1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
357 
ELECTRICITY IN THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD. 
NEW YORK'S LATEST AND GRANDEST EXHIBITION. 
The application of steaui power to practical mechan¬ 
ics. marked a great advance in the industrial world. 
Although the power of steam liad been known for 
more than 2,COD years, it is only within the present 
century that it has been so used as to make itself felt 
as a potent force in manufactures and transportation. 
The opposition encountered by its early advocates is 
a matter of history, and had they not, by their in¬ 
domitable perseverance, shown their great faith in its 
ultimate success, it is likely that the world would be 
much poorer to-day in all that the wonderful powers 
of machinery have rendered possible. It was pre¬ 
dicted by a learned professor that a steamship could 
never cross the ocean, and his la bore i argument to 
prove his position, after being published, was brought 
over in the first vessel to cross. Now steamships cost¬ 
ing, with their outfit, millioas of dollars, carrying 
thousands of passengersand hundreds of thousands of 
dollars’ worth of merchandise, are plowing every sea. 
Great railroad trains, weighing hundreds of tons, are 
flying through the country with the speed of the 
wind. Millions of factory wheels are turning in every 
land, all the result of the wise direction and proper 
handling of this once little understood and less appre¬ 
ciated force. 
Hut a new force is coming rapidly to the fore, and 
its ultimate development is destined to create a 
greater revolution in the industrial world than has 
steam. Electricity has made great strides in the past 
score of years, and is likely to be the magic power 
for moving and feeding, heating and lighting future 
generations. Its rapid development has been most 
marvelous. Several men have been prominent in this 
development, the best known of whom is Thomas A. 
Edison. During the past 25 years, he has taken out 
in this country no less than 711 patents, the most, 
if not all of them, having to do with some form or 
other of electrical apparatus. 
At the Grand Central Palace in this city, during 
this month, is an exhibition of electrical appliances 
that may well open the eyes of aLy one who has not 
kept pace with the wonderful advance in the science 
and application of electricity. It is said to be the 
most extensive ever held. One of the first u^es of 
electricity was tbe conveying of messages over wires, 
first by telegraph, for short distances, then, in com¬ 
paratively recent years, by telephone. Noy the globe 
is belted by telegraph, over the land and under the 
sea, and New York and Chicago may talk to each 
other over the wire as easily as neighoors over a back 
fence. All the newest and most striking appliances 
of this kind are here shown. Perhaps the most strik¬ 
ing exhibition in this line is the model of .Niagara 
Falls and surroundings, an exact reproduction of that 
great natural wonder. In connection with it, is a 
telephone in which one may hear the roar of the falls 
—when the instrument is in working order, which 
isn’t always. 
A later application of electricity was for lighting. 
A quarter of a century since, an electric light was a 
great curiosity. Now, in one form or another, these 
lights are seen everywhere. At this exhioition, they 
are shown in great variety, and the possi bilities of 
this form of lighting both for purposes of illumina¬ 
tion and for decorative effects, arc thoroughly illus¬ 
trated. Great advances have beeu made in this direc¬ 
tion, and the end is not yet. The new X rays are on 
exhibition, and by their means one may seethe bones 
of his own hand, a revelation that is rather startling 
to some. 
Closely allied to lighting are heating and cooking, 
and the last is exemplified daily. Electric cooking is 
not a new thing to tne New York public, but its prac¬ 
tical application always draws a crowd, and interest 
in the subject is ever fresh. Tne same current that 
supplies light, is used. The greatest drawback to its 
general use, is, probably, its cost which is somewhat 
greater than that of coal. With this same force, a 
man may heat and light his house, cool and ventilate 
it by means of fans in summer, fit it with burglar and 
fire alarms, haxmess it and run any desired machinery, 
in short, apply it to any purpose for which power is 
required. All these different appliances are illus¬ 
trated by means of working models. 
As a motive power, both for running machinery and 
for propelling vehicles, electricity is destined to have 
its most general and most valuable use. It is used 
for running the most delicate dental apparatus, and 
for the most ponderous mechanism. One beauty of 
its work is that it is practically noiseless. It is easy 
to operate. It is clean, the current being capable of 
conveyance anywhere after being generated. The 
chief engineer at this exhibition is a woman. Some 
of the machinery at the exhibition in this city was 
propelled by a current generated by the plant at 
Niagara Falls, and cooking was done by the same cur¬ 
rent. One difficulty in this is that much of the force 
is lost in transmission to such a distance ; but it is 
likely that this loss will be, at least partially, over¬ 
come in time. 
One of the most serious objections to the general 
use of electricity, has been its cost. A Boston elec¬ 
trician has recently applied for a patent on a method 
for deriving the electrical energy directly from the 
coal. This, if successful and practicable, will do away 
with the expensive and cumbersome dynamos and 
engines heretofore used, and reduce immensely the 
cost. It is claimed, too, that the new method will 
yield fully 10 times as much electricity from the same 
amount of coal, as the old, roundabout one. This is, 
certainly, a wonderful advance, if it will do what is 
claimed for it. 
The different practical uses to which electricity may 
be put, especially on a farm, are almost innumerable. 
Of some of these, as well as some of the most notice¬ 
able special features at this exhibition, we shall speak 
later. _ 
DESTROYING THE CODLING MOTH WITHOUT 
SPRAYING. 
The following note has been received from Nova 
Scotia : 
Last year the Codling moth destroyed the fruit on our young 
apple trees. Host can I fight it without using a sprayer ? 
Beyond a doubt, the cheapest, and by far the most 
successful method of fighting the Codling moth (the 
cause of most wormy apples), is by spraying the trees 
twice, a week or 10 days apart, soon after the blos¬ 
soms have fallen ; Paris-green, alone or in combina¬ 
tion with Bordeaux Mixture, at the rate of one pound 
to about 150 gallons of water, is giving the best re¬ 
sults. The methods in use before the advent of spray¬ 
ing, were the destruction of all windfalls, soon after 
tney fell, either by hogs or otherwise, thus destroying 
the worms they usually contained ; and the banding 
of the trunks of the trees with strips of hay twisted 
together, or old, coarse burlap. These bands were 
put on when the fruit was half grown, and served to 
attract many of the worms which, when they leave 
the apples, often crawl on to the trunk of the tree, 
and spin cocoons in the crevices. The worms stay in 
these cocoons as worms all winter, so that, by ex¬ 
amining these bands late in the fall, rnmy of the 
worms could be crushed, thus destroying the prospec¬ 
tive m )ths which would lay eggs for the next season’s 
crop of worms. Either of the above methods, how¬ 
ever, is only partially effective, and really involves 
more labor and expense, if thoroughly carried out, 
than the much simpler and more effective spraying 
method. Spray by all means ! Have no fear of poi¬ 
soning the fruit or crops beneath the trees, for it has 
been demonstrated several times by chemical exami¬ 
nations, that it is perfectly safe to pasture stock con¬ 
tinually in sprayed orchards, and not the faintest 
trace of arsenic remains on or in the fruit when it 
comes time to pick it. M. v. s. 
THE NEW YORK COMMISSIONER OF AGRI¬ 
CULTURE. 
The editorial declarations of The R. N.-Y. are gen¬ 
erally, and invariably so far as 1 am aware, based 
upon truth and dictated by a spirit of fairness. On 
several occasions during the past five years, I have 
been led to change my opinion and my attitude with 
reference to current matters, upon sight of The R. 
N.-Y.’s editorial pages. 1 am not now intending to 
challenge the editor, or to amend my general good 
opinion of his treatment of matters, but will simply 
ask the privilege of suggesting that the writer of the 
article relating to the new Commissioner of Agricul¬ 
ture, must have been uninformed of certain facts pre¬ 
liminary to the appointment. 
I do not know much regarding the appointment 
ilseif, or regarding the requests for other candidates ; 
but I do know that a very large number of farmers 
had petitioned for Mr. Wieting's appointment. He 
was early in the field as the candidate of the Grange, 
and thousands of members of that order not only 
signed a petition for his appointment, but also wrote 
letters to the Governor repeating the request. The 
Governor, very early in the campaign for the appoint¬ 
ment, gave a promise that the appointment, when 
made, should go to a member of the order of Patrons 
of Husbandry. I know exactly what I am saying on 
this pomt. I will not say that 1 know that several 
other candidates, knowing of that pledge, obtained 
election to the order ; but there are some good reasons 
for suspecting this to be true. Inasmuch as the 
appointee was to be a member of the Grange, and Mr. 
Wieting was the leading candidate of the order, 
measured by the number of petitioners, it is easy to 
account for the appointment without going farther. 
Personally, 1 have the highest respect for all the 
gentlemen named in the editorial article. Two of 
them are better known to me than Mr. Wieting. I 
fail to see the justice of an accusation to the effect 
that Mr. Wieting’s appointment was dictated by poli¬ 
ticians, so long as the other candidates named were 
backed by politicians in all parts of the State, some 
of whom made almost threatening demands for their 
friends. 
As for the proposition that farmers must unite and 
act independently of the parties, if their true interests 
are to be served, that may be all right; but the present 
instance is not illustrative of that necessity. It wan 
by reason of united action independent of the parties, 
that the recent appointment was made. In other 
words, the largest farmers’ organization in the State 
asked that one of its members be appointed. The re¬ 
quest has been complied with after abundance of time 
given to the order to unite upon its chosen candidate. 
In the end, the one was selected who had the largest 
support in the organization. If 1 am wrong in my 
reasoning, or in error in any of my statements, I am 
willing to accept correction ; but I think that I know 
the facts pretty well. joun t. Roberts. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
it N.-Y.—It will be noticed that Mr. Roberts care¬ 
fully avoids saying that he thinks Mr. Wieting’s ap¬ 
pointment a wise or desirable one. The best that he 
can say is that Gov. Morton promised to appoint a 
member of the Grange, and then appointed, not the 
one best qualified for the office, but the one who was 
the best agent for soliciting signatures for his peti¬ 
tion. Why should Gov. Morton promise to make a 
membership in the Grange the first qualification of 
the new commissioner ? The Grange is a worthy in¬ 
stitution, but there are politicians in it as well as 
elsewhere. A great majority of the farmers of New 
York State do not belong to the Grange at all. Why 
did Gov. Morton make such a promise, and to whom 
was it made V The Breeders’ Gazette makes this 
statement concerning the matter : 
Gov. Morton expressed his personal preference for Mr. James 
Wood, of Mount Kisco, and announced privately that he intended 
to make this oue appointment purely personal, without inter¬ 
ference from the politicians; but men who make governors are 
not without power. The appointment of Mr. WietiDg is due to the 
demand ot Mr. Hiatt, the ruler of his party in that State, and 
other politicians. We regret that Gov. Morton did not find him¬ 
self able to resist this pressure, and follow out his preference in 
this appointment. 
As stated last week, The R. N.-Y. has no personal 
feeling against Mr. Wieting, though we are frank to 
s*y that we do not consider him as desirable a man 
for the place as others who were suggested. We ob¬ 
ject to the manner of his appointment. In our 
opinion, Gov. Morton had no business to tie himself 
up with promises and pledges in this way, for by so 
doing, he was forced into an act which his own com¬ 
mon sense must tell him was a mistake. 
THE HARDINESS OF JAPAN PLUMS. 
The past winter has effectually settled the question 
of the Hardiness of the Japan plums, and the ability 
of their buds to endure cold. Here, in western New 
York, the thermometer, in February, showed for a 
few hours —16 degrees ; every peach bud not covered 
by the snow banks, is dead, and some of the tips of 
the branches of last year’s growth, are also killed. 
1 was in the Japan plum orchard to-day, May 1, and 
noticed the different kinds which 1 have and how they 
endured the winter. The Abundance was the woist 
affected; there is not a live blossom bud on the lot, 
and many of the branch tips, for six or more inches, 
are killed, and 1 conclude that it is no more hardy 
than the peach. 
Burbank is not injured in branch, but not five per 
cent of the buds are alive and in bioom, showing the 
tree more hardy than the peach, and the blossom buds, 
also. 
Chabot is in about the same condition as the Bur¬ 
bank. 
Satsuma is also uninjured in branch, but has not 
more than one per cent of live blossom buds. 
Red June is not injured in tree, but has no live buds, 
and Willard and llotankio No. 1 are in the same con¬ 
dition. 
Ggontz is as white as a sheet; not a bud seems to 
have been injured, and with no drawbacks from now 
on, the trees will be loaded. 
In another orchard, a little protected, the Satsumas 
are also in full bloom. From my observations to-day, 
1 am satisfied that of the above named varieties, Bur¬ 
bank is quite hardy in bud, but that Ogontz is as 
hardy as any of the varieties of Prunus domestiea 
now in cultivation. Of the latter kinds, I find many 
which have more or less of their buds destroyed, tome 
entirely so Among those most injured, is the Niagara 
or Bradshaw, and the ones least affected are the Fel- 
lenberg or Italian Prune, and the Richland ; in fact, 
the Richland doesn’t seem to have lost a single bud. 
_J. s. WOODWARD. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Shippers to New York markets will note that E. H. Peck of 193 
Duane Street, has sold his business to M. N. Edwards <fc Co. 
The subscription agent who won the Wilcox «fc White organ, 
writes that he has another instrument of the kind, and would like 
to find a customer for this one. This is a chance for some one to 
get a good organ cheap. 
Mr. Wayne Gallup of Maeedon, N. Y., writes Lawrence-Will- 
iams Co., inclosing remittance for a bottle of Goinbault’s caustic 
balsam, that he had used it before, and found it most satisfac¬ 
tory. It is, certainly, a good liniment to have in the house or 
stable. 
Young men wishing to prepare themselves for any line of me¬ 
chanical work, will find great advantage in the international 
Correspondence School, Box 916, Scranton, Pa. Electricity, prob¬ 
ably, offers one of the best fields just now, and the subject is 
taught through the mails by this school. 
The warmest and snuggest henhouse possible, is one covered 
witu a good paper. The toughest and best is the Neponset Red 
Hope Waterproof Fabric. It is much cheaper than shingles. If 
kept painted, it will last indefinitely. It’s good for all kinds of 
buildings You can get samples and full particulars free of F. 
W. Bird A Son, East Walpole, Mass. 
The Wilmington Wheel Company, 401 Union Street, Wilmington, 
Del., observing that wagon wheels usually give out before other 
parts of the wagon, have conceived the idea of supplying new 
wheels at a low price. They furnish any size wheel lor any kind 
of wagon, it would seem that this plan would be better than 
attempting to repair old wheels, when the old ones are much 
damaged. 
