The Conversion of Dad 
WHEREIN DAD AT LAST SEES THE 
DOOR, THROUGH WHICH MOTHER , 
SON HAVE ALREADY STARTED 
Nugget was getting as much milk out of 
six purebred cows as his father had out 
of 12, and the test was higher. One 
morning John announced at the breakfast 
table that lie meant to cull the flock of 
hens. 
"No, sii ee ! lou don't cull no hens on 
my farm. Them hens'll stay as they 
are." That settled that. 
Thursday morning one of the neigh¬ 
bors i dad's special friend i came in for 
a little visit. 
“Say, Jim, you know the Farm Bureau 
man has been up and culled my flock of 
hens two weeks ago. I felt sort o' blue 
when it took out more than 1 thought it 
ought to. But. say, I'm getting just as 
many eggs as I did before. Ten of us up 
there on the hill have joined the wool 
pool. I say, if we fellers would just 
stick together (through the help of the 
Farm Bureau) to sell our hay and pota¬ 
toes for a set price. I believe we could do 
it. I bet that would beat legislation, al¬ 
though legislation on co-operative market¬ 
ing will help, too." 
Even then Jim wasn’t fully convinced. 
Things that never had been done didn't 
need to lie done now. Folks were getting 
too fast nowadays. lie had earned his 
farm through hard work. lie guessed lie 
knew as ranch about farming as anyone. 
So ho argued to his wife after their vis¬ 
itor was gone. 
"TV ell. I know. James, you are all 
right in most things. Why can’t we look 
up and enjoy our farm life together? 
Old Jim Nugget was a hard-headed old 
person. All lie thought of was money 
and how to hoard it up. To be sure, lie 
had some good points. He had started 
with nothing; and now he was spoken of 
as a rich man—owner of one of the best, 
farms in the county. 
When he married Nancy Smith, a fat, 
jolly girl, he had a team of horses and a 
lumber wagon. Nancy bad been brought 
up right. She knew how to do all kinds 
of housework (butchering included), sew¬ 
ing and rnilkiug. To make her an ideal 
wife, she was always looking on the 
bright side of everything. There wasn’t 
anything that didn't hove a little fun in 
it: no matter how much her husband 
found fault. 
Well, they started out working a farm 
on shares. Nancy's mother provided her 
with the necessary things for the house, 
and her husband borrowed what tools he 
couldn't get along without. 
In the course of time three babies 
came—John, Alice and Betty. It was 
pretty hard scratching to get along. They 
moved from one place to another, some¬ 
times better and sometimes worse. Jim 
worked so hard all day that when night 
came he just threw himself in bed to 
sleep. “Ma" could take care of the chil¬ 
dren. With Nancy it was different. In 
spite of all the hard work she still took a 
Back to the 
Grain. Fields 
For Health 
Grape-Nuts is a regular “ three bags 
full 99 of the best food qualities of whole 
wheat flour and malted barley, carefully 
mixed and slowly baked — 
To develop all their appetizing flavor, 
To preserve all their wholesomeness, 
And to provide nature’s “broom” that 
keeps the digestive system spick and 
span. 
1 here’s not a bit of artificial sweetening 
in Grape-Nuts—it just becomes sweet of 
its own accord 
the long baking. 
And that enticing flavor—how good it 
is with good milk or cream ! Fruits, 
too, fresh or cooked, add to the delight 
of a dish of Grape-Nuts, morning, noon 
or sundown. 
It is a compact, ready-to-eat food— no 
cooking needed. Why not try it for 
tomorrow’s breakfast? 
The Cheerful 
Belter Ifnlf' 
little time to play with the children. 
Sometimes she read t<> them or told them 
stories while she worked the butter. In 
short, she was constantly on the lookout 
for homely little joys that carried her out 
of the drudgery of everyday life. The 
children, too, early formed this habit. 
Poor Jim, with a lot of debt on bis back 
—lie took no pleasure in wife or children. 
Just the old grind of work. 
Then came a big hop crop. That was a 
starter, Jim took the money and bought 
a farm of lfit) acres. The farm was rath¬ 
er run down, but there were good build¬ 
ings on it. Hired help was cheap then, 
and as Jim and Nancy were both good 
managers, things began to prosper. The 
farm was picked up and buildings put in 
shape. The house was remodeled to some 
extent. By this time the children were 
big enough to help, too. 
From force of habit, Jim never saw 
anything ahead except the work and the 
money he expected to make. What he 
had gained lie credited all to himself. It 
was ** 1/ 1 / farm, »/// house, my tools. / did 
it all. He forgot his wife’s patient help, 
how she worked to save on every corner, 
and how she worked to educate her chil¬ 
dren in spite of everything 
Well, the girls did fine. One was a 
stenographer, and the other a teacher of 
mathematics in a nearby college. The 
boy took a course at the agricultural 
school when he was older. Before that lie 
had to stay home to help his father. 
When he came home he was chock full of 
new ideas—purebred stock. Alfalfa grow¬ 
ing. selected seeds, the Farm Bureau, the 
Dairymen's League, etc. 
Dad couldn’t see any use in purebred 
stock, selected seed or the Farm Bureau. 
“The League may be all right. That 
other stuff is bosh! I never went to all 
that, trouble, and T own a farm of my 
own. 1 did it all myself." 
“Times have changed, dad. If you 
aren’t in the swing of the times you're 
lost.’’ 
"Well, you go ahead, and if you can 
make it work, all right. I'll have to see 
it first before I'll believe it.’’ 
The first thing the boy did was to buy 
a purebred cow at a very high price. It 
was a bad start, dad said. Ho might bet¬ 
ter have bought a couple of heifers for 
less money. Perhaps he was right. At 
any rate, the cow died of [he bloat within 
a year. 
John was something of his mother’s 
type, jolly and happy-go-lucky. He 
turned around and bought three purebred 
Holstein heifers at a moderate price. A 
year Inter lie had a good chance at an 
auction to get three more Holstein cows. 
Then lie had them tuberculin tested, and 
he also tested the milk for butterfat. 
Somehow it got noised around that John 
Why not take pleasure in letting John do 
some of the things hi- has been taught at 
the State school? We don't want to get 
behind all of our neighbors in new meth¬ 
ods. As for me. I joined the Home Bu¬ 
reau last week. Now. I must go and 
mold up my Dutch cheese." 
Half way across the room she paused 
and looked back. “Say. honey, will you 
hitch up old Maud tonight and take "me 
down to the joint session of the Farm and 
Home bureaus? They have community 
singing.” Laughingly site turned away. 
It was this jolly way of hers that had 
always charmed him. For the first time 
in his life he felt ashamed of his churlish 
ways. 
He jumped up with a sudden start and 
went to the barn. "1 guess I may as 
well hitch up old Maud and sing a little, 
too. Fin not going to let everybody get 
ahead of nio. I <jo think co-npprativc 
marketing is the only way out for out¬ 
produce. sind tin- Farm Bureau Federa¬ 
tion is the door that leads to it. I'll have 
to give in. John and our neighbor are 
right. Bur I sha'n’t own it to them. Not 
just yet. anyway.' Thus he soliloquized 
to himself. 
TV lint happened in the next few weeks 
tio one knows. John told his mother on 
tin- sl\ that his dad was the best father 
out. Mother, when she was looking for 
some patches for the overalls, ran on 
dad s diary, wherein were penned these 
words: 
' Where results grow, there are five 
doors. One says co-operation; two, 
I*arm Bureau Federation; three, legisla¬ 
tion : four, determination; five, recreation 
at home and abroad. 
MRS. CHARLES K. OTTMAX. 
Pruning Chrysanthemums 
Can the tall perennial garden Cbrysan- 
themums be pruned so they will be more 
stock\ and less straggling, or must one 
buy only the dwarf growing varieties? If 
the tall ones can he pruned, how do vou 
do it? 4 w « 
Massachusetts. 
While the tall Chrysanthemums may 
lie lunched hack to produce more stocky 
growth, they cannot be sharply pruned 
to a compact dwarf habit. Tiie center 
ui tlie shoot should be* pinched out when 
It IS about 1 in. tall, which will cause a 
branching grow th. The plants should be 
staked early in the season, and kept tied 
up. You thus prevent them from falling 
down and .sprawling about, and if you 
use wooden stakes painted green they are 
no[ very conspicuous, and are neat in 
appearance. If this early {duelling is 
given to induce bushy growth and the 
plauts are then properly staked, vou will 
have good results front the taller sorts. 
“ There’s a Reason 
Postum Cereal Co., Inc., Battle Creek, Mich. 
The book that best expresses the senti¬ 
ment and charm of real country living’ 
is 
Hope Farm Notes 
c_y4n order came the other day from the Island of Jamaica for 
one of these books. Copies have been sent to Mexico. South 
Africa, Austria and New Zealand—all over the world. It is 
being read wherever the human heart feels a love for clean 
and wholesome country living. 
‘A Civilizing Agent for Agriculture ” 
That is what one reader calls it—and he has sent five separate 
copies to people who need to know more of the human side of 
farm life. It is one of the best evidences of Good House¬ 
keeping to have this book on your table. Is it in your house ? 
The Hope farm man will autograph your copy if you desire. 
The book should go wherever the Rural New-Yorker is taken. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 333 West 30th St.. New York 
< ^^r 4 T LEM | :N —Er» c, °secl find remittance for $1.50, for which send me, postpaid, a 
copy of Hope Farm Notes. 
^ tate .. F. D. or Street No. 
When you zurite advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
