1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
233 
Hope Farm Notes 
Farm Notes.- —Still cold, but more sun¬ 
shine. Not much that can be done but re¬ 
pairing and painting, and it's a little too 
cold to do the latter with any comfort. Our 
local weather prophet thinks we are to have 
an early Spring, but I doubt it. The North 
is full of snow and ice, and 1 expect the cold 
breath of Winter to stay by us late into April, 
it. won't trouble our crops much, as we make 
no effort for anything; that can be called 
early. No use trying it on this cold soil. 
Our first job will be to seed the orchard near 
the house. This is an old-fashioned high- 
headed orchard, largely of early varieties. For 
the past three years I have used it for a hog 
pasture. We do not ring the hogs, but let 
them root, anu they tear up the damp soil at 
will. This makes a muddy place in Spring, 
and as soon as it seems safe to do so we scat¬ 
ter a mixture of clover and Dwarf Essex rape 
seed in this mud. 1 like to do this at about 
the last hard freeze, when the surface of the 
ground is full of cracks and ridges. The seed 
rolls into these cracks, and when the crust 
thaws is pretty well covered. Usually the 
best time to do this with its is about April 1. 
This year I shall add Alsike clover seed, 
about one part to five of Ited clover, and use 
about the same proportion of rape seed. We 
usually obtain a fair catch with this kind of 
seeding. By May there is a good stand of 
rape and clover which gives fair pasture. I 
like this plan better than ringing the hogs to 
prevent rooting and keeping a permanent 
stand of grass. The working which the hogs 
give is equal to thorough cultivation, and 
they keep the land clear of grubs and worms. 
1 have not been able to make a fair estimate 
of the feeding value of the windfall apples in 
such an orchard, but it is considerable. We 
make cheap pork in this way, and the orchard 
is greatly improved. . . . Spraying ought 
to come next, but there is no use thinking 
about it while the snow is so deep on the 
hills. With the exception of some exper¬ 
iments with various mixtures I expect to de¬ 
pend on limoid and kerosene this season. The 
Scale is not bad in our orchards, except in 
spots here and there, but some spraying will 
be necessary, and I plan to put on K.-L. with 
20 per cent of kerosene as soon as the snow 
permits, and follow during the Summer with 
a 10 per cent mixture. I will not guarantee 
this treatment for others, but I have confi¬ 
dence in it for our own use. 
Florida Notes. —Charlie writes that the 
potatoes are coming up. We were afraid that 
the rains would rot the seed, but most of 
them will apparently see daylight. Every 
year people are frightened about potato seed, 
but where the tubers are strong to begin with 
and well dusted with sulphur they will stand 
a good deal of cold and wet. People talk 
about the difference in hatching between vitr- 
orous eggs and those from weak parents, but 
there is nearly as much difference between 
strong, well-grown potato seed Jtnd ordi"- 
stock. We are not bragging about our potato 
crop yet, but we feel hopeful. . . . You 
will remember that I made the statement that 
there are no stones in Florida for boys to 
throw. It seems that I didn't half tell it. 
Here is a letter from a successful farmer: 
“I have labored with you some, trying to 
prevent you telling what was not true, but in 
your last letter you have “done and gone and 
done it.” Now, had you come here you 
would have been saved this awful sin—mis¬ 
leading people—for I would have shown you 
some stony grcmnd: stones so thick that to 
plant the land in potatoes you would have to 
slice the potatoes and stick the pieces down 
edgeways to get them in the ground. When 
you make assertions about Florida again, say, 
in the paid of the State that I have seen, but 
Florida is a big State, with big possibilities. 
You say you- are coming down again when the 
worst time comes, to see if it is bearable. 
There is no worst time, except when we are 
uneasy about what Jack Frost may do for us, 
and you may tell folks that it is not as hot 
here as in New York in Summer, and Weather 
Bureau records will prove it. 
Marion Co., Fla. s. h. gaits kill. 
I don't care to see any such land. It would 
make me think of the farm on which my boy¬ 
hood days were passed. At the same time,'I 
am glad to get the facts, for above all things, 
1 want to tell the truth about Florida. My 
correspondence convinces me that no State 
in the Union has been so misrepresented both 
by speculators who want to sell worthless 
land and by disgusted people who have failed 
to make a living in the State. Our location 
is in Putnam County, below Palatka. and I 
can well understand that the conditions there 
do not fairly represent those of South Flor¬ 
ida. Our rocky hillsides at Hope Farm are 
very unlike the level, sandy soils of South 
Jersey. Mr. Calfskin's place is some 50 miles 
west of us. Florida people have always beep 
a little touchy about printed opinions.' Brin 
ton tells of a book which gave some spicy 
facts about the people of St. Augustine. 
When this book was sent to town for sale a 
mob of people held up the book seller, and 
would not let the book be sold until the of¬ 
fending pages were torn out of each one! 
I don't intend to perform any such surgical 
operations upon Florida history, because they 
will not help the State. Let us have the 
facts, and let readers put on their own var¬ 
nish ! 
Squab Raising.- 1 have the following ex¬ 
cellent note from a Massachusetts woman 
who evidently wants to lead us away from 
disaster : 
“The palmist .says that I shall live to a 
good old age, and this is fortunate, for in no 
other way. I am convinced, shall I ever have 
experimental knowledge of the proiits in 
squab raising. I studied the “Illuminated 
I ext Book on Squab Raising” for three 
months last Winter before venturing on a 
trial. I wrote my Boston poultry dealer to 
know if the market was always good. It al¬ 
ways was ! So I decided to forsake partially 
the safe but laborious way of the common 
hen and try the easy and profitable way of 
the purebred pigeon. I converted one hen¬ 
house into a squabbery, following the “Illu¬ 
minated Text Book” faithfully. The house 
was made rat-proof by pulling up the top 
flooring and covering with fine wire netting, 
running it about a foot up the sides. The 
sills and uprights were tinned also. Of 
course the yard was wired high and covered. 
An inner screen door supplemented the wood¬ 
en one, closing by spring hinges. There are 
orange boxes and nappies, perches and roosts, 
drinking fountain, bathtub and a row of 
small boxes for oyster shells, charcoal and 
fine grit. The “Text Book” says pigeons must 
have variety in food to do well. They have 
it! Cracked corn, red wheat, Kaffir corn, 
millet, hemp seed (5 cents per pound), Can¬ 
ada peas, buckwheat. They must have salted 
grain sometimes, and coarse sand ; they must 
have cut straw for nests, fresh bath and 
drinking water: they get them ail. And the 
result? In Mav I purchased two dozen pure¬ 
bred Homers from the man who wrote the 
“Illuminated Text Book on Squabs." In all 
decency there was but one thing for those 
12 pairs of pigeons to do; begin to make 
nests, lay two eggs a pair, hatch two squabs, 
nurse them two or three weeks, and then 
blithely repeat the performance. The text 
book said they would ! I was to have noth¬ 
ing to do but feed the old pigeons, and then 
stand by and wring the little squabs' necks, 
and ship them to market. Thus, still ac¬ 
cording to the text book, I should now be 
tearing down my barns and building me 
larger ones. But although I have never for 
one day failed in my part of the contract, 
those twelve pairs of pigeons, which shoulu 
at the lowest count have now reached 84, in 
reality number but 43 all told, or the 12 pairs 
in nine months have hatched 10 pairs only. 
One pigeon broke its leg and escaped while in 
the hospital, and “homed” not at all, and one 
egg proved infertile. The expenses, which 
grow larger daily, have been about $50; t e 
profits nothing. It is not lack of care nor 
of cleanliness; it is not lack of variety in 
food, nor, in fact, any failure to follow the 
text book directions. How long then will i 
be before those pigeons increase more than one 
pair per month, or so that there will be 
squabs to market? 
I am not a novice in poultry raising, hav¬ 
ing kept hens for many years, and always at 
a profit, but pigeon raising seems—different. 
While there is no teacher like experience, yet 
I do wish to warn any who have a little 
money and no experience, and who read the 
advertisements of the illuminated man and 
others, that I am sure from my present 
knowledge, and from too-late observation, that 
there is no short cut to riches by way of 
squabs. If there is money to be made, either 
it requires a large outlay at the outset or else 
it calls for a year—perhaps two—to get a 
start. This means months of idle capital, as 
well as a constant drain for necessary ex¬ 
penses. It is true that the care is not as 
great as for chicks, but neuuer is the income. 
With the utmost gentleness pigeons are wild, 
unmanageable creatures, that seem to say 
"hands off,” and their acquaintance brings 
me to agree with them. For poor people the 
safest rule with squabs, or pigeons, is “hands 
Off.” ANNIE L. ROGERS. 
Inoculating Soil. — I am anything but an 
Alfalfa expert. Still people keep at me with 
questions. If I don't know there are others 
who do, and they will set the matter right. 
Here is a question : 
“I have a field that was sown to Alfalfa 
about four years ago; the field was not inocu¬ 
lated, and it never made much of a stand, 
dying out considerably the last year, 1903. 
I.ast Spring we planted to corn. Would tlui* 
soil be good to inoculate another field on same 
farm? If so, how much must be used and 
how put on?” g. l. g. 
Ohio. 
I would not depend on that soil for inocu¬ 
lation. As it never was a success, why try 
to spread a failure? The chances are that 
the Alfalfa bacteria never were plentiful or 
strong in that soil. Very likely that is why 
the crop dawdled alon" and finally gave out. 
If the strong and vigorous bacteria are not in 
the soil, how can you hope to carry them to 
the new one? While the year’s cultivation in 
corn would not destroy the bacteria it would 
not help them. We should use only the soil 
from a field where the Alfalfa had grown vig¬ 
orously, and where we knew there were 
nodules on the roots. The chances are that 
about all you would do with the soil you men¬ 
tion would be to put a lot of weed seeds into 
your new field. Suppose I wanted an agri¬ 
cultural college graduate to work on my farm. 
I wouldn't take one who failed at college and 
then spent a year working in a bookstore! 
If I took any I would pick out one who had 
made a success and had the earmarks of it 
all over him ! 
Intemperate Eating. —I can have no seri¬ 
ous quarrel with the following statement, ex¬ 
cept that I don't believe in killing off any¬ 
body : 
"You have much to say about intemperance 
in use of intoxicating drinks, and rightly, but 
why do you ignore a far more universal and 
infinitely greater evil, the intemperance in 
eating? Intemperance in the use of intoxi¬ 
cants affects and kills off, mainly, the less in¬ 
telligent, less fit men, usually well along in 
years, and this class we can best spare. In¬ 
temperance in eating kills a hundred times 
as many as drink, and of all ages, sexes and 
grades of intelligence, many of whom the 
world cannot well spare. Give the two kinds 
of intemperance space according to their im¬ 
portance.’’ E. P. ROBINSON. 
No doubt about it, many people eat too 
much and then turn around and attribute 
their sufferings to other causes. I think it 
likely some good women have induced their 
husbands to eat too much, anu then suffered 
for it. The man overt's, gets out of sorts, 
and then growls at his iainily as though they 
were the authors of ail his misery. Some 
short-sighted person has said that the way to 
a man’s heart lies through his stomach. 
Those who go at him that way are quite like¬ 
ly to carry a part of the stomach along and 
graft it on to the heart ! Some of the women 
who are the strongest advocates of temper¬ 
ance in drinking will tempt one beyond his 
powers with a good dinner. It takes a man 
of strong character to refuse the extra buck¬ 
wheat or piece of mince pie, or plate of baked 
beans which he knows is beyond his limit. 
Yes, many of us eat too much, but how are 
we to break off the habit? This statement 
may be a lunge at me for my -ntemperance 
in eating apples. h. w. c. 
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Assets twenty-jive million dollars 
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