THE RURAL 
N E W-Y O R K E R 
I 
Events of the M^eek 
domestic.— President and Mrs. McKinley, members 
of the Cabinet and their wives and a few guests departed 
from Washington April 29 on the journey across the 
country, during which they will visit 25 States, travel 
more than 10,000 miles and be absent more than a month. 
, . . . The Pan-American Exposition was opened to 
the public May 1. Formal opening and dedicatory cere¬ 
monies wiil be held May 20.Van B. Triplet, in¬ 
ventor of the gold brick, who is said to have bwindied 
people out of a million dollars by different kinds of con¬ 
fidence games, died May 2 at West Baden, Ind., in pov¬ 
erty. Money was raised by his friends to give him decent 
burial. Triplet, who was also known as John V. Tripp 
and “Old Tripp,’’ was well known by the police in Chi¬ 
cago. He was born in Virginia 60 years ago and came of 
good family. He began a life of crime when he was 
young, and for more than 40 years had been pitted 
against the police.A destructive conflagration 
occurred at Jacksonville, Fla., May 3. The fire broke 
out about noon. A large section of the business and 
residence portion of the city was destroyed, and the losses 
are estimated at from $8,000,000 to $10,000,000. Six lives 
were reported lost, and 10,000 persons were homeless. 
. . . . Thousands of persons are pouring into South¬ 
western Oklahoma and camping in and about the Kiowa, 
Comanche and Apache and Wichita Indian Reserva¬ 
tions for the opening, scheduled for some time in August. 
. . . . May 3, 13 barges and a tug were sunk in a col¬ 
lision at Evansville, Ind., entailing a loss of $45,000. 
. ... K dynamite explosion May 3 at Oates Camp, on 
the Asheville and Nashville Railroad, in Tennessee, re¬ 
sulted in the death of two men and severe injury to sev- 
eial. . . . Seven persons were burned to death, three 
fatally injured, and several slightly burned in a fire at 
South Chicago, Ill., May 5. The fire engines were blocked 
by a freight train, whose crew refused to move from a 
crossing, and the firemen could not reach the burning 
building until too late.Fire in a wool ware¬ 
house in Philadelphia May 6 caused a loss of $375,000. 
< .... An epidemic of smallpox has broken out at 
I Gloucester City, N. J.; 15 cases were reported May 6. 
j .... Four children, left alone in a farmhouse at 
I Muskegon, Mich., May 3, set the house on fire and were 
J burned to death.May 4 a fire in the Chicago 
stockyards destroyed a large butterine plant, the loss 
being $150,000.Two practical jokers at Daven¬ 
port, Iowa, May 7, while pretending to hang a com¬ 
panion, were killed by a falling pulley and scantling. 
Their Intended victim was slightly injured. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Distressing accounts 
are arriving at St. Petersburg, Russia, of the situation 
of the villagers throughout Bessarabia, especially in the 
Soroki district, caused by the famine arising from the 
failure of the last harvest. The peasants are living on 
husks of maize boiled in water. Half of them are suffer¬ 
ing with typhus fever. They are clad in rags and have 
no furniture or other household necessities. Horses and 
Sheep have decreased from 50 to 60 per cent, owing to lack 
of forage. In some villages horses are sold at a ruble 
each. Elsewhere 70 per cent of the farmers have lost 
all their horses.Secretary Jackson, of the 
United States Embassy at Berlin, informed the State 
Department that the German authorities at Hamburg 
would not permit the shipment in bond through Ger¬ 
many of sausage intended for the Austrian market. The 
matter was brought to the attention of the proper of¬ 
ficials, and it was found that the action of the German 
authorities was due to a misunderstanding. The customs 
authorities have been instructed that no objection exists 
to the shipment of canned meats and sausage through 
Germany in bond.C. J. Van Houten, who died 
recently in Algiers, rightfully deserved the title of prince 
of cocoa manufacturers. The house of Van Houten be¬ 
gan business in Weesp, Holland, in 1817, having been 
launched on its great career by the father of the late 
proprietor. The factory, which covers an area of eighty- 
five acres, employs 3,500 people. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—In the annual report of C. F. 
Saylor, special agent in charge of the beet sugar investi¬ 
gation of the Department of Agriculture, an active ten¬ 
dency toward the institution of new beet sugar enter¬ 
prises is shown. Next Autumn, he says, Michigan will 
have three new factories and Ohio, Indiana, New York, 
Colorado, Utah, South and North Dakota and Illinois 
will install new factory enterprises, making 13 through¬ 
out the United States now in contemplation. A conserva¬ 
tive estimate, he says, is that there will be 42 beet sugar 
factories in operation by the end of this year. He adds: 
"Even in the incipiency of the industry these factories 
have shown good profits. They have maintained them¬ 
selves without any apparent contest with the sugar 
trust. The sections of the country that seem most 
adaptable to the industry are where conditions call for 
new resources, as in Michigan, where there has been a 
phenomenal increase in the last three years, largely due 
to the waning of the lumbering industry of that region.” 
The Summer meeting of the Missouri State Horticul¬ 
tural Society will be held at New Haven, Mo., June 4-6, 
1901. Spraying for insects and fungous diseases will be 
an Important feature of the discussion. 
The Michigan State Fair will be held at Pontiac, Oak¬ 
land Co., September 23-27; secretary, I. H. Butterfield, 
Agricultural College, Mich. 
The Secretary of Agriculture has ordered a thorough 
investigation of all matters pertaining to the distribu¬ 
tion of Government free seeds by the contractor during 
the present year, and has delegated Professor B. T. Gal¬ 
loway to do the work of investigating. Professor Gallo¬ 
way is “required to make full and complete report, so 
that it may be in evidence when final settlement is made 
with the contractor.” An announcement is also made by 
Secretary Wilson, to the effect that after July 1, 1901, 
“all matters pertaining to the Congressional distribution 
of seed, including the control of the employees of the 
Seed Division,” shall be In charge of Dr. Galloway. 
Tobacco men in Wisconsin say that there will be an 
increase of acreage this year. Considerable interest now 
Centers in the production of plants, which is always taken 
as an indication of what Hie farmers will do during tlie 
season. The plants are reported as ' dug backward, 
owing to tlie dry weather, but there ire indications 
that millions will be needed to supply tlie increased de¬ 
mand. Considerable effort has been put forth to produce 
an early variety of seed, and a large quanfity is now 
sown in the plant beds. Deliveries of the crop of 1900 are 
very large, and the hundreds of warehouses are w'ell 
stocked with tobacco waiting to be sorted and packed. 
Many buyers are in the field, and shipments are reach¬ 
ing in some places 1,000 cases a week. Many of the ware¬ 
houses are holding crops back as far as 1896, and some 
of the farmers are still holding back crops. 
GENERAL CROP PROSPECTS. 
Peanut buyers in Virginia are rapidly absorbing all of 
the better grades, on some of which an advance has been 
made. The lower grades are plenty and hard to sell. 
The wheat acreage in eastern Washington is greatly 
increased this year. It is said that in Whitman County 
50,000 acres of land will produce its first crop of wheat 
this season. One farmer last year plowed up 1,000 acres 
of sage-brush land, which was thought to be about 
worthless, but the weather was favorable, and his ex¬ 
periment resulted in a yield of nearly 30 bushels per 
acre. This Spring many other owners of this sage land 
are following his example. 
Parts of Georgia and Alabama have suffered severely 
from hail. In some sections it is thought that three- 
fourths of the young cotton has been destroyed. Damage 
was also done to corn and vegetables on the truck farms. 
The storm began a little before midnight, and on some 
of the hills the hailstones remained on the ground until 
nine o’clock the next morning. 
Last year’s Kansas wheat crop lacked about 10,000,000 
bushels of the figures estimated at the time of harvest¬ 
ing. This year Indications are, if anything, more favor¬ 
able than last, and a 100,000,000-bushel yield is expected. 
.•V Kansas mathematician has been doing some figuring. 
The American Farmer : “ After all, the prosperity of tlie.se 
money-makers is based upon my hard work ! ”—Chicago Record- 
Herald. 
and finds that the wheat crop of that State In the last 
three years has brought In enough money to topdress the 
whole State with dollar bills two deep. A newspaper re¬ 
ports that Kansas has sent out a call for 15,000 young 
men to work In harvest at $2 per day. No one should 
“bank” very much on this report, and certainly should 
not go until he verifies it and learns further particulars. 
The chances are that a big supply of incompetent so-called 
farm hands will float in. Kansas folks are hustlers, par¬ 
ticularly at harvest time, and no one need go unless he 
is willing to “pitch in” and earn his $2. 
Reports from Southern California place the yield of 
prunes at about one-eighth, and apricots and peaches 
one-fourth that of last year. It is said that the prunes 
are of uncommonly large size and good quality. 
The Southern Strawberry Crop. 
The cold, wet weather made the crop late, but more 
favorable now, and probably a very good crop will ma¬ 
ture. s. p. s. 
Bensalem, N. C. 
The prospect for the strawberry crop is all that could 
be expected. The plants are looking fine now (May 7) in 
about full bloom, all except Gandy. The acreage is about 
the same as last year. Some growers haye more, some 
less. Some who did not give their patches the best of 
care last year do not have a good set of plants, but most 
planters have plenty. The weather has been favorable. 
Raspberries, I think, will be short. s. j. d. 
Greensboro, Md. 
The strawberry crop is poor; in the dry season of 1900 
the plants made no growth, and it is conceded by most 
growers that half crop, compared with last year, is as 
much as can be expected. The crop will be two weeks 
later in ripening than last year, owing to weather being 
.so cold up to the beginning of this month. The season 
is fine now for all crops—plenty of rain, and for a few 
days past the weather has been quite warm, temperature 
up to 85 degrees at noon. Wheat and grass are very fine; 
apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, etc., all show for 
a big crop. a. w. 
Crozet, Va, 
36i 
'I’lie l)crry crop will be very short in tliis seclion. Un¬ 
der tlie niu.st favorable conditions from now, not over 
75 per cent of a crop can be harvested. We are liaving 
exceedingly dry weather, with high temperature, and 
very brisk winds, and unless we have rain in a few days, 
a greater shortage will occur. This is the largest ship¬ 
ping point for berries in North Carolina, and conditions 
are said to be more favorable here than elsewhere in 
the berry district. We are about twelve days late. 
Mt. (Jlive, N. C. J. o. n. 
Tlie California Prune Grower.s’ A.s.socialion. 
The affairs of the California Prune Association have im¬ 
proved. The cut in price and extra efforts made resulted 
in sales siilHcient to pay the debts of the Association, give 
a dividend of one cent a pound to growers, and leave a 
small surplus toward the next dividend. The cut has nov\ 
been revoKed, and it is said that an order for 8,000,000 
pounds at the low rate was refused. This favorable turn 
of matters has caused a better feeling on the part of the 
growers, and it is likely that the Association will be con¬ 
tinued. It is said that an effort will be made to get all 
the small iirunes out of the market by making them up 
into i>reserves or jams, the object being to prevent specu¬ 
lators from buying them up at low figures to put on sale 
next Fall. This cut in price, although criticised, has been 
a good thing. H a tree or vine makes too much wood 
in a season, it must be pruned severely, and there is no 
reason why a heavy surplus of prunes should not be 
pruned also. Holding a large quantity of perishable food 
is a poor plan, particularly when a new crop is but a 
short distil nee away. 
Soutlierii Fruit Crop Note.s. 
The frost the latter part of last month seems to have 
done considerable damage to early fruits and vegetables 
in tlie trucking districts of the Carolinas, Virginia and 
tlie Peninsula. Many South Carolina cucumbers will have 
to be planted over. Strawberries also got a set-back. In¬ 
dications for the North Carolina cantaloupe yield are 
said to be promising. The returns from the strawberry 
crop in Delaware for the past two or three years have 
been so unsatisfactory that some growers have plowed 
up their fields. It is thought that the Georgia peach 
crop has come through the cold snap without serious in¬ 
jury. Still, some authorities claim that the stems have 
been weakened by the cold and high winds, and that on 
this account a much larger proportion of the fruit than 
usual will fall. The curculio is active, and growers are 
spraying with Bordeaux as a preventive of the brown 
rot, which did damage last year. Some claim that the 
addition of two ounces of Paris-green to 50 gallons of 
Bordeaux will help in disposing of the curculio. It is 
generally conceded, however, that sprays have but little 
effect on this hard-shelled customer, the only effective 
treatment being jarring the trees. 
Governmeut Weekly Report. 
In the South Atlantic and Gulf States rain is needed, 
particularly in the parts of the cotton belt that have 
been replanted. Moisture and temperature conditions for 
the Northern and Central States are favorable, and plen¬ 
tiful rains have fallen in parts of the Rocky Mountain 
plateau. On the Pacific coast cool weather prevails. 
Corn planting In the valleys of the Central South is 
rapidly going on. In parts of the extreme South, where 
the corn is already up, the stand is uneven, owing to un¬ 
favorable weather. The Winter wheat outlook is gener¬ 
ally favorable except in Michigan, where the stand is so 
uneven that some has been plowed under, and in parts 
of Texas and Oklahoma, where insect damage is reported. 
Winter wheat on the Pacific coast looks unusually fine. 
Early-sown Spring wheat promises well except m Minne¬ 
sota. Drought and insects are injuring oats In Arkansas, 
Oklahoma, Texas, and parts of Illinois. Fruit trees In the 
North, except late apples, are generally in bloom. In 
Ohio and West Virginia apple trees have blossomed un¬ 
usually full. In the tobacco districts the outlook is favor¬ 
able. Small fruits in the Central States In healthy con¬ 
dition. In the Atlantic States strawberries are backward. 
Fioiitinu Pea Louse. —Last year the Pea louse made 
its first appearance in this locality, destroying about 60 
per cent of the crop. Early peas, however, were not at 
all affected. Gregory’s Surprise and Nott’s Excelsior 
furnished last picking July 4. Then the lice came In 
swarms. Abundance and Juno, 50 to 60 per cent de¬ 
stroyed; Stratagem, total loss; Champion of England, 
50 per cent. This experience would seem to Indicate that 
we would better confine our planting to the early sorts, 
yet if I remember rightly one of your Connecticut cor¬ 
respondents wrote that his early peas suffered the most. 
The outlook is decidedly dubious. However, we purpose 
to plant about as usual, and If the louse puts in an ap¬ 
pearance brush him off and bury him, as that seems to 
be the only effectual remedy yet discovered. 
Jewett City, Conn. h. h. b. 
THE MILK SITUATION.—The cows in this section are 
in fair condition, although some of the farmers have had 
to buy hay. Most of them now feed heavily of grain, so 
as to have hay to carry them through. Pasture is short, 
though we have had plenty of rain, but the drought of 
the last two years hurt the fields, so feed will be short 
all Summer, and the milk flow will be below the average. 
The farmers reduced their herds last Fall, so there is 
little sale of cows this Spring. Cows bring from $25 to $35, 
only a few being sold at the highest figure. Most of the 
farmers try to raise enough calves to keep their dairies 
good. Most of the cows through this section are crossed 
with Jersey and Durham; a few purebred Jersey. This 
seems to be about the general-purpose cow. There is 
hardly a dairy that will not test four per cent butter fat, 
and some will test over five per cent. There are no cows 
lor sale that I know. The farmers are getting sick of 
the milk station, and are making butter and taking to 
factories. They are talking of putting up a cooperative 
creamery next Fall. If the farmers would sell their scrub 
cows and keep fewer cows and better ones, and buy less 
Iced, they would have more money at the end of the 
year. We have a good many cows that are only boarders 
and do not pay their keeping. Sort them out and sell 
them; they are dear at any price. 
Great Bend, Pa. w. n. h. 
