eoe 
THE RURAt NEW-YORKER 
1 Olo. 
CO-OPERATIVE WORK IN NEW YORK. 
The New York State law now re¬ 
quires the Commissioner of Agriculture 
to appoint another Assistant Commis¬ 
sioner charged with the duty of en¬ 
couraging cooperative work in the State 
and to help organize and direct cooper¬ 
ative enterprises. This is the first of 
the series of bills initiated by the State 
Standing Committee on Cooperation of 
the New York State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety to become a law. The bill recently 
passed both branches of the Legislature, 
and was promptly signed by Governor 
Sulzer. 
1 leretofore the State has confined 
itself to teaching the farmer how to in¬ 
crease his productions; now for the 
first time it proposes to help him sell 
at a profit what he already knows how 
to produce. It is true that cooperative 
effort may be directed to the problem of 
producing and also to buying, but 
the great need of cooperation is 
in assembling, grading, packing, ship¬ 
ping, and marketing of farm products. 
This initial step places New York 
State right out in the front row 
for the improvement of agricultural 
conditions in this country. It is the first 
practical movement towards the reduc¬ 
tion of the high cost of living. Co¬ 
operation in marketing affords the only 
means by which cost to the consumer 
can be reduced, while reward to the 
producer can be increased. This result 
can be attained only by eliminating the 
waste and extravagance in the present 
system of distribution. 
The new Assistant Commissioner will 
have an opportunity for a great service 
that seldom comes to an officer of the 
State. He will have the initiation of a 
practical system of food distribution 
that is to revolutionize the agricultural 
interests of the State. If the system 
be practical and comprehensive in plan 
and safe, and intelligently and ably di¬ 
rected, its sure success will- make it 
the model for the whole country. 
The man to initiate the work may well 
be inspired with a great ambition. It 
is a big job; and it requires a big 
man. The salary has been fixed at 
$3,000 per year, but the place requires 
a $10,000 a year man. Hence if Com¬ 
missioner lluson succeeds in finding the 
right man and in persuading him to 
take the place, the man must make a 
sacrifice for love of the work, and in 
the service of the people. There will 
be no trouble to get men to accept a 
$3,000 position; but to get a man capa¬ 
ble to fill this place for $3,000 a year 
simply means that there is other com¬ 
pensation considered than dollars and 
cents. Such a man will hardly be look¬ 
ing for the place. The place .will have 
to look for him. We sincerely hope he 
may be found. 
The R. N.-Y. feels an especial satis¬ 
faction in the passage of this law, and 
in the initiation of this work. Fifteen 
years ago we started out to find how 
much of the consumer’s dollar found its 
way to the producer’s pocket. On the 
most liberal allowances we could not 
find that it was more than 35 cents. In 
the inquiry our subscribers have render¬ 
ed great Service in furnishing informa¬ 
tion of exact returns for farm produce 
shipped to large city markets in all 
parts of the country, and their protest 
against the 35-cent dollar has been a 
material help in forcing the abuse on 
the minds of the public. For years The 
R. N.-Y. and its readers had this work 
all to themselves. The New York State 
Agricultural Society took up the ques¬ 
tion three years ago; and since that 
time the work has rapidly progressed. 
It is a satisfaction to those who have 
long labored in the cause to know that 
we are now ready to begin operations. 
OHIO FLOOD NOTES. 
Ohio’s big flood was caused by a 
copious rain that lasted over three days, 
and most places in Western and Central 
Ohio for the four days following March 
33, reported a rainfall varying from six 
to 12 inches. So much water falling on 
moist soil meant high water, and the 
worst floods in our history resulted. 
Small local streams were up and out 
over the bottoms four times in three 
oays, fields gullied, fertile bottoms badly 
cut up, some covered with mud and the 
Li-ger streams created havoc not only to 
c 'ty property and bridges but to land 
and property in the country as well, 
while a few days later the floods culmi¬ 
nated in the highest water ever known 
on the Ohio River. At Cincinnati the 
ciest of the flood reached a stage of 
69.8 feet (nearly 20 feet above flood 
stage) and was 20 hours in passing. 
The greatest damage seems to have oc¬ 
curred in the Miami Valley, followed by 
Scioto Valley next. It is very difficult 
to hear from the farming sections, as 
the loss of life and great destruction of 
property in the cities and the pressing 
need of relief work has so far over¬ 
shadowed damage on the farms that 
but scant notice has been given to farm 
losses, though the latter are staggering 
in their enormity and extent. The 
weather conditions responsible for this 
deluge of rain, were, as shown on the 
weather map, an extensive area of high 
barometer over the South Atlantic 
States and another over the Northwest 
near the Dakotas, while between them 
was a “trough” of low pressure extend¬ 
ing from Texas to New England, con¬ 
sisting of warm moist air. The south¬ 
eastern “high” moved out very slowly, 
while the advance of the northwestern 
“high” was more rapid, thus squeezing 
the moisture out of the “low” area be¬ 
tween, much as one squeezes the water 
out of a large sponge. These baro¬ 
metric conditions happen several times 
each year, but fortunately the same 
amount of moisture is not present at 
all times. The ruined cities will soon be 
rebuilt, the rivers straightened and 
deepened, but the ruined farm land can 
never be restored, and the loss of stock 
will be a very serious setback to many 
farmers struggling with debt, or who 
were operating as tenants and without 
extensive credit. The flood was a 
serious blow from which all of Ohio 
and a great portion of the Ohio Valley 
is suffering. Business and trade has 
been at a standstill for three weeks. 
Almost no freight has been moved in 
that time and mails have been late and 
irregular. These conditions will likely 
continue for months, and the farmers 
will feel the pinch along with the 
others. w. e. d. 
Hillsboro, O. 
SUGGESTIONS FOR FLORIDA PRIMARY 
LAW. 
Park Trammell, Governor of Florida, 
has some notions about public office 
which might well be adopted by officials 
in other States. Gov. Trammell writes 
short articles on one subject at a time, 
which are sent to the newspapers and 
printed. When the Legislature meets 
these articles are put together to form 
a message to the Legislature. Thus 
when that body meets the people have 
had a chance to study over what is pro¬ 
posed. Gov. Trammell wants a primary 
election law. The law should be such 
that a poor man zvho is upright and cap¬ 
able may run for public office without 
financial embarrassment, and the elec¬ 
tors of the State may have the privilege 
of voting for such a man. 
That is what we all want. How can 
we get it? In most States a poor man 
would have no chance whatever in go¬ 
ing before the public at a primary. We 
cannot give all of Gov. Trammell’s sug¬ 
gestions, but here are a few: 
1. A specified limit or maximum which 
may be spent by or on behalf of or in 
an manner in furtherance of the candidacy 
of any candidate for each of the elective 
offices—federal, State and county. 
2. Specifying clearly the purposes for 
which it will be legal for any candidate, 
or for any person or committee or club 
or other organization of persons, to ex¬ 
pend, directly or indirectly, the amount 
authorized by law to be spent in behalf 
of the candidacy of any candidate for 
office. 
3. That no candidate, citizen,' political 
qpinmittee or club, or other organization 
of persons shall be allowed to employ po¬ 
litical speakers or political workers, and 
shall not be allowed to compensate any 
such speaker or worker, directly or indi¬ 
rectly, or to pay their traveling expenses 
or other expenses. 
4. That a sworn statement of all cam¬ 
paign expenditures made by any citizen 
or association of citizens or club shall be 
made in duplicate and tiled within six days 
from the date of the expenditure. One 
copy thereof shall be filed with the clerk 
of the circuit court of the county in which 
the expenditure was made, and one copy 
shall be filed with the Secretary of State at 
Tallahassee. 
6. That upon every piece of literature 
or campaign article published and circulated 
the name of the person having it published 
or circulated shall thereon appear. If pub¬ 
lished or circulated by a club or committee, 
the name of the chairman and secretary 
shall appear. 
7. That every candidate, campaign man¬ 
ager, campaign committee or political club, 
shall at lenst six days prior to the day 
of publishing or circulating any charge or 
attack against a candidate, serve a copy 
of the same on the party against whom 
the charge or attack is to be made and if 
the reply to such charge or attack contains 
any charges that do not directly arise 
from the attack which is being answered, 
a copy of the reply shall be served upon 
the party to whom the reply is being made 
at least five days prior to its publication. 
8. That all persons who upon a promise 
of pay or for pay do any speaking or 
political work, for or against a candidate, 
shall be punished by a heavy penalty. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC.—Serious rioting occurred at 
Buffalo, N. Y., April 9 as a result of a street 
car strike. Troops numbering .3,000 were 
called out to patrol the streets. The riot¬ 
ers defied the soldiers in their efforts to 
enable the running of the cars. 
Miss Helen Tanzer, a teacher at Normal 
College, recovered a $6,000 verdict in the 
Supreme Court April 9 against Henry P. 
Reed, whose automobile, driven by his wife, 
knocked down and injured the plaintiff. The 
accident took place near Jamaica, Long 
Island, while the teacher was conducting a 
number of her pupils on a trip through Long 
Island. Miss Tanzer suffered a compound 
fracture of the ankle and numerous bruises. 
The same day a Brooklyn chauffeur, Fred¬ 
erick Lewis, was convicted of manslaughter 
in the first degree for killing Mrs. J. H. 
Belford with his automobile February 9. He 
narrowly escaped running down Mrs. Bel- 
ford’s husband also. 
The Greenland bill providing for pensions 
for indigent mothers was passed in the Ohio 
House April 11, 92 to 4, and now goes to 
Governor Cox, whose approval is assured. 
An annual tax levy of one-tenth of a mill 
is expected to create a pension fund each 
year of not less than $700,000. Destitute 
widows and women whose husbands are dis¬ 
abled or have deserted them or are serving 
prison sentences, are to receive $15 a month 
for a child under 14, and $7 a month for 
each additional child under that age. The 
bill makes drastic changes in the juvenile 
code, boys under 14 being prohibited from 
selling chewing gum or newspapers on the 
streets. 
Fire April 11 destroyed the Swift block, 
one of the largest buildings at Pueblo, Col. 
Five persons living in the upper stories 
were injured. The loss exceeds $300,000. 
Later surveys in the Ohio flood districts 
put the dead at nearly 500, and the home¬ 
less at 100,000. April 11 there were still 
more than 100 persons missing at Day- 
ton. 
Dr. Philip E. Garrison, U. S. N„ and A. 
IT. Jennings, an entomologist of fhe United 
States Department of Agriculture, arrived 
at Spartanburg, S. C., April 11, as the 
vanguard of the corps of scientists compos¬ 
ing the Thompson-McFadden Pellagra Com¬ 
mission. who are being sent to Spartanburg 
by the New York Post-Graduate Hospital In 
an effort to discover the nature and cause 
of pellagra. Others will join the commis¬ 
sion later. They are inclined to favor the 
theory of Dr. Sambon, of the London School 
of Tropical Medicine, that pellagra is caused 
by the bite of an insect. The entomolo¬ 
gists’ researches have satisfied them, how¬ 
ever, that the stable fly is more probably 
the cause than the buffalo gnat, which Dr. 
Sambon held responsible. The commission 
is supported by the contributions of Colonel 
Robert M. Thompson, of New York, aud 
John A. McFadden of Philadelphia. Mor¬ 
tality statistics of Spartanburg show that in 
recent years pellagra has caused more 
deaths than any other disease except tuber¬ 
culosis. 
Four men were killed and two perhaps 
fatally injured by an explosion of gas in 
the Woodward mine of the Delaware, Lack¬ 
awanna and Western Company near Wilkcs- 
barre, Pa., April 12. The explosion was 
caused by ignition of gas. 
Seven persons are dead and 15 were in¬ 
jured as the result of the derailment of an 
excursion train April 13 on the Montreal- 
Chambly branch of the Central Vermont 
Railway, about 4% miles out of St. Lam¬ 
bert, near Montreal, Canada. The train 
was carrying about 700 passengers. 
The Arlington Paper Mills, at Salisbury 
Mills, Orange County, N. Y., were damaged 
to the extent of $100,000 by fire April 13. 
California women disfranchised for hav¬ 
ing wedded aliens will be restored to citizen¬ 
ship if a bill passed April 12 in the lower 
house is enacted into law. Since California 
women won suffrage there have been many 
complaints because women whose husbands 
were not citizens were not permitted to 
vote, although the women were native born 
Americans. It is believed the bill will be¬ 
come a law. 
Albert C’. Frost and his four codefendants, 
charged with conspiracy to defraud the 
Government out of $20,000,000 worth of 
Alaska coal lands, were acquitted by a jury 
in the Federal court at Chicago April 12. 
The other defendants are Pierre G. Beach 
and George M. Seward, of Chicago, George 
M. Ball of Muncie, Ind.. and Frank Watson 
of Seattle. The hearing of the evidence 
lasted nearly a month. Witnesses were 
heard from all parts of the country and 
Alaska. 
President Charles S. Mellen and Vice- 
president E. IT. McHenry of the New Haven 
were arrested in court at Bridegport, Conn.. 
April 15, on bench warrants issued by Judge 
Gardiner Greene of the Superior Court at the 
request of State Attorney Stiles Judson. They 
are charged with manslaughter in relation to 
the wreck of the Springfield Express at 
Westport last October, in which several 
persons were killed. They were released at 
once on $5,000 bail apiece, given by DeVer 
H. Warner, a New Haven road director. 
A mothers’ pension bill, providing for 
monthly payments to indigent mothers by 
the counties of Pennsylvania, passed the 
House April 15. The measure had already 
passed the Senate. 
The Bradford alien land bill, as a com¬ 
mittee measure, was passed by the Cali¬ 
fornia Assembly April 15 by GO to 15. All 
attempts to amend the measure so that it 
would not be offensive to Japan failed. 
Amendments making it apply only to aliens 
ineligible to citizenship were voted down 
likewise. The bill provides that an alien 
may acquire property and hold it for one 
year, after which it will be taken by the 
State by a suit brought by the District 
Attorney or the Attorney-General. To hold 
property longer than a year the alien must 
declare his intention of becoming a citizen. 
Property may not be leased to any alien for 
a period of more than five years. The last 
section of the bill, and the one about 
which there will be a fight in the Senate, 
provides that every corporation the ma¬ 
jority of the issued capital stock of which 
is owned by aliens ineligible to become citi¬ 
zens of the United States shall be con¬ 
sidered an alien within the meauing of 
this act. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Through the 
taking of samples of vinegar by the agents 
of the State Department of Agriculture. 
it has been discovered that there is -a 
large quantity of spurious and adulterated 
vinegar at present in the hands of retail 
dealers in certain section of this State. 
In many instances this vinegar is be¬ 
lieved to contain pyroligneous, or wood acid. 
The samples taken by agents of the De¬ 
partment are being subjected to chemical 
analysis, and Commissioner Huson is 
inaugurating a vigorous campaign for the 
purpose of driving all spurious and adulter¬ 
ated vinegars from the market. Dealers 
who may have vinegar in stock should be 
certain it is pure cider vinegar before of¬ 
fering the same for sale, as prosecutions 
will follow the sale or offering for sale 
of the spurious and adulterated article 
wherever it may be found. 
The National Conference on marketing 
and Farm Credits opened in Chicago, April 
8. Among speakers who told of the diffi¬ 
culties of transportation and distribution 
were Edward R. Kono, Texas Commissioner 
of Agriculture; Henry H. J. Waters, Presi¬ 
dent of the Kansas Agricultural College; 
Peter Radford, President of the Texas 
Farmers’ Union, and Warren Dunham Fos¬ 
ter, of the Massachusetts Homestead Com¬ 
mission. A committee, authorized at the 
closing sessions of the conference will go 
to Washington and present to President 
Wilson the conclusions of the five hundred 
scientific agriculturists, financiers and 
economists in this conference. The com¬ 
mittee will appeal for the establishment by 
the government of a bureau for the thor¬ 
ough study of markets, crops and cost of 
transporting foodstuffs. Its members will 
assert that the appropriation of $50,000 for 
such an organization, which is now pending 
should be increased to $1,000,000. They 
will ask for federal loans to farmers. The 
chairman, Frank P. Holland, will also 
name a committee in each State to place 
the matter before the State government 
and secure favorable action. Arrangements 
were undertaken for a second national con 
ference, to open in Chicago on April 14. 
1914, and for an international conference 
at San Francisco in 1915. 
Martin John Prucha. professor of the 
bacteriological dairy at Cornell University, 
was appointed April 11 as professor of 
bacteriological dairy work in the College of 
Agriculture, University of Illinois, and as¬ 
sistant chief of the Agricultural Experiment 
Station of the State. He will assume his 
duties next September. 
Dr. William Trelease, of Boonton, N. .T.. 
has been apointed head of the department 
of botany in the University of Illinois. H>- 
is to succeed Dr. T. J. Burrill, who held 
the place for many years. 
The delegates to the National Drainage 
Congress at St. Louis began April 11 the 
work of organizing the various local drain¬ 
age boards and committees into a national 
drainage federation. Plans for such a 
federation were explained at one of the 
many conferences. A malarial conference, 
at which the relation of swamp lands and 
floods to disease, also was held and the 
report was submitted to the general meet¬ 
ing of the congress. Col. W. E. Piper, of 
Chicago, chairman of the Legislative Com¬ 
mittee of the National Fraternal Congress, 
spoke on the interest of fraternal insur¬ 
ance orders in drainage, as it affects actu¬ 
aries' tables of longevity. Dr. Joseph Hyde 
Pratt, State Geologist of North Carolina, 
spoke this afternoon on “The Reclamation 
of North Carolina Swamp Lands.” The 
executive committee was not ready to re¬ 
port its plan for the creation of a national 
department of public works under the 
supervision of a Cabinet member. The com¬ 
mittee has not yet reached an agreement 
as to what branches of the Gorvernment 
service should be placed under the new 
department. Prevention of floods was pre¬ 
sented as a profitable business proposition 
by Frank B. Knight, of Chicago. 
The annual meeting of the American 
Guernsey Cattle Club will be held at Hotel 
Imperial, Broadway and 32d Streets, New 
York City, on Wednesday, May 14th, at 
10.30 A. M, Besides the regular business of 
hearing the reports of the year’s work, 
the election of officers, etc., the following 
two special matters will be presented. To 
see if the club will vote to change Article 
VIII of the constitution so as to provide 
different conditions for expelling members. 
To consider the advisability of establishing 
as an appendix to the Herd Register, a 
Register for Grade Guernseys. Tuesday. 
May 13, 2.30 P. M., the annual meeting 
of the New York State Guernsey Breeders’ 
Association. At this meeting beside the 
general business of the association, there 
will be a discussion of feeding for ad¬ 
vanced register work. 
COMING FARMERS’ MEETINGS. 
American Jersey Cattle Club, annual 
meeting, 324 West 23d Street, New York, 
May 7. 
Dutch Belted Cattle Association of 
America, annual meeting. Hotel Imperial, 
New York, May 8. 
American Guernsey Cattle Club, annual 
meeting, Hotel Imperial, New York, May 
14. 
Sixteenth annual convention of the Cana¬ 
dian Horticultural Association will be held 
at Peterboro, Out., in August. 
New Y'ork State Fair and Grand Circuit 
Meeting, Syracuse, N. Y., September 8-12. 
Lancaster Fair, Lancaster, Pa., Septem¬ 
ber 30-October 3. 
Horses from $50 to $100 for culls, $100 
to $150 for three-year-olds; $150 to $250 
for good work horses. Cows, $40 to $75. 
yearlings. $25 to $40. Steers, fat. $7.50 to 
$8 per 100. ; stockers, $6.50 to $7.50 ; hogs, 
fat. $8.75 to $9; stock hogs $9 to $11; 
sheep. $5 to $7 per head. Butter. 25; 
cream, 2S; apples, 75 to $1 per bushel, 
wheat. 85; corn, 55: oats, 30; rye, 75; 
hay. $S to $12 per ton; straw. $6. Hired 
labor, $25 to $30 per month, single men ; 
$30 to $35 married men ; $3 to $5 per week 
for women. Garden crop prices are vari¬ 
able. all the way from nearly nothing for 
home grown, to extremely high for im¬ 
ported. Apples usually sell 25 to 40 cents 
when home grown and $2 to $2.40 when 
shipped in. Potatoes at present, 75 cents 
per bushel, but sell all the way from 40 
cents to $1.50, according to supply. Other 
garden truck practically no market unless 
shipped in. H. w. 
Bonaparte, Iowa, 
