1902 
499 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Farm Matters.— Was the barley hay 
ruined? 
No; the long soaking didn’t help it any, 
but the wind finally blew out the water 
and we got it to the barn in fair condition. 
The horses eat it well. It was well 
bleached out, but I do not think any of 
the grains cut for hay are as easily in¬ 
jured by a soaking as grass. The rains 
soaked that barley again and again. We 
tried to keep it bunched while the rain 
was falling, and opened out while the dry 
wind blew. This means lots of hard work, 
but it pays, for a strong wind will blow 
rainwater out of hay much faster than 
it blows sap out of green grass! Our oats 
and peas made a very satisfactory crop. 
As I write they are not fully cured yet, 
but I expect to have them in the barn in 
good condition. This is our first experi¬ 
ence with the crop as hay. It seems to 
require much the same treatment as clover 
and for feeding most stock I call it just 
as good. The clover seeding in the oats 
and peas is excellent. The rain finally 
cleared up and gave us the most beautiful 
hay weather you ever saw. There wasn’t 
a cloud in the sky and the wind blew hard. 
Then of course the click of the mower 
was heard at Hope Farm? 
No—to tell the truth the mower remained 
idle the best part of the day. 
What did you do that for? Isn't that 
bad farming? 
Yes, but the badness this time was not 
on our shoulders. A perfect swarm of 
bugs appeared all of a sudden on the po¬ 
tato vines. I never saw them appear so 
suddenly. Grass can stand a day, but 
Potato bugs must be killed at once, and 
we hitched up the bug wagon and went at 
them. I know that some of the smart 
book farmers say they are never caught 
that way. It is my opinion that it would 
be a good thing if they were. They would 
have more sympathy for those w r ho are 
not so smart as they are. This cold sea¬ 
son has upset all our calculations about 
bugs. They hatch at most unexpected 
times. Instead of all coming at once they 
come in squads. Can it be that some 
great general has appeared among them 
and taught them how to tire a farmer out? 
1 know one thing—we started out to raise 
some potatoes this year, and we intend to 
do it if we have to fight those bugs a dozen 
times. 
Then your potatoes look well, do they? 
We never had better looking vines at 
the Fourth of July. We had June Eating 
potatoes as large as a tumbler on that 
date. We shall not dig until the vines are 
fully ripe. The price this year is not 
high enough to warrant digging until the 
crop is fully matured. It does pay some¬ 
times to dig half-grown potatoes. I have 
done it in former years, but this season I 
figure that it pays better to buy rather 
than to dig. 
But that is against the advice of the 
wise men who say that a farmer should 
never buy when he can produce! 
I don’t care if it is To tell the truth 
I don’t call any man very wise who under¬ 
takes to give advice without knowing all 
the conditions. A few figures on a slate 
will often beat a wise man’s long-range 
advice all to pieces. 
To what do you attribute your good 
potato crop? 
Now you are moving too fast. We 
haven’t dug any good crop yet. The vines 
look well and' the tubers seem to be set¬ 
ting properly, but there are all the ob¬ 
stacles which may crowd into 50 long days 
to be overcome before we talk good cvop. 
I think the present good condition is due 
to the fact that the ground was thorough¬ 
ly prepared. It was really plowed three 
times and harrowed five times. In former 
years, with only a single plowing, the soil 
has baked hard in July. The tubers could 
no more stretch out and grow in this hard 
ground than a man’s head can grow if 
you tie it up tight with tough old preju¬ 
dices and mean habits. July is not over 
yet, and the soil may bake after all, but 
I hope not. 
What about your hay? 
We have more than we expected, and it 
is of good quality. Those two “Clark” 
fields that we seeded two years ago pretty 
nearly disgusted us early in the season. 
The grass was short and would not grow 
through May. I thought we had used too 
much seed, but the June rains set it going, 
and when the mower started on July 5 we 
were astonished at the way that grass 
bunched up. It is nearly pure Red-top. 
Only here and there can be found a bunch 
of Timothy. Charlie claims that he sowed 
the Red-top seed one way while Uncle 
Ed was sowing Timothy the other. It 
looks as though they both went to the 
same bag. If either grass is to master the 
other, I think Timothy with an equal 
chance is most likely to prove boss! 
How is the new seeding in the grain? 
Excellent, except in one piece of rye. 
We cut one piece of wheat early for hay, 
and the grass and clover are making a 
good start. I intend to cut it about Sep¬ 
tember 1 for hay. The boys think this 
will hurt the seeding. They would let this 
growth die on the field and burn it off in 
the Spring. To my notion that is just the 
thing not to do. I feel sure that grass 
winters better when cut short. If there is 
any choice at all, the seeding in the rye is 
generally better than that in the wheat, 
though I can see no reason why this should 
be so. I have heard people say that rye is 
always a better nurse crop than wheat. I 
don’t believe we are justified in making 
such statements. 
What about the Alfalfa? 
Since we cut the barley, the Alfalfa 
seems to have braced up a little, but it 
is still much inferior to the clover along¬ 
side of it. It has, however, made a re¬ 
markable root. Do we want the Alfalfa 
if it requires so much more petting than 
clover? That’s what I am trying to find 
out. A friend in Ohio who has just cut 
100 tons of Alfalfa writes as follows: 
“If that Alfalfa is yellow and spindling 
it is because the land needs something, 
and the Alfalfa also. Lime is one thing; 
try a corner and see what effect it has. 
Ashes are better than lime, if you have 
access to them, as they contain lime, pot¬ 
ash and phosphoric acid. Stable manure 
and clipping off with the mower are prob¬ 
ably the two most urgent needs; try them 
each one soon.” 
Now, what I want on these hillsides is 
something that will provide and not de¬ 
mand manure. The hills are so steep that 
barely half a fair load can be hauled up. 
I want something up there that will eat 
fertilizers and send food for the stock 
down 'hill. I know that oats and peas and 
clover and Timothy will do this well. If 
Alfalfa can’t do it I want to know it. 
That is why I am handling this field as 
the farmers in this section will have to 
handle their hillsides if they are to be 
utilized. It is another story to try Alfalfa 
on the lower, level ground. 
How about your corn? 
I must say frankly that I feel rather 
ashamed of it. It made a bad start, and 
the soil is evidently too poor. It is not as 
clean as it should be. Quit? Not much! 
We shall jump some fertilizers on at once, 
clean up the field and give it a start. The 
season has been bad for corn thus far, 
though there are some excellent fields 
near us. A good handful of high-giade 
fertilizer near a hill of corn is like a teed 
of oats and a whip for a lazy horse. We’ll 
put ears on that corn yet, though just 
now it is not a credit to us. 
I have the following question from 
Maryland: 
“Would the Hope Farm man advise seed¬ 
ing a Red clover field with Orchard grass, 
or with a combination of that with John¬ 
son grass and Alsike, and possibly tim¬ 
othy? The object is to set permanently 
for pasturage and mowing.” 
I have had no experience in seeding to 
pasture. Of course l understand that the 
clover field Is to be plowed and well fitted. 
If the soil Is good and inclined to be moist 
the Alsike will do well with Orchard 
grass—better 1 think than the Red clover. 
I doubt the wisdom of using Johnson 
grass. It spreads like a scandal, and will 
cover the farm unless you head it off. In 
parts of the South it has become a per¬ 
fect nuisance, and farmers cannot kill it 
out. Without actual experience in seed-* 
ing to pasture I would add to the Orchard 
grass and Alsike, Timothy, Red-top, 
Meadow fescue and a little White clover. 
The Glorious Fourth.— The day was 
just about perfect except for the extreme 
heat at noon. There was a good breeze 
which chased the white clouds across the 
sky as the American eagle is supposed to 
chase its enemies on this great day! The 
Hope Farmers had planned for a picnic 
over in the woods at the back of the farm, 
and the Madame and her assistants got 
their food together in lively style. There 
were 19 people on hand. It had rained the 
day before, and all hands were afraid that 
the ground would be damp, but that glori¬ 
ous breeze crowded into the woods and 
carried the moisture out. I had made a 
bargain with the children to buy a supply 
of fire crackers if they would hoe a cer¬ 
tain number of rows of potatoes. The 
rain the day before had prevented their 
working and so, after breakfast, we start¬ 
ed out to fulfill our contract! There was 
a broken panel in the cornfield fence 
where Julia broke a post. I divided the 
five children into two squads. While one 
guarded the fence and kept the cows back 
the other hoed potatoes. They changed 
every half hour. How they did crawl out 
to guard the potato vines against weeds, 
and how they did run at full speed to keep 
away the cows! It makes much difference 
I find whether our duty puts a toy pistol 
or a hoe in one’s hands! Each child had 
a toy pistol and a box of caps. T hey 
crawled behind trees and fences and shot 
imaginary buffaloes and Indians with ID 
times the energy with which they attacked 
very real enemies in the form of weeds. 
Still, they did some hoeing after all, while 
I was cutting grass with a scythe around 
the Stringfellow peach trees. 
Shortly after 11 the call came to march. 
Frank and Major hauled the heavy weights 
over the hill to the woods, where we 
found a dry, shady place for a camp. The 
little boys ranged about with their toy 
pistols to guard us against any Indian sur¬ 
prise! Frank and Major browsed on chest¬ 
nut leaves and grass; the hammock was 
swung between two convenient trees and 
all hands prepared to “lay off.” The girls 
went to the spring after water—closely 
guarded by the pistol bearers, and the 
Madame brewed a supply of lemonade. I 
won’t attempt to tell how many sand¬ 
wiches of ham, egg, cheese and lettuce we 
put out of sight! After dinner I took the 
children back to the cornfield and helped 
them let off some fire crackers. If there 
is any nitrogen to be let off I want it near 
some cultivated crop—and a boy and a 
fire cracker have no right to combine near 
dry leaves! After this was over all hands 
found it no sort of punishment to lie 
quietly and look up through the tall trees 
and watch the clouds scudding over us. 
The sunshine lay in long golden splinters 
and patches about us. We just declared 
our independence of care and work and 
deliberately loafed till late in the after 
noon, when Major and Frank hauled the 
crowd home. As the twilight came on we 
sat under the big grapevine and ate bread 
and milk and ice cream. This day meant a 
good deal to our four city visitors. It seemed 
to startle them a little to realize that 
within 25 miles of the great city they had 
climbed over our steep hill into a wilder¬ 
ness. Then the small supply of fireworks 
went up into smoke and five happy little 
folks went off to bed without a burn, and 
the only bruise on the Leaf’s knee where 
he fell in the woods. 
“You must all be up lively in the morn¬ 
ing,” I said, “so as to finish the potatoes 
and pay for the fireworks.” 
“I don’t think that’s very nice,” said 
the Bud, “to talk about work after the 
fireworks are all gone!” 
There you have a bunch of human na¬ 
ture! Who likes to pay a debt after the 
fun of the borrowed money has all gone? 
Working on Thursday with the fireworks 
in imagination was one thing. Working 
on Saturday with the fireworks an ex 
ploded fact was quite another! 
Paying Debts.—I talked this over with 
our little folks after the Fourth. 
“You see you wanted fireworks and a 
baseball and lots of other things. They all 
cost money, and nobody at Hope Farm 
can get money except when they work and 
earn it. Do you call it fair for me to do 
all the work?” 
Well, no, they didn’t think so. The 
Scion and the Bud seemed a little sorry 
that my statement was true, but they ac¬ 
cepted it. They finally agreed that there 
was no good reason why they should not 
give some fair return for the fun and the 
food they receive, but they all, with one 
accord, declared that hoeing is the hardest 
and meanest way to pay a debt. It is 
something of a regret to me that not a 
single Hope Farmer likes to swing a hoe! 
Why do I spend time trying to discuss 
labor problems with these little fellows? 
Why not hand them a hoe and tell them 
to use it or stand a whipping? Because 
that is the way to make agricultural an 
archists, and there are now too many of 
them for the good of our business! I may 
not be able to do it, but I am going to try 
to get these little ones to understand the 
sacred obligations involved in a debt. 
Yes—debts of gratitude as well as financial 
and social debts. I don’t want one of them 
to feel that the things which they desire 
are to be given them without any effort 
on their part, or that they are to be forced 
to labor without receiving some fair re-> 
turn for it. If I had a million dollars I 
would make my children see the necessity 
of making some personal return for every 
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