1903 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
129 
Hope Farm Notes. 
MOKB Ash Taxk.—I don’t seem to be able 
to get away from these fertilizer questions. 
Here is a Vermont man after me: 
"In Hope Farm Notes T. J. S. asks 
whether anyone has experience in top¬ 
dressing an old meadow with muriate of 
potash, and if wood ashes are more suit¬ 
able. I have no experience with muriate, 
but on old meadows in this vicinity a good 
lead of muck (30 bushels) with 20 to 25 
bushels of good unleached hard-wood ashes 
thoroughly mixed and spread, always gives 
good results for a number of years, in 
many instances doubling the crop each 
year for live years or more, and the first 
two years, if there was a good turf, giving 
IVi to two tons to the acre. The ashes alone 
would not give as good results. A good 
narrowing with rolling after would be an 
improvement, I think. This might not an¬ 
swer in Connecticut but in Vermont it is 
a good practice.” ii. b. h. 
Randolph, Vt. 
There are many general practices that 
ai-e as good in Connecticut as they are in 
California—though details may differ. 
When a farmer wishes to make a crop 
grow he sees that it is supplied with nitro¬ 
gen, potash and phosphoric acid, and that 
the soil is in such condition that the tiny 
bacteria are hajipy and contented. That is 
what our irieml did. His muck supplied 
nitrogen, while tlie ashes gave potash and 
phosphoric acid, and also lime, which 
"cooked” or sweetened the muck and thus 
made the nitrogen available. That explains 
why the ashes alone would not give such 
good results. That old meadow, like most 
others, is greatly in need of soluble nitro¬ 
gen. If he had put the raw muck on, right 
from the swamp, it would have been sev- 
eial years before the grass showed much 
if any increase. 
What do you mean by making the bac¬ 
teria “happy?” 
These old meadows are very rich in or¬ 
ganic matter or humus. The wise men 
have been telling us for years that this 
humus is the source of the soil's nitrogen. 
People want to know why, if ali this nitro¬ 
gen is stored away in the ground, these 
old meadows do not grow good grass. 
Here is nitrogen within their reach, yet 
they haven't sense enough to use it! They 
cannot use it because it is not in a form 
(lowing with it. It went on for awhile 
until one Sunday night the hired man sur¬ 
prised them all by standing up in church 
to say that he intended to lead a better 
life. Deacon Stone claimed in private that 
it was due to his wife’s custard pies, and 
in a way it was, but it was more the spirit 
of motherly love that went with the pie 
than the pie itself! That was what'affect- 
ed the hired man. It took the acid of evil 
out of his heart, and let the bacteria of 
good have a chance to work! I have had 
farmers sneer at these bacteria, and ask 
me if I ever saw one. I cheerfully answer 
that I never did, but in this as in some 
larger matters, I am willing to take the 
“evidence of things unseen.” 
The Old Folks.—T his man from Penn¬ 
sylvania has evidently thought of a promi¬ 
nent member of the Hope Farm family: 
“How is old Major? I have an old gray 
mare, 25 years old next Spring, that goes 
to a milk wagon nearly every day in the 
year. She is as nimble and quick as pow¬ 
der yet, fat as a pig.” 
Major can give the old mare several 
years. He is not as nimble ais he was, and 
likes to take his time about moving, but 
he is a faithful old beast if there ever was 
fine. His hind legs swell a little when he 
eats corn fodder, but he would make a good 
run for the doctor if it were necessary. 
There isn’t much work for the old fellow 
this Winter, but his feed doesn’t cost much, 
and while he lives he will have a warm 
stall at Hope Farm. Mid-Winter is often 
hard on an old horse. As the haymow gets 
low and the slats in the corncrib show the 
light, the usual plan is to let the old horse 
“gnaw air. ’ 'i’he young things are petted 
and kept fat, but the old fellows may take 
a back seat! None of that for me. Let 
children be brought up with that idea and 
first you know they will want to practice 
it on the old folks at the house! 
Farm Notes.—A rain in February makes 
a dismaj outlook, 'i'he ground is frozen, 
'i'he ram does not sink into the soil, but 
runs for the low places as though eager 
to get away from the farm. Such days 
ai'e gloomy, but they are only made worse 
by growling about them. It is a pleasure 
to me to see how well our open ditches 
work. Last year the water spread all over 
the lower fields and did quite a little dam¬ 
age. This year the ditches take the water 
politely in hand, as much as to say: “We 
are sorry to have you go, for we shall 
need you next August. Still, if you have 
an engagement elsewhere keep right in the 
path and don't walk on the grass!” . . . 
All our stock eat the yellow turnips 
readily. These roots come out of the pit 
in fine condition. We have quite a lot of 
parsnips. They are not relished by the 
stock, and bring very little money when 
sold. I have heard people tell of feeding 
which the gia«s can digest. It is organic ^ows.^bu^t ^our^ cattie^^ reject 
nitrogen, whiie they must have it in the j je^l quite sure that for several 
form of nitrates. Now the changes through years now there will be a fair demand for 
wood as fuel even when coal becomes 
which that nitrogen must go before the 
piants can use it, are brought about by 
bacteria or tiny creatures which tear the 
humus apart and maJee it over into new 
forms. The old meadows are sodbound 
and sour. The air does not enter freely, 
and acids abound. Under these conditions 
the bacteria die or stop working—just as 
you or 1 would if forced to make bricks not 
only w'ithout straw, but without clay. 
When a good coat of ashes is spread on a 
plentiful and cheap. ... I have decided 
to sell all but two cows, and put most of 
the money into hens. This is largely be¬ 
cause ■ we are planting so many trees that 
we cannot obtain good pasture. 1 do not 
think it pays us to cut and carry green 
fodder to the cows. Pigs and hens take 
better care of themselves than cows do. 
When I came to ask the boys which cows 
they would keep they promptly name Julia 
for first choice. In spite of her persistent 
kicking and general meanness they consider 
her the best cow in the barn! .... We 
have a yearling heifer from the old Jersey 
meadow the water carries the lime down cow from which we expected great things 
into the soil. This “sweetens” it or neu- -Her father is a ‘‘pedig^ed 
. I ■ ) .V. ^ .V, V, , ■ , posed to be very fine. Her mother as we 
trahzes the acid, so that the bacteria start a fine old cow. Yet this yearling 
at work, prepare the nitrogen into soluble ii? very inferior in size, shape and general 
forms, and the grass starts freely. A 
larger dressing of lime alone will often 
do this far better than the ashes, it is 
often not due to the potash or the phos¬ 
phoric acid ill the ashes, but to the lime 
appearance. Her two half sisters, daugh¬ 
ters of the old cow from a Holstein, are 
making fine young cows, but this yearling 
shows no promise. I shall fatten her for 
beef. This is too profound a problem in 
breetling for me. I was told that the cross 
with Holstein blood would not make a good 
which make the bacteria "happy”—that is, cbw, but that we should breed “straight.” 
gives the condition of the soil in which Jerser^lf ISf eS 
they like to work. them. True, she has not been tested, but 
i presume we have all observed cases there are Mgns e^en^in a calf^wWch^stamp 
where some cold old meadow was plowed. 
It turns up with big grass roots and seems 
“rich” in humus. We think it will give a. 
tremendous crop, but returns from the first 
season are often disappointing unless we 
use a fertilizer rich in soluble nitrogen. 
The next season this field may astonish 
us with its yield. 'I'he reason is, I think, 
that while the meadow had accumulated 
great stores of nitrogen it was so wet and 
sour that the bacteria could not work the 
humus over a.nd make it available. The 
airing and shaking up given it the first 
season sweetened the soil and set the bac¬ 
teria at w'ork. All soils need airing. 1 
think it a good plan to sow clover with 
Timothy, even though we know that the 
clover will die out in a few years. When 
the big clover roots die and decay they 
leaves holes through which air and water 
work down to keep the soil sweet and 
moist. It is well to remember these things 
because, sometimes, in using ashes or a 
fertilizer we give credit for results to the 
vi rong thing. 
It is not unlike the hired man who was 
brought back into the church. He was a. 
kindly man of naturally good Intentions, 
but nobody took interest in him, and he 
fell into evil habits. It was just because 
he felt that no one cared for him, and so 
he got careless—to the great scandal of 
the church members. At last he went tO' 
work for Deacon Stone. This good man 
ha,d a much better wife, who had lost her 
own son and made much of the hired man. 
She found that he was specially fond of 
custard pie, and she filled him to over- 
„ _ _ _ Charlie thinks the trouble 
is That the old cow is past her prime. 
H. w. c. 
44 Years 
in use. Improve¬ 
ments keep it al¬ 
ways the best. The 
Gahoon 
Broadcast 
Seeder 
sows all grains 
and grasses, 4 to 8 acres per hour. Saves seed. 
Always distinguished for uniform sowing. 
A BOOK ON SOWING: 
When, How, What, How much to sow. Practical 
information of great value to every sower. Hailed 
free for the asking. Send for it to^ay. 
Goodell Co» 14 Main St.Antrim,N.H. 
electric 
Handy Farm Wagons 
make the work easier for both the man and team. 
The tires being wide they donotcuti nto the ground; 
the labor of loading is reduced many times,because 
of the short lift. They are equipped with our fam- 
ons Electric Steel Wheels, eitherstraightor stag¬ 
ger spokes. 'Wheels any height from 24 to «0 inches. 
White hickory axles, steel hounds. Guaranteed to 
carry 4(W01bs, Why not get started right by putting 
In one of these wagons. Wo make our steel wheels 
to fit any wagon. rite for the catalog It Is free. 
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO.. BOX 8I« QUINCY, ILL. 
THE WEAR 
OF RUBBER BOOTS AND 
SHOES DEPENDS UPON 
THE RUBBER IN THEM. 
There is absolutely no wear in any of the other ingre¬ 
dients of which they are composed. Every time the 
qu ality of Rubber Boots and Shoes is reduced 10 per cent., 
the durability is reduced over 20 percent, because there is 
only one way to cheapen them, and that is to leave out 
Rubber and put in its place other things that have no 
wearing quality whatever. This cheapening process has 
been steadily going on for the past 40 years. 
rrxxc: 
BUCKSKiN BRAND 
OF RUBBER BOOTS AND SHOES 
are made of real rubber—and one pair of them 
will out w ear two paimof the standard first grades 
now on the market. Try a pair and be convinced. 
Made in Duck Boots, Duck rolled edge Overs for Socks, 
and Felt Boots and in Arctics and light rubber shoes. 
Insist on getting the BUCKSKIN BKAN'D. None gen¬ 
uine without the word BUCKSKIN on the top front of 
the legs of the hoots and the bottoms of the shoes. 
If your dealer does not keep them write us and we' 
see that you get them either through some 
dealer in your town or from us direct. 'We will 
also send you a very interesting catalogue 
profusely illustrated, which describes the mak¬ 
ing of Rubber Boots and Shoes from the gath¬ 
ering of the rubber to the finished goods. 
MONARCH RUBBER CO., 
80 Bridge Street, LAMBERTVILLE, N.J, 
FACTORY, ST. LOUIS, MO. 
I will 
NOT MADE BY A TRUST. 
An aetnal test of a 3-lnob 
strip cut from the sole of 
the Buckskin Boot. Note 
the elasticity and strength 
Only the best Rublier 
will Bland a te«t like this. 
Weight of boy and awing 
110 lbs. 
r 
r'ss? 
rakedhay_ 
mine 
old fashioned 
way. 
ii 
3e.| 
B\ 
m p 
m 
¥ 
IDEAL 
RAKES« MOWERS 
are used nowadays 
ly upid date farmers. 
PEERING DIVISION 
M'INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CO. 
•• OF AM ERICA 
’Ti‘ III,,' 1 !'■ ■ CHICAGO. U.SA 
DeiDAcn 
l^S^JIu^R^ESTJ 
The Price ia Right Too. 
Known the World Over. 
FARMERS’ $125 SAW MILL ^ 
Cute SOOO Feet Lumber a day ‘with ((nlr 4 h. 
Del/oaoh 'Variable Feed Saw Mills, ttolOOh. p., 
any price. DeLoaeh Mill Machinery, Planers, 
Shingle, I^th and Oom Mills, Wator Wheela, etc. 
DeLua^JHlUJMigg. O^B^OO AUanta, 6a. 
Handaumr^atalurnu fVea 1£ yea nt tUt eat aad 
■ HP 
I N/?.' 
r -— \»\ 
habb* ot pi per 
CLIMAX ENSILAGE »FODDER GUnEDS 
YOUR SILAGE will keep better if cut with the 
“CLIMAX.” You will require less help in your silo 
to pack it, and you can get at least one-third more into 
your silo than with any other. These things count 
with every business farmer. “CLIMAX” machines 
are made in various sizes—one of these sizes will suit 
you. Our catalogue is free for the asking. Write 
for one to-day to 
THE WARSAW-WILKINSON CO., 
WARSAW, N. Y. 
CAUTION! 
When, you are purchasing a 
ROOF'INC 
for your houses and outbuildings, he sure that the 
name “ RUBEROID” is stamped on every three 
feet of the material, as in the cut, throughout the 
full length of the roll. You will then know that 
you are getting the genuine Ruberoid Roofing, 
which has been the standard for Eleven Years, 
and not one of its poor imitations, Ruberoid 
is water-proof and fire-resisting. Never melts, rots 
or tears. Lasts for years. You can apply it 
yourself. Send for samples and Booklet K. 
V Address Dept. K, 
w THE STANDARD PAINT CO., 
(00 William Street, New York. 
