1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
253 
HOPE F ARM /VOTES 
Alfalfa.—1 am getting plenty of advice 
about my Alfalfa seeding. Here is a note 
from Onondaga Co., N. Y.: 
"I see that you desire to sow Alfalfa on 
the side hill. I have a side hill that was 
seeded seven years ago. It has produced 
three crops annually since. There is in 
sight of my house a hill so steep and poor 
that the former owner would not plow it. 
It is a hard, stiff clay. The present own¬ 
er is called an Alfalfa crank. Why should 
he not be so called, when on such a hill, 
without manure, he found a stalk 7 J / 2 feet 
long, and exhibited It at the Pan-Ameri¬ 
can Exposition? This hill lot produces 
three crops annually. The owner says he 
has no use for a silo as long as he can 
grow such crops of Alfalfa. He sows with 
oats or barley in the Spring, or on Winter 
wheat. I have 2% acres on which was 
sown 10 pounds of seed to the acre, with 
l'/i bushel of oats. The past year this lot 
produced enough hay to keep my team 
during the year, three months in the Win¬ 
ter without any grain. The soil is a dry 
loam, what some here call limestone soil, 
i believe much seed is wasted by sowing 
thick, as many do. The plants are not 
strong enough to resist heaving by the 
frost when they glow thick and spindling. 
We are sowing four to six quarts of Tim¬ 
othy with it to the acre.” c. m. 
1 have a hillside that is steep enough to 
suit anybody. If 1 can get Alfalfa to grow 
well on that field 1 shall certainly feel 
that we have done something for our 
country. The feed tax is a frightful bur¬ 
den on our local farmers. I am told that 
many of them now owe for their Winter’s 
feed; and some must run in debt for fer¬ 
tilizer with which to raise a crop to bring 
in money to pay the feed bill! I consider 
our scientific friends have clearly shown 
that good Alfalfa hay will make a good 
substitute for wheat bran. If we can only 
make Alfalfa grow on our hillsides we 
shall put them to the most patriotic use 
they have known since Washington’s 
army, beaten and discouraged, camped on 
them and gained fresh courage and hope. 
Some Drawbacks .— 1 There is always 
somebody to come forward with an objec¬ 
tion. Here is a note from a Michigan man 
who, after admitting all the good qualities 
of Alfalfa, says: 
"About three years ago I mixed a lot of 
Alfalfa seed (a few quarts) with my clover 
and Timothy seed, and sowed it. I have 
been sorry since; for no common plow¬ 
share can cut the root. It will grow and 
live about as well as Red clover, and will 
gel 20 inches high in Spring, and after 
each mowing, before the clover is six 
inches high, and is sweeter than clover, 
but if you pasture it with cows or sheep 
take your own chances, for it is, 1 think, 
nearly as bad, if not quite, as rape. The 
roots will throw the plow out of the 
ground like a White oak grub, and I have 
been trying to grub it out the last two 
Summers, where I plowed sod for corn 
and potatoes.” 
Others have told me the same thing, but 
this big root is just what I want, for if 
the Alfalfa will fasten itself to that hill I 
shall make no complaint if it hangs on 
longer than I do. 1 don't care to plow the 
held again, and this bulldog quality will 
suit me to a T. We shall plow the ground 
as early as possible and fit it well. On 
one acre I shall sow beardless barley with 
about 20 pounds of Alfalfa. The barley is 
worked in with the Acme and the Alfalfa 
witli the weeder. On another strip we 
shall sow Alfalfa alone at the time we 
seed it to barley, and on another we ex¬ 
pect to seed alone to Alfalfa in May. If 
all of these seedings fail, we shall try 
again and again. 
Soaked Potatoes.— I have this question 
from a reader in New York State: 
‘1 wculd like to know whether potatoes 
that were covered with cold water in the 
cellar for three o~ four days would grow? ’ 
The potatoes themselves will make a far 
better teacher than the Hope Farm man. 
1 would take fair samples of them and put 
them in the sun. If they send out thick 
and heavy sprouts I would use them. If 
Hie sprouts are thin and spindling I would 
reject them. You must judge by their 
sprouts. Of course you dried them out as 
soon as possible after the soaking. I 
would not buy seed potatoes that l knew’ 
had been soaked; still they may be 
licensed to yield a good crop in spite of 
their prohibition experience. Ask the po¬ 
tatoes! 
Farm Matters.— Hugh is cleaning up 
the orchards. We shall not trim closely 
this year, but leave plenty of young wood. 
We Intend to spray thoroughly this year, 
both with Bordeaux and Paris-green. In 
former years this job has not been well 
done, for other work seemed to crowd it 
out. This year we wall plan to spray. 
Hugh comes back from Cornell a firm be¬ 
liever in the power of the spray pump. 
He claims that if he had known about it 
last year, as he does now, he could have 
added $150 in value to our apple crop. 
. . . . The seed potatoes are spread out 
in a sunny place, where there is no danger 
from frost. I shall plant on the lower 
ground this year, and give the crop the 
best chance there is on Hope Farm. First 
of all the seed must have a chance to 
sprout properly and get the sun in its 
body before it goes underground . . . . 
The larger chicken yard is on a gentle 
slope facing the east. The soil is a me¬ 
dium loam, and the hens have run in it 
for nearly a year. We have fed them in 
various parts of the yard. This is to be 
our onion ground this season. There are 
some stones there. To get these stones 
out of the way, we are digging deep 
ditches—following the course made by the 
water during the last Hood—and raking 
the stones into them—spreading to top 
soil evenly before plowing. The yard will 
be well covered with horse manure and 
thoroughly plow’ed and fined. This horse 
manure has no hay in it at all—the horsea 
were fed and bedded on shredded fodder. 
Most of the crop will be Prizetaker onions. 
The plants are now growing in flats 
and hotbed, and will be transplanted when 
large enough. I have never done this be¬ 
fore on a large scale, but feel confident 
that it will beat the other plan. 
The new house is done—except for the in¬ 
side painting and the grading. I will try 
to have a picture of it later—with plans. 
Charlie, Aunt Emma and the Seedling will 
move into it soon. The house cost more 
than I at first intended to put into it. As 
it went along, however, we saw one thing 
after another that would add to it. Most 
house-builders, I think, know how this is. 
On many farms a house of this character 
would not prove a good investment, but, 
as we are situated, 1 believe it pays to ip- 
vest earnings in the farm itself. I would 
not care to send money to the town for 
investment.The last week of 
March was warm and bright, but I doubt 
if we can plow much earlier than last 
year. When the soil is ready, vve hope to 
rush things with Dan and Nellie on one 
plow, and Frank alone on a smaller one. 
Of course, the plows and harrows are 
ready, and the grain and grass seeds or¬ 
dered.When is the best time to 
manure the orchard? The boys wanted to 
haul the manure right out and spread it 
on the sod, but I held up that plan, be¬ 
cause I feel confident that the manure will 
do the trees most good if put on about 
July 1. The Orchard grass will then be 
out of the way, and the manure can be 
put around the trees, about as Mr. 
Ditchings uses it. But why use it then? 
Because at that time the fruit buds for 
next year are beginning to form, and this 
year’s crop needs help. If put on now 
my theory is that the trees themselves 
would get too much of it. My trees are 
plenty large enough. I do not want to 
feed the trees so much as this year's fruit 
and next year's buds! Is this right or 
wrong? 
Inherited Habits.— Something of this 
same thing came into mind as we looked 
over the last heifer calf from the old cow. 
She has made a remarkable growth. 
Charlie has crowded her along, capturing 
all the milk he could find, boiling oatmeal 
and generally stuliing her with food. I 
used to believe the theorists when they 
said that such heavy feeding would undo 
whole generations of special breeding. It 
was argued that a calr kept fat and 
thrifty while young would get into the 
habit of laying fat on her back and for¬ 
get to put it in the pail when she came 
to the real business of life. I now believe 
that many a good calf has been stunted 
and hurt because feeders have carried this 
theory to extremes. My experience is 
that you cannot get rid of inherited ten 
dencies with a little extra fat. Last year, 
when the first of our heifers began giving 
milk, 1 thought she was so coarse and 
beefy that she was likely to disgrace her 
mother. Instead of that, she turns out to 
be an excellent young cow—her neck actu¬ 
ally seems lighter, and she is certainly 
nearer the true "dairy type.” These in¬ 
herited habits are certainly put into us to 
stay. They crop out under all conditions. 
During the long dull spell of the great 
storm, which Hope Farmer do you think 
viewed life with the greatest philosophy? 
Why, Philip—who came from Norway! 
For nobody knows how many genera¬ 
tions his ancestors have passed the long 
Winters shut in and restricted, so that 
patience came to be a necessity if not a 
virtue. No, parentage is stronger than 
food or environment. It never pays to 
scrimp a young thing on its feed. ti. w. c. 
Silt order. 
WE’LL PAY THE FREiCHT 
ami semi 4 Huggy Wheels, Tire on, - 4*7.2. 
With Ailoa, *9.85. Kubbrr Tire Wheel*, lfc.Ot 
I mfg. wheels % to 4 iu. tread, Top Busies, $28.75 
Haruesa, $3.60; Repair Grade Wheels, $5.60. Wrii 
for catalogue, ordering instructions. Learn how u 
buy vehicles and parts direot. Umbrella Fret* with 
W. K. BOOH, 420 K. 7th St., CINCINNATI, OHIO. 
The Rumsey Gasjr 
Gasoline Engine 
BOTH PORTABLE 
AND STATIONARY. 
Also 
The Williams 
Grain Thrasher 
Manufactured by the 
RUMSEY-WILLIAMS C0„ St.JoMIe, N.Y. 
Agents Wanted in all Unoccupied Territory. 
Write for Catalogue and Prices. 
constant FLOW OF WATER 
to the house, the barn, the garden or 
lawn la assured by the 
dice: hydraulic 
ItirKL ENGINE. 
Pumps water automat¬ 
ically, Better than any 
ram, engino or wind- 
nill. Sold on 30 days 
trial. Fully gu arantced. 
Catalogue Free. 
Power Specialty Co., 126 Liberty St. New York. 
A single row corn planter, mado with or without 
fertilizer attachment. Has either double orconcavo 
single wheel. Has 4 rings or dropping dies. Dropping 
and fertilizer feed regulated by link chain belt. 6chain wneels 
for dropping corn. Drops 1 grain from 11 to 19 Inches or 2grains 
I rom 22 to 38 inches anart. 3 extra feed wheels for fertilizer at¬ 
tachment drills 20 to 625 lbs fertilizer per acre. Ground wheel In 
front can bo raised or lowered for docp or shallow planting 
Kxtra rings can be supplied for dropping or drilling peas, beans, 
ensilage corn, etc. Write for Ontaloffuc F 
HENCH & DROMGOLP. York. Pa. 
DAISY ° ornA 
Agent* wanted. 
Write for Cata¬ 
log and special 
terms. 
Planter 
Durable, 
Accurate, 
Efficient, 
BEFORE BUYING aWSE 
A NEW HARNESS «?£ 
—t~- i -- -i ■ ■ - -.- ‘-fr full d«- 
.orlptfon an A price* of All kinds of single wi 
double harness and save 25 per cent. 
King Harness Co. 510 Church Si., Owege.N.Y. 
HILL AND DIG POTATOES 
with our Improved Hiller And Digger, anil do it 
easier, quicker, and better than with any other im¬ 
plement. In use 15 years. With digger attachment 
you have two Implements for the price of 
one. Hiller with wheel $5.8‘2. Hil- 
ler andDigger attachment, .7 6. 
JOHN D0RSCH & SONS, Sent on 
226 Wells St.. approval. Hun- 
Milwaukee, Wis. . dre,u ^«*, t ‘; 
“KINO 
of the 
Corn¬ 
field.” 
Corn, Bean and Pea Planter 
and Fertilizer Distributor. 
Strong, 
Durable, 
Easy Draft, 
Easily Handled 
Fully 
Guaranteed. 
For planting Field, Ensilage or Fodder Corn, Broom 
Corn, lie. ok, Pen., Sugar Beets, Buck wheat, ete. 
Drops the seed in hills or drills. Will plant corn and 
boans at thesame time. Will put pumpkins orsquash 
III with the conn. Plants i'/i, 9.12,18, 24, 26and72inches 
apart. Distributes wet or dry fertilizer at the rate of 26 
to 700 lbs. per acre. Equipped with a new and Improved 
row marker. Agents wanted In all new territory. 
Catalog, special terms, etc., free. 
BELCHER <fc TAYLOR A. T. CO., 
Box 75., Chicopee Falls, Mass. 
JWBEQIID. 
Roofing i s the only covering for poultry houses that keeps the chicks cool in 
Summer and warm in \\ inter. Preserves an even, dry temperature always. 
Ten years without an equal. Never melts or rots. Write for Booklet K. 
THE STANDARD PAINT CO., 102 William St., New York. 
A Wonderful Offer 
SUCCESS SS WEEDER 
Sent on trial to any farmer who cannot get one 
from his dealer. Moro than 00,000 now on the 
farms of the United States. The tool Is an ab¬ 
solute necessity on every farm. 
‘I would not take $100 for my Success Weeder 
If I could not get another.’’—FRANK UNGER, 
North Collins, N, Y. 
Prices and descriptive circulars sent promptly on request. 
HALLOCK WEEDER COMPANY, YORK, PA. 
The name has grown 
In fame since 1826. Farmers have a 
grown In enterprise since then. Iron 
Age Implements have helped jr a 
make crops larger, expense jr 
smaller. There’s a ^ 
long line of Iron 
/X Age tools—for farm A 
I^'CJ and garden work— xQ/ 
yjy every one a winner 1 
~ They are fully described in the 
Iron Age Book for 1902 
It will give you ideas. It shows the tools by large, accurate ^ 
wood engravings, “just as they are,” gives prices and all I , 
k details. Whether you have a quarter acre garden 
X. or a groat big farm you can find the tools you 
need described in this book. It Is Free. 7 m 
No. 15 
Iron Age 
Combined 
Single Wheel 
V Hoe, Hill and 
Drill Seeder. 
No. 6 
f Iron Age 
Horse Hoe 
and Cultivator 
No, 70 Iron Age 
Combined l*lvot 
and Fixed W heel 
Hiding Cultivator 
No. 12 
Iron Age 
Wheel Plow 
and Cultivator 
BATEMAN MFG. CO 
Box 102 
Grenloch, N. J 
Three Thousand Farm Trucks 
Shipped in Last 60 Days 
BY THE 
FARMERS HANDY WAGON CO., SA S‘ 0 N „ AW ’ 
Send for Free Catalogue. 
