1260 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
HOPE  FARM  NOTES 
The  Red  Hens. — What  about  those 
Red  pullets  at  college?  Our  boys  and 
girls  came  back  from  school  and  we  had  a 
chance  to  look  them  over  and  study  their 
records.  Now  we  have  the  figures  to 
show  what  the  Red  pullets  have  done,  and 
we  find  that,  hen  nature  in  the  chicken 
yard  is  not  unlike  human  nature  on  the 
lawn.  At  the  end  of  the  forty-fifth  week 
our  Hope  Farm  birds  had  made  the  fol¬ 
lowing  record  at  the  egg-laying  contest : 
No  of 
Eggs. 
Pocahontas .  128 
Rose .  154 
Polly  .  206 
Betty .  115 
Betty  M .  186 
Hope  Farm  Beauty .  107 
Scarlet  Runner  .  101 
Bergen  Co.  Belle .  130 
Mary  Jane  .  87 
Bronze  Girl  .  141 
There  are  seven  weeks  more  in  the 
contest  and  those  birds  are  doing  well 
now.  For  the  past  few  weeks  they  have 
been  close  to  the  head  of  the  Red  pens.  I 
think  Polly  will  go  over  225,  and  that 
Betty  M.  will  go  over  200,  and  the  pen 
as  a  whole  may  reach  1,600. 
The  Record. — The  Hope  Farm  man  is 
not  a  quitter  or  a  growler,  and  we  spend 
little  time  in  explaining  or  magnifying 
the  “if."  Our  birds,  in  company  with 
several  other  pens,  suffered  with  colds 
for  several  weeks  right,  when  the  egg 
yield  should  have  been  heaviest.  They 
lost,  over  100  eggs  through  this  mishap, 
but  that  is  part  of  the  “fortunes  of  war,” 
and  we  must  all  take  such  things  as 
they  come  to  us.  Now  that  eggs  are  high, 
our  birds  are  doing  well,  and  while  I  find 
it  hard  to  explain  or  applaud  the  record 
of  Mary  Jane,  I  know  that  all  families 
must  expect  to  exhibit  one  or  more 
bluffers  or  drones.  No  one  can  find  fault 
with  the  record  of  Polly  or  Betty  M., 
Rose  or  Bronze  Girl.  They  will  make  a 
breeding  pen  for  next  year  that  ought  to 
produce  a  family  of  performers,  yet  who 
can  tell?  We  stay  right  by  the  Hope 
Farm  “Reds.”  While  it  must  he  ad¬ 
mitted  that  they  did  not  paint  the  contest 
a  deep  scarlet  we  have  no  fault  to  find, 
and  merely  say :  Keep  an  eye  on  us  for 
the  next  contest  1  We  know  a  little  more 
about  selecting  pullets  now. 
Selection. — That  seems  to  he  more 
than  half  the  battle.  I  find  that  those 
who  make  large  pen  records  have  a  uni¬ 
form  class  of  pullets  with  no  drones  or 
stuffs.  A  couple  of  lazy  shirks  or  staffers 
in  a  pen  will  soon  ruin  the  record.  If 
those  three  shirks  of  mine  were  up  to  the 
average  I  should  be  well  up  on  the  list. 
Now  you  take  Hope  Farm  Beauty.  Her 
breeding  is  of  the  best,  and  so  far  as  the 
exterior  tests  go  she  led  all  the  rest.  She 
was  the  first  choice  of  all,  and  she  was  a 
fine,  healthy  bird — yet  look  at  her  rec¬ 
ord  !  As  for  Mary  Jane  I  rather  doubted 
her  at  the  time,  but  Philip  felt  sure  she 
was  a  genuine  “bird.”  We  expected  but 
little  of  Bronze  Girl — she  was  the  last 
one  to  be  taken.  With  Polly  and  Betty 
M.  it  was  a  case  of  inheritance  well  fixed 
and  settled.  The.ir  mothers  and  sisters 
are  sure  and  steady  egg-layers.  They 
follow  the  family  habit  and  had  a  supe¬ 
rior  start.  There  you  have  another  thing. 
It  is  not  entirely  a  matter  of  breeding, 
but^also  of  training,  for  the  pullet  must 
have  a  fair  chance  from  the  egg,  and 
make  a  sure  and  steady  development 
right  along  through  if  we  expect  her  to 
make  a  showing  at  college.  Is  not  this 
true  of  our  children? 
These  Parents. — We  talked  this  rec¬ 
ord  over  out  by  the  henhouse  while  I 
was  trying  to  get  a  line  on  the  pen  for 
the  next  contest.  Right  on  the  other 
side  of  the  wire  netting  were  the  parents 
of  those  college  Reds — “Red  Man”  and 
his  wives.  They  listened  intently  as  hens 
do  to  any  unusual  sound,  and  then  I  saw 
them  in  a  group  evidently  giving  “Red 
Man”  several  pieces  of  their  mind.  They 
evidently  had  him  at  what  you  may  call 
the  conversational  stake  with  the  tem¬ 
perature  high. 
“I  told  you  so!”  said  the  big,  plain¬ 
looking  hen  in  the  corner. 
“Red  Man”  just  lifted  his  wings  a  lit¬ 
tle — his  nearest  approach  to  shrugging 
his  shoulders.  What  else  can  any  gentle¬ 
man  do  when  he  gets  “I  told  you  so !” 
where  he  cannot  run  from  it? 
“I  told  yon  so!  This  ‘Mary  Jane’  and 
‘Scarlet  Runner’  are  both  daughters  of 
that  worthless  creature  over  there.  I 
knew  her  when  tre  were  at  college.  She 
did  nothing  but  prink  and  iron  her  fine 
red  dress  and  parade  herself  up  and  down 
for  visitors  to  admire.  When  I  or  some 
other  honest  hen  laid  an  egg  she  wonhl 
cackle  and  sing  in  a.  beautiful  voice  and 
get  all  the  credit.  I  warned  you  against 
such  a  lazy,  worthless  thing,  but  you  are 
no  better  than  these  foolish  men  who 
used  to  admire  her  red  dress  while  honest, 
self-respecting  hens,  like  myself,  fine 
housekeepers  and  workers,  received  no 
attention.  I  told  you  so !  Her  two 
daughters  have  disgraced  us  all,  and  you 
in  particular,  at  college.” 
It  was  evidently  up  to  “Red  Man”  and 
who  does  not  know  how  he  tided  to  get 
out? 
“Madame,  it  is  evident  that  I  made  a 
great  mistake  in  not  accepting  your  judg¬ 
ment.  It  is  certainly  very  humiliating 
when  ray  daughters  make  such  a  poor 
showing  at  college.  It  is  evidently  the 
fault  of  their  mother.  I  should  have  re¬ 
membered  that  the  Smith  family  always 
was  inferior  to  the  Jones!” 
But  the  mother  of  Mary  Jane  had  her 
points,  too.  It  wonld  he  a  poor  mother 
who  would  not  defend  her  offspring. 
“Well,  sir — a  pretty  man  you  are  not 
to  stand  up  for  your  own  dear  children. 
They  never  did  have  a  fair  chance !  You 
made  such  a  time  when  I  wanted  to 
brood  them  that  I  had  to  come  back  here 
and  let  those  lazy  men  put  them  in  that 
hot  box.  One  day  they  were  cooked  and 
another  day  chilled.  They  had  no  dear 
mother  like  me  to  tell  them  what  to  do 
and  how  to  get  well  and  strong,  and.  of 
course,  they  were  sent  to  college  unpre¬ 
pared  for  this  cruel  world.  Your  own 
daughters,  too!  It  is  a  hard  fate  when  a 
father  turns  sueh  misfortunes  into  faults 
and  blames  his  innocent  children  and 
their  unfortunate  mother !” 
I  felt  sorry  for  “Red  Man.”  He  was  in 
a  most  unfortunate  position.  I  do  not 
know  how  he  finally  settled  it  but  I  hope 
Mary  Jane  and  Scarlet  Runner  will  em¬ 
ploy  the  next  seven  weeks  in  making  up 
their  record.  I  went  hack  to  the  bouse 
thinking  that  after  all  hens  and  Iranians 
— as  well  as  their  parents — have  some¬ 
thing  in  common  when  it  comes  to  college 
work ! 
Big  Stories. — Last  week  I  told  about 
a  day’s  selling  and  the  returns  from  one 
load  on  the  public  market.  Now  comes 
a  man  who  says  this  is  nothing  remark¬ 
able.  He  has  often  sold  a  load  for  con¬ 
siderably  more.  I  haven't  the  least 
doubt  of  it.  Let  us  admit  it  cheerfully 
and  also  admit  that  this  man  may  have 
smarter  children,  better  horses,  a  hand¬ 
somer  wife  and  a  very  much  finer  charac¬ 
ter  than  anything  we  can  show  here.  I 
would  not  dispute  it  for  an  instant,  and 
would  be  the  first  to  congratulate  him.  I 
just  want  to  say  that  we  never  have  any 
thought  of  telling  big  stories  to  discredit 
anyone  else.  We  just  tell  the  facts  as 
they  come — good  or  bad — jnst  the  truth 
as  fairly  as  possible.  Some  people  seem 
to  think  they  never  should  print  any¬ 
thing  but  a  big  story  or  try  to  beat  some 
other  fellow’s  tale  of  joy  or  woe.  All  I 
try  to  do  is  to  give  facts  as  they  come 
up  before  ns.  I  do  not  think  the  world 
needs  the  big  stories  or  the  terrible  ex¬ 
amples  half  as  much  as  the  plain  tales  of 
everyday  life.  We  have  no  model  farm 
or  model  family,  and  no  one  knows  it.  bet¬ 
ter  than  I  do.  It  would  be  very  easy  to 
beat  our  record  I  am  sure,  and  I  hope 
you  can  all  do  it.  Usually  with  us  the 
year’s  record  is  something  like  the  story 
of  our  college  pullets.  Some  crop  will 
shine  up  like  “Polly,”  with  a  fine  record, 
while  another  will  fall  down  flatter  than 
Mary  Jane.  We  have  jnst  sold  another 
load  which  brought  considerably  more 
than  the  one  reported  last  week,  hut,  of 
course,  we  understand  that  others  can 
beat  that  record.  Let  us  give  the  facts 
without  trying  to  bluster  or  bluff  and 
cheerfully  admit  that  many  of  our  readers 
can  beat  us  out  of  sight. 
Garden  Values. — Every  year  the  won¬ 
der  grows  larger  in  me  that  farmers  do 
not  start  and  keep  up  a  good  garden. 
Our  garden  means  so  much  to  us  in  the 
way  of  food  and  comfort  that  I  cannot 
understand  how  any  country  family  can 
live  contentedly  without  one.  Take  our 
last  Sunday  dinner.  We  had  a  couple 
of  Red  hens  well  roasted,  and  beets,  Lima 
beans,  peppers,  potatoes,  and  sweet  corn. 
We  might  have  had  six  or  eight  other 
vegetables  had  they  been  desired,  and  we 
ended  up  with  a  big  peach  short-cake 
which  was  a  “peach.”  I  hate  f-  see  farm¬ 
ers  sitting  down  to  meat  and  potatoes, 
with  perhaps  one  other  vegetable,  and 
very  likely  that  one  bought  or  borrowed. 
There  are  many  farmers  who  manage  to 
have  a  good  garden,  but  there  are  too 
many  who  consider  it  too  much  bother 
or  who  think  they  cannot  take  care  of  it. 
The  chances  are  a  good  garden  will  give 
far  better  returns  than  the  labor  spent  on 
some  jobs  which  might  well  be  cut  out. 
The  garden  is  a  fine  place  for  grandfather 
to  show  bis  skill  and  keep  np  his  reputa¬ 
tion  as  a  useful  member  of  society.  The 
first  man  started  in  a  garden,  and  the  last 
man  ought  to  stay  there.  h.  w.  o. 
Stand  Firm  for  Bean  Prices 
The  executive  committee  of  the  Michi¬ 
gan  Bean  Growers’  Association  on  mar¬ 
ket  conditions  and  prices  for  the  1916 
crop  of  Michigan,  states  that  the  five 
great  beau-growing  States.  Michigan, 
New  York.  California,  Colorado,  New 
Mexico,  produced  in  1014,  11.200.000  hu. 
of  beans ;  in  3915.  10.300,000  hu.,  and 
estimated  crop  of  1916.  '9,870.000.  New 
York  shows  a  shortage  of  450.000  bn„ 
Michigan  460.000  bu..  while  the  States 
of  California.  Colorado  and  New  Mexico 
are  responsible  for  the  increases  in  the 
total.  The  Michigan  crop  reports  in¬ 
dicate  a  yield  of  50  per  cent.  Careful 
reports  made  by  farmers  representing 
30  of  the  principal  bean  growing  coun¬ 
ties,  also  reports  of  county  agents  when 
compiled,  indicate  a  crop  this  year  of 
somewhat  below  50%  of  a  normal  yield, 
with  the  uncertainties  of  the  remainder 
of  the  season  which  may  reduce  this  es¬ 
timate.  Some  crops  already  thrashed  in¬ 
dicate  even  a  less  yield.  The.  number  of 
the  pods  are  few  and  the  beans  small. 
The  somewhat  increased  acreage  is  fair¬ 
ly  offset  by  fields  already  abandoned. 
The  States  of  New  York,  California, 
Idaho  and  Colorado  have  wired  and  writ¬ 
ten  to  Michigan  to  he  advised  as  to  the 
prices  Michigan  producers  will  ask.  So 
little  danger  need  be  feared  from  lower 
prices  in  those  States.  Contracts  for 
beans  for  the  Allies  made  last  year  are 
still  unfilled.  The  great  bulk  of  Japan¬ 
ese  beans  will  supply  the  foreign  demand 
in  the  Eastern  war  fields  and  will  ab¬ 
sorb  any  surplus.  Beaus  based  on  other 
foodstuffs  this  year,  like  bread,  potatoes, 
meats  and  vegetables  are  not  high  at  the 
prices  asked  by  the  producers.  Compen¬ 
satory  prices  to  the  grower  means  a  pro¬ 
fitable  industry  to  him.  to  the  distributor 
and  a  continued  food  supply  to  the  con¬ 
sumer.  The  advancing  wheat  market  is 
an  index  to  bean  prices.  Unless  the  mar¬ 
ket  starts  at  a  fair  price  for  the  beau 
crop,  the  statistical  and  food  value  of 
beans  which  is  apparent,  will  allow  the 
speculator  in  foods  to  reap  the  harvest 
which  he  has  not  sown.  The  hazard  of 
growing  beans  and  the  profits  accruing  to 
others  than  the  grower,  means  a  de¬ 
creased  acreage  and  the  decline  of  one 
of  Michigan’s  great  industries.  Your 
committee,  therefore,  in  view  of  t lie  con¬ 
dition  above  outlined,  recommends  and 
advises  the  following  minimum  prices  for 
the  1916  crop  of  pea  beans:  October  $5 
per  bu. ;  November  $5.15  per  bu. ;  Decem¬ 
ber  $5.30;  January  $5.50,  with  no  de¬ 
cline  thereafter  from  the  January  prices. 
If  beans  are  rushed  on  the  market  with¬ 
out  due  regard  to  distribution  of  crop 
prices  will  break  and  the  speculator  will 
have  the  opportunity  to  secure  the  profit 
on  the  crop.  Beans  are  a  safe,  crop  to 
carry  and  a  good  collateral  to  borrow 
money  on.  Consult  with  your  banker  and 
do  not  dump  the  crop  on  the  market  to 
bring  down  the  price.  When  beans  fall 
below  the  minimum  price,  stop  market¬ 
ing;  consult  with  your  elevator  operator, 
for  when  each.  are  owners  of  beans,  your 
interests  are  identical.  A  break  in  the 
market  is  disastrous  to  each ;  cooperation 
of  producer  and  distributor  is  just  as 
much  needed  as  any  other  cooperation. 
Cooperative  marketing  is  the  assurance 
of  successful  bean  growing. 
Signed  by  the  Committee. 
A.  B.  COOK  C.  M.  KING  ALEX  TULLAR 
W.  I.  BULLARD  A.  L.  DEAN 
Milk  Price  Advanced 
The  Boston  milk  dealers  have  refused 
to  meet  the  demand  of  the  producers  for 
an  advance  of  about  five  cents  per  can  of 
8^4  quarts.  The  terms  which  they  offer 
would  amount  to  perhaps  one-half  the  ad¬ 
vance  requested  on  average  shipments, 
but  the  dealers  have  at  least  made  sure 
of  their  own  safety  by  advancing  the 
Boston  retail  price  from  nine  cents  to  10 
cents.  They  claim  that  a  part  of  this  ad¬ 
vance  will  be  taken  up  by  the  higher  cost 
of  freight. 
According  to  Secretary  Richard  Puttee, 
of  the  New  England  Milk  Producers’  As¬ 
sociation,  producers  will  not  accept  the 
contractors’  offer.  Said  Secretary  Pat- 
tee  :  "The  district  around  Short  Falls, 
which  the  Ilood  concern  gives  out  the 
prices  for,  is  not  an  average  district.  It 
is  considerably  nearer  than  the  middle 
zone,  being  less  than  100  miles  from 
Boston.  The  middle  same  where  we  have 
demanded  a  price  of  42.7c.  per  can  is 
160  miles  from  Boston,  and  the  top  price 
from  that  distance  under  the  Ilood  offer 
September  30,  1916. 
Transportation  and  handling  will  need 
much  attention.  According  to  Harris  & 
Co.,  it  is  likely  that  some  of  the  product 
would  he  sold  in  advance  rather  than 
selling  actual  receipts,  as,  for  instance, 
the  product  of  a  creamery  station  or 
gating  conditions  in  the.  producing  sec¬ 
tion,  and  admits  that  the  advancing  costs 
of  production  justify  higher  prices  to 
farmers,  but  its  offer  reserves  the  larger 
part  of  the  advance  for  the  contractor. 
The  plan  of  selling  milk  by  auction  is 
being  considered  quite  seriously.  In  fact, 
the  Worcester  County  producers  expect 
to  try  the  plan  within  n  few  weeks,  and 
they  are  now  planning  the  details  with  a 
large  Boston  auction  firm,  H.  Harris  & 
Co.  Probably  the  start  will  be  made,  in  a 
small  way  in  order  that,  the  difficulties 
may  be  fully  provided  against.  It  seems 
to  be  best  opinion  that  it  will  take  some 
time  to  work  out  a.  successful  plan, 
met.  hundreds  of  farmers  in  the  past  few 
days  and  they  are  unanimous  for  the  full 
price  demanded.  We  will  get  tftc  price 
we  ask  or  the  contractors  will  not  get  the 
milk.  We  will  ship  it.  into  Boston  and 
sell  it  at  auction  first.” 
The  Hood  Company  seems  to  take  the 
lead,  but  it  is  understood  that  the  other 
companies  arc  likely  to  pay  the  same 
prices  us  finally  agreed  upon.  This  con¬ 
cern  claims  to  have  had  agents  investi- 
is  probably  not  much  above  40c.  I  have 
shipping  association  for  thirty  days  might 
be  auctioned  at  so  much  per  can  for  daily 
receipts.  In  selling  the  actual  milk  new 
methods  of  taking  samples  would  need  to 
be  devised.  Talking  if  over  together,  in 
the  writer’s  presence,  the  auctioneers, 
Agent  Alhree.  of  the  Worcester  County 
Producers,  and  Professor  Dainou,  co-op¬ 
erative  adviser  of  the  Massachusetts  Ag¬ 
ricultural  College,  seem  to  reach  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  the  new  method  would  soon 
force  a  closer  organization  of  producers 
and  a  standardized  product.  Plainly,  it 
would  be  hard  to  sell  miscellaneous  small 
lots  varying  from  day  to  day,  but  if 
shippers  combined  to  (he  extent  of  fur¬ 
nishing  regular  consignments  of  milk  of 
established  quality  and  reliability,  a  rep¬ 
utation  would  soou  be  established  and 
sales  readily  made,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
fruit  auction  markets-.  The  whole  plan 
is  so  experimental  that  more  or  less  de¬ 
lay  seems  necessary  if  the  plan  is  to  be 
tried  with  fair  chance  of  success.  At 
first  the  Worcester  County  people  were 
determined  to  begin  shipping  milk  for 
auction  sale  October  1,  but  it  seems  like¬ 
ly  a.  careful  study  of  the  situation  may 
require  considerable  delay.  The  auction 
firm  does  not  commit  itself  as  to  the  cost 
of  the  system,  being  uncertain  of  the  size 
of  shipments,  but  for  tin-  first  month  at 
least  proposes  to  charge  only  actual  ex¬ 
penses  of  making  tile  sale.  The  larger 
the  volume  of  shipments,  the  lower  the 
cost.  The  charge  on  selliug  fruit  by  the 
carload  is  3  per  Cent.  The  Boston  & 
Maine  Railroad  offers  to  co-operate  in 
supplying  a  building  at  Charlestown  for 
the  sale.  Shipments-  coming  to  Boston 
over  other  lines  would  have  to  be  ar¬ 
ranged  in  other  ways  or  sold  in  advance. 
G.  B.  F. 
Boston  Produce  Markets 
EGGS  WEAKER. 
Demand  has  been  checked  by- the  Png 
continued  high  prices.  Retailers  are  no 
doubt  charging  out  of  proportion  to  the 
wholesale  price.  For  hennery  extras  43c 
is  the  best  that  can  be  quoted  for  large 
sales,  but  some  dealers  are  quoting  44 
and  even  45c,  mostly  in  a  jobbing  way. 
Eastern  extras  are  40  to  41c.  Cold  stor¬ 
age  eggs  range  from  29  to  31c. 
POULTRY  VALUES  STEADY. 
Dealers  each  week  talk  of  lower  prices 
about  to  come  from  the  larger  supplies 
that  are  on  the  way,  but  somehow  values 
continue  to  be  fairly  well  maintained 
throughout.  The  only  dragging  feature 
is  in  shipments  of  chickens  of  mixed 
weights,  including  birds  too  light  for 
roasters  anil  too  large  for  broilers.  To 
be  classed  as  broilers  birds  should  dress 
two  pounds  and  as  roasters  four  pounds, 
but  so-called  roasters  dressing  three 
pounds  and  broilers  under  two  pounds 
sell  one  cent  or  more  under  quotations 
for  standard  weights.  These  remarks  ap¬ 
ply  especially  to  dressed  poultry  and  in 
less  degree  to  live  shipments.  Unusual 
numbers  of  live  fowls  will  be  wanted  for 
the  Jewish  holidays  the  last  part  of 
September  and  the  first  week  in  October 
and  this  special  trade  ought,  to  keep  the 
market  at  least  steady  and  firm  at  this 
level.  Live  fowls  sell  at  IS)  to  20c  and 
dressed  at  20  to  24e  according  to  grade. 
Live  broilers  arc  mostly  22c  and  2S  to 
30e  dressed.  Roasters  arc  nearly  all 
shipped  dressed  and  sell  at  30c.  Young 
ducks  range  from  16  to  20c  per  pound. 
Demand  for  all  grades  of  Eastern  poul¬ 
try  is  remarkably  steady. 
ACTIVE  TRADE  IN  VEGETABLES. 
Native  cabbages  arc  in  larger  supply 
and  receivers  find  it  hard  to  get  above 
$1  per  barrel.  -  Beans  are  less  abundant 
and  large  well-colored  bring  $1.50  per 
box.  Beets  are  steady  at  $1  per  box. 
Carrots  hold  at  50c  per  dozen  tranches, 
and  celery  at  $1  per  dozen  bunches. 
Potatoes  lower  on  account,  of  heavy 
shipments  and  the  presence  of  consider¬ 
able  rough  or  decaying  stock.  Rot  is  very 
bad  in  stock  from  low-  land  in  sections 
where  excessive  min  has  prevailed.  The 
Boston  price  for  large  shipments  in  bulk, 
Aroostook  Cobblers  and  Green  Moun- 
( Continued  on  page  1268) 
