1268 
THE RURAIi NEW-YORKER 
December 21, 
Hope Farm Notes 
The mail bag lately has been some¬ 
thing like a Christmas stocking with 
parcels post in full operation. I regret 
to say that some people do not sign 
their names and later find fault because 
their questions are not answered. There 
are others who say “answer in your 
next issue” and three or four days later 
complain because they do not find what 
they want printed. Right here at the 
end of the year I would like to explain 
about some of these things. It will take 
on the average at least 10 days to have 
matter put in type, arranged on the 
press, printed and distributed. With 
our big edition and the care we take 
with details we must allow for that 
time. Then again it often happens that 
we do not feel sure of some of these 
questions, and before answering we send 
them to people who ought to know. 
This takes time—sometimes a week or 
more—but it is far better to be sure. 
Sometimes our people are a little im¬ 
patient. Not long ago we had a ques¬ 
tion from a man who said “Do not 
answer this by letter—print it and I 
shall read it.” Now this question was 
about something which could not pos¬ 
sibly be put in use before next May or 
June, and we were not quite sure of our 
information either. Yet, in about a 
week this man came in with a hot letter. 
He said it made him laugh to read 
about a “square deal” when his question 
was not answered in the paper he had 
just received! Most people are fair 
about this, and realize that we try to 
treat all alike. They do not always 
understand the amount of work required 
in hunting down facts. We claim only 
a limited knowledge of important things, 
but we can find out about any fact that is 
worth finding if you give us reasonable 
time. We want these questions. They 
tell us what people are thinking about, 
and there is no better inspiration for 
the editors than these vital problems 
which puzzle our readers. Some of them 
may not seem of much importance to 
others, but we accept every one as a 
fair expression of what people want to 
know. So let us understand this here 
at the end of the year. We want to 
know your problems. We will help if 
we can, but do not be impatient if we 
cannot answer at once and find it neces¬ 
sary to search for the facts. 
Here is one which may seem absurd 
to you, yet it may mean much to the 
writer: 
Kindly inform me as to tlie name of tlie 
book in which Washington confessed that 
he was a thief. a. e. 
Faterson, N. J. 
I cannot give the information. If the 
“Father of his Country” said he was a 
thief I did not know it. He may have 
stolen the hatchet with which he cut 
the tree, but I have never seen the evi¬ 
dence. 
Here we have another which might 
well make us thoughtful at this Christ¬ 
mas time: 
There is an old man here, 71 years old, 
living alone ; no one to care for him. When 
he was a baby an accident badly injured 
his left eye. Within the last few years 
this eye has gone entirely blind, and his 
right eye seems to be going the same way. 
lie is much worried, and I fear justly so. 
lie has brought me the enclosed advertise¬ 
ment which appears in the New York 
Herald, and in many farm papers. I don’t 
see it in The It. N. : l\ He wants me to 
send and get the offered free bottle for 
him. I refused until I knew something 
about it, for I believe it to be a fake or 
worse, and I will not be a party to blind¬ 
ing the old man. Do you know anything 
about this, or can you tell me how I can 
find out? r. m. c. 
Connecticut. 
The advertisement describes a “magic” 
remedy for “miraculous cures.” It has 
all the marks of a fake, and a-con¬ 
temptible one at that. We would not 
under any circumstances be a party to 
using such stuff in the eyes without the 
advice of a good physician. I know just 
what it means for this old man to face 
the darkness which is coming upon him. 
I wish we could raise a fund to obtain 
proper treatment, if there is any hope 
for him. The very terror and hopeless¬ 
ness of such cases is what enables these 
fakes to do an enormous business with 
their remedies. They know human na¬ 
ture only too well, and the knowledge 
enables them to lead many a poor 
wretch on to sorrow and loss. At this 
season when so many are care-free and 
happy, with perfect health and no trials, 
it is good for them to realize- what life 
means to the under side. 
Here is another thing for us to think 
about: 
President Aley of the University of 
Maine, in the course of a recent address on 
education, in speaking of the great ad¬ 
vances made in agriculture owing to the 
education of the farmers in the discoveries 
of science, made the statement that if the 
farming was done to-day as it was 50 
years ago, not enough food could be raised 
to anything like feed the people of this 
country. A neighbor takes issue with this, 
claiming that farmers of his acquaintance 
raised just as fine crops years ago as are 
raised to-day, but admits it is done some¬ 
what easier to-day because of improved ma¬ 
chinery. What is your opinion on the sub¬ 
ject? w. A. R. 
In the first place it is idle to talk of 
farming being done “as it was 50 years 
ago.” If we had never heard of an 
agricultural college the business of 
farming would have changed greatly in 
50 years, and would have gone on im¬ 
proving. Did it not do so during the 
50 years previous to the time men¬ 
tioned? While I think what they call 
“science” has been of great service to 
agriculture, I do not believe in putting 
it ahead as the master or greatest thing 
in development. For one thing science 
has produced what I may call an un¬ 
even development. The naturally smart 
and strong have been able to avail 
themselves of scientific knowledge. The 
slower—and they are in great majority 
•—have not done so as rapidly. Granting 
the vast good which agricultural science 
has accomplished, it has also helped in 
the development of monopoly and class 
distinction. I believe it is true that as 
large crops were grown 50 years ago 
as are grown now. I shall not be sur¬ 
prised to find that the average crops 
were larger at that time. Neither farm¬ 
ing nor science could have stood still 
during 50 years. Both would have de¬ 
veloped slowly had there never been a 
college or a station established. I be¬ 
lieve our farmers would have continued 
to feed the nation. , At the same time 
I am glad there has been this scientific 
development—but it is not the whole 
story. Science is not the master but the 
hired man of farming. 
Here is another good one which I 
hope you will read at Christmas: 
While on a two weeks’ hunting trip in 
the wilds of Cameron County, Pa., I found 
a new use for an apple (we had a barrel 
of Baldwins along). In cooking oatmeal 
for breakfast I thought it would give it a 
good flavor to slice two or three apples and 
cook them in the oatmeal. I received a 
vote of thanks for th,e find. Please try it. 
Along an old log railroad I found a sturdy 
apple tree about two or three years old. 
I said to myself if the Hope Farm man was 
here he would stop hunting and trim that 
tree; as he is not here I’ll do it for him. 
I made a good job of it for you. Of course 
you are still at work, hut some time you 
may think you are too old to labor, and 
if you commit to memory the following 
lines you will continue to labor to the end : 
“What then ! Shall we sit idly down and 
say 
The night has come, it is no longer day? 
The night hath not yet come; we are not 
quite 
Cut off from labor by the failing light. 
Something remains for us to do or dare, 
Even the oldest trees some fruit may 
bear, 
For age is opportunity no less 
Than youth itself, though in another 
dress; 
And as the evening twilight fades away 
The sky is filled with stars invisible by 
day.” 
Pennsylvania. f. k. m. 
Apple in the oatmeal is good. Try 
it. That is just what I should have 
done to that tree. Nothing like giving 
shape to things. No, I have no thought 
of stopping work. I have more things 
I want to do than ever before. If a 
man who has worked hard all his life 
wants to get into trouble and mischief 
let him quit and stop working. He can¬ 
not do a more foolish thing. 
The old horse Bob gave us our first 
Christmas present this year. There was 
little to do here, and so we let Uncle 
George take Bob to finish up his Fall 
work. The horse did his work and was 
well cared for, but he remembered his 
old home and one day last week he 
came running down the road and took 
his old place in the barn. They put him 
out in a pasture where he ought to have 
been happy and free, but the old fellow 
was homesick, so he got out in some 
way and ran for Hope Farm. I think 
he covered the miles in record time. 
So he gave us our first Christmas pres¬ 
ent—of himself. He had good hay 
where he was, but he came back to eat 
cornstalks and enjoy the society of his 
old barn friends. No place like home. 
That’s good. I hope all the Hope 
Farmers will feel that way. 
While some of these old friends beg 
to come back others must go. For 
instance our flock of Light Brahmas. 
Facts and figures show that they are 
ornaments rather than workers. From 
March 1 to December 1 the 12 hens 
laid 637 eggs or an average of only 
53 each. They would not be likely to 
lay much over a dozen each before' the 
end of the year. This does not pay, 
for these Brahmas are heavy eaters. So 
as we have a number of heavy eaters 
in the house we have decided to roast 
or stew these big birds. I hate to see 
them go, for when I was a boy this 
breed was having its boom and all 
farmers had them. Our figures show, 
however, that the Brahma does not pay 
in New Jersey. She makes a fine car¬ 
cass of excellent meat, but she eats too 
much food and is a little too slow for 
our game. H. w. c. 
New York Farm Lands. 
I would like to know why the people 
from the West are coming to York State 
to buy farm lands. I have talked with 
quite a number of them, and they can give 
no reason more than to say it was through 
the advertisements of the farm agencies. 
Are they not misrepresenting the farm 
lands here in southwestern New York? 
New York. w. i. K. 
Yes, we think some of these farms are 
misrepresented. There are good pieces of 
land in these sections whereon a good 
farmer might do well. Not far from them 
are sterile or stony farms, some of which 
ought never to have been cleared in the 
first place. When such farms are offered 
for sale it seems to be the trick to tell 
what people have done on the good farms, 
leaving the customer to infer that the 
worthless pieces of land have the same pos¬ 
sibilities. The thing which attracts most 
Western people is the thought of good 
markets, as they think such farms are all 
close to large towns or cities. No man 
should even think of buying such a farm 
without coming himself and looking it all 
over. 
Apple Pomace for Fertilizer. 
Is apple pomace worth hauling two miles 
for spreading in peach and apple orchards? 
I have in 30 acres of rye and vetch, 50 per 
cent mixture for seed. Would like some 
suggestion as the best way to market same. 
Michigan. C. p. 
R. N.-Y.—Yes, it will pay to handle the 
pomace. It contains considerable plant food, 
but should not be used when fresh on a 
peach orchard, as it is sour. You should 
use lime with it or let it ferment with ma¬ 
nure or compost before using it. 
Soy Bean Experience.—I have grown 
Soy beaus for the past four years in Oceana 
County, Mich., with very good results, and 
without inoculation of any kind. There 
have been no tubercles on the roots until 
this year, in a field where these beans were 
grown the past season, and in this field 
there were tubercles on the roots, but the 
yield of beans was no greater than in 
other fields where there were no tubercles 
on the roots. The variety grown is an 
early yellow, and ripens every year here. 
These Soy beans will yield up to 20 bushels 
of seed per acre and even more. I have 
been growing them for the seed trade and 
using the straw for horse and cow feed, but 
I have had trouble in getting them thrashed 
clean, as a common bean thrasher will only 
take from 50 to 75 per cent, of the beans 
from the pod. Has anyone had any ex¬ 
perience in this line that will help me? b. 
Farmer’s 
Friend 
Gasoline Engines 
and Saw Rigs 
Engines are built 
in three styles : portable, 
semi - portable, 
and stationary. 
They start 
easier,consume 
less gasoline, 
are stronger, 
j j ii i i Call on tb© “Badger’ 5 Dealer 
more dependable, last longer 
and have many other features of superior excellence. 
A postal card brings Free Engineering lessons No i. 
J. B. Norton Co., Inc., Distributors, Paul Building, Utica,N.Y. 
CLEANED 
and GRADED 
•mk \ 
To prove my “Chatham,” I will ship it\ 
freight prepaid, no money down. Let it * 
clean, grade and separate your Seed Grain 
for 30 days. Then keep it and pay me my 
** astonishingly low price next November or 
send it back, at my expense. 
CHATHAM and' c leaner 
grades, cleans and separates Wheat, Oats. 
Corn, Barloy, Peas, Beans, Flax, Clover, Tim¬ 
othy, etc. Takes Cockle, Wild Oats, Smut, 
etc., from seed wheat; any mixture from flax. 
^ Sorts corn for drop planter. Rids clover of 
“Jbuckhorn. Takes all dirt, 
chaff and weeds from tim- 
j othy. Removes foul 
weed seed and all 
damaged, shrunken, 
cracked or feeble ker¬ 
nels. Handles 60 bn. 
per hour. Gas power 
or hand power. Post¬ 
al brings low-price- 
buy-on-time propo¬ 
sition and latest Cata¬ 
log. Write now for 
__ Booklet 48, < 73 ) 
TheManson Campbell Co., Detroit. KansasCity, Minneapolis 
i 
MnDC If you want a cheap, simple, abso- 
mUKfc, lutely sure way to keep Every 
Rabbit and Every Borer 
NO 
RABBITS 
out of 
. your orchard, paint your trees 
vith Sulfocide” the new concentrated sulphur 
compound. Simple to prepare. Cheaply and easily 
applied. One application will last for six months. 
Absolutely certain, “Sulfocide” will solve the 
rabbit problem. WriteToDAY for book- ..... 
let, “ Sulpocidb—S ure Protection MUKfc 
from Rabbits and Borers.” Address B. BORERS 
G. Pratt Co., 50 Church St., N.Y.City. 
KENDALLS 
It 
—has saved thousands of dollars 
and thousands of horses. The t 
old reliable cure for Spavin, 
Ringbone, Splint or lameness. 
For sale at all druggists. Price __ 
$1 per bottle, 6for $5. ‘‘Treatise on the Horse'* 
free at druggists, or write to Dr. B. J. KENDALL 
COMPANY, Enosburg Falls, Vt., U, 8. A* 6| 
SPAVIN 
m 
“ate good” 
FRIEND WROTE US “Many pota¬ 
toes yield large, look fine, but eat poor.” 
In our Potato Contest just completed, there 
were many crops which yielded large, looked 
fine and “ate good,” for the prizes were 
awarded on a scale of points which consid¬ 
ered quality as well as quantity and some 
who had quantity fell below those who 
had quality. There were 
18 Crops over 300 bushels per acre; 
11 of them were over 400 bushels per acre, and 
3 of them yielded over 500 bushels per acre. 
The Census gives 148 Bushels as the average yield 
for New England and 94 bushels for the whole efiuntry. 
The average yield in this contest (33 acres) is 334.76 bu¬ 
shels per acre. 
We shall publish a tabulated statement of results with the 
methods employed; also a copy of the score cards showing the scor¬ 
ing and the method of scoring. A study of these tables and methods 
should prove interesting and instructive. We shall be happy to 
mail a copy to any address. 
ROW'*’"CD fertilizer company 
Dv/ W Jukllilv 46 Chatham Street, Boston 
