THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
259 
inoi 
Events of the IVeek. 
domestic.—T he Jenks shipbuilding plant at Port Hu¬ 
ron, Mich., was destroyed by fire March 19; loss $75,000. 
Recently, in Montana, cattle rustlers stole more 
than 1,000 beef cattle belonging to the Crow Indians, which 
were worth about $37,000. The rustlers had changed the 
brands on the cattle, and were preparing to run them out 
of the State and ship to Chicago in small bunches. State 
and Federal officers recovered a large quantity of the 
£.attle.The town of Tipton, Tenn., was entirely 
destroyed by fire March 19; loss $150,000. It is believed 
that the Are was incendiary, and that It was started by 
negroes, in revenge for a lynching.By the ex¬ 
plosion of 50 pounds of dynamite on a farm near Kokomo, 
Ind., two men were blown to pieces March 21. 
Domestic rates of postage and classification now apply 
to all mail matter passing between the United States and 
Cuba. This order went into effect April 1.The 
Minnesota State Senate, March 23, reconsidered and finally 
passed Senator Chilton’s bill prohibiting the marriage of 
insane, epileptic and idiotic persons, and requiring a medi¬ 
cal certificate of all applicants for marriage licenses. 
Amendments were adopted making the physicians’ cer¬ 
tificate not quite so sweeping, and to permit the marriage 
of any feeble-minded person over 45, the bill originally 
having extended such permission only to women. The 
bill passed by a vote of 34 to 17.F. M. Player, 
di.spenser at Kingstree, S. C., has been found guilty of 
breach of trust with fraudulent intent, and sentenced to 
three years and a half in the penitentiary. This is the 
first conviction of the kind since the dispensary took the 
place of ordinary liquor laws.A disastrous tor¬ 
nado swept over Birmingham, Ala., March 25. It cut a 
path 150 feet wide, continuing for six miles. The estimated 
damage is $250,000; 18 persons dead and 35 injured, seven 
fatally. Great damage has been done to farmhouses and 
growing crops in the vicinity.A gas explosion 
in a coal mine at Connellsville, Pa., March 25, killed one 
man, and shockingly Injured 16 others.The 
blizzard raging at Julesburg, (Col.) and vicinity March 
25-26 was the worst storm known since 1890. Many cattle 
have perished by drifting with the storm. Others have 
been smothered in snowdrifts in ditches and the river. 
Huge drifts eight to 10 feet high blocked all roads. No 
trains were coming in, and eight or 10 passenger trains 
were blocked at Julesburg. In several Instances resi¬ 
dences were completely surrounded by huge banks of 
snow. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The objections of the British gov¬ 
ernment to accepting the modified Hay-Pauncefote treaty 
were made public March 25. The British contend that 
the Clayton-Bulwer treaty is still “an international com¬ 
pact of unquestioned validity,” and cannot be abrogated 
without the consent of both parties. The Davis amend¬ 
ment would be distinctly unfair to Great Britain, it is 
claimed, while there is no analogy with the Suez canal in 
regard to fortifications.The State Department, 
March 26, made public a note sent to the Chinese Minister 
February 19, warning the Chinese government against 
entering into any private, territorial or financial arrange¬ 
ments without the full knowledge of all the Powers. 
PHIDTPPINES.—General Funston has gone into Isabella 
Province, Luzon, with 10 men and a company of native 
scouts, on a daring attempt to capture Agulnaldo. 
The Spanish Minister in Washington on March 23 received 
from the Secretary of State the payment, on behalf of 
the United States, of $100,000 for the final cession of the 
islands of Cagayan-Sulu and Sibitu, in the Philippines, 
and the signed copies of the treaty were exchanged. 
.... While Major-General MacArthur is meting out 
heavy sentences to Filipinos caught gathering informa¬ 
tion within the American ranks, the United States Gov¬ 
ernment is employing spies, and officially admitting the 
fact, to obtain information relative to the plans of the 
insurgents. Formal recognition of the employment of 
spies by the United States is made in the last army ap¬ 
propriation law. An appropriation of $2,400,000 is author¬ 
ized for Incidental expenses, among which are “hire of 
laborers in the Quartermaster’s Department, Including 
the hire of interpreters, spies or guides, for the army.” 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—March 20. the British 
steamer Tay sunk off the English coast after a collision 
with the German steamer Chemnitz; 14 lives lost. .... 
The St. Petersburg police have discovered a plot against 
the life of the Czar. Lots were drawn by students, and 
the fatal choice fell on the son of a loyal Russian gen¬ 
eral, who Informed the Czar and Implored him to flee. 
There was a sanguinary encounter in the Russian capital 
March 23 between disorderly paraders and troops, during 
which 100 workmen are said to have been slain or wound¬ 
ed.The latest reports from South Africa indi¬ 
cate a renewal of active military operations between the 
British and Boers. A town in Cape Colony is fortified 
to resist a threatened attack by the burghers. A con¬ 
siderable British casualty list has been issued in T.,ondon. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Short-horn breeders re¬ 
cently in convention at Kansas City, Mo., passed a reso¬ 
lution petitioning the agricultural departments of the 
United States and Canada so to modify their quarantine 
regulations as to abolish the tuberculin test. 
At a meeting of the Chautauqua County (N. T.) Grange, 
held in Sheridan Center, March 20, resolutions were adopt¬ 
ed calling on the members of the Legislature from that 
county to secure the enactment of laws protecting skunks 
in that county for the next five years. The farmers com¬ 
plain that grain, corn and meadows are being destroyed 
by the white grubs, and say that skunks are known to be 
destroyers of this grub. Consequently the farmers want 
the skunks protected from the numerous hunters who 
have been killing them for their skins. 
Rain fell through Oklahoma March 19 for the first time 
in more than a month. It w'as accompanied b.v hall, 
which did no damage to orchards. Unustially heavy 
winds and dust storms prevailed almost daily during the 
first three weeks in March. It was feared that the wheat 
crop would be injured. The fear was groundless, how¬ 
ever, as wheat got such a line stand last Fall that it 
could not blow out. There was enough moisture in the 
ground to carry the wheat safely through another month 
of dry weather. 
Reports from Australia state it is officially estimated 
that the wheat yield will reach 17,790,576 bushels, or an 
increase of 2,552,628 over last year's yield. 
The twenty-fifth annual meeting of the Cattle Raisers’ 
Association of Texas, in session at San Antonio March 19, 
adopted a resolution recommending that Congress pro¬ 
vide for an assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture to 
have charge of the live stock Interests of the country. 
The following officers were unanimously elected; Presi¬ 
dent, Murdo MacKenzie, Trinidad; first vice-president, 
W. W. Turney, El Paso; second vice-president, John T. 
Lytle, Lytle; secretary, John C. Loving, Fort Worth; 
treasurer, S. B. Burnett, Fort Worth, Resolutions were 
adopted pledging the assistance and good will of the As¬ 
sociation to secure a continuation of free distribution of 
blackleg vaccine to cattlemen, the maintenance of the 
feedlng-in-transit privilege, the assurance that the duty 
will not be removed from hides and the defeat of the 
Grout bill. Fort Worth was selected as the meeting 
place of the convention in 1902. 
The American Rose Society, at its recent meeting in 
New York, elected the following officers: President, F. 
R. Newbold, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; vice-president, Carl 
Stoeckel, Norfolk, Conn.; secretary, L. Barron, 136 Lib 
erty Street, New York; treasurer, J. N. May, Summit, N. 
J. E. M. Wood and R. Craig were reelected members of 
the executive committee. Among other business trans¬ 
acted a board of trustees was elected with B. Dorrance 
as president. 
Up to March 20, the Georgia peach buds were entirely 
uninjured by the cold snap. It is reported that the North 
Carolina strawberry acreage is only about two-thirds 
of what it was last year. The growers pull up their two- 
year-old phants and replace them with new ones. These 
new plants were almost entirely killed by the prolonged 
drought of August and September last, and the two- 
year-old plants pulled up at the end of last season have 
in reality never been replaced. Charleston is said to 
have had its berry acreage sadly decreased from the 
same cause. Potato acreage in the same State is short, 
on account of the heavy plantings of cotton. 
Michigan has again enacted a law prohibiting the man- 
facture or sale of oleo made in Imitation of yellow butter. 
This act became a law in March when it passed the 
T>eglslature by a large vote. The victory is a triumph of 
the dairymen and other farmers who supported the 
measure against the city members and influences of the 
cities working to defeat any measure that would make 
it Illegal to manufacture or sell in the State oleomar¬ 
garine colored to imitate butter. 
The Argentine government has reduced the export 
duty on wool 33 1-3 per cent Owing to shrinkage in 
values, however, it is claimed this is equivalent to an 
increase of from four to six per cent. 
The Spoor trophy, awarded by J. A. Spoor, president 
of the Union Stockyards, Chicago, to the winner of the 
annual intercollegiate stock-judging contest, has just 
been received by the department of animal husbandry 
of the University of Illinois, which won the champlon.ship 
of America in the contest held last December in Chicago. 
The trophy, a bronze bull on a marble pedestal, was 
modeled by Isadore Bonheur, at Paris, Prance, and was 
purchased through Tiffany for $1,000. The trophy is to 
be competed for annually, and will be awarded to the 
institution making highest aggregate standing, with three 
men entered in all classes. The height of the trophy. 
Including the pedestal, is about six feet. The stock- 
judging department was added to the college of agricul¬ 
ture two years ago, "W. J. Kennedy, who won the world’s 
championship for Iowa TTniverslty in 1898, being put in 
charge. _ 
COLD STODADE IN TRANSPORTATION. 
A HELP TO FRUIT TRADE.—The use of cold storage 
in the transportation of fruits has Increased greatly of 
late years, and we find a growing interest in this busi¬ 
ness from Canada to the South. Perishable products are 
thus put into distant markets, and the season during 
which they may be had by consumers is very much 
lengthened. Take strawberries, for example. Instead of 
having them in the New York market for three months, 
as would be the limit, If we had to depend on what could 
be sent here without Ice, they are on hand for eight 
months, although part of the time too expensive to be 
used by people of moderate means. Still, there are many 
who are willing to pay 30 to 60 cents per quart for straw¬ 
berries in January. A few years ago the quantity re¬ 
ceived during the Winter season was very limited, and 
these .sometimes sold as high as $5 per quart. 
A BOOM FOR GROWERS.—As soon as the growers 
found that the fruit, of which they could sell but a 
small quantity at home, could be sent to distant points 
so as to arrive in good condition and bring a price that 
would give fair pay for their time and labor, those who 
had been raising only garden patches branched out into 
acres, and from Florida and the Carolinas the output 
increased from now and then a scattered carload, to 
dozens and scores. This put new life into sections of 
the South that had been practically dead, so far as out¬ 
side trade was concerned; labor was in demand, farm 
property increased in value, and in many places these 
conditions still hold good. Of course, as always happens, 
there were some who went into this business too deeply 
on the start, and suffered severe loss. 
HOW SHIPMENTS ARE MADE.—The earliest straw¬ 
berries come from Florida and California the latter part 
of December. At that season the quantity shipped is so 
small that no grower has a carload at any one time, so 
he uses the refrigerator chest. This is a heavy box made 
in various sizes from 48 to 100 or more quarts. The first 
of these cases made were crude affairs. The berries got 
badly shaken in handling, and the water from the melt¬ 
ing ice soaked them, so that they were in bad shape 
when oi)ened. Improvements have been made to such 
an extent now that the berries are not damaged at all. 
opening up in as fine condition as when packed. As cold 
naturally goes down Instead of up, the ice is put in a 
tight galvanized iron tray in the top of the chest, and 
the cover shuts down closely upon this. As ths ice melts. 
the water drains from a hole in the pan into an iron 
pipe, through which it runs out of the bottom of the 
chest. As soon as there is enough fruit for carload lots 
refrigerator cars are used. In these the whole interior 
of the car Is cooled, and the ice does not come in con¬ 
tact with the produce shipped. These have been long 
used for beef and other perishable foods. 
COST OF TRANSPORTATION.—There is no doubt that 
the railroads get their full share of the profits out of all 
the stuff they carry to market for the farmer. The fol¬ 
lowing facts In regard to expenses were obtained from a 
southern shipper. The charge made by the railroad 
companies for hauling refrigerator cars from South Car¬ 
olina points to New York and Philadelphia is $1.25 per 
bushel crate, the minimum carload being 100 crates. The 
express company furnishes the car, ice, etc., and looks 
after the re-icing in transit at 25 cents per crate. This 
is in addition to the charge made by the railroad com¬ 
pany. Figuring on the minimum rate of 100 bushel 
crates, the transportation charge between the points 
named would be $25 for rent of car, ice and re-icing on 
the way, and $125 to the railroad company for hauling, 
making $150 per car, or a trifle over 41^ cents per quart. 
Of course, this can be reduced by putting more crates 
in the car, but there is a danger in overloading, and it 
is considered that the berries arrive at their destination 
in far better shape where they are not crowded to the 
top of the car, and a little space is left between the 
crates. Refrigerator chests are made in various sizes. 
Those holding 48 quarts will weigh, iced, 200 pounds; SO 
quarts, 300 pounds; 100 quarts, 350 pounds, and 140 quarts, 
.500 pounds, and the transportation charge is 76 cents 
per 100 pounds from South Carolina points to New York 
and Philadelphia. The shipper furnishes his own ice 
and must provide for icing on the way, the railroad 
assuming no responsibility for the giving out of the ice 
provided their train is nearly on time. Taking all things 
into consideration, the shipment in the iced chests is the 
most expensive, and it is .said that but few use them 
who have sufficient quantities of fruit to use the iced 
cars. However, these refrigerator boxes are of great 
value to small shippers, and they are coming into use 
more and more, not only for shipments from the South 
but from northern points. We have recently had letters 
from people in Canada who were making arrangements 
to use these chests in shipments to markets in the United 
States. One wished to know whether it would do to 
paint or oil the Inside of the chests to make them im¬ 
pervious to moisture. We have not seen any on which 
this has been tried, and all the receivers with whom we 
have talked seem to think that it would not be a good 
plan, as anything so penetrating as oil would be likely 
to affect the berries, which are nearly equal to milk for 
absorbing odors. Lining the chest with heavy clean paper 
is a good plan. Some claim that shipments of herries in 
refrigerator boxes have sold at higher prices than those 
sent at the same time to the same market in ordinary 
crates in iced cars, but we are not able to find any in¬ 
stances of this discrimination that cannot be traced to 
the difference in quality of the berries. Probably the man 
who ships comparatively few and uses the box takes a 
little more care in grading than the one who sends a 
carload. This has been our observation in regard to the 
berries we have seen opened here. w. w. u. 
FACTS ABOUT POTATO SCAB. 
It is a skin disease, known wherever potatoes are grown. 
It does not affect the eating quality of the tubers, but 
may cause them to rot quicker. 
The disease spreads from one tuber to another by 
means of germs or spores. Vast numbers of these are 
left in the soil after the crop. 
The germs do not move or “crawl” in the soil, nor do 
they grow “spontaneously.” They can only be added to 
the soil on scabby seed. Manure from animals fed on 
scabby seed Is not likely to be dangerous. 
The disease is found on beets, and probably on turnip, 
radish, cabbage and carrot. The germs may live in the 
soil for five or six years. 
Heavy soils are most favorable to scab. The germs do 
not thrive in a sour or acid soil. 
A green crop plowed in just before planting will check 
the scab. So will acid fertilizers. 
Stable manure, wood ashes and lime are likely to in¬ 
crease the scab by giving it a better chance to develop. 
Some varieties are more liable to it than others. In 
general the round, rough-skinned varieties are le.ss likely 
to be attacked. 
To prevent it, plant on soil that is free from the germs, 
and kill those on the seed potatoes. Plowing under a 
green crop may keep the germs inactive, but will not 
kill them. It is not wise to follow a scabby potato crop 
with potatoes. 
To disinfect the seed potatoes, soak them in some solu¬ 
tion that will kill the scab germs, yet not injure the 
sprouts. Corrosive sublimate or bichloride of mercury 
will do this. Dissolve an ounce of this chemical in a 
gallon of water. Then add water enough to make seven 
gallons. Keep It in a wooden vessel and soak the pota¬ 
toes in it for 90 minutes. Then cut and plant. We like 
formalin or formaldehyde better. This is a liquid. One 
half pint is mixed with 15 gallons of water. It readily 
dissolves. Soak the potatoes for two hours and cut soon 
after soaking. 
We like the plan of dusting the cut pieces freely with 
flowers of sulphur. This has some value In reducing the 
scab, and also helps preserve the seed piece. 
Exposing the tubers to sunlight for several weeks be¬ 
fore planting will destroy many scab germs and make 
the sprouts thick and strong. 
A new way of killing the scab germs Is to fumigate 
them with formaldehyde gas. This is done by putting 
the tubers in a tight box and burning tablets of chemical 
in an alcohol lamp. The fumes work all through the 
box among the tubers. 
PEA GROWING.—As to which Is the more profitable 
wav to grow peas for the cannery, to have a vlner at 2% 
cents per pound or a huller at $1 per barrel, would say 
my judgment would be for the viner. Peas are grown 
very extensively in Maryland for the cannery. I do not 
know of any grower who has a viner on his own premises. 
They are expensive to handle, and are generally run by 
I he canning establishment; the grower hauling the crop 
lo the cannery. In most instances the price is so much 
per pound for the peas, and the peas are hulled out by 
the establishment. In this way the cost of gathering the 
crop is reduced to a minimum. james s. robinson. 
Maryland. 
