1899 
3o3 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
Cultivating with Fire — People in 
our country believe in a fire as a Spring 
purifier. They run a smart fire over the 
grass lands, along fences and over the 
weedy fields. This cleans up the trash, 
and leaves the fields neater. Thousands 
of weed seeds are killed in this way, 
and the pastures and meadows are left 
in much better shape. It is a mistake 
to delay too long, however, for a fire 
after the gra^s really starts is likely to 
do more harm than good. We have no 
fence rows to burn over, for we pulled 
up all the old rail fences when we first 
came to the farm. These old rails and a 
few worthless apple trees saved the fuel 
bill last Wiuter in spite of the Coal 
Trust. 
Cabe of the Hobses. —The first plow¬ 
ing was done on April 5, and from now 
on, the horses will earn their board, I 
can tell you. We began feeding them 
well several weeks ago. Their shoulders 
have been bathed in weak vinegar, and 
we are now feeding a little sulphur to 
start out the hair and clear the skin. 
The farm team is like the engine in a 
factory. It is the motive power, and if 
it breaks down, your machinery will 
stand idle. There is a great difference 
in strength between our two horses, and 
it pays to give Frank the short end of 
the evener, and let Major have a good 
leverage. The season for horseplay on 
Hope Farm is over. Business is now in 
order from the word Go ! 
Familiar Tools —I have referred to a 
washing machine, which served us well 
during the scarlet-fever quarantine. It 
did good service, and our folks are well 
pleased with it. After the red flag came 
down, there was a perfect mountain of 
soiled clothes, and we thought what a 
help this machine would be to the stout 
woman who was to wrestle with it. She 
turned out one batch in the machine, 
and then to the Madame’s surprise, went 
back to the tub, and preferred to rub the 
dirt out in the old familiar way. It re¬ 
quired three times the muscle, took much 
more time, and the clothes were no 
cleaner, but it was the way she had al¬ 
ways done—and that settled it. She 
also refused to use the wringer—prefer¬ 
ring to squeeze the water out “by the 
twist of the wrist”, because that is the 
way she had always done it. She “had 
no time ” to bother with a machine. 
I observe that most of us are pretty sure 
to stick to our old-time methods and 
habits, no matter if others have found 
easier and better ways of doing things. 
I think that is why some farmers are 
slow to take up the weeder, the two- 
horse cultivator and other really helpful 
tools. We consider the washing machine 
a great back saver. Very likely that is 
because our women folks have no surplus 
back to experiment with, and are willing 
to have the boys wash and wring for 
them. 
The Stkawbebbies are making a good 
growth We raked the mulch off early 
in April, and with a little plow, turned 
a shallow furrow away from the plants, 
which stand in narrow matted rows. 
We shall keep the spaces between the 
rows well worked—deep and fine—until 
fruit forms, and then put the mulch 
back. Formerly I was afraid of this 
deep culture, but I feel sure that the 
roots do not run into the rows far enough 
to be injured. After picking, we shall 
plow the strawberries under, and try 
the plan of planting an early variety of 
potato. We hear a good deal about this 
plan from people who have tried it, and 
who say this late-planted crop makes 
the finest of seed. It is worth trying in 
a small way. 
Cbimson C l o v e b Pbospects —Last 
week I was a little discouraged at the 
clover outlook. It seemed as though the 
end had about come. Two warm days, 
however, have made another story possi¬ 
ble. In spite of the hard Winter and trying 
Spring, the plants are greening up, and 
on most of the fields, there will be more 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
than enough to make a fine stand. One 
long field by the roadside has the best 
stand of any. We like that, because a 
fine field of Crimson clover makes a great 
advertisement for the farm. Nothing 
attracted so much public attention last 
year as the Crimson clover in bloom. To 
tell the truth, I have given this clover 
up as dead about a dozen times; yet, 
with half a chance, it comes up green 
and smiling. It makes one think of one 
of the Madame’s favorite texts : 
Oh Ye of Little Faith ! 
I feel sorry for the farmer who loses 
faith in the nitrogen catchers, like clover 
and cow peas. 
Planting Potatoes. —We expect to 
plant one five-acre field in hills 30 inches 
each way. Where we use the planter, 
we shall make the drills three feet apart, 
and drop the seed pieces 18 inches apart 
in the drill. Last year’s experience sat¬ 
isfied us that, on several fields, we used 
too much seed, and put the plants too 
close together. A friend in Connecticut 
recently wrote that he thought thick 
seeding in drills with heavy fertilizing 
makes things easier for blight and rot. 
His letter is printed on page 301 with 
comments by Dr. Halsted. To my no¬ 
tion, this man talks good horse sense. I 
will keep on saying that, with all our 
crops except grass, we use too much 
seed, and leave too many stalks. “Let 
the blessed sunshine into shaded ground”, 
says Dr. Halsted. Correct, for sunshine 
kills more germs than Bordeaux Mixture 
ever did. I have noticed that varieties 
like R. N -Y. No. 2 and the Carman po¬ 
tatoes will stand up well against the 
blight. I think their peculiar habit of 
growth has much to do with it. They 
send up a single spindling stalk, and do 
not branch out or run until some of the 
tubers are of fair size. This peculiar 
growth lets the air and sunshine in, and 
I am very sure that this helps keep off 
disease. I shall watch this difference in 
hill and drill planting, with much in¬ 
terest this year. 
Second-Hand Heat. — A friend in 
Illinois wants to know which we prefer 
for heating an upstairs room—an oil 
stove or a Rochester radiator. The 
Madame says that the radiator is better. 
She does not like an oil stove for heat¬ 
ing. It gives out a. bad smell, and is 
more dangerous than a big lamp The 
radiator handles what we may call 
second-hand heat. It comes up from a 
stove in the room below, and tarries in 
the tubes and corners of the radiator 
long enough to take the chill off tbe 
room. With us, the radiator does not 
make the room warm enough to sit in, 
but it is comfortable for sleeping. It 
utilizes the heat that would otherwise 
go into the chimney without benefiting 
the house. The radiator is much more 
effective than a mere “ dummy.” 
Hen Records. —In one small house, we 
have 40 hens—17 White Leghorns and 23 
Blacks. The Blacks are Minorcas with 
a dash of Brown Leghorn blood. Here 
is their record for the first three months 
of 1899 : 
Jau. Feb. Mar. Total. 
17 White Leghorns... 132 167 320 619 
23 Blacks. 105 201 376 682 
That is an average of a little over 35 for 
the Leghorns, and not quite 30 for the 
Blacks. The latter are now gaining at 
a lively rate, and will, we think, come 
out ahead in a year’s record. We find 
the Minorca rather slow to mature, as 
compared with the Leghorn. At a fair 
average weight, the 1,301 eggs weigh 
about 190 pounds. The 40 hens will not 
weigh over 165 pouncs with their three 
husbands thrown in ! People sometimes 
think it is a great thing when a cow 
gives several times her weight in milk 
during the year. A good lien will do 
that, too, and it is a good deal harder job. 
h. w. c. 
A Chinaman in a small town near New York, 
recently exhibited business sagacity and enter¬ 
prise, that would do credit to the most hustling 
Yankee. The block in which his laundry was 
situated caught fire, and as the means of light¬ 
ing fire were limited, it seemed plain that his 
property must fall a prey tothertames. There was 
just one vacant store in the town beyond the range 
of the lire. The Chinaman immediately hunted 
up the owner of this, hired it, paid a month’s 
rent in advance, got a lot of his friends together, 
moved all of his possessions before the lire 
reached his store, and opened up in his new 
stand, ready for business next morning, as 
though nothing had happened. 
Crimson Clover and Quack Grass. 
L. E. S., Sharon, Conn —Does Crimson clover do 
well on clay loam, and on land that is rather 
moist ? I have a field covered with Quack grass, 
which I would like to seed down next year if I 
were sure of killing the Quack Would Hungarian 
grass have a tendency to choke out the Quack? 
Ans.— With us, Crimson clover does 
better on lighter soil, although it is a 
plant that must be well fed. It is not 
like the cow pea. a crop that will thrive 
and grow on the poorest soil. It needs 
to be well fed in order to obtain fair re¬ 
sults from it. The clover starts better 
on moist land, but is more likely to be 
thrown out in the Spring where the land 
is wet. This year, our own clover on 
the wet spots is largely killed out, al¬ 
though it was the first to start, and made 
the largest growth last year. We have 
little faith in the plan of smothering out 
Quack grass by sowing millet or similar 
crops. The smothering crop may hide 
the grass for the season, but it will not 
kill it out. About the only way to de¬ 
stroy this grass is to cultivate it thor¬ 
oughly daring the early and middle Sum¬ 
mer. By working the ground thoroughly 
with a Cutaway or spring-tooth harrow, 
the roots will be broken off and brought 
to the surface where the sun and air will 
kill them. That seems to be the only 
rational way for destroying Quack grass, 
and we have little faith in the smother¬ 
ing crop, so-cal'ed 
An eminent scientist re¬ 
cently said: “ Cod-liver Oil 
is truly a wonderful com¬ 
position. It is seemingly 
Nature's remedy in almost 
every wasting disease.” 
Scott’s Emulsion contains 
the pure oil combined with 
hypophosphites, it rebuilds 
worn tissues, enriches the 
blood, invigorates the nerves, 
stops drains and wasting. 
Consumptives, Diabetics, 
pale or thin people, or nurs¬ 
ing mothers, should remem¬ 
ber this. Do not accept a 
substitute. 
50 c. and $ 1 . 00 , all druggists. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, Chemists, New York. 
Preserves 
(—fruits, Jellies, pickles or catsup are 
more easily, more quickly, more 
healthfully sealed with Refined 
Paraffine Wax than by any other 
method. Dozens of other uses will be 
'“‘"‘'"Refined 
Paraffine Wax 
In every household. It is clean, 
tasteless and odorless—air, water 
and acid proof. Get a pound cake of 
it with a list of its many uses 
from your druggist or grocer. 
Bold' everywhere. Made by 
BTANDAItD OIL CO. 
CDA7CD axle 
rVUMLEIf CREASE. 
BEST IN THE WORLD. 
It* wearing qualities are unsurpassed, actually 
outlawing three boxes of any other brand. Mot 
affected by heat. IT OUT THE GENUINE, 
rox HALE BY DEAL ABB GENERALLY. 
Two Wagons at One Price. 
It is a matter of great convenience and a sav¬ 
ing of labor for a farmer to have a low, handy 
wagon. They save more than half the labor of 
loading in hauling manure, hay, grain, corn fod¬ 
der, wood, stones, etc. The man who already 
has a wagon may have one of 
these low handy wagons at the 
small additional cost for a set 
of wheels. These Electric Steel 
Wheels, with either direct or 
stagger spokes, with broad¬ 
faced tire, are made to fit any 
axle. You can convert your 
old wagon to a low, handy 
wagon in a few moment’s time. 
You thus virtually have two 
wagons at one price. Write to 
the Electric Wheel Co., Box 88 , 
Quincy, Ill., for their catalogue; which fully ex¬ 
plains about these and their Electric Handy 
Wagons, Electric Feed Cookers, etc. 
L ARGEST manu¬ 
facturers of the 
best steel wheels 
for farm wagons in 
America. Any size, 
straight and staggard 
spokes, any width tire. 
The head of 
spoke in the 
groove can't 
wear off. 
Make best 
Handy Steel Wagons. 
.All steel, and wood. 
Four different kinds. 
SEND FOR CATALOGUE 
Havana Meta! Wheel Co. 
H a vs r->£», 11 i. 
Lane’s Steel Jack. 
All steel. Unbreakable. Compound Levers. Quickly 
adjusted any height. Best and easiest operated jack on 
“ s market. Thousands in 
use. If your local deal¬ 
er doesn't keep them 
will send sample at 
regular price prepaid. 
LANE BROTHERS CO., 
Prospect and 1st Sts., Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
AGENTS WANTED 
For Economy Har¬ 
ness KiveterCGn 
Neatest, Hest JUU. 
Cheapest, and hand¬ 
iest, can be used in any 
position. Mends any¬ 
thing where a well- 
clinched rivet will serve 
the purpose. Our agents make from $5 
to $10 per day. “ It’s the best seller I 
ever handled” they all say. Send 50c., 
(in 2c. stamps) for sample, loaded (with 50 assorted 
rivets) and terms to agents. FOOTE ECONOMY CO., 
204 South Main Street, Frederlcktown. O. 
a 
si 
§ 
$ 
sr 
o 
*3 g 
o -f 
WC- 
Can w© Save 
You Money 
on a saddle, harness 
or vehicle? 
Because we have no agents. 
Can we really doit? VVeMuyyen. C»n we prove It without 
cost to you? We can. Howl We will ship you a harness, sad¬ 
dle, or vehicle, without you sending a single cent, aud let you look 
It over at your freight house and if you don’t find we have given 
you the bfggent bargain you ever saw or heard of return the 
roods to us at our expense. We give with each vehicle a 
Z- years Iron-clad guarantee protecting you against poor 
material and workmanship. Our vehicle catalogue describes the 
largest line of buggies, road wagons, phaetons. Hurries* 
spring and farm wagons* carts* harnesses and sad¬ 
dles ever shown in one book. It’s free. 8end for It. 
Marvin Smith Co, 55-59 N. Jefferson St. X <6 Chicago. III. 
FARMERS’ 
HANDY 
WAGON 
CO., 
OF 
SAGINAW, 
MICH. 
Will supply 
you with the 
best metal 
wheels 
for your old 
farm wagons. 
A postal card 
will bring you 
Catalogue 
and prices. 
4 Buggy Wheels, with tire on, #5.80 
With Axles and Boxes set, #8.20 
1 make ail sizes and grades. Carriage and 
Wagon Hardware every description. Cat. 
free. W. W. Boob, Center Hall, Dept.R,Pa. 
Don’t 
Three Profits 
If you 1 
• fort 
the least 
‘going to 1 _ _ 
can for the best vehicle ? Get all you can In material and workmaa 
I ship—pay as little as you can for handling and “extras.” 
You save the jobber’s commission and the retailer’s profit when 
yon buy direct from the factory. You pay the cost of making with 
one moderate profit added. We are not agents, but manufacturer* 
of buggies, carriages, surreys, phaetons, wagons, harness and hors* 
accessories. Everything guaranteed. With our illustrated catalogue 
you can order easily and safely, I f what you order does not suit, send 
it back and we will pay the freight both ways. First, get the catalogue. You are welcome to a copy. 
THE COLUMBUS CARRIAGE A HARNESS COMPANY, COLUMBUS, 0.' 
N.. 3034 Buggy. PrIce$3T.15 
With Leather Quarter Top. 
