io 
January 7, 
*THE R.URAI* NKW-YO Fi KKH 
Hope Farm Notes 
All Sorts. —Through parts of north¬ 
ern New Jersey and nearby States the 
water problem is serious. Following 
the long drought of last Summer there 
were but few rains. The wells and 
springs were very low when the ground 
finally crusted with frost. In some 
cases there is not enough water for 
stock, and the supply provided for 
humans is poor or dangerous. With our 
140-foot well we have had no trouble, 
but the outlook is serious for many. 
The soil contains but little water, and 
I am afraid some of the young trees 
will suffer. Another thing that con¬ 
fronts us is a visitation of 17-year 
locusts—due next year. Bergen Co., 
N. J., is one of the places where they 
were thickest last time, and I expect a 
“plague” of them. The English spar¬ 
row will handle them, but the spar¬ 
rows are not numerous with us. I ex¬ 
pect these sparrows and other birds 
will learn of the feast spread before 
them and come to our farms. These 
locusts cut slits in the young wood of 
trees and lay their eggs. I have been 
so much impressed with statements 
about these locusts that we will give 
up planting young trees at the back of 
the farm—near the woods. I would 
rather skip a year than to face this 
“plague.” We 'Shall plant on the lower 
farm around the house. . . . We 
plan to try a good-sized experiment 
with Prizetaker onions this year. That 
field which was drained last Spring is 
now one of the best on the farm. If 
our plans do not slip a clog we will 
have that field plowed and fitted early 
and put it all into onion plants. The 
hotbeds are now being made, and we 
hope to start the seed in early March. 
Now I am hunting for dead sure Prize- 
taker seed, which is often hard to find. 
This crop has always paid us well, and 
we now have the right soil for it. 
. . . Oud old friend Jerry—the cul¬ 
tivating horse—has passed on. He was 
an old veteran—scarred by many a farm 
conflict. The old fellow was cranky and 
liked to have his own way, but put him 
on a cultivator and let him know what 
you wanted and Jerry would do or die. 
Winter was a hard time for him, for 
he grew stiff and lame, and it hurt him 
to get about. He is better off out of 
the battle. His thick fur will be made 
Vegetables are easily grown and cheap. 
Our folks expected to find plenty of 
pecan nuts, but they are worth 40 cents 
a pound. As for groceries, the best 
way is to buy in large lots from whole¬ 
sale houses. Dairy products are scarce 
and high. They ought not to be, for 
Florida could be made a good dairy sec¬ 
tion. On the whole I think our ex¬ 
perience will show that there are a 
good many families at the North who 
could quite easily manage a double 
home. The older members of the fam¬ 
ily, or those who suffer from cold, 
could spend several months in Florida, 
and, after they learned how, pick up 
some Winter work that will nearly pay 
for the trip. This will require some 
capital and considerable judgment, but 
I think it can be done with moderate 
outlay by people who have good farm 
homes in the North. . . . Christmas 
in Florida always struck me as a sort 
of tangled proposition. You need an 
entirely revised edition of Christmas 
books to have children understand how 
Santa Claus comes in a sleigh and a 
thick fur coat. A more useless costume 
than the one usually given Santa Claus 
would be hard to imagine in that mild 
climate. And yet, when we think of it 
the original Christmas was in another 
mild climate without snow or severe 
cold. Anyway the children do not seem 
to care, for with a roaring fire and a 
well-covered Christmas tree they have 
no reason to complain. I fear they will 
find out the real character of “Santa 
Claus” earlier in life than Northern chil¬ 
dren do, for the snow heaps add ro¬ 
mance to it. Anyway, our folks cele¬ 
brated Christmas in the sun and had a 
great day. 
Cactus Culture. — I asked Mr. Sin¬ 
clair, of Texas, what he thought of 
cactus as a Florida crop. Like the rest 
he doubts it. 
You would probably have to cultivate 
more carefully than we do. We have so 
little rainfall that the weeds do not choke 
the plants much. We do not cut out the 
weeds in the rows, simply keep the mid¬ 
dles open. But you might find it neces¬ 
sary to weed out between the plants. The 
best tool for that purpose is a hoe, with 
the shank straightened out. With that, 
you can get at the weeds easily. Of course 
this manual labor increases cost of forage 
considerably. You would have to decide 
if it would pay in your circumstances to 
grow pear for forage, or put up a silo for 
other crops, such as corn or Velvet beans. 
Here we cannot depend on those crops 
unless we do better farming than the aver¬ 
age. So we prefer the pear for our feed, 
not only because we know we shall get 
a crop of some size even if we do not cul¬ 
tivate at all, but because we shall get 
bigger crops with same outlay, than with 
anything else. Supplying those hotels 
with milk and cream every Winter and go¬ 
ing North for the Summer, looks like a 
very attractive proposition. 
On the whole cactus does not look 
promising for central Florida, though 
it is all right in parts of Texas. I now 
have a list of forage crops suitable for 
Putnam Co., and it is astonishing what 
can be grown there. If they had such 
a range of crops in Vermont those 
Green Mountain dairymen would have a 
into a lap robe or rug. The tanners do 
beautiful work with such hides, and it 
is surprising how many are being 
treated. 
The South. —Our Florida folks re¬ 
port fine weather. Most of the days are 
delightful, but the nights are cool. Now 
and then comes a day when the weather 
is pronounced cold. Fires seem to be 
needed nearly every night. The Florida 
houses are provided with fireplaces and 
usually with little wood stoves to take 
off the chill. But Winter life in Florida 
to those who have the full price can 
be made a pleasant dream. It is hard to 
describe the beauty of the lakes while 
the bright sun is shining or to tell 
how the sun drops suddenly into the 
west when night comes. It’s a great 
place for a restful “loaf,” but let me 
keep adding the fact that you must have 
the price in order to enjoy it. Our great 
brood of little folks is coming on in the 
sand and sun. The boarding season has 
begun. At Christmas I received a regis¬ 
tered package containing 50 cents—the 
price of the first meal actually sold by 
our folks. I think that ought to be 
made into some sort of a pin. The 
“rush” will now begin in earnest. The 
boys are to wait on the table, the girls 
will help cook and clean house—in fact 
all hands will be busy. Living is not 
expensive in Florida if one will use 
business judgment in buying. With the 
exception of ham and bacon, meats are 
cheap—rarely over 15 cents a pound in 
local markets. Fish is plentiful and 
quite easily caught. The woods are well 
stocked with game. The hunters go out 
for half a day and bring in a good sup¬ 
ply of quail. Poultry can be bought. at 
reasonable prices, and the natives bring 
wild turkeys in from time to time. 
bonanza. 
h. w. c. 
Wash in Running Water 
■ or cold, soft or hard, at any time, with - 
- Eroin e out of doors or working the handle 
the pump. Use all the water you want— 
1 have it under constant pressure. 
Svery convenience that the city man 
joys from water under pressure can be 
urs when you own a 
very minute you spend pumping water the 
fashioned way—carrying it m buckets 
after day—year after year means money 
to you. Live better-and that means your 
ire family—and let the Leader Water Sys- 
i do the work, 
jn and mail the coupon 
w, and learn how easy 
i to have such a plant. 
ider Iron Works 
Decatur, Illinois 
ern Division, Owogo, N. V. 
York Office, 15 William St. 
ago Office, Monadnock Block. 
Leader Iron Works, 
Without cost 
Question of Water, 
Leader Water Systems. 
Jasper St, Decatur. 
or obligation, mail me your book "The * 
later, with full particulars about ■ 
Name..... ... 
R. F. D. or Box .*. 
Town . State.. 
The “Sterling” Grate Saves Fuel 
S EE how 
the fin¬ 
gers on 
each grate- 
bar alternate 
with the pro¬ 
jections o n 
the opposite 
grate-bar. 
This supports 
the fire per¬ 
fectly, yet ad- 
m i t s the 
greatest pos¬ 
sible amount 
of air to the 
flames. So 
you burn less 
fuel and 
more air. 
This patented grate in the 
enables you to utilize every heat-unit to the utmost. This 
big and sturdy grate is very easily removed without tools. 
The Sterling Grate and Firebox give a quick, hot, even 
fire. The Sterling Flue System delivers the heat uni- \ 
formly to every side and corner of the oven. There are 
20 superior advantages of the Sterling—if your 
dealer hasn’t this range, send for 
our booklets. 
Cut 
W Out 
V This 
Coupon 
6>Mail 
To-Day 
SILL 
STOVE WORKS, 
215 Kent Street, 
Rochester, New York. 
Si li. Stove Works, 215 Kent St.. Rochester, X.Y. 
Please send your book on Sterling Ranges to 
My Name .. 
Address . State . 
My Dealer's Name .. 
CLARK’S MARKET GARDEN OR GROVE HARROW 
This harrow is used extensively by gardeners 
and truckers in the South and other vegetable 
growing sections. In Florida it is a great favorite 
for orchard cultivation. 
Made light for shallow cultivation ; cuts two to 
four inches deep if desired. No seat supplied un¬ 
less ordered. . . ,, 
Made in three sizes : 
No. 0 1 .home, with 2 gang* of five 14 In. disks en< h 
“ 00 I.t- 2-horse, 2 gongs of six 14 “ “ 
“ OOOHvy. 2-horse, 2gangs, seven 14 ** “ “ 
No gardening equipment is complete wirhont 
one or more of these harrows. Used on their Ex¬ 
perimental Grounds at Garden City, L. I., N. Y., 
by the publishers of the Garden Magazine. 
Send to-day for onr new Catalogue “Intensive 
Cultivation.” Free. 
CUTAWAY HARROW CO., 839 Main St.. Higgamim, Conn. 
kelly DUPLEX GR MILLS G 
Only mill mad© with a double set of 
grinders or burrs. Have a grinding 
surface of just double that of any 
other mill of equal size, therefore, 
Do Twice as Much 
Work. 
Grind ear corn, shelled 
corn, oats, rye, wheat, 
barley, kaffir corn, cot¬ 
ton seed, corn in 
shucks, sheaf oats, or 
any kind of grain, coarse, me¬ 
dium or fine. Require 25$ less 
power than any other mill. 
Especially adapted for gasoline 
engines. Write for new catalog. 
Duplex Mill & Mfg.Co., Box 329 Springfield, Ohio 
SCIENTIFIC SWEEP NULL 
Double Action. Triple Geared 
This No. 5 is one of our 
leading Feed Mills. Particu¬ 
larly adapted for grinding 
ear oorn and small grain for stock 
feed. A medium priced mill that 
Gives Satisfaction 
Strong, durable and 
easy running. Mounted 
on a heavy hard-wood 
box. Fully guaranteed. 
Write for free catalog. 
Over 20 styles and sizes. 
THE FOOS MFG. CO., Box 823 Springfield, Ohio 
for the land’s sake 
use Bowker’s fertilizers. They enrich 
the earth and those who till it. It pays 
the farmer to buy and it pays the agent 
to sell Bowker’s; the former because 
they give big field results, and the latter 
because their national reputation and 
popular favor make them easy to sell. 
Forty years of experience, prompt service, 
the best materials, the best facilities are behind 
every bag - of Bowker’s. A brand to fit every 
crop and every pocket book. 
We want agents wherever we are not now 
represented. Write today for prices and terms ; 
this may mean a good business for you if you act 
at once. 
Write anyhow for our illustrated catalogue and 
calendar. ^Ve want you to know Bowker s before \ ou 
buy your spring fertilizer. 
D ^ C D FERTILIZER COMPANY, 
\j VY lSk. J AX 77 Lyman St., Buffalo,N. Y. 
Original and largest manufacturers of special fertilizers. 
