644 
April 29, 
Hope Farm Notes 
A drizzle of rain with grey sky over¬ 
head and mud underfoot was what we 
found waiting for us in northern New 
Jersey on April 14. That is about the 
meanest weather combination which our 
country can produce, yet I question if 
any previous glimpse of a promised land 
could qufte equal Hope Farm in the 
eyes of the Hope Farmers. They had 
just finished a long and rough ocean 
voyage from Florida. The boat had 
been held back by high winds, and 
finally crawled into New York nearly a 
day behind. I had a wireless message 
from them, so I knew they were safe, 
but in that boiling and heaving water it 
seemed to them at times as if the ship 
were standing on its head! 
At last the hard voyage was ended. 
It had its uses in giving them a higher 
appreciation of home. It was indeed a 
blessed sight—tlje narrow farm climb¬ 
ing the steep lull, the trees crowning 
the top, the house and pleasant lawn and 
the flag flying from the new pole. The 
weather was changing, too, and just a 
little slab of sunshine lay on the hill 
tops. It was just the sort of a home¬ 
coming that one would like. Merrill 
had the house clean and warm, and 
without fuss or delay the Hope Farmers 
proceeded to fall into the old life. 
You should have seen the children 
running about to investigate. The 
turkeys, the hens and the horses were all 
in good shape, the trees never looked 
better, the grass was standing thick and 
strong. You could notice the rye a mile 
away. The young alligators which the 
boys brought with them are lively and 
strong, though I do not expect to have 
any to sell for some years. When I got 
home I found two of the little boys far 
up by the spring with their wagons— 
just sitting on a rock and looking down 
the hill—too happy even to play! Yes, 
indeed, Hope Farm seemed like the 
promised land to all our people, and 
they all came back ready to help make 
the promise real and true. All hands, 
down to the little red heads, will have 
a regular and responsible part of the 
job. Everybody works and everybody 
plays at Hope Farm. The thing to do 
is to keep the two operations separated. 
In former years the larger boys have 
kept up the wood supply and kept the 
lawns clean. Now these big boys will 
graduate from these jobs out into the 
field, while the little boys will come for¬ 
ward. We have a big shed well stuffed 
with sawed wood. The boys will have 
their little axes and split and deliver 
this wood to the kitchen as needed. 
Every child will have some little re¬ 
sponsibility and will be held .up to it. 
That is the only way in which a big 
family like ours can hope to get along. 
Right now Hope Farm is feeding and 
sheltering seven adults and 10 children. 
From the fat red-headed baby of 15 
months to the grizzled old veteran of 
undetermined age this makes an army 
requiring good organization and drill. 
Yet, when well drilled and organized, 
it is the sort of army a farm ought to 
carry. I should not like to think of the 
10 Hope Farm children growing up in 
the city. 
What are we planning to do in order 
to provide food and labor for such a 
company? Now is the time when every 
farmer should make his plans. Fruit is 
the main crop at Hope Farm. This is 
the bearing year for some 300 older 
trees, while about 1,000 younger trees 
will, or ought to, begin to give some 
fruit. There are something over 500 
peach trees that are now well loaded 
with buds, and about as many more 
younger trees coming on. All these are 
to be sprayed and cared for. Some are 
cultivated and others are mulched. Our 
children are taught never to throw away 
anything that might feed or mulch a 
tree. Everything is piled under the 
fruit trees. Waste from the kitchen, 
pumpings from the cesspool—everything 
that will decay is used in the orchards. 
The wet wastes are cultivated or 
spaded in—the dry stuff left on top to 
hold moisture. Weeds from the garden 
or strawberry beds are put in baskets 
and put around trees with coal ashes 
over them. Of course I understand that 
many expert fruit growers will smile at 
such methods, but what we want to do is 
to make every foot of our lower farm 
produce as much as a yard under or¬ 
dinary cultivation, and do it with the 
labor of our own family, if possible. 
Right now it looks like a good income 
from the trees. There are now about 
2 J4 acres of strawberries, including the 
potted plants set last Fall. These last 
are not at their best—the others are 
fair. We shall try to keep them clean. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The chances are for a good crop of Mar¬ 
shalls and in late July or August we 
expect to plant over an acre more. We 
also have a good trade in potted plants, 
which often lasts until late in Septem¬ 
ber. Picking berries and potting plants 
make good work for our young folks. 
They can make far more at it than at 
growing corn or potatoes. Then we 
plan an acre or so of Prizetaker onions. 
The plants are now in the cold frames 
and making fair growth. Early in May 
they will be transplanted in good soil, 
well prepared and given the best cul¬ 
ture that we have in us. If we run 
short of seedlings we shall use sets to 
complete the field. On smaller fields we 
have grown enormous crops of such 
onions, but there are no brags coming 
of what this year will come to. The 
job is well suited to our class of labor, 
and we will try to do it right. Later, 
after the clover is cut, we plan to try 
an acre or so of celery or Brussels 
sprouts. Of course the garden will be 
the mainspring of it all, for we expect 
to get at least half the Summer’s food 
out of the vegetables. Tf we cannot have 
our choice of a dozen vegetables for at 
least 100 days it will be a great disap¬ 
pointment. The garden will be double 
cropped—that is, the first crops in wide 
rows with a second and even a third put 
in between. We also plan to plant about 
10 barrels of potatoes. These will be 
planted in small patches here and there, 
wherever a piece of strong land becomes 
available. Practically every part of the 
farm is covered with rye. This can be 
plowed under and the ground planted in 
early potatoes. They can be taken out 
in time to plant potted strawberries, 
either close together or wide enough 
apart for a row of turnips between the 
strawberry rows. For the past few 
years we have suffered greatly from 
drought, and T am trying to figure out 
a plan for irrigating about five acres of 
the lower farm. We shall have to come 
to it sooner or later, but first the soil 
must be thoroughly drained and made 
smooth. 
On the whole, Hope Farm starts the 
season with good prospects. We have 
made what we call good plans for each 
field or piece of ground—now see if we 
can execute them. The weather thus far 
has been bad. When our folks got back 
nothing was planted. Wc were ready to 
sow oats and put peas in the garden, 
but the soil was not ready for us. It 
will soon warm up and then we can get 
going. The fruit buds are still dormant 
—quite a little behind last year in de¬ 
velopment. That’s a good thing, and 
we are to that extent thankful for the 
cold weather. The time has come, how¬ 
ever, to warm up, and T hope by next 
week to give a record of actual work. 
h. w. c. 
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