1908. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
©91 ' 
« 
Hope Farm Notes 
“Nell Beverly, Farmer.” —Among 
the letters from friends this week I 
found the following: 
“Yes, I like a short story—especially 
if it’s any relation to Hope Farm!” 
Nell Beverly could have fitted into 
Hope Farm very easily. When you 
read this book some member of your 
family will be much like the old farm¬ 
er who read the essay on Agriculture 
by Pliny. This old Roman wrote his 
book over 1,800 years ago, but our old 
farmer friend said: “That man has 
got hold of some of my ideas!” When 
your folks read about Nell Beverly you 
see if some of them do not say: “That 
is what I have always said!” You see 
people of experience usually recognize 
common sense when they see it, and 
it is a part of human nature to accept 
it as one of our own children. You 
will find that “Nell Beverly, Farmer,” 
will start endless discussions at home, 
at the Grange and at public gather¬ 
ings. If (your pastor doesn’t find 
several things in it suitable for his 
sermons he will do well to read it the 
second time. 
Lucille Beverly was the younger sis¬ 
ter who helped her sister in the house 
while Nell did the farm work. She 
had to struggle with the eternal fuel 
question, which sometimes becomes in¬ 
fernal when small boys manage the 
wood pile. 'How many farm women 
will appreciate this from her: 
“Why should a woman be either 
afraid or compelled to ask for fuelt 
Who ever sazv a man afraid to ask 
if dinner ; was ready?” 
I have seen a few humble individ¬ 
uals who resembled Moses in one re¬ 
spect at least when, after carefully wip¬ 
ing their feet they entered the kitchen. 
These gentlemen however always have a 
good woodpile. Right in this line is 
the remark by Joe Green—Nell’s neigh¬ 
bor : 
“I used ter say that when I got mar¬ 
ried I’d rule or know why, an’ I found 
out!” 
It was this same Joe Green who gave 
his opinion of the agricultural col¬ 
lege: 
“In my mind that skule is jest like a 
separator. It takes the young men, 
runs ’em through as the milk does, and 
a mighty small share of [earnin’ comes 
gut of one spout and a heap of con -1 
ceit outen the other!” 
Now Joe isn’t half wrong, but he 
doesn’t go far enough. It is one of the 
great successes of an education if the 
true “learnin’ ” can really be separated 
from the conceit. In that way the 
young man can have the conceit flat¬ 
tened out of him—as he surely will— 
without injuring the real stuff. 
When Bob Beverly, the big, shift¬ 
less, wandering brother came back, he 
started digging potatoes. That is hard 
work, as everyone who has tried it 
knows. Bob came in to dinner and 
found no meat. There was a good 
vegetable soup and baked beans and 
baked apples. Then Bob growled like 
a bear, but it did him no good. Nell 
had started in to pay her debts, and 
she would not buy one cent’s worth of 
food or supplies that the family could, 
do without. Baked beans and baked 
apples would satisfy me well, and Bob 
had to come down to them. In fact 
the way that wandering fellow was 
handled might well be taken as a model 
by the thousands of mothers and sis¬ 
ters who are called upon to handle 
such characters, and give way during 
the trial. 
Yet while Nell Beverly fought for 
economy in this way, she had the wis¬ 
dom to refuse to part with the family 
piano, the pictures and the books. She 
knew what such things would mean 
to the children, and she held to her 
purpose to give these little ones a 
happy childhood and an education that 
would make them love country life. 
The book is full of these appealing 
things, and that is why I am so sure 
it will be read and studied, and form 
the basis for argument and discussion. 
It is about time farmers and country 
people had a literature all their own. 
Some writers of fiction go and live in 
the country for a while and try to de¬ 
scribe the life. It often reads well, yet 
somehow there is a hollow sound when 
you tap it. Now that this Commission 
is investigating there is greater need 
than ever of the plain, simple truth 
about farm life. We as country peo¬ 
ple want our story told as it is, with¬ 
out gilding or fancy pictures or spe¬ 
cial argument. Mrs. Brown and Mrs. 
Howe, who wrote “Nell Beverly, Farm¬ 
er,” are sisters who know the prob¬ 
lems presented by debt and hard condi¬ 
tions. Mrs. Howe planned the story 
and Mrs. Brown put it into words. 
When you read it you will agree with 
me that these women have done a pub¬ 
lic service for country people. 
Farm Partners. —You remember that 
note from the man who had the books 
and piano player to exchange for a 
farm? No one has offered the land yet, 
but a farmer who is getting on in 
years and who has no children wants a 
younger couple to take his farm. Per¬ 
haps our friend can make the deal— 
and save his books, too. This idea of 
farm partnership comes up all the time. 
Over 25 years ago I worked far up 
in the snow in Michigan in a lumber 
camp. There were four of us from 
college—working through the Winter 
to earn money for finishing our course. 
We lived in a little hen coop of a house 
where even the stove froze solid at 
night. In those days we had no grip 
on the future stronger than dreams. 
One of those boys worked hard and 
has climbed high in the Government 
service. He bought a farm and tried 
to run it with hired help. You know 
what that means. . Then he came out 
boldly and advertised for a partner. 
I want you now to read a part of my 
old friend’s letter: 
My little advertisement was the most 
effective piece of advertising I ever did. 
I received nearly 80 responses. Most of 
them were from your paper. I was of course 
astonished. I have advertised several times 
for help, offering high wages and received 
only a small number of applications. This 
incident brings it home to me how many 
Americans are anxious to get a start for 
themselves where their hard work will ac¬ 
crue to their own benefit and where they 
will not work for wages. It is a laudable 
ambition. I have selected a man who takes 
The It. N.-Y. They had never worked for 
wages before he took the last place as fore¬ 
man, and for the sake of their boys they 
did not want to continue that mode of life 
even if they were making money. That is 
the right idea; educate them and start 
them out to fight for themselves, not to 
fight for somebody else at so much “per.” 
Now I often have letters from peo¬ 
ple who want to hire men. Somehow, 
even when they offer good wages for 
light service they do not get what they 
want. Let them think this letter over. 
A man who is worth much does not 
want to remain a foreman or hired 
man all his life, especially if he has 
children to bring tip and educate. If, 
instead of hiring the man outright, 
you can make some sort of a partner¬ 
ship deal you will at least stand the 
chance of getting a higher class man 
and do better for yourself. As for the 
last part of my friend’s letter, it is as 
true as can be. 
Farm and FIome. —I ought to have 
known better! The fine dry weather 
tempted me to put a lot of the seed 
corn in the barn, stalks and all. We 
thought it would give such a fine job 
husking on stormy Winter days. It 
does, but mice arid mould started their 
job first. Luckily we caught them at 
it, and hustled the corn out of the 
mows before much damage was done. 
It spoils some seed corn. As for 
feeding mouldy corn it should be 
steamed or baked first. Heat seems to 
fix it up. ... I thought Winter 
had come and left a pile of feeding 
cabbage under the hay barrack. Soft 
weather turned in and the middle of 
the pile began to “heat.” So we dug a 
hole through the center of the pile and 
let in the air. This and cooler weather 
stops it. All our stock have cabbage, 
and it does them good. The crop 
would pay for feeding if we did not 
sell a single head. . . . Hope Farm 
will organize a “Protein Club” next 
year. What I mean is that we will 
do all we can at growing crops to re¬ 
duce feed bills. Present prices are be¬ 
yond all reason. We can grow corn 
enough without great trouble, but we 
want something to take the place of 
bran, oats or oil meal—protein or mus¬ 
cle makers. The clover is coming on 
but the Alfalfa has not come up to 
our hopes. Cow peas are ready to cut 
at the wrong time with us, just when 
we are ready to pick peaches and early 
apples, and while usually the weather is 
soft and muggy. As I figure it 6ats 
and peas and Soy beans are best for 
our use. I expect to plant Soy beans 
in place of potatoes in the young or¬ 
chards. We have just got to organize 
“protein clubs” on our farms, or the 
grain bills will take all the grain out 
of life. . . The strawberries are 
asleep down under their mulch, and 
we feel hopeful for the crop. Those 
Kevitt plants are certainly fine, but 
while brag may be a fine dog in some 
situations sure thing beats him. I’ll 
wait for the sure thing before talking. 
While we are frozen up and happy 
over it, “there are others.” W. F. 
Allen of Maryland writes me December 
8 as follows: 
We have ha<l an unusually fine Fall. I 
have planted since the first of November 
over 40 acres in young strawberries: we 
are about half done. IfFIierc are any warm 
days during the Winter we shall he at it. 
There was about a half inch of frost this 
morning, but we received a big box of 
shrubbery and my gardener is using a good 
part of the help to-day getting it planted. 
These young strawberries that we have 
planted this Fall will have to be mulched 
just as soon as Jack Frost gets hold good 
and strong. We shall commence getting 
in stable manure from Jersey City very 
soon and expect to use about 100 carloads 
this Winter for top-dressing young straw¬ 
berries and to use in the drill for about 25 
acres ot cucumbers and 100 acres of canta¬ 
loupes, and in the hill on a few thousand 
hills of watermelons, perhaps as much as 
50,000 or 00.000. You see this will keep 
us busy enough to keep us out of mischief 
all Winter. As you know we have not been 
growing any corn, but when T had to pay 
85 and 88 cents per bushel last Spring, 
about the time I was turning in 20 acres 
of Scarlet clover sod that I Intended plant¬ 
ing in Winter squash, I changed my mind 
and planted it in corn. I am glad' I did. 
The indications are that corn is going to 
be higu again, and I have just put m 2.000 
bushels of ears from this piece of sod, which 
makes us teel pretty comfortable in that 
line, and our stock will have some corn 
even though corn does go to $1 per bushel 
as predicted. 
That’s wholesale work with a ven¬ 
geance. W don’t feel that we can 
afford to buy manure. You see they 
are all studying this feed proposition. 
You want to realize that Allen’s 20 
acres of Crimson clover meant pretty 
nearly 200 loads of manure. That 
ought to drive a man into a “protein 
club.” Allen may have his warm days 
and plant strawberries all Winter, but 
frozen old Hope Farm looks like home 
to the Hope Farmers. h. w. c. 
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