1900. 
Tt-IEC RURAL' NEW-YORKER 
61 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—The fatalities in the Lick Branch Mine, 
near Ennis. West Virginia, as the result of the explosion, 
December 29, will probably reach 50. . . . The canal 
tolls which the United States must pay to put the battle¬ 
ship fleet through the Suez Canal will be approximately 
$160,000. Of the 16 battleships and three auxiliaries com¬ 
posing the fleet, the Kansas is liable to the heaviest tax. 
For this vessel alone the tolls will be $8,823.38, while 
the Minnesota, the next in tonnage, as compared under 
the canal regulations, will cost the government $8,797.90. 
The toll, together with the quarantine and light dues, will 
be paid to the collector for the Suez Canal Company by 
the paymaster of each vessel before it enters the canal. 
A new itinerary for the Atlantic battleship fleet’s visit to 
Mediterranean ports necessitated by the earthquake in 
southern Italy has been cabled to the Navy Department 
by Rear Admiral Sperry, commanding the fleet. The 
flagship Connecticut, accompanied by the Vermont, Kansas 
and Minnesota, sailed from Port Said January 6 for 
Naples to offer assistance to the Italian Government. The 
Georgia. Nebraska. Rhode Island and New Jersey will 
proceed to Marseilles. The Louisiana and Virginia will 
"o to Beirut, Syria, and remain there about a week, after 
which they will visit Smyrna. The Wisconsin. Illinois 
and Kearsarge will first go to Malta for a visit of several 
davs and then will visit Algiers. The Kentucky will visit 
Tripoli and go thence to Algiers. The Missouri and Ohio 
will visit Athens, Salonica and Smyrna and go thence to 
Negro Bay, Morocco, arriving there on February 1. The 
fleet will reassemble off Gibraltar on February 6 for its 
return to the United States. . . . The $29,240,000 fine 
case of the Standard Oil Company will not be reviewed 
In- the Supreme Court of the United States. The deci¬ 
sion of the court to this effect was announced by Chief 
Justice Fuller soon after the court convened January 4. 
In the Supreme Court the case turned largely upon the 
right of the court to interfere, in view of the fact that 
t he case had been passed upon by the Circuit Court of 
Appeals, the Government contending for such privilege 
as a right, while it was urged in behalf of the oil com¬ 
pany that the precedents were all against such a pro¬ 
ceeding. The action of the court consisted in the an¬ 
nouncement that the government’s petition would not be 
granted. The effect of this announcement will be to leave 
standing the decision of the Court of Appeals which was 
adverse to the Government and favorable to the com¬ 
pany. . • . Four cattle rustlers, believed to be mem¬ 
bers of a gang that has been preying on stockmen in 
southern California for months, were killed January 4 in 
a battle with a posse of sheriff’s deputies and cowboys 
at Mesa Grande. 40 miles from San Diego. . . . Fire 
at Skowhegan, Me., January 1, swept the business part 
of the town, and caused a total loss of $400,000. 
THE ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE.—President Roosevelt, 
in a message to Congress January 4, asked for a direct 
appropriation of half a million dollars for the relief of 
the stricken people in the earthquake zone of Italy. This, 
the most generous fund ever contributed by the American 
people for the succor of sufferers in other lands, is to 
supplement the dispatch of the supply ships Celtic from 
New York and the Culgoa from Port Said for Messina 
with their big cargoes of necessaries, originally intended 
for the American fleet, diverted to the immediate use of 
the Italian victims. It also supplements the President’s 
proffer of the services of the entire American fleet of 16 
battleships, whose use, in whole or in part, hinged only 
on the acceptance or declination of the Italian govern¬ 
ment. Congress acted immediately in making the appro¬ 
priation. and increased it to $800,000. . . . The 
American Consul at Messina, Arthur 8. Cheney, is among 
the dead, and his wife also. The bodies have not been 
recovered. . . • Foreign officers who have explored the 
ruins on both sides of the straits, give higher estimates 
of the loss of life than Italian reports. They believe that 
tin,000 persons have either been killed or trapped in the 
ruins of Messina, and 30,000 at Reggio, where the tidal 
wave rose to double the height that it did at Messina. 
Signor de Nava, a Reggio member of the Italian Chamber 
of Deputies, has personally traversed most of the earth¬ 
quake region on both sides of the straits, lie estimates 
the total dead at 85.000, the wounded at 40.000. Of the 
dead, Signor de Nava calculates that 50,000 are at Mes¬ 
sina, 28,000 at Reggio, and 7.000 at other coast and 
interior towns affected. The radius of destruction extends 
30 miles north and south on the coast of Sicily, and on 
the main land for an equal distance below Radioena 
toward the south. Earthquake experts generally agree 
that the earthquake was the result of a fault in the 
geological formation under Messina, which constituted a 
line of contact in the volcanic action between Mount Etna 
and Mount Vesuvius, and that a slip occurred similar 
to the one which detached Sicily from the mainland. 
That a subsidence occurred at some points, and that 
there was a rising of the earth’s surface at others, is 
proved by soundings, which show the channel of the har¬ 
bor deeper al some places and shallower at others. The 
British battleship Exmouth, at a distance of one-half 
mile south of Reggio, found 58 fathoms of water where 
formerly there were 243. Plans for the rebuilding ot 
Reggio and Messina already are being discussed in details, 
especially with regard to the latter place, which was 
the second city of Sicily. It is estimated that about 
$15,000,000 will suffice to rebuild Messina for 50,000 in¬ 
habitants, making it a commercial and maritime centre. 
It will take about $8,000,000 to rebuild Reggio for 25,000 
people. In any event, many years must elapse before the 
thoroughly terrorized populations can be induced to re¬ 
turn to live in the stricken territory. . Another project is 
to transfer Messina provisionally to Milazzo, a small town 
near the ruins of Messina on the north coast of the island. 
CHANGE IN POSTAL RATES.—Beginning January 1. 
the postage rate on letters from this country to Germany 
becomes two cents an ounce or fraction of an ounce. Per¬ 
sons who wish letters for Germany sent by England or 
France (the quickest route) must fully prepay postage 
thereon at the Universal Postal Union rate of five cents. 
The reduced rate applies only to letters mailed in the 
States and Terrotories of the United States, including 
Alaska, on the mainland of North America, and does not 
extend to letters mailed in Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Phil¬ 
ippines. or other possessions of the United States. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—All associations in the United 
States interested in the growing, shipping and jobbing of 
apples are requested to send a committee to Washington, 
D. (’., January 27, to attend a meeting at the Raleigh 
Hotel for the purpose of making such changes in the 
“Porter Apple Package and Grade Bill’’ for interstate 
and foreign shipments, as may be deemed advisable. C. R. 
Shafer, chairman Legislative Committee, International 
Apple Shippers’ Association : L. L. Morrell, chairman Leg¬ 
islative Committee. New York State Fruit Growers’ Asso- 
caition; T. B. Wilson, chairman Legislative Committee, 
Western New York Horticultural Society. 
Chicago has put in force an ordinance requiring the 
pasteurization of all milk except that from cows proved 
free from tuberculosis by tuberculin test. The new law 
was the result of the scourging of the city by scarlet 
fever, and it was decided to resort to pasteurization both 
to prevent the recurrence of such outbreaks and to stop 
the spread of tuberculosis by raw milk. 
THE 80-CENT GAS DECISION. 
The Supreme Court has made an important decision in 
the “80-cent gas" case. The New York Legislature passed 
a law making the rate for gas in New York City 80 cents 
tor 1.000 cubic feet. The “trust” or combination which 
controls (ho gas supply in this city opposed the law for 
several reasons—the main one being that this price is so 
low that the business cannot pay a fair rate of interest to 
its stockholders. Therefore it was claimed that the law 
confiscates property. The question at issue hinged on the 
value of the property. Five dollars is 10 per cent of $50, 
lnit five per cent of $100. It was declared that 5% or 
six per cent on its valuation was a reasonable profit in 
gas making. If the property of the Trust were valued 
at $.100,000,000 it could demand a profit of at least 
$6,000,000 above its expenses. If the valuation were 
scaled down to S50.000.000 this “reasonable profit” would 
be $3,000,000. The trust might be able to show that 80- 
eent gas would not give the larger profit. The lower 
courts declared that 80-cent gas would reduce profits on 
the valuation of the property which they allowed below 
six per cent. Therefore they held that the law confiscated 
property. Now the Supreme Court has reversed this by 
scaling down the valuation. The company valued its 
property at $100,000,000. its franchise at $20,000,000 and 
“good will” at $10,000,000. The court values the property 
at $47,381,000, the franchise at $7,781,000, and says the 
“good will” has no value, since the company is practically 
a monopoly. The decision is made “without prejudice,” 
that is, the company has the right to re-open the case if 
it can honestly show that its business does not pay six 
per cent profit on the new valuation of $55,612,000. The 
most important things about this decision are those re¬ 
lating to the valu^ of a public franchise and the “good 
will” of a monopoly. Left to itself the corporation would 
take a gift from the public—in the right to run cars or 
pipe gas or water and make tin 1 valuation high or low 
as suited their wish. If it were a question of paying 
taxes they would plead poverty and set the figure as low 
as possible. When the public demanded fairer rates or 
service they would as in this gas case, “water” the value 
of the franchise and then oppose the cheaper rate because 
it will not let them pay interest on the water they 
have poured in. As to the value of “good will,” the 
court decides that there can be no such thing when a 
monopoly controls a public service. That decision is good 
law and good morals. We hope it will enable the public 
to reach more of,the extortionate rascals who have been 
bleeding the people so long. 
We now expect some one to start up and attempt to 
apply this decision to farms and farmers. No doubt 
some one will claim that if a man has a farm valued at 
$5,000 he has no business to expect over $300 difference 
between income and expenses! Probably few farmers 
would object to that if you will let them figure as the 
corporations do. They can pay enormous salaries to their 
officers or directors, make other payments in the form 
of presents or bonus, and hand out money in other ways 
in order to get rid of it and not have it appear as profit. 
Let a farmer get full pay for his own labor as manager 
of the farm and good wages for wife and children, be¬ 
sides making himself presents from time to time, and he 
would be well satisfied with his six per cent interest. 
THE FARMER’S SHARE. 
We continue the discussion of the part of the con¬ 
sumer's dollar which comes to the farmer. The following 
are actual reports made to us by readers. We do not 
select the worst, but give them as they come. 
First is the statement of a carload of produce sold 
in Providence, R. I., by a Connecticut market gardener. 
3.300 lbs. squash, at 90c.$29.70 
5.300 lbs. squash, at 75c. 39.75 
1.200 lbs. squash, dumped. 
9 bbl. pumpkins, at 75c. 6.75 
5 bbl. pumpkins, at 50c. 2.50 
17 bbl. peppers, at 50c. 8.50 
6 bbl. carrots, at $1.00. 6.00 
-$93.20 
1 box peppers and 4 bbl. parsley (dumped) 
Freight .$24.00 
Demurrage . 2.00 
Commission, 10 per cent. 9.32 
- 35.32 
Net proceeds . $57.88 
37 bids.. $3.70; 5 boxes, 50c.; 100 bags, $10. 14.20 
$72.08 
This farmer had the curiosity to figure what the car¬ 
load brought when it reached the consumer. He got hold 
of retail prices and found that customers paid $213 for 
his stuff. As he got $72.08, with the price of packages 
included, we figure that he received less than 34 cents 
on the dollar. A carload of manure needed to grow another 
crop will cost him $57. 
In the Nearby Market. 
Here are the figures from a Massachusetts berry grower. 
The feature of this is that he grew the highest quality 
fruit and sold it with only one middleman between his 
farm and the customer. 
I am sending you slips showing representative sales 
of strawberries in Worcester last season. These show 
471 boxes which sold for $57.96; commission, $5.80. 
Farmer’s Share. 
471 boxes .$57.90 
Commission . 5.80 
Picking . 9.42 
Carting . 1.60 
Net receipts .$41.14 
This makes the farmer’s 
berries sell as high as 20 
but the enclosed slips are 
ceived this year. 
Northboro, Mass. 
Middleman’s Share. 
Commission . $5.80 
Retailer’s profit, 5c. 
per quart . 23.55 
$29.35 
Consumer’s price. . .$81.51 
share about 50 per cent. Our 
rents, and as low as six cents, 
a fair average of prices re- 
r. w. J. 
In the Hudson Valley. 
We now give figures of three shipments of apples and 
pears from Cairo. N. Y.-—a point on the Hudson about. 
100 miles from New York. This fruit was hauled 10 
miles to station and this expense is not included. The 
fruit was a fair, average lot and the consumer paid at 
least $4.50 a barrel for it. 
HUDSON VALLEY FRUIT FARMS, 
On a recent fine December day we enjoyed a visit to 
the orchards of George T.-Powell, whose success and stand¬ 
ing in the fruit growers’ world is noteworthy. “Orchard 
Farm” is nicely ~ located at Ghent, and contains about 
150 acres, nearly all occupied with apple trees in blocks 
of varying ages, from new plantings to trees of full matur¬ 
ity. Most of the land is gently rolling. One of the 
fields is rather steep, but was recently planted to apple 
and peach trees. The soil is of excellent character, of 
slaty and gravelly loam, with good natural drainage, and 
of special adaptation for apples. The care which Mr. 
Powell gives to his orchards is everywhere apparent. One 
can easily see that hero the individual tree receives at¬ 
tention from its owner and has in all cases its own wants 
supplied. One of the first things noticeable, and differ¬ 
ent. is the thorough pruning that the older trees are 
getting. They are not carrying a heavy burden of thrift¬ 
less and unprofitable wood: no dead branches, and no 
water sprouts, but all are good business limbs sufficiently 
opened and thinned to produce fine fruit. We saw Mr. 
Powell’s Sutton orchard, originally Northern Spy trees 
planted 22 years ago, and top-worked later. This orchard 
is of several acres and is very fine, showing remarkable 
health and uniformity. It has given many crops of beau¬ 
tiful fruit. The Sutton is quite an upright grower, and 
may be planted somewhat closer than other kinds. Of 
the choice Esopus Spitzenbergs which this farm has here¬ 
tofore yielded, many of the older trees have recently 
declined and have been removed. Mr. Powell, as is well 
known, places his whole faith in quality alone as applied 
to varieties, and has planted 1,500 McIntosh trees: but 
few of them are yet in bearing. He does not give room 
to a single Ben Davis. Some fine examples of dwarf 
apples were shown us. The little trees have now attained 
a height of three to four feet, and look especially sturdy. 
Many of them are bearing apples of superior quality. 
We found cover crops growing everywhere; Crimson 
clover vivid with green luxuriance, rye in some orchards, 
oats elsewhere. 
One great idea we caught. Strawberries were planted 
in a young orchard in hills about six feet apart, and 
allowed to make runners at will, having been easily and 
cheaply kept clean by the two-horse cultivator or harrow 
with little hand work. Each hill has got to be of con¬ 
siderable size and will bear a fine crop of fruit and turn 
in a pretty profit without the slightest detriment to the 
orchard. Oats were broadcast during the Fall and will 
give good Winter protection to the berry plants. In the 
Spring cultivation or disking can go on as usual. The 
San Jos6 scale is here, as elsewhere, the great bugaboo, 
and is making its full modicum of trouble. The people 
of “Orchard Farm” up to the present time have been suc¬ 
cessful with and are giving preference to Scalecide in 
their warfare against this nuisance, and use for the Win¬ 
ter sprayings one gallon of Scalecide to 15 gallons of 
water, in an experimental way they have applied a one- 
to-forty mixture while trees were in foliage without 
damage to the tree, but not successful in this strength 
as a scale killer. 
A further delight was given our little party of enthusi¬ 
asts in a stop made at Mr. L. L. Morrell’s place at Kinder- 
liook. about eight miles from Ghent. We derived many 
agreeable impressions here, and are pleased to make note 
of the thorough and scientific care that his fruit business 
is receiving. Mr. Morrell is a pear specialist, and has 
some 150 acres of beautiful land level as a floor in pear, 
apple and plum trees. It is worth going a long distance 
to see such a place as this. Every tree is fashioned to 
a model, and so conforms to a chosen type that each is 
like its fellow, and the orchards present an appearance 
of remarkable uniformity. Mr. Morrell’s strong point in 
pruning the pear and apple is the annual and heroic 
shortening in of all new growth to three or four good 
buds, which broadens, strengthens and gives such a busi¬ 
ness-like air to the trees ns to make varieties hardly 
recognizable even to an expert who is accustomed to 
the forms they assume under ordinary management. The 
most thorough attention is given to spraying, and at 
this place the lime-sulphur mixture is given the prefer¬ 
ence in fighting the San ,Tos('> scale. What with high 
culture of the soil, with liberal supplies of barnyard 
manure, wood ashes and quantities of tobacco stems all 
worked in during the growing time, and now. with the 
Winter cover crops and with a great mass of fallen foli¬ 
age also covering the soil, all to be returned to the 
trees; along with vigorous pruning, vigorous thinning 
and removal of useless wood, it is small wonder that this 
fruit plantation is a veritable garden, a delight to the 
eye and a treasure to its owner. w. s. teator. 
New York. _ 
Raisins, dried peaches, etc., are our products here. 
Raisins can be raised for 3% cents per pound, and dried 
peaches for five cents per pound. You know what they 
cost with vou. There are here. tn the hands of the 
grower. 25.000 tons of raisins and large quantities of 
peaches, for which there is no market at above prices. 
Selma, Calif. e. a. p. 
This is a newly-opened section under irrigation de¬ 
voted to peach, cherry and apple growing. Our orchards 
were planted only three years ago. and our first small 
crop of peaches will be due next season. Our markets are 
the prairie Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Mani¬ 
toba. which in time should require all or more than we 
can grow, but you Americans are hard competitors, and 
we have to fight pretty hard to secure our own markets 
from you. We learn from you how to fight you. and a 
good clean fight has its advantages, especially in fruit 
growing. E. w. si. 
British Columbia. 
September Sale. 
2 bids, pears at $2.50. $5.00 
10 bids, apples at $2.68. 26.88 
Cl)a rges : 
Freight from Cairo to New York. $3.60 
Freight from boat to commission house.. .72 
Commission on sale. 3.19 
12 bids, at 40c. each. 4.80 
- 12.31 
Net proceeds of sale. $19.57 
August Sale. 
10 bbls. pears..... $29.00 
Charges : 
Freight from Cairo to New York. $3.00 
Cartage from boat to commission house.. .60 
Commission on sale. 2.90 
10 bbls. at 40c. each. 4.00 
- 10.50 
Net proceeds of sale. $18.50 
November Sale. 
36 bbls. apples. $92.00 
Cha rges : 
Freight from Cairo to New York.$10.SO 
Cartage from boat to commission house.. 2.16 
Commission on sale. 9.20 
36 bbls. at 40c. each. 14.40 
- 36.56 
Net proceeds of sale. 4 . $55.44 
R. N.-Y.—Here we have shipments of 56 barrels of 
fruit which the commission man sold for $152.88. In¬ 
cluding the barrels, it cost the shipper $59.31 to have 
the fruit carried and sold. That leaves him $93.57. 
That fruit cost the consumer at least $261. We there¬ 
fore figure that our friend received a little over 35 cents 
of the consumer’s dollar, out of which he must pay the 
cost of growing, picking and hauling the fruit before 
he buys any Christmas presents. 
“I make a suggestion as follows : When a public holiday 
comes the day before or the day after the Sabbath I 
think the rural carrier should deliver the farmer’s mail. 
It often makes two days without mail—mail accumulates 
—especially daily papers, and the farmer suffers incon¬ 
venience if no more. Many of the carriers return by noon, 
or a little later, so it would not prove a hardship to them. 
With a fat salary, they should not kick.” j. e. it. 
ALFALFA IN KANSAS.—This is a good crop, but it 
needs Fall or late Summer sowing to make the best re¬ 
sults. It will grow on good land, and it will do well In 
the gumbo lands or river bottoms, or even on the hard- 
pan land of prairie soil. It is quite liable to be outgrown 
by some grass, but any time, even in midsummer, take a 
disk and cut it up: the grass will die and Alfalfa keep 
growing. This is different from many advisers, but it is 
the observation of the writer on his place and on others. 
My grass has been the Blue grass that has proved fatal, 
but a neighbor says that it can be cut out with the disk 
the same as other annual grasses. This I am glad to 
know, but there is one part I do not understand. I have 
it now growing on creek bottom land, rich and deep, a 
good stand of several years’ standing, but it is always of 
short growth, while some of the poorer soil mentioned 
has much better growth. Why? I have not manured it. 
as the land does not need it for other crops. If some 
special fertilizer will do. I do not know what. It is the 
special feed for stock except horses, that only need a 
little once a week. But good clover is not far short in 
value save it does not yield so much, and it may not last 
as long in the field. a. h. griesa. 
Kansas. 
The one great advantage we have here is that we are 
our own commission men: six miles to the York markets 
with a fairly good demand for all produce. Prices are 
not as high as formerly, yet many complain and do not 
see why they must pay so much to the farmers. One 
woman said to me in institute week. “I guess you are 
making lots of money from your poultry. I had to sell 
all of mine ; it cost too much to feed the chickens here in 
town at the present price of grain.” I replied. ’“If it. 
costs too much for you how about myself?” “Oh. but 
you raise your feed and so if does not cost you anything.” 
Alas! how much difference it makes from which side we 
look at the thing. Butter is 32 to 34 cents; eggs, 29 to 
34 cents; potatoes. 10 to 15 cents per half peck: apples, 
15 to 25 cents per half peck; wheat, $1 ; oats, 65 cents; 
corn. 75 cents, and hay, $10 to $12 per ton. The crops 
were sill very good, with the exception of potatoes. The 
drought was very severe. Streams are low yet. I have 
tried several thousand strawberry plants by the Kevitt 
system. Like the Hope Farm man (whose page we all 
enjoy so much) I do not like to say much yet, but how I 
do like to look at those plants! However, we shall have 
more to say after the harvest, that is what counts. Still. 
I may say that I expect to set out 8,000 or 10.000 more 
the same way. c« F. w. 
York, Pa. 
