THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
62 T 
190 $. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—At Newark, N. J., July 25, three men were 
killed and six injured by the explosion of two tanks of 
naphtha in a leather factory, proj>erty loss $30,000. 
Several fruit-packing houses and other buildings, covering 
four blocks, were burned at Suisuu, Cal., July 25, causing 
a loss of $200,000. . . . The will of Russell Sage, riled 
for probate in the Surrogate’s office July 27, provides that 
each of Mr. Sage’s blood relatives shall receive $25,000, 
unless they contest the will, in which case the bequest to 
tiie contestant shall be forfeited. There are 20 of these 
$25,000 shares to be distributed. The residue of the 
estate, believed to be more than $75,000,000, is left ab¬ 
solutely and unconditionally to Mr. Sage's widow, Mrs. 
Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, and Mrs. Sage, it was made 
known, has planned to give it away in benevolences. Not¬ 
withstanding the announcement that Mrs. Sage intends to 
give away the Sage millions, there will be a contest over 
the will. One of the nephews will be selected to make 
tiie right, although in doing so lie stands the chance of 
forfeiting his share. 'Hie other relatives will reimburse him 
if the contest fails. If he wins and breaks the will, every 
one of the nephews and nieces will probably receive 
$2,000,000, for tiie estate is increasing at the rate of a 
million a year. . . . Two bombs loaded with some sort 
of explosive were dropped from a Third Avenue elevated 
train July 27 into a gathering of some 300 members of tiie 
I.oeal Union 4S0 of the United Association of Plumbers. 
At least 20 of the men were knocked down. Six were so 
badly cut and bruised that they had to be taken to Bellevue 
Hospital for treatment. The plumbe were waiting for a 
meeting of their union to begin. At this meeting some for¬ 
mer members of Local No. 2 of the United Association of 
Plumbers were to be initiated. The unions are rivals. No. 
2 has been on a strike against tiie Master Plumbers’ Asso¬ 
ciation. and lias just begun to realize that it Is defeated. 
The business agents of No. 480 refused to order its members 
on strike in sympathy with No. 2. and it has been asserted 
since by the men of No. 2 that members of No. 480 were 
rilling the places of strikers. . . . Coincident with the 
arrival home from Europe of John D. Rockefeller, the 
Standard Oil Company reduced tiie price it pays to pro¬ 
ducers for crude oil. The reduction amounts to three cents 
in tiie price of eastern and two cents in western oils. The 
reduction Is* not 011 account of any great increase in pro¬ 
duction, and operators are at a loss to rind a reason for 
the change in quotations. This is the first change in 
Standard Oil quotations on crude since April. On January 
1 Pennsylvania oil was quoted at 451.58. In April it was 
raised to $1.(51 and then to $1.(54, at which price It had 
since continued. . . . The Aiken liquor law, passed by 
the last Legislature, has knocked out 2,978 saloons in 
Ohio. Reports just in show that there were 12,934 saloons 
In the State in 1905, and that there are now 9,95(5. The 
Aiken law increased the tax from $350 to $1,000. It was 
expected that the decrease would be from 30 to 33 per 
cent, but tlie figures show that the decrease has been 
approximately 23 per cent. The revenue from the first half 
year was nearly $100,000 more than for the whole of last 
year. Tiie total collection for the first six months was 
$4,637,203. . . . A. C. Iluidekoper and E. II. Iluide- 
koper of Meadvllle, Pa., and F. G. Clark of North Dakota, 
were sentenced July 28 by Judge Amidon in the United 
States Court at Fargo, N. D., for fencing Government land 
in connection with the Little Missouri Ilorse Company’s 
ranch in the western part of the State. The Iluidekopers 
were sentenced to pay fines of $1,000 each and Clark was 
lined $800. All are to serve 24 hours in the county jail. 
. . . The Pacific Express of the New York Central and 
Hudson River Railroad ran into a landslide at Chelsea, 11 
miles south of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., July 29, and the engine 
and several cars left the tracks. Engineer William Wells, 
was injured seriously. Fireman Frank Werner and the 
baggageman were killed and 50 passengers were injured. 
. . . . During violent storms throughout New Jersey 
July 29, eight persons were drowned by the capsizing of 
a yacht off Anglesea, three were drowned from a rowboat 
in Lake Ilopatcong, and one was killed by lightning at 
Newark. . . . Montgomery Bros. & Co.’ planing mill 
and box factory at Buffalo, N. Y., was destroyed by Are 
July 30; loss $170,000. The Cyphers Incubator Company, 
in the same building, suffered a loss of $15,000. 
An explosion that occurred July 31 in the collodion de¬ 
partment of the plant of Charles Cooper & Co., manufact¬ 
urers of chemicals, at Van Buren and South streets, 
Newark, N. J., killed four men outright and injured another 
so badly that he cannot recover. 
SAN FRANCISCO.—What Is called the Lumber Trust on 
the coast has again put up the price of the now precious 
building material until it is double what It was a year ago, 
or $27 a thousand feet to the builder. The Southern Pacific 
Railroad has raised rates on building material. The 
sailors, electrical workers, and plumbers are on strike for 
higher wages and shorter hours, and other unions are pre¬ 
paring to follow suit and strike while the rebuilders are 
down. Mayor Schmitz is having difficulty in getting citizens 
who have anything like a clean record to accept posts on 
the new police commission. Every day opens some petty 
scandal concerning the distribution of relief, one of the 
latest involving the mysterious disappearance of nine dray¬ 
loads of whiskey, which formed a part of the relief sup¬ 
plies. Property owners, who lost fortunes in the fire, find 
it Impossible to collect their insurance. Some companies 
are paying their losses at the rate of two a week. Proofs 
of fire loss are mounting into an enormous total. At first 
it was thought that $100,000,000 or $150,000,000 would pay 
these fire damages, but it is now said that the proofs of 
loss presented aggregate more than $300,000,000. Only the 
minor claims of less than $1,000 have been settled in any 
number. Adjustments of the larger claims are dragging 
along interminably. Several combinations of policyholders 
have been made to fight the companies and this Winter the 
State and county courts will lie choked with lawsuits. 
With a very few exceptons, among them more foreign than 
American companies, no claim, no matter how honest and 
indisputable, is being paid without bickering. There has. 
been only one business failure in San Francisco since the 
fire, that of the Hilbert Mercantile Company, the whiskey 
concern that forced saloonkeepers to patronize it by using 
the name of Abe Ituef. the boss, as counsel for the concern. 
This firm not onlv succeeded in getting saloonkeepers to 
purchase all the whiskey thev needed, but coerced them into 
over-stocking. The dives bought hundreds of barrels of 
whiskey at prices ruinously high. They did this to 
guarantee protection against police interference. 'They 
signed notes for the whiskey, and paid in monthly instal¬ 
ments. Ex-Police Commissioner Regan, in his charges after 
removal, said that tiie administration got $50 a barrel 
rakeoff. The Western National Bank advanced money to 
the Hilbert concern on the notes. When the fire came the 
bank had $85,000 worth of them, none of which can now 
be collected. The saloon keepers were burned out and 
hundreds of them ruined. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Pacific Coast Association 
of Nurserymen will meet in Salem, Ore., the first week in 
July, 1907. The following officers were elected: President. 
F. W. Powers, Chico, Cal., vice-presidents, W. D. Ingalls, 
North Yakima, Wash. ; C. A. Howard, Riverside, Cal.; 
C. F. Lansing, Oregon; W. .T. Henry, Vancouver. B. C.. 
C. P. Hardwell, Caldwell, Idaho; P. A. Dix, Salt Lake 
City, Utah. Secretary-treasurer, P. A. Tonneson, Tacoma. 
Committee on settlement of difficultes : S. A. Miller, Milton, 
Ore.; W. D. Ingalls, North Yakima. Wash.; II. A. Lewis, 
Portland, Ore. 
The semi-annual meeting of the National Pickle Packers’ 
Manufacturers’ Association was held at the Palmer House 
in Chicago recently. It was figured that there were at 
present enough pickles in storage to furnish every person 
in the United States with a dozen a day for more than a 
month. The new pure food law was endorsed. William 
Ballinger, of Keokuk, was elected president, and Frank A. 
Brown, of Chicago, secretary-treasurer. 
American fruit growers are invited to participate in the 
Dominion fruit exhibit, which is to be held at Halifax this 
coming Autumn. It is said that the exhibits must arrive 
at Halifax before September 28. Tiie superintendent of the 
agricultural department of the exhibition is G. Bigelow, 
Wolfville, Nova Scotia. 
NEW YORK ENT0M0L0GIC SERVICE. 
Army worms have been received in small numbers in 
association with many variegated cutworms, and there is a 
possibility that limited outbreaks of this destructive grass 
pest may be brought to notice later. It should be remembered 
that nothing but the most active energetic measures will 
stop army-worm Injuries if the caterpillars appear in num¬ 
bers. Gipsy and Brown-tail moths.—There is no undoubted 
evidence of either of these species occurring in New York 
State up to the present time, despite newspaper reports to 
the contrary. Some correspondents have confused the na¬ 
tive white-marked tussock-moth caterpillar with one or the 
other of these destructive pests. Hickory tussock cater¬ 
pillars are becoming rather abundant on woodland trees, 
and occasionally appearing in small numbers on orchard 
trees. lted-humped apple caterpillars are becoming some¬ 
what abundant on orchard trees. These are yellowish and 
white, black-lined caterpillars about an inch long, easily 
recognized by the conspicuous black-spined hump just behind 
the head. Spiny Elm caterpillars are large, dark colored, 
black-spined caterpillars with a row of dark orange spots 
down tiie middle of the back. These are becoming some¬ 
what abundant on elm, in particular. These three leaf 
feeders affecting our trees, are readily controlled by timely 
applications of arsenical poisons or, where they occur In 
clusters, the infested branches may be removed and the 
;*ests destroyed. Variegated cutworms are unusually abun¬ 
dant and destructive to various crops in Albany County. 
These pests are best controlled by strewing in the vicinity 
of Infested plants poisoned baits, such as fresh clover or 
lettuce dipped in strong Paris-green water, or dry bran 
mixed with enough Paris-green to give' it a distinct color. 
Digging out and killing is perhaps the most effectve method 
on small areas. e. P. felt. 
State Entomologist. 
RAILROAD LAWS WANTED IN MICHIGAN 
The principal object of the Michigan Farm Product 
Shippers’ Asociation is, to secure a reciprocal demurrage 
law from the next Legislature, a law which will compel 
the railroads of this State to pay to the shippers a reason¬ 
able amount for neglect or failure on their part to furnish 
a shipper with cars on their respective lines, after a rea¬ 
sonable notice had been served upon them to furnish cars 
for shipping for terminal points on their respective lines. 
’Hie State of Michigan is so situated and controlled by 
four railroad systems, that during the most busy and im¬ 
portant season of the year, it is used by those systems as 
a bridge to transport the farm products of tiie Northwest 
to the East, and in turn, bring back the manufactured 
products of the East to the Northwest, which keeps the 
cars that belong to the railroad systems of this State out 
of the State when they are tiie most needed by the shippers 
of this State, and makes it necessary for the Michigan 
shippers to store and hold the farm products of this State 
until the through business is over. It does not permit the 
Michigan shippers to pay as good prices to the farmers as 
they would be able to pay if tills condition did not exist, 
as it takes a lot of money with which to carry farm 
products until cars are secured, neither does it enable 
them to take advantage of what are usually the best mar¬ 
kets of the season. They further hope to be able to have 
a railroad commission appointed similar to the one that 
was appointed in Wisconsin, to investigate why in some 
portions of the State, where the mileage is not any greater 
nor haul any longer, the rates should be so much higher 
than from other points. Under the present existing con¬ 
ditions in this State, the farm products of the Northwest 
can be brough across the State of Wisconsin and the waters 
of Lake Michigan and delivered to almost any portion of 
the Lower Peninsula of the State of Michigan at a lower 
rate than Michigan farm products can be delivered to the 
metropolis of its own State. w. J. orr. 
Vice-President Mich. Farm Froduct Shippers’ Asso. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
The weather conditions have been freakish, and the 
farmers are having a hard time to get their hay, but from 
all reports the crop is going to be of full average size or 
even a little better. The apple crop does not promise to be 
so large as last year : I doubt if it will exceed 75 per cent. 
The hoed crops are short, as the weather conditions were 
so unfavorable that it was well nigh impossible to plant 
the usual amount of crops. Our Summer meeting of the 
Maine Pomological Society will be at Orono August 21, 
and I am looking forward to a very pleasant and profitable 
session. d. h. knowltox. 
Franklin Co., Me. 
July 30 I took a trip from Rochester to Geneva and 
return via trolley and perhaps you may be interested in 
what I saw from the car window. Some wheat still in 
the fields, quite a little grass uncut and much of it In the 
fields. Oats generally very heavy, badly lodged in some 
fields, in others not so good. A few fields of barley still 
uncut, but overripe. Corn very spotted. Cabbage fine in 
some fields, but as a rule spotted, weedy and poor; much 
of it small. A few sugar beets, and while I know little 
about them, I should say they looked excellent. Potatoes 
are far from a good crop. Many fields are in bloom, but 
the ground is hardly half covered. I am sure blight is 
already at work in some fields, judging from the odor and 
looks both. Quite a good many fields of beans, but as a 
rule, they seem to me suffering from too much wet weather. 
They look too small for the season, are very grassy, and 
altogether are unpromising. Taking the outlook as a whole 
I do not think farmers have any gold mine in sight this 
year. c. 1. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
In regard to fruit prospects in this immediate section, 
owing to the severe hailstorm which visited us in June we 
shall have but a small crop of fruit of any kind, less than 
25 per cent, and a total loss for plums: apples and pears 
some less than 25 per cent. My work is taking me about 
western New York a great deal this Summer, and I should 
estimate the crop of this part of the State, after talking 
with many apple growers, at about 50 per cent of a full 
crop—a shade less if anything. At the Graduate School 
in Urbana, Ill., there were representatives from all the 
great apple-growing States. In a general discussion of the 
apple crop for this season, the consensus of opinion seemed 
to be that with the country at large is would not be much 
greater than last year. 'Hie reports that we bear in this 
State of large crops in Missouri, Arkansas and the South¬ 
west, seem to lie exaggerated. u. p. iiedrick. 
Geneva, N. Y. 
The Grape Belt of Dunkirk. N. Y„ makes the following 
forecast of the grape crop : “On old bearing vines, well 
cultivated and free from grass and weeds, the outlook Is 
for a fairly good crop. There is absolutely no mildew, only 
on a few ‘vines any evidence of root worm trouble, and a 
normal setting of fruit. Old vineyards are apparently aver¬ 
aging better than new ones bearing their first or second 
crops. Tiie theory of this difference is that the dry weather 
of May and June was more injurious to the young, and 
comparatively shallow-rooted vines. It is simply impossible 
for an observer exactly to predict the size of tiie crop, for 
tiie reason that no human skill can foretell tiie weather 
conditions. An August drought will hurt, and a freeze 
earlier than October 25 will hit some grapes unharvested. 
We make no comment on varieties, except that Worden 
grapes are fully as promising as Concord. It is neither 
wise nor profitable to overestimate the prospect. The claim 
made in a recent number of the “Lawton (Michigan) Lead¬ 
er” that the Michigan grape yield will be double that of 
1905, is, on the face of it, to be severely discounted. Our 
conclusion is this, as to tiie Chautauqua crop, well cultivated 
yards will have a crop equal to that of last year. Some 
neglected vineyards will not have over half a crop. The 
clusters on some young vines are unusually small and im¬ 
perfect. Older vines have a better show of fruit, but there 
is no prospect on any record crop.” 
OUTLOOK FOR THE HAY CROP. 
The hay crop in Michigan is practically all secured, and 
we have had exceptionally good weather for the harvesting, 
so that the quality ought to be excellent. We think the 
average quality will be much better than it was last year, 
alhough we do not think there will be as large a crop as we 
had at that time. feurin brothers co. 
Detroit, Mich. 
The crop in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan we 
believe will be short, but in other sections of the United 
States. New York especially, the crop will lie pretty good, 
and from all indications about an 80 per cent crop will be 
harvested. ’The proportion of better grades will be much 
greater this year than last, but it is very difficult to foretell 
what prices will rule, at this time. no sen berry & co. 
New York. 
According to reports which we have received from cor¬ 
respondents in many sections of the country, we believe tiie 
bay crop of this year, while not a particularly heavy one, 
will be an average quantity, and will be of excellent qual¬ 
ity. This, generally speaking, is the condition as we find 
it._ after going over the subject witli many different loaders*. 
We are inclined to think new hay will probably sell at 
from $2, $3 and $4 per ton under present prices. 
Newark, N. J. ■ j. c. smith & Wallace co. 
According to information we are receiving both through 
our solicitors and correspondence, we judge Timothy hay 
to be about 65 per cent, of an average crop. In some sec¬ 
tions crop will be an average, but in other sections it will 
be less than one-half a crop. Wisconsin will have pretty 
close to an average crop, Iowa and Minnesota about three- 
quarters, Illinois and Indiana not to exceed one-half a 
crop, although some sections in Illinois and Indiana have 
some very nice hay. Crop through Missouri is almost a 
failure, while Nebraska, Kansas and Indian Territory and 
Arkansas have about 80 per cent of an average crop. 
Chicago, Ill. T. D. RANDALL & CO. 
From reports which we have so far from our State we 
shall have ths year a very good crop in regard to quality, 
because we have had the most favorable crop weather, but 
the quantity will not be as large, owing to a late cold 
Spring. Farmers are busy harvesting now, and conse¬ 
quently receipts are none. Iowa, we are informed, has a 
large crop, and also of line quality and well cured. From 
Minnesota we have no reliable reports so far. We are re¬ 
ceivers, dealers and shippers of hay. having had a large 
shipping trade last year, and expect to increase it this 
season. Robert krull. 
Milwaukee, Wis. _ 
WINTER COURSES AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY.—In 
order to enable the students who complete the Winter 
courses at Cornell University to accept positions, or to 
start operations on their own farms three or four weeks 
earlier in the Spring than they have usually been able to 
do, the date of opening all of the Winter courses has been 
changed to December 6, jnstead of the first week in Janu¬ 
ary. These courses include the course in Poultry Hus¬ 
bandry, Horticulture, General Agriculture, Dairy Industry, 
and Home Economics. This change has been made at some 
extra expense for conducting tiie course, but will be very 
much more advantageous to the students who complete the 
courses, owing to the fact that they will be enabled to 
begin operations four weeks earlier in the Spring than 
heretofore. Announcements describing the courses will 
so.on be ready for ail who apply. Tuition is free to all 
residents of the State, old and young of both sexes. In 
addition to the free tuition, the boys and girls of the sub¬ 
ordinate Granges of the State should not forget the $50 
cash Grange scholarships. 
SEED POTATOES WANTED.—Can you give me the ad¬ 
dress of a good reliable farmer in Michigan who raises 
the Early Ohio potato? Our farmers have been raising 
this variety for the past 25 years, and have selected their 
own seed, and they have developed large yields until this 
year, when something seems to have struck the seed, for 
one farmer whom I know, who has been in the habit of 
getting about 300 bushels per acre, will not get more than 
50 this year. Our potatoes have been grown for the Ha¬ 
vana market, and the Early Ohio potato is the onlv variety 
that is sufficiently matured to stand shipment from New 
York to Havana at this time of year when we are now 
digging. The best piece here was raised from seed that 
came from Michigan five or six years ago, and it looks as 
though we would be obliged to change our seed, and we 
want to be sure to get the right kind, as there seems to 
be a white and red variety. Ours is the red. The Ohio 
potato grows best on low wet ground, and we have always 
got better results from our own seed until this year. I 
presume our farmers will want to buy about 1,000 barrels 
for next season. c. l. y. 
Long Island. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The Whitman line of hay presses are so well and favor¬ 
ably known as hardly to need comment in this column. 
They were awarded the grand prize on belt and horse 
presses at the St. Louis World’s Fair, but their best recom¬ 
mendation is tiie satisfaction they are giving the hay 
growers who are using them. For catalogue and full in¬ 
formation write to Whitman Agricultural Co., St. Louis, Mo. 
There are all kinds of cheap and poorly constructed 
fences offered for sale, and the prospective purchaser should 
investigate the matter thoroughly before purchasing. Care 
should also be taken that the fence bought is so made that 
it will not sag, and that it will be self-regulating under 
any change in temperature. There are many other facts 
about fences described in the booklet issued bv the Mason 
Fence Company, of Leesburg, Ohio. Send for a free copy, 
read it carefully and you will be repaid. 
One of the leading concerns engaged in the manufacture 
of agricultural machinery and implements, is the Mes- 
singer Manufacturing Co., Tatamy, Pa., and tHey will l>e 
glad to send catalogue and give any information. Among 
the things they make are thrashers, separators, steam and 
gasoline engines, .lever powers, horse-tread powers, mowers, 
reapers, hay rakes, land rollers, plows and corn cultivators, 
band and power cornshellers, and many other devices which 
mean much to the farming industry. This concern also 
attends to the repairing of all kind’s of farm implements, 
and gives the work prompt attention. Remember the name 
and address, Messinger Mfg. Co., Tatamy, Pa. 
No one with practical experience in the use of silage 
doubts the advantage of having a silo on the farm, but to 
derive the greatest benefit from a silo there must be an 
economical and convenient method of filling it. A most 
excellent device for this purpose is the Whirlwind silo filler, 
manufactured by the Wilder-Strong Implement Co.. Monroe. 
Mich. This machine is of the blower type, and will cut or 
shred, or it will cut and shred, and do perfect work on 
either dry or green stalks. It runs with proportionately 
less power than any other blower machine and is built to 
endure the hardest kind of service for many years. It 
will pay any one, owning a silo, to write for a catalogue 
which will be sent them upon application to the Wilder- 
Strong Implement Co., Monroe, Mich. 
