1903 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i93 
Hope Farm Notes. 
A PiQ Stort.— When old Hugha passed 
Into pork we closed the first chapter of our 
Berkshire breeding. She was our “founda¬ 
tion stock.” She Wias old when we bought 
her and we kept her nearly two years. She 
gave us only three litters. The account, 
now closed, stands as follows; 
246 lbs. pork at 7 cents.$17.22 
Pigs sold and eaten. 69.00 
Pigs on hand. IS.UO 
$104.22 
Her total cost, including feed, was $50. I 
make no cash charge for the turnips, 
apples and other refuse which Hugha con¬ 
sumed. They had no real cash value—that 
It, we could not have sold them for cash. 
She gave us good value in the manure and 
in working over a v'ast amount of rough- 
age and bedding into plant food. I do not 
print this to tell aaiy big story—indeed it 
is a very small story by the side of what 
others can tell. I ought to credit this ac¬ 
count with about $40 worth of experience, 
for old Hugha taught us many things 
about a hog. We had no business to buy 
an old sow. It does not pay—I would not 
do it again. We let her get too thin with 
her last litter, so that wdien we tried to 
fatten her for slaughter it required too 
much feed to round her frame out. Unless 
an animal is extra good it does not pay to 
keep her too long. We should have had 
another litter from Hugha, and we did not 
handle her first pigs to the best advantage. 
The chief fault of this sow was her habit 
of dropping very small litters. Her daugh¬ 
ters have much the same fault. With 
what WiB now know about pigs I am satis¬ 
fied that 1 could buy another sow like 
Hugha and in two years show a balance 
of $74 where we now show $54. 
Farm Prans.— Alarch came in this year 
like a full grown sheep. The big snow, was 
all washed off the hills and most of the 
frost out of the ground. A cold snap fol¬ 
lowed which put part of the frost back 
again. It is Iiigh time we laid our sea¬ 
son's plans if we ever expect to hatch out 
results. We have tried to make our plans 
as simple as possible. They are all based 
upon the genei-al scheme of turning Hope 
Farm into a fruit plantation as rapidly as 
convenient. We intend to plant apple, 
peach and iJlum trees on the hills, and 
strawberries, bush fruits and onions on 
the iower ground. Near the house is an 
orchard of large, old-fashioned trees. We 
have it seeded to clover and Orchard grass. 
We are putting a wire fence around it, and 
expect to pasture 25 good shotes in it 
llirough the Summer. They will take care 
of tlie fallen apples and grass. Two fields 
above is another orchard of younger trees. 
Last year we grew corn and pumpkins 
among these trees and sowed CrimsoA 
clover and turnips among the corn without 
cultivating in August. I am now surprised 
to find a good stand of clover, in this field. 
We expect to enclose it with chicken wire 
and attempt to build up a good flock of 
hens. I shall sell two and perhaps three 
of the cows and put part of the money into 
chickens. We shall have a chance to com¬ 
pare the hen and the hog as an orchard 
keeper. The young trees on the hill, plant¬ 
ed last Fall, are mostly growing in a last 
year’s cornfield with rye seeded among 
tliem. We expect to cut most of this rye 
and throw it around the trees. I^eaving a 
space four feet around the trees we shall 
plow tlie middles and sow fodder corn and 
cow peas in drills, using plenty of ferti¬ 
lizer. Our little nursery will be kept clean 
and budded at the proper time. We expect 
to grow only potatoes enough for our own 
use this year, as we are satisfied that our 
soil is not ada.pted to this crop. In place 
of potatoes we expect to put in at least 
l,50o poles of Lima beans and a good-sized 
area in transplanted onions. The straw¬ 
berries are wintering well and we expect 
to double our area in this crop. One l^w 
field on the lower part of the farm has al¬ 
ways been an eyesore to me. It is a dish¬ 
ing field of perhaps two acres which has 
caught the wash from upper fields. We 
have cut most of the water off and now 
intend to open ditches this Spring, cut one 
crop of hay, and thezi plow and plant late 
cabbage. We can then, I think, get it into 
ideal shape for Gandy and Alarshali straw¬ 
berries. I cannot find a spire of Alfaifa 
tliis season, though it may show up later. 
We expect to try it again on a field now 
covered by rye. We have a good acreage 
well seeded in grass and it will all be top- 
dressed heavily with fertilizer. In fact, I 
mean to feed every crop on the farm better 
this year than we have ever done before. 
Our manure has been kept well and we 
shall throw on the fertilizer with a liberal 
hand. I am ashamed to say that it re¬ 
quires considerable courage to feed a crop 
as we know it ought to be fed. In spite 
of all we can do some of us continue to 
think that a crop ought to take care of it¬ 
self and we hold back the manure or ferti¬ 
lizer even though we know it is needed. In 
our country the grass responds quickly to 
Spring fertilizing, and hay brings such a 
price that it pays to crowd the crop hard. 
Some Mistakes.—I am now satisfied that 
I made one when I built the hoghouse. 
Some practical farmers advised me not to 
do it, but I needed to have the conviction 
rubbed in. Small portable houses, with the 
sows and their pigs out in the grass and 
clover, are much better. I am emptying 
the hoghouse and shall use it for brooding 
chickens this Summer, and probably tear 
it down in the Fall to make over into a 
henhouse. In theory the large house with 
the hogs herded together is very fine-in 
practice it develops many objectionable 
features. . . . Perhaps I should not call 
It a “mistake,” but it seems clear that with 
us Fall litters of pigs do not pay as weil 
as the Spring litters. We have no skim- 
milk, and must buy most of our grain. The 
cold weather is not the best time for mak¬ 
ing growth or meat. The Spring pigs can 
run in the orchards and in the clover, and 
pick up half their feed, while the Fall pigs 
have a nose in your pocketbook all through 
the Winter. With us the argument is all 
with the Spring pigs. ... I have made 
a mistake in letting the mulch remain 
thick around our little peach trees this 
Winter. The mice burrowed under it and 
gnawed the trees. No serious damage has 
been done, for we discovered it in time and 
pulled the mulch away. Near some of these 
trees mice or other vermin have dug holes 
under the mulch. These will ha.ve to be 
closed and stamped down. If we can catch 
the animal inside and keep him there we 
shall have “organic nitrogen” enough for 
the trees. This mulch had been around the 
trees all Summer. Another year I shall 
move it away in November. The apple 
trees set last Fall had the earth rounded 
up about them and a coat of manure put 
around so as to leave a little fringe of 
bare ground at the base of the tree. Not 
one of these trees has been touched by the 
mice. u. w. c. 
The R. N.-Y., page 127, tells of removing 
pine needles to help grass under pine trees. 
Some years ago a friend returning from 
Saratoga told with admiration of the beau¬ 
tiful turf under an evergreen grove at 
Judge Hilton’s place. He said the needles 
were kept constantly raked off. R. t. 
Somers, N. Y. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
"a square deal.” See guarantee, 14th page. 
■PUE* Ilf P fl n OF RUBBER BOOTS AND 
I H t W P IIK S^OES DEPENDS UPON 
■ lib IV bmiTHE RUBBER IN THEM. 
There is absolutely no wear in any of the other ingre¬ 
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quality of Rubber Boots and Shoes is reduced 10 per cent., 
the durability is reduced over 20 per cent, 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. 
rrxxE: 
OF KUBBFR BOO’FS AND SHOES 
are made of real rubber—an<l one pair of them 
will outw ear two pairiz of t lie Htanclard lirzO grradeN 
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 BUCKSKliV BUAM). A'one gen¬ 
uine without the word IIUCKSKIA' on the top front of 
the legs of the hoots and the hottoins of the shoes. 
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profusely illustrated, which describes the inak- 
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An actual testof a 2-ineh 
atrip cut from the sole of 
the Buckskin Boot. Note 
the elasticity and strength 
Only the best Rubber 
will stand a test like this. 
Wei ght of boy and swing 
110 lbs. 
80 Bridge Street, LAMBERTVILLE, N.J, 
FACTORY, ST. LOUIS, MO. 
NOT MADE BY A TRUST. 
WATER. 
If yon want water only when the wind blows a windmill will do your work 
and cost less money than our Rider and Ericsson Hot-Air Pumps, but if you want 
water every day wbile your flowers are growing and do not want your pump blown 
down when the wind blows too hard, no pump In the world can equal ours. We 
have sold about 20,000 of them during the past twenty-Mve years, which Is proof 
that we are not making wild statements. 
Our Catalogue “C 4” will tell you all about them. Write to nearest store, 
Rider-Ericsson Engine Company, 
35 Warren St.. Nkw York. 692 Craig St.. Montreai,. P. Q. 40 Dearborn St., CniCAOo. 
239 Franklin St., Boston. Tenlento-Key 71, Havana. Cuba. 40 N.Tth St., P:hi,ai>ki.phia. 
22 PlttSt., SvuNKY, N.8. W. 
TELEPHONES 
For Farmers’ Lines. 
Organize an exchange in your community. Full 
particulars gladly furnished. Catalogue free. 
; THE NORTH ELECTRIC CO., 152 St. Clair St., 1 
CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
Uniform Sowing. 
4 to 8 acres per hour,an ving 
ono-third the seed. The 
CAHOON 
BROADCAST SEEDER 
has been the choice of broad¬ 
casters nearly fifty years. 
Important late Improve¬ 
ments. Sows all grasses and 
grains. Fully described in new bock, a 
Sower's Manual, 
with whule subject of seeding derol* 
cped. Kvery farmer ebculd hare It. 
Free. W rite for copy. 
Goodell Co., 14 Main St., Antrim, N. H. 
YOU CAN DODGE OBSTRUCTIONS 
and make sure, thorough work in the corn held with the 
RFFH "axIe Cultivatos'. 
■ Everything easily and perfectly con* 
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rows. Unapproached for ease of handling and exact duty. 
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REED MFG. CO., Kalamazoo, Mich. 
MAKE MONEY 
poliing iitQxnpM, grab*, 
A&d clearinr for yooiw 
i&d others. Horenka 
Puller to tko IhsU 
PS Cinienrllle, la. 
Bo. 8 ^ 
Iron Ago 
Combined 
Doable 
MDtl Sloglo 
Wheel 
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Hill and 
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Seeder S 
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and Single 
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and garden implements that have grown 
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were first 
and are still - 
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ytz they will save you. ^ 
yWMrt L The new Iron Age Book, full**. 
jy of interest for every farmer 
gariiener, iu Free. 
BATEMAN MFG. CO. 
Box lO^i, Orcnlocli, N, J* 
No. 6 
Iron Age 
^ Horse Hoo 
aniiCuilirator 
No. 12 ^ 
Iron Age 
Wheel Plow 
ami Cultivator 
No. 60. 
Iron Age 
PUot 
Wheel 
Cultivator 
Improved- 
Kubblns 
Potato Planter 
Sizes 
3 T013 1-2 Fkkt. 
Agents 
Wanted 
Pulverizing Harrow 
Clod Crusher and Leveler 
SENT ON TRIAL 
To be returned at my expense if not satisfactory. 
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crushes, cuts, pulverizes, 
turns and levels all 
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Catalog and Booklet, “An Ideal Harrow,'' by Henry Stewart, mailed free. 
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Address DUANE H. NASH. 50LE MANUFACTURER - MILLINGTON, NEW JERSEY. 
HAWKEYE STUMP PULLER... 
Pulls an ordinary grub in 1' minutes. 
Pulls either standing 
— _ ^—- - Tlmber^or Stumps. 
Makes a Clean Sweep of Two Acres at a SitUngm 
A man a bov and a horse can operate it. No heavy chains or rods to himdle. You cannot longer afford 
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monials, also full information concerning our I. X. L. Grubber, Iron Giant Grub and Stump 
riachine, 2«horse Hawkeye and other appliances for 
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_ Address 
..^ , fl60 -T , 
MllUE MFO CO.. 8th ST. MONMOUTH.lLL. SHETLAND PONY Catalogue.'^^^'-^' 
