1000 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
187 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
The Ego Problem.— What gave the hens 
their start? They still keep up their lay¬ 
ing streak, as the following record will 
show: 
Eggs. 
Eggs. 
Feb. 19. 
.16Feb. 24. 
.13 
“ 20. 
.18 “ 25. 
.21 
“ 21. 
.19 “ 26. 
.18 
“ 22. 
.19 “ 27. 
“ 23. 
.19 “ 28. 
.20 
Not so bad for 33 hens at the tail-end of 
a blizzard! Was it the condition powder 
that stirred them up? Possibly, but both 
condition powder and animal meal ran out, 
and we have been feeding linseed meal 
with a dash of ginger and pepper on cold 
days. What was it that braced the hens? 
We are not going to argue the matter 
when Aunt Jennie brings on a dozen baked 
eggs for supper. We are fond of baked 
eggs. They are broken into a shallow dish 
with a bit of butter added, and baked in 
a hot oven. They make a dish good 
enough for a king—or a farmer. The meat 
and the condition powder certainly seemed 
to start those hens up, but the linseed, 
ginger and pepper are keeping up the 
speed! 
Absorbing Odors.— Chemists tell us how 
fat will absorb odors—and hold them, too. 
I boarded once where the milk pans were 
set in a closet where the farmer kept his 
rubber boots. Needless to say the butter 
made from the cream footed up a strong 
showing. There is a good deal of this ab¬ 
sorbing fat about a little child’s mind. We 
grown-up folks say and do many things 
ihat slide easily out of mind, but which 
stick like burrs in the minds of the chil¬ 
dren. The little Bud approached her 
mother one day with this salutation: “Well, 
Mother, old girl!” Other terms of endear¬ 
ment followed which dated back to her 
father’s dancing days—before the Madame 
was anything but a Miss! We all have, 
or should have, occasions when a judici¬ 
ous assortment of those old terms may be 
used for private consumption. Such things 
may not hurt the children, but we are likely 
to say things that will if we are not care¬ 
ful. Screen the child’s ears with a careful 
tongue. “Well,” said the Bud, as she 
came home from a visit, “after all, home 
is the best place!” I am happy to say she 
learned that from the Madame also. 
Tame Pigs.— “The pigs are out! The pigs 
are out!” That was the announcement 
made by the Sprout as she came running 
breathless up the hill. That is something 
of a shock to a man with a reflective turn 
of mind on Sunday afternoon. I had been 
back on our hill looking over the valley, 
and thinking of what seemed the larger 
things of life. Evidently, the largest thing 
of life just then was the pursuit of those 
pigs. I am satisfied that two-thirds of 
the evils of life result from misplaced or 
misapplied animals or articles. Let pigs 
or people stay where they belong, and they 
are likely to do their duty and prosper. 
Let them get where they don’t belong, and 
evil begins at once. I won’t have a pig 
running at large—or a cow, a weed, or a 
boy, if I can help it. If they get out of 
place I will put them back at once—so long 
as I have charge of them. There .wasn’t 
any wild race after those pigs. I took a 
bucket with an ear of corn inside and 
shook it. After listening a while five of 
these pigs fell in behind and marched 
under my leadership to their yard. They 
were tame—that’s the way to have pigs. 
The one that did not follow must have been 
a politician. He tarried in the duck house. 
Later he pretended to follow, but when 
the door was open he evidently made a 
speech to the others, for the whole five ran 
out again. Billy Berkshire, Jr., and Char¬ 
lie Chester had no respect for the day, for 
they led us a dignified dance around the 
barnyard. The Sprout shook her apron at 
them. I covered my corner to the best 
of my ability, and Hugh, just home from 
church, finally escorted them through the 
barn to their yard. Then we went in to 
discuss a pair of those surplus roosters in 
the roasting-pan. I had hardly cut off a 
wing before the cow and her daughter came 
and looked through the window at us. We 
had forgotten to shut the barnyard gate. 
It pays to have tame stock and tight gates! 
Words! Words!— The children now know 
over 125 words. The Madame is keeping 
an exact list of the words they master, and 
we shall know something about the size 
of the average vocabulary. If I can have 
my way I will fix the reading habit firmly 
in these little minds. I don’t mean the 
skimming habit. When these little folks 
run across a word that is too much for 
them I want them taught to dig it out. 
First, they must go to the dictionary and 
find its meaning, then follow it to an en¬ 
cyclopedia, and if possible hunt it still 
further in books. When I was a boy I 
was made to do this on a small scale—for 
we had no encyclopedia and but few books, 
and it was the best training I had. I have 
a big Standard Dictionary—full of little 
pictures. The children will stand for hours 
and hear me tell what these pictures rep¬ 
resent. I find that a great help. You try 
it once and see how many of these pictures 
you can explain without studying the print¬ 
ed matter. The child helps you by its 
simple and natural questions. “You needn’t 
tell me!” says the Madame. "One can 
do anything with a child under careful re¬ 
strictions!” Of course, I wouldn’t at¬ 
tempt to tell the Madame a thing about 
education. She is right—as usual. There 
are wonderful possibilities in every child. 
Love, self-denial and patience are the tools 
with which we dig them out. 
Get Into Training.— Time’s nearly up! 
Spring is coming, and before you know it 
hard work will be right at your back. We 
overhaul the tools—how about the horses? 
They must be hard and heavy before they 
can pull the plow properly. Our work 
horses look well. We have been saving the 
best of our hay for April and May, when 
work is hardest. During the past month 
we have fed out the sweet cornstalks. The 
horses tear them up pretty well. Then 
they trample on the orts and sleep on 
them, after which they go to the manure 
pile, where Billy Berkshire, Jr., and his 
gang grind them still further. We have 
fed ground oats and corn with the stalks, 
each horse getting a handful of oil meal in 
addition. I ought to be able to tell just 
how much oil meal this makes, but I only 
know that Hugh’s hand is a good-sized one. 
We shall soon begin feeding hay again, and 
shall increase the ground feed and also feed 
some, corn in addition. After all, there is 
nothing like corn where hard work is re¬ 
quired. 
A Hired Man.—A friend in Pennsylvania 
wants us to send this letter to some agency 
for hired men: 
“I want a good farm hand; would pay 
an English-speaking Swede of the follow¬ 
ing qualifications $10 per month, accord¬ 
ing to ability after short trial; reserve the 
right to pay and turn off any time I 
am dissatisfied with amount and quality of 
work. Must be a non-user of intoxicating 
drinks; good, kind hand with team; one 
who is careful rapid milker; one who will 
milk dry; used to American methods of 
farming; stay at home nights. Will board 
and wash such a hand for at least eight 
months, not more than one-half wages as 
we go along; balance when work is done.” 
Whew! We are a little short on angels 
in New Jersey and I should want one to 
fill that bill completely. Such a man would 
be worth $25 or more of any man’s money! 
I don’t know of a man with even three of 
these qualifications who would work for 
$10 a month. The question comes up—why 
are there not thousands of farm hands who 
would fill the bill? There are thousands 
of them, but they know they are worth 
more than $80 to $100 per year, and they 
don’t stay as farm hands either. The 
hired-man problem has cost me some white 
hairs in the past, but Uncle Ed, Charlie 
and Hugh will do the work this Summer in 
a sort of family arrangement. I’ll tell our 
Pennsylvania friend right off that he must 
double his money before he secures farm 
angels. They come high—too high for 
most of us. 
Cherry Culture.—I am surprised to find 
how little our leading fruit growers know 
about the cherry crop. I am sure that we 
can grow fine cherries on our hills, and I 
would like to set quite a large orchard. 
The Madame wishes to know whether I 
realize what a tremendous Job that means 
when picking time comes! Not fully, per¬ 
haps, but I do know that success with any¬ 
thing, from growing character to growing 
cherries, means a tremendous job for some¬ 
body. Shall we plant sour or sweet cher¬ 
ries? One man says: “Plant sour cherries 
for canning entirely, and thus escape com¬ 
petition with the California fruit!” Another 
one says: “Plant the large sweet cherries, 
and go right into the market against Cali¬ 
fornia!” There you have it. You can get 
definite advice about apples and pears, but 
the cherry seems to be a neglected com¬ 
mercial crop. I am going to plant about 
half and half, sweet and sour, and do the 
best I can with the trees. h. w. c. 
Success Weeder 
and Surface Cultivator 
The opinion of farmers who have tested it: 
“ You appear to be the most liberal manu¬ 
facturers wo have ever dealt with. This Is 
the third year we have used the Success 
Weeder. We used it for corn, potatoes, 
tomatoes, cabbage, etc., with wonderful re¬ 
sults. Wo had a good two-horse cultivator 
at the time we bought your weeder, but 
have not used the cultivator since, as one 
small horse and the weeder will do more 
and better work than two teams and culti¬ 
vators." J. K. GRAY & SON, Youngstown, O. 
Surface cultivation will average 50 per cent, better returns than 
the old way. Let us tell you all about it. 
D. Y. HALLOCK & SONS, Box 805, York, Pa. 
Excellent for 
•‘brushing” In 
clover and 
grass seeds. 
^Eclipse Weeder 
Adopts an Entirely New Principle In Weeders. 
The teeth are adjustable so that those coming imme¬ 
diately over the plants in the row may gradually he 
raised as the plants increase in size. It moans that 
this weeder may be used long after the utility of all 
other Weeders has censed. Has 39 oil tempered 
spring teeth, all adjustable to be raised or lowered, 
to stand straight, or slant to or from the plants. 
Stirs, lines and pulverizes all the top soil and kills all 
weeds, quack grass, etc. Adjustable Shafts—fit any horse. Send at once for special weeder cvrculcrs, <tc. 
THE BELCHER & TAYLOR A. T. CO., Box 75, CHICOPEE FALLS, MASS. 
Your Whole Family \ 
Would Bo Satisfied 
with one of these surreys. 
They are handsome, strong, sty 
'“-youcan, 
bn 
No 707 —Extension Top Surrey, with double fend- 
•Ts. Complete with side curtains, aprons, lamps and 
pole or shafts. Price, $80. As Rood as Hulls for $40 more, 
selection in the country as we make 178 styles of vehicles and 65 styles of harness. Catalogue free. 
ELKHART CARRIAGE AND HARNESS MANUFACTURING. CO., ELKHART, INDIANA 
Ush, easy riding and durubic. Selling on our plan 
examine it thoroughly before you are required 
WE HAVE NO AGENTS 
but soli all goods direct from our 
factory to the purchaser at whole¬ 
sale prices. We are the largest 
manul'aeturers of vehicles and 
harness In the world selling to 
the consumer exclusively. We 
havepu rsued th is plan successfully 
for 27 years. You assume no risk 
ms we ship our goods anywhere tor exami¬ 
nation and guarantee safe arrival. Largest 
buy It. 1 
No. 180— Doable Buggy Har¬ 
ness, with nickel trimmings. Price 
complete with collars and hitch 
straps, 122. As good as sells for $30. 
■9 Buggy 
argains. 
Because we sell Vehicles and Harness at 
less than wholesale prices we are in a posi¬ 
tion to offer vou the biggest bargains pro¬ 
curable in our line. To mako you perfectly 
8,1,6 WE GUARANTEE 
...Everything We Sell... 
and ship our goods any whero subject to purchaser’s inspection. If entirely satis¬ 
factory and exactly as represented, you keep the goods and 8erul us the money. 
If not, you return the goods nt our expense. Have Carriages, Surreys, 
Phaetons, Traps, Buggies, Road Wagons, Spring Wagons, etc., and all styles 
ness!* 3 cataloguefree." Kalamazoo Carriage & Harness Co., Box 30, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
MILK IS 88% WATER 
fut mhowa the importance of 
having an abandon), supply of 
water on the dairy farm. For 
thispurposo nothing Uaup-r- 
lor to HALL STEEL TASKS. 
This is our stock tank, hut we make others for feeding pigs 
and ralvee, cooling milk, hauling whey— anything you want. 
Special price to first itiquiries from new territor y. _ 
Ciroularn mailed FXUSS. 
THE HALL STEEL TANK CO. 
88 North Aehiund Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL, 
The Slag Phosphate 
is not in tlie Fertilizer Trust. We are 
still selling at old prices. Orders must 
be sent in early to receive prompt 
shipment. Address 
JACOB REESE, 
400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
LVERIZING HARROW, CLOD CRUSHER AND LEVELER 
crushes, cuts, lifts, pulverizes, turns, aerates and levels all soils, for 
under all conditions. Made entirely of cast 
and wrought iron , they are indestructible. They are 
the cheapest and best riding harrows and pulverizers on 
earth. Various sizes, for various uses, 3 to 13^ feet. We 
mail catalogue and booklet, “An Ideal Harrow, ” free. 
TRIAL T0 BE RETURNED AT tin EXPENSE IF NOT ENTIRELY SATISFACTORY. I deliver free on board at 
■ lliah. Kew York, Chicago, Columbus, Louisville, Minneapolis, Kansas City, San Francisco, <£c. 
Address DUANE H. NASH, Sole Mfr., Millington, N. J. or Chicago, III. 
IT DOES DOUBLE DUTY. 
“Planet Jr.” No. 4, Combined Hill and Drill Seeder, and Wheel Hoe Cultivator, Rake and Plow 
is the ideal hand all purpose tool for the small or private gardener. It sows seed in either drills 
or hills. Hill drilling possesses many advantages, the greatest of which are saving in seed, 
saving in time in thinning out and greatly increased crops by making a perfect and 
regular stand. “Planet Jrs.” were the first drills made to drop in hills and 
have ever been kept tbe best for the purpose. Can be instantly changed to a most 
satisfactory Wheel Hoe for cultivating all garden crops. Like all “Planet 
Jr.” tools this one is guaranteed to he satisfactory in every particular. 
The entire “Planet Jr.” line of tools,embracing Seed Drills, Wheel Hoes, 
Horse Hoes, Cultivators, Harrows,Two-Horse Cultivators.Sugar Beet Seed¬ 
ers, Four Row Sugar Beet Cultivators, &c.,is described in detail iuour 
new 1900 catalogue. We have published 350,000 of these and think we 
have enough to “go round.” To make sure that you getacopy, how¬ 
ever, write today. Contains 16 page picture gallery. Free to all. 
S.L. ALLEN & CO.,Box 1 107-V,Philadelphia^ 
