THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
585 
itoi 
Events of the IVeek. 
DOMESTIC.—Judge Tuley, in Chicago, has decided the 
Illinois statute governing the coloring of grain to be 
unconstitutional.The safes of the Illinois Cen¬ 
tral Railroad and American Express Company in the 
station in Bolivar, Tenn., August 9, were blown open 
and robbed by two masked men, after the robbers had 
forced the night telegraph operator into a box car and 
locked him in. Only a small booty was secured. 
A large boiler exploued in a hotel at Long Beach, Long 
Island, August 11, crashing upward from the basement 
through the roof. No one was injured; loss $30,000. 
. . . . Fire at Rantoul, Ill., August 9, destroyed 50 
buildings, causing a loss of $300,000.An outbreak 
of smallpox has occurred at Newark, N. J. 
George Bissert, the New York policeman accused of re¬ 
ceiving bribes for protection given to lawbreakers, was 
sentenced August 12 to 5^4 years’ imprisonment and $1,000 
fine.The gold stolen from the smelter at Val¬ 
lejo, Cal., has been recovered by divers, having been 
hidden in the waters of San Francisco Bay. One suspect 
has been arrested.August 11, the explosion of 
a boiler on the steam yacht Quail, near McKeesport, 
Pa., injured 20 persons, two fatally.The entire 
business portion of Armstrong, B. C., was destroyed by 
fire August 11; loss $90,000.The warship Ala¬ 
bama is in quarantine off Nantucket, Mass,, owing to a 
severe epidemic of mumps among the crew. 
Train robbers held up a passenger train at Caney Switch, 
I. T., August 14, and robbed the passengers of all their 
valuables. Five men took part in the robbery, and held 
up the train two hours.Five men were burned 
to death, four drowned, four suffocated and several in¬ 
jured as the result of a fire which destroyed a temporary 
water-works crib in Lake Erie, two miles out in the 
harbor at Cleveland, O., August 14. 
ADMINISTRATION.—In the case of the application of. 
the California and Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company 
for the liquidation of certain drawback entries covering 
shipments of sugar to Guam, the Treasury Department 
has held that, while Guam and Tutuila remain foreign 
territory, so far as customs duties are concerned, they 
are not foreign countries within the meaning of the 
drawback laws, as exportations for this purpose must be 
made to countries without the jurisdiction of the United 
States. No drawback, therefore, can be allowed. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Seven persons were 
drowned August 7, by the collision of the White Star 
liner Oceanic with the coasting vessel Kincora, off 
Tuskar, Ireland.A fire at Havre, France, Au¬ 
gust 11, destroyed factory property valued at $400,000. 
. . . . The town of Fardsund, Sweden, was destroyed by 
fire August 13; about 1,200 people were rendered homeless, 
and the damage amounted to $400,000.* .... Baron 
Erik Adolf Nordenskjdld, the Arctic explorer who dis¬ 
covered the Northeast Passage, died at Stockholm, Swe¬ 
den, August 13. He was born in Finland in 1832. In 1883 
he penetrated the ice barrier east of Greenland south 
of the polar circle, a feat which had been attempted in 
vain by many expeditions during 300 years. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Prof. W. J. Kennedy, of the 
University of Illinois, has recently been elected to suc¬ 
ceed Prof. John A. Craig in the animal husbandry de¬ 
partment of the Iowa Agricultural College. Prof. Ken¬ 
nedy is a graduate of the Iowa Agricultural College, and 
was elected to the animal husbandry work in the Uni¬ 
versity of Illinois immediately after the completion of 
his course at Ames two years ago. 
The National Hay Association has filed a complaint 
with the Interstate Commerce Commission against the 
present classification of hay by various railroad com¬ 
panies. The complaint states that up to January 1, 1900, 
hay and straw were classed by the railroad companies 
mentioned in the complaint as articles entitled to sixth- 
class rates. Official Classification No. 20, Issued January 
1, 1900, Increased hay and straw to the fifth class. The 
increase amounted on shipments from Chicago to this 
city to five cents per 100 pounds, or $1 per ton of 2,000 
pounds, being an advance in the rate from 25 to 30 cents 
per 100 pounds. The complaint alleges that such advance 
in hay and straw was made by the railroads to obtain 
additional revenues, and not because of any impropriety 
of the long existing classification of hay and straw as 
sixth-class freight. It further alleges that freight rates 
on hay and straw from points in Canada favor the for¬ 
eign hay to such an extent as to compensate the foreign 
farmer and dealer for a large part of the customs duty, 
amounting in many instances, it is alleged, to three- 
fourths the duty, which is $4 per ton. This alleged pref¬ 
erence by the railroads to foreigpi hay enables the for¬ 
eign product to compete successfully with American hay 
in New England, in this city and on Long Island. The 
Treasury Department reported that during the whole 
year of 1899, before hay had been changed to fifth class, 
only 19,872 tons of hay, valued at $115,409, were brought 
into the United States from Canada. During the nine 
months ending September, 1900, 127,694 tons of Canadian 
hay, valued at almost $1,000,000, were shipped to the 
United States. 
The heavy rain and wind storm that passed over sec¬ 
tions of Cortland County, N. Y., August 7, did heavy 
damage to crops, particularly corn. In many places en¬ 
tire fields were leveled to the ground and the damage 
will amount to thousands of dollars. 
The Eastern New York Horticultural Society asks its 
members and friends for fruit to be exhibited at the 
State Fair, Syracuse, N. Y., September 9-14. Early va¬ 
rieties should be placed in cold storage and shipped with 
other varieties by express not later than September 4, to 
E. N. Y. Horticultural Society, State Fair Grounds, 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
The American Shropshire Registry Association offers a 
number of special premiums at Fall and Winter fairs; 
schedules may be obtained from Mortimer Levering, sec¬ 
retary, La Fayette, Ind. 
The Society of American Florists, in annual conven¬ 
tion at Buffalo, N. Y., August 6-9, elected John Burton, 
Philadelphia, Pa., as president for the ensuing year; 
vice-president, J. W. C. Deake, Asheville, N. C.; treasurer, 
H. H. Beatty, Oil City, P.a., reelected; secretary, W. J. 
Stewart, Boston, Mass., reelected. The convention will 
be held at Asheville, N. C., next year. 
The superintendent of the free rural mail delivery Is 
making arrangements to have weather forecasts prompt¬ 
ly delivered to farmers by the rural carriers. 
The National Good Roads Association will hold a con¬ 
gress at Buffalo, N. Y., September 16-21. The Associa¬ 
tion, in cooperation with tne Illinois Central Railroad 
and Department of Agriculture, has just completed a 
very successful good roads campaign in the States or 
Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. 
Over 20 miles of earth, gravel and stone roads were 
built and several large, enthusiastic conventions held. 
Thousands of people flocked to see the practical work 
of the ‘‘good roads train” and to participate in the de¬ 
liberations of these conventions. 
FARM NOTES FROM INDIANA. 
IS TIMOTHY DEAD?—I was passing a neighbor’s farm 
lately and noticed a narrow strip plowed by itself. He 
said that he unfortunately or carelessly sowed some 
English plantain there a few years ago in finishing up 
some clover, and that it had been a great curse. He 
had kept it all out of the patch when tending it in corn, 
but it sprang up in the wheat that followed. The next 
Spring he went over the clover carefully and gouged 
out every stool that he could see, but it came in his 
clover the next year. Now he is plowing it after wheat 
to kill clover and all. He asked how he should know 
whether his Timothy sown in wheat this year is dead 
or not, as if it is, he wants to break the land. The 
drought here has been so severe that it has cut the corn 
crop in half and the young Timothy seems to be dead. 
I said that it is hard to tell whether it is dead or not, 
and since the field is near water I would throw a bucket 
full of water on each of three places once a day for 
three days and watch a little. If there is life it will 
show itself. 
BLIGHTED CORN.—The corn crop is very spotted. 
Local showers kept places from total destruction. It 
does not seem to be wholly dryness that has hurt the 
crop. The ground is not so dry as it sometimes is. It 
is the extreme heat that damaged it. The crop is dam¬ 
aged where it is not fired at all. It Is also peculiar that 
in the early-planted corn the extreme heat at time of 
tasseling killed either the pollen or the silk so that in 
very many well-appearing ears not one grain in 10 is 
filling. This is very strange for this section, and I had 
to examine for myself before I could believe that it was 
in any way general. It is, however, only in very early- 
planted fields that this occurs. Many stalks scattered 
about the fields have white tassels. These were killed 
by the hot sun. It was first noticed on the hottest day 
recorded in this State. The Government thermometer 
reached 106 in the shade. Ever since that day until It 
turned cooler lately, a period of near a month of hot 
weather, these blighted tassels have continued to ap¬ 
pear. In many fields they now number one in 50. There 
has been much discussion as to whether a stalk so blight¬ 
ed will bear an ear. An examination seems to show 
that they will bear as well as others around them. 
This is, however, strenuously denied. I examined many 
of them to-day in different fields, on high and low land, 
and find them shooting as well as stalks around them, 
and that they have been fertilized by stalks near them, 
so that the grain is as well filled as that on ears nearby. 
Of course, there are many of them as with other stalks 
that will not shoot at all. One excellent farmer says 
that if the tassel blighted before the shoot started, there 
will be no ear. I do not think that rule holds good. 
POOR CULTURE.—In passing through corn this morn¬ 
ing some of it appeared drooping and severely tried, and 
it was very common to find half of the stalks not shoot¬ 
ing at all. Our people are talking dollar corn, which is, 
of course, an impossibility in the general market. We 
have stirred all our high ground corn with a Planet Jr., 
and the effect is good as shown by check rows left with 
a crust. When on the road lately I have seen many 
fields of wilted corn which appealed ruined and had a 
hard crust on the soil made by a shower near harvest. 
The owner did not know that that hard soil was giving 
to the air from 10 to 20 tons of water a day per acre, and 
that a fine mulch three inches deep would stop nearly 
all of this loss of moisture. Still, the careful farmer 
could not avoid the extreme heat of the sun this year. 
Rut I noticed this morning in passing through a swamp 
that I had ditched and planted to corn that this corn 
was as green and perfect as though it had not seen hot 
weather. It reached down to water. This is conclusive 
evidence that the damage is far greater on account of 
drought. If moisture is plentiful the evaporation from 
the corn blades cools them so much that the excessive 
heat is not Injurious. In fact it is a rule all the time 
that good tillage conserves moisture and helps the 
growing crop. During the last month of great drought 
farmers have been in such doubt as to the outcome of 
the corn crop that it has been difficult to sell corn har¬ 
vesting machinery to them. They did not know whether 
there would be enough fodder to be worth cutting. Now 
they see that though many fields have almost no grain 
yet the fodder is worth saving, and now it is often 
said that with the high price of grain one must cut and 
save all his roughness. 
CALVES GOOD.—Last week I bought 24 calves at the 
yards. They weighed 391 pounds and were In good order. 
They were from a Short-horn herd and had had all the 
milk they wanted. They were a dark red color and 
straight on backs and bellies. Said to be the finest lot 
of that number that had been in the yards for months. 
They cost $4.40. This is a good price. I have, however, 
had parties offer to take them off my hands since get¬ 
ting home. Lots of calves are selling at four cents. 
Some one criticised me for buying anything when corn is 
now 70 cents in the market at the city. But these 
calves will Winter on silage and shredded fodder with 
little grain, and will pass next Summer on grass and 
one more Winter on coarse feed. This will let one crop 
pass in the future to straighten things up before these 
calves will take much grain feed. I have lots of rough¬ 
ness and want something to eat it. 
STOCK OUTIjOOK.—T hree months ago everyone was 
hunting shotes at five to six cents. A sow and pigs 
sold at fabulous prices. Now the trouble is to find a 
place for shotes. It is quite possible that it would be 
a blessing if every pig one has would die before morn¬ 
ing, unless it be enough to pick up waste or follow 
cattle. Seldom have I seen so many violent changes in 
the lines of agriculture as in the last year. Our export 
trade has become so enoi mous that it is difficult to sup¬ 
ply it. The supply of cattle, hogs and sheep at Chicago 
for last July was the largest ever known, and prices 
held up and even advanced. Chicago packers are taking 
everything they can afford to buy and have agents else¬ 
where shipping to them. It seems that the great com¬ 
mercial throat can never be satisfied. The man is lucky 
to-day who has a lot of stuff about fed out, and he is 
also happy who has lots of pasture and roughness. 
Indiana. e:. u. c. 
Government Weekly Report. 
Rain has fallen in a large part of the drought-stricken 
section, but dry weather still continues in the Ohio Val¬ 
ley, Tennessee, and the upper lake region. Heavy rains 
have caused damage in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida 
and Alabama. On account of extreme heat in the in¬ 
terior of California, fruit is ripening too rapidly, and 
injury to grapes is reported. Late corn has greatly im¬ 
proved, and with fairly favorable weather during earing 
time, the yield in the Missouri Valley and Atlantic coast 
districts will be larger than previously estimated. In 
the central and eastern portions of the cotton belt more 
favorable conditions are reported. In the western part 
cotton needs rain. Picking is in progress in southern 
Texas. Tobacco is looking well except in Maryland, 
where there has been too much rain. A slight improve- 
fent in the apple outlook is noted in the Ozark region. 
Crop Prospects. 
The wheat crop of France, which is just harvested, is 
thought to be about 56,000,000 bushels short of the actual 
needs of that country. French buyers anticipate getting 
20,000,000 bushels from the United States, if prices do not 
rise above those asked for Russian grain. 
AUGUS'r 4.—Manitoba, our prairie Province, to the 
north of Minnesota and North Dakota, announces a 
bumper crop of wheat, a crop so large that the harvest¬ 
ing of it is a cause of anxiety; 20,000 laborers are adver¬ 
tised for to assist. To these the railways offer as an in ■ 
ducement exceedingly low fares. Grain in this section 
of Ontario has been damaged by heavy falls of rain th.at 
have beaten it fiat, causing it to sprout to some extent 
and, of course, making it more difficult to harvest. Root 
crops and corn are doing finely. Winter apples almost 
a failure; Fall apples a moderate crop. Asparagus so far 
shows only a little rust here and there. Strawberries 
and raspberries only half a crop. w. o. e. 
Ontario, Canada. 
AUGUS'r 10.—An extensive pear grower in Monmouth 
County, N. J., writes us that the crop is very light, 
LeConte a total failure, Kieffer very scattering, some 
orchards extremely light, others a few on each tree. 
New York. s. h. & e. h. frost. 
AUGUS'r 12.— Oats rusted badly with, us and are very 
light. Wheat and barley have been damaged by Hessian 
fly, and there are very few good pieces of either. Some 
fields of Dawson Golden Chaff wheat that seemed to 
promise large yields and were not hurt by the fly, on 
thrashing turn out to be a poor sample and yield only 
18 to 23 bushels per acre. Cabbage is growing well, but 
the appearance of stump rot in some fields is causing 
much apprehension. r. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
AUGUST 12.—The apple crop gets less every day, es¬ 
pecially Winter sorts. 'Lhere has been a great amount 
of rain of late. Pastures are very fine, but preparation 
for seeding is kept back by the rains. Corn is growing 
fast, but Is very late. Bartlett pears only about one- 
tenth of an average. Wheat is badly damaged by grow¬ 
ing in the shocks. Oats are a failure, so far as grain Is 
concerned. Potatoes are very late. Tomato crop is late 
and a very light set—lack of sunshine and excessive 
moisture is supposed to be the cause. i. j. b. 
New Jersey. 
FRUIT IN MISSOURI.—The collection of the fruit crop 
report for July from all parts of the State shows, at 
this date, a universal Injury to the apple and peach 
orchards by the prolonged drought of nearly 90 days. 
The apple trees show considerable injury, especially 
where heavily loaded with apples. The excessive drain 
upon the trees will be a serious one unless rain comes 
soon, or the trees are thinned of their fruit. We find 
some are now taking off one-half of the apples from the 
trees, and it Is surely the safe plan to follow. Orchards 
that have been well cultivated are certainly holding 
their fruit best, and this is the general report for both 
apple and peach. There never was a year when both 
the apples and peaches were so smooth and free from 
all insects and fungus diseases. The fruit is rather 
smaller than usual and later also. We find apples sun¬ 
burned, too, in many places, especially where trees are 
so heavily loaded that the fruit is exposed to the direct 
rays of the sun. Some of this will never ripen and some 
will never grow to full size. The per cent of the apple 
crop has fallen from 85 per cent in May to less than 40 
per cent for the State at this time. Some portions in 
the southern part report as high as 75 per cent still, 
while others report as low as 10 per cent. It is strange 
that the district most seriously affected is along the 
Missouri River hills, but the drought has been more 
severe there. The southern part of the State will have 
the best crop and the northwestern will come In a close 
second. Other orchards scattered over the State will 
have fine crops also. The peach trees have not been in¬ 
jured as much as the apple, but some of the fruit has 
suffered worse, hence the less supply. While many of 
our apple trees will die from the drought, yet I believe 
we shall not lose many of the peach trees. It will be 
well, however, to take off .at least one-half of the peaches 
if we expect to get good-sized fruit, and relieve the 
trees. All trees well cultivated are reported in best 
condition. n. a. ooodman. 
Secretary Missouri Horticultural Society. 
