288 
February  19,  1916. 
HOPE  FARM  NOTES 
This  Spring  it  is  my  intention  to  apply 
lime  in  reasonable  amounts  to  various 
parts  of  tbe  farm,  In  discussing  lime  and 
the  benefit  relative  to  its  application  a 
neighbor  said  that  for  immediate  results 
the  lime  would  have  to  be  worked  into  the 
soil,  which  is  all  right.  Hut  he  also  said 
that  in  top-dressing  one  might  as  well 
give  that  amount  of  money  to  his  wife  for 
all  the  good  it  will  do  the  crop.  The 
notion,  it.  seems,  according  to  this  party, 
is  to  form  a  crust  instead  of  getting  into 
the  land.  hack-to-the-lanokk. 
Your  neighbor  is  correct  about,  the 
lime.  What  he  says  about  giving  money 
to  bis  wife  is  another  story.  If  you  think 
for  a  moment  you  will  see  that  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  soil  any  lime,  in  order 
In  have  its  full  effect  must  lx-  work'd 
thoroughly  all  through.  Every  particle 
of  the  soil  should  he  limed,  in  order  ro 
give  full  results.  Thus,  fine  lime,  made 
so  by  careful  grinding  or  by  burning  and 
sinking,  will  work  into  the  soil  move 
thoroughly  than  a  coarser  crushed  lime. 
Water  carries  the  lime  about  in  the  soil 
to  some  extent,  but  lime  is  heavy  ami 
its  tendency  is  to  sink  down  and  stay 
down  or  to  form  a  crust  or  mortar  in 
some  soils,  and  thus  remain  in  bunches 
or  masses. 
Thus  anyone  can  see  that  in  order  to 
get  the  best  and  fullest  distribution  of 
lime  it  should  be  thoroughly  mixed  all 
through,  for  then  it  is  more  easily  carried 
to  all  parts  of  the  soil.  This  is  best 
done  by  spreading  the  lime  after  plowing 
and  then  harrowing  with  some  digging 
t<«d  like  a  disk  or  spring-tooth  harrow. 
This  chops  and  mixes  the  soil,  stirs  in  the 
lime,  ami  gives  it  a  better  chance  to  do 
its  work.  Some  farmers  write  about 
spreading  lime  on  the  ground  and  plow- 
inf/  it  under.  While  this  puts  the  lime 
down  out  of  sight  it  is  not  well  stirred 
into  the  upper  soil  as  it  should  be.  The 
lime  is  heavy,  and  is  not  so  likely  to  be 
carried  up  through  the  soil  by  the  water 
as  some  other  elements  are,  and  so  when 
plowed  under  it  will  not  give  the  thor¬ 
ough  results  to  be  expected  when  har¬ 
rowed  into  plowed  soil. 
Your  neighbor  is  at  least  partly  right 
in  what  be  says  about  lime  on  top  of  the 
grouud.  It  will  make  some  difference 
w  ith  the  kind  of  soil,  the  kind  of  lime  and 
the  weather.  A  very  fine  lime  like  the 
1 '('rated  or  caustic  lime  will  be  more 
li.  <  ly  to  pass  down  into  tin*  soil,  espe- 
c'ally  in  muddy  or  wet  weather,  and  on 
sandy,  open  soils.  The  coarser  limes  will 
l  e  more  likely  to  remain  on  the  surface. 
We  have  known  an  application  of  lime 
pm  on  a  grain  field  in  the  Fall  to  form  a 
mortar  just  about  like  that  used  in  build¬ 
ing  a  brick  wall.  This  lime  simply  com¬ 
bined  with  the  soil  on  the  surface  and  re¬ 
mained  there  in  chunks  which  were  not 
fully  broken  up  for  years,  aud,  of  course, 
sm  h  lime  was  of  very  little  help  to  the 
soil.  This  result  will  not  always  follow 
lmt  you  can  never  obtain  the  full  and 
most  desirable  action  of  lime  by  spread¬ 
ing  it  on  top  of  the  soil  aud  leaving  if; 
there.  A  light  scratching  with  the  spike- 
tooth  harrow  or  cveeder  might  help  work 
the  lime  in  without  hurting  the  crop,  but 
you  never  can  expect  to  have  the  lime 
most  effective  unless  you  stir  it  thorough¬ 
ly  into  broken-op  soil.  You  can  spread 
nitrate  or  acid  phosphate  and  potash  on 
the  land,  and  expect  them  to  dissolve  and 
work  down  In,  but  the  lime  is  different. 
It  will  not  dissolve  so  readily,  and  is  far 
more  likely  to  form  a  paste  or  crust  at 
the  surface. 
The  Wife’s  Shake. — Now  we  come  to 
tin  neighbor’s  statement  about  giving  the 
money  to  his  wife.  He  is  right,  and  the 
subject  may  well  be  analyzed.  Perhaps 
we  can  fairly  make  a  comparison  between 
the  wife's  experience  and  lime.  Many  a 
gill,  hopeful  and  strong  and  willing, 
starts  in  as  a  farmer's  wife.  Life  is  hard 
and  money  is  scarce,  for  the  young  couple 
have  little  capital,  and  they  both  realize 
that  a  hard  struggle  is  ahead  of  them. 
You  and  I  know  thousands  of  girls  who 
accept  such  labor  gladly  and  we  both 
know  how  cheerfully  and  with  wThat  loy¬ 
alty  they  do  their  share.  The  work  such 
women  do  in  its  relation  to  the  home  and 
farm  may  well  be  compared  with  lime  in 
its  relation  to  the  soil.  These  women 
keep  the  household  sweet  and  true,  give 
encouragement  and  help  to  all  and  make 
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Forkner  Alfalfa  Cultivator 
Grind  Your  Limestone — Save  $1  to  $2  Per  Ton 
it  possible  for  the  home  and  farm  to  pros¬ 
per.  The  man  may  go  out  and  pass  him¬ 
self  off  as  the  king  pin,  and  the  children 
may  receive  the  praise  for  beauty  and 
smartness,  but  the  patient  and  hard- 
worked  woman  at  home,  like  the  lime  in 
tli<-  soil,  keeps  the  whole  thing  sweet  and 
capable  of  work  and  progress. 
The  woman's  life  may  be  compared 
with  the  various  processes  of  preparing 
lime.  Surely  she  goes  through  the  tire 
of  trial,  and  is  ground  in  the  machinery 
of  trouble.  When  the  hard  work  has 
been  done,  the  farm  is  paid  for.  there  is 
a  little  bank  balance,  and  the  children 
have  grown  up  the  mother’s  life  and  In¬ 
fluence.  will  lx*  determined  by  the  way 
this  lime  of  life  has  been  treated.  Coarse 
chunks  of  limestone  plowed  into  the  soil, 
stand  at  one  extreme  of  usefulness,  and 
the  fine  hydrated  lime — powdery  and 
pleasant  to  handle — represents  the  other. 
Ami  mother  s  life,  when  gray  hair  hangs 
out  its  warning  sign,  will  be  somewhere 
between  these  two.  as  the  lime  of  life  has 
been  treated.  Just  as  old,  well-worked 
soils  have  greatest  need  of  lime,  so  that 
part  of  life  which  lies  beyond  middle  age 
has  greatest  need  of  the  mellow  and 
happy  experience  which  I  call  the  lime  of 
life. 
Mother  may  be  kept  for  years  in  the 
dull  treadmill  of  toil  without  apprecia¬ 
tion  or  a  fair  share  of  recognition.  She 
would  welcome  the  work  and  sing  in  the 
face  of  trouble  if  she  could  only  feel  that 
her  husband  and  children  could  make 
some  little  sacrifice  for  her  in  return  for 
her  own  mighty  task  of  self-denial. 
Father  through  these  years,  has  come 
somehow  to  regard  money  and  power,  as 
the  greatest  things  of  life.  The  children 
have  grown  up  a  little  selfish,  putting 
their  own  pleasure  ahead  of  the  rest. 
Mothex*  has  toiled  and  slaved  through 
these  years,  doing  her  part  and  more,  and 
now  begins  to  see  that  the  children  have 
somehow'  grown  away  from  her.  The  sad 
fact  faces  her  that  father  has  somehow 
grown  to  think  more  of  his  money,  while 
the  children  think  more  of  their  pleasure, 
than  they  do  of  her!  They  would  deny 
it,  but  mother  knows  that  sacrifice  is 
(lie  final  proof,  and  she  does  not  see  father 
giving  up  his  valued  money,  or  the  chil¬ 
dren  sacrificing  their  pleasure  to  offer  her 
their  unselfish  love.  Thus  the  lime  of  life 
which  she  has  dug  out  of  life’s  quarry  so 
patiently  still  lies  in  coarse  hard  chunks 
incapable  of  sweetening  her  life. 
That,  is  one  extreme — now  let  us  con¬ 
sider  the  other.  Mother  works  ;  od  toils 
with  hand  and  brain  as  in  tlie  other  case, 
and  goes  through  the  fire  side  by  side 
with  father.  They  do  their  work  and  win 
— pay  for  the  home  and  become  prosper¬ 
ous.  Then  comes  father  and  says: 
“Mary,  we  have  won  out  together.  T 
recognize  your  value,  and  hereafter  a  fair 
share  of  our  income  goes  to  pon.  It  will 
be  yours.  You  have  earned  it.  I  want 
you  to  enjoy  it  and  I  know  I  can  trust 
you  to  use  it  wisely.”  Then  the  children 
come  aud  say' :  “Mother,  we  know  what 
you  have  done  for  usv  We  never  ran  re¬ 
pay  it,  but  we  want  you  to  know  that  we 
realize  it  nowr,  and  that  if  we  cannot  give 
you  anything  else  we  give  you  our  unsel¬ 
fish  love.” 
Say' — do  you  know'  what  form  the  lime 
of  life  would  take  out  of  that?  It  would 
surely  be  the  hydrated  of  very  high 
grade.  The  fire  of  trial  has  burned  this 
lime  and  the  gentle  spray  of  love  and  sac¬ 
rifice  has  slaked  it  after  the  burning  and 
left  the  lime  fine  and  gentle  and  true,  so 
that  all  the  rest  of  life  will  be  sweet  and 
wholesome.  This  will  be  felt  not  only  in 
that  household,  but  wherever  mother  goes 
and  with  whoever  she  meets  that  kindly, 
happy  influence  will  follow. 
I  could  go  on  and  make  a  few’  more  ap¬ 
plications  of  this  thought  of  the  lime  of 
life,  but  you  will  get  my  point.  Surely 
it  is  better  to  hand  your  wife  the  money 
rather  than  to  buy  lime  and  put  it  on 
top  of  the  ground.  Both  soil,  lime,  and 
the  lime  of  life  should  be  well  stirred  in. 
No  use  talking,  the  boy  on  the  farm  has 
had  too  large  a  proportion  of  benefits. 
All  this  talk  about  keeping  the  boy  on  the 
farm  is  good,  but  it  is  much  more  impor¬ 
tant  to  keep  the  girl  there — happy  and 
satisfied.  Begin  with  “the  old  girl”  first 
of  all  and  invest  some  money  in  her. 
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