1908. 
ITS' 
Hope Farm Notes 
^Lincoln's Birthday. —Of course it 
was my duty as head of the family to 
lay down a few remarks about Lincoln. 
I had a very attentive audience in the 
children when I told them how the 
great man had to do all kinds of work. 
He did not. shirk any honest duty. It 
was a great test of character—this abil¬ 
ity to do the humblest things and the 
most disagreeable jobs without com¬ 
plaint. I fear I made the mistake of 
many orators, and said too much. As a 
rule Mother pays little attention to my 
attempts at eloquence, but this time she 
had an attentive eye on me. I ought 
to have been warned, but I kept on and 
committed myself: 
“That’s good,” she said, “now I’ve got 
to get dinner and wash a lot of clothes 
—you can work the washing machine.” 
I had to do it or go back on the char¬ 
acter of the great Lincoln. I had 
planned to put in the day pruning apple 
trees, but if I didn’t make my words 
fit the deeds the children would be un¬ 
pruned. So it was an hour or so for 
me at the tub. It is all right for an 
exponent of Lincoln’s character to work 
out his theory at humble work, but 
there is no dignity in it when your wife 
proceeds to boss the job and "demon¬ 
strate your failures. 
Mother had the clothes soaking in the 
laundry tubs. They were well smeared 
with naphtha soap and then put in the 
washing machine with warm water. 
Then I worked the plunger up and 
down, condensing the air at each down 
stroke, and sucking the air and water 
through the clothes at each uplift. It 
was an easy job. I rolled the machine 
over to the stairs and sat down as I 
worked—with a basket of apples close 
at hand. Lincoln might have been 
ashamed of one who turned duty into 
an easy job, but I’ll guarantee that if 
the great man had lived to-day he 
wouldn’t have split rails when he could 
buy wire fence! That machine sucked 
the dirt out of those clothes with very 
little effort. I am sure Mother gave 
the wash several extra rinsings and 
wringings for my especial benefit, yet 
with all that thrown in it was an easy 
job compared with wash day as I knew 
it when a boy. Then the women folks 
were up before day, and they scrubbed 
out the dirt on a washboard. We stood 
up for what little dinner we got, and 
tasted soap in everything. I always felt 
sorry for the head of the house on wash 
day—if he sneaked off to the barn he 
was scolded for not being on hand to 
empty the tubs, and if he stayed in the 
house he was “in the way.” I know 
better than to commend the character 
of Lincoln on washing day when there 
is no washing machine at hand! Of 
course a philosopher may reason as he 
works that handle on the futility of 
labor which cleans clothes so that they 
may again be filled with dirt. Yet that 
is about what all life comes to. 
I don’t care to be quoted as an expert 
on cleanliness, but here is a good ques¬ 
tion : 
Can any of your many readers tell me 
what will take the stain off one’s hands 
after paring apples, potatoes, carrots and 
so on? My hands do get stained badly. 
Massachusetts. mrs. u. s. 
I am told that lemon juice with a 
little salt added will take off such stains. 
A Young Man’s Future.— I like just 
such letters as the following: 
I am a young man, 21 years old, city- 
born and bred. After figuring carefully for 
some time I decided that farming is the 
most suitable occupation for me. I have 
been working on a dairy farm for the last 
seven months, and am getting $15 a month 
and board; expect more in the Spring. 
I am reading six agricultural papers, 
which are helping me a great deal, but 
this is all the studying I shall ever be 
able to do on account of poor eyesight. I 
have an idea of the feeding of cows and 
poultry, and will soon begin to study how 
to balance a ration. After four or five 
years of practical experience and careful 
THE RURAL? NEW-YORKER 
reading of the leading agricultural papers, 
out of which I learn a lot, and with what 
money I shall have, shall I be able to make 
a living from the soil and be my own boss? 
I like to work and will go anywhere, pro¬ 
vided, of course, it is good climate and 
good soil, and all I expect is a plain, hon¬ 
est living, but I want to be independent. 
Shall I ever get this or is it nothing but a 
dream? I hope the Hope Farm man will 
not refuse to answer me, for on my question 
depends the future of a young man. 
Massachusetts. h. k. 
The Hope Farm man's only regret is 
that he cannot give you better advice. 
At your age I was doing just what you 
are now—milking cows on a dairy farm. 
I had an advantage over you in the 
fact that my eyes were good, but I did 
not at that time study as I should have 
done. I did not get to that until I 
was scared into it by an old man who 
showed me what education or study 
means to any man past his prime. I 
would by all means stick to your pres¬ 
ent plan. Do your duty and save your 
money. Put it in a savings bank where 
it will draw interest. Do not lend it on 
personal notes, and do not invest it in 
any schemes which promise great in¬ 
terest. In addition to the agricultural 
papers send for the dairy bulletins is¬ 
sued by the experiment station. The 
print is large, and you can read it easily. 
By all means study out the problem of 
balanced rations, and also learn all you 
can about the principles of breeding. I 
feel sure that future great successes in 
the dairy business are to be made in 
selling sanitary milk. Master some of 
those things, and you will be able to 
double your present wages—provided 
you are clean, honorable and willing to 
work. From my own experience and 
what I have seen of the world I can¬ 
not think of any surer way for you to 
secure a home and an independent job 
than to follow out the plan you have 
marked down. It is a dream or vision 
of one of the surest things on earth. 
Let no man laugh or argue you away 
from it. Get your knowledge and ex¬ 
perience, and save your money, and the 
land and the opportunity will come. 
Tough on Alfalfa. — I would rather 
have the women folks ask me to help 
with the washing than to decide ques¬ 
tions about Alfalfa. My arm is strong 
enough to pull air through the wet 
clothes, but when my experience tries to 
pull the air through Alfalfa wisdom I 
well know that it’s little but air, perhaps 
a little heated. I did what seemed right 
in seeding my Alfalfa, but what’s the 
use of that if it doesn’t grow? I must 
wait for May to settle that. 
I have read your articles about Alfalfa 
until 1 am becoming alilicted with the dis¬ 
ease. We have a steep hillside of clay 
loam underlaid with hard clay subsoil. It 
is now in Red clover, and if the season is 
favorable will be cut for hay about July 1. 
I have no subsoil plow, and if I had one 
the time could not be spared for the 
work during the Summer. The intention 
is to prepare this ground in July with Cut¬ 
away harrow and sow the seed in August, 
and at the same time sow Cow-horn turnip 
seed and let the turnips do the subsoil act. 
Do you think this a good plan? Or would 
it be better to sow the turnips with Crim¬ 
son clover this Fall and sow the Alfalfa: 
the following year? In this event it might 
be necessary to lime the soil, which would 
be no small task. Perhaps the turnips 
would furnish too much shade for Alfalfa. 
Please give your opinion of these plans, 
telling at the same time how much seed 
should be used per acre. x. y. g. 
Ohio. 
I wish every farmer could have a field 
of Alfalfa, but I fear our friend will 
never get to one on this road. I don’t 
think that is Alfalfa soil. The hard 
clay_ subsoil is a bad thing for Alfalfa 
to live on. There ought to be an open, 
porous subsoil to give it the best chance. 
The Cow-horn turnips will not take the 
full place of a subsoil plow. I stand 
by my good friend the turnip, but after 
all his roots are not made of steel, and 
lie cannot rip the subsoil up. Again, I 
believe it is a mistake to sow anything 
with the Alfalfa. The turnips will do it 
no good,, and most likely hurt the seed- 
mg. Crimson clover and turnips will 
be all right, for this clover is a much 
more vigorous starter than Alfalfa. I 
should not think of seeding Alfalfa on. 
such soil without thorough subsoiling 
and heavy liming. I would use 25 
pounds of Alfalfa seed per acre, and 
should then feel that the chances were 
against me. I am simply talking from 
my own experience, and after all, that 
has not yet got anywhere near success. 
H. W. C. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
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