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THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
Hope Farm Notes 
To Learn Farming. — I have a num¬ 
ber of letters like the following. This 
is a type of one class of “back-to-the- 
landers” and it may well be discussed: 
I wish to obtain a position on a farm 
where I can work most of the year gaining 
practical experience, and at the same time 
save money for some of the short Winter 
courses at Cornell. As I am. a city-bred 
man. and know nothing of farming, the 
State employment ageney passed me up. I 
am 23 years old, and built very strong 
physically, so that I am in no fear of hard 
work, when once I get accustomed to it. 
A. B. i. 
In several cases I tried to locate such 
young men, but have rarely satisfied 
either the worker or the employer. It 
looks easy. Here are apparently will¬ 
ing hands and a great need of labor¬ 
ers. Why not hook them together and 
complete the chain ? The trouble usu¬ 
ally comes through misunderstanding 
at both ends. The city man thinks any 
stout man can do farm work. He thinks 
it is mainly brute strength, and that 
without knowledge or skill he can step 
right in and earn fair wages. If he 
went to chopping wood in a lumber 
camp they would start him as chore 
boy. If at paving the street, carrying 
water would be his job until he learned 
how. Yet somehow these men think 
they can go to a farm without experi¬ 
ence and earn good wages from the 
start. Now to make himself worth 
much on a farm a man must have either 
skill or fixed habit as a hired man. 
Without them it is doubtful if the aver¬ 
age city man would be worth more than 
his food for several months. The first 
trouble, therefore, is that the worker 
expects too much—far more than he is 
worth. 
On the other side a hard-working 
farmer cannot put himself in the young 
man’s place. He gets up early and stays 
late, and knows by instinct just what to 
do, and the need of doing it now. Along 
comes a man of good size who does not 
realize those things, and thinks they 
are not essential. It is easy to see what 
happens. The farmer loses patience, 
and the city man thinks his employer is 
not fair. This has happened in about 
80 per cent of the cases where we have 
tried to bring the two together. Instead 
of producing joy and peace by working 
out a fine theory we have usually man¬ 
ufactured trouble. The city man should 
go to some manufacturer or boss car¬ 
penter or mason and say what he does 
in his letter. Would he be paid for 
any such unskilled labor as he can offer? 
Then why expect the same from farm 
work? Let the farmer go to town and 
try offering his services at some job 
which never knew his brain or fingers! 
Where would he come out? Yet he 
expects the city man to be an expert 
farm laborer. Two things are needed 
to make this theory work—charity and 
a humble estimate of services. 
Strangers at the Door. —If I had the 
money which easy talkers get out of 
country people by selling them some¬ 
thing they do not need 1 could educate 
many thousand children. Perhaps a lit¬ 
tle cheap education will be useful for 
the grown-ups—as follows : 
.1 have not been swindled and I think 
that if every woman would do as I do when 
a peddler comes or any stranger for that 
matter, she would be wise. I go to the door 
when they rap, open it just the width of 
my own body and wait for them to make 
their errand known, which they always do 
without my asking them what it is. If it 
is no one to see my husband on business, 
but desiring to sell something or to come 
in and get warm, I tell them I do not 
want to buy anything or that they will 
have to go somewhere else to get warm. 
Maybe you think me hard-hearted but I am 
not. I "do not believe in letting strangers 
into my house. If they persist in showing 
me their goods I tell them frankly I do 
not want to see them; that is generally 
enough and on they go. If every woman 
would do the same thing the frauds which 
the women complain about would have to 
go out of business, but I am afraid curiosity 
gets the better of them, and they let them 
in to show their goods and the frauds are 
a very smooth-tongued lot, and so they 
catch many a victim, where if they all did 
as' I do it would save many hard-earned 
dollars. mrs. s. m. w. 
New York. 
That is good sense. I say that as an 
old-time book agent who has been kept 
out of many a farmhouse. No woman, 
especially if she be alone in the house, 
should let any stranger come in. In 
many city houses a chain with a stout 
hook is fastened to the door frame. 
There is a ring on the door, and when 
the hook is in this ring the door can 
only be opened part way. This is a 
good device for country houses. In my 
book agent days it was not a comfort¬ 
ing sight to see a woman peering out 
through a crack, saying, ‘‘We don’t want 
anything,” or to see through the win¬ 
dow a good-sized dog with his eye 
alert. Yet I knew I had no great mes¬ 
sage for the household, though I might 
try to make them think so. The 
‘‘agent’’ is working for himself and not 
for humanity, and 99 times out of 100 
he is better on the outside. If he proves 
to be the one absolute necessity he will 
come back when the men folks are 
around. There are many clean and 
honorable men acting as agents. It is 
no time to separate the sheep from the 
goats while the women are alone in the 
house. Therefore the above advice is 
First rate. 
Politics. —They are having lively 
times all over the country, and in a new 
way. Formerly there was little real 
contest among the people over a candi¬ 
date for President. I can remember 
the terrible struggle over a third term 
for General Grant, and also the bitter 
fight over Blaine. In those cases the 
politicians dm most of the work. Now 
the people are having a lot to say, and 
they will have more before the election. 
The old prejudices seem to be passing 
away. Years ago I worked for a farm¬ 
er—an old soldier. I shall not forget 
how one night he threw down his 
paper in disgust, saying, “Here is that 
rascal and atheist Bob Ingersoll attack¬ 
ing Gen. Grant!” You may remember 
how, after a fierce contest, Garfield was 
nominated. The old soldier was very 
sore, but he accepted it, and he finally 
told me with great satisfaction that “the 
Hon. Robt. G. Ingersoll had come out for 
Garfield.” Those were the old days when 
party affection could change “Bob” into 
“Hon. Robert” without great trouble. 
Those days have gone with flying feet 
of late years—gone for good. Older 
men tell me there was just such a period 
before the war when the old Whig party 
came into the hands of a group of com¬ 
fortable and lazy moral cowards. The 
“progressives” of that day broke the 
party up. I think history is to be re¬ 
peated. In New Jersey the sentiment 
among the Democrats is undoubtedly for 
Wilson. Among Republicans the ma¬ 
jority are dissatisfied with Taft, but not 
entirely satisfied with Roosevelt. The 
nominating delegates will probably be 
for Taft, who has the support of the 
“leaders.” I find Democrats who will 
vote for Taft and Republicans who will 
not do so. It is going to be a badly 
mixed-up contest. 
Farm Notes. —It has been a time of 
rain, alternating with high winds. 
Spraying has become a serious problem, 
for on our hills the mist from the noz¬ 
zles is driven everywhere except on 
the tree. Of course one side of a tree 
can be covered fairly well, but on our 
hills the wind whirls in all directions, 
and spraying is certainly a thankless 
job. We have the worst part of the 
orchard done—that is, where we know 
the scale was threatening. Everything 
should be gone over, however, but the 
buds are starting, and it will soon be 
past the safety line. ... It looks 
like a small crop of peaches with us. 
A few buds are alive, but who can be 
sure until blooming time comes? . . . 
Plowing has been delayed, but we are 
at it now—first preparing some ground 
for oats and Canada peas. My hay ran 
short, and we are planning a series of 
fodder crops. There is a long list, but 
after all oats and peas, corn fodder and 
millet are the most important. I shall 
try Soy beans quite freely, but the good 
old “ham sandwich” of oats and peas 
and the “mush” of fodder corn will 
have to carry us through. I shall cut 
nearly all the rye green for fodder, as 
we have enough straw. We have told 
many times about Canada peas and oats. 
Briefly stated, you plow or disk under 
five pecks of peas per acre, and then 
work in three bushels of oats. If you 
have a grain drill you can mix the seed 
and drill it in. We like to plow peas 
and harrow oats. Lime will help the 
crop. We have not been able to get a 
good seeding of grass with oats and 
peas. . . . The elders at Hope Farm 
may want to growl at the weather, but 
there are no snarls from the redheads. 
Life is still a great joy to them, except 
now and then in the small cares of 
childhood. The little boys are thinning 
and hauling brush and turn up at night 
with dirty and blistered hands to get 
their “pay” of 10 cents per day. You 
never earned $100 in your life which 
seemed better to you, or which was 
more fairly earned. Wait till the gar¬ 
den starts. The th^ee little boys have 
organized a garden experiment which 
will rank with the hen and cow record. 
h. w. c. 
Don’t be pestered and made out 
of sorts by having a spreader that 
clogs. You don’thaveto. Get one 
that spreads wider, evener, car¬ 
ries a nigger load and has a score of 
other advantages—the New Idea. 
Send lor Book and Special Circulars 
telling all about the 24 points of superior¬ 
ity, and an account of the great spreader 
contest on the Hartman farm, where 
the New Idea put other spreaders on the 
scrap heap. Don’t think of buying until 
you know about the spreader that is 
always ready to give a test of its merits. 
Vfo sMp 
_ nick from 
8t Paul, Buffalo, 
Kansas City or 
Racine. 
No machines 
at any price 
are better. Satisfaction guar¬ 
anteed. Write for book today 
or send price now and save time. 
Belle City Incubator Company, Box 
April 20, 
This Month Jim Rohan’s 
POULTRY BULLETIN 
tells the latest facts of the year 
on how you can make the most 
money raising chickens. Get it. 
Send your name on a postal. 
Get the real World’s Champion - 
ship Facts from Jim Rohan, 
Pres., Belle City Incubator Co. 
.55 Buys Best 
140-Egg Incubator 
Double casos all over-.best copper 
tank; nursery, self-regulating. 
Best HO-chlck hot-water brooder, 
$4.85. Both ordered together, 
$ll.SO. Freight prepaid (E. of 
Rockies). 
Racine, Wisconds 
24 Points 
of Supe¬ 
riority 
Catalog 
Free 
STEVENS 
Fertilizer Sower 
For Broadcast Top Dressing 
or Sowing in Rows 
3 sizes, spreads from 6 to 10 ft. wide. Adjustable 
to spread 100 to several thousand lbs. per acre. 
Low Down and Easy to Load 
Broad tires, no rutting. Quick" ' 
lng to sowing In rows, also 
ing. Furnished with \\ 
change from broadcast- 
for thlckand thin spread 
Write today 
and get the facts. 
New Idea Spreader Co. 
.119 Sycamore St., Cold water, Ohio 
STOVES AT WHOLESALE PRICES 
Freight Paid, and safe delivery insured. Then after 
ONE YEAR'S FREE TRIAL 
■wo refund your money if you 
are not satisfied. 
GOLD COIN 
RANGES 
have 60 years’ reputation be¬ 
hind them. OurStovoBook,Prcc, 
tells what makes a stovo good. 
Our Profit Sharing Plan Will 
Interest You 
GOLD COIN STOVE CO., 3 Oak Street. TROY. N. Y. 
shafts or tongue. 
Write for descriptive 
circular. 
Now furnished 
with Land Gange to 
determine amount 
of fertilizer being 
sown. 
Belcher & Taylor 
A. T. Co., 
Box 75 , 
Chicopee Falls, Mass 
Handles 
All 
Commer¬ 
cial 
Fertilizers 
LABOR-SAVING 
Drainage Engineering 
increased 50#. Advice on drainage, soils and crops. 
T. E. MARTIN, 102 Standart St., Syracuse, N. Y. 
EQUIPMENT 
IT. You should know whether or not you can use STAR 
barn equipment profitably. Think now. It you are 
using old style stanchions, feeding your stock, and 
cleaning out the Utter ftp hand, you’re doing twice as much 
work as you should. That’s expensive. 
STAR Litter & Feed Carriers 
Stalls and Stanchions 
A perfect barn within your roach at 
last! STARequipment means a cleaner, 
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It’s an investment that pays dividends every day. 
FREE PLANS—Simply send us rough sketch of your 
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HUNT-UELM-FERRIS & COMPANY 
3291 Hunt Street Harvard, HI. 
(28) 
iie 
I H C Engines 
Furnish Plenty 
of Power 
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W ELL as 3'ou know your ordinary farm power needs, you can 
never tell just where you are going to need extra power, and 
need it badly. An engine with ten to twenty per cent of 
reserve power will often save enough to pay for itself, just by its 
capacity for carrying you safely through emergencies. 
jP I H C Gasoline Engines 
are large for their rated power—they are designed to run as slowly 
as possible because that increases their durability. They are equipped 
with a speed changing mechanism which enables you to vary the speed 
at will. By changing the speed they can be made to develop from ten 
to twenty per cent over their rated power with little detriment to the 
engine, and at a cost for extra fuel so slight that it will never be noticed 
on the bills for gasoline. As soon as the need for extra power is gone, 
the engine should be slowed to normal speed. 
When you buy a gasoline engine, buy one you can depend upon; 
one that has plenty of power, one that is built to operate at lowest 
cost for fuel and maintenance. Buy an I H C engine — 1 to SO-H. P., 
vertical or horizontal, water-cooled or air-cooled, stationary, portable, 
or mounted on skids, built to operate on gas, gasoline, kerosene, distil¬ 
late, or alcohol. Kerosene-gasoline tractors in all styles from 12 to 45- 
H. P. Sawing, pumping, spraying, grinding outfits, etc. 
_ See the I H C local dealer and get catalogues and informa¬ 
tion from him, or, drop a line to 
International Harvester Company of America 
(Incorporated) 
Chicago USA 
IHC Service Bureau 
The purpose of this Bureau is to furnish, free of charge to all, 
the best information obtainable on better farming. If you have any 
m worthy questions concerning soils, crops, land drainage, irrigation, 
fertilizer, etc., make your inquiries specific and send them to I H C 
tJI service Bureau, Harvester Building, Chicago, USA 
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