1906. 
667 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Hope Farm Notes 
Pansy Culture. —When Mr. D. L. 
Hartman told the story of his farm he 
spoke of his success at pansy culture on 
a small scale. Our boys were taken with 
that, and they were anxious to know how 
Mr. Hartman does it. He is a busy man, 
but finally found time to write the follow¬ 
ing description. It is late now, but I will 
print it anyway. 
First, get good seed of the large strains 
of fancy varieties. Use no common stock. 
Put in an extra dash of Lord Beaeonsiield, 
President Carnot and Snow Queen, as these 
are popular varieties. The vitality of pansy 
seed is low, and it will probably require be¬ 
tween $3 and $4 worth of seed to insure 
about 2,000 plants. Sow the seed in well- 
prepared, good garden soil, as soon now as 
possible. I usually sow about August 15, 
but I have not ordered my seed yet (August 
13). but it will be all right up to August 
25. Sow in rows 10 or 12 inches apart, so 
as to cultivate with wheel-hoe. Cover very 
light, not over one-quarter inch deep. Less 
is probably better. I make the furrows by 
tacking a little strip on the under side of a 
bit of board about as large as a plasterer's 
trowel. Taper the front end of board like a 
sled runner, and push it along the mark. 
Covering the seed lightly and getting the 
plants to come up is the only difficult part 
of the work. As it requires a long time for 
tlie seed to germinate, it is well to scatter a 
little cabbage seed along the row, so the 
wheel-lioe mav be used to conserve moisture. 
The seed should be sdwn rather thinly 
along the row, say from'10 to 15 to the inch. 
They might be sown much thicker only that 
the roots are so very fibrous that it would be 
very difficult to separate the plants when trans¬ 
planting. Nothing further need be done this 
Fall than to keep the surface mellow and free 
from weeds. I always leave the plants in the 
open ground during the Winter without any 
protection whatever, only that the bed is so 
located that the snow does not melt readily. 
However, the plants seem entirely hardy, 
and you will probably have no trouble on that 
score. Early in the Spring prepare a good 
piece of ground just as you would for a crop 
of lettuce. Space the rows one foot apart 
and set plants six inches along the row. 
Water if you choose, but if ground is in good 
condition the plants will root as readily as 
anything you have ever planted. Use wheel- 
hoe frequently : pick off first blossoms if plants 
are too small to offer for sale : but as soon as 
plants are of a size not to look “scrappy” and 
show one or more nice flowers they should 
be taken up with garden trowel with a lump 
of earth adhering to the roots. If to be sold 
at a distance, the roots with earth should be 
wrapped in paper, pouring in a spoonful of 
water to insure moisture. Tell the boy if 
lie raises a good article he will have no trou¬ 
ble to sell them, for people fairly go wild 
over them. 
Farm Notes. —By August 16 the weeds 
among the cow peas and Kaffir corn 
were so high that it seemed useless to 
let them grow longer. So the whole 
thing was cut with the mowing machine. 
At this time the Kaffir stood about three 
feet high and the cow peas about eight 
inches shorter. The cow peas were dark 
green and vigorous, but the ragweed had 
beaten them. This stuff will be cured as 
best we can. After wilting on the 
ground for a couple of days it was 
raked into windrows and turned over 
from day to day. As the weather is 
warm and sunny we seem likely to get 
a good bunch of forage for the cows. 
The outcome is a great disappointment 
to me, as I expected a much heavier 
yield, and I thought the cow peas would 
smother the weeds out. We also expect¬ 
ed to seed to Alfalfa after cutting the 
pea vines. The cold and wet held the 
peas back, and the “smothering” was 
done by the ragweed. I do not dare 
to sow Alfalfa on such a weedy place. 
After the “hay” is taken off I shall put 
four horses on the Cutaway, weighting 
the tool down heavily, and tear up that 
sod several times. Then we expect to 
sow half the orchard to rye and half 
to wheat—working in a good dressing 
of lime. I plan to cut these grain crops 
early for a forage, to follow with oats 
and peas or early Qorn fodder, and then 
seed to Alfalfa. The time seems to 
have come when it will pay us to get 
into the dairy business in a small way. 
There are so many Summer boarders in 
our country that the milk is all con¬ 
sumed. It is hard to buy a quart. As 
we are situated the soiling system seems 
best, and the manure will be needed for 
our trees later on. ... We are still 
tearing up that land where the lawn is 
to be seeded. Spring-tooth, Cutaway and 
Acme are used at intervals; my object is 
to make the soil as fine as possible, to 
grade it perfectly—in fact, to make a 
lawn that will last as long as I do. In 
preparing this place we get an idea of 
what it is to prepare acres on the Clark 
method, and what patience is required to 
do it right. The question is whether 
one acre well fitted is worth three or 
four half fitted. . . . How the corn 
does jump and fill out during these hot 
August days! It is one of the most won¬ 
derful • things connected with farming to 
notice this crop at earing time. Our 
crop satisfies me well. The Learning 
corn on that lower field is the best we 
have ever had. On the hill, among the 
young trees, the Canada flint has good 
color, and is making the ears I expect¬ 
ed. This is a small growing kind, and 
seems like a poor dwarf by the side of 
the great Learning. A visitor at the 
farm saw it the other day and at once 
said: 
“Why don’t you plant corn?” 
He didn’t understand what we are 
after. This short, quick-growing variety 
will give nearly as much grain as the 
large kind. It will mature seed in about 
three weeks less time. It requires less 
fertilizer, since it does not have to build 
a stalk nearly as large as a small tree. It 
does not grow above the young trees. 
I often see corn planted in young or¬ 
chards that grows above the trees and 
shuts them off from sun and air. I think 
one of the first principles of crop grow¬ 
ing in young orchards is to plant some¬ 
thing that will not shade the trees. As 
I wanted corn, I planted this dwarf vari¬ 
ety, which gives grain and still gives the 
trees a chance. 
To Stop Crowing. —Here is a question 
that beats anything I have had yet: 
How can a rooster be made to quit his 
musical propensities and to stop crowing? 
M.v daughter prevailed upon me to get a 
dozen hens, and the Major-domo of the 
band of cacklers disturbs my neighbors’ 
slumbeys long before they are willing to 
rise, and as I agree with them on the 
same ground' I apply to a wiser man for 
"advice. Of course you would not advo¬ 
cate a process that would rob the bird 
of his pride. I only would like to have 
him sing his solo so low that he would 
not lie a nuisance to my fair neighbors 
from the city, who are not used to being 
up until the sun is at quite an angle from 
the horizon. There is a chance to show 
your knowledge of hen nature. _ Do not 
advocate putting the perch so high under 
the roof that he could not stretch his 
neck to send a high note: this particular 
bird could sing lying on his back. d. 
To show how the world is made up I 
will say that I wish I could change places 
with those people and hear that bird 
crow. I have read about lawsuits and 
fights over crowing roosters. 1 here is a 
very sure remedy—cut off the offending 
head and make the bird into a “chicken” 
pie. . Then write those who shuddered 
at his song to come and help eat the pie. 
The fellow is of no value anyway at this 
season—get rid of him and his crow to¬ 
gether. If however, his society is de¬ 
sired, you can muzzle him over night. 
Study the symptoms of the crowing habit. 
The bird must throw his head back and 
open his mouth and throat. A “rooster 
bit” is a piece of wood or steel with a 
short knob at the side. By means of a 
rubber band it is fastened in the bird’s 
mouth so that the knob is down his 
throat.. With this in his mouth his own 
voice will frighten him, and he will he 
as silent as a judge even though every 
one of his wives should lay an egg. An¬ 
other scheme I have heard of is a 
“rooster hood.” This is made of thick 
rubber or leather and fits around the 
lower part of the bill and over the head 
so that the bird being unable to open his 
bill must remain shut up. It will not in¬ 
terfere with his breathing, but when it 
comes to voice it means prohibition that 
prohibits. These devices can be put on 
the bird at night and taken off in the 
morning, when he will make up for lost 
time. Do I recommend the same treat¬ 
ment for human blow-hards? I do; only 
I would reverse the application and have 
them wear one of those devices during 
their waking hours! 
STONE DRAINS ON LAWNS. 
A. It., New .Jersey .—I am about to plow 
a large piece of somewhat stony ground for 
a lawn. Will it be any advantage to dig 
ditches through this field and throw the 
stones into them—leaving a foot or so of 
soil above the stones? 
We would strongly advise that you dig 
the proposed ditches about 25 feet apart. 
This will not only rid you of such stones 
as may be on your ground, but will also 
serve as a drain, and will give you at 
all times, a good dry lawn and prevent 
the washing out of portions of your lawn 
after a heavy rain, which you may have 
observed in some places. We would sug¬ 
gest when filling these ditches, that you 
have, the stones thoroughly tramped 
down, so as to prevent too much settling. 
We would also advise that you use from 
12 to 15 inches of dirt for a covering 
over these stones. This depth of earth 
will give your grass plenty of soil to feed 
from, and will also make it stand out 
green during any long period of dry 
weather that we may have. You may 
have seen lawns during a dry spell, that 
had streaks of partly dead and weak- 
looking grass. This is caused by the fact 
that there is not enough earth put over 
the ditches for it to be properly fed. 
New York. t. j. dwyer & co. 
I do not think the plan suggested for 
disposing of the stones would prove in 
anyway injurious to the lawn in the 
future, provided that the soil is well 
packed or puddled into the ditches, in 
order to avoid settling of the soil after¬ 
ward. But it seems to me that this 
method would entail a great deal of 
extra labor, and that the stones might 
better be picked up into a cart and hauled 
off to be used for road-making or re¬ 
pairing. The only advantage in burying 
the stones in ditches would be in thus 
forming stone drains in case the land 
requires some underdraining, but in case 
no such drainage system is required, I 
should prefer to haul the stones away at 
once, and avoid any probability of future 
hollows in the ground. w. h. taplin. 
Pennsylvania. 
With regard to the burying of the 
stones in ditches I can sec no objection 
thereto if covered with 10 inches of soil 
made thoroughly firm. Of course the 
greatest risk one runs in such a case is 
that of settling, and to reduce this to a 
minimum I would advise you to do all 
but the sowing this Fall, and seed in 
early Spring, at which time any surface 
irregularities might be corrected. On the 
other hand, if you particularly wish to 
sow this season I do not think you will 
have any trouble in this respect so long 
as the covering soil is made very firm. 
If practicable it would be a splendid plan 
first to put on say three or four inches 
of soil over stones, and then with plenty 
of water wash this down between and 
amongst the stones, and repeating the 
operation until all the spaces become 
filled. If this is done and the additional 
soil well firmed above you need fear 
neither unevenness nor drought. 
Pennsylvania. jesse robbins. 
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Buying Pullets. —Such letters as this 
come every year. 
I would like to buy about 200 Spring chick¬ 
ens (pullets). Can von tell me where I can 
get them? Is it safe to buy them in the 
New York market, and when Is the best time? 
E. H. B. 
You will have a job to buy good pul¬ 
lets at any fair price. When a man has 
carried a good pullet through from the 
egg to cold weather he is foolish to give 
her away. The majority of those who 
have such birds want to buy rather than 
sell. Buying poultry in the New York 
market is all right in theory, but nearer 
wrong in practice. I have bought several 
hundred such birds. Some were good, 
but most were culls. It stands to reason 
• that no one in his right mind would ship 
his best pullets to be sold at live weight 
prices. He would naturally keep his 
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