1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
101 
Hop e Farm Notes 
The Blizzard. —Hope lmd changed to be¬ 
lief with me, and 1 really thought Winter had 
seen its worst days. December was so rough 
and cold that 1 thought Jack Frost performed 
his stent, and that we might as well talk 
about an early Spring. When our loca 
weather prophet warned us that a blizzard 
was coming nearly everyone laughed. The 
blizzard came, however, and was tierce while 
it lasted The scientific men did not see it 
coming very far ahead, though they can tell 
us how it happened now that it is all over. 
The storm caughtl’hilip with the roof open and 
the first few courses of shingles on. lie lixe 
it so that no damage was done, but it is ueed- 
Ipss to say that he did not nail any shingles 
while the storm lasted. The blast over our 
hills was lieree. Nobody looked at the ther 
rnometer. so we have no great stories to tell 
about cold weather, but we have a number ot 
w drifts around the house and barn to show 
what a dance the wind and the snow had to¬ 
gether These drifts are likely to remain 
with us for some weeks. The storm couldn t 
have hit us at a worse time, but what was 
the use of grieving about it? There was notli- 
j n< r to do but keep the animals comfortable 
and the house warm and eat plenty of apples 
with the roast pork. 
Things were had enough with us, hut worse 
in Florida. Hope Farm can stand the frost, 
because it is used to cold weather, hut whe 
that blizzard swung its tail over the Florida 
peninsula it destroyed the hope on many a 
farm. I am unable yet to tell how much 
damage was done, hut the mercury seems to 
have fallen below 20 degrees anyway. The 
papers report great damage, hut we can’t tell 
about that yet. At present all the direct in¬ 
formation I have is dated on the day of the 
freeze. The Madame writes that all warning 
has come in advance and that all hands have 
rushed out to pick all the fruit they can. 
I hope Uncle Ed saved his oranges at least. 
I fear the trees were killed, though some or 
them may have lteeu saved. I don't know¬ 
how the potatoes came through. Such things 
are hard. It is sad to see property destroyed, 
but harder to see hopes ruined. And yet 
liopes are not or should not he ruined. Jf 
the orange trees are killed we shall have to 
accept the fact as a warning that, there Is 
no use planting oranges in that section. We 
must plant something else. Wait until I get 
full particulars about the freeze before we 
give up ! 
in 
ud 
Florida News. —There are happy days 
Florida after all—in spite of blizzards a_ . 
drought. The older folks may dread the 
future, hut the children do not. One of the 
little hoys sends me a letter, which I have 
had engraved as follows: 
■Xcr oir- xcr 9 xr 9 
jMruXs '^f cr tu • 
M&ixK cw 9 jiXoocL y&L- 3 AocArJlCT-^ 
^C- Jlst>yx- <w. cx/rtL JfieoX 
Jsy, J Y , 9 J&oit&tsn. 
• / Ci» J" ^ JjiaJ*- /y^nf 
JbynsX Jao-trt - 
. ./Co}. Cu .aTSVjp Xfaisrn.. 
.AumZ get-*. /nJUcr 
JdtMz /HA5WI 
i£ LT' jLi. srtnjgj' cj>&C o-o-ur- aX 
\t/e. jjstsfCC Jj* a. .jAjxSCtg' dost’ &SZC, 
cjtoA. 9 a. Jtfl'ipun'xg. 
-A AsriX. bd&JL -CCA. 
day'- a**. -7A*- oyJLgf' 
AaUJ JkY ‘ 
9 ^SyrcL Jtsz-rt. X& yp* a-i. Jl/ye/x. cyx>-us^ 
JdtGk )'ur/v$MZ'r 
*~7-bufixtoy*. 
Now-, I don’t offer that as an advertisement 
of the Madame’s skill as a teacher, though 
I get letters from grown-up men every day 
that do not compare with this for spelling, 
writing or ability to state things clearly. 
This little chap wrote the letter without help 
or suggestion. 1 might he critical and feel 
that it is not a high compliment to bo told 
that I get the letter because the writer has 
• “nothing else to do,” hut I understand that. 
I would give a good deal if I could hat some 
(of my troubles away in a game of haseha" 
It is a question whether Uncle Ed felt as bad 
■when Jack Frost caught his orange grove off 
its base as those little hoys did who were on 
the wrong side of the 14 runs! Yes indeed, 
I would like to he on hand to tell my new 
rstory of how Cousin Woodchuck and Tommy 
Turtle saved the frozen trees! I have heard 
fishermen brag before now. Most of them tell 
lbig stories about tremendous fish—that either 
get away or are eaten before anyone else sees 
them. Here is a champion fisher who admits 
that what he caught was a sunfish ! 1 am 
glad to get this little fellow's love—I don't 
care what sort of binding it has. I am gird 
that such little people can play and fish and 
study in the sun—-happy though their elders 
are “frozen out." If frost could put a crust 
on the faith of childhood this would indeed 
he a mighty cold world. 
All Sorts. —In the wreck of the blizzard, 
waiting for the damage to settle, we may as 
well look at the cheerful side of life. I have 
the following note from a North Carolina 
man : 
“Referring to your Florida Notes, why did 
you not call those things devil’s shoestrings? 
That is what all the southern people here 
call them.” 
No doubt you refer to the long, tough roots 
we found in the soil when we tried to plow. 
For some reason, either out of respect for my 
feelings, or because they wanted to sell land, 
people omitted to mention the ownership of 
those strings. I think Charlie will agree that 
the name fits, and that no one else will claim 
them. Some land agent will get hold of 
about 10 feet of this root and show it as a 
sample of what “Alfalfa will do!” 
Some weeks ago I told about the departure of 
old Kate, with a few remarks about her 
career. Uncle Oeorge took her, and I ex¬ 
pected that before I got back from Florida 
he would have half of her fed out to his hens. 
Kate wishes respectfully to Inform the public 
that she is not a back number or a barrel of 
egg food yet. Aunt Mary ' thought so much 
of the old mare that she'wanted her spared 
for a few days at least. Kate must have 
heard this, for she broke out and actually 
kicked up her heels and ran away down the 
road. Our good friends decided that a horse 
showing so much speed and action was any¬ 
thing but a dead one. They think of keeping 
her for a driving horse! They keep her in 
one end of a long chicken house, which is di¬ 
vided into apartments by wire partitions. It 
is a fact that the old horse heats up that 
henhouse like a stove! The hens are de¬ 
lighted. Some of them roost on old Kate to 
keep their feet warm and the temperature of 
the house is certainly higher than before 
Kate lived in it. They will have to dust the 
old horse with sulphur or tobacco dust now 
and then to get rid of the insects, but there 
is no doubt regarding her ability to act as a 
stove. I am glad that Kate is appreciated. 
Far better hunt for undiscovered possibilities 
in a horse or a human before you condemn 
them! I suggested to Emma that old Major 
might go into the icehouse with her hens, 
but she thinks they are better without him! 
. . . The other day I went into a restau¬ 
rant, took off my overcoat and put in on a 
chair. A girl came along and spilled a small 
pitcher of milk prettv much the entire length 
of the coat. Then she sauntered away as if 
it were some sort of a joke—without trying 
to clean it up. I had started in to clean 
it mvself when I saw her coming back with 
a cup of clear coffee. With a cloth dipped in 
this coffee she went over the milk stains and 
took everv one of them out. I never heard 
of that before, but the girl said it was a com¬ 
mon thing to do, and about the only way to 
prevent milk stains in black cloth. That's 
a new one to me. ... I have received 
several letters from farmers who say that 
plain barbed wire will not turn a hog. Here 
is what a Florida man says: 
“In your Florida plans I am afraid you are 
underestimating the amount of “pure cuss¬ 
edness” there is in a half-starved Florida 
orange hog. I know it seems to you as jf 
tight barbed wire would fill the bill, but it 
won't. You want three strands at top, but 
the bottom should be 24-inch woven hog fence 
like cut. Then you have a fence that will 
keep hogs in or out. I should think your 
potato plans all right, only expect you are 
going to be late in getting planted for best 
prices, but you will make it the second year. 
If you have not already seen the bulletin on 
cow peas got out by North Carolina Experi¬ 
ment Station, it will pay you to write for it.” 
F. M. s. 
It is true that I have, before now, failed 
to estimate the “pure cussedness” in a well- 
fed human, so it may be that the half-starved 
hog will beat us. There are hogs and hogs. 
These in the picture would not interfere with 
barbed wire. As to potatoes—-Jack Frost is 
n great equalizer when he tries to be. and 
our potatoes will be about as early as any 
in Florida after all. I made a mistake in 
naming the variety. It is Early Manistee 
Instead of Early Marquette. I got the names 
mixed, as I once worked in a lumber camp 
near the town of Manistee and the Pere 
Marquette railroad. H, w. C. 
Red Chief 
Combined Corn 
and 
Pop-Corn Sheller 
( Patented ) 
Best hand sheller 
made. Closed hopper, 
can’t pinch fingers, 
adjusts for any size 
ear. 
SHELLS EVERY GRAIN 
and cracks none. Always throws cob outside the vessel. 
Clamps to barrel, keg or straightedge box. P op-corn 
attachment quickly applied, shells perfectly. Small 
extracost. Special farmers’ oiler and circular free. 
BRIHLY-HARDY CO., 253 Main Street. Louisville, Ky. 
There are only two classes of Root Cut¬ 
ters. There is only one in the first 
class. That o ne is the 
BANNER 8 ”* 
Cutter. 
It’s the one with the self-feed¬ 
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out all dirt, gravel, etc. baves 
the knives and makes clean, 
wholesome stock food. It lit¬ 
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roots and vegetables. Pre¬ 
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I and turns easy. Thousands in 
fuse anil not a single com¬ 
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in 7 sizes for hand and power. 
— Our Illustrated Catalogue 
tells the whole story. Ask for it. It’s Free. 
0. E. THOMPSON & SONS, Ypsilanti, Mich. 
Largest Root Cutter Makers in the World. 
SEurskci ^ > ° w Potato Planter 
with or without Fer¬ 
tilizer attachment. 
We also make a 
two row. 
EUREKA 
MOWER CO' 
Utica, N. Y. 
Easy for one 
horse, with or 
without pole 
or th ills. The 
Planter is 
O. K. Send 
for catalog. 
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Cultivation of growing crops at the time most needed 
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Save their cost several times during a season, often taking iho place of an 
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It also describes the Iron Age Potato Planters, Ilorse Hoes, Sprayers 
Fertilizer Distributers and otherlabor-saving farm implements. 
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No. 60 
Iron Ago 
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Riding Cult* 
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No. 8 
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Hoe 
No. 70 
rtrot Wheel 
Cultivator 
reversible hoes; patent depth-regulators, etc. Opens from 9 to 25 Inches 
No. 70 Pivot Wheel Cultivator 
stantly adjustable at every point: can’t get out of order. 
inost unlimited in its variety of duties. M 
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Don’t forget tiie Catalogue. 
S. L. ALLEN &. CO., 
Box 1107 V, Philadelphia, Pa. 
ACME 
SIZES 
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Agents 
Wanted. 
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Clod Crusher and ieveler, 
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Made entirely of east 
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Catalog and booklet. 
^‘‘Aa Ideal Harrow” by 
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I deliver f. o. b. at New York, Chicago, Columbus, Louisville, Kansas City, Minneapolis, SanFranclsco, Portland, etc, 
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BRANCH HOUSES: 1 10 W. Washington St.,CHICACO. 240-244 7th Avo. S., MINNEAPOLIS. 1316 W. 8th St.. 
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They 
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Spray 
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Make Large Profits Easy by Economizing 
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We make a strong, practical and automatic machine for 
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WftS fllir MarhinAC Seed is quickly cut to best ad- 
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row desired. Spraying is effectively done for bugs and blight. 
Digging and Sorting are made pleasant and agreeable 
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Send for Beautifully Illustrated Free Catalogue 
I containing "How and When to Spray” table for all crops. 
ASPINWALL MFG. CO., m 
lDept.K, 29 Sabin Street, Jackson, Mich.5 
YOU 
fill K°> n s buy a HARROW 
UU Want Rest fur least Cash. 
Vi/r make that kind, 
ill L PAY FKK1GI1T Cat. 
ret. Write for price. 
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17 , Ft. Atkinson, Wls. 
Let Us Send You 
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about good wheels and good wagons that will save 
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Make your own Fertilizer at small cost with 
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From 1 to 40 H. 1’. Send for catalogue. 
WILSON BB08.,Sol«Mfr»., Dept. X Luton,Pa. 
A low wapon 
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Handy for 
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V? ill carry a 
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Low Down Wagons 
soon earn their cost on any' farm. 
Steel Wheels 
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For catalogue ftsd prices, write to 
Empire Mfg. Co., Box 70 H Quincy, III. 
