1158 
THE RURAL NKW-VORKER 
Crops and Farm News 
Central New York Farm Conditions. 
This has been a season to demonstrate 
the importance of right cultural methods 
as much as any season of drought. Cul¬ 
tivation has been greatly interfered with 
by the daily heavy showers. Corn shows 
very poor growth as a result, but other 
crops, excepting potatoes, have made 
large growth, notwithstanding the giant 
weeds that are to be found in most fields. 
Potatoes in Cortland County are almost 
without exception swept by blight. C. 
It. Fitts of Ilomer has probably the finest 
crop in the county, the tops green and 
luxuriant as the result of proper spray¬ 
ing. Almost none of the other growers 
sprayed until the blight had come, and 
the great majority sprayed _ not at all, 
under the impression that it would do 
no good when there was so much rain ; 
consequently growth was checked prema¬ 
turely, and if the crop docs not suffer 
from rot it will be decidedly short. Mr. 
Fitts sprayed five times, going over the 
field in one direction, then turning about 
and going over each row in the opposite 
direction so no surface escaped. It has 
been demonstrated that if the mistlike 
spray can have half an hour ahead of 
a shower to set or dry it is safe. A plant 
properly sprayed can be scrubbed with 
waiter and an ordinary vegetable brush, 
and examination with a microscope will 
show its pores still full of Bordeaux, 
lienee, the ordinary shower has not much 
effect if the spray has once dried. Failure 
to understand this has cost many farm¬ 
ers a good many bushels of potatoes this 
year. One man who has grown potatoes 
on a large scale for years who did not 
think it would pay to spray when there 
was so much rain, has 28 acres flat with 
blight. Local dealers or grocers are buy¬ 
ing at 50 cents a bushel. None has been 
carred as yet in the county. 
Many whole fields of cabbage have gone 
down entirely with the continued rains. 
Stump rot and club foot have played 
havoc with the greater part of the crop 
up and down the valley from Cortland to 
Tally. A few fields on well drained loca¬ 
tions and others from pedigreed seed of 
extra vitality are in fine shape, some 
heads weighing seven or eight pounds al¬ 
ready. The writer has a field from a 
locally famous strain of pedigreed seed 
that is very promising, not a sign of dis¬ 
ease of any kind. 
Much of the wheat crop was. damaged 
in the getting, considerable of it sprout¬ 
ing in the shock. Oats were a good crop, 
and where it was secured, without too 
many wettings the yield is above the 
usual. But owing to frequent showers 
and high winds there was a great deal of 
trouble with its lodging, many whole fields 
requiring the use of the mowing machine 
instead of the reaper 1 . 
Apples promise well where sprayed. 
Plums, pears and small fruits have given 
gratifying yields and prices have been 
liberal. 
Hggs are 20 cents for brown eggs and 
20 cents for white. Dressed fowls re¬ 
tail at IS cents a pound ; Spring chickens 
20 to 22 cents; butter from local 
dairies and factories is 28 to 30 
cents. Milk troubles throughout the 
county are somewhat abated for the 
present, though dissatisfaction with 
dealers’ prices is general. At the quar¬ 
terly meeting of Cortland County Pomona 
Grange a resolution w r as unanimously 
adopted and will be sent to the legisla¬ 
tors of the district with a. request for 
their support subjecting milk shipping 
stations to the same restrictions as are 
now placed upon the farmers and fac¬ 
tories in regard to diluting milk. The 
new milk station for the new producers’ 
association at East. Ilomer is being push¬ 
ed with the hope of being able to occupy 
it October 1. The building is strictly 
sanitary and fireproof, being constructed 
of hollow tile and cement blocks. When 
the drop in cheese occurred in August 
the association made an arrangement with 
the Ekenbergs Milk Products Company of 
Cortland to handle their product until the 
completion of the new building. 
The stand taken by the dairymen of 
East Homer in securing their rights with 
the dealers has been watched with much 
interest, and it is to be hoped that their 
example will be followed by many other 
localities. 
The local fairs of this section have been 
very successfully administered this year. 
Weather conditions have moderated in 
time. Attendance has been exceptional, 
though the farmers were conspicuous by 
their absence, crops requiring their im¬ 
mediate attention. Exhibits of stock and 
poultry have been up to or exceeding the 
average. But fruit and vegetables are 
a light showing, owing to pressure of 
other business at this season. It has 
been a hard year for the tenant farmer 
who pays big rent and keeps a couple or 
more hired men, with so much enforced 
idleness for men and teams. Thrashing 
machines began work unusually early, as 
so many farmers were forced to thrash 
right out of the field or lose their grain 
by heating and sprouting. Buckwheat 
is filling well, and there is a chance that 
corn may improve a good deal yet if the 
weather is good. Mosquitoes have been 
the worst ever known in many localities, 
some stock owners being obliged to get 
up in the night to spray their tormented 
animals or else keep them closely stabled. 
Calves, pigs, colts, horses, cows all suffer 
alike intensely from the pests, to say 
nothing of the annoyance to the people 
in general. 
Dryden N. Y. ir. g. f. 
Sept. 13. Apple crop, taking last year’s 
crop as 100; Baldwin. 15 per cent.; Spy, 
50; Greening, 20; Fall fruit, 50. I have 
not heard of any apples being sold around 
here. H. W. v. a. 
Warsaw, N. Y. 
The press bulletin of the Wisconsin 
University tells <ff A. W. Maib, a Wis¬ 
consin farmer, who tried an experiment 
with silage. Mr. Maik went to the farm¬ 
ers’ institute, where he heard of the value 
of silage for cattle feeding. He wanted 
to make sure of his ground, and so he 
tried the experiment of digging a pit 
which he filled with corn. His theory 
was that if the pit failed as a silo, it 
would make a good root cellar anyway. 
The silage came out in fine condition, and 
gave him so much profit that he proceeded 
to build a regular silo and has filled it 
with gi’eat satisfaction every year since. 
'There will be more silos filled this year 
than ever before; in fact this system of 
providing cattle feed is constantly gain¬ 
ing ground. 
Sept. 12. A few cars of potatoes are 
being shipped to market, but digging will 
not be general until (lie second or third 
week of September. The farmers are hold¬ 
ing out for weather conditions to dig: 
the weather has not been the kind that is 
favorable for digging. Cobblers are bet¬ 
ter in yield and quality than was expect¬ 
ed, Mountains show a little rot, but tak¬ 
ing conditions on the whole are not as bad 
as predicted. Several carload lots have 
been sold for 85 cents a barrel, and as 
high as $1 has been paid in some sec¬ 
tions. The lifting of the embargo on New 
England potatoes will have a tendency to 
encourage shippers this Fall, especially in 
the far northern section. A large num¬ 
ber of shipments will no doubt be held 
until later in the month, so as to get the 
markets well cleaned and to have a 
chance to get fair prices, as the general 
opinion is that not until later in the 
month will the market show its true 
price. w. ir. B. 
Presque Isle, Me. 
►Sept. 13. About June 1, when orchards 
were being sprayed the second time, there 
came a very severe frost that completely 
ruined all fruit in both apple and pear 
orchards in the south and southwest part 
of this town, and conservative judges 
claim that the crop will not be more than 
25 per cent, of the amount expected. 
Prices paid for No. 1 packed fresh is on a 
basis of $3 per barrel. Several parties 
are awaiting the State Food and Markets 
coming auction sale, which we hope will 
be held in the near future at Rochester. 
East Bloomfield, N. Y. w. j. w. 
Hay is a bumper crop in this locality, 
two crops being cut on number of deserted 
farms ; but corn is pretty small crop, es¬ 
pecially on the hills, a fair crop within 
the valley. Purebred cows are selling 
from $150 to $200, with ordinary breed¬ 
ing. good grades from $75 to $100 each. 
East Hamilton, N. Y. C. w. L. 
My farm is at North Colebrook, Conn., 
and as a rule we do intensive farming 
and do not sell our products. The prices 
that seem to prevail from the store are 
as follows: Peaches 47c a basket; pota¬ 
toes 64c; middlings $1.75 a bag; oats 
$2.15 a bag. I had a sale on some of our 
surplus stock in June aiid realized the 
following prices: Good Jersey cow, eight 
years old $42.50; Holstein cow with calf 
$69.50; Holstein cow $07.50; pair two- 
year-ohl .steers unbroken $88; pair of 
one-year-steers unbroken $60; registered 
three-year-okl Holstein bull $50; yearl¬ 
ing bull, fine animal $25. At a private 
sale, I have sold a fresh Holstein cow 
at $75. s. w. M. 
New York. 
Sept. 8. There are very few apples in 
this section. We have not heard of any 
being sold or any offers being made. 
Stafford, N. Y. c. J. c. 
Sept. 8. While the apple crop is prob¬ 
ably larger than farmers in this section 
first thought, still it is much below nor¬ 
mal. Dealers seem to be afraid to start 
price. We have good storage facilities at 
Albion, but farmers seem to be in no 
hurry to contract for same this year. 
Two or three farmers have offered all or 
part of their fruit for $3 per barrel, tree 
run. It is my opinion the dealers will 
buy at that figure. Practically no sales 
are reported yet. u. J. b. 
Albion, N. Y. 
The acreage for clover seed in the 
United States for this year is estimated 
to be about 114.5 per cent of last year’s 
acreage, based upon reports to the Bureau 
of Crop Estimates of the United States 
Department of Agriculture. The condi¬ 
tion of the crop on September 1 is es¬ 
timated at 80.3 per cent of normal, which 
compares with 77.3 per cent a year ago 
and 79.7 the average of the past ten 
years on September 1. These figures fore¬ 
cast a moderately larger crop this year 
than last year. The acreage this year as 
com pa red with last year, and the condi¬ 
tion on September 1 of this year and 
of last year in percentage of normal in 
important States, are estimated respec¬ 
tively as follows: New York, 125, 88, 
73; Pennsylvania, 95. 83, 84; Ohio, 108, 
74, 78; Indiana. 130, 67, 74; Illinois, 
125, 78, 70; Michigan, 10(5, 79, 84; Wis¬ 
consin, 95. 83, 88; Minnesota, 97, 84; 
91; Iowa, 102, 87. 86; Missouri. 148, 79, 
63; Kentucky, 140, 89, 55; Tennessee, 
120. 88. 75; Idaho, 120, 94, 88; Oregon, 
86, 84, 63. 
The New York State Fair. 
It may be set down as the greatest ag¬ 
ricultural show of recent years. Every 
building was crowded. The fruit and flow¬ 
ers exhibits were moved into the new 
Manufacturers’ Building, or rather into 
half of it, the business men being con¬ 
fined to one-half their usual space. That 
was because the old structure, which has 
done duty so many years for fruit and 
flowers, was too small and could be used 
to advantage for something else- 
The Women’s Domestic Arts building 
is much too small for the exhibits so that 
embroideries and pictures were stowed 
away, only those on top could bo seen. 
Women make up a large part of the inter¬ 
ested visitors at the exhibition, and they 
are taxed at the gate, without represen¬ 
tation (of a worthy sort) in the im¬ 
proved equipment of the fair. 
The fruit show was excellent. The fine 
exhibit of apples made by the State Ex¬ 
periment Station received much favorable 
comment. The county and Grange ex¬ 
hibits attracted much attention. There 
was spirited competition for the county 
prizes of $250, $200 and $150 between 
the counties of Oswego, Orleans, Ontario, 
Niagara and Ulster, each having fine ex¬ 
hibits of apples, pears, plums and peaches. 
The Dairy building is always the center 
of much interest. The butter and cheese 
awards are made prior to the opening of 
the fair so that the prize winning ex¬ 
hibits may be shown to the visitor the 
first day. Henry J. Lamay, of Franklin 
County, won the gold medal for the best 
butter exhibited in all classes, with a 
score of 97%. The McDonough Creamery 
Company, of Chenango County, was a 
close second at 97%. The highest, honor 
in the cheese classes for export and home 
trade stock, a gold medal, went to Daniel 
W. Rourke, of Jefferson County, with a 
score of 9S% points. The silver medal 
was taken by Orson J. Stevenson, of St. 
Lawrence County, with a score of 98%. 
The prize for the highest average of scores 
in several classes went to T. W. Weath- 
erup, of St. Lawrence County. There 
were 283 entries in the butter classes and 
in the export cheese class there were 138 
competitors. The “big cheese” this year 
weighed 7,437 pounds, and took the milk 
of 2,850 cows for one day, the weight of 
which was 75.043 pounds. On the second 
day of the fair the cheese was cut and put 
up in one pound boxes, estimated, and 
sold for 25 cents per box. 
The farm and draught horse show was 
a splendid aggregation of New York’s 
best. There were about 250 entries, and 
of ponies 150, about double the number of 
last year. Of cattle there were over 600 
head. The swine and sheep pens were 
filled to capacity and there were about 
4.000 birds in the ucw Poultry building. 
J. w. D. 
Canadian Fruit Prices. 
At Montreal apples are selling at $2.25 
to $3.75; pears, $4 to $5: peaches 35 to 
40 and plums 20 to 25 in 11-quart 
baskets. * 
Toronto—Peaches, 40 to 60; pears, 35 
to 40; plums, 20 to 40 and tomatoes, 
20 cents, all per 11-quart baskets. 
In the producing sections apples are 
selling from first hand at $2.50 to $3.25 
per barrel, one lot of 8,000 barrels in 
Eastern Ontario being reported at the 
latter figure. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC.—Only 21,504 immigrants 
arrived at United States ports in July 
last. At this rate the number of immi¬ 
grants for the present fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1916, would be not more than 
260,000, the lowest record in sixteen 
years. Last year’s record of 326,700 was 
the lowest since 1899. 
Ignatius T. T. Lincoln, self-confessed 
German spy and former Member of Par¬ 
liament, must go back to England to stand 
trial on the charge of forgery, Judge 
Van Vechten Yeeder. in the Federal 
Court, Brooklyn, decided September 10. 
Lincoln maintained that the forgery 
charge was a frame up. and that he would 
be shot in England. Charles Fox, repre¬ 
senting the British Consul, replied that 
Lincoln would be tried for forgery and for 
nothing else. 
One man was killed and three men were 
seriously injured by an explosion Septem¬ 
ber 9 in the powder magazine of the de¬ 
stroyer Decatur at Cavite, Philippine 
Islands. The Decatur was at anchor off 
the naval station when the explosion oc¬ 
curred. 
America’s largest and most powerful 
submarine, the M-l, was launched Sep¬ 
tember 14 at the Fore River shipyard, 
Quincy, Mass. The M-l is 185 feet long, 
has four torpedo tubes and a three-inch 
gun mounted on the forward deck. The 
speed is sixteen knots on the surface and 
the cruising radius is 2,500 miles. This is 
not only the largest submarine yet 
September 25, DI5. 
launched, but is the first example of t 
new type built in this country from 
which much is expected. 
A five-story brick building at 213-227 
West Twenty-sixth street, New York, 
housing the studio of the Famous Players 
Film Company and plants of four other 
concerns, was destroyed September 11 by 
fire. A score or more of firemen were 
overcome by the dense and acrid smoke 
that curled through the neighborhood for 
blocks. It was estimated that the loss 
will approximate over $1,000,000 The 
Famous Players Film Company was hard 
hit, losing six months supply of made-up 
films and many accessories. Miss Mary 
Pickford, the company’s young star, is 
said to have lost a very extensive and 
valuable wardrobe. 
At Asbury Park, N. J., September 9, a 
man who dived into a bathing pool just 
as it was being emptied was drawn by 
suction 250 feet to the sea through a 12- 
inch pipe. He survived, but was shock¬ 
ingly injured. 
Seven Americans, including two Uni) 1 
States soldiers, were killed in border 
clashes September 13 with Mexicans. 
Fifteen Mexicans were slain. Fierce 
fighting went on in several Texas coun¬ 
ties. Border towns were armed camps, 
a general uprising of Mexicans and raids 
from across the border being feared. 
There is a movement in El Paso to stop 
all Mexicans, whether deserters or not, 
from crossing into the. United States. 
The A B C conference will be resumed in 
Washington. There is a report that Car¬ 
ranza may be recognized, but it is denied 
by Washington officials. Villa is sending 
notice to Washington by Gen. Angeles 
that if Carranza is recognized ho will 
turn his soldiers loose to wage guerrilla 
warfare. A party of Americans were 
held up at Casas Grandes by a band of 
Mexicans and one of the number, a rail¬ 
road official, was held for ransom and 
the rest were sent to the border to get the 
money. A train carrying the ransom was 
held up in Juarez by Villa officials on a 
pretext. 
Samuel Gompers, president of the 
American Federation of Labor, issued a 
statement September 13 confirming the 
story that efforts had been made by for¬ 
eign governments to influence corruptly 
leaders of organized labor to start a strike 
among the longshoremen and seamen and 
in that way prevent the exportation of 
American products. 
The fire on the Fabre liner Sant’ Anna, 
imperilling 2,039 lives in mid-ocean, was 
extinguished September 13. according to a 
wireless from Captain Pavy, and the ves¬ 
sel was proceeding to the Azores, con¬ 
voyed by the Italian liner Ancona. Of 
those on the Sant’ Anna 1,703 are Italian 
reservists, who embarked at New York 
for Genoa. Presumably all on board are 
now safe. The fire, which is a mystery, 
was discovered in the cargo. Officials o? 
the Fabre Line, to which the Sant’ Anna 
belongs, have intimated that the blaze was 
the result of bombs or some other type of 
infernal machine hidden before the vessel 
left New York harbor. There are fifty- 
two Americans aboard the Sant’ Anna. 
The vessel carries a cargo of about 3.000 
tons of food and general merchandise. 
Part of the cargo is contraband, but no 
explosives are on board. 
Suit for $750,000 damages under the 
Sherman anti-trust act was entered in 
the Federal court at Boston, Mass., Sep¬ 
tember 14, by the American Steel Com¬ 
pany, of Pittsburgh, against the Ameri¬ 
can Steel and Wire Company, of Wor¬ 
cester. The plaintiff asserts that the 
Worcester company and other defendants 
have sought to obtain a monopoly in the 
manufacture and distribution of coated 
wire nails. Fifteen specific allegations 
charge the defendants with conspiring to 
restrain trade and with inducing certain 
firms and corporations to abandon the 
business. 
By a vote of 2% to 1 South Carolina 
voted for prohibition in the state-wide 
election ordered by the last General As¬ 
sembly September 14. The vote was not 
heavy, only about 60,000 votes being cast. 
Prohibition seems to have carried 42 out 
of 44 counties. In Dorchester the vote is 
close, while Charleston went against 
prohibition by a vote of 10 to 1. The vote 
was not heavy as compared to a Demo¬ 
cratic primary on account of general elec¬ 
tion requirements, the voters being called 
on to show paid-up tax receipts and regis¬ 
tration certificates. The prohibition law 
will take effect on January 1. Twenty-nine 
South Carolina counties already have pro¬ 
hibition. All of these voted for its con¬ 
tinuance. In 15 counties are dispensaries 
operated by the counties and remaining 
open from sunup to sundown. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Pana¬ 
ma-Pacific Exposition has awarded a gold 
medal to Siebrecht & Son, Rose Hill Nur¬ 
series, New Rochelle, N. Y., for the land¬ 
scape treatment of the grounds around 
the New York State Building. The ma¬ 
terial used was all shipped across the 
continent. This is the only gold medal 
given for landscape work. 
The New England Fruit Show will be 
held at Mechanics’ Building, Boston, from 
October 23-30 inclusive. Growers of ap¬ 
ples all over New England should pre¬ 
pare for this great event which is held 
every other year in Boston The quality 
of the fruit this season is the finest ever 
although some sections report light crops. 
Price list will be printed within a few 
days. (Apply to F. Howard Brown, Sec¬ 
retary, Marlboro, Mass.). 
