708 
July 20, 
Hope Farm Notes 
The Drought. —It has come earlier 
than we expected. The cold, drying winds 
which followed every rain sucked the 
moisture out of the soil, and especially 
on the hills the dust is deep. We have 
kept the cultivator at work in the corn 
and the crop is now coming on well. In 
former years I have argued against 
growing corn on a fruit farm, but the 
fearful cost of grain and feed has made 
a different condition. We need the 
corn. There is one acre of Eureka 
corn. It is in good soil and we have 
used fertilizer freely. We have no 
thought of growing 50 tons or more as 
some farmers report, but we want to see 
just what can be done and whether this 
big fodder pays better than a moder¬ 
ate-sized stalk with a good ear. Unless 
we have rain no one can expect a full 
corn crop on our hills. In some places 
there are barely two feet of soil over the 
ledge. One dry July after another proves 
that we must have some system of irri¬ 
gation. During Spring and early Sum¬ 
mer the floods strike our hills and come 
rushing to the lower farm, tearing and 
gouging our best fields. If we could 
hold part of this flood back on the hill¬ 
sides until this season we could save 
this damage and have a water supply 
for our crops. Little ponds or basins 
can be built on the side hill and con¬ 
nected by pipes. These would hold the 
flood until we were ready to use the 
water. On a much larger scale this is 
what the government is doing in the 
Far West, and in China the plan has 
been worked out on a smaller scale. I 
think our Eastern farmers must, in time, 
come to something of this sort. In the 
hilly sections the water will distribute 
itself by gravity pressure. On the level 
lands pumps will be needed. Year after 
year makes it evident that we must save 
water, as we do plant food. For several 
years I have had a scheme in mind of 
drilling a deep well at the top of our 
hill and building a concrete and stone 
reservoir. From this the water could 
be piped both ways. On many large 
hill farms there are valleys or gorges 
which could be built up so as to hold 
the floods and the water stored until 
needed. We are convinced that this ir¬ 
rigation proposition is the great question 
of the future. 
Double Crops. —For example, we have 
our grass field where the seeding has 
about run out. Our plan was to cut this 
grass early and then plow and plant 
corn in hills. There would not 1 be 
much grain unless the season proved 
very late, but by thorough culture we 
could kill out that old sod and get a 
good lot of fodder. Then at the last 
cultivation we could sow wheat and 
clover, or barley and rye. In the first 
case there would be a good crop of 
wheat hay next Spring. In the latter 
case there would be barley hay this 
Fall, and rye to cut or put under next 
Spring—in either event potatoes could 
follow. The first part of this program 
—the hay—went off right, but we found 
the soil so dry and hard that it could 
not be plowed. It must stand until we 
have a soaking rain, and we must cut 
out the corn crop. Suppose we had 
built up a little pond on our side hill 
and let the May floods run into it. This 
water could have been used to flood that 
hay field. This would have meant at 
least two tons more of hay, and the 
soil fit to plow the moment the hay went 
off. ' This is only one illustration of 
what we could do with a water supply. 
On July 5 we began mowing over the 
strawberry beds. We would like to 
start the Cutaway at once—clearing out 
the rows—but in our best field the soil 
is baked like a board floor. In the 
Spring there came a flood from 
the hills which gashed this field badly. 
That same damaging water held back 
and spread over the soil would en¬ 
able us to clean the field and start thou¬ 
sands of potted plants. Look in any 
direction in our valley and you may see 
the marks of the Spring floods and right 
beside them evidences of drought. 
Soy Beans. —We have planted two 
bushels on the hill among the rows of 
trees. One bushel was inoculated by 
using the commercial bacteria, while the 
other had none. The soil and conditions 
are the same for all. This ought to be 
a fair test for the bacteria. It is too 
earfy yet to give any results. The soil 
is so dry that the beans do not sprout 
well. I should say that the inoculated 
seed is starting a little better. I think 
this crop is to become more and more 
valuable on fruit or stock farms. I have 
seen it growing like a young forest in 
Delaware. To look at it you would 
hardly think cattle or horses would 
eat the tough, hard vines and stems, yet 
I have seen horses fed on nothing but 
'FT5EJ RUR-A.I> NEW-YORKER 
Stop this Loss 
Wheat correctly 
fertilized. 
Good crops. 
From one-quarter 
to one-half of the 
wheat acreage has 
been abandoned in 
five states that pro¬ 
duced about one-third 
of our winter wheat. 
This means a loss 
of about seven million 
dollars for seed alone 
and several times this 
Unfertilized 
Wheat abandoned, 
planted in com. 
for preparing the ground and sowing. A well-fed 
plant can better resist unfavorable surroundings. 
POTASH 
Goodfertilization means enough fertilizer of the right kind. With a 
good rotation three hundred to four hundred pounds per acre is enough, 
provided a reasonably high-grade formula such as 2-8-6 or 0-10-6 is used. 
The low grade 1-7-x, 2-8-2 and 0-10-2 formulas are out of balance—cost 
too much per unit. Urge your dealer to carry high-grade formulas, or 
to buy some potash salts with which to bring up the potash content to a 
high grade. One bag of Muriate of Potash added to a ton of fertil¬ 
izer will do it. 
If you prefer real bone or bone meal in place of acid phosphate try 
a mixture of 1700 pounds of either with three hundred pounds of muri¬ 
ate of potash. You will find that Potash Pays. 
These high potash mixtures produce better wheat and clover, heavy 
grain and stiff straw. 
We sell Potash Salts in any quantity from two hundred pounds 
up. If your dealer will not get potash for you write us 
for prices and for our FREE booklet on Fall Fertilizers. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, Inc., 42 Broadway, NEW YORK 
CHICAGO NEW ORLEANS SAVANNAH 
Soy bean vines and com that were in 
beautiful shape. After the war between 
Japan and China, Manchuria, or most 
of it, was a poor and poverty-stricken 
district. It is now a prosperous coun¬ 
try—made so largely by growing Soy 
beans. The beans or the oil from them 
are exported, and the stalks and leaves 
are fed to stock or used as manure. 
This has given a good export trade, and 
also built up the soil. Soy beans have 
worked out in Manchuria one of those 
industrial miracles which history turns 
up every few centuries with her plow. 
We have yet to learn the possibilities of 
the Soy bean in this country, but the 
knowledge will come in time. 
Farm Notes. —I did not realize until 
this year that it is a job to kill out an 
old asparagus bed. We had one of 
nearly an acre that I thought was 
done, so we plowed it after cutting, 
harrowed well and planted corn. In¬ 
stead of giving up the ghost the aspar¬ 
agus came up stronger than ever. Our 
efforts to kill it out have resulted in 
“thorough culture,” and the “grass” is 
better than ever before. Anything that 
thrives on abuse and stands up against 
a hard battle suits me well, and I shall 
keep that asparagus well cultivated. As 
it stands it is worth more than the corn. 
. . . We did better than expected 
and put the last load of hay in the 
barn on the evening of July 4, and it 
was beautiful hay. We may blame this 
drought for burning and baking the 
soil, but the hot, dry winds left the hay 
as fragrant as tea. Not a drop of water 
fell on any of it—the conditions were 
exactly right for once. This gives us 
a good barnful of hay and with the 
cornstalks we ought to be prepared for 
GROWTH OF A DISHORNED TREE. 
Inoculated Alfalfa Soil 
75c. per 100, or $10.00 per ton, f. o. b. cars Ashville, 
Pa. Send tor free booklet. "How to Grow Al¬ 
falfa." HR. H.'SOMERVILLE, Chest Springs, Pa. 
WEEDLESS ALFALFA 
is what we are trying to sell our customers. FREE 
sample will show you that we come pretty near 
doing this. All other field seeds; also Field and 
Cow Peas. Soy Beans, Vetch. Rape, etc. 
0. M. SCOTT & SON, 100 Main Street, Marysville, Ohio 
ALFALFA 
All Northern grown, guaranteed to be 99 percent 
pure and free from dodder. Write for free sample 
on which we invite you to get Government tests. 
This seed should produce hay at $60 per acrej an¬ 
nually. Free instructions on growing. 
GRAIN AND GRASS SEED 
Northern grown and of .strongest vitality. We 
handle export grade only and can famish gras* 
mixture suitable for any soils. Write for catalog. 
WING SEED CO., Box 223 Mechanicsburg, O. 
CABBAGE WORMS Destr °y ed fry Dust - 
fa* with HAMMOND'S SLUG SHOT 
So used for 30 years. SOLD BY ALL SEED DEALERS. 
GUAR ANTEED ALFALFA SEED 
Absolutely pure; free of weeds; vigorous; 
hardy. Endorsed by Experiment sta¬ 
tions. Sold on approval. Will grow on 1 
your land. Big money-maker. Free j 
samples and cultural instructions. 
HENRY FIELD SEED CO., 
Box 20 Shenandoah, Iowa. 
Winter. All reports seem to agree that 
as a whole the hay crop will be short. 
There are good sections here and there, 
bull poor ones also. Prices will be high, 
for the old hay is well cleaned out. 
. . . This drought hurts the gar¬ 
den. On July 7 I found that we could 
supply the following: Lettuce, turnips, 
small beets, onions, string beans, peas 
and small potatoes. Two of the little 
redheads helped me select three besides 
potatoes, and we sat in the shade and 
clean them. . . . You remember 
that some weeks ago I showed a picture 
of one of our cut-back apple trees? The 
top of this big tree was dying and we 
cut it back to a short distance above the 
stem. The cut shows how it has started 
out. This was taken the middle of 
June. Of course there will be more top 
before the end of the season. H. w. c. 
For pamphlets worth having write B. U.VMJIO.M), FishUlIl-ou-Hudsoii, New York 
THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY 
is offered to young men and women in agriculture. The farm is calling for 
trained men and women who shall be intelligent farmers and home makers. 
THE NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE 
At Morrisville, N. Y., Offers 
TO YOUNG MEN: Two year and short winter courses in agriculture; including 
general agriculture, dairying, fruit growing, poultry liusbaudry, etc. 
TO YOUNG WOMEN: Two year and short winter courses in HOME ECONOMICS; includ¬ 
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School has large well equipped laboratories, modern 200-acre farm, pure-bred stock, well trained staff- 
TUITION is free to residents of New York State. 
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS are .0 years of age, good 
character and completion of 8 th grade school 
work. 
For catalogue and information, address 
F. G. HELYAR, Director 
Morrisville .... New York 
"FULLY GUARANTEED" -4 
ALFALFA ON YOUR 
A FARM? 
20 acres moans at least sixty tons of feed equal to a 
full grain ration—or $1,000 clear profit if sold in the 
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let us tell you how, when and where to plant this 
great forage crop, so it will be a permanent success 
ou your farm. Enrich your corn laud this year by 
planting between the rows or in the hills. 
COW PEAS—CLOVER—SOY BEANS 
INOCULATED WITH 
FARMOGERM 
SEED AND SOIL INOCULATION 
Send for Free Hook No. 11 
IT GIVES VALUABLE INFORM ATI OX 
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SEED AND SOIL TESTING OUTFIT COMPLETE, 
