m 
THE RURAL NEW-VORKER 
345 
Events of the Week 
DOMKSTIC.—Measles in a cavalry regiment stationed 
a.t Fort Ijeavenworth, Kas., practically disabled the en¬ 
tire command.A track is to be built along the 
Miami and Erie canal in Ohio, and the boats will be 
towed by electric motors. Experiments with the system 
have demonstrated its feasibility.A bill has 
been introduced in the Illinois Legislature making it a 
misdemeanor to give future options in markets, to spread 
false reports concerning stock values or to corner a 
market.Rosebud mine, at Angora, Mo., caved in 
April 26, and buried five men at a depth of 110 feet. 
During the last week in April heavy rain and snow- 
caused disastrous floods in the Eastern, Middle and 
Central States. Conditions were very serious throughout 
the Ohio Valley, and In the vicinity of Pittsburg, Pa., 
where the loss was estimated at $2,000,000. At Cincinnati 
the river was 10 feet above danger line April 26, after 
which it fell slowly.The Southern Peanut Com¬ 
pany, chartered at Norfolk, Va., April 27, with a capital 
stock of $100,000, has to some extent cornered the market 
for No. 1 Spanish peanuts, of which they have bought 
a large quantity of late. They will operate 40,000 nickel- 
In-the-slot machines, now building, which will dispense 
the nuts roasted, boiled in cocoanut oil and salted. A 
solid train of 50 cars of nuts left Norfolk April 27 for 
Chicago.April 30, a gusher of oil was struck 
in the Aspen tunnel of the Union Pacific, near Evans- 
town, Wyo. Much excitement prevails. Pennsylvania, 
California and Nebraska capitalists have secured large 
tracts of land, and will bore for oil. Local parties have 
also ordered machinery and will sink oil wells. 
A fire in a coke plant at Latrobe, Pa., April 27, killed 
six ijersons, and caused a property loss of $150,000. 
Cherry County, in the extreme northwestern part of 
Nebraska, was being devastated by Immense prairie fires 
April 26, the recent drought and high wind lending to 
their fury. The region is sparsely settled, but several 
ranches have been swept away by the flames. Stock- 
men and villagers have turned out in large numbers to 
engage in back-firing, but the scope of the flames is so 
great that human agency avails little. Large herds of 
cattle have stampeded and are hopelessly scattered. Sev¬ 
eral villages are doomed unless rain comes speedily. The 
prairie grass is heavy and dry in all parts of the county. 
The flames traveled northward under three separate 
heads. 
administration.—M inister Loomis, returned from 
Venezui-la, says he does not expect severing of diplomatic 
relations between United States and that country, and 
that war talk is foolish.Free trade between 
I’orto Rico and the United States will be established 
after July 1, the local assembly having passed a tax law 
to meet necessities of the government.The 
t.’origressional appropriation of $3,000,000 for the extension 
of tlie rural delivery postal service becomes available in 
three months, and Chief Machen of the Post Office De- 
jtartment is now getting ready to spend it. The rural de¬ 
livery routes cost an average of $500 a year each, and, 
allowing $500,000 for clerical hire and other expenses, it 
will be possible to establish about 5,000 new routes. ’ 
J’lIILTPPINES.—The court martial of Capt. James C. 
Iteed, charged with frauds in the commissary depart¬ 
ment, began April 29. Numerous witnesses testified to 
payments made the accused officer, some being in the 
form of lump sums, others commissions on sales. Lieut. 
'I’ownley of the navy is also implicated, and his conduct 
will be investigated by a naval board. 
(IFNERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Great loss of life and 
(h.-struction of property was caused April 26 by a terrific 
explosion in a chemical factory at Griesheim, in the 
Province of Hesse, Germany.Bubonic plague 
continues to spread at Cape Town, South Africa, a num- 
Iter of fatal cases occurring among Europeans. The 
disease still causes alarm in Australia. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Minnesota Legislature 
has i)assed a number of bills affecting farmers. A new 
law i>rohibits the sale of oleo or any imitation butter 
colored yelltjw, and makes such sale a misdemeanor. 
Formerly the stuff was allowed to be sold if properly 
labeled. The Torrens system of land-title registration 
is to be tried in the counties of Ramsey, Hennepin and 
St. Louis (the counties embracing St. Paul, Minneapolis 
and Duluth). If it proves a success in these counties 
it is to be hoped that at the next session it may be made 
applicable to the whole State. The gross-earnings tax 
bill, which was passed after a hard fight, provides that 
with the sanction of the people at the next general elec¬ 
tion, the railroads of the State shall be compelled, after 
January I, 1903, to pay a gross earnings tax of four per 
cent in lieu of all other taxes. 
The Harrison bill introduced in the Pennsylvania Legis¬ 
lature to prevent the use of any coloring matter in pure 
butter, which was intended to aid the oleo interests, has 
been killed. The Lack bill requiring all packages of 
renovated butter to be distinctly labeled, passed finally 
in the House. 
The business to come before the next convention of the 
National Live Stock Association to be held in Chicago 
during the first week in December, will be of unusual 
importance, according to a bulletin Issued April 17 by 
Secretary C. F. Martin. He says the live stock men and 
others Interested will be compelled to continue their fight 
against the Grout bill, as the dairy interests have de¬ 
clared their intention to reintroduce the bill in the Con¬ 
gress. In addition to this the Association is interested 
in securing Federal inspection for all inter-state ship¬ 
ments of live stock in place of repeated State inspection. 
The meeting of the American Guernsey Cattle Club in 
New York, May 15, will be a very interesting one, the 
result of the second home butter contest being announced. 
A violent duststorm occurred in North Dakota April 
117, and much of the wheat seeding must be done over 
again, as the grain was blown out of the ground. The 
temperature reached 84 degrees. 
Ex-Gov. Morrill, of Kansas, has set out an apple or¬ 
chard of 64,000 trees, on 880 acres of land, in the southern 
part of Leavenworth County. This is the largest apple 
orchard in the United States, If not in the world. The 
trees are set on the Wellhouse plan. 
April 30, the Snyder Anti-oleo bill was passed by the 
Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The debate of 
two hours’ duration before its passage was one of the 
liveliest of the present Legislature. The bogus butter 
advocates threw off all disguise and acknowledged the 
sale of colored oleo on an enormous scale, in defiance of 
the present law. Dairy and Pood Commissioner Jesse K. 
Cope and some of his agents, who have claimed that the 
law is being enforced, were embarrassed listeners to 
this frank confession. The Agricultural Department had 
been forced into passive submission to the will of farm¬ 
ers on the Snyder bill, which at first was bitterly op¬ 
posed by Secretary Hamilton and his subordinates. 
Plans have been agreed upon for a new Department 
of Agriculture building at Washington, to cost not ex¬ 
ceeding $2,000,000. It will be U-shaped, of white marble, 
four stories high, with a 400-foot front and two wings, 
each 200 feet long. 
May 3, representatives of the Eastern New ifork Horti¬ 
cultural Society, the Apple Shippers’ Association and 
the Granges of New York State met at Newburg, N. 
Y., to discuss express rates and transportation matters 
as applied to fruits. Their efforts are calculated to ob¬ 
tain better recognition for fruit growers from transpor¬ 
tation Interests. 
NEW rOKK MILK PRODUCERS TALK. 
About Cows and Thoir Food. 
The cows in this vicinity came through the Winter in 
good shape. The farmers buy their cows mostly, and they 
are worth from $30 to $60, according to time of dropping 
calf. But very few farmers raise their calves; the breed 
most liked is Holstein. There are no cows for sale ex¬ 
cept those brought in by dealers. j. l. r. 
Westtown, N. Y. 
Owing to the shortage of fodder in 1900 and the con- 
.sequent scarcity, cows have been poorly wintered, and 
many dairies are now in bad condition for the Summer, 
i know of but few cows tliat have changed hands this 
Spring. Those fresh in milk sold for $35. Cows are mostly 
native, with a sprinkling of Jersey, Guernsey, Holstein 
and Durham. Most farmers raise their own heifers. 
Some are looking for sires that will increase size of cattle, 
as there soems to be most money in having prime veal 
calves. o. E. mcm. 
Breesport, N. Y. 
The condition of cows varies according as the owners 
are feeders of giain or not. I’robably more than half 
the cows are in prime condition, while the rest range 
from poor to fair. Very few farmers are buying cows; 
nearly every dairyman raises his own heifers. There are 
more Holstelns raised than all other breeds combined. 
Fresh cows are being shipped from this locality during 
all seasons of the year, and are being replaced by heifers 
raised on the farm. Fresli cows sell all the way from 
$40 to $65, according to quality and age, black-and-white 
taking preference over any other color. ii. p. c. 
Unadilla Forks, N. Y. 
Cows in this vicinity in good condition, the silo supple¬ 
menting the shortage of hay. Quite a few farmers are 
buying cows, as there is a good demand for milk. There 
are two milk stations at this place, H. S. Tutthlll, of 
New York City, having opened his station April 1. He 
buys by test, paying full Exchange price for all milk 
testing 4.7 per cent butter fat, milk testing above or below 
paid for according, at the rate of two cents per .1 per 
cent. Cow buyers have been around paying from $30 to 
$40 per cow. The better strains of Holsteln-P’relsian cows 
producing large quantities of medium-quality milk are 
most satisfactory, even when milk is sold by Babcock 
test, as a good large fiow of four-per-cent milk will net 
better returns than the smaller quantities testing higher. 
Cobleskill, N. Y. w. j. w. 
Many cows were sold during early Fall and Winter, 
owing to a very short hay and corn crop. The dry 
weather shortened the corn pr(jduction so that many 
silos were only half or two-thirds filled. Prairie, or 
what is known as western hay, sold readily here for $15 
per ton. As far as I have seen or heard cows are usually 
in fair condition. Most of the farmers raise their own 
heifers from their choicest cows. The Jersey cow and 
her grades have taken the lead as butter cows, but the 
past few years have made quite a change in favor of the 
Holstein. We have some very good herds of both breeds, 
notably the latter. There are not many cows offered for 
sale at present in view of the fact that the farmer thinks 
he can reach gra.ss without much additional expense. 
Some cows are changing hands, liowever, at prices rang¬ 
ing from $25 to $35. The farmers here have come to the 
conclusion that the butter and cheese factory, side by 
side with the milk shipping station, develops a healthier 
market for whole milk, and that If substantial benefits 
are secured for the producer it must come along these 
lines, assisted by pure-mllk laws and the passage by 
Congress of the Grout bill, or some equally as good 
legislation. m. i>. w. 
Spencer, N. Y. 
Owing to the severe drought last season the hay crop 
was the shortest that has been in years, many farmers 
not having half hay enough to carry their stock through 
the Winter, and consequently, cows have been fed very 
sparingly of rough fodder. The past six months have 
been a harvest for the feed dealers. Sugar-beet pulp has 
been fed to some extent with satisfactory results, having 
been shipped from Binghamton and Lyons sugar fac¬ 
tories. Notwithstanding the short hay ration cows have 
come through the Winter in good condition, and also in 
good health. All surplus stock was disposed of last Fall, 
and but few cows are being bought by farmers this 
Spring at from $30 to $35 per head. The majority of 
farmers raise their own heifers, as they make better 
cows than those they buy. Holsteln-Friesians are pre¬ 
ferred; a good many farmers are using purebred bulla 
and grading up their herds, while others already have 
herds of purebred and high-grade cows. New York 
buyers, when through this section, will pay more for 
black-and-white cows than for any others. But few cows 
are for sale here this Spring. The Empire State Dairy 
Company is paying 74 cents per can for milk at their 
shipping station here. e. c. j. 
Greene, N. Y. 
This is not very much of a dairy section; nearly all 
small dairies, with the exception of a few who ship milk 
direct to Jersey City. These dairymen generally buy 
cows to replenish their dairy, but most of the dairies 
are kept in stock by raising their own heifers, which 
consist mostly of Jerseys and Holsteins. Cows fresh with 
calf brings from $40 to $50, but not very plentiful to find. 
Cows have wintered fairly well, taking into considera¬ 
tion the scant supply of fodder sown last season. Barns 
will be about empty by the time cattle go on pasture. 
Milk is too low in price, when we take in account the 
cost of production. Those that ship get about $l per 
can; those who patronize the shipping station get 80 
cents per can, one-half cent less than Exchange price. 
Stanton, N. J. w. a. 
The cows in this section came out in fair condition 
this Spring. Some dairies are very thin. Those that 
make Winter milk are In good condition. There have 
been many auctions In this section during the Winter 
and Spring. Many farmers are out of hay, and at the 
present price of hay and grain tliey say they cannot 
afford to buy for their stock; hay is selling from $15 to 
$18 per ton in the barn, and hard to get at that. At the 
auctions the average price is about $40 per cow; if Hol¬ 
steins it is nothing uncommon to sell for $50 to $60. 
Everything that is black and white is called a Holstein, 
whether it has a drop of Holstein blood or not. That 
makes from $10 to $20 difference In the price, 'i'he Stand¬ 
ard Dairy Company is paying 74 cents per can for mdk 
at Mayburys; at Solon the Dairy Dispatch is taking the 
milk since April 1; price supposed to be the same as at 
Mayburys. b. 
McGraw, N. Y. 
Last Fall everyone seemed fully to undersLami iliat 
he must reduce his stock, and this was done by .selling 
off the older cows and young animals. With two very 
dry seasons the farmers made preparations early by imt- 
ting in, up to June 5 or 6, a large acreage of fodder corn. 
'I’hose not having silos cured and fed dry by cutting up 
a quantity at a time upon the floor in heaps, whlcli 
lieated and softened so that the stock ate it well and 
kept in fine condition with a grain ration, the same as 
with silage. Stock is looking as well as in former years. 
A number of farmers have had to buy some hay, but 
there were others who had a surplus and have supplied 
all demands at from $13 to $14 at the barn. One farmer 
now lias about 50 tons to press. About the usual number 
of cows have changed hands, largely at auction, selling 
all the way from $35 to $50 per head. For a few years 
past considerable attention has been given to raising 
stock, mostly Holsteins, though there are several Jersey 
stock farms. w. p. j. 
Earlville, N. Y. 
Vegetablc.s iu the South. 
The cabbage crop in this section is moving freely; 40 
cars left here last night for the East and West, i find 
the farmers are distributing their stuff more to tlie West 
than in past years. They have been very much disaii- 
pointed iu the cabbage crop this Spring. Sixty per cent 
of the crop was planted in the extra early type of Wake¬ 
field, and set out early. For the past two seasons tliis 
type of cabbage has made heads of fair size, yielding 
about 150 crates per acre, came in early and brought big 
money. This year at least 60 per cent of the croji in 
this vicinity was planted in this early variety of Wake¬ 
field cabbage, and the season has not suited them, it 
lias been an unusually cold Spring, and this type of 
cabbage has headed up very small, 100 to 250 heads to the 
crate, enough heads in one crate to make five under or¬ 
dinary circumstances. Those having Henderson’s Large 
'I'ype Wakefield, Henderson’s Early Spring, and Hender¬ 
son’s Succession cabbage are making fine crops. On ac¬ 
count of the shortage in the yield of Extra Early Wake¬ 
field crop there will be no more cabbage shipped from 
this and Charleston’s vicinity than there was the last 
year. This will make the crop of Spring cabbage very 
short. In the cold snap of the early part of the week 
the thermometer went down as low as 36 degrees, but a 
stiff wind blew all night and prevented much damage 
from frost. The potato crop of this section was nearly 
ready to bloom. It was not injured, beans were nut hurt 
to any extent, but the cucumber and cantaloupe crop 
was scorched up badly by the cold wind and light frost. 
1 think wo are exceedingly fortunate in saving our potato 
crop, which is very fine. With favorable seasons from 
now on the new potatoes will be moving from this point 
and the vicinity of Charleston from May 10 on. 
Youngs Island, S. C. w. c. o. 
Fruit <m the Oelaware Peuin.sula. 
Reports from all county vice-presidents of the Penin¬ 
sula Horticultural Society show that there is at this 
time a fine prospect for an abundant crop of all kinds of 
tree fruits. Without an exception the reports state 
"prospect for full crop of peaches.’’ Pears are not quite 
so full of buds as last year; some orchards were badly 
Injured by blight last Summer. Strawberries did not 
make as many plants as usual, on account of dry 
weather. Raspberries were badly winterkilled, so that 
the crop will be very light. Some varieties of black¬ 
berries, notably the Wilson, are also injured. The season 
is backward, but the prospect was never better for a fine 
general crop of tree fruits of all kinds. 
Orchard Prospects in Oliio. 
The worst storm of the year commenced on April 18, 
with rain for 30 hours, then snow for 60 hours. The 
creeks were the highest known, and the rivers did im¬ 
mense damage. The temperature was 30 degrees above 
zero the coldest morning, but it did not hurt any of the 
fruits that I can find, although peaches and some plums 
were in full bloom. We have prospects of large crops 
of peaches, plums, apples and fair crops of small fruits. 
We had commenced spraying before the storm, and had 
to wait eight days for favorable weather and fair¬ 
ground to drive over to resume the work. Apples will 
be in full bloom in a very short time now. Spraying is 
a sure preventive of fungous diseases if rightly man¬ 
aged. Several oi-chards In this vicinity will bo sprayed 
for the first time this year. People are seeing and learn¬ 
ing, but it is very slow. A Cincinnati commission man 
has bought a fine hill farm of 236 acres near here, and 
will raise fruits largely. The large dealers fear they will 
not be able to secure enough first-class stock for the 
demand in the near future, and some of them are going 
to try to raise their own supply. Where are all the 
.skeptics who were afraid the fruit business would be 
overdone? Modern fruit culture demands large planta¬ 
tions and a manager with a large head. Are there 
enough of the right kind of men on the farm, or must 
some of the city men come back to show the farmer how 
to imiirove his opportunities? u. T. oo.x. 
Lawrence Co., O. 
