1008. 
TUB RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ts6 ! ) 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DO^NfESTIC-—At Lamar, Col., Oct. 22, flood caused 
$100,000 damage. Five people were drowned by the sud¬ 
den rise in the river and many families were rescued by 
boats just as their homes were swept away. One woman 
spent twenty-four hours on a small island before she was 
rescued. . . . With a. roar that was heard for forty 
miles up and down the Shamokin Valley the Weasel maga¬ 
zine of the nitroglycerine plant of the John H. Hamel 
Company, near Shamokin, Fa., exploded Oct. 22. For¬ 
est fires had been raging in the vicinity for several days, 
and it is supposed that the flames ate their way through 
the turf-covered magazine and ignited the explosive. No 
lives were lost, as the company had ordered all its work¬ 
men to retire to safety when the flames first became menac¬ 
ing. . . . Forest fires in the foothills of the Alleghanies 
Which had been threatening several small towns along 
the Pennsylvania-New York boundary Oct. 22 attacked 
the town of Roulette, Fa. (population, 1,800), and wiped 
out the business portion of the village, destroying eighteen 
stores and business blocks and a score of residences. The 
water supply of the town was exhausted some time ago 
and the firemen were helpless against the flames. A hun¬ 
dred persons were homeless as a result of the fire. The 
loss will reach $150,000. Roulette is located in the heart 
of a prosperous oil and lumber region. The loss to the 
oil and timber interests during two weeks in October is 
estimated at. nearly half a million dollars. ... A 
small fire which started in a rubbish heap in the business 
section at Pottsville, Pa., Oct. 22. spread until it had 
destroyed $200,000 worth of property. The water supply 
was so low that, the firemen could not reach second-story 
windows with the streams from their hose. . . . 
Twenty thousand sheep grazing on the Cumbers Mountain 
Range in Rio Arriba County, 140 miles north of Santa 
Fe., N. M.. are reported to have perished in the blizzard 
which raged in that section Oct. 22-25. The storm was 
the worst in years, and snow was from five to ten feet 
deep. Besides, the great loss of sheep, six herders were 
missing. . . . Reports received at Helena, Mont., Oct. 
25, indicate that the previous week’s storm in northern 
Montana stands unprecedented for October, so far as sever¬ 
ity and loss of life are concerned. The United States 
Weather Bureau at Havre recorded six inches of snow. 
The storm extended all along the line of the Great North¬ 
ern, with gales of seventy miles an hour blowing. In 
North Dakota an unusual number of lives were lost among 
sheep herders and many had narrow escapes. The storm 
was accompanied by a gale that drove the cattle so fiercely 
that they tore down wire fences in traveling away from 
the storm. Large flocks of sheep were lost by the herders, 
they drifting and scattering all over the country. Many 
hundreds were chilled to death. ... In Manitoba, 
many thousands of sheep perished in the storm. Ivey Wil¬ 
son, living north of Maple Creek, lost 2,500 animals. 
. . The United States Circuit Court at St. Louis, Mo., 
Oct. 24, refused to issue an injunction restraining the 
Interstate Commerce Commission from putting into effect 
an order reducing rates on cattle shipments from the South¬ 
west to Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and other points. 
The Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway and fifty-five other 
western and southwestern roads had made the application 
for the injunction, alleging that the rates prescribed by 
the commission were confiscatory. . . Major W. H. H. 
Llewelyn, United States Attorney at Las Cruces, N. M., 
who has been placed in charge of the prosecution of the 
cases of alleged violations of the neutrality laws of the 
United States by Mexican revolutionists, reported to the 
Slate Department Oct. 2(5 that two of the revolutionists 
had been convicted in El Paso, Tex. These are the first 
eases to be tried as the result of the arrest of many 
Mexican revolutionists who crossed the border several 
months ago and attempted to start an insurrection in 
northern Mexico. More trials are pending. . . . Dur¬ 
ing the progress of a $500,000 fire that destroyed R. A. 
Rartley’s wholesale grocery at Toledo, O., Oct. 26, Patrol¬ 
man Delhair distinguished himself by carrying two kegs 
of gunpowder through the flames to the street. The fire 
started from a storage room of matches. ... A sen¬ 
tence of six months’ imprisonment for reckless driving of 
an automobile was imposed upon Harry S. Orndorff, of 
Providence, R. I., by Judge Barnard in the Brighton Court, 
Boston, Mass., Oct. 27. Orndorff appealed and furnished 
bail of $500 for his appearance in the Superior Court. Orn¬ 
dorff claimed in his defense that he had eaten poisoned 
food while on his way from Providence to Worcester in 
his machine, and after taking a drink of liquor did not 
know what happened until his autombile dashed into 
a tree. He was also fined $100 for intoxica¬ 
tion. . . . Reports from Mexico state that the Dos 
Bocas oil well, 93 miles southwest of Tampico, Mex¬ 
ico, which was on fire for more than three months last 
Summer, is now giving out suffocating vapors. The well 
is owned by a syndicate of Englishmen headed by Pearson 
& Son. It caught fire on July 4 and was burning up to 
October. The owners, after spending more than $.1,000,000, 
finally succeeded in extinguishing the blaze. It was then 
that the poisonous gases made their presence felt. It is 
believed that the owners will have to close the place en¬ 
tirely. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Society for the Promotion 
of Aigricultural Science will meet at the Shoreham Hotel, 
Washington, D. C., November 16; secretary and treasurer, 
F. W. Rane, State House, Boston, Mass. 
The Illinois State Horticultural Society has arranged 
for a course of lectures and laboratory work along horti¬ 
cultural lines, in addition to its usual interesting pro¬ 
gramme, for its next annual convention to be held at 
Champaign, December 8-18. There will be three sessions 
daily. President, R. O. Graham, Bloomington, Ill.; sec¬ 
retary, W. B. Lloyd, Kinmundy, Ill. 
The next meeting of the New York State Dairymen’s 
Association, which will be held in Utica December 8-11, 
will be devoted almost entirely to the consideration of 
bovine tuberculosis. Details are being arranged by the 
president. Dr. W. H. Jordan, director of the State Experi¬ 
ment Station at Geneva, and Secretary T. E. Tiquin, of 
Sherburne. Granges, boards of health, medical societies 
and other organizations have been invited to send repre¬ 
sentatives, and already about two hundred have arranged 
to do so. All persons who are interested are invited to 
attend the sessions . 
SYMPATHY AND ENCOURAGEMENT FOR 
FARMERS. 
Do the farmers need sympathy and encouragement or 
not? This is a question at present widely discussed all 
over the country. Sympathy and encouragement are all 
right, but capital or credit is what the farmer wants. 
What is the use of knowing all that is needed for mak¬ 
ing a farm pay when there are no means to apply modern 
cultivation? The farmer needs credit for purchasing 
modern machinery, for buying well-bred stock, best seeds 
and honest fertilizer. The old-time method of scratching 
the surface has to be replaced by deeper cultivation and 
application of lime. Believe me, most farmers know it, 
but they don’t know how to face the bill. During the 
last four years I have made a close study of the farming 
conditions in Virginia, Maryland and the eastern part of 
West Virginia, and when I attempt to make a suggestion 
for better conditions it can be only in regard to the 
mentioned districts. Naturally you will find here a large 
number of prosperous farmers, who have their places in 
first-class condition, who can afford to apply modern 
methods and could secure from the banks any loan for the 
asking. These farmers do not need sympathy, for they 
are content. On the other side, you have a larger num¬ 
ber of farmers who are entirely discouraged; who own 
hundreds of acres, and still they are not able to obtain a 
decent living. Their conditions can be traced to ex¬ 
hausted soil and lack of capital. Consequently their soil 
is considered as poor, and no average bank has the cour¬ 
age to loan money for improving the soil. 
After having made analyses of these so-called poor 
soils, I am coming to the point of announcing that there 
is not such a thing as poor soil. Most of these exhausted 
soils contain still all the plant food wanted for raising 
paying crops. But the plant food is not available for the 
roots, the soil is sour and needs deeper cultivation, lime, 
and a leguminous crop to be plowed under. Tell such a 
farmer how to change his methods, advise him to apply 
this or that, talk to him about the wonderful results of 
the experiment stations. What will be the outcome? 
When the adviser has left or the farming magazine has 
been laid aside, the farmer will say: “Well, mother, I 
think that man is right. I should follow his advice, but 
who is willing to invest money in my good intentions?” 
This class of farmers needs banks or loan associations 
whose main business should be to loan money to farmers 
whose industry, ability and character has been investi¬ 
gated thoroughly. The banks should have officers able 
to judge farm conditions, and also able to advise the loan 
applicant regarding the methods for improving the farm 
and consequently the yields. If the farmer needs money 
for improvements and he can get the money only by 
agreeing to use certain methods and to follow the bank’s 
advice, he will stick to it. 
Capitalists should be educated by the daily press to 
understand that farming represents the backbone of the 
nation, and that investments for improving farms are 
safer than anything else. Realizing that we have in the 
large cities thousands of families who came to this coun¬ 
try for farming purposes, but stayed in the cities because 
they had not the proper facilities to start farming, I 
attempted to start colonies wherein small farms could be 
obtained on easy terms. Such farms should have about 
10 acres, a small house, a small barn, and should be lo¬ 
cated near small towns where a good market for truck, 
potatoes and poultry is apparent. I received over 200 
applications from German families, who have been in this 
country for some years, who are well posted on raising 
truck; not loaded with earthly goods, but healthy in 
body and soul. They are ready and willing to secure a 
permanent home by applying hard work, energy and loyalty 
to the United States. I also received enough offers for 
land on easy terms, but I find it impossible to Interest 
capital for building the needed houses. This proved again 
the necessity of loan associations for making investments 
in rural districts. If there is a way to do it the result 
will be wonderful. If it cannot be done we shall miss 
the road that leads to a healthy and prosperous develop¬ 
ment of the rural districts. p. karutz. 
West Virginia. 
R. N.-Y.—In connection with the above read the fol¬ 
lowing news item. Such banks are needed for Americans 
as well as for “the little brown brother” : 
“Manila, October 9.—The Agricultural Bank, founded by 
the government, with a capital of one million pesos, has 
begun operations. Secretary of Finance G. R. Araneta is 
president of the bank, and Insular Treasurer F. A. Brana- 
gan its manager. Real estate and harvested crops are 
the only collateral which will be accepted by the banks; 
interest will be paid at the rate of 10 per cent. The first 
loan was made to an American farmer of Tartao Province. 
It is believed that the bank will be an important factor 
in the restoration and promotion of the agricultural in¬ 
dustry.” _ 
PROSPECTS FOR POTATOES. 
We have not been able as yet to figure out the potato 
crop accurately; there is a shortage undoubtedly in our 
country from the last few years, but the crop in Europe 
is said to be very large, which will admit of importa¬ 
tions, so that we do not expect potatoes to reach exorbi¬ 
tant values here 
Philadelphia, Pa. Hendrickson & Andrews co. 
This has been a very dry afterpart of the Summer 
here in southern Pennsylvania; many farmers could not 
get their plowing done to sow wheat in September. We 
had a rain three weeks ago to moisten the earth enough 
to sow wheat, but on account of the lateness in getting 
plowing finished there has been a great deal of rye 
sown, and also a good deal of corn stubble sown to rye. 
Wheat, 90 cents; corn out of the field, 70 cents; oats, 
50 cents. It is very dry now again and hot through the 
day and cool at night. Potatoes a poor crop; $1 a bushel. 
Bedford Co., Pa. s. K. 
NEW JERSEY FARMERS’ INSTITUTES, NO¬ 
VEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1908. 
Montague, Sussex county, Nov. 10; Layton. Sussex 
county, Nov. 11; Newton, Sussex county, Nov. 12; May- 
wood. Bergen county, Nov. 13; Dover, Morris county, Nov. 
14; Blue Anchor, Camden county, Nov. 16: Mount Holly, 
Burlington county, Nov. 17; Mulliea Hill, Gloucester 
county, Nov. 18, 19; Vineland, Cumberland county, Nov. 
20, 21 ; Williamstown, Gloucester county, Nov. 23; Had- 
donfield, Camden county, Nov. 24 ; Hopewell, Mercer county, 
Nov. 25; Matawan, Monmouth county, Nov. 27; Freehold, 
Monmouth county, Nov. 28; Verona, Essex county, Nov. 
30; Wriglitstown, Burlington county, Dec. 1; ITammonton, 
Atlantic county. Dec. 4; Clayton. Gloucester county, Dec. 
5; Shiloh, Cumberland county, Dec. 7, 8; Bridgeton, Cum¬ 
berland county, Dec. 8; Moorestown, Burlington county, 
Dec. 9, 10; Woodstown, Salem county, Dec. 11, 12; Dela¬ 
ware, Warren county, Dec. 14 ; Blairstown, Warren county, 
Dec. .15; Allamuchy, Warren county, Dec. 16; Stanton, 
Hunterdon county, Dec. 17; South Branch, Somerset 
county, Dec. 18; Middlebusli, Somerset county, Dec. 19; 
Locktown, Hunterdon county, Dec. 21, 22. 
Dec. 28 to Jan. 2, 1909, Farmers’ Week at New Bruns¬ 
wick. Jan. 13. 14, 15, 1909, annual meeting of State 
Board. Other institutes will be arranged for latter part 
of March, 1909. For programmes of institutes or of the 
annual meeting, address Franklin Dye, secretary, Trenton, 
N. J. 
HOPEFUL FOR THE FARM COMMISSION. 
In the issue of the “Literary Digest of August 22, I 
read the comments of the “New York Times” (Ind. 
Dem.), the “New York Evening Post” (Ind.), and the 
“New York Journal of Commerce’ (Fin.), in reference to 
President Roosevelt appointing a commission to uplift 
the farmers. It is evident the above-named papers are 
ignorant of the exact condition of the farmers and the 
benefit which the people, as a whole, derive from the far¬ 
mers’ success. To enlighten the editors, let me inform 
them that farmers are the foundation of the Nation, and 
publishers could not run their papers without them, “be¬ 
cause they could not eat.” The farmer, in general, is a 
genial, hard-working, honest class, preyed upon by the 
money Shylock. the fertilizer agent, the commission man 
and numerous other parasites who sap the profits of his 
toils. If they will let the President alone with his com¬ 
mission and push a good thing along and drop politics 
out of it, publish the advantages of the Land Bureau and 
educate the farmer to up-to-date conditions, we will all 
be better off. I claim the farmer is ignorant from a scion 
tific standpoint and needs government help, which should 
and could be had through the Bureau of Soils, provided 
our Congressmen and Senators would vote a sufficient 
amount to keep the Land Bureau afloat, and not cut their 
appropriation because they could not put other pet bills 
through. If the farmers will rise as a body, regardless of 
party, and request the President and Cabinet to furnish 
the Bureau of Soils with sufficient means, it will benefit 
the farmer by increasing his crops 50 to 100 per cent with¬ 
out any more labor, and the people, in general, by reduc¬ 
ing the cost of the product of the farm. This is the way 
our Government through the Bureau of Soils, when they 
have the coin, does it. A poor farmer, whose land will not 
give him an existence, writes the Bureau and, in reply, 
they send an expert farmer, who is also< a college gradu¬ 
ate. He comes along with an auger, goes over the ground 
with the farmer, takes borings at different places, puts the 
samples in small bags, mails them to the Bureau of 
S«ils and has analyzed them to see what fertilizer the 
land requires to produce results. Then he instructs you 
in reference to the necessity of proper draining, liming, 
etc., and the results are wonderful. The writer, who re¬ 
cently purchased a badly run-down farm that was only 
producing 12 to 15 bushels of corn per acre, will this 
year, under the advice of the Bureau of Soils, average ov< r 
60 bushels, and the ground that was formerly sour and 
wet with stagnant ponds, is now good, fertile land and is 
going to pay a handsome profit, with a man who knew 
absolutely nothing about farming, only the advice from 
the Land Bureau. If the press will give the President and 
his commission a chance, and our Congress and Senate 
make the proper allowances. I feel certain that the Ameri¬ 
can farmer will be very thankful for the results. 
New Castle, Del._ ’ s. G. D. 
INTERNATIONAL ROAD CONGRESS.—Twenty-four 
countries, including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, 
Chili, India and Japan were represented in the first 
International Road Congress, opening at Paris, France, 
Oct! 12. Papers read show that America is far behind 
Europe in the matter of roads. Of the 2,151,570 miles of 
public road in the United States, only 7.14 per cent, or 
153,662 miles is improved, about equal to the mileage of 
magnificent French roads, averaging from 24 to 45 feet 
wide. What are known as communal roads, 200,000 miles 
long, but averaging only 13 feet in width, are as a rule 
better than the American improved roads. The Congress 
is to consider the effect on roads of new means of trans¬ 
port, especially automobiles, and an attempt will be made 
to approximate the best method of constructing the ideal 
road. The papers of experts agree that the essential fea¬ 
ture of a good road is a hard core, preferably of armored 
concrete, making an incompressible foundation with the 
material perfectly bound together, and the surface prop- 
erlly metalled and tarred to prevent dust or mud. Meth¬ 
ods and materials suggested vary greatly, but all agree 
that tar up to the present time has proved most efficacious 
against water and dust. As a rule, Europeans contend 
that main arteries should be about sixty feet wide, forty 
for the driveway and ten on either side for the footpath, 
but the Belgian Institute thinks the ideal road leading 
into cities should be 196 feet wide with space for street 
railways, bordered by sidewalks on one side, metalled sur¬ 
face for automobiles and vehicles, cindered bicycle path, 
soft horseback road with a footpath bordered with turf 
in the center. On account of the high speed of automo¬ 
biles, curves, it is contended, must not be of a radius 
less than fifty-four yards. The American delegates are 
L. W. Page, director of the Public Roads Bureau of the 
Agricultural Department: Clifford Richardson, of New 
York, and Col. Charles 8. Bromwell. superintendent of 
Public Buildings and Grounds of the District of Columbia. 
In addition, Massachusetts sends Harold Parker, chairman 
of the Highway Commission, and A. R. Fletcher; Missis¬ 
sippi has named Charles Scott. Bishop Galloway and Rep¬ 
resentative John Sharp Williams; Washington, Samuel 
Hill; New Mexico. Numa Raymond. 
MISSISSIPPI IMPROVING.—In all the discussion 
started by the learned (?1 railroad man. I have seen 
none from our section of the counry. Let me say first 
that I am glad the brother referred to is a railroad man. 
We don’t need such on our farms. The farm is too good 
a place for such as he. 
Most of our farmers in this section of the South are 
very well-to-do. I do not mean that there are no poor 
people, but I do not know of a destitute family within 
10 miles of me. Most of our homes are very comfortable, 
and yet most of them lack the conveniences of a northern 
home. This does not mean that the head of the family 
is not willing to provide them, but it means simply this : 
we have not outgrown our inheritance. I am only 25, 
yet my father was raised in a home where there was a 
“body servant” for every child; there were house servants, 
and kitchen maids and cooks and farm hands. There was 
always a flock of little “pickaninnies” around to draw 
water and cut wood and do anything that “Marster” or 
“Mister” wanted clone. The kitchen was generally some 
distance from the house, the cistern or well still farther 
yet. There was no special need for convenience. Since 
the Civil War, the same negro labor has been cheap 
and plentiful, and we have just accepted the conditions 
as handed down to us. Now. however, labor is getting 
scarcer. Our towns are building up. great lumber mills 
and railroads are being built, and the negroes are leaving 
the farms. I don’t suppose there are a dozen country 
women in the county who do their own laundry work, 
but there are lots of them who are doing the cooking. 
The men are finding it harder to get satisfactory hired 
help. We find, as a rule, that negro labor is more satis¬ 
factory than the native white labor, because the white 
man, even the class known before the war as “pore white 
trash,” objects to being bossed, and the white man who 
hires him feels a delicacy in bossing him as ho does a 
negro. We are gradually getting away from the all-cotton 
way of farming, and this change brings other changes. It 
has been truly said that it takes 13 months to make a 
cotton crop, and when it is made, it takes all the money 
it brings to pay the debts that were incurred to make 
the crops. A great many of our farmers are beginning to 
diversify, and many are going into the stock business. We 
have a splendid fruit and truck farm country, though at 
present there are not enough people engaged in either to 
make shipping profitable. This is also a good dairy sec¬ 
tion ; in fact there are several dairymen near me w T ho are 
making good money. We have good schools, the A. and 
M. College is right in our midst, and there are prospects 
of an agricultural high school being built near ns next 
year. There are already several counties in the State 
which have the high schools. We have good roads for 
at least eight months in the year, free delivery routes 
and telephones. By Oct. 21 we haven’t had frost enough to 
scorch a leaf on the tomato vines. The woods are full of 
walnuts, liickorynuts and scaly-barks; persimmons are get¬ 
ting ripe and ’possums are fat and juicy, mrs. j. d. h. 
Oktibbeha Co., Miss. 
The unusually dry and warm weather of September, 
which averaged 70 degrees, has put corn in market con¬ 
dition unusually early. Price from 48 to 50 cents for 
from 70 to 80 pounds, according to moisture, or the humor 
of the buyer. Some has already reached the Minneapolis 
market at highly remunerative prices. Winter wheat ac¬ 
reage is curtailed by dry weather. Potato yield fair onlv ; 
price from 35 to 50 cents; some fine stock of Rural and 
Banner type. Butter from 20 to 33 cents; eggs 20 cents : 
onions $1 per bushel. New York apples expected to be 
$4.25 per barrel. v. t 
Yankton, S. D. 
At last the long-hoped for rain has spread over this sec¬ 
tion, extinguishing the forest fires and revived vegetation. 
Streams have not been increased in volume; the ground is 
so dry that it will require very heavy or protracted rains 
to increase the flow of wells and flowing springs. Last 
week a deer passed near us, the first seen around here for 
years, evidently driven out of the forests in northern 
counties by the mountain fires. We hear a great deal 
about the wicked hunters setting fire to the wood, and 
possibly they do occasionally, just as maliciously disposed 
persons start fires, but it is safe to say where one is 
started in this way, a dozen are kindled by locomotives 
running with wide open stacks belching live coals in all 
directions, destroying the valuable young timber on their 
own properties and that of the citizens in the vicinity. 
Then they talk forestry, for the State and National Gov¬ 
ernment to engage in for their future benefit, while they 
go on destroying what the people are expected to produce. 
Regarding the wasteful destruction of timber, while ir is 
not on the whole a great waste in what is used for cigar 
boxes, it yet amounts to a considerable quantity that could 
be used over and over for refilling if our foolish Internal 
Revenue laws did not prohibit their use more than once. 
The revenue stamps must be destroyed and it would be 
equally nonsensical to require beer kegs to be destroyed 
after once used. Last week we picked green Lima beans, 
and watermelons; although we had frost recently these 
were not damaged. The clovers and Fall seeding of grain 
are much better in appearance than was expected during 
the dry period. Alfalfa sown in August ’ooks promising. 
On account of building improvements, good roads construc¬ 
tion and steady work in the collieries, mechanics and 
laborers were sent here from other sections, so that busi¬ 
ness was brisk around us all Summer, and wage-? good. 
Pine Grove, Pa. w. h s. 
