1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
351 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Fire that is supposed to have started from 
crossed wires April 3 swept over three acres at Fulton, 
Church and Dey streets, New York, where the 23-story twin 
terminal buildings ot the MeAdoo tunnel system are to 
stand. Shanties and timbering were destroyed and a hun¬ 
dred “sandhogs’ working in caissons 80 feet down had a 
good scare before they were all pulled out alive. A two 
and a half inch compressed air pipe burst in the course of 
the tire. A twelve-inch water main also sprang a leak, and 
water poured into some of the caissons Supt. Seymour 
thought that Chief Croker’s estimate of $100,000 damage 
was excessive. The whole plant is insured for $120,000 
. . . Electricity will be utilized by the Great Northern 
Railway Company instead of steam as motive power on at 
least one division of its transcontinental line in North Da¬ 
kota. as well as in hauling its trains through the famous 
Cascade tunnel, in the Rocky Mountains. The stretch of 
road where it has been decided to use electricity is between 
Minot and Williston where the road's supply of water is 
so full of mineral salts that an engine must be taken into 
the round house after every run to have its boiler cleaned. 
The road between Minot and Williston has been giving the 
company a great deal of trouble, and at times the difficul¬ 
ties experienced have been sufficient to interfere materially 
with the operation of trains. . . . The opening state¬ 
ments of the attorneys for the defense were made April 4 
in the trial of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana. It 
was charged by Lawyer Rosenthal, who made the first ad¬ 
dress to the jury that the defense will be able to show not 
only that the witnesses for the Government misinterpreted 
the rate sheets of the Chicago & Alton Road, but that they 
did so wilfully. He declared that the defense will show that 
the rate between Whiting. Ind., and Chappell, III., used 
by the Standard Oil Company, was a lawful rate, and was 
known to every shipper in the district. . . . With her 
hold a mass of crackling flames, the big steamer City of 
Troy of the Citizens’ Line, a wooden side-wheeler, 250 feet 
long, on which were nearly 75 passengers, plowed! through 
the Hudson at full speed April 6, her captain endeavoring 
to find a pier to which he might tie long enough to land 
the passengers and crew. The City of Troy was on the 
Jersey side of the river off Yonkers, going up the river, 
when the fire was discovered, and it was an hour later 
before she was finally tied up at the private pier of Edwin 
Gould at Dobbs Ferry. There every passenger was safely 
landed. The vessel, an hour later, was a blackened mass 
burned to the water’s edge: loss $200,000. . . . The 
McDonald Engineering building at McGill University was 
destroyed by fire April 5. The loss will exceed $750,000, 
It was supposed to have been the best-equipped building of 
its kind on the continent, and was opened by Lord Stanley. 
No lives were lost Nothing definite is known as to how 
the fire originated, it having broken out presumably in the 
furnace room. The insurance on the building is $420,000. 
Dean Hovie, of McGill, issued an official statement to tbe 
effect that on account of the inability to replace certain 
collections kept in the building the total loss will exceed 
$750,000. The building was the gift of Sir William Mc¬ 
Donald. . . . Civil Engineer Robert E. I’earv, the Arc¬ 
tic explorer, applied to the "Navy Department for a leave 
of absence to enable him to make another dash for the 
North Pole, and has received three years’ leave. He has 
raised $200,000, which will be needed in equipping the ex¬ 
pedition. and he intends to start in the Summer of 100,8. 
He will use the steamer Roosevelt, in which he made his 
last trip. Mr. Peary has been in the navy for 2(5 years and 
has been absent on leave 15 years. . . . The Great 
Northern Railroad was found guilty at St. Paul April 6 
of rebating on fifteen counts. A fine of $15,000 was imposed 
by Judge Page Morris, of the Federal Court. The specific 
charge was that of giving freight concessions on grain ship¬ 
ments to the Pacific Coast. ... A score of nersons 
were killed April 5 by a tornado which swept for 300 miles 
across portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Parts 
of four towns were devastated, wth damage exceeding $500.- 
000. The wind damaged property, crops and telegraph wires 
throughout its course. . . . The Metropolitan car barns 
at Lenox avenue and 140th street. New York, were destroyed 
by fire April 8; loss $1,500,000. The fire was attended 
by several explosions, one causing the death of a fire cap¬ 
tain, and injuries to several firemen. . . . Fire in the 
six-story building of the Ragus Tea and Coffee Co., Wash¬ 
ington and Laigbt streets, New York, April 6, caused mucb 
trouble to the firemen, and a loss of $200 000. . . Six 
inches of snow fell in the Mohawk Valiev. New York, April 
8; four inches in New York City and vicinity April 9. 
and Montreal, Canada, had a fall of 12 inches. It was 
the heaviest fall ever recorded by the Weather Bureau so 
late in the season. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Thomas II. Douglas, of the firm 
of It. Douglas' Sons, nurserymen, of Waukegan, Ill., died 
at Los Angeles, Cal. Tuesday, March 26 of heart failure. 
Mr. Douglas', father the late Robert Douglas, was a nur¬ 
seryman of international reputation and founded the busi¬ 
ness which bears his name. 
The committee on public health of the New York Board 
of Aldermen, which has been holding public hearings on the 
milk question and whose investigation of the subject has 
covered a period of many weeks, decided unanimously at a 
special meeting April 9 in favor of an ordinance which, if 
passed, will require that the milk from every dairy supply¬ 
ing New York shall be tested by the Health Department 
once a month, and any milk showiug over 500,000 bacteria 
to the cubic centimeter will have to be pasteurized before 
being sold. If a herd is certified to as free from tubercu¬ 
losis and at least three samples of the milk from a dairy 
show less than 500,000 bacteria, the Board of Health is 
to certify that such milk can be sold raw for a month. All 
milk pasteurized under the ordinance must be placed in 
clean cans or bottles, “each of which cans or bottles shall 
be stamped and sealed under the supervision of the Depart¬ 
ment of Health in such a manner that said cans or bottles 
cannot be opened without breaking the seal. - ' This is ro 
prevent contamination after pasteurization. For a viola¬ 
tion of the ordinance the permit of an offender can be re¬ 
voked, and for a second offense not only can the permit be 
revoked but he is punishable for a misdemeanor. 
WHAT ABOUT THIS VINEYARD? 
Last Spring we planted three acres of grapes on side 
of hill facing northwest, with small river at bottom; soil 
rafher sandy and gravelly; location 30 miles north of Lake 
Erie, rather out of the grape belt for Canada, but as we 
have seen a good many crops of Concords harvested within 
the same location we decided to try them. Varieties, Camp¬ 
bell’s Early, Moore’s Early, Worden, Vergennes, Niagara 
and Concord. The intention ^was to have them run across 
the hill, so as to avoid washing, and they were planted 10 
h.V 71/5 feet. Through some error, while writer was away, 
they were put in up and down the hill, and as we thought 
the ground has commenced to wash badly. We have thought 
to set the posts and wires so as still to run across the 
hill : this would make the rows only 7M> feet wide, with the 
grapes 10 feet apart in the row. Will this do? We are so 
located that we get all the air circulation we want, but 
will not the vines be too wide in the row? Would we gain 
anything by planting another vine in between each one? 
Thus they would be live feet apart, and keeping them closely 
pruned, we are of the opinion that in this district we cannot 
get the vigorous growth that is obtained in some locations, 
and that possibly such a method will succeed here, where it 
would not do at all in other more favored locations. What 
system of training would you advocate for us? We have 
started with the intention of training on the renewal sys¬ 
tem. but at this stage of growth we can follow any. 
Ontario, Canada. s. n» 
I think the Moore’s Early and Worden would stand 
5 x 7 V>, planting one between, if two wires were used and 
vines trimmed on the Kniffen system of two arms. One 
vine should be cut off and kept on the lower wire, while the 
next should have no arms on the lower wire but two on the 
top one: alternating this way would prevent overgrowing 
to a certain extent. Concord. Niagara, etc., would not do 
so well planted at five feet in the row. If mine I would 
dig up and reset, as the planted roots run up and down 
the lull and are more liable on such land to be torn out 
by plow and cultivator. h. w. barnks. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
If the side hill is so steep that it does wash badly, 10 
feet is not any too wide for the rows, and 7 >/ 2 feet would 
be decidedly too narrow, because driving through such 
narrow rows on a side hill, the wagon would naturally lean 
down hill, catching every post, vines and fruit, unless spe¬ 
cial provisions are made by having every other row lean 
also down hill. T consider the distance for Niagara, Wor¬ 
den and Concords should be at least eight fee! in the row, 
for if these varieties are pruned too close they will run 
too much to vines instead of fruit, especially in such 
ground as the writer describes. If the vineyard were mine, 
I would plow the grapes out and set them over again just 
as I wanted tfiem. for as they are now it would be a con¬ 
tinual eyesore and vexation to me; better have it right to 
start with at once. The modified Kniffen system I find 
best adapted to Worden, Niagara and Concord. The renewal 
or tree system does well for the other varieties named. 
Chautauqua Co., N. Y. g. schoe.nfeld. 
I would certainly change the rows or wiring so that 
they will cross the hill. It will add to the expense of culti¬ 
vation. but it will save the vineyard. Seven and one-half 
feet is rather narrow for general vineyard work, but it will 
not be serious in so small a vineyard. Years ago in this 
belt (Chautauqua-Erie) the practice was to plant vines five 
or six feet apart each way and train to stakes; this necessi- 
tatecl leaving out a row occasionally for driveway. Later, 
when wire trellis came into use, rows were made seven to 
eight feet wide; now the general practice is about nine 
leet. If strong, vigorous growth is not expected I would 
plant between, making vines five feet in row, but if he 
gets growth as we do here 10 feet apart in row will do very 
well. There are now in this belt hundreds, perhaps thou¬ 
sands, of acres of grapes that were planted 8 x 10; that 
is, tows eight feet apart, vines 10 feet apart in the row. 
I he two-arm system is the most universal practice here. 
It seems to have no drawbacks. The Kniffen is practiced to 
some extent, but requires more skill in training and perhaps 
tends to place the fruit in better shape for the pickers. 
Summer tying or Summer pruning is not practiced here : it 
would be regarded as a useless expense. a. i. loop 
Erie Co., Pa. 
I am inclined to think that the best way out of the 
dilemma would be to dig up the vines and replant them in 
the manner the owner first planned. A vineyard, with 
proper care, lasts a lifetime ; yes, two or three generations, 
and the extra labor and loss of one year’s crop will be 
well repaid in the satisfaction of having the thing right, 
rather than to wish, every time it is seen or thought of, 
that it had been different. If the vines were one-year roots, 
it will do them no material damage to take them up. cut 
back the roots and tops, and replant. But the owner will 
have to wait a year longer for a crop. I should certainly 
advise following the plan outlined above, were it not for the 
statement made in the query that vines do not make a vigor¬ 
ous growth in that locality. Seven and one-half feet between 
the rows can be managed all right, though it will cause 
more of the tillage to be done with one horse than if the 
rows were eight or nine feet apart. If the vines were all 
Moore’s Early, Vergennes, or even Worden and Niagara, I 
would advise filling in so as to make them five feet apart, 
but the Concord will need more room, unless the owner is 
willing to do a lot of Summer pruning and training. Con¬ 
cerning the system of training, I cannot give advice. I 
believe in the renewal system, and practice it, and I am 
satisfied with the results. e. c. gillett. 
Yates Co., N. Y. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
You people of the East have our sympathies for the 
snow and bad weather you have had this Spring. We have 
the earliest and warmest ever known in my 29 years of 
Kansas; plowing for corn is about done, and planting is 
here. A few “early birds’’ have corn up. Fruit trees have 
blossomed full. e. m. c. 
Yesterday, April 4, we had a corn and Alfalfa train stop at 
our station for 45 minutes; from Columbus towards Cincin¬ 
nati, to Midland City, then east, a two-days’ trip, ending at 
Chillieothe. The majority went to the corn car till they 
reached Greenfield, two stops west of here, where they 
changed to the Alfalfa car. I suppose the next stop would 
also he the same story. The Alfalfa car at Itoxabell was 
filled. These trains catch many farmers who seldom if ever 
attend a farmers' institute. The Grain Dealers’ Association, 
assisted by the professors of the Ohio State University and 
Wooster Experiment Station and others, made up the work¬ 
ing force of this train. Although late in the season and a 
busy time the turn-out was very good, joiin m. jamison. 
Ohio. 
THE RABBIT NUISANCE.—The rabbits were brought into 
this section by sportsmen, and have quite rapidly spread 
over a large territory, and have done a great deal of damage 
to the farmers. They are protected by the game laws for 
about 10 months out of the 12. There is a proviso in the 
law which says that the owner of the land may take them 
at any time to prevent their Injuring property. I asked 
our game warden for his construction of this provision. 
Could I not delegate the power to destroy the same to my 
employees? lie thought not; the law is specific and says 
the owner of the occupied lands: this being the case, the 
proviso is simply a farce. What is wanted is an open sea¬ 
son for the entire year on hares and Jack rabbits so that 
anyone may destroy them at any time or by any means. 
J. R. CORNELL. 
I’rest. N. Y. State Fruit Growers Ass’ 11 . 
' O . r> '• 
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