1088 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 18, 
Hope Farm Notes 
Thus far this Winter our Jersey weather 
lias been much like Colorado as 1 remember 
it 30 years ago. The days are brilliant with 
bright sunshine and fair winds, and the 
nights are frosty, with the stars like electric 
lights. We have had nothing more than a 
shower for several months. Our State 
Geologist is reported as saying that it will 
take five normal seasons to put hack into 
our soil the moisture which the last two 
have taken out. I expect to hear great com¬ 
plaint from “yellows” and other fruit tree 
diseases next year, especially where the 
young trees were forced hard. 
Of course such weather gives us a fine 
chance to get the Full work done. Our 
most important job is drainage. There are 
two low fields through which a small brook 
llows from the spring. They have never 
been satisfactory, being wet and soggy in 
.Spring and baked to a brick in dry weather. 
The water from the spring ran in a slug¬ 
gish stream and backed up on the land. 
We first deepened this stream by digging out 
Ibe Inal of it into a deep ditch. This brings 
Ihe level of the .stream down so we can 
drain into it. Then we cut lateral ditches 
at intervals all over the field, so they will 
empty into this main stream. 
I intended to use stone drains when we 
started, but in at least two cases we struck 
jilaces where stones were evidently put 
down years ago. These drains were clogged 
up, and it was an awful job to dig them 
out. The stone drains we put down four 
years ago are still running freely, but I 
now see that unless the work is done with 
great skill and care they will fill up and 
prove a nuisance. So we have decided to 
use tile. Of course tile drains may be worse 
than stone if they are not laid accurately, 
but when they are laid right they will 
stay put. 
When I first came here, my neighbor, an 
old man, told me that some 60 years before 
a wooden drain for piping water from our 
spring had been run to the buildings. In 
ditching the field we ran upon a long 
section of this drain. The logs or poles 
are about eight feet long. They arc bored 
through the entire length, apparently with 
ji large auger. One end of each pole is 
sharpened like the end of a fence post, 
and this sharp end was driven into the bore 
of the next pole. This made ti continuous 
pipe. After 70 years or more this rude pipe 
comes up still sound. Mud has clogged the 
hole, but the timber is still in fair condition. 
All over the East farmers are working 
out this drainage problem. It will prove 
as great a factor in farm development as 
the Western irrigation plans. While the 
wise men are learning how to take nitrogen 
out of the air for use as plant food, the 
practical men may drain the swamps and 
low places and make the nitrogen which 
they hold available. I am glad that farm¬ 
ers realize what such work means. Here is 
a' note from Vermont which expresses it 
well: 
“We are very busy now clearing up land 
and laying tile. If we counted the cost our 
land would be expensive, far more than 
to buy, but it is nice to change 
the face of nature a little and know 
that probably a piece of rough stony land 
will l*e plowed and harrowed and tilled and 
add to the world's good and happiness 
forever after. I think Horace Greeley count¬ 
ed as his greatest work the draining of a 
piece of wet swampy land, for he said if 
all of the rest of his work should pass 
away and be forgotten that would remain.” 
1 once met a man who knew Horace 
Greeley well. He says Mr. Greeley once 
did a job of draining of which he was 
very proud until he found he had run some 
of the tile so that the water ran right into 
the house cellar. 
What to do with wet land when first 
drained is something of a problem. The 
soil on our own field is black and deep and 
of course quite sour. We intend it for 
strawberries finally, but I always hesitate 
to plant berries on an old sod. I would 
rather have some cleaning crop ahead of 
them and corn is the best I know of for 
this purpose. My present plan is to plow 
that field early and give it a light coat 
of lime. I would not give a heavy coat, 
because flint corn does not respond to lime 
as some other crops do, and I do not want 
the soil too sweet for the berries. We 
shall have no manure to use, but I expect to 
plant flint corn in drills and use a lot 
of fertilizer. We are not expecting any 
such crop as Mr. Batts tells about on page 
3082, but we will give them a run anyway. 
The scions for the Winter and Spring 
grafting have been cut and stored away in 
the soil. Baldwin, Wealthy, McIntosh and 
Fall Pippin make up our strong quartette, 
but we shall use a few other varieties in 
a small way. During the Winter in bad 
weather we expect to make about 3,000 root 
grafts. Then we have a quantity of piacb 
pits, so that next Spring we hone to start 
a little nursery of a r '~\v choice varieties 
with buds or wood from our own bearing 
trees. Then in the Spring we shall work 
over a number of big high-headed apple 
trees. Most of these are now producing 
sweet or early apples which have little 
value. By sawing off the tops and putting 
in Baldwin and Fall Ihppiu grafts we ex¬ 
pect to bring them down to earrb and make 
them useful. Then there are many old 
seedlings scattered about the farm which 
can be turned to good use by grafting. 
With 3.000 trees, large and small, to cut 
back and spray, old stumps to be blown out, 
pomace to haul from the cider mill and 
a dozen more jobs ahead we ought to keep 
busy. 
Part of the mulch is on the strawberries. 
I wait until the ground is frozen and then 
put well-rotted manure without much litter 
between the rows. Then along over the 
plants we lay cornstalks or coarse hoy. 
The ground is still so open that I stopped 
putting on the manure until the soil can 
freeze solid. Mr. Taber tells us on another 
page how he mulches by putting fresh, 
strawy manure right over the plants. We 
must remember that he grows the plants in 
matted rows. Wo have them in .hills or 
single plants close together. These big 
plants need more air, and are not so likely 
to be pulled out by the frost. That is why 
I like to cover the soil all around them, 
but to put only a light, coarse cover over 
the plants themselves. 
I have been talking for the past two 
weeks of some of the changes that have 
come and are coming to Eastern farming. 
These historical changes do not depend 
upon labor entirely. My own section is 
changing rapidly, and the labor of those 
who plant and harrow and grow crops has 
little to do with it. The change comes 
from the outside, and is produced by people 
who have money to spend for air and sun¬ 
shine. A century ago people valued these 
hills at perhaps $40 an acre for what they 
could dig out of them with plow and hoe. 
Now people will pay closer to $400 per acre 
not to produce food, but simply to hold up 
a house into the air. My children used to 
ask how it is that a city man can come 
to the country and pay such prices for 
land, while a farmer cannot go and buy 
expensive town property. They did not 
understand the earning and dominating 
power of a dollar in cash. When I was a 
boy in a New England seacoast town, 1 saw 
a number of men who never seemed to do 
any work—yet they always had money and 
were classed as “big bugs.” Their children 
were a shade above those of us who were 
obliged to carry the plain evidences of pov¬ 
erty around with us. “If a man will not 
work either shall he fat.” I was brought 
up on that text, yet those so-called “big 
bugs” seemed to give it the lie, for thay did 
not work, yet had more to eat than I did. 
I now see that these men were living on 
the heritage of a dollar, and I begin to see 
how much this sort of a dollar has had to 
do with the growth of history. 
The original dollar was taken out of the 
sea by masters, ship owners and fishermen. 
There came a time when this kind of sea 
business left the smaller towns and went 
to Boston, Gloucester and other naturally 
adapted places. In a way this change of 
industry was much like the shift of farming 
from tlie East to the West. It seems that 
the money taken out of the sea was quite 
largely invested in western farm mortgages. 
First it was in Western New York and Ohio 
at 30 per cent or more. As that section 
grew prosperous the rate of interest fell 
to six per cent or less. Then that Y'ankee 
money went to Illinois at 10 per cent. As 
prosperity drove the higher rate out that 
money went in succession to Iowa, Kansas, 
Colorado and Montana. It was largely upon 
this interest money that my old friends 
the “big bugs” were living without labor. 
Their money was helping to develop the 
West and playing a part in history which 
the workers and pioneers seldom consider. 
But now the strangest part of it is that 
these inherited dollars, after rolling over 
the country until they are polished, are 
now coming back to the old town and earn¬ 
ing more money there than ever before. 
Within a few miles of the old town are 
acres and acres of cranberry bogs. Many 
or most of them have been developed with 
the monev formerly Invested in Western 
farm mortgages. While this money can now 
earn barely five per cent on these farm 
loans, it can earn many times that in 
cranberries within a few miles of the place 
where it was first saved—a century ago. 
A friend who lives right in the district 
writes me as follows: 
“Maple swamps, fresh meadows and even 
ponds that *20 years ago could be bought for 
$12 an acre or less to-day are in demand at 
from $75 to $100 and more per acre. A 
man drives by my home frequently who 
was for years a cot ton raiser in Mississippi; 
He sold 'his plantation a few years ago and 
now lias some 40 acres of cranberry bog 
within three miles of my home. That is 
one instance which argues that the cran¬ 
berry industry is paying, probably better 
than cotton.” 
Now, this opens the way for a dozen lines 
of thought. Why did not these men realize 
the possibilities in cranberry culture long 
ago? Why let these chances at their own 
door languish and help build up the West? 
I do not know. Stop and think that 25 
years from now some one may wonder 
you and I did not have the courage and 
the vision to see the chances right in our 
own soil! 
I expect to see more and more New Eng¬ 
land money chasing back to help grow apples 
on the hillsides that have been idle so long. 
It is not unlikely that western money too 
will come here for profitable investment on 
our farms. That fruit show in Boston and 
other occasions where people advertise the 
best that can come out of our soil will show 
possibilities and attract capital. Let a man 
with 10 acres of poor Timothy cutting less 
than a ton to the acre go to a bank to 
borrow money and lie will think he lias 
struck the North Pole. Let another with 
'10 acres of good Alfalfa, three tons or more 
to the acre go on the same errand and he 
will have a very different reception. We all 
need capital to do our work properly. I 
think money has begun to look at the East¬ 
ern farm for investment. It will go to 
the farm just as soon as we show that 
we can use the money economically in pro¬ 
ducing something the people must' have. 
I would advise every young man or every 
old man who has a piece of hand to put liis 
time and his money into it with drainage, 
fertilizer or manure, lime if needed and 
good tillage, and stay by it with confidence. 
I am hopeful enough to believe that there 
is a sure reward for such investments. 
h. w. c. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y\ and you'll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee page 10. 
It pays to know 
Trinidad Lake Asphalt 
is nature’s perfect water- 
proofer. 
Genasco 
Ready Roofing 
is made of Trinidad Lake As¬ 
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give your roof absolute protec¬ 
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Do you know that much about 
roofings made of “secret com¬ 
pounds”? 
Be on the safe side and get the roofing 
with lasting life, backed by a thirty-two-mil- 
lion-dollar guarantee. The most economical 
roofing for every building on the farm. Miner¬ 
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Write for the Good Roof Guide Book and 
samples. 
THE BARBER ASPHALT 
PAVING COMPANY 
Largest producers of asphalt, and largest 
manufacturers of ready roofing in the world. 
PHILADELPHIA 
New York San Francisco Chicago 
Fence 
Buyers 
Want to Send 
This Free Book 
a rod of 
word for 
it. it will pay you to give 
me the chance. It’s a 
book about 
EMPIRE 
All-No.-9 Big Wire Fence 
I’ve had my say about fence In this 
book and I want you to read it. Most 
profitable fence in the world to buy, 
as I’ll show you. 
THERE’S A NEW THINC ABOUT IT 
It’s now sold delivered to fence-buyers every¬ 
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(factory prices) and the factory pays the freight 
to your railroad station. 
Send me a card or letter for book right away. 
I’m going to send out 45.000 of these books to 
farmers this fall, but I’ll get them out promptly. 
Address FARMER. JONES, Fence Man for 
BOND STEEL POST CO. 
23 E. Maumee St 
Adrian, Mich. 
A Sample of 
PAGE FENCE-FREE! 
Let us send you an actual sample of Rage 
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Wire. Learn what this means in economy. 
Specified by U.S. Government as standard 
of quality. Approved by a million farmers 
Write utonce for Free Sampieof PageFence 
and Grund Quurtor Centennial Catalog. 
Page Woven Wire Fence Co-. 
Bax 267 A Adrian, Mlohi 
IE 
heavy No. 9 galvanized Coiled 
Spring rust proof wires. Will defy 
stock, wind and weather. Free sample (I 
ESt&cat'g. 15 to 35c per rod. We pay freight 
SSV The Brown Fence & Wire Co., a 
~~ Dept. 59 Cleveland, O. “ 
COW COMFORT 
is assured to the cattle that live in 
the barn that is equipped with 
STAR 
f LITTER 
CARRIER 
Why in the name of 
all that is clean, busi¬ 
nesslike and progres¬ 
sive you don t hook 
up a Star Litter Car¬ 
rier in your barn is 
beyond our compre¬ 
hension. Don't care 
if you have but 3 
cows, a horse and a Billy Goat. They can appreciate 
a clean place to stay- over night just as well as a 
man. Milk inspectors don’t care much about Billy 
Uoats and horses, but one will be around some day 
to call on you. and if yon haven’t a sanitary liarn or 
means for making it sanitary, there will be trouble. 
The Star Litter Carrier 
QUICKLY PAYS FOR ITSELF 
The sooner yon put one In tho sooner you will be¬ 
gin saving money. Write for our catalog No. 37 
which tells ail about our Star Litter, Feed and Milk- 
Can Carriers. 
SEND US A ROUGH SKETCH 
of your barn and we will draw it to a scale and will 
tell you what style of outfit you require aud just 
what it will cost. 
HUNT, HELM, FERRIS & CO. 
Mfrs. of Barn Equipments for 25 years, 
NO. 55 HUNT ST., HARVARD ILL 
The PORTER LITTER CARRIER 
Saves labor and time, improves health condi¬ 
tions, enriches the field, promotes cleanliness and 
gives stock and dairy products a clean, salable 
appearance. The carrier runs on a steel (rack, 
which is easily 
fastened to the 
wall or ceiling, 
and runs very 
easily as the 
wheels have rol¬ 
ler hearings and 
are swivelled so 
as to round 
curves. With a 
set of gears, 
which arc enclos¬ 
ed in the gear 
box, the tub Is 
lowered tor filling 
and lifted for 
moving to the 
dump or the wagon, which increases the power. It 
is liquid tight and turns completely over when the 
litter is tipped out. The tub is made of heavy 
steel, firmly riveted aud has pivoted trucks to 
permit lateral swing, and frame is of strong pipe 
and malleable iron. Send for a catalogue, which 
shows many exclusive features not mentioned here. 
J. E. PORTER COMPANY, Ottawa, Illinois 
Climax Carrier. 
Feed, Ensilage, Litter. 
A stable help that saves labor. Brings feed from 
silo or bin to manger, carries manure from all 
stablings to same pile or dumps on wagon. Easy 
lift, light running, positive dump. Made of steeL 
Straight or curved tracks to run anywhere and suit 
any stable plan. Write for desoriptiv e circular. 
Warsaw-Wiikinson Co., 
50 Highland Ave., Warsaw, N. Y. 
1*1 
■•Vi'; 
THE ROSS SILO 
The only thoroughly manufactured 
Silo on tho market. Full length stave. 
Continuous door frame complete with 
ladder. Triple beveled silo door with 
hinges. Equipped with extra heavy 
hoops at bottom. 
AIR TIGHT 
Make® winter feed equal to June 
grass. THE ROSS will more than pay 
for itself in one season. Write to¬ 
day for catalog which gives facts that 
willsave you money. Agents wanted. 
The £.W. ltoss Co.(Est.l850) 
Bos 13 SFKI.NCFlhLD. OHIO 
f “NEW MODERN” LITTER CARRIER ' 
Saves money every time. Strongly con¬ 
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Double trolleys. All parts extra strong, and 
Will Last a Lifetime 
Capacity, 700 to 1,000 pounds. Pan, 32x45x12 
inches. 
Our “New Modern” Swing Cattle Stanchion 
with individual manger and watering basin is the best yet. 
Write for circulars. 
"Everything for the Barn.” 
GEO It BKOS. AND WILEIS MFC. CO., 22 Main Street, Attica, N. Y.^ 
