I 
1B05. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER- 
669 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The yellow fever situtaion continues seri¬ 
ous. In New Orleans August 110 the condition was as fol¬ 
lows : Total cases to date, 1,878; total deaths, 271; cases 
still under treatment, 174; total number of disease cen¬ 
ters found's, 442. In Natchez, Miss., 14 cases have been 
found. . . . Five meat dealers in Madison, Wis., pleaded 
guilty August 29 to selling adulterated meats, some of which 
were bologna preserved in borax and colored with coal tar 
dyes. . . . Frederick A. Feck ham, indicted in the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia for conspiracy to defraud the United States 
Government in connection with the leakage in the cotton 
reports of the Department of Agriculture, was arrested at 
the Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga, N. Y., August 23. Peck- 
ham was unable to procure $12,000 bail, and was locked up 
in the Saratoga County jail, at Baliston Spa. Two indict¬ 
ments were found against Peckham in the District of Col¬ 
umbia, and a bench warrant against him was Issued by 
Chief Judge II. M. Clabaugh, of the District of Columbia 
Supreme Court. Moses Haas, who was indicted with Fred¬ 
erick A. Peckham and Edwin S. Holmes, Jr., gave himself 
up August 25 to United States Marshal Henkel in New 
York. Haas was arrested on a complaint based upon the 
indictment, and sworn to on information and belief by As¬ 
sistant T'nited States District Attorney Henry A. Wise. 
This charges that Holmes, Haas and Peckham entered into 
an unlawful agreement and conspiracy to defraud the Gov¬ 
ernment through furnishing by Holmes, in contravention of 
his duties and violation of confidence reposed In him as 
associate statistician in the Department of Agriculture, of 
copies of the cotton crop reports compiled by the Depart¬ 
ment, in advance of their official publication. Haas and 
Peckham fulfilled their part of the alleged unlawful agree¬ 
ment, says the complaint, by getting Lewis C. Van Riper, a 
New ^ ork cotton broker, to furnish the money to play the 
market on Holmes's information, the profits to be divided 
between the participants. . . . The first suits to com¬ 
pel the payment of adequate damages by the lumber and 
pulp Interests, which, through collusion with the old Depart¬ 
ment of Forest, Fish and Game, chceated New York State 
out of many thousands of dollars, were begun August 23 
by Attorney-General Mayer. The defendants are the J. & 
J. Rogers Company, owners of the Pulp and Paper Mills at 
Ausable Parks, and Patrick Moynchan, of Glen Falls. The 
amount which the State seeks to recover in these cases is 
$20,000. Before the Department of Forest, Fish and Game 
was overhauled and Commissioner Whipple placed in charge 
the lumber and pulp companies in the Adirondacks were in 
the habit of cutting and' removing timber on State lands in 
violation of the constitution and settling with the State 
Department for the nominal sum of 30 cents a standard, in¬ 
stead of $2, the price now demanded. The scandal cause.d 
by this practice brought about an Investigation, and Gov. 
Higgins requested the Attorney-General to begin suits to 
lest the validity of the void confessions of judgment where¬ 
by only nominal fines were paid. 
GENERAL FOREIGN AFFAIRS.—August 29 the Jap¬ 
anese and Russian envoys in session at Portsmouth, N. II., 
agreed upon a basis for peace, and woik was at once begun 
to frame a treaty and arrange for an armistice. The points 
on which the conference had been deadlocked for more than 
a week were yielded by the Japanese, who waived all claim 
to indemnity, agreeing to cede one-half of the recently-cap¬ 
tured Sakhalin Island to Russia. . . . The American- 
China Development Co., organized to finance the Canton- 
liankow Railroad project, contract for which was cancelled 
by the Chinese Government, has agreed to accept the indem¬ 
nity offered by the Imperial Government, $0,750,000, In lieu 
of all claims. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The next unnual meeting of the 
Georgia Dairy and Live Stock Association will be held at 
Macon, Ga., October 20-27. At this meeting, the question of 
union of two organizations will be definitely arranged, a con¬ 
stitution adopted and permanent officers elected. They are 
the Georgia Dairyman's Association, which was organized 
10 years ago by Col. Redding, Director of the Experiment 
Station, and the Live Stock Breeders’ Association, organized 
two years since by Hon. Harvie Jordan, State Director of 
Farmers' Institutes. It was decided by the founders and by 
the officers and many members of both associations that in 
the present state of live stock and dairy woik in Georgia 
one well supported organization would be more useful than 
two of smaller membership. A temporary union was ef¬ 
fected by a meeting of the Executive committees of both 
Associations at Experiment Station on July 12, and the name 
Georgia Dairy and Live Stock Association selected for the 
combined societies. B. W. Hunt, of Eatouton, was se¬ 
lected temporary president. W. I.. Williamson, Com¬ 
merce, First vice-president; Prof. M. I.. Duggan, Sparta, sec- 
lnd vice-president and Prof. C. I., Willoughby, Experiment, 
secretary-treasurer, all to hold until confirmed or their suc¬ 
cessors elected at the meeting in October. 
The thirteenth annual meeting of the National Irrigation 
Congress, with more than a thousand delegates present, rep¬ 
resenting more than four-fifths of the States in tire Union, 
assembled August 21 at the Lewis and Clark Auditorium, 
Portland, Ore. Gov. Chamberlain, of Oregon, welcomed the 
delegates, and Gov. Pardee of California, made an address. 
He said that the Government reclamation service gave prom¬ 
ise of the highest efficiency. The 400 engineers, assistants 
and experts had been all chosen absolutely without regard 
to politics. With the $30,000,000 proceeds of land sales 
nearly a score of larger undertakings have been started in a 
dozen States and some of them are already well under way. 
A message from President Roosevelt was read counselling 
patience until the operation of the reclamation act should 
become more extensive. The President pointed out that 
the act “enforces the principle of the greatest good to the 
greatest number of people, but gives each man land enough 
to support his family in comfort.” 
BUYING A FARM IN MAINE . 
A correspondent asks about farms in Maine—200 acres 
offered at $1,000. 'I’here are unquestionably good farms for 
sale in Maine at low prices, but such farms as the above 
might be remote from railroad or good markets. The price 
would indicate that condition. A few years ago we started 
out on an investigating tour to secure one of these bargains. 
We had to pay that price for 75 acres and rebuild the build¬ 
ings, but it was the location and its convenience to railroad 
which made it valuable. Almost the first question asked in 
regard to a farm is whether there is any standing timber 
and its size. Many farms have been purchased for the lum¬ 
ber alone, 'and when this is cut the mill people, having no 
use for the property, sell at a price which leaves the co«‘ 
of the lumber very low. In this vicinity logging In Winter 
is one of the methods of earning necessary cash, and is de¬ 
pended upon as a revenue as much as farm crops in Summer. 
There are cases where old people unable to carry on the 
farms offer them for sale at favorable prices, but an inves¬ 
tigation of each farm is the only method of determining its 
value. We traveled hundreds of miles before finding one 
which filled our requirements. Owing to the development 
of dangerous lung difficulties with my wife it was Imperative 
Unit our liotne should lie located upon high land. The de¬ 
scription of one farm particularly appealed to us. We made 
a trip of 120 miles only to find it located in a swamp, the 
water surrounding the dwelling and extending to the road. 
I do not think there is any great difference between Maine 
and the other New England States as far as crops are con 
cerned, or, in fact, in general conditions. The markets de¬ 
pend greatly upon the location of the farm and the quan¬ 
tity of any product grown. Portland is the largest city, and 
is supplied so thoroughly that prices usually are lower than 
Boston, which is the natural outlet for thousands of dol¬ 
lars’ worth of hay, potatoes, poultry, eggs. etc. Alfalfa is 
being grown at present in Maine, but its hardiness has not 
yet been determined. Prices vary according to location and 
season and can only be answered in a general way. Pota¬ 
toes about 50 cents per bushel; apples 75 cents to $2 per 
barrel ; hay $11 to $10; milk five to seven cents per quart. 
Asparagus is grown near the cities by market gardeners, 
who also supply lettuce, cucumbers and other green stuff. 
The temperature depends greatly upon location, varying 
! n distances, depending upon the elevation. Our farm 
is .>20 feet above sea level, and our lowest record is 18 
below, while 75 feet below at the railroad station it is fre¬ 
quently 30 degrees colder. The Summer heat may touch 100 
rarely, the general temperature running between 70 and 90. 
and Maine is certainly one of the healthiest States in the 
country. Roads vary according to location. In our section 
they are well kept, but there Is a general awakening on the 
question of good roads everywhere. Taxes usually are mod- 
erate, and Maine does not yield to any State in the quality 
of her schools. Regarding the advisability of a man leaving 
a salary of $800 per year with house rent, coal, milk and 
butter to buy a farm, unless health demanded a change, I 
should say “I wouldn’t do it.” Still everything, as Prof. 
Bailey says, depends upon the “man behind the gun.” W. F. 
Allen ships thousands of dollars’ worth of strawberries from 
Maryland to Boston. It can be done from Maine, and reach 
a later market, but a man must know how to raise choice 
fruit. Some of our Mnlne poultrymen are making much 
more than $800 per year, but thev know their business an r1 
if one enters farming in Maine with the idea of shipping to 
Boston he must bear in mind that the market is full of 
trash and that Boston demands first-class stuff. The soil 
of Maine generally is strong. It has been supposed that in 
Aroostook County alone large yields of potatoes could be 
obtained. That is an error, as 400 bushels all over the 
State Is not an uncommon yield. Many farmers feed their 
hay to their cows, selling the cream, which is gathered reg¬ 
ularly by teams. 
There is one Important point, however, which should not 
be overlooked in purchasing one of the abandoned farms, 
and that Is capital. It takes time to bring fields which are 
badly exhausted Into a profitable state of cultivation; poor 
expected occasionally, and money is necessarv 
while waiting. If located near a cltv cash is usually paid 
for country produce, but if a village trade Is sought the 
stores rarely pay cash, as they depend upon the method <>f 
oxonange for their goods. This barter system is unsatis¬ 
factory Money is necessary to purchase grain and the 
result Is the shipment to Boston of thousands of dozens 
of eggs and quantities of poultry, the express companies 
encouraging this trade in every possible manner. Another 
method of turning farm crops into cash is by takincr Summer 
boarders. Maine is growing into popularity in this direc- 
tion every year. Probably apples are as profitable as any 
cash crop if the orchards are properly cared for and the 
best quality of fruit is grown. The development of an 
orchard requires time, however, hut whatever line of farming 
Is chosen, the outlet should be carefully considered That 
Maine farmers are generally prosperous is shown by the 
character of the buildings and the comparatively few farms 
offered for sale. f c o 
LONG ISLAND JACK RABBITS. 
The city people have not yet invaded our lawns with their 
guns and .Tack rabbits, a blessing of somewhat a mixed char- 
acter \\e have been looking and longing for years for the 
advent of city people and a rise in value of land hut we have 
counted on the attending evils. Our eommunitv Is 
strictly a farming one and by industry and fertilizer' the 
price of farm land has risen to $200 per acre Yet this 
seeming prosperity has It's drawbacks, for in order to carry 
on the farm operations each family hires from one to four 
I olish men and they are very fond of fruit. Between them 
and the San Jos6 scale fault raising except apples is a total 
failure and I am cutting-,out my trees as fast as conve- 
nient. This kind of Jaclj. rabbit is as disastrous to peaches 
and plums as the four-leggbd kind but failure here will heln 
the fruit growers elsewhere and they can better afford to 
buv their potatoes of ns; s c L Y 
Orient, L. I. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
It is getting to be very dry here. Am Irrigating alraosi 
daily to keep things going. The cotton crop of Texas is 
the shortest we have had per acre. All other crops fair witl 
u8 *> er , e - rn J. w. s. 
Mexia, Texas. 
The apple crop in our section of Virgina is about 80 per 
cent of a maximum yield with the quality of the fruit ex¬ 
ceptionally fine. New York and western buyers are now 
operating in this section and are offering $1.50 per barrel in 
the orchard for No. 1 fruit. My own output this year will 
be about three thousand barrels, which as yet is unsold 
Winchester, Va. s l i ’ 
Apples In this section are a very poor crop and poor qua 
lt.v. My orchard has only from five to 10 per cent as man 
cMiiio 1 190 t ^ ,?' i i nK ’. I5aI <lwin. Fallwater. Greening an 
Gilliflower had light bloom. One-half of my four-vear-o! 
Missing I.ink trees bloomed full. The frosts'about May 9 
cleaned up all kinds of fruit here. The Missing I.ink apple 
of crop 1904 are fresh and nice yet. b m stone 
Pennsylvania. _ 
NEW ENGLAND HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
I was fortunate while in Worcester. Mass., to visit the 
weekly exhibit of the Worcester Co. Horticultural Society 
Western people are apt to think that everything farmwise is 
done upon the big fields. Not so. Worcester is one of the 
largest producing agricultural counties in the United States 
and their horticultural society the second oldest in this 
country. 
The President. O. R. Hadwin. the only living charter 
member of the society, has passed four score, but still as 
hale and hearty as a man of 50. A fine type of the broad¬ 
minded, public-spirited man. For 10 years President of the 
society and for three years at the head of the State Ilorti- 
cultural Society. He has given the citv of Worcester a 
fine park : has been a member of the Park Commission for 
38 yeai-8; has 1.000 trees of his own planting from 40 to 
100 feet high, and some of them 12 feet in circmference, and 
100 different varieties of ornamental trees. Although living 
within the city limits he has all of the rural instincts and 
sympathies. 
The society owns its hall, which yields an annual rental of 
$7,000, making possible the monthly exhibits of February, 
March, April and May, and the weekly shows from June un¬ 
til November. They also hold meetings for debate and dis¬ 
cussion, all expenses being borne by the above-mentioned in¬ 
come. They receive no State aid. There are several thou¬ 
sand books in the library and a reading room is stocked with 
current literature. The judges are named at the annual 
meeting and are experts in their classes. The exhibit for 
this day, August 24. was cut flowers. Gladioli. Phlox, lillies. 
fruits and vegetables. The exhibit was so choice that T was 
led to inquire carefully, both through the President and Sec¬ 
retary Iiixon whether or not the exhibitors were profes¬ 
sionals or amateurs. He said the bast answer would be to 
meet some of the exhibitors. T found a goodly proportion 
were young women. Some teachers, others married ladies 
who have become interested along these lines through the 
encouragement offered by the society. I was particularly in¬ 
terested in the attention paid to the children. Their annual 
show, under 14 years, occurred Saturday. August 2G. The 
premium list for the day footed up $25, including flowers 
afid vegetable garden products. The State of Illinois adver¬ 
tises widely her efforts to interest the young in corn growing, 
and is doing splendid work. Rut do you know flowers and 
vegetables bear the same relation to New England Agricul¬ 
ture that corn does to the middle West? My attention was 
attracted to an exhibit of GO varieties mushrooms, all given 
their botanical names. In seeking out the exhibitor I found 
the young wife of a woiking man who said she gathered 
them, with a little aid from the children, in a few hours, 
and that it was purely a matter of educational pastime. A 
very fine peach, as I personally know from an examination, 
grown under glass, the tree an English variety, “Sea Eagle," 
was attracting much attention. The whole management of 
this society is educational, and its work is far reaching and 
stimulating to the horticulture of the section. h. e. cook. 
FARM LABOR IN FLORIDA. 
On page 637 it is stated that winter labor is abundant 
in Florida. What is this labor and what does it bring in? 
SEVERAL READERS. 
Labor among the vegetable and citrus growers commands 
from $1.25 to $2 per day, according to their ability or knowl 
edge ( f the work. The season opens up about October 1 and 
closes June 15. Orange packers who can pack neatly GO 
boxes of oranges per day command usually $1.75 per day. 
Those who can pack more than that get $2. 
A new beginner cannot pack over 25 to 40 boxes per day 
the first season and very few wish to bother to learn new 
hands unless they stay on the place as steady hands. 
Unless a person has worked in the North among market 
gardeners where the vegetables are [lacked and shipped to 
market he could not command more than a common laborer, 
but if he can pack the different kinds of vegetables in the 
standard southern crate he can command $1.50 per day. 
The vegetable packing season does not open up until about 
Christmas. Good intelligent labor is always in demand, 
and a man who can and will give his employer a good hon¬ 
est day’s work can usually find work, but one-half of our 
common labor try to see how little they can do, and put in 
full 10 hours per day. 
Good board can be procured at from $3.50 to $4 per week, 
which includes room. Most of the labor is hired by the 
day, and only actual time is paid for. There is very little 
lost time on account of rains during the Winter season. 
During the months of June, July. August and September 
we pay only one dollar per day for hoeing, pruning and mow¬ 
ing or general work around the grove. F. D. waite. 
Manatee Co., Fla._ 
INSURANCE AND LIGHTNING RODS. 
Are Well Rodded Houses Good Risks? 
Our statistics are not compiled in such a manner as 
would make any information that we might give on this 
point of value in deciding for or against lightning rods, 
in fact, we do not think the question of lightning rod’s 
enters very much into the consideration of the average risk 
by the insurance company. b. r. stillman. 
National Fire Ins. Co. 
As regards lightning rods giving better protection than 
houses not so protected, it is our opinion when the light¬ 
ning rods are properly kept in order and are so adjusted 
that the lightning will not enter the house from the' rods, 
we consider such houses a better risk. The trouble with 
lightning rods is that after they are first put up they are 
seldom looked after, and in a short time houses having such 
neglected rods are practically a worse risk than those with¬ 
out any. It is the writer’s opinion that if a lightning rod 
is attached to a flagpole higher than the house itself, or to 
a tall tree adjacent to the house, it is a better protection 
than if the lightning rod itself were on the house. We can¬ 
not give you any statistics of this company’s direct expert 
ence, for the reason we have never kept any, and. as stated 
above, this class of business is not large enough to nay 
us to keep such statistics. lyman candee. 
Glohe and Rutgers Fire Ins. Co. 
It is our opinion that a house, particularly in the coun¬ 
try, if properly protected by lightning rods, is less liable to 
damage from lightning than if not so protected. While it 
may he true that with lightning rods on a house the current 
will he more readily attracted, still it is carried off by the 
rods to the ground, with less likelihood of damage. There 
is a committee of the National Fire Protection Association 
now at work on this; subject, the Intention being to pre¬ 
pare rules and specifications for the proper installing of 
lightning rods. A man in the employ of this company is 
serving as chairman of the committee, and it is expected 
that the regulations, will be ready for publication at no 
distant date. From a tabulation of figures which has been 
especially prepared, the following was the result of losses 
caused by lightning:: 
Number of fires. Losses. • 
1898 . 3 479 
1899 . 2.760 
1900 . 3.440 
1902. 3,012 
$3,752,155 
3,913,525 
5,272.835 
3,759,980 
German American Ins. Co. 
C. Q. SMITH. 
PICKING APPLES.—The ladder should he light as pos¬ 
sible and strong enough to lie safe: a straight cedar pole 
5 inches through at butt sawed in two lengthwise and good 
hardwood rungs put In makes the best ladder and a one-half 
bushel basket with a piece of bagging fastened inside to pick 
in : you might liavp a wire hook on the handle. Some use a 
hag but it is apt to bruise the apples. The fruit is all picked 
at once. Some growers barrel as fast as picked, using a 
table to sort on In the orchard. Some put them on the 
ground In small piles and barrel after picking is over, while 
others put in crates as fast as picked and draw to barn or 
packing house to barrel in bad weather. A good many are 
drawn to the railroad station In crates and sold to be shipped 
in bulk, before freezing weather, thus saving the cost of 
barrels. No boxes are used here yet. The apples should not 
be bruised, and sorted into at least two qualities besides the 
smaller ones. As to picking, it is all in the man who does 
it; of course he needs a ladder long enough to reach the 
apples. It would be better to have a short one for the low 
kinds. a. c. b 
tona, N. Y. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The constantly growing popularity of the “Black and 
White” breed is not to be w'ondered at by anyone familiar 
with their performance. In an official test just completed 
one of the fine cows of this breed, owned by E. II. Knapp & 
Son, Fabius, N. Y., made a record of 25.17*pounds of butter 
in seven days. This firm announce that they offer for sale 
several fine animals of their famous herd. 
The “Wonder” is the name of a little gasoline engine 
made by the R. M. Cornell Co.. Syracuse. N. Y.. and it is 
proving worthy of the name. It is a wonder in points of 
simplicity and economy of operation. It is claimed that this 
engine, 1 y, h. p. size, will work for 10 hours at a cost of 
only about 12 cents, and the original cost of the engine is 
much less than other makes. This engine should command 
(he careful attention of anyone wanting power for farm work. 
Full particulars by addressing the above-named firm. 
OfR READERS are familiar with the Rickmore Gall Cure 
trademark, the horse at work in harness while being cured 
of sore shoulders. This is deserving of more than a passing 
thought. The Rickmore Gall Cure is a powerful remedy, 
perhaps the most efficient cure known for a number of the 
most common ailments that come to the horse The im¬ 
portant thing is that you do not lose the services of the 
horse while curing him. It is fold as a standard horse rem¬ 
edy by druggists everywhere. The manufacturer will mail 
a sample box for 10 cents to any one who wants to make.a 
test for himself. Address Rickmore Gall Cure Co., Old 
Town, Me. 
As the Fall approaches poultry keepers who have not 
acquired the green cut hone habit should determine to get in 
line. They are working at a disadvantage. So much has 
been written, all to the same purpose, that there can he 
but one opinion as to the advantages of its use. The onlv 
question open for discussion is the machine to reduce it with 
least trouble to right feeding form. This seems to be very 
well solved by the F. W Mann Co.. Rox 15, Milford. Mass', 
with their Latest Model Rone Cutter. There can be no ques¬ 
tion hut that an intending purchaser will be serving his 
best interests by writing the Mann Co. and learning all about 
their machine and terms before placing an order. 
