1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
787 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
Moving. —It is wonderful how much 
stuff will accumulate around a house and 
barn in 30 months. We started with lots 
of vacant space at the old farm, but be¬ 
fore we left every corner was somehow 
filled up. “Moving” is a business of it¬ 
self—just about as much as farming is. 
One must have the right wagon and the 
right knack to get the goods handled 
without scratching them all up. Many 
readers will not need to be told how the 
first night we slept on the floor and ate 
our supper every whicn way. Old Major 
gave out with one load. It was a hard 
job all around. We don’t care for an¬ 
other dose of it for a good many years. 
Tiie Fruit Supply. —The Madame 
celebrated our first meal in the new 
house by opening a can of her “first 
fruits”—a jar of cherries from the new 
place. This was the first thing we 
picked here. The Madame picked them 
herself, and nearly fell out of the tree 
while doing it. We are well fruited for 
Winter. Moving gave us a good chance 
to figure up, and we found 109 packages 
of preserved fruit and jelly. We have, 
also, a great stock of Greening apples. 
Thus it is that Jerseymen are able to 
pick fruit every day in the year—for five 
months we pick it from the vines, and 
for seven months off the kitchen 
shelves! People ought to do that, or 
better, in many other States, but how 
many farmers really do it? As I go 
about among farmers I am often aston¬ 
ished to see how many neglect such pos¬ 
sibilities. The laziest of mental bacteria 
will soon change such neglect into a 
chronic case of discontent. 
* 
Crops Off. —We have sold all our po¬ 
tatoes except enough for our Winter’s 
use, a few bushels of seconds and a few 
for seed. We have had many letters 
from people who wish to know whether 
they should try to hold their potatoes 
for better prices. There is great uncer¬ 
tainty about this, but after carefully 
looking it over we decided to get rid of 
the crop at once. It might have paid if 
we had held 400 bushels cO sell in small 
lots during the Winter, but I doubt it. I 
would not give the general advice to sell 
this Fall, though in our own case, I am 
sure it was the best thing to do. We 
have too much to do in clearing up the 
new farm and getting ready for next 
year’s crops to bother with selling pota¬ 
toes. For that reason also I have sold 
most of our hens, and shall buy most of 
our incubator eggs next Spring. 
Plenty of Work. —I hardly know 
what to go at first. Some of the sheds 
and barns must be patched up a liitle. 
The fruit trees have not been trimmed 
for years. The fences are beginning to 
fall, and there is about a two years’ 
growth of trash and useless little trees 
along them. The farm is all in sod—ex¬ 
cept the woodland, and this sod is foul 
with weeds, hardly worth cutting for 
hay. We left part of it uncut this year, 
and now it is a mass of Wild carrot. As 
soon as possible we shall roll this down 
and burn it over, before plowing. We 
shall Fall-plow all we can this Fall, and 
I hope to keep the plows going as far 
into December as possible. I shall pull 
up the old rail fences as the time comes 
right, and put in wire. I like to see the 
fences come out. Even where one is 
raising stock he can produce far more 
feed by cultivating some tame crop in a 
pasture than by letting the grass run 
itself. Of course you must cut and carry 
the feed to the stock—but you will get 
far more of it. 
Orchard Work. —There are four 
small orchards on the new farm. One is 
of pears and cherries, with a few scat¬ 
tering old apple trees, one of early ap¬ 
ples, one of Greenings and a young or¬ 
chard of Baldwins. The early apples 
and the Greenings did well this year, but 
all the trees are sod-bound and foul with 
suckers and useless wood. During No¬ 
vember I plan to have the sod in these 
orchards all turned over. I want shal¬ 
low plowing, with the furrows turned up 
so as to look like a rough job. During 
the Winter, as occasion offers, the trees 
will be cut back quite severely, enough 
to open the top, cut off the sprouts, and 
turn back the long, slender limbs. When 
we get a chance we shall put on a fair 
dressing of dissolved rock and muriate 
of potash—right on the rough furrows. 
“Next Spring” is yet many days off, but 
I am not quite sure yet what to do then. 
I can work the ground in early April 
and sow clover seed, or keep the ground 
well cultivated till near'y July 4, and 
sow cow peas. In either case I plan to 
turn in pigs to eat up the growing crop 
and the windfalls. 
What Stock? —I could write a full 
book on the advice I have had as to the 
kind of stock best suited to Hope Farm. 
I have been advised to breed horse3, 
ponies, three breeds of cattle, three of 
sheep, hogs, turkeys, dogs, cats, goats 
and white and colored mice! So far as 
I know the people who gave this advice 
were all honest, and most of them have 
been successful in handling the special 
animal they suggested. There are men 
who are really making a good living at 
breeding colored mice! 
We haven’t enough capital to go to 
breeding horses or into fine cattle. The 
dairy business would not pay unless we 
could get our neighbors to unite in 
building a cooperative creamery. Hogs 
and sheep seem to be our most likely 
partners. Our local butchers will buy 
fat sheep or lambs, and there is a good 
market for little pigs and young pork. 
The grunter and the woolback seem best 
able to take care of themselves, whicn 
is a great relief when farm work is 
pressing. After trying for years to de¬ 
monstrate ‘that we do not need to keep 
live stock on our far eastern farms, I am 
forced to admit that on this farm silch 
stock have a fair place. I could run the 
place with one cow and the work horses, 
but at the same 'time, I feel sure that 
hogs and sheep, properly handled, will 
prove good partners with the fertilizer 
bag. 
Character Brands. —Our little Graft 
has a bad habit of telling stories. It 
seems to be a defect in his character to 
tell great stories, exaggerate matters or 
dodge the truth. He doesn’t seem to 
mean to get things wrong, for he under¬ 
stands well enough that the only easy 
road out of mischief at Hope Farm is 
through the truth. Not long ago he told 
a ridiculous lie about a very small thing, 
which was evident to all. The Madame 
took two stiff pieces of cardboard, 
printed “LIAR” on it, and tied it in 
front and behind to his blouse. She 
gave him his choice of wearing this 
badge or having a whipping. He thought 
the card would be easy, and chose it. 
He carried them about for several days, 
to the post office, the store—everywhere. 
Wherever he went people said: “Ah, I 
see you are a liar!” It wasn’t long be¬ 
fore he found this was worse than the 
whipping after all, and he began to ask 
how long he must wear it. That badge 
of shame did him lots of good. It was 
effective advertising. This idea of car¬ 
rying about with him the printed evi¬ 
dence of his little assault upon truth, 
hurt his pride. I have been telling the 
children about how cattle are branded 
out West, and how in years gone by, 
people were branded for various crimes. 
I think the Graft has had enough of 'it. 
H. w. c. 
Three Insect Enemies of Shade Trees. 
—Farmers’ Bulletin No. 99, Department of 
Agriculture, is devoted to the Elm leaf- 
beetle, the White-marked tussock moth, 
and the Fall web-worm. There are e'even 
illustrations, and full life histories of the 
insects described. A list of trees, with 
their relative immunity from insect at¬ 
tacks, will be found useful to planters. It 
is very evident that these insect attacks 
cannot be abated without intelligent co¬ 
operation over a wide area. 
If you are a farmer or want to be one, 
send for the “Western Trail.” Published 
quarterly. Full of pointers as to settling 
in Kansas, Oklahoma and Indian Terri¬ 
tory. Handsomely embellished and con¬ 
cisely written. Mailed free. 
Address by postal card or letter. 
John Sebastian, G.P.A., Chicago.— Adv. 
’■H '\v 
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA. 
a>Ls 
Among the famous contributors engaged 
for the 1900 volume are : 
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA. 
MRS. BURTON HARRISON. 
CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. 
REGINALD De KOVEN. 
RIDER HAGGARD. 
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GEN. JOSEPH WHEELER. 
ANDREW CARNEGIE. 
BISHOP HENRY C. POTTER. 
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VICTOR MAUREL. 
CAPT. A. T. MAHAN. 
justin McCarthy. 
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THE BISHOP OF LONDON. 
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I. ZANGWILL. 
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Besides Two Hundred others —Soldiers, 
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Men of Science, Men of Affairs, and the 
most gifted writers of short stories. 
fl 
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