1903 
THE RXJRAI. NEW-YORKER. 
535 
Hope Farm Notes 
Hat Notes.—W hen T w.rote last week I 
was a little concerned about the hay. 
There we were past July 4 with only a 
little half-moldy clover in the barn and 
another rain starting in. It was not a 
brilliant outlook, but I ought to know by 
this time that it is not the outlook but the 
come-out that counts. Before noon on 
Monday the rain stopped. The sun came 
out in a business-like way, the wind swung 
off to the west, and between them they 
chased every cloud out of sight. We waited 
through the afternoon to be sure of it, but 
the wind grew stronger and by Tuesday 
you couldn’t find a fleece of a cloud any¬ 
where, and we started the mower and kept 
it running steadily. Every animal on the 
place took on new spirit at the click of the 
mower. Our barn friends have eaten dried 
rye as long as they want to. Even the 
"Bird” tried her best not to wheeze as she 
pulled the mower. I had made up my mind 
that we were sure to have a short hay 
crop, so I paid little attention to Charlie’s 
report that he ought to have a tedder to 
dry the “Clark” grass properly. I had to 
see the grass bunched up before I could 
realize that we have far more hay than we 
ever had before! I do not like to tell a big 
story, but sometimes in spite of all you can 
do the truth assumes large size. We have 
one field of a little over an acre. It is an 
orchard of Greening apples, with the trees 
headed high. While we have no platform 
scales, and thus cannot tell just how much 
hay came out of it, I am sure it was close 
to three tons. This hay will bring $20 any¬ 
way, and probably $25 a ton. We have also 
fed and sprayed these trees, and they are 
covered with fine fruit, worth at least $75 
more. We have also put nitrate of soda on 
and will have a good second crop of hay. 
Every meadow on the farm has gone far 
ahead of expectations, and thus far the hay 
has gone to tho barn in splendid condition. 
I.ast year nearly every pound was more or 
less damaged. It is wonderful how much 
better everyone feels to handle a fine crop 
and think that an hour’s work counts for 
double the time spent over a poor field and 
a thin yield. 
Grass in Orchards.—How do you account 
for this good yield? 
There are several reasons for it. Last 
Fall we gave the orchard a good coat of 
manure and about 400 pounds of iron slag. 
'Tills Spring we put on 300 pounds of corn 
fertilizer and 200 pounds nitrate of soda. 
You will say that such feeding ought to 
bring grass anywhere, but that is not so, 
for I have put even more plant food on 
an old meadow, and in a better season than 
lliis, cut a poor crop of hay. Fertilizer will 
not reseed a worn-out meadow, nor will it 
turn weeds into good grass. There is no 
sense whatever in putting fertilizer or 
manure on a meadow unless the seeding 
is good. 
You think then that Mr. Clark is right 
in preparing such a fine seed bed and using 
.so much seed? 
I feel sure of it, though it has taken 
several years to convince me. The first 
year with this Clark grass seeding is quite 
sure to be disappointing. The grass comes 
up thick, but does not look right. The 
usual reason for this is that we do not feed 
it properly. We have twice the number of 
gr.ass plants, and put on no more fertilizer 
than usual. I never could make the Clark 
method pay until I piled on the plant food, 
and especially nitrate of soda. I am satis¬ 
fied that next to a close and full seeding, 
the use of nitrate of soda in the Spring is 
the key to successful grass culture in the 
East. When hay is worth as much as it 
is with us it pays to throw the fertilizer on. 
All our meadows are now well seeded, and 
we used a heavy dressing of a fertilizer 
rich in nitrogen. When the late rains camo 
that fertilizer was available right away. 
*nd that was what made our hay crop. Of 
course I know that many readers will say 
that this heavy use of fertilizer cannot 
pay. Of course it would not pay on rich 
prairie land where hay will bring barely 
$10 per ton, but here we are on land that 
has been cropped for nearly 200 years, and 
where hay brings $20 or more. It Is the best 
sort of business to use $5 worth of fertilizer 
and thus obtain $20 worth of hay! 
I want to add that the good crop of hay 
in that apple orchard was obtained under 
hard conditions. The soil is about the poor¬ 
est of grass land. In parts of the field a 
solid ledge of rock comes to within 18 inches 
of the surface. The soil bakes like a brick 
in dry weather. The trees interfere with 
the grass—in fact it is against all our ideas 
of farming to cut grass and haul It out of 
an orchard. I believe in the mulch method 
within reasonable limits, but I haven’t got 
to the point where I can let $60 worth of 
hay lie on the ground and rot. With $15 
I can buy more plant food than the grass 
contains and after making a fair profit 
feeding the hay to boarding horses we can 
haul the manure back to tho orchard using 
forest leaves for bedding. But whatever 
is done with the grass if a man is to try 
to grow It at all he ought to make up his 
mind to use plenty of seed and fe^d. 
Cow Peas Behind.— Prof. C. D. Smith, of 
the Michigan Agricultural College, sends 
me this note: 
“On your recent visit to the Station farm, 
much comment was Indulged in concerning 
the value of the cow peas; since that visit, 
in middle of June, the Soy beans have out¬ 
grown the cow peas at least eight and 
probably on the average, 10 to one.” 
1 am aware that many of the scientific 
men regard the Soy bean as far superior 
to the cow pea. Under some conditions I 
w,lll admit this, but in the great majority 
of cases I still think the cow pea will prove 
most satisfactory. I was not able to grow 
even a fair crop of Soy beans until I 
brought some soil from Massachusetts, 
where the beans had been grown, and 
scattered it in the drill with the beans. I 
also found it necessary either to use strong 
ground or add manure or fertilizer. A 
scientific man or a well-to-do farm.er may 
afford to do this, but a poor farmer on thin 
land must have something adapted to his 
conditions, and the cow pea can adapt It¬ 
self to anything. I did not study the cow 
pea on a small plot of strong soil, but 
first on poor light soH in Delaware and then 
on much poorer soil on my own farm. 
Prom my experience I would liken the Soy 
bean to a workman who is capable of doing 
fine work, provided he has all the tools 
required or plenty of capital to buy what 
is needed. The cow pea, on the other hand, 
seems like a man who is capable of doing 
a neat job with p'lor tools and few con¬ 
veniences. A farmer must decide for him¬ 
self which he wants to hire. The cow pea 
has done better work for us as we are sit¬ 
uated. I would not think of sowing Soy 
beans in that tough and barren piece of 
ground around my hoghouse, but the cow 
peas are doing well there. 
Unwelcome Strangers.—As I wjlte there 
are 18 humans at Hope Farm and too many 
brutes for a busy man to count. 'This farm 
is a haven, not so much of rest as of health¬ 
ful exercise for all sorts of friends, from old 
Kate down to the cat that we -were asked 
to board. I have heard that tramps put 
a certain chalk mark on the gate post at 
houses where they strike a square meal 
without a round of work, and perhaps there 
is some sign on our post which animals 
recognize. At any rate they seem to head 
for us. The other day the little boys went 
to town on an errand, and in some way 
picked up a little dog. They claim that he 
followed them without any invitation, but 
I question that. As they came up the road 
the procession would have given a dozen 
themes to poets or story writers. Johnnie, 
scarred with brands and harness marks, 
came shuffling along the road. His best 
days are gone, after a lively life, but he 
knows that Hope Farm will shelter him 
to the last. The Graft was driving, and in 
the dust behind the wagon trotted the little 
homeless dog, one yellow ear standing 
fecfflly up and the other flapping down over 
his eye. Other dogs ran out and barked or 
growled at him, but he never glanced at 
them, but trotted on after the wagon as 
though he recognized kindred spirits in 
Johnnie and the Graft. He was not far 
wrong either. I wanted to drive the little 
fellow off at once, but that was easier said 
than done. He just wouldn’t go, and who 
is going to kick or pound a little bundle of 
nerves and bones that runs up against the 
children for protection? The little boys feci 
him and played with him until they went 
to bed, and then the fun began. The dog 
was homesick and he howled so mournfully 
that oven Shep forgot his dignity and joined 
him. You may have heard some homesick 
animal give voice to its heart hunger in the 
night. It is the saddest of all sounds. 
You think among other things that in spite 
of all that you have gathered at your home 
it still does not satisfy the one who mourns. 
That little howling dog giving vent to his 
grief in the midst of our peaceful and happy 
home gave a fellow strange thoughts in 
the darkness. Though he kept us stirred 
up till past midnight, and woke up the 
baby, I could understand just how he felt. 
In some way Shep got him to quiet down 
before morning, and then we sent the little 
boys out to find his home. They dame back 
with the report that he belonged to a saloon 
keeper and was “awful glad” to get back 
home. So it appears that some will howl 
at Hope Farm and jump for joy when 
brought home to a saloon. Well, one must 
be a philosopher, and also realize that truly 
“there’s no place like home,” though the 
“vldonce of it may sadly upset the theorv 
of an amateur temperance reformer. . . . 
Our little boys lead some strange guests 
to Hope Farm. 'They had at one time a 
great collection of turtles, but they forgot 
to care for them until we found them at 
the door of starvation. Then I set the 
awkward things free, and they were nearly 
graceful in the rush they made for free¬ 
dom. No more turtles for little boys who 
do not care for them! h. w. c. 
AN OHIO Pia BREEDER TALKS. 
I raise purebred Berkshires, selling my 
surplus stock for breeders. The care and 
feed that will make a good breeder will 
also make a good feeder. In the first place 
I would waste no time or feed by using 
scrub sires. Purebred hogs are so cheap 
that no one can afford to use any other. 
If you wish good-sized litters of strong 
growthy pigs, do not breed young sows to 
farrow under one year old. Earlier than 
this will only result In checking their 
growth. I give my brood sows the run of 
a pasture field the year around. It is in¬ 
deed a cold day when they will not take a 
ramble. I believe that exercise is essential 
in order to have satisfactory results. The 
sows are fed on a little grain the year 
around, mostly corn in the Winter, about 
five ears apiece three times a day; in Sum¬ 
mer two o’r three ears to a feed, except 
when suckling pigs, then their ration is 
mostly mill feed. By following this plan 
my sows generally raise from nine to 12 
pigs twice a year. There* is one registered 
sow on the farm that has farrowed and 
raised 12 pigs a number of times, and In 
six months she is on hand with another 
batch. When a sow has farrowed feed very 
lightly the first few days, as over feeding 
will produce more milk than the youngsters 
can take, causing caked udder. In cold 
weather one must look out for thumps. To 
avoid this make the little fellows take exer¬ 
cise, even if one has to get in the nest at 
feeding time, and with a whip make them 
run around. When they are three weeks 
old provide them with a little trough and 
feed; they will soon learn to eat. I wean 
at eight weeks of age, feeding skim-milk, 
o-ud kitchen slops, thickened with wheat 
middlings, also a little corn. Pigs can be 
made to gain one pound of dressed meat 
per day from birth t-o six or nine months 
of age. But in the first place it is necessary 
to have good growthy sire and dam, that 
will Impart a vigorous constitution and 
good feeding qualities to their offspring. 
When the weather is favorable I would let 
pigs have the range of a small pasture 
field; it seems to do them good to get to 
the ground. I would give them a little salt 
and ashes occasionally, also some coal; It 
is surprising how much coal pigs will eat 
if given the opportunity. If one is obliged 
to keep them confined in Winter feed a 
little clover hay and corn fodder; they will 
eat it with a relish. If there are any 
symptoms of stomach worms, feed a little 
copperas once a day for three days, then 
omit three days and repeat, p. e. clark. 
Medina, O. 
CORK KiRVESTING 
Done— 
Fueter, 
Kaaler, 
_ Ckeaper 
by using the BADGER CORN HARVESTER than by 
any other known method. Do not wait, investigate 
now! Address I. Z. AtERRlAM, Whltewatert WU. 
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