3o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 8 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
Christmas Day passed pleasantly at 
JI ope Farm. In some lonely farm homes, 
this day is made like any other. We 
think this is a mistake, and for the chil¬ 
dren’s sake, at least, we always try to 
make it a day for pleasant memories. 
The hoys cut a little cedar tree and put 
it in the front room, and with string's of 
pop-corn, and red and blue paper and a 
few candles, we made a bright Christmas 
tree. The children had a fine time watch¬ 
ing the candles burn out. The older 
folks watched, too, but most of us were 
silent and thoughtful. Like the rest of 
the world of common people, we have 
had our troubles and disappointments 
this year. Sometimes we think that we 
have had rather more than our share, 
out it doesn’t take much thought to drive 
that idea away. When all was said and 
done, Christmas Eve found us full of hope 
and courage for the coming year. 
X X X 
It was a cold and bitter night, but we 
were all warm and comfortable. Our 
dumb friends were staying right by us. 
Old Jersey is eating our sweet-corn stalks 
and eight pounds of bran a day, and 
bringing us 35 cents a day in cash for 
her milk, besides our own supply. The 
horses are wintering on stalks and a 
little bran—costing us hardly 10 cents a 
day in cash. The hens are not doing all 
we would like, but they are coming later. 
The Crimson clover is putting up a smil¬ 
ing face right through the frost and 
cold, and the small fruits are staying by 
us. The boys didn’t like the sound of 
the wind around the house. It meant 
that part of the mulch they had worked 
so hard to put on the strawberries was 
blowing all over the township. Farming 
isn’t all a rose garden, as most of our 
readers know, and the Hope Farm folks 
understand that without taking any short 
course in agriculture. Still, we told 
stories and cracked jokes and played with 
the children and sung songs till we went 
to bed in good spirits—all ready for an¬ 
other day. 
XXX 
In the morning, the children made a 
run to see what Santa Claus had brought 
them. The hens have been so lazy thus 
far that there wasn’t much to spend on 
presents; but it is wonderful how a few 
simple gifts will brighten up a child’s 
life. We are going to keep our children 
satisfied with the homely, simple ideas of 
Christmas giving, just as long as we can. 
I do want my little folks to grow up into 
real old-fashioned children who love to 
give to others, and who can just have a 
glorious good time with a five-cent toy 
without envying richer children their 
costly gifts. Contentment is 'a blessed 
thing. Lives are darkened, homes are 
saddened, character is twisted—all for 
the lack of the ability to be satisfied with 
the pure and simple joys of humble liv¬ 
ing. Contentment—that is one crop we 
are after at Hope Farm, and we want to 
start in early with the “Bud” and the 
“ Graft.” 
t t X 
We spent most of the day in looking 
over the farm and making plans for the 
coming year. Your mistakes do stand 
out clearly when you take a day off and 
look things fairly in the face ! Here we 
are short of mulch for the strawberries. 
There is plenty of old grass in the swamp, 
but it ought to have been cut while green 
and stacked up. Now it is dry and brittle, 
and we can’t get a quarter of it. I’ll 
guarantee that we won’t be caught that 
way again. Nearly a score of our hens 
are under ground in the strawberry 
patch. Roup killed them, and there are 
six more in the hospital. That won’t 
happen another year, for we have learned 
how to handle the disease. In one of the 
houses, 60 old hens are eating their heads 
off and holding back their eggs. No more 
old hens for us. We will buy pullets, but 
never an old bird stays on the place un¬ 
less we know her record or her female 
ancestors. That clover on the east slope 
should have been sown three weeks 
earlier, and the rj’e was too late, also. 
No use trying to raise sweet corn on that 
gravel; we must give it up to cow peas 
next year, plow them under early, and 
sow Crimson clover. Then we can winter 
400 hens on the field and get it in fair 
shape. 
t X X 
We went all over the farm in this way, 
and saw where we had blundered and 
where we seem to be gaining. It did us 
all good to look things right in the face, 
and lay our plans for next Spring’s work. 
It is impossible to lay down any regular 
rotation for such poor land as ours. After 
a year or two of cow peas, clover and 
hens, we can tell a very different story. 
We don’t envy the big farmers on rich 
land who have unlimited capital and can 
undertake any experiment regardless of 
the cost. Instead of envying them, we 
feel sorry for them. They don’t have the 
fun of taking up the tangled threads that 
some one else has thrown aside, and try¬ 
ing to weave them together again with 
mighty little capital besides advice and 
a study of the experience of successful 
farmers. These big men can’t get out 
and know and love every plant and 
animal on the farm. We can, and that 
is one of the happiest features of life at 
Hope Farm. Just before dinner, the 
Madame brought out her little Kodak 
camera and took nine pictures of the 
family in different groups and combina¬ 
tions. We make great use of the camera 
in this way. We mean to have pictures 
taken at all such little family celebra¬ 
tions, and we shall keep them as long as 
we live, as pleasant memories of good 
days. If I could afford it, I would have 
a phonograph, too, and record on its 
cylinders the voices of friends who may 
not be with us “ next year.” I believe in 
such things. They are ‘‘better than gold. ” 
X X X 
Our old Jersey cow that calved last 
May is still giving 15 pounds of milk per 
day. She has all the sweet-corn stalks 
she will eat with cow-pea vines or millet 
once a day, and a daily ration of eight 
pounds of bran. The bran costs six cents. 
1 wish some of these wise men would tell 
me what to charge for the stalks. We 
sold the sweet-corn ears for more than 
enough to pay for the fertilizer, rent and 
labor, and the field is now well covered 
with Crimson clover. The millet was 
a catch crop put in with the Crimson clover 
in July. It cost only for seed, sowing 
and cutting. Now, what should we charge 
for the stalks, millet and pea vines in fig¬ 
uring out the cost of a quart of milk ? 
Many so-called “authorities” tell us that 
we ought to know just what everything 
costs so that we may know Whether or 
not we are making money. 1 know what 
the eggs cost, for we pay cash for all our 
grain : but I am not able to calculate 
what our roughage costs, because it is all 
more or less a by-product. These men 
who are so free with their advice about 
estimating the cost of every pound and 
quart, make me a little nervous. Either 
they are smarter than the average, or we 
are pretty dull—or else the boys are 
right in saying that many of them never 
saw a cow or a hen, and farm with a lead 
peucil! _ H. w. c. 
COAXING THE HOT-AIR HEN. 
A FEW HINTS ON ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 
As with most things, so with artificial 
incubation, experience is the best teacher. 
The first, and one of the important things 
to consider, is the selection of an incu¬ 
bator. Every machine is the best (on 
paper), and most of them are guaranteed 
to hatch every fertile egg. An incubator 
company that makes any such claim, is a 
good one to avoid. The first one I ever 
tried to operate was one of this kind, 
and after running it for a couple of years, 
and spoiling hundreds of eggs, I gave it 
up in disgust. Its main fault was an un¬ 
even temperature in the egg chamber 
(fault enough, to be sure). In one part, 
the temperature would be 102 to 103 de¬ 
grees, while the other part would range 
between 100 and 106 degrees, far too 
much variation for successful hatching. 
In selecting an incubator, don’t select 
one merely because it is lowest in price, 
as it will, probably, prove expensive in 
the end. A good incubator must neces¬ 
sarily cost a fair price, because it must 
be made of the best material and work¬ 
manship. Opinion differs as to the best 
method of heating, viz., by hot-water or 
hot-air ; both, if applied right, are quite 
satisfactory, and I know of machines of 
both types that do satisfactory hatching. 
My choice is a hot-air machine, as with 
it, I have no fear of a leaky tank, al¬ 
though a good copper water tank will 
last a long time. I also think a hot-air 
machine easier to regulate than a hot- 
water one. 
Supposing that the machine is selected, 
the next thing to think of, is the proper 
temperature at which to run it. Here 
again incubator operators differ. Some 
say to run it at 102 degrees for the entire 
hatch, others 103 degrees, while others 
advise commencing at 106 degrees, and 
gradually reducing the temperature, to¬ 
ward the close of the hatch. Don’t try 
this method, as the probabilities are that 
you will ruin the hatch at the very be¬ 
ginning. Others say to start a little low, 
and gradually increase the temperature 
as the hatch advances. After giving 
them all a trial, I have settled on the 
last as being, by long odds, the best. 
It makes a great deal of difference 
where the thermometer is located. I 
think that most of the experienced opera¬ 
tors have settled on the following : The 
thermometer should rest between two 
fertile eggs, with the top of the bulb 
about even with the top of the average 
egg, the other end of the thermometer 
slightly elevated ; with it in this posi¬ 
tion, run the temperature the first week 
slightly under 102 degrees, the second 
week from 102 to 103 degrees, the third 
week 103 degrees, until the chicks com¬ 
mence to pip the eggs, when the temper¬ 
ature will be increased by the animal 
heat the chicks generate in their efforts 
to break through the shell, to 105 de¬ 
grees, which is all right. Great care 
should be shown in placing the ther- 
(Continued on next pcuje.) 
The chair made 
vacant by death is 
always a sad re¬ 
minder. It is es¬ 
pecially sad when 
it is mother’s 
chair. All over 
this broad land 
there are vacant 
chairs that would 
still be occupied 
by healthy, happy, 
radiant mothers if 
women would but realize the importance of 
keeping well in a womanly way. Women 
cannot too soon understand that it is little 
less than a crime to neglect the health 
of the organs to which are intrusted the 
perpetuation of a healthy, robust race 
of human beings. By neglect of these 
organs a woman ruins her own health, de¬ 
stroys the happiness of her home, and fails 
in the performance of the most sublime 
duty that she owes to the world. 
Trie best medicine for women who are 
weak where Nature demands the most 
strength is Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescrip¬ 
tion. It acts directly upon the organs that 
make motherhood possible. It cures all 
weakness and disease that exists there and 
stops all distressing, debilitating drains. It 
prepares a woman for motherhood and in¬ 
sures a healthy baby, it makes the coming 
of baby easy and almost painless. Drug¬ 
gists who offer something “just as good” 
are either ignorant or dishonest and in 
either case are not to be trusted. 
“ I had been a great sufferer for years with fe¬ 
male weakness," writes Mrs. John Downie, of 
No. 243 Lexington Avenue, Edaystone, Delaware 
Co., Pa. “Could not walk three squares without 
terrible suffering. I also had a pain in my left 
side for seven years—until I used Dr. Pierce’s 
Golden Medical Discovery, ‘ Favorite Prescrip¬ 
tion ’ and ‘ Pleasant Pellets.’ My pain has left 
me altogether. Have had no symptoms of it at 
all for two years. Can walk two or three miles at 
a time and it does not hurt me. I cannot recom¬ 
mend Dr. Pierce’s medicines highly enough. My 
daughter also has used your medicines with great 
benefit. She was operated upon for appendicitis 
and had fainting spells from it. She took the 
‘ Golden Medical Discovery,’ ‘ Favorite Pre¬ 
scription,’ ‘Extract of Smart-Weed,’ and the 
‘ Pleasant Pellets ’ and has not had any faint¬ 
ing spells for one year. When she commenced 
to take it she weighed 95 pounds now she 
weighs 140 pounds.” 
Constipation 1 It is the fountain-head of 
__*ny diseases. It causes impure blood 
and all manner of disorders are the result. 
Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets cure constipa¬ 
tion. Promptly. Surely. Permanently. 
They never gripe. Druggists sell them. 
Did you ever Jook at any of your 
outhouses and say to yourself: 
“Well, that’s a pretty tough look¬ 
ing building.” But it won’t pay 
to shingle or clapboard it — costs 
too much. Too valuable to de¬ 
stroy. What is wanted is a cheap 
way to fix it up. 
Rip off the old shingles, make 
the sides smooth, and cover with 
Neponset Red Rope Fabric. Treat 
the inside of the building with 
Neponset Black Building Paper , 
which is clean and odorless. Re¬ 
set the broken window panes, and 
you have a snug building, as good 
for all practical purposes as though 
you had built it entirely new. 
Neponset Fabric is absolutely 
water-proof, wind-proof, frost¬ 
proof, bug-proof, lice-proof. It 
won’t last forever, but it will last 
a mighty long time. 
Full particulars and 
samples free. Write 
F. W. Bird & Son, 
East Walpole, Mass. 
For sale by Dealers 
in Hardware, Lum¬ 
ber, and Building 
Supplies. 
MAKE COWS PAY. 
Twenty cows and one Little Giant 
Separator will 
make more butter 
than 25 cows and 
no Separator. Five 
cows will sell for 
from $200 to $300, 
and one Separator 
will cost $125. Five 
cows will eat a lot 
of feed in a year, 
but a Separator will 
eat nothing. Moral: Make the dairy 
pay by using a Little Giant Separator. 
P. M. SHARPLES, 
Dubuque, Iowa. West Chester, Pa. 
Omaha, Neb. Elgin, Ill. 
COOK Your FEED ana Save 
Half the Cost—with the 
PROFIT FARM BOILER 
With Dumping Caldron. Emp¬ 
ties Its kettle In one minute. The 
simplest and best arrangement for 
cooking food for stock. Also make 
Dairy and Laundry Stoves, 
Water and Steam Jacket Ket¬ 
tles, Hog Scalders, Caldrons, 
etc. fF" Send for circulars, 
D- R. SPERRY & Co . Batavia, Ilk 
.mmw 
SMOKE YOUR ME AT WITH 
LIQUID EXTRACTgfSMOKE 
F ffRAUSER&BRO.MIITON.PA. 
DOGS FOR SALE. 
All varieties of Thoroughbred Sporting, Hunting, 
House and Watch Dogs. Trained, untrained and 
pups. Send stamp and state kind wanted. 
JAMES BETTIS, - Winchester, III. 
CAJtf-V VATtltr KTWTTKTjS. 
Oak-tan tied leather Harness 
to* roIrtrat w C*tAlorH*» 
Al direct t* 
MONEY. 
KING HARNESS CO., No 9 Church St., Qwggo. N.Y. 
m DIICV DEC and how to make money 
|J(Id I DEE with it as taught by 
CLEANINCS IN BEE CULTURE, it is a handsome illustrated maga- 
sine and we send free sample copy with Book on Beetulture and 
Book on Bee Supplies to all who name this paper in writing. 
THE A. I. ROOT CO., MEDINA, OHIO 
San You Talk Business? 
Can you talk it to your neighbors! Can you talk 
it to other people whom you may meet? If you can 
and have a little time to spare we can put you In 
the way of making a great deal of money during the 
winter. Pleasant, respectable and honorable em¬ 
ployment. Absolutely no cash outlay required. 
Exclusive territory to good men. Address. 
A. D., P. O. Box 301 , Indianapolis, Indiana. 
Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Swine. 
Geo. W. Curtis, M. S. A. Origin, History, Im¬ 
provement, Description, Characteristics, Mer¬ 
its, Objections, Adaptability South, etc., of 
each of the Different Breeds, with Hints on 
Selection, Care and Management. Methods 
of practical breeders of the United States and 
Canada. Superbly illustrated. About 100 
full-p age cuts. Cloth. $2 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York. 
