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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
47 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.- The boilers of the Pittsburg River steamer 
Defender blew up while she was two miles above Huntington, 
\V. Va.. January 3; 10 persons were killed by the explosion 
or drowned. Of 39 persons on the steamer, only one escaped 
injury. . . • Theodore Thomas, the distinguished orches¬ 
tra leader, died at Chicago January 4, aged 70, the cause of 
death being grippe developing into pneumonia. He was a 
native of Essens, East Friesland, coming to this country 
with his family in 1845. Chicago had recently completed a 
subscription fund of $750,000, to build and support a per¬ 
manent hall for the Thomas orchestra. . . . Suit for 
$5,000 damages was entered against C. Deitrick & Sons, 
wholesale meat dealers at Fittsburg, Pa., January 5, by A. II. 
Engeman, a retail butcher. Engeman sets forth that some 
time ago his place was visited by the pure food agents, who 
seized sausages which he had bought from the defendants, 
and that he was later fined $50 and costs for selling adul¬ 
terated meats. He sets forth the belief that Deitrick & Sons 
know the meat was not right when sold, and that he has 
suffered greatly in loss of business by reason of the adulter¬ 
ated meat being found on his counters. . . . Members 
of the General Assembly of Nevada have received word from 
the Interior Department at Washington that Nevada will be 
expected to take steps at. the next session of the Legislature 
to stop the sale of liquor along the line of the irrigation 
canals that are being constructed in connection with the 
reclamation work. Iho liquor traffic has resulted in many 
acts of crime and seriously interfered with the prosecution 
of the irrigation work. . . . January S fire in an oil 
refinery at Point Breeze, near Philadelphia, Pa., caused a 
loss of $200,000. . . . Fire at Olathe, Kan., January 10, 
destroyed a number of business buildings; loss $150,000. 
. . . January 6 fire destroyed the City Hall at Spring- 
field, Mass.; loss $50,000. . . . Martin V. Broughton, of 
Great Falls, Mont., has brought a suit against the United 
States and the Sioux Indians for a claim amounting to nearly 
$100,000 for alleged damages by Indian depredations in 187(1 
and 1877. Broughton claims that in those years the In¬ 
dians stole and made away with herds of cattle owned by 
himself. 
ADMINISTRATION.—A report and recommendation by 
Secretary Hay on the naturalization of aliens was laid before 
Congress January 4. Secretary Hay recommends a reform 
in the laws for naturalization, which are based on a law 
passed in 1802. The reduction of the number of courts with 
power to naturalize is suggested. The number now is about 
5,000, and the certificates of naturalization have been found 
to vary greatly in wording and appearance. False, fraudu¬ 
lent and improper certificates have been discovered by the 
Department. . . . Secretary Taft recommended to Congress 
January 5 an appropriation of $100,000 for medals to be be¬ 
stowed upon the officers and enlisted men who served in the 
Spanish war, the Philippine insurrection and the Pekin expe¬ 
dition. Where service embraced more than one of these 
campaigns, a bar is to be added to the medal. The War 
Department estimates that 446,882 medals will be required 
which will make the cost of each medal of bronze 22 cents. 
Secretary Taft also urges authority for bestowing a medal 
for distinguished service in time of peace, as there is no 
means now for recognizing such meritorious service. . . . 
A joint, resolution was offered in the Senate January 5 by 
Mr. Bailey of Texas proposing an amendment, to the Consti¬ 
tution extending the term of the President to six years and 
making him ineligible to re-election. The resolution was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. . . . Rep¬ 
resentative Maynard, of Virginia, in a bill introduced Jan¬ 
uary 6, proposes to increase the salary of the President to 
$75,000 a year, that of the Vice-President to $15,000, and to 
give the President after his retirement from office an annual 
salary of $25,000 per annum for life. 
PHILIPPINES.—In an engagement on January 8 with 
refractory Moros on the Island of Jolo Lieutenant James M. 
Jewell and one private of the Fourteenth United States Cav¬ 
alry were killed. The action was an Incident in connection 
with the capture of a fort held by Moro outlaws, which 
Major Scott, Governor of the island, attempted to secure by 
peaceful means several months ago. Recently while at¬ 
tempting to secure recruits on the island the kindly means 
taken by Major Scott were mistaken by the surrounding 
Moros and trouble resulted which necessitated forcible ac¬ 
tion. The Moro leader has been killed and the fort has been 
destroyed. The American troops were assisted by the gun¬ 
boat Quiros, in command of Lieutenant Walker. 
CENTRAL AMERICA.—The steamer Preston, from Puerto 
Union, Costa Rica, brings the news that nearly 40 miles of 
the Costa Rica railroad, running between Puerto Union and 
the capital, San .Tost'*, had been so seriously damaged by a 
succession of 25 earthquake shocks, which began in the lat¬ 
ter part of December, as seriously to interfere with business. 
Passenger and freight traffic has to be relayed at various 
places. It is thought that it will lake at least two months 
to repair the road and restore the property to its former 
condition. The shocks are said to have been the worst expe¬ 
rienced in Costa Rica for 13 years. Great excitement pre¬ 
vailed and the population, especially the foreigners, fled from 
the buildings and remained in the open during the prevalence 
of the shocks. The shocks were accompanied by a severe 
storm, during which the earth was washed down the moun¬ 
tain side in avalanches, covering or destroying the railroad 
track. Several bridges were washed away by the floods. 
The earthquake is said to have been very severe in Bocas del 
Toro, in the Republic of Panama. It was clearly felt aboard 
the United States warship Dixie at anchor there and alarmed 
the crew. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—At the annual meeting of the 
Kansas State Horticultural Society Frank llolsinger, Leav¬ 
enworth, was elected president; W. II. Barnes was re-elected 
secretary. 
The Ohio Horse Breeders’ Association met at Columbus 
January 10, secretary, Samuel Taylor, Grove City, O. 
The Arkansas State Horticultural Society holds its twenty- 
ftli annual convention at Rogers, January 24 to 26. The 
State lias sprung into a leading position for fruit production. 
Ernest Waiwer, Fayetteville, Ark., is secretary of the society. 
The Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, Washington, 1>. (’., has just issued a bulletin (No. 
69) of great importance to seedsmen and market gardeners, 
on the subject of American Varieties of Lettuce prepared for 
the Department by W. W. Tracy, Jr., Assistant, Variety 
Trials. • 
The Perfection currant, introduced by C. M. Hooker & 
Sons, received the gold medal at the World’s Fair, St. 
Louis. This makes the third medal which this currant has 
taken, as it was awarded the $50 gold Barry Medal by 
the Western New York Horticultural Society in 1901, and 
the Pan-American Medal the same year. 
Rabies has been more prevalent in New York State dur¬ 
ing the past year than ever before, according to the 
State Department of Agriculture. Rabies has been found 
to exist in the following counties: Sullivan, Ulster, Sara¬ 
toga, Broome, Tioga, Tompkins, Chautauqua. In enforcing 
the provisions of the law relating to the diseases of bees, 
the agents of the Department visited 624 apiaries, in¬ 
spected 27,210 colonies of bees, and found among them 
1,137 diseased. They condemned for treatment 661 colonies, 
and destroyed 273. As an indication of the value of 
this work to the bee industry of the State, the statement 
is made that the loss from disease in bees in 1899 was 
$25,420; in 1904 it was but $2,220. The surveillance of 
nurseries since 1898 has been such that very little diseased 
nursery stock is now shipped. In the year 1903-4 only six 
cases were reported of shipments of such stock from the 
State. Practically every orchard where the San .Tosc scale 
is believed to exist has been ‘thoroughly examined, and 
remedies for its suppression are to-day available, so that 
growers by spraying can keep their fruit clean and at the 
same time save their orchards. 
LEASE MAKING TENANT A HIRED MAN . 
There are many farms to be worked by outside help, tenant 
farming, and many others are worked on shares, or as we 
call it, “worked to halves.” Many farms are given into the 
hands of tenants who are not responsible for a dollar, and 
some even do not try to be responsible. Some years ago I 
had a lawyer dictate for me a contract that would really 
make the tenant my hired man, or hired family, and for 
several years had my farm worked as herein described very 
successfully. I give below the main outlines of this con¬ 
tract. Of course anyone can add to or take from, but the 
very essential thing about this contract with a tenant is that, 
he is hired to the first party as a hired man or a hired 
family. 
“This agreement made this first day of December, 1904, 
between A, of -. party of the first part, and B, 
of-, party of the second part. Witnesseth 
that said A, party of the first part, hires and employs said 
B, party of the second part, to oversee and to work said 
A’s farm in the town of —————-, consisting of 100 acres, 
known as the K farm. 
“Now, therefore, the said A, in consideration of covenant 
and agreement hereinafter contained to be performed by 
B, said A hereby agrees to furnish to the said B from the 
first day of January, 1905, to the first day of January, 
1906, said farm and buildings to occupy together with dairy 
of cows (with or without certain dairy tools), and as com¬ 
pensation said A gives said B one-half the income and pro¬ 
ceeds from said dairy and farm, together with one-half the 
income from the growth of calves that may be raised; also 
one-half of produce from hogs, poultry and fruits. And 
in consideration of the foregoing agreement, said B furnishes 
a team of horses and fixtures, kept repairs and shoeing at 
said B’s expense, said team to be kept and fed on undivided 
half. Said B agrees to furnish farming tools as both parties 
may agree. Said B agrees to work the farm in a workman¬ 
like manner; also to care for the cows and all stock in con¬ 
nection with the farm in a humane way: also to keep the 
buildings and fences in repair. If there is new fence to be 
made said A furnishes the material and said B builds it. 
Purchased feeds, seed, grain, taxes and fertilizers to be paid 
for as the parties may agree. 
“The disposition of the milk, butter or cheese to be 
divided as both parties may direct, and the same of all 
moneys in connection with the production of tlie farm. 
Said B allows said A to reserve the right to say and control 
where all plowing, and how much shall be done; also to sav 
how much of each kind of crops shall be sown and planted. 
Also to control when and where the manures and seeding 
shall be used. Said B further agrees, if he fails or neglects 
any part of the work pertaining to Ihe farm or stock, said 
A shall have the power to do or cause it to be done at It’s 
expense, and to be paid for out of B’s proceeds, 
“In witness whereof said parties have hereunto sub¬ 
scribed.” O. H. S. 
CEMENT FOR FARM BUILDING. 
As lumber is getting scarcer from year to year, and also 
more expensive, the farmer must look for other material 
with which to take its place. Many things can be made 
of cement that will be as lasting as stone and cost less 
than wood ; such things as stable floors in basement barns, 
where plank lasts but a short time; doorsteps, walks, water 
troughs, reservoirs or tanks, hitching posts, hog troughs 
and many other things. The average farmer can do this 
work after a little practice as well as to hire an expert 
at $3 per day or more. Never use anything but the best 
material, consisting of Portland cement weighing 400 
pounds to the barrel, costing in this section about $2.25 
per barrel ; clean, sharp, coarse sand and clean lake gravel 
in size from beans to walnuts. Anyone having the above 
material can make many things that are necessary on the 
farm at small cost. We have about 300 feet of cow 
stable floor with gutter that we have used two years, and 
we like it very much. The past Summer we put in a 
watering trough holding 25 barrels, and for this job we 
used two barrels of cement. We dug down in the ground 
3y 2 feet and the size we wanted the outside of the trough, 
and filled this with cobblestone, the top ones laid to a 
straight edge. On this we spread our concrete. There 
are two very essential things in a job like this, and they 
are good foundation and good drainage. I intend next 
Spring to put a reservoir in the ground holding 100 barrels, 
and I think I can do it with three barrels of cement. I 
shall use it to pump water into from an artesian well. 
Vergennes, Vt. c - L - ,T - 
SHODDY; WHAT IT IS; HOW MADE. 
There is a great misconception in the minds of peoplr- 
generally as to just what shoddy is, and as to its practical 
utility. * There are two kinds of shoddy, generally speaking, 
new shoddy and extract shoddy. As to the former, when a 
merchant tailor cuts the cloth for a suit of clothes, he has a 
number of pieces of the cloth left. They are put into a bag 
and sold to the packer of new clippings, who in turn sorts 
them over, it may be for color, putting blacks, browns, blues 
and the light colors in separate bins. When he has a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of them he offers them to the woolen manu¬ 
facturer, or to the shoddy manufacturer, whose manner of 
handling we will describe after describing the latter kind of 
shoddy or extract as referred to above. Old woolen rags 
are collected by the small dealers, and then put in bales arid 
sold to the large packers, who in turn offer them to the 
manufacturers, who put them through a wet or dry gas or 
acid treatment which removes by carbonization all the cot¬ 
ton which may be left in the rags from linings attached, or 
in the yarn from which the fabric originally was made, and 
after this process the rags are thoroughly scoured and well 
dusted. Either of the above kinds of raw stock are then 
ready to be made into shoddy, which is a process as follows : 
The clips or rags are spread out on the floor of the stock 
room, and to each 100 pounds is sprinkled all over it a num¬ 
ber of quarts of lard, red or wool-oil. which is to lubricate the 
fibers so that when they are run through the pickers they 
will pull apart so as to give as long fibers as possible. The 
picker consists of a large cylinder about 42 inches in diam¬ 
eter and having a 20-inch face. This cylinder is encased and 
lias a moving apron on which the stock is brought to the face 
of the cylinder, which revolves about 600 turns to the min¬ 
ute. In the face of this cylinder are inserted about 15.000 
tempered spikes or teeth, which pull apart the stock very 
nicely. This pulled or picked stock is then run through the 
cards just as wool is in any mill, from which it is spun into 
yarn, and ultimately, by using a certain percentage, a fabric 
is made. The value of it runs from five to 60 cents per 
pound. Wool waste consists of any one of the following 
things: Yarn left over from a number of different pieces of 
cloth ordered; flocks which come from the gig, shearing, 
napper and brush machines, which are used in the finishing 
of any piece of cloth : headings attached to the end of every 
piece of cloth when it comes from the loom, and card waste 
(a material which drops out under the carding machines or 
is stripped out from the card clothing by hand). The waste 
you referred to as being used as a fertilizer is the earn 
strippings of a very low grade of stock, and the fertilizing 
property comes largely from the oil which was put in orig¬ 
inally to pick the stock. We do not consider it good for 
bedding cattle. cordon bros., inc. 
Ilazardville, Conn._ 
MICE AND TREES.—The following advice concerning the 
handling of young trees in Winter to prevent injury from 
mice is given by Prof. F. A. Waugh, of the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College: 
(1) Trees may be mounded up with soil. The earth is 
thrown up in a cone about the trunk to the height of eight 
inches. This is leveled down in the Spring. 
(2) Small piles of well-rotted manure about the trunks of 
the trees will answer the same purpose and the manure may 
be spread out in the Spring. Manure with much trash or 
straw should not be used. 
(3) The trunks may be coated with some preparation dis¬ 
tasteful to mice. Preparations of tar are sometimes recom¬ 
mended. but are apt to injure the bark. Many nostrums 
are advertised, most of which are only partially effective. 
(4) 'I’lie trunks may be covered with some material which 
mice. will not gnaw through. Wire netting will answer. 
Special wire tree guards are made and may be bought at a 
reasonable price of the wholesale dealers' in horticultural 
supplies. Cornstalks may be tied tightly around the trunks 
by means of string. Newspapers tied around the trunks in 
the same way will answer admirably. Any of these things 
should be removed in the Spring. 
(6) If the snow is tramped down solidly around each 
tree directly after every snowfall it will usually prevent any 
damage by mice. This is apt to involve a considerable 
amount of work, however, except it be for two or three trees 
standing conveniently by the house. 
North Carolina Taxes. —Tax levy of Haywood County, 
N. C. : For State and county. $1.10 on $100 worth of prop¬ 
erty; $3.30 on the poll from 21 to 50 years of age: eight 
days on the public road from 18 to 45 years of age: $25 
worth of household property exempt from taxes; 25 cents 
on $100 worth of property for stock law fence repairs. 
Waynesville, N. C. a. j. a. 
Virginia Farmers Alert. —We had a farmers’ institute, 
held in our city December 9 and 10, the first ever held in 
our section as far as I know—the first one I ever attended, 
at any rate. The business men of the town helped to 
create much interest in it by offering the farmers premiums 
for the best displays of products. The attendance was very 
good, and those present were much enlightened and in¬ 
structed by the able discourses by practical and experienced 
men in scientific agriculture. I feel that I was' greatly 
benefited by what I learned about my business as dairyman, 
although I must confess that I was often compelled to show 
my ignorance by questioning the speakers along the lines 
in' which I felt I needed* most instruction. While the 
attendance was good among the general farmers and gar¬ 
deners. I noticed the dairymen were scarce. I asked one 
of them why he did not attend the institute, and help me 
to find out something from the speakers. Ill's reply was: 
“Well, I have been in the dairy business for 15 years, 
and I think I know as much about it as them fellows do." 
I don't know how much he knows, but I found out that 
he does not know that it helps milk to cool and aerate It. 
and he is sending his to town warm every day. I think 
the country will still produce a lot of this kind of wise 
men. Everybody was well Impressed by the institute, and 
we already hear much talk of a county fair next year, some¬ 
thing which helps to keep the farmers alive to modern and 
competitive methods. r. e. r. 
Newport News, Va. 
Products, Prices and Trade. —During 1904 the exports 
of cattle from this country increased 437 per cent over the 
previous year, and of sheep. 116.5 per cent. . . . The 
National Cotton Dinners' Association has arranged for a 
dozen State meetings to be held throughout the South to con 
sider what shall be done with the cotton now held, and 
how much reduction in acreage shall be made the coming 
season. . . . Railroads running east from Chicago have, 
for the first two weeks of the year, handled more grain, 
flour and provisions than for anv similar period of recent 
years, viz. : 245.000 barrels of flour, 6.900,000 bushels of 
wheat, and 45,500 tons of provisions. . . . At the recent 
poultry show in this city the following sales of stock at high 
prices were made: Five Orpingtons, $1,000: 14 White Leg- 
ho.rns, $1,550, $110 per head. . . Cotton nroduction in 
Ilayti is increasing. This island is very suitable for cotton 
growing. . . . Broom corn is much reduced from the 
boom prices of two years ago, selling now at $40 to $75 per 
ton. . . . An apple exporting firm which claims to have 
gathered a large amount of statistics, says that there are 
now stored in this country 2,300,000 barrels of apples. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The Stndebaker almanac for 1905, is as usual, full of 
valuable information of especial interest to farmers. In 
addition to statistical and other information, it contains a 
large number of practical recipes, and has revived some of 
tlie best sayings of old Josh Billings, the most genial and 
philosophical of all American humorists. A free copy can 
be obtained from any Stndebaker agent. If he cannot sup¬ 
ply you, send a two-cent stamp to the Studebakers, South 
Bend, Ind., and mention this paper. 
Ip you will send your name and address, mention this 
paper and enclose a stamp to the Marlin Fire Arms Com¬ 
pany, New Haven. Conn., they will send to you, without 
charge, one of their desk calendars for 1905. This annual 
souvenir has now become a feature of the holiday season that, 
hundreds of people welcome. The 1905 design is entitled 
“A Great Shot,” and tells a story that any lover of the 
woods will understand. The treatment is novel, the work 
well done, the size convenient, the calendar useful. Send 
your name to-day to the Marlin Company. 
The awarding of the Grand Prize to the Winchester Re¬ 
peating Arms Company, New Haven, Conn., at the St. Louis 
Exposition, confers upon this company the highest mark of 
distinction attained by any manufacturer of guns or ammu¬ 
nition in the world. Although a great number of medals 
were given to this class of manufacturers, the only award 
of a Grand Prize was to the Winchester Repeating Arms 
Company. This latest recognition of superiority is the nat¬ 
ural result of 30 years of careful and successful endeavor in 
maintaining the high quality of Winchester rifles, shotguns 
and ammunition. 
The Acme pulverizing harrow manufactured by Duane IT. 
Nash, Millington, N. .T., has become a very popular implement. 
As indicated by its name, it is, above all else, a pulverizing 
harrow. It is a general purpose harrow, but its popularity 
is due to its ability to crush clods and pulverize, level and 
fine the soil, making the perfect seed bed. The peculiar 
shape and backward slope of its teeth or coulters, as well as 
its work, distinguish it from all other harrows. It is made 
entirely of cast steel and wrought iron, and is practically in¬ 
destructible. Mr. Nasli sells on very liberal terms.' lie 
sends it freely on trial and takes it back, agreeing to pay the 
freight charget if anyone should not be perfectly satisfied. 
We commend the advertising to our readers' notice. 
No apology is due our readers for directing their special 
attention to the Standard manure spreader, manufactured 
by the Standard Harrow Company; Utica, N. Y. A manure 
spreader is fast coming to be recognized everywhere as one 
of the most profitable pieces of machinery a farmer can buy. 
The Standard, in some respects, appeals to us as being the 
type of what such machinery should be. It must, at any 
rate, lie reckoned in the first class. Coming later than other 
spreaders, its manufacturers have been able to remedy what 
have been found to be manure spreader weaknesses. The 
Standard spreads a full width of 4 Vj feet. The beater teeth 
are arranged to distribute evenly all the way across its wide 
box. We recommend our readers who are interested in ma¬ 
nure spreaders to write the Standard Harrow Company for 
their spreader catalogue and make a study of it. 
