1914. 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
THE EUROPEAN WAR. 
T is impossible to give accurate details regarding 
the European war. Events travel at lightning 
speed, and all news from Europe is carefully 
censored. It seems to most of us incredible that in 
this age all of a sudden, so-called civilized nations 
should fly at each other’s throats and pass back into 
an age of barbarism. Few of us in this country 
really know what the fighting is about. It may be 
at bottom one of those undying conflicts of race 
hatred, or a battle between militarism and the 
growth of Socialism which has been so evident of 
late in Europe. For centuries it has been a favorite 
trick of military leaders to start a “war scare,” or 
even to provoke a war, when the common people be¬ 
gan really to think logically about their condition. 
Powerless to prevent or stop such a war, our peo¬ 
ple are interested in estimating its effect upon 
American conditions. Morally the effect cannot be 
good. One would think that the fearful loss and 
grief which must follow this cruel destruction of 
life and property would show our people the sin and 
folly of war. On the other hand there has always 
been a “war party” in our public life. This party 
demands a larger army and navy, and a national 
policy based on the actions of a boy who goes about 
with a chip on his shoulder seeking a fight. The 
European war will give such politicians a new text 
from which to inflame the public mind and pull it 
away from the study of needed reforms. It will 
also kindle race hatreds between those of our people 
who have ties of blood with the old countries. 
Industrially a war in Europe will have a varied 
effect upon business in this country. It does not 
seem possible that such a gigantic struggle can last 
long. The cost in money is tremendous, and modern 
weapons are so horribly deadly that the end must 
come soon. Yet the enormous loss of property will 
be felt in all parts of the world. Vast sums of 
money will be taken out of circulation here and sent 
abroad. One reason for enforcing the 60-days limit 
for withdrawals from savings banks is to prevent 
such a drain. One branch of business which will be 
directly affected is the fertilizer trade. Practically 
all the potash used here comes from Germany. P.oth 
potash and nitrate of soda are used to some extent 
for making explosives and thus would probably be 
considered “contraband of war” and subject to cap¬ 
ture if shipped. At first thought it would appear 
that if several million men stop producing and go 
to destroying property there will be a greater de¬ 
mand for the labor of those who remain at work. 
Upon that theory this nation ought to profit by a 
European war, since the market for our food and 
manufactured goods ought to be improved. Under 
the blockade sure to be established, it will be difficult 
to get our products into European ports, and there 
are comparatively few vessels left free to carry mer¬ 
chandise. Thus with cotton and wheat to sell we 
find ourselves without means of carrying our goods 
to market. At the opening of the Civil War this 
country did its share of the world’s carrying trade. 
Our commerce was destroyed and we have depended 
on foreign vessels since then. This war, if prolonged, 
will enable us to build up our shipping industry once 
more. For years, following such a war. the Euro¬ 
pean nations must come to us for our surplus food, 
while they cannot send us large quantities of man¬ 
ufactured goods. They must also return and sell at 
a low figure many American securities, such as 
stocks and bonds, and this will mean less money sent 
over each year to pay interest and other debts. In 
its effect upon industry the war will probably be 
beneficial to this country if we can remain neutral, 
but in its larger and final effect upon the general 
progress of civilization it is a curse and a menace. 
FARM BUREAU WORK.—The farmers along the 
southern tier of counties in New York State seem to 
he making good use of the farm bureaus where these or¬ 
ganizations have been started. Recently two counties 
in Southwestern New York united for a picnic, with 
over 2,000 persons present. On August 6 the Broome 
County Farm Improvement Association held its picnic 
at the county home near Binghamton. It was a pleas¬ 
ant day, and about 600 people came to enjoy the out¬ 
ing on the pleasant grounds of the home. Addresses 
were made by M. Quinn, president of the association; 
H. W. Collingwood, and E. R. Minims, the County Ad¬ 
visor. It was an excellent gathering of progressive and 
intelligent farmers, who are giving much thought to 
industrial questions in their vicinity. These farmers 
clearly understand the economic question involved in 
the 35-cont dollar. They are trying to work out plans 
for cooperative work, which will give them more varied 
crops, and greater variety of work, and better market 
facilities. One excellent feature of the prospect in this 
part of New York State is the fact that these farmers 
realized the importance of working out their own prob¬ 
lems in this way, without asking other classes or other 
industries to come and do the work for them. 'The 
situation all through this territory is very encouraging, 
and the outlook l'or farming is good. 
New York Fruit Growers’ Outing. 
I IE LAKE TRIP.—The writer was with the mem¬ 
bers of the New York State Fruit Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation when they were the guests for one day of 
the Champlain Valley Fruit Growers’ Association, 
and the Plattsburgh Chamber of Commerce, and can say 
some good words about the courtesies extended to the 
visiting fruit growers, in opportunities to see their 
beautiful lake and thriving city, and to learn about their 
progressive orcharding. In coming to Plattsburgh on 
the excursion planned by Secretary Gillett, the Western 
New York Fruit Growers enjoyed one of the best out¬ 
ing trips of their lives. They went for a good time, 
many of them taking their wives, the total number on 
the chartered train being close to 300. Their scheduled 
route was to leave Rochester at 1 p. m. Tuesday, ar¬ 
riving at Saratoga in the evening. The party was lux¬ 
uriously entertained at the United States Hotel, and 
took their train the next morning for Lake George. A 
large part of the day was spent on the steamer on the 
lake, enjoying the scenery of perhaps the most beauti¬ 
ful of New York’s small lakes. Leaving the lake in the 
afternoon the party boarded their train, and their route 
was along the shore of lake Champlain to Plattsburgh. 
ENTERTAINMENT AT PLATTSBURGH—The 
Chamber of Commerce and Fruit Growers had arranged 
for a steamer trip Thursday morning on Lake Cham¬ 
plain, and at 8:30 the members of both associations 
with some citizens of Plattsburgh were on the steamer. 
A most interesting route was taken, going up the lake 
on one side of its three large islands. South Hero. North 
Hero and the Isle of Monte, and then down on the 
other side close to the Vermont shore. There was a 
session of the two Associations held in the new High 
School building in Plattsburgh on returning, the main 
topic for discussion being the new apple grading law, 
which will be enforced this Fall, and about which many 
apple shippers have not taken pains to learn. They 
may not pack their apples according to its requirements, 
and so be ready for the inspectors whom the State De¬ 
partment of Agriculture may send out to inspect their 
shipments of apples, and there is reason to believe that 
the Commissioner of Agriculture will try to enforce the 
law. 
THE NEW GRADING LAW.—It may be well to 
give some brief quotations from this law, as read at 
the meeting at Plattsburgh, followed by the expression 
of feeling towards it by the president of the New York 
State Fruit Growers’ Association, L. L. Morrell. 
“New York standard fancy grade or classes for ap¬ 
ples of one variety, which are well-grown specimens, 
hand-picked, properly packed, of good color for the va¬ 
riety, normal shape, free from dirt, diseases, insect and 
fungus injury, bruises and other defects except such as 
are necessarily caused in the operation of packing. 
“New York standard (A) grade shall consist of ap¬ 
ples of one variety which are well-grown specimens, 
hand-picked, of good color for the variety, normal shape, 
practically free from dirt, diseases, insect and fungus 
injury, bruises and other defects except such as are ne¬ 
cessarily caused in the operation of packing; or apples 
of one variety which are not more than ten per centum 
below the foregoing specifications, on a combination of 
all defects or five per centum on any single defect. 
“New York standard (B) grade shall consist of ap¬ 
ples of one variety which are well matured, hand-picked, 
properly packed, practically normal shape, perfectly free 
from dirt, diseases, insect and fungus injury, and which 
may be of medium or less than medium color for the 
variety; or apples of one variety which are not more 
than 10 per centum below the foregoing specifications 
on a combination of all defects or five per centum on any 
single defect. 
“Apples not conforming to the foregoing specifications 
of grade, or, if conforming, are not branded in accord¬ 
ance therewith, shall be classed as unclassified and so 
branded. The minimum size of the fruit in the package 
shall also be branded upon it as hereinafter specified and 
in addition to the other marks hereinafter required. 
“Any person who knowingly misbrands or adulter¬ 
ates apples within the meaning of this act. or who know¬ 
ingly violates any of the provisions of this act. shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, 
shall be punished for the first offense by a fine not ex¬ 
ceeding twenty-five dollars and not less than ten dollars; 
for the second offense by a fine not exceeding fifty dol¬ 
lars and not less than twenty-five dollars, and for the 
third and each subsequent offense by a fine not exceed¬ 
ing two hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars, 
together, in all cases, with the costs of prosecution.” 
President Morrell did not think the enforcement of 
the law would be a burden to commercial apple growers, 
but rather a benefit. A brand on packages that is guar¬ 
anteed as to class and quality mutually aids both 
the shipper and buyer, and there should be no need of 
compelling an honest pack by law. Mr. Morrell had 
used a private brand on his best fancy pack for years, 
and guarantees all fruit with this brand. It has ob¬ 
tained for him the best markets and profitable prices. 
He could see some defects in the new law, but fruit 
growers will now do well to cooperate with the State 
Department of Agriculture, that its intention to ben¬ 
efit all parties may be carried out. 
CROP PROSPECTS.— Members from all parts of 
the State reported the prospects of the fruit crop in 
their section. Reports from the Hudson River Valley 
indicated that there is a large crop of apples there, 
probably 50% more than last year. The crop of apples 
in Western New York is reduced this year somewhat 
because it is not the bearing year for Baldwins. Most 
other varieties are generally bearing heavily, and prob¬ 
ably the crop on the whole is 33% larger than last year. 
CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FRUIT.—The Champlain 
Valley apple growers have been under the direction of 
their farm bureau agent, and the past year have had 
with them a fruit expert from Cornell University, and 
are working out some of the problems of the orchard 
very successfully. These orchardists are not trying to 
grow the late Winter apples very extensively. One 
reason is they lack cold storage facilities for handling 
large crops, and another is that late Fall and early 
Winter apples are especially adapted to Clinton Coun¬ 
ty. The two that attain to the highest perfection are 
Fameu.se and McIntosh Red. Those, picked and shipped 
at once to New York and Boston sell for good prices, 
and as no other section of the country is growing these 
apples (piite so well there is little danger of competi¬ 
tion. The Champlain Valley orchardists are mostly 
dairy farmers, some of them beside are engaged in com¬ 
mercial potato growing. They say that all these to¬ 
gether can be practiced more economically than one 
alone. The same teams and equipment of tools needed 
for one can be used for the others, with small additions. 
On the dairy farm the young orchard can be started 
with small extra cost, and a common practice is to 
plant the trees with the silage corn after the field has 
been prepared and manured for it, as about all the ex¬ 
1015 
tra work is involved in planting the trees, as they are 
cultivated with little trouble. 
ORCHARD AND DAIRY.—One dairy farmer the 
writer visited when on the auto trip makes a dairy of 
40 high grade Holstein cows profitable, and also has 50 
acres of apple orchards. He showed us six acres from 
which he had harvested 1.500 barrels of apples that sold 
for $3,500. The Secretary of the Champlain Valley 
Fruit Growers’ Association also showed our party his 
fine orchards that were loaded with Fameuse and Mc¬ 
Intosh apples. He had sown in them a cover crop of 
oats and peas, and vetch. The oats and peas he would 
cut for his cows and leave the vetch to grow and plow 
under in the Spring to fertilize the trees. One tree 
which he pointed out he said had produced 10 barrels of 
apples in one year and the profit was greater on it than 
on one of his cows. 
ORCHARD INTER CROPPING.—In this orchard 
other methods practiced which are worth considering 
are that no fertilizers are used but the clover inter¬ 
crop. which is alternated with potatoes. When an or¬ 
chard is planted potatoes may be planted for an inter¬ 
crop and very thorough cultivation given both the pota¬ 
toes and the trees. In this rotation the clover crop is 
sown the following Spring. After the clover is sown a 
strip of a few feet wide close to the trees is kept well 
cultivated, and I think all or part of the clover is left 
on the ground to fertilize it after being mown. By this 
way the cash cost of feeding the trees is mostly saved, 
and the potatoes largely pay expenses of maintaining 
the orchards before they come into full bearing. 
Thursday evening the excursion party took sleeping 
cars for Thousand Islands where they arrived Friday 
morning. During the forenoon the party went for a 
steamer trip on the St. Lawrence River, and in the 
afternoon resumed their journey by rail via Richland 
and North Rose, where a stop of two hours gave time 
to see some good orchards there. The train arrived at 
Rochester late in the afternoon, all feeling that the 
excursion trip to the Champlain Valley was well worth 
while. w. J. 
New York State News. 
YDRO-ELECTRIC BONDS.—The Up-State Pub¬ 
lic Service Commission has authorized the issue 
of $300,000 of the five per cent. 40-year first mort¬ 
gage bonds of the Salmon River Power Company, 
to bo sold at not less than 85, to net $255,000. This 
sum is needed to discharge the obligations arising out 
of the construction of the company’s hydro-electric 
plant and transmission lines, not heretofore provided 
for, and to continue the work of construction on the 
plant. This makes a total bond issue for this project 
of $3,535,060. 
THE “APPLE CAR.”—The Hudson River district 
has not been so well cared for. heretofore, in the matter 
of “farm specials” as have other parts of the State. But 
the “apple car” begins its itinerary on August 21 at 
Marlborough. Ulster Park and Saugerties. It is at 
Coxsackie, Ravena and Albany on the 22nd; then goe 3 
down the eastern side of the river to Schodack Land¬ 
ing. Stuyvesant and Hudson for August 24; and reaches 
Germantown and Poughkeepsie on the 25th. Thence it 
goes to Rochester, Spencerport, Brockport, Albion for 
the 26th and to Medina and Lockport for the 27th. 
The car will then be moved to the State fair grounds 
where the exhibits will be unloaded. On September 7 
the car will again be loaded and start on another jour¬ 
ney being at Fulton and Oswego on that date; at Han¬ 
nibal. Sodus and Red Creek on the 8th. On the 9th 
it will reach Williamson, Webster and Charlotte; on 
the 10th Hilton and Morton; on the 11th, Lyndonville 
and Barker and on the 12th, the last date of the itin¬ 
erary, at Burt and Rausomville. The purpose of the 
special car is to enable the Department of Agriculture 
and the State College of Agriculture to give instruction 
in apple packing under the new law. 
# MILLIONAIRE ROAD WORKER.—The million¬ 
aire chairman of the State commission on prison reform, 
Thomas M. Osborne of Auburn, worked incognito as a 
laborer among prison convicts on the highway near 
Meridian, a short time ago. He wielded the pick and 
handled the shovel like one of the gang, his purpose be¬ 
ing to gain more first hand information about the life 
of a convict. After the day’s work was over he car¬ 
ried his tools to the shed and partook of the prisoners’ 
fare that was supplied at a tenement house nearby 
where the convicts are confined when not at work on 
the roads. Mr. Osborne visited several convict camps on 
other days studying conditions and problems in connec¬ 
tion with prison reform, a subject in which he is great¬ 
ly interested. 
EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT FOR FAIRS.—A gen¬ 
eral agricultural exhibit has been prepared by the Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture which will be available for town 
and county fairs this Fall. The exhibit covers a large 
variety of subjects. The local fair association is re¬ 
quired to meet one half of the cost of transportation 
of the exhibit and one half the expense of the person in 
charge. Requests for this exhibit must be made of the 
Department of Extension Teaching, College of Agricul¬ 
ture, Ithaca, N. Y. 
PROCEEDINGS PUBLISHED.—The Proceedings 
of the 74th annual meeting of the New York State Agri¬ 
cultural Society have just been published by the State 
Department of Agriculture as Bulletin 60. It is a well 
printed volume of over 200 pages, illustrated, and con¬ 
tains the addresses and papers complete that were given 
at the annual meeting in January of this year. 
__ J. W. D. 
New York State Crops. 
The State Department of Agriculture gives the fol¬ 
lowing summary of crops: 
The hay crop will not be as large as last year, hut 
larger than the average for a term of years. Corn, 
wheat, rye and oats, are generally good. ' Small fruits 
are generally good, cherries, grapes and currants much 
larger in yield than in 1913. Peaches will show a very 
small crop. Apples for commercial purposes will be far 
below last year’s crop but the local crops will be much 
larger. 
A brief summary of crop conditions in the State at 
this time, based upon last year’s crop as 100. is shown 
in the following table: 
Fall apples, 129; Winter apples. 139; Baldwin ap¬ 
ples. 127; Greening apples, 116; Bartlett pears, 61; 
Kieffer pears. 54; Other varieties, 69; Plums, 67; 
Peaches, 24 : Quinces, 62; Grapes, 101; Cherries, 121; 
Currants, 112; Gooseberries, 95; Strawberries, 115; 
Potatoes, early, 106; Potatoes, late, 106; Beans, 100; 
Cabbage, 96; Ilay, 91; Corn, 102, 102; Wheat, 99; 
Rye, 99; Oats, 102; Barley, 97: Buckwheat, 105; 
Hops, 95; Alfalfa, 105; Tobacco, 102. 
