478 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 17 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
We began operations at Hope Farm 
April 15. The place had been farmed 
by tenants for the previous five years. 
The soil, originally a light loam, had 
been well “ sucked” of fertility. There 
was no sod on the place except in the 
orchard — about one acre — and that 
mostly weeds. We have neither the 
money nor the time to attempt any 
“ fancy ” farming. We bought a fair 
outfit of good tools and stock as cheaply 
as possible, and shall U9e, the first year, 
about 10 tons of fertilizers. Our idea 
was to have something to sell every day 
in the year, and to sell it as well as pos¬ 
sible. Sales for June amounted to $21 48 
—chiefly eggs, milk, peas and potatoes. 
July sales will, of course, be much 
heavier, for sweet corn is ripening nicely, 
and the potato crop will help out. 
X X X 
Our breeding pen of 10 Black Business 
birds laid 151 eggs in June. Here is 
their record since we bought them : 
March. 121 
April. 175 
May. 163 
June. 151 
Total. 610 
They are still laying, with no indication 
of giving up. These hens are quiet and 
contented, quite unlike the Leghorns 
under similar treatment. We have a 
flock of mixed hens which were picked 
up at random from farmers. The flock 
has averaged 38 for June, and these laid 
340 eggs. Our 10 Blacks will, evidently, 
lay more eggs than any 15 other hens 
now on the farm. We are setting every 
egg we can get from the Blacks, and 
have already about 130 chicks from 
them, the majority of which appear to 
be pullets. We notice that, as the 
weather gets warmer, the proportion of 
fertile eggs decreases. The last run of 
the incubator is proving very poor in 
this respect. 
X X t 
Wk find eggs about the only crop for 
which there is a constant cash demand. 
Every other crop is dull at times, but 
eggs are always salable at a fair price. 
Take our flock of 38 scrub hens. In 
June, they laid 340 eggs which would 
have bought, at the store, 595 pounds 
of oats or about $6 worth of groceries. 
With cut bone, corn, skim-milk and 
wheat, we can feed these hens one month 
for $2, and by retailing the eggs, we 
could obtain, at least, 30 per cent more. 
About half the 38 hens will soon be sold 
—they have outlived their usefulness. 
X X X 
The pea crop this year has not been 
very satisfactory. We planted one peck 
each of Nott’s Excelsior and New Life, 
and one-half bushel of Telephone. Many 
farmers have sold good peas at 25 cents 
a bushel. Our own crop has brought 75 
cents and $1, as we have sold through 
butchers and grocers in a nearby town ; 
but there has been little profit in it, and 
we shall not plant peas for market 
again. Picking comes at a bad time, 
and few dealers will discriminate be¬ 
tween good and poor varieties. New Life 
and Telephone have given excellent sat¬ 
isfaction to customers, and there is 
always a demand for “more of the same 
sort.” 
X X X 
As hay costs $20 a ton in our local 
market, and there was little worth cut¬ 
ting on the farm, the problem of secur¬ 
ing quick-growing fodder crops became 
a serious one. A thin piece of ground 
near the barn containing about 1% acre 
was worked up with the Cutaway and 
Acme in April, and seeded to oats. We 
used 400 pounds of a fertilizer rich in 
potash. A mistake was made in work¬ 
ing the oats in with the Acme. Too 
many of the oats were left uncovered, 
and others were put under too deep. A 
good roller would have made a much 
better job. In fact, this field proved an 
excellent object lesson of how not to 
seed grain. The oats were cut June 30 
while quite green, to avoid smut, and 
were cured like Timothy. We got three 
good loads of this oat hay. The ground 
is now being worked up for a crop of 
barley and Canada peas, and we shall 
use a heavy dressing of kainit and basic 
slag for fertilizer. We have, also, two 
acres of millet, four of cow peas and the 
stalks from 12 acres of sweet corn. We 
shall see how much stock this will 
winter. 
X X X 
We planted our June Eating potatoes 
April 17. We have been digging since 
June 26, and sales have been quite satis¬ 
factory. This variety is not a heavy 
yielder with us, but gives large, smooth 
tubers of excellent quality. On page 
446, I stated that potato bugs seemed to 
prefer some varieties to others. In 
order to learn whether our Bergen 
County bugs are different from others, 
I have tried to obtain facts from other 
sources. Here are some replies : 
You ask if I have ever observed that any par¬ 
ticular variety of potato was less exempt than 
others from attacks of insects and of blight. In 
short, not noticeably so. We use, at our experi¬ 
ment grounds, only three varieties of potatoes, 
namely: Early Rose, R. N.-Y. No. 2 and American 
Giant. Yesterday, I asked the foreman and a 
workman the same question that you have put 
to me, and they both were of the opinion that 
there was no.difference in the three that we are 
using. There is a difference when young plants 
are growing alongside of older ones, the prefer¬ 
ence being for the more tender herbage of the 
younger plants. As for the blight, I think it not 
unlikely that there may be a difference between 
varieties as regards susceptibility; but in that 
case, it may be largely a difference as to time of 
maturing, the older plants showing the blight 
more than the younger plants, because the older 
plants have given a longer time for the growth 
of the parasite. byron d. halstkd. 
New Jersey Ex. Station. 
The Colorado beetles are especially fond of the 
American Giant, and will leave all others to feed 
on this variety. The Green Mountain is not sub¬ 
ject to damage, to the same extent as some other 
varieties. It is possible that the R. N.-Y. No. 2 may 
be, also, an exception to their attacks in a degree. 
I have seen Rutland Rose, planted by accident 
with Amerian Giant, and the beetles would strip 
the American Giant of foliage, and leave the 
others untouched. d. c. lewis. 
New Jersey. 
I have frequently remarked that the R. N.-Y. 
No. 2 is freer from the insect attacks of various 
kinds than are some of the tender-leaved varieties, 
for example, Polaris. This same thing is, in a 
degree, true of the fungous diseases. I have, in 
the latter case, attributed the difference to the 
greater vigor of the R. N.-Y. No. 2 rather than to 
anything in leaf texture. I have no notes of 
detailed observations upon which I can base 
exact comparative statements, although I have 
noticed similar differences in other varieties. 
Vermont Experiment Station. L. it. jones. 
The American Wonder, Giant, Dutton, and all 
of that class seem to attract the bugs. Freeman, 
New Queen and Early Rose suffer, still I doubt 
the bugs’ ability to distinguish varieties. The 
old beetles do not eat much, and the young have 
to eat the plant they hatch on. I think the effects 
come from the habit of growth of the variety; a 
coarse, rank, quick growth produces shade, so 
the eggs do not hatch well. A small, weak, 
scanty foliage gives the sun a chance to incubate 
successfully every egg, and the big hatch eats 
the leives faster than they grow. This explains 
why the above varieties seem to attract them. 
The o'd beetles are crawling around in search of 
potatoes some time before the sprouts break out 
of the ground. Early and quick-growing varie¬ 
ties draw them to that part of the field. A few 
rows planted as early as possible will serve as a 
trap, and if all the beetles are picked off and de¬ 
stroyed, some years there will be no necessity of 
spraying the main crop. 
I wish to ask, Is the Leggett gun a practical 
machine to buy ? Alva Agee says, -‘The Paris- 
green gun has been laid aside, * * * * and 
we have returned to the use of the sifter for the 
simple reason that with it, we can put enough 
flour and green in the bud of each plant to kill 
all the little bugs that continue to hatch, out. 
The old beetles are exceptionally prolific layers, 
and the hills treated bv the gun are soon infested 
again. A little sprinkle of green and flour, one 
to sixteen, in the bud of the plant stays there and 
catches all new comers.” I would like to know 
if one can not use fiour and green in the gun, and 
will not the mixture rain off? I have always 
used plaster and green, and found it good for 
only one brood. According to all accounts, one 
can save in time and in material by using the 
gun, unless one application from the sifter can 
be made to last the whole season, which I doubt. 
Some years, with our trap and deep planting to 
escape the first crop of bugs, we poison but once, 
but that does not prove that the poison stays on 
all summer. 
I never had very much loss from blight, but as 
far as I can learn, the season of growth has 
more to do with exemption than variety. The 
blight germs must have certain conditions before 
they will germinate. One of these I believe to be 
an approach to maturity of the foliage. In this 
section, all varieties succumb to this disease in 
order of ripening, and its effects are rarely seen 
before August. The New Queen and Chicago ' 
Market are first and the Orphan last, if at all, to 
blight, of the many kinds I have tried. The R. 
N.-Y. No. 2 does not do as well as it did at first, 
and the Carman No. 1 is giving better satisfac¬ 
tion. Among the earlier kinds, the June Eating 
has been, so far, the strongest grower of all. 
c. e. chapman. 
The Paris-green gun has given us ex j 
cellent satisfaction this year. We used 
it once when the bugs first hatched out, 
and have had no trouble since. By put¬ 
ting on the covered cap, we are able to 
drive the green directly into the top of 
the plant. h. w. c. 
Live Stock Matters 
THE EGG FOR HA TCHING. 
WHAT CARE SHOULD IT HAVE? 
1. What is the lowest temperature eggs may 
safely reach in the incubator, after incubation 
has once started ? 2. What is the highest point ? 
3. Are eggs more liable to be injured by a high 
temperature than by a low one ? 4. What have 
you found the best way of keeping eggs before 
putting them into the incubator ? 5. What tem¬ 
perature is best? 6. What situation as to mois¬ 
ture or dryness ? 7. How long may such eggs be 
kept before incubation, and how many days after 
laying would you prefer to put them into the 
machine or under the hen, if you could have 
your choice ? 
Eggs Cooled to 72 Degrees 
In cooling the eggs in my incubator, I 
open the door and draw the tray about 
half out, leaving it thus 10 to 20 minutes, 
according to the temperature outside. 
At two different times, I forgot all about 
the thing and left them cooling over two 
hours each time. In each case, the eggs 
had been in the machine about 14 days. 
The first time the eggs were cooled 
down to 72 degrees, and the second to 81 
degrees, but they hatched all right; 95 
is as low as I care to have the heat in the 
egg chamber go, and then only for a 
short period. At several different times, 
the heat has risen to 106 without injur¬ 
ing the eggs; but 110 on the ninth day, 
and 111 on the sixteenth day destroyed 
quite a number of chicks. I have found 
that a temperature a little too high does 
more injury than one too low. My in¬ 
cubator has to take care of itself 12 
hours at a time, and if the indications 
are plain that the night will be cold, I 
turn the flame of the lamp a little high 
and trust to the regulator to let off sur¬ 
plus heat. If the night is warm, the 
flame is turned low and the regulator 
shuts down and throws all the heat 
where needed if I happen to get the 
flame a little too low. I keep eggs for 
hatching in the house, where the tem¬ 
perature is about 70 degrees. They are 
kept in a covered box, resting little end 
down on clean oats. They are not 
turned, shaken or interfered with in any 
way, and I consider them first-class eggs 
for hatching until they are two weeks 
old. A fair percentage of them will 
hatch if kept a month, but I do not ship 
any over eight days old. Eggs two weeks 
old hatch all right when set at home, 
but eggs to be shipped any distance 
should not be over eight days old at the 
outside. The best hatches I get are from 
eggs two to eight days old, and my cus¬ 
tomers report best hatches from such 
eggs. FRED GRUNDY. 
Illinois. 
May Keep Eggs Two Weeks. 
1. I have had them cool down to 70 de¬ 
grees, but this must not be done too 
often. I cool down to 85 or 90 degrees 
twice each day, generally about 90. 2 
The heat should never run higher than 
105 degrees, and should not be allowed 
to stay there, for that is too high ; but 
if not left too long will not injure the 
eggs ; 110 degrees will kill the germs. 
3. Either a high or low temperature, if 
long maintained, is injurious, but of the 
two, I prefer the low one. 4. I have 
extra trays and put the eggs upon them 
all ready to put into the machine, and a 
rack to put the trays on ; then I can 
turn the eggs every day. 5. About 50 
or 60 degrees suits me the best for keep¬ 
ing eggs, and keep them in a dry place. 
6 Eggs kept in this way may be kept 
(Continued on next page.) 
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