1108 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 25, 
Hope Farm Notes 
I think there has been a vast amount 
of nonsense written about so-called 
“balanced rations.” h. g. s. 
So do I. The idea that anyone can 
lay down a definite, cast-iron rule for 
feeding an animal or a human he has 
never seen is a back number. Take the 
members of my own family. They are 
of different ages, different shapes, dif¬ 
ferent sizes and different temperaments. 
There is no definite diet or certain com¬ 
bination of food that will suit them 
all. Bread and milk may be called a 
perfect food, yet while some of my folks 
would thrive on it other would barely 
live. One child is of large frame 
and making rapid growth of bone. 
Others are fine-boned and of slower 
growth. I can 'see that one craves 
cereals like oatmeal and entire wheat, 
while the other does not care for them. 
1 notice also different demands for but¬ 
ter, cream or oils, depending on the 
way bodies are growing. All these 
things must be considered, yet in feed¬ 
ing my big family I know that the un¬ 
derlying principle of the balanced ra¬ 
tion theory is right. In order to make 
bone and muscle you have got to have 
the elements that make muscle and 
bone. Stuff a child on potatoes, corn- 
meal and white flour, and he will grow, 
but his bones will be brittle and his 
muscles flabby and his teeth poor. He 
cannot get enough bone food out of 
these things unless he eats enough to 
cary the badge of an alderman. Feed 
him beans, peas, nuts, fish and some 
meat, and he will prow as he should. 
Vou might make bricks without straw, 
but you can't make a strong animal 
body and get from it what you need 
in milk, muscle, wool, brains or work 
unless you feed what these things de¬ 
mand. That is the theory of a “bal¬ 
anced ration,” and it is sound. In former 
years the teachers went wrong in the 
practice. They laid down arbitrary 
rules and mixtures based upon analyses 
alone. Of course, this did not work, as 
any farmer can prove by feeding his 
stock a month. Now they have got 
to the point where these analyses are 
used to suggest combinations. We can 
figure and learn how to feed so as not 
to waste food and still get good re¬ 
sults. I am sure that it will pay some 
of our farmers to sell part of their 
corn and oats when the price goes to a 
certain figure and buy other feeds. You 
cannot know when and how to do this 
unless you study the theory of the 
“balanced ration” and then apply your 
own common sense to it. One of the 
best things you can teach a child is to 
eat the skin of the apple, for this part 
contains a large proportion of the min¬ 
erals and bone-forming elements The 
high price now demanded for meat is 
frightening many a housekeeper, who 
cannot or will not realize that “pro¬ 
tein ” or muscle-making food can often 
be bought for less money in cheese, 
nut , fish or entire grains. There isn’t 
a bit of nonsense in saving money on 
food, and that is what the balanced ra¬ 
tion theory teaches. 
Nut Culture^ —This leads me to 
talk about, nut growing—a business 
which I am sure is to be a great feature 
of future farming. We are to get a 
good share of our muscle-making food 
from trees. Prices of meat are soar¬ 
ing, and thousands of people learn each 
year that they can keep up their 
strength and do more and better work 
when they substitute nuts for meat in 
nart or entirely. I am not trying to 
argue for vegetarianism but merely 
stating facts. The demand for nuts is 
sure to increase. If you plant a nut 
grove to-day, before it comes in bear¬ 
ing you will find demand ahead of sup¬ 
ply. A few men realize what is com¬ 
ing. and are interesting themselves in 
imnroved varieties of nuts—such as 
hickories, chestnuts or pecans. I am 
sure there are many farmers who have 
on their farms trees which yield nuts 
superior to the average. The time has 
now come when these superior nuts 
should be known and propagated. The 
Baldwin apple started as a chance seed¬ 
ling—so did Grimes Golden and many 
others. Be sure that in the future some 
of these improved nuts will rank as 
food producers with our best varieties 
of fruits and vegetables. I want to 
help in this nut campaign. If any who 
read this know of trees bearing supe¬ 
rior nuts will they kindly write me? I 
think we can start a campaign hardly 
second in importance to that of the 
Apple Consumers’ League. 
New Spraying Problems. —We are 
cutting and pruning the older apple 
trees and when the wind is still the oil 
spray can go on. Some of the trees 
have been neglected, and others were 
never headed right. The result is a 
close, bunchy top, which makes it 
nearly impossible tc throw the spray 
all over the tree. To overcome this 
we are cutting out the centers—usually 
going to the crotch, and cutting out 
one or more limbs. When you come 
to think of this cutting a tree in order 
to shape it fqr spraying, we can realize 
how fruit growing has changed in 20 
years. Now, spraying is a necessity. 
There is sure evidence of this in our 
section. Ten years ago, when we moved 
here, there were probably 50 good or¬ 
chards in what we call our neighbor¬ 
hood. To-day there are barely half a 
dozen that can be ca’led anything like 
profitable, and these few are the only 
ones that have been sprayed and cared 
for. Scale has ruined the trees and 
worms and scab have spoiled the fruit. 
We are not afraid of the scale any 
longer, and with a reasonably dry sea¬ 
son just after the blooming we can 
get the worms by using poison. The 
scab and other fungus diseases are 
harder to handle, although on our high 
hills we have not, thus far, had great 
trouble. Of course, Bordeaux Mixture 
is called the’ great remedy for these 
disease's, but, as many fruit growers 
know, the prevention is sometimes 
worse than the disease, for the stains 
of Bordeaux often disfigure the fruit. 
It is true that a good many growers 
have quit using Bordeaux for this rea¬ 
son. 
In Washington the other day I met 
Dr. B. T. Galloway, who spoke of a 
new ,sprav mixture which may be called 
a combination of lime and sulphur and 
copper. This has given remarkable re¬ 
sults for two years—equal to Bordeaux 
in effectiveness and without injury to 
fruit. Dr. Gallowav believes that the 
use of this combination will mark the 
greatest advance in the business of 
spraying that we have known in 20 
years. While we have learned more 
and more about fighting insects we have 
been just about standing still in the 
fight against fungus diseases. There 
have been many complaints about the 
failure of Bordeaux, and many demands 
for a more effective spray material. The 
scientists now feel sure that they have 
it. The full particulars will soon be 
given, but fruit growers may open the 
new year feeling sure they are to have 
a new round of ammunition. 
Home Notes.— The 20th of December 
is to me a better day than New Years. 
Tt is the 'shortest day of the year. Be¬ 
ginning on the 21st, we seem to get, 
minute by minute, a little more daylight 
each day. It is like crawling over the 
ridgepole of Winter. While most of 
the hard weather and storms are yet 
to come, it is something to feel that 
the days are growing longer. The short 
days have gone rapidly with us. There 
is so much to do and so many things 
to interest that we never seem to catch 
up. I can readily see how life in the 
country might become a great trial to 
some people if they did nothing but 
grieve over their supposed misfortunes. 
Of course, these unpleasant or unhappy 
things will grow if you keep thinking 
about them. When I tell people that 
thev often answer— “How are you going 
to help it?” I presume there are va¬ 
rious remedies, but the best one I know 
of is to keep the mind busy with 'some¬ 
thing better to think about. How much 
good poetry can you go over from mem¬ 
ory? Take the Twenty-third Psalm 
and hundreds of other noble passages 
from the Bible. Can you go over them 
without reading the words? If you 
can, you have the remedy—if not. you 
can easily get it. “As a man thinketh 
so is he.” There you have it in a line. 
I am 'something of a believer in the 
faith cure for the blues and for brood¬ 
ing over troubles. I have no doubt 
that as the year closes there are many 
farm homes put somewhat into the 
shadow because some member cannot 
rise in mind and spirit above bodily 
affliction. There are many of us who 
must walk softly all our days and stay 
in the shadow. Suppose that is so, 
shall we be anv better off bv blowing 
out the candle which we can if we will 
carry along with us? Home means 
too much to family and to country. I 
hope that as the days grow longer and 
as we pass through the door of the new 
year we can all carry the best we have 
alone with us, and smother despondency 
with hope. •* H. w. c. 
Get the 
Benefit of 
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the early market 
The secret of success in 
market gardening is earliness. 
The Sunlight Double Glass Sash 
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crops will get the top-notch 
prices. 
Sunlight Double Glass Sash 
lets in all the light all the time. 
Mats and boards for covering are 
no longer needed saving expense 
and labor. 
Throughout the entire day the 
plants get benefit of the stimulat¬ 
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The two layers of glass do 
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Write today for information. 
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924 E. Broadway, Louisville, Kentucky 
Investigate. Then Buy. 
When a farmer contemplates buying 
a grain drill, he should, in his own be¬ 
half, investigate that implement before 
he purchases. The best way to do is, to 
write to the manufacturer for his cata¬ 
logue, read it carefully, and then go to 
the nearest retail implement dealer, and 
insist on seeing the drill before pur¬ 
chasing. That’s what The American 
Seeding-Machine Co. Incorporated, 
Springfield, Ohio, wants the farmers to 
do regarding the old, time-tried drill, the 
Farmers’ Favorite. This drill has been 
on the market continuously for more 
than half a century, satisfying the most 
particular farmers in every section of 
the grain raising world. With it the 
user can sow any and every known seed 
from the smallest grass seeds to the 
largest beans. It will also handle suc¬ 
cessfully all known brands of commer¬ 
cial fertilizers. It is sold under a fair 
and square liberal guarantee to do every¬ 
thing claimed for it. Write to the manu¬ 
facturers for a copy of the Farmers’ 
Favorite catalogue, read it carefully, 
and go to your dealer and insist on 
seeing the drill.— Adv. 
DUPLEX 
GRINDING 
MILLS 
Grind ear corn, shelled 
corn, oats, rye, wheat, bar¬ 
ley, Kaffir corn,cotton seed, 
corn in shucks, sheaf oats, 
or any kind of Brain; coarse, 
medium or line. The only 
mill in the world made 
with a double set of grind- 
ers or burrs. 
SIX SIZES 
Easily operated. Never 
choke. Fully guar¬ 
anteed. Especially 
adapted (or gaso¬ 
line engines. 
Write for catalog and 
information desired. 
DUPLEX MILL & MEG. CO. 
Boa 82 Springfield, Ohio 
Get 
Biggerj 
Crops 
with the 
Cahoon 
Seed Sower 
Perfect distribution, assuring bigger and evener 
crops; time and seed saving guaranteed by use of the 
Cahoon Broadcast Sower. Accurate and simple. 
1-usU u lifetime because it’s constructed ol brass, 
Iron and steel. Sows any kind of grain or grass seed. 
If your dealer cannot supply you, we will deliver the 
Cahoon to any express office east of the Mississippi 
River on receipt of $4. SendforSeed Sowers’ Manual. 
Tell s ab out saving seed and having big crops. It sfree. 
GOODELL CO., 14 Maih St.. Antrim, New Hampshire. 
RAILROAD LANDS VERY CHEAP. 
To quickly build up population along the Wash¬ 
ington & Choctaw Railroad. In new reservation 
just thrown open, we will sell a little of our 100,000 
acres of 825 and $50 lands for $17.50 per acre. 
Magnificent opportunity for settlers, investors and 
speculators. Very easy term*, as low as $1 per 
month; long time Any size tract from 10 acres 
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do, and we will send you complete details. 
Ite'SCAREMTQ are offered great inducements 
MuLlT I 0 to sell our lands anywhere. 
Write for special terms WASHINGTON & CHOCTAW 
LAND CO.. 6137 Times Bldg., St. Louis, Mo. 
1 
_ r Chickens, Hogs, Sheep, 
Horses, Cattle. 160 styles. Big 
heavy No. 9 galvanized Coiled 
Spring rust proof wires. Willdefv 
stock, wind and weather. Free sample » 
& cat’g. 15 to 35c per rod. We pay freight 
JgJL. The Brown Fence & Wire Co. , 
- Dept. 59 Cleveland, O. * * ^ 
Rust Farm 
Extra heavily galvan- 
Ized. Sold direct to 
farmers at manufac¬ 
turer*’ prices. 3oda\K* 
fiee trial. Also Poul¬ 
try and Ornamental 
Wire and Iron Fences. 
Catalog free. Write 
f<»r special oftVr. 
Tlie Ward Fence Co- 
Box 542, Decatur, I nil. 
Fence 
FENCE 
Made of High Carbon Double Strength 
Coiled Wire. Heavily Galvanized to 
prevent runt. Have no agents. Soil at 
factory prices on 30 days’ free trial. 
We pay al I freight. 37 heights of farm 
and poultry fence. Catalog Free. 
COILED SPRING FENCE CO. 
Box 263 Winchester. Indiana. 
Ornamental Fence 
Cheaper than wood for 
Lawns, Churches, Cem¬ 
eteries, Public Grounds. Also Wrought Iron Fence. Catalogue 
free. Write Tor 8prelui Offer. 
THE WARD FENCE CO. # Box 775, Decatur, Ind. 
“NEW MODERN” LITTER CARRIER ' 
Does the Work of Two Men in One Half the Time 
What Our Patrons Say: 
“ Shall install in other buildings.” 
“ Superior in every way to the common carrier. 
“ The most labor-saving machine on my farm. 
“See none other I like so well.’ 
“ Don’t see how we got along without it. 
“New Modern” Feed and Ensilage Carriers 
Are Just as Good. Write for Circulars. 
GLOB 1JUOS. WILLIS MFG. CO., 
23 Main Street, Attica, N. Y. 
''Everything for the Earn." 
