1900. 
Hope Farm Notes 
“Responsibility.” —I knew that sev¬ 
eral of the things developed in “Nell 
Beverly, Farmer,” would stir up discus¬ 
sions. The first one to reach us is an 
argument over the outcome of Bob’s 
forgery, in the chapter entitled, “How 
Bob Made Good.” If you have not yet 
read the book you will need to be told 
that Bob Beverly, desperate for money 
with which to start in business, forged 
his sister’s name and drew this money 
from a bank. The thought of what he 
had done drove him frantic. By chance 
he came to a tent where an evangelist 
was preaching at a revival. His sin 
was brought home to Bob so forcibly 
that he rushed back to his sister and 
confessed his crime. After an angry 
outburst she forgave him. The matter 
was not made public, the business pros¬ 
pered and Bob “made good”; that is, 
he became a “good citizen,” ^settled 
down, married and lived a decent, re¬ 
spectable life. We are not told that 
the incident deepened his religious con¬ 
victions—we should judge that it did 
not. 
Now a very capable and clear-headed 
critic says this incident is wrong. He 
says the logic of the situation is—"if 
you are hard up, steal money, confess, 
be forgiven—then the investment will 
prove a success, etc., etc.” He does 
not claim that the incident is improb¬ 
able or uncommon. He is evidently 
referring to what ought to have been 
done to Bob—or anyone else who acts 
in that way. In other words, what is 
the true penalty for sin? 
Now this is one of the things in this 
book which will start lively discussions 
at home and at the Grange. The ques¬ 
tion is, what should Nell Beverly have 
done? She knew her brother—all his 
faults and failings. She remembered 
her mother’s dying injunction to be 
patient with him. She felt, too, that 
she should have lent him the money 
after all, and there was a family pride 
and tradition that every Beverly would 
“make good” at the real test. The 
situation was a hard one. but I do not 
see how the woman could have done 
differently. I would like to have the 
women who read the book tell me what 
they would have done with son or 
brother. Some of the men would no 
doubt have played a more heroic part, 
perhaps have exposed their son or 
brother, broken up the business which 
he was to start with stolen money, 
and even pressed him to jail. This in¬ 
cident of the forgery is natural—did 
Nell Beverly do her duty when she for¬ 
gave him? To what extent does such 
a painful confession expiate sin? 
In talking of this matter several peo¬ 
ple tell me that they doubt very much 
if anyone was ever shocked by some 
quick awakening of conscience into a 
permanent change of evil habits. I am 
not so sure of that. A few years since 
an officer in the Salvation Army lived 
near us. One Summer he fitted tents 
and sheds on his farm and brought 
out a small army of city waifs. I was 
over there one evening at supper time, 
and saw a fat man presiding over a 
stove in a hot shed. 
“Look at him,” said my friend, the 
Salvation Army man. “Six months ago 
lie was one of the toughest barkeepers 
on the Bowery; now he is here cook¬ 
ing for these boys. You like to look 
up scientific problems—tell us how you 
analyze that!” 
“But what made him change?” 
“You go and ask him!” 
So I went over and shook hands 
with Tom. He was ladling out great 
dippers of stew to boys who looked 
about as large as a pint measure, but 
held a gallon. 
There wasn’t anything impressive 
about his appearance. An old sack was 
tied about his big shapeless body in 
place of an apron. His shirt could 
easily have been cleaner. His great 
hairy arms were bare nearly to the 
shoulders and he had the singular com¬ 
bination of a bald head and a neck 
covered with hair or fur. 
the; rural 
“Tom, tell this man why you quit 
selling rum and began working with 
the boys.” 
“Well, sir, it was just the plain grace 
of God an’ nothin’ else!” 
By that time he had turned around 
so that I could see his face. It was 
fat and red and marked, and not 
overly clean, but there was something 
shining through it that made me know 
that what he said was true. I know 
that after the little fellows had all 
been fed and they had pulled the flag 
down, I walked slowly home feeling 
as if I had seen the outcome of a 
miracle. 
Home and Farm. —The following 
question comes from our own county, 
where all sorts of fodder brings a 
price: 
What is the difference in the feeding 
value of cornstalks cut and cured in the 
shock, or those allowed to die as they 
stand in the rows and dry? c. s. c. 
I would sooner have one ton of 
bright field-cured stalks cut at the right 
time than 2 / 2 tons of dry and frozen 
stuff left on its feet. It makes me 
ache to see how some farmers neglect 
their corn fodder. Every day I see 
whole fields of it left out in the snow. 
Most of our farmers are idle during 
the . Winter. It would pay them to 
chop nd steam most of their corn 
fodder. By running it through a fod¬ 
der cutter into a uarrcl, pouring on 
boiling water and covering with a 
blanket, they would have a good sub¬ 
stitute for silage. If they have no 
cutter it will pay to cut with a broad- 
ax. Lay the bundle over a block and 
cut it into 18-inch lengths before feed¬ 
ing. I am speaking now of practice for 
our own county, where but little stock is 
kept and where 'there is plenty of 
spare time in Winter. . . . Corn 
has dropped from $1.70 to $1.45 per 
100 pounds for half ton lots in our 
local market. Oats are $1.40. At the 
same time ground “stock food” brings 
$1.70, and has a large sale. Now 200 
pounds of mixed corn and oats cost 
$2.S5, against $3.40 for the same weight 
of stock food. By looking at the lat¬ 
ter through a microscope I can see 
finely ground corncobs, or else my eyes 
are wrong. I consider the ground corn 
and oats better by 20 per cent than 
the stock food, while the price of the 
whole grain is nearly 30 cents per 100 
less. They haven’t yet got to the point 
where the whole grain can be adulter¬ 
ated. Our sweep grinder is one of the 
most useful implements on the farm. 
. . . The seed corn is nearly ready 
for delivery. We picked out the finest 
of the ears to be sold without shelling. 
Of these the best are to be kept here 
for next year’s seed. The only way to 
get something that is worth while is 
to select a sort of Gideon’s band of 
corn each year and stick to it. When 
it comes to the shelled corn my in¬ 
structions are to reject absolutely every 
ear that is inferior. We can far better 
afford to feed all such corn than to sell 
it for seed and have some one feel 
that he was cheated. When the seed 
corn is ready we shall pick off and 
ship the last of the Brussels sprouts 
and then “take to the woods.” We 
have need of plank and boards for 
stable floors. We expect to cut the 
timber and haul it to mill. Then we 
are figuring for the sale of telephone 
poles and cord wood. That chestnut 
disease is spreading through the tim¬ 
ber, and it is time many of the trees 
came down. Before I cut the best of 
them I intend to see what form of 
timber will bring me most money. As 
the woods are cut off I expect to plant 
more apple trees. ... I am trying 
to interest one of my boys in forestry. 
When I was younger than he is the old 
gentleman who brought me up took a 
piece of poor land and cut off the pine 
timber. It was then left to grow up 
to scrub oak and brush, and that is 
all there is on it to-day. I now see 
that if we had planted seedlings of 
pine and hemlock or even scattered the 
seed and given them such care as a 
man and boy could this piece of land 
to-day would provide for me as long 
as I live. If now at 50 I could make 
the boy at 15 realize what a few acres 
of timber would do for him in 35 years 
his future would be provided for. Yet 
I doubt if I would have listened to 
such an argument at his age. Not 
long since I heard of a man about my 
age, and with no children, who has 
bought 500 acres of cheap land and 
will make a commercial forest out of 
it. H. w. c. 
NEW-YORKER 
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