1905. 
125 
Hope Farm Notes 
Cold Weather. —At Hope Farm the mer¬ 
cury has taken a great liking for zero. It 
has been hard to pull them apart. Every 
year we think the cold about as bad as any¬ 
thing we have ever known, although I doubt 
if it is really any worse. However, from the 
smallest cat up to Emma, we have had all 
the zero weather we want for this year. I 
am afraid though we haven’t had all that is 
coming to us! Not much that can be done 
outdoors this weather. There are some in¬ 
door jolts that can be done. In one of the 
old barns is a big grain bin of matched lum¬ 
ber. A former owner fed horses here, and 
built this great bin in an upper story. It is 
of no use to me, so we have taken it apart 
and find nearly enough lumber to build a 
small room in the shop. This room will be 
handy for some of the boys next Summer. 
With the grain bin out we find a good-sized 
loft under the barn roof. We have had hay 
in there, but it is a hard place to pitch hay, 
and I shall put no more up there. It looks 
to me like an ideal place for squabs. We 
have quite a flock of pigeons that make their 
home in the barn and fly about. Why cannot 
we start with these birds, get some improved 
stock and try squab raising on a small scale? 
If I had some one to take the job and stay by 
it I would feel inclined to give it a trial. 
Personally, I don’t know anything about it, 
but I can understand that unless it is man¬ 
aged properly the whole thing will become a 
nuisance. ... I am beginning to feel un¬ 
comfortable about the peach buds. I don't 
like this long-continued cold. I have not been 
aide to get to the hill orchards yet, for the 
drifts make the hills impassable. I hope for 
the best, and if the buds are really killed 
I shall simply defer hope and plant some more 
trees. . . . The hens don't like the cold 
weather, yet they still give the eggs. I would 
blame no hen for taking a vacation at zero 
time. 
Florida Notes.—-N o use talking, the freeze 
hit Florida a hard lick. In Putnam County, 
where our folks are staying, the mercury fell 
to 18 degrees or less. There was scant warning, 
too. Uncle Ed had left part of his crop on the 
trees, lie was on the retired list with a big 
carbuncle on his neck when word came that 
the temperature would drop to 15 degrees by 
night! Florida people know what that 
means, and men, women and children rushed 
out to pick and save the fruit. It was as 
though a messenger had rushed through the 
country a century ago with news that the sav¬ 
ages were coming. The Madame sent one of 
the little boys to bring Charlie and his man 
from the farm where they were at work. 
Charlie says they made the record of a life¬ 
time in covering the two miles or less. They 
rushed in to help pick, but in an hour the 
freeze was upon them, so rapidly did it fol¬ 
low the warning—or so slow did the warning 
spread! Uncle Ed got a shawl around his 
neck and shoulders and went out to help, but 
he could not lift a hand or bend a neck ! He 
could only walk about and give directions— 
and watch Jack Frost gobble up the result of 
long years of hard work ! The Madame and 
the children picked a few boxes before night 
fell upon them. In spite of all they could do 
many boxes of fruit were frozen. The freeze 
fell upon them like a savage and cruel beast, 
and left a trail of despair behind. I wish 1 
could have been there to help save some ot 
that fruit, but I am rather glad I could not 
see the people go around like those in a dream 
among the ruins of their crops! It will not 
be possible for me to make an apple or peach 
grower in the North understand what it means 
to a Florida farmer when the orange grove is 
frozen. Not only Is his money crop gone, but 
the value of his property is cut in two, if not 
wiped out. For my part, if I wanted a M ir 
ter home I would buy it now, while property 
has a black eye. I would get it cheap, and 
paint out the black eye with other crops be¬ 
sides oranges. It can and will be done. As 
I write it is not known whether the trees are 
killed or not. I hope not, but we shall see 
about that later. Our potatoes were not 
planted, so we escaped. I am still receiving 
letters from people who ask if I can guaran¬ 
tee a sure thing in Florida. The Madame 
says she was reliably informed recently that 
■'mere are only two things sure in Florida 
—death and taxes.” With some little modifi¬ 
cations that could be said of other localities 
as well! The children, though, seem to be 
perfectly happy in the South. Even the re¬ 
ports I give of big drifts, skating and coast¬ 
ing do not tempt them ! 
Orass Questions. —I have the following 
questions from a western man : 
”1 have about 40 acres of good meadow, 
cutting a fair crop. A part was cut a'second 
time for past two years. A part, perhaps 20 
acres, went into Winter with quite a heavy 
growth of grass, not pastured off. I would 
like to know how it would do to burn this 
off in the very early Spring, just as soon as 
it would be dry enough to burn. It is Tim¬ 
othy and Red-top. I use about seven tons of 
best commercial fertilizer in Spring. A part 
of same field was burned over by accident last 
year, and was not injured in the least, so 
far as I could see.” 
You will do no harm to burn this trash 
off early. I formerly did this every year until 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
I learned better. What advantage can you 
gain, by burning thia grass off? I always let jt 
alone. I answered in about this Way by mail 
and my friend replied: 
"You ask what advantage could I possibly 
obtain by burning off the grass? It is this: 
Where the old dead grass is at all heavy it is 
hard to cut, and ‘worse than no good’ in the 
new hay. In fact, it is a nuisance. For this 
reason, and this alone, I would have it out 
of the way.” 
That is a good illustration of the difference 
made by localities and purpose. Our friend 
calls this old grass a nuisance. MTth me it 
is a help. Our soil is hard and stony, 
liable to bake in time of drought. The 
old grass acts like a mulch on the 
surface, keeps the soil cooler and moist, 
and, I am sure, gives us better grass. It 
pays us to raise the cutter bar higher and 
leave the old grass. Again, we do not care 
so much for the hay. Young orchards are 
growing in our grass. These need all the 
mulch and organic matter we can get for 
them. It would be close to a sin to burn any 
of such stuff on our farm. Yet I can see the 
strength of our friend's argument from his 
view. It only shows how foolish it is for 
any man to lay down any general rules from 
his individual practice. 
Drains and Kitchen Help. —A Pennsyl¬ 
vania friend brings up a couple of old ones 
in this: 
“My wife says ‘no wonder Ida left Hope 
Farm if she had to save all of the dishwater 
for the pigs and be so careful of the drain.’ ” 
I must tell newer readers that Ida was a 
girl from Finland, who did our work for 
awhile. The drain from our kitchen is not a 
large affair, s.nce it is hard to get good drain¬ 
age. I have claimed that such drains should 
not be overworked—a merciful housekeeper 
is merciful to the drain! I have also given 
some figures to show how much gold is thrown 
away in average dishwater. It was not the 
pigs or the drain that took Ida away. She 
liked the pigs, and the drain was better than 
anything they had in her own home. Ida did 
well until she met other Finnish girls who 
had been in this country several years. They 
gave her some “modern industrial ideas” 
which turned her head. She also wanted to 
go where she could hear her own language 
spoken. If Ida were here now her opinion 
of the Russians would be worth listening to, 
even though you couldn’t understand a word 
of it. I did not understand what race hatred 
really means until Ida began to express her 
views of the way Russia has treated Finland. 
Of course I can understand that the Finns 
and Poles at home do not dare to talk openly 
in this way, but they are thinking hard all 
the time. Russia may crowd them down for 
a time, but not forever. 
Mustard and Alfalfa. —Here is a question 
from a Jerseyman. I cannot answer it from 
experience. I can only give a few sugges¬ 
tions : 
"I have about 10 acres of ground that I { 
planted last year in western oats. Instead of 
oats coming up I found a fine crop of mustard 
—very heavy. I wish to destroy this mus¬ 
tard. Would I be successful in planting a 
crop of corn there this year, carefully culti¬ 
vating the same? I want to plant about 20 
acres this Spring in Alfalfa, and I desire full 
directions. Of course this Alfalfa could not 
be planted on the field that now has the mus¬ 
tard. Could I plant the Alfalfa in the Fall 
alter the corn matures, and possibly the mus¬ 
tard had been killed? What kind of land 
must I have for Alfalfa? I presume lowland 
would not do. Is it better to plant it in the 
Spring or Fall? 
Getting rid of mustard is a hot. job for any¬ 
body. M’hat did you do with it last year 
when you found it? Did it go to seed? If 
so, you have a big job on hand, for It has not 
only seeded the soil of that field, but has scat¬ 
tered all over. As soon as you discovered the 
mustard you should have given up the oats, 
or cut them qarly and then plowed the whole 
thing under, and given up all idea of growing 
a crop that season. The field should have 
been harrowed and harrowed and watched for 
mustard. As fast as any appeared it should 
have been destroyed. Had this been done 
you could have planted corn this year, and 
probably kept the mustard in check. As it 
is you will have a great job to do it. Plant 
the corn in hills and be prepared to do a large 
amount of work with hoe and hand. “Care¬ 
fully cultivating” means several things, vary¬ 
ing with the notions of the man who culti¬ 
vates. As applied to mustard, it means get¬ 
ting every weed out and keeping it out. I 
wouldn’t care for the job! 
I am unable to give full directions for sow¬ 
ing Alfalfa. You surely will not sow Alfalfa 
with mustard! Kill the weed first. Before 
you sow a seed of Alfalfa read the bulletins 
from the New Jersey Experiment Station at 
New Brunswick: Cornell Station, Ithaca, N. 
Y., and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
They tell me . .... Alfalfa should have a warm, 
strong soil with odoii subsoil, but I have seen 
it growing on tough clay. In my future at¬ 
tempts to grow it I shall sow in August, prob¬ 
ably after a crop of oats. I shall lime the 
soil and work it as fine as possible, using a 
fair dressing of fertilizer. I shall sow the 
Alfalfa alone, using 20 pounds of seed per 
acre, urushing it in. I shall inoculate the 
soil, either using soil from an old Alfalfa field 
to scatter over the new one or using the “cul¬ 
tures” from Washington. not on the seed, but 
on good soil, to be scattered over the field. 
I wouid decide that I cannot possibly be dis¬ 
couraged by failure before I start. 
H. W. C. 
You need not put up with the nuisance and bother 
of ordinary lamps, merely because you are outside 
the reach of gas and electricity. You can now haze 
a light as good as the city man’s best. You can en¬ 
joy the convenience of gas or electricity, and have 
a better, softer and pleasanter lightthan either for 
less money than your smoky, troublesome lamp is 
now costing you. No dangerous new-fangled lllu- 
minant either, for 
The Angle Lamp 
burns common kerosene or coal oil, but it is con¬ 
structed on anew principle—a principle that makes 
kerosene the best, cheapest and most satisfactory 
of alt lighting methods. Safer and more reliable 
than gasoline or acetylene. As convenient as gas 
or electricity. It is lighted and extinguished like 
gas. May be burned high or low without odor. No 
smoke, no danger. Filled while lighted and without 
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Do it now—right away. It will tell you more facts 
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THE ANGLE MFG. CO. 78-80 Murrty St., New York. 
FARMERS 
HANDY 
WAGON 
Low steel wheels, wide tires, make 
loading and handling easier. We fur¬ 
nish Steel Wheels to fltany axle, to 
carry any load. Straight or staggered 
spokes. Catalogue free. 
EMPIRE MFG.CO., Box 70 F Quincy. III. 
TANKS and TOWERS 
We Build All Sizes and Kinds 
CAL1IWKLL TANKS don't leak. 
CAL11W KLL TOW KUS don’t LU1 
down. 
Get illustrated catalogue: also 
ask for prices, erected ready for 
Use 
W. E CALDWELL CO 
Louisville. Ky 
stillleads allothers. Sows all Clovers, Alfalfa, Timothy, 
Red Top, all kinds of Crass Seeds, Flax, etc. Special hop¬ 
per for Crain. Sows 20 to 40 acres per day. Hopper being 
close to the ground the wind tan not blow the seed away. 
Used thirty years. 200 thousand sold. Catalogue free. 
0. E. THOMPSON & SONS, YPSILANTl, MICHIGAN. 
Eureka ROW Potato Planter 
with or without Fer¬ 
tilizer attachment. 
We also make a 
two row. 
EUREKA 
MOWER 
Utica, N. 
Easy for one 
horse, with or 
without pole 
or thills. The 
Planter is 
O. K. Send 
for catalog. 
ACME 
SIZES 
3 to 13)4 feet 
Agents 
Wanteds 
Pulverizing Harrow 
Clod Crusher and leveler. 
SENT ON TRIAL. 
To be returned at my expense if not satisfactory. 
The best pulverizer—cheapest 
Riding Harrow on earth. The 
Acme crushes, cuts, pul¬ 
verizes, turns and levels 
all soils for all purposes. 
Made entirely of cast 
iroa 
Catalog and booklet. 
“An Ideal Harrow” by 
Henry Stewart sent free. 
I deliver f. o. b. at New York, Chicago, Columbus, Louisville, Kansas City, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Portland, etc, 
DUANE H. NASH, Sole Manufacturer, Millington, New Jersey. 
BRANCH HOUSES) 1 lO W. Washington St., CHICAGO. 240-244 7th Ave. S., MINNEAPOLIS. 1316 W. 8th St., 
KANSAS CITY. MO. 216 10th St., LOUISVILLE, KY. Cor. Water and W. Cay Sts., COLUMBUS, OHIO. 
l’LEASE MENTION THIS PARER. 
2 Acres to One 
It* Tr\r\lc enable yon to double your garden, yet lessen _ 
riallcl JT. vxaruen 1 DO IN youi work. Write to-day lor tt free copy of our finely 
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1* 
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one and two-horse riding cultivators,’ Bugar beet cultivators, etc 
A rnmklno/l Qonrlor is almost unlimited in its usefulness. It 
H L/OmDinea ocecier sowsin drills or hills,cultivates, marks, 
de-^ 
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Simple, light, strong, durable, 
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No. 12 Double Wheel Hoe 
Is a wonder in hoeing, cultivating, plowing. Works to or from 
plants, between or astride rows; furrows; ridges; killsy 
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Be sure to get the catalog. 
S. L. Allen& Co., Box 1107V 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
No. 12 
Double 
Wheel 
line 
MOBILE GARDEN CULTIVATORS 
Four Complete Implements From One Set of Parts 
“Mobile’* cultivators embody a new principle—the SPRING- FRAME 
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Only Two Bolts and Four Spring 
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THE MOBILE GARDEN IMPLEMENT MFG. CO. 
Box 124 _ Mt. Q-ilead, Ohio 
Lou Dillon 
THE ■ Tandem Garden 
CULTIVATOR 
A Savings Bank on Wheels 
THE Greatest Time .‘aving garden tool ever invented. Built for more 
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Dopartmoiit O 
ELYRIA. - - OHIO 
