1902 
659 
Hope Farm Notes 
Inventions. —The following letter is a 
sample of a good many that have come 
to me: 
“I have contrived an attachment for a 
corn planter which, I think, will relieve 
the operator of nine-tenths of the tire¬ 
some work of checking it by hand. I would 
like to ask whether you think it will meet 
with success, and also, what would be the 
best steps for a poor man to take in such 
a case?” 
One of the most pathetic things in life 
is the picture of a poor man with an in¬ 
vention! I regret to say that as a lule 
such inventions are not practical. The 
model may work like a charm, but the 
large machines when put at practical woi k 
usually fail. Business men are of necessity 
cold-blooded. It is well that they are, but 
the man who has put his ambition and 
love and hope into a new machine feels 
hurt when the experts knock all the senti¬ 
ment out and hunt for flaws. Manufac¬ 
turers tell me that they are overrun with 
people who claim to have discovered some 
new principle of mechanics. Most of the 
improvements in machinery have come 
from suggestions made by practical farm¬ 
ers. Perhaps our friend really has an at¬ 
tachment that will do in practical wotk 
what he thinks it will. If it will, at least 
a dozen manufacturers would be glad to 
handle it. I would try to get a patent on 
it if possible. As to how a poor man should 
go to work to do this I cannot say without 
knowing just how poor the man is in 
money, character and friends. The latter 
may sometimes be turned into the former! 
I never invented anything, and rather hope 
I never will after seeing the sad plight of 
several good people who left steady jobs 
and fair happiness to chase the fortunes 
of a model. 
Farm Notes.—I spoke of seeding Crim¬ 
son clover and Cow-horn turnips in the 
corn. The seed was scattered on the 
ground without working in with the culti¬ 
vator. There was only a poor catch, and 
the plants are small and spindling. While 
the ground may be quite well covered be¬ 
fore the ground freezes this plan of seed¬ 
ing cannot be recommended. After con¬ 
siderable experience I am quite sure that 
the clover and turnip seed are best worked 
in with a light cultivator like the diamond- 
tooth, with a plank or short log dragging 
behind to smooth and pack down the stirred 
soil.We are sowing rye after dig¬ 
ging potatoes. The Hoover digger works 
up the soil like a man with a shovel and 
coal sieve. We rake off the weeds and 
potato vines with the hay rake. Part are 
used to fill the gulleys and low places, and 
the rest are piled around the little trees 
for mulch. I do not intend to let the rye 
go to grain and straw, but I want every 
piece of ground on Hope Farm covered 
with some living crop during the Fall and 
Winter. Last Winter we had whole fields 
bare; this year all but the sugar beet and 
turnip ground will be covered.A 
neighbor has a low meadow where Red- 
top and Timothy do not thrive. He has 
read about Fowl Meadow grass and wants 
to try some of the seed. This grass is said 
to make fair hay on these low pockets, 
but the seed is very hard to find. If we 
can get the grass started in our neighobr- 
hood we will pass the seed around until 
the low places are made useful. We wel¬ 
come grass or human that can give high- 
class results in low situations. . . . The 
story of our squash culture is a short one. 
We plowed a clover sod and marked out 
hills eight feet apart each way. The hills 
were heaped up with a hoe and a fire 
shovel full of hen manure worked into each 
one. Later a handful of a mixture of sul¬ 
phate of potash and nitrate of soda was 
scattered around each hill. The plants 
were thinned to three in a hill and kept 
well cultivated and hoed. A few of the 
squash or stink bugs were picked by hand, 
but to our surprise practically no damage 
was done by insects. The field from the 
middle of August has been a perfect mat 
of vines, and the squashes are very fine. 
This is really the most satisfying crop we 
have ever grown at Hope Farm, yet we 
can claim but little credit, for, had the 
squash insects been as bad as some grow¬ 
ers report, I fear they would have beaten 
us.I am offered 80 cents per 
bushel for the wheat, 56 cents for the rye 
and $15 per ton in bulk for the rye straw. 
It makes a nice problem in figuring to de¬ 
cide whether to sell wheat at $26 per ton 
and buy western bran at $21. I am in¬ 
clined to sell the wheat. As for rye straw, 
1 would certainly sell it. The crop prophets 
all seem to agree that the western corn 
crop will be heavy. That ought to bring 
down the price of all grain. I am think¬ 
ing of getting a small sweep grinder or 
crusher and grinding corn and rye to¬ 
gether with a fair amount of bran added. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
It will certainly be cheaper to buy what 
grain I need unground and crush it here. 1 
think, too, it will be safer. 
Pig Points.— Since looking at the pigs 
exhibited at fairs I feel quite well pleased 
with our stock. Our Yorkshires would win 
at many shows. I have been finding fault 
with our Berks because they carry toe 
much white on the face, but I find pigs 
winning prizes with more white than ours 
show. It does not seem to be such a color 
blemish as I supposed. One or two of the 
little Yorkshires have black or blue spots 
on the back. These spots are about the 
size of a silver half dollar. I am told that 
such spots do not disqualify the animal. 
I have seen first-prize winners carrying 
them. I do not like them, however, and 
intend to breed them out if possible. 
Which do you prefer—Yorkshires or Berk- 
shires? 
I still call the Berkshires a little ahead, 
but I must admit that the Yorkshires have 
gained on them. 
In what way? 
The Yorkshire litters are larger and very 
uniform. Rose of Meadowbrook had eight 
pigs in her first litter and raised six fine 
ones. Two young Berkshire sows only 
raised five pigs between them. In the hog- 
house to-day old Hugha, our original Berk¬ 
shire, has four good pigs. In the next 
pen, Clara, a white sow of no particular 
breeding, has 11 fine pigs—their sire being 
our purebred Yorkshire. Plugha’s last lit¬ 
ter of four sold for $20; Clara's eight sold 
for $24. One of the little black pigs is 
badly marked and $20 more is about all we 
can hope for from this litter, while the 
whites will readily bring $3 each. That 
means a year’s income of $40 for Hugha 
and $57 for Clara, with more risk about 
the former. No use talking, the small lit¬ 
ters are a great objection. 
Why, then, keep the Berkshires? 
There is seldom a runt to be found in 
these small litters, and the Berks are quick 
growers and pack the meat in the best 
place. Dr. C. D. Smead says that he went 
through a big western packing house, and 
asked the packers what hogs they wanted. 
“Black whenever we can get them!” 
“Why?” 
“Cut the carcass of a white hog midway 
between shoulder and ham, and the two 
parts will weigh about the same. The 
meat in front of the cut brings six cents— 
that back of it 10 cents or more. Cut the 
carcass of a black hog in the same way 
and over GO per cent of the weight will be 
back of the cut!” 
I believe that is a fair statement of a 
general fact, though for making fine bacon 
for the English market the Yorkshire has 
the lead. 
Ben Davis Apple.— My opinion of this 
apple is pretty well known. I have plant¬ 
ed a dozen Black Ben Davis in order to 
see whether this so-called new variety is 
really identical with Gano, but I do not 
want Hope Farm to be represented in the 
market by the ordinary Ben Davis. Yet, 
here is a case which shows how widely 
opinions may vary. A friend in my own 
county who lives within a dozen miles of 
the farm sent an apple with the following 
letter: 
“Here is an apple that seems to ‘take 
the cake’ in our local market, all who try 
them claiming they are much the best they 
can get at this time of the year. We have 
only one tree of them; that was grafted 
about 25 years ago with scions sent from 
Illinois, and we have always called it the 
‘western’ apple. Can you or any of your 
horticultural sharps tell us the right name? 
We would like to know, because it is 
such a good apple; the tree is a vigorous, 
healthy grower and regular bearer every 
year, as long as I can remember (about 
20 years).” 
The apple was quite unlike anything we 
had ever seen before, and I finally sent it 
to Washington to be identified. United 
States Pomologist Brackett says that after 
a careful examination he finds it to be our 
old friend Ben Davis! Now, that is a hot 
one for the Hope Farm man—too good to 
be lost. Is it possible that I am denounc¬ 
ing Ben Davis on one side of the county, 
while within a few miles customers cry 
for it? It’s against all horticultural law 
for a plain farmer to move an eyelash at 
the decision of a pomologist, but if I 
wanted more apples of the same sort, I 
would use wood from that tree for graft¬ 
ing, and not buy Ben Davis trees! 
Coal and Politics.— My remarks about 
the coal situation seem to have warmed 
up some of our friends. One man in 
Massachusetts writes: 
“Does not this man know that anthra¬ 
cite coal, the kind mined by the strikers, 
is on the free list and that the only tariff 
on bituminous coal is 67 cents a ton?” 
Yes, I know that. The former tariff on 
soft coal was 40 cents. I said that the re¬ 
moval of the tariff would not give great 
direct benefit, but it would show the man¬ 
agers or owners of corporations what was 
coining if they refuse to recognize the 
rights of consumers. Certainly no tariff is 
needed on anthracite with the mines 
owned or managed by the railroads. Writ¬ 
ing notes about such matters is worse than 
running for office. Here is part of a letter 
from a man in Illinois who writes with 
great force and power: 
“My advice to you is to stick to your 
business and let politics alone. If we want 
politics we can get it in the newspapers. 
Not only that; you are just, as much out 
of your element when you try it as an old 
hen trying to follow a flock of young 
ducks in the water for fear they would get 
drowned.” 
People who say that an old hen with a 
duck family makes a fool of herself are 
generally those who know little about 
farming. Poultrymen know that the hen 
will nurse more baby ducks to maturity 
than their own mother could. A duck has 
been known to die of fright, or run* like 
a coward away from her brood at dark¬ 
ness, or when brought face to face with 
situations which would only make an old 
hen ruffle her feathers and put up a good 
fight. I have been something of a politician 
myself in my day, but the way I fail to get 
the votes when I run leads me to think 
that our friend is right in saying that I 
am “out of my element.” h. w. c. 
Stomach Worms in Sheep.— Dr. Bitting, 
veterinarian of the Indiana Experiment 
Station, gives the symptoms of stomach 
worms as follows: “Dullness, loss of ap¬ 
petite, increased thirst, diarrhea may or 
may not be present, a part may show an 
accumulation of fluid between the jaws, 
grinding of the teeth; there is a stiffness 
of the back and hind parts, and a lagging 
behind the flock. In acute cases there may 
be evidence of pain, as colic, eating un¬ 
usual material, and much bleating. Some 
die suddenly without showing evidence of 
disease. The majority linger for a week 
or two and then die. Old sheep are not 
much affected.” He recommends the fol¬ 
lowing treatment: "Take one part of coal 
tar creosote, and 100 parts of water and 
mix well. With a two-ounce hard rubber 
syringe having a short bit of rubber tubing 
on the end administer one syringeful to 
each lamb. Use care not to hold the head 
high or to force the dose too rapidly, so 
as to cause strangulating. With such an 
arrangement a whole flock may be easily 
treated. One to three treatments given a 
few days apart may be necessary. It is 
also a good policy to turn the lambs off 
the regular pasture into the cornfield. 
They will do little damage to the corn, and 
in eating the lower blades and grass get 
food free from all contamination.” 
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