J 906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
573 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—July 4 fire in a factory building on New 
York’s East Side, near the Williamsburg Bridge, caused a 
loss of $50,000. A crowd of 20,000 persons gathered to 
watch it. July 3 the famous gambling bouses at 
French Lick and West Baden, Ind., owned by Tom Taggart, 
prominent politically, were raided under the personal direc¬ 
tion of Attorney General Miller. From French Lick there 
were taken nineteen slot machines, four roulette tables, the 
French Lick Bookmakers’ Club wheel, two poker tables, 
two klondike tables, one faro table, an outfit for making 
books on horseracing and bushels of chips, cards, dice, etc. 
At West Baden six roulette wheels, two wheels, two poker 
tables, one keno outfit, a bookmaking outfit and cards, 
dice, chips, etc., were taken. The paraphernalia will fill 
two freight cars. It is estimated that the gambling devices 
represented an outlay of $50,000. All will be burned. The 
State of Indiana has brought suit to vacate the charters of 
the hotels concerned in this public gambling. It is asserted 
that children, as well as adults, were allowed to gamble 
in the casinos . . . The three-masted schooner Ella 
G. Eel Is, of Rockport, Me., was wrecked July 4 on Libby 
Island, Machlas Bay, Me., and four of her crew drowned. 
Captain Breen, while clinging to wreckage, was thrown 
upon the rocks and rescued by lifesavers. Captain Breen 
had headed for the bay to get shelter from a heavy wind 
and rain storm. The schooner struck a submerged ledge, 
her hull was pierced and she at once began to break up. 
The captain and crew, fearing lo launch their boat in the 
terrible sea, went afloat on a large piece of the stern of 
the schooner. This was thrown against the rocks on shore, 
and all except the captain were sucked back by the under¬ 
tow and drowned. Captain Breen escaped only because, 
having been carried a little farther inshore than the others, 
he was able to grasp one of several ropes thrown out by 
lifesavers, by which he was drawn to safety.A 
warrant for John 1). Rockefeller has been put Into the 
hands of the Sheriff of Hancock County, Ohio. It is 
accompanied by a copy of the information and affidavit by 
Prosecutor David, charging Rockefeller with violation of 
the anti-trust laws in organizing and maintaining a mon¬ 
opoly of the oil business. . . . Henry Meldrum, former 
United States Surveyor General for the District of Oregon, 
was sentenced. July 5, to pay a line of $250 on each of 
25 counts and to serve 60 days’ imprisonment at hard 
labor on each of 18 counts in the Federal penitentiary at 
McNeil's Island. Washington, for conspiracy to defraud the 
United States Government In connection with land deals 
in that State. . . . The Lincoln Republican Club of 
New Hampshire, headed bv Professor James F. Colby, of 
Dartmouth College, and Bishop William W. Niles, of the 
Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, has asked 
Winston Churchill, of Cornish, the novelist, to become a 
candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination on 
the issue of reform in the party, and he has accepted. 
. . . Fifty-one lives lost, and 3,551 celebrators maimed 
or Injured, some of them fatally, is the record of this 
year's “glorious Fourth,” as compiled by correspondents 
of the Chicago Tribune, up to an early hour July 6. The 
loss of life almost equals that of last year, when fifty-nine 
persons were killed. All records for the number of injured 
were broken. Almost 1,000 move were In hospitals July 5, 
or swathed in bandages, than' on the day following the 
holiday last year. That the death list will continue to 
grow for several days is indicated by a large number of 
dispatches recording injuries believed to be fatal. The 
deadly toy pistol was responsible for a big percentage of 
the injuries, and for six of the dead. How many of the 
injured are Infected with the germ of tetanus cannot be 
estimated. . . . Ferdinand E. Borges was sentenced 
at Boston. July 5, to from 1 2 to 15 years in State’s prison, 
the first day in solitary confinement, for his connection 
with the Ubero Plantation Company swindles, whereby 
hundreds of “investors” were defrauded of money given 
to promote fictitious plantations of fruit and products in 
Ubero, Mexico. In passing sentence the Court adjudged 
Borges to be a common and notorious thief. . . . Suit 
was filed against the Waters-Pieree Oil Company at Little 
Rock July 7 by the State of Arkansas asking $2,000,000 
damages. Attorney-General Rogers and Prosecutor Attorney 
Rheton of Pulaski county brought the suit, which charges 
a conspiracy to control the output and prices of oil in 
Arkansas. Tin- petition also asks that the charter of the 
company to do business in the State be forfeited. The bill 
alleges that the Waters-Pieree Oil Company is associated 
with the Standard Oil Company, the Republic Oil Company 
and .others^ . . . The Chicago Federation of I.abor 
proposes to estaldish a union cemetery to operate in con¬ 
junction with the Union Burial Association, an institution 
that guarantees to bury members of labor organizations, 
or their families, in union made coffins bearing the label 
of the Amalgamated Wood Workers’ Association with a 
"decent funeral conducted by the members of the Cab and 
Carriage Drivers’ Union, and all for $50 for adults and 
$35 for children.” 
SANTO DOMINGO.—Ten American warships, with 800 
marines, are to patrol the Dominican coast. Eight hundred 
marines is as large a force as the navy has ever been 
called upon to assemble in Dominican waters. This pro¬ 
gramme was prepared by Secretary Root before his de¬ 
parture for South America. It is hoped that the establish¬ 
ment of this cordon of 10 ships around the island will be 
sufficient to prevent the importation by the revolutionists 
of arms and ammunition, and will so impress them with 
the determination of this Government, that the incipient 
revolution will be abandoned. It Is expected, however, that 
it may be necessary to land marines at one or more ports 
to protect the custom houses, and tills explains the send¬ 
ing of the large naval force to Dominican waters. 
ADMINISTRATION.—Elihu Root, Secretary of State, 
has sailed aboard the cruiser Charleston on an important 
mission to the South American republics. Ills first purpose 
is to attend the Pan-American Congress which meets at 
Rio Janeiro on July 21, but in reality his journey will have 
for Its object the establishment of more cordial relations 
between the United States and the countries to the south 
of us on this hemisphere. Although not a delegate to the 
Pan-American Congress, it is expected that Mr. Root will 
lie received in Brazil with signal honors. lie is greatly 
Interested in the work of the conference and the Admin¬ 
istration at Washington expects good results from it. 
Twenty nations will be represented at it. Presi¬ 
dent Roosevelt appointed E. E. Clark of Cedar Rapids, la., 
July 7. a member of the Inter-State Commerce Commis¬ 
sion. Tlie new appointee fills one of the two new commis- 
slonershlps provided for by the railroad rate law passed by 
Congress at the close of last session. There is yet one 
more man to be named. The new member of the Commerce 
Commission is Grand Chief of the Order of Railway Con¬ 
ductors. He was a memlier of the Anthracite Coal Strike 
Commission. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—About fifty tobacco dealers from 
Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Texas, and the Carolinas, assem¬ 
bled at the New Grand Hotel, New York. July 6, for the 
sixth annual convention of the Tobacco Association of the 
United States. The following officers were all renominated 
and elected: President, T. M. Carrington .Richmond, Va.: 
first vice-president, W. D. Collins. Louisville. Ivy. ; second 
vice-president, W. L. Petty, Rocky Mount, N. C.; third 
vice-president. C. II. Bohmer, Lexington, Ky. President 
Carrington, In his annual address, gave some statistics of 
tobacco production. In 1905 Kentucky, Ohio and West 
Virginia produced 200.000.000 pounds burlev • Kentucky 
and Tennessee about 130.000.000 pounds dark shipping: 
Kentucky alone 20.000,000 pounds prior type; Virginia 
alone 52,000,000 pounds dark shipping: Virginia 12,000.000 
pounds dark manufacturing: Virginia 65,000,000 pounds 
bright manufacturing: North Carolina about 110,000,000 
pounds bright: South Carolina alone 15,000,000 pounds 
bright. The reports indicated, he said, that the hurley 
crop this year would be about the same as last year, insur¬ 
ing a good but needed supply. The prospect was that the 
shipping In Kentucky would be as large as last year, and 
little change in prices was to be expected. The condition 
on the bright tobacco situation of the 1906 crops was 
strong, he added, and prices may rule high for independent 
dealers. The manufacture of tobacco in the United States, 
smoking and chewing, has increased from 135,000,000 
pounds in 1887 to 335,000,000 pounds in 1905. 
Dr. II. W. Wiley, chief of the Bureau of Chemistry of 
the Department of Agriculture, attended the annual conven¬ 
tion of the National Dairy and Food Commissioners, con¬ 
vened at Hartford, Conn., on July 17. He delivered an 
address explaining the new pure foocj and meat inspection 
laws. __ 
HANDLING THE WHEAT CROP. 
Stacking, Housing, Thrashing Front Field. 
I never stacked any grain in my life, having always had 
sufficient barn room for that purpose. When obliged to 
stack at all I stack hay. In my judgment grain would 
better be stacked for a period of at least 30 days, rather 
than be thrashed immediately after harvesting. Otherwise 
you run a great risk of the grain spoiling for you. 
Pennsylvania. John good. 
Grain produced in this section Is mainly housed. From 
small farms it is thrashed from the field after hauling to 
barns where the straw is preserved. If stored, grain should 
remain before thrashing until it has passed through a 
period of heating in bulk, as it will always do when stored 
in quantity. Much of the grain is left to ripen on the stem, 
harvested and stored without shocking, if the weather 
permits. Stacking is a lost art, and it would be difficult 
to secure persons who understand building stacks. 
Pennsylvania. w. H. stout. 
I have never stacked any of ray own grain, but have 
seen others stack. All claim the grain should be very dry 
before stacking. If stacked should be left about three weeks 
before thrashing to dry out after sweating. I have helped 
thrash a number of stacks, and have always seen quite 
a loss, sometimes in wet weather quite serious. Were I 
obliged to stack I should buy a canvas stack cover; should 
thrash direct from field every time were It possible to 
obtain a separator. I have thrashed direct from field 
several times and if grain is well ripened would have no 
trouble in storing grain in the usual way, and if straw 
is dry, I think, would thrash full as clean as at any other 
time, besides saving loss from vermin and weather. 
Cazenovia, N. Y. f. e. b. 
If I did not have barns to store grain, I should stack 
it. If thoroughly dry and ripe, and could get a separator, 
I should thrash it at once, and sell the gram immediately : 
but if I wished to store the grain, I should not thrash It 
until the grain has time to sweat and dry out, say from 
four to six weeks. I have thrashed my grain from the 
field and considered it a good way if one can get the help 
and dispose of the grain at once. Grain will keep very 
well if properly stacked. I shape my stack like an egg, 
<and put from eight to 10 loads In a stack. Care should 
be taken to have the butts the lowest all the way through 
the stack, and when I have the stack nearly complete I 
drive a slender but stout stake about eight feet long to 
about half its length, and bind my cap sheafs securely to 
the top. Four stacks can be built in one group; there 
should be a space of about 12 feet between to stand for 
the separator. h. f. ciiapin. 
New York. 
I have handled a great deal of grain, and my experience 
has taught me to thrash right from the field if I can get 
help and a thrasher just at the right time, even if I have 
to hire an extra team to haul. This way is the cheapest 
by all means, as you are completely through when done. 
However, I don’t do this way generally. because 
I cannot get help enough. There Is nothing in 
mowing grain to let it sweat, for I never have had any 
spoil even where we have had 500 bushels in one bin, 
when it was nice and diV.v in the shock. I have either to 
stack right close to the.Jbarn or mow just inside; when I 
stack, I cover my stack with a canvas cover either in 
one piece or use my hay covers sewed together to make 
sure that it doesn’t get wet. I prefer to put in barn if 
I have room. Grain should be thrashed as soon as dry 
If possible, for if It remains in the shock too long it will 
wonderfully retard, if not kill, the new seeding, and you 
see, if all the shocks in a 10-acre field were put side by side 
it would cover a big lot of ground. Thrash from the field 
is my advice, and the sooner after the grain Is cut, pro¬ 
vided it is dry, the better. sam abthurs. 
Pennsylvania. 
I like the round stack better than any I have ever seen. 
Lay a few rails or boards on the ground about 12 or 14 
feet square, and build the stack as large as you can on 
that, putting in five to eight good-sized loads. Be sure 
not to draw in too fast, so as to leave too much of the butt 
to the weather. I might stack wheat If I did not have 
enough to pay to get a machine in before oats, but I have 
seen more grain spoiled in stacks* than in the bin. I would 
not advise stacking oats if one can get a machine when 
the grain has thoroughly cured in the shock. A little 
care in placing the caps will keep the grain two or three 
weeks in quite rainy weather. I would advise getting a 
machine and thrashing from the field in place of stacking 
the grain, unless one has a large acreage; then it would 
he advisable to draw and stack the day before the machine 
comes; this saves teams at thrashing time. I would not 
advise thrashing in the field If grain can be hauled to the 
barn, as the grain scattered will be picked up by the 
chickens; these things to l>e decided by person thrashing, 
if expense of hauling would be greater than the saving 
of grain and having straw near the stable for bedding. 
When the grain gets through sweating in the shock get 
the machine and thrash when grain is dry and it will 
not spoil In the bin. w. I. H. 
Conneautville, Pa._ 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
The prospects for a large crop of apples In this country 
is good; the quality is the finest I ever saw at this time 
of year. c - R * H * 
Flora, Ill. 
After observation and some inquiry ray opinion Is that 
if nothing happens to it, there will be about one-quarter 
to one-third of a full apple crop: nearer the one-quarter 
than the one-third. The quality promises to be much im¬ 
proved, and consequently there will be a larger per cent 
of No. 1 stock than usual. H. c. e. 
Clay City, Ill. 
Strawberries about one-quarter crop: dry weather cut 
the crop short. Raspberries good but not many raised 
here: cherries fine crop: blackberries promise a large crop. 
Peaches damaged some by dry weather; still we will have 
the largest crop ever raised in northern Ilott County. 
Apples promise the largest crop ever raised: at this' place 
there are over 300 acres of commercial orchard. From 
present prospects thev will produce 40,000 barrels of apples; 
Jonathan. Winesap. and Ben Davis are the leaders: major¬ 
ity of orchards sprayed. i>. B. c. 
Mound City, Mo. 
The outlook for apples in Maine is very good this year. 
All kinds except Baldwins blossomed very full generally and 
have set freely. The latter blossomed and set well In some 
sections, whiie in others, (and especially in this) the 
opposite is true. There will be a large crop of pears. 
Small fruits promise well, except strawberries. In some 
cases these were injured by the white grub last Summer, 
and what were left were badly winter-killed. We are 
having the worst Spring for planting that has been known 
for a long time. Rainstorms, and heavy ones too, have 
rapidly followed each other, accompanied by low temper¬ 
ature. Many farmers have not planted any corn and 
potato planting on low ground has been cut short. But 
“it is an ill wind that blows no one any good.”—the grass 
crop bids fair to be a very heavy one. w. o. breed. 
Cumberland Co., Me. 
It now begins to show that the apple crop in tills county 
will be no more than, if as much, as 50 per cent of last 
year’s yield. There is a fair yield of Summer and Fall 
varieties and of Greenings and Kings, but the great bulk 
of trees are Baldwins, and they as a rule are very shy 
of apples. There is notv and then an orchard with a fair 
crop, not loaded however, but many and many an orchard 
in which no Baldwins are found and, even in the best, 
many trees have no apples. But the apple trees were never 
healthier or freer from insects or disease. I have not seen 
a wormy apple this year and there are no aphis or cater- 
pillers of any description. Why, the trees look just as 
though they “had beeu to supper” and the apples are good 
sized and as clean and fresh as a baby’s cheek. There has 
never been more spraying done than this year, but I cannot 
see a shade of difference between sprayed and unsprayed 
orchards. From present appearances the crop of apples 
this Fall will be of the best quality though short 50 per 
cent. j. s. WOODWARD. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
June 19 one of our truck farmers, Daniel Dill, shipped 
the first green corn from this station. On June 22 a few 
more farmers shipped 172 bags, containing 150 to 200 ears 
each, which sold in New York City, wholesale, at from 
$2.50 to $2 per 100. On June 26 shipping commenced gen¬ 
erally and on July 2, seven carloads were pulled out from 
this station selling in New York at from $1.25 to $1.50 
per 100. At Delanco, two miles below us, and at Burling¬ 
ton above, as much more was shipped. As fast as the 
ears show a fairly full grain the corn will be pushed into 
New York and Philadelphia markets, till the full large¬ 
eared sweet corn from the farmers along the Hackensack 
River, northern part of this State, is fit to be gathered, 
when our small-eared early corn will have to give way. 
Our crop of corn is late this year, owing to the heavy 
frosts the first 10 days of May, which held it back. Early 
tomatoes also suffered from frost, they being at the time 
transplanted to the fields in blossom, yet, while they could 
make no growth still they lived through It, some of our 
farmers making brush fires at night and covering the low 
places with smoke to shelter the plants from the frost. 
From the fields a few tomatoes fit to ship were gathered 
(June 30). The fields are now looking in splendid condi¬ 
tion, and the fruit Is coloring nicely—July 3 a fair ship¬ 
ment was made and by July 7 our farmers were taxed to 
their utmost to get corn and tomatoes out of the fields 
whiie they were fit to ship and keep their other work going. 
The cherry crop was a success; never was there a greater 
crop, and the prices, three to 4% cents per pound, very 
satisfactory to the farmer. a. f. 
Beverly, N. J. _ 
“APPROVED" MAIL BOXES. 
On page 502 I notice “Carrier’s Side of Rural Mail 
Delivery,” by T. L. Thomas. Mr. Thomas tells some truth 
In his defense of the Government’s action, but it seems 
in reading ids letter that Uncle Sam has different ways 
In different States. For instance, he says all mail boxes 
have keys. Here in Michigan very few have keys. All 
patrons on rural routes here received notice some time ago 
to provide themselves with approved boxes, and notwith¬ 
standing there were lots of good boxes in use, painted and 
kept in good repair, more convenient than the approved 
boxes and admitted to be so by the carrier, yet in spite 
of all this, and protests from patrons to the Postmaster- 
General, we were notified that our mail would be held at 
the postoffleq until we paid our dollar to enrich, it seems 
to us, some mail box manufacturer. Lots of the approved 
boxes here in use, have to have stones, drag teeth, pieces 
of iron, etc., on the cover to hold them down In case of 
a hard wind, which never bothered our old boxes. We do 
not wish to criticise the actions of the powers that be 
unjustly, but In this case we cannot see one reason for the 
mandate that was sent forth from the Postmaster General. 
Of course where boxes are out of condition a patron should 
be made to provide a safe box for his mail, if he has 
not pride enough to do it without. We held several com¬ 
munications with the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General 
in regard to the matter, but all the satisfaction we could 
get was that our box was not an approved one, and so 
we have had to stick up a piece of galvanized Iron, made 
in Ohio. j. f. b. 
Caro, Mich. ____________ 
« 
DANGER IN TOO MUCH SPRAYING. 
A reader In Orleans County. N. Y., recently sent us a 
clipping from a local paper in which it is stated that 
fungus disease is due to too much spraying. “Why,” he 
says, “do these scientific men first find fault because we 
do not spray, and then tell us that we spray too much?” 
The writer has not placed as much reliance upon these 
newspaper reports as before he was the subject of one of 
them. lie was pictured milking a cow with one suspender, 
a corncob pipe and a beard two feet long. So we sent to 
the Geneva Station for full particulars. Prof. Hedrick 
gives the facts : 
“About two weeks ago the writer was called to Albion 
by the Secretary of the Orleans County Fruit Growers’ 
Association to investigate a supposed outbreak of Apple 
scab. About a< dozen orchards were visited, and in all at 
least 25 apple growers accompanied the expedition. Scarcely 
a trace of Apple scab was found, but Instead, in several 
of the orchards, the fruit was badly injured by improper 
spraying. The apple growers had used too much blue 
vitriol in their Bordeaux Mixture, or had sprayed too often, 
causing the spray injury we have heard so much about 
the past few years. I think that every man who accom¬ 
panied the party expressed himself as being convinced of 
the real cause of the trouble. This Station has ever been, 
and still Is, the champion of spraying. It finds now, how¬ 
ever, that it is necessary to teach moderation and the 
proper preparation in the use of spraying mixtures, rather 
than the necessity of using them. In so doing we are 
often accused of having ceased to advocate spraying. This 
Is absurd, as you well know.” o. p. HEDRICK. 
That ought to be clear enough to satisfy any reasonable 
man. We had a case once where one man advised another 
to use a mixture of three parts sweet oil and one of 
carbolic acid to heal a sore. It did the work. The man 
thought he could do better, and used pure carbolic acid— 
making a horrible burn. He found fault with the first 
man, who advised the safe mixture of acid and oil! 
BUSINESS BITS. 
In all farm hauling, a lowdown handy wagon is a wonder¬ 
ful saver of labor. Anyone can see the advantage in saving 
12 inches in the lift every time anything is loaded on. The 
Electric Wheel C’ompany manufactures and sends these 
wagons in all directions from Quincy, III. Catalogue and 
full particulars may be had by writing direct to the Com¬ 
pany at that address. 
Among the big hay press manufacturers Is the Sandwich 
Manufacturing Co., of Sandwich, Ill. They are not only 
big but they are of known responsibility, putting out a line 
of machines that are perhaps as well known and as highly 
prized as any on the market. They manufacture some 40 
styles and sizes, including horse r.nd belt power presses, 
wood and steel construction. We believe that no one should 
buy a hay press without Including the Sandwich line in 
his Investigations. A catalogue giving all particulars may 
be had by writing for It. 
As far back as the year 1816 the farmers of Wayne Co., 
New York, recognized the great possibilities In the growing 
of peppermint as a special crop and this cultivation was 
greatly extended In the neighboring counties until it finally 
extended as far west as Ashtabula. Geauga and Cuyahoga 
counties. Ohio. The extent of this peppermint industry can 
be readily understood when it is known that one Philadel¬ 
phia corporation alone spent $36,000 for peppermint suf¬ 
ficient to flavor the 1,800 tons of Chiclets produced by 
them in 1905. 
Nearly every farmer has heard of the famous Buckeye 
drills manufactured by P. P. Mast & Company, Springfield, 
Ohio. This company manufactures a full line of disk drills, 
hoe drills and cultivators. They also make a combined 
grain and fertilizer drill that is a marvel : it has the only 
non-corrosive fertilizer feeding device that works satis¬ 
factorily, and the fact that the fertilizer feeding mechanism 
is made of glass accounts for its being the only fertilizer 
drill that does not and cannot corrode from the acids in 
commercial fertilizers. Their catalogue will interest any 
buyer of farm machinery. 
