1903 
79i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Hope Farm Notes 
Home Advertising.—I have always be¬ 
lieved that most farmers neglect front- 
yard advertising. The chances are that 
right in your neighborhood there are people 
who want what you have to sell. Things 
are often wasted or fed out. or carted off 
to an unprofitable market, when some one 
within five miles of the farm would pay 
a good price for them if he only knew they 
were to be had. We have sold many 
things by putting a sign at the front of 
the farm. We usually have a blackboard 
for this, but the Madame uses that in her 
school now, and so, when the onions were 
leady, Philip tacked a sign on the big 
cherry tree—as is shown on page 787, Fig. 
295. A good bunch of onions was tied under 
it. That sign caught the eye from the 
start. The rural mail carrier, the baker 
and the butcher all bought onions and 
carried them around on their wagons to 
spread the news. Neighbors came and 
bought by the bushel, and people who live 
miles away drive to the farm for a supply. 
Some were led to buy apples in this way. 
There was a harvest home festival at the 
church and the boys carried a peach basket 
filled with big bulbs. It sold for 75 cents, 
and drew customers from far beyond the 
river. Everyone who bought went around 
telling about the great size of these onions. 
I fear the story was magnified as it passed 
from mouth to ear, until very few onioi-s 
were recjuired to fill a bushel basket 
People always do that about a thing that 
satisfies them, but they may be expected 
to do the other thing with great energy 
when they are disappointed in what they 
buy. Never under any circumstances put 
up a public sign for poor goods unless 
you are prepared just about to give them 
away. The man who buys from this sort 
of advertising always expects a bargain, 
either in price or quality—and he has a 
right to. Now that the onions are all 
gone I am going to try the experiment 
of advertising apples in the same way. I 
e.xpect to hang a few of our choice Green¬ 
ings and Baldwins in an open net under 
the sign. This will be a good test, for 
most people here have apples, while few 
have onions. We also show a picture of 
Philip and some of the onions at Fig. 2!)(). 
The baskets shown are the packages in 
which most of our fruit is shipped. We 
have not used a barrel this year. These 
baskets are called “scant half barrel”— 
they hold about live pecks, and are strong 
eneugh for ordinary shipment. Now and 
then one of them will be broken. We sent 
one basket of apples by express to New 
York. The customer said the top was 
broken in and part of the apples gone. He 
claims that the expressman and his horse 
are members of the Apple Consumers’ 
Ceague! I have been told that before you 
can put a new package on the market 
you must expect to give away one in five 
for advertising purposes. I hope that 
Hope Farm has put apple on the tongue 
of horse and man so that it will stick! 
Ditching.- There are two low fields at 
the lower part of the farm that are well- 
night useless. The water stands there and 
the soil is soggy and sour. This Fall we 
are making a big effort to drain them 
liiopcrly. I like to work in a ditch. I did 
hits of ditching when I was a young man, 
and 1 do not know of any farm job that 
promises more of what I call the spirit of 
farming. This may seem ridiculous to the 
man who crawls out of the ditch at nia'” 
with stiffened hands and back and well 
plastered with mud. To him the ditch is 
merely a horrible hole in the ground, 
where evil spirits have put pain in his 
joints and perhaps a cold in his head. 
That is one way to look at it, but there 
is another also. Here this old field has 
been for years hoarding the strength from 
the hills. Like a miser’s pocket, it has 
been stuffed with wealth belonging to 
others, which it has tied up so that no 
one is benefited. When a man taps a 
miser’s hoard so that humanity is helped 
by it we call him a good citizen. In a 
smaller way the farmer who drains a 
stagnant field, letting the water out and 
the air and sunshine in. compels one of 
nature’s misers to be liberal. When I 
work in that ditch I do not think that I 
am merely lifting mud on my shovel, but 
I like to look ahead and realize what the 
field will be as a result of this work. When 
this water is drained out we shall have 
a chance to work and cultivate this field. 
All the wealth of fertility which now lies 
there inert will be roused and made avail¬ 
able in corn, in clover, in onions or straw¬ 
berries. Instead of a sour and sullen 
swamp that would drive a boy away from 
a farm it may, when well drained, hold 
him to It, for he will have a hand in Na¬ 
ture’s pocketbook. I like to think of these 
things in the ditch. This is what I call 
the spirit of agriculture, for every shovel¬ 
ful of mud is not a mere dead weight, but 
a little step toward freedom for that field. 
No sense of mastery is sweeter than thai 
which conies to a man when he knows 
that he has saved a field or farm—mas- | 
tered it when others failed, and made it | 
more productive. 
I must admit that one needs something 
of this sort to keep him at this ditch with 
a cheerful heart. Some one seems to have 
tried it years ago, and they did just 
wrong thing. They dug a ditch where the 
drain ought to go, and filleci it up with 
round stones. The sand and mud have 
sifted in . between, and clogged this so- 
called drain so that now we are obliged 
to dig the stones out. Posterity has never 
own life that we will not surrender, even 
though troubles and sorrows are tied fast 
to it. That being so I feel that it is better 
to try to brighten up that part of life 
which we will not separate from, and 
belittle the troubles. Now, some one will 
start up and ask if this easy-talking man 
is able to do this thing! Not always. 1 
fear. When the leaves are falling and the 
first afternoon shadows come over the 
hills, and the crows are circling over th^ 
wood, it is hard for an old fellow some¬ 
times to say that philosophy is better 
than boyhood, and yet the boy takes only 
the froth of life after all. The best is eyer 
beyond! h. w. c. 
done a thing for me. but there are two 
things I never will leave behind me—a 
stone drain with the stones all piled in 
together, and a field with the stones raked 
into each furrow and plowed under. Some 
people advise this game of plowing a deep 
furrow, raking it full of stones, and then 
turning another furrow on top. The man 
who gives such advice ought to be made 
to plow about 10 acres of such land. If 1 
had him I would see that he did it, or that 
he dug holes for apple trees on the field 
where years ago some one tried his plan. 
Farm Notes.— We spent election day as 
usual planting apple trees on the hill. 
Each year catches us casting our ballots 
in this way. We cut back top and root 
as usual, and planted in small holes cut 
in a sod with a spade, with the soil firmly 
stamped around the roots. Fall planting 
has been successful with us, though some 
neighbors heel t.he trees in and wait until 
Spring. I cannot see where anything is 
gained by this. The hill, when we were 
done planting, looked like a field with 
slakes driven in all over it, for we cut 
tops back severely. I will try to tell in 
some detail our method of planting with 
some pictures showing more about it than 
rrds can tell.Since the flood 
vve have had line weather. 'There have 
been two hard pinches of frost, but out¬ 
door work has been comfortable. The 
apples are in the cellar, the trees are all 
planted and now we have corn-husking, 
ditching and cabbage-cutting to end the 
season. We can hire the steam engine for 
a couple of days and have the cornstalks 
shredded and the wood sawed. I shall 
feed out the shredded fodder as early in 
the season as possible this year—beginning 
late in November. A pound of this fodder 
in early December goes farther than three 
pounds in March.'The people 
who laughed at my bad bargain on tin 
thick-winded horse "Bird” should see her 
now. She is working with Frank on the 
big reservoir. Charlie took the horses to 
work there for the Winter. Old Bird 
puffs and wheezes, but she hauls the dirt. 
It is hard work for a horse to follow the 
big grading plow, and heavy feeding is 
necessary. While at this job each of our 
big horses gets half a bushel of oat’s anu 
a peck of ground oats and corn and 15 
pounds of hay per day. 'That is strong 
feeding, but with the heavy work required 
of them they find use for it all. 'They art- 
earning $4.5u per day, and if anyone thinks 
lliat man or beast has what is known ai 
a "snap” when working at such a job ht 
is likely to have something snap to reminu 
him of his error. You earn every cent yoi 
get at such a job, but old Bird is "doing 
noble” as some of our folks say. 
i paid $15 for Billy Berk when he was a 
little fellow. 'The grain which he con¬ 
sumed cost as nearly as I can figure ii 
about $16. When sold as pork the othei 
day he brought $24.75—a fine, blocky car¬ 
cass. 'The Berkshires are certainly line 
luiimals when they have anything of a 
chance. I have heard of several families 
of Berks which usually give large litters. 
'That is the blood I am after when 1 stock 
up again.As an experiment nexi 
year I am thinking of buying a few fair¬ 
sized western sholes for pasturing. I And 
that quite small pigs are often fqund in 
the stock yards in Jersey City and sob 
at a fair price. 'The weak point with us 
in raising our own pigs is a lack of skim- 
milk. Just after weaning the little pig 
does better if he can have even a small 
quantity of milk. We can make a fair 
substitute by using a mixture of corn- 
meal, shorts and bran, but I must admit 
that the pig will make a more even 
growth if he has milk. I want to see il 
I can buy pigs entirely past this milk stag' 
and run them on my pastures with profit 
'The great danger I presume is from 
cholera, which I have never had on the 
place, and that alone makes me hesitate. 
Our best pigs are those which run with 
the sow all Summer. That helps the pigs, 
but it’s rough on the sow. 
'The Closing Scene.— I presume there 
are many of us who might easily find 
reasons for saying what this good friend 
says: 
"'Truly, this has been a year almost to 
discourage anyone; a fellow can’t be 
blamed for having a sort of an ex-dividend 
look on his face; at times when I am not 
well, I feel that I am getting more thar 
my share of the tough steak and small 
potatoes of this life; but when I stop to 
balance up things, I see I haven’t much 
cause to complain.” 
We must remember that after all there 
is just about as much nourishment in 
"tough steak and small potatoes” as in 
anything else—if we can only get at It. 
It doesn’t make so much difference what 
sort of food we have—for body or mind— 
it’s the way we dispose of it that counts! 
Our vegetarian friends may not agree wit' 
this, and I am willing to let them have 
their own opinion. We all have our 
troubles and doubts. They are most likely 
to come in times of sickness, or at what 
we call the close of the year, when even 
the wild animals realize that the hardest 
part of life is at hand. Yet there is not 
one of us who would make a complete 
change of lot with another person, even 
if wo could do so. We might like to take 
health from one. wealth from another and 
so on. but there is something about our 
Horse Owners Know 
trom long experience la treating such charao 
terlstlo ailments of the horse as Spavins, Rina* 
bones. Splints, Curbs and all forms of Lama* 
ness that the one reliable remedy Is 
Kendall's Spavin Cure. 
FcrndslAp Wftth.|D«o. 17| '09* 
Pt. B. Jt StndsU Co.f 
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jour book TrotUte on tbo Hone end bU Bll* 
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In our logging oempa end elio on our light harneil 
bonee, end it bee cured tuAnj hortee for ui. W$ 
went n book for esoh oei^. Thenklog jou la ed« 
tenoe. we ere, Tourt truly, 
J. W. DAVIS*SON. 
Priee $ 1 1 six for $5« As a liniment for famllyr 
use It Das no equal. Ask your drnggrlst for Ken* 
dall'e Spavin Cure, also **A Treatia# on tha 
Horae,'* the book free, or address 
DR. B. J. KENDALL CO., ENOSIURQ FALLS, VT. 
New fancy light¬ 
ings may come for 
the house, but the 
lantern must con¬ 
tinue to be carried 
until there’s an end 
of the plain home 
duties. That’s never. 
Important, then, to 
get a good lantern. 
DIETZ 
LANTERNS 
lead all others in pop¬ 
ularity. That’s be¬ 
cause of convenience 
in tilling, lighting, 
extinguishing and 
trimming. Because 
they are absolutely safe. 
Because of their clear, 
bright, steady light. Be¬ 
cause they never blow 
out. Sold by local deal¬ 
ers. Before buying send 
for our free lantern 
book to make your 
choice. 
R.E. DIETZ COMPANY. 
87 LalghtSt.iNewt’orb 
Bstablished 1840, 
Don’t buy Poultry Food 
of any kind unless it contains the ele¬ 
ments that will produce a good quan¬ 
tity of tough shelled, rich yolked eggs, 
as such eggs keep better and sell bet¬ 
ter. Something can’t be made from 
nothing. A hen cannot make eggs 
that are full of meat without being 
fed on meat or its equivalent, and it 
takes bone to furnish shell material 
and give strength to the system. 
Animal Meal 
is a bone and meat ration, and fur¬ 
nishes to laying hens and growing 
chicks the easily digested food, rich 
in albumen, which they need to make 
eggs and keep in healthy condition. 
It is a rich egg-producing and bone¬ 
forming food, thoroughly cooked,—a 
complete substitute for all other ani¬ 
mal foods, cracked bone and oyster 
shells. It is not a medicine, but is 
fed with other food in a mash. Manu¬ 
factured only by 
The Bowker Company, 
43 Chatham St., Boston, Mass. 
You will be interested in our little book 
“The Egg.” Send for it, mailed free. 
Animal Meal 
is for sale by grain and feed dealers 
generally. Take no substitutes, but 
insist upon having Bowker’s "Animal 
Meal.” 
When you write advertiser.^ mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
"a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
Horse Insurance. 
You can insure your horse 
against Curb, Splirvt, Spav¬ 
in, Sprained Cord and all 
forms of Lameness, by using 
Tuttle’s Elixir. 
The safe plan is always to 
have a supply on hand. 
Used and Endorsed by Adams Ex- 
press Company* 
Tuttle’s American Condition Powders 
—a specific for impure blood and all diseases 
arising therefrom. 
TUTTLE’S FAMH-Y ELIXIR cures rheumatism, 
sprains, bruises, etc. Kills pain instantly. Our 100-page book. 
"Veterinary Experience,” FREE, 
Dr. S. A. TUTTLE, 30 Beverly St., Bostoa, Mass 
Feware of so-called Elixirs—none prrniiino hut Tiittlo’s, 
Avoid all blisters; they offer only temporary relief, if any. 
RREE 
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fertilizers, crop rotation, 
stock - feeding, poultry- 
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IT 
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