100?, 
fHE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
261 
Hope Farm Notes 
Home Notes.—'7 am just discouraged 
about ill” 
Now you will say right off that is not 
thu sort of talk to he heard at Hope 
Farm. Yet let me put the thing right 
at you. Suppose you were 10 years old 
ami it was your night to cook supper! 
The family had given a vote of thanks 
to all the other cooks and you wanted 
one. You read in Mother’s cook book 
a recipe for a “minute pudding.’’ You 
followed directions so carefully that it 
made your head ache, and cooked that 
“minute’’ pudding over an hour and still 
ft wasn’t done! People took one or two 
tastes with their spoon and then politely 
ate up the cream and pushed the rest 
aside. No wonder our little girl felt dis¬ 
couraged when those printed directions 
went all wrong. When the printed page 
goes back on ps there isn’t much sun¬ 
shine in sight. 1 am inclined to think a 
person with weak digestion would have 
remembered that pudding for many min¬ 
utes. To encourage the little cook 1 
tried a second dish, but it is true that the 
cats got the greater share of it. I offered 
a resolution of thanks to the cook and 
that made her feel better. 
Now the point is that this Winter the 
children take turns in cooking the supper. 
They make up their own bill of fare out 
of the simple store of food on hand, 
and prepare it in their own way. 1 con¬ 
sider this a good arrangement, for there 
seems no good reason why children should 
not know how to do such tilings. You 
may think the family is in danger of 
becoming dyspeptic, hut there is no indica¬ 
tion of il yet. As a rule we have very 
little meat for supper, hut with haked 
eggs, haked potatoes, codfish on toast, 
macaroni, haked apples, bread and butter 
and an abundance of milk and cream it 
is quite easy for little hands to get up a 
good meal. In spite of her failure with 
the minute pudding the little girl to-day 
can get up a far better meal than many 
a woman of 30! 1 don’t care who people 
are or what they expect to fall heir to, 
it ought to he a part of their education 
to learn how to do the plain, homely things 
of life well. 
Work. —-The snow is still with us— 
piled high on the hills. At this date I 
have never seen in this country a more 
unpromising outlook for Spring work 
If those drifts are to he taken off before 
plowing time there will he a tremendous 
Hood in the rivers. About all we can 
do is to get things ready. We have the 
sprayer mounted on tin old low-down 
wagon, and as soon as possible we shall 
get at the trees with a soaking with 
“Scalecide.” Then we shall find one little 
advantage in sod culture, for we can 
get into our grass orchards earlier than 
in those with bare ground. We can drive 
the heavy sprayer over the grass at a 
time when it would mire in hare ground. 
We are hauling some manure out and 
putting it on the snow. While both 
scientific and practical men prove that it 
is the Iwst way to haul manure every 
day, 1 confess that 1 hesitate to do it. 
It seems as if the melting snow must 
take the best part of the manure away, 
yet there can be no disputing the fact 
which the practice of good farmers shows. 
1 have not yet been able to convince my¬ 
self that it is safe to leave manure on a 
snow-COvered slope with a brook at the 
bottom of it. We find it so hard to get 
suitable soil from under the snow that 
for the first time in years we shall let most 
of the hotbeds go. Charlie is starting 
I’ri/.etaker onions for us in Florida. Wb 
shall try shipping the plants up by ex¬ 
press early in May. We shall depend 
upon our paper pots for most other early 
plants. Fast year we made a number of 
wooden trays or shallow boxes for start¬ 
ing potato sets. 'I liis year our plan is 
to put a little horse manure in the bottom 
of these trays, a little earth on top and 
on that put our paper pots filled with good 
oil. By keeping these trays in a reason 
ably warm room and keeping the soil 
moist we hope to get our plants going. 
Root-Pruning Trees. —There are so 
many questions like the following that I 
will answer them together: 
Will you explain more fully your objections 
to 100 I pruning. We have Just sei about 
1,000 trees pretty severely root-pruned, and 
will set more In (he Kail. Do .von think It 
likely ilnii II will work better In the South 
than the North? Do not cuttings do belter 
farther south? it. n. 11 . 
North Carolina. 
1 presume this man means by “root- 
pruning’’ cutting off all the side roots, or 
leaving only an inch or so at most. In 
my experience the following objection 
may lie made to this. A careless man 
will not pack the dirt hard and firmly 
around the roots. As such trees need a 
very small hole it is easy to stick in the 
tree, press in a little dirt and call the 
job done. Unless great care is taken 
there will he left an air space at the 
bottom, and the tree will suffer or die. 
The lack of brace roots or longer stubs to 
hold in the ground gives trouble in two 
ways. The trees whirl around in the 
wind and wear out large holes. 1 have 
had cases where such trees were blown 
in this way until they lay flat on the 
ground. This can he prevented by tying 
the trees to stakes for the first two years. 
Another trouble in the North with such 
closely pruned trees is that in very severe 
Winters they arc sometimes lifted out by 
the frost. We have had such trees pulled 
clear of the ground in this way, while in 
the same orchard trees left with three 
inches or more of side roots were not 
disturbed. The southern people do not 
realize the strength of the frost’s lifting 
power in this country, or how long our 
soil remains cold and wet in the Spring. 
From mv experience in planting close- 
pruned trees in New Jersey and in 
Florida I should say that the method 
is better adapted to the South. I know 
this, however; that where you can get 
the root-pruned tree to fix itself firmly 
in the soil, and will then care for it prop¬ 
erly, you will have a far better root sys¬ 
tem and a better tree. After much ex¬ 
perimenting I have concluded that on 
otir soil it pays us best to leave about 
three-inch-long roots on peach and four 
or a little more on apple, with the tops 
cut hack in proportion. F.specially where 
trees are planted in sod or are to he 
kept in sod I believe that these short 
roots, packed firmly in small holes, are 
an essential part of sod culture, since 
they result in a deeper root system. 
Nurserymen tell me that the growing 
tendency is to prune the tree both top 
and root closer and closer. [ think this 
is very largely the result of the radical 
ideas advanced by our friend Stringfellow. 
More Apple Pies, —We must evidently 
do something to offset those recipes for 
"Appleless Apple Pies.” I know nothing 
better than to go on giving the apple pie 
people an equal chance. Now here is a 
Connecticut man with a mission: 
I want lhi‘ Hope Farm man’s opinion 011 
Ibis apple pic, which is (he only real apple 
pie. Make the pie without seasoning: llll 
crust with apples and add a little water. When 
done remove top crust, add one cup sugar, 
teaspoonful butter, mix: nutmeg to taste. 
Dei a plate of good rich cheese, send your 
wife and children to church, lock the door 
and you can have a half hour of comfort. 
p. o. x. 
The pic and the cheese seem about 
right, but what about this idea of sending 
the wife and children away in order to 
have comfort? Why not invite them to 
stay and have a piece of the pie or have 
it ready after church? The principles of 
the Apple Consumers’ League are not 
spread and strengthened by driving people 
away from a good pie. That won’t do. 
How arc those children to imbibe true 
lessons in piety at church feeling that 
they are denied such good things at 
home? Why, we ought not to make any 
aristocracy of apple pie eating, but make 
this toothsome dish the great universal 
food language of the world. Here is an 
excellent housekeeper from the Pacific 
coast. 
When I make an apple pic, I put the 
crust op the pan, I hen enough sugar to 
sweeten the pie, spreading it. well to llu* 
edge of the pan, then a liberal sprinkling 
of ground cinnamon : then sprinkle enough 
Hour over lo about cover the sugar; then 
plenty of finely sliced good cooking apples 
and a tablespoonfiil of water. Wet the 
under crust and pinch Ihe edges together, 
and Just hake il quickly enough, not loo fast 
or too slow, and I believe It will he a Hose 
second to the Hope Karin man's “apple 
grunt.” Mas. t\ w. s. 
Washington. 
And here is still another from New 
York. If any pie tried to run over or 
away after this preparation it would be 
because it wanted to advertise its rich¬ 
ness to the world: 
To prevent apple pic from running over 
while baking, prepare Ihe slices llrst, put 
them in a deep dish, add sugar, spices. Hour 
and a very little* water, stir them over and 
over with a large spoon, and lei stand while 
making the crust. Put In the tilling, moisten 
the Inside edges of the under crust, put air 
holes In the upper crust and pinch edges 
down. This has been my method for many 
years without a failure. mks. q. w. i\ 
Now what chance has your “appleless 
apple pie” against “the real thing” as thus 
described? h. w. c. 
I Something New] 
A cast Iron 
'Stone Boat Head; | 
more durable than wood. Boat can bo 
made by any farmer with common straight 
plank and tills bead will outwear a dozen of 
tlio old style. Costa loss to iuiiU. Semi lor fata- | 
logon and prices of this and our complete lino | 
of farm tools. 
ROSS BROTHERS CO., Worcester, Mass. 
Lester Corn Drills each 6 
These Machines have never boon used hut are 
slightly shop worn. They are manufactured by The 
Gale Mfg. Co., Albion, Mich., and are a first class 
Drill with Fertilizer attach meat. They are a 
Ucunlnn Bargain. 
KDWAKI) niOO .Jit., Burlington, N. 
CULTIVATION MAKES 
U THE CROPS—I 
1 ’ THE CULTIVATOR 
—^ Does The Cultivating 
Our newest cultivator possesses every 
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other cultivator and in addition has 
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THE KEYSTONE 
I« Uaaii is all steel and mal- 
leable iron. 3, 4 or 5 
IVtLfai ftj fj shovels may be used 
on either gang which 
moves in unison with its wheel or may be operated 
independently. Gangs always run level—whether 
horses are large or small they are always the same. 
Beams widened and narrowed easily by center lever 
which gives parallel movement of gangs and shovels. 
BALANCE FRAME 
Its perfect balance takes away half the worry of cultivating. A boon to 
horses and a delight to owners. It is perfectly adapted for cultivating all 
crops grown in rows. Widened or narrowed for any width of row, from 
28 to 48 inches. Makes the change with shovels in the ground. A perfect 
hinge couplingand a strong and adjustable pivot enables the operator to 
have a BAI.ANCK FRAME and PIVOT AXLK CULTIVATOR COM¬ 
BI NLP. No other cultivator so perfectly adapted to work in crooked rows 
and dodging obstructions. Lever shifts center under any weight so as to 
balance perfectly. No bearing down on horses’ necks and no flying tip of 
tongue at the end of row. Either gang or frame hitch. 
KEYSTONE FARM MACHINE COMPANY, 
Factory—15-17 BcavcrSt.,York, Pa., Transfer House—New Waterford, Ohio 
. The use of special-purpose tools for weeding means a big saving 
in time and labor. 
With them more work can be done in less time than with ordinary 
tools, and profits on crops thereby increased. 
True Temper Wccders are consti ucted for particular kinds ot 
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They help to cover the ground more quickly and thoroughly 
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* * * 
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American Fork & Hoe Co.,1144 Am. Trust Bldg., Cleveland, O. 
1 he Acme Harrow 
Hold—no 
matter how 
rich—Is well 
prepared for seed 
Unless the ground 
has been thoroughly 
pulverized. 
Does the old fashioned spike 
or spring toothed harrow do 
that! It does not. Il does tear 
up tlie grass, weeds and trash the 
pulverized soil 
is the most Im¬ 
portant requi¬ 
site of a good 
seed bed. No 
Try the 
Acme 
FREE. 
plow hurled, and which should stay hurled. 
What yon need Is the ACME All Steel Riding Hsrrow-tho 
only harrow Inillt on selentllle principles. 
Flat steel spurs go ahead of the Acme coulters or teeth, 
crushing and leveling every clod. 
Then the coulters like long plowshares 
follow, turning tho sell both ways and 
mixing It. When they got through with 
it the soli Is nH line as a Harrow can make 
It ami presents all Its food to the seed. 
Think how miioh easlor on tho 
team tho Acme Harrow Is! 
Tho old harrow dragged blunt¬ 
ly against the soil. Tho Acme 
outs smoothly through. 
Then the Acmo Is very conveni¬ 
ent to move from one Held to an¬ 
other, as n lever raises tho emit- 
t.ers from tho ground. One 
man run put the harrow tu a 
wagon or sled with ease. 
The Aomn Is Ihe lowest priced harrow 
maile aial Is built to last. 
Wrllo lor Iroo book,”A Porfool Sosd Bod." 
Written by distinguished agriculturists. 
A postal to mo and It will coma, 
DUANE H. NASH, Box 38 , MILLINGTON, N. J. 
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TOOLS 
ELEVATORS 
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GIFFORD-WOOD CO 
Hudson, N. Y. * 
Arlington, Mass. • 
Noml for CntuloK It. 
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