1905. 
5o9 
T 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Petitions are to be circulated at Los An¬ 
geles, Cal., asking the City Council to pass an ordinance 
granting a monopoly of the saloon business to a “benevolent 
corporation,” which seeks to regulate the liquor traffic along 
the lines made famous in Gothenburg. Half a million dol¬ 
lars has been subscribed for the company, whose purposes 
are: Reducing the saloons from 200 to 75; replacing all 
in the residence districts with coffee clubs; guaranteeing the 
city .$186,000 a year; limiting corporation's profits to six 
per cent; selling only beer and light wines in mill districts; 
expending all profits above $210,000 a year for public im¬ 
provements; paying saloonkeepers for fixtures and good will; 
drastic regulations for operations of the saloons. . . . 
The cattle interests of Texas will suffer the greatest blow in 
their history when 6,000,000 acres of public land are placed 
on the market September 15. These lands have been under 
lease to cattlemen for many years. It is announced by the 
State Land Commissioner that land will be sold to actual 
settlers in tracts of from one to eight sections. The price 
is .$1 an acre, payable in 40 annual installments, with three 
per cent interest. Each purchaser must live upon the land 
for three years to acquire title. After the sale of this land 
the State will still own 12,000,000 acres, which is under 
lease to cattlemen. . . . The names of officials of at 
least five Chicago packing firms were presented to the Fed¬ 
eral Grand Jury June 16 by District Attorney C. B. Morri¬ 
son for indictment. From a dozen to 40 indictments are 
generally expected. The charges are conspiracy, violation of 
the anti-trust laws, perjury, subornation of perjury, and 
intimidation of witnesses. The accused men make charges 
of their own, asserting that the homes of some of them have 
been robbed by Secret Service men in search of evidence. A 
serious conflict has developed among the packers themselves, 
because of alleged treachery. The Government officials are 
said to count on producing testimony not obtainable except 
by some one turning “State’s evidence.” ... A fraud 
order was issued June 16 by the Post Office Department 
against a man who has been doing business under the names 
of N. I. Boeekelmann, B. Boeckelmann. K. Boeckelmann, B. 
D. Boeckelmann, A. F. Boeckelmann. H. L. Boeckelmann, S. 
T. Boeckelmann, S. 1’. Boeckelmann, I’. S. Boeckelmann, F. 
Boeekelmann, I. Boeckelmann. C. S. Boeckelmann, II. M. 
Boeckelmann, and II. O. Boeckelmann, at 28, 40. 42 and 60 
Cornelia Street and 21 and 255 Bleecker Street, New York, 
'l’he man is reallv a grocer named Charles Boeckelmann. 
He published advertisements stating that he wished to in¬ 
troduce a kind of blueing, and to do so he would give to 
anybody who sold 10 packages of it at 10 cents each “a 
handsome chatelaine and pendant simulating a $20 gold 
watch, guaranteed for twenty years.” The victim, of course, 
was to send him the $1 secured by the sale of the blueing. 
The Post Office Department investigated and a report said 
Boeckelmann's “handsome chatelaine and pendant ’ was a 
“small tin trinket of no value whatever.” Boeckelmann 
made no attempt to defend the character of this transaction, 
but employed a lawyer to see that the department should not 
extend its fraud order to his grocery business. . . . The 
first anniversary of the Slocum disaster was passed June 15. 
In it 1,031 persons lost their lives in the burning and sink¬ 
ing of the excursion steamer, Gen. Slocum, in the East 
River Two hundred and sixty-six persons were injured in 
the worst marine disaster that has ever occurred in New 
York waters. No one has been punished for the criminal 
negligence which made the disaster possible. Official investi¬ 
gation disclosed that the cause was a gross lack of proper 
life-saving appliances on the boat, and for this one man, 
Ilenry Lundberg, probationary assistant local inspector, who 
passed on the life-saving appliance apparatus on the steamer, 
was on trial three times, but each time the Federal jury 
disagreed. Seven other men, including the inspectors of life¬ 
saving devices, the master and nominal owners of the craft, 
have been indicted, but because of the failure to convict 
Lundberg, they will probably never be brought to trial. 
. .A head-on collision on the Western Maryland Railroad 
June 17 resulted in the killing of 23 and tfie serious injury 
of from 15 to 20 persons. fl’lie accident occurred about six 
miles east of Westminster, Md. . . . The case of the 
F. R. Patch Manufacturing Company against Pain Lodge, 
International Order of Machinists, of Rutland, Vt., tried at 
the March, 1003, term of the Rutland County Court, is again 
being brought to the front. The attorneys for the company 
have trusteed the wages of 23 members of the lodge and 
attached their goods, chattels and estates to the amount of 
$5,000 to satisfy a judgment of $2,500 awarded to the 
company by the County Court, together with the costs and 
interest, amounting to about $3,000. The company sued 
to recover damages for injuries done to its business by 
boycotting and picketing in the strike of 1902. The Supreme 
Court affirmed the decision of the lower court. Execution 
was issued against the union on May 24 last and was re¬ 
turned unsatisfied on June 12. This method of collecting 
damages from strikers is unprecedented in Vermont. . . . 
The list of fatalities due to labor troubles since the begin¬ 
ning of the Chicago strike, furnished by the Coroner to the 
State Attorney, as a basis for manslaughter indictments, in¬ 
cludes the names of 16 persons. Rioting that brought death 
in its wake broke out again June 17. Two men were killed 
and a man and boy badly wounded. Armed with a hand¬ 
ful of canceled checks to show how labor leaders were 
bought and the interests of union men betrayed, John C. 
Driscoll appeared before the Chicago Grand Jury for the 
second time June 19. Driscoll declared that he had “set¬ 
tled” nearly 400 strikes and expended almost $50,000 in the 
operation. ‘ lie showed the checks and gave the jury detailed 
information regarding each check and what the money was 
paid for. Over one hundred canceled checks and stubs were 
shown, ranging in amounts from $10 to $500, and the 
signatures of men prominent in the ranks of union labor 
were shown on the checks. Driscoll explained that the 
money he spent was furnished by employers. . . . Six 
members of the last Arkansas General Assembly, including 
the President of the Senate, are under indictment on charges 
of bribery, perjury and conspiracy, and it is believed that 
at least as many more indictments are yet to come. With 
the arrest of these legislators and the prospect of other in¬ 
dictments have come charges that the last General Assembly 
as a whole was rotten with corruption. It is charged that 
more than $100,000 was disbursed as a corruption fund in 
the Senate alone, and that a sum almost as large was put 
into the House. . . . The Canadian Chinese Empire Re¬ 
form Association, the British Columbia Chinese Merchants’ 
Guild and the British Columbia Chinese board of trade met 
at Vancouver, B. C.. June 19, and indorsed the propaganda 
of the Canton and Shanghai merchants proposing to boycott 
the United States for the Chinese immigration restriction. 
They also indorsed the plan outlined to start flour mills in 
British Columbia with Chinese capital and under Chinese 
control to supply the Chinese markets. Other manufactures 
run by cheap Chinese labor in British Columbia are spoken 
of. 
ADMINISTRATION.—Herbert W. Bowen, of New York, 
United States Minister to Venezuela, was dismissed June 20 
from that office and from the diplomatic service of the 
United Slates by order of President Roosevelt for having 
preferred charges against Assistant Secretary of State Fran¬ 
cis B. Loomis, which Secretary Taft reported to the Presi¬ 
dent were false, and for having instigated attacks in the 
newspaper press upon the character of Mr. Loomis. Secre¬ 
tary Taft, to whom the President entrusted the duty of in¬ 
vestigating Mr. Bowen’s charges against Mr. Loomis and 
Mr. Loomis’s counter charges against Mr. Bowen, exoner¬ 
ated Mr. Loomis as far as the allegations affecting his integ¬ 
rity were concerned, but admonished that official for his 
personal participation in business affairs in Venezuela while 
serving as the United States Minister to that Government. 
The President has intended all along that if Mr. Loomis 
were vindicated he should be promoted in the Government 
service and the understanding was that he. would be sent to 
Mexico as Ambassador or to Japan as Minister. Whether, 
in view of Secretary Taft’s opinion that Mr. Loomis had 
taken part in business transactions while Minister to Vene¬ 
zuela which were likely to give rise to comment reflecting 
upon the Government, the President will feel that Mr. 
Loomis is entitled to a promotion in order to emphasize his 
'•indication, has not been disclosed, but it is believed that 
Mr. Loomis will be appointed to another position, which will 
be in the nature of a compliment. . . . According to Mr. 
Lock Wing, the Chinese Vice-Consul in New York, the 
boycott against American goods started some weeks ago by 
tile Canton Commercial League has spread through 17 of 
the 19 provinces of China. Unless the oppressive treatment 
HE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
meted out by customs officials to Chinese of the better class 
while entering American ports is abated, Mr. Wing thinks the 
boycott will soon be established hard and fast throughout the 
empire, with a consequently large damage to American trade. 
CUBA.—Gen. Maximo Gomez died at Havana June 17, 
aged 82. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Army 
during the war for liberty, and was called the Cuban Na¬ 
poleon. He began the fight for freedom in 1868; in 1878 he 
was proscribed and fled to Jamaica and lived a farmer’s life 
there until the recrudescence of the rebellion in 1895 under 
Jose Marti. He landed in Cuba on April 14, 1895, was 
hailed by the Cubans with wild enthusiasm and was made 
commander-in-chief. His ability and energy and his genius 
for accomplishing results without fighting pitched battles 
spread the revolution until the whole island was involved. 
When the General passed away his wife and six children, 
President Palma, the Secretary of the Government and 
some others were present. The Senate passed a bill to 
present $190,000 to the General, and a check for that 
amount was delivered the day of his death by the Secretary 
of Finance to a son of the General. 
RUSSIA-JAPAN.—-Washington has been determined upon 
as the meeting place of the Russian and Japanese pleni¬ 
potentiaries entrusted with the momentous duty of negoti¬ 
ating a treaty of peace. The selection of this capital was 
the logical outcome of Japan's objection to Europe and Rus¬ 
sia’s objection to any place in the Far East. It is thought 
that the plenipotentiaries will not get to work before the 
middle of August. While the treaty of peace will be signed 
in Washington, it is quite probable that the actual negotia¬ 
tions will take place at some cool Summer resort on the 
Atlantic coast. The original objection of the belligerents 
to this city was that the Summer here is usually very hot 
and enervating, and it was regarded as too much of a hard¬ 
ship to impose upon the elderly men who will compose the 
joint commission to have them perform their exceedingly 
onerous duties in such a climate. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Acreage of potatoes somewhat larger this year; apple 
prospects only fair crop in this section on account of contin¬ 
ued cold, wet weather. Cherry crop a failure; peach crop 
equal to last year : plums shy ; berries big crop ; a big hay 
crop about ready to cut. Peas for factory not extra; corn 
and grain in nice shape. c. a. b. 
Mears, Mich. 
In regard to the fruit prospects in this locality, the Indi¬ 
cations at present are that there will be a good crop of 
peaches, probably fully equal to that of last year. Apples do 
not promise so well, and the crop will come short of last 
season’s yield. Pears, too, will not be equal to last year s 
crop. Small fruits promise unusually well, and straw¬ 
berries are unusually plentiful and cheap. Cherries are a 
fair yield. As to general farm crops, corn is backward, 
owing to continued cool weather. Ilay and grain are prom¬ 
ising. E< B - E - 
Harrisburg, Pa. 
It is very wet here, rains nearly every day, and is very 
warm, so that everything is growing rapidly, even the weeds 
but much corn is not yet planted, and ground is so wet it 
cannot be fitted. We had a fine Spring for seeding, and all 
sown Spring grain, unless the land is too wet, is looking 
fine; hay and wheat promise the best yield in many years. 
Prospect for fruit not half as good as two weeks since. 
Dropping and fungus spreading fast, and so much rain spray- 
in# does not seem to do much good. If you could have half 
the rain we are getting those parched New Jersey fields 
would be better, and so would we. J. s. woodward. 
Niagara Co., N. Y, 
Fruit prospects are not very encouraging in this (north 
central) part of Ohio. Apples are very scattering except on 
some varieties that did not bear last year. Very few Euro¬ 
pean plums where they bore so heavily last year. Good 
prospect for plums of our native varieties, which are prov¬ 
ing very dependable. Peaches promise a light crop, but are 
better than last vear, at the station. Cherries a fair crop 
of very good quality. Strawberries injured by dark, rainy 
weather during their blossoming season, by frosts, and later 
by continued rains, making the fruit quite soft and watery. 
Bush fruits promising. F. H. ballou. 
Ohio Exp. Station. 
The past week has been almost perfect corn weather, and 
corn being backward needed it very much. Pastures are the 
best I ever saw them through this section, and meadows 
as a rule are better than last year. Cherries and straw¬ 
berries are plentiful and cheap, and the birds have hardly 
touched them. I wonder if it is not because the 17-year 
locusts are plentiful now, and the birds prefer them to sour 
fruit? I’m afraid I covered my rose bush too deeply last 
Fall when I banked the cellar, as it failed to start this 
Spring. A green worm similar to the Currant worm worked 
on the rose bushes and sucked the green pulp from the leaf, 
leaving the skeleton. N. s. 
Elmoville, Ill. 
It is a little earlv to predict fruit results. In general, 
however. I should say that the bloom was rather below that 
of last year. Many orchards which bore heavily last season 
were weakened arid suffered severely during the Winter. 
In Kennebec County the Baldwins suffered more than at 
any other time for 25 years. Tolmans and Gravensteins, so 
far as I have observed them, promise a fair crop this year. 
In the immediate vicinity of the Experiment Station there 
will be more fruit than last year. In eastern Maine the 
outlook for hay is excellent. In the western part of the 
State, however, there has been less rain, and the prospect 
is not so good. It is too early to predict as to the stand of 
corn and potatoes. It is perhaps difficult for you to realize 
that very little corn is planted before May 25. and many 
growers of sweet corn do not plant, till about June 10. 
Maine Exp. Station. w. m. munson. 
PROSPECTS FOR CULTIVATED GINSENG . 
Exporters Will Not Buy It. 
r fhe exporters will not buy the cultivated root if they know 
it. The cultivated root has been offered at $4 per pound, 
and no buyer could be found. At present there is no de¬ 
mand for either cultivated or wild. We are told that the 
Chinese are using their money for army supplies. We do 
not know whv the cultivated root is not in demand. We 
think the root is too heavy for the size. 
New York. peek & vei.sor. 
No Steady Demand. 
As to cultivated ginseng, we beg to advise that the reason 
there is no steady demand for this root is because the Chi¬ 
nese consider three pounds of the cultivated to be equiva¬ 
lent to one pound of wild root, or in other words, cultivated 
ginseng is worth $4.50 per pound, while its equivalent, or 
wild root, at their ratio, would be $14 per pound if the wild 
root was the same size as the cultivated. They also tell us 
that, the cultivated ginseng has not the strength of the wild 
root. We believe in time that there will be a very good 
market for cultivated ginseng, as the supply of wild ginseng 
is becoming very scarce, but it may take a few years. 
New York. t. w. adams & co. 
Prejudice Against the Cultivated Roof. 
Ginseng is at present in a very doubtful and unsettled 
position. Two years ago. when it was first marketed, it 
was worth from $12 to $14 per pound—that is, choice stock. 
To-day the same root, is worth $4 per pound. The decline 
is due to the fact that the Chinese have taken a prejudice 
against it, claiming it does not possess the virtues of the 
wild root. Whether or not they are justified in making this 
assertion, no one knows: but as they are the only consumers, 
we must abide by their decision. At a price for which cul¬ 
tivated stock cari be sold to-day growers should find its pro¬ 
duction profitable. But they have been expecting too much. 
Instead of looking upon the growing of ginseng as a busi¬ 
ness venture promising fair returns, they have come to look 
upon it as the short cut to wealth and riches—a sort of a 
private gold mine conveniently placed in their backyards. 
This is not due to the growers, but to the extravagant and 
foolish claims made by the parties having seeds and plants 
for sale. Some of these parties who have been so anxious 
to see their fellowmen get wealthy have been selling them 
Japanese ginseng seeds. Japanese ginseng, as you are prob¬ 
ably aware, Is worth from 25 cents to 40 cents per pound, 
and the seeds in proportion. When some of this cultivated 
Jap root is brought to market, the consequences may pos¬ 
sibly be very serious on the whole ginseng business, as it will 
shake the confidence of the Chinese buyers, who are a very 
suspicious people under any conditions. It is our opinion 
that cultivated ginseng is going to bring a fair price—not as 
much as the wild root, for which there is always a good 
demand, but enough to show a profit to the grower if he 
produces fair results without too great an outlay. We are 
ready to buy the output or part of it at any time, pro¬ 
vided the growers are willing to accept what it is worth. 
The whole situation rests upon the question as to whether 
the producer is willing to accept a fair return for his in¬ 
vestment and labor, the same as in any other business, or 
whether he will insist on getting rich quick. If the former 
we think he will be satisfied—if the latter, he is going to 
be disappointed. wa. eisenhauer & co. 
New York. 
Will Not Receive Cultivated Ginseng. 
We do not know whv the Chinese refuse to buy the cul¬ 
tivated root. They will only buy wild ginseng, but will not 
even look at the cultivated, and as they are the only con¬ 
sumers of ginseng they naturally control prices and qual¬ 
ity they prefer. The following note, written by our Mr. 
Lowell Lamb to different trade journals, gives an idea of 
present trade conditions : “We are at the beginning of a 
critical season in the ginseng business, and we want to give 
all shippers fair warning that if they persist in shipping 
cultivated root, which grows in certain parts of the United 
States from both American and Japanese wild ginseng seeds, 
the ginseng market will be spoiled. The Chinese will quit 
buying American ginseng unless we can give them the same 
wild ginseng that we have had in former years. We want 
wild ginseng, and will pay top market prices for it, but 
we will not receive nor handle ginseng that is mixed with 
cultivated root, except at its actual value.” 
New York. lowell lamb & co. 
Sold at a Loss. 
Cultivated ginseng is not wanted by the buyers here. 
The wild root, which is worth $6.50 per pound to-day, they 
claim is sweet, while the cultivated is bitter and they add 
that the cultivated is forced too much, that it grows too 
quickly and has not the virtue of the wild, which is growing 
for years. It would take, say 25 years for a good-sized 
wild root to be equal in size and weight to a five-year-old 
cultivated one. Most of those that are pushing the cul¬ 
ture want to sell seed and plants, that is. to give their good 
thing away. There is a limited : ale for the cultivated root, 
while the wild sells on arrival, as almost any fur house will 
purchase it, besides those who make a business of it. We 
undertand there are large quantities of the cultivated root 
on the market to-day, which they cannot move. We had a 
box of the cultivated stock some time back on which we got 
an offer from a buyer here, before it was shipped to us, and 
when it arrived he had business somewhere else, and as no 
one would touch it (25 pounds in the lot) we sold it, returned 
what we agreed to, and lost $5. w. H. cohen & co. 
New York. 
A Fair Business Statement. 
In the Fall of 1903 the average price of wild ginseng per 
pound dried, was about. $6.50. At the same time the cul¬ 
tivated came to market with glorious results, beginning at 
$8 and reaching the enormous price of $14 per pound for 
some XX nice goods. The average price was about $5 per 
pound more than the wild. This collection of cultivated 
went into the sales at Hong Kong in February, 1904, to¬ 
gether with a fair average quantity of wild root, results of 
which were very unsatisfactory; although only a limited 
quantity of culti'vated. yet it was enough at so high a price 
to cause somewhat of a reaction in the cultivated ginseng 
market, contrary to its favor. The results were not suffi¬ 
cient to stop the buying of cultivated root at the early begin¬ 
ning of the season, or Fall of 1904. But word soon came to 
the Chinese merchants in this country (who are almost the 
sole buyers, who export the root, to their native country) 
that the medical properties of the cultivated root were not 
up to the standard with the wild, and the price came 
tumbling down by degrees until now the Chinese refuse to 
buy cultivated at all. The wild root started to advance, 
and prices were higher the past season for wild root than 
any previous date. Even the southern root sold within 75 
cents of the best northern root. The Chinese are very 
superstitious, and when once set against a thing it is very 
hard to change their minds. My honest opinion as to the 
future of cultivated root depends largely on the extermina¬ 
tion of the wild, and when the wild is practically gone I 
think thev will be obliged to use the cultivated. The 
medical properties of the cultivated are just as good, or 
practically the same as wild, but the Chinese are the sole 
buyers you might say. and when they are set against a 
thing it is hard to teach them or persuade them to do other¬ 
wise. I am cultivating ginseng, and I expect to do so in a 
small way only. I honestly believe that the time will soon 
come when the cultivated root will have to be depended upon 
to supply the demand when the wild cannot be had. As the 
high price of the wild root is causing it. to be eagerly sought 
after both Spring and Fall or during the whole season when 
it can be found with top on. it is not allowed to seed 
much and so must eventually be destroyed entirely or nearly 
so. The cultivated root at present is hurting the wild in a 
way that should not occur, but such is the case. I.ots of 
wild root that resembles the cultivated the Chinese say am 
cultivated and refuse to buy. A small amount of cultivated 
can be sold for the wild where it resembles the wild. I 
would advise all ginseng growers not to dig a pound of root 
another season, and also those who are not in the business, 
unless plenty of capital, to stay out until things are in far 
better shape than at present. I have seed to sell but would 
advise no one to buy on anv advice of my own. but entirely 
at his own risk. ‘The only objection the Chinese have 
against the cultivated root is therefore the claim that the 
medical property is not as good as the wild, and will no 
doubt refuse to buy as long as the wild can be had even at 
$10 per pound. Lemuel black. 
New Jersey. _ 
GERMAN POTATO CULTURE.—Potatoes as a rule are 
planted after the ground is put in good condition; plenty 
of stable manure is spread over the ground, then the ground 
is plowed, not too deep, the manure is raked clean in every 
second plowed furrow, and the potatoes are planted on the 
manure in the furrow six to eight inches apart. To keep 
a team with the plow going it takes two men raking in 
manure and two men planting the potatoes: lands 200 to 
300 vards long. Row must be far enough apart, so that 
the young crop can be twice cultivated with one horse be¬ 
tween rows. The potato crop is gathered by plowing them 
out every second furrow, throwing out potatoes; it takes 
about 12 to 16 hands picking and sacking to keep the team 
going plowing. But still there are some larger farmers who 
are not satisfied with this way of potato gathering; they 
want machinery to harvest the potato crop. J. s. 
Hanover, Germany. 
FRUIT PROSPECTS TN MASSACHUSETTS.—As a whole 
the fruit crop in this State promises to be above the aver¬ 
age in quantity and of good quality. Apple trees bloomed 
abundantly, but a comparatively few fruits set in many 
cases. What remain will, however, be larger, and if the 
Codling moth is not abundant will be of very fine quality. 
Pears showed a small bloom, but have set a fair crop, so that 
little thinning out will be needed. Plums and cherries 
bloomed abundantly, and will produce more than an aver¬ 
age crop. I think there were never so many peaches set as 
this season, but the trees generally have not been given the 
usual care, and unless the fruit is thinned heroically much 
poor fruit will be put upon the market that will Injure the 
reputation of home fruit. Many of the peaches, plums and 
cherries are stung by the Plum curculio. Blackberries ap¬ 
peared verv much injured by cold when Spring growth began, 
but have improved so that a heavy crop will be produced. 
Red raspberries, except where covered, were badly winter¬ 
killed and will produce only a small crop. Blackcaps are 
not grown for market to any extent, and very little in the 
home garden. Currants have set well. Strawberries are 
very late, very few ripening before June 20. The crop will 
be large, now that we have had an abundance of rain, but 
owing to the lateness of the season and our markets having 
been so abundantly supplied from New Jersey and the Hud¬ 
son River, prices are likely to rule low. s. T. maynard. 
Worcester Co., Mass. 
