940 
‘Pit RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
We had an unusual shower this after¬ 
noon. A series of thunderstorms seemed 
to circle around our valley. It looked 
as if a great watering-pot had been 
emptied all around us. The gigantic hand 
which carried it seemed to have given one 
dirt in our direction just to remind us 
of what we might have had. 1 have seen 
the time when such a shower would have 
been a great blessing—but not today We 
had nearly three tons of line oat liay all 
ready to come in Our folks were just 
starting to the held when suddenly the 
storm king began to pound on his big 
drum, and spread his dark banner over 
the sky. Then came that sudden dash 
of rain, while the main storm went roar¬ 
ing along the next valley. Now our 
beautiful hay is like a damp sponge, and 
we must wait for wind and sunshine to 
dry it out cnee more. As there is noth¬ 
ing else to do. we will wait with such 
patience as circumstances will permit. 
* * * * * 
We never had a finer lot of oat hay. 
The great trouble with grain hay usually 
is that people let it staud too long. As 
:i result, wo lrnve oat straw and about 
half a crop of grain, for the other half 
shells during the cutting. Thus the stock 
will not eat the straw well, while we lose 
half the grain. The next year, in order 
to correct this failure, we usually cut it 
green. Then we lose part of the growth 
and find it hard to cure the stuff. This 
year we had the oats cut. at just the right 
time—that is. when the grain was "in the 
milk.” You could crush the grain be¬ 
tween thumb and finger and squeeze out a 
white, sticky mass. That is when they 
should bo cut. for it is not likely that the 
plant can take tip any more nutriment 
after the grain really forms. What fol¬ 
lows then is a redistribution of matter 
inside the plant. The stem gives up a 
portion of its nutriment, and it is con¬ 
densed in the grain. When cut "in the 
milk" the entire plant is edible. If per¬ 
mitted to ripen, the grain is good, hut 
the straw has little value as food. “Grain 
hay,” when cut at the right time, is fine 
feed. It does not pay us to grow oats 
in any other way. We must have two 
crops of this sort, or one good money crop 
on our highly taxed land. Just as soon 
as that oat bay is off. all our Summer 
manure will be spread on the stubble and 
plowed under. The ground will he well 
fitted to broadcast to white globe turnips. 
By October these will bo big enough to 
sell. They give a heavy yield, and in 
some seasons they bring •51 a bushel. If 
you like, yon may sow Alsike clover along 
with the turnips and get a very fair 
The rain soaked the hay badly, hut il 
lmd little effect upon the spirits of our 
young people. If you could see them out 
ini the lawn playing tennis, you would 
never think the boys have boon swinging 
a hoe or a scythe all day. nr that the 
girls have been picking and canning peas. 
What wonderful wells of energy and hope 
youth can reach. I presume wo all have 
iiad the strange experience of haying our 
strength and courage renewed in some 
strange way, when seemingly exhausted, 
suddenly some agreeable thing outers the 
mind. At the suggestion we forget our 
fatigue and seem to tap some new source 
of energy. The poor, old body responds; 
wo forget that w<* are tired, and go rush¬ 
ing off to some new exercise. I knew a 
young man once who came out of the 
harvest field, as he said, "too tired to eat.” 
lie nearly fell asleep during milking. 
When he got inside the house lie found 
that the daughter of the boss had come 
home from college. Mary had made her 
mother sit down and rest while she cooked 
supper. It was not a very good supper— 
a sort of educational feast—hut Billy for¬ 
got that he was “too tired to eat.” and 
he ate at least half a dozen sogg.v biscuits. 
Then, after supper, Mary invited him 
to go to a church supper with her. lie 
forgot all about the harvest field, and 
insisted that they must walk through the 
moonlight, a mile and a half each way 1 
Very likely that indicates one great dif¬ 
ference between youth and a** 1 Youth 
can keep close to thpse great, mysterious 
fountains of surplus energy, while most 
elderly people have permitted them to 
dry up. Then when trouble or fatigue 
mine, age may find itself ou a dry Sahara 
of regret or bitterness, while youth finds 
its home at some oasis in the desert, where 
deep wells of energy arc all ready for the 
pump of hope. There is the Japanese 
boy out on the lawn, racket in hand. He 
is barefooted, dancing about in the wet 
grass, without a thought for the oat hay 
soaking in our lower field. What a bless¬ 
ing it would be if you and 1. could keep 
closer to the wells and springs of youth. 
It pays to go back and camp near them 
if we can. 
***** 
The young folks played as long as they 
could see the tennis ball, and then they 
came trooping in where I was reading. 
The storm “killed” the electric light for 
a short time, but it is back again. They 
arc all grouped around the piano, singing 
college songs. One of the boys is at Wil¬ 
liams. and another at Rutgers, and the 
rest hope to go later, and singing is an 
important part of a college course. Then 
they start the Vietrola with a few new 
records. What a beautiful thing music 
must be. When iny daughter was buying 
her new records, she noticed a rough- 
looking man. just out of a mine or foun¬ 
dry. with the stain of work still on him. 
listening with rapt attention to the 
music of an old-time song, lie forgot his 
work ami his hard life as lie listened, and 
when the song was ended lie bought the 
record and carried it home. IIow often 
in moments of depression and weariness 
lie will listen to llmt song, and find it is 
one of the deep wells of restful energy that 
we have been speaking of. I knew a 
woman wlm went “back lo the laud” with 
her husband. They went to a farm much 
like that described by Robert. Frost in 
one of bis poems. The woman, brought 
up under soft and kindly surroundings, 
found lierself in a lonely place, so quiet 
that life seemed a tragedy, and forced to 
do the hardest .sort of work. Washing 
dishes was the task which galled her soul 
to the quick. Sonic one gave her a Vie¬ 
trola as a wedding present. Instead of 
keeping it in her little parlor, where no¬ 
body ever came, she moved it into her 
kitchen, and at dishwashing time she 
started it with her best record. And as 
sin' listened with her bands in dishwater, 
her soul was in glory. What did the 
greasy frying-pan matter ns she listened 
to that wonderful sextette, "What Re¬ 
strains Me," from “Lucia di i.ammer- 
rnoor”? She sat beside one of these deep 
wells of energy, from which her soul and 
body both drew strength. You can realize 
what that meant, and perhaps you can 
imagine what it must mean to the deaf 
when they are denied the solace which 
comes from music. 
***** 
I was thinking of all this as my young 
folks forgot the rain and the wet oats 
and danced about in the very joy of 
youth. Suddenly, without waruiug. the 
light snapped out. and we were left iu 
darkness, 1 sat there with my book still 
iu hand, waiting, when suddenly a small 
light appeared at the door, and iu came 
the girls carrying two cakes, each covered 
with little candles. One had eight little 
blue candles, and it was delivered to little 
Rose. Yes, indeed, it was her birthday. 
That little white rocking clmiv she sits 
in is one of her presents, and the striped 
dress she has On is another. The other 
cake carried 1(> candles, and this was 
delivered to the Japanese hoy. It is true 
that his birthday “happened” two days 
ago. luit that’s a small matt ter when we 
can have n double celebration. Then 
there was a big piteher of so-called 
"punch." There was no alcoholic punch 
in it—just a combination of lemon, cur¬ 
rant and pineapple dissolved in water, 
but very good for a birthday celebration. 
We all sat and admired the candles for 
a time, and then the lights were snapped 
on once more, and Rose and the boy cut 
their cakes and we all shared. I was at 
a country place once where the son and 
lioir celebrated his seventeenth birthday. 
There was a great dinner, with wine, 
cigars and all the rest. The hoy had a 
new car and a roomful of goods as (.res¬ 
ents. lie struck me like au overdone 
pasty-faced youth, who never can by any 
possibility become anything more than a 
third-grade man. There might have been 
some hope for him had lie been thrown 
out and made to work for his car, but 
as it was. ho merely growled because it 
was not a finer make. 1 looked at. little 
Rose, perfectly happy with her. little 
chair and dress, and at the barefooted 
boy carrying his cake—both happy and 
carefree, and I began to realize as never 
before just what farming ought to mean 
to us all. 
***** 
We raise wheat and meat and corn and 
potatoes, fruit and all the rest, and think 
we are providing for the nation. Yet 
what is there that is permanent about 
it. after all? The food we raise, the fiber 
we produce, are nil quickly consumed. 
We cannot hope to touch the future 
through them. If for any reason those 
who follow ns fail to continue production, 
the world will he filled with hungry men. 
and that will be the end of our boasted 
civ ]ization. Just as an army moves on 
its stomach, so the spiritual side of the 
average man will be determined largely 
b.v his food supply. About the only way 
most of its can ever hope to influence the 
future will be through our young folks. 
That is why the best crop farmers can 
ever give to their country is the crop of 
boys and girls—with a happy childhood to 
look back upon, and memory like great 
wells of hope, out of which they can 
always take youth and energy. But this 
is no time for a sermon. The stars have 
come out, I am sure that hay will dry 
out tomorrow. And what weather this 
is for cutting and trimming our sod or¬ 
chards. Today I mot a very “successful" 
man. lie was quite pompous and opinion¬ 
ated—a practical man, who prided him¬ 
self on the fact that neither he nor his 
family had any use for a sentiment or 
nonsense. That man would shake his 
head at our little celebration. Here is 
a copy of the earlier poems by Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, written some 9(1 years 
ago. Iu the poem entitled "Evening” 1 
read this tribute to the cabbage: 
“That deeply injured flower 
Which boys do flout us with. 
But yet I love thee, thou giant rose, 
Wrapped in a green surtout. 
Doubtless in Eden thou didst blush as 
bright 
As these thy puny brethren; and thy 
breath 
Sweetened the fragrance of her spicy air. 
But now thou seemest like a bankrupt 
beau. 
Stripped of his gaudy leaves and essences. 
And growing portly in his sober gar¬ 
ments.” 
I have great respect for the cabbage. 
We have about 10.000 planted this year. 
But I often wish the "giant rose” had not 
become quite so practical, and had con¬ 
tinued to “sweeten the fragrance of her 
spicy air!” And smlio of those very prac¬ 
tical men remind me of the cabbage. 
They are solid and useful, but how much 
sweeter the world around them Would he 
if they had only kept some of the sweet¬ 
ness and beauty of youth. n.w. o. 
Cinderella as an Auto Hog 
The Newark (N. J.) Evening News 
prints the following story of a Jersey 
farmer and auto hogs: 
The young woman who yesterday after¬ 
noon left her kid slipper in a berry patch 
close to the road leading from Pine Brook 
to Towaeo can have same by presenting 
its mate, in order to prove property, to 
Weldon Van Duyne. on whose land the 
berry field is situated. 
The members of the Van Duyne family 
had just finished their midday meal when 
a car was seen to stop at the berry patch 
and two men and two women commenced 
picking the fruit. Van Duyne called to 
them, and all four climbed into the car 
and drove on toward Towaeo. 
It was perhaps two hours later when 
what, appeared to be the same car re¬ 
turned: again the car was stopped at the 
berry patch and again the occupants got 
out and entered the field. This time Mr. 
Van Duyne did not call; instead be ran 
across the field toward the car, intending 
to secure the license number. lie had 
not gone far when he was seen by the 
berry thieves. 
The pickers were much nearer the ear 
than was the owner of the land, and they 
beat him to it. scrambling in and were 
away before he could secure accurately 
the desired information. The strawberry 
season is now over, and Van Duyne would 
not have objected, he says, to the people 
in the oar having a few of the berries 
which still remain, had they asked for 
them, and had they also been careful not 
to trample down the vines. 
The lieav,v showers of Saturday bad 
loft the ground soft, and the vines where 
stepped upon were crushed into the 
earth. One of the women’s feet got stuck 
in the mud. and the slipper remained 
there. Van Duyne says that lie is no 
judge of values in slippers, but he im¬ 
agines that that particular slipper cost 
several dollars, lie doesn’t want it. 
The strawberry patch owner, however, 
says lie would like to ask the slipper 
owner and the men who aecomnanied her 
on the berry raid wlmt is the difference 
in principle between the hold-ups of 
banks, paymasters, merchants, etc., than 
by hoodlums in autos and the robbing of 
farmers by people who claim respecta¬ 
bility. 
And he will get no answer, except pos¬ 
sibly a tirade against these "miserly 
farmers” who are all getting rich, and 
yet will not even give a berry to poor city- 
people! In the story book it was Miss 
Cinderella who gained home and husband 
by fitting her delicate foot into a slipper. 
The owner of this strawberry slipper is 
not likely to come back and show her foot 
in that berry field. If she did. it might 
be wise to try the slipper on her and 
make trial of a cowhide boot on her male 
companions. 
Legumes Growing in Beach Sand 
Along the esplanade at Manhattan 
Beach. Long Island, many varieties of 
legumes are growing in what is almost 
pure sand. Practically all of the section 
from the Oriental boulevard to the ocean 
was filled in a dozen years ago with ma¬ 
terial sucked from adjacent marshes, and 
was chiefly white sand. Tn order to see 
what would grow on such an inhospitable 
medium, apparently every variety of le¬ 
gume known to man was sown. I have 
casually noted the growth from year to 
year. At first it was spindliug and un¬ 
healthy. Later, through volunteer seed¬ 
ing, strains seem to have developed (com¬ 
bined, no doubt, with inoculation) that 
have produced a luxuriant growth , of 
clovers. Alfalfas, and Sweet clovers. I 
enclose a few specimens of what T under¬ 
stand to lie Alfalfa. This growth, right 
under the spray of old ocean, might 
change some of the current ideas respect¬ 
ing requirements for successful Alfalfa 
culture. a. c. 
New York. 
R. N.-Y,—The samples include Alfalfa 
and Alsike clover, all healthy and of good 
size. It would he hard to think of a less 
congenial place for Alfalfa than this dry 
and salty sand. As for Alsike. we have 
found it about the most adaptable of all 
the clovers. AVe should say’ that these 
plants have, through a scries of years. 
July 20, 1022 
slowly fitted into the conditions and made 
themselves at home. 
Quaker Families from Armenia 
I was informed that in 1915 there were 
115 Quaker families who came to this 
country from Armenia and settled in the 
State of Oregon, and in February, in 
19’22. there were 150 orphan children 
from Armenia brought over by Quakers 
and taken to Oregon, where an orphans’ 
home was erected with the aid of the Red 
Cross. Can you inform me regarding 
this? ,t. .T. w. 
There is evidently something -wrong 
about your information. The American 
Friends Service Committee of Philadel¬ 
phia. Pa., say that they- have worked in 
many fields abroad, but at no time in Ar¬ 
menia. They never heard of any families 
or orphaned children from that country 
being brought to this country by any relief 
organization. The Near East Relief is 
an organization having headquarters in 
this city. They never heard of any 
Quaker families in Armenia, and certain 
there has not been any large Quaker col¬ 
ony or community in that country. 
Quite a larg? number of Armenians in 
the past few years have come to the 
United States. In almost every case these 
people have been wives and children, or 
close relatives of other Armenians from 
the same region, who came to (his country 
before the war, and established them¬ 
selves ns residents. 
The immigration law forbids the en¬ 
trance of minor children of foreign na¬ 
tionalities unless accompanied by parent 
or legal guardian, or unless coming direct 
to such parent or guardian already estab¬ 
lished in this country. These immigrant 
laws would not make possible the move¬ 
ment of any large group of orphaned 
children. 
We find many rumors and stories afloat 
about such matters, and many of them 
under investigation prove to have little, 
if any, basis of facts. 
Getting Rid of Bats 
During the past few weeks we have 
had, among other letters a number of let¬ 
ters from people who say they have been 
greatly annoyed by bats. These bats have 
made their home or nest in the attic. 
They get in through some hole under the 
eaves or through some broken window, 
and then crawl far in. so that, it is almost 
impossible to get rid of them by any ordi¬ 
nary means. 
A bat is .one of the most persistent 
creatures in reference to leaving his home. 
There are many human beings who might 
well take n lesson in home-coming from 
the bat. except for their night habits. 
It becomes a great nuisance with these 
offensive creatures. They are ugly to 
look upon, and they foul the attic, so that 
living with them, or near them, is very 
disagreeable. Tf they can be driven out 
and someone can enter the attic and close 
up every possible hole, they would still 
come and fly around the house, making 
trouble in that way. 
Several of our readers report some 
success iu using burning sulphur. The 
sulphur is burnt inside the attic while the 
hats are at home. It will either drive 
them out or kill them. and. of course, 
their bodies must he thrown out and the 
entire attic cleaned, and then every hole 
through which they could possibly enter 
must he closed in some way. 
Tf any of our readers have had ex¬ 
perience in cleaning out these creatures, 
we would like to have them tell us how 
they did it. foi* it is a great nuisance, and 
where one has had no previous experience 
with bats it makes a difficult job to get 
them out. 
A Quick-growing Manure Crop 
Could 1 sow clover now (July 15) and 
have it large enough t«i plow under in 
September? I seeded down a piece this 
Spring. The grass came up well, but 
with all the rain the weeds gut the best of 
it. and killed the g.-ass out. T am going 
to plow the weeds under, and want to 
sow something that 1 can turn under in 
September and seed it down again. 
Northern New Jersey. F. c. s. 
You can seed Crimson clover at the 
middle of July and expect a fair crop in 
(10 days. No other clover would pay for 
that short period. We think cow peas 
or Soy beans in drill about 2 ft. apart 
will pay better. Buckwheat alone or 
buckwheat and turnips will make a heavy 
growth, or you can seed with buckwheat. 
Our owu choice would be cow peas or 
Soy beaus for this quick manure crop. 
