386 
March  11,  191G. 
|  HOPE  FARM  NOTES 
Value  of  Snow. — It  does  not  soein 
much  like  Spring  as  1  write,  with  great 
snowdrifts  on  the  hills,  the  ponds  all 
frozen  over  and  snow  still  coining.  If 
there  is  anything  in  “signs"  this  ought  to 
he  a  productive  season,  for  most  farmers 
believe  that  the  grass  and  grain  are  al¬ 
ways  better  after  a  snowy  Winter.  As 
cover  crops  are  the  real  life  of  our  farm¬ 
ing  we  ought  to  have  lively  times  this 
Sum  mer. 
Most  farmers  seem  to  think  that  the 
snow  is  like  manure — bringing  great 
quantities  of  plant  food  out  of  the  air. 
Analysis  of  snow  does  not  support  this 
contention.  There  is  a  small  amount  of 
ammonia  washed  out  of  the  air  by  the 
falling  snow,  but  little  else  of  value  except 
water.  It  is  the  form  in  which  the  water 
comes  that  helps  out.  T.et  the  water  fall 
upon  the  frozen  ground  and  go  tearing 
away  down  the  hill  and  it  will  take  part 
of  the  best  soil  along  with  it.  Let  it 
spread  out  in  a  thin  sheet  and  freeze 
solid  and  the  coat  of  ice  will  give  too 
much  protection  to  plants,  for  it  will  shut 
off  the  air  and  smother  them  if  it  remains 
too  long.  The  snow  gives  an  open,  por¬ 
ous  cover  which  prevents  heave  and  thaw 
of  the  soil  and  also  permits  the  air  to  resell 
into  the  plants.  Thus,  I  think  the  great 
value  of  snow  is  that  it  acts  as  a  mulch 
to  protect  the  plants  from  eliaug.es  of  tem¬ 
perature.  hi  the  upper  soil.  One  of  the 
most  powerful  forces  of  nature  is  the  ex¬ 
pansive  force  of  freezing  water.  W  hen 
Soils  are  left  bare  they  often  thaw  during 
the  day  and  freeze  at  night.  The  freeze 
means  that  something  like  the  power  of  a 
lightning  bolt  is  distributed  over  an  acre, 
pulling  and  tugging  the  soil  upward. 
Then  in  the  day’s  thaw  this  soil  goes  back 
for  another  grip,  until  after  a  week  or 
more  of  it  the  plants  are  loosened  a  little 
and  more  or  less  exposed.  Of  course, 
this  weakens  them. 
Tinder  a  cover  of  snow  the  soil  in  which 
the  plants  grow  is  kept  uniformly  frozen, 
and  the  plants  enjoy  a  Winter’s  sleep 
without  being  constantly  routed  out  with 
the  false  alarm  that  Spring  has  come. 
Take  two  men  after  a  hard  day’s  work. 
L<  t  one  of  them  have  a  quiet,  undisturbed 
night’s  rest  until  daybreak.  Shake  up 
the  other  half  a  dozen  times  during  the 
night  and  tell  him  to  look  at  his  watch. 
Which  one  will  do  the  better  day’s  work 
when  morning  comes?  It  is  about  the 
same  with  strawberries,  grain,  grass  or 
cover  crops,  exposed  or  covered  through 
the  Winter.  Then  again  the  snow  slowly 
melting  in  the  Spring  lills  the  soil  with 
water  far  more  effectively  than  the  heavy 
rains  falling  upon  bare  ground.  These 
tilings,  I  believe,  show  why  the  season 
following  a  snowy  Winter  is  usually  a 
productive  one,  and  they  lead  rne  to  joi,n 
the  children  in  considering  the  snow  a 
good  thing. 
Slicking  TTp. — I  think  there  will  be 
more  work  than  ever  before  done  this  year 
in  fixing  up  the  grounds  around  farm 
houses.  Kven  if  it  be  only  a  bit  of  lawn 
or  a  few  (lowers  and  shrubs  it  will  pay. 
There  never  was  a  time  whim  neatness 
and  beauty  had  greater  commercial  value 
on  the  farm.  You  must  remember  that 
thousands  of  Western  farmers  have  their 
mind  on  an  Eastern  farm.  A  great  many 
of  them  will  come  Last  tlr.s  year  and  look 
about  for  bargains.  They  will  come  in 
cars  and  the  wife  and  daughter  will  come 
along  with  them.  Now  when  these  women 
go  to  a  store  to  do  shopping  they  instinc¬ 
tively  select  the  neat  and  pretty  things 
if  they  are  as  serviceable  as  the  plainer 
ones.  That  is  characteristic  of  Mother 
and  Mary,  and  they  will  view  the  new 
farm  as  they  do  other  purchases.  They 
will  give  tlie  preference  and  also  a  little 
more  money  to  the  farm  with  a  neat  front 
yard  and  neatly  painted  buildings.  Ilight 
now  a  dollar  spent  for  paint,  neat  walks 
and  grass  seed  and  flowers  will  give 
greater  value  to  the  farm  than  any  $5 
you  can  put  into  other  fixtures. 
The  Garden.  Here  T  come  again  with 
the  old  story  which  should  he  repeated 
over  and  over.  The  farm  garden  is  often 
a  sad  memory  or  a  siykly  "going  to  be.” 
During  the  Summer  a  farmer  ought  to 
get  <1(1  per  cent,  of  his  living  out  of  the 
garden.  The  whole  family  li.fe  will  he 
made  brighter  and  better  if  at  any  time 
after  May  1st  you  can  have  your  choice  of 
Z>he  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
from  three  to  a  dozen  vegetables  at  any 
time  you  please.  Why,  this  thing  seems 
so  clear  to  us  that  we  can  harcHy  imagine 
any  fair  reason  why  a  farm  should  not 
have  at  least  a  small  garden  shining  like 
the  badge  of  some  worthy  brotherhood. 
And  do  not  leave  it  to  the  women.  It  is 
a  great  Job  for  (Irandfather.  if  he  is  able 
to  get  about  and  do  light  work.  You 
know  sometimes  what  becomes  of  these 
“retired”  farmers  when  they  quit  active 
work  and  are  forced  to  lay  off.  They 
have  worked  hard  all  their  lives,  and 
when  they  stop  the  whole  scheme  of  life 
is  upset.  It  will  be  a  wonder  if  they  do 
not  become  sour  and  sick  and  discontent¬ 
ed.  The  remedy  for  this  is  a  good  garden 
where  they  can  work  as  they  please  and 
do  wonders  with  intensive  culture.  The 
kitchen  and  the  garden  ought,  to  rank  to¬ 
gether  as  true  foundations  for  the  farm 
home. 
Tire  Orchards— We  are  going  right 
ahead  planting  trees — the  best  we  can 
buy.  In  the  future  some  of  the  big  com¬ 
mercial  or  promoter’s  orchards  may  have 
hard  sledding  for  a  time  in  disposing  of 
fruit,  but  I  think  tlie  smaller,  carefully 
kept  orchards  will  be  increasingly  profit¬ 
able.  True,  millions  of  trees  are  being 
planted  but  not  all  <>f  them  with  thought 
or  fair  judgment.  Many  of  them  will  not 
lie  cared  for,  many  others  will  go  into 
ground  unsuited  to  the  variety,  and  there 
will  he.  other  slips  and  mix-ups  before 
fruiting.  1  think  as  I  always  have  that 
the  best  future  for  fruit  growing  lies  with 
the  men  who  plant  moderate-sized  or¬ 
chards  of  good  varieties  and  give  the  trees 
full  care.  In  fact  it  is  rny  belief  that  tlie 
future  will  see  more  and  more  of  a  turn 
from  the  big  trusts  and  industrial  com¬ 
binations  of  all  sorts  to  the  smaller  or 
moderate-sized  plants  where  the  individ¬ 
ual  can  put  quality  and  character  into 
his  work.  This  will  mean  the  right  sort 
of  combination.  Instead  of  a  big  corpor¬ 
ation  witli  no  individual  powers  to  the 
units,  there  will  be  combination  of  the 
units  each  preserving  some  of  its  indi¬ 
vidual  rights  and  powers  at  the  same 
time  that  it  joins  others  for  larger  powers. 
I  look  for  something  of  this  to  come  put 
of  future  fruit  growing  and  thus  we  are. 
going  right  ahead  planting  and  caring  for 
the  orchards.  ir.  w.  c. 
This  Man  Made  Good 
About  a  year  ago  T  asked  for  informa¬ 
tion  as  to  the  building  of  an  apple  house. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Tiik  It.  N.-Y,, 
I  obtained  information  that,  along  with 
some  of  my  own  knowledge  of  12  yea 
experience  lias  helped  me  to  build  the 
finest  and  best  fruit  storage  in  the  coun¬ 
ty.  I  have  at  present  about  00%  of  my 
1010  apple  crop  showing  up  in  the  finest 
condition.  1  am  located  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  anthracite  coal  mines  and 
at  present  have  a  great,  demand  for  ap¬ 
ples  at  $1  per  bushel  wholesale.  It  is 
surprising  to  me  how  few  farmers  try 
to  grow  fruit  as  a  side  line.  Twelve 
years  ago  I  purchased  my  father’s  farm, 
containing  about  00  acres.  Having  some 
money  saved  from  working  at  the  carpen¬ 
ter  trade  and  selling  my  home  in  King- 
town.  I  managed  to  get  this  farm  and 
stock  it,  going  in  debt  about  $(>.0(10.  Hav¬ 
ing  no  help  of  my  own,  keeping  one  hired 
man.  my  wife  and  I  started  in  in  earnest 
working  many  days  of  It!  hours  each. 
We  paid  for  the  farm,  are  raising  a 
family  of  live  children,  and  are  enjoying 
a  farmer’s  life.  I  think  if  more  of  the 
young  . . pie  starting  in  life  would  get 
right  down  to  actual  farm  life,  work  a 
few  more  hours  every  day  and  not  try 
to  show  Fifth  Avenue  style  in  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  their  worldly  enterprise  there 
would  not  be  so  many  unfortunate  dis¬ 
couraged  men  and  women  sitting  around 
idub  rooms  and  country  stores,  telling 
how  that  man  in  the  new  motor  ear  got 
money  enough  to  buy  it,  by  selling  hay 
and  potatoes  when  they  brought  big 
prices,  once  in  a  century,  c.  L. 
Kingston,  I’a. 
Farmer  Brown,  while  Lis  crew  of 
thrashers  were  “washing  up"  one  morn¬ 
ing.  noticed  among  them  a  Swede  who 
was  not  engaged  in  the  use  of  water, 
soap  and  towel.  “Well,  Harris,”  said 
the  farmer,  "aren’t  you  going  to  wash 
this  morning?”  “Naw,”  returned  the 
Swede;  “it  don’t  make  me  dirty  to  sleep.” 
— Everybody’s. 
APPLE 
PLUM 
PEAR 
CHERRY 
PEACH 
nr  Fruit 
(t*  Trees 
By  W.  L.  McKay 
THEY  ARE  GROWN 
AT  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 
“The  bonniest  little  trees  you  ever  saw.”  ( >n 
•  l  a  plat  five  or  six  feet  square  you  can  grow  a 
dwarf  tree  in  bush  form  which  will  give  you 
“quite  some”  fruit — not  enough  to  run  a 
hotel,  hut  enough  so  you  will  have  to  shoo  off 
•  x  -  -  the  neighbors’  children  to  get  any  yourself! 
-  -f  On  the  space  required  for  one  great  big 
.  Standard  apple  tree  you  can  easily  grow  25 
Dwarf  Trees;  they  are  exactly  the  thing  for 
^ *  your  garden  if  you  want  a  succession  of  the 
very  choicest  varieties  for  home  use  from 
August  till  the  following  May,  and  haven’t 
/ A*  I  "  room  for  a  lot  of  big  trees.  They  arc  right 
down  low  where  you  can  do  everything  they 
require  standing  right  on  the  ground;  they 
are  just  the  thing  for  the  children  to  climb — 
“if  they  fall  out,  they  haven’t  so  far  to  drop!” 
.....  .  1- .  SERVICE 
In  buying  our  trees  you  buy  service  with 
Tree  Rose  4  feet  high,  them.  The  best  tree  on  earth  can  be  ruined 
by  careless  handling  and  packing.  Not  a  sin¬ 
gle  order  is  shipped  from  our  nurseries,  except  under  the  immediate  su¬ 
pervision  of  either  myself  or  one  of  my  sons,  usually  Mr.  Willard  Judd 
McKay,  here  with 
Wi.  graving  tt>c 
of  nursery  sleek  eti  wliieli  T - > ° ^ EOT'SR’ZL’ 
III  Ills  seem  to  pride  (llelli.-*  Ives,  >111(1  for  I  *■■  .  ',An*V»  ity, 
this  very  reason  we  me  nhle  !o  give  (III- 
liersonnl  ;<  I  lciilii.il  I.I  III"  (let, oils  ol  care  ■>!'  jiL*  jW'tMlTI 
sleek  in  all  its  processes  i  rein  digging  lo  nMB.  IraKC.  jJST'jjy.  i_.  -  '»  .  ’ 
paekiug.  Isn’t  this  worth  Somethin);  to  ^ 
you?  ’ 
A  FEW  ESPECIALLY 
INTERESTING  OFFERS 
My  “Get  Acquainted”  Offer  %  V 
Just  to  get  you  started  growing  gy  m 
Dwarfs  I  know  if  you  once  start, 
you  will  keep  on  planting  them. 
3  Dwarf  Red  Apple  Trees  j 
for  a  $1.00  Bill 
1  Dwarf  Baldwin  .  $  .50 
1  Dwarf  McIntosh  . . .  .50  hi 
1  Dwarf  Northern  Spy  .  .50  E4H 
List  Price  . . . .  $1.50 
“Get  Acquainted”  Price  only .  1.00  A 
Two  Wonderfully  Interesting  Pi 
Red  Raspberries.  BaYfU 
JUNE,  tin . .  seedling  originated  by  our  fruits. 
State  IJxperliiieiit  Station,  guaranteed 
genuine,  li  plant*  for  Toe..  12  for  $1.25 
ST.  REGIS,  the  Everbearing  Variety,  fruit¬ 
ing  from  July  to  October,  d  plants  for 
T  f  6  plants  of  each  for  $1.25. 
SPECIAL  |  plants  of  each  for  $2.00. 
Dwarf  Trial  Collection 
Just  wlint  its  name  indicates — a  few 
choice  Dwarf  varieties  for  the  novice 
lu  try  nut.  as  follows: 
1  Dwarf  McIntosh  Apple  tree  ....  $.50 
1  Dwarf  Bartlett  Pear  tree .  .40 
1  Dwarf  Montmorency  Cherry  tree.,  .60 
1  Dwarf  Burbank  Plum  tree..,,....  .60  I 
1  Dwarf  Elberta  Peach  troc .  .40  , 
List  Price  .  $2.60 
Collection  Price  only  .  1,75 
Bearing  Dwarf  Peach  Trees 
Only  about  thirty  Inches  high,  but  well 
supplied  wi  I  It  blossom  buds.  We  lake 
them  up  nail  ship  them  with  u  ball  of 
earth,  In  Insure  llielr  blooming  lills  spring. 
These  little  fellows  show  what  may  be 
done  with  the  dwarf  trees  if  properly 
handled.  $2.00  each. 
Holland  Tree  Roses 
Like  those  shown  in  cut. 
Stems  4  feet  high.  $1.00  each. 
Twenty  Varieties,  Pink,  Red  and  Whito. 
Dwarf  Bismarck  apple  only  one  year  old, 
grown  by  Prof.  Waugh,  Dean  of  the  Massachu¬ 
setts  State  Agricultural  College.  Three  well 
developed  fruits. 
STANDARD  FRUIT  TREES 
Don't  gel:  the  idea  that  we  do  mil  grow  Standard 
Fruit  Trees  wo  do,  about  every  variety  Unit  we 
grow  in  dwarfs.  The  llncst  IVueli  Trees  we  have 
ever  had.  (his  year,  and  they  are  I'rooi  buds  taken 
from  tested'  bearing  trees,  largely  from  tlie  State 
l.x  ■  ■  *•  i 1 1 u ■  1 1 1  Slathms  large  orchard.  We  know  they 
are  right.  Yon  surely  at  least  waul  one  of  our 
Ten  Weeks  Peach  Collection 
The  ten  trees  composing  (lie  Collection  give  fruit 
distributed  over  a  period  of  ten  weeks.  These  trees 
are  Standards,  from  4  to  6  feet  high,  utul  are  sold 
as  an  unbroken  Collection  for  $1.50,  Clieir  price 
singly  being  $2.00. 
Standard  Trial  Collection 
Five  Standard  Apple  Trees,  5  to  7  feet  high,  one 
(‘iieli  of  Ihildwiu.  Greening,  M.-Intosli,  Spy  and  Stark, 
*  for  $1,10,  list  price  being  $1.50. 
L  ;  .r  (  Our  Illustrated  Catalogue  of  48  pages 
gives  all  directions  for  training  Dwarf 
rt'r*io  ^ru‘t  Trees  to  all  the  different  forms. 
Write  for  it  now — it’s  free. 
The  Van  Dusen  Nurseries 
W.  L.  McKay,  Prop. 
Box  N  Geneva.  N.  \ 
