Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 December 1906 — Page 3

FARM AND GARDEN

Green pasture or fox-age |s desirable for the growing pi%s. Be sure there Is - plenty of it. Remove every possibility of the colt getting hurt. A large percentage of colts get hurt befox-e they reach the marketable stage. -i Regularity is perhaps more important In feeding sheep than is the case with other animals, for sheep ai*e naturally regular in their habits. While a small bunch of sheep can be kept on a farm to good advantage, they serve a double purpose, as they enrich the farm and bring a cash Income at the same time. —■ ——Geese --are xnore cheaply fattened than some other kinds of polltfy, because they eat almost anything that is green. They should be fed on some corn, or cornmeal may be added to the chopped green stuff. - . .. __ The best farm homes and the happiest families are not always to be found where the most money is spent. It takes something besides money to make a home. Jt takes congeniality, cooperation and a willingness to make the best of things. ' Many orchards are neither clean cultivated nor managed according to the Stringfellow sod culture idea. Their method is frequently a hybrid—a stab at cultivation, but a failure to keep it well up and then the weeds grow as high as a man’s head. Experiments have demonstrated that an acre of rape has the same value as has 2,600 pounds of barley and similar grains for hog feeding purposes. Additional, no time is spent feeding it, and it has the further merit of adding succulence to the ration. It may not be possible to incorporate the absolutely ten-hour system on the fax-m, but it can be appi-oached. There is more to a farm life than that of making money and saving time, even V at the, expense of arduous labor and excessive application of it. Some people are i-eady to condemn a whole orchard just because some small boy of the family is Indiscreet enough to fill himself with green apples and a doctor has to be called. What is needed is a little well directed parental influence in cases of this kind. It is far better to let a neighbor tell you of your good qualities than It is for you to proclaim them from the roadside. Keep the fields and crops looking well and your neighbors will do the rest, and if you rest too much they * will have a bad name for you.

Ii Is estimated that 10,000,000 acres of timber land are annually devastated by forest fires. So long as this destruction keeps up and lumber companies continue to denude the forest areas of the country with saw and ax, the question of tree planting will always be a live one. A Georgia peach grower says some ■buyers want large peaches and some prefer them only medium in size. He wants to contract for his crop early so lie can grow them the size wanted. Most persons are satisfied to get peaches of any kind, v, ithout being particular as to size. I ' ________________ A pig will get more satisfaction from a shingle or a piece of lath In the (hands of Its owner In scratching Its back than can be Imagined. There Is •a sort of an acquaintance that can spring up that will be both advantageous and profitable. How a pig enjoys It, and it Is good for him.* As an illustration of what can be done In the matter of raising high •grade and pure bred horses, we note the case of the Michigan farmer who today has a pair of Percheron mares sixteen years old. They have raised their owners twelve pairs of colts, nine of which have been sold for $3,827.50, or an average of $425.27 per pair, while there are six more fine colts on the (farm too young to market. Chickens that are poor and not being cared for make but sinhll progress In life and seldom, If ever, become the best egg producers. To have the best results with a quick spring growth necessary for the establishment of size and vigor they must be well fed, regularly fed and properly fed from shell to finish. Anything short of this Insures an advance to poor growth and poor results all along the line. Trap Neat Useful. The trap nest Is playing an Important part In the Improvement of the poultry docks of the country just now, and It is safe to say that a hundred are In fuse today where one was in use five gears ago. After Once using trap nests po psnltryman would thing of trying

to get along without them. He could not afford to discard them, for their Intelligent use means a doubly profitable flock of hensff The trap nest has solved problems that could be solved in no other way. They not only show which hens are laying, the eggs, and, more than this, they show up the loafers, the nonproducers and the hens that are not paying for their care and feed. Every poultryman who desires to improve his flock and make it more profitable should install trap nests. Restoring an Orchard. In an endeavor to furnish an object lesson, Ernest Walker of the Arkansas experiment station took charge of a neglected apple orchard __ and. soon brought it around all right. He made up his mind that the trees needed the knife and started in on his surgical operations. The early fall pruning was only moderate, as heavy pruning would have tended to cause a swelling of the buds, or even a late growth. The removal of large branches was avoided wherever possible; yet if a limb was weak or circumstances made it desirable to remove it, it was promptly taken out. When the top branches were weak or the head thin, or the tree growing lop-sided, topping - was done. Care

was observed always to make the cut in this case just above a good side branch —a very important matter, as this avoids the danger of the dying back, frequently deemed an inevitable consequence of topping in trees. Where much twiginess was noted considerable thinning out was done. On tliC south and southwest side of the trees, however,. less pruning was done, as shade in that, as In this, country Is desirable, and so much thinning is not necessary. The spraying was looked after assiduously and the invalided orchard was soon doing business again.

White Clover. One of the most useful plants for lawns or pastures is white clover. It does not compete with red clover for hay, but the white variety serves many excellent purposes on farms, which should commend it to all stock men. White clover In Indigenous on almost All moist, clayey soils in this cjimate; it forms part of the sward, and even if not perceived at first sight, It is discovered on closer inspection. It soon shows itself after the soil has been manured with, substances congenial to its nature, such as lime or ashes. Some cultivators also sow white clover with the intention of mowing it, but it requires a very rich soil to cause It to grow to any considerable height. On a soil of this description it will sometimes yield a crop nearly equal in thickness to that of the common red clover, and, according to some persons, preferable to the latter as a fodder plant, bding of better flavor, yielding more nourishment and is claimed to be more conducive to the production of milk. But It yields only one crop, and is certainly the most generally approved of all plants that are cultivated for that purpose. It Is peculiarly fitted for a pasture plant by the disposition which it has to send forth shoots, and the quickness with which Its leaves are reproduced—a quality in which it surpasses the red clover. Again, white clover Is not so easily choked by weeds, but exterminates them by means of its roots, which thrust their way through the soil; hence It does not require a soil so well cleared, and may with greater facility be sown after re* peated grain crops.

Improvement* In Dairying. It Is probable that dairymen will make many Improvements in the future, for already there is a growing tendency to begin reforms In the dairies, and there Is no department oil the farm which demands more consideration than the present methods of handling both the cows and their milk. It Is claimed that there Is more filth and less care In dairying than Is creditable, but there are e*xceptlons, as In other occupations. The majority of consumers are usually in Ignorance of any of the conditions affecting the preparation of milk. Reforms are also possible In the treatment of the milk from fresh cows as well as care of the young calves, It being customary to remove the calv&s. "from the cows when the young things are but one or two days old, the milk from their dams being added to that taken from other cows of the herd, although such milk may be unfit for use and Injurious to children who are fed upon It The milk from fresh cows should go to the calf until It Is at least two or three weeks old, but, as the average dairyman milks his cows for the purpose of Belling the nj-oduct, be will not willingly sacrifice to the calf an nrticle that he can put on the market The result Is that the milk sold In tue cities Is of varied quality, much of It being unclean and unfit for use. There Is room for Improvement, and there are hundreds of consumers ready and willing to pay the dairyman for his extra care if he will provide them with milk of the best quality. It may take time to build up such a trade, but a reputation for a choice article Is capital Invested, as confidence Insures a demand for all that can be produced. The disregard of the rights of consumers, especially on the part of some dealers, who seem to place no value upon cleanliness, cannot fall to Indues them to purchase only from parties who are known to be reliable.

RICHES FOR FARMER

YEAR JUST CLOSING SHOWS BIG GAIN OVER 1905. f • ' V.Agricultural Products of the Country Valued at $6,794,000,000—Nearly Every dle West Now a Bank Depositor. Prosperity reached out with a bounteous hand, into the agricultural regions of the country during the last year and made 1906, from the standpoint of the value of farm products, a 'record-breaker in the annals of the nation’s wealth-producing achievements. This announcement is made in the annual report of Secretary Wilson. Nature gave in such a lavish manner that 1905, the coxintry’s banner year in the march of prosperity, is left in the rear and 1906 is given the place of honor with an estimated margin of $485,000,000 over the value of farm products produced a year ago. “Taken at that point in production,” says Secretary Wilson, “at which they acquire commercial value, the fgna products of the year, estimated for every detail presented by the census, have a farm value of $6,794,000,000. This is $485,000,000 above the value of 1905, $635,000,000 above 1904, $877,000,000 above 1903 and $2,077,000,000 above the census for 1899. The value of farm products of 1900 was 8 per cent greater than that of 1905, 10 per cent over 1904, 15 per cent over 1903 ;*xd 44 per cent over 1899.” Value of Crops Rnsli Up. The economic revolution in the art and science of agriculture continued during 1906, with tremendous on the national prosperity. The value of crops continues to rush forward beyond comprehension; crops are straining the freight carrying ability of the. railroads. Corn remains by far the most valuable crop, estimated at $1,100,000,000. Next comes the cptton crop, which, including the seed, should be worth to the growers nearly $640,000,000. The value of hay, which is third in order, approaches $600,000,000. Wheat, the fourth crop, may be worth $450,000,000; oats, $300,000,000; potatoes, $150,000,000. Barley, with a value of $65,000,000, shows a gain of 21 per cent in production in the last seven years. The tobacco crop will be worth about $55,000,000,,, A remarkable development is that of the sugar beet, now the ninth crop in value. The production in 1906 is placed at 345,000 long tons, valued at $34,000,000. Seven years ago the value of this crop was $7,000,000. The value of all kinds of sugar, sirup, and molasses aggregates $75,000,000.

Farm Exports Break Records. The farm still ovefsliadows the mill, the factory, and the workshop in providing exports, and with his surplus beyonfi the nation’s need the farmer has loaded the fleets of oceans. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1906, this surplus has been exported to the value of $976,000,000, the largest amount ever reached by agricultural exports for this ot any other country and exceeding the export value of 1901, previously the record year. Among chief exports cotton maintains a long lead, with a value of $400,000,000. The packing house produces exported amounted to a value of $207,000,000. If real estate, domestic animals, other live stock, implements, and machinery are included, the fanner’s capital has increased since the census valuation by probably $8,000,000,000, the present valuation being probably $28,000,000,000.,

The report contains some interesting figures on meat production, the result of a recent large and searching investigation by the department. In the last cqusus year, 1900, 93,502,000 meat animals were slaughtered and exported. Meat contributes one-tliird or more of the total .assimilated nutrients of the national dietary, and at average exceeded $2,000,000,000. The laws made by Congress at its last session to be executed by the department, Secretary Wilson says, have required and received special attention. The meat law is being enforced, and Inspection Is now made In over 1,000 houses. Not less than 1,300 experts have been added to the inspection force. Rules have been prepared for the execution of the pure food law. A beginning has been made in the method of determining the grading of grain, and the law providing for the humane treatment of live stock in transit Is receiving careful attention.

A Vandeville Church Offering.

Rev. Frank Goodchild of the Central Baptist church of New York has introduced a limited vhudeville performance as an attraction for his Sunday evening service. The . performance included “the largest and most complete set of musical glasses ever placed before the public,” according to the announcement of the Church bulletin. The pastor says he does not propose to let,the Sunday night shows in the theaters take his congregation away from him without making a fight. He says that anything that will attract a crowd without marring the sacrednesd of worship is permissible and justifiable. He will have no performers who are not Christians and God fearing worshipers. That is where he will draw the line.

The Jewish Home Colony.

A movement has just taken shape among some intellectual Hebrews of New York City to create a colony of inexpensive homes on Long Island for 1,685 families. A large tract of land has been laid out as a model suburban village, with ■pace for a market place, city hall and temple of worship. Advertise In this paper.

IN-THE PUBLICEYE

Rev. Joseph Anderson Vance, D. D., who declared from his pulpit in the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, Chi-

REV. J. A. VANCE.

ties, in which capacity lie has spent much time among the poorer people of the city and has studied the obstacles against which they do battle. He was born in Sullivan County, Tennessee, Nov. 17, 1804. lie was awarded the B. D. degree by Union Seminary, Virginia, in 18S8, was made a D. D. by Huron (S. D.) College in 1901, and in 1903 the same honor was conferred on him by his alma mater, King College. He has previously held pastorates at Louisville, Ky., and Baltimore.

Nelson O. Nelson of St. Louis, a millionaire manufacturer, suggests money as a cure for the child labor evilT~He

proposes to make good to needy parents tixe weekly income they would lose if their children under 14 were taken from the factories and sent to school. His proposition lias been sub* mitted to the worn-: en’s clubs of St. Louis. Mr. Nelson

offers to pay half the money if the women’s clubs will pay the other half. It is said liis investigations indicate only a third of the child workers under 14 are at work through actual necessity. Mr. Nelson is well known for his communal village of Le Claire, ~ 111., where lie lives among his workers and shares his profits with them.

Professor Goidwin Smith, who has recently celebrated his eighty-third birthday, is one of Canada’s grand old

PROF. SMITH.

manifested the greatest interest in new world institutions and about thirty years ago took up his residence in Tol'oato. When Ezra Cornell founded his university at Ithaca, N. Y., Goidwin Smith was made honorary professor of English and constitutional history and delivered several courses of lectures.

William Matthew Holderby of Cairo, 111., a student at Princeton theological seminary and a missionary worker

among the boys of Princeton, N. J., has started a crusade against excessive drinking by the students of Princeton university and has shocked the university and town with his charges. The college authorities admit there is drinking,

but say that on aceouot of the smallness of the town the drinking appears to be more prevalent than it really Is.

Eugene A. Foss, vice president of the Boston reciprocity league, is in Berlin studying the reciprocity situation from the German standpoint.

Wade H. Ellis, Attorney General of Ohio, is One of the most active opponents of the attempts',of the Standard

W. H. ELLIS.

years, hut went Into journalism, at one time lieing editor in chief tad business manager of the Commercial Tribune of Cincinnati.

Cruny, a peuniless anarchist of Paris, was recently arrested. The news was published in the provinces and was seen t»y a lawyer who had been seeking him for months as an heir to a fortune. Now that Cruny has means he is to be released from prison. He says that his views of economic questions have already ndergone n radical change.

Gustav Wolff, a sign painter of 3t Louis, has had two pictures prominently hung in the Paris salon.

cago.that it is practically Impossible for a poor man to get justice to-day in a legal controversy when his opponent is rich, has been pastor there since 1899. During his residence in Chicago he has been identified with the Bureau of Chari-

N. O. NELSON.

.men. Sixty years ago he was a contributor to the London Saturday Review, and forty- : eight years ago be was a professor at Oxford, where he had for a pupil the [•resent king of England. Professor ! Smith is a native of (Berkshire, England, but he has always

W. M. HOLDERBY.

Oil trust to have things all its own way in that commonwealth. Mr. Ellis" Is a Kentuckian, born Just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, w here he received his early education. Although lie was admitted to the bar In 1890, he did not practice for several

THE WASTE OF APPLES.

Good Fruit Dost to the Market Through Bad Shipping System. Though one Would not know it from market conditions, a Chicago correspondent says, it is a fact that the apple crop of the United States this year is 12,625,000 barrels greater than iast year—or 36,120,000 barrels*, all told. Where two apples werfe available to delight the apple lover last year there are three now. Rather, there should be three, but so great has been the waste of apples which could not find markets that the consumer will not be able to benefit in anything like the proportion he should. „ Early in the season, when the fall apples bsgan to ripen, the woe of the man with the big orchard was pitiable. He would see his trees breaking down under the weight of fruit, and know that even it be hauled the apples miles to a market town he could not get better,, than 20 cents a bushel for them, with a possibility that the local dealers would refuse to take them at any price. The hogs were the main beneficiaries of the crop. When the winter apples ripened the situation was no better. An observer at a small town in central Illinois, from which the apple product of about a third of a county was shipped, has reported that there was a waste ’of 40,000 barrels in that territory alone, or about a quarter of the crop. Consumers in the cities haie benefited despite the waste by being able to get the poorer grades of apples at very low prices, but strange to 3ay, the better grades have sold at i-etail for almost as high prices as they have brought in recent years of short crops. The quality of the apples is a little better, and the price a little, lower, but the improvement

in both factors combined does not begin to equal what would be expected from the huge production. The causes of the waste have been the high freight rates and a car service which is not adequate for the emergency. Without the cold storage warehouses and the development of fruit transportation lines, the situation would be worse than It is, and the country would have even less benefits from the bounty of nature. The problem of organization to enable the country to get Llxe best use of its resources is an enormous one and will remain such so long as the population continues to grow. It. is one in which every citizen has. amJntereat. To make two apples grow where one grew before is hardly more important than to make the two apples, when once they are grown, reach the mouths which want them.

WATERWAY IMPROVEMENTS.

Congrena to Be Asked to Appropriy ate $50,000,000 a _Year. In a few years the United States will have the finest waterway system in the world if Congress should vote its approval of the movement which looks for an annual appropriation of $50,000,000 for waterway improvement. The United States has within its boundaries, exclusive of seaboard, jmore than 43,000 miles of waters which, with proper attention, should 'be navigable. On these she has spent up to date $470,000,000. On the other hand, the tiny kingdom of Holland, with only 2,000 milesr of navigable waterways, has already spent on them more than $1,500,000,000. France, with 4,000 miles, has spent $1,120,000,00, while Belgium, with less than 1,300 miles, has since 1875 spent in excess of SBO,000,000. These large expenditures abroad have made rates there very low, whereby shippers in general have benefited. The average appropriation in this country for each of the last ten years for all the rivers and harbors has been about $19,000,000. Germany, it is pointed out, has spent about four times this sum on the harbor of Hamburg alone. Op the harbor at Liverpool, England, $200,000,000 has been spent. In fact, many a harbor in foreign lands has been improved and made more useful to both producer and shipper at a cost exceeding the whole annual appropriation of the United States. The average cost of shipping one ton of goods one mile by rail in the United States is 7.79 cents. On the other hand, the average ton mile cost in the Great Lakes is ouly .92 of a cent; on the lower Mississippi, one mill; on the Ohio river to Cincinnati, one-third of one mill, and on the Erie canal, as estimated for its 12-foot depth when completed, about half a mill.

POLITICS and POLITICIANS

The most accurate returns obtainable until the official count is made indicate that Charles E. Hughes’ plurality for Governor of New York is 61,500 —the largest obtained in an “off year” since Morton was elected In 1894. The National Petroleum Association, with headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio, has received written promise* from the Governors of Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and others, that they will do all they can to obtain the enactment of an anti-rebate law, similar to those recently enacted in lowa and Kansas. Secretary of Navy Bonaparte has been advocating a scheme for improving the quality of candidates for public office. It is to have each party euthorize an individual to choose all candidates within a designated territory, thus doing deliberately and intelligently the work which is now done so hastily and unsatisfactorily by nominating conventions. Such a legalized boss he would have elected annually by the voters of his party, and should be himself disqualified to hold office. United States Senator Dick of Ohio remarked at Cleveland that he had become convinced that the Income tax was the nearest we could come to an equitable and impartial system of taxation. The Teport of Treasurer Sheldon of the New York Republican State committee shows that $332,011.36 was spent in the campaign which resulted in the election of Hughes as Governor. Of the total receipts, $313,923 were personal contributions. The largest contributors were J. P. Morgan & Co. and ex-Gov. Morton, each of whom gave S2OOOO. There were 3,300 contributors.

COMMEPCIAL AND FINANCIAL

€ CHICAGO. In the aggregate of bank exchange* for both the week and month Just ended substantial gains appear over those of last year, indicating that expansion In business generally is yet making progress. Heavy orders continue to be entered by the leading Industries for de-livery at distant dates, and consider ■lng the rapid absorption of the unprecedented outputs of furnaces and factories, it is clear that consumption has established a new high level. More concern Is expressed as to the future productions of finished materials owing to the difficulties presented by cost of supplies and labor and the inability of railroads to provide satisfactory transportation. These considerations are becoming more widespread, but for the present they cause no halting In the efforts to obtain the best ■ results. It is noted that Iron and steel prices exhibit no further marking up, but there is an advancing tendency In hard woods and slightly higher quotations in copper, hides and leather. Thanksgiving trade made an improvvolume of retail- dealings and, although jobbers are seasonably quiet in the staples, the demand Is well maintained for holiday goods. Wholesale houses find a satisfactory demand for spring wares, particularly in the textiles, footwear, carpets and furniture. Interior advices testify to gratifying headway in the reductions of winter lines and the outlook is bright for heavy Christmas ■ business. A healthy indication is found in an increased discounting of bills, and western collections average up well. Manufacturing operations reflect sustained pressure upon facilities and greater outputs of finished products. Failures reported in the Chicago district numbered 22, against 26 last week and 22 a year ago.—Dun’s Review of Trade.

NEW YORK. Trade has been active as rarely before at this season, despite widespread holiday observance, warm weather in parts of the South, and bad roads in the Northwest. The really serious cause of complaint, a reflection in itself Oi superabundant prosperity, Is the practically country-wide congestion in railway traffic, which * affects grain movement, collections and retail trade in the Northwest, delays delivery of badly needed coal supplies in the entire West, interferes with the movement of cotton to market at the South, and hampers manufacturing operations in the iron and steel, textile, lumber, and other trades. Railway men appear awake to the situation and are working energetically, but the near approach oT the winter season renders the outlook dubious. Spot sales In general jobbing lines are rather lighter, as is natural under the circumstances, but this branch of trade, as well as first hands, is busily engaged on business for spring. In cotton fabrics, for instance, the only feature hampering trade is the complaint of backward dePveries, due to labor shortage or to factories being oversold.—-Bradstreet’s Commercial Report.

THE MARKETS

Chicago —Cattle, common to prime, $4.00 to $7.30; hogs, prime heavy, $4.00 to $6.30; sheep, fair to choice, $3.00 to $5.50; wheat, No. 2,72 cto 73c; corn, No. 2,43 cto 44c; oats, standard, 33c to 34c; rye, No. 2,67 cto 08c; hay. timothy, SIO.OO to $17.50; prairie, $6.00 to $14.50; butter, choice creamery, 24c to 29c; eggs, fresh, 27c io 32c; potatoes, 30c to 43c. Indianapolis—Cattle, shipping, $3.00 to $6.40; hogs, choice heavy, $4.00 to $6.32; sheep, common to prime, $2.50 to $4.50; wheat, No. 2,72 cto 74c; corn. No.' 2 white, 43c t» 44c; oats, No. 2 white, 33c to 35c. St. Louis —Cattle, $4.50 to $7.00; hogs, $4.00 to $6.25; sheep, $3.50 to $52i5; wheat, No. 2,74 cto 75c; corn. No. 2,41 cto 43c; oats. No. 2,32 cto 3k?; rye, No. 2,61 cto 63c. Cincinnati —Cattle, $4.00 to $5.50; hogs, $4.00 to $6.35; she«p, $3.00 to $4.50: wheat, No. 2,75 cto 77c; corn, No. 2 mixed, 47c to 48c; oats, No. 2 mixed, 35c to 36c; rye. No. 2,70 cto T2c. Detroit —Cattle, $4.00 to $5.00; hogs $4.00 to $6.12; sheep, $2.50 to $5.00; wheat. No. 2,76 cto 77c; oern, No. 3 yellow, 48c to 49c; oats, No. 3 white, 35c to 36c; rye, No. 2,69 cto 70c. Milwaukee —Wheat, No. 2 northern, 77c to 80c; corn, No. 3,43 cto 44c; oats, standard, 33c to 34c; rye, No. 1, 6Sc to 69c; barley, standard, 54c to 55c; pork, mess, $14.50. Buffalo—Cattle, choice shipping steers, $4.00 to $6.00; hogs, fair to choice, $4.00 to $6.50; sheep, common to good mixed, $4.00 to $5.75; lambs, fair to choice, $5.00 to $8.25. New York—Cattle, $4.00 to $.5.20; hogs, $4.00 to $6.50; sheep, S3OO to $5.25; wheat, No. 2 red, 79c to 80c; corn, No. 2,53 cto 54c; oats, natural white, 38c to 39c: butter, creamery, 20c to 27c; eggs, western, 27c to 30c. Toledo—Wheat, No. 2 mixed, 74c to 76c; com, NS. 2 mixed, 42c to 43c; oats. No. 2 mixed, 34c to 35c; rye, No. 2,65 cto 07c; clover eeed, prime, $325. - 'X ‘ ■ '