1909 
Hope Farm Notes 
A Cold Day. —The evening of April 
24 closed what may well be called a 
“cold day” at Hope Farm. It was 
cold for all except possibly the 
five sitting hens in the shed—stick¬ 
ing to their hopeful job. The boys 
had lost a baseball game. They had 
it won up to the eighth inning, and 
then made a lot of errors and handed 
the game to the other side. Of course 
they could say “robbed by the umpire,” 
but they knew that it was their own 
fault. Their mental satisfaction was 
down to zero. The girls made much of 
the “robber” part of it, as women al¬ 
ways have and probably always will, but 
I want the boys to be game losers. That 
is better than boastful winners. So we 
heard very little about curve balls and 
base hits over our baked beans. I looked 
across the table at Mother, and saw she 
understood and remembered the glowing 
account of the victory two weeks before. 
And it was a cold day for the peach 
buds. Most of them were out in full 
bloom, and here was the mercury sliding 
down and the weather report pointing 
to frost. It had been the worst week 
of Spring that I remember—a series of 
cold driving rains. When the sun shone 
for a few hours there came a piercing 
wind from the north which bit to the 
marrow. We plowed at odd intervals, 
cleared land of stones, but not a potato 
had yet been planted—and the mercury 
at 34 when the sun went over the hill. 
Then came word all of a sudden that 
our nursery trees were at the station. 
Now we know enough about trees to 
realize that they will gain no virtue by 
standing in an exposed box all through 
a windy Sunday. It was get them at 
once! Robert and Philip started for the 
station at half-past six, and I fitted up 
a place for the trees. We usually take 
a deep furrow cleared out with a spade 
for this purpose. It was nearly dark 
when the men came back. I sent them 
in to supper and, with the children, 
opened the box. It was well we got 
busy, for the roots were nearly dry, and 
the wind was rising. We took the bun¬ 
dles of trees and laid them with their 
roots in the deep furrow. Then we dug 
damp soil with a spade and threw it 
over the roots and stamped it down. A 
place was selected on the south side of 
a building to keep off the wind. In this 
way we shall keep every tree fresh and 
plump. Had we left them in the box 
over Sunday the roots would have dried 
out, the trees withered and some of 
them would have been seriously hurt. 
I lay down the principle to my boys that 
trees must be taken from the box at 
once, and that when planting the soil 
must be packed around the roots. 
That took care of the trees, but the 
mercury was falling still. It is hard to 
see the sun go down on such a night. 
You have put up your money and labor 
through years of self-denial'to develop 
an orchard. As year after year went 
by with small income from the fruit 
your friends have shrugged their shoul¬ 
ders and said—“I told you so!” You 
had no answer because you knew the 
trees must develop before they could 
bear. Finally they burst out into bloom. 
Y°u know what it means, and that your 
time has come! Then comes the “cold 
day” just when the buds are open, and 
as mercury falls you know that your 
chance for a crop is falling with it. 
lliere was nothing we could do. No 
one would dare to build fire in that roar¬ 
ing wind. It looked as if the umpire 
had ruled against me, and I have learned 
not to dispute decisions. So I went to 
bed without looking again at the ther¬ 
mometer, and had a good, long sleep. 
In the morning there was ice over the 
low places, but the wind was blowing 
and tossing the limbs about. I cannot 
tell yet how much harm was done. Prob¬ 
ably the open buds were destroyed, but 
there were a good many flowers I find still 
closed. Let’s hope we save them anyway. 
Farm Notes. —I have referred several 
times to speltz, the grain which is so 
greatly praised in the Far West. Mr. 
bush of Wisconsin, who wrote about it 
on page 317, sent me seed for about an 
acre and I shall sow it as soon as our 
ground dries out—if it ever does. I 
nave had a few grains of this speltz 
photographed to show what it looks like. 
he grains are shown with the husk and 
without it. Mr. Bush feels confident 
| iat this grain will prove more satis¬ 
factory with us than either oats or bar- 
e Y J hope so, for if I am to grow grain 
at-all I must have the kind which will 
produce most to the acre. Now don’t 
get the idea that the Hope Farm man 
advises everyone to rush into speltz. I 
f o not, for I don’t know a thing about 
the way it will grow in New Jersey. I 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
am asked every year to “boom” a dozen 
new things. Some people go so far as 
to say that I am so conservative that I 
hurt our people by not urging them to 
try new things on a large scale. I can 
stand that. No man gets advice to 
plunge on anything from me without 
pulling it out with a corkscrew. I do 
not, at mv age. advise people to go out 
over their head.Following up 
497 
my plan for intensive culture we shall 
plant our crops this year with the great¬ 
est care. Our acreage of potatoes will 
not be large, but I shall try for a large 
yield. On a good share of the potato 
ground we have plowed under a sod or 
a cover crop. Now I think a good sod 
a fine place for potatoes provided you 
can keep the sod undisturbed. To plow 
a sod and then rip it all up to the sur¬ 
face seems to me the poorest plan for 
potatoes. After plowing sod I shall 
smooth and pack it down with the Acme. 
In this way we get a fine surface with 
the sod below. To use a plow to make 
furrows would rip this sod up, so on our 
small patch we plant by hand. We run 
a line across the field where the row is 
to go. I hen about 18 inches apart under 
the line we put the seed pieces. They 
are planted by driving a spade into the 
sod and working it back and forth. Then 
as the spade is pulled out the seed piece 
dropped into the hole. The soil falls 
back upon it and with a kick of the 
foot the hole is filled. This leaves the 
seed piece some five inches deep right 
in the sod—where it ought to be. The 
fertilizer is scattered on top and worked 
in with a cultivator. By planting on a 
line we can get straight and by planting 
2^2 or even two feet apart we get in 
more seed and can give thorough cul¬ 
ture. Of course the large potato grow¬ 
ers will have no use for any such meth¬ 
od, but for small, rich pieces of ground 
where a large crop is desired, it is the 
way to handle sod for potatoes. The 
sod, kept below the ground, holds mois¬ 
ture, provides plant food, gives the 
tubers a soft, open space in which to 
grow, and, I think, by its decay helps to 
prevent the growth of scab, 
Home Notes. —Since I printed the let¬ 
ter from that Vermont man about the 
child and the spirit, there have been 
many suggestions about it. Several have 
sent pamphlets on the subject. To show 
the range of thinking on this subject I 
can say that one man in Louisiana goes 
so far as to say that all such things as 
spirit, “Supreme Ruler” or other relig¬ 
ious matters should be treated as “ghost 
stories” and never discussed with the 
child! ! ! All this man would teach his 
children would be “the principles of the 
Golden Rule!” On the other hand I 
have the following letter:— 
On page 427 “Timothy” does not rightly 
quote the authorized version of Ecclesiastes, 
third chapter and twenty-third verse. Solo¬ 
mon said : “Who knoweth the spirit of 
man that goeth upward”—not who knows 
whether it does or not. “Whether,” intro¬ 
duced changes the whole meaning of the 
sentence. Need anyone be terrified when 
children look to them as the source of wis¬ 
dom and goodness who believes James, first 
chapter and fifth verse. a mother. 
I cannot do better than complete “A 
Mother’s” letter by quoting this verse:—) 
‘ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ' 
ask of God, that giveth to all men liber¬ 
ally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be 
given him." h. w. c. 
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