1910. 
THB RURAt NEW-YORKER 
eii 
THE COST OF A CROP—No. 12. 
Following is cost of 12 acres of 
potatoes to date: 
riowing, 8 3/10 days at $4 per day, 
or S3 hours at 40 cents . $33.20 
Fitting ground, 45 hours at 40 cents 18.00 
Marking both ways rows 3 feet apart, 
.16 hours, man and horse, 30 cents 4.S0 
Furrowing out rows, 33 hours, man 
and horse at 30 cents . 9.90 
Dropping potatoes, 58 hours, man at 
20 cents . 11.60 
Covering potatoes, 23 hours, man and 
team at 40 cents . 9.20 
161 bushels large seed potatoes cut to 
3 eyes, at 35 cents . 56.35 
30 hours cutting seed, men at 20 cts. 6.00 
Total labor cost to date and seed.$149.05 
It will be interesting to learn net re¬ 
sults of this venture compared with 
others who use large amounts of com¬ 
mercial fertilizer. By planting three feet 
apart each way we can care for pota¬ 
toes easier, especially where qjtack grass 
is abundant; also we do not run our 
land so hard. My plan, a rotation to 
build up soil, is to use commercial fer¬ 
tilizer on wheat to ibe seeded to clover, 
and then to spend money for stable 
manure to apply on clover sod for po¬ 
tatoes rather than to buy fertilizer and 
apply direct for potatoes. 
I note that President Brown of the 
New York Central is about to form a 
million dollar corporation to cheapen 
farm produce, using the “failures” of 
the cities as help. He says in effect that 
the farmers of New York are ignorant 
and do not know enough-to farm. Now, 
myself and whole family who propose 
to stay on the farm resent this insinua¬ 
tion most decidedly. We propose to 
compel Mr. Brown to show what he 
knows about farming. The first question 
I want him to answer is to name the 
cost of a bushel of potatoes, quart of 
milk and pound of pork produced on his 
farms paying the same average price per 
hour for labor as he pays his freight 
handlers and other help on his railroads, 
with same dividends as New York Cen¬ 
tral pays on investments; insurance, taxes 
and all cost£ of running farms added/ I 
wish to inform him that we must receive 
an advance on this cost price in order to 
pay wages that will hold .the boys on the 
farm. It might occur to Mr. Brown if 
he desires to cheapen* cost of living in the 
cities that he could make a special rate 
on farm produce carried by his railroad. 
This would be more to the point than 
telling the farmers in effect to work 
for nothing and board themselves. We 
are ready to co-operate with President 
Brown or everyone else to cheapen 
the cost of living, but he may as well 
know now- as later that we insist first 
on a fair rate of wages for all service 
performed on the farm. When Presi¬ 
dent Brown names the cost price of farm 
produce and tells us where to obtain the 
advance I beg to assure him that his 
farms will have many visitors to learn 
his methods. grant g. hitchings. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
THE COST OF HANDLING. 
• 
Enclosed find express receipts for crates 
of sprouts shipped from Mattituck, Long 
Island, N. Y., to Philadelphia and Balti¬ 
more. If you can get anything out of these 
robber express companies please deduct a 
fat fee, as your time and trouble are worth 
it. Unless the small producer has the 
wealth of a Rockefeller and the patience of 
Job, he can't get a word out of them. 
New York. g. c. t. 
These shipments showed the following 
state of affairs: 
Jan. 27—One crate of sprouts to Balti¬ 
more, charges.$0.68 
Nov. 1 7—Two crates to Philadelphia .. 1.35 
Oct. 16—One crate to Philadelphia. . .90 
Xov. and Dec.—Nine single crates 
shipped separately to Phila¬ 
delphia, each. 90 
We could not see how the rate to 
Philadelphia could be 22 cents more than 
the rate to Baltimore, which is 108 miles 
further on over the same road, and the 
rate of 90 cents for a single crate to 
Philadelphia seemed out of proportion 
to G7>2 cents per crate for two crates in 
one shipment. We, however, made com¬ 
plaint to the Long Island Express Com¬ 
pany and they reply that they turned 
these shipments over to Adams Express 
Company at New York, and collected 
30 cents for charges from Mattituck. 
"1 hey go on to explain the “official ex¬ 
press classification,” and finally arrive at 
the admission that “shipments can be 
made to Baltimore at a lower rate than 
to Philadelphia” from this point, and that 
the charges are correct—there you are. 
And what are you going to do about it ? 
Is it any wonder that living is high 
in cities? In this case the expressage 
and commission were just about equal to 
the net returns to the grower. The 
farmer got about 50 per cent, of the 
wholesale price, and probably not to ex¬ 
ceed 25 per cent, of the retail price. 
Railroad officials and presidents of 
manufacturing associations would reduce 
the cost of living by increasing the pro¬ 
ductions of the farm. They would bring 
foreign emigrants to the farms, send city 
clerks to the country, and establish model 
farms to teach their neighbors how to 
produce more to the acre. We admit 
that this extra production would make 
more business for the railroads, and 
that it would make food cheaper for the 
workmen of the factories, who could 
then be kept quiet on a smaller daily 
wage, but we fail to see how it is going 
to benefit the farmer who is producing 
the raw food products. If he uses more 
fertilizer, better culture, more expensive 
seed, ships in better packages, and 
doubles his yield, he will have double 
the expense of handling, and of express- 
age, to say nothing of the other extra 
expenses; and if as is expected, the 
extra supply thus created makes food 
cheaper for the city, the only conclusion 
is that the farmer will net no more, if 
as much, as now per pound or bushel. 
The railroad companies surely show no 
signs of reducing the charges on trans¬ 
portation. Railroad men arrange meet¬ 
ings of farmers for the admitted purpose 
of cheapening the products of the farm 
in the city * markets. How would it be 
for farmers to reciprocate the courtesy 
by calling meetings of railroad presidents 
with the object of reducing the cost of 
transportation? The farmers would, of 
course be laughed at for their assurance, 
yet the railroads are creatures of the 
State and the movement would be an en¬ 
tirely logical and legitimate one, while 
on the other hand the farms are pri¬ 
vate property, and their management, 
private business, and railroad presidents 
or anyone else has no right to interfere 
with them. It is evident from this ex¬ 
perience that if railroad presidents were 
farmers, and farmers railroad presidents 
the railroad and express rates would 
then be regulated at the farms. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Owing to the unusual 
drought the forests in the northern and 
eastern part of Minnesota, in northern 
Wisconsin and Michigan had been burning 
for several days May 11. Little rain lias 
fallen in Minnesota this Spring and since 
the last snowstorm of April 24 and 26 
there has not been enough moisture to wet 
the ground. 
The upsetting of two boats on a mill 
pond at Huutington Mills. Pa., May 12, 
caused the death of six girls and two boys, 
pupils of the local high school. Moving to 
change seats appears to have caused the 
trouble. Apparently there were no cow¬ 
ards; the survivors saved themselves only 
when it was impossible to save others. 
They reached the shore so exhausted that 
it was some time before they had strength 
to drag themselves to the road and shout 
for help. Robert Minnick, one of the 
drowned boys, was the particular hero of 
the occasion. In the confusion he first 
swam to shore and then seeing the girls 
were in the water he struck out for the 
middle of the pond again and was drowned 
while endeavoring to save the girls. 
The Rancho del Paso, near Sacramento, 
Cal., former home of the James B. Ilaggin 
string of thoroughbreds, has been sold by 
Ilaggin and the Tevis heirs to a Minneapo¬ 
lis land company headed by George W. But¬ 
ler. The price paid by the purchasers is 
said to be between $1,750,000 and $2,000,- 
000. The ranch contains 44,000 acres. 
John B. Elving and his wife, with their 
month-old baby and six other children, 
the eldest of whom is 15 years old, reached 
Grand Marais, Minn*., May 12, in an al¬ 
most famished condition after a 30-mile 
trip through the forest between there and 
Upper Brule Lake. It took them five days 
to cover' the distance, and they were al¬ 
ternately almost burned and frozen to 
death. Two of the smaller children were 
saved from drowning in the swift current 
of the Brule River by the family’s New¬ 
foundland dog. When- Elving and his fam¬ 
ily were routed from their beds on May 8 
by advancing forest fires they beat a hasty 
retreat with a small stock of provisions. 
After tramping for three days in a vain 
effort to escape from the burning timber, 
they found themselves entirely surrounded 
by fires. Elving, with his hand axe. cut 
limbs Srom trees on the bank of the Brule 
River, sought a favorable place in the 
stream, and stationed himself and family 
near, deep in the water, underneath a 
wetted screen of underbrush which they 
saturated from time to time until the fire 
burned out. 
Charged with operating a medical “diplo¬ 
ma mill” three Chicago physicians were ar¬ 
rested May 13 by Federal officers. They 
are Dr. Alexander Chittick, Dr. N. O. 
Bourque, and Dr. .T. Nelson Barnes. All 
were released on bail. According to United 
States Commissioner Mark A. Foote, the 
physicians are charged with selling diplo¬ 
mas for $40 in the name of the Crescent 
Medical University and the Chicago Medical 
University. The specific charge upon which 
the arrests were made is using the mails 
to defraud. 
^ Former Governor Frank West Rollins, of 
New Hampshire, and his son. Douglas Rol¬ 
lins, were arrested May 13 when they ar¬ 
rived at New York on the steamship Lusi¬ 
tania from England on warrants issued by 
United States Commissioner Shields. The 
complaint attached to the warrants and 
sworn to by C.ustoms Inspector Matthew P. 
Cassidy charges the former Governor, his 
son and his wife, Catharine Rollins, with 
conspiracy to defraud the Government by 
smuggling in dutiable goods. After the 
Lusitania had docked and the examination 
of the baggage was begun it was found that 
the Rollins family had made a declaration 
containing merely one fur jacket valued at 
$800. Inspector Cassidy, however, found 
nine trunks belonging to them, and in these 
trunks he found dutiable goods valued at 
$1,000, consisting of men’s and women's 
wearing apparel, souvenirs, a watch chain, 
a pair of cuff button's, two brooches and 
three rings. 
Refusing to hold that the “blow Post 
Statute” of Georgia, passed in 1852, when 
railroads were just being built there, is un¬ 
constitutional, the Supreme Court of the 
United States May 16 affirmed decisions of 
the lower Federal courts, awarding judg¬ 
ments of about $10,000 to Mrs. Josephine 
King and her daughter for injuries suffered 
in a crossing accident on the Southern 
Railway. Question of the constitutionality 
of the law arose when Mrs. King brought 
suit against the Southern Railway Com¬ 
pany for damages for the death of her 
husband, who was struck by a train at a 
public highway crossing. The law provided 
that at posts 400 yards from the point 
where a railroad crosses a highway the en¬ 
gineer shall begin to blow his whistle and 
continue to do so until he reaches the cross¬ 
ing. Simultaneously, he must keep cheek¬ 
ing the speed of the engine, so as to stop 
in time should any one bo crossing the 
track. The railroad asserted that the en¬ 
forcement of the statute would greatly de¬ 
lay mail trains and otherwise interfere 
with interstate commerce. Justice Day, in 
announcing the opinion of the court, said 
that when a party came into court to at¬ 
tack the constitutionality of a law, he 
must show that he was injured. This, it 
was held, had not been done. Justices 
Holmes and White dissented. 
U. G. Walker, ex-president of the closed 
South Cleveland Banking Company, was sen¬ 
tenced to five years in the Ohio State Peni¬ 
tentiary May 10. Walker was found guilty 
of perjury, for making false statements 
to the State Bank Examiner. The financial 
condition of the bank, which failed for 
more than $1,000,000. was discovered after 
the failure of the Werner. Company, an 
Akron printing concern, which had bor¬ 
rowed heavily from the bank. Walker will 
appeal to the Circuit Court. 
The Supreme Court at Washington May 
16 set for rehearing on November 14 the 
cases of the Standard Oil Company and the 
American Tobacco Company, which were 
argued at great length two months ago and 
wliich, presumably because of a bench too 
evenly divided since the death of Justice 
Peckham and the continued absence of Jus¬ 
tice Moody, the court recently restored to 
the docket for reargument. Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral Wickersham made the motion for the 
advancement of the two cases, suggesting 
their assignment for hearing on October 31. 
Opposing counsel urged postponement un¬ 
til November 14, saying that the election 
campaign would be at its height during 
the week suggested by the Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral, and in addition some of counsel al¬ 
ready had cases for that week. 
The report of the special legislative com¬ 
mittee that has been investigating the 
looting of the Southbridge (Mass.) Sav¬ 
ings Bank of $500,000 was filed May 16. 
The committee is unable to locate the funds 
of the bank because it cannot summon and 
examine ex-Treasurer James A. Hall with¬ 
out giving him an "immunity bath.” The 
committee finds negligence in degree in 
this order: 1. In the Savings Bank De¬ 
partment for a period of 17 years. 2. In 
the auditing committees of the bank. 3. In 
the trustees. A bill making such negli¬ 
gence as they are accused of a penal of¬ 
fence went to the Legislature with the re¬ 
port. One of the things recommended is 
an enforced auditing of bank accounts by 
an expert. 
Max Lubarsky, who used to be in the 
butter and egg business at 332 Washington 
street, New York, with Joseph Stein, met 
a man on December 14 last who told him 
of persons who could manufacture money 
that was as good as the kind they turn 
out at the Mint. Lubarsky went to the 
home of Mr. and Mcs. Esther Bauer, at 
295 Avenue B. There lie was introduced 
to Samuel Dressier of 321 Reid avenue, 
Brooklyn. According to Lubarsky, the 
Bauers and Dressier gave him seven .$5 
bills, which, they said, they had made. He 
took the money and deposited it in a bank 
and believed the story. They knew how 
to make a whole lot more, they told him, 
so in January Lubarsky gave up $1,000 to 
buy implements from an expert in Wash¬ 
ington. Dressier told Lubarsky that he 
needed $1,000 more before he left for 
Washington and Lubarsky let him have it, 
he says. A few days later Lubarsky went 
to Washington himself, turned over an¬ 
other $1,000, but never got the counter¬ 
feiting outfit. When he parted with $600 
more and received nothing in return he 
became worried and notified the police. May 
16 detectives who have been working on 
the case for some time arrested Samuel 
Dressier and Mr. and Mrs. Bauer. They 
were locked up charged with stealing the 
$3,600. The drain on the butter and egg 
business was so great, said Lubarsky, that 
he and Joseph Stein had to quit. 
Many men were killed and injured in a 
boiler explosion at the plant of the Ameri¬ 
can Sheet and Tin Plate Company, at Can¬ 
ton. Ohio. May 17. It is believed the deaii 
will number 25. More than 100 men were 
in the mill at the time of the explosion, 
and it is not believed that -more than a 
dozen escaped injury. Seven boilers ex¬ 
ploded simultaneously in an L-shaped ad¬ 
dition near the middle of the main mill. 
All employees connected with that depart¬ 
ment were torn to pieces. Many are thought 
to be buried in the debris, which caught 
fire immediately after the explosion, but was 
extinguished by the fire department. One 
body was thrown through the side of the 
hewne of Henry Ruke, a block and a half 
away from the wrecked plant. The body 
passed tlv'ough the house, came out on the 
other side, struck a fence and knocked it 
down. Another body was picked up at the 
plant of the Timken Roller Bearing Axle 
Company, half a mile away from the scene 
of the explosion. A man’s hand crashed 
through the window of the office, 75 feet 
away. The cause of the explosion is un¬ 
known and the boilers were supposed to 
be sound. The whole side of the plant 
was blown out by the explosion. Windows 
were broken in all bouses within a radius 
of a quarter of a mile. 
The concentrated opposition of 175 big 
manufacturing companies to an advance 
in railroad rates took form in Chicago May 
17 in the permanent organization of in¬ 
dividual organizations and companies into 
a big association to fight the roads. The 
following officers were elected: President, 
John E. Wilder, Chicago; vice-president. It. 
F. Spencer, St. Louis; secretary, E. E. Wil¬ 
liamson, Cincinnati. The selection of a 
name was for the time being delayed. E. 
J. McVann, of the Commercial Club, Omaha, 
announced that Western shippers probably 
would seek by injunction to prevent the 
raise in ra'tes scheduled for June 1 from 
goiftig into effect. 
May 17 fire destroyed a prison stockade 
at Lucile, Ala. T-wenty-sevcn convicts are 
missing. Three w.hite convicts escaped. The 
stockade was burnfled by three ringleaders, 
who attempted some time ago to burn the 
place. Two of these were shot down by 
the guards. It is believed that most of 
the convicts were sleeping when the fire 
alarm was turned in, and a stampede tnat 
followed resulted in the deaths. 
The Aditas, the largest and best known 
hotel of Arizona, burned at Phoenix May 
17, causing $260,000 loss. The fire started 
in the basement near the elevator shaft at 
six a. m., making the escape of the 150 
guests difficult and dangerous. The build¬ 
ing, a four-story brick structure, was ablaze 
all over within 20 minutes. Governor and 
Mrs. Sloan, who were resident in the hotel, 
escaped with little more than their night 
attire. Their little daughter was carried 
to safety by the night clerk. Ralph Pur¬ 
vis, of Draper. S. D., died of' excitement 
during the fire. 
POLITICAL.—Governor Hughes’ so-called 
direct nominations bill, introduced by Sen¬ 
ator Ilinman and Assemblyman Green, 
which would abolish the party convention, 
was killed in the Assembly May 11 after 
a nine-hour debate by a vote of ayes 67. 
noes 77. The Dill lacked nine votes of 
passing, 76 votes being required. The 
bill was killed beyond resurrection in the 
Assembly for this year when the House 
by a vote of ayes 58, noes 82, refused to 
reconsider its action. Then the Assembly 
promptly, by a vote of ayes 46, noes 88, 
killed the Grady-Frisbie Dill which was 
ifrawn by Judge D-Cady Herrick on behalf 
of the Saratoga Democratic I.eague as rep- 
x-esentative of the Democratic idea of pri¬ 
mary reform. Without more ado the As¬ 
sembly then passed the Meade-Phillips bill 
prepared by the legislative commission ap¬ 
pointed last year to investigate the opera¬ 
tion of direct primaries in other States. 
This bill was amended so that it practically 
coincided with Governor Hughes’ bill ex¬ 
cept that all party conventions are pre¬ 
served in the bill, which was passed in the 
Assembly May 11 by a vote of ayes 84, 
noes 54. This action of the Assembly in¬ 
dorses the position taken by Speaker James 
W. Wadsworth, Jr., since the opening of 
the session upon this question, and to his 
leadership in the House more than anything 
else was due the action of the Assembly 
upon these three bills. 
The New York State Senate at Albany, 
May 17, adopted by a vote of 26 to 20 a 
resolution indorsing the Taft income tax 
proposed amendment to the Federal Con¬ 
stitution. The resolution was introduced 
by Senator Frederick M. Davenport, of 
Oneida County, the hom'e of United States 
Senator Root. The deciding vote, the 26th, 
was cast by Edgar Truman Brackett, of 
Saratoga, who was credited with having 
secured from United States Senator Root 
at Washington the famous telegram in¬ 
dorsing Senator Harvey D. Ilinman as the 
Republican leader of the State Senate to 
succeed .Totham 1’. Allds. It required 26 
votes to adopt the Davenport resolution in 
the Senate and it now goes to the Assembly 
for concurrence. 
CROP NOTES. 
The freeze on the night of May 5 lias 
killed the fruit. Our spraying all in vain. 
Grafton, W. Va. j. h. a. 
The prospect for the hay crop, wheat 
and oats is not so good in this locality 
as common. The weather in March was 
much warmer than usual, causing wheat 
and all the grasses to start a vigoi-ous 
growth. Freezing weather in April en¬ 
tirely destroyed the fruit crop, and had a 
very bad effect on the wheat and all the 
gx-asses. j. d. jt. 
Marion Co., Ill. 
Our fruit here, Ilonesdale, Pa., is very 
badly damaged by the frost; tender fruits, 
such as plums, peaches, pears and cher¬ 
ries, will be about a failure ; apples are also 
considerably damaged here. The early 
strawberries are nearly half and medium or 
second early not quite so bad ; by counting 
buds which are not opened, about one- 
third. The very late ones are not far 
enough advanced on higher ground, and 
may not be so bad. w. e. a. 
Pennsylvania. 
Roads are being put in fine condition 
by the highway officers. The meadows are 
looking fair and clover has made an ex¬ 
ceptional growth this Spring. New milch 
cows are scarce and high. Fruit trees are 
blossomed full. May 14, and no reports at 
present of injury by the recent frosts. 
Much plowing is now done, but very little 
planting yet. Oats are looking good in 
most fields. Spring pigs are bringing from 
$3.50 to $5 per head. The frost has in- 
jured many of the early strawberries in the 
low places. Many of the farmers are set¬ 
ting out new beds. j. c. p. 
Saratoga Spa, N. Y. 
About the first of April we had some 
June weather. Thermometer went to about 
80, and we were suffei’ing in our Winter 
wraps. But then it changed, and now we 
ane paying for it. Almost every night we 
have a little frost, but so far have had 
nothing to injure fruit. Orchards of all 
kinds show an encouraging bloom, though 
in apples, as a rule, the Baldwins are much 
below a full show ; in fact, those orchards 
having a crop last year show but few 
Baldwin blossoms. While the unseasona¬ 
ble cold in the great West may be money 
in our pockets by the wide disaster to the 
fruit crop, yet we can but be sorry. Bet¬ 
ter the whole country prosperous than 
more money to us by a.failui-e to them. 
There were never more trees of standard 
fruits being planted in any Spring than 
this, and the best fruit lauds are going 
up in price by leaps and bounds. While 
I see many—toe many—orchards still neg¬ 
lected, still the Farmers’ Club by its con¬ 
stant pi’eaching of good care, is having an 
effect, and on the whole more and more 
intelligent care is being given the various 
orchards. j. s. woodward. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
