1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
Crimson Clover Hay.—I meant to plow the 
greater part of the clover down for sweet corn, 
bnt there is no use tryingto make cast-iron plans. 
Hope Farm plans have rubber joints in them so 
that they may be stretched or shaped a little to 
fit new conditions. We ran out of fodder, and the 
boys just hated to see all that fine clover go into 
the soil. So we compromised and clipped about 
four acres, setting the mower bar as high as we 
could. This clover was cut on Decoration Day, 
and left about 24 hours in the swath. Then we 
raked it into windrows, and left it another day— 
then hauled to the barn. For a wonder, we had 
two clear, windy days, and the clover was quite 
dry, but bright and green. The boys said that it 
was too green, but I called it safer in the barn 
than in the field—so in it went. At the same 
time, they hauled in two loads of rye hay—green 
rye cut like grass, and cured in the swath. 
Heat in the Mow.—The boys were afraid of 
that green-looking clover. The second night 
after housing it, they came at nine o’clock to tell 
me how hot it was. I went out and run a hand 
into it, and found it pretty warm, but as sweet 
and fragrant as the finest ensilage. I have an 
idea that the boys would have thrown some of 
that clover down on the barn floor to cool it off; 
as it was, they left the barn doors open all night. 
The hay is all right, and is greatly relished by all 
the stock. It was cut before the heads fully ma¬ 
tured, and I do not consider it dangerous for the 
horses. On several fields left a week longer, the 
heads are dry and hard, and such hay would, I 
think, be unsafe for horse feed. Several farmers 
have said that the Crimson clover will not rot in 
the soil fast enough to benefit this year’s corn. 
We find that it has already begun to decay. It 
is black and soft, and one man with an extra 
good nose declares that he can “ smell the am¬ 
monia ” in it! 
Some Chicken Notes.—Our first young roosters 
were sold on June 2. A man came to the door 
and paid 25 cents each alive. To the best of our 
figuring, they cost between 11 and 12 cents each 
for feed. When they were hatched, eggs were 
worth nearly three cents each, and they must 
pay their share of cost of labor, oil and brooders. 
Last year we dressed a good many, but there is 
so much to do ou the farm this year that we 
can’t spare the time. The dealer preferx-ed the 
P. Rocks, but took the young Minorcas at the 
same price. He says that the black legs do not 
interfere much with the sale of broilers, not so 
much as with roasters. The proper time, there¬ 
fore, to sell a black rooster isbefoi'ehe gets large 
enough to make an a out of one of the o’s in his 
name! Not long ago, a hawk swooped down into 
the yard and caught up a chick weighing about 
five ounces. As the hawk flew away at a height 
of about 50 feet, a mau driving along the road 
yelled at him so suddenly that the hawk dropped 
the chick about 40 rods from the house. The man 
picked it up and brought it back. The hawk had 
thrust his talons at the base of the chick’s spine, 
and there were two bad wounds. We dx'essed 
them with vaseline, and now the chick is alive 
and strong, but twisted. He will, evidently, 
make a wx-y-tail, and I think xnost of such de¬ 
formities are due to injuries to the back while 
the chicks are small. A twist ora squeeze to the 
little chick will, perhaps, show itself all through 
the bii'd’s life. 
Too Wet; Too Dry.—On Decoration Day, I did 
not think we would be wishing for rain within 10 
days. It had been so wet that the groxxnd seemed 
like a sponge. A dry, brisk breeze set in and 
blew steadily for a week. As one mau put it, “It 
blowed the water all out of the ground.” Certainly 
the upper thx-ee inches of the soil at Hope Farm 
were as dry as dust. This was well enough for 
the potatoes and Evergreen sweet corn. We could 
keep the cultivator moving among the potatoes, 
and that sweet corn does love a dry, hot soil. The 
strawberries needed drink after five days of di'y 
weather. With plenty of moisture in May, they 
had set an enormous crop, and the water needed 
to pex-fect it must be right at hand. I am more 
than ever convinced that the strawberry is a 
short feeder. Its roots rarely go out a foot from 
the crown, according to our observation. We 
must have food and drink right up close to the 
plants if we expect any good from them. That 
explains to me why irrigation for strawberries is 
so profitable in ordiuai'y seasons. Our plants 
needed a drink, and it didn’t hurt my feelings a 
bit when, on Saturday night (June 11), the rain 
poured down for a short time. Another “ wet 
Sunday” under such conditions would have suited 
us well. 
Potato Notes.—Our potatoes are looking well. 
In the little patch (planted March 26), there wei'e 
tubers large enough for eating on June 13. The 
bugs have appeared, but ai'e hardly numerous 
enough yet to do any real damage. There are 
streaks in one field where, for some reason, the 
fertilizer drill failed to put out the full amount 
of fertilizer. We have had some discussion as to 
whether it will pay to put on more fertilizer after 
the plants get a foot high. I doubt it—at least, 
for eai'ly varieties. It might with a late variety 
that has 75 days to develop in, but life is too short 
for the early variety, and my notion is that its 
full ration of fertilizer should be planted with it. 
As usual with every crop, I notice here and there 
potato plants of unusual vigor. They stand up 
rank and green above the others. We have often 
been told by experts to mark such plants in the 
field, and save the tubers they produce, for seed. 
I suppose our expex-t friends refer to the plants 
that show this vigor naturally. I might go into 
the field and potter with 50 hills and give them 
extra care. In this way, we might secure a lot 
451 
of fine tubers, but would they give superior re¬ 
sults for seed purposes? I doubt it. In fact, so 
far as our experience goes, I feel sure that it pays 
us to sell all our crop, and buy fresh seed every 
year. Judging from the looks of the vines of this 
year’s crop, the lax-ge-tuber seed is going to out- 
yield the second-sized seed by a good majority. 
A Good Cow.—On Decoration Day, 1897, we 
bought a Jersey cow, nine years old, for 140. We 
sold her calf when four weeks old, for $7, and we 
have sold over $60 worth of milk and cream, be¬ 
sides what we used at home. The old cow is still 
giviug about nine pounds of milk per day. Her 
grain has cost about $18, and medicines about $1 
more. It would be hal'd to place a value on the 
fodder she has eaten—chiefly sweet-corn stalks 
and oat hay, with Crimson clover. Of course, the 
mau who keeps cows on figui-es can say, Keep 50 
such cows, and you can go to Europe evei'y year. 
Thei'e is whei'e the “ experts” who figure out the 
vast profits in hens and cattle are likely to fool 
us; we ai-e situated so that one cow pays a good 
profit, because it doesn’t cost much extra to keep 
her. Three or four cows might run us in debt, 
for it would mean quite an outlay of money to 
feed and house them and care for their milk. It 
is much the same way with a pig. The refuse 
and swill fi'om our large family enable us to feed 
two pigs so that we hardly feel the cost of the 
grain. It doesn’t follow that we can handle 20 
hogs, and make the same rate of profit. At one 
time, I intended to buy a dozen more bogs, and 
try feeding them on green fodder. There was 
so much other work to do that I hesitated, and 
now I am glad I did so. It’s a great mistake to 
suppose that you can take a little success and 
make a big one out of it by blowing words or 
figures into it. 
Some New Fodder Crops.—We have a small 
patch of sorghum (Early Minnesota cane) which 
is making a fine growth. Charlie, who has lived 
in Texas, tells great stories of what it will do, 
and I am waiting for it. We shall sow Dwarf 
Essex rape in a number of different ways. One 
patch will be broadcasted by itself to serve as 
chicken feed next Fall and Winter, and we shall 
mix the rape seed with Crimson clover when 
sowing some of the patches of sweet corn. All 
we know about this is what others tell us, there¬ 
fore we shall not say a word until the sti;ff talks 
for itself. Last Winter, our horses found a con¬ 
stant diet of sweet corn stalks pi'etty dry feed¬ 
ing. With an eye to next Winter, we have seeded 
half an acre to carrots which we know will help 
out the horse feed. Our oats ai'e not looking 
well, and will not yield us half the hay we hoped 
for. 
.Sweet. Potatoes.—We set those sweet potato 
plants as close to the directions given us as any 
human beings ever could. Take the world at 
large, and I’ll guarantee that you can’t find a 
woman, a girl and two men who ever followed 
written directions any closer than we did in set¬ 
ting those plants. The Madame set nearly 1,000 
plants in oi'der to have it done just right. What 
about it ? Well, now, I’ll tell you later! In spite 
of all our watering and care, two-thiials of those 
plants went down as dry as stakes. Had they 
been cabbage or tomato plants, I wouldn’t have 
given five cents a thousand for their chances. 
As it is, every time I go and look at them, I see 
more and more of those apparently dead plants 
perking up and making a new start. They beat 
any plant I ever saw for hanging on to life. Give 
them a week longer befoi'e we repoi't. 
How Many Children ?—A good friend in New 
York State writes, “ I liked your description of a 
wet Sunday, but for goodness sake, how many 
children have you?” There are four childi-en 
now at Hope Farm. The Bud is our own little 
girl. She will be four years old in August. The 
Graft is a little waif; some one picked him up on 
a street corner—deserted by his parents. He was 
in a poorhouse and hospital for awhile, and then 
the Children’s Home Society got bold of him. 
The Madame belongs to this society—she is some 
local officer in it, I believe. The result was that 
the Graft came to our house, and there he has 
been ever since. He’s a good Graft. The two 
Scions are children of a relative who is sick and 
unable to be with them. The boy Scion will be 
four in October, and the girl will be two on the 
Bud’s fourth birthday. The little folks are all 
going bai-efooted now. That saves stocking 
darning and shoe leather, and we think it is good 
for the children. h. w. c. 
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CAI rc m r ADMCDO > 
SAVE MONEY*—DIRECT SALES TO FARMERS. 
You hive the benefit of the Agents’ Commission and the Middleman's profit. 
Phos. Acid. Ammonia. Actual Potash. 
ANALYSIS. 
Pure Raw Bone Meal. 
Scientific Corn & Grain Fertiliser 
Scientific Economy Fertiliser. 
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