rice Association will establish 
and maintain a “rice kitchen” at the Pan-American Ex¬ 
position at Buffalo from May to November, at which the 
rice will be served in a variety of attractive forms, so as 
to show the real value of rice as a staple article of food. 
The Secretary of Agriculture will call upon the super¬ 
vising architect of the Treasury for plans for a new 
building for the Department of Agriculture. By a pro¬ 
vision in the Sundry Civil appropriation bill the Secretary 
of Agriculture is authorized to expend $5,000 in the prepa¬ 
ration of plans for the new building, but before asking 
assistance from private architects he will seek to have 
the plans furnished by the Treasury Department. Secre¬ 
tary Wilson has received assurances from Influential 
members of Congress that an appropriation for a new 
building for the Department of Agriculture will be made 
during the first session of the Fifty-seventh Congress. 
The present building was condemned by experts 20 years 
ago, and is entirely inadequate. The Department of 
Agriculture is now conducting all Its laboratory work in 
rented buildings, located outside of the department 
grounds. These buildings are for the most part mere 
makeshifts, consisting of dwelling houses remodeled to 
permit laboratory work. Some of them are overcrowded, 
and none is fireproof. There are five of these buildings, 
which, with rent and other expenses, cost the depart¬ 
ment about $10,000 a year. 
WHERE THE BEN DAVIS APPLE REIGNS. 
Red tipples in New Orleans. 
In New Orleans Ben Davis is recognized as king of 
apples. The unanimous verdict of the dealers is: “This 
is a Ben Davis market!” Standing side by side with 
Baldwins from western New York, Ben is preferred, sell¬ 
ing at this date for $4.50 per barrel, while Baldwins find 
but few buyers at $3.50. This state of things is certainly 
against all good common sense Judgment, and entirely 
without adequate reason from our point of view, but 
what are we going to do about It? It might make us 
laugh if It did not make us mad,and doubtless it is quite 
provoking to us New Yorkers who think we know how 
much better our apples really are, and who find it im¬ 
possible to grow the big beautiful spongy Ben Davis to 
compete with the grreat orchards of the illimitable West, 
but may not this unsatisfactory (to us) condition demon¬ 
strate that the proof (or profit) of the pudding (or apple) 
is not always found in the eating of It, but may some¬ 
times lie in the looks, and, also, that much that glitters, 
though not gold, may, under certain conditions, be prac¬ 
tically as good as gold if It brings gold prices, and all 
concerned are satisfied to have It thus estimated? Upon 
reading over the latter clause of the preceding sentence, 
I am free to confess that its apparent teaching is quite 
reprehensible, but would like it to stand on account of 
its Intended sarcasm. Of course, we want the whole 
truth, nothing less and no substitution. For ourselves 
and everybody the highest attainable excellence in every¬ 
thing, including apples, and right here in this connection 
this statement which cannot be disproved, fits in exactly. 
For quality New York State produces the finest apples in 
all the world! Think of It! The folly and the cheek of 
it! Putting western Ben Davis ahead of New York 
Baldwins! 
Last Fall we carefully selected, one by one. enough 
Northern Spy apples to fill a barrel, and wrapping each 
one in glazed paper, brought them through the Winter in 
good shape. When we packed for this southern trip, we 
put into our trunks and handbags all we could find room 
for, and on the way down we ate them, and their fra¬ 
grance filled the car, and we could actually see the other 
passengers’ mouths water as they hungrily watched us 
out of the corner of their eyes. We gave away but few— 
couldn’t spare many—but their very presence was edu¬ 
cational, and a revelation of what the best apples are. 
We came over the Southern Railway, and were greatly 
pleased with the perfect service and courteous treatment 
accorded us, and, of course, the train boys had for sale 
what they called apples—mostly the Inevitable Ben Davis, 
but when compared with our educational exhibit the boys 
seemed quite ashamed of their stock in trade. We have 
on our table in our rooms here a large dish of mixed 
fruit, consisting of large navel oranges from California— 
Louisiana oranges being conspicuous by their absence 
since the freeze, California grape fruit and bananas, all 
of which are good and low in price, but best of all are 
our own apples brought from the Hudson River Valley 
in the Empire State of New York. 
My wife thinks that this boiling over on my part is 
somewhat excessive, and remarks that since the prefer¬ 
ence for B. D. is so decided and prevalent and its friends 
so many, it Is hardly proper to dismiss the matter by 
calling its advocates all knaves and fools, and she raises 
the question whether in our attitude toward B. D. we may 
not be in a condition similar to that of some people who 
are color-blind, and asks: “May not Ben Davis be in 
possession of excellencies and flavors which we, owing 
to our physical deficiencies of taste and unconscious 
prejudice, may be totally unable to perceive?” She con¬ 
cludes with this: “Anyhow, I don’t believe you have eaten 
half a dozen Ben Davis apples in all your life! Why 
don’t you eat a lot of them and give B. D. a ‘square 
deal?’ ” And to this outburst I answer: “See here! This 
is Lent, the season for fasting and penance, and mor¬ 
tifying the flesh and all that. Let us do some of that 
business and buy a peck of Davis and eat them and find 
out if we are mistaken about them. Perhaps the taste 
for Ben is an acquired taste, like that for olives or tO' 
bacco or sauerkraut or guavas, and If we try hard enough 
we may get it.” I remember how years ago when in our 
little south Florida home the odor of the guavas lying 
on the porch penetrated through the side of the house 
and made us gag; that I got up and threw them as far 
away as I could into the next lot, and in two days I was 
over there picking them up again, and couldn’t get 
enough of them, and I hanker after them yet! 
After three days I take up this narrative to relate that 
I bought the peck of Davis and we chewed half of them 
with great resolution, encouraging each other by assert¬ 
ing with simulated gusto: “Yes, indeedy! these apples 
are certainly delicious!” But it was no go; the re¬ 
mainder suddenly disappeared Into the trash barrel. To¬ 
day there is seen on the streets a new arrival of Oregon 
Bellflower apples put up in neat bushel boxes. Some of 
the dealers tell me that in years when the apple crop is 
not too abundant, carefully selected apples put up in that 
shape and shipped in, several choice sorts in each car¬ 
load, would be likely to bring good prices. They would 
not recommend this method of sending them unless the 
supply was short and apples in demand, and they in no 
case want an entire carload of boxes of only one kind, 
such as Baldwins, etc. I am inclined to think that this 
method is the best way to educate a poor or a mistaken 
market, choosing for that purpose the off years when 
apples are scarce and high. In the present state of this 
market the dealers want barrels for ordinary fruit, and 
they want It to come by train, which method of freight¬ 
ing costs at this time 66 cents from Buffalo without 
change. They say that when it comes by boat It arrives 
in poor condition, owing to heating or scalding. 
J. TATES PEEK. 
The Hessian Fly in the Middle West. 
The last few years have been very trying ones for the 
wheat growers of that section of the country lying be¬ 
tween the Mississippi River and the Allegheny Mountains 
and north of the Ohio River. Two years ago, during the 
Winter, we brought a great deal of wheat into the in¬ 
sectary that had been destroyed the previous Pall by the 
Hessian fly. By bringing this material into a Summer 
temperature, and keeping it there, we are ab'e to bring 
out the insects long in advance of the dates during which 
they would appear outside. While we were able to get 
an abundance of Hessian fly during January and Feb¬ 
ruary, we did not secure a single Individual of the para¬ 
sites. Ordinarily, these parasites exert a powerful In¬ 
fluence in keeping the Hessian fly reduced In numbers. 
T..ast year, we again secured material from various por¬ 
tions of the State and again got an abundance of flies, 
but very few parasites. This year the order of affairs 
has been reversed. During the latter part of February 
and first week in March we have developed compara¬ 
tively few Hessian flies, but swarms of parasites. In 
some cases this proportion is about one fly to 25 parasites. 
As each one of these parasites has, in its earlier stages, 
destroyed a fly, it will be seen that this pest of the w’neat 
field Is likely to get a tremendous repulse from this q^'ar- 
ter. These parasites are very minute, black, four-winged 
flies. The females of these deposit their eggs In the bodies 
of the Hessian fly maggots, and the young develop there¬ 
in, destroying the maggots before these have developed 
to files. Prom all appearances, where wheat was sov/n 
early and destroyed by the fiy, and later sent out fresh 
tillers, if these were sufficiently advanced to withstand 
the Winter, there is still a prospect for a fair crop. 
Ohio Experiment Station. p. m. web.stkr. 
% 
CANNING PEA CONTRACTS.—Since writing you In 
regard to prices offered for canning products by the 
canning company situated in this place, I have learned 
that they had advanced the price of two varieties of 
peas, Alaska and Advancer, from $1.75 to $2 per hundred¬ 
weight. The Telephone variety remains the same as last 
year, $2 per hundredweight. The 40 cents per 100 rate for 
tomatoes Is extended from September 1 to September 15; 
after that date 35 cents per hundredweight. They take 
sweet corn contracts, but say that they are not begging 
for them, as the country is flooded with canned corn, 
and the price is low. Is it your intention to publish the 
prices offered in different sections for canning products? 
The first contracts were made out at last year’s prices. 
Westfield, N. Y. w. w. m. 
BROOK CO., W. VA.—This county lies along the Ohio 
River. The land is somewhat rough, but of a very rich 
quality. Farming Is of a diversified kind. The raising of 
sheep, cattle and hogs is the principal industry. The 
following are the selling prices: Cattle 3% to 41^ cents 
per pound; hogs five cents; sheep $2 to $4 each; butter 25 
cents; eggs 25 cents; hay $12 to $14 per ton. We have had 
a very nice Winter; the roads have been fine. Those hav¬ 
ing hauling to do have been highly favored. There has 
been a large amount of oak lumber hauled and shipped 
from this county this Winter, the farmer receiving $3 
per 1,000 feet on the stump. The price of land has ad¬ 
vanced within two years from $15 and $30 per acre to $25 
and $50 per acre. The coal excitement has very much to 
do with this advance, as nearly all the coal in this county 
has been optioned at from $10 to $30 per acre. It looks 
as though this would, in the near future, be quite a coal 
field, as the Government has decided to build dams along 
the Ohio River, which will give an outlet for all the 
coal. We have had but very little snow this Winter. 
The wheat in the ground does not look very promising 
for a good yield. Wheat is selling for 75 cents; corn 45 
cents; oats 30 cents per bushel. e. j. 
Wellsburg, W. Va. 
