1904. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
879 
Hope Farm Notes 
Side Issues In Farming. —The following 
letter will make a fair text: 
“My son, 30 years old, has been quite sud¬ 
denly seized with an attack of squabs. It 
seems to have gone to his brain, and is so 
firmly seated that I must seek a remedy. 
We have a good location; could at slight ex¬ 
pense put up the necessary building and 
yard, but he is doing a large mercantile 
business. From your knowledge, do you think 
there is any money in it for him, whose time 
is entirely taken up with his business?" 
s. v. 
We have never made a business of raising 
squabs. There are a few in the barn every 
year, hut I do not hesitate to say that this 
man will he likely to have the squabs swallow 
his money and then swallow themselves. 
You may keep a few in the barn with the 
half-wild birds to care for them, but when 
you come to make a business of it you must 
be half squab yourself. When you become 
half squab, you are only quarter merchant, 
and both things will suffer. It is just this 
very idea that farm operations will take care 
of themselves that does great damage to farm¬ 
ing. The fact is that such things as squab 
raising, mushroom culture, violets and simi¬ 
lar things require the host care anti judg¬ 
ment that the ablest man can possibly muster. 
What folly it is to suppose that one can make 
such things pay by devoting the odds and 
ends of his time to them! There is where 
most “city farmers" fail. What I call a 
“city farmer” is a man who buys a farm, 
keeps his town job and undertakes to tell 
people how to make a farm pay. As a rule 
he selects a lot of crops or stock which re¬ 
quire constant care and the "master's eye.’’ 
lie turns their care over to incompetent help. 
If he hire a good man he expects him to 
give results at once, forgetting that such re¬ 
sults in farming only come after years of 
careful planning and work. The women and 
children are on the farm for fun—not for 
business—and they do not realize how they 
interfere with a man’s work and plans. Most 
•'city farmers" fail to make their farms pay 
because they try to do without supervision 
work that needs constant watching. They 
would do much better to fence their farms in, 
get them in grass and clover, plant fruit 
trees on the hills—using the mulch method— 
and pasture hogs or sheep on the lower fields. 
1 would plow as little as possible and keep 
only horses and one cow through the Win¬ 
ter. That is a sort of farming that will 
suit many people, and there is a fair profit 
in it. 
Hunting Trips. —The Hope Farm man 
feels proud to receive the following invita¬ 
tion : 
"One of my neighbors wanted to go deer 
hunting with me this Fall, so I took him 
along. We went to the (Ireen Mountains, 
and the eighth day we got a big buck with 
five points that weighed 400 pounds. We had 
to drag him over a mile to camp. My friend 
wished he was alive before we got there. 
In this State we are not allowed to shoot a 
deer without horns. I saw five before I saw 
one with horns. We killed a number of 
rabbits and partridges, so we lived high in 
camp. If I live another year I would like 
to have the Hope Farm man come up and go 
hunting with me. I am a pretty good cook 
and know where to get the game.” E. c. it. 
No doubt that neighbor earned his supper 
before they got the deer to camp. He earned 
an appetite too. I don’t know that I should 
be of much value on a hunting trip. It is 
over 20 years since I aimed a gun at any 
living thing. I might not he able to hit a 
barn door. The hunter would he in more 
danger than the hunted. I could do my 
share of bringing in game, cutting wood, wash¬ 
ing dishes and eating meals. 
Thanksgiving. —We had a good day. All 
hands were up early, for there was much to 
do. The little girl and I drove over to the 
village to deliver a barrel of apples and tele¬ 
phone about some pork. We had 300 pounds 
on hand, which had been ordered. When we 
got home the girl had her music lesson and 
I went to the peach orchard to pull the 
mulch away from some trees. We must get 
that mulch away before the mice begin their 
work. I had not been tit work long before 
Uncle George appeared, lie had driven over 
to eat dinner with us, and had come up on 
the hill to work up an appetite. Uncle 
George has only one hand, but he will do 
more with his five fingers than 75 per cent 
of men can do with 10. We got back to the 
house in time to haul a load of wood before 
dinner. In the meantime the Madame and 
Emma had not been idle, as the table proved. 
A big turkey rested at one end with gravy, 
potatoes, onions, squash, celery, which Uncle 
George brought along, cranberry sauce, bread 
and butter, lemon jelly and whipped cream, 
nuts, candy and coffee. The little girl 
made the bread, and we all voted it good by 
taking several slices. When Uncle George 
thanked the good Lord for the day. the year 
and all who made the feast possible every¬ 
body felt and said "Amen.” That turkey 
faded away rapidly. After dinner no one 
felt like doing much for a time but sit he- 
fore the open tire. Then Uncle George and I 
went out to look at the trees. We were talk¬ 
ing about a henhouse when Philip came up 
to point out a thick column of smoke rising 
over the hill. It was what I had always 
dreaded—a lire in the woods ! Uncle George 
had his best Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes on. 
but he put some of my old goods over his blacks 
and all hands made for the fire. The leaves 
were thick and dry, and the fire was working 
steadily through. Luckily the wind was not 
blowing, though we had not called it "lucky” 
when we had to pump water and do the wind¬ 
mill’s work! We went at that ring of tire 
with rakes and sticks, and after a long strug¬ 
gle put it out. It was after dark when we 
started for home. Philip had started ahead 
to do the chores. As we got to the hill we 
saw across the fields a strange blaze high in 
the air. There was no house at that place! 
We ran over the fields and found that some 
one had set fire to a hollow chestnut tree. 
The (lames were spouting out of knotholes 
and broken places. We burned a circle 
around the tree so as to prevent its spread¬ 
ing, when just as we were starting for home 
we saw another blaze in the woods behind us. 
As we represented the Hope Farm fire de¬ 
partment we started for the new one We 
went about a mile through wood and held, only 
to find the fire still far away. The clouds 
obscured the moon and stars and 1 was 
forced to admit that 1 did not know where we 
were. It is a fact that we were lost. We 
got into a bramble patch and 1 got two 
scratches across my nose which still show 
their scars. The children rather enjoyed the 
} llin t—having confidence in Uncle George and 
myself to scout the way. I must confess that 
in the dark 1 did not. know where I was! 
At last we struck a track and followed it till 
we came in sight of a light. Then I loudly 
proclaimed that t knew "just where we were.” 
Dogs howled and snapped at us in the dark 
and we finally hit the main road a mile 
south of where I said we were ! i expected 
to find the Madame quite excited, but was 
relieved to find her quietly sitting by the tire 
with Aunt Margaret. 
"Why should I be frightened with two big 
men to guard the child? What is the use in 
her having a father if he will not protect 
her ?" 
There is sense in that and I had better ac¬ 
cept it for what compliment I can extract 
from it. There was no prodigal son or lost 
sheep reception for us. except that Philip 
was out on the hills with his lantern. How¬ 
ever, the table was spread and we proceeded 
to lighten it. Uncle George is a practical 
man. It was late and he had chores to do at 
home. So he put the harness on his horse 
and without waiting to strip my clothes otT 
ltis blacks he gathered in Aunt Margaret and 
started home. 
"Oh, but didn't we have a fine time!” said 
the little girl as she went to bed. We did ! 
We had much to be thankful for -so did all 
the Hope Farmers including the hunters who 
Started that fire and got out of sight early ! 
Farm Notes. —We have had a chance to 
compare the profit, in selling pigs live weight 
or dressed. Two of the Berkshires weighed 
230 pounds live and were sold at 7 cents, 
thus bringing $1(1.10. Two more dressed 185 
pounds, which at 9 cents brought $16.(55. 
The live pigs brought nearly as much. To 
offset the cost of slaughtering we have the 
liver, etc., and the blood and waste for fer¬ 
tilizer. 1 would rather sell live weight, but 
it is only now and then that we can sell this 
way to advantage. From my experience this 
plan of paying $8 for a pig to feed through 
the Winter is very poor business. It will 
cost more money than it is worth to add 100 
pounds of weight in Winter. Some farmers 
seem to think that only a very heavy hog is 
profitable. They do not think much of our 
small pork. I think they are all wrong, and 
that accurate figuring will prove it. . . 
We found our first real snow when we looked 
out of the window Sunday, November 27. 
This is earlier than usual. The children 
wanted more snow, but Philip and I were op¬ 
posed, because we have not got the mulch all 
pulled away from the fruit trees. We ought 
to have had it done, but there has been much 
to do lately. There has been no damage 
by mice yet, but it will never do to leave that 
mulch any longer.Charlie is in 
Florida, and has started to clear up the 
potato ground. The place is rough, and con¬ 
siderable grubbing will be needed. It is nec¬ 
essary to keep all cultivated fields fenced with 
barbed wire, as droves of hogs range all over, 
and rip out crops. I have ordered barbed 
wire for our potato ground. The “Bird." 
our old white mare, will be sent to Florida 
early in December, and will never come back. 
It will be easier to sell her down there than 
it will up here. The Madame and the child¬ 
ren will start so as to be in Florida at Christ¬ 
mas. I expect to go with them and look up 
some land and see about the potato crop, and 
come back early in January. 
Emma has taken charge of the hens. They 
look well and ought to be laying soon. A hen 
will surely swallow her weight in food dur¬ 
ing December. At: least it looks that way. 
That is what she is here for—to swallow the 
food and pay for it in eggs. She certainly 
cannot do the latter without first doing the 
former, although she can if she will attend to 
the food without paying much attention to 
the eggs. The hen man must have patience 
and faith during December. 
The Bottom Out. —I have had consider¬ 
able to say about our open lire, it is pleas¬ 
ant to sit in front of a good blaze and in¬ 
dulge in cheerful philosophy. 1 have learned, 
however, that all things, including philosophy, 
should be lifted up now and then and exam¬ 
ined from the under side. One day not long 
ago some one went down cellar and found it: 
well filled with smoke. It didn't take long 
to hustle all hands with palls of water. In¬ 
vestigation showed that the heat at the bot¬ 
tom of our fireplace had ignited an old beam 
which had been left in when the bricks for 
the fireplace were laid. No one knows how 
long it had smouldered away until the air 
got to it, when it began to blaze. It was 
good for us that it: happened in the daytime. 
We knocked out the fireplace bottom, put a 
stone in place of the beam and. filled it with 
fire brick, so that it is now safe. While we 
were entertaining ourselves with pleasant 
thoughts about our fireplace the thing was 
getting ready to turn on us and burn us lip! 
It is a truth older than many of our hills 
that danger lies at the root of things and 
not at the surface. That fireplace might 
well be an object lesson to many of us who 
make resolutions or settled statements. While 
we are complacently patting ourselves on the 
back the under side of those things may be 
on fi re — r eadv to destroy the whole fabric. 
I.et’s get down to the bottom of things before 
we start a fire. w - c< 
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Gloversville, N'. Y. 
EarLabels 
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RUN 
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379 
[4 
' WOODPECKER 
Every Farmer 
IN AMERICA 
doesn’t own a power to do all of the hard work 
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WOODPECKER 
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