1606 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
289 
Hope Farm Notes 
All Sorts. —People find fault with me 
because I “write in small type.” It is 
hard for old eyes to read it. So I will try 
larger type awhile. I will put notes from 
others in the small type, not because what 
I write is better, hut to form a contrast. 
It is a temptation to use small type so as 
to crowd more into a given space, but 
after all, we would all do better to con¬ 
dense and say what we have to say in 
fewer words. . . . The snow and cold 
have upset the early garden plans. Some 
neighbors on the light valley lands had 
plowed a few strips by March 15 , and 
were all ready to plant peas when the 
storm came upon them. Now that will 
be postponed for some time. I was just 
at the point of ordering my trees sent on, 
expecting to get them all planted by April 
1. As it is I doubt if they get in much 
ahead of the ordinary time. After all, 
it seems that one year with another, there 
is not much change in the date of farm 
operations. We are in better shape with 
our farm work than ever before at this 
season. Most of the manure has been 
hauled out and spread, the hotbeds are 
running, the pruning is nearly all done, 
and the posts for the fences have been 
cut and hauled where they are needed. 
We are all ready for Spring to open in 
earnest. ... I think I have spoken of 
two blocks of peach trees—some 700 in 
all—that have not made the growth I 
would like. One of them is the original 
Stringfellow orchard. I planted June buds 
in crowbar holes and neglected them. The 
trees are now undersized, but are loaded 
with fat peach buds. The soil is so poor 
that not even weeds of any respectable 
variety will grow there. I need something 
to mulch those trees, and it is a hard haul 
up hill from the barn. I think of working 
the "round very shallow in a strip about 
five feet wide on each side of the rows 
of trees several times up to the first of 
July. Our chicken manure will be scat¬ 
tered around these trees, and also about 
three pounds of lime to each tree and 
one pound or more of potash. This soil 
lacks potash, and is sour. After July I 
shall mulch around the trees, scattering 
the seeds and chaff that are left in the 
haymows when the hay is taken out. We 
also hope to tear up the middles in some 
way and sow buckwheat and turnips. 
From the present outlook we shall be able 
to give our trees better care than they 
ever had before. 
The Storm. —It came upon us without 
warning. The night before I had planned 
to burn brush, but morning found the air 
full of whirling snow. It looked like the 
starting of the blizzard of 18 years ago, 
except that the air was not cold. Most 
of us found jobs indoors, except Seymour, 
who went to the woods to cut fence posts. 
Our Wyandotte eggs for hatching came in 
the storm, but it was not cold enough to 
injure them. The storm kept blowing on 
through the day and night, but as the 
nercury did not fall we were not greatly 
alarmed about the fruit buds. I was 
suffering from a bad attack of neuralgia 
in the side—a new thing for me—so I 
must confess that late in the afternoon 
I went to bed. The little girls came with 
their flower seeds, and we looked them 
over and planned the flower garden. 
Philip will give them space in the hotbed 
to start the pansies and pinks, and to 
hear us talk Hope Farm is to burst into 
into beauty this Summer and no mistake. 
We shall learn, I fear, that much talk is 
only tongue deep. The little boy has 
started lettuce and radishes in window 
boxes, and is transplanting them, lie came 
and talked that over, so that I forgot a 
good share of the neuralgia until the 
children went to bed. The snow turned 
to sleet late in the afternoon, and in the 
morning we found 8 to 10 inches with 
a thin crust. I hoped it would melt as 
fast as it came, but the weather has turned 
colder, and we are likely to see some of 
this snow in the fence corners by the 
middle of April. So far as I can see 
no damage has yet been done to the peach 
buds. I have brought twigs in and put 
them in water to find that the bloom 
forms, so I am hopeful that we may get 
some peaches yet. The storm kills off 
some of our early plans, but it is a poor 
farmer who can’t raise several crops of 
plans in a season. After all such a storm 
is an aggravation. You can use neither 
deigh nor wheels on the road with any 
satisfaction, and the mud and slush make 
a great nuisance. There are, however, 
pleasant breaks in storms and neuralgia. 
1 he little girl came home from church to 
sav that Father was elected president of 
t ie temperance society. T did better in 
jnat contest than I did running for the 
Legislature—because no one ran against 
> ne 1 1 he doctor came and pronounced my 
trouble a bad case of “shingles.” I don’t 
recall anything more painful since the 
days when T was taken out behind the 
barn for an attack of shingles of a some¬ 
what different character. These are the 
unhappy days when Mother can come and 
point her finger and say: “No, you are not 
going out to the barn at all! You are 
just going to lie quietly here until you arc 
better!” 
Rent of Land.— This problem comes to 
me from Pennsylvania: 
I have an opportunity to rent, a piece of 
land, without any buildings or fruit, con¬ 
taining 25 to 30 acres; about one-third of 
this land is in new meadow, one-third is old 
meadow to he plowed for corn ; the remainder 
was in corn last year and will lie available 
for oats. This is fairly good land, as land 
goes in western Pennsylvania, and I should 
like your opinion as to what would he a fair 
money rental per acre for this one season’s 
crop. c. J. w. 
I have never had any experience in rent¬ 
ing land. We have a house which we 
rent, and I have figured it about this way: 
The house cost so much money. If I had 
the cash and put it into a safe bond and 
mortgage or into a savings bank it would 
pay from four to five per cent interest 
clear. When I rent the house in place 
of the money I must pay taxes and repairs, 
and also allow for decay of buildings. So 
that in order to get my five per cent on 
the cost of the house the tenant must pay 
me more cash than the bank or the mort¬ 
gage would, as I must pay the difference. 
Suppose your house and ground repre¬ 
sents an outlay of $4,000 in cash. The 
taxes are $50, the repairs, one year with 
another $50 more. A rent of $25 per 
month would leave you clear just five per 
cent on your money, with nothing to off¬ 
set the slow decay of the house. Your 
$4,000 in cash might draw interest for 40 
years and still be $4,000. Now in renting 
a piece of land without buildings I should 
expect to figure about the same way. How 
much money have I in this farm, what are 
the taxes and how much poorer will one 
crop leave it? It would not be fair to 
figure on what such land ought to be 
worth, but the basis should be made on 
what it represents in cash. A tenant can 
if he tries, do considerable damage to land 
in a single season. If I rented land for 
one year I should make it a part of the 
contract to provide clover and turnip seed 
to sow in the corn and rye after potatoes. 
In this section, all these things considered, 
I should say that $5 per acre would be a 
fair cash rent. 
Profanity. —Under ordinary circum¬ 
stances you would hardly expect me to dis¬ 
cuss this subject here. Yet my good 
friend Dr. Eastwood, in discussing the 
need which farmers’ wives have of greater 
enjoyment and a wider view of life says: 
It is altogether too had that the damnable 
people that with their automobiles usurp the 
good roads to the exclusion of this particular 
class that so much need the change and ex¬ 
hilaration of a drive behind a good horse, 
should be permitted to perpetrate so selfish 
and cruel an act of injustice. No word less 
strong and emphatic than the one I have 
used fits the occasion. 1 do not regard it 
as profane at .all. It is a pity indeed thn 
any restriction should be put upon its use 
upon suitable occasions. And this I em¬ 
phatically regard as such a one. But still 
I hope that 1 will not shock your sense of 
propriety by my use of it. w. o. EASTWOOD. 
Dr. Eastwood doesn’t shock me in the 
least. The conduct of some of these auto¬ 
bogs warrants even stronger language. 
The other day I read of a wealthy man’s 
wife who told her husband that she was 
willing to ride in his auto while going away 
from home, but she would come back by 
train, for after a good dinner there was 
too much alcohol aboard the driver! Ac¬ 
cording to the dictionaries the word is 
not considered profanity unless specially 
classed with others. The auto drivers 
have made life a terror to many women 
who like to drive a good horse. Some of 
the auto drivers ought to be compelled to 
dig tunnels and run their devil machines 
underground. h. w. c. 
KEEPING APPLES FOR HOME USE. 
Several years ago I met ®. B. Van Or¬ 
man, of Iowa, and being of one mind our 
conversation drifted to fruit. Among other 
things he said: “I keep apples right up 
to May and .Tune, and they keep improving 
in flavor all the time, and I have the mini¬ 
mum of trouble and loss.” I said: “IIow 
do you do it, for I want to know and have 
it on paper?” lie said : “Take your apples 
as soon as gathered. Get good tight barrels 
or boxes, line the bottom and sides with 
paper, then with a vessel of water by your 
side and a pile of paper, take the sound 
apples without worms or bruises, dip each 
one in the water and wrap it in a piece of 
paper, and place in the box or barrel, and 
place also a sheet of paper between each 
layer of fruit. When the box or barrel is 
full head or nail up tight. They can be 
kept almost anywhere except in a warm 
place. I usually place mine against the 
north side of the house, and throw some old 
trash or carpets over the barrels and let 
them go. If one rots it will not affect the 
rest, and the flavor grows better to the end. 
I never open a box or barrel until I take it 
in for use; have kept them in this manner 
for the last 10 years. My first experiment 
was with leaves, hut they affected the flavor 
somewhat." If this experiment is true, and 
it will cost very little to try it, the keeping 
of apples for the family is solved, and will be 
as great a boon as water glass for the pre¬ 
servation of fresh eggs. I would leave at 
least one package where it would freeze, not 
in the open air or uncovered, to learn the 
effect. I.et a hundred 1 ry the experiment 
and something good may come from Mr. Van 
Orman’s experiments* and experience. 
Kansas. c. w. keifer. 
Make 
By 
Using 
Wonder 
Plow 
Trucks. 
This truck will fit any beam, 
right or left, one or two horse, 
wood or steel plow. A boy can 
handle it with ease, most of the 
time without his hand on the 
plow. Regulates pe rfectly 
depth and width of furrow. Will balance plow in 
hard, dry, stony soil, and save a third of draft on 
horses. The plowman does not need to hold plow 
handles. Works perfectly in tall grass or weeds, 
turning them completely under. Thousands in use. 
If it does not do all of these things, you can 
send it back and we will not only return your 
money but pay the freight both ways. 
Write for our booklet "Progress In Flowlngf.’* Agents wanted 
everywhere. Retail price $5. Get special agents proposition. 
Wonder Plow Co.,32 7 Factory St„ St. Clair. Mich. 
you a re iv o r 
too far away. We ship 
CALDWELL 
Tanks, Towers and Wind Mills to every 
state in the country. The reason Is they 
are the best made of any on the market. 
Ask us for references in your neighbor¬ 
hood. We have them. Send for Tank 
and Tower Catalogue and Special Water 
Works Catalogue. 
W. E. Caldwell Co., Louisville, Ky. 
EXACT WEIGHT 
STEEL LEVERS, DOUBLE BEAM, 6 TON 14x8 
Wagon Scales 
$25 
On trial. Pay when satisfied. 
TRUE WEIGHT CO., 
Box No. 5 BINGHAMTON N. Y. 
Do You Buy a Wagon This Year? 
IT WILL PAY TO FIND OUT ABOUT 
THE MILBVRN WAGON 
After all, it is only a question of a few dollars more to geta wagon that will last and give good 
service from five to ten years longer than a cheap wagon, and there is a 
reason for these few dollars more in the cost price. 
Under hydraulic pressure 
a 3-inch hind gear stood a 
pressure of over 30 tons. 
Tlie axle did not break but 
the steel rod was stretched 
Hof an inch, permitting the 
ends of the axle to turn up 
until the skeins struck the 
end of the bolster. When the pressure was 
Take, for example, the 
axle in our thimble-skein 
axle wagon. All wagon 
makers now-a days re-in 
force their axle. Most of 
them do this by strapping a 
KMbfSl? ““ u ‘“ ler UtiTmFORciMlmS 
It remained for the MILBURN to work 
out the strong st re-inforcement, however. 
In the Milburn Wagon a bar of steel is inserted 
edgewise into a groove in the bottom of the 
axle. The ends of this bar are forged to 
%-iueh round which passes through the point 
of the skein and takes a nut. Skeins cannot 
get loose as thev do when held on by a screw 
put into the end of the axle. The axle can 
not break until the steel bar is brokeu 
end wise. 
taken off, the axle came back almost to its 
original place. That’s the kind of construc¬ 
tion that has made the MILBURN Wagon 
famous. And other parts of the wagon are 
made on the same scale. The same difference 
between the MILBURN and ordinary wagons 
runs through wheels, box, gear and all. You 
cannot afford not to know these things, for 
knowing them makes you a more intelligent 
buyer. 
Our free book is a correspondence school in the judging of a wagon. It is free; why not 
write for it? MILBURN WAGON COMPANY. Dept. R_, Toledo. Ohio. 
Uhis is Straight ffiuggy Ualkf 
30 
Days 
Free Trial. 
Columbia Bostonian <£7K 
Surrey. Price only v I J 
Other Surreys $49 and up. 
TWO YEARS 
IRON-CLAD 
GUARANTEE 
We believe that you are entitled to the same square deal RIGHT to get what you pay for and ALL you 
pay for in buying a buggy as you demand, , for instance, when you buy a horse. 
No fooling iu that case—is there? You’ve got a right to know —to examine, to try out, to 
make sure before tlie bargain is sealed. 
Well, why not protect yourself the same way 
in choosing a vehicle? That is precisely the right 
you have in buying a buggv from us. 
We build for you COLUMBIA VEHICLES, and 
sell direct from factory to farmer , asking only 
tlie manufacturer’s small profit, with no expens¬ 
ive dilly-dallying in between, no sugaring the 
palms of middlemen—jobbers, wholesalers, 
traveling representatives, and the like. 
And, remember, you have the 
privilege of 30 DAYS FREE TRIAL. 
Please bear in mind, “30 Days” means 
thirty days from the time you receive the 
buggy. Don’t forget that! 
During that time you can subject the ve¬ 
hicle to the hardest of tests and thoroughly 
prove that it is right , in every detail of ma¬ 
terial and workmanship. On top of this we 
give you an iron-clad guarantee for two solid years. Just look at the above picture of our new model— 
No. 1200—Columbia Special. 
No better buggy ever $QQ7B 
made for the price, 00 — 
99 
$50 “COLUMBIA KING 
Isn’t It a beauty? The perfect product of a quarter century of successful vehicle manufacturing. Good as our former 
models et tills price have been, none of tliern has touched tlie quality of the 1906 COLUMBIA KING which we positively 
guarantee to be equal In every respect to any buggy sold In your neighborhood, for $75 to $ 100 . 
Herb arb Some of Its Special Featubes:— Bradley shaft couplers, finest open head springs, long-distance axles; 
longitudinal spring, be^t quality screwed rim wheels; roller wear Irons; rubber padded steps; wrought iron body loops; 
rubber suction whip socket; high, padded, patent leather dash; heavy full length Brussels carpet or rubber foot mat; b.avy 
rubber storm curtain and boot; special braced gear and shafts; “A" grade leather quarter top with all wool linings, rein¬ 
forced curtains, extension joints and arm loops; 16-oz. English broadcloth trimmed cushion and back; spring cushion and 
panel spring back, etc. We practically build It to order, just as you want it, for $50, with any style springs, paintings, 
trimmings and top, and in any size preferred. We make more than 250 styles of vehicles—buggies, surries, pnaetons, stan¬ 
hopes, driving wacons, business wagons, carts, pony vehicles, harness and saddles of every description. All of them are sold 
under the ume liberal guarantee, on 30 DAYS FREE TRIAL. 
OUR BIG AXI> IIASDSOME NEW CATALOGUE—FKKK—It fully describes our entire line and gives you a lot of 
valuable iuforujatiou worth many dollars to you. We’ll gladly mail you a copy of this beautiful and instructive book. Address, 
Columbia Manufacturing & Supply Co., ^ncInnati^h'io’. 
