1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
251 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
Sick Foi^ks.— A good friend in Pennsyl¬ 
vania sends me this note of advice and 
warning: “I hope that the Hope Farmer 
will use homeopathic treatment for those 
children of his and not plaster them and 
give them spoonfuls of nasty medicine, 
spoiling their young stomachs and making 
them easy subjects for dyspepsia. Homeo¬ 
pathy is 10 times better for children than 
allopathy. This 1 know—have tried both.” 
So have I—only more so. I was brought 
up by a man who used sulphur and mo¬ 
lasses, “walnut extract” and patent medi¬ 
cines almost exclusively. While I was 
herding cattle out West I had a case of 
homeopathic medicines, and a book, and 
doctored the crowd. I have a dear friend 
who claims to have performed wonderful 
cures by means of Christian science, and 
another who is ready to practice osteopathy 
at the drop of a hat! My experience shows 
that there is more in the doctor than there 
is in the doctrine. It has happened with 
us that the doctors within reach in whom 
we have had most confidence have been 
old school. The big-hearted man who un¬ 
derstands the human system and the pe¬ 
culiar needs of his patients is the doctor 
for me—I care not whether his pills are 
large or small. 
Baby Berkshires.— There were five of 
them, but one died. I was disappointed in 
the size of the litter, but the quartette of 
little blackies are so fat and strong that I 
begin to think they will make better in¬ 
dividuals than would be the case with a 
larger litter. They are well marked and 
shaped—perfect little Berks. Some of the 
farmers who have big and truthful stories 
to tell .about pigs will laugh at our little 
family. It’s all right, gentlemen, if you 
will tell some of the small stories, too. 
No man has “good luck” all the time, and 
if some of these smart men would simply 
give us the “average” there would be more 
true information in the world. I fear that 
we kept that sow too fat. It was our first 
attempt, and we did our best to follow out 
what the books and the breeders told us. 
We learn that the hog herself is a better 
teacher than any human can be. After this 
we will let the breeders do the preaching, 
but the hog will do the teaching. 
Fine Stock.— It is a pleasure to have 
fine, well-bred stock about! We believe 
in a republic, but at the same time we 
have great respect for a worthy pedigree 
in human, horse or hog. That was our 
trouble with our black lady. She was so 
fine and well-proportioned that we hated 
to see her get too thin. Then, again, we 
had been keeping some pigs that had more 
or less scrub blood in their veins. They 
required lots of food simply to stand still. 
The purebred sow was such an “easy 
keeper” that she fattened on the food that 
kept the others lean and stunted. We have 
to learn all these things by experience. 
Hereafter, when I hear these wise men 
tell just what to do with hogs, am I going 
to shut my eyes and follow their instruc¬ 
tions blindly? No, sir—I’m going to ask 
the hog about it! If a man gives you a 
yard of instruction you take an inch of it 
and let tlie hog sample it before you try 
the whole yard! .... The almost hu¬ 
man intelligence of this sow in caring for 
her little pigs is good to see. She does 
everything but take them up in her arms, 
and is .so good-natured and quiet that she 
will let the children do that. When I see 
some of the poor little human babies strug¬ 
gling up through life with poor care and 
poorer attention, I am inclined to take the 
word “almost” out of that first sentence. 
Farm Notes. —The weather is still moist 
and sticky. The frost is all out of the 
ground, apparently, but the heavy rains 
have beaten and packed the surface hard. 
There is no plowing in sight for us yet. 
Still, I know that a few days of really 
hot sun will work wonders.I wish 
to put clover seed on that field where I 
seeded grass after Mr. Clark’s plan. It 
has been washed by a flood and dug by 
the frost until there are many bare places. 
I did not intend to sow clover when I first 
seeded it, but who can tell in September 
what he will want to do in April? .... 
Bast year I mentioned the disease of the 
eye which afflicts our horse Dan. It has 
troubled him quite a little, and he shows 
the effects of it. In his work with Frank 
there is little evidence of it, but when 
driving alone he seems to lose confidence 
and often shys at obscure objects. Like 
a blind man, he seems to have confidence 
in his mate, but fears to travel alone. 
• • . . I spoke of a small field of Crim¬ 
son clover that was badly injured by the 
stock. I carelessly let the horses in on it 
while the ground was soft, and they quick¬ 
ly trampl^ out five times as much as they 
ate of it. I thought it was ruined, but it 
is actually greening up once more, and I 
expect to sow Red clover with it during 
the first week of April. I have never done 
this before, but it is worth trying. 
Last Spring we grafted 50 or more apple 
1 1 t'fs—using wood of Grimes, Sutton and 
some new varieties. These grafts have 
grown well, and we are trimming the trees 
and getting them shaped for business. We 
hope to graft more this year, and also graft 
some cherries which have been started 
along the stone walls. 
Potato Planting.— This year I expect to 
do something that I have never done be¬ 
fore—use stable manure quite heavily on 
potatoes. Many farmers will smile at that, 
but in our country the universal rule is to 
use stable manure on corn and fertilizers, 
on potatoes. That is a good rule, too, but 
every rule except the Golden Rule can be 
stretched almost to the breaking point. 
Our corn land this year is at the end of 
the farm—up a steep, high hill. I do not 
think it pays to waste horseflesh in. haul¬ 
ing manure so far. The lower part of the 
farm is fairly level, with quick, easy hauls 
from the barn. I therefore purpose to 
crowd the manure on the nearby fields. I 
know that many good farmers tell us to 
scatter the manure thinly over the fields. 
1 think it will pay us better to crowd it 
on the moist lower fields, and leave the 
hills to cow peas, clover, rye and fertil¬ 
izers. Last year our potatoes failed us 
right in the nick of time, because the 
moisture gave out! It is true that we did 
not prepare the ground properly, but in 
any event the hill field was too hard and 
dry. ’rhe moist lower field will stand the 
drought better, and be closer to the build¬ 
ings when digging comes. We shall go to 
the hills for the earliest crop, but later 
plant the lower field. This field is natu¬ 
rally sour. No potatoes have been grown 
there for years. I reason, therefore, that 
if we soak the seed and use sulphur freely 
on it there will not be great danger from 
scab. We shall plant in hills this year, as 
1 think that will give us a better chance 
to hill up on all sides in case we have a 
very wet season. Mr. DeVoe, the weather 
prophet, lives in our county, and he tells 
me that the season will be wet all through! 
Even a weather prophet is often dishon¬ 
ored in his own county by the elements! 
H. w. c. 
NOTES FROM THE MOUNTAINS. 
Unique Cold Storage.— Very few people 
know much of the immense possibilities 
of the mountain farms of West Virginia. 
Tliere are many orchards of apples rang¬ 
ing from 200 to 800 trees of the better va¬ 
rieties, as Ben Davis, Tompkins King; 
York Imperial, Fallawater, Baldwin, 
Grimes and Rome Beauty. As yet, how¬ 
ever, very few are marketed and nothing 
is done in the way of cold storage. Yet, 
near Belington in Barbour County, is a 
very unique cold storage, 'i’he originator, 
O. W. Werner, owns and operates a saw¬ 
mill. His apples are packed and barreled, 
and then put into an old house standing on 
Ills place. Here they are allowed to stand 
until the temperature gets so low as to 
be in danger of freezing. Then he spreads 
three or four inches of sawdust on the floor, 
stands his barrels together and fills in with 
sawdust, as well as piling it up around 
them, while over the top he spreads a sort 
of tarpaulin with thin sawdust covering. 
In this way he has preserved Grimes and 
Fallawater apples until June. 
Great Potato Yields.— In the western 
county (Garrett) of Maryland are small 
swamps called “glades.” In fact, this has 
caused the region to be called the “glades 
lands.” These swamps have a black typical 
celery soil, than which no better can be 
found for cabbage, cauliflower, onions and 
general truck produce. U. G. Palmer, own¬ 
ing a tannery and several acres of tills land, 
parceled it out to such of his employees as 
wished to grow their own vegetables. 
Among other things planted were potatoes 
on a fraction of an acre. When dug their 
yield was so startling as to cause Mr. 
Palmer to have them very carefully meas¬ 
ured; he also had the land measured ac¬ 
curately. He could scarcely believe it 
when he figured out the yield at 900 bushels 
on this swamp land which had received no 
special attention, but after carefully verify¬ 
ing every step he was thoroughly satisfied 
that his figures were correct. It is only 
during the past 20 years that these lands 
have been considered of any use, but their 
value is positively established now for po¬ 
tatoes, celery, cabbage, cauliflower and 
onions, and the “glades” are rapidly being 
brought into cultivation. 
Crab-Apple Jelly. —All through Garrett 
Co., Md., and many parts of Preston Co., 
W. Va., are growing almost impenetrable 
thickets of wild crab apple. Indeed, this 
growth, with its slightly yellow and de¬ 
cidedly abundant fruit, is striking to even 
the most casual observer. Thousands of 
bushels of these wild crabs go to waste 
every year. Some few people, however, 
take advantage of this fruit and make It 
into the most delicious jelly. Often a culti¬ 
vated apple is put into it to add flavor, and 
truly no better jelly can be had. But even 
knowing this, it is very surprising that 
more of it is not made. This country, al¬ 
ready almost famous for its apple butter, 
hardly realizes that it has another product, 
which if w'orkeci systematically and mar¬ 
keted, would bring large returns. 
G. L. s. 
Oranges and Grape Fruit in Florida 
As the orange groves of Tampa have not 
recovered from the freezes of recent years, 
oranges are scarcer here than in New York, 
although this locality is near to the Man¬ 
atee section which escaped the killing 
frosts. Only last week the thermometer in 
upper Manatee went down below the freez 
ing point, but not low enough to injure 
the orange trees, which are now nearly in 
full bloom. In the State south of this 
point many new groves have been set out, 
and it is predicted that in a few years 
Florida will produce more oranges than 
ever before. In other sections protection 
by tents that have been made mildew and 
w'aterproof by treatment with paraffin, has 
been resorted to in some instances, but 
the cost is high. The editor of a Braiden- 
town (Manatee Co.) paper tells his towns¬ 
folk, as a bait for investors, to show the 
tourists some grape fruit trees each loaded 
with 1,000 fruit, and tell the tourists that 
the fruit sold for 25 cents apiece. This 
figure is a little high for this year. A 
Braidentown grower told me that they 
brought $4 a box, and said $1 would pay. 
Well, Mr. Editor, please, after eating one 
of those Manatee grape fruit, let us set it 
down as a fact that one Florida grape fruit 
is worth more than a dozen grown in Cali¬ 
fornia. Had one, the biggest in Tampa, 
for dessert at dinner, cost 20 cents, weight 
about three pounds, full of juice, slightly 
acid, and we scraped it close to the rind 
to get the bitter taste in our mouths. It 
certainly was delicious. The grape fruit is 
undoubtedly anti-malarial and thoroughly 
wholesome, and supplies a delightful finish 
to a hearty meal that might otherwise “lay 
heavy” on one’s stomach. Large pine¬ 
apples, weighing seven to nine pounds, are 
on the fruit stands. They are of the 
smooth Cayenne variety, and sell for about 
$1.25 each. In Jacksonville, which is well 
supplied with fruit, they are cheaper, sell¬ 
ing in the stores for seven cents per pound. 
J. YATES PEEK. 
Handling Leaves.— My way of handling 
leaves may not be new to all the readers of 
'I'HB R. N.-Y., but it certainly Is more 
speedy than any of the plans mentioned 
and it is so very cheap and simple. First 
get a four-foot rake with wire loop teeth 
that will not stick the leaves; rake in to 
windrows; have prepared a lifter, this is 
made of two light strips of lumber lxli/4 
inch and 10 feet long. Get a piece of light 
muslin 7x10 feet; tack the poles on the long 
sides of the muslin, it being same length 
as the poles. Put a man at each end; let 
them reach out on each side of windrow 
of leaves with the poles and (the leaves be¬ 
ing dry) it is easy to work the poles up 
together under the leaves and pick them 
up. Walk to wagon and tumble them in. 
Springfield, Mo. w. h. r. 
STAR PATTERN 
BILLINGS 
Is the latest, and it drops 
at twelve different dis- 
For CORN, 
BEANS, PEAS 
and 
BEET SEED. 
If you want them, we fur¬ 
nish Marker and Trip At¬ 
tachment for rowing both 
ways. Send for Circulars. 
AMES PLOW CO., Boston and New York. 
■\;^rlte to ANDREW 
RE ASH for circu¬ 
lar and prices on unt- 
form-sized Berry Bas¬ 
kets, stapled and made 
over forms; also Berry 
Crates and Berrymen’s 
Supplies generally. 
ANDREW REASH, 
New Springfield, O. 
THE LIGHTNING COM¬ 
PRESSED AIRSPRAYER. 
Patented 1900. 
Holds four gallons. Pump 
iB a little air with the 
pump which Is attached to 
the reservoir. No more 
labor required. Will kill all 
kinds of insects. Will spray 
two rows of potatoes at one 
time and as fast as the 
operator can walk. Big 
money for Agents. 
D. B. SMITH & CO., 
Utica, N. y., D. S A. 
THE “HARDIE” 
Spray Pumps 
are the most powerful, easiest 
worked, most modern, simplest 
in construction and moderate In 
price. DON’T BUY A PUMP 
until you have sent for our cata¬ 
logue “C” and treatise on dis¬ 
eases of fruits, etc., sent FREE. 
Hardle Spray Pump Mfg. Co., 
(if) Lamed St. W., Detroit, Mich. 
' Before Buying a New 
srness 
■end 4 cents in stamps to 
pay postage on Illustrated 
Oatalogue. 
I too Styles to selaet from. 
Itoset to oonanmer from 
mannf a^uTor. 
Tkt KInfl Hsrnoss Co.,Mlrs. 
412 Church 8t ,0woeo, N.Y. 
Tl 
— M 
3 
' ( 
, 1 
i 
Farm Blacksmithing. 
An Illustrated book writ¬ 
ten e-xpressly for farmers. 
It tells all about making 
and tempering steel tools, 
making chains, hooks, 
rings, clevises, bolts, etc., 
etc. Filing saws, splicing 
roiie, shoeing horses. 
Price 50c., doth bound, 
by mail post-paid. Address 
J. M. DREW, 
St. Anthony Park, iUun. 
^WHYBUY 
old style, alwaya-ont- 
of-fix Door Hangers, 
when you can get the 
N 
The Best On Barth. 
Let us send circular 
telling all about it. 
Also, Catalogue of 
everything in Hay 
Tools, How to Build 
Hay Barns, etc., etc. Address 
LOUDEN MACHINERY CO. Oiv.J, Fairfield, Iowa 
THE ASEINWALL LINE 
OF 
POTATO MACHINERY 
CONSISTS OF 4®" CUTTERS 
A Complete l^ine. p, lUTCDC 
A World-Wide Reputation, ^ 
Thousands of Users and WEEDERS 
Indorsers. 4.ROW SPRAYERS 
ASfINWALL 
Positive (Juaranty. DIGGERS 
4-ROVf SRRA YER 
Write for our New Catalogue. cnDTCDC 
Address Dept. K, oUillblfd 
Twenty-five to 30 acres per day. 
TVEFGr. CO., 
BEST 8PRAYEK ON THE MARKET. 
JACKSON, MICH. 
Spangler 
Corn Planter 
plants all kinds of corn, for 
all purposes so perfectly 
and so regularly, thatthere 
Is “no thinning out” or “re-plantlng” where It is 
used. Provided of course that the seed is good. 8 
dropping rings. Drops In hills or drills. Wither 
without fertilizer attachment. Many adjustments 
for all lands and conditions of soil. Light draft. 
Alao make Spangler Broadcast Fertilizer Distrib¬ 
uter, Spangler Single Row Fertilizer Distributer, 
Spangler Low Down Grain and Fertilizer Drill. 
Write To-day For Free Circulars. 
SPANGLER MANUFACTURING CO., 505 Queen St.. York, Pa. 
Eureka 
Potato 
Planter, 
$35.00 
Guaranteed to equal the work of high-priced planters 
In any spot or place. Has Fertilizer Attaohment. 
Write for catalogue and full information. 
EUREKA MOWER CO., UTICA, N. Y. 
DON'T HIILE A MAN 
to run this cultivator. Yourlittle boycandoitjustaswell. Thatisbecausethe 
KRAUS CULTIVATOR. 
is easlerto operate than all others. A slight touch of the foot moves the en¬ 
tire machine to right or left instantly. Only successful cultivator for work 
ing hillside rows. Each gang has convenient lever for lifting and regulating. 
A center lever for spreading or closing gangs to suit wide or narrow rows 
Unusually strong and well made. Pin or spring hoe or spring tooth. Two, 
three or four shovels on each gang. We also make the Carpo Walking Cul¬ 
tivator. Write for free catalogue. 
TKe Akron CultlvaLtor Co., Dept. D, Akron, O. 
