1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
Rock Bottom. —After finishing the 
potatoes Hugh and Charlie attacked the 
cornfield. This was not plowed last 
Fall. The sod was tough and old. 
Charlie mounted the sulky plow—Frank 
and Dan pricked up their ears and start¬ 
ed. They pounded and thumped on the 
big rocks for two days until they struck 
a part of the field that was just simply 
alive with rocks. I can tdl you, now, 
that the plow shied and reared at them 
like a bucking pony. It threw Charlie 
off, and even good-natured old Frank 
got mad and wanted to try his heels on 
something. It was corn planting time, 
and many a weary day before the end of 
plowing, buit the boys had come to a 
point where they wanted to pull thdir 
coats and say, “See here, now, this 
thing can’t wait any longer, we’ll settle 
it right here!” They wanted to quit 
plowing and tackle those rocks. It was 
getting along in the season, with work 
hanging on us, but my observation is 
that the time to put up a winning fight 
is when one is fighting mad. I felt that 
both men and horses could pull harder 
against those rocks right tnen than they 
ever could again. So I agreed to take 
three days and go at ’em. 
Hakd Rooting. —To my eye the rocks 
looked small. There was only a little 
sun-burned top to be seen above ground. 
The horses and Charlie knew better, for 
they struck them three feet away from 
this top. I got hold of one that looked 
about as big as a baseball, but wben it 
was all out it weighed nearly 500 pounds. 
With a grub hoe they dug around the 
point above ground, and got a chain 
under it. Then Frank and Dan, with 
one look at their old enemy, would turn 
it or break the chain. While Frank and 
Dan were driving these fellows out of 
ambush. Major and Nellie in the Sher¬ 
wood steel harness, were shipping them 
off to prison before they could sneak 
back and do more damage. Hugh ran 
the stone boat, and this light team of 
cavalry snaked otf the rocks to one of 
the stone walls. In this way I think 
they did more execution than they could 
have done witn dynamite in Winter. On 
Saturday night I counted 135 rocks, 
large and small, that came out of the 
field. I think they would fairly average 
800 pounds each in weight! If some of 
our friends in the country where they 
never know what a big stone is, want to 
buy a big rocs, for a dooryard ornament, 
I have a choice lot for sale at a bargain! 
That three days’ wor«. means many ex¬ 
tra bushels of corn this year, and fewer 
breaks in harness, muscles, thoughts 
and language. I didn’t expect to get into 
the stone-wall business quite so soon, 
but I have done so many things that I 
never expected to—yes, and vowed that 
I wouldn’t—that I’m going to do what 
seems best at the time, and let it go at 
that. 
A Corn Chop. —I am the man who for¬ 
merly argued that it did not pay us to 
raise field corn. I’ll admit that, because 
it was true at one time. When sweet 
corn was a surer selling crop we could 
pick the green ears and sell them for 
enough to buy more dry western corn than 
we could raise. The markets nave now 
changed, and sweet corn does not bring 
so much money. Our farm, too, is large, 
and not so accessible to markets. There¬ 
fore, I have quit sweet corn as a market 
crop, and hope to grow a large crop of 
field corn. It will be planted on sod— 
in -.ills, witn a fair dressing of corn fer¬ 
tilizer. The seed is dropped by hand, 
and well covered, and we expect to use 
weeder, cultivator, hoe and fingers. The 
variety is Rural Thoroughbred Flint. 
This gives a long ear with a small cob 
and a large, hard white kernel. It pro¬ 
duces a very high stalk, witn an unusual 
amount of leaf. It makes the finest of 
suage corn, and while I do not expect to 
build a silo, I hope to produce seed corn 
that will equal anything for s'ilage pur¬ 
poses. 
Culture Notes. —We find the Anti- 
clog weeder a very useful tool. The 
“anti-clog” feature of it is all right in 
the hands of a man who knows enough 
to lift it in time. A careless man would 
make it drag up sods and trash like a 
rake. When planting the potatoes we 
ridged them up a little, but a week later 
ran over both ways with the weeder, 
smoothing down the ridges and killing 
millions of little weeds.The 
use of the roller seems a simple opera¬ 
tion, yet good judgment is needed in 
using it. Isn’t that true also of even so 
simple a tool as a hoe? Yes, but more 
damage is done when the roller is im¬ 
properly used. The general advice is to 
roll after seeding to grass or grain. We 
rolled the oats while the soil was too 
wet, and found it about the worst thing 
we could do. Instead of packing the 
soil it caked it, which will certainly 
prevent our oats from “taking the cake.” 
. . . . For cultivating Fall-plowed 
orchards there are few tools that beat 
the Acme harrow. It packs the sod, 
kills off the little weeds, and keeps the 
surface mellow. These are just the con¬ 
ditions needed by the tree which, at this 
season, drinks more water than a herd 
of elephants. I also like to use the 
Acme over plowed sod before we use the 
Cutaway. 
Odd Mention. —On May 9, just after a 
rain, we broadcast seed of Dwarf Essex 
rape in a piece of oats near the barn. I 
hear of a number of people who are add¬ 
ing rape seed when sowing oats. They 
nope to cut the oats, and then follow 
with a crop of rape for sheep or hog 
pasture. I should have put the rape 
seed in with the oats, but did not think 
of hit In time. Bet’s see, now, what show 
ing the seed will mane put on top of 
the ground.We top-grafted 
nearly 40 apple trees this Spring, and 
they all seem to be starting. I gave up 
trying to top-work the very old trees, as 
there was too much dead wood about 
them.Those early potatoes 1 
spoke of last week were nipped by the 
frosit on May 10. They turned black on 
the leaves, but have started growing 
again, and will come on later. We have 
had a very cold May, with several sharp, 
frosty nights, up to the 13th, which un¬ 
lucky number broke the charm. The 
chiluren had their first fishing experi¬ 
ence last week. Uncle Jack was here, 
and they went down to the brook with 
him. What an event it is in the life of 
a farm boy to feel the first tug of a 
little fish at the end of his line! If you 
or I were to be elected President we 
couldn’t possibly feel half so elated as 
the Graft and the Scion did when they 
landed a two-inch fish. The little Bud 
started off bravely, but when she saw 
them put the woraas on the hooks she 
cried and would not stay. Well! Well! 
This hard old world is a rough place for 
such tender little hearts! 
Southern Potatoes. —On page 323 I 
spoke of our barrel of Junior Pride pota¬ 
toes, and said that they are sometimes 
called White Bliss Triumph. This was 
wrong. The “White Bliss Triumph” is 
called Pride of the South. It Is not 
strictly a white potato, but has pink 
eyes and pink splashes on the skin. The 
Junior Pride is pure white, without pink 
eyes or colored skin. The two potatoes 
are not identical, the Junior Pride being 
quite distinct. It is said to be a grand 
variety for southern growers. We have 
planted it slide by side with Bovee and 
June Eating for comparison. The first 
of Uncle Ed’s Florida crop reached New 
York May j. 0. We got a barrel of this 
for seed. The tubers are of fair size. 
They are not sprouted, but we shall 
spread them out in a sunny place in a 
barn loft. Some good authorities say 
that these will be useless for seed pur¬ 
poses. I don’t know, but I am going to 
try to find out. If they grow I feel sure 
the crop growing from them will be bet¬ 
ter than a second crop grown in the 
same latitude as the first one. 
The Little Folks. —“Those young¬ 
sters are worth their weight in gold!” 
The Madame made that statement with 
her usual care the other night, after the 
little folks -ad been washed, and kissed 
and tucked in. You take 150 pounds of 
gold, and you have great financial possi¬ 
bilities in your grasp, but I am sure the 
Madame would take the children every 
time. “You must expect great things 
from those little folks,” some one will 
say. No, we don’t. I don’t imagine that 
the Graft or the Scion will ever get to 
be President or Senator from New Jer¬ 
sey. I rather hope not, for I think they 
will serve their country better in hum¬ 
bler walks of life. I certainly have no 
political ambitions for myself, and if I 
have my way these little folks will be 
trained to march and work in the ranks. 
I think we need more strong and fear¬ 
less privates and common people. . . . 
As i travel around I see a wide variety 
of behavior in children. Show me the 
way a child eats and behaves at the 
table, and I will tell you the character of 
at least one parent. A child is greedy, 
lawless and rude, or gentle and well be¬ 
haved as its parents decide. Our family 
at Hope Farm is so large that the table 
flows over when we all come together. 
When this occurs the children represent 
the foam. We have a small, low table 
and little chairs, and there they sit with 
371 
their own share of food, with the Bud to 
serve it and the Graft to act as waiter. 
They behave, too, and they understand 
what rebellion means.Our 
children are not permitted to eat meat 
yet—except now and then a bit of fat or 
a little chicken. “What in the world do 
you give them?” people say when we 
speak about it. It seems easy to us to 
make up a child ration of eggs, milk, 
oatmeal, bread and butter, fish and fruit. 
But then we are in the country, off on a 
“lonely farm,” where children can be 
handled and controlled. You are right, 
we are, and we are mighty glad of it, 
too. You will find us bringing up cnil- 
dren in town when we have to, and not 
a moment before. h. w. c. 
My little boy. live years old, had a Cough a litis 
life. Last Winter he took Whooping Cough, 1 thought 
he could not live. The doctor suld his Lungs were 
diseased, and gave him medicine, hut It did no good 
Then I tried Jayne’s Expectorant, and It cured him. 
L. C. RAWLS, Searight, Ala., September, 1895. 
Safe and Sure Jayne's Painless Sanative Pllls.- 
Adv. 
YOUR HORSE LAME? 
That’s had. Lame horses are unprofitable either 
for use or sale. Don’t have a lame horse. 
Cure him with 
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the old reliable remedy tor Hpnvlns. Ringbones, 
Splints, Curbs, etc., and all forms of Lameness. 
It Is the most successful remedy ever discovered, 
aH it is certain in its effects and cures without a 
blemish, us It docs not blister. 
fast Millstone, N. J., Jan. 15, *98. 
Gentlemen:—For the laat ten years I have used Kendall’* 
Spavin Cure with good success, and have absolutely cured 
Hpu v In s after our best Vetsrfnarles said nothing would cure but 
to hive the horse tired. I wish you would send me your “Horse 
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Such endorsements as the above are a guarantee of 
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Hard 
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PRICE 
j 2-oz. box, 
I 8-oz. box, 
25c. 
50c. 
TROY CHEMICAL CO., 
TROY. N. Y. 
v .Before Buying a New 
Harness 
Stud v ct«. In damps to pay postage on descriptive cat¬ 
alogue 100 styles of single and double onk-tannra 
Leather Harness to select Horn. Sold direct to tho 
consumer at wholesale price. We can save you rjoaaYJ 
KING HARNESS COMPANY. Mfrs. 
sd* Church St., Owego, N. Y. 
T WO hundred bushels 
of Potatoes remove 
eighty pounds of “actual” Pot¬ 
ash from the soil. One thou¬ 
sand pounds of a fertilizer con¬ 
taining 8 % “actual” Potash 
will supply just the amount 
needed. If there is a de¬ 
ficiency of Potash, there will be 
a falling-off in the crop. 
We have some valuable 
books telling about composi¬ 
tion, use and value of fertilizers 
for various crops. They are 
sent free. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, 
93 Nassau St., New York. 
Nitrate of Soda 
has been adopted by the Agricul¬ 
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the world as the standard by which 
to measure the availability of all 
other forms of Nitrogen used us 
fertilizers. It is the cheapest and 
most concentrated fertilizer on the 
market. Full information to be 
had free by addressing John A. 
Myers, 12-0 John St.,New York. 
Nitrate for sale by fertilizer dealers every¬ 
where. 
Write at once for List of Dealers. 
Binder Twine 
Farmers wanted as agents 
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Moulton, - - Iowa 
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