ISO?. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
7i9 
Hope Farm Notes 
C-— » ' i. ■ i ■ ■ ■■ — 
Farm Notes. —I have tried to make 
folks understand what it means to fingers 
and back to grow big strawberries, ^ou 
must have -big plants to start with, and 
in order to have big plants you must do 
big work. Our Spring-set plants have 
been horse cultivated nine times at least, 
and hand-weeded six times. As a result 
some of the Marshalls stand, over 15 
inches high, and cover a space larger than 
a peck measure. Through the dry season 
the weeds did not grow fast, but when 
the rains came everything jumped into 
sudden life. The "pussley” and the red- 
weed fought for possession of the soil, 
and both lay loose in the soft mud. The 
boys were not anxious to face the job for 
the sixth time, but great events in the 
world’s history have fallen through be¬ 
cause men hesitated. Two such events, 
both many years ago, have impressed me 
in reading history. When the Spaniards 
conquered Peru they slaughtered the na¬ 
tives and frightened them so that they 
dared not turn upon a white man. Fin¬ 
ally the Spaniards fell out among them¬ 
selves, and one side fought the other at 
Cuzco. There are few more striking pic¬ 
tures in all history than this of white men 
fighting to the death on the plains while 
all around them on the hills were thou¬ 
sands of Indians watching the fight and 
ready to fall upon the victors. It was a 
horrible fight, and it left one side com¬ 
pletely whipped, while the other was com¬ 
pletely exhausted. The Indians might 
have fallen upon the victors and wiped 
them off the earth, yet they lacked the 
courage to make the supreme effort, and 
went away into a.more horrible servitude. 
Again, in the year 325 B. C., Alexander 
the Great having conquered Asia and 
made his way over the desert in awful 
suffering, marched his great army for 
seven days in one grand debauch. They 
were all drunk, carrying great tanks of 
wine along with them. It is said that 
1,000 sober men armed with suitable 
weapons and decent courage could have 
destroyed the entire drunken crew, and 
thus won back the country they had lost. 
Yet though the helpless army was sur¬ 
rounded by thousands of men who had 
lost home, country, wealth—all that in 
this age makes life worth living—they 
did not dare to assert themselves, but re¬ 
mained in slavery rather than strike a 
manly blow. To me these are impressive 
scenes in history—I do not know of any 
which, on the whole, give a more forcible 
lesson. I have seen men with hearts 
seemingly paralyzed with fear standing 
still right when it seemed as if Nature had 
handed them the chance to win—right on 
a silver platter! At any rate, we fell 
upon those weedy strawberries when the 
rain had left them in a drunken riot, and 
mastered them. The old beds were 
plowed out after fruiting and, for a time, 
the plants that were left made no growth. 
We put on the chicken manure, kept the 
cultivator going and waited. As soon as 
the rains came the plants began to jump 
and now they are high up and a rich, dark 
green. , . . T he Alfalfa seems to 
grow every day. The rain3 were followed 
by warm sunshine, and nothing could 
suit the Alfalfa any better. I have no 
brag to make about it yet, but there may 
be a safe one coming. The way the 
Cow-horn turnips grow in the corn is a 
caution. They stand far above the Crim¬ 
son clover, but the latter is by no means 
afraid. We never had a better outlook 
for the cover crops. I had a little Alfalfa 
seed left, and tried the experiment of put¬ 
ting it with the rye at one place on the 
hill, where ‘ four years ago we seeded 
Alfalfa with beardless barley. I thought 
this Alfalfa had all been killed out, but 
even now after at least two plowings and 
two cultivated crops there are several 
places where the Alfalfa shows. They 
surely ought to be “inoculated,” and I 
will try seed there. 
Housework.— When our folks got back 
from their little vacation they found a 
mountain of work to be done. It seemed 
as if the dirty clothes had multiplied 
by means of bacteria until they nearly 
filled a room. We had a young Swedish 
girl working for us through the Sum¬ 
mer, but she left as most of them do, be¬ 
cause the country is too lonely. The 
woman who did the washing had dried 
out—or rather her well had—and we had 
come to the limit for clothes. So our 
folks got out the new washing machine 
and went at it. The old machine works 
on a fair imitation of the rubbing of the 
human hand—two fluted boards pushing 
against each other. A crank turned it, 
and there was solid work required to 
squeeze out the dirt. Even with the hard¬ 
est turning the dirt didn’t all come out— 
some hand rubbing being required, while 
the labor of lifting off the cover was con¬ 
siderable. The new washer works on a 
different principle. You put your clothes 
into the tub with hot water and soap, and 
plunge a device like .a tin funnel down 
upon them. This funnel is pushed down 
by a lever—a spring bringing it up after 
every plunge. This thumping forces air 
down upon the clothes, and you would 
be surprised to see how thoroughly it 
souses out the dirt. The little girls and 
the boys worked this machine and called 
it easy, and Mother was well satisfied 
with the appearance of the clothes. 1 was 
very willing to divide the money which 
the woman gets among these little work¬ 
ers. Until we can get help our folks will 
lead the simple life as far as possible. 
For example, last Sunday all hands helped 
cook the fishballs, which with shredded 
wheat, cream and baked apples made a 
good meal. The little girl and I cleared 
up while the rest went to church. For 
dinner we had cold meat, baked potatoes, 
beets, peppers, sliced tomatoes, peaches 
and cream, baked apples and a water¬ 
melon. For supper, bread and milk, 
cheese, peaches and baked apples. Those 
who could not be satisfied with that would 
have to roast over the fire while they 
cooked their own food. Such a “dinner 
of herbs” with love on the side and on top 
and above beat any ox ever stalled. 
Germs of Education. —The smaller boy 
is at the stage of life when the motto is 
“search the encyclopedia.” When I was 
a boy I was driven to the dictionary— 
hunting up words as a sort of punish¬ 
ment. I hated the job, but it was good 
discipline, and I have tried to get our 
children to go to headquarters for words. 
I do not want this done as a punishment, 
but with the idea that he who will not 
hunt down facts when he has the chance 
will never have any. I would have a good 
dictionary and encyclopedia for the chil¬ 
dren if I had to cut out higher quality of 
food and clothing for them. You must 
pay the penalty, though; if you start these 
hunts for facts you will be expected to 
know all about things. Sometimes when 
I am right in the middle of a letter or 
reading there comes a small voice in my 
ear: “Can you tell how many square miles 
there are in China?” The boy has looked 
it up and has the answer all primed. It 
would be wilder than any guess for me to 
attempt an answer, and yet the child 
thinks I ought to know. My experience 
shows that the wisest plan is to mem¬ 
orize important things that are necessary 
in your work, and to know where to go 
and get other facts when you need them. 
Learning a Trade. —Here is a question 
from a Pennsylvania boy: 
I thought I would write to you, as I 
think you can give me a little advice. I am a 
boy 16 years of age, and I would like to 
learn a trade. Could you tell what trade 
would pay the best, as I do not like to be 
a mechanic or a carpenter? I would like to 
have a trade that is steady all year around. 
No; I am afraid I cannot tell you what 
trade to learn. You will have to decide 
that for yourself, because a part of the 
success with any trade is to love the 
work. You do not want to be a me¬ 
chanic or a carpenter. If you learned 
either of these trades you would not feel 
satisfied, and probably you would be wait¬ 
ing for the whistle to blow for dinner at 
the end of the day instead of feeling 
sorry to see the tools laid down. If I 
named another trade you might object to 
that also. I do not know of any trade 
that is “steady all the year round,” and 
yet I do not know of any which may not 
be made so. You may take such a hum¬ 
ble job as carrying a hod or digging a 
ditch, and even there you would find a 
lifetime too short to study all that the 
work represents. Take what you would 
carrv in the hod—bricks, mortar or ce¬ 
ment. Suppose you studied and read all 
vou could possibly learn about them. You 
would not carry the hod long if you ap¬ 
plied your study, for the man who mas¬ 
ters cement making can name his own 
price. In like manner if you masterec 
the secrets of the soil that you threw out 
with your spade no power on earth except 
yourself could keep you in the ditch. 
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do—do it 
with thy might!” If I wanted to learn a 
trade and could not make up my mind I 
would look about and see what men in 
the various trades are doing; talk with 
them and see what arguments they can 
give for or against their occupation. Get 
•catalogues from schools and colleges 
where trades are taught and study them. 
Try to select one in which the individua 
man has the best chance to rise by show¬ 
ing his superior qualities. For instance, 
a first-class cook would have a better 
chance to impress his excellence upon the 
public than a first-class carpenter or 
plumber. I would like to have my boys 
select some trade connected with a farm, 
but thus far they do not seem to know 
what they do want. When I went to 
work, before 14 years of age. I would like 
to have learned the blacksmith’s trade, but 
mv people put me in a book store as 
errand boy. Now every time I hit my fin¬ 
der with a hammer or find that I cannot 
do a neat iob with tools, I am doubly 
sorry that I missed the trade, h. w. c. 
-« * 
The Making 
of Men 
in the Navy 
The United States Navy offers the 
opportunity for finer training, mental and 
physical, and more certain promotion, than 
any other occupation. It is easy for the young 
man of good habits and ability to secure a warrant 
position by promotion through the petty officer 
ratings and passing a reasonable examination. 
A warrant officer, beginning at $ 1200 , sea-pay, receives 
$1800 after twelve years’ service, and can retire at 62 years of 
age with independent pay for life. The 
U.S.Navy 
needs young men of good health and character, who can be 
promoted to fill vacancies. Applicants must be American 
citizens between 17 and 35 years of age. 
Term of enlistment four years. Pay, $ 16.00 to $ 70.00 per 
month, including board, medical attendance and clothing 
allowance at first enlistment. No experience necessary, but 
electricians, machinists or skilled mechanics can enlist at higher 
ratings and secure more rapid promotion. 
Personal application can be made at Navy Recruiting Sta¬ 
tions in various cities, or full information of how and where to 
join the Navy may be had by writing 
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION 
NAVY DEPARTMENT, Box M, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
FIX YOUR ROOF 
C A Dor Qmioro —We will guarantee to put 
Ub re I OijUcnci any old leaky, worn-out 
rusty, tin, iron, steel, paper, felt or shingle roof in 
perfect condition, and keep it in perfect condition 
for 5c per square per year. 
The Perfect Rool Preserver, makes old, 
worn-out roofs now. Satisfaction guaranteed 
or money refunded. Our free roofing book 
■ tells all about it. Write for it today. 
(he Anderson Manufacturing Co.. Oept. 35, Elyria, Ohio. 
uu pui oquttit 
Roof-FiX; 
Use a King Harness 60 months. 
It will resist every jerk, twist, strain. 
We guarantee it. King Harness has 
been made for a quarter century. Some 
now in use were made more than 20 years 
ago. Deal directly with the makers—save 
25 percent. Big assortment. Write for free 
catalog F now. „ Owego, Tioga Oo. 
King Harness Go., N. Y. 
6 Lake St. 
WE’LL PAY THE FREIGHT 
:ind send 4 Ituutjy Wheels, Steel Tires on - $8.75 
vVith Rubber Tires, $15.520. I mfg. wheel# % to 4 in. 
tread. Top Buggies. $29.76; Sleighs, $10.76. Write for 
catlog. Learn how to buy direct. Repair Wheels, $6.60. 
Wagon Umbrella FREE. W.B. BOOB, Cincinnati,O. 
HAY JUMPING 
will soon be a thing of the past. 
Hay Baling made rapid and easy by 
SPENCER’S HERCULES LARGE BALE PRESS. 
Guaranteed capacity four tons an hour or no sale. 
No jumping. Every farmer who furnishes Tabling 
and Board should talk this Press, because he does 
not have to pitch hay as high as the Upright. 
Again, the Upright cannot take feed while pressing 
and tying. We can; hence men on the mow, not 
having to wait, are more efficient. Greater speed 
means less board. For Catalog address 
J. A. SPENCER, - = Dwight, Ills. 
( "Capacity: 12 to 18 Tons per Day'"' 
Economical In help and power. The simple 
Self-Feed attachment handles large or small 
charges, saves labor and adds to capacity. 
Press stands on Its wheels In operation—no 
holes to dig. Tyer stands up to do his work; no 
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automatic plunger draw, bridge less than eight 
inches high. Easily and quickly set for work. 
Adapted for work at bank barns. We also build a 
Belt Power Press. Get free catalog before buying. 
Sandwich Mfg. Co., 187 Main St., Sandwich, III. 
’9 no possible chance of being disappointed when you buy Buckeye 
and Cultivators. Over 60 years reputation and skill are back of them. 
There’: 
They*last a^Ufe-time an<Talway’S J do^satisfactory work. Cheapest and best in 
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improvements. Our latest catalog illustrates them complete. It s free ana 
wifi save you money. p. p. MAST & CO., Dept.K, Springfield, Ohio. 
O' 
WE BUY OLD BAGS 
Don’t throw away your second-hand bags. Perhaps you do not know you 
can sell them. YOU CAN. We will buy all the old sacks you have or 
can get. We pay top-notch prices for them. 
WRITE TO-DAY, tolling what you have and we will gladly quote prices. 
WE PAY* FREIGHT CHARGES. 
St. Louis Bag & Burlap Co., 327 N. Main St., St. Louis, Mo. 
FASTER AlfD EASIER THAN THE OLD WAY 
Run 
i It to any part of 
the building or 
yard over 
switches and 
around curves. 
Keep 
your stable clean 
with little effort. Easy to 
operate and saves time. 
Will dump a load and re¬ 
turn to you. Don’t have 
to go with It. Themo8tprac- . _ 
tieal, handiest and economical oarrler made Is 
• « • 
LOUDEN’S 
Louden Machinery Co„ 
FEED AND 
LITTER 
CARRIER 
It’s all steel. Nothing to break or wear out. Can be , 
raised or lowered at will. Box is water tight and tips over I 
to discharge. Let us show you the Innumerable uses of 
this labor and money saving device. A valuable book on the care and 
‘‘ "••it 
valme of manure sent free with our catalog. Write today. 
39 Broadway, 
Fairfield, Iowa. 
