THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
1002 
6i1 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
I have another big grist of questions 
which call for discussion. 
Potato Digging.—H ere is one from Con¬ 
necticut which will appeal to many: 
•What is the best low-priced prac¬ 
tical potato digger that will do first 
class work? I have found digging by 
hand a slow laborious task as well as ex¬ 
pensive, and it comes at a time when extra 
help is scarce. The large diggers are too 
expensive. I want something built for two 
horses that is cheap enough for the aver¬ 
age farmer who raises from one to two 
acres only; one that will work if some 
small stones and weeds are in the ground.” 
This man is hunting for a very rare bird. 
There is no low-priced digger made that 
will get out all of the potatoes on weedy 
or stony ground and leave them on top 
of the ground. If a man will but think 
of the power and many motions required 
to dig a bushel of potatoes by hand and 
separate them from dirt he will realize 
the force and the shaking necessary to 
put 100 bushels ab'ove ground by ma¬ 
chinery. With four horses on our Hoover 
digger we can get practically all out, but 
with any two-horse machine that we ever 
saw more or less hand work or harrowing 
is needed. No digger will do its best on 
our hard and rocky soil. That is one 
reason why we are getting out of potato 
growing, for digging is for several reasons 
the hardest part of the problem. The 
cheap diggers are either double or single 
plows with rods at back or sides. The 
theory is to rip soil, stones, weeds, vines 
and potatoes all up with the plow, so that 
the rods may sift out the potatoes. In 
practice the vines and weeds clog up 
under the beam, and many of the tubers 
are dug out and covered again. The best 
tools of this class that I have tried are 
the Success Junior digger and Planet 
Junior plow. We find it profitable to use 
these tools, but no one has any right to 
say that a mere plow with rods for a 
screen will do the whole thing. On very- 
light land, with potatoes planted only three 
or four inches deep, they will do much 
better than on our soil. A man of only 
ordinary appearance and ability might 
start out on the hunt for a wife who can 
cook like a hotel chef; play and sing like 
a professional; care for children and the 
sick like a hospital nurse; read all the 
latest books and be ready to discuss art 
or science; chop wood for dinner one hour 
and paint a picture the next; never know 
an ache or pain and smile down every 
trouble that came in sight! My judgment 
is that such a man would either have to 
possess 75 per cent of these good qualities 
himself or continue his hunt beyond the 
grave! The search for a cheap potato 
digger that will put all the tubers on the 
top of weedy and stony ground will be 
just about as satisfactory. 
Killing White Grubs.— Another ques¬ 
tion that has taken the coloring matter 
out of many hairs is the following from 
New York: 
”I would like to know whether there is 
any way to get rid of white grubs. I have 
a pasture of about four acres that I 
would like to make a permanent pasture. 
It gets quite green in the Spring, but just 
as soon as the dry weather commences in 
July it is infested with the white grub. 
Two years ago this Fall I gave it a good 
coat of fine manure. What would you 
advise me to put on to drive them out?” 
1 know of nothing but sweat to kill out 
white grubs. Some years ago a famous 
prize light was to be fought. Two fat men 
began training for it—each found it neces¬ 
sary to "work off” about 50 pounds of 
flesh. One went to a farm where he worked 
in the sun and exercised until the water 
was out of his fibers—leaving them as 
hard as nails. The other worked less, but 
depended on pills and powders to reduce 
his flesh. When they came into the ring 
the man who had worked, simply played 
baseball with the other. Now, I believe 
that the white grub can only be killed out 
by thorough cultivation for several years. 
Every now and then somebody claims that 
by sowing buckwheat you will destroy the 
grubs. i might kill off some dyspeptic 
friend by stuffing him with buckwheat 
cakes, but the white grubs we have in 
New Jersey are certainly not killed that 
way. Others say that salt or wood ashes 
will kill the grubs. In order to injure 
them 1 believe you will have to use so 
much of the salt that you will ruin the 
soil for several years. All such things 
seem to me like the prize fighter taking 
pills when he should have worked. I 
would plow that pasture this Fall and 
leave the furrows as rough as possible so 
as to expose them to frost and storm. 
Fence some hogs there if possible. Every 
skunk and crow that would come to the 
field would be welcome, for both are as 
fond of white grubs as a hungry child is of 
white bread and butter. A scarecrow in 
the field would attract our crows. Next 
Spring I would plant corn in hills and use 
either lime or wood ashes. I would culti¬ 
vate thoroughly—long past the time of 
actual need of the corn crop. As soon as 
possible after the corn was cut I would 
either plow shallow or work the soil with 
disk or Cutaway and leave it in the rough 
for Winter. Why all this extra working? 
That is what I mean by the sweat treat¬ 
ment. This constant stirring will prevent 
thousands of eggs from hatching and ex¬ 
pose the insects to birds and animals. 
Three or perhaps two years of this careful 
work will fit that field for a permanent 
pasture. I do not know of any other way 
to break up such a nest of white grubs. 
They have been a perfect nuisance with us. 
Testing Soil. —A friend in Vermont has 
this to say about our old-time problem: 
"I am going to send samples of earth to 
the experiment station so as to know 
what chemicals are necessary for various 
crops.” 
That's a good thing to keep the experi¬ 
ment station people out of mischief, but 
you will learn less than you think you 
will as a guide to feeding your soil. Sup¬ 
pose you were going to hire a farm hand 
whom you had never seen. He writes you 
that he is six feet tall, weighs 200 pounls 
and measures so many inqjies around 
waist, calf and shoulders. b How much 
would you know about the man’s true ca¬ 
pacity for doing farm work? That big 
chest may shelter the heart of a loafing 
coward, and those great muscles may be 
fastened to bones so lazy that they are 
useless for honest farm labor. What you 
want to know is how much of all this beef 
and brawn is available —that is, how much 
will the man do for you? If he roost on 
the fence or go riding about the country 
on a wheel he exercises for his own ben¬ 
efit. If he work in the field you get the 
benefit of it. It’s available strength that 
you are after in both man and soil. Those 
chemists at the station will pick your soil 
apart and give you about the same class 
of information that the farm hand would 
by telling his weight and inches. Your 
crops are not chemists. Their scientific 
education is limited and they can only take 
the small amount of available plant food 
which is within reach. A chemist might 
analyze a piece of hemlock board and 
figure from his results that our old barn 
contains enough muscle-makers and fat- 
formers to last our horses for three years! 
Do you think that would satisfy old 
Major? No! No! The contents of hay 
mow and grain bin are available. The horse 
is not expected to eat the barn nor is the 
plant expected to eat the soil, but rather 
the available food which each contains. I 
would not advise you to pay money for a 
soil analysis. I would test the needs of 
the crop by applying different elements of 
fertility alone or in combination and 
watching results. Until I did know I 
would use nothing but a well-balanced fer¬ 
tilizer. As to my own farm I am quite 
well satisfied that its chiel needs are lime 
and phosphoric acid. 
The Coal Strike. —This letter from 
Maine is a little out of my latitude—but 
as we are coal burners to some extent 1 
will give my opinion: 
"Owing to the continued coal strike and 
the high price of coal with the prospect 
of a coal famine and a cold Winter just 
ahead I find there is great anxiety among 
the people as to what the remedy can be. 
Many think a removal of the tariff at once 
would give relief. All that people want 
to know is what to do, what screw to turn 
on and who to turn it on, and those at 
Washington will find that there are a few 
stamps left yet.” 
I may not have the true facts about the 
present trouble between coal miners and 
mine owners, and I would not do anyone 
an injustice, but I think the owners or 
operators represent the dog in the manger 
this time. My opinion is a long-range one 
based on hearsay evidence, but I think 
those mine owners should submit the dif¬ 
ference to arbitration, both sides to abide 
by the result. How can they be forced to 
arbitrate? Nothing but public sentiment 
will do it. Coal is now all out of reach. 
The high price hurts farmers both directly 
and indirectly. Some of us can use our 
wood for fuel, but the increased price will, 
in time, send up tne cost of manufactured 
articles. I understand that in some fruit 
sections the evaporators will be held up 
for lack of fuel and this will prevent the 
sale of thousands of bushels of fruit. This, 
however, is a small thing compared with 
the danger in permitting a few men to 
hold up the country and rob the con¬ 
sumers of coal. If this thing is to be per¬ 
mitted we might as well get out of the 
idea that we live in a republic! What can 
we do? Our friend wants to know -‘what 
screw to turn on! ' Without a special ses¬ 
sion or action by Congress a removal of 
the tariff is hardly possible. Where is 
foreign coal to come from at once to sup¬ 
ply our needs? My friends in New Eng¬ 
land tell me that the coal from Nova 
Scotia is not very satisfactory. If I were 
President and had the power to suspend 
tariff duties at will, I would let coal in 
free just as fast as pen could sign a 
proclamation. I do not think this would, 
of itself, greatly cheapen the price of coal, 
but it is my opinion that it would settle 
this coal strike in quick time, "rag time,” 
if you please, because it would show the 
feeling of the masses of people. But this i.-> 
"sour grapes," for the Hope Farm man has 
been unable to carry his own election dis¬ 
trict! I suggest that we all sit right down 
and write to our candidates for Congress. 
Tell them we want this strike settled. It 
is not a political question now. but the 
principle beneath it will be dug up and 
dressed in political clothes if the price of 
coal keeps up. I figure that these candi 
dates will carry the thing along to head¬ 
quarters if they are well stamped. This 
is the most practical "screw” I can think 
of now. I would turn it hard! 
Farm Notes.—You will remember that 
we sowed Crimson clover and Cowhorn 
turnips on top of the ground in the corn¬ 
field. A soaking rain followed the seeding 
and both crops have started with what 
promises to be a fair stand.We 
are cutting the second growth of clover— 
and wild carrots! It really makes quite 
respectable hay. well eaten by the horses. 
. . . . Late potatoes are still growing. 
I have said that June Eating is later than 
usual with us this year. The variety yields 
better than ever. Carman No. 3 gives a 
good yield, but seems to scatter far more 
in the hill. Usually this variety grows its 
tubers all in a bunch, but this year they 
are spread out in some cases almost like 
Rural Blush. . . . The sugar beets have 
reached the point where the great tops 
meet across the rows. As it looks now 
the tops alone will give nearly fodder 
enough to pay the cost of the crop. The 
beets are growing, some already being 
nearly three inches in diameter. The yel¬ 
low turnips are also jumping. 
Some of the writers on squash growing tell 
us to go in and nip off some of the flowers. 
They would have a nice time trying it in 
our squash field. It is a perfect tangle ot 
vine so mixed up that no one can tell 
which hill is which. A few lagging vines 
were braced up with a mixture of sulphate 
of potash and nitrate of soda. It looks 
just now like a great squash crop—but 
stronger hopes than this have been 
squashed before now! h. w. c. 
Birds and Cherries.— I have a row of 
nine Rich man cherry trees, the fourth tree 
in the row is a Juneberry. They begin to 
ripen about the time the cherries do a.id 
last long after the cherries are gathered. 
Birds relish wild fruit much better than 
tame. This tree entices the rice bird that 
will not eat a cherry, and is not even seen 
at any other time of the year. They come 
in flocks as long as the berries last. I 
would also recommend planting the Rus¬ 
sian mulberry. f. m. b. 
Rolling Prairie, Ind. 
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