1905. 
763 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Hope Farm Notes 
Killing Flies.—H ere is a question of 
more direct interest to some housekeepers 
than the tariff: 
“Will you give us some information and 
practical remedy for the big house-flies which 
cluster, at this time of the year, around the 
upper edge of the paper on the walls of 
our best' rooms, soiling the bordering, and 
trying the patience of our neat and careful 
housewives?” H - p - M - 
We are troubled with these flies. When 
Mother papered her room this Summer she 
sighed to think how quickly the flies would 
soil it. We get them, however. A small 
tin can just large enough to hold a glass is 
tacked to the end of a long stick. This glass 
is tilled about two-thirds full of soapy water 
with a good lather on it. Then with the 
stick in the hand the glass is pushed up 
against the ceiling so as to surround the fly. 
He makes a struggle and falls into the 
lather—which quickly shaves off his liberty. 
With this simple device we can catch any fly 
that lights on the ceiling, and by brushing 
at them when they light on the walls they 
can be driven to the top. 
Soaking the Ladle.—T his question comes 
from Ohio : 
“What causes butter to stick to the ladle 
while working it? It does this in Winter 
as well as in Summer. Is there anything 
better to work butter with than a wooden 
ladle? Would a thermometer be any help/ 
L. H. 
I do not know of anything better for work¬ 
ing butter than well-soaked wood, or any¬ 
thing worse than dry wood. The ladle and 
bowl should first be thoroughly soaked in hot 
water and then in cold. The object of the 
soaking is to fill the pores of the wood. I he 
hot water penetrates, and the cold water 
makes the wood colder than the butter. 
When the wood is not soaked the butter fat 
enters the pores of the wood and sticks. 
We know little about practical butter mak¬ 
ing at Hope Farm, but I should consider a 
good dairy thermometer necessary if we 
expect to ‘make butter right. I have seen 
people estimate the temperature by sticking 
a finger in the cream. They bit it reasonably 
close, but their own temperature varies, and 
the finger rule is not safe to recommend tor 
a standard. When I was a boy the man 
who brought me up was town sealer of 
weights and measures. lie had a machine 
which gave the true balance, and several 
times a year he went around to the stores 
and tested the weights. Sometimes (very 
seldom) it was necessary to make these 
weights lighter. More frequently he added 
lead to make up lost weight! It was neces- 
sary to have a standard, and that is what 
a thermometer gives. We are done with feel¬ 
ing the pulse or guessing at temperature when 
people are sick. We get a clinical thermom¬ 
eter into the mouth at once and thus know 
the temperature. 
Planting Strawberries. —The picture at 
Fig. 322, page 758, gives a view of out¬ 
breeding pen. It is an old chicken yard, 
where for three years the hens had full 
swing. This left the ground in good condi¬ 
tion This Spring it was plowed early and 
well worked up with the Acme harrow. Lyon 
planted strawberries four feet apart—using 
Marshall. President and Mead. The plants 
were kept clean, which meant eight workings 
with wheel hoe. fingers and hand tools. As 
a result we have a tine stand of beautiful 
plants, 'fhe runners have come out between 
the rows. The first, ones were placed where 
we wanted them—as near one foot apart as 
we could get. The others ran here and there, 
and have been used for planting new beds. 
The picture shows how we do it. Lyon goes 
in with a trowel and flat basket. He picks 
out bis plant, cuts off the connecting vines, 
and digs it up with a good bunch of dirt on 
the roots. When the basket is full it is 
carried to the patch where the plants are 
to go. A hole is scooped with the trowel, the 
ball of dirt around the roots put inside, and 
the earth pressed hard around and over it. 
It will not answer on our soil to pinch the 
dirt bard around the plant and then leave It. 
The finger marks will be found printed in 
brick, and the plant cannot grow. A little 
fresh dirt scraped over the linger marks and 
left there loosely will act as a mulch and 
prevent baking. In an ordinary season here 
we can keep on planting strawberries in this 
way until the middle of November. These 
plants are quite ns good as potted plants. 
They cannot be expected to give much fruit 
next season, but the following season they 
will be right for a great yield. I would like 
to show one patch which was transplanted In 
this way early in September! The soil is 
hard, and not true strawberry ground. The 
scrapings under the hen roosts were put 
along the rows, and the plants were hoed 
twice and cultivated twice. I have worked 
in this patch on pleasant mornings before 
breakfast. This gives a better “appetizer" 
than anyone ever drank out of a bottle, and 
I think’I have something to brag about in 
the berry line. 
All Sorts. —Older readers will remember 
how some years ago I undertook to set “bug 
against bug.” It was the season for the 17- 
year locust, and Prof. Smith of the New 
Jersey Station sent us egg clusters of an 
insect known as “Praying mantis.” This is 
a large green insect which will fight like a 
tiger, and will kill large numbers of locusts 
and other “bugs” if it can get at them. \Ye 
were to hang these egg clusters on trees and 
shrubs, and let them hatch at the proper 
time. The boys forgot about it, and left 
the box in a warm room. As a result the 
eggs batched nearly six weeks ahead of time. 
We put them out* though there was small 
bone that they could live. They did —or at 
least some of them did—for we find them 
now all over the farm. They are welcome 
visitors as are the ladybird beetles and a 
little black .bug which 1 find crawling about 
fruit trees where the scale abounds. 
As the turkeys develop it looks as if there 
was only one hen among 10 young ones! 
That means eight good meals of roast turkey, 
but we would like more hens. We have 
grown to like these gentle and dignified birds. 
I have tried ducks, and never want another 
on the farm, but these white turkeys are 
good citizens. . . . Bob, the little bay 
horse, is back in the harness again. That 
“cold abscess” on his shoulder gave him a 
Summer's vacation. He ran at pasture with 
bis shoes off until the shoulder healed. 
It came time to shoe him. so we hitched the 
end of his halter to the buggy and told old 
Jerry to “get up!” Bob trotted on for 
awhile, and then his brain grasped the idea 
rhat vacation was over, and this meant the 
treadmill again. So he braced himself and 
hung back. It was a contest between Jerry 
and Bob, until the rope broke and Bob turned 
a back somersault ! lie got back to the barn, 
but that availed him little, for he is now 
pulling his share—perhaps more willingly 
than some men I have seen ! . . . Bessie, 
the little Boston terrier, is back at; the 
farm. She. with her daughter Peggie, form 
the foundation of a line of toy dogs which 
Jack hopes will help out the business. I 
never expected to see Hope Farm in the dog 
business, but here we are. These little dogs 
are worth more than two good cows! Women 
who would consider a baby a great nuisance 
will go beyond the limit of their lazy selfish¬ 
ness to pet and fondle one of these dogs! 
My chief consolation is that if such folks 
must lavish their affection upon a dog we 
will try to furnish a good one. They might 
get hold of a child and spoil it. During her 
absence, Bessie learned to catch rats and 
mice. She goes nosing for them everywhere. 
There is one thing that may be said for a 
dog. When he catches a rat or mouse he 
kills it. A cat on the other hand will torture 
and tease the poor captive as long as he can. 
There you have the difference between a cat 
and a ‘ dog. I have known men who con¬ 
sidered it a great insult to be called a dog. 
They should be thankful they were not 
called a cat ! 
Farm Notes. —Seymour has picked up the 
mulch habit early. While we were picking 
apples he saw a neighbor digging potatoes. 
The field was full of crab-grass and weeds, 
which these farmers were preparing to burn— 
they had burned one pile. Seymour put in a 
bid right away for those weeds, and they 
were hauled to the hill and put around the 
trees. It seems strange to us that people 
are willing to burn trash of this sort, when 
it will rot down around a fruit tree. Sev 
eral fields near us have grown up to a per 
feet mass of goldenrod and briers. We would 
like nothing better than a chance to cut that 
stuff off and haul it to one of our peach 
orchards. Are we not afraid of getting the 
weed seed in the soil? Afraid? We would 
like to do it ! The soil of this orchard is 
naturally so poor that nothing but coarse 
weeds will grow there. I have learned what 
to me is a curious thing. When we cut this 
coarse stuff and let it rot on the ground 
better grass begins to come in. The more we 
do this and the more this coarse stuff rots 
the better the seeding of grass, until in some 
places we have a fair stand of clover ! We 
are not afraid therefore to put weeds and 
trash in the orchard. . . . There is an 
old peach tree on our hill which I under¬ 
stand has been there for over 30 years. 
Beach orchards have been started there only 
to fail after a few years, but the old tree 
goes on year after year without losing a 
crop. This year the fruit is so fine as to 
attract general attention. The tree stands 
in a perfect tangle of grass and vines, and 
has never received any attention, it is 
apparently, a seedling of fhe Crawford type, 
ripening its fruit early in October. Next 
year I shall take care of this tree by mulch¬ 
ing and feeding it —giving it a good spray¬ 
ing—to see what a little petting will do. 
We think we have a good new one. 
At odil times we are hauling sawdust for 
the Winter’s bedding. We haul it from the 
mill in bags and store in the barn. Later 
we shall put up a big supply of forest 
leaves for the same purpose. Hood saw¬ 
dust makes a soft lied for a horse. I would 
rather have straw, but sawdust is cheaper 
and more easily' handled. It is not of much ! 
value as manure, except that it makes tin 1 i 
pile crumbly and open. It would be a great : 
mistake to put fresh sawdust directly on the 
soil, but after it has absorbed the liquids 
and been mixed in the manure pile there is 
no danger. . . . The apples have been 
picked and are in the cellar. We picked 
earlier than usual, expecting our usual storm 
of wind and rain in October. It hasn't come 
yet, but we are ahead of it at least. The 
rye is in the potato ground. We cleaned 
the spent manure out of the hotbeds and 
spread it over the potato field after the 
weeds were off and the spring-tooth had 
done its work. This manure was worked in 
with the Acme, and then the rye was broad¬ 
cast. Now we are nearly ready to start at 
draining the lower fields. One small field 
in particular needs drains. It is in the 
form of a dish with one side tipped up, so 
as to give drainage to one end. There are 
one or two springy places, and the lield also 
takes the surface drainage from part of the 
farm. We shall cut this latter off by open 
ditches. Then by sighting through or over 
a spirit level we can get the slope of the 
field. It is so located that two main ditches 
will carry the water off to one corner. We 
expect to use stone for the drains, placing 
three flat ones at the bottom to form a 
throat or opening for the water. With 
smaller stones filled in to below the point 
of the plow we expect to give the water 
ambition to do something besides clogging up 
the soil When the field dries we expect to 
plow it this Fall and leave the furrows 
standing in the rough. Next Spring we can 
work it well with spring-tooth and Acme, 
and plant either potatoes or corn as seems 
best: the stones for those drains are picked 
from a place where we want strawberries 
next year. . . . Our garden cuts the 
meat bill hard. yet. still it is larger than 
we like. Seymour has had some experience 
as a butcher and we want to try our hand 
at more meat-making. We are after an 
old cow or two, or several sheep that can 
eat up our Fall pasture with a little grain, 
and then fill an honorable position in the 
beef or pork barrel. . . . Since I had 
my say about insurance I have had some 
argument with various people. I find that 
the main reason for saying that people 
should take a 20-year policy is that a man 
will not save unless he is obliged to. That 
may be so with some folks, but it seems to 
me like a poor reason for giving these 
great insurance companies such a vast sum 
of money to play with. h. w. c. 
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