726 
May 27, 1022 
Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Pastoral Parson and His Country Folks 
By Rev. George B. Gilbert 
some years ago. The I’arson told the 
convention the story the next day. and 
he will repeat it here, as many readers 
will see that it just, about sums up the 
underlyin'” principle of all the Parson's 
work. There was a family down the river 
where the boy came to the Parson's mis¬ 
sion in the school house, but the mother 
be good than "to be bad for a boy in that went along up by to another church. One 
village? How about the atmosphere of day, as the Parson polled into the door- 
the poolroom where the growing boys yard, the other minister was just leaving, 
bang out? And who was to blame? That. 
A BAPTISM. —Yes. we had a baptism 
down in one of the village missions the 
other Sunday. It was at the service in 
the afternoon. The congregation all stood 
up at the proper time, and all became, as 
it were, sponsors for this little boy. What 
kind of place was that village for this 
little boy to grow up? Was it easier to 
was what the Parson talked to them about 
in that sermon. 
Money Raising. —A report of this 
service in the paper stated that this mis¬ 
sion is wholly given over to doing good 
in the community. Every church stands 
for something that is more talked about 
and preached about than anything else. 
In far too many churches the Parson 
fears that this is money. It is money, 
moiney, money, all the time. It is hard 
to find the place in the Bible where it 
says: "Go ye into all the world and 
collect a dollar from every creature.” 
Religion costs altogether too much. One 
minister the Parson knew used to look 
at the congregation and rub bis bauds and 
say: ‘‘Fine congregation, line; it ought 
to mean a good collection.” In another 
church the Parson was told they used 
transparent envelopes, S)> the amount in¬ 
side could be seen. 
Sectarianism .—Then in some churches 
the main thing seems to be to gloat over 
the fact that you belong to that church 
and not another. Il takes a long time 
and an immense amount of patience to 
get people who have been steeped in this 
atmosphere for years and years to think 
of something else as even more important. 
When they have staled their whole sal¬ 
vation for a lifetime on the fact that they 
belong to a certain denomination, it is 
rather disturbing to have a minister come 
along who cares little or nothing about 
that and insists that by “their fruits they 
shall know them.” 
Doing Goon. -So the great task now 
is to get the ehurelies in the atmosphere 
of doing good, just common, ordinary 
doing good. Pet it become a regular pas¬ 
sion in the church, and just see how it 
commends itself to the community. Let 
the church get the reputation of really 
helping sinners to be good, of caring for 
the worst boys in town, of insisting on 
wholesome environment for young people 
in the village, and see how people will 
support it, without forever begging and 
teasing. Above all. see what glorious fun 
it really is to do good :md to distribute. 
After titf. Baptism. —But the Parson 
was telling about that, baptism^ After 
the service we all went down into the 
basement, and such a good time! We had 
coffee and all-hots and cake and a great 
musicale. W T e had two violins and a 
piano and a comet, and sang hymns and 
old-time songs, and All's. Gilbert sang 
solos, and so we spent two hours before 
going home. Everyone admired the lovely 
baby that was baptised, and 1 some strang¬ 
ers got so thoroughly acquainted and 
friendly that there is very great danger 
of their coming again. 
Maryland. — The Parson has been 
down in Maryland—'way down opposite. 
Baltimore, on what they call down there 
the Eastern Shore. It is a new country 
for the Parson, and a most interesting 
‘1 see your minister has been to call.’' 
said the Parson. “Yes. he came to see 
why I did not come to church.’’ “Why 
don’t you go?” asked the Parson. “You 
see," she answered, "the horse fell down 
and broke the shafts, so l have no way 
to get there.” "What did tut say?" asked 
the Parson. “He said he was sorry.” 
she answered. "But did In* not say any¬ 
thing about fixing the shafts?” “No." 
“What you need,” said the Parson, “is a 
see Santa Claus. You see, he has a big 
pair of rubber boots over his shoes. He 
wanted to know which way to go, but 
never got further than the end of the 
walk. It does seem as though he was 
the sweetest child! He merer makes any 
trouble, and his little heart would be 
broken if lie was called a bad boy or 
spoken to crossly. He is always called 
mamma’s sweet boy, and if be should not 
seem to he a sweet boy, you have only to 
ask him where our sweet boy has gone, 
and he comes back again. Of course, 
once in a great, while Ibis may not work, 
when he is quickly helped t» do whatever 
is wanted, but almost never dues this 
happen. What a comfort, and blessing 
he has been. It seems as though we 
couldn’t have him grow to be big, hut 
he won’t he a baby much longer. lie 
always wants to help, and is always 
given a chance to do something, if it is 
possible. He. plays ball with the boys, 
and the game is stopped once in so often 
so that he can make a run. 
Indoor Ball. —There is a great game 
nf ball every night in the yard. The 
backstop has been put up again, and with 
several welcome arrivals from the neigh¬ 
bors. two teams are quickly made up. 
The large indoor baseball is fine for such 
W-' f- v ' 
JAt tie Ta 
one. He went down to speak at a dio¬ 
cesan convention of the Episcopal Church. 
Often when the Parson’s name is <>u a 
program readers of The Ji N.-Y. do not 
dream that it is their Parson that is t<> 
talk. It was that way that night. But 
one reader there, as the talk proceeded, 
got more and more alert, until lie said to 
himself; “It must be; it can’t be —vcs. 
it must be the Pastoral Parson." He and 
the Parson had a fine visit after the talk. 
TtfK Shafts.—H e reminded the Par¬ 
son of how he should have told the shaft 
story that he told in The Ii. N.-Y. quite 
This is an idea of what the rural district school might be, and ought to be. For 
such a school is a factory in which character is made. It is more important than 
Hie city school, because so many country children never go beyond it. The district 
school Will generally bo just about what the people of the district permit it to be. 
pair of shafts, so that you can go up to 
your church. I will bring you down a 
pair and put them on for you." And the 
Parson brought them down and fitted her 
out. and the joke of it was that she didn t 
go by up to her church any more, but 
came to the Parson's ever after. 
Something New. —To be sure, the 
Parson’s ideas were something quite new 
to manv down there, but they seemed to 
meet, with a surprising approval. Two 
older women came to him with such 
words as these: "I am a conservative 
churcliwoman. always have been, and 
prided myself on it. but I will have to 
admit dignity is killing our church. Your 
mutual helpfulness and sociability and 
eating together is right. We must have 
more of it." 
A Wheat Country.- —The Parson was 
surprised to see wlmt a wheat country it 
is down there. He had never known of 
it. Great stacks of wheat straw along 
the track from last Fall’s thrashing. Men 
said that the crop had been poor for two 
years, and if they had not gotten into 
the milk business, the farmers would have 
been bankrupt. Now there are milk¬ 
cooling stations along the track, and the 
milk goes to Philadelphia, and they have 
a steady income month by mouth, with the 
wheat as sort of n doubtuil cash crop. 
It is about as the tobacco is around here 
with the farmers. If it turns out well, so 
much to the good; but if it fails, they 
can get along all right. 
The Frost.—W hen I got back home 
and was talking to a man about being 
down in Maryland, be remarked bow ter¬ 
rible it was about the frost down there; 
he read bow it had killed the strawberry 
crop. Acres and acres had been destroyed. 
He was ready to shed tears of sympathy. 
While on the way up on th.e train, how¬ 
ever. a fellow traveler said to the Parson : 
"Did you ever see anything as lucky as 
the frost was? You see. it killed about 
half the strawTerry crop, which means 
they will be able to sell wh.it they have, 
otherwise the market would have beeu so 
glutted that if they sold them they would 
not get enough to pay the raising and 
picking. All the raisers were tickled to 
death over the frost.” 
An Introduction.-—O ne sneaker down 
at this conWMil ion was telling about a 
great introduction Ins father, who was a 
minister, once got in a church just a< he 
was going to preach. After being greatly 
praised for many qualities, the introducer 
closed with a imrst of eloquence: “He 
can do the Uudoalblo. he knows the un¬ 
knowable. and lie can unscrew the in¬ 
scrutable." 
LITTLE Ta. —And here you see little Ta 
in the picture. This was the day he got 
into his little head that he was going to 
playing. It will not hurt anybody; they 
cannot possibly bat it far enough to lose, 
and they have just as good time with it. 
They have strong horseliide covers, and 
around here cost $2. flow much better to 
have the boys pluyiug here at home. Sit 
plays with them, and has as good a time 
as any. 
WATER in the House. —Has the Par- 
soil told you about the farmer he heard 
"tell on" the other day? llis wife had 
lugged water from the well way over by 
the barn for years and years, pulling it 
with a rope. At last the man struck oil 
on the place, and got immensely rich. 
He must do .something for his wife to 
help about the water. It was a shame 
the way she had lugged water all these 
years in that old pail, so he got her an¬ 
other pail, so that she could take two 
pails, ami not have to go so many times! 
Electric I'emp. —And now at the 
Parson’s we have put in an electric pump 
in the cellar, with a pressure tank of 
100 gallons capacity. It is attached light 
on to the pump pipe that went to the 
well. It certainly works to perfection. 
In the kitchen Mrs. Parson has a com¬ 
bination set tub ami sink which is won¬ 
derful for small, every-day wash. We 
have three faucets; one of these when 
turned always starts the pump and brings 
water direct from the well without going 
into the tank, thus insuring cold water in 
the Summer time for drinking. 
The Bathroom. — Vml if we didn’t 
study and ponder all these years what to 
do for a bathroom, and suddenly it came 
to Mrs. Parson; take the old pantry. It 
was a regulation old-fashioned pantry, 
and shaped just right. I suppose the 
old pantries were made extra large to set 
the milk in. We had cupboards and 
shelves made to keep the pantry things 
elsewhere, and ruthlessly tore ollt all the 
pantry furnishings. We patched up the 
plaster and painted the walls three coats, 
white as snow. We are convinced now 
that on a farm the first floor is a great 
place for the bathroom. The boys just 
step in there to wash for meals, and are 
not right under foot in the kitchen and in 
the way at the kitchen sink. The hack 
stairs come right down by the bathroo i 
door, so it is accessible to the whole 
house. 
Set Tuns. The kitchen was not big 
enough for the set tubs and still have 
room to eat there when we want to. as we 
generally do when there is no company, 
so they are on the hack porch. For a few 
months in the Winter it will be too cold 
to use them, but it certainly is a tine 
place to wash ,eight months in the year. 
After wanting all these conveniences so 
many years, il seems hardly possible to 
believe that that nice snow-white bathtub 
is there, with plenty of hot water! What 
a help it would have be 4 on when the chil¬ 
dren were smaller. It ought to have been 
put in long ago. Even if we had borrowed 
most of the money on the farm, it would 
have helped Mrs. Parson so. But, then, 
we never knew where we could put it 
till Mrs. Parson thought of the pantry. 
Works Both Ways. —A man was tell¬ 
ing thi' Parson the other day how he 
wished his minister would have all those 
nice times the Parson writes about, but 
somehow be was old-fashioned, and just 
wouldn’t budge. Now the Parson will 
give this man’s wife a tip. Just go and 
tell that same man you wish he would 
go and put in an electric or gasoline pump, 
as the Pastoral Parson has, and see what 
he says. 
Hatching Goose Eggs in an Incubator 
I will describe the experience I had 
hatching goose eggs in an incubator. Be¬ 
fore I started breeding geese 1 received 
many pamphlets and books from the 
various experiment stations and poultry 
plants which were very helpful to me. 
There are many poultry men who believe 
that it is too difficult a task to hatch 
goose eggs in an incubator and get good 
hatches, but I have found that with the 
proper care and attention you can hatch 
goose eggs in an incubator just as easily 
as any other egg. Of course, ns we all 
know, in order to get good hatches the 
management of the breeding (lock should 
be given careful attention. The geese 
should he provided with houses so that 
they can he protected from cold weather 
and severe storms during the Winter 
months. In order to get fertile eggs one 
must lie very careful in mating the geese 
just before breeding season. Goose mat¬ 
ings are not changed yearly unless the 
results are not satisfactory, I get good 
results by mating one gander to three 
geese. Nests are provided for the geese 
about the early part of February. I 
provide more nests in the pen than I 
have geese, because the geese will not sit 
in a nest unless they can select their own 
nest in the pen. The eggs should not be 
allowed to remain in the nests, but 
should be gathered at least twice a day 
during (lie early laying period, and kept 
in a cool place, about 40 or HO degrees 
temperature. Goose eggs must be ban¬ 
died very gently, because the slightest 
jar will hurt the germ. 
Three days before I am ready to place 
the eggs in the incubator l run the incu¬ 
bator at a temperature of 101 Vy degrees. 
I do not tufn the eggs for the first two 
days of incubation. On the third day I 
turn (he eggs, and do tins twice daily. 
I test the eggs on tlie seventh and four¬ 
teenth day, and remove all the infertile 
eggs. Beginning from the tenth day I 
place tlie eggs for about .”>0 seconds in 
lukewarm water (100°) every other day 
until the twenty-fifth day. and then 1 do 
the same daily until they start to peep. 
Even while they are breaking the shell 
I place them in lukewarm water (100°). 
hut 1 am very careful not to get any 
water inside the shell. After they come 
out of the shell I let them renmiu in 
the incubators for 30 hours, and then I 
place them in a brooder house. 
New Jersey. THOMAS s. l’AMPALONE. 
Advice to Haymakers 
Flaying time is dreaded by the women 
as well as by tlie boss farmer (so many 
of us think we must keep a boarding 
house for the extra help). A little fore¬ 
thought aids in laying out the work, and 
arranging for extra help, several weeks in 
advance, as most of the available men 
want to know long in advance about the 
pay, number of hours work per day. etc. 
They expect larger pay for haying than 
ot her work. 
Do not cut more hay than can be 
taken care of. and clean up before mow¬ 
ing more, ns much hay is lost by leaving 
a few loads, railings, ete.. so that you 
can mow and have it curing. Tt is quite 
apt to rain before you go back after it. 
Be sure no shingles have blown off the 
lumi. as a very small leak will ruin a lot 
of bay. 
Is your hay wagon in working order? 
How about the rope to the bay-fork? 
Have yon extra sections and rivets for 
the mower ? 
Several wagons are a big help, as you 
can load them up in the afternoon when 
hay is dry. and unload in the morning, 
before hay is cured, or the dew dried. 
c. a. h. 
Chicks and Potato Eugs 
I noticed a paragraph in The R. N.-Y. 
lately in which the opinion was ventured 
that chicks would not eat potato beetles. 
This is probably so. But they wouldn't 
have to. Two different years I have put 
the family potato patch near growing 
chicks and ouch time not a leaf was eaten 
by the potato hugs, It may have been a 
.mere coincidence, but my own belief lias 
been that the chicks either picked the yel¬ 
low eggs from the under side of tIte po¬ 
tato leaf or else devoured the slugs when 
small —perhaps both. I, with a number 
of people, might try the experiment of 
pulling the family patch near where 
young chicks run and help us to find out 
whether they really keep down this pest. 
If so. it is certainly a cheap form of 
labor. melvin uranoow. 
Connect feu 1. 
We would like to have many of our 
readers observe the matter this year. 
Our own opinion is that the birds do eat 
many of the eggs, but few if any of the 
beetles. 
