1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Grass Talks.— The Orchard grass m the 
barn orchard was in the hay mow by 
June 11. It made fine hay—light as com¬ 
pared with an armful of clover, but sweet 
and strong. As most farmers know this 
grass grows in bunches, and is very hard 
to kill out. After cutting we turned the 
cows in, the plan being to keep them there 
a week and then turn to the other pasture 
so as to give each a chance to pick up. 
But will not the cows eat the fallen ap¬ 
ples? 
Yes, but that will not be serious. 
Here you have been telling of cows that 
got drunk from eating such fruit! 
So they did, but that was when they 
broke into a field and gorged on green 
apples. When cows begin eating a few 
apples at a time and gradually increase 
they will not get drunk—in fact, such ap¬ 
ples are often picked up and fed to cows 
in quite large quantities. 
Does not this upset your temperance 
arguments? Why not let men take liquor 
in the same way, and like the cows, get 
used to it so they won’t get drunks 
Because Nature has denied to man the 
stomach and the sense she gave to the 
cow, and it is unsafe for the average man 
to handle rum in that way. 
A question that comes up every year Is 
whether to keep the barn shut or open 
when damp, green hay is put in the mows. 
Most people say that the barn doors and 
windows should be thrown open so that 
the wind can blow the dampness out. How 
does such water get out of hay anyway? 
We may put salt on the hay and dry it. 
The salt absorbs the moisture. Ordinarily, 
however, the water must pass away in the 
form of vapor. The heat inside the barn 
rises, and the vapor is driven out of the 
hay. If the barn is kept closed this heat 
continues and the hot air rises with the 
vapor and carries it out through the ven¬ 
tilators. If, however, the doors and win¬ 
dows are open the air from outside blows 
in. This is colder than the air in the 
barn, and instead of blowing the vapor out 
it condenses it at once into water, which 
remains on the hay! I think, therefore, 
that damp hay is better when the barn is 
shut up tight. 
Farm Matters.— The first Potato beetles 
hatched on June 13. They are not very 
numerous, but require attention. We aie 
using the dry poison this year. Why? Our 
potato lieids are small, as we picked 
patches here and there of the best potato 
soil. It would not pay to drive the ma¬ 
chine sprayer through them. We use dry 
Bordeaux Mixture and Paris-green in land 
plaster, blowing it on with the Paris-green 
gun with the widest notch open. 
1 got a mild fright on Decoration Day at 
I he appearance of a strip through our best 
potato field, it looked as though scorched. 
The leaves had turned brown and hung 
limply down. The strip was about two 
rods wide. I took it to be blight at first, 
and prescribed Bordeaux, about as my old 
uncle always prescribed sulphur and mo¬ 
lasses for every ache. The trouble turned 
out to be frost. I have found several small 
patches on the farm where frost seems to 
have snapped down and bitten a hole in 
the crops. What I cannot understand is 
why the adjoining fields or rows were un¬ 
touched! .... On a spot about twice 
the size of a good-sized room in the middle 
of one potato field the vines lie Hat on the 
ground. It appears to be the work of the 
borer that works inside the stem. 1 under¬ 
stand there is no remedy for it. Most of 
the damage has been done above the first 
joint, and the plant lives feebly, but can¬ 
not make a crop. 1 shall plant corn in 
this damaged spot.I plan to cut 
the beardless barley about June 25. I like 
the looks of it. There will be a fair 
amount of hay—not quite as much as from 
the oats—I should judge. 
The Alfalfa? 
I am sorry to say that it doesn’t look as 
well as I would like. While the clover be¬ 
side It is of a dark, rich green, thick and 
bunchy, the Alfalfa spindlles up slowly 
and has a pale and sickly color. This may 
be a part of the game for aught 1 know, 
and the Alfalfa may brace up after we cut 
the barley, but it looks to me as though 
death were behind it. As a child the clover 
certainly throws it in the shade. Still, I 
have seen some pretty scraggly children 
pass the fat ones and finally put them to 
shame! 
Now, don’t you wish you had bought 
clover seed and left the Alfalfa to pencil 
farmers and experiment stations? 
No, sir! You won’t catch me deserting 
a partner under fire. We know about 
clover, but we don’t know about Alfalfa. 
We sowed that seed to find out. I am no 
deadhead, and I am willing to pay a fair 
price for farm information. I’m going to 
make Alfalfa grow on Hope Farm, or 
learn just why it won’t! 
Marketing. —We are making fair sales 
every day. The Graft sold and delivered 
$9.84 worth of goods the first two weeks of 
June, and Is increasing his sales right 
along. He gets five per cent commission 
on his sales, and pays one per cent to the 
Scion as assistant. The latter salesman 
was told to tell one customer that peas 
were three cents a quart. He got inter-, 
ested in turtles on the way, and finally 
announced that price for strawberries. 
Considering the fact that our Marshall 
berries were going like hot cakes at 15 
cents, the Scion can hardly be called an 
expert salesman. 
Are not these little boys ashamed to go 
and ask people to buy fruit and vege¬ 
tables? 
No—why should they be? What in the 
world is there to be ashamed of in the 
sale of honest farm products? Ashamed? 
Nonsense! These little fellows know that 
Hope Farm milk isn’t watered, and that 
they can warrant everything they sell! It 
would make me exceedingly weary to 
learn that any member of my family was 
ashamed of being known as a farmer! 
Hugh has been out through the little 
towns near us with berries. He got rid of 
them quite easily in the face of consider¬ 
able competition. His report about ped¬ 
dling is: “It’s all right so long as your 
goods are best in the market, but tough 
going with poor trash!’’ Our Marshalls 
are reported the bdfct fruit in market this 
year. These big, dark crimson berries ad¬ 
vertise themselves. We get orders for 
plants from those who buy the fruit. I 
discourage those who want to buy Mar¬ 
shall plants for thin soil or for poor cul¬ 
ture. One man who bought our fruit says 
he has often planted strawberries and had 
them grow up weeds. He can graft Mar¬ 
shalls on to ragweed, but it will have to 
be done with a hoe, with elbow grease for 
grafting wax. 
A Hen Story.— Charlie tells the follow¬ 
ing story, and insists that it is exactly 
true, and Hugh and Philip back him up in 
it: A black hen stole her nest in a little 
house in a corner of the barnyard. Charlie 
found her there warming 14 eggs when he 
wanted the house for his fattening pig. 
He took the hen with her eggs and put 
them in a box in the old granary—up¬ 
stairs. She sat there properly for a while 
until wilh the strange perversity which 
attacks hens and men alike, she threw up 
her job. On Wednesday the boys saw her 
walking about the yard, and were unable 
to get her back on the eggs. They sup¬ 
posed of course that settled the eggs. On 
Sunday Charlie heard a noise in the gran¬ 
ary and was astonished to find the desert¬ 
ed nest with six of the eggs just hatched 
out. lie went to the hen house, caught 
another hen that wanted to sit, put her 
on the eggs and fastened her in wilh a 
box. She hatched out the remaining eight 
eggs, and may now be seen walking around 
the Hope Farm barnyard with her 14 little 
chicks! The lazy shirk of a black hen is 
also here about to graduate into a chicken 
pie. Now, the Hope Farm man merely 
tells the story. I am not offering self¬ 
hatching eggs for sale, but the facts seem 
to be as stated, and I do not think any 
hen touched those eggs for three days! 
The weather at that time was hot, and I 
have no doubt that a thermometer in that 
hot room would have registered over 1U0 
degrees at any hour of the 24. 
Garden Stuff.—T he Alaska peas yielded 
well, and the first planting lasted unlil the 
Nott’s Excelsior planted in the strawber¬ 
ries were ripe. As soon as they were fin¬ 
ished the Alaska vines were pulled and 
fed to the hogs, and Hubbard squash 
planted in their place.The sweet 
potatoes were planted or set out on May 
29. They struck a cold snap, but all lived, 
and are making fair growth. We set them 
on the warmest soil of the farm. It pro¬ 
duced a crop of rye this Spring, which was 
fed to the cows. Then the land was plowed 
in ridges and the sweet potato plants set 
at the top of the ridge.The 
transplanted onions interest me greatly. 
We did not start our seed as early as we 
should have done, but the plants are grow¬ 
ing rapidly. I do not think one of the 
transplants died. What do we think of 
this plan? The setting out is hard work, 
and looks like a slow process for getting 
started. You are able to give the soil the 
most thorough preparation before the 
plants are set, and you are able to keep 
them clean with much less work. I cannot 
tell yet what the onions will finally look 
like, but I like the method thus far. . . . 
By June 11, we had a full supply of peas, 
lettuce, spinach, radish, turnips, beets and 
parsley. This is on cold soil in a season 
naturally late. Western beef may go to a 
dollar a pound, but while such an outfit 
of vegetables is on tap, with strawberries 
and cream to top off with, the Hope Farm 
man feels that he must play ball with the 
children after supper or bid farewell to 
his last year’s coat. 
All Sorts.—I t looks as though we should 
be able to pick strawberries every day In 
the year. Our fresh fruit lasts 25 days, and 
we can pick from the pantry shelves for 
the remaining 340 days in the year. Our 
women folks have prepared an array of 
451 
jars that will surely give old Winter a jar 
when he tries to tell us that he has ended 
Summer for good. It would seem that 
big strawberries are most difficult of all 
fruit to can properly. A fair proportion of 
the cans will need to be heated two and 
three times. It seems to be hard to reach 
and destroy all the bacteria in those big 
berries. They start their ferment and must 
be stewed out before t He can is safe. They 
are like the little pieces of Quack grass 
roots in the well-cultivated soil—or the 
germ of a bad habit in the heart of a re¬ 
formed man.The sugar beets are 
up. Hugh tried to beat the record in mak¬ 
ing their soil ready. The ston'es were 
raked and carted away and the ground 
thickly coated with rich manure from the 
hog house. Plowing brought more stones 
to the surface. The ground was harrowed 
and harrowed, and left fine and open for 
the beets. We shall sow our yellow tur¬ 
nips earlier than usual this year. They 
will follow rye, which was cut for fodder, 
the ground receiving a fair coat of manure 
and a dressing of phosphate. Turnips are 
greatly helped by phosphoric acid, and 
sugar beets by sulphate of potash. . . . 
The Dwarf Essex rape is growing faster 
than the ragweed. I do not know of any 
higher compliment. This crop grows slow¬ 
ly at first, but like a Carman potato vine, 
suddenly spreads out and makes a tre¬ 
mendous showing. Of course the late cab¬ 
bage plants are up. We used lime rreely 
when sowing the seed. h. w. c. 
If you want a harvesting machine that 
is reliable—one that will work success¬ 
fully in all conditions of grain—buy the 
McCormick.— Adv. 
On 
Deposits 
of 
$50.00 
and 
Upward 
Guaranteed 
I T is folly to speculate with 
hard-earned savings. This 
Company’s business is free from 
speculative features. It keeps 
its depositors informed in detail 
regarding its operations, earn¬ 
ings and character of its assets 
and securities. Its business is 
subject to yearly Inspection by 
the State Ranking Department, 
and tlie Company lias in 
nine years increased its assets to 
over$1,COO,ooo. Surplus, flsc.uoo. 
We are privileged lo use testi¬ 
monials of old depositors and 
leading businessmen and clergy¬ 
men. Write fur detailed in¬ 
formation. 
INDUSTRIAL SAVINGS & LOAN CO. 
1134-5 Broadway, New York 
School of Practical Agriculture 
and Horticulture. 
Courses iu Fruit Culture, Gardening, Landscape 
Gardening and Farming. Begins September 1(1, 191)2. 
Open to men and women for training iu practical and 
scientific work. Catalogue. 
GEO. T. POWELL, Director, 
BrlarclilT Manor, N. Y. 
The Life of the Wheel 
depends upon the make of the wheel. 
ELECTRIC WHEELS 
last almost forever. Fit any wagon.stralght 
or staggered spokes. Write for the cat)*- 
loguo. We mat 1 i t f ree. 
KUCDTU1C WHEEL CO., Box an, Quincy, I1U. 
BELLE CITY Feed 
and Ensilage Cutter 
Fan attached to knife wheel and blows feed or ensilage 
through any length pipe with less power 
than any other blower. Full Hue of 
Trend and Sweep Pow¬ 
er h, Root <JutterK,Suw 
Frame**. Hello 
City Thresh¬ 
er* 
etc. 
With 
H lower 
At tu<>h- 
iueut. 
Silo and ensilage 
treatise sent free if 
you mention this paper. 
BELLE CITY MFG. CO., Racine, Wis. Box 13 
T he America. 
Combined Feed Cutter & Shredder 
handles all fodder crops and ensilage. Stationary or traveling feed 
table. Four sizes—13, 10. 18 and 20 inches. Right, left or straight 
away Swivel and Giant Flevatora or special Blower 
Outfit. They are doubly strong, 
durable, fust and efficient, 
be used mounted or unmounted. 
Send for special Illustrated Cata¬ 
logue of Farm Machinery. 
J K. WILDER SONS, 
Box 20 _ Monroe, Michigan, 
Do You Feed We will also 
ENSILAGE? I I ^ ^ tell you about 
If not , write ■ ■ W W Profit-Making; 
us and we will bei q m ^ ^ Ross hnsilage 
tell you why Cutters. 
you should. CUTTERS Address, 
The E. W. Ross Co., Springfield. O. 
Our Illustrated Catalogue No. 45 is Free. 
BUZZARD” 
ed and 
Ensilage 
Cutter 
everything, cuts hay, 
nsilage, shreds fodder 
the silo to any height; 
done by one machine. 
Sold on full guarantee. 
Write for catalogue. 
Joseph IMek 
Agricultural Works, 
Canton, Ohio. 
COSTS LITTLE 
BOOKLET “ K. ” 
THE STANDARD PAINT CO 
102 William St., New York. 
EASILY LAID 
ARROW BRAND 
Heady Hooting 
ASPHALT READY ROOFING CO. 
13t> Water St., New York. 
can be very 
advantageous¬ 
ly applied on 
SILOS, Farm 
Buildings or 
Sliedw by any 
handy nran. 
Send for free 
samples. 
HARDER MFG. CO., Cobleskill, N. Y. 
Horse Powers, Ensilage Cutters, Hound Silos, &c. 
DfinPIMP ** Will Fay You to write us for Bam- 
nuun Wu ple8& prices before ordering elsewhere 
Agents Wanted. Stowell Mfg. Co., Jersey City, N. Y. 
sfore Buying a New Harness 
Send 4c. postage for Illustrated Catalogue; full 
description and prices single and 
double Oak Leather Harness direct 
to consumer at Wholesale Prices and 
Save Money. Address 
KING HARNESS CO., 
am ehi,r»h si... (luroo’o. N. Y. 
WRITE FOR 
PARTICULARS. 
THE VINE & ROOT MACHINERY COMPANY, Port Huron, Mich. 
PEAS are as good as COLD 
this Year. 
OUR LITTER 
will harvest them for oue-tentli of 
Pea, Bean, Beet and 
Chicory Farm Toole 
and “THE MEAD” Fu 
Circle, 2-Strok 
Hay Press. 
