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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 12, 
Hope Farm Notes 
Lively Days. —August in our country 
■will rank as the hardest month. I have 
heard grain farmers speak of it as holiday 
time. After harvest there comes a lull in 
farm work—with corn ami late potatoes 
pretty much laid by. Not so with us. On 
our own farm, for example, the early 
apples are ripening and must be sent off at 
once. In spite of all we can do many bar¬ 
rels are blown off by the wind. The first 
sweet corn is ready, the early potatoes must 
be dug and sold, the land where they 
grew must be fitted for the Fall crop, the 
cabbage must be tended, and how the weeds 
grow in the strawberries! There is no 
end to the work, and the wagons roll by in 
long procession carrying the crops away. 
Prices this year have been good, and it 
looks now as if our farm sales would be 
larger than any year before. Thus far 
we have been remarkably free from acci¬ 
dents, with hardly a sick horse or a break¬ 
down of any sort. It wall be fierce work 
from now until the Fall apples are picked, 
and in spite of all some things may be 
neglected. Poets and dreamers tell us of 
the beauties of August skies. I like to 
read their poems in Winter before an open 
fire, but I wish I could run a few of 
these dreamers through some of these hot 
and sweaty August days where it meant 
work or starvation. Much of our crowded 
work is due to the people far back 60 years 
or more who planted the old orchards. 
They loaded us with Nyack and sweet fruit 
which must be picked right now. If we 
were clear of this picking we could get the 
berries and other crops cleaned and then, 
when the late fruit came, be fully prepared 
for it. One of the things a beginner as 
well as an ender must get in mind is a 
plan of crops which will not interfere. 
When two crops both demand care together 
they are both likely to suffer. I would 
not plant any apples earlier than Wealthy 
or Fall Pippin. 
Fillers. —One of the leading questions 
asked by beginners is whether they should 
plant apple trees to serve as temporary 
"fillers.” I planted our trees 32 feet 
apart each way. A “filler” would be a 
tree put at the center of the square made 
by each of these four trees, or even midway 
between them in the rows. In part of our 
orchard I used peach trees for this pur¬ 
pose, but I do not like them among apple. 
If we were planting again I should use 
"fillers.” Such varieties as Wealthy, Mc¬ 
Intosh and Black Ben Davis are good for 
this purpose. I have some Black Bon nine 
years old that will give about one barrel 
each this year. The fruit is high-colored and 
superior to the old Ben Davis. Wealthy is 
another good one. My young trees this 
year will pay for about all the care they 
have thus far received. 
But what about the effect of these “fill¬ 
ers” upon the size and shape of the per¬ 
manent trees? Without any question the 
trees grown without fillers are superior. 
The fillers do affect the others, and I do 
not suppose one man in 10 will have the 
nerve to cut them out in time. I have one 
t r( >e 40 years old or more standing in the 
center of a field where it has full chance 
to grow. It represents a planting of about 
50 feet each way. That means about 18 
trees to the acre against 42 as I have 
planted. To-day 18 of those big fellows 
will outyleld 42 of the others, and give 
finer fruit, but 18 little trees on an acre 
make a poor showing, and 40 years is a 
long time to wait. I think a man of mid¬ 
dle life might *well plant “fillers.” I saw 
a man of 70 once planting Baldwin trees 
45 feet apart. They would not bear much 
under 12 years, but he said. “I will give a 
tree a fair show even though some one 
else get the show-down.” 
Milk. —In the month of July our cow 
Mollie gave 937 ponnds of milk. This 
means a total of 3,253 pounds since April 
19. She is now giving 31 pounds a day. 
No use for me to repeat that this is not a 
great record, and we do not brag about it, 
but this is just what the cow is doing. 
I would like to encourage others to weigh 
the milk carefully and figure. It is a good 
thing to get away from guesswork. The 
one thing that I shall keep repeating is 
the difference in the value of this cow’s 
milk which is made by location. Right 
here Mollie has given us $140.12 worth of 
milk. I believe our family has had that, 
food value from it. Back among the hills 
where this cow came from this same quan¬ 
tity of milk would have brought her owner 
from $35 down to $25. We are feeding 
this cow 10 pounds of grain per day and 
the wastes from the garden. The pasture 
is fair. She gets what she will eat. We 
began with half a peck of sweet apples per 
day and can safely work up to three packs. 
This is the season when we begin to get 
question about cows and apples. Some 
years ago, while I was running for the 
Legislature on the Prohibition ticket, my 
cow broke into the orchard and “got 
drunk” on apples. The scientists and the 
farmers fought it out as to -whether the 
cow was really “drunk” or not. I think 
the inebriates had it, but at any rate the 
cow went down in a dazed condition and 
lay for a couple of days, bloated and 
blear-eyed. Her milk flow stopped entirely 
and never fully returned. That is what 
will happen where a cow gets a chance 
to gorge on apples. Call it by any name 
you please. On the other hand, apples are 
as‘good as silage for a cow when fed with 
reason. Begin with a few quarts and 
gradually increase. Beware of large, hard 
apples. The cow may choke on them. 
Tuberculous Patients. —Among other 
hard problems put before us is the follow¬ 
ing. It comes from New Jersey: 
“A young man (30) employed as gar¬ 
dener, handy man, etc., has just discovered 
that he is suffering from tuberculosis, this 
knowledge is also possessed by his employer 
who is the father of a family of young 
children constantly running and playing 
about and open to infection of the disease. 
The employee realizes all the facts and 
wishes to leave, which thought the master 
appreciates and yet the question that trou¬ 
bles one about as much as the other is, 
where can the poor fellow go? He is 
strong enough to do light work—can paint 
and make himself generally useful. Is 
there such a place, a farm or institution, 
for the purpose of aiding such unfortunate 
victims not only to regain health, but give 
them work enough to take an interest in 
life?” 
There are hundreds of such cases. The- 
children should be separated from this 
man at once. It is often hard to do such 
things, but we must remember the deadly 
character of this disease. The New Jersey 
State Sanatorium is located at Glen 
Gardner in Hunterdon Co. At this institu¬ 
tion cases which are not too far advanced 
are treated either free or where the patient 
is able, at $5 per week. Of course they 
could not take incurable cases. Regular 
examinations are made on Wednesday 
mornings at 10 o’clock at the Newark City 
Dispensary. A physician examines the pa- 
■ tients. If it is found that they have no 
funds the county judge will recommend 
them for admission. In the case mentioned 
I would advise this man to go and be 
examined and if possible enter this institu¬ 
tion. During the past few years the fight 
against consumption has gained ground 
rapidly. The plan of providing homes or 
institutions for such patients is maturing. 
The English people are working out a 
scheme for national insurance which carries 
the plan of building hospitals in every 
county. That is the tendency in this 
country. In my own county we are start¬ 
ing such a plan. A farm has been pur¬ 
chased near the mountains, and buildings 
will be put up where patients in all stages 
of the disease will be treated. I can well 
remember in New England when people 
far gone with the disease lived right with 
the rest of the family. During the cold 
weather the kitchen, where food was pre¬ 
pared, was the only room in the house 
that was comfortably warmed. No wonder 
the disease spread so rapidly. 
Lawn Making. —We have a piece of land 
near the house which will be seeded to a 
lawn in September. This is the way we 
go about it. The land was in early peas, 
well manured and cultivated. After pick¬ 
ing we let the pea vines die on the ground. 
The weeds came up and wore clipped sev¬ 
eral times before they could go to seed. 
When the rains came the ground was_ 
plowed about seven inches deep, and limed 
at the rate of a ton to the acre. Then 
began raking and stone picking. On a 
large lawn 1 would dig deep ditches and 
put in the stones, being careful not to 
come too close to the surface. On this 
small piece the stones were hauled away. 
A good eye is required to make an even 
grade, for the water must not stand in 
puddles. We shall keep up the work of 
harrowing, raking and stone picking at in¬ 
tervals until about September 10, when 
the seed will be put on. We buy the reg¬ 
ular lawn grass mixture and put it on 
thick. Blue- grass, Red-top and White 
clover are the main lawn grasses. At the 
time of seeding we use a “top-dresser,” or 
chemical mixture rich in available nitrogen. 
If possible sow the seed just before or dur¬ 
ing a gentle rain, and get it in early enough 
to make a good Fall start. The chief things 
needed for a good lawn are first natural 
grass land. That means soil full of or¬ 
ganic matter and capable of holding mois¬ 
ture without baking. What is called a 
clay loam is best, but even a light sand 
can be made to imitate it by plowing in 
several green crops and rolling down hard. 
I would rather plow under green crops 
than manure. The latter carries too many 
weed seeds. Second, the soil must be like 
an ash heap and perfectly graded. The 
little grass seeds cannot start and grow 
amid great hard chunks of soil. You 
must have a finer seed bed than would be 
needed for corn, potatoes or rye, and the 
surface must be like a floor with a gentle 
slope.. Third, the seed must be viable and 
strong, and it must have an abundance of 
plant food close at hand. After grass oned 
gets started it is a great job to kill it out, 
but it must be petted and pampered at the 
start. A good lawn ought to last 25 years, 
but you cannot hope to start it in 25 min- 
State Fair 
Syracuse, New York 
September 11-lb, 1911 
Agricultural and 
utes. 
“The White Hope.” —I have felt that 
Solomon’s wisdom was somewhat overrated. 
I think that at times he simply looked wise 
and delivered a volley of words which 
might mean almost anything. At any rate 
he should try his brain on some of the 
questions which pour in upon us. I select 
the following as unusual: 
“What is this ‘White Hope’ I read about 
in the papers? It is often mentioned, but I 
do not understand.” J. k. b. 
It might refer to the milk situation. 
Milk is white and the great hope in dairy¬ 
ing lies in having a fairer share of the con¬ 
sumer’s dollar go to the producer. Or it 
might be some sure cure for the “great white 
plague—consumption. Upon investigation 
I find it refers to a man who it is hoped is 
coming. Ah ! Some great, noble character 
who will show us anew how to live and 
lead us into better things! _ Good! The 
country needs such a man right now. Of 
course his life will mean a great sacrifice 
and he cannot expect to win much for him¬ 
self, but if he can make the common peo¬ 
ple think and act he will indeed be a 
“Hope” for the nation. 
Where does he live now ? 
We are on the wrong track. These news¬ 
papers and a large share of the vigorous 
male population are looking for a white 
man who can whip the present black “cham¬ 
pion.” Humiliating as it may seem, “The 
White Hope” is some unknown human who 
can pound the present head brute out of the 
ring. If the thousands who have this phan¬ 
tom constantly in mind would hunt and 
wish with equal vigor for a man who would 
stand up bravely and steadfastly for plain 
justice in public life we would indeed have 
a “White Hope,” for the earnest wish of 
the common people is sure to find expres¬ 
sion in a man. That was what Lincoln 
proved to.be. The hunt for a brute does not 
interest me. It will not prove my superior¬ 
ity as a white man to have some one come 
with higger fists and stronger arms than 
the present “black despnir.” “The White 
Hope” that we need is a strong arm to 
shake up our judges, cuff the grafters out 
of the legislature and reach into the mar¬ 
ket and even up the consumer’s dollar. 
H. w. c. 
Salt as Fertilizer. 
Will you let me know how to use salt? 
Our land needs salt, and would like to know 
how much per acre and when to apply, and 
on what crops to use it. I was informed 
that salt improved the yield of wheat. 
s. D. 
You can broadcast the salt like any chem¬ 
ical fertilizer, or drill it in with a grain 
drill. You can use 500 pounds per acre. 
But how do you know your land needs salt? 
There is nothing in the salt to act as a 
direct fertilizer. It has some chemical ef¬ 
fect to make certain forms of plant food 
available, hut its chief,effect is not to add 
plant food, but to stop or hold back nitrifi¬ 
cation. This means the process by which 
nitrogen is made available in the soil. In 
some cases grass or grain will “lodge” or 
fall down before it is cut. The reason for 
this usually is that too much soluble nitro¬ 
gen in the soil forces the plants into a 
tender, rapid growth. The stems are not 
strong enough to hold the plants up and 
they fall. Salt stops to some extent this 
formation of soluble nitrogen somewhat as 
it stops the decay or fermentation of meat 
or of green hay in the mow. Where salt is 
used the stem is made stiffer. Unless 
your soil is rich we doubt if salt will help 
much except for crops like celery or aspar¬ 
agus. 
Industrial Exhibition 
Demonstrations and Illustrated 
Lectures in Many Departments 
President Wm. H. Taft and 
Gov. John A. Dix to Speak 
Grand Circuit Races 
Automobile Races 
Aeroplane Flights 
Concerts by Pryor’s Band 
Send for Prize List 
Genasco 
the Trinidad-Lake-Asphalt Roofing 
has the life that only natural 
asphalt can give roofing to 
lastingly resist all kinds of 
weather. 
The Kant-Ieak Kleet clamps 
the roof-seams water-tigfht with¬ 
out cement, and prevents nail- 
leaks. Ask your dealer for Gen¬ 
asco with Ivant-leak Kleets packed 
in the roll. 
The Barber Asphalt Paving Company 
Largest producers of asphalt, and largest 
manufacturers of ready roofing in the world. 
Philadelphia 
New York San Francisco Chicago 
FARM WANTFn-' VESTKKN NKVV *ork. 
i nll m it n ii l LLf Medium size, moderate price 
farm, preferably in Erie, Niagara, Orleans. Genesee 
or Wyoming County, suitable for poultry, dairy and 
fruit preferably with bearing apple orchard. Give 
full particulars, what county and township, what 
nearest railroad stations and villages and how far, 
trolley lines, state roads, rural free delivery, tele¬ 
phone. acres, orchard, soil, subsoil, water supply, 
house, barn, other buildings, lowest price and terms. 
__ A. M. MATTICE, 53 M Street, South Boston, Mass. 
Wheat or Straw? 
On some of the best wheat land the crop runs to 
straw. This is because there are not enough avail¬ 
able mineral foods to balance the manure or clover. 
A field test on such land showed that Potash 
increased the grain from 20 bushels on unfertil¬ 
ized soil to 31 bushels where 
POTASH 
was used, and to 37 bushels where Potash and 
phosphate were used. Both were profitable. 
Supplement the humus of such land with 200 lbs. 
acid phosphate and 30 lbs. Muriate of Potash or 
125 lbs. Kainit per acre. Potash Pays* 
If your dealer does not sell Potash, write us for prices 
stating quantities required and ask for our free books on 
“Fall Fertilizers’* and “Home Mixing.” Study 
of the fertilizer question means saving and profit to you. 
RIGHT PROPOR¬ 
TION OF HEAD 
TO STRAW 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, Ine. 
BALTIMORE, Continental Building 
CHICAGO, Monadnock Block 
NEW ORLEANS, Whitney Central Bank Bldg. 
