1908. 
rei 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—The Southern Cotton Oil Company, which 
operates more than a hundred gins in North Carolina, has 
been notified that unless it closes down until cotton reaches 
12 cents the torch will be applied. The company has not 
only been notified by threatening letters, but notices order¬ 
ing a shutdown have been posted on each of the gins. 
These notices are signed “Night Riders” and say that the 
torch will be instantly applied if ginning is continued in 
the face of a declining market. The company has put 
armed guards about the gins with instructions to shoot any 
strangers who may approach. . . . Word has been re- 
K r0m oo S , a sma11 to wn near Port Arthur, Ont., 
September 23, that three of the inlanders were asphyxiated 
in a deep well they were digging by a sudden outbreak of 
tura 1 gas The gas gushed in great volume from a 
i bJ a ,P lcb - Two of the men who were at the 
nottom or the well were overcome at once. The third, 
going to their assistance, suffered the fate of his comrades. 
Natura! gas is now flowing from the well in great quan- 
deiv^inn+in<* Ju his , Promises to be the poorest season for 
c th ^ Ad, f?ndacks in the memory of hunters, 
the rorest fires and continued drought have so dried ud the 
Zk1ni r °™,^, hunt 1 ra cannot miter the woods without 
making considerable noise, and with the lack of wind the 
sound is carried great distances, the cracking of a 
twig sometimes being heard half a mile awav. 
£.vj? r traveling through the entire northern country Prof 
]Tl 1 vJ! r i:« Roth ’ the Forestry Department of the University 
of Michigan estimates the fire damage at 840,000,000 He 
declares that more than 2,000 acres of the Michigan forest 
reserve have been destroyed and over 1,000,000 acres of 
timber land devastated. It will cost $5 an acre to replant 
this land and the new growth that has been swept bv the 
flames was easily worth that price. Raymond W. Pullman 
ot the United States forest service, who is in Minnesota 
thl 0 w-fw lne f T^L fire cond itions, estimates the loss in 
a ? d Chisholm districts at from $5,000,000 to 
0,000,000. According to this report brush fires are every- 
a long rai ** on, y hope of putting an 
l Two P erson s were killed and more 
than 50 injured by the wrecking of a ’Frisco passenger 
{J* 1 ?-“5“ Carthage, Mo., September 24. The engine left 
the track lounding a sharp cuiwe, all the cars following it 
the engine turned over twice and plunged into the river 
A tr ue bill was reported by the Federal Grand 
d“ r y at Boston September 24 against Henry D. Reynolds, 
former President of the Alaska Development 
Companj, vho was arrested in New York some time ago 
on the charge of using the mails in a scheme to defraud. 
It is alleged by the Government that Reynolds, who at that 
. wa l pre aide n t of the company, sent out circulars of 
roseate hue telling that certain mines operated by the 
Alaska. Development Company were yielding 10 per cent 
dividends and sometimes as high as 25 per cent, when in 
they hardy yielded .1 per cent. Furthermore, it is 
alleged the company paid dividends, using the money col¬ 
lected for subscriptions for stock. . . . September 25 
a ? was made to blow up the partly finished bridge 
of tbe Chicago Junction Railroad at Thirtv-eighth street 
and Centre avenue, Chicago, and Jeremiah Lynch, a night 
foreman, was killed in an effort to defend the. company’s 
property. Lynch, who had heard two plotters planning 
to blow up the bridge guarded the spot where the men 
were to appear after he had ordered most of the other 
workmen home on account of the danger. When the dyna¬ 
miters appeared Lynch opened fire on them, but they re- 
P'/fd with magazine revolvers, and the foreman fell dead 
with three steel jacketed bullets in his body. There had 
been a two years’ war between a labor union and the 
f??o5? ny erecting the bridge. . . . Twenty-two persons 
lulled, as many more injured, and a whole passenger train 
and half a freight train crushed into splinters was the re- 
of a collision September 25 on the Northern Pacific 
Railroad between the Burlington railroad’s Pacific coast 
llyer, eastbound, and a westbound Northern Pacific freight 
The wreck occurred near Young’s Point. Mont. It is 
said that the crew of the freight had been ordered to side¬ 
track for the passenger train, but had disregarded the 
orders and gone on ahead. Later, when it was remem¬ 
bered that the freight was to take the siding, a flagman was 
sent out to stop the passenger. A light snow was falling 
and the flagman was not seen by the crew of the passenger 
train, which ran into the freight at full speed. . . . The 
forest fire situation in the Adirondacks September 27 was 
desperate. The village of Long Lake West, a thriving lum¬ 
ber community, was wiped out. entailing a loss which will 
exceed $150,000. The hundreds of residents of the village 
barely escaped with their lives, getting away on a train 
which had been despatched to the scene by the Mohawk 
and Malone Railroad when the peril of the village became 
apparent. Heavy rain, September 28, over a wide area 
proved helpful in controlling the fires. There was heavy 
frost in many parts of the West . . . While prepar¬ 
ing a blast on the "Lackawanna Railroad work at Gross 
Keys, Pa., September 27, a foreman and his four assistants 
employed by the Hyde & McFarland Construction Com¬ 
pany. of New York, were blown to pieces bv the explosion 
of 20 pounds of dynamite. . . . Two hundred and 
eighty-nine saloons in Ohio were knocked out September 29 
in 11 county local option elections. This following the two 
elections September 28, in which 50 were put out of busi¬ 
ness, is perhaps the most stunning blow the liquor interests 
have received in option elections. Although it was ex¬ 
pected the drys would win, probably their most ardent 
workers did not expect them to carry all the 11 elections. 
I he majorities were overwhelming. Elections will be held 
within the next two weeks in 15 other counties. In three 
days 390 saloons have been knocked out. . . Failing 
to pay the premiums awarded at the fair held at Ander¬ 
son Ind., during the last week of August and being finan¬ 
cially embarrassed, as it is alleged, the Madison County 
Fair Association has gone into the hands of a receiver 
The receivership was declared upon the petition of Walter 
Kemp, who asserted that the association had failed to pay 
him $19 on premiums awarded on live stock. It was 
further shown in the complaint that the fair association 
is indebted to 121 exhibitors and other winners of fair 
premiums, and that it is also confronted with an unpaid 
balance on a note held by a local bank. The total indebt¬ 
edness is $1,847, and the association is without monev, it is 
said. The failure of the association is generally attributed 
to the heavy loss of patronage because local'newspapers 
wholly ignored the exhibit held in August last. A director 
who had charge of the advertising, decided not to use news¬ 
papers for advertising until the fair was on, and the 
newspapers said nothing about it until it was over and 
was embarrassed financially. The attendance was onlv 
8,000 for the week. A year ago it was 26,000 iii 
a decision handed down by the Court of Appeals at Albany 
N. Y., September 29, it is held that a person who has been 
convicted of a crime and upon whom sentence was 
ground he had not been restored to citizenship having two 
years before been found guilty of burglary when sentence 
was suspended. The question passed upon was whether the 
word “convicted” means the verdict of a jury or the solemn 
judgment of the Court. It is understood the decision will 
affect the right to vote of about 20,000 in this State. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—A meeting of the lecturers and 
Grange workers of New York State has been called by A I? 
Katkamier, president of the Ontario County Grange Lectur¬ 
ers’ Association, which will be held in Atwater Hall 
Canandaigua. N. Y. t October 20. The object of the meeting 
is to increase the efficiency of the Grange lecturer’s pro¬ 
grammes for 1909. Hints and plans will he presented and 
discussed and the following officers of the State Grange 
wil he present and give short addresses: Master F N 
Godfrey, Olean; Secretary AY. N. Giles. Skaneateles; ’Lec¬ 
turer S. J. Lowell. Fredonia: Flora Mrs. P. S. Aldrich 
Palmyra; Ceres Miss Eva Fingar. Germantown; Pomona 
Mrs. Rice McCauley, Stanley. Mr. \V. A. Miller, of the 
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle will also give an ad¬ 
dress. 
The semi-annual convention of the Connecticut Bee- 
Keepers’ Association will he held October 16. 1908 Room 
50, State Capitol. Hartford. Matters of importance to 
progressive apiarists will be discussed by experts. A cordial 
invitation is extended to all bee-keepers. Secretary, J A 
Smith, Box 3S, Hartford, Conn. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
MORE “UPLIFTING” FOR FARMERS. 
Has been Through the Fire. 
Please do not put Mr. T. J. Norton on some hack farm, 
without capital, for he would return from whence he 
came, or become a town charge. Oh, but did you not hit 
bl m vyell on page 737 ! I started to write several pages 
on tins matter, bnt after reading what you have written 
I can’t see that there is much for me to write. I laid 
awake half the night thinking how I would write such a 
letter as would raise “blisters” on said Norton. 
Do I know what it means to start on a farm without 
^apital ?. I am a man of 45. Ten years ago I bought 
this little farm; all the money we had was one hundred 
dollars, no stock or tools. This was an abandoned farm 
in every sense of the word, poor buildings, bushes, sticks 
and stones, in fact “run out.” I cut all the grass first 
year and did not have enough to keep one cow. The first 
AA inter I went_six miles to my work with thermometer 
ar °und 25 and 30 degrees below zero; breakfast at 
5.30 A. M., supper at 7.30 P. M. To make a long story 
short we own our farm, team, seven head of cattle, 100 
hens and 75 turkeys, tools, etc. How did I do it? Buying 
pianos, taking shower baths? No, sir! Vegetables, straw¬ 
berries and a lot of hard work. m 
Vermont. 
Pennsylvania Opinion. 
Abraham Lincoln loved the plain, common people and 
their ways because he well knew that they made this 
country of ours the great nation that it is. The pictures 
of isolation and discontent are drawn by such who know 
little or nothing about average farm conditions. The 
ridiculous, trashy stuff written by some, of which the 
letter written by Mr. Norton to the President and printed 
in The Outlook because it is “so rational in its ideals 
and so human in spirit,” certainly makes disgusting read- 
ing, to say the least. So much has been written about 
the hard lot of farm women. If the President could go 
right into the farm home he would find that in nine cases 
out of every ten the women folks would be the first to 
protest against any change in their calling or condition • 
he would find them perfectly satisfied with their condition 
and consequently happy. All the farmer asks for is a 
square deal, conveniences such as a parcels post, etc., and 
be will he able to take care of himself better than any 
oilier class. When his condition needs changing he can 
make the change himself without the interference of any¬ 
one. The very environment of the farmer makes him a 
resourceful man, able to cope with any difficulty. The 
farmer, who is struggling to build a home and to bring 
up a family to usefulness, represents the highest type of 
American citizenship. The American farmer takes off his 
hat to no one, considers no one his superior, not even the 
self-important Mr. Norton, who has the audacity to write 
a letter to the President about a matter of which he 
knows nothing. The editors of The Outlook also betray 
their ignorance, not alone by printing the letter, hut by 
their foolish comments. As a home builder and a pro¬ 
ducer of wealth, and therefore as a good citizen, the aver¬ 
age American farmer is worth half a dozen of Mr. Nor- 
ton^s class, who stand so ready to teach the “poor, ignor¬ 
ant ’ farmer when he happens to come to town. a. w s 
Pennsylvania. 
As to Railroads. 
Referring to the letter of T. J. Norton to the President 
and your comments on it, I cannot entirely defend farmers’ 
wives as cooks, for there are many bad ones, hut I par¬ 
ticularly desire to defend the farmers themselves from the 
aspersions of a man, who, deserting their ranks as an 
honest toiler and producer for every dollar paid him with 
ineffable impudence, criticizes their poverty while he lives 
on wealth wrung from them largely by railways. True, 
the staff of most of our railways is composed of legally 
honest servants of thieves, for it is a well-known fact that 
the alleged securities of our railways have an apparent 
value of twice the amount of cash ever paid for them. 
It is the farmer who has made seven billions of watered 
railway securities into dividends and interest-paving in- 
vestments by paying “what the traffic will bear” ‘and not 
what he should pay, which is an honest and moderate 
profit on the actual cost of constructing these railways 
Perhaps our critic has not personally engaged in watering 
stocks, and even bond issues; he probably is (from the 
tone of his letter) only the honest servant of the buc¬ 
caneers of finance who prey upon the public. But he is 
unthinking if he does not realize that money is a token 
of labor, and that any man possessing more money than 
he can honestly earn has either stolen it from individuals 
or has taken advantage of evil laws which should be re¬ 
pealed, legalizing the chance or the criminal cunning giv¬ 
ing him possession of it. 
Our critic probably has never thought of the bed-rock 
fact that he is the servant of thieves, whose rivalries in 
rascality, since the days of the colossal and successful 
thefts of Fisk and Gould in 1871, have built up a 14 
billion dollar system of railway “high finance” committing 
myriads of petty thefts upon farmers, to pay amazing 
salaries to railway officials, and to transport them in 
special cars and trains at the expense of these honest 
toilers for their daily bread upon our farms. AA’ill not 
our farmers see to it that every corporation is obliged to 
publish every detail of their financial methods and trans¬ 
actions, so that the public can for themselves learn how 
they are being treated? If our farmers will stop this 
railway pilfering by converting common honesty and honor 
into legal honesty and dealing, if they will boldly demand 
open honesty, and enforce it upon our railway officials, 
they will have taken a long step towards better returns to 
their farms and be able to relieve themselves, their tired 
wives and their_ mothers from the crushing load of un¬ 
ending and ill-paid toil, which now makes so many features 
of farm live unlovely. They will not need the patron¬ 
izing criticisms of a railroad employee to direct them. 
__ ' W. D. M. 
THE SIZE OF A BUSHEL OF APPLES. 
AA’hat is known as the Porter bill, now before Congress, 
seeks to establish a standard measure for apples and a 
standard grading for the fruit. AA’e are verv much in¬ 
terested in this, matter and are trying to collect all the 
data possible with the view of determining what is best 
for us to recommend to our own Legislature. As to the 
package I believe the fundamental point is the legalizing 
of a certain number of cubic inches as a bushel of apples 
for all interstate traffic. That point being established I 
believe a legal “box” of apples should be identical (in 
cubical content) with the legal “bushel,” hut no effort 
should he made to require that the box should he a cer¬ 
tain length, height and width, for the courts would al¬ 
most certainly declare against it. And further that a 
legal “barrel” of apples for interstate shipment should be 
throe tiroes the legal bushel. Having that in view it next 
becomes necessary to decide what should constitute a legal 
bushel of apples. The legal bushel of the U. S. is the 
AA’inehester Bushel of 2150.42 cubic inches. But in 
measuring apples and in fact all kinds of produce of a 
coarse nature it is the custom all over the United States, 
I believe to heap the bushel, and if my information is 
correct, it is the law in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Oregon. California and Ohio to heap it “all it will hold.” 
rsow the point I would like to settle is “how high should 
the cone he,” for the decision of that point will settle 
the cubical contents. Can you give me any light as to 
v hat is custom in that respect in the markets with 
which you have been familiar? Prof. Bailov savs that a 
heaped bushel is 2747 cubic inches. That means a cone 
six inches high on top of a bushel 19AA inches in diameter. 
The bushel proposed by the Int. Apple Shippers (2553 
cubic inches) would require a cone onlv four inches high 
on the same diameter bushel. The Canadian bushel (2200) 
would make scarcely any heap at all, it being almost 
identical with the “imperial bushel” (2218.192), which 
it is doubtless intended to approximate. e. c. t. 
R. N.-Y..—-In this city there is hut little sale of fruits 
and vegetables in actual bushel packages. Potatoes, 
apples, carrots, etc., are often sold in heaped baskets, hut 
they are called haslcets, not bushels. AYhere we have seen 
such stuff sold in actual measures, the bushel basket was 
heaped not more than four inches, and the half bushel 
two to three inches. The dealers seem disposed to sell 
stuff by the package, and the majority of retail buyers 
appear willing to take it on this basis without bothering 
to compare it with a standard measure. Peddlers who 
go about the residence districts with wagonloads of fruits 
or vegetables in bulk often cry out their wares at 10 
cents or 25 cents for “a whole lot.” The buyer notes the 
size of basket and decides whether he wants the huckster’s 
‘ whole lot” at that price. New York State has standard 
package laws, but comparatively little interest is taken 
in their enforcement. Any intelligent buyer can tell a 
snort basket or barrel by its appearance and pay a 
P r !? e -. H e k nows that he would have to pay more 
for a full-sized package than a short one. It is possible 
to regulate the size of boxes and barrels by law, but it 
would be clearly unconstitutional to forbid the use of any 
olhei package so long as it is called a package, rather 
fPmroi 1 ^bushel or barrel. AVe are collecting opinions and 
fi 0 ures from growers, shippers and dealers, and they will 
men >rin t ed sooa ‘ welcome a full discussion by apple 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
section of Michigan is unusually dry. Potatoes 
vill not be a half crop. Oats were fair and are now 50 
excelled , b , UShcL f ( . : °, rn cr «P sood. Early fruits were 
excellent also a fairly good peach crop. AVinter amde 
a f„to„< 1 . I,,lces ,or ptodu “ & *» 
Mears, Mich. G ’ L ‘ M ’ 
rai'n e fo? e fmfr i wJt ry dl T ha F e : Corn about all cut. No 
D ra in for four weeks, and soil is very dry. Some farmers 
b hi ms theu ’ cornfields for wheat seeding, but no wheat 
ba ® bseeded yet as they fear the soil is too dry to 
."'beat safely A little rye has been sown this 
almost | r P v rlngS and wells ] °w. and branches and creeks 
Hillsboro, O. w ‘ E " D ’ 
snit h n/ a +?f St0 ^ Journal prints the following; “As a re- 
suit of the piotracted drought, six large dams of the 
^ oa ^ ' va * er company and the two reservoirs of 
the borough plant are dry. The situation is very acute 
hour 'each* 1 1S J? applled to the residents for only an 
nour each day. I armors are carrying water to Shenan- 
doali instead of vegetables, as there is more profit in 
hauling water than peddling produce. AVater sellsat eight 
wav S te-ff 1 1 ° n ’ a ? d many are compelled to walk a long 
way to get a supply even at that price.” “ 
. T be growing season of 1908 has been one of the driest 
croD h of hl th?s ry emm?v rta ^? C , 0lmty - Potatoes are the money 
countv Thpro n- i" ,, W , e ,u v; e over 25,000 acres in this 
county. There will be less than half a cron. Oats anrl 
is ai eoori re for S ti a fair crop, not up to the average. Corn 
foi this section. AA heat is not grown to anv 
here. No tree fruit grown here. Small fruits were 
a failure on account of drought. Pasture dried ud and 
EveTddeduI St ° Ck - SL0<Ie ttces ^?ddi4 thS? 
Portage Co., VVis. c ‘ w ’ B ’ 
£ ad oo ne weather for two months; last evening. 
too ^rv^ffist 8 ’^ir h r d a th V- nder sh °wer. It was almost 
too aiy last week for seeding, but now the soil i« in 
dei e av COn ns it an fP r seeding, which will begin without 
ueiay, as all the farmers are ready to begin with the 
work. The tobacco is all cut and housed. AVe had a fin! 
"°P of tobacco in this part of York Co. AVheat sells at 
$1 per bushel; corn. 85 cents per bushel; butter, 25 cents 
per pound; eggs, 25 cents a dozen. b p k 
York Co., Pa. a * 
«inT! e ^,-i h v a L be f a no rain , except some light local showers 
as LwnM iho! ’ , res . ult ’ no feed in pastures ; meadows 
as Drown as when just mown; corn a fair crop where 
iT!ht C w d r f0r ’ but „ ve / y Wgbt on many farms. Hay crop 
L f ?bt. bardiy enough for local demands, as many farmers 
annD? i’? y m July. Potato crop nearly a failure; 
- . and P° or ’ with some exceptions prob- 
a )iy two-third ot average crop. Water very scarce, many 
farmers having to draw for their stock, some for a mile 
den! Roos b veit the haid conditions ar e not laid to Presi- 
Charlotte, Vt._ G ‘ M ’ H ’ 
, tJHIO SntAAA’BERRY NOTES.—I am always interested 
in articles on small fruits, especially strawberries It is 
surprising how the appetite for strawberries is growing in 
this country. AYhen I go on the market during the stniw- 
berry season and see thousands of bushels of berries I 
vonder what is to be done with them, but in the course 
of an hour or two they are all disposed of, and so it goes 
every day until the last bushel of the season; they are 
s 9. u ? ht by the storekeeper. No matter how much 
othei fruit is offered for sale, strawberries always go and 
at good prices I am writing of the city of Toledo, Ohio, 
io<L presume it ^ is t he same everywhere. The season of 
1J08 was very dry here during strawberry picking- manv 
patches were badly dried up, but for all the d it weather 
we had two small -patches, about one-third of an acre of 
two varieties, from which we picked and sold $292 worth 
of berries. Varieties, Uncle Jim and Cussawago, the price 
averaging 10 cents per quart, sold at wholesale. P 
Hoiinnd, O. c> H> K> 
DROUGHT BROKEN.—The fearful drought in northern 
isew York was partly broken on September 28. The 
AA’atertown Times says : 
“The 46 days of drought was broken last night by a 
dnvmg rain. It came pushing a cool wind before it. It 
brought more wind with it. It roared in the treetops, it 
splashed on the streets, it spattered on the roofs The 
earth took it in through its dry, cracked lips, and re- 
joicea. The foliage and the grass were washed clean. It 
washed the smoke out of the air and made the earth 
cool and clean, and brought a crisp Autumn morning 
People thank God for it, and put on heavier clothes It 
must have extinguished the forest fires that were threaten¬ 
ing everywnere. it did not raise the streams any, for 
the earth was like a sponge to soak it in. It renewed 
expiring nature and prolonged its life toward a natural 
end. It has probably changed the season from Summer 
into Fall days abruptly, hut it has been a long and glorious 
Summer, and the Autumn bids fair to be a pleasant one.” 
APPLE TRICES.—There is usually interest all over 
the country to know what the famous apples grown on 
the Pacific coast bring. F. AValden in The Ranch of 
Seattle makes the following statement: 
“There is no question but the apple crop is short this 
year; some of our best judges say as short as or shorter 
than last year. James M. Irvine, the editor of the Fruit¬ 
grower, told me the other day that the ravages of the 
apple scab in Missouri are something frightful whole 
orchards are ruined by this disease. Good marketable 
apples will be scarce in many sections of the Mississippi 
vaiiey. A correspondent of the Chicago Packer visited 
the Yakima Valley quite recently and reports- ‘At ores- 
ent buyers are offering from $1.25 to $1.50 per box for 
fancy stock and from 00 cents to $1 for medium fr rades 9 
I have .hist come hack from the Yakima Valiev and know 
of no offers as high as $1.50 per "box, hut such a price 
may have been offered in some localities. So far as I 
know, no offers have been made at all. A dispatch from 
AA’onatchee says; ‘The apple crop hero will he large The 
various fruit growers’ associations expect to place the 
apples in pool at prices ranging from $1.25 to $° *>5 per 
box. ’ Surely these prices ought to be satisfactory’ to the 
growers if they can be realized. The crop of apples will 
in most cases be very clean, and there will not be much 
loss from culling. Nothing hut first-class fruit should be 
packed. The effort sometimes made by a few mistaken 
growers of working in some poor stuff along with their 
good apples will certainly bring some persons to grief, 
and ought to.” _ 
A few years ago no one thought of using oil on the 
roads to lay the dust. Now the demand is such that there 
are several machines specially devised for spreading the 
oil. 
Prof. Forties, of Illinois, states that in the Swedish 
province of Holland in the 10 years—1885 to 1895—29,736 
bushels of May beetles and white gru’ s were collected and 
paid for by the State. 
