1052 
UAe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
August  5,  1916, 
HOPE  FARM  NOTES 
A  Great  Meeting. — The  fruit  grow¬ 
ers’  meeting  at  Hilton,  N.  Y.,  on  July 
21  was  about  the  greatest  gathering  of 
business  farmers  ever  known  in  the  East. 
There  may  have  been  larger  crowds  in 
connection  with  picnics  or  pleasure  out¬ 
ings  but  this  was  n  business  gathering  and 
as  such  1  think  it  has  never  been  ex¬ 
ceeded.  At  the  picnic  gatherings  the 
women  folk  come  in  large  numbers  to 
help  out  the  attendance  but  there  were 
comparatively  few  women  at  the  Hilton 
meeting.  There  are  few  localities  so  well 
situated  for  attracting  farmers.  Ililton 
is  a  few  miles  out  of  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
in  a  region  of  good  roads  where  there  are 
more  cars  to  the  square  mile  than  in  any 
other  rural  district.  North  to  the  lake, 
west  to  the  river  and  east  and  south  the 
Tieh  level,  or  gently  rolling,  land  sweeps 
away  with  great  forests  of  orchards  and 
rich  glades  of  well  farmed  land.  Cali¬ 
fornia  boasts  of  her  fruit  groves,  and  Illi¬ 
nois  may  brag  of  grain  and  clover  fields, 
or  the  Connecticut  Valley  may  talk  peach 
orchards  and  truck  farms.  Here  on  this 
great  stretch  of  fertile  land  Western 
New  York  can  match  the  best  in  fruit 
or  grain  or  clover  or  vegetables — or  any¬ 
thing  else  which  grows  in  the  temperate 
zone.  No  wonder  this  favored  land  poured 
a  great  pitcher  of  its  cream  of  humanity 
into  Ililton,  until  the  little  town  ran 
over  onto  the  orchards  which  crowd  it 
on  every  side. 
Quick  Service. — Fifteen  years  ago 
such  a  Summer  meeting  would  have  been 
impossible.  A  few  farmers  would  have 
come  by  train,  hut  10  miles  would  have 
been  about  the  limit  of  travel  with  horses 
on  a  hot  day,  and  hundreds  would  have 
remained  at  home  rather  than  attempt 
the  slow  and  dusty  journey.  As  it.  was. 
moTo  than  400  cars  came  puffing  and 
clicking  into  Ililton,  Some  of  them  car¬ 
ried  seven  and  eight  passengers.  It 
would  be  fair  to  say  that  they  averaged 
nearly  five.  Most  of  us  have  seen  pic¬ 
tures  of  the  European  War  in  which 
great  fleets  of  cars  and  motor  trucks  arc 
shown  rushing  armies  from  one  part  of 
the  battle  line  to  another.  A  stranger  in 
Ililton  seeing  the  long  lines  of  cars  in 
the  streets  or  the  great  crowds  following 
tiie  tractors  in  the  plowing  exhibition 
might  well  have  thought  that  an  army 
was  being  brought  into  action  here.  That 
was  true — it  was  an  industrial  army, 
and  only  a  skirmish  line  of  what,  is  to 
come  in  the  future.  The  Niagara  County 
Farm  Bureau  sent  nearly  .‘UK)  members. 
Wherever  you  looked  you  saw  the  orange 
colored  badge  of  Orleans  County  and 
there  were  crowds  from  Wayne,  Genesee, 
Allegheny  and  others. 
What  Foe? — Largely  because  these 
American  farmers  wanted  to  get  together 
and  realize  the  power  of  standing  in  a 
crowd.  There  were  plowing  exhibitions, 
and  spraying  demonstrations,  and  hot- 
day  oratory,  bOt  the  big  foundation  im¬ 
pulse  after  all  was  the  desire  of  these 
farmers  to  use  the  power  of  their  cars  to 
get  together  for  a  mix-up  of  humanity. 
They  might  not  have  realized  it,  but  the 
thing  which  is  to  do  most  in  the  big  work 
of  organizing  farmers  and  fitting  them 
for  cooperative  work  is  just  this  act  of 
getting  together  so  us  to  know  how  to 
act  and  how  to  work  in  a  crowd.  Gaso¬ 
line  is  throwing  men  together,  knocking 
out  the  wall  of  the  house  and  mixing  up 
the  social  and  business  life  of  the  coun¬ 
try.  This  big  meeting  was  organized  by 
the  Monroe  County  Farm  Bureau,  and 
was  a  great  illustration  of  the  power  of 
business  organization  when  applied  to  a 
farm  exhibition.  When  the  time  arrives, 
as  it  surely  will,  when  tin1  same  organiza¬ 
tion  can  be  developed  for  buying  and  sell¬ 
ing  farm  products  the  world  will  enter 
upon  a  new  lease  of  hope  and  power. 
The  Gasoline  IIorhe. — There  were 
eight  different  makes  of  tractors  at  work 
plowing  sod.  It  was  astonishing  to  go 
from  wet  arid  muddy  New  Jersey  tip  into 
this  Western  New  York  and  find  dry 
ground  and  dust.  There  had  been  little 
if  any  rain  for  several  weeks.  The  plow¬ 
ing  trials  were  made  in  a  meadow,  a 
Timothy  sod,  apparently  about  what  is 
turned  over  for  wheat  in  that  country. 
It  was  in  good  condition  for  plowing, 
arid  the  tractors  seemed  to  be  working  at 
their  best.  They  worked  in  various  ways 
—throwing  furrows  together  at  the  ren¬ 
ter  or  working  around  to  leave  a  dead 
furrow — in  about  every  way  that  horses 
would  handle  such  a  job.  It  would  be 
hard  to  tell  what  a  tractor  looks  like, 
or  to  describe  its  work  on  paper.  When 
it  was  ready  the  driver  lined  up  at  one 
side  of  the  field  and  sighted  across  to  the 
other.  The  power  was  let  on,  and  with 
a  snort  and  what  sounded  like  a  great 
deep  sigh  of  strength,  the  machine  start¬ 
ed  ahead.  By  pulling  a  lever  the  driver 
let  two  big  plows  drop  down  into  the  sod 
to  the  desired  depth.  The  machine  just 
shook  itself  as  you  may  have  "seen  a  yoke 
of  big  oxen  settle  into  the  yoke  and  then 
on  it  went  straight  across  the  field — two 
wide  furrows  flopping  over  behind.  The 
tractors  travelled  on  the  average  perhaps 
one-third  faster  than  tin-  usual  farm 
team,  with  a  straight  track  to  the  other 
side.  They  came  back  throwing  two  fur¬ 
rows  up  against  the  first  two,  and  so  on 
around.  I  expected  to  see  them  lose 
much  time  in  turning  at  the  ends,  but  to 
my  surprise  some  of  them  came  around 
quicker  and  more  accurately  than  the  av¬ 
erage  team.  They  could  not  plow  quite 
so  close  to  the  fence  in  turning,  but  a 
few  times  around  the  field  later  would 
take  care  of  that.  There  were  at  one 
time  at.  least.  1,500  farmers  watching 
these  tractors  at  work.  As  each  machine 
went  across  the  field  a  group  of  farmers 
would  follow  behind  watching  the  fur¬ 
rows  and  the  way  the  plows  worked. 
Then  they  would  go  to  another  machine 
and  follow  that  in  the  same  way.  In  the 
afternoon  the  tractors  all  went  into  the 
same  piece  of  sod  and  followed  one  an¬ 
other  around.  Then  they  hitched  to  big 
double  disk  harrows  and  worked  up  the 
land  they  had  plowed. 
Have  They  Come? — Undoubtedly!  I 
talked  with  many  cool-headed,  business¬ 
like  farmers,  and  they  all  agreed  that 
under  the  proper  conditions  those  trac¬ 
tors  are  to  help  solve  the  farm  labor 
problem  and  follow  the  motor  car  in  pop¬ 
ularity.  They  were  Working  under  good 
conditions  in  that  meadow.  It  was  not  a 
level  field,  but  with  a  little  dish  or  val¬ 
ley  at  the  center,  with  a  slight  roll  or 
little  hill  at  each  side.  There  were,  very 
few  stones,  and  a  firm  compact  sod  which 
held  together  until  it  was  twisted  square¬ 
ly  over  upon  its  back.  Now  and  then  the 
gasoline  giant  would  strike  a  big  Toot  or 
a  small  stone  or  some  other  obstruction. 
It  would  shake  itself  with  a  wheeze 
which  seemed  to  say  “Give  me  a  little 
more  power!”  Backing  up  a  little  it 
would  plunge  forward  like  a  football 
player  bucking  the  line,  and  go  on  with 
no  danger  of  sore  shoulders  or  lame 
joints.  As  they  worked  in  that  field 
there  could  he  no  question  ^bout  the  use¬ 
fulness  of  the  gasoline  horse.  It  seemed 
as  if  a  man  could  plow  four  or  five  acres 
of  that  soil  in  a  day  and  then  harrow  it. 
before  supper.  Then  if  the  weather  was 
fit,  the  hoy  could  take  it  after  supper  and 
nearly  duplicate  the  performance  before 
breakfast !  I  did  not  see  the  tractors  at 
work  in  orchards,  in  soft  plowed  ground, 
or  in  stony  land.  Some  farmers  told  me, 
they  sometimes  failed  under  any  of  these 
conditions,  while  others  claimed  they  will 
do  fair  work  wherever  horses  can  go  ex¬ 
cept  on  steep,  rocky  hillsides  Surely 
in  that  meadow  at  Ililton  they  (lid  well. 
Figuring  Tt. — One  farmer  said  these 
tractors  arc  now  at  a  point  in  their  de¬ 
velopment  which  motor  cars  occupied  six 
or  eight  years  ago.  They  have  got  to 
come.  The  farmers  will  watch  and  study 
them  for  a  time  and  then  come  in  .a  rush 
to  get  the  tractor  which  suits  them.  This 
man  said  he  owned  a  car  which  was 
bought  and  used  for  pleasure — at  first 
they  (lid  not  realize  its  business  possibil¬ 
ities.  On  a  busy  farm  there  are  con¬ 
stant  calls  for  machine  repairs.  Even 
with  the  telephone  and  parcel  post  at 
their  best  days  sometimes  pass  before 
these  repairs  can  lie  had.  With  a  car  one 
of  the  women  folks  or  the  hoys  can  get 
those  repairs  in  a  few  hours — from  the 
agent.  This  farmer,  like  many  others  in 
this  section,  can  live  in  town  and  ride  out 
to  the  farm  each  day.  This  year  he  said 
he  had  the  car  and  one  good  horse  in  the 
stable.  The  price  of  gasoline  went  up 
and  he  thought  he  would  let  the  car  stand 
still  and  use  the  horse.  After  a  few  days 
he  found  the  horse  too  slow  and  turned 
him  out  to  pasture,  for  the  car  "got  him 
there”  and  saved  time.  Now  in  much  the 
same  way  these  farmers  will  spc  where 
they  are  more  efficient  than  horses.  Then 
the  change  will  surely  be  made  and  it  is 
better  for  all  hands  to  have  this  sort  of 
development  rather  than  any  rushing  into 
a  new  method  without  careful  study.  At 
least  a  dozen  farmers  expressed  them¬ 
selves  about  like  this.  We  must  always 
have  some  horses  on  the  farm  for  culti¬ 
vating  anil  some  kinds  of  hauling.  Sup¬ 
pose  a  farmer  is  keeping  five  Work  horses. 
He  could  buy  one  of  these  tractors  for 
about  the  price  of  three  horses  and  it 
would  do  just  about  their  work  at  plow¬ 
ing  and  farm  hauling.  That  leaves  his 
two  horses  for  cultivating  and  lighter 
work  while  the  tractor  may  be  used  for 
running  about  any  stationary  machine 
which  turns  a  wheel.  That  is  the  way 
these  Western  New  York  farmers  ore 
coining  to  the  tractor — -slowly  and  in¬ 
telligently.  Such  a  meeting  as  this  where 
all  could  come  together  and  talk  it  over 
was  better  for  farmers  and  better  for 
manufacturers  than  individual  dealings. 
Dusting. — A  number  of  the  best  ap¬ 
ple  growers  around  Ililton  such  as  Cul- 
laraer  Bros.,  (’intis.  Smith,  Anderson, 
Lee  and  Delos  Tenney,  offered  trees  in 
their  fine  apple  orchards  for  dusting  ex¬ 
periments.  I'rof.  Crosby,  Dr.  Reddick, 
Dr.  Blodgett  ami  others  were  there  to 
put  on  the  dust  and  explain  it.  They 
went  into  the  orchard  with  dusters  mount¬ 
ed  on  wheels.  Such  a  “duster”  is  a  ma¬ 
chine  with  powerful  fans  for  kicking  up 
a  dust  and  forcing  it  out  through  a  tube. 
A  small  gasoline  engine  works  the  fans. 
The  "dust,”  which  is  a  mixture  of  very 
fine  sulphur  and  dry  arsenate  of  lead, 
came  puffing  out  of  that  tube  in  a  cloud. 
They  just  aimed  at  the  tree — not  at.  each 
particular  branch  or  twig,  as  with  the 
liquid  spray.  The  dust  slowly  settled 
over  the  tree.  I  went  hack  20  minutes 
after  the  dusting  and  found  the  air  still 
well  filled  with  the  fine  dust  slowly  set¬ 
tling  upon  every  leaf  and  fruit.  Fruit 
growers  seemed  inclined  to  wait  and  see 
just  what  the  records  of  these  trees  show 
in  the  Fall.  It  seems  to  he  admitted  that 
the  dust  may  tie  quite  as  effective  as  the. 
liquid  spray  for  eating  insects  or  certain 
diseases.  As  for  the  scale  or  other  pro¬ 
tected  insects  it  is  hard  to  see  how  the 
dust  can  get  at  them  to  kill.  The  dust¬ 
ing  can  be  done  more  rapidly  than  spray¬ 
ing.  On  rough  or  hilly  orchards  or 
where  there  is  a  poor  water  supply  the 
dust  will  be  found  very  useful  and  will, 
1  believe  be  quite  generally  used.  I  got 
the  impression  that  most  of  thp  hotter 
known  fruit  growers  in  Western  New 
York  rather  shake  their  heads  at  the 
dust.  Perhaps  Ibis  is  hardly  a  fair  state¬ 
ment,  but  I  can  remember  the  time  when 
practically  all  the  “authorities”  on  the 
Atlantic  slope  said  that  lime-sulphur  was 
a  failure  at  killing  the  scale ! 
Oratory. — I  came  near  forgetting  the 
meeting  held  in  a  big  factory  building — 
without  doors  or  windows.  There  were 
over  1,000  men  present  and  perhaps  25 
coats  among  that  full  number.  It  was 
hot — certainly  no  occasion  for  "hot  air.” 
As  Lincoln  said  at  Gettysburg — no  one 
was  likely  to  remember  what  was  said  on 
such  an  occasion.  There  were  speeches 
or  remarks  by  E.  B.  Holden,  Geo.  W. 
Dunn.  F.  S.  Welch,  Mr.  Woodford  of  the 
Rochester  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Secre¬ 
tary  of  Agriculture  Wilson  and  the  Hope 
Farm  man  who  brought  a  big  plant  of 
Siberian  Alfalfa  It  was  too  hot  for 
oratory  and  I  think  more  and  more  that 
most  of  the  “speaking”  would  better  be 
left  out  of  these  Summer  meetings.  At 
any  rate  this  was  a  great  gathering  well 
managed  and  well  carried  out.  It  showed 
one  side  of  farm  bureau  work  at  its  best. 
u.  w.  c. 
A  Forgotten  Food  Fish 
I  have  just  been  carried  back  to  my 
boyhood  days  by  a  dinner  of  lampreys 
locally  known  in  the  olden  time  as  lum¬ 
per  eels  because  of  their  superficial  re¬ 
semblance  to  the  true  cel.  The  structure 
of  the  lamprey  places  it  low  down  R  the 
ranks  of  the  fishes,  In  fact  a  strict  clas¬ 
sification  excludes  it  from  them.  The 
lamprey  is  a  vertebrate  without  a  bone. 
Its  spine  is  but  cartilage,  and  there  are  no 
other  tissues  that  are  even  as  hard  as 
cartilage.  It  has  a  sucking  mouth  and 
seven  gill  openings  on  each  side  of  the 
body  back  of  the  head.  It  is  the  mouth 
and  its  peculiar  use  that  are  described  in 
its  scientific  name,  Petromyzon  marinus, 
meaning  ocean  stone-sucker.  The  color 
of  the  sea  lamprey  (to  distinguish  it  from 
the  little  lampreys  of  the  rivers)  is  brown 
mottled  with  black.  Its  maximum  length 
is  about  three  feet. 
In  the  early  days  of  New  Hampshire 
lampreys  came  up  the  Merrimack  and 
other  rivers  by  myriad  thousands  and 
were  caught,  by  the  settlers  and  salted 
down  for  the  year's  supply  of  meat  as 
were  salmon,  shad  and  nlewives  that  came 
tip  from  tlm  ocean  at  the  same  time  early 
Summer,  and  for  the  same  purpose,  the 
depositing  of  their  spawn  in  the  fresh 
waters  of  the  rivers  and  lakes.  Must  of 
the  fish  were  caught  with  seines  and  dip- 
nets.  The  lampreys  were  caught  by  hand 
in  the  shallower  water  of  the  brooks.  The 
fishermen  waded  in  where  the  water  was 
shallow  and  tlm  current  swift  and 
watched  for  the  “eels"  as  the  lampreys 
were  invariably  called.  In  a  rapid  cur¬ 
rent  lampreys  progress  by  darling  for  a 
short  distance  and  then  clinging  by  the 
sucking  mouth  to  a  stone  while  resting 
for  another  plunge.  It  was  then  that  the 
men  seized  them  and  threw  them  to  the 
shore  where  helpers  put.  them  into  recep¬ 
tacles.  So  important  was  the  catching  of 
fish  in  those  days  in  the  town  of  Perry- 
field.  now  Manchester,  that  all  work  was 
suspended  when  they  arrived.  There  is 
a  story,  that  lacks  verification,  to  the  ef¬ 
fect  that  the  man  appointed  to  watch  for 
the  advent  of  the  fish  spied  the  vanguard 
on  a  Sunday  morning.  He  hastened  to 
tlm  meeting  house  where  most  of  the  town 
was  assembled  and  interrupted  the  ser¬ 
mon  with  the  cry,  "The  fish  have  come. 
The  fish  have  come."  The  preacher 
stopped,  pronounced  the  benediction  and 
the  men  all  went  fishing. 
There  is  another  story  that  General 
Stark,  who  had  settled  down  on  his  farm 
after  the  Revolution,  was  asked  by  a 
neighbor  for  the  loan  of  a  barrel  of 
“eels”  for  the  Winter.  The  general  re¬ 
plied  that  he  couldn’t,  spare  any,  for  lie 
had  but  10  barrels  to  last  him  till  Spring. 
However  much  or  little  truth  there  may 
be  in  these  stories  it  is  a  fact  that  lam¬ 
preys  formed  an  important  part  of  the 
food  of  the  settlers  of  Manchester.  In 
1851  at  the  centennial  celebration  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  town  a  poem  was 
^cad  by  William  Stark  in  which  he  thus 
referred  to  the  lampreys : 
"Our  fathers  treasured  the  slimy  prize. 
They  loved  the  eel  as  their  very  eyes; 
And  of  one  ’tis  said  with  a  slander  rife, 
For  a  string  of  eels  he  sold  his  wife. 
From  the  eels  they  formed  their  food  in 
chief, 
And  eels  wen  called  the  Derryfiehl  beef ; 
And  the  marks  of  eels  were  so  plain  to 
trace 
That  the  children  looked  like  eels  in  the 
face ; 
And  before  they  walked,  it  is  well 
confirmed. 
That  the  children  never  crept  but 
squirmed. 
Such  a  mighty  power  did  the  squirmers 
wield 
O’er  the  goodly  men  of  old  Derryfiehl 
It  was  often  said  that  their  only  care. 
Their  only  wish  and  their  only  prayer 
For  the  present  world  and  the  world  to 
come 
Was  a  string  of  eels  and  a  jug  of  mm.” 
My  father’s  boyhood  was  passed  in  the 
days  of  the  "eels”  and  long  after  the 
dams  in  the  Merrimack  stopped  flu  as¬ 
cent  of  the  fish  he  bought  lampreys  when¬ 
ever  they  could  he  obtained  from  fisher¬ 
men  farther  down  stream.  Thus  I 
learned  to  eat  and  like-  them.  It  was 
rnuuy  years  since  1  had  tasted  them  when 
my  son  in  a  college  near  tidewater,  in¬ 
quired  as  to  the  identity  of  the  black, 
ecl-likc  fish  that  came  up  the  river  early 
in  June.  I  recognized  them  as  lampreys 
and  asked  him  to  catch  me  some  the  next 
year.  The  next  year  he  missed  them, 
but  this  year  he  was  more  fortunate  and 
enough  of  the  savory  swimmers  for  my¬ 
self  and  a  few  friends  arived  in  good  con¬ 
dition.  They  carried  me  back  a  genera¬ 
tion.  An  interesting  fact  in  connection 
with  the  lampreys  was  the  utter  igno¬ 
rance  of  the  natives  of  the  town  where 
they  appeared  so  abundantly  as  to  their 
edible  qualities.  Thus  are  the  old  things 
forgotten.  A  few  years  ago  1  was  in  a 
shoe  store  when  an  elderly  man  entered 
and  inquired  for  bootjacks.  The  dapper 
young  clerk  didn’t  know  what  he  meant. 
Lampreys  are  found  in  the  North  At¬ 
lantic  as  far  south  as  Virginia,  besides 
being  land-locked  in  some  of  the  lakes  in 
Western  and  Northern  New  York.  While 
they  are  not  abundant  enough  to  make 
much  impression  on  the  present  cost  of 
living,  a  knowledge  of  their  food  value 
and  the  time  and  manner  of  catching 
them,  minus  prejudice,  would  do  a  little 
towards  solving  a  modern  problem. 
New  Hampshire.  w.  n.  huse. 
Wells  that  Pump  Themselves 
The  TT.  8.  Geological  Survey  tells  of 
hydraulic  rams  which  are  used  in  con¬ 
nection  with  artesian  wells.  Along  the 
lower  courses  of  the  Potomac  and  Rap¬ 
pahannock  and  along  the  shores  of  the 
many  inlets  that  run  back  from  Chesa- 
peakfi  Bay  above  the  James  there  are 
hundreds  of  artesian  wells  that  supply  a 
perennial  flow  of  beautifully  clear  water 
which  is,  as  a  rule,  excellently  adapted 
to  all  domestic  uses  and  is  largely  utilized 
by  the  canning  factories  and  other  in¬ 
dustrial  establishments  that  abound  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  Though  the 
pressure  of  the  water  from  the  wells  is 
ample  at  the  shore  level,  the  head  dimin¬ 
ishes  so  quickly  with  increase  in  eleva¬ 
tion  that  no  flow  can  be  obtained  along 
the  "higher  banks  above  the  shores  where 
the  water  is  most  needed.  One  method 
of  obtaining  it  at  these  higher  levels  is 
to  use  the  force  developed  by  the  arte¬ 
sian  flow  to  operate  'hydraulic!  rams, 
which  in  turn  raise  the  water  to  the 
heights  desired  along  the  bluffs  above  the 
river  and  inlets.  Thus  it  may  be  said 
that  the  artesian  wells  pump  themselves. 
Destroying  Ants 
Can  you  give  me  some  information  in 
regard  to  the  treatment  of  ants?  Quite 
frequently  in  this  country  we  are  troubled 
with  ants  building  ant,  hills  near  young 
f niit  trees  and  in  almost  every  case  they 
will  girdle  the  young  trees.  We  have 
used  the  old  method  of  taking  a  spade 
and  throwing  the  hill  away,  hut  only  to 
find  it  back  again  in  its  old  locations. 
Is  there  not  some  powder  or  liquid  that 
we  can  put  in  or  on  the  ant  hill  that  will 
destroy  them?  P.  K.  T. 
Port  Clinton,  O. 
We  have  answered  this  many  times,  but 
there  seems  to  he  no  end  to  the  questions. 
Find  Iho  ant  hill  arid  drive  a  crow  bar 
down  15  to  18  inches  into  the  center  of 
it.  Pour  in  half  a  pint  of  bisulphide  of 
carbon,  throw  a  blanket  over  and  leave 
it.  The  liquid  forms  a  heavy,  poisonous 
gas  which  penetrates  and  kills  the  ants. 
Do  not  breathe  the  fumes  or  bring  any 
flame  near  them. 
Alfalfa  and  Lime 
Last  August  T  planted  about  an  acre 
and  a  half  to  Alfalfa.  I  got  a  good 
stand  which  was  quite  a  surprise  to  my 
neighbors.  After  removing  the  crop  of 
early  potatoes  I  harrowed  in  lime  (hy¬ 
drated)  and  inoculated  the  seed  with 
commercial  bacteria.  Lime  could  not  be 
purchased  in  Fall  River,  the  nearest 
city,  at.  the  time,  so  that  1  had  to  he 
content,  with  applying  1,500  pounds  on 
the  piece.  Today  you  can  see  where  I 
set  each  hag  down,  and  you  can  follow  the 
swing  of  my  arm  as  I  spread  the  lime 
with  a  small  shovel,  Where  the  lime  was 
put  on  thick,  the  Alfalfa  is  two  feet  high. 
Where  it  is  thin  the  plants  are.  hardly 
more  than  six  inches  high,  and  some¬ 
what  off  color.  Manure  was  applied  the 
year  before  putting  in  the  potatoes,  with 
a  manure  spreader,  so  I  am  quite  sure 
the  difference  in  the  plants  is  due  to  the 
amount  of  lime  applied.  I  am  quite  well 
satisfied  with  my  beginning.  I  am  going 
to  do  better  this  year,  however. 
albert  (1.  WRINWARD. 
Rhode  Island. 
R.  N.-Y. — That  is  just  about  our  own 
experience  with  lime  and  Alfalfa,  On 
most  of  our  old  soils  lime  is  a  necessity. 
The  same  reason  has  led  us  to  mix  Alsike 
clover  seed  with  the  Red.  There  never 
was  a  field  thoroughly  even  in  its  con¬ 
dition.  Many  spots  will  be  found  sour. 
The  Alsike  will  thrive  better  on  such 
spots  and  thus  help  to  make  an  even 
stand  all  over  the  field. 
“CAN  you  accommodate  myself  and 
family  for  Summer  board?’  "What’s 
your  politics?”  inquired  Farmer  Corn- 
tossel.  “Does  that  make  any  difference?” 
“Yep.  I’m  not  going  to  take  another 
chance  on  havin’  the  whole  place  stirred 
up  with  arguments  day  an’  night.  All 
the  folks  that  board  here  this  Summer 
has  got.  to  have  the  same  polities.’ — • 
Washington  Star. 
