1907. 
eo© 
THE MAN AND THE OFFICIAL. 
Docs an individual cut himself in two when lie 
assumes public office? Can his private character be 
separated from bis official reputation? Our esteemed 
friend, The Country Gentleman, claims that Frank 
E. Dawley is the best Institute Director New York 
has ever had, because the yearly attendance at these 
meetings is very much larger than it was a dozen 
years ago. That being so, to follow out our friend’s 
argument, it makes no difference to the public whether 
or not Mr. Dawley bought grade Jersey heifers and 
sold them as purebred cattle! Of course our friend 
is privileged to take this position if it cares to, but 
we prefer the principle laid down by Governor 
Hughes. We do not believe that Dawley, the Jersey 
breeder and cattle dealer, can be fairly separated 
from Dawley the Institute Director, because one must 
lean upon the other. Dawley would not be Director 
if he did not own a farm; probably he would not 
own a farm if he had not been appointed Director. 
We are prepared to name at least seven persons who 
bought cattle of Dawley or examined his herd with 
a view of buying because of Dawley’s official position. 
In at least four cases the buyers feel that the cattle 
were not as represented. These men bought cattle 
of Dawley, the breeder, but they put their trust and 
confidence in Dawley, the Institute Director! It is 
doubtful if Squiers or Rogers or Manchester would 
have bought their cattle had they not felt that Mr. 
Dawley’s official position was of itself a guarantee of 
character—a pledge that the papers would fit the 
cows. Does anyone suppose that Dawley, the individ¬ 
ual, could have sold carloads of Alfalfa soil to 
farmers, profited by sales of chemicals and fertilizers 
to the fruit growers, taken State Fair premiums with 
unregistered stock, obtained fat printing contracts for 
his printing office, or used State property for private 
uses if it had not been for Dawley, the Institute Di¬ 
rector ? 
Very likely The Country Gentleman will continue to 
say that the two characters are so far apart that one 
cannot see the other, but we insist that the character 
of the official must be measured by that of the man. 
That view will also be taken by nine out of 10 un¬ 
prejudiced farmers who will attend the farmers’ in¬ 
stitutes this Winter. Like a haunting ghost these 
questions will dominate every institute as though some 
unseen hand were writing them upon the wall: 
“Did Dawley buy grade Jersey heifers of F. D. 
Squires? Did he sell any of these heifers as pure¬ 
bred, registered cattle?’ > 
These questions and what they stand for interest 
every citizen, from the hired man who milks a cow on 
a hill farm to Gov. Hughes at Albany, who stands for 
honorable public service, and who has the power to 
compel an official answer. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—More than two months ago the small two- 
masted fishing schooner Angler sailed from St. Fierre, 
Miquelon, bound for St. Malo, France, with 75 men on 
hoard, and because of her non-arrival at her destination 
great fears are felt for the safety of the vessel and those 
aboard her. As soon as the fishing season closes at St. 
Pierre in the Fall a large number of men who sail on the 
fishing fleet return to France with their earnings. The 
Angler carried such a party and she has not been spoken 
since leaving the latter part of September. . . . One 
of the most far-reaching injunctions*issued by any Wis¬ 
consin court in connection with labor troubles was issued 
by Judge Belden in Racine November 23. The injunction 
is issued at the request of the Badger Brass Manufactur¬ 
ing Company and is directed against a large body of men 
who are alleged to have been locked out of the plant aud 
who during the last few days had resorted to open 
violence. The injunction names as defendants everv mem¬ 
ber of every union represented at the plant before the 
trouble began and all special police officers appointed by 
the city council, labor agitators and leaders among the 
laboring men of the city. The injunction is not only for 
the protection of the property of the company, but also 
to prevent the interference with the boarding-houses which 
have been caring for the nonunion workmen and stores 
which have sold provisions to these boarding-houses. 
. . Novel methods of rebating are charged in a 
complaint filed with the interstate commerce commission 
by the Dykes Steamship Line of Galveston. Texas, against 
the Commercial Union, the Santa Fe Railroad and thirteen 
other lines in the United States. The Commercial Union 
is said to he organized under Cuban laws. It carries 
freight and passengers between Havana and gulf points. 
It is asserted that it is organized with 1.000,000 shares 
of $100 each. 170 of which are gifts to the organizers 
and 2,000 shares used for organizing the company. The 
remaining shares are, the complaint savs, to be appor¬ 
tioned among patrons of the Union, each apportionment 
based on the payment of $1,000 of freight charges. 
Seven railroad laborers were suffocated in a fire in’ a 
rooming house at Kansas City, Mo., November 28. Two 
others were so badly injured In jumping from the build¬ 
ing that they will die. The fire was the result of an 
explosion of gas. It is thought that some one entered a 
closed room where gas had been escaping and struck a 
match. . . . Fire which jumped a block in a spec¬ 
tacular leap from one brewery to another practically wiped 
out the plants of the Tosetti and Mullen brewing com¬ 
panies, Chicago, with a loss of $300,000 November 28, 
while it did comparatively little damage to the ware¬ 
houses and factories between these plants. Four firemen 
had a narrow escape from death, being entrapped in a 
wing of the Mullen plant when the cupola collapsed. 
. . . Vive employes of the Oakville. Conn , pin 
factory were killed and five were seriously injured when 
a freight train crashed into a trolley car at a grade cross¬ 
ing in Waterbury November 2!). The freight train, a 
big double-header, was following a Watertown passenger 
train, and after the latter had crossed West Main street 
the flagman at the crossing raised the gates, not knowing 
that the freight was close upon the passenger train. The 
first of the two trolley cars had time to cross the tracks. 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
but following directly behind it the second was struck. 
The trolley car was thrown up in the air by the force 
of the collision and landed almost bottom up. Falling 
in the path of tIn* locomotives, it was ground under the 
wheels of the two engines. There were twenty-five pas¬ 
sengers in the car. . . . Fire which started in the 
Miles Hotel at nibbing. Minn., November 2!). destroyed 
that building, a theatre building, and two adjoining stores. 
The loss is estimated at $150,000. ... A fraud order 
has been issued by the Post Office Department debarring 
the Metropolitan Institute of Sciences of 126 West 34th 
street, New York City, from future use of the mails. The 
institute operated a scheme to sell for $5 worthless 
articles which were alleged to have “marvellous" and 
“supernatural ’ power. It sold a hypnotic ball and an 
“ocular fatigue producer” which the postal Inspectors did 
not consider was worth the price paid for them. The 
institute inserted reading notices in the newspapers in 
which it told of the properties of these articles. A fraud 
order has also been issued against the IIyspano-American 
Exploiting Company of Rochester, which was run by a 
young Cuban student and advertised in Cuba and else¬ 
where in the West Indies for immigrants to come to the 
United States. The company for a small fee would furnish 
them with transportation. The Consolidated Order of 
Friendships, organized by O. Augustus Wright, a negro 
of Roanoke. Va., was also put out of business by the Post 
Office Department. Wright lias operated in Virginia and 
Tennessee for the last fifteen months and represented his 
society as a fraternal insurance. lie also purchased goods 
ou the credit of the society, for which, t lie postal in¬ 
spectors say, he never paid. . . . The United States 
Circuit Court of Appeals December 3 handed down an 
opinion upholding the States of Texas in the case in¬ 
volving the receivership proceedings against the Waters- 
Fierce Oil Company. The Texas State Court had ap¬ 
pointed a receiver for the Waters-Fierce company in an 
ouster suit brought by the Attorney-General. Between 
the time of filing this suit and the appointment of the 
receiver interests friendly to the Waters-Fierce company 
had brought suit in the United States Court and had hail 
a Federal receiver appointed. In the contest between the 
two receiverships the Circuit Court decides in favor of the 
State receivership and issues an order vacating the Fed¬ 
eral receivership. The opinion which upholds the State 
rights is at direct variance with the Federal Court of 
Appeals decision at St. Louis to which Judge John S 
Phillips dissented. . . . Swarthmore College will not 
accept the millions which the eccentric Quakeress, Miss 
Anna T. Jeanes, left to it on condition that the institution 
give up all intercollegiate sports. Upon the ground that 
it would be morally and legally wrong for a college to 
surrender anv of its rights in consideration of a sum of 
money President Swain, of Swarthmore, announced to 
the board of trustees that lie was opposed to the accept¬ 
ance of the bequest under the conditions imposed. 
Naomi mine, at Belle Vernon, Fa., blew up December l! 
entombing 29 men, none of whom was rescued. . . 
A fire in the Theatre building at Houston, Texas, Deeem- 
NEW YORK WORLD. 
her 2, destroyed property valued at $750,000, The fire 
spread until seven stores were destroyed and the United 
States Court Building, in which all records were lost. 
CONGRESS.—The Sixtieth Congress convened December 
2. The House broke all previous records for the number 
of measures Introduced on the opening dav. The public 
biis and resolutions reached approximately 550. while 
there were something like 3.500 private measures which 
the clerk had received up to midnight. As he has done 
heretofore. Representative Brownlow, of Tennessee, led all 
of his fellow members in the number of bills presented. 
The greater portion of them were for pensions. Repre¬ 
sentative Williams, of Mississippi, with his tariff reduction 
bills ran Mr. Brownlow a close second. There were sev¬ 
eral currency bills, but not as many as was expected. There 
were tariff bills by the dozen nnd public building bills 
by the score; bills to amend and bills to repeal the 
bankruptcy act; resolutions to amend the Constitution for 
all sorts of purposes; bills to construct national highways; 
bills to abolish things and bills to create things and bills 
to regulate about everything under the control of the 
Federal Government and everything’not under such con¬ 
trol; anti-injunction bills and bills to amend laws; bills 
to direct the Interstate Commerce Commission and various 
departments of the Government to do things; bills for 
publicity of campaign expenses and bills to prevent cor¬ 
porations from contributing to campaign funds; bills to 
issue bonds to the extent of $500,000,000 to carry out the 
Mississippi River project; bi'ls to deepen other water¬ 
ways; bills relating to the public lands and to irrigation; 
bills to give pensions nnd bills to spend money in a hun¬ 
dred different ways, and bills to establish new judicial dis¬ 
tricts and to provide for more judges, 
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.-—The message of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt was read December 3 to the Senate and 
the House of Representatives. The document comprises 
more than 30,000 words and Its reading occupied about 
two hours and a half. The message urges further regula¬ 
tion of corporate activities, declaring that this is not 
further centralization, but merely exercising the power 
already vested in the national Government, and recom¬ 
mends a more elastic currency and an income and inherit¬ 
ance tax. It declares that there should be no consider¬ 
able revision of the tariff until after the next Presidential 
election. The establishment of a national art gal¬ 
lery at Washington is advised. The message fur¬ 
ther argues that Congress deals with the campaign fund 
question by appropriating for each of the great parties 
sufficient amounts to pay the “proper and legitimate” ex¬ 
penses of their national campaigns. II recommends an 
extension of the ocean mail act. the establishment of postal 
savings banks, the increase of the pav of army officers and 
enlisted men, the extension of the forest reserves, the de¬ 
velopment of the inland waterways, the building of four 
new battleships and compulsory investigation of labor 
troubles. 
. FARM AND GARDEN.—The thirty-third annual meet¬ 
ing of the New Jersey State Horticultural Society will 
be held at the State House, Trenton, January 7-8,’ 1908. 
The annual meeting of the New Jersey State Board of 
Agriculture will be held January 15, 16’ aud 17. 
WESTERN FLORIDA. 
This district, generally thought of by the northern 
farmer as a land of sand and swamps, insects and diseases, 
is surprisingly freer from any of the above mentioned 
than any portion of the North that is considered a good 
farming region. Here we have all the advantages of an 
almost perfect climate, and better markets for farm pro- 
(luce over the North. We raise two or more crops Annually 
on same ground; have 12 months' pasture, no hard 
weather on stock, and better prices after raised than in 
New York State. This is an ideal fruit and vegetable 
country; fortunes can he and are being made right 
along at both. Land is cheap; just as good land'can be 
bought here for $10 and $12 per acre as you pav $50 to 
$lo0 for up there. We can raise anv kind of a crop 
that is grown elsewhere in the country. The writer 
formerly lived in the best farming section in Indiana and 
came to Florida for a better ciimate, and we did not only 
find a far better climate both Summer and Winter, but 
found a country in which financial opportunities are 
almost unlimited. k r h 
SUMATRA TOBACCO IN FLORIDA. 
How many readers of Tiie R. N.-Y. can give us offhand 
the name of the richest city, per capita, in the United 
States? That distinction is claimed for Quincy, Florida, 
the county seat of Gadsden County, the home of the Amer¬ 
ican-grown Sumatra tobacco and the local paper there 
keeps the proud claim ever before its readers at the head 
of its first page printed in big black type. Gadsden is 
the smallest county in Florida, having an area of 500 
square miles, lying between the Apalachicola and Ocklock- 
nee rivers, and is bounded on the north by the State of 
Georgia. Quincy is in about the center of the county, 
lo those who follow the beaten track of the tourists as 
we have done for many Winters the entire Tallahassee 
section of the State, when first seen, is a wonderful reve¬ 
lation and very delightful. The soil is a reddish, sandy 
loam resting upon a clay foundation. The surface is roll¬ 
ing and in places resembles northern Virginia. There are 
grand forests and a wealth of beautiful wild flowers in 
the early Springtime. Gadsden County can produce almost 
all crops that can be grown anywhere, including wheat, but 
it has been ascertained that the soil is peculiarly adapted 
to the raising of the best grades of tobacco. Before the 
Civil War it was thought by some that here alone could be 
successfully grown tobacco equal In quality to that grown 
in Cuba, «nd the great tobacco firms sent their buyers here 
to purchase, the expenditure even then averaging more 
than $400,000 yearly. The best tobacco is now grown 
under shade, either slats three inches apart, eight feet 
from the ground, or cheese cloth, and the product in qual- 
it.y measures fully up to that imported from Sumatra. In 
the year 1900 more than $1,500,000 was realized from the 
sale of the crop. Is it any wonder that Quincv boasts of 
being the richest city per capita in the United States? 
Mr. J. W. White, of Portsmouth, Va., furnished us with the 
picture, shown on page 903, Fig. 462, illustrating the 
shading, and with Mr. Henry Curtis, of Jacksonville, pro¬ 
vided us with notes of introduction to growers and pack¬ 
ers. We were hospitably received at Quincy and soon 
found as my companion expressed it that “the whole town 
had gone crazy to raise tobacco.” The crop Is grown and 
cut in 90 days from the date of setting the plants. Then 
it is hung up to dry for two or three weeks, and is ready 
for sale. The small growers usually contract to sell to 
packers, receiving 18 to 25 cents per pound for sun-grown 
tobacco and from 50 to 75 cents for what is grown in 
shade. Crops average about 1,000 pounds per acre Or¬ 
dinarily it requires but one man to attend the crop while 
growing. All the fertilizer is applied at once broadcast 
before the planting, using two tons per acre. The rows of 
plants are three and one-half feet apart, and the plants 15 
inches. Plants are hoed and suckers pulled once a week 
until too large to work and Paris-green is applied once or 
twice each week. j. yates peek. 
THE FIGHT AGAINST THE SCALE. 
At the October meeting of the Niagara County Farmers’ 
< lub the question: “Are we controlling the San Josd 
scale?” came up. for discussion, with Willard Hopkins of 
Youngstown, in charge. Mr. Hopkins said that they liave 
had success the past two years, and thought they had the 
scale under control in their apple orchard of about 100 
acres. They have used a large amount of the crude oil 
emulsion, made with any cheap hard soap, hot water, and 
crude oil, and have found that with a mechanical agitator 
in the spray tank it was effective and could be applied 
more quickly than the lime and sulphur. On their peaches, 
pears, plums and prunes they are well satisfied with re¬ 
sults obtained from lime-sulphur and shall continue to use 
it. I’rof, M. V. Slingerland said that the llme-sulpliur 
was a standard spray and that Scalecide and some of the 
other soluble oils had given good results. Several spoke 
of good results on apples with lime-sulphur. I have per¬ 
sonally been In a large number of apple orchards that were 
sprayed with lime-sulphur last Spring and the results 
have been most satisfactory. The orchard of George Hvde 
West Somerset, Niagara Co., N. Y„ is a good example.’ 
Last year the fruit on some trees proved to be unsalable, 
except for drying purposes, and was not picked. Many 
buyers looked at main crop and refused to buy because 
such a large per cent, of fruit was marked by scales: 
branches on Individual trees were so badly infested that 
they died during past Winter. This year, on the same 
trees where branches were killed last vear by scale, a clean 
crop of fruit was harvested. The trees were well pruned 
last Winter, the highest branches being removed so as to 
make the trees as low-headed as possible, and one-half 
the trees in orchard removed, it being an old, close-planted 
orchard with interlaced- branches. The orchard was then 
carefully sprayed with lime-sulpluir and the owner was 
well pleased with results, as a half-bushel basket would 
hold all the apples bearing noticeable scale marks T can 
name other orchardlsts who have had similar results 
George T. Fowell, in a recent issue of The R N -Y 
wrote some pretty harsh criticisms because Scalecide or 
some of the miscible oil sprays had not been more gener¬ 
ally recommended by experiment station men and mem¬ 
bers of New York State Farmers’ Institute force. I be¬ 
lieve It has been demonstrated that Scalecide or the mis¬ 
cible oil sprays If used one part to 20 of water, as gener¬ 
ally recommended by the manufacturers In their circulars 
and advertisements, have not proved as effectual as a 
single application of lime-sulphur. Used at a stronger 
strength, one part to 15 or 12 of water, one thorough 
application has proved quite effective, but no better than 
lime-sulphur, 1 have advised the use of these miscible 
oils in some instances, especially where a few infested 
trees, ornamental shrubbery or a fruit garden was to be 
treated. I have not been very favorably impressed by any 
of them, chiefly because about nine-tenths of the talk and 
recommendations of these patent preparations heard at the 
various farmers’ clubs, institutes, horticultural societies 
etc,, has come from people financially interested in their 
manufacture or sale. Also, many articles published in a 
certain class of horticultural papers are reading adver¬ 
tisements furnished by the manufacturers and their publl- 
cation arranged for before advertising contracts are signed 
Mind, I say nine-tenths of the talk. I believe that some 
are sincere, and I know that good results have been 
obtained with these sprays in some instances, but seldom 
when used at a strength of one to 20 of water, unless two 
or more applications are made. I believe that these oil 
sprays have great possibilities and expect that formulas 
will be sent out by different experiment stations giving 
directions for making crude oil emulsions at home that 
wil be no more difficult than the making of lime-sulphur. 
Mr. Powell talks of the great difficulty of making nnd 
applying lime-sulphur. In the Spring of 1906 I assisted 
in making and applying lime-sulphur in many different 
orchards and in every Instance where the orchard was en¬ 
tirely sprayed the results were good. In one or two 
Instances treatment was commenced so late that only one 
side of trees was sprayed because ot unfavorable winds. 
It is certainly some trouble to make arid apply lime-sul¬ 
phur, but it has been largely used in Niagara County the 
past year and the men I have talked with say that with 
proper outfit it is but little more trouble to apply than 
Bordeaux, except that the application must be more 
thorough. B. D. VAN BUREN. 
