982 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
HOPE  FARM  NOTES 
Alsike  Clover. — Among  other  letters 
we  have  the  following — which  I  rather 
expected : 
This  Hope  Farm  man  seems  to  have 
Alsike  clover  on  the  brain  since  he  talks 
so  much  about  it.  Many  of  us  never  knew 
there  was  any  such  clover  before. 
a.  vv.  E. 
I  wish  sometimes  I  had  Alsike  on  the 
brain.  We  are  told  that  clover  can  take 
nitrogen  out  of  the  air  and  store  it  up  for 
future  use.  Now  and  then  such  a  Hood 
of  “hot  air”  comes  swarming  about  that 
I  would  like  to  save  the  small  value  con¬ 
tained  in  it  and  let  the  rest,  pass  on  !  It. 
is  strange  that  so  many  farmers  know 
nothing  about  Alsike.  As  we  are  situated 
it  is  the  most  valuable  clover  we  can  use. 
The  Sweet  clover  may  outyield  it,  but  for 
many  purposes  the  Alsike  is  ahead. 
Good  Qualities. — It  is  the  hardiest 
clover  we  have  tried.  On  our  sour,  rough 
land  it  grows  where  Red  clover  becomes 
discouraged  and  quits.  The  seed  is  fine 
and  less  of  it  is  required  for  a  full  seed¬ 
ing  than  of  Red.  It  makes,  with  us,  a 
quicker  growth  than  the  Red.  For  five 
to  seven  months’  growth  it  pays  better 
than  any  other  clover  we  have  tried  and 
that  is  the  limit  for  a  cover  crop.  Of 
course,  Crimson  clover  seeded  in  August 
and  cut  and  turned  under  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  Mny.  will  outyield  the  Alsike.  but  we 
cannot  depend  on  Crimson  for  our  loca¬ 
tion,  while  Alsike  has  never  yet  failed.  As 
a  cover  crop,  to  be  seeded  in  the  corn  at 
the  last  cultivation,  the"  Alsike  comes 
through  the  Winter  and  makes  a  quick 
Spring  growth.  At  the  last  of  June  this 
year  the  best  of  our  Alsike — -seeded  last 
September — was  over  2^4  feet  high. 
Objections. — The  chief  objection  I 
hear  urged  against  Alsike  is  that  it  is  too 
small  and  does  not  give  the  bulk  of  crop 
which  Red  clover  supplies.  That  is  true. 
Aere  for  acre  Red  clover,  on  good  soil, 
will  surely  outyield  the  Alsike.  Yet  I 
know  farmers  who  use  Alsike  from  choice 
because  they  say  it  makes  a  liner  and 
more  palatable  hay.  Considering  the 
“orts,”  or  what  the  stock  leave  of  the 
big,  thick  stems,  there  is  about  as  much 
actual  fodder,  acre  for  aere,  in  the  Alsike 
as  in  the  Red.  The  stalks  of  the  former 
are  finer  and  are  practically  all  eaten  up 
while  many  of  the  big  Red  stems  are  re¬ 
jected.  I  think  the  Alsike  is  quicker  to 
decay  in  the  soil.  The  analysis  is  very 
much  alike — a  little  advantage  in  favor 
of  Rod.  My  advice  would  be  to  always 
add  a  little  Alsike  when  seeding  to  Red. 
There  are  parts  of  every  acre  which  are 
inclined  to  be  hard  and  sour  and  Red 
will  not  thrive  on  these  spots.  Alsike 
usually  will  and  therefore  in  order  to  ob¬ 
tain  a  full  stand  I  should  use  both  kinds 
and  thus  suit,  the  entire  soil.  As  a  cover 
crop  in  our  latitude  I  do  think  the  Alsike 
is  the  best  of  all  clovers  and  I  would  al¬ 
ways  use  some  of  the  seed  in  the  corn  at 
last  cultivation.  I  am  In  no  way  inter¬ 
ested  in  Alsike  seed,  but  1  believe  this  lit¬ 
tle  clover  has  not  been  fully  appreciated 
and  it  ought  to  be  given  a  chance  to  make 
good. 
Sweet  Clover. — I  have  had  a  number 
of  letters  like  that  from  Henry  Field,  on 
page  070.  1  think  he  is  about  right  re¬ 
garding  Fall  seeding  of  this  clover.  One 
thing,  however,  is  true.  Where  I  did  not 
plow  the  orchards  this  Spring  more  and 
more  of  the  Sweet  is  coming  in.  I  find 
the  little  plants  breaking  in  everywhere. 
My  belief  is  that  the  unhulled  seeds  sown 
last  Fall,  remained,  in  large  part,  dor¬ 
mant  in  the  soil  all  through  the  Winter 
and  are  now  making  their  way  into  life. 
That  serins  to  me  a  reasonable  way  of 
looking  at  it  and  1  shall  not  be  surprised 
if  by  Fall  this  entire  land  is  thick  with 
the  clover.  Thus-instead  of  plowing  this 
part  of  the  orchard  we  clip  off  the  entire 
growth  and  let  it  remain  on  top  as  a 
mulch.  For  Summer  seeding  I  shall  use 
the  hulled  or  scarified  seed.  The  Sweet 
clover  which  we  seeded  with  the  oats  and 
peas  was  nearly  a  foot  high  by  July  4th. 
This  first  growth  will  be  cut  with  the 
oats  and  peas.  The  best  of  our  Sweet 
clover — seeded  last  August — is  higher 
than  my  head. 
Children  and  Money. — This  problem 
seems  to  be  greater  in  vacation  than  at 
any  other  season,  for  children  want  cash 
as  xiart  of  their  Summer  play.  When  I 
was  a  hoy  there  was  little  or  no  cash  to 
be  had,  and  what  we  earned  was  promptly 
absorbed  into  the  family  purse.  You 
could  no  more  separate  it  after  it  once 
started  than  you  could  bring  back  the 
pet  chicken  after  it  had  made  a  family 
pie.  I  find  so  many  people  who  think  it 
necessary  to  give  the  children  “pocket 
money”  or  an  “allowance.”  I  believe 
many  children  have  been  well  nigh  spoiled 
through  this  practice  of  giving  them  to 
understand  early  in  youth  that  money 
comes  to  them  without  labor  on  their 
part.  When  they  grow  up  it  strikes  them 
hard  to  find  out  that  they  must  work  for 
a  living.  My  plan  is  to  pay  the  obildreu 
for  their  labor,  and  never  give  them  any 
money  to  spend.  They  earn  their  money 
and  I  find  that  when  they  do  so  they  are 
very  careful  about  spending  if-  There  is 
a  very  different  view  of  money  when  you 
sweat  for  it  than  when  someone  else  is 
willing  to  do  so.  As  soon  as  the  boys 
are  large  enough  they  learn  how  to  har¬ 
ness  and  care  for  a  horse,  how  to  culti¬ 
vate  and  plow  and  how  to  use  a  hoe  or  a 
scythe  or  an  ax.  We  never  overwork 
them — they  have  ample  time  for  play — 
but  they  know  that  some  labor  is  re¬ 
quired,  and  that  they  will  be  paid  for  it. 
Of  course,  each  one  must  do  some  work 
for  nothing.  That  is  their  contribution 
to  the  home,  but  for  farm  work  they  are 
paid  and  left:  to  handle  their  money  and 
make  their  own  purchases-  This  is  only 
possible,  to  any  full  extent,  on  a  farm 
where  the  children  are  under  full  control, 
but  I  think  it  is  the  way  to  handle  the 
financial  side  of  child  life  whenever  it 
can  be  done. 
Child  Behavior. — Growing  out  of 
that  comes  the  problem  of  making  chil¬ 
dren  “behave.”  Every  year  we  have 
dozens  of  applications  from  people  who 
want  us  to  find  places  where  city  boys 
can  go  for  the  Summer.  At  one  time  I 
hunted  about  and  found  places  for  some 
of  these  children  on  the  pure  theory  that 
it  was  a  fine  thing  to  do.  As  a  rule  a 
pure  theory  is  about  the  surest  road  to 
trouble.  It  should  be  adulterated  with 
horse  sense  in  order  to  be  workable.  Most 
of  the  children  I  located  raised  Cain  and 
not  much  else.  They  had,  apparently, 
never  been  restrained  at  home  and  when 
they  struck  the  farm  they  seemed  to 
think  they  had  been  licensed  to  do  just 
ns  they  pleased.  I  know  that  they  gave 
some  of  my  friends  a  merry  time.  Not 
all  were  like  this — some  city  children  are 
well  brought  up  and  subject  to  discipline, 
but  when  you  strike  one  of  the  other  sort 
you  invite  trouble  if  not  disaster  when 
you  turn  him  loose  among  your  own  lit¬ 
tle  folks. 
Doting  Barents. — The  funny  part  of 
it  is  that  the  parents  of  these  children 
will  never  admit  that  their  youngsters 
are  ever  anything  but  perfect  models  of 
behavior.  I  had  a  woman  once  tell  me 
that  her  boy  was  “a  perfect  angel  child,” 
while  I  knew  him  to  be  a  little  imp  for 
mischief!  No  use  reasoning  with  her. 
He  “took  after”  her  family — the  Smiths 
and  therefore  he  was  an  angel.  I  found 
that  this  boy’s  father  did  not  share  this 
“angel  child”  theory  though  he  was  very 
diplomatic  about  it  until  I  got  him  up  on 
the  hill — out  of  hearing-  Then  he  said 
that  his  wife  was  a  very  fine  woman 
very  superior  to  most  of  her  family — 
but  that  he  feared  his  boy  had  some  of 
those  family  traits  without  hen  intelli¬ 
gence!  He  was  about  as  wise  as  most 
husbands  are.  and  when  I  caught  the 
angel-child  stoning  some  little  chickens 
his  mother  was  sure  that  tendency  came 
from  John’s  family !  Say — when  you 
come  to  think  of  it  how  fond  and  foolish 
some  of  us  are  over  our  own  children ! 
And  the  kids  know  it  and  consequently 
they  work  us  like  the  hands  around  the 
clock — or  else  they  go  off  and  try  their 
arts  on  someone  else.  But  dinner’s 
ready.  Here  in  early  July  we  still  have 
asparagus  and  you  may  have  your  choice 
of  lettuce,  spinach,  turnips,  onions,  peas, 
beets  and  very  small  potatoes  or  straw- 
.Tuly  15,  1916. 
berries,  cherries,  currants,  rhubarb,  etc. 
I  wanted  to  go  on  and  express  an  opinion 
upon  some  other  kids — the  children  of 
the  brain.  A  great  flood  of  poems,  stories, 
sketches  and  "articles”  has  begun  to  come 
forward.  Some  one  wants  me  to  write 
some  advice  to  amateur  writers.  That 
will  be  worse  than  whipping  a  pair  of 
these  angel  children,  but  I  will  try  it  a 
little  later.  H.  \v.  c. 
Cutting  Grass  Under  Peach  Trees 
I  have  an  orchard  of  young  peach 
trees,  with  grass  in  between,  which  re¬ 
quires  mowing,  and  as  there  is  hardly 
sufficient  room  between -trees  (15  feet). 
1  do  not  think  it  feasible  to  use  a  horse- 
propelled  mowing  machine.  Do  you  know 
of  any  small  machine  that  could  bo  pro¬ 
pelled  by  band  power,  small  like  the  small 
outfits  of  hand  cultivators,  weeders,  etc., 
which  have  one  or  two  wheels  in  front? 
Does  anyone  make  such  an  outfit,  or  is 
it  at  all  feasible?  o.  B. 
Little  Falls,  N.  Y. 
So  far  as  we  know,  the  only  way  to 
clean  up  such  an  orchard  with  satisfac¬ 
tion  would  be  to  use  a  hand  scythe* 
There  are,  of  course,  one-horse  mowing 
machines.  Thfse  are  light  and  smaller 
than  the  two-horse  machines.  They 
make  a  narrow  cut,  and  can  he  worked 
in  under  such  trees  to  some  extent,  but  if 
these  trees  are  of  good  size  and  headed 
low,  it  will  be  difficult  to  get  through 
them  with  any  horse-power  machine.  In 
our  own  case  we  depend  ou  a  hand  scythe 
for  cutting  such  grass.  During  this  wet 
season  we  have  one  orchard  where  the 
grass  has  worked  in  like  a  meadow.  We 
have  been  unable  to  plow  or  cultivate  this 
damp  land,  and  probably  this  rank 
growth  of  grass  has  saved  the  peach 
crop,  as  it  has  soaked  great  quantities  of 
moisture  from  the  land,  and  thus  kept  the 
trees  growing.  We  intend  to  cut  the 
grass  and  [die  it  around  the  trees  as  a 
mulch,  although  this  could  not  be  done 
successfully  except  iu  a  very  wet  season 
like  the  present. 
Make  Your  Wheat  Pay 
tfy.  :X 
,,  ■  J . 
A  Wheat  Field  in  Cayuga  County,  N.  Y.  which  produced  over  40  bushels  of  sound  Wheat  per  acre. 
Do  You  Raise  40  Bushels  of  Wheat  Per  Acre? 
If  you  were  planning  to  secure  the  benefit  of  the  present  high  wheat  prices  and 
produce  40  bushels  per  acre  on  your  own  farm — 
What  kind  of  soil  would  you  select  and  how  would  you  prepare  it? 
What  variety  of  seed  would  you  sow?  How  much  seed  per  acre? 
How  would  you  prevent  the  smut  and  avoid  the  ravages  of  the  Hessian  fly? 
How  much  fertilizer  would  you  use  per  acre?  Would  you  use  Lime  with  it? 
To  aid  our  farmer  friends  in  securing  the  greatest  profit  from  their  wheat  crops  we  have  published  a 
practical  booklet  entitled  "  Winter  Wheat.”  All  of  the  questions  mentioned  above  and  many  others  are 
answered  in  this  booklet.  It  will  well  repay  your  careful  reading.  If  you  will  tell  us  the  number  of 
acres  of  wheat  that  you  intend  to  sow  this  season  we  will  send  you  a  copy  free  of  charge. 
The  Coe-Mortimer  Company 
Subsidiary  of  the  American  Agricultural  Chemical  Co. 
51  Chambers  Street  -  New  York  City 
WAR  PRICES  FOR  WHEAT  OFFER  UNUSUAL  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  AMERICAN  FARMERS 
INSURE  THE  SUCCESS  OF  YOUR  CROP  BY  USING 
E.  Frank  Coe’s  Special  Grain  Fertilizers 
1857 -  THE  BUSINESS  FARMERS’  STANDARD  FOR  NEARLY  SIXTY  YEARS  1916 
