1909. 
THE RURAL NEW -YORKER 
307 
Hope Farm Notes 
Education. — “He’s got good learnin’ 
but he don't know nothin’ about work.” 
I quote my neighbor’s words exactly. 
He was estimating the value of a man 
who had applied to me for a job. This 
man had spent the Winter at my neigh¬ 
bor’s house doing small chores and eat¬ 
ing large meals. The man proved to be 
a big fellow with great chest and 
broad shoulders, apparently capable of 
lifting one corner of a barn. He took 
off his hat when he came into the house 
and made a low bow. 
“I regret that my present unfortunate 
financial circumstances render it neces¬ 
sary for me to apply for a position in 
which to do manual labor but if given 
the opportunity I will endeavor to ren¬ 
der the most efficient service in - my 
power.” 
Now, I never saw one of these word 
manufacturers who had much value with 
ax or hoe. However, this man did 
not try to use his “learnin”’ to obscure 
the truth. 
“I frankly admit that I am unaccus¬ 
tomed to the use of the ordinary tools 
used in farm manipulation, yet I am 
willing to attempt such labor as you 
may designate.” 
It was a holiday, but our folks had 
just discovered that the cesspool was 
about ready to run over. This is a 
job which everybody shuns, but it had 
come up for immediate attention. So 
I took this orator for assistant and 
went at it myself. I found him clumsy, 
but willing enough provided you let 
him talk. He seemed to have acquired 
the talking habit to such an extent that 
the muscles of his jaw controlled those 
of his arms and legs. Condemned to 
silence he would be much like a gaso¬ 
line engine with an exhausted battery. 
That was where I fell down with my 
learned friend. After the cesspool was 
cleaned he still wanted work. The 
only job T had was grubbing roots in 
an old back field which I want to clean 
for oats and peas. He started in alone 
bravely. At night there came a very 
dejected-looking giant with a sad tale 
of woe. 
“I regret very much to be obliged to 
report that after a full investigation 
of the work I find that my health is 
such that it will be impossible for me 
to continue it. This unwonted form of 
labor, due to my inexperience, will de¬ 
range my muscular system.” 
Now, to use a common expression— 
wouldn’t that jar you ? It did me as much 
as the labor did my learned friend! 
I try to be a philosopher, but I did 
let into him about the shame of a 
man with such hack and shoulders fall¬ 
ing down before honest work. It was 
no use; he got his money and went off 
seeking some softer job or some place 
where he can talk. No doubt, the sur¬ 
roundings of that lonely back field, 
with no one to talk to filled him with 
terror. But where was his “learning” 
—the books he had read, or the 
thoughts which education ought to give 
him? If they are not to serve as com¬ 
panions in lonely hours or as solace in 
times of trial what are they good for? 
“He’s got gsod learnin’, but he don’t 
know nothin’ about work.” 
This man represents a class of un¬ 
trained citizens that is growing larger 
all the time. They are the unhappy 
products of a false system of educa¬ 
tion. The craze to give children 
“learnin’” and then shield them from 
labor or the knowledge required to 
handle tools is little short of criminal. 
To give a boy a smattering of “learnin’ ” 
—just enough to enable him to talk , 
—and then set him loose without train¬ 
ing m some trade or ability to do some 
hand labor well, is to put an industrial 
curse upon him. The world wants 
skilled workmen—not .more ^handlers 
and middlemen. “The farmer’s share” 
is small enough now, and it is small 
because there are so many middlemen 
to provide for. Think of the folly of 
turning more of them loose—untrained 
at that. If I had a girl of 15 who 
couldn’t get up a good meal or keep a 
house neat, or a boy who could not 
harness and drive a horse, or raise a 
crop of strawberries or potatoes alone 
I should feel that I had neglected my 
duty. 
Housework. —Among the various 
comments regarding women’s work I 
have the following thoughtful proposi¬ 
tion from Connecticut: 
I want to send you an apple cake recipe. 
Bake layers for a regulation layer cake, 
then, grate apple, sweeten and flavor and 
spread between the layers. It is delicious, 
but you would not guess what the filling 
•was. Try it, even if you have to buy the 
apples. When the women folks want a 
new washing machine, or an Easter bonnet, 
if they will just place a large chunk of this 
cake before their lord and master, it will 
prove a strong “silent argument” in their 
behalf. 
This is a man, mind you. too. The 
only trouble I can see is that if you 
bought the apples this year the man 
would have no money left for machines 
or bonnets. As for washing machines. 
I am something of an expert. The 
bov works the machine at our house, 
but four children were down with 
measles on Washington’s Birthday, and 
there was a crying need for clean 
clothes. I was called in to provide mo¬ 
tive power. Part of the wash had been 
sent out—our job lay with the heavier 
and dirtier clothes. Mother had these 
clothes soaking in the laundry tub. 
She took a pail of warm water, shook 
in a little washing powder and stirred 
it to a lather. I poured it and sev¬ 
eral more, into the washing machine 
Then she took the garments from the 
tub, rubbed a cake of naptha soap over 
them, and dropped them into the ma¬ 
chine. It was then my privilege to 
work the plunger of the machine up 
and down—not unlike working an old- 
fashioned churn, only not such a hard 
j ob. 
“No—that’s not enough !” 
“Work over that side!” 
“Don’t splash on the floor!” 
There was a running fire of instruc¬ 
tions as I worked. A philosopher might 
well ask himself various questions a? 
he operated that handle. Why do I 
a big, strong man, stand here and take 
this ordering about by a person but lit¬ 
tle more than half my size? Would 
I permit any man to boss me in this 
way? These clothes are clean and I 
know it—why, then, do I take such or¬ 
ders, and wash them over and over 
again ? 
If this man were a clear thinker and 
reasoner he would conclude, before the 
clothes were done, that he had struck 
one of the great secrets of life—one of 
the primal forces of society, and one 
of the solutions of the farm life prob¬ 
lem. He would also conclude that if 
the editor of The Ladies’ Home Jour¬ 
nal and other gentlemen who draw 
such a hlack picture of the farm 
woman’s life would take their turn 
at the washing machine their pictures 
would be clearer. I know that we got the 
dirt out of those clothes without any 
washboard, without any hard rubbing 
without any boiling or backache or back 
talk. I claim for myself the chief 
credit for the latter. When later I 
saw the results of our labor streaming 
on the clothesline I felt proud of it 
It was like a flag proclaiming victory 
over dirt! I heard of a man once who 
made his wife a birthday present of 
a bottle of patent medicine! Bettei 
give her a good washing machine. A 
woman in Ohio tells me she got this 
machine and found it such a help that 
she took it to a farmer’s institute and 
starched her courage up to the point of 
making a speech while the machine dug 
the dirt out of the clothes! She should 
have had a man or boy along to work 
the handle and take the bossing. 
Farm and Home. — The blizzard 
which spoiled the inauguration struck 
this country a little out of breath. The 
mercury fell and there is snow on the 
ground. We are glad of the change in 
the weather, for it stops the swelling 
of those peach buds. Tf the warm 
weather had lasted a few days more 
there would have been trouble. As it 
is, our buds are all right, and now 
we want cool weather through March 
We shall paint the house this month. 
We like a pearl gray, with white trim¬ 
mings and dark green blinds for a 
country house, with a fair number of 
trees around it. We buy the ready- 
mixed paint and put it on ourselves. 
For barns and other farm buildings 
we like red. . . . Our hen busi¬ 
ness ran down to a small point, but 
now we are building it up again on 
what we hope will prove a solid basis 
The oldest boy has gone in partner¬ 
ship with me. We have a fine pen of 
R. I. Reds, and expect to set all their 
eggs and buy more. For our eating 
eggs we have a good mixed lot of hens 
The old house was damp. The boy 
has built up the floor with stones and 
dirt, and keeps crushed corncobs for 
litter, so the hens are comfortable 
enough. Our plan is to hatch all the 
chicks we can well care for—practically 
all under hens. h. w. c. 
Pota&h in the Fertilizer Puts Corn on the Cob and 
Profit in the Pocket 
Practical field tests with the fertilizing elements, Potash, Phos¬ 
phoric Acid and Nitrogen, have amply demonstrated the truth 
that Potash is essential to the development of sound, profit-paying 
CORN 
Your commercial fertilizer) for corn should contain at least 9 % 
of Potash. The result will be a larger yield and better quality, 
POTASH IS PROFIT 
Valuable Literature , FREE , on Fertilizing Corn and all other crops, 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, 93 Nassau Street, New York 
Monadnock Block, Chicago Candler Building, Atlanta, Ga. 
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Woodward & Chandiee, Registered Attorneys, 
1252 F Street, Washington, D. C. 
Wear STEEL SHOES 
Absolute Protection Against 
Colds,'Rheumatism, Stiffness, Discomfort 
No More Blistered, Aching Feet 
GOOD-BYE to CORNS and BUNIONS! 
Pat. 
Dec.4,'0fl' 
Others pending 
FREE 
Off With the Old, Rough,Wrinkled Leathers! 
On With the Comfortable STEEL SHOES! 
There’s more good wear in one pair of Steel Shoes than in 
three to six pairs of the best All-Leather Shoes. And 
comfort! The very first time you slip your feet into Steel 
Shoes, they feel fine. They need no “ breaking in.” And 
the longer you wear Steel Shoes the better you like them, 
for they keep your feet warm, dry and comfortable—though 
you work in mud or slush up to your shoe tops. Steel Shoes 
are shaped to fit the foot, and the rigid steel bottoms and sides force them to keep their shape. 
No warping, no twisting, no leaking possible. And they are light shoes, too. 
Write for 
Book. “The 
Sole of Steel,” 
or order a pair 
Of STEEL SHOES 
on the blank below. 
How Our 1909 Model Steel Shoes Are Made. 
The Wonderful Steel Bottoms 
Steel Shoes solve the problem of the Perfect 
Work Shoe for all time to come. 
The soles of Stetel Shoes and an inch above 
the soles are stamped out of a special light, 
thin, rust-resisting steel. One piece of seam¬ 
less steel from toe to heel. As a further pro¬ 
tection from wear, and a means ol giving a 
firm foothold, the bottoms are studded with 
ldjustable steel rivets. 
The adjustable steel rivets of the 1909 model 
Steel Shoes add the finishing touch of perfec¬ 
tion. Practically all the wear comes on these 
steel rivets. When steel rivets wear down, you 
can instantly replace them with new rivets. 
And the rivets at the tip of toe and ball of foot 
are the ohly ones that wear. Steel Shoes never 
go to the Repair Shop, for there’s nothing to 
wear but the rivets. And the Steel Soles shed 
mud almost as easily as they shed water. The 
cost is only 30 cents for 50 extra steel rivets. 
No other repairs are ever needed. 
The uppers are made of the very best quality 
of pliable waterproof leather, and firmly riv¬ 
eted to soles. There is greater strength and 
longer service and more foot comfort In steel 
shoes than in any other working shoes in exist¬ 
ence. It's in tlie steel and the pliable leather, 
and the way they are put together. 
Throw Away Rubber Boots, 
Felt Boots and “Arctics”! 
Rubber or felt boots heat the feet and make 
them sweaty and tender. Nothing more un¬ 
comfortable or more harmful to the feet. One 
pair of Steel Shoes will outlast at least three 
pairs of felt or rubber boots. 
A man who wears Steel Shoes doesn’t have 
to own three different styles of working shoes. 
No arctics or felt boots necessary. 
Secret of Steel Shoe Elasticity 
Steel Shoes have thick, springy Hair Cush¬ 
ion Insoles, which are easily removable for 
cleansing and airing. They absorb perspira¬ 
tion and foot odors—absorb the jar and shock 
when you walk on hard or stony ground. 
They keep your feet free from callouses, 
blisters and soreness. 
Steel Shoes Save Doctor Bills 
Wear Steel Shoes and you need not suffer 
from Colds, Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Lum¬ 
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r omfort. 
Low Prices on Steel Shoes 
Sizes, 5 to 13. G inches, 9 inches, 12 
inches and 16 inches high. 
Steel Shoes, 6 inches high, *2.50 a pair, are 
better than best all-leather S3.50 shoes. 
Steel Shoes, 6 inches high, extra fine grade 
of leather, S3.00 a pair, excel any $4.50 all¬ 
leather shoes. 
Steel Shoes, 9 inches high, $3.50 a pair, are 
better than the best all-leather S5.00 shoes. 
Steel shoes, 12 inches high, S5.00 a pair, are 
better than the best all-leather SO.00 shoes. 
Steel Shoes, 16 inches high, $6.00 a pair, are 
better than the best all-leather shoes, regard¬ 
less of cost. 
One Pair of “Steels” 
Will Outwear 3 to 6 Pairs of 
Leather Shoes 
The comfort of Steel Shoes is remarkable. 
Their economy is simply astounding! Prac¬ 
tically all the wear comes on the rivets in the 
bottoms and the rivets can be replaced very 
easily. Don’t sweat your feet in rubber boots 
or torture them in rough, hard, twisted, shape¬ 
less leather shoes. Order a pair of Steel Shoes 
today. Sizes, 5 to 12. 
Satisfaction or Money Back 
We strongly recommend the 6-inch high, at 
$3 a pair, or 9 inches, at S3.50, as they give best 
satisfaction for general service. 
In ordering, state size shoe you wear. En¬ 
close $3 a pair for 6-inch size, and the best and 
most comfortable working shoes you ever 
wore will promptly be shipped to you. Your 
money refunded if you are not delighted when 
you see the Steel Shoes. Send today. 
STEEL SHOE CO., Dept. 73 Racine,Wis. 
Canadian Branch. TORONTO, CANADA 
Order Blank for Steel Shoes 
Steel Shoe Co., Dept. 73 , Racine, Wis. 
Gentlemen:— 
1 enclose_for $_ 
in payment for_ 
Size_ 
Name 
Town_ 
County_ 
.pair Steel Shoes, 
-State_ 
R.F.D.- 
rJ 
WHY NOT USE HUBBARD’S? 
