1904 
383 
T1IE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Hope Farm Notes 
Fabm Notes. —The last of the oats and 
peas were sown April 23. We never had 
them put under in better shape. Our ditch¬ 
ing is partly responsible for this, for there is 
no doubt about it—we are able to work the 
lower fields earlier than before they were 
drained. I intended to sow rape with the 
oats and peas in one field, so as to have a 
long hog pasture, but there is such a market 
for hay that I finally left the rape out, and 
expect to cut the oats and peas for hay and 
then at once seed to sorghum or cow peas 
and barley and clover. This will give us sev¬ 
eral tons to the acre of excellent dry fodder 
which our stock can eat, so as to leave the 
hay free for sale. I have learned never to 
leave rape in anything that is to be dried. 
. . . Our first planting of garden peas 
was made April 20. We planted long rows 
across the field 3>4 feet apart. This is wider 
than Alaska peas really need, but we intend 
to plant sweet corn later midway between the 
rows of peas. Then when the peas come out, 
at the last cultivation of the sweet corn, we 
will sow Crimson clover and turnips. Some 
of the turnips will be pulled and sold and the 
clover left to improve the ground. . . . 
I spoke of sowing Red clover and rape in the 
mud around the trees in an old high-headed 
orchard near the house. Both seem to have 
started well—the little plants cover the 
ground. The dry, cold winds we are now 
having are bad for the young clover as well 
as the new planted trees, but 1 hope both will 
get through. . . . The onion plants in 
the hotbeds are making a good start.- They 
will be ready for transplanting in good time. 
We have sown enough onions outside to give 
us plants enough to make out our crop. 
. . . As I write our regular work is put¬ 
ting fertilizer on the meadows and around 
1 had a dollar for every shadow upon which 
I have spent time and elbow grease; or, bet¬ 
ter yet, I wish I had the time and strength 
to brighten up the substance that threw the 
shadow! One of the boys promises to have 
some philosophy in him. lie thinks it is a 
good thing for a man to learn to wash dishes, 
since he may be “cast upon a desert island 
some day." My opinion is that the dishes 
would bemroken in the casting, but that spirit 
is to be commended. 
My little girl came to wipe the spoons. She 
never asks people if they are sorry, and so I 
was prepared to have her ask : 
“Father, are you glad you can wash 
dishes ?” 
“Well, now, I should be mighty sorry if I 
were too proud or too lazy to wash them, or 
if I didn't like to have clean dishes, or if I 
didn’t like to relieve Mother, or if I were 
ashamed of the time when washing dishes 
helped me through college! Glad? Why, of 
course, my little girl—I wouldn’t do this from 
choice, but there is far more dishonor in dodg¬ 
ing it than in doing it! I am also glad that 
I know enough to boil the dish rag after 
using it." 
I have known young farmers who secretly 
grieved because their bunds are hard and 
rough. They- think the girls object to such 
hands. I will give them a hint from my expe¬ 
rience. Get down and scrub mother’s floor 
now and then-—wash her dishes when she is 
tired or has a headache—get your hands into 
the hot soapy water and do a good job. Your 
hands will be soft and pliable, and every girl 
in town who is worth thinking about the sec¬ 
ond time will respect you and your hand. 
Seriously, I do not see why it is in any 
way worse for a man to help in the house 
than it is for the woman to work outdoors. 
The Madame has. at a pinch, mounted horse 
rake and wheel cultivator for us. Will some 
one tell me why it is any worse for me to help 
with dishes or floor than for her to help us 
outside? Many of us have got to learn yet 
that it Is the motive rather than the labor 
that dignifies the job. Who was it made an 
arbitrary standard for “man’s work” and 
“woman’s work"? 
Questions. —Here is a thing which has 
bothered many a farmer this year : 
“1 have potatoes for seed which have been 
chilled : some are soft and of course are unfit 
for such use. They are all somewhat sweet 
to the taste. Will you inform me how I can 
tell whether the remainder are all right for 
seed or not?” a. w. b. 
Vermont. 
the young trees. The pear trees have finally 
been planted. The high winds make fertilizer 
sowing a job to be thoughtful over. We have 
no drill, and it is all done by hand. Plant 
food is like a weed, “a plant out of place,” 
v. hen you get it in eyes, nose and mouth. 
1 would like a machine for broadcasting it, 
but we can hardly afford to pay the price for 
the amount of work it would do. ... A 
first trial of our sulky disk plow indicates 
that it will be a very useful tool for our 
work. 1 do not think it can ever take the 
place fully of a turning plow, but it evi¬ 
dently does some kinds of work better. We 
shall know more about it when we have used 
it for several new jobs. It does better work 
than the turning plow on soil that is full of 
large stones. When the plow point hits one 
of these hidden rocks it becomes combative 
and wants to fight or lift it out. When the 
disk comes to the hidden stone it rides over it 
and settles down to its business on the other 
side. We used the disk for chopping in Can¬ 
ada peas. We think it covered them better 
than the plow did. 
“Housework.” —“Now, boys, you wipe and 
I will wash, and we'll let Mother ‘play lady.’ ” 
The little boys did not receive this state¬ 
ment from the Hope Farm man as joyfully as 
they might. Like many other grown-up 
farmers, they thought the men folks were as 
well justified in playing gentleman as Mother 
was in playing lady. They forgftt that when 
a man looks out for the interests of the 
women folks he plays gentleman at the same 
time—even though he wash the dishes! 
But why not let Ida, the Finnish girl, 
wash them? 
I regret to say that we have seen Ida’s 
finish! It was the old story—just as we 
were ready to hrag about our ability to obtain 
good help in the house, Ida met some girls 
from her own country. I thought at the 
time that it was the beginning of the end, and 
it was. But without discussing that I can 
say that Ida quit and the Madame was left 
alone with a house all upset and many hungry 
mouths open. The Madame is a light woman 
with the spirit to do things, but not the bone 
and meat to push the spirit on. 
Do you think it a very dignified job for a 
man to wash dishes? 
I did it for a living once in my younger 
days, and was so glad to get the job that I 
never thought anything about the dignity of 
it—except that I always had my dishes clean. 
The Madame didn’t want me to do it, but I 
stole her apron and put it on and so she con¬ 
sented to “play lady”—which in her case 
meant sitting down to a great pile of darning 
and hearing the little girls go over the Sunday 
School lesson. For the benefit of my fellow 
farmers I will say that I not only washed 
dishes, but scrubbed the kitchen floor. I am 
aware that the mental picture of a fleshy man 
at work with a scrubbing brush is not the 
most edifying one. but that floor was clean. 
It is true that the Madame got down and 
scrubbed a small part of it after me, and also 
looked elesely at several of my dishes, but I 
am something of a philosopher, and have 
reached the point where I know there is no 
insult intended when a lady tries to lead a 
man up to her own high standard. That is 
why a philosopher will always take more 
criticism and personal remarks from his wife 
than he would from anyone else! 
Tiie Philosophy of It.—I magine if you 
will a man of some girth with his wife's 
apron on and sleeves rolled up at a sink 
washing the supper dishes. With a good 
day's work behind him and no immediate 
hope for relief in front this would seem an 
occasion when philosophy is a helpful thing. 
The Hope Farm man found himself singing: 
“Let me like a soldier fall 
Upon some gallant plain, 
This breast expanding for the ball 
To wipe out every stain !” 
Here I was wiping out more stains in an 
honest way than a whole regiment of soldieis 
could. My dish cloth was the emblem of 
freedom—from dirt. If the energy spent in 
fighting were devoted to cleaning things, 
would not the world be better off? The lamp¬ 
light was not very good, and when I came to 
the milkpail I scrubbed and rubbed at what 
seemed a bad streak on the side. It hung 
closer than Lady Macbeth’s “spot,” and when 
I held the pail up to the lamp I found I bad 
been trying to scrub out a shadow ! I wish 
From our experience I should be afraid of 
such seed. The sprouts sometimes start and 
grow fairly well, but do not make strong 
plants. I would put the best of this seed 
into some sunny sheltered place and watch it 
carefully. If the sprouts start well, I would 
cut large pieces and plant in drills or hills 
with only a shallow covering, so as to get 
the sprout above ground quickly. Fill in the 
drills later as the plants grow. 
Here is another question that bothers 
many : 
“I have land badly Infested with Witch 
grass. I have used a disk harrow, and it 
makes but little or no impression upon the 
grass roots, and a spring-tooth harrow is 
clogged with them in going a short distance. 
Is there any farm implement made that will 
make my ground into a mellow, nice seed 
bed after it is plowed to the depth of six or 
seven inches? Is there anything that will 
cut up and pulverize that turf?” 
Vermont. J. F. B. 
The theory of killing out Witch grass is to 
cut off the underground roots and throw them 
up to the sun and air. Unless these roots 
are killed the grass will continue to grow. 
Few disk harrows cut deep enough to do the 
business. A disk plow which can be made to 
chop eight or nine inches deep will take care 
of them, but the field must be worked again 
and again during hot. dry weather. There 
is no use trying to kill Witch grass unless, 
you can get under the roots and throw them 
out. For smoothing down the surface and 
breaking lumps the Acme harrow and pulver¬ 
izer is the best tool we have tried. With the 
disk to set them tip and the Acme to knock 
them down your field will not be bewitched. 
h. w. c. 
EXTENSION AXLE NUTS 
Cure wabbles and make old buggies run 
like new. Quick sellers; very profitable. 
Agents Wanted. Also very attractive 
fence machine proposition. 
Hardware Specialty Co.. Box 43, Pontiac Mich. 
IT IS 
LOADED 
with 
tffi 'MEND-A-RIP' 
Does all kinds of Light and Heavy Stitching 
Does a 11 kinds 
light &nd 
heavy riv«tin : 
Savbthi Prici or Itself 
Many Times a Year. A Perfect 
Hand Sewing Machine and Riveter combined 
To Show It Mean® a Sale. Agent* 
make from $8 to $15 a day. One 
agent made $20 first day and writes to hurry 
more machines to him. Write for terms to agents. 
Foundry Co., Fredericktown. O. 
WAGON SENSE 
Don’t break your back and kill your 
horses with a high wheel wagon. 
For comfort’s sake get an 
Electric Handy Wagen. 
It will save you time and money. A 
set of Electric Steel Wheels will 
make your old wagon new at small 
cost. Write for catalogue. Itisfree. 
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO., Box 88, Quincy, 111. 
Rumely Engines 
both as to traction and generating and supplying I 
power, are typical of all that is best for thresher- 
men. They are rear geared, gears are of steel, 
cross heads and slides are protected from d ust, they 
are free from trappy dovices. Single or double 
cylinders, burn wood or coal, or direct flue for 
burning straw. Fit companions In the threshing | 
field for the famous New Rumely Separators. 
| Free catalogue describes all. Write for it. 
M. RUMELY CO., LA PORTE, IND. 
FARMING FOR PROFIT 
The increasing value of farm lands makes it imperative that every acre cultivated 
yield a profit—this means that the cultivation must be thorough and scientific, and 
that none but improved methods and machines be employed. We here illustrate 
a machine which is at the fore 
front of farming implements. 
^BUCKEYE 
No. 140 Improved 
Buckeye Pivot Axle 
Hiding Cultivator. 
Pivot Axle 
RIDING CULTIVATOR 
The name “Buckeye” on a farm im¬ 
plement means a great deal to the 
farmer. This particulai machine has 
special features which commend it, and 
make it the most popular riding culti¬ 
vator for crooked rows and hillside cul¬ 
tivation. Is very strongly built and easy 
of operation. See it at your dealer’s or 
write for catalogue. 
P. P. MAST & CO., 
9 Canal St., Springfield, Ohio. 
Shallow Cultivators. 
A complete line. Seven different 
styles. Gives weeds no chance to 
start and soil is kept in same condi¬ 
tion as when planted. Surface a flue 
dust mulch, preserving 
Moisture At Plant Roots. 
Two, Four, Six or Eight Rows cultivated 
at one operation. Forty page catalog free 
for the asking, with many pictures repro¬ 
duced from photographs showing ma¬ 
chines at work In various crops. Write us 
and let us send you this book and tell you 
all about It. 
KEYSTONE FARM MACHINE CO., 
1847 N. Beaver St., York, Pa. 
-So iv.'i 
Pivot-Axle 
Sulky 
Cultivator 
is the standard in 
Cultivator values. It 
is high wheeled, light 
draft, adjustable in 
width, perfectly bal¬ 
anced, simply construc¬ 
ted, easily operated. The 
shovels adjust for wide or 
narrow rows, depth and angle. 
Wheels and shovels instantly thrown to right 
or left by foot levers. 
A Perfect Hillside Worker 
''The pivot-axle which controls the entire 
machine, enables it to go against the hill 
with a “gather," that keeps it upand parallel 
with the row. Works equally well on the level 
Four, six or eight beam, pin, spring hoe or 
spring tooth. Accept no cultivator said to be 
“just as good.” It isn’t made. If your dealer 
doesn’t handle the KRAUS, write us. 
.HE AKRO.V CULTIVATOR CO. Dept. D Akron, t). 
HAVE RICH MELLOW LAND. WS 
.... j., ,., mi. , ., _ with JACKSON S Round 
AGRICULTURAL DRAIN TILE. For46 years we have been making these 
and Sewer Pipe, Red and Fire Brick, Oven Tile, Chimney and Flue Linings 
and Tops, Encaustic Sidewalk Tile, Ac. Supply Mortar Colors, Plaster, Lime 
Cement Ac. Write for prices. JohnH. Jackson, 76 3rd Av. Albanv. N.Y 
For full information fill out this coupon or write 
120 Broadway, New York uept.No.i25 
Please send me information regarding an endowment 
*.if issued at.years of age. 
Name 
EQUITABLE 
HENRY B HYDE 
FOUNDER, 
J.H.HYDE 
VICE PRESIDENT 
J.W.ALEXANDER. 
PRESIDENT 
FEATHER 
YOUR NEST 
in the springtime of life by 
means of an adequate Endow¬ 
ment in the Equitable. Then the 
winter of your old age will be 
provided for: and your family 
will be protected at all seasons 
But the time to make this pro¬ 
vision is now . To morrow may 
Opportunities for men of character toad as representatives 
Apply to GAGE E.TARBELL,2nd Vice President. 
