1006. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
651 
Hope Farm Notes 
Dry Water Works. — I have described 
our water system several times. We have 
a drilled six-inch well 142 feet deep in the 
barnyard—the water rising to within 
about 35 feet of the surface. Over this 
well stands a windmill and pump. At the 
top of the barn stands a wooden tank 
holding 1,300 gallons. The water is forced 
to this tank, and when we put it up we 
ran a pipe underground to the old house 
—the water thus entering the hot-water 
system directly without any separate tank. 
There were also two hydrants—one in the 
barn and one outside—pressure from the 
large barn tank supplying all. This system 
was never very satisfactory. The hydrants 
rusted, and finally leaked badly. The di¬ 
rect pressure on the hot water boiler ruined 
several water backs, and made a bad 
thumping in the pipes. We also had 
great trouble in the check valves at the 
pump and it was almost impossible to 
keep water in the tank when most needed 
there. When we put bathroom fixtures 
in the new house I hesitated, fearing that 
our water supply would fail. We shut off 
the water to the old house and ran a pipe 
to the new one—entering a 300-gallon tank 
under the roof. This house tank stands 
at such a level that the big barn tank 
must be more than half full before water 
will flow from it into the bouse tank. This 
means a surplus of water that is worse 
than dead capital. I had a valve put in 
the pipe so that we could if need be shut 
off the large tank and pump directly into 
the smaller one. The windless season 
came upon us, but we managed to keep 
afloat until early in August. Then all of 
a sudden I was informed that the tank 
was nearly dry, with washing day at hand, 
and everyone anxious to take a bath. 
It was one of those hateful days when the 
air is like a sponge and there is no wind 
within 50 miles. We lashed a piece of 
wood to the pump handle so as to give- 
more “purchase” to the elbow, shut the 
valve to the big tank and went at it. There 
was trouble at once. A float valve had 
been put in the house tank so arranged 
that only a little trickle of water could 
enter. We nearly broke the pump before 
we realized that we could not force a full 
stream through that valve. There was no 
sense in pumping that big tank full, so we 
took that float valve right off and pumped 
a full stream into the tank. It was aston¬ 
ishing how much easier the work was 
made by lengthening the pump handle. In 
this still season we must have some way 
of pumping into the house tank separately, 
and thus utilizing all our power. The 
alpmber came and put in a new pipe over 
the float valve. When we open this pipe 
the full stream of water flows in. When 
the tank fills we can close this pipe, and 
then the float valve operates to hold the 
level of water. This scheme has worked 
first-rate thus far. It is hard to make a 
man understand the value of a good water 
service in a country house until he actually 
sees it in operation. It is a question 
whether anvone is justified in borrowing 
all or part of the money to put in such 
improvements. That would depend some¬ 
what upon the location—as to whether it 
would make the property more valuable. 
If a man has the money it will pay big in¬ 
terest when put to this use. I sometimes 
see cases where spring water is piped to 
barn or kitchen. It should not stop there, 
but go on to a tank upstairs so as to give 
good water pressure. From our experi¬ 
ence I would avoid all direct pressure 
upon stoves or water boilers, and also all 
hydrants, as leaks seem most likely to start 
in them. If, as we do, you have two 
tanks, make the large one as high as you 
can with safety and have the smaller one 
arranged so that the full power can, when 
needed, be pumped against it. There will 
be times when the human back must lift 
this water. A combination of wash day, 
dog day and remarks from the women 
folks call for both philosophy and economy 
of power—as I well know. 
After Supper. —A comfortable chair on 
the porch, in a corner where the breeze 
moves, does very well after a hard day’s 
work and a good supper. The boys are 
playing ball in the road, the little girl is 
fingering the piano, and the women folks 
are taking a little rest. It ranks well with 
any other hour of the day! A man like 
Mr. Hartman with different plantings of 
corn all ripening together and other vege¬ 
tables demanding pickers at once, must 
leave a vacant chair on the porch. A 
dairyman with a big herd of cows ach¬ 
ing- with milk must attend to business. 
Perhaps this little after-supper time is one 
of the blessings that go with the mulch 
system of orcharding. When we make our 
young trees grow, as we do, by piling 
grass and weeds around them, we can ex¬ 
pect a few lazy moments. But what does 
a man do with his lazy moments? They 
are nearly as much responsible for the 
development of the man as his hours of 
labor—for the lazy part of man’s life 
should .be the time of thought. I have no 
doubt that many a man has upset the good 
he did through his hours of toil by what 
he thought in his idle time. 
Wgll, what were you thinking about? 
To tell you the truth I forgot all about 
my plans to seed Alfalfa or plant straw¬ 
berries, and was considering what Aunt 
Jennie said about the baby. He is a fine 
little fellow, healthy and amiable, and at 
the base of bis bead above the nape of 
his neck the hair curls up into pretty little 
ringlets. 
“I wouldn’t take $1,000 for that,” said 
Aunt Jennie, as she patted those little 
curls and thought of the twists and kinks 
the little chap will carry in his hair all 
through life. 
“No,” I answered, “but he will see the 
time when he would give $10,000 if his 
hair didn’t curl!” 
I was thinking this out to see if I could 
justify my remark, and I believe it can be 
done. What these fond mothers see in 
their sons is one thing and what the crit¬ 
ical world sees is quite another. We all 
write poetry at some time or other, but the 
years sift us out. About one in a million 
goes on and really adds to the world’s 
store of poetry. Happy are those of the 
999,999 who quit in time and take up the 
stern work of straight-haired men. 
But why are you so down on poets and 
poetry? 
I am not. I probably read as much good 
poetry during the year as any one I know, 
but as a reformed poet I feel somewhat like 
the man who puts himself up as a terrible 
example. When I was younger than I 
am now I knew-a German cook—his hair 
curled. He could make an apple pie that 
was a dream, but he thought he could 
sing, which was a nightmare. He wanted 
to serenade a young woman, and offered 
me a dozen pies if I would teach him a 
suitable song. I ought to have told him 
he was an old fool, but I am ashamed to 
say I wanted those pies, so I selected 
Byron’s “Maid of Athens.” He got the 
tune right, but would insist upon singing: 
“Maid of Athens, ere I goes away!” 
The night came, and in the middle of 
the second verse the young woman threw 
a pail of water with such good aim that 
there was nothing buoyant left about the 
singer except the natural curl in his hair. 
What it represented drove him on to pay 
the pies and also keep up his singing. I 
have lived to learn that the cruel world 
has colder water and a better aim than 
that young woman. As a rule a homely, 
straight-haired man gets his dose and 
stops singing to the impossible. Too 
often the curl in the hair won’t let a man 
quit when he should! If any man is to 
criticise what I say I would rather have 
him over 45 years of age! 
Farm Notes. —We began digging the 
Irish Cobbler potatoes the second week in 
August. The yield is first-rate, and the 
potatoes the best we ever had. I think it 
better to get.tbe potatoes out early and 
sell them rather than run the risk of rot. 
. . . The Japanese millet finally got to 
the barn—not in the best of shape. We 
are to make a lawn where this millet 
grew. Right after the millet was taken 
off we spread a heavy coat of spent ma¬ 
nure from the hotbeds and plowed the 
whole under deep. It will be thoroughly 
worked with the spring-tooth harrow 
again and again, chopped up and smoothed 
down until it is fine. The stones are to 
be picked up and thrown into deep ditches. 
Then we shall give the soil a good dress¬ 
ing of lime and seed heavily early in Sep¬ 
tember. ... I am sorry to have to 
back out on my scheme for sowing Al¬ 
falfa this Fall, but that orchard where the 
cow peas are is too weedy. The season 
has been such that the weeds beat the 
peas, and I do not dare to sow Alfalfa 
after such a weedy mass. It could not 
have a fair show. So I shall cut the peas 
and weeds, work up the ground, and sow 
rye and wheat to be cut next Spring for 
green forage, and follow with corn in 
hills. The third cutting of Alfalfa seems 
to grow faster even than the others, and 
every time I look at it I feel worse about 
those weeds in the cow peas. ... I 
have had words of praise for the Sher¬ 
wood steel harness, which works with a 
single chain between the horses instead of 
traces. For plowing and working among 
trees this harness is very satisfactory, but 
we had trouble with it the other day. 
While plowing one of the horses got 
frightened and ran, pulling the other 
along with her. She got her foot over 
the chain in some way and tore the inside 
of her leg. There could not have been 
so much damage with the usual trace har¬ 
ness. 
Late Poultry Food. —Here is a new 
one: 
I have just bought some land : three acres 
of this I wish to put right in something 
that will produce green feed for my poultry 
this Winter. Land is now cut up into little 
patches of corn, potatoes, oats and grass. 
Will you tell me what crops there Is yet 
time for? What best fertilizer to use and 
how to plant so as to hurry growth? 
New York. e. w. b. 
It is quite late in this latitude to plant 
such crops; still you can do something up 
to August 15. Crimson clover will do. 
Simply work the soil by plowing or har¬ 
rowing and sow the seed broadcast at the 
rate of 12 pounds per acre, lightly covered 
with a smoothing harrow or drag. This 
will give good pasture for the hens and 
also a short crop for cutting. Dwarf Es¬ 
sex rape is another good crop. The seed 
is like turnip. Fit the ground and sow at 
the rate of three pounds per acre, like 
the Crimson clover. This rape will also 
make good hen pasture until late in the 
season. White turnips sowed the same as 
rape will give a good crop. If you can get 
cabbage plants set them out in rows three 
feet apart and a foot in the row, giving 
good culture. They probably will not 
make full heads, but will furnish much 
green feed. A patch of barley sowed 
broadcast on plowed ground will give 
some forage and also a similar patch of 
rye. You can sow Crimson clover, rape 
and turnips right in the corn if the crop is 
fairly clean, cultivating or raking the 
seed in. 
Souring Land. —We have quite a num¬ 
ber of questions like this: 
Oh July 18 I plowed under a piece of 
buckwheat. Intending to sow it to wheat 
when the time comes. Some people tell me 
that plowing under a green crop in hot 
weather Is liable to sour the land, and I 
Intended to harrow once or twice and plow 
it again, at least a month before sowing 
wheat. Would it be better not to plow it 
again? In either ease I shall work the 
ground thoroughly before sowing. The soil 
is a light sand. J. a. j. 
New York. 
Those people are right. While such 
plowing does not always leave the land 
sour it is liable to do so, especially when 
the green crop is very rank and full of 
sap. This trouble seems to be particularly 
bad at the South, where in Summer the 
ground is hotter. It is overcome by using 
a ton or more of lime to the acre, spread 
on the rough furrows and well harrowed 
in. The cultivation and harrowing you 
speak of are good for the soil. The con¬ 
stant and thorough stirring will let in the 
sun and air, and this will help sweeten the 
soil. By all means, give it a thorough 
working. The land may not be too sour. 
Why not try the litmus test? Buy a few 
strips of blue litmus paper at a drug store. 
Take fair samples of the soil and fill a 
cup or glass. Moisten just enough to 
make the soil pack tight, thrust a knife 
down into the damp soil, then put down 
into this hole a strip of the litmus paper 
and push the soil up around it. Leave it 
so for an hour, then take it out without 
tearing. If the soil is acid the color of 
the blue paper will have changed to a red. 
Cow Peas. —I like to get all the infor¬ 
mation I can regarding the behavior of 
cow peas in the North. Here is a case 
where buckwheat is given place over 
them: 
While looking over Green’s fruit farm 
yesterday, my attention was called to the 
fact that cow peas which have been so wide¬ 
ly recommended as a cover crop valuable 
for plowing under as green manure grow 
vigorously only on the most fertile portion 
of the field where it is least needed. Owing 
to this serious drawback my foreman says, 
he has about decided not to sow any more 
for plowing under as a green crop. He has 
learned by experience that buckwheat and 
rye grow almost equally vigorous on every 
part of the field, on the infertile as well as 
the fertile parts; therefore, for this reason 
he prefers buckwheat and rye. He finds no 
crop that smothers the weeds so successfully 
as buckwheat, and there is no plant that 
grows so rapidly with us. Weeds start 
freely when buckwheat is sown, but they are 
very quickly overgrown and submerged by 
other rapid growing plants or buckwheat. 
C. A. GREEN. 
I noticed much the same thing when we 
began to grow cow peas. They made but 
a feeble growth on poor land. This was 
hard to understand, since I had seen them 
in the South rtiaking a strong growth on 
soil so poor that rye was almost a failure. 
It was found that as the cow peas were 
grown year after year or in alternate 
years on the same ground, the crops grew 
heavier. It is also true that when grown 
on rich soil we rarely find the knots or 
nodules growing on the roots. This seems 
to show that when first grown the peculiar 
bacteria which live on the cow pea roots 
are not present in the soil, while after two 
or three crops have been grown the bac¬ 
teria multiply and help the crop. The 
reason why the cow pea does so well in 
some sections is because these bacteria 
obtain nitrogen from the air, and thus on 
poor soil provide the food which the 
richer soil supplies. I am quite sure that 
Mr. Green will find that after a few years 
the cow peas will do much better on 
poor soil than they do now. Still, I can¬ 
not say that at Rochester they will prove 
superior to buckwheat or rye, because we 
must admit that the cow pea is by nature 
a southern plant, and does its best south 
of Philadelphia. At the New Jersey Ex¬ 
periment Station cow peas grow so rapid¬ 
ly that they smother out the weeds. On 
the other hand I have a field of cow peas 
this year that has proved a failure as a 
weed killer. The cold wet season held 
the cow peas back until the ragweed got 
above them, so that the field is more foul 
l with weeds now than when I started. 
H. W. c. 
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