706 
Hope Farm Notes 
Seeing Red. —That is what the Hope 
Farm berry pickers were doing after the 
first week of strawberries. Whenever 
they shut their eyes they saw great crim¬ 
son masses of fruit. It was a hot, trying 
week. The berries came along rapidly. 
They are not like potatoes, to be dug 
with a fork and kept in bins over Win¬ 
ter. This big, dead-ripe fruit must be 
handled like soft-shelled eggs. As I have 
stated, the pickers are not to touch the 
berry with their fingers, but must nip off 
the stem and use it as a handle. Now 
and then some man comes along with a 
story of a new berry which has a hard, 
firm “shell” so that it will stand ship¬ 
ment like the Ben Davis apple. This 
would be a good thing for the distant 
shipper, but we are not interested in 
such fruit. Our customers would not 
touch it. Let some one come with a 
berry as handsome and large as Marshall 
and a heavier yielder, and we want it. 
Several have come with such a reputation 
tied to them, but actual test in our soil 
cuts off the card. No use talking—Mar¬ 
shall is a light yielder, but with the en¬ 
tire consumer’s dollar, as we get it, there 
is profit in the variety. At one time we 
grew President. This is a fine, beautiful 
berry, but low in quality. Our customers 
knew something was wrong whenever 
they tasted a President. With our big 
family we can put a small army of pick¬ 
ers in the field now that the little boys 
can be trusted to pick. By starting early 
in the morning we get the berries off in 
time. The fruit is rushed into the shade 
as soon as possible after picking, and de¬ 
livered promptly. Three very tired little 
boys lined up in front of me Friday night, 
with little Redhead as spokesman. 
“We picked a whole crate apiece— 
When are you going to pay us?” 
You see all these laborers are held to¬ 
gether by a strong twine of human na¬ 
ture, for the Italians look about on Sat¬ 
urday night with “Who paya me da 
mon ?” 
In spite of what the Scriptures state 
about the laborers who agreed to work for 
a certain price, Mother thought these 
weary little pickers ought to have more 
than they expected. When they got hold 
of their silver these boys forgot their 
weariness and danced about. There was 
another hot and heavy day coming, and 
when I spoke of getting up to battle once 
more with the berry field little Redhead 
lost the stimulant of his silver. 
“Do we have to get up and pick?” 
When morning came I let the weary 
little joints alone until Nature, who 
knows more about it than I do, let the 
little eyes open naturally. My children 
say they will back me as the champion 
picker, but I had no desire to issue any 
challenge on my knees in the berry field 
nipping off the big Marshalls. The sun 
was getting in some center shots at my 
back and neck, and knee and thigh which 
have seen service for half a century rebel 
when you put them at work which belongs 
to youth. There are two extremes to the 
berry business. One is pouring thick 
cream over a dish of dead ripe fruit as 
you sit in.some cool shade. The other is 
found in the berry patch in the broiling 
sun, hoeing young plants or i>icking 
fruit. 
I was not surprised therefore when I 
heard a little voice at my ear: 
“Do we have to pick to-day?” 
There was little Redhead with the toil 
marks of that crate still at his joints. 
There were suspicious red stains around 
his mouth which I diplomatically failed 
to observe closely—for there is a stern 
law about eating fruit without permis¬ 
sion. When I asked Redhead how many 
boxes he had picked he held up seven 
stained fingers. Here was the hard old 
problem of child labor. My mind went 
back a good many years to a chunky 
little boy on a Cape Cod farm and the 
way this labor problem was put up to 
him. That boy had no chance to ask or 
argue about working. He had his 
“stent”—a good big one, too—and he 
did it regardless of the color of the sky 
or the flowers or the birds. The theory 
was that by keeping the boy always at 
work you kept him out of mischief. There 
was no let-up for him even if work was 
to him like punishment. It came to my 
mind in that berry patch that the old 
theory of working children out of mis¬ 
chief did not figure out fully. The hands 
were not idle, it is true, but the mind 
the rural new-yorkek 
June 2S, 
was full of the injustice and desire of 
life, and that made mental mischief 
which is far more dangerous than any 
of the hands. You may perhaps train a 
child to work mechanically with his 
hands by forcing him to labor, but there 
will be no heart or joy in it. You make 
slave rather than free labor in that way. 
So I told my little boys that I thought 
it would be fine for them to pick 10 
boxes each and then they could rest un¬ 
til it was time for selling. So they fin¬ 
ished and then sat in the shade and 
played with the dog and watched the 
birds until I saw them tramping off down 
the lane to the house. 
It was a lively forenoon. Orders kept 
pouring in over the ’phone and Merrill 
was kept busy packing and delivering. 
We did not want to pick too close, as 
there were nearly 10 crates already or¬ 
dered for Monday, but the Italians and 
I kept at it until we had two crates to 
retail in addition to our regular orders. 
Then came the delegation of little boys 
up the lane with Redhead as usual for 
spokesman. This time it was 
“Do we have to sell berries?” 
This was a new one, for they are usu¬ 
ally delighted to act as salesmen. It 
came out that they wanted to go bare¬ 
foot, but Mother objected to having bare¬ 
footed salesmen represent Hope Farm. 
At any rate, the boys wanted to be where 
they could leave off their shoes. Now it 
struck me that a barefoot boy in blue 
overalls and shirt and no hat would be 
far more likely to sell berries than some 
Sunday School specimen dressed up in 
clean suit and fine shoes. Everyone who 
has ever read Whittier’s “Barefoot Boy” 
would buy berries from the barefoot and 
have pleasant memories of his own boy¬ 
hood as he ate them. There is a lot of 
human nature in this old world yet, and 
so the little bare feet were dangling out 
of the wagon as it drove away. Of 
course I know what the wise men say 
about hookworms and splinters and glass 
and briers, but I feel sorry for the child 
who cannot get his little bare feet down 
into the soil. 
The boys sold every berry and got 
back to find me still picking to fill a few 
belated orders. Merrill had caught a 
crow on the hill and we had it in a crate 
for the boys to play with on their return. 
While we were at supper an automobile 
party came whirling in for three quarts 
of berries. The child ,’?n were paid and 
then out they ran to dig their bare feet 
into the soil once more. 
Between berry pickings we are work¬ 
ing corn and potatoes. The weeder is a 
great help with the young corn. We be¬ 
gin before the plants show above ground 
and keep scratching the surface over. 
The first time you try it you think the 
entire crop has been pulled out, but 
within a day or two you find that no 
damage has been done, while the crop is 
evidently better. If berry picking would 
permit I would work our corn with the 
weeder twice a week until it was over 
knee high. If this were done I think 
three good workings with the cultivator 
would take care of the crop. The dry 
weather has ripened the grass ahead of 
its time. Our hay crop will be short 
and I think that is the case generally 
throughout the East. It is now about 
the last call for sowing corn fodder. On 
the whole this is about the best hay sub¬ 
stitute you can put in. Up to July 4 
it will make good roughage before frost. 
It is a good crop to sow somewhere near 
a pasture where it can be cut green and 
thrown over to the cattle. 
The Truth and Hens.— Since I dis¬ 
cussed “Mapes the Hen Man” and his 
work there have been many letters from 
all sorts of hen men. Here is one: 
I was very much surprised, astounded, 
shocked and dazed upon opening my fa¬ 
vorite paper this morning and turning 
to my favorite page, to find my mentor, 
instructor, adviser and guide in my poul¬ 
try venture admitting that with more 
than one hundred hens, he loses money. 
Here I have spent thousands of dollars 
building up a plant where I hoped to 
keep somewhere between one and five 
thousand hens, and—it is “2 mutch,” as 
Artemus Ward would say ; I cannot pro¬ 
ceed. the subject is too painful. 
FRANK HYDE. 
Well, sir, is that what we are to expect 
when we tell the truth about hens? I 
have been told that with many the 
chicken business is a bluff, but it seemed 
hard to believe it. We seem to be able 
to raise Marshall strawberries and apples, 
but it is a fact that poultry has never 
paid us any such returns as some of the 
dreamers tell about. I think that about 
100 hens is close to our limit. When we 
get above that my figures show that we 
hit this “law of diminishing returns” and 
hit it hard. I think we can get profit out 
of 6,000 or more trees, but the hen has 
somehow never seemed to fit into our 
abilities. It struck me as fairer to tell 
the truth about an evident thing rather 
than to manufacture some guff and trim 
it with feathers. It would seem as if 
some of these chicken men think we ought 
to attempt the guff for the benefit of the 
back-to-the-landers. If Mr. Hyde can 
invest thousands of dollars in the 
chicken business and make good interest 
on it he beats me. He ought to come 
forward at once and tell us how he does 
it. Does he sell hatching eggs or baby 
chicks or just plain “eggs” to be used 
as food? Come, Brother Hyde, if you 
are “surprised, astounded and shocked” 
when one tells the truth about hens, do 
not hide your nest of profit, but show us 
how inefficient we are! 
Dry Grain or Silage. —Here is a 
problem which has puzzled many a 
farmer: 
What would be the best thing for me 
to do? I have a 120-ton silo and I would 
like to raise my own feed for chickens. 
Would it be advisable to plant hard flint 
corn and after husking the corn feed the 
stalks to my cows or buy my chicken 
corn at the mill and put fodder corn in 
s' 1 o ? I have had but little experience in 
farming, being a “baclc-to-the-lander,” 
and no two farmers advise alike, so I 
go to you for advice. Should I raise 
State or flint corn, and feed stalks to 
cows, or buy corn and raise silage? 
Schoharie Co., N. Y. w. z. 
We have no silo as we keep little stock. 
Our plan is to grow flint corn between 
the tree rows, husk the grain and feed 
the dry stalks to horses. This works 
well. If I had a silo and a herd of cattle 
I should cut the entire stalk into the silo. 
This saves husking and handling. I 
worked as hired man for a farmer once 
who sold all the butter and expected us 
to get along with fat meat on ou" bread. 
This man had some knowledge of chemis¬ 
try and he argued that the fat meat sup¬ 
plied all the bodily need which was found 
in the butter. I could not argue with 
him, but he never kept a hired man long. 
In theory you can make silage of the 
stalks alone and add some grain to take 
the place of the corn ears, but the cattle 
prefer the entire stalk. If I had only 
a few cows I would not fill the silo, but 
would husk the corn, run the stalks 
through a cutter and feed them dry. Can 
you not plant enough corn to fill the silo 
and also give some grain? If you want 
to fill the silo with stalks why not plant 
a heavy yield, and the flint corn will give 
a heavy yield, and the flint corn will give 
you grain. In former years when West¬ 
ern corn was cheap it did not always pay 
to raise grain on Eastern farms. Now 
that the price is high corn is one of the 
most profitable farm crops we can put in. 
H. w. c. 
Preparing for Alfalfa. 
I have a wheatfiekl, gravelly loam, that 
is free from weeds; I wish to grow Al¬ 
falfa this August. There are four acres 
and I have 1,700 pounds ground bone 
and 90 bushels of wood ashes. What 
would you advise now, some muriate of 
potash or basic slag? Of course, I intend 
to lime and inoculate it. I. c. H. 
Goshen, N. Y. 
We should want about 300 pounds 
muriate of potash to use with this bone. 
The 90 bushels of ashes if of average 
quality will give about 180 pounds of 
potash, and with the lime will add al 
you need of that. The 300 pounds of 
muriate will add about enough potash to 
“balance” the bone. 
Sink Drain. 
Seeing an inquiry for sink drain which 
was not a breeding place for flies, 1. 
will try to explain the method being 
used here which is entirely satisfactory. 
Dig an opening large enough to hold an 
inverted barrel, sink pipe to enter barre 
under ground, cover all with earth, anc 
the water goes into the ground under 
the barrel. If a large quantity is poured 
at once the barrel will hold it until set¬ 
tled away. The ground is all smooth on 
top, no sign of a foul sink drain. 
Maine. c. E. P. 
R. N.-Y.—This will work well in sandy 
soil but in a hard clay, if grease is 
permitted to run in, the soil will become 
clogged and the water will not soak 
away. We had that trouble until we 
dug a long ditch away from the sink 
hole and put in a drain pipe. 
“For the Land’s Sake, use Bowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those who till it.”— Adv. 
To Married" ,u, l| 
Farmers! 
WHO HAVE 
$ 1500 - 
in Cash or in 
Farm Machinery and Stock. 
Buy a farm from the CANADIAN 
PACIFIC RAILWAY and the Com¬ 
pany will loan you $2,000 cash for im¬ 
provements, giving you TWENTY 
YEARS time to pay for the land and 
loan. WE ALSO WANT AGENTS. 
Write at once for full particulars to 
DR. PAUL FABER, General Agent, 
Canadian Pacific Railway 
Land Department, 
458 Broadway - • New York. 
Farm for S a I e - ^ 0 AboW 
on river. Best location for good prices in country. Near 
6,700 wage earners to whom is paid over four million 
dollars annually. Rest of reasons for selling. 
IRA A. BURSLEV, K. I). 3, Attleboro, Mass. 
FARM BARGAINS - 
road; 6 acres; fine 4-room house in good condition; 
tine place for poultry, fruit and truck. Only $850; 
part cash. For traveling directions address No. 5. 
C. D. KOSEEAKM AGENCY, Trenton, N. J. 
W ILL RENT HOUSE AND 34 ACRES—Suitable for farm¬ 
ing. Free of rent to a farmer who will keep 
f rounds in good condition. References required. 
'he farm is situated in Greenwich. Address, 
Mr. FERDINAND HARTOG, Bethel. Connecticut 
M INNESOTA Is the greatest ilalry State in the Union. Mil- 
lions of acres of wild land in the best dairy section of the 
State can be bought cheap on long time and easy terms. State 
School Lands, Free Homestead Lands, Improved Farms, Maps and 
literature telling about the State sent free upon application to 
FRED D. SHERMAN . Commissioner of Immigra¬ 
tion, Room 202, State Capitol , St. Paul, Minnesota 
A BARGAIN —1 have for sale about nine thousand acres of 
Pasture and Farming Land, situated on the mainland, It 
miles from Galveston, with a three mile front on Galveston 
Bay, along tlio line of the Inter-Coastal Canal, between Galves¬ 
ton and Corpus Christia. If sold at once I will take eleven 
dollars per acre, with a cash payment of one quarter balance 
in from one to five years. My reasons for selling are, getting 
old. Don’t write for particulars. If you are really serious 
about buying, come and look at the land. It’s a Bargain. 
JOHN A. CAPLEN, - - Alta Loma, Texas 
UIE SELL GOOD FARMS in Oceana, greatest fruit Co. 
™ in U. S.: also grain, potatoes, Alfalfa, duirying. 
Write for list, etc. HANSON & SON, Hart, Mich. 
ranU D A D C A I U C—10-acres with buildings, $1,000; 
rwnm OHnUHinO hall ,l»r; new- 8-room house, 
barn, chirken-liouse, only $000 needed. For traveling directions 
address No.3. C. D. ItOSE FAlOl AUENCT, Trenton, New Jersey 
NEW YORK STATE FARMS, 1S2ZL 
ing in farms throughout New York State. Itolerenc* 
on request. Catalog sent to prospective purchasers. 
(’. L. YAGER & CO.. 73G Press Bldg., Binghamton. N. Y 
New York State Farms 
WRITE ME YOUR WANTS. FREE LIST. 
OGDEN’S AGENCY, Walton, Delaware Co.,N.Y. 
QUR new YORK IMPROVED FARMS are great ha; 
v gains at present low price. Send for free lists, 
McBURNEY 8 CO., 309 Bastable Block. - Syracuse, N. Y 
I Rfl Farmo 1,011 SALK—near I’hlla. and Trenton markets ; 
I UU I 0 1 1110 good railroad and trolley facilities. New cata¬ 
logue. Established 25 years. Iloroeo <J. Heeder, Newtown, Penns. 
IERSEY FARMS— 1 to 350 acres in Jersey’s best soil. Catalogue 
ll tree. ED. BURROUGHS, 147 E. Stato St., Trenton, N. 4. 
BOOKS WORTH BUYING 
Agriculture and Chemistry, Storer. . . $5.00 
Fertility of the Land Roberts. 1.50 
Fertilizers, Voorhees . 1.25 
Fertilizers and Crops, Van Slyke.... 2.50 
Manures, Semper .40 
Soils, Hilgard . 4.00 
The Soil, King. 1.50 
Farmers of 40 Centuries, King. 2.50 
Forage and Fiber Crops, Hunt. 1-75 
How Crops Grow, Johnson. 1.50 
How Crops Feed, Johnson. 1.50 
Meadows and Pastures, Wing. 1.50 
Physics of Agriculture, King. 1.75 
Weeds of Farm and Garden, Pammel. 1.50 
Drainage for Profit and Health. Waring 1.00 
Irrigation and Drainage, King.’.1.50 
Irrigation Farming, Wilcox. 2.00 
Irrigation Institutions, Mead. 1-35 
First Principles of Agriculture, Voor¬ 
hees . 1.00 
Principles of Agriculture, Bailey. ;,25 
Alfalfa in America, Wing. 2.00 
Book of Alfalfa, Coburn. 2.00 
Asparagus, Ilexaiuer .50 
Bean Culture, Sevey.50 
Book of Wheat, Dondlinger.2.00 
Book of Corn, Myrick. 1-50 
Study of Corn, Shoesmith.50 
Cereals in America, Hunt. 1-75 
Corn Culture, Plumb. 100 
Clovers, Shaw . 1-00 
Farm Grasses of the U. S.. Spillman. . 1.00 
Celery Culture, Beattie.50 
Cotton, Burkett . 2.00 
Ginseng, Kains .50 
Melon Culture, Troop.30 
Mushrooms, Falconer . 1-00 
New Onion Culture, Greiner.30 
Onion Raising, Gregory .30 
New Rhubarb Culture, Morse.30 
A B C of Potato Culture, Hoot.30 
The Potato, Fraser.75 
Squashes, Gregory .3C 
Tobacco Leaf, Killebrew . 2.00 
Horse’s Foot and Its Diseases, Zundel 2.00 
Swine, Dietrich . 1-30 
Swine In America, Coburn. 2.50 
Horse Book, Johnstone. 1-30 
The Horse, Roberts. 1-23 
Tomato Culture, Tracy .30 
Milk Testing, Van Slyke. -75 
Diseases of Animals, Mayo. 1-30 
Prevention and Treatment of Animal 
Diseases, Winslow . 3.30 
Farmers’ Veterinary Adviser, Law.... 3.00 
Veterinary Materia Medica, Winslow. 6.00 
Veterinary Ophthalmology, Van Mater. 3.00 
Veterinary, Anatomy, Strangeway■•• • 5.00 
Veterinary Obstetrics, Fleming . 4.50 
Feeds and Feeding, Henry. 2.25 
Feeding Farm Animals, Shaw. 2.00 
Feeding of Animals, Jordan. J-jj" 
Forage Crops, Voorhees. 1-50 
Management and Feeding of Cattle, 
Shaw . 2.oo 
Hog Book, Dawson. I **" 
Sheep In America, Wing. 10° 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th St., New York 
