798 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 17, 1922 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
1 sometimes hear people say that farm 
life is lonely. 
"You never see anything new! There 
are no new faces or strangers, Life gets 
to be a rut, so that when the storm conies 
you are driven in the mud.” 
That is the way they talk, but I can¬ 
not say that the picture is true of Hope 
Farm this year. We have enough new 
faces, both indoors and out. to keep us 
well oup of any ruts. We had IT people 
at dinner today—every one of them calling 
ihis place home. Iu a week or so two of 
tiie boys will he back from college for the 
►Summer. No doubt we can round out an 
even 20 if we try. They run all the way 
from little Rita of six years to Uncle 
(ieorge of nearly SQ, So that as far as 
human faces are concerned, we are not 
likely to get into any deep rut. This farm 
must feed and provide for all these people. 
When the Full eoines several of them will 
go back to other employments, but we 
seem to have a permanent family of at 
least 15. .Some of you people wlip live in 
town or city may stop and figure what it. 
would cost to.'house and feed 15 hearty 
people ! The thought would jump almost 
■any normal mind out of a rut, with a 
great bump. A farm iu some quiet neigh¬ 
borhood with a diversity of soil and crops 
is the only place I know of where any 
man of moderate means could ever pro¬ 
vide for such a family. Perhaps you will 
say that you wouldn’t attempt to provide 
for them. 1 cannot believe you are in 
earnest in saying that, because 1 do not 
believe an intelligent and right-minded 
person like you would reject an opportu¬ 
nity to gain the finest joy and satisfaction 
that can come to any human being. 
* * * * * 
Pride in the farm may show itself in 
various ways. Some people can make a 
great money showing as the result of their 
work and skill. Others are proud of their 
improvements. They took that soggy old 
meadow. Ten years ago it produced noth¬ 
ing but bullfrogs and mosquitoes. The 
owner, drained it. and plowed and leveled 
and seeded until he now bus a beautiful 
field where onions or celery or strawber¬ 
ries riot in richness. Or another man 
took a dry sand heap which blew about 
in every dry wind. lie started with rye 
or buckwheat, plowed them under with 
lime, followed with better crops, and now 
has soil —rich, brown and productive. 
Other men have turned sour old pastures 
into beautiful orchards, or worthless grav¬ 
el pits into Alfalfa fields. All these men 
have reason to be proud of what they have 
done. They may be pardoned for brag¬ 
ging a little about their work, and for 
measuring their success by the world's 
regular standard of a dollar bill. I some¬ 
times think, however, that the world 
would be better off, that farming would be 
a more reputable business, and that the 
future would be more secure, if the value 
of onr farms could be measured by a 
double standard ; not only by the money 
proceeds, but by the number of people it 
can provide for. 
* * * * * 
Of course, no farmer can ever hope to 
provide for a large family unless he can 
develop certain definite conditions. He 
and his wife and children must be fully 
content to live very simple and indus¬ 
trious lives. They must throw away any 
ambition to excel in any political or social 
affairs. Plain living will be thrust upon 
them, and they must thrust themselves 
into considerable high thinking. You see 
a man lifts himself out of the rut, not by 
his boot straps, but by the straits on bis 
mind. Then there must be mutual trust 
and good feeling iu such a big family. 
And that means a master mind at the 
head of it; one clear and true and just 
and constructive. I hasten to say that in 
our big family I do not possess such a 
mind. It should naturally belong to the 
woman who heads the household. Her 
household job is large enough, and man 
should be content to provide the material 
supplies. Most men are better at that 
than they arc at any spiritual uplift; 
though I know plenty of gentlemen who 
do not like the sweat -and strain of the 
bread winning side. And every member 
of such a big farm family must believe 
in the “newer system of nutrition.” It 
would require the income of a millionaire 
to feed such a family as ours on "roast 
beef and plum pudding.” Meat once a 
day tit mosl, and all the vegetables, fruit 
and milk we can eat, is our “system." 
With a good flock of poultry, a few hogs 
and a small flock of sheep (the latter kept 
to clean up the corners and bines), a 
farmer can provide much of his meat. 
(During the Summer our folks get nearly 
two-thirds Of their living out of the gar¬ 
den and fruit patch. For dinner today 
there will be a piece of beef (a cut of 
..medium cost), nearly a peck of asparagus, 
potatoes, lettuce and nearly six quarts of 
strawberries. I presume the children will 
drink three to four quarts of milk at this 
meal. And that’s one thing I'll do, at 
least—I’ll send 25 people out into the 
world trained to drink milk as freely as 
they do water. They will carry big solid 
bones and firm, rosy flesh as a result of 
it, and how they will help the dairy busi¬ 
ness in the future! 
* * * * * 
But you are not a dairyman-—what do 
you care about milk drinking? I have 
three cows and sell our milk to my own 
family, but I feel that for several reasons 
dairying is ever to be our foundation na¬ 
tional industry. We cannot afford to let 
it run down, any more than we can af¬ 
ford to let kindly and generous feeling 
fade out of the hearts of men. We must 
in some way keep our dairymen reason¬ 
ably satisfied and prosperous. To do 
that we must increase consumption of 
milk and pin all dairy substitutes down 
to their proper place. Some folks think 
they can do this by telling others what to 
do. As for mo, I believe in starting right 
at home with my own family and organ¬ 
izing an army of milk drinkers. 1 find 
the world well filled with people who want 
to preach what they call "large ideas" to 
farmers, when right in their own lives 
and families the units of these “large 
ideas" are neglected. When it comes to 
housing our lug family some close packing 
is required. Both houses are filled, and 
two outbuildings are occupied. Wc just 
take such things as a matter of course, 
and try to keep good-natured. Should 
any member of my family come to me and 
complain about our conditions 1 should 
tell him that we all recognize the incon¬ 
venience and trouble, but that we are de¬ 
termined to carry our plan through as 
best we can. There is only one way to do 
that. viz., all give up a littlp something 
of our personal convenience and do onr 
best to co-operate, lie who will not do 
that is like a man trying to scuttle the 
ship: he is entirely out <>f place on board. 
I do not know that any of you are trying 
to see bow many humans your farm can 
carry, but if there are any such I think 
they will find these simple rules useful. 
* * * * 
And outdoors no less than in the house, 
we have a small army of newcomers. For 
example, there is the kudzu. Then we 
have Sudan grass and some new varieties 
of cow peas and Soy beans. There is a 
row of peanuts and another of cotton, and 
there will he sweet potatoes and several 
new strawberry varieties. Then we have 
that "lazy bed" of potatoes. The ground 
was plowed and lined and the potatoes 
planted about IS in. apart each way. 
Then the whole thing was covered with 
about in. of rotten sawdust from an old 
icehouse. The potato plants are coming 
up through the sawdust. Then there is 
■that acre of potatoes, planted in hills ft. 
apart each way, with chicken manure 
thrown on top of the hill. Then, take 
those different seedings of Alsike clover in 
wet and sour land, and the buckwheat 
and millet. There arc a dozen things to 
be watched and studied ;they all help keep 
us out of the rut ! Why. I almost forgot 
to speak of those “Peel Necks" from the 
island of Jamaica. Wo imported three 
of these bare-necked birds, and they have 
made themselves very much at Jamie. 
There isn’t any turkey blood in them, but 
they have some good points. I shall try 
to print a picture of one of them a little 
later. 
***** 
One of our most interesting outdoor 
visitors is kudzu. You remember that I 
spoke of this plant last year. I confess 
that I thought the Winter had killed it. 
for a sheet of ice stood over it during 
most of the Winter. Rut no find it very 
much alive. I dug one plant on June 2 
that had already made over ti ft. of vine 
growth. Reports from many Northern 
States show that this kuolzu survived the 
Winter. I do not think any reasonable 
cold will destroy it, hat it must have well- 
drained soil. It cannot stand wet feet— 
not as well even as a peach tree. At first 
it seemed to me that this kudzu must be a 
tropical plant, about as much at home in 
Now Jersey as cotton or the orange. 
Now I believe it is as hardy as the Lima 
bean, and I think it will revolutionize 
dairying in ninny sections by enabling 
waste pasture land to produce three times 
the feed now grown there. Of course. I 
know some of the wise men say "It can’t 
he done! It will not grow hero"—and 
all that, but I have heard some of these 
gentlemen talk before. Some of them are 
good water carriers—mid water. My ad¬ 
vice is to go ahead and test tlut.se new 
things in a reasonable way. and form 
your own judgment. First thing you 
know you will be entertaining an angel 
unawares, and make his acquaintance. 
n. w. c. 
Ventilation of Icehouse 
T have an icehouse, built last Winter, 
12x12 ft.. 12 ft. high, with (5 in. dead air 
space and <1 in. sawdust between lining 
and ice. Lining is chestnut hoards, and 
outside soft pine matched lumber. Studs 
run up and down. It lias no ventilation 
for dead air space, lining running clear to 
top. Some say there should he 6 in. left 
with no lining at top. Others that there 
ought to be a free circulation of air 
through the air space from bottom. 
Which is right for a house of this size? 
Newton. Conn. a. r. m. 
It is probable that your icehouse will 
keep ice somewhat 'better as it is than it 
would were ventilation provided in the 
wall space. However, its life will not be 
so long, as it will rot out quicker. An 
opening at the bottom along the sill and 
another at the top of the wall will permit 
a circulation of air within tiie wall and 
tend to keep it drier, prolonging the life 
of the timber from which it is made. Six 
inches of sawdust is not sufficient insula¬ 
tion to keep ice properly. It is customary 
to use at least a foot. The rural engineer¬ 
ing department of Cornell University pub¬ 
lishes a bulletin ou icehouse construction, 
obtainable for the asking, that will give 
you complete information on farm ice¬ 
house construction. 
JF YOU have a well (deep or shal¬ 
low), a spring, lake or stream, 
you can have a complete service 
of running water without trouble 
or attention and at a very low cost. 
You can have a modern bath¬ 
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and laundry, faucets at the barn 
and other buildings. 
The Delco-Light Water System, 
designed and built by the makers 
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The newest model of the Delco- 
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Snow and ice have no effect on it. 
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Find out how little run¬ 
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full information. 
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43 Warren Street 
New York City 
(R-7) 
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who are also manufacturers of the famous 
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