173 
1910. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—A Grand Jury investigation 
of the beef trust has been ordered by the 
District Court in Omaha. The Nebraska 
anti-trust laws are very explicit .and far 
reaching, and the coming investigation will 
include all combinations in the purchase 
of live stock, the handling and shipping of 
meats and in the conditions under which 
the packing house products are marketed. 
Eleven persons, city employees and con¬ 
tractors, were indicted January 27, by the 
Chicago Grand Jury in true bills charging 
conspiracy to defraud the city of Chicago 
out of $253,005.40 in the Lawrence avenue 
sewer “shale rock” graft scandal. Only one 
indictment was returned, a blanket indict¬ 
ment against the eleven men, containing 
four counts on the charge of conspiracy to 
obtain the money of the city of Chicago by 
false bills. It is charged in the indictment 
that the McGovern firm whose president 
and four employees were indicted, by col¬ 
lusion with the city officials “skimped” on 
the sewer work, substituting less expensive 
materials than the specifications called for 
and using- less brick and cement than 
agreed. 
A bobsled carrying twenty school-children 
was struck bv a fast Lake Shore passenger 
train on North Main street, Andover, O., 
January 28. and carried 200 feet upon the 
pilot of the locomotive, until brushed off by 
an engine standing upon a side track. Not 
one child was killed and none is thought to 
be seriously hurt. 
Judge Charles M. Hough in the United 
States Circuit Court, New York, quashed 
on January 2G the indictment which 
charged that the New York World had li¬ 
belled Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard 
Taft, Charles P. Taft, Douglas Robinson and 
William Nelson Cromwell in connection with 
the Panama Canal purchase. Judge Ilough 
in throwing the case out of court held that 
the indictment was not authorized by the 
statute upon which it rests. The substance 
of his ruling is that the United States Gov¬ 
ernment has no jurisdiction in libel actions 
which are covered by the laws of the States. 
If the power of the United States Govern¬ 
ment could be invoked on the plea that 
criminal libel was committed upon Federal 
territory within a State, Judge Hough 
«aw no reason why alleged offenders would 
not be subject to double punishment, once 
bv a State court and once by a Federal 
court. Judge Hough’s decision is the second 
setback the Government has met since the 
attempt was begun by President Roosevelt 
in 1908 to punish the World and the In¬ 
dianapolis News for publishing articles re¬ 
flecting, it is alleged, upon the motives of 
himself, Mr. Taft Charles P. Taft, Douglas 
Robinson and William Nelson Cromwell. 
Judge Albert M. Anderson in the Federal 
court in Indianapolis decided on October 12, 
1909, that the Government could not take 
the proprietor and editor of the News from 
Indianapolis to the Washington District 
Court and try them for substantially the 
same offence ‘as was charged against the 
World. It then became necessary for the 
Government to get its case before a Federal 
court in a State where the alleged criminal 
libel could be shown to have been circulated. 
On the ground that copies of the World 
containing the offensive articles had been 
sold at West Point and in the Federal build¬ 
ing here the Government got the proceedings 
into the United States District Court here. 
Forty-three dead and sixty-five missing is 
the record of the mine explosion in the Colo¬ 
rado Fuel and Iron Company's mine at 
Primero, Col., January 31. Only one miner 
has been brought out alive. He is Leonardo 
Virgin, a young Mexican. He was found 
under a heap of a dozen dead men and half 
as many dead mules. The sixty-five men 
still in the wrecked workings are believed 
to be dead. The majority of the victims 
were foreigners and negroes. The money 
loss to the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company 
will reach $100,000. 
The Moore special committee on the cost 
of living in the District of Columbia, turned 
the searchlight of inquiry on the high price 
situation in the national capital with as¬ 
tonishing results. All the testimony Janu¬ 
ary 31 tended to show that the retail groc¬ 
ers of Washington have a most effective or¬ 
ganization, of which the lochl bakers, com¬ 
mission merchants and other wholesalers 
THE RURAL 
stand in fear. These facts were elicited 
during the examination of Amos Tyree, 
secretary, and Dr. M. J. I-Iolmes, assistant 
secretary, of the defunct Department Coop¬ 
erative Guild, incorporated under the laws 
of Delaware for the purpose of purchasing 
the necessaries of life at wholesale and re¬ 
tailing them to employees of the Govern¬ 
ment in Washington at an “average rate,” 
the profits on sales to be distributed pro 
rata every four months to stockholders of 
the guild, all of them Government clerks. 
The guild went into the hands of a receiver 
as a result of a number of contributory 
causes, chief among which was a boycott 
by the wholesalers of the district forced by 
the retail grocers. The members of the com¬ 
mittee heard how the big bakers one after 
another, when threatened by the Retail 
Grocers Association, refused to deliver bread 
to the guild and finally even refused to sell 
bread to employees of the guild “over the 
counter.” One baker told the guild, it was 
testified, that his business had been cut from 
one-third to two-thirds because he had sold 
to the guild and that if he didn’t stop he 
would be put out of business. It was the 
same way too. Holmes and Tyree said, with 
butter and other things. A packing com¬ 
pany’s representative in Washington can¬ 
celled an order given by the guild when or¬ 
dered to do so by the Retail Grocers Asso¬ 
ciation. The beef trust, the sugar trust and 
the National Biscuit Company, better known 
as the cracker trust, sold to the guild right 
along at regular wholesale rates and told 
the retail grocers to “mind their own busi¬ 
ness” when the association complained. The 
testimony of Holmes and Tyree showed that 
these three “big trusts” simply laughed at 
the threats of the “little trust." 
All the fourteen Sicilians charged with 
black hand conspiracy were found guilty by 
the jury in the Federal Court at Toledo, O., 
January 29. Salvatore Lima, the leader, was 
sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment. Others 
were sentenced for periods ranging from 
two to 10 years. To Agostini Marfisi, Vin¬ 
cenzo Arrigo, and Salvatore Rozzo were 
granted new trials. The trial of these Black 
Hand members of the Society of the Banana, 
has been in progress for some days and has 
attracted considerable attention, as it 
seemed to be the first instance in which the 
authorities had ever had a clear-cut case 
against the murderous Italian blackmailers. 
What appeared to be the rules and by-laws 
of the Society were produced at the trial ; 
and the signatures of all the defendants 
were found attached to it. 
POSTAL SAVINGS BANK BILL.—The pos¬ 
tal savings bank bill was taken up for con¬ 
sideration in the Senate January 31. Senator 
Carter of Montana, the author of the meas¬ 
ure, submitted the report in its favor for 
the Committee on Post Offices and Post 
Roads. In a speech of some length Senator 
Carter explained the provisions of the pend¬ 
ing bill. Briefly he said that the proposition 
for the establishment of a postal savings 
bank law is as follows: “The Postmaster- 
General will designate as rapidly as consist¬ 
ent with good administration the money or¬ 
der offices as places for the receipt of sav¬ 
ings deposits, and he is empowered to so 
designate such other offices as he deems ad¬ 
visable. There are approximately 50,000 
money order post offices, so that the Post¬ 
master-General may at first restrict the de¬ 
positories to post offices of the Presidential 
grade, of which there are about 7,500. Ac¬ 
counts may be offered by any person 10 
years or more of age. Married women may 
have accounts free from interference by 
their husbands. No person can have more 
than one account. The minimum deposit 
which will be accepted is $1. Interest is to 
be allowed at a rate not exceeding two per 
cent per annum, an evidence of the inten¬ 
tion of the Government not to compete with 
banks. No account may have a total credit 
exceeding $500, exclusive of accumulated 
interest, and not more than $100 may be 
deposited in any one month. Withdrawals 
may be made under rules and regulations to 
be prescribed. Postal savings funds, so far 
as practicable, will be deposited by the 
Postmaster-General in banks located near¬ 
est to the post offices at which the money 
is received at a rate of interest not less 
than 2]4 per cent per annum. 
NEW OLEO BILL.—Senator Penrose in¬ 
troduced a bill January 27 to revise the 
taxes on oleomargarine. The general effect 
SIEW-YORKER 
of the measure is to make heavier imposi¬ 
tions on the colored article that competes 
with butter, and to lighten the burden on 
the uncolored oleo. The bill is said to have 
the approval of the National Grange. While 
the tax on the colored oleomargarine is left 
at 10 cents a pound, the license fee of the 
manufacturer is put at $600, that of the 
wholesale dealer at $480 and of the retail 
dealer at $48. The license for the wholesale 
dealer in uncoloved oleomargarine is fixed at 
$200 and the retailer at $6. A wholesale 
dealer is defined as one who sells oleomar¬ 
garine in packages of not less than 10 
pounds. The tax on the imported article 
is 15 cents. Packages, it is provided, shall 
be of one, three and five pounds. Penalties 
are extended to apply to corporations as well 
as persons, the books relating to the manu¬ 
facture of the article shall be open to the 
inspection of the Commissioner of Internal 
Revenue, and in case of fraud not only 
shall all the oleomargarine on hand be 
forfeited, but all the ingredients as well. 
It is provided further that all cases brought 
for fraud shall be carried to an end, and 
that no compromise with the defendants 
shall be made. The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Mr. Edwin Lons¬ 
dale, late head gardener at Girard College, 
Philadelphia, Pa., and an occasional con¬ 
tributor to The R. N.-Y., has gone to Cali¬ 
fornia to take charge of a seed growing, 
testing and experimental farm established 
at Lompoc by W. Altee Burpee & Co., of 
Philadelphia. The effort to grow seeds under 
the direct supervision of the seller, instead 
of relying entirely on contract growers, can¬ 
not fail to be advantageous as an assurance 
of quality. 
A meeting of the directors of the Dairy¬ 
men's League, an organization which has 
been in existence about two years, was held 
in Middletown, N. Y., January 29. The meet¬ 
ing was private and was attended by twenty 
of the directors. It is said that the league 
now controls the output of 50.000 cows in 
the milk zone shipping into New York and 
that important measures are under con¬ 
sideration for the profit of the farmer and 
dairyman. As such an organization as the 
Dairymen’s League might be charged with 
being a corporation exercising its powers 
in restraint of trade it is understood that 
information regarding the league's plans will 
not hereafter be made public and that what¬ 
ever action the league takes will be within 
the corporation laws. 
Senator Smith of South Carolina consult¬ 
ed President Taft January 31, in regard to 
a bill which he is about to push before Con¬ 
gress providing for a national commission 
to reclaim overflowed and wet lands in the 
South and elsewhere, a project which he 
regards as much more important than the 
irrigation of arid Western land, and much 
cheaper. 
THE MILK INQUIRY.—At the milk trust 
inquiry which is being carried on by Deputy 
Attorney-General Coleman before Referee 
William B. Brown, former State Senator 
William P. Richardson, who has been in the 
milk producing business in Goshen, N. Y., 
for 35 years, testified January 26, that in 
1883, when he was president of the Farmers 
Association of Orange county, the old Milk 
Exchange, Ltd., arranged its own prices, 
which the farmers had “about as much to 
say about,” he added, “as that table. And 
that is the way it is now under the Con¬ 
solidated Milk Exchange. The farmer ac¬ 
cepts the 'Exchange price or keeps his milk 
because there are no butter or cheese fac¬ 
tories in our vicinity. It’s all foolishness 
to think anything else,” he said. Mr. Rich¬ 
ardson suggested a conference between the 
milk producers, the dealers and the con¬ 
sumers to arrange all the prices. He said 
the consumers would be willing to pay even 
more for their milk if they knew that the 
farmers were getting sufficient profit to en¬ 
able them to produce clean and good milk. 
He described how some milk producers who 
were forced by the exchange to sell milk 
at the marginal price had had to go out of 
business. lie knew of twelve farms in his 
neighborhood which had had that experi¬ 
ence. He said the exchange fixed the price 
all over. Of that he was certain. More tes¬ 
timony about the “dead wagon” which 
trailed and undersold milk dealers who had 
offended the Milk Dealers’ Protective Asso¬ 
ciation was brought out. Testimony had 
been given previously to show how this as¬ 
sociation had started the wagon on the route 
of Miller Brothers, a new Harlem milk con¬ 
cern, and to indicate the efforts which had 
been made to drive them out of business. 
Tone Ilelfand, a milk dealer, at No.. 1332 
Park avenue, N. Y., described his experience 
with George Bleffert, the man supposed to 
have had charge of the “dead wagon.” Hel- 
fand originally bought milk of a dealer 
named Liebermau, who, he understood, was 
a member of the Milk Dealers’ Protective 
Association, which maintained a price of 
38 cents a can above the Milk Exchange 
quotation, as an iron-bound practice. When 
Miller Brothers started in business, Ilelfand 
was one of the dealers who went to them. 
They offered milk at 20 cents less than the 
association price, which was $2.20 a can at 
the time, last November. Soon afterwards, 
Ilelfand said, Bleffert came along with an 
unmarked wagou and offered milk at $1.80, 
20 cents below Miller's price. Bleffert rep¬ 
resented that his company was a new one. 
But Ilelfand said he soon learned that it 
was a bogus concern, and that the milk 
Bleffert furnished was really provided by 
Lieberman. After a short while he gave up 
Bleffert and went back to Miller Brothers. 
Scraping Apple Trees. 
On page 24 is reference to scraping apple 
trees to cause them to bear. What time of 
year should the scraping be done? I have 
several old trees that might be improved by 
the process. Would the results show this 
year? c. w. w. 
Jeannette, Pa. 
Scrape now—as good a time as any. This 
scraping off the rough bark will destroy 
many insect eggs and loosen up trees that 
may be barkbound. Give them a coat of 
whitewash with sulphur in it. The trees 
ought to show some extra vigor this year, 
but of course this scraping cannot make 
new fruit buds. 
Alsike Clover. 
Will Alsike yield as large a quantity of 
fodder as Red clover, when seeded with 
oats? I wish to seed with some of the 
clover family, which will supply some food 
for bees. Alsike I understand is a good 
honey plant. I wish to seed with some of 
the clovers which will yield as much as Red 
clover for fodder. w. e. a. 
Westchester, Conn. 
No—on soil well adapted to Red clover 
the Alsike will not give as heavy a yield. 
On wet land or where the soil is too sour 
for the Red clover Alsike will usually out- 
yield it. The Alsike when handled right 
gives a slender stem and a more palatable 
hay. It gives good bee pasture. We mix the 
two kinds of seed together. 
The majority of the corn that sold here 
brought 50 cents per bushei. A good many 
kept their corn for higher prices, oats 
bringing 50 cents; wheat. $1.15 at the 
present time. There was a good bit of 
wheat sold last Fall at the mill for $1 
per bushel. Hay is bringing about $12 per 
ton; cattle worth from $4 to $5 per 100 
pounds; hogs, 714 to eight cents per pound: 
potatoes, 50 cents a bushel; sheep, fat. 
averaging 90 to 100 pounds, 4]£ to 41/, 
cents per pound. Horses, not many selling 
yet, but the outlook is not quite so good 
as the two last Springs for horses. They 
will bring a fair price when the season 
opens up for horses, especially the heavy 
horses. a. l. s. 
Beallsville, Ohio. 
Wonderberrv ix Verse. —Here is an 
Illinois man who tries his.hand at throwing 
poetry at the Wonderberry ; 
Mr. Childs has made a blunder of his 
wonder; 
It is very like a humbug all agree, 
If his wonder is a blunder. 
Then his blunder is a wonder, 
So a Bltinderberry it must ever he. 
J. L. J. 
Childs and Burbank seem to be immune 
to most influences, but when the poets get 
after them they have our sincere sympathy. 
d 
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Swift’s Fertilizer this season ever pro¬ 
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was more than 95 bushels shelled com per 
acre. 
Have used these fertilizers to my entire 
satisfaction the past ten years, and will use 
them extensively this coming season.” 
[Signed] C. K. Goodhue, Supt., 
World’s End Farm, 
Hingham, Mass. 
One of the vital demands upon you is to enrich the soil and maintain its 
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[Signed] Rev. ,J. It. Lawrence, 
ltayuham, Mass. 
A 
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To increase the Potash one per cent, add two pounds of 
muriate or sulfate of Potash, or eight pounds of Kainit to every 
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