1008. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
541 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Four lives were lost, fifty thousand acres 
of growing corn and cotton inundated and more than a 
thousand persons rendered destitute by breaks in levees 
on the Red River .Tune 10 at Bayou Pierre, 15 miles north 
of Couschatta. and at Westdale, 20 miles south of Grand 
Cane, La. The wife of Frank Ostra, a Cherokee Indian, 
and her three young children, living in the flooded dis¬ 
trict, were swept away in their home and drowned. Ap¬ 
peal has been made to the Legislature for relief for the 
sufferers. . . . All calculations of experts as to the 
extent of the flood at the junction of the Kaw and Missouri 
Rivers were upset by the continued rise of the Missouri. 
The flooding of the stockyards at Armourdale, Mo., and 
the cutting off of railroad communication almost suspended 
the cattle market. Five railroad lines were tied up. 
Convention Hall. Kansas City, was opened to refugees. 
At least 15,000 persons have been driven from their homes. 
. . . The reports of the laboratory of the Health De¬ 
partment in Manhattan show that since November 1 there 
have been more than 70 cases of rabies among dogs on 
Staten Island. In each case the dog has been killed and 
the brain of the animal examined at the laboratory, and 
in every instance signs of rabies were discovered. 
“Guilty as charged in the indictment,” was the verdict 
returned .Tune 12 by the Federal court jury at. Rochester, 
N. Y., which tried the case of the Standard Oil Company, 
accused of violations of the Elkins law through accepting 
concessions from the railroads. As there are 40 counts 
in the indictment and the jury has convicted the company 
on each one, a fine of $800,000 could be imposed if the 
Court wished to mete out the maximum punishment. The 
maximum penalty is $20,000 on each count. Last year 
Judge Hazel fined the New York Central $15,000 in a 
similar case. ... A dynamite explosion on the Lake 
Superior branch of the Grand Trunk-Pacific Railway 25 
miles from Ivenora, Manitoba, killed 10 men June 12. 
The catastrophe happened at Winnipeg crossing, where 
Foreman Simmons and a helper were charging two fresh 
holes with 75 pounds of dynamite. What fired the dyna¬ 
mite is a mystery never to be solved. The huge charge 
exploded, burying 12 men in a mass of rock, 10 of whom 
were dead when assistance arrived. The two others were 
severely injured. They can tell nothing of how it hap¬ 
pened. . . . The largest land deal of years in Wash¬ 
ington has just been closed, whereby Berne bankers, for a 
Swiss colonization company, purchased 200,000 acres of 
logged-off lands around the head of ITood Canal, 30 miles 
west of Tacoma. All the timber remaining is to be re¬ 
moved within four years. The price is* $1,500,000, to be 
paid in instalments. The Swiss colonization company 
will bring to Tacoma 24,000 Swiss colonists, with house¬ 
hold equipment and cattle. A town will be established in 
each township and the colonists will engage in agriculture, 
dairy, pottery making and other simple manufactures. Each 
will receive a piece of farm land and a town plot, the 
company receiving one-tenth of each year’s earnings until 
payments are completed with low rate of interest. The 
colony will be larger than those successfully established 
in California, New Zealand and on the Atlantic Coast. 
. . . June 15 a big automobile ran away on West 56th 
street, New York, dashed on to a pier, and turned a com¬ 
plete somersault into the North River. Of the six in¬ 
mates of the car one jumped and escaped, a second was 
rescued from the river and four others were drowned. 
A parcels post convention has been signed by the United 
States and France to become effective on August 15. The 
convention provides for parcels up to four pounds and six 
ounces at a rate of 12 cents a pound. Later Postmaster- 
General Meyer announces that the maximum weight will 
be increased to 11 pounds. . . . Rabies has spread so 
alarmingly in the District of Columbia that President 
Roosevelt has ordered the District Commissioners to take 
precautionary measures. The President may issue an order 
reviving the" old muzzling regulation. A report made pub¬ 
lic .Tune 15 by Dr. A. D. Melvin, chief of the bureau of 
animal industry of the Department of Agriculture, shows 
that in the last six and a half months 63 suspected dogs 
have been submitted to the bureau for bacteriological 
examination, 47 of which were found to be genuine cases 
of rallies. Six developed negative results and in failed 
of positive determination and are being examined further. 
Thirty-nine other dogs examined showed the presence of 
rabies. Forty-three human beings and 26 animals were 
bitten by these dogs. . . . President Roosevelt has 
appointed three commissioners to represent the United 
States on the joint international commission to investigate 
the opium question in the Far East. They are Hon. 
Thomas Burke of Seattle, Dr. Hamilton Wright of Maine, 
and Dr. Charles D. Tenney, Chinese Secretary of the 
! American Legation at Pekin. Similar commissioners will 
be appointed by all the Powers interested in the suppres¬ 
sion of the use of opium. The joint commission will 
meet in Shanghai on January 1, 1900. Messrs. Burke 
and Wright will collect information on the opium traffic 
in the United States and the Philippine Islands and Dr. 
I Tenney will study the situation in China. Thomas Burke 
I is a well-known attorney and jurist of Seattle, Wash, 
j Dr. Wright has traveled extensively in the Far East and 
' has made a study of all phases of the opium evil. . . . 
The International Harvester Company has purchased a 
large hemp factory at Merida, Mexico, and will manufac- 
| ture sacks and binder twine on a large scale. The factory 
has been idle for several years. A company of hemp 
growers is being formed in Yucatan to establish a similar 
i factory at Merida. The combine of hemp growers, which 
was formed several months ago to fight the International 
i Harvester Company, has gone to pieces and the company 
i is now buying the raw hemp at its own prices. 
I A block of property including 19 lots on Fifth Avenue, 
1 New York, extending from 37th to 38th streets, was re- 
[ cently sold for $7,000,000. . . . The question of pro- 
i hibition and saloon regulation came up before the Louisi¬ 
ana Legislature June 15. The House of Representatives 
i voted down the proposal to submit the question of pro¬ 
hibition to the voters, 58 to 47, and then passed a rigid 
regulation measure, the Shattuck bill, by a vote of 82 to 
24. The bill doubles the amount of liquor license, pro¬ 
hibits the carrying on of the liquor business in connec¬ 
tion with any "line, forbids brewers or wholesale liquor 
dealers to have any interest in any bar and prohibits 
music, pictures or games of any kind in a saloon. It 
will close a majority of the saloons in New Orleans and 
the State. Thirty out of 59 parishes in Louisiana are 
already dry, many of them having so voted in the last 
, year. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—At a meeting of the Executive 
Committee of the National Dairy Show Association, it was 
decided that the third annual show of the Association 
shall he held at the Coliseum in Chicago beginning in 
December, 1908. The committee also appointed A. J. 
Glover, of Ft. Atkinson, Wis., general manager. 
The Department of Agriculture has amended its regu¬ 
lations governing the inspection and quarantine of im¬ 
ported animals so as to require a quarantine of 30 days 
for sheep imported from Canada for breeding purposes. 
The regulations as amended provided that all sheep im¬ 
ported into the United States from Canada for breeding, 
grazing, or feeding must be inspected at the port of entry 
by an inspector of the Bureau of Animal Industry, and 
also must have been inspected by a Canadian official veter¬ 
inarian and be accompanied by a certificate signed by him 
stating that he has inspected the sheep and has found them 
free from disease, and that no contagious disease affecting 
sheep has existed in the district in which the animals 
have been kept for six months preceding the date of 
importation. Sheep which upon inspection by an inspector 
of the Bureau of Animal Industry do not show signs 
of scabies or other diseases may he imported from a 
district infected with scab if such sheep are accompanied 
by a certificate signed by a Canadian official veterinarian 
stating that they have been twice carefully dipped under 
his personal supervision, or under the personal supervision 
of another Canadian official veterinarian, in one of the 
dips approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. Tn addi¬ 
tion to the lime-and-sulphur and tobacco-and-sulphur dips 
heretofore authorized, the amendment allows the use of 
approved coal tar, ci’eosote and cresol dips. 
The Wayne County Fruit Growers’ Association has ar¬ 
ranged to hold its annual field meeting on July 1, at 
Williamson, N. Y., on the fruit farm of Messrs. J. fj. 
Teats' Sons. This farm comprises about 300 acres de¬ 
voted almost entirely to tree fruits, with peaches as a 
leader. The owners are extremists on thorough tillage, 
and as a result their orchards are always in “show” 
condition. _ 
THE GEORGIA PEACH CROP. 
When I was down here the last days of April I knew 
peaches were large and fine for so early, but did not realize 
how soon they were coming. But on May 22, coming down 
from one of our hill orchards where the pink of belated 
blooms was yet to be seen I got a wire from here that 
first carload of Greensboro were picked that day. So I 
had to hike down here where we have been making daily 
shipments since. Carman and Waddell are now (June 15) 
about all gone, and we start in on Hiley to-day ; big, rosy 
red fellows that are good for sore eyes, as well as delicious 
to eat. If you have not yet planted any Hiley you must 
do so next Spring. As beautiful and good as Mountain 
Rose and a week earlier. Belle of Georgia and Elberta 
will be moving from here by June 25, 15 days earlier than 
usual. We are having superb peach weather. Cool, clear 
nights, and bright, hot, dry, sunny days; plenty of ice, 
cars, good labor and all conditions perfect, except low 
markets at your end of the line. One good thing about .this 
great crop of good peaches in Georgia this year is that the 
poor can eat their fill of good peaches at low prices, even 
if the grower gets little or nothing for his labor. Labor¬ 
ers here, the crate and basket men, ice men and the rail¬ 
road all get their full share as usual. So it puts a lot 
of good money in circulation. When returns come in 
poor I go out and look over my 100-acre corn patch now 
eight feet high, real Irish green and showing two to four 
ears to many a stalk, and feel rich. I know all our mules 
are to have a full reward for their year’s work. I also 
have a 24-acre field of sorghum and cow peas broadcast 
for hay that would do your eyes good. It is a great, good 
year here for all except cash profit. J. h. hale. 
•Fort Valley, Ga.__ 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Crops are looking well. Hay, oats, corn and potatoes 
are very promising; fruit will be light crop, apples espe¬ 
cially, in this section. e. m. w. 
Danbury, Conn. 
Prospects here* are excellent. The mulched orchards are 
making a magnificent growth. If anyone doubts the suc¬ 
cess of the method they should come here and do some 
observing. The wet season is hard on the cultivated 
plots* the trees at present are behind the mulched ones. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. grant g. hitchings. 
We had a drv Winter and Spring here, but for the past 
five weeks it has been very wet. Corn is not all planted 
yet (.Tune 8), a great deal on bottom land will*have to 
be replanted, and what was planted is getting so weedy 
it will be a hard matter to get it cleaned. I think this 
is generally true of southern Nebraska apd northeastern 
Kansas. We expect to have some fruit of nearly all 
kinds grown here. d. t. g. 
Ci’ete, Neb. 
Apple crop vei*y poor, perhaps 10 per cent of a crop; 
cold wet weather at time of blooming I think was the 
cause of apples dropping. This is the second failure in 
succession for the apple crop, and farmers have lost hun¬ 
dreds of dollars thereby. Peaches, one-half crop. Grapes 
and berries full ci*op. Co^n and oats and other crops up 
to average. Weather dry and cool; times rather dull; 
produce dull sale. F - a. k. 
Gazil, W. V., June 15. 
We have had a cold late Spring in this section. Hay 
crop will be light. Oats sown late, but are growing nicely. 
Corn about all planted, and some fields spotted on ac¬ 
count of poor germination. Rye will be a poor crop gen¬ 
erally. Apple blossoms were scarce but plenty of small 
fruits. Oats worth 65 cents per bushel; corn 90 cents * 
rye 80 cents; buckwheat $1.25 to $2 for seed, of which 
there will be a large acreage sown. Butter 25 to 30 cents 
per pound : eggs 22 cents and wool 18 cents, which is the 
lowest price for sevei*al years. I. L. 
Schenectady Co., N. Y. 
I have just enjoyed seeing 10 acres of pxeonies in full 
bloom near Queens, L. I., and with special paxony cata¬ 
logues profusely illustrated from photographs, made notes 
and came away with an armful of giant blossoms. At 
Queens one may witness the quick transformation of farms 
into real estate—from farms into building lots. We saw 
adjoining the paeony nursery .a plot of nine aci’es that 
we were informed recently changed owners upon payment 
of $60,000. Of course such sudden rises in value boosts 
up the taxes on the surrounding farm land and begets a 
lot of worry and deferred hopes in the minds of farmers 
who become afraid that they might not ask enough for 
their farms and get it right away. With big signs up all 
around offering as bargains lots at six to eight hundred 
dollars each, of course every land owner wants to sell at 
the highest figure, but how on earth or out of the earth 
can he hold on to what he has until he gets what he wants 
for it? That’s the question. J. y. p. 
I see no reason why we should not have bountiful crops 
of all kinds as conditions are at pi*esent. Of course 
there are always neglected fields and these are bound to 
be failures in the best of seasons. I think Winter apples 
will be scarce but this is not a fruit section. At least, 
very few pav much attention to its cultivation and pres¬ 
ervation. Hav will be a big crop, a little too wet on low 
undrained meadows. I see no cause to wonder at Mr. 
Hummer’s big crop of hay from newly cleared land as it 
is described on front page, issue of June 6. I would take 
it to be the equal of any soil to be found anywhere, and 
would produce as well as long as kept in that condition. 
Of course the labor of clearing and subduing it is something 
ti*emendous. I believe I could put up hay with a force 
like that pictured on same page at my command. This 
county is better adapted to dairying and stock raising than 
anything else, and is drifting that way more and moi*e 
evex*y year. All we lack is New York markets and trans¬ 
portation. Extra creamery butter is 22% cents net. The 
temperature has averaged much higher the past month 
or two than for the same time a year ago. Nearly 60 
degrees instead of 40 or less. We are just beginning to 
get permanent bridges and culverts of concrete. I sup¬ 
pose the better the roads the more we will have to dodge 
autos. w. s. 
Jo Daviess Co., Ill. 
In the Chautauqua and Erie grape belt, grapes, our 
most important crop, are looking the best in yeax*s. The 
crop this year will be medium owing to light wood growth 
last yeai*, but the new growth of wood is fine. The sea¬ 
son is from two to three weeks ahead of last year. Apples, 
peaches, pears, and all plums except Japans, which are 
an exti*a heavy crop, are a light crop. Bush borides are 
in excellent shape, and promise a record-breaking yield. 
Sti*awberries ai*e drying up bodily except those mulched. 
It pays to mulch, but few go to the trouble and expense 
jo do so. Choice strawberries are bringing $3.20 per bushel 
readily in local mai’kets, and the crate is returned to 
grower. Hay is a fair crop, clover in full blossom. We 
i*aise a little" Alfalfa here; it was fine this year and is all 
in tho barn now and without a drop of water on it. We. 
have not had any i*ain since Decoration Day when we 
had a terrific storm. Land that was not bx*oken up well 
the first week after the rain is very hard now, and cannot 
be worked until after a x-ain. It always pays to keep land 
worked up well and mellow, and this year is no exception. 
Oats where they could be got in early ai*e fine. Cox*n is 
very promising, and most of it was in in good season. 
Garden truck is looking fine. Early peas are all gone 
and Telephones coming on. Beans in blossom, also pota¬ 
toes ; early tomatoes as big as walnuts. There was a large 
acreage of new gi'apes set this yeai*, and they ai*e looking 
well where they have been cared for. An additional grape 
pest has been discovei'ed at Fredonia; it is a gnat that 
deposits eggs in the bud befoi*e it blossoms, killing it. 
While some small flats are badly affected the amount of 
damage done is trivial and almost entirely to early vari- 
ties. j. v. M. 
Ripley, N. Y. 
WESTERN CATTLE AND PRICES. 
It is not true that the farmers of the West were com¬ 
pelled to rush their cattle on the market during the recent 
money stringency, for the reason that they could not secure 
money from our banks. However, ft is true that on ac¬ 
count of shortage and high price of grain the packers and 
eastern dealers bore the prices down until feeders were 
discouraged and tired of holding on expensive feed, and 
sold, then the prices went up to the detriment also of the 
consumer. R. T. ST. JOHN. 
Iowa. 
A great many farmers in this State did sell their cattle 
in an effort to raise money during the i*ecent panic. And 
a good many others were forced to sell because they 
could not get money to buy grain. Any amount of cattle, 
after being fed corn for two and thi’ee months were sold 
in Chicago for less than they cost when put on feed. 
In fact nearly everyone who fed cattle last Winter and 
sold them before the middle of March lost money on them. 
Since that time prices have gone up enough to make a 
pi*ofit for the feeders, but most all of them have sold out 
and cannot benefit by it. There are very few cattle ready 
for market at the present time. h. l. pike. 
Iowa. 
The season of 1907-8 was not as good in the poultry 
business as two years befoi*e. The money panic hurt 
trade in Fall and late Spring. During February and 
March the trade was as heavy as ever. The very high 
prices of feed I think are hurting trade too. I would 
say prepare for a bumper year coming, for tho wheat 
crop promises extra large and the corn is out early and 
if it is very good everything will hum again, and those 
who are ready will catch the honey. The demand for 
baby chicks is on the increase. w. w. kulp. 
Pennsylvania. _ 
At Hunts, N. Y., a carload of calves was recently left 
on the Erie track all day, waiting for the pick-up freight. 
Some one described as “a large man with whiskers,” evi¬ 
dently moved by the incessant bleating of the impi’isoned 
animals, opened the car door thi*ee times within a few 
hours, with the result that the weary train men had to 
chase calves all over the village, some of the animals 
getting away entirely, while i*ailroad traffic was tied up. 
The railroad detectives are looking the matter up. There 
is so much needless brutality involved in the shipping 
of live calves that the action of the “lax*ge man with 
whiskers” hardly excites sux*prise. 
DAMAGE BY PHEASANTS.—-I do not believe the pheas¬ 
ant is a sei’ious menace to farm crops. They do some 
damage it is true, in fields located near swamps and woods, 
but this injury is more than balanced by the good they 
do in destroying noxious weed seeds. The instances ar7> 
rare in which a pheasant will destroy as much coi*n 
before harvest as rats will after the corn is in the crib. 
Some farmers with an isolated field of corn, near the 
haunts* of the pheasants, certainly suffer great damage, 
and really have a case against the “bird of beauty.” 
However, were it not that farmers must harbor the pheas¬ 
ant for the sport and pleasure of the would-be aristocrat, 
but little would be heal’d about the depredations of the 
bird. It’s the principle involved that irritates. 
Macedon, N. Y. a. b. k. 
ASPARAGUS RUST.—The Massachusetts Asparagus 
Growers’ Associaion is studying the Asparagus rust ques¬ 
tion. Their object is to find a remedy for the disease, or 
to breed some variety that will resist it. The United 
States Department of Agricultui*e and the Massachusetts 
Experiment Station are both helping. You can help also 
if you will. Answers are wanted to the following ques¬ 
tions 1. How many acres of asparagus do you grow? 2. 
What varieties and area of each? 3. When was each 
variety planted? 4. When did rust first attack your beds? 
5. What vai’iety has pi’oven to be most rust-resistant? 
6. Can you estimate the annual damage to your beds by 
the rust? 7. Have you any suggestions as to methods of 
combating this disease? If vou are an asparagus gi*ower 
it will be to your advantage to send answers to these 
questions to Charles W. Pi*eseott, Concord. Mass. The 
object is to get all the information possible. Your ex¬ 
perience will be welcome. 
MUZZLING DOGS.-—The following circular is issued by 
the New York Department of Agriculture: 
“A few people are still strongly opposed to muzzling 
dogs for protection against rabies, and on this account it 
is sometimes difficult to secure proper observance of the 
x’abies quarantine established by the State Department of 
Agriculture. The Department officers and others are au¬ 
thorized to shoot dogs found in violation of the quarantine, 
but such measures seem very harsh and they ai*e never 
resorted to unless it is deemed absolutely necessai*y. All 
authorities on the subject agree that muzzling of dogs 
is essential in any district where a rabid dog has been 
found, and the muzzling must be continued for a few 
months after the development of the last case. If this is 
not done, the disease is likely to spread rapidly among 
dogs. Other animals and persons also, are liable to become 
infected and suffer horrible agony which is almost sure to 
end in death.” 
In Great Britain and Berlin figures show that when 
muzzling was adopted the number of cases of rabies fell 
off from 672 in 1895 to nine in 1899. 
FARMING IN VIRGINIA.—My father owns a 600-acre 
’ farm on the James River near the little village of War¬ 
ren. Myself and two brothers work the farm. We have 
65 aci*es in corn, 12 acres in tobacco, 15 acres in oats and 
a large watermelon patch, and a good garden. We have 
had good seasons so far, and the crops are looking well, 
but the fruit crop is short, owing to the late frost; very 
few peaches are to be seen. The main tx*ouble with farm¬ 
ers of this community is that they don’t cut enough grass. 
They woi*k a lai*ge crop and let the land lie out for two 
or three years, and when they want to cultivate it again 
it is all washed away. They would do better with smaller 
farms and keep them in good shape and get a better yield 
per acre. Now our average yield is not over 40 bushels 
of corn to the acre. 20 bushels of oats and 12 bushels of 
wheat. If we would put the land in Crimson clover and 
use more fertilizer we would double the crop. I am also 
interested in poultry as well as farming. I raise S. C. 
Brown Leghorn hens and find them very satisfactory, both 
as layers and bi*eeders. I have turned out about 80 
pullet's and expect to go in on a lai’ger scale next year. 
Warren, Va. f. t. p. 
GRAND ISLE CO., VERMONT.—After a late discourag¬ 
ing Spi'ing the weather about June 1 turned fair, and the 
corn is now practically all planted ; some is up and culti¬ 
vated and all crops look well. The hay crop looks the 
most promising in years, and farmex*s are happy in think¬ 
ing that they will not have to buy as they did last Winter. 
Dairying is the principal industry, and a number of silos 
are put up evei*y year, most of them cheap stave affairs 
that will last about 10 years at most. What is the best 
way to save these stave silos before they ai*e too far gone? 
Has anyone lined them with galvanized iron, lath and 
cement? These iron laths look good to me for this pur¬ 
pose, as they would act as a hoop, being in sti*ips 17 
inches by eight feet. Butter at present, 25 cents: eggs, 
15 cents; wool, 18 cents and none sold. More sheep kept 
than eight or 10 years ago and lambs have sold high late 
years ($5 to $9 each in the Fall). This county is a large 
producer of fruit, and this Spi’ing every tree blossomed ; 
small prices are expected. If any i*eaders have seen Al¬ 
falfa put into a silo, cut, uncut or mixed with coi*n at 
filling time, please report results. The Champlain Valiev 
is the only part of the State that is able to make anv 
success at gi*owing Alfalfa, but there are a number o'f 
very good fields here. island farmer. 
Jxxne 20. 
A neighbor wants to know what is the use of trying 
to grow Crimson clover hay when you can’t get anv 
weather to cure it. A ton of that hay will contain 40 
pounds of nitrogen—as much as four tons of stable 
manure. If the stock cannot eat it let the crops do so. 
