1909. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
849 
Hope Farm Notes 
The hot, broiling sun was scorching Hope 
Farm. In the strawberry field the weeds 
were curling, and touching the soil with 
bare foot or hand was like thrusting them 
into an oven. The potato field was worse 
yet. and in the peach orchard the hot wind 
was like a blast from a fire. It was a day 
to melt all the spirit out of farm work, and 
yet our children never were more enthusi¬ 
astic over the job before them. 
Now do not set these children down as 
models of hopeful industry. Hope Farm 
with its burning heat and its suggestions 
of backache and sweat was 20 miles away. 
We were enjoying a few pearls taken from 
the Summer sweat and toil. Eight of us 
sat on a front seat, sheltered from the sun. 
There was the Hope Farm man, the four 
children, two of the neighbors' boys and 
Henry. We were eating peanuts and pass¬ 
ing through all the pleasures that go with 
a great baseball game. Around us were 
20,000 or more yelling and howling people, 
while on the “diamond" below us the 
“Giants” and the “Cubs” were struggling 
for victory. In other words, we were en¬ 
joying a “double-header” as a reward for 
services in the field. 
I do not know whether you are a base¬ 
ball crank or not. Some people cannot see 
anything about the game to get excited 
over. There is Mother, for example. She 
actually declined an invitation to come and 
see the game—said she would rather give 
the money to the Old Ladies’ Home. Fur¬ 
thermore, she found fault with me for en¬ 
couraging such sport. We could afford to 
feel sorry for these unfortunate people— 
sitting there far from the halter of straw- 
iK-rry weeding. We should have called him 
a very unpromising American who could 
sit unmoved through the thrilling climax of 
that first game. It was the first of the 
eleventh inning, and not a run on either 
side. One “Cub" had worked around to 
third base, and a big man came up to the 
plate carrying a bat the size of a tree. If 
I could hire a man to grub, stumps with 
half the energy that pitcher displayed in 
throwing the ball my loafer fields would 
soon be l'lce a parade ground. You could 
hardly see the ball, it went so fast, and 
there was a curve to it the shape of a pig's 
tail. But that big bat went even harder. 
There was a crack and away the ball went 
sailing to the outfield. Now every crank 
knew the play. That man on third must 
wait until the ball was in the fielder's 
hands, and then it was a match between his 
legs and the fielder's arm for the home 
plate. Even Mother would understand that, 
and had she been there you would have 
found her standing up with the rest to see 
the play. The fielder ran far back and 
caught the ball, then like a flash he sent 
it back to the catcher. But oh. how that 
man was running from third ! His captain 
gave him the sign, and almost six feet 
away the runner threw himself flat on the 
ground and slid. The dust blew away and 
there stood the umpire with both hands 
pointing down. If he had waved his hands 
the man would have been out, but that run 
was safe. 
Then I regret to say that one of my boys 
went straight back to barbarism. This boy 
jumped up and shrieked and screamed. 
When his voice failed him he waved his 
arms and worked bis mouth in silence. He 
was a “Cub” supporter, and in that mo¬ 
ment of joy he let go of civilization and 
slipped back 1,000 years or more to an 
age when his ancestors came back from war 
with just such actions. That is a bad pil¬ 
grimage into history, and I was about to 
pull him down when I realized that I was 
also standing up and waving my hat. A 
gray-haired old fellow who sat near by 
looked at the boy so that you could see 
painted all over his face: “Oh, but don't 
1 wish that I could enjoy a game like 
that!" 
Well, the “Cubs” won that first game, 
but in the second the “Giants" rallied and 
came out ahead. Then the other children 
bad a chance to stand up and yell while 
the “Cub" partisan proved himself a rather 
poor loser. But we had our money’s worth 
for once. We missed the train and did not 
K’d to our station until nearly nine. There 
we found Mother with big Frank in the 
wagon and Aunt Eleanor driving Madge. 
1 he baby was along too, wrapped up in 
shawls like a precious package. Back over 
the hills at home the Lima beans and 
peaches were waiting for us, and there 
was none left when we finished. “And 
now then," said Mother, “no more baseball 
•his season. We have had quite enough.” 
I hat is a sound proposition. The use of 
baseball for farm children may be as wise 
as any proposition of Solomon. The abuse 
of it may be worse than the follies of 
King David. 
Eaum and Home.—T he corn is still very 
slow to ripen. If Host will only hang off 
•*s usual the grain will be O. K., but most 
II our people are talking early frost and 
hard Winter. They probably know about 
as much about it as the rest of us who 
have no prophecy to make. We have more 
corn in sight than ever before, and I shall 
be sorry to see it nipped. . . . We have 
had no trouble in handling our peach crop 
thus far. Most of it is retailed in the 
small baskets or trays. On some days' we 
have sent out two wagons, one north and 
the other south. Peaches must be good 
to sell at fair prices during the Elberta 
season. At that time the New York mar¬ 
ket is swamped with fruit. Much of it gets 
to the hands o£ hucksters, who go out 
among the small towns with their loads. 
They sell cheap and hurt our local growers 
by breaking down our prices. That is one 
reason why I am getting shy of Elberta. The 
earlier white peaches have thus far paid us 
best. We have a good crop of Salways 
still coming on. It does not appear now 
that we shall be obliged to ship any 
peaches. It looks like the full dollar for 
all. ... In spite of this I do not take 
so kindly to peach growing. I do not think 
our country is a very good peach section 
naturally, and I do not fancy a tree crop 
which must be hustled off at such quick 
notice. Winter apples suit us better, and 
they are far more at home on our soil. 
As for mulching, I have become satisfied 
that for profitable peach growing some 
form of partial cultivation is better for 
peaches. As for apples, I have two or¬ 
chards this year in sod which I am willing 
to put up as evidence of the value of mulch¬ 
ing. When it comes to peaches there is, 
without doubt, more money on my culti¬ 
vated trees. Yet under some conditions 
the mulching would pay better, since one 
man can care for twice the number of trees 
on this system. 
The Hope Farm man says his Soy beans 
were a failure. I would like to ask in 
what way? Did they fail to grow, or fail 
as nitrogen gatherers, or fail to produce 
seed? 1 planted some according to The 
B. N.-Y. May 15; some I planted in drills, 
others I planted like corn and I cultivated 
both ways. I got some bacteria from 
Washington and followed directions closely. 
It seemed to grow well and averaged about 
two and one-half feet high all over; some 
plants are a foot or more across and heav¬ 
ily laden with leaves. They are now (Sep¬ 
tember 7) beginning to turn yellow with¬ 
out producing seed or blossom of any kind. 
Will they produce later, or are mine too 
a failure? If I knew they would not pro¬ 
duce seed I would plow them under at 
once. I don’t know anything about their 
habits, and they are not grown around 
here. j. dahill. 
Kennselaer Co., N. 
That is a fair description of our crop. 
We planted the beans along rows of young 
apple trees. They had good culture, but 
were not inoculated. They have grown all 
the way from three inches to four feet in 
height and most of them are yellow or light 
green. By September 12 they had made 
no gain at all. The cow peas, on the other 
hand, have made a steady growth with 
dark green healthy foliage. The cow peas 
seem to us far superior to the Soy beans 
for our work. . . . Our potatoes are 
making a good yield. Where we sprayed 
thoroughly many vines were still growing 
and thrifty by the middle of September. 
'We are selling at one dollar a bushel. My 
theory of handling farm produce is to know 
as well as I can what it costs to produce, 
and when I can get a fair profit above that, 
let it go. There are those who figure that 
it pays to hold for a higher price, but my 
idea is that when you can get sure of a 
good profit you would better let the other 
party take the risk of holding. If last 
year’s figures are to be repeated I can sell 
at one dollar and buy fine potatoes later 
at 75 cents. It is much the same with ap¬ 
ples. I have figured on a price per box 
which will let me out well. When I get 
that the apples will go and some one else 
may speculate on them if they like. . . . 
Somewhat to my surprise and not entirely 
to my liking we have developed quite a 
trade in Marshall strawberry plants. Peo¬ 
ple who saw our fruit now come after 
plants, and are willing to pay large prices 
for them. Now I think it a mistake to 
buy plants entirely on the strength of the 
fruit crop. Because we grow fine berries 
it is no reason that runners from our plants 
are sure to duplicate the crop. It is the 
soil and the care rather than the plant. I 
know that some who buy these' plants will 
be disappointed because their soil is too 
light and they will not give full care. We 
furnish good plants and try to tell our 
customers the truth about it, but we are 
not in plant-growing as a business. 
n. w. c. 
Peas and Barley for a Cover Crop.— 
I note you recommend peas and barley for 
a cover crop. This has been tried often 
round here, but abandoned. The barley 
has a good chance of forming seed, and if 
not plowed in encourages mice. One man 
near here lost 400 trees from this cause. 
Another objection is the difficulty of plow¬ 
ing the tangle in. but a rolling coulter and 
chain will help this in the Fall, though in 
Spring tlie trash is a serious nuisance. 
Nova Scotia. joiin ruciianan. 
that some farmers ” : ~ 
* still continue to haul 
litter out of the barn in HHur LitterCarrier>;^ : 
eelbarrow—the dirtiest, 
ork on a farm—when the 
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Send Us a Rough Sketch With Dimensions 
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Mfrs. of Barn Equipments for 25 Years 
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EDWARD K. TAYLOR, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
6% BONDS 
Any Amount — Any Maturity 
Secured by 
The most popular bonds that we 
handle today are Irrigation bonds, 
secured by first liens on the most 
fertile farm lands in America. 
They are issued in denominations 
of $100, $500 and $1,000. They run 
from two years to twelve years, so 
one may make short-time or long¬ 
time investments. And the bonds 
pay six per cent. That is a higher 
rate than can now be obtained on 
any large class of equal security. 
Doubly Secured 
The farmers in the irrigation dis¬ 
tricts, to secure perpetual water 
rights give to aij Irrigation Com¬ 
pany a first lien on their farms. The 
lien is seldom for more than one- 
fourth the land’s value. It is paid 
in ten annual installments. 
These liens are placed with a 
Trust Company as security for the 
bonds. Back of each $100 bond 
there will be $150 In liens. Thus 
the margin of security is very wide 
indeed. 
In addition, the Irrigation Com¬ 
pany deposits with the Trust Com¬ 
pany a first mortgage on all it owns 
—dams, reservoirs, ditches, etc. 
This mortgage is held until the last 
bond is paid, as an extra security. 
Thus the bonds are doubly secured. 
Some Are Tax Liens 
Some of these bonds are issued, 
like School bonds, by districts. Such 
bonds form a tax lien on all tax¬ 
able property in the district. The 
interest and principal' are paid out 
of taxes. 
Some are issued under the Fed¬ 
eral law, known as the Carey Act. 
All of these bonds, if rightly is¬ 
sued. form ideal securities. It is 
hard to conceive of anything better. 
Yet the bonds pay at present a high 
rate of interest because the projects 
are very profitable. 
The first crop from irrigated land 
(3) 
Farm Liens 
will frequently pay the whole cost 
of the land. So the ten-year liens 
which the farmers give are very 
easily paid. 
15 Years* Experience 
We have had 15 years of experi¬ 
ence in selling Reclamation bonds. 
These include Drainage District and 
Irrigation bonds, all secured by farm 
liens. During this time we have 
sold seventy such issues without a 
dollar of loss to any investor. 
We are now the largest dealers in 
this class of security. Our own 
trained engineers and attorneys pass 
on every project. The officers of 
our company also inspect every en¬ 
terprise cn which we sell bonds. 
We have now written a book 
based on all this experience. It 
covers the facts about irrigation in 
a clear and interesting way. 
Every investor, whether small or 
large, should read this book. 
Cut out this coupon, send it at 
once, and the book will be mailed 
you free. 
\&fjvw£rid&e 
First National Bank Building 
CHICAGO, ILL. J 
Please send your free book on « 
* Irrigation Bonds. 
S Name _ i 
Address _ 
Name of my bank _ 
406 
We sell the bonds, if you prefer, 
through your local bank. If so, 
please give us the name of your 
bank, and we will send full informa¬ 
tion when we send it to you. 
