1908. 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKER 
701 
OHIO FARMERS ARE INTERESTED. 
The interest in that Ohio fertilizer mix-up is grow¬ 
ing' now that farmers have a chance to express their 
feelings. There is deep regret that the Smith Com¬ 
pany has been able to tie up the State Board by a 
legal injunction, but what farmers fail to understand 
is why such a tie-up should be one-sided. The Smith 
Company is issuing pamphlets attacking the Board, 
and its secretary, Mr. Calvert, while its agents appear 
to be making serious charges against him. What 
farmers cannot understand is why this Smith Com¬ 
pany is able to do this while the Board seems to stand 
feebly waiting for something to happen. There 
ought to be some one in Ohio to come out boldly and 
fight. The defence thus far made of the Board 
strikes many farmers as half-hearted and politic, 
while in the present situation a bold and straightfor¬ 
ward course is needed. We have made a fair can¬ 
vass of the feeling among Ohio farmers, especially 
those who use fertilizers. We have gone to friends 
of the State Board, agents and users of the Smith 
goods and unprejudiced farmers who are not close 
to either side. The fertilizer agents talk boldly. 
Their common expression is: 
“IVe have the Board whipped to a standstill!” 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
We liatl a very wet Spring, and corn is late. Wheat 
in the stack is somewhat damaged by wet. Lots of fruit 
on the high land. Late frosts injured that on the low 
land. The land, or much of it, is badly run down and 
needs building up. Our country is hilly and the fields 
somewhat stony. jr. g. w. 
McLonth, Kan. 
Ilay crop about 20 per cent less than last year. Early 
potatoes light crop; late ones are looking well, and wiil 
be a fair crop. Corn is good, not much raised for the 
grain; most of it goes into the silo. Plenty of pears, hut 
the apple crop will bo small. Buckwheat big growth of 
straw but not filling well. Grasshoppers are plentiful and 
are doing considerable damage to pastures and meadows. 
Mansfield, Pa. j. l. m. 
This is not a fruit country ; we hardly have enough for 
our own use. Other crops have done fairly well. Hay 
was a good crop. Oats are medium ; wheat is not rais<Ml 
here much. Corn has made a good growth but is two 
weeks late. Cabbage as a crop is not up to the standard 
for this time of the year. Potatoes are short; small and 
but few in a hill. E . o. w. 
Apulia, N. Y. 
We have had a warm and dry rainy season, which has 
made plenty of hay. Warm, no, hot. but not so much so 
as in your section ; always breezy, and at night a blanket 
is always acceptable. Corn crop good and gone; sweet 
potatoes still being planted. Orange crop good, esti¬ 
mated 100,000 boxes. Everybody making guava jelly, and 
do y#u believe it, but four days cloudy this year! 
Wauchula, Fla. a. c. c. 
1 hey also seem to be telling all over Ohio that a 
rival fertilizer company bribed members of the Board 
to make and publish false analyses of the Smith goods 
with the object of ruining the latter concern. 
Of course the official figures which we have printed 
from Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Pennsylvania 
disprove such a charge, for all the chemists of all 
these States could not be bribed, but the story has 
gained some force because the defense of the Board 
has seemed feeble and hollow to many farmers. 
Right from the very start these Indiana figures should 
have been made public, and Ohio farmers should have 
been urged to study them, since the figures of their 
own State chemists were held up. A new feature of 
the fight has been introduced by the Independent 
Packers’ Company, which has issued a pamphlet 
making serious statements against the Smith people. 
The situation is critical, for there can be no doubt 
that many Ohio farmers are puzzled and troubled 
over the failure of the State Board or those who 
should defend it to make an aggressive fight and give 
the facts openly and fearlessly. The trouble never 
should have reached its present stage, and never 
could have done so if at the very start the official 
record of the Smith Company in all the States ad¬ 
joining Ohio had been made public. We know from 
the frank statements made to us that all Ohio farmers 
needed to settle this question was a chance to have 
their true feelings expressed. 
KANSAS AND HER NEW PRIMARY. 
We appreciate the energy of The R. N.-Y. in the in- 
telllgent effort to awaken farmers to a sense of their 
power and responsibility in tilings politic, and yet not 
political. Old York State; several centuries older than 
our beloved Kansas, is missing a lot of “satisfaction” 
if nothing more, in the absence of the privilege of a pri¬ 
mary convention. Kansas has passed the experimental 
stage and holds high her hands in a glorious victory_for 
the people. Farmers, as a class, never demand an un¬ 
just measure, or one of retaliation. Indeed, they are too 
lenient or neglectful or indifferent for their own good 
That is where The It. N.-Y. acta the missionary in point¬ 
ing out the way and urging faithfulness and indomitable 
stick-to-itiveness. “The voice of the people was heard in 
the land,” over the verdant Alfalfa and the ripening corn. 
Eighty per cent of the farmers went to the polls to vote 
their choice of candidates; where two or more were out 
for the same office—of equal merit, we voted for “friend¬ 
ship,” or did not vote that part at all. Two prosperous 
farmers were opponents for the chair of commissioner. 
One “loved his bottle, ’ hut believed himself the equal 
of the other. lie received 4G votes while his opponent 
tallied 245. Does prohibition prohibit in Kansas? In the 
“old way” the "bottle man” might have “traded” and 
won. Will we give up this new convention plan? Yes; 
when we give up prohibition, rural delivery, our tele¬ 
phones,—or find something better—or lose our manhood. 
The Governor and Senatorial forces waxed warm but re¬ 
spectful ; machine money and stratagem against the will 
of the people. When noses were counted after election 
the machine—the machine that had flown so high and 
hopefully the day before—was a total wreck. There are 
minor defects to be remedied in this new primary plan, 
but as a whole no new law was ever launched more suc¬ 
cessfully. The people feel that they are getting nearer 
to that “for” and “by” the people idea so often oratoric¬ 
al ly expressed. And when they do get there, there will 
be the parcels post, postal savings bank and bank guaranty 
deposit, and the whole people will be the better by it. 
Kansas. j. b. h. 
My impression in regard to the fruit outlook locally is 
that the apple crop is somewhat less than last year in 
quantity, but of very much better quality. The Bartlett 
pear crop is very large. Blight is very severe in many 
orchards, but have heard no complaints in regard to the 
psylla this year. Peaches are very light, probably no more 
than 25 per cent of a crop along the lake, but much 
better a few miles back. w. t. mann. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
The weather conditions have been very unusual for this 
part of the State, with much rain from early in May 
up to July 6; 13 inches fell in this portion of Johnson 
County in June, and five inches the night of July 5. 
Thousands of acres of land never were put in crops owing 
to the floods, and thousands of acres of corn were re¬ 
planted three and four times, only to be washed out by 
the floods. But little good corn in tills part of the 
county ; wheat poor, the highest I have heard of being 20 
bushels to the acre. But few oats sown owing to the wet 
late Spring. One sees but very little Alfalfa here. I have 
seen none, but hear there are a few pieces. The apple 
crop is very good right here, also peach crop, but in some 
portions of the county there arc none. I am told one 
orchard will be loaded while the next, will have none. The 
frost in May did many strange pranks. Potatoes are a 
fair crop where the land was properly cultivated. As a 
class the farmers do not seem to be as progressive as in 
Adams County, in the south central part of the State. The 
climatjc conditions have been better there this year. Al¬ 
falfa is a big crop and nearly every farmer has a field 
or fields of Alfalfa. In the towns where there are vacant 
lots they will be in Alfalfa in a majority of cases. 
Wheat went from 18 to 40 bushels; averaged 30 bushels to 
the acre. Oats a good crop. Corn will be a bumper 
crop. Land is about the same price as here, from $50 to 
$90 an acre, and in some cases even higher. This part of 
eastern Nebraska was settled manv years before it was 
as far west as Adams County. This is more of a fruit 
country, as there is seldom a failure, although there was 
but very little last year. The apple trees in tills orchard 
are bending to the ground with their burden of fruit. Red 
Astrachan and Transparent are gone. The fruit seems 
very fair and free from disease this year. I hear of no 
spraying ever being done in these parts. At the Russell 
peach orchard at Normal, close to Lincoln, which contains 
150 acres, it is estimated there will be picked 25,000 
bushels this season. The early peaches here were sold for 
75 cents a bushel in the orchards. Not as many dairy 
cows are in evidence as farther West. Butter is very hard 
to get, and when we do get any it is not good. Cream Is 
shipped to the big creameries. Not many cattle will be 
fed this year, as corn is a poor crop and so high in 
price. Prices are as follows; Hogs, $6; corn, 65 cents; 
wheat, 78 cents; oats, 40 cents. f. c. j. 
Johnson Co., Neb. 
The fruit generally throughout this section is looking 
unusually well, of good size and smooth. The ape-c crop 
I place at 50 per cent of a full crop, or 10 per cent 
larger than last year. The Bartlett pear crop is the 
largest we have ever grown in this section ; other varieties 
of pears are all good, except the Duchess, which are not 
going to be over 25 per cent of a crop. The crop of Craw¬ 
ford peaches is very light throughout this section ; Elberta 
a full crop. Grapes also are looking very fine. The hay 
crop has been pretty light, especially in old meadows. Oats 
are unusually heavy. Corn is now looking well, but needs 
another month of good weather. This is not much of a 
potato section; probably not over 10 or 15 cars shipped 
out. of here any year. b. j. case. 
Sodus, N. Y. 
Though some nearby localities have been fairly sup¬ 
plied with rain much of the country in northern Dutchess 
and southern Columbia counties is suffering from pro¬ 
longed drought. Our earlier growing season was ideal, 
and line crops of hay and oats were harvested. Rye was 
good, and corn and potatoes were thriving until recently. 
Potatoes succumbed to an unusual attack of the flea 
beetle, which with the dry weather will make the crop 
the lightest in years; in my opinion the smallest crop 
since the year the Colorado beetle came, 32 years ago. 
Corn in many fields is now literally drying up, and is only 
safe in the strpng soils where good cultivation has been 
given. Buekwheat must be a failure unless rain comes im¬ 
mediately. Pastures and meadows are looking badly. 
Apple orchards under good care are unusually fine in 
foliage and growth. The trees got a fine start in the 
early Summer. We have no San Jose scale as yet. As to 
the apple crop, it is very light, 30 to 35 per cent of a 
normal crop is about the right estimate for this year. To 
what this failure is due it is hard to decide as there 
seemed to be good prospects at blossoming time. The 
pear crop is very fine and may exceed 100 per cent. 
Grapes a full crop and fine quality. w. s. t. 
Upper Red Ilook, N. Y. 
While the South has some advantages over the North, 
they have many disadvantages as well. The city schools 
are generally all right, but it is different in the country ; 
from three to six months school is all you can figure on, 
and children often live from two to five miles from 
school house. The school houses are generally poor, and 
the roads are generally very poor. There is a good deal 
of chills and fever all through the South, and doctors 
know how to ask a big price. Oats are raised some here, 
but they are fed out without, thrashing, as there are no 
thrashing machines. Some sections have stock laws, but 
generally stock runs at large and people have very little 
manure to put on the land. They cannot see the benefit 
they would get by keeping their stock on their own land. 
Crops are looking very well around here, and cotton will 
be a good fair crop. Chickens do well here, but few 
grow their own feed. f. a. s. 
Arkansas. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Society of American Flor¬ 
ists opened its twenty-fourth annual convention at Niagara 
Falls, N. Y„ August .18. 'flic following officers were 
elected; President, J. A. Valentine, Denver, Col. ; vice- 
president, E. G. Gillett, Cincinnati, O.; secretary, W. N. 
Rudd, Chicago, Ill. ; treasurer, II. B. Beatty, Oil City, Pa. 
Mr. Beatty has been treasurer since the first formation of 
the society. The next convention will be held at Cin¬ 
cinnati, O. 
The next annual meeting of the American Association of 
Farmers’ Institute Workers will be held at Washington, 
D. C., November 16 and 17. At the same place and 
beginning November 17 will be held the annual meeting 
of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges anil 
Experiment Stations. 
At the recent Summer meeting of the New York Fruit 
Growers’ Association the following resolution was 
adopted : “The members of the New York State Fruit 
Growers’ Association, assembled in annual Summer meet¬ 
ing, have learned with gratification of the honor con¬ 
ferred by President Roosevelt upon L. II. Bailey, Director 
of the College of Agriculture at Cornell University, by 
appointing him chairman of a commission to investigate 
the conditions of rural life; therefore, he it resolved, that 
we, the members of the New York State Fruit Growers’ 
Association, urge Director Bailey to accept this responsi¬ 
bility for the good of the agricultural interests of the 
whole country, and be it resolved, that we assure him 
of our absolute confidence and hearty support.” 
Prof. Edmund J. James of the University of Illinois 
is in Berlin in the course of a tour of Europe for the in¬ 
spection of veterinary colleges, made with a view of 
gleaning ideas for the veterinary colleges which the 
University of Illinois hopes to set up in the heart of the 
Chicago stock yards district, and for which Prof. James 
expects an annual State appropriation of at least $100,00(1 
will be made. America, Prof. James points out, has not 
a little to catch up in the matter of veterinary science, 
in which Germany, he thinks, takes the leading rank. 
What gave stimulus to veterinary science in Germany, 
the professor adds, was the passing of the compulsory 
meat inspection act, which required that every meat in¬ 
spector should be a graduate of a veterinary college. This 
not only produced an enormous Increase In the attendance 
at the schools, but called for a simultaneous improve¬ 
ment in the laboratory equipment and teaching staffs. 
The veterinary college at Hanover alone spends a larger 
sum annually than the veterinary colleges throughout 
Great Britain. 
Col. Milton Young, of Lexington, Ivy., has sold to It. A. 
and W. S. Beasle, of Lancaster, the l'&mous McGrathiana 
stock farm for $150 an acre for the original McGrath 
tract, which contains about 400 acres, and $125 for the 
remainder, making a total of about $100,000. The farm 
will be converted into a cattle farm after being for 50 
years one of America’s foremost thoroughbred breeding 
establishments. McGrathiana was the home of Aristides, 
Tom Bowling, Hanover and hundreds of noted horses. The 
disposal of the farm by Colonel Young is the direct 
result of the anti-betting legislation in New York and 
Louisiana. Colonel Young was heavily in debt and owing 
to the fact that he could not realize on his thoroughbred 
yearlings this year he was obliged to close out the estab¬ 
lishment. He is sending his entire crop of yearlings to 
Sheepshcad Bay to be sold, and all the older stock will 
be sold on the premises on October 1. 
VIRGINIA NOTES.—There are very few sheep raised 
about here now ; several years ago there were some small 
flocks of from 20 to 40, but there was very little attention 
paid to the breeding and little or no care taken of them. 
As far as I know they did well for the care that, was 
given them, and I do not know why the people have 
stopped raising them. This is naturally a fine fruit coun¬ 
try, but of recent years the people have nearly all given 
it up on account of insects and scale. They claim the 
expense of spraying will not justify them in raising it. 
The farmers are generally confining themselves to wheat, 
corn, oats and tobacco, all of which crops are good for 
this section. One or two are paying some attention to beef 
cattle. a. n. w. 
Bradford Co., Va. 
POTATO GROWERS 
You can harvest your crop cheaper— 
this means more profit on your crop— 
easier—this means less labor—with a 
CHAMPION 
POTATO 
DIGGER 
than in any other way. It gets all the pota¬ 
toes without bruising and requires less horse 
power than any machine doing equal work. 
The CHAMPION will pay for itself every 
season in the saving of labor and potatoes. 
Let us send yon our catalog telling all about 
the digger—it is free. 
CHAMPION POTATO MACHINERY CO., 
175 Chicago Avenue, Hummond, Ind. 
Q|~| FOR 
90 THIS 
Write for Free 
Furniture Ca taloguo 
OAK BEDROOM SUITE 
nd return this ad, and we will send you this handsome 
Suite, with the understanding and agreement that you 
iltes that sell everywhere at $25.00, strictly well made and 
finished, and If you are not perfectly satisfied 
In every particular, or if you have not made 
a great saving in price, you may return it to us 
at our expense and we will promptly return 
vour $14.90, Including what you paid for 
freight. Weight, 300 pounds. Securely [lacked 
and shipped from either northern or southern 
factory, nearest your home, so that the freight 
charges will be very little, nothing compared 
to what you will save In price. 
MADE OF SELECTED THOR¬ 
OUGHLY SEASONED AND KILN 
DRIED OAK higli gloss golden finish. 
umi-u u«r\, Bed inches high, 54 
Inches wide. Dresser measures 19 by 40 
Inches and has a double deck shaped top with 
rounded edges and comers; full panel ends 
and back: swell front top drawers: French 
beveled plate mirror. 20 by 24 inches. Note 
the ornamental carvings on bed and dresser. 
Wash stand has a double top with small top 
drawer to match dresser. Fitted with locks, 
cast brass handles and casters. Drawers 
Every detail first class throughout, $14.90 is a special cut price. We have 
perfect fitting and smooth running. ___ 
°J*ly_“,000 of these suites to sell at this special prtce to advertise this department. We advice that you order at. once. 
GREAT FURNITL1RF RARHAINI*! In our special free Furniture Catalogue we show pictures and descrip- 
. , , lunc. DnllUnini, tions of everything we sell in furniture of every description. If you 
don t order this bedroom suite Immediately and you are Interested In anything In furniture, don't fall to write us a letter 
or a postal and say, “Send me your new Furniture Catalogue and till your latest offers.” You will be surprised at the 
money wo tan save you. We have arrangements with different furniture factories, north, south, east and west, so that we 
can make shipment promptly and from a |x>int near you and thus make the freight charges very low. If you expect to 
Duy anything lu furniture, don’t fall to write at once for our new Furniture Catalogue, and see wtiat we can offer you. 
Address SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO„ CHICAGO, ILL. 
Lets in the light always. 
Never has to be covered or uncovered; no 
boards or mats needed. 
Retains the heat, excludes the cold. 
Saves three-fourths of the labor and expense 
and makes stronger and earlier plants than 
single-glass sash. 
Ask for catalog “O’*. It tells all about it. 
Sunlight Double-Glass Sash Co. 
506 Floyd Streel LOUISVILLE, KY. 
SASH 
FOR 
HOTBEDS 
AND COLD FRAMES 
The double layer of glass does it 
WHY NOT USE HUBBARD’S? 
