V, 
NEW YORK, MARCH 5, 1904 
Yol. LXIIL No. 2823 
*1 PER YEAR, 
A SUMMER DAY ON A FRUIT FARM. 
Among the Massachusetts Hills. 
ITalf-past four in the morning, and all was quiet at 
Forestdale Farm. Dennis Kelly is generally the first 
one up and this hour found him lighting a fire in the 
cook stove in his cozy little home in a tenement house 
about 50 rods distant from the farmhouse. After his 
fire was started he took his milkpails, went to the pas¬ 
ture and milked our two cows. As this farm is de¬ 
voted mostly to fruit growing we keep but two cows. 
Then he fed the pigs and returned home to his break¬ 
fast. Chas. Wyman, who 
lives in another tenement 
house, as usual, was on 
the move a little before 
five, lit his fire, came to 
the barn, cared for our 
four horses, harnessed 
them for the day’s work, 
and returned to his break¬ 
fast. Five o’clock found 
Peter St. Peter, Dell Cross, 
Fred Neher and G. G. W. 
ready for business. The 
latter lit the fire, put on 
the teakettle, also potatoes 
which were made ready 
the previous evening; then 
fed the poultry and looked 
after some odd jobs, while 
Peter, Dell and Fred 
ground the scythes and 
got tools ready for the 
day’s work. In the mean¬ 
time, the wife, who arose 
soon after the fire was 
started, prepared the 
morning meal, and at six 
o’clock the horn blew for 
breakfast. The pure morn¬ 
ing air gave us a good ap¬ 
petite, and we were all on 
hand. After a hasty toilet 
we took our chairs at the 
table, soon to be joined by 
Father and Mother, who 
usually rise a little later. 
After the meal was finish¬ 
ed George, .Jr., and Marion 
were waiting to be dressed 
and made ready for their 
busy day’s work, and were 
cared for by Grandma and 
Mamma. 
Seven o'clock found all 
hands ready. First, after 
the paraphernalia was 
ready we posed for our 
pictures. They were taken 
by Fred, who, although a 
first-class farm hand, is 
also quite an expert with 
a camera, which accounts 
for his absence from the 
group. Then, with his favorite horse, Dennis went to 
cultivate strawberries, and a little later in the day 
Father, who is now in his eighty-fifth year, took his 
hoe and started for the field. He has taken charge of 
hoeing our propagating bed of about one-half acre, 
and has kept it very free of weeds. He takes delight 
in watching (he habits and growth of (he 45 different 
varieties of strawberries in our testing bed. This 
being Saturday we did not pick many berries, but 
Mrs. Kelly took her carrier and picked a few black¬ 
berries to fill a special order from a family in the 
nearby village. 
Charles, I’eter, Dull, Fred and myself, with ilia 
other three horses, were on our way to the hayfleld, 
which was on another farm about one mile distant. 
On arrival Peter took Old Kate and started the horse 
rake. Dell finished some hand mowing along the 
roadside, while the rest of us began drawing in hay, 
which was raked and tumbled up the afternoon be¬ 
fore. All went well, and we were beginning to think 
we would get through early, as we plan to do on Sat¬ 
urday, but after eating our lunch, we had the mis¬ 
fortune to tip over while drawing along quite a steep 
hillside with nearly a full load. The driver was 
thrown quite a distance, but escaped with little in¬ 
jury. Our wagon and hayrack were broken some 
what, which made it necessary for me to return home 
for hammer, nails, etc., to repair the wreck. I had 
the pleasure of finding my sister, her husband and 
four children had come to spend the day with us, it 
being their only daughter’s birthday. After a very 
short visit with them and enjoying a dish of ice 
cream from the liberal supply which they brought, I 
leturned to the hayfield, as work was brought almost 
to a standstill until the broken wagon was repaired. 
After a little delay we were ready for business again. 
When our evening chores were done, supper eaten, 
the huuooopu cloned for the night, 1 returned to the 
house and glanced over the newspapers while the 
evening work in the house w.as being done up and the 
little ones put to bed. Then, after helping with the 
bookkeeping, which is a daily task with us, we were 
ready for bed, and nine o’clock found all the human 
working force at rest. Save the everchanging pro¬ 
gramme characteristic of farm life, so begins and ends 
an ordinary day’s work at Forestdale Farm. 
Berkshire Co., Mass. geo. g. walker. 
A GREENHOUSE FOR EARLY PLANTS. 
As the price of manure is continuously advancing, 
with the prospect of still 
greater scarcity as the 
years go by, the question 
that confronts the market 
gardener is: “Can we af¬ 
ford to buy tons of ferti¬ 
lizer in a hotbed in order 
to raise our early vege¬ 
table plants?” While the 
hotbed is of some advan¬ 
tage to the small grower 
who perhaps intends to 
raise a few dozen plants 
for his garden, and a few 
for his neighbor, (lie pleas¬ 
ure experienced in watch¬ 
ing the plant grow may 
compensate him for the 
great amount of labor and 
care required to run a hot¬ 
bed successfully. 1 can re¬ 
member the inconvenience 
that I have experienced so 
many times while running 
hotbeds; kneeling beside 
the frame on some cold 
Spring day weeding or 
transplanting plants that 
stood a very good chance 
to be drawn or frozen by a 
few hours of subsequent 
neglect, or feel the disap¬ 
pointment after growing a 
crop of plants (o a point 
where they were large 
enough to transplant, to 
save time, cut down by 
mice or a fungus growth. 
With the greenhouse, we 
do not have to worry about 
whether the manure is 
heating or not, or whether 
the weather is stormy, and 
in fact many of our stormy 
days of early Spring can 
be used to good advantage 
under shelter, transplant¬ 
ing or weeding, when it 
would be impossible to do 
the same operation if hot¬ 
beds were depended upon 
for our early plants. The 
cut, page 179, shows a plan 
of house which we have had in operation for the past 
15 years that is not only cheap and convenient, but can 
be used for growing bedding plants, etc. While the 
mode of heating is somewhat old-fashioned it has the 
advantages of being cheap, easily repaired and can be 
started at any time without annoyance of burst pipes. 
The house can be constructed for about $10 per run¬ 
ning foot, and somewhat cheaper if the work is done 
by (lie gardener who is somewhat handy with tools, 
and does not count his labor. After the excavating is 
done a line of 4x8 chestnut posts are sel in parallel 
lines flush with the outer edge of the excavation to 
support the plates and rafters, said posts to be sheath- 
•LINED UP FOR WORK ON A MASSACHUSETTS FRUIT FARM. Fig. 70. 
HOW THE STRAWBERRY CROP IS KEPT CLEAN. Fig. 71. 
