»01 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Events of the Week 
DOMESTIC.—A great hurricane swept the Gulf of 
Mexico August 16. It struck the coasts of Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, from Pensacola to 
Grand Isle, La. In New Orleans the storm was first felt 
at Lake Pontchartrain in the rear of the city. The wind 
was from the southeast; accompanied by the highest 
tide ever known, feet, raised the lake 10 feet or more 
above the levee, and a wind blowing at the rate of 70 
miles an hour drove the water over the lake shore and 
rear protection levees. At West End the waters were 
driven over the protection revetment intended to keep 
out the lake water. Prom there inland to Metairie Kidge, 
a distance of four miles, the water was from two to 
eight feet deep. Mobile, Ala., suffered severely. In spite 
of the great property loss, no loss of life is reported. 
.... Two men were killed and four injured by the 
wreck of a Canadian Pacific train at Ingolf, Manitoba, 
August 14. The victims were harvesters from New Bruns¬ 
wick and Cape Breton.At Chicago, Ill., Au¬ 
gust 17, five persons were killed outright and many others 
injured in a collision between a trolley car and passenger 
train. The motorman lost control of his car, which ran 
through the safety gates and crashed into the second 
coach of a rapidly-moving train on the Port Wayne road. 
The motorman is said to be among the dead. The scene 
of the accident was a oangerous grade crossing, where 
many previous fatalities have occurred.Severe 
Hoods occurred in the vicinity of Allentown and Danville, 
Pa., August 17, the result of heavy rains. Half the town 
of Danville was under water, but no loss of life was re¬ 
ported.The steamer Alene ran down a pilot 
boat off Sandy Hook. August 17, and four men lost their 
lives.Three men were killed and 11 Injured 
August 18, by an explosion of molten metal in a blast 
furnace at I'oungstown, O. . . . . The steamship Isl¬ 
ander, the fiagship of the Canadian Pacific Navigation 
lleet, and the largest and fastest passenger steamer on 
the Victorla-Skagway route, collided with an iceberg off 
Douglas Island. Alaska, August 15, while on her way 
south with the largest number of passengers that she 
has carried since she was replaced on the run a few 
months ago, and sank within 15 minutes after striking. 
Her boilers exploded as she went down, killing many who 
were struggling in the water. The captain and 65 others 
were drowned. The steamer had on board $375,000 in 
gold, of which a small portion was taken off. 
Two men who were imprisoned under Lake Erie by the 
lire in the water-works crib, two miles out in Cleveland 
Harbor, were rescued alive August 19, after six days of 
darkness, and they will survive.The steamer 
City of Golconda, plying between Paducah, Ky., and 
Elizabethtown, Ill., was struck by a tornado at Crowells, 
Ky., August 19, and turned over; 16 persons were drowned. 
.... Five tons of dynamite, stored in a railroad 
round-house at Herkimer, N. Y., exploded from some 
unknown cause August 19, killing six men who were sleep¬ 
ing in the buiiding The explosion caused much damage 
through the town.August 19, a large oil tank 
at Point Breeze, Philadelphia, Pa., was struck by light¬ 
ning and set on fire. The fire continued to spread the 
following day, extending to other oil tanks, and becom¬ 
ing beyond control, until it threatened the whole river 
front. The property loss amounted to over $1,000,000, and 
three men were killed. 
ITilLIPPINES.—The annual report of Major-Gen. Mac- 
Arthur, dated July 4, ]901, the day that he relinquished 
command of the military division of the Philippines, has 
been received by the War Department. Gen. MacArthur 
says that in the interval from May 5, 1900, to June 30, 
1901, there were 1,026 encounters between American troops 
and Filipinos, and that the .America loss was 225 killed, 
490 wounded, 118 captured and 20 missing, while the Fili¬ 
pinos lost 2,854 killed, 1,193 wounded, 6,572 captured and 
23,095 surrendered. Gen. MacArthur contends that there 
is no church question in the Philippines, and that under 
conservative procedure there need not be any trouble in 
disposing of the friars. He thinks that Chinese laborers 
are not at all essential, and that the Filipinos wiil work 
when properly paid. He recommends the gradual de¬ 
crease of the Chinese in the Islands, but whether they 
are to be deported or not he does not say. According to 
Gen. MacArthur, the outlook for the future is exceed¬ 
ingly hopeful. He thinks that the Filipino people will, 
under republican institutions, become warmly attached 
to the United States through motives of self-interest and 
gratitude, but meanwhile he contends that “the molding 
force in the Islands must be a well organized army and 
navy.” At a banquet in Manila on August 11, Governor 
Taft, speaking of the development of the Philippines, 
said that satisfactory legislation dealing with tariff reform 
must be passed at the next session of Congress, and 
that laws were imperatively required allowing grants of 
franchises and mining rights, providing for the incor¬ 
poration of American banks, and prohibiting the sale of 
public lands and timber. 
CUBA.—Chief Surgeon Havard announced August 18 
that the experiments in the investigation of the propaga¬ 
tion of yellow fever, so far as these involved the mos¬ 
quito test, will be discontinued. This decision was taken 
because one of the non-immunes who was recently bitten 
by an infected mosquito died of yellow fever. The man 
was a Spaniard, desired to become immune, and there¬ 
fore allowed himself to be bitten by an infected mos¬ 
quito. Another man who was bitten is also suffering 
from a very bad case. Both were bitten by insects which 
had been set apart for the experiments of Dr. Caldas, 
the Brazilian expert, who has been arranging to demon¬ 
strate the alleged efficiency of a serum as a preventive 
against yellow fever. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The American Pomological So¬ 
ciety will meet at Buffalo, September 12-13. It will be 
an unusually interesting meeting. September 12 the even¬ 
ing session will be held jointly with the National Bee- 
Keepers’ -Association. 
The annual Summer meeting of the Wisconsin State 
Horticultural Society was postponed to the last week in 
August. 
Prof. L. R. Taft has ordered the materials for three 
new greenhouses for Michigan Agricultural College, a 
rose house, a carnation house and a propagating house, 
which will be respectively 19 by 53 feet, 24 by 53 feet, and 
U/i by 18 feet. They will be constructed with two-inch 
gas-pipe posts supporting iron gutters. The roof will 
consist of cypress sash bars and 16x24-inch double¬ 
strength glass. For growing the plants in the rose and 
carnation houses both solid beds and raised benches will 
be used. Effort will be made to have all the houses 
models of their kind. 
The report of the census bureau shows that Alaska’s 
total farm wealth, June 1, 1900, was $15,686, of which $2,196 
was invested in live stock, $690 in implements and ma¬ 
chinery, and $12,800 represented the value of buildings and 
other improvements. Buildings have been erected on 
nine of the twelve farms in the territory. Preparing the 
soil for cultivation has been the chief item of expense in 
opening farms, being in some instances $120 per acre. 
'I'he 12 farms have a total area of 159 acres, and vegetables 
are the 'principal product. Five of the farms are only 
small market gardens of less than three acres. The 
total value of domestic animals and poultry was $2,196. 
Potatoes and turnips furnished the principal income from 
vegetables. Next to vegetables grass cut for hay and 
silage is the most important agricultural product. From 
ihe standpoint of income upon capital invested poultry 
rai.sing in 1899 was relatively the most profitable branch 
of Alaskan agriculture. 
The flood which followed the storm of August 18 cov¬ 
ered 1,000 acres of onion land near Chester, N. Y., with 
four feet of water, and swept away 15,000 bushels of 
onions, which were gathered and ready for market. In 
Orange County the Hoods destroyed at least 35,000 busnei-- 
of onions. The peach crop also suffered by the tornado, 
fruit being blown off and trees uprooted. 
All National live stock associations are requested to 
send three delegates each to a convention to be held at 
the l.indell Hotel, St. Louis, Mo., on Friday, August 
30, at 11 o’clock A. M., for the purpose of conference as 
to the best methods to pursue to ensure the success of 
the live stock exhibit at the St. Louis World’s Fair, 
which will be held in 1903. 
The annual meeting of the American Oxford Down 
Record Association will be held at the Pan-American 
Exposition, Buffalo, N. Y., Tuesday, September 24; W. A. 
Shafor, secretary, Hamilton, O. The great sheep show 
at the Exposition will be held September 23 to October 5. 
ODD NOTES. 
Dui'ing the past year Georgia farmers used over 478,000 
tons of fertilizer, an increase of 66,000 tons over the 
previous year. 
A consignment of ivory, said to be the largest single 
lot ever brought to New York, was recently unloaded 
from an Anchor Line steamer. There were 331 tusks in 
all, from four to six feet long, 'i'he ivory came from 
Africa, and is now worth about $3 per pound. 
“A MODEL FARMER.”—In 'The R. N.-Y. of July 20 I 
see that S. VV. Allerton poses as a practical and very 
successful farmer. 1 believe this is the same Mr. Allerton 
who has a large farm in this Btate of Nebraska situated 
about 120 miles north of the Kansas line, ana nearly the 
same distance from the Missouri Rivei', in Boone County. 
1 have a son who lives on the east and in plain sight of 
a part of that farm. 1 usually go out tliere in July or 
August, and sgjinetimes cross the Allerton ranch on my 
way to Cedar Rapids and note the method oi farming. 
'There is a great deal of Summer feeding for beef on this 
ranch. 'The pastures are extensive, ilie native grasses 
are rich, and self-feeders dot the pastures. 'The self- 
feeders are filled with shelled corn, and the cattle help 
themselves and grow fat. 'The feeding steers are brought 
in by the trainload, and the live beef is shipped out in 
the same way. 1 have seen some very choice beef in 
Mr. Allerton’s pastures. Mr. Allerton is a success as a 
Summer feeder, but as a crop raiser Mr. Allerton is the 
most conspicuous failure it has been my fortune to see, 
and 1 am in my sixty-eighth year. Climate good, land 
new and extra rich, good crops raised all around him, i 
did not want anybody to tell me where the neighbor’s 
crops stopped, and the Allerton crops began. 'The ranch 
is extensive. I have not seen all of it. What I have 
seen the most is at or near headquarters. 'The last visit 
to the ranch was in 1899. When the neighbor corn crop 
was too big to work, and was laid by, the Allerton corn 
was little wee stuff not much higher than one’s knee. 
All the corn I saw on the ranch was listed in. The 
ground was scratched a little on each side of the corn, 
but the middle ground had not been touched. 'The 
middle was growing a fine crop of Foxtail grass. I 
don’t think 1 should stretch the truth if I say that I saw 
hundreds of acres of corn crop that would not give back 
the seed planted to raise it. Other people raised a me¬ 
dium crop that year. I saw some good-looking small 
grain stubble that I judged had yielded a respectable 
crop. Some grain in the shock was more sunfiower than 
grain. When passing through this ranch 1 said to my 
son; “This man is a success as a Summer beef maker, 
but a miserable failure as a farmer, and after his help 
is paid, the cost of tools counted, horses provided and 
fed, and taxes paid, then there will not be a penny for 
interest on the investment, and the land is growing 
poorer.” What impudence, what stupidity, yes, dis¬ 
honesty, for such a man to pose as a model farmer! 
Palmyra, Neb. w. y. 
DRY IN ILLINOIS.—'The past Spring was lata and 
cold, but with about the right quantity of rain in this 
section. Oats were put in late; corn in good time. There 
was plenty of rain up to June 20; none since worth 
speaking of. Right here we have a fine hay crop of ex¬ 
cellent quality, now selling at $11 to $14. Oats seem to 
run very uneven, good preparation of the ground having 
been a very great advantage this year. Corn was prom¬ 
ising up to the time it began to “shoot,” when we had 
a series of hot winds which killed very many of the 
tassels, and left but little pollen, so that the grains will, 
1 fear, be very scattering on the cob. There is a great 
demand for corn binders to save the fodder, and more 
will be cut than ever before in this region. On this 
farm we shall cut 60 to 75 acres, where we generally cut 
none. The wheat crop was a large one, and both grain 
and straw promise to be a good price. Bad as the 
drought is here, a few miles west it is far worse. Be¬ 
ginning not more than 10 miles west, from there to St. 
6oi 
Louis, 80 miles, the country is almost a desert. They 
had good wheat and nothing else. About July 10 I took 
a little trip to St. Louis over the “Big Four,” Oats were 
four to six inches high, and too thin for a rake to get 
them, even if mown. Meadows were not worth cutting; 
pastures were eaten, roots and all. Wheat was in shock 
and burning up from the fires set by the railroad en¬ 
gines. In a run of about 30 miles I saw the marks of 
at least 30 fires on one side of ^e line. From a dozen 
to 100 or more shocks had been burned in each case. 
In many places the farmers were out watching and 
ready to fight any fires starting. Many thrashing ma¬ 
chines were running, aithough it was Sunday, and with 
ali this was the terrible heat, such as has never been 
known here before, 109 degrees at the Government sta¬ 
tion near here. For many days the hot winds blew and 
the heat continued, until now there is not feed enough 
nor water enough for the stock. I hear of one man 
near Alton who is killing his stock, as he has no feed 
and caiinot sell, while feed will be so high as to cost 
him more to feed his cattle than they will be worth. 
On the other hand, from this point east, I am told things 
are in much better condition. A large fruit grower told 
me yesterday that his peach crop was cut three-quarters 
and other fruits much the same. 'Those here who held 
on to their corn last year will get 75 cents or more, 1 
think. Oats are selling up to 34 cents, but wheat remains 
low, 60 to 65 cents. Stock is almost unsalable. Here we 
still have plenty of water in our wells, but cisterns are 
dry. We are hoping for rain. geo. w. bliss. 
Christian Co., Ill. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
In the past few weeks I have traveled over a large 
part of Oswego, Onondaga, Cayuga and Madison coun¬ 
ties, N. Y., also over a portion of Oneida County, and 
have talked with quite a few of the fruit growers. 1 
think that an estimate of 10 per cent of a crop of apples 
is high, and would estimate the pear crop at 25 per cent. 
Plums are also light. I think that the one thing that 
has impressed me above all others this Summer is the 
success of Alfalfa in New York State, especially in the 
vicinity of Fayetteville. Farmers were cutting their sec¬ 
ond cut the latter part of July, and I was in several 
pieces that wei-e almost hip high, and was told that it 
would be cut once more In some Instances. It does not 
seem to me that there is any other crop that can take 
the place of it on New York dairy farms, especially on 
upland. B. D. V. b. 
AUGUST 14.—I have sown Alfalfa in Spring and in 
July; both started well, but the July-sown nearly all 
heaved out, and the Spring-sown did not heave much. I 
would not advise sowing in the Fall. Nearly every¬ 
one is crying “poor bean crop.” We have about 30 acres 
planted early that promise now 30 bushels per acre, but 
some of our best farmers who raise red kidneys report 
in some instances a great loss from some insect or worm 
that cuts the stalk off. Hessian fly is working in the 
beans; rust and blight and the rain hurt a good many. 
In some fields about one-half of the vines have not a 
pod on. Red kidneys are in bad condition; something 
seems to girdle the stalk and they break over. One man 
here said that anyone who would gfive him his seed back 
could have his crop. clark allis. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. 
AUGUS'T 15.—Many crops of potatoes are a disappoint¬ 
ment. A good many are being dug and shipped at from 
$1 to $1.10. We have dug about seven acres, and as near 
as 1 can tell, we have averaged about 125 bushels per 
acre. Now they will give us 140 bushels per acre. We 
have sold $900 worth from less than seven acres, which 
means over $130 an acre. My judgment is we, or, rather, 
this locality, will have about half a crop. It would ap¬ 
pear that all the later planted potatoes will not give a 
crop. D. C. LEWIS. 
New Jersey. 
AUGUST 19.—We are able to report one whole week 
without rain. Mornings have been foggy, but “burned 
off” as the sun got higher. Everybody now hopes for 
a fine Autumn, with sunny days and drier atmosphere. 
Crops are now where one can either “bank” on them or 
report failure. Corn is looking well as regards color and 
growth of stalk, and ears have set well; but there is 
plenty of smut to offset the good features. Still it seems 
that there must be more than an average yield. Lite 
planted corn for silage is rank and fine. The potato 
crop now promises a very fair yield, and late planted 
and late sorts are still green and “toppy.” Many farm¬ 
ers say, “All tops and few tubers,” but if blight does 
not strike them there will be potatoes yet. Early pota¬ 
toes have been marketed and the prices have ruled high 
—record-breaking, in fact. First diggings brought $1.75 
and $1.60 in local markets. S'or two week.<» price re¬ 
mained at $1.50 with good demand, and $1.25 is present 
price, with steady demand. Rye is mostly thrashed, 
with less than usual yield reported. Fields and pastures 
of emerald hue and good Fall feed assured. Many have 
cut latter crop of clover. No apples worth mentioning, 
and a big crop of early pears. Grapes heavy. Beans 
!)romised a good crop, but rust will dampen expecta¬ 
tions. More Hungarian grass was sown this year in this 
section than ever before, and the yield has been good 
but much of harvest has been wet. Prices for all sorts 
of garden produce are unusually high. It is a bad sea¬ 
son for tomatoes here. Very few ripe ones, and rust has 
stopped further growth. Weeds are striving to smother 
all crops, and there will be some good bonfires this Fall. 
VVise farmers are buying barrels now for another year. 
Price is low. d l p 
Dover Point, N. H. _' ’ ' 
Crop and Weather Report 
During the past week the heat on the north Pacific 
coast has been excessive. The Middle and South Atlantic 
States have had heavy rains, with high winds in the 
South. Texas, parts of the Missouri and Upper Missis¬ 
sippi valleys and the upper Lake region, are still suffer¬ 
ing from drought. Conditions are favorable in the Rockv 
Mountain region and California. In the corn belt the 
late crop has greatly improved, but nearly ail of Sep¬ 
tember will be required to mature it. The Spring wheat 
harvest is about finished. The North Dakota crop Is 
disappointing, owing to poorly-filled heads and shrunken 
berry. Cotton in the eastern section of the belt has suf¬ 
fered from the excessive rains and wind, causing rust 
and shedding. Peaches in the Middle and South Atlantic 
States are rotting badly. The apple outlook is slightly 
improved in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Pall plowing is 
in progress In most of the Central States east of the 
Mississippi, the soil being in good condition for this 
work. 
