1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
851 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
I have had so many questions of late 
that this week I want to give in dialogue 
form some of the answers. 
Strawberries.— “Are the Hope Farm 
strawberry plants under mulch yet?’’ 
“No, we shall wait for colder weather.'* 
“Why?” 
“Because we do not mulch to protect the 
plants from cold. They are cold blooded, 
and frost rarely hurts them.” 
“What do you mulch for?” 
“To keep the soil at an even temperature 
and thus prevent freezing and thawing.” 
“What harm would that do?” 
“Freezing always expands water a little. 
We know how quickly a bottle or a boiler 
will break if water inside it be frozen solid. 
The Winter soil is well filled with water. 
When frozen the water expands and lifts 
the plant slightly with it. With thaw the 
water contracts, the soil slightly settles 
back, but the plant does not go with it. 
Let this go on again and again and the 
plant is lifted so that the roots are ex¬ 
posed. In Spring a sharp, drying wind on 
these bare roots will do great injury.” 
"How does the mulch prevent this?” 
“Put the mulch on while the ground is 
frozen and it will remain so through the 
Winter. The heat of the sunny Winter 
day does not penetrate through the mulch. 
Thus there is no thaw and freeze—no lift¬ 
ing and settling.” 
“Do all strawberry growers practice this 
method?” 
“No. Some of them like to put on the 
mulch earlier. Mr. S. H. Warren, of Wes¬ 
ton, Mass., who has grown strawberries 
for 48 years, gives his plan as follows: 
“Most of the horticultural and agricul¬ 
tural papers at this time of the year advise 
covering when the ground is frozen enough 
to bear up a team, or as soon as the 
ground is well frozen. I used to follow 
their advice, but of late years I follow 
what I consider common sense and cover 
them soon after we get weather cold enough 
to form a little crust. Here in Massachu¬ 
setts we often have a dozen or more such 
freezings before it would be cold enough 
to bear up a team. The freezing and thaw¬ 
ing at this time of the year is worse for 
the plants than the same amount in the 
Spring would be, for in the Spring they 
will soon recuperate, but in the Fall the 
damage will not be repaired for a number 
of months, and by that time many of the 
plants may be dead. I cover my beds about 
November 15. Some of our best growers 
cover a week or 10 days before this time.” 
Salt Meat.—"How did the Hope Farm 
hams turn out last year?” 
“Poorly. They were tough and dry.” 
“What was the trouble?” 
“We think that too much salt was used.” 
“What does salt do to meat, anyway?” 
“Very much what quick heat to the out¬ 
side would do. It contracts the meat 
fibers.” 
“Is that what brings the juice out?” 
“Yes. The salt contracts or squeezes the 
meat like light pressure to a sponge, and 
the blood and other juices are pressed out. 
You have probably noticed how dry salt 
put on meat becomes in time a fluid brine.” 
“How much juice is lost?” 
“More than one-third when too much 
salt is used. The salt closes up the pores 
of the meat. No air can enter—hence no 
decay. The meat being largely fiber be¬ 
comes hard and tough.” 
“But is not the juice the best part of 
the meat?” 
“In one way, yes. It contains the solu¬ 
ble salts of potash, phosphoric acid, etc., 
and a substance known as creatin, which is 
said to have tonic properties not unlike 
those of coffee. Heavy salting takes these 
valuable properties out of meat, much as 
boiling for beef tea does—only, of course, 
they are lost in the brine.” 
“How do the Hope Farmers fix their 
meat now?” 
“We kill small animals in cool weather, 
make a large quantity of sausage, dis¬ 
pose of part of the roasting pieces and 
pickle the hams, shoulders and sides.” 
Paying Crops.— “What crops paid best 
at Hope Farm this year?” 
“We should say cabbage.” 
“Don’t you fcnoie?” 
“No, not yet. We have some yet on 
hand and we cannot fairly estimate the 
value of what we have fed.” 
“Does that amount to much?” 
“Yes, indeed. The soft and small heads 
produced a vast amount of food.” 
“Why don’t you keep an accurate ac¬ 
count with each crop?” 
“I try to, but it is Impossible to get 
things down to a single pound or dollar.” 
“Why not—other farmers do?” 
“So they say, but let one of them tell me 
how to figure this! The cabbage field con¬ 
tains about 1% acre. This Spring it was 
in grass. The stock ran on it until late 
in April (a bad practice, by the way). The 
hay was cut in June. It was not very 
good—five fair-sized loads. We have no 
scales and cannot tell how many tons 
there were. The stock gleaned up the 
field. It was plowed early In July. The 
plowing, harrowing and marking were 
done at odd times. There were so many 
jobs coming in at once that it could not 
be done at one time. Not far from 35 
working hours of men and teams were 
needed. The plants cost $18.50. The set¬ 
ting was not done all at once, as rain and 
other work interfered. As nearly as I 
can figure it took 75 hours of one man’s 
time to go for the plants and set them. 
The ground was low and in good heart 
and we used only $5.75 worth of fertilizer 
scattered around the plants. The cultivat¬ 
ing represented nine hours of man and 
horse. Now let some of our calculating 
friends tell me what that crop cost. What 
about the hay crop? This problem is easy 
compared with many others on the farm. 
A farmer with only one team and half a 
dozen crops to be tended cannot possibly 
figure down to the minute of time. I will 
admit, though, that it is mighty easy to 
tell him what he ought to do.” 
Farm Accounts.— “Don’t you keep ac¬ 
counts, then?” 
"Yes. I keep accurate cash accounts and 
can tell exactly what everything at Hope 
Farm has cost and what the farm returns 
in cash.” 
"Is not that enough?” 
"No, because I do not know what value 
to place on improvements, or what to de¬ 
duct for shrinkage.” 
“What do you mean by that?” 
“Take our seeding of grass. I can esti¬ 
mate safely what the seed and fertilizer 
cost, what it cost to keep the horses and 
what I paid Charlie for doing the work, 
but what is the field now worth to me as 
it stands? If it is not worth far more than 
the cost of seed and labor I st oulu not 
have touched it. Yet, if I go by cash ac¬ 
count entirely, all such work will show a 
loss in this year’s statement.” 
“What about household expenses?” 
“There is another thing. We have aver¬ 
aged through the year not far from 12 
adults. What would board, washing, fuel, 
lights and housing cost if we paid the 
regular cash prices? I have boarded con¬ 
siderably during my life, and from what 
I have paid I am sure it would cost $2,500 
or $3,000 to pay board for the Hope Farm¬ 
ers. Is it safe to start with that item as 
a credit, and deduct from it what we have 
paid for food and other living expenses? 
If I should go to a livery stable and pay 
cash for the riding and driving we have 
done this 
year it would 
cost 
me at 
least 
$300. In figuring farm accounts how 
can I 
estimate 
show?” 
such things 
and 
have 
them 
Fruit 
Notes.—“W hat 
do 
you 
think 
about the bee and fruit question?” 
“I do not keep bees. One of my neigh¬ 
bors has kept them for the past few years 
and he is sure the bees have increased 
his crops of fruit. In seasons when flow¬ 
ers are scarce I think bees should be fed.” 
“What about the Ben Davis apple?” 
“I do not like to eat it. It is often sold 
in such a way that people are deceived by 
its fine appearance. At the same time I 
am forced to admit that my fruit-growing 
neighbors make more money out of Ben 
than they can from any other variety. 
This is largely because the Ben Davis 
keeps like a potato, and is salable in late 
Spring.” 
“What did you use for grafting?” 
“We put in more scions of Grimes 
Golden than of any other one kind. Sut¬ 
ton, Albemarle Pippin, several new and 
promising seedlings and a few of the 
standard varieties. Baker is highly recom¬ 
mended by those who grow it in our re¬ 
gion.” 
“How did those cherry sprouts trans¬ 
planted along the stone walls come out?” 
"About half of them died. The others 
look well. The trouble with cherry cul¬ 
ture at our farm is that the picking comes 
at a time when dozens of other jobs are 
pressing.” 
Fall Fodder.— “What can you say of 
Winter oats?” 
“We sowed six bushels last Fall. In 
an orchard where these oats, rye and 
Crimson clover were sown together we 
have had fine pasture. We sowed the 
oats alone on November 5. They have 
made a good start—about like rye.” 
“Do they grow like rye?” 
“They stool out or spread more and grew 
faster. In this way they give more and 
better Fall pasture. I do not much ex¬ 
pect that they will live through the Win¬ 
ter.” 
“What about rape?” 
“It has proved quite satisfactory with 
us. We use it chiefly as hog feed, but 
horses and cattle are fond of it. It does 
well for young stock, but should not be 
given to milch cows.” 
“How does the grass seeding look?” 
“First rate. It is as thick as a lawn. 
We followed Mr. Clark’s plan as nearly as 
we could afford. The seed made a good 
start, and the late Fall has given it a good 
chance to make good-sized roots.” 
“Do you expect to equal Mr. Clark’s 
yield?” 
“No. I shall be well pleased with half 
what he gets.” 
“Why can’t you do as well as he does?” 
“He knows more about grass than we 
do. He has been at it for years. His soil 
is naturaly better than ours, and he has 
it in better shape, so far as grading and 
freedom from stones are concerned. We 
shall keep working at it.” h. w. c. 
Hand Hay Presses. —Noticing an 
inquiry in a recent issue in regard to 
hand-power hay presses, I will give my 
experience. I hire a press for 25 cents 
per ton. The bands cost 25 cents per 
ton, and by working hard my hired 
man and myself could get off two tons in 
nine hours. The bales weighed 200 
pounds, sometimes a Jittle more. I 
think we should have got along easier 
and just as fast if we had made lighter 
bales, say 175 pounds each. o. b. h. 
Moodus, Conn. 
Handling Forest Leaves. —I see that 
the Hope Farm folks find that leaves 
are not easy to handle. We have used 
leaves in the stables quite a little, and 
tried various plans of harvesting them. 
A charcoal wagon worked well for long¬ 
distance hauling, and for gathering I 
bought some years ago a basket that 
will hold three or four bushels. It was 
a capital thing for loading into a wagon, 
but of late we have discarded all our 
old contrivances and adopted a new one. 
We use bran, and have plenty of old 
bran sacks around. A few holes amount 
to nothing with leaves. I took a sugar- 
barrel hoop as large as would easily go 
into the open end of a bran sack, drove 
four wire nails an inch and a half long 
through from the inside, turned up the 
points on the outside with a pair of 
pliers, for hooks, and we hook the bag 
over this. One man or boy holds the 
bag and another puts in the leaves. 
Pushed in tight the sack will nold a lot 
of leaves, and will not need tying. When 
full we unhook the sack and set it up 
till we have a load, when they are 
thrown on a cart and taken to the barn. 
We filled a box stall in that way a few 
days ago, without scattering leaves all 
over the barn, and when they are used, 
if snow does not prevent, we shall fill 
it again. When the stable was so full 
that a man could not stand to tread 
them down we pushed a load on the top 
in sacks, and had them ready for use. 
If the day is fine and the leaves not too 
wet the Hope Farm man can rig out his 
Grafts and Scions and Buds with rakes, 
sacks and a hooked hoop, and they will 
have lots of fun, while he gets lots of 
leaves. R. 8. h. 
Stevenson, Conn. 
A horseless mower was exhibited at 
the Paris Exposition, and it is said to 
work very well. Horseless reapers and 
binders are promised in the near future. 
A BACKWARD CHILD 
In a child that is backward 
in teething, look out for 
rickets. You can prevent 
any serious consequences by 
promptness. 
The cause is poor nutrition, 
imperfect digestion of food, 
wrong food, poor food, bad air, 
low life. 
You must stop it. Give 
Scott’s emulsion of cod-liver 
oil to feed the bones. Now 
ffive him good food: the 
proper food for a child. 
It is a short job, and not a 
difficult one. 
£ 
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COME AND GO 
In many forms 
Rheumatism 
Neuralgia 
Lumbago 
Sciatica 
make up a large part of human 
suffering. They come suddenly, 
but they go promptly by the 
use of 
St. Jacobs Oil 
which is a certain sure cure. 
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