1908 . 
THE) RURAL NEW-YORKER 
663 
RENOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR HUGHES. 
.Opportunity for New York Farmers. 
The following words—taken from the recent letter 
of Governor Charles E. Hughes, constitute a direct 
challenge to the political bosses who have long 
cursed New York: 
“Sometime ago I said privately that I did not desire a 
renomination and that I felt that 1 could not undertake 
to serve a second term, this, however, for reasons entirely 
personal. Upon further reflection 1 am convinced that 
] have no right to regard those reasons as controlling, 
and that if renominated I ought to accept. But it is 
my desire that the will of the party to which I belong 
should be freely expressed and that it shall take such 
action as shall be most closely in accord with public sen¬ 
timent. 1 believe that the people thoroughly understand 
the principles which I have sought to apply in adminstra- 
tion and if they so desire, I shall regard it as a privilege 
and a duty to continue in office for another term.’’ 
As was to be expected, the politicians who have 
from the first opposed the Governor’s reform meas¬ 
ures, at once proceeded to attack him. These bosses 
controlled the State at the time of the insurance 
scandal exposures, and for some years before. They 
were responsible for the evil conditions which Chas. 
E. Hughes exposed and brought before the people. 
Aided by public opinion, he forced reform meas¬ 
ures through the legislature. The politicians did 
not want Hughes for governor two years ago any 
more than they want him now. They realized that 
the public had lost faith in them and in their work. 
In a desperate crisis they did as they have been 
obliged to do before—seek a man whose character 
would enable him to appeal to the people on moral 
grounds. 1 he bosses dictated the rest of the ticket 
and the people knew it. The result was that every 
candidate except Mr. Hughes was defeated. 
These bosses thought less of Hughes after inaug¬ 
uration than they did before. He refused to provide 
patronage to further their private ambitions. He 
revived the old notion that a man elected by the 
people is to be governor himself, and not office boy 
for a lot of politicians. He advocated measures 
which would take the first and the last two letters 
out of “boss” and leave him “o”! He stood for a 
primary election law and for an improved ballot 
which would encourage independent voting. Every 
farmer knows how these tilings would benefit him. 
He wanted the insurance laws obeyed, so that sav¬ 
ings of the people could no longer be used for 
“Yellow dog” funds or for political contributions. 
Every one of these measures struck a blow at the 
“boss,” and through him at the evil system which 
has made political paupers out of the plain people. 
For years the people had been waiting for a strong 
and sincere man who would do these very things. 
They felt that they had such a man in Chas. E, 
Hughes, and they rushed to his support with a 
power which struck terror to the politicians. With 
the possible exception of President Roosevelt no 
governor of New York ever held the confidence of 
the farmers of this State as did Chas. E. Hughes 
during the first year of his administration. He an¬ 
nounced his candidacy for the Presidential nomina¬ 
tion. He was the last man on earth the bosses 
wanted, yet they knew the feeling of their masters— 
the common people—and promised a solid delega¬ 
tion for the governor. 
Just at that time, when it seemed as if no power 
could interfere with the Governor’s popularity, the 
Jersey cow walked into politics. The Governor’s 
attention was called to the Jersey cattle case. He 
was clearly informed that a man holding a promi¬ 
nent State position under him had used the confi¬ 
dence bred by his position to cheat and defraud 
farmers. All through the Fall Governor Hughes 
had been going through the State preaching at agri¬ 
cultural meetings the doctrine of personal honesty 
and sincerity in public officials. The farmers took 
him right at his 'word, and they were shocked} 
beyond expression when they found that the Gov¬ 
ernor would not investigate the charges against Daw- 
ley. The nature of these charges was well known 
and events have proved that they were true in every 
particular! We told the Governor frankly at the 
time that he was making a vital mistake and that 
his administration could not afford to shield Dawley. 
He was, as we believe, deceived by Mr. Dawley as 
to the merits of the case and badly advised by those 
who should have told him that this case, small as it 
seemed to him, cut down to the very principle which 
he was trying to make clear. We speak of this be¬ 
cause many people throughout the country have won¬ 
dered why the bosses suddenly seemed to take heart 
and renew their fight upon the Governor. They de¬ 
feated him in the Kelsey insurance fight, sent a 
divided delegation to the National convention and 
nearly defeated the anti-gambling bill—the latter 
saved only by the loyalty of farmers. The bosses re¬ 
gained their courage because they saw that the farm¬ 
ers were grieved and disappointed at the Governor’s 
action in the Dawley case. We firmly believe that 
if Governor Hughes had gone into the facts thor¬ 
oughly and made a bold and honest decision on the 
evidence the enthusiasm among farmers would have 
been so strong that not a politician in the State would 
now dare open his head in opposition to a renomina- 
tion. Up to the time of the appointment of Prof. 
Pearson as Commissioner of Agriculture the Gov¬ 
ernor’s record in agricultural matters was the worst 
part of his administration. And yet this very cir¬ 
cumstance has made the situation stronger and more 
hopeful. Governor Hughes has learned the great 
lesson of his life. He knows that the farmers will 
follow him to the end in any worthy cause, but that 
they will fight him openly and forcibly if he take a 
position which they know is wrong. The farmers who 
elected Governor Hughes, and who are to-day his 
best friends, were shocked at his protection of Daw¬ 
ley and grieved at his appointment of Mr. Wieting 
as a State Fair Commissioner. They do, however, 
heartily approve his appointment of Commissioner 
Pearson, and accept it as evidence that the Governor 
at last begins to understand them. The old enthus¬ 
iasm will be temoered with caution, but they now 
recognize as they never did before that their one 
hope of being “boss”-free is to get back of Governor 
Hughes in the present crisis and thus give the lie 
to the politicians. Hughes may no longer be their 
idol, but they recognize him as a strong weapon. 
We have attempted to give a frank, dispassionate 
review of the situation. We pull no wires, attempt 
no political schemes and have no interest in party 
politics. New York State needs a primary election 
law and several other laws which would give justice 
to country people. We are for the best men in any 
of the parties who stand for these things and are 
most likely to get them for farmers. We are also 
for those candidates who by their nomination most 
clearly represent the wishes of the people and least 
represent the politicians. In the present situation, 
with the bosses lined up against the Governor, we rec¬ 
ognize the greatest political opportunity that has come 
to the fanners of New York State in 50 years. We 
do not recall any previous situation when the farmers 
could, as they now can, compel a great party to kick 
the bosses overboard and nominate a man who stands 
squarely for primary nominations and clean public 
life. In the interest of the people solely The R. 
N.-Y. desires the nomination of Governor Hughes 
and urges all farmers to use their influence to bring 
it about. 
A COLLEGE BOY IN THE HARVEST FIELD. 
On page 518 we printed a letter from a Pennsylvania 
college boy who wanted to go West and try his Imnd in 
the harvest feed. He went and has now sent us this letter 
from Osborne County, Kan. : 
We have finished our harvesting and expect to leave 
to-night for northern Nebraska, where we expect to obtain 
positions in some wheat vicinity. I didn't stop at Topeka 
for we went from Chicago directly to Kansas City, thence 
to the employment bureau in Kansas City, Mo. ’ We suf¬ 
fered no disappointments, for we were given a slip of paper 
with the name of this town on it, also the name of the 
railroad on which we could get there. This place is about 
300 miles northwest of Kansas City in a very prosperous 
country. We were met at tlie station by several men, 
and although it would be four or five days before we 
could go to harvesting they offered to take our baggage 
along with our own persons to their home. We were very 
fortunate in being able to obtain a position at the 
farm at which we now are, for they have been very kind 
to us, and I am going to say now before 1 go any further 
that I was impressed by the spirit of friendliness which 
we found here. We were the source of a great many 
smiles for some time after we came, and I will confess 
that some of the crew soon learned that we would not 
tolerate all kinds of doings if we were from the Hast, but 
we soon got down to business and I think we proved 
satisfactory, for when the farmer paid us off last evening, 
not with a check, but with the coin of the realm, he 
told us that he would be very much pleased to have us 
work for him next year. We expect to go to the northern 
part of Nebraska, then, if we have time, to North Dakota, 
but I don't think we can make it, as I only have five weeks 
more of vacation. There were no college fellows who came 
into our immediate vicinity but have heard of places 
where they were. This has been a wet Summer in western 
Kansas: the corn is flourishing, but the wheat suffered 
as it came on during the cutting of the grain. The farm 
we arc on had 320 acres of wheat, and on account of 
rain we were about three weeks in getting it cut. 
The average work per day with the headers is from 25 to 
30 acres per day but this year the average was lower 
than other years. The crop was lighter here a great 
deal than it has been for sometime. I will confess I had 
some notions in regard to our (eastern) superiority in 
culture and education, but I find 1 am mistaken entirely, 
as it is nothing unusual to meet a fellow who is attending 
college, and I have bad some enjoyable times during my 
short stay here with the young people. j. a. s. 
FRUIT GROWING IN PORTO RICO. 
' I note what The It. N.-Y. says in regard to the shipping 
facilities offered by the transportation companies at pres¬ 
ent, and that many oranges from Porto liico arrive in a 
damaged condition. About 4.000 cases of pines came in 
to-day, May 14. for shipment, supposedly to-morrow, but 
for lack of docking facilities it is practically impossible to 
get them loaded on time. The docks are terribly con¬ 
gested. The space is limited and three ships have been 
discharging and taking on cargo. I am told that the 
transportation companies promise better service as soon as 
it can be installed. 1 am a fruit grower myself, from the 
State of Washington, and in my judgment the cause of 
Porto Rican fruit coming into market in damaged com 
tion does not lie entirely with the transportation com¬ 
panies. There is room for improvement among the growers 
as to packing and time of picking for such a distant 
market. With oranges, in particular, the faculties and 
methods for handling before they reach the companies are 
not of the best. The oranges that have been shipped from 
here are mostly the wild native fruit, as the orchards of 
the American growers have not yet come into full bearing. 
They are probably too ripe when picked and shipped; 
add to this poor packing and they could hardly be ex¬ 
pected to get through in very good condition. Fully half 
of the pines that I saw to-day are not well packed. The 
best growers here lament the fact that many among them 
are not up on packing. I am impressed that there are 
great opportunities for practical fruit growers in Porto 
Rico. Besides all the commercial tropical fruits such as 
the banana, plantain, pineapple, lemon, lime, orange and 
pomello, all of which grow to perfection here, no one yet 
knows the number of edible wild fruits that abound and 
are practically or entirely unknown to commerce. There 
has been no classification or description published. I 
have a list of over 20 that are edible, and in extensive 
use among the natives. I have no doubt but many of 
them will, in the near future, prove worthy of the horti¬ 
culturist’s attention, as well as of commercial value when 
known. e. u. g. 
SOUTHWESTERN IOWA PROMISING. 
Early in the season crops went in ideally dry, without 
rains. All small grain went in finely : corn never was so 
well planted, and just as it got up rains began; in fact 
it was very wet for four weeks, but sun out enough so 
corn could be well cultivated, except on low lands and 
fiat soils. Our hill lands are in fine shape. When corn 
was laid by it quit raining and there has been a remark¬ 
able drought on since, mercury now running 90 to 94. 
About all hay is made; it is heavy and fine. I never saw 
such conditions for haying: we nearly all got hay in 
without any rain at all : millions of tons of hay of highest 
quality all over the West. Harvest is on and begun (July 
29) ; some thrashing of barley and early oats is on now. 
The ideal early Spring is dry and moderately cool, fine for 
poultry and chicken crop, and young pigs never came bet¬ 
ter. The calf crop was easy to handle and all young 
things have so far thriven and are making remarkable 
growth. The great West is at the eve of one of those 
wonderful crops that astonishes itself and the whole world. 
Farm business conditions are remarkable. Corn was never 
so high before as here, 08 to 73 cents; hogs, six to seven 
cents; fat cattle, five to eight cents: common and western 
cattle, four to six cents; potatoes, 00 cents to $.1 bushel; 
apples, $1 bushel: eggs, 13 cents: butter, 25 to 27 cents: 
hay. $7 to $10. This range of prices is remarkable, and 
we have never had the like in the history of the West'. All 
land prices are firm and lands advance in prices. Farm 
labor by month, including hoard, best bands, $28 to $30 
per month : best common, $22 to $25 per month : day help. 
$2 per day; boys, $1.25 to $1.73 per day. No idle labor; 
it is not complaining here at all. We have to “kick - ’ at 
the poor quality and the poor service we get for money 
paid. Every device, machine and condition that it is pos¬ 
sible to get and contrive and adopt to save labor is pre¬ 
vailing. Gang stirring plows arc put in so a hand can 
plow six acres a day; double-row corn plows are being 
adapted, so one man can plow two rows and 12 acres 
a day, and as far as possible ground is run into grass 
so as to get stock development on forages rather than 
practice grain farming, and great fields of corn are cut 
by wholesale by corn binders, so the fodder can be used 
by same help running field service in Winter, moving in 
the fodder for Winter feed, and this saves husking and 
saves desiccation of large fields of stalks that have in 
past been only grazed with cattle. Extensive interest is 
taken in fine stock breeding, and in ttiis county alone we 
have about 200 farmers engaged in breeding line stock in 
cattle, horses, hogs and poultry, mostly in cattle and 
hogs. _ _ _ M. 
MASSACHUSETTS FARMERS AND DEER. 
I never expected to have a personal interest in the 
protected deer nuisance, so long as I should live in this 
corner of the world. But it is reported to have reached 
here even now. Will you kindly state the position of the 
Massachusetts landholders in this relation? E. l. s. 
Caxie Cod. 
Here is a copy of the latest Massachusetts law: 
“Whoever before the first day of November in the year 
nineteen hundred and ten, hunts, chases, wounds or kills 
a deer, or sells or offers for sale, or has in bis possession 
for the purpose of sale, a deer captured or killed in Massa¬ 
chusetts except his own tame deer kept on his own 
grounds, or except a deer killed under the provisions 
hereinafter set forth, shall forfeit one hundred dollars for 
each offense: provided, however, that nothing contained 
herein shall prevent a farmer or other person, or any 
member of Ms family or person employed by him acting 
under his direction, from chasing, wounding or killing by 
use of a shotgun, any deer which he can prove was found 
injuring or destroying any crop or fruit tree upon the 
cultivated land owned or occupied by him. Any farmer 
or other person killing a deer found injuring or destroying 
any crop or fruit tree, or causing any deer to be killed by 
any member of his family or person employed by him as 
aforesaid shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars, 
unless he shall in writing under his signature report 
such killing forthwith to the clerk of the citv or town 
in which the deer was killed, and shall upon the gam ■ 
day on which said deer was killed deliver to the clerk 
aforesaid the carcass of the deer so killed, which shall be 
sold by said clerk and the proceeds of said sale forwarded 
to the commissioners on fisheries and game for the uses of 
the said commissioners. The said report shall state 
the time and place of the killing, and the crop or tree 
which was being injured or destroyed by the deer, and 
shall be recorded by the clerk receiving it who shaP 
thereupon forward it to said commissioners.”’ [Approved 
April 10, 1908.] 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Oat harvest is completed, though if was delayed one 
week by rain to the last week in July. Thunderstorms 
continued from Tuesday till Saturday of’that week. Sterner 
Bros., near Bandana, York Co., cigar factory, was destroyed 
by fire July 28. About 10,000 cigars and ’$2,000 worth of 
tobacco were consumed, together with all the machinery. 
The loss is $4,000. e n ic 
York Co., Pa. ' 
It has been one of the most ideal Springs that we have 
had the good fortune to have in a long time. The soil 
dried off in good season. Oats were planted and up before 
the ground was ready to plow last year. Early potatoes 
were planted under the same ideal conditions, as was also 
corn. The acreage of the latter is not nearlv as large as 
it should be considering the price of feed stuffs. \Ve bad 
quite a dry spell during the last half of June and the 
fore part of July, but beyond shortening the hay crop a 
.little it did very little damage, and up to the present 
time everything is looking fine. Corn promises to be the 
best in years. All kinds of berries were a splendid crop, 
and brought top notch prices, this being a very good 
market for the same. Plums, pears and apples not over 
50 per cent of crop. But anything in the way of a peach 
tree is loaded to the limit. The continued ‘hot weather 
has brought on the potato blight earlier than usual, and 
onions have blighted badly in the Wyoming Valley. All 
kinds of garden truck was of the very best, but' prices 
were not so good as last year. c. H. s. 
Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. 
Tobacco, corn and potatoes the principal crops yet stand¬ 
ing, have been greatly benefited by rains during the past 
week. The potato crop will be very light, averaging about 
one-third the normal yield. Corn looks very encouraging 
and promises to be a heavy yield. Tobacco, the priucip'-c 
crop of this county, has been affected in most sections by 
the long drought. It. is very irregular, looks rough anil 
contains a great many watermelon stalks which are prac¬ 
tically valueless after being cured. It also lacks that 
glossy appearance which is produced bv the gum on 
tobacco, without which it lacks in quality and weight 
This is not true of all lots; several districts, especially 
those along the Susquehanna, are good. Several lots are 
cut or put away this week. This is of the Havana and 
early seed-leaf. Havana tobaccco is grown here in about 
60 days, seed-leaf from 60 to 80 days. Tobacco sold here 
last Spring at five to 10 cents, which was about 100 per¬ 
cent lower than the price paid the preceding year. Our 
growers are looking for better prices for the present 
crop, or less acreage to be grown the following year. 
Lancaster Co., I*a._ o. *\ b. 
INSTITUTE DIRECTOR’S EXAMINATION.—At the 
civil service examination of farmer’s Institute directors 
held in New York last month the following questions were 
asked: 1. Give discussion or outline of the main agricul¬ 
tural interests of New York State. 2. Describe in detail 
the agricultural conditions of some particular region in 
New York State, together with requirements necessary for 
its betterment. 3. Give outline of your views as to the 
character of institute work adapted to New York State, 
including details of an Institute programme, also a state¬ 
ment of your views of the duties of an institute conductor. 
NORTHWEST CANADA.—Work is scarce and dead all 
over Canadian West. Everybody is depending on present 
crop. Weather fine and sunny now since June rain; 5>/> or 
more inches of rain in June. All comes in a bunch here 
usually; temeperature up to 90 in some parts, but night 
always cool, 48 to 60. and lots of days 50 to 60 degrees, 
so summer is not. hot here at all. I met an old Grand 
Army man here from Iowa, six years here and owns 800 
acres. He says he is ready to sell and, strange to say. has 
his eye on Maine. He thinks the horse raising business 
good there, and we are supposed to be in a wonderful horse 
country. So we are. but colts die here soon after birth 
worse than in Michigan: 1,200 to .1,300 pound horses are 
$300 to $350 per pair, were $500 to $600 one year ago, 
when boom was on. Maine markets would be better no 
doubt. I*. 
NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND.—The Manchester Mirror 
gives the following statement: “The recent rains have 
broken the drought that had existed in New Hampshire 
and Maine for six weeks, and while too late to help the 
hay crop or early vegetables and small fruits will revive 
the late cultivated crops, the feed in pastures and the 
general fruit crop. It is generally conceded that the hay 
crop in the drought-stricken sections was reduced 50 per 
cent from the normal yield, and feed in pastures was 
reduced to an equal extent. If the rains that have already 
fallen are followed by other rains the prospect for field 
crops, fruit and pasture feed will be about as good as 
though the drought had not occurred. The loss caused by 
the drought will be felt keenly next Winter, when high 
priced hay and grain are purchased to make up the defi¬ 
ciency. It has already been felt among milk producers in 
the shrinkage in the flow.” 
