1908. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
637 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Judges Grosscup, Seaman and Bakery 
composing the United States Court of Appeals for the 
Seventh Circuit, July 22 reversed unanimously the de¬ 
cision of Judge I.andis, in the District Court, fining the 
Standard Oil Company of Indiana $29,400,000 in the 
Government’s suit against it, and remanded the case for 
retrial. Following the decision the Federal attorneys an¬ 
nounced that the Government had thirty days within 
which to file a petition for a rehearing, and that this 
step would be taken within the allotted time. In the 
case that was reversed the Standard Oil Company of In¬ 
diana was found guilty of accepting rebates on ship¬ 
ments of oil from its refinery at Whiting, Ind., to Bast 
St. Louis, Ill. Judge Landis fined the company $20,000 
on each of 1,462 counts, each count representing a car¬ 
load shipment. This opinion of three judges of the 
higher court leaves little of the contention that each car¬ 
load constituted a separate offense. Even the various 
shipments, of which there were about five hundred, could 
not be considered as separate offenses under the ruling 
of the Court of Appeals. The fine should have been based 
on settlements between the railroad and the oil com¬ 
pany, the opinion holds. Of these there were thirty-six. 
The' maximum fine on this basis would amount to $720,- 
000, and the minimum $36,000. It is declared that $223,- 
000 is the total amount which the Standard Oil Com¬ 
pany is alleged to have received as rebates on the 
shipments in question. In the event that a rehearing is 
denied, the Government may go to trial on the original 
indictment, containing 1,462 counts. There are also 
seven other indictments, containing 4,422 counts. As a 
vast amount of work has been done on the case already 
decided and reversed, it is considered unlikely that an 
entirely new case will be instituted. The record of the 
present case contains over a million and a half words,i 
and is estimated to have cost the Government $200,000. 
Another move which may be made by the Federal at¬ 
torneys is to transfer the prosecution from this jurisdic¬ 
tion either to the Western New York District or to the 
Eastern Tennessee Court. In these two districts the 
Government investigation led to indictments containing 
about two thousand counts against the Standard Oil 
Company. . . . Night riders burned the Illinois Cen¬ 
tral stations at Graeey, Otter Fond and Cerulean Springs, 
in Christian County, Ky., July 21. The object is sup¬ 
posed to have been revenge for the action of the com¬ 
pany in allowing the State militia to camp on the rail¬ 
road property at Cobb during a disturbance two weeks 
before. When the soldiers arrived food was refused them, 
and they were told they would not be permitted to es¬ 
tablish a camp. At Graeey July 22 20 masked and armed 
night riders captured the telephone exchange, took the 
two operators with them to the station, and after set¬ 
ting the house on fire rode away. At Cerulean Springs 
the burning was quietly accomplished. At Otter Fond, 
after the building was fired, the night riders shot guns 
and pistols and then rode away. Each raid was made 
by a different squad. John Stephens, a farmer of the 
I.amasco section, in Lyon County, the heart of the night 
rider district, remains in Paducah while his farm is 
going to ruin. He fears to return to attend to his crop. 
The night of July 13 he was taken to an old well near 
his home, his hand tied with wire and bowlders fastened 
to his feet by night riders, who thought he had con¬ 
fessed to County Attorney Krone secrets of the organ¬ 
ization, including a plot to rob the bank at Eddyville. 
He convinced them of his goo.d faith, and they released 
him. “Buddy” Nickle, who lives between the Tennessee 
and Cumberland rivers, and who testified against Dr. E. 
Champion, the only night rider convicted, has fled to 
Missouri, following a whipping by masked men. . . . 
As Walter Goodwyn, who betrayed night riders’ secrets 
in Trigg county, Ky„ was returning home July 27 from 
:i neighbor’s house he was fired on seven times by men, 
lying in ambush. One bullet passed through his jaw 
and was extracted later from under his ear. Ilis 
condition is serious. Goodwyn at the last term of court 
told the names of seven men who, with himself, com- 
posed, he said, a night rider squad at Center Furnace. 
Until recently he was under constant protection of sol¬ 
diers. Goodwyn’s house was burned shortly after he 
sought the protection of the soldiers. . . . Six State 
militiamen were killed and about 300 more or less in¬ 
jured by a terrific electrical storm July 23, which struck 
Camp Alexander Hays, Jr., near Gettysburg, Pa. Gov. 
Stuart’s tent was struck by lightning and he narrowly 
escaped being killed. The camp where the entire militia 
of the State was encamped was thrown into a state of 
the wildest panic while the storm lasted. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Homestead entries in North¬ 
western Canada show that Americans are much in the 
lead. During the past five months there were 738 Ameri¬ 
can entries, 394 English, and 333 Canadian for Ontario. 
In all there were 10,502 homestead entries, which is 922 
more than for the same pei’iod last year. 
B. E. Porter, of the 1906 graduating class in the Ani¬ 
mal Husbandry Department of the Iowa State College, 
has just been elected Professor of Animal Husbandry in 
the Hawaii Agricultural College, at a salary of $1,800 
per year. The position is an excellent one, and offers 
great opportunities for future promotion. 
The Blue Grass Fair will be held at Lexington, Ky., 
August 10-15. 
The executive committee of the National Wool Gather¬ 
ers’ Association discussed plans July 23 for fighting the 
wool combine by enlarging the storage warehouses and 
markets at Omaha and establishing new houses at Denver 
and Chicago. The association will hold another meeting 
at Salt Lake City on August 25, when the matter will be 
definitely settled. The object is to eliminate the middle¬ 
man in the wool business. 
The Summer meeting of the New York State Fruit Grow¬ 
ers’ Association will be held at the College of Agriculture, 
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., August 19-20. The fol¬ 
lowing programme has been arranged: Wednesday, Au¬ 
gust 19, 2 P< M., address of welcome by Director Bailey;{ 
response by President Cornell; symposium on orchard para¬ 
sites, Professors Whetzel, Stewart, Slingerland and Par¬ 
rott ; question box; demonstration of spraying machinery. 
Wednesday, 8 P. M., “The Department of Agriculture and 
the Fruit Grower,” by Commissioner Pearson; address by 
Director Bailey. Thursday, August 20, 9 A. M., member's 
of the association will meet at the College of Agriculture, 
where carriages will be provided for a drive through the 
University Campus, and to points of interest about the 
farm. A boat will be chartered for an excursion down the 
lake. The orchard of Mr. T. II. King, Trumansburg, will 
be visited, and also “Baliwick,” the country residence and 
farm of Director Bailey. The Departments of Plant 
Pathology and Entomology of the Cornell College of Agri¬ 
culture and the Geneva Experiment Station will co-operate 
in making an exhibit of the diseases and insect pests re¬ 
lating to fruit. This will be in charge of experts, who will 
explain the nature of these enemies and suggest measures 
for combating them. 
EARLY POTATO CROP SHORT. 
I enclose you a report from our daily paper in regard 
to the potato crop. I am wondering if it can be true. 
We have 6% acres in potatoes; the early ones will not 
pay for digging, but the late ones are looking fine and the 
ram of July 21 has wetted the ground finely, so we 
have hopes of a good crop. Oats are a total failure. 
Ilay light, but we got it in in fine shape, and most of 
the farmers are through (July 22). Corn small, but 
growing fast, and the fields are free from weeds. Berries 
ar ® a good crop, but apples will be scarce; no peaches 
and but a few plums. All stock in good flesh, but cows 
are shrinking fast in milk on account of the drought 
and flies. Taken altogether the outlook is not eucourag- 
ln K for the farmer this season in this vicinity. 
Binghamton, N. Y. E. P. B. 
R. N.-Y.—The report speaks of the poor condition of 
potatoes—caused by drought and blight. The early pota¬ 
toes are nearly a complete failure in southern New York. 
I he paper also reports failure in New England and Long 
Island on account of drought, with great shortage in New 
Jersey. Our own reports indicate that this is a fair 
statement for the early crop. It is without doubt short, 
and prices will rule high until the late crop comes in. 
While the late crop is backward we think the recent rains 
will bring it out and give a fair yield as compared with 
former years. __ 
DESTROYING SCALE-RIDDEN TREES. 
The New York Times for July 10 contained the follow¬ 
ing : 
“Port Chester, N. Y., July 19.—That many of the fine 
orchards on the big country estates, among them those of 
Hobart J. Park, of Park & Tilford, and Mrs. Ileman 
Clark, in the vicinity of Port Chester, shall be wiped 
out has been decreed by Inspector Niles, of the New 
Y'ork State Department of Agriculture, and it is expected 
that within a month there will not be an apple tree 
standing within the village of Port Chester. 
“The cause of this action is the San Jos6 scale, which 
has attacked nearly all of the trees in this vicinity. Indi¬ 
viduals have been fighting it, Mr. Park alone having spent 
nearly $5,000 in spraying the trees, but so many people 
have neglected their trees that the pest has spread, so that 
it now infests nearly every tree in the place. Notices have 
been sent to orchard owners directing them to cut down 
diseased trees at once, and Inspector Niles will call again 
within a short time to make a further examination.” 
We wrote Mr. Atwood, Chief of the Division of Horti¬ 
culture, New York Agricultural Department, and he sends 
the following comments : 
“The statement is considerably exaggerated, as our in¬ 
spector did not go to Mr. Park’s place, and has not been 
there for four or five years, at which time Mr. Park was 
instructed relative to spraying his trees, and we under¬ 
stand has been very successful. At Port Chester there 
is a nursery which was surrounded on three sides by old 
orchard trees belonging to three individuals. In one case 
there are seven, in another eight and in another 35 old 
apple trees infested witli San Josfi scale, and the trees 
have been neglected for years. The owners of the trees 
hav been given opportunity to disinfect the trees, but they 
regarded them of so little value that they preferred to 
have them dug out. Therefore, notices were served to 
have the trees dug out and burned within a limited time. 
Our intention is to keep nursery stock thoroughly clean, 
though where wise to do so we permit thorough spraying 
of orchard trees that are worth saving.” 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Crop prospects in Greenesville County, Virginia, are 
better than usual, though we are needing rain badly just 
now (July 22). Fruits were short, no peaches or pears, 
and very few apples. Cotton and peanuts will be up to 
the average if favorable weather prevails from now on. 
Early corn will be short unless we have rain in 10 days. 
All forage crops were short, but the frequent showers 
have kept pastures up well until now. r. k. 
Emporia, Va. 
Bush fruits and grapes a full crop, apples scarcely a 
half crop. Early potatoes cut short by dry weather. The 
recent rains will hardly make a full crop of late potatoes. 
Corn that has been well tended will make a good crop. 
Oats will be considerably short of a full crop, while 
wheat is the best crop in years, some reporting 36 bushels 
per acre. Alsike is not turning out well, some leaving it 
on the ground unhulled. There are numerous reports of 
hog cholera in the neighborhood. Eggs were never known 
to be so scarce here at this time of the year. 
Fulton Co., Ohio. j. d. p. 
The fruit prospect is not as good as was anticipated 
by the bloom. Baldwins are making a poor show and the 
Tussock moth has done much damage in some sections; 
in some orchards they have eaten into more than 50 
per cent, of the apples. Not that they eat all the apple, 
that is the worst of it; they only eat a little in each 
apple, but as this was done when apples were small, the 
spot grows with the apple, and, of course, is ruined so 
far as the barrel is concerned. We had it very dry up| 
to July 18, since when it has rained so much that much 
wheat lias grown in the field, or shock; oats are shorty 
Corn is looking well but is late. 
Niagara County, N. Y. j. s. woodward. 
Ilay harvesting was about all done in this section by 
July 21 and farmers commenced harvesting oats. The oat 
crop will be light in this county. Wheat was only 
moderately well filled, and not very heavy on the ground. 
Hay was an average crop. Corn was doing fine until 
about 10 days ago. We had very heavy storms which 
blew it down; what was not broken off is straightening 
up, but most of it is growing crooked, which will damage 
it more or less in earing. The potato crop will be light. 
They are fair size, but few in a hill. The warm showers 
are bringing pasture on nicely. Peaches and apples are 
not a full crop and they are very inferior. Grapes will 
be plentiful if they don’t rot before ripening. a. l. s. 
Monroe Co., Ohio. 
We had a tremendous crop of hay ; wheat probably not 
as good as usual. Corn crop now bids fair to be a’ good 
one. The heavy rains of May drowned out about five 
acres of our potatoes, making a poor looking field. I am 
working on the four-year-old Alfalfa, which I shall plow 
up this Fall, sow in oats and peas next Spring, and in 
August again seed to Alfalfa. This acre lias been mowed 
now four years. Last Spring’s frosts lifted and destroyed 
one-third of the plants, and the grass has come in so it is 
necessary to break it up and reseed. My second acre will 
be mowed one more year and then I shall plow it and re¬ 
seed. I am to put in one more acre in August; that 
will make me over three acres. It is a wonderful plant. 
With silage. Alfalfa hay and eorn-and-cobmeal one need 
not go off the farm for a cow feed. d. c. lewis. 
Middlesex Co., N. J. 
NOMINATIONS THROUGH A PRIMARY 
ELECTION. 
Iowa has adopted the legal primary and given its first 
trial. The facts are plain that no party dare repeal it or 
pass amendments to annul its effects and principle. It is 
without doubt the best political coal-tar dip to kill off the 
lousy and mangy lot of bloodsuckers that infest the pub¬ 
lic service in your State. When the fight was on to 
pass the Iowa primary the very class of politicians you 
have listed for defeat opposed it. Many good people who 
are averse to anything new or innovations opposed it be¬ 
cause it was an innovation. The fact leaked out that 
the main movers in it wore those who would profit by 
its passing, and thus put our present governor in the 
Senate. The opposition came also from the solid delega¬ 
tion Iowa has at Washington, as it would make Sena¬ 
torial and Legislative seats more uncertain. They used 
the powerful Federal machinery in Iowa against the new 
passed primary law; then transportation companies, that 
under other governors in this State practically ran the 
State business up to seven years ago. It was done largely 
through a pooled office in Chicago and a coterie of rail¬ 
road attorneys, and the use of the free passes. The 
present governor had so interested the public in reforms 
as to arouse the whole State. The measure came before 
the Legislature both feared and advocated, was fought 
to a finish and won. Extremely bitter feeling yet exists 
against the primary measure arid law, and it comes only 
from the corporation and ring organs and sources. 
Now for the results. The first Iowa primary was an 
excitement and passage at arms politically not soon to 
be forgotten. It: was claimed to be got up and advocated 
especially to benefit the present governor of Iowa to get 
Allison’s seat in Congress. Many questions came up in the 
heated discussion and canvass. A leading one is age or 
youth a qualification for office. Is a life tenure of office 
best for Senators and Congressmen or the people they 
represent? If rotation in office is a proper thing in the 
Presidential office of the United States why is it not wise 
for Congressmen and Senators to have fresh representation 
from society that has progress in it in every department? 
The entire State machine as directed through a powerful 
western railroad attorney connected with the C.. It. & O. 
R. R. system suddenly got interested, and there* was some¬ 
thing doing. Two years previous these same aggregations 
appeared against the last re-election of Governor Cum¬ 
mings, who was advocating all these reform measures. 
Then the State was fairly carpeted with anti-reform litera¬ 
ture ; every daily paper in Iowa hut one seemed under 
this “system’s” control. Anti-reform literature was in 
fact overdone, and it was a daily occurrence that certain 
papers were presented, two and three daily issues, to every 
reader and farmer who could be reached, as well as in 
town, too. This literature was so abundant, free copies 
for months, all reading one way, that it kept coming daily 
by dray wagonloads to local post offices, not one day, 
but every day. Farmers here made estimates at the cost 
of this part of the campaign, and it was estimated the 
cost alone of sending these papers in this State two years 
ago against our present governor was at least $350,000. 
He was lone-handed, and only had himself and the few 
generous dollars of interested individuals of this State to 
help him. On the other hand, the expense was borne by 
the machine and railroads of this State until it was 
too heavy a burden locally, when outside railroad help was 
added. In that contest two years ago newspapers were 
actually bought and sold for these purposes in contested 
districts and places that were close between “Progressives” 
and “Standpatters.” Not only passes were freely offered 
and so freely used that whole trains were sent through 
on main lines of railroads entirely of traveling passholders, 
but it is claimed that actual money offers were made 
to people, if they had influence, to travel and talk against 
this reform. But a 1 was of no avail, and the present 
governor was elected by a small majority. This created 
alarm, and the last Legislature passed laws forbidding 
watering of stock, forbidding corporations to contribute 
to campaigns, and compelling candidates and party central 
committees to publish itemized accounts; passed primary 
law and passed two-cent fare law. 
Now as to results in last primary. The “Progressives” 
expected to win and elect Governor Cummings over our 
senior Senator, Mr. Allison. After the warmest fight be¬ 
fore the people under the primary Senator Allison won 
by a very narrow majority. The “Standpatters” defeated 
Governor Cummings. But I wish to say that the primary 
still lives; as it stands now the opposition to if cannot 
go on record against it or repeal it or kill it. They won 
it. The “Progressives” have the control of the State 
machinery of the Republican State Central Committee. 
The party is divided in two in the middle, nearly 90,000 
“Progressives’ and 100,000 “Standpatters,” and the na¬ 
tional election just at hand. There must be compromise 
and effective generalship to hold party supremacy in this 
State this year, and it is likely with such conditions 
the primary law is a fixed thing in Iowa. It has and 
will do away with the whole line of political bunco steerers 
and farce caucusing, slating, buying and selling and politi¬ 
cal bargaining of public service that has been the rule 
in the past. The progressive movement in the dominant 
party here is a slumbering volcano that is liable to engulf 
whole Senatorial and Legislative delegations to both State 
capital and Washington, and the primary now has given 
every voter a chance to register his wish secretly as he 
chooses without respect to chief, boss or intimidation. It 
costs; yes, the first experiment cost, but if is well-spent 
money and the cost that has been unnecessarily heavy as 
any experiment would be, can be materially reduced as it is 
used and adapted to changed conditions. We hope that 
your present Governor Hughes, joined by the rural vote 
of your great State, will use his power arid influence with 
New York State farmers for securing the primary for the 
P e ?P le - AN IOWA FARMER. 
JEFFERSON COUNTY. N. Y.—The Watertown Times 
gives this report of conditions in Jefferson County, N Y • 
“A noticeable feature of the report is that the farms in 
the north of the county, which have been devoted to hay 
from time immemorial have a light crop, while the south¬ 
ern dairy farms have a better than average crop, it 
suggests that the old hay farms have been overworked and 
lack fertilizing, and it is time to restore them. There is 
no lack of fertilizing material on the dairy farms, and 
their meadows yield a full crop. Of other crops oats 
promise a bumper crop. Corn is doing splendidly, potatoes 
are very promising. The soaking rains of the present 
make good pastures, and are not likely to be continued to 
the ruination of grain. Altogether the year promises 
well to the farmers of northern New York, and the 
favorable reports correspond with those in the West.” 
THE HEN AT COLLEGE.—Prof. C. K. Graham, of the 
Connecticut Agricultural College, has left that institution 
to take up work at the Normal School at Hampton, Va. 
Prof. Graham is one of the ablest instructors in poultry 
keeping that we have in this country, and has made many 
friends in Connecticut. As evidence of this feeling the 
Connecticut Poultry Association recently gave him a gold 
watch. We think Prof. Graham and Prof. Rice, of Cornell, 
have done great service in giving the study of poultry 
keeping good standing at the colleges, for Prof. Graham 
says with much truth ; “The hen is to-day the greatest 
friend our agricultural colleges have, and vet many of the 
college authorities do not seem to realize it. The chicken 
department of a college is the one and only department 
where the dairyman, horticulturist, mechanic, banker and 
child can meet on a common level. It is the only de¬ 
partment in which all citizens, whether from the city 
or country, are interested.” 
“SOAKED CURD CLEESE.”—Commissioner Pearson, of 
New York, says that complaints have been made regarding 
the manufacture of this cheese. Therefore he issues the 
following circular : 
“First—The method of manufacture of such cheese in¬ 
corporates foreign water in such product and washes 
certain important constituents from the curd thereof, thus 
producing a commodity which cannot, under the provisions 
of Section 20 of the Agricultural Law, properly be called 
cheese, therefore, the use of the New York ‘ State full 
cream cheese brand upon such cheese would be a violation 
of the Agricultural Law. 
“Second—The selling or offering for sale of any such 
product branded as full cream cheese would be a violation 
of the provisions of the Agricultural Law. 
“Third—If such product is sold or exposed for sale upon 
the market it should be branded so as to distinguish it 
from cheese as defined in the Agricultural Law. As an 
illustration, a proper branding might be ’Soaked Curd 
Cheese,’ which would indicate the process of manufacture, 
and, to one familiar with it, that foreign water to some 
extent had been incorporated and certain of the normal 
constituents of the milk had been washed out. The prin¬ 
ciple here involved is the same as the principle requiring 
the branding of the product made from skimmed or par¬ 
tially skimmed milk as skimmed cheese to distinguish it 
from cheese as defined in the statute. 
“A non-observance of the above in the selling or ex¬ 
posing for sale of the soaked-curd product, above de¬ 
scribed, will be a violation of tho Agricultural Law and 
will make it incumbent on the Commissioner of Agricul¬ 
ture to proceed against the violators for the recovery of 
the penalty prescribed.” 
NIAGARA COUNTY, N. Y.—The Niagara Falls Journal 
speaks of the remarkable prosperity of Niagara County. 
N. Y.: “Only one other county in the United States has 
more apple trees than Niagara. Wo also have large peach, 
pear, plum and even quince orchards. Altogether our fruit 
output is enormous, and the financial returns from many 
farms last year were almost beyond belief. The most pros¬ 
perous people in Niagara County to-day are farmers. The 
crops may not be quite as large and the prices may range; 
lower this year but the farmer and fruit grower will 
undoubtedly get very satisfactory returns in the aggregate. 
Niagara is a section of diversified farming and each farm 
annually has a variety Of crops which guarantee an 
increase, even though one of them fail wholly or in part. 
In the towns of Porter and Lewiston moneyed men from 
the cities have purchased quite a number of farms and 
are making exterisive improvements. There have recently 
been several changes on the river road between Lewiston 
and Youngstown. Lake Ontario on the north also makes 
the territory near very desirable. Not many of these farms 
are for sale. They are so profitable that in most cases the 
owners can find no better investment. In a few cases 
where an estate is to be settled or a man has acquired 
so much land that he cannot properly supervise opera* 
tions upon it, property is placed upon the market.” 
