1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
667 
Hope Farm Notes 
Garden Values. —Last week I had occa¬ 
sion to eat a dinner at a select restaurant in 
New York. There were something over 200 
items on the bill of fare. Here are a few . 
“milk fed chicken” $1.50 (cold at that). 
Broiled chicken $1.25, new Lima heans, .50. 
stuffed peppers .45, baked apples .20, young 
beets .30, and so on. I did not order any of 
these things hut I fell to figuring what our 
supper the night before cost at this valuation. 
We had bread and butter, pot cheese, Lima 
heans and baked apples. There were fifteen 
to be fed and they averaged two large dishes 
of Lima beans and one good sized apple 
apiece. According to the prices at this res¬ 
taurant this meant $15 for the heans and $3 
for the apples—a total of $18 aside from 
the other things. On that bill of fare bread 
and butter were put at .25. That's what 
you might call high living for a farmer! I 
will guarantee that both heans and apples 
were fresher and better than those served at 
the public table. You see a farmer does not 
know how he takes a seat among the mighty 
until his garden walks through the kitchen 
and jumps on the table. Then he can com¬ 
pare prices with the mighty and tower over 
them. No use talking, a good garden is the 
best part of the farm. We can step into our 
garden at any time and help ourselves to the 
following: sweet corn, potatoes, turnips, beets, 
Lima beans, string heans, egg plant, tomatoes, 
lettuce, peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots 
and onions! With all this and eggs, milk 
and cream and 100 or more broilers waiting 
for the pan we are not going to starve at 
least. It does make me weary to see a farm¬ 
er living on potatoes and cabbage or serving 
other vegetables in little dishes smaller than 
the palm of your hand when such wonderful 
possibilities for food are to he found right in 
(he hack yard. Too much work and bother—■ 
I hear some say. Well, it’s wonderful how 
much nonsense you can hear if your ears are 
good. Those who talk that way have never 
tried it. I know of men over 70 years old 
and women who have their hands full of 
other duties who take care of farm gardens 
and thus earn more in actual saving to the 
family than any other worker on the farm. 
I know some big, stout farmers who despise 
a garden who would find it their best friend 
and teacher if they would really get down to 
it. After seeing what immense crops this 
small piece of ground produces they would he 
obliged to see why the crops are large— 
well-fitfhd soil, heavy manuring, good seed 
and thorough culture. They would begin to 
ask themselves why these things will not pay 
on a .larger scale and they would begin to 
take better care of their fields. The germs 
of good culture will jump over the garden 
fence and chase a farmer all over his farm. 
Their tracks will be seen in every field. A 
good garden will not only put a farmer at 
the millionaire's table but give him more 
practical information than an agricultural 
college. 
Farm Notes. —-How about the Alfalfa? 
We seeded it as well as we know how and 
5 days later the little plants appeared “as 
thick as the hair on a dog,” as one neighbor 
puts it. That settles it? Well no—I have 
seen a dog with a wonderful coat singed by 
fire so you would hardly know he had a hair 
on his body. I realize that the Alfalfa may 
be singed by a dozen different things. After 
I cut the third good crop next year I will 
begin to talk about It—not before. In the 
meantime several things can be done. I shall 
clip that Alfalfa late in September and if it 
doesn't grow fast enough give it a good dose 
of fertilizer. The Alfalfa on the old field 
gets thicker and better each time we cut it. 
We are now ready for the third cutting and at 
a fair estimate there is twice as much actual 
Alfalfa as there was the first time we cut it. 
The mowing machine seems to have acted like 
a hair tonic on a bald head! . . . Our 
potato crop promises now to be a good one. 
We planted late on a rye stubble—the rye 
being cut for fodder. The dry weather 
pinched the crop hard and I thought it was 
done for hut the rain came at last and helped 
out. On September 1 the vines are still 
strong and green. As a rule vines are dead 
here by this time. The tubers are setting 
well and making good size. The crop is far 
better than I thought it could be. We used 
dry Bordeaux mixture on this field. I can¬ 
not say that this has saved the crop for 
there seems to he less blight than usual in 
this neighborhood. The best evidence we have 
of freedom from plant disease is the condi¬ 
tion of bush Lima heans. Three years out 
of five these beans rot so that they are un¬ 
profitable. This year though the vines are 
heavier and thicker than we have ever 
known. There is hardly a diseased pod. We 
find it more or less of a gamble to raise these 
bush Limas. They fruit so close to the 
ground that the danger of rotting is too great. 
Fruit Notes.— We have been having our 
experience in handling our first small peach 
crop. The fruit Is remarkably handsome— 
large and dark red in color. Most of the 
trees have not been cultivated since they were 
planted. The flavor is excellent and the 
flesh is firm. There has been some trouble 
from rot but not serious. Thus far Carman 
seems to do best on our soil. It grows here 
to large size and with a brick red color. The 
season is not the best with us as it comes 
when the Delaware crop is crowding the 
market. I have hopes of Chair’s Choice and 
Bray’s Rareripe for our hill culture. Their 
season at least suits us better. ... I 
have been telling about a number of young 
apple trees that were badly hurt by sun scald 
last Winter. The bark in the south side of 
the trunks turned brown or black. I let 
most of them stand mainly to see what would 
happen to them. They have dawdled along in 
a feeble way making a slow growth from the 
upper limbs. Nearly every one has thrown 
out one or two strong branches, close to the 
ground, below the scalded bark. I think it 
will pay best to cut the trees back, throw¬ 
away the upper growth and train new tops 
from this lower growth. Some of these little 
trees are quite badly covered with oyster shell 
hark lice. On strong, vigorous young trees 
this louse does not usually need fighting. I 
notice that it is getting ahead of some of 
these feeble trees and we shall have to wash 
or spray them. This Spring I bought a small 
lot of trees with three-year-old roots and one- 
year tops. They were two-year-old trees left 
over in a nursery, sheared off and left to 
send up a new shoot. I like a one-year old 
top for starting but my idea is that an older 
root is best. These trees were planted late, 
well cut back and put into small holes. I 
am well pieased with the growth they have 
made and want more of such trees later. Old 
root and young top for me. . . . Several 
Wealthy apple trees three years planted are 
hearing a few apples this year. The fruit is 
of fair size and beautifully colored. Black 
Ben Davis the fourth year of growth is also 
showing apples. Thus far I am unable to 
see that this variety is any particular im¬ 
provement over “old Ben." 
House Plans. —The house comfort problem 
has become a hard one at Hope Farm. These 
old stone houses may have been the proper 
thing years ago when people had warmer 
blood and tougher constitutions but they do 
not suit this generation so well. They are 
damp in Summer and cold in Winter. Out¬ 
house is put flat on the ground with no un¬ 
derpinning. Drainage is poor and the cellar 
is damp. Warnings that we canpot dodge 
have come to us urging us to “do something' 
before another Winter. We do not want to 
go away from home again. Florida sunshine 
is well enough but there are things about 
New Jersey that beat it. We began to figure 
on heating the old house and putting in a 
bath room. The cost was so great that I 
question the wisdom of investing so much 
money in an old house. While no one likes 
to think of selling the home we must after all 
consider the effect of such investments upon 
its selling value. Some farm houses are so 
located that it would he impossible to realize 
on the cost of such improvements. With our 
location, near the city, such improvements 
may he a wise investment aside from the 
question of comfort provided they are put 
into a house which appeals to buyers. After 
much discussion we deckled' to leave the old 
house for the Winter and refit the cottage. 
We expect to build an addition Hi x 14 feet 
at the side and put in water fixtures and a 
heater. The water supply will come from tin- 
tank in the barn while drainage will be made 
Into a new cesspool. The cellar is already 
dug and the masons will soon he at work on 
the foundation. We supply the stone from 
our old walls and haul tlie sand. This ts 
a big undertaking for us in various ways. 
The Winters have been hard on these windy 
hills. This ought to make them more com 
fortable. I am surprised to see how the cost 
of doing such work lias been increased since 
the cottage was built. It actually costs 
nearly as much to put on this small addition 
as it did to build the original cottage four 
years ago. Material of all kinds seems to he 
higher and labor is demanding and receiving 
more. 
Lime.—I have never had so many questions 
about lime and its use. Here is a sample 
from New Y'ork : 
“Most all of our land If left in grass or 
pasture for a few years becomes mossy and 
as this is said to be an indication of sourness 
I had thought of using lime to correct this 
condition. We have a field of ten acres, 2 
of it stubble, the rest sod Spring plowed, all 
in corn this year. Five will be sown to 
oats next spring and seeded. The rest will 
be plowed this Fall, manured during the Win¬ 
ter and in the Spring put in again to corn. 
I Intend to use some good fertilizer in hill 
about 250 pounds to acre. Next sow to 
oats and seed. Shall I use lime on the corn 
or wait until I seed? Would rather apply 
the lime in the Fall as time is none too 
plenty in Spring for such work. What is 
lime? Where can I obtain it and how much 
shall I use?” r. s. 
When land becomes moss-hacked we may 
safely conclude that it is sour. This may 
not be a sure test but it will do. What is 
“lime?” Most of us have seen lime stone or 
marble. Take the lime stone, mix it with 
wood or coal In a kiln or furnace and set 
fire to the fuel. As the result of this fierce 
heat the lime stone crumbles—the water and 
a gas known as carbonic acid being driven out 
of it. What is left after this burning is 
called “quick” or caustic lime. Put water 
with it and the two unite with a great heat. 
This is called slaking and most people have 
seen it done when a mason makes mortar. 
When the lime is “slaked” either by putting 
water on it or leaving it exposed to the air 
it falls into a fine white powder. Air-slaked 
lime is quick lime that has been exposed to 
the air for some time. It is much the same 
as the water-slaked lime—in fact the moist 
lire in the air does most of the slaking. This 
air-slaked lime is used on sour land at the 
rate of 1,200 pounds or more per acre. It 
overcomes the acid in the soil, thus giving 
most plants a better chance to grow. I feel 
quite sure that most of our heavier land at 
the North will he helped by liming every six 
years or so. I have found by experiment this 
year that my own farm is greatly in need ot 
lime. It is better to use the lime on small 
grains or grass when seeding. Corn does 
not usually respond to it so well. In your 
case I would use the lime on the oats. The 
best wav to use lime is to broadcast it on the 
rough furrows and harrow it well into the 
soil. On such soil as you mention I would 
use at least 1,600 pounds per acre. Do not, 
however, nlan to make the lime take the place 
of manure or fertilizer. Use it as an addition 
or help hut not as a substitute. Lime is sold 
all the way from $6 to $15 per ton. 
H. W. C. 
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