NOVEMBER 15, 1913 



829 



ed about the orchards here. The apples are ready to 

 pick from Sept. 20 to the first week in October. 

 Monona, Iowa, Oct. 14. D. N. Olmsted. 



The apples came to hand in tolerable 

 order, except that one end of the paper box 

 was broken, and one ajjple mashed. 1 tast- 

 ed this one, but it was not ripe enough to 

 judge of the quality. The apples are very 

 large, beautifully streaked, and very hand- 

 some. Except the mashed one they are as 

 hard as rocks, so I infer they are late winter 

 apples. I sent a couple of them to the Hor- 

 ticulturist of our experiment station. Be- 

 xow is his reply : 



Dear Mr. Root: — The apples which were sent you 

 by Mr. D. N. Olmsted, and forwarded to me, came 

 this morning. They are quite large, greenish-yellow, 

 nearly covered with red, resembling Wolf River in 

 outward appearance. The flesh is tender, sweet, and 

 of excellent flavor. For eating raw, most people 

 would regard this as very choiice. The core is not 

 large, and for baking it must be excellent. For mak- 

 ing apple-butter I should think it would be unsur- 

 passed. 



For the family orchard it seems to me that we 

 have nothing better of the same season of ripening. 

 I do not recognize the variety as having been describ- 

 ed in the fruit-books. I should think that Mr. Root 

 could eat all he wanted of this apple, even if it was 

 just before going to bed. 



W. J. Green, Horticulturist. 



Wooster, Ohio, Oct. 25. 



It occurs to me that this apple would be 

 a splendid one for the restaurant that ad- 

 vertises baked apples and cream. I have 

 many times paid 15 cents for a big baked 

 apple and a little pitcher of cream, and I 

 felt that I had got my money's worth too. 

 Very likely friend Olmsted will be able to 

 furnish grafts in the spring. 



" THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF." 



Brother Root, you have done your neighbor Rood 

 an injustice by taking a vessel for milk that would 

 hold more than a pint. You tell in a late issue of 

 Gleanings of buying milk from him, " and a very 

 generous pint it is." Now, by all means when you 

 go back to Florida get a pint milk-bottle ; and when 

 you buy a pint of milk your neighbor will not be 

 obliged to put in more than you are buying. My 

 wife sells milk, and many times I notice she will 

 give a pint and a half for a pint because the people 

 bring all sorts of vessels to get the milk, which I 

 think is an injustice. If we expect more from a 

 party than we are paying for, we are not givihg him 

 a square deal. 



I keep a few bees, and from 100 to 300 chickens 

 — a cow, a horse, and I have several acres of land 

 with several hundred fruit-trees planted thereon. I 

 have a general store in a small way, and am operat- 

 ing a coalmine employing 15 to 40 men. I come in 

 contact with many kinds of men. Nearly all are ex- 

 pecting the best of the bargain, which, you will 

 agree, is very wrong. Thomas Harris. 



New Florence, Pa., July 26. 



My good brother, I stand corrected; and 

 hereafter when I go over to neighbor Rood's 

 for milk I will carry something that holds 

 just a pint. It is true, however, that neigh- 

 bors who are on very friendly terms often 

 have a fashion of giving liberal measure. 



Just of late, to correct the very thing you 

 are talking about, our State of Ohio has 

 passed a law i-equiring grocers to sell pota- 

 toes, fruit, etc., by the pound instead of by 

 the quart or peck. This cuts out the scant 

 measure and the other extreme of heaping 

 up the quart box or half-peck. With eggs 

 we pay for a dozen and get exactly a dozen, 

 and I am sure it will be better all around 

 to be more careful and exact in these tilings. 

 A good friend who is a market gardener in 

 Florida sells stuff without a box, measure, 

 or scales. He said he knew he was giving 

 me more than half a peck of potatoes, but 

 he was too busy to provide himself with 

 scales and measures. When I told him I 

 feared he was not getting pay for lus time 

 and trouble he admitted that it did not pay. 

 He said he had the stuff, and must get rid 

 of it. I am afraid it is true as you state it, 

 that nearly all the world are " expecting the 

 best end of the bargain." Now, may God 

 help us (you and me) to be an exception to 

 this prevailing fasliion. 



HOECAKE — HOW TO MAKE IT^ ETC. 



I wish to thank the good friends for the 

 number of recipes for making hoecake, 

 johnnyeake, corn bread, corn pone, etc. 

 While many of them are quite elaborate, 

 using eggs, milk, etc., my impression is that 

 the old-fashioned genuine hoecake is quite 

 simple, and I should not wonder if it were 

 just as good, and perhaps more wholesome. 

 From among them I select the following, 

 which I think might be properly called 

 genuine hoecake. You see there is not much 

 fuss nor bother about it. 



I noticed in Gleanings that you wished a recipe 

 for hoecake. The foUovsdng is one. Put one quart 

 of white corn meal into a bowl. Add one teaspoonful 

 of salt. Add to it sufficient boiling water to moisten, 

 stirring all the time to make a stiff batter. Moisten 

 the hands in cold water. Take a tablespoonful of the 

 batter in your hand and press it into a thin round 

 cake. 



If you have an open fire, have before it an oak 

 plank well heated. Place the cakes against the boaid 

 in front of the fire. Bake on one side, and turn over 

 and bake on the other until thoroughly done — about 

 45 minutes. These can also be baked on a griddle on 

 top of the fire. When done, pull apart, butter, and 

 send to the table hot. Chauncy D. Stahl. 



Little Falls, N. Y., July 11. 



APPLES AND MUSHROOMS. 

 Three judges of the court of appeals, who were to 

 sit in Medina, Ohio, yesterday, found no cases await- 

 ing them. So they hunted apples and mushrooms 

 instead. They returned to Cleveland late in the 

 afternoon, tired out with the tramp they had taken. 



The above (from the Cleveland Plain 

 Dealer) is pretty fair for Medina Co., but 

 not quite equal to the way they dispense 

 with courts and lawsuits in Kansas. 



