THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
23 
1904 
Hope Farm Notes 
Christmas Eve.— It is the night before 
Christmas as I write by the fire with a pan 
of apples near at hand, a dish of chocolate 
fudge nearby and plenty of cold water. The 
farm is very still to-night. It was cloudy 
all the afternoon and darkness came upon 
us early. Charlie has brought in a young 
cedar to serve as Christmas tree, and Aunt 
Emma is decorating it. The baby has just 
gone to bed, first hanging her little stock¬ 
ing on the doorknob. The three boys have 
gone to the church two miles away to take 
part in the Christmas services. They drove 
off alone with faithful old Frank—a lan¬ 
tern swinging from below the buggy. The 
Madame and the little girls are not here. 
They had to stay in town and w r e are 
thankful indeed that Christmas does not 
come to us with a tragedy this year, t 
think of this as I stop to begin on my sec¬ 
ond apple and Christmas seems happy 
enough as I realize that the little girl is 
still with us. I would not tell this little 
story if it did not contain a sharp warning 
fo others. 
Two days ago the little girl was taken 
sick. She had not been well for some time. 
I do not like sick children and so I told the 
Madame to be sure to have the doctor see 
the child. He came and left two kinds of 
medicine, one a licorice powder and the 
other two strong drops in about one-third 
of a glass of water. The dose was a tea¬ 
spoonful every hour. There was a variety 
of mishaps all day long. It was one of 
those days when everything goes wrong. 
Among other things Peter, the Shetland 
pony, got away and ran about the town 
with Ida in hot pursuit. There wasn’t a 
man on the place—even the Graft had gone 
away on an errand. The Madame finally 
captured Peter and the chase in addition 
to numberless other Christmas duties put 
her far behind with her work. It was time 
for .the little patient to take her medicine 
and the Madame with her hands and head 
full of a dozen things sent the other little 
girl up to act as nurse and “give the medi¬ 
cine.” It did not seem possible that there 
could be any mistake abou* it for the little 
sick girl knew what to take and there 
seemed no possible chance to mix it up. 
There was nothing but the licorice powder 
in one place and the medicine in another. 
Of course the Madame thought of all these 
things before she sent a child on such an 
errand. So the little girl went up and gave 
“a teaspoonful.” It came nearly time to 
give the medicine again and the Madame 
went up to see about it. 
“Horrors! The glass was empty!” • 
Without frightening the sick child the 
Madame got the other little girl out of the 
room and found that she had put a tea- 
spoonful of the licorice into the medicine, 
thinking it was plain water, and the child 
had swallowed it all. The Madame says 
that once in a life time is quite enough 
for a woman to feel as she did for the 
next half hour, and I quite agree with her! 
She did not know what the drug was or 
what it would do. She got hold of the tele¬ 
phone and did some rapid talking that 
would entitle her to a job as “central girl.” 
No one but the doctor knew just what the 
little girl had swalowed and it was some 
time before he could be found to say that 
it was aconite. The Madame declares that 
the ’phone recorded a small chuckle from 
him when she told how frightened she had 
been. He has watched the chances in the 
game of life for many years. He told her 
to give the child an emetic and the poor 
little thing was in tears over mother’s ef¬ 
forts to carry out orders. The doctor came 
at once and said that there was no great 
danger; the medicine had missed its effect. 
The little thing was in bed when I got 
home, and it was a pleasant thing to see 
the other children eager to carry her “hot 
water i!ea” and toast and “sit with her” 
while the rest of us had supper! It was 
an awful experience, though the actual 
danger may not have been great, and many 
of you can imagine what the Madame and 
I thought that night after the little one 
had fallen asleep and we stood looking at 
her! And what a lesson that is for all. 
You won’t catch us delegating the medicine 
dosage to others again. You won’t catch 
us leaving medicine exposed anywhere. 
We do not realize how .we play with life 
until something of this sort occurs. I have 
known people to keep tablets of antikamnia 
■or even morphine pills in open places where 
children can get at them! We realize the 
danger of keeping poisonous butter colors 
in bottles within reach of children! Such 
an incident as this makes me feel kindly 
■disposed toward homeopathy. Our doctor 
belongs to the old school; in fact, while I 
believe in the little pills, it has happened 
that the doctors we have most confidence 
in are usually large-pillers. But while 
many of the small-pillers have nearly 
starved to death in trying to get practice 
they have cut down the size of the other 
man’s dose by half. Why, if that medicine 
had been like what the Madame and I took 
when we were children the child cou'd no‘ 
have lived! But she is alive and so Christ¬ 
mas Eve seems fuller than ever of the ] 
blessed feeling which the angels expressed 
in their song; 
“Glory to God in the highest; on earth 
peace, good will toward men'.” 
As I begin on my third Baldwin I think 
of these things. Charlie has hung the or¬ 
naments on the highest point of his little 
cedar. Now he has gone to a neighbor's 
house with a few gifts for a little girl. 
Back he comes a Santa Claus in fur can, 
overalls arid felt boots, with little packages 
which the neighbor sends. 'Upstairs the 
baby is asleep. Shep guards the back doer. 
Ere long the little boys will come driving 
home through the dark. They would have 
been sadly disappointed if I had not 
brought them here for they told me on the 
way: “We must be there for we have 
agreed to sing!” I shall sit up for them 
and talk it over! And so, my friends, you 
can hardly blame the Hope Farm man for 
feeling that Christmas is something more 
than a time for paying taxes and squaring 
accounts. I am glad that Christmas means 
what it does to us; glad that our little folks 
are so happy; glad to feel that though 
darkness broods over the farm, the Star 
is still in the East and we can still feel 
that our farm was properly named. Here 
goes the fourth apple, a Greening this time! 
I have heard men tell me that a good cigar 
is the thing for bringing cheerful thoughts. 
I would rather eat a Hope Farm apple! If 
some of these fellows who say they cannot 
sit through a public performance without 
going out to smoke would eat an apple in¬ 
stead—what a market for fruit we would 
have. 
Farm Notes.— We have now seen the 
last of Julia, the kicking cow. We did our 
best to put fat on her but she kicked even 
at that. I got tired of feeding her and 
sold her to a bologna sausage maker. If I 
read in the papers of some man entering a 
violent protest against society in general 
I shall know that he has eaten one of 
Julia’s sausages. The trouble with this 
cow was her extreme nervousness. She 
could not stand still. Her muscles would 
twitch at the least excitement. Such cows 
as a rule are heavy milkers and give rich 
milk but they do not pay on the average 
farm. Julia’s daughter, Genevieve, is 
growing into a fine animal with much of 
her mother’s nervousness held under good 
control. . . . Most of the little pigs have 
been sold. I am on record as saying thr 
unless a farmer can have a supply of skim- 
milk it rarely pays to winter little pigs. It 
is surprising to me that some readers have 
an idea that I am going out of the hog 
business and that I have discarded the 
Berkshire breed. Neither story is right. 
We were able to get good prices for pork 
this Fall and I concluded to slaughter the 
sows. Hugh wanted to go home to Michi¬ 
gan and Philip went to his old home in 
Norway for the Winter, and so it seemed 
like a good time to reduce our stock and 
obtain new blood in the Spring. I figured 
on it carefully and feel sure that this plan 
is best. As for Berkshires, with the single 
objection of small litters in the family I 
had, they suit our conditions exactly. In 
the Spring I expect either to stock up with 
Berkshires again or get well-bred sows of 
five different breeds and attempt a breed 
test. . . . The last of the Greening ap¬ 
ples are being sorted and shipped. These 
apples have been very satisfactory this 
year. They were large and fair and 
brought good prices. This reminds me to 
eat another .which makes five for the 
evening. I wonder if other members of the 
Apple Consumers’ League are doing as 
well! . . . The shredded fodder keeps 
well and the horses eat it with satisfaction. 
r fhe “orts,” which are mostly pith and 
splinters from the butts, make good bed¬ 
ding. We are feeding considerable clover 
hay to the cows now. There is consider¬ 
able wild carrot in the second-growth 
clover and old Major likes the carrot so 
well that he will endure the slobbering 
which he knows the clover will cause. 
Later.— The boys got home a little after 
11 o’clock. I went out and helped unhar¬ 
ness Frank. His best idea of a merry 
Christmas at that hour was a bucket of 
cool water and an armful of shredded fod¬ 
der. The boys had a great time. Some 
people may think it a strange thing to let 
three boys go off alone this way on a dark 
night, but we believe in giving boys their 
share of responsibilities early in life. Next 
morning all were up early. The baby had 
a great time over the Christmas tree. The 
other children are getting to the wise age 
of childhood when they feel it their duty 
to carry the story of Santa Claus along 
to the younger ones. It’s a good thing for 
any family to have some member that still 
believes thoroughly in old Santa. I found 
a Christmas present at the barn. Genevieve 
had a good black calf! Thus while old 
Julia may pass away into sausage she 
leaves her color at least in her granddaugh¬ 
ter. I hope she has left some of her good 
qualities, for all kickers have strength of 
character. I have said that I never would 
raise another heifer calf, but the little sick 
girl asked for this one “because it was 
born on Christmas," and so it will live on 
Hope Farm. We had a good Christmas 
Day—with a dinner long to be remembered. 
H. w, c. 
Horse Owners! Use 
GOMB AULT’S 
Caustic 
Balsam 
A Safe, Speedy, and Fosltlre Cure 
The safest. Best BLISTER ever used. Take* 
the place of all ltnaments for mild or severe action. 
Removes all Bunches or Blemishes from Horses 
and Cattle, SUPERSEDES ALL CAUTERY 
O It FI RING. Impossible to produce scar or blemish 
Every bottle sold is warranted to give satisfaction 
Price @1.50 per bottle, Sold by druggists, or sent 
by express, charges paid, with full directions for 
its use. Send for descriptive circulars. 
THE LAWRENCE-WILLIAMS CO., Cle veland. O . 
Hill ■lirMMWWBBMB 
NEWTON’S Heave, Coach, Dfi« 
temper and Indigestion Coro* 
A veterinary specific for wind, 
throat and stomach troubles. 
Strong vcommcnd «. f 1.00 per 
oan. Dealers. Mail or Ex. paid, 
Newton Horse Remedy Co.. , 
Toledo, Ohio. 
VICTOR 
Incubators 
. 
are truthfully pictured and their 
actual working told in about 30 
of the 80 pages of our new cata¬ 
logue. The rest of the book 
_ £ives information about the 
chicken business. We begin the story in the egg and end 
it with the marketing of the fowls. There’s knowledge 
which will benefit anyone and may mean dollars to you. 
Our incubators are driving hens out of business. They work 
regardless of weather or of seasons. You can counton 
hatching every fertile egg. Money back if not all we claim. 
We pay freight. The book Is free. Just say “Send Victor 
Book” and we’ll do it. GEO. ERTEL CO.,Quincy, Ill. 
$ I O' 80 For 
I 200 Egg 
INCUBATOR 
Perfect in construction and 
action. Hatches every fertile 
egg. Write for catalog to-day. 
j GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy, III. 
100 as HATCHES 
Our new catalogue contains hundreds of them obtained 
by BUCKEYE INCUBATOR users in all parts of the 
U. S. Send for a copy uud read the proof. It is free. 
Buckeye Incubator Co., Box £8, Springfield, O, 
SEND US 
A COW, 
Steer, Bull or Horse 
hide, Calf skin, Dog 
skin, or any other kind 
of hide or skin, and let 
us tan it with the hair 
on, soft, light, odorless 
and moth-proof, for robe, 
rug, coat or gloves. 
But first get our Catalogue, 
giving prices, and our shipping 
tags and instructions, so as to 
avoid mistakes. We also buy 
raw furs and ginseng. 
THE CROSBY FRISIAN FUR COMPANY, 
116 Mill Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
Yo Bu y A Certainty 
When You 8uys Cyphers I ncubator. 
’ Guaranteed to hatch more chicks and 
better chicks than any other make. 
7 or your money back. Adopted and 
endorsed by 36 Government Experi¬ 
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makes combined. Complete catalog free if 
I you name this paper. Address nearest office. 
CYPHERS INCUBATOR COMPANY, 
Buffalo, N.Y. Chicago, III. New York, N.Y. Boston, Matt. 
STRICTLY 
-AUTOMATIC 
■THROUGHOUT 
ninilP of Plank save Timber and Cash. Cheapest, 
DAnllU strongest, host. 7.000 in 42 States. Book for 
Stamp. SHAWVEli BROTHERS, BeUefontaine,Ohlo 
A HOT PROPOSITION 
To introduce our Ball-Bearing Steel Forges, 
Malleable Iron Visas and Blacksmith Tools 
for farmers’ use we will make special prices. 
Ship on approval. Prepay the freight. Write 
today for special offer. We’ll save you 
money. Diplomas from Iowa, Nebraska and 
Kansas State Fairs. 
C. R. Harper Mlg. Co., Box 123. Marshalltown, Iowa. 
D 
ANDY Bean Picker. 
Hand-picked beans bring double 
price. Make $2 to 83 a day 
picking them over at home in 
winter months with the Dandy 
Picker. A special tool for a 
special purpose—best of kind 
in the world. Description free. 
LUTHER BROS. CO., 
19 Mill SL N. Milwaukee, WIs. 
WELL 
DRILLING 
MACHINES 
Over 70 sizes and styles, for drilling tfither deep or 
shallow wells In any kind of soil or ^Mounted 
on wboels or on sills. With engines or horee 
Strong, simple and durable. Any mechanic can 
operate them easily Sendfor catalog. 
WILLIAMS BROS., Ithaca, N. Y. 
EXCEL GRINDING MILLS. 
The Mill that excels them ail. Best 
for the farmer. Griuda S to 25 bushels 
per hour of ear corn or grain of any 
kind, bone, shell, etc., with from 1 to 8 
horse-power. Makes best feed and good 
meal. Furnished with or without 
crusher. We have larger mills for 
every purpose. Write for Catalogue K. 
We pay the freight. 
Excel Manufacturing Co., 
116 Liberty Street, New York 
Seeds 
Dropped 
In plain 
sight. 
HAND GARDEN TOOLS 
Furrow, cover, roll, hoe, cultivate, rake, 
mark, etc. 
Matthews’ 
New Universal 
Hand Seeders and Cultivators. 
Best adapted line for al 1 work, 1 arge 
or small gardeners. Tool for every 
purpoae. Combination toola, 6 In 1. Wide¬ 
ly adjustable. Full details in free 1904 
catalogue. Write for it. 
AMES PLOW CO., 54 Market Street, Boston, Mass. 
" Chop Feed 
from ear corn and the grains is mixed right and — 
ground just ae coarse or hne as desired with 
Quaker City 
Grinding Mills 
They run on bail bearings and 
combine light running with fast 
grinding. Double hopper gives 
even mixing. Suited to every 
kind of feed grinding and make 
afinetablemeal. Special purpose 
burr* and sacking attachment when wanted. Unequivo¬ 
cal guaranteo of durability and satisfaction goes 
with every mill. Sold on trial. Return at our ex¬ 
pense i f not satisfactory. 37th Annual Catalog free. Low- 
estprices on gas and gasoline engines and other powers. 
Thn IT 1M Qtrmih Pn 3737 Filber,s, i PhllBdalphlB. 
_ Hie A. W. OllDllD bO., Canil & Randolph SI., ChiMgo. 
at/wvvv*vvv*vvv*vw*wv w 
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YOU 
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