664 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
Hope Farm Notes 
On page 434, on the subject of spraying, 
you say you had great success with lime- 
sulphur for the Codling moth.'It impressed 
me quite favorably as I had anticipated 
trying the same with arsenate of lead. I 
have wondered what strength or proportion 
it should be applied. w. j. h. 
Pennsylvania. 
We used a commercial brand of lime- 
sulphur, one part to 40 of water for 
Summer spraying. Our tank holds 100 
gallons, so we put in 2)4 gallons of the 
lime-sulphur and four pounds of arsen¬ 
ate of lead well stirred up. This was 
used just after the bloom fell. There 
was practically no damage to foliage, 
and less than 10 per cent of the fruit 
was wormy. But you are wrong in sup¬ 
posing we had “great success” in killing 
the Codling worm with lime-sulphur. I 
never said any such thing. It was the 
arsenate that killed the worms. The 
lime-sulphur made the poison stick a 
little better and helped the foliage. Do 
not get any idea that lime-sulphur is 
a poison. With such weather as we 
have had recently spraying advice is 
nonsense. When it does not rain the 
wind blows a gale. I went in to buy 
some spray fixtures, and the man who 
sold them said it was “ideal spraying 
weather.” Thd wind was blowing a 
gale, and I doubt if that man ever saw 
a spray pump in actual operation. 
Soil for Strawberries. —Here is a 
subject which interests me greatly: 
Would a discussion of the question as 
to whether a sweet or sour soil is the better 
for the strawberry be of profit or interest 
to your readers? It would appear that 
some former advocates of acid soils for 
the strawberry have “turned the corner.” 
An acquaintance who grows fancy straw¬ 
berries for a select market invariably ap¬ 
plies lime the season of setting the plants, 
and his crop rarely disappoints him. An¬ 
other prominent grower uses large quanti¬ 
ties of wood ashes. My own experience is 
not conclusive. It would seem that the 
strawberry is gradually becoming domes¬ 
ticated, and that some varieties are really 
adapted to a sweet soil. If this is true 
it would account for the diversity of opin¬ 
ion in the matter, among practical grow¬ 
ers, and might be a fruitful subject for 
investigation and experiment. J. e. k. 
New Jersey. 
I would like a full discussion of this. 
On my own soil I am satisfied that lime 
or wood ashes will hurt rather than 
helo our berry crop. We grow Mar¬ 
shalls almost entirely, and I feel sure 
that variety does better where the soil 
is acid. With other varieties such as 
President and Stevens I do not think 
this acid condition is so necessary. I 
have no exact facts, only general ob¬ 
servation. From this I would not use 
lime on Marshall strawberries. That 
is all I feel quite sure of now. Ex¬ 
periments with cranberries show that 
this crop needs a sour soil. Lime cer¬ 
tainly injures the crop. The general 
opinion is that the same is true to a 
less extent with strawberries. I think 
we shall find it very much a matter 
of varieties. Some experiments with 
corn indicated a difference in this re¬ 
spect. Some flint varieties seemed to 
do better on lime, while most varieties 
were not benefited, as was wheat, bar¬ 
ley or the clovers and Timothy. I know 
from our experience that while Tim¬ 
othy responds to lime, Red-top does 
rather better on a sour soil. I hope 
spme experiment station will take this 
matter up and help settle it. Until 
they do I keep lime away from the 
strawberry crop. 
Human Varieties. —In a way much 
the same thing may be said of men 
and women. I find some of them pretty 
sour, with all the lime of life washed 
or rubbed out of them. I am inclined 
to think that some of these sour gen¬ 
tlemen enjoy their acid conditions, and 
that a thorough liming would make 
them worse yet. At any rate I should 
not care to live with them while the 
lime was getting in its work. I talked 
with a city man the other day. He 
said he walked a mile on a crowded 
city street and saw nothing worth while 
in the way of liming life. It appeared 
that he rushed along with his eye on the 
dollar which hung at the end of his 
journey. I tried the experiment of walk¬ 
ing five blocks to see how much life 
lime there was in sight. First came a 
blind man trying to get across a busy 
street. Life looked hard to him in the 
blackness and noise. It cost nothing to 
h^lp him get over. Then there was a 
ojje-armed man trying to tie his shoe¬ 
string. It was a cold biting day, and 
those chilled fingers were stiff and 
clumsy. Try tying a knot with your 
single left hand and see how you make 
out! Here was an “acid condition” 
surely. How long did it take to step 
uo and tie that man’s shoe, and let a 
little lime into his life? Then came 
a big policeman leading a lost child by 
the finger. I wish I had a picture of 
that group. The policeman would 
weigh about 15 times as much as the 
tear-stained and frowsley-headed waif 
that clung to his finger like a ship to an 
anchor. That big man had children of 
his own at home. Not far away was a 
little black-eyed Italian boy shivering 
in the cold where he had been left to 
watch a package. There were tears in 
t(jose eyes as big as marbles, but the 
little shivering guard stayed put. It 
cost 10 cents to get him a big sandwich 
and a cup of chocolate—where could 
you buy more of the lime of life for 
a dime? The man who cannot find 
something to do for the sons of men in 
his day’s march is badly in need of 
liming. I find some people who want 
to do their work out in the lime light 
where all can see them do it. This is 
one of the cases where lime darkness 
is better than light. 
Home Notes. —Our little celebration 
was called a success. No—we have no 
reason to celebrate over the hen record 
or spraying. This Spring’s agriculture 
cannot be called a great success. But 
Mother came home from her long trip 
and brought Uncle John. Of course it 
was dull, with rain threatening, but the 
grass and rye were green and the 
maples were red. The children had the 
flag up and all hands were lined up on 
the front porch to welcome the wander¬ 
ers home. The children had bought 
some flowers, and instead of the big 
lamps there were little candles on the 
table. While this was very fine as a 
sentiment I could hardly see the length 
of our long table, and the personal 
telephone was necessary. The oldest 
redhead acts as telephone, bringing 
messages to me when I cannot hear 
them well. We had soup and baked 
eggs, muffins and baked apples. There 
were nine at the table, three little boys 
sitting near by, and two little red¬ 
headed girls asleep up stairs. The night 
turned cold and rainy, and the dark¬ 
ness crept down like a thick shadow 
about the house. Down the road the 
light blazed out so that we could see 
the dark cedars moving in the wind as 
if they were on guard. And before the 
open fire Uncle John and the Hope 
Farm man saw the past fade away in 
the blaze and the future frame itself 
anew. 
The Dog. —We may be shy on blue 
blood in our hens, but the dogs seem to 
make up for any such lack. These Aire¬ 
dales are growing like ragweeds after a 
potato crop. To my eye they are about 
as far removed from beauty as anything 
I ever saw in the dog line. Yet I know 
from experience that if you judge dogs 
or humans by their “beauty” you will 
be sadly disappointed, i Have the fol¬ 
lowing from a friend in Maine: 
Take notice, the Airedale is super-sensi¬ 
tive and extremely jealous; beware how you 
pat another dog in presence of your Aire¬ 
dale, and be a little cautious how you shake 
hands with a friend when your Airedale is 
near, especially if that friend happens to 
be of the demonstrative sort, until your 
Airedale gets to the age of discretion; 
and then no man can lay his hands rough¬ 
ly on the master of an Airedale without 
finding himself in immediate difficulty. 
Hope Farm children could have no more 
intelligent nor clean companion and no 
more valiant protectors than Airedales. 
The Airedale holds his life very lightly, 
and will lay it down at any moment for 
bis master. Do not allow them to fight. 
The Airedale will fight like a demon and 
whip any breed of dogs except pit bull, 
and once they get a taste of fighting they 
would rather fight than eat; but tutored 
until mature that you do not want them 
to fight, and they will not bother another 
dog, unless another dog jumps on them; 
then, let the Airedale alone, he will take 
care of himself and the other dog too, 
whether he be English bull or Great Dane. 
They out general and out point other dogs 
in battle. Beware what you require of an 
Airedale; he has no sense of fear what¬ 
ever and will tackle a mountain lion as 
quickly as he will a rat. I went to the 
bottom of these things at the Boston dog 
shows before I purchased an Airedale. To 
shake a stick at an Airedale hurts him more 
than a sound thrashing would a bulldog; 
With an average Airedale a word is suffi¬ 
cient. and that in a modulated tone. Aire¬ 
dales were originally bred to fight, by fight¬ 
ing men. who worked in brickyards along 
the river Aire, until English aristocracy 
took them up. g. h. w. 
That sounds like a good recommenda¬ 
tion. We want no fighting at Hope 
Farm, yet the willingness and ability to 
stand up in time of danger may come 
in handy. Now that I look these dogs 
over I see that they have a mouth 
and jaw like a vice. Of course I hear 
from people who have no use for any 
dog. They cannot look back to child¬ 
hood when some little lop-eared mon¬ 
grel followed them about over the farm 
and fields. When things went wrong 
with the boy and he went out to the 
orchard or to the hay mow—out of 
sight—to be alone with his trouble it was 
not long before a soft, warm nose 
April 27, 
touched his hand or there was a warm 
tongue on his cheek and there was little 
“Dick” or “Towser” seeming like the 
one enduring friend of childhood who 
knew all about it. So I think a good, 
well-trained dog is a good companion 
for a child, and the more I see of these 
Airedales the better I like them. 
“Right of Way.” —I judge from many 
letters which come to us that there is 
in many country families considerable 
thought as to which should have the 
right of way—the, old folks or the young 
people. Sometimes this does not come 
to an open discussion, yet it is often 
in mind, and it should be settled right. 
The older people should come first— 
their wishes and their comfort have first 
right in the family. It is hard some¬ 
times for energetic and well-meaning 
young people to realize this, for youth 
is full of fire and the world seems like 
a thing to be knocked down and tram¬ 
pled on. The young folks have power 
and ambition, but they do not realize 
how much they need the things which 
come with gray hair! They find it out 
later—too late to profit by the knowl¬ 
edge. For all who survive are bound 
to come to a time when the only treas¬ 
ure on earth is loving help and self- 
denying care. These are the things 
which money, political power or great 
learning never can buy. You can only 
get them back by laying them up as you 
go along in service and thought for 
others. First place belongs to the old 
folks. They should not be obliged to 
claim it or buy it or fight for it, but 
their right to it should be recognized in 
advance of any other property right on 
earth. 
The Cow.—Mollie is falling off, as 
was to be expected, but she gave 428 
pounds in March. This brings her up 
to 8,658 pounds. The year ends April 
19th, and she will not come up to the 
9,000 pounds. However, we are satis¬ 
fied. During the month her grain cost 
$5.43, and her care was valued at $6.20. 
With milk worth four cents a pound we 
figure an earning profit of $223.52 since 
the record began. When we get through 
the year we shall pick this record all 
apart and see just what it amounts to. 
Now we are figuring for another cow, 
and this record has proved so interest¬ 
ing that we shall keep right on figuring 
and weighing. h. w. c. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
GOOD 
CULTIVATION 
If you would have a 
bigger, better garden, 
good cultivation ia 
absolutely necessary. 
The home gardener, 
trucker, small fruit grower, can decrease labor, increase 
crops and profit by using Iron Age tools. Our 
Single and Double Wheel Hoes are strong, 
light, compact. Easy to push—make garden¬ 
ing areal pleasure. Special attachments for a 
dozen uses. Perfect weed killers, cultiva¬ 
tors, hillers, etc. We are wheel hoe 
specialists. If you need a garden tool, 
you need an Iron Age. Attachments 
can be added aa needed; they re¬ 
duce tool expense. Ask your 
dealer to show them. And send 
for free booklets of com¬ 
plete line garden, or¬ 
chard and SV- 
field labor- 
saving tools. 
A postal will bring them 
promptly. Bateman M’f’g Co., 
Box 1021, Grenloch, New Jersey. 
Right in your own grove —waiting for 
you to take them out. All you need is an 
^’American” Saw Mill to cut that timber 
into lumber, which you can use yourself or 
sell at a good price. You can belt the 
“American” Mill to your farm engine and 
run it yourself, turning out first-class lum¬ 
ber faster and cheaper than any other mill. 
We’ve written a book—“Making Money Off 
the Wood Lot” — which tells a number of 
ways in which you will find an “American” 
Mill profitable. We want to send you a copy. 
Write to nearest office. 
American Saw Mill Machinery Co. 
129 Hope Street, Hsckettstown, N. J. 
1582 Terminal Building, New York 
Chicago—Savannah— New Orleans 
$750.00 PRIZE CUP 
FOR BEST DISPLAY OF APPLES 
An Opportunity for All 
Eastern Growers of Good Apples! 
For a Long Time You Have Contended Thai Your Apples Are Superior to 
Those of the Wesl—Here is the Opportunity of a Life-time to Prove It / 
The Coe-Mortimer Company Offers a Magnificent Solid Silver Cup 
(Value $750.00) for the Best 15 Boxes of Apples (Any 3 
Varieties, 5 Boxes to Each Variety)—The Apples Are to 
be Displayed at the American Land and Irrigation 
Exposition to be Held in New York City, 
November 15th to December 2nd, 1912 
This Offer is Open to Every Fruit Grower in New England, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia 
(Territory not mentioned is not included in the competition) 
There are no “strings” on this offer. The best apples win the cup, 
whether our fertilizers are used qr not. 
No one connected with The Coe-Mobtimeb Company will have anything 
to do with judging the apples or awarding the prize. 
You should send for information in regard to this competition promptly. 
We honestly believe that your chances of winning the cup will be very 
much better if you use Genuine Thomas Phosphate Powder or E. Frank 
Cob’s Fertilizers. Of course you know that the apples that won the 
International Cup, the Gov. Foss Cup and the Gov. Pothier Shield at 
the New England Fruit Show in October, 1911, were raised with 
GENUINE THOMAS PHOSPHATE POWDER (Key-Tree Brand.) 
Why Not Put YOUR Fruit in the Prize Winning Class by Purchasing 
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FROM 
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51 Chambers Street, New York City 
Our Booklet, " llp-to-Date Fruit Growinu with Thomas Phosphate. Powder," is sent free if you mention THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
