i20e 
November 8, 
Hope Farm Notes 
_ -T- - '■* 
The Plowing Problem.—I am glad to 
have this matter of Fall plowing fully 
discussed: 
Hope Farm is easily the best-known 
farm in America. The “farmer” him¬ 
self, Mother, Redhead and the others 
have more friends than they know about. 
From this distance there appears to be 
nothing in the management of Hope Farm 
that a fruit farmer anywhere North of 
the Ohio River might not pattern after. 
But there is one practice on Hope Farm 
which the “farmer” gives an albround 
endorsement that is open to question in 
the case of the average grain and stock 
farm. The exception I refer to is that 
‘‘star boarder,” the Winter cover-crop, 
which is to be plowed under in the 
Spring. Instead of covering land in¬ 
tended for Spring planting or seeding 
with something that will be in the way 
of planting, when planting time comes, 
there is a growing number who prefer 
Mr. H. E. Mern’s plan of making the 
preparation for Spring planting in the 
Fall, and then letting the great cultivator, 
Jack Frost, do his work. No machine 
ever made will pulverize soil equal to 
freezing weather working on a late- 
plowed field. The Hope Farm man thinks 
this practice “leaches” out fertility. But 
does it? I think most farmers who have 
practiced Fall plowing will agree wth me 
that corn, for instance, on Fall plowing 
without fertilizer, is a better prospect 
than planted on Spring plowing with fer¬ 
tilizer. The practice of Fall plowing is 
greatly on the increase in this part of the 
country. It is followed for two reasons: 
First it increases production. Secondly 
it aids the farmer so greatly in his work 
by enabling him to distribute his “peak 
load.” Having his Spring plowing all 
done the Fall before, when planting time 
comes he can plant. Timely planting, of 
corn, say, is ordinarily impossible if the 
field to be planted must first be plowed. 
There is much more to be said, but Mr. 
Mern has stated the case so admirably in 
his two recent articles in The R. N.-Y. 
that I refer any inquirer to them for a 
second reading. edwin taylor. 
Kansas. 
Mr. Taylor says the recent articles on 
plowing are “the finest presentment of 
the matter” he ever saw. In speaking of 
our own operations I have tried to make 
it clear that they apply to the peculiar 
conditions which are found in our locality 
and in the East generally. These condi¬ 
tions are rough or rolling land, soil very 
much lacking in humus and subject to 
heavy washing rains, both Summer and 
Winter. In our own case, too, there are 
few very early crops, and there is no 
great rush for Spring plowing. As for 
“leaching” from our soils, experiments 
at our college and at Rothamsted have 
clearly shown what passes away from 
our bare land through the drainage water. 
This is particularly true where large 
quantities of chemicals are used to pro¬ 
vide available plant food. In such cases 
the Fall and Winter cover crop is es¬ 
pecially needed. Mr. Taylor must re¬ 
member that the soil around Hope Farm 
was under cultivation at least 150 years 
before a furrow was turned in Kansas, and 
that it has been the constant practice to 
sell straw, hay and other humus-making 
crops away from the farm. This, with 
the peculiar character of the soil, has 
made the need of humus a desperate one. 
In a few cases where dairying is prac¬ 
ticed the soil shows remarkable improve¬ 
ment, but most of us do not keep stock 
and must depend on cover crops to fill the 
soil. When I see the enormous root 
growth which our rye makes I feel that 
this underground mass works up the soil 
about as much as Jack Frost ever could 
in our section. In South Jersey and 
Maryland, with their open Winter and 
light soil, I should think Fall plowing 
about the worst practice a farmer could 
think of. On the other hand, a farmer in 
Northern Vermont told me last week that 
Fall plowing sod is the best practice. 
Their Winters are early and severe, and 
there is little leaching, while the short 
Spring makes it necessary to have as 
much of the land fitted as possible. By 
disking Fall-plowed land they may save 
much time in corn planting. 
Winter Pasture. —Another thing 
about cover crops is the possibility of Fall 
pasture, which many of our Eastern 
farms with small areas must consider. 
I know of cases where farmers with a 
small herd of cows sow barley and Crim¬ 
son clover at the last cultivation of the 
corn. The corn may be put into the 
silo or husked and the stalks removed 
early. Then the cows are turned in to 
eat down the barley and clover until, the 
weather grows too cold. In such cases 
the object is to plow the crop under in 
Spring and not to cut it for hay. Some- 
TH LC RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
times a man wants a crop to do double 
service, as in the following: 
One of my neighbors claims that rye 
may be pastured during the Winter with¬ 
out harming the crop. May I let the 
sheep go on it, say in November or De¬ 
cember? The rye is well out now. 
Bolton, Conn. w. B. 
A light pasturing while the soil is 
frozen or firm will not greatly hurt the 
rye. It will come on in the Spring and 
make a good growth of grain or straw. 
But keep the sheep off while the soil is 
wet or muddy. If you let them on then 
they will tramp and cut up the soil bad¬ 
ly and throw out many of the rye plants. 
Saving Wastes. —Our Eastern farm¬ 
ers find the humus problem a hard one. 
They will do better to get everything they 
can into the soil. Then they must hunt 
for all sorts of plant-food wastes. Man¬ 
ufacturing produces many wastes which 
contain moz’e or less nitrogen, potash, 
phosphoric acid or lime. Here for in¬ 
stance is a man who is investigating: 
What use can I make of soot taken 
from a chimney, perhaps an accumula¬ 
tion of 20 years? w. E. P. 
Connecticut. 
This soot varies greatly, but nitrogen is 
usually the element most likely to be 
found in it. You can spread it like fer¬ 
tilizer and harrow it in. or mix it with the 
manure. We should spread it over the 
garden or truck farm and from choice on 
the lighter colored soils. The dark soot 
will deepen their color and make them 
warmer and thus earlier. Crushed char¬ 
coal has .much the same effect, though 
the charcoal has little if any actual plant 
food. 
Spreading Lime. —Here is a question 
often asked: 
Does it impair the value of lime to 
the soil to put it on the top of the 
ground in the Fall or Winter, and not 
work it in as on grass sod? s. H. M. 
Gerrardstown, W. Va. 
The great value from lime comes in 
having it mixed all through the upper 
soil. Thus the best way to use it is to 
spread after plowing and harrow or mix 
thoroughly. Put lime on top of the 
soil and leave it there over Winter, and 
some of it will be washed down into the 
soil but most of it is likely to remain 
at the top. With us in a wet season 
it usually forms a sort of mortar at the 
surface. This cannot be mixed and 
worked all through the soil, as the fine 
lime is, and thus lime spread on the sur¬ 
face and left there is not as effective. 
You can hardly say that this destroys 
any of its value, but it is not as effective. 
In our own case we have given up using 
lime, except when it can be harrowed in. 
Votes for Women. —Since I gave the 
figures showing what our women folks 
think of woman suffrage several parties 
ask what these women say as a reason 
for not caring to vote. So I will print 
a sample of the letters received from the 
question sent at random to R. N.-Y. 
readers. All the parties to whom we 
wrote were strangers. We knew nothing 
of their feelings beforehand. We asked 
these women (1) if they favored voting; 
(2) if they desired a property or educa¬ 
tional qualification; (3) if they were 
fairly represented by the male members 
of their family. 
(1) No, I am not. 
(2) I certainly would. 
(3) Yes. However, there are cases 
where the males are deceased or there 
are no males in the home. In such 
instances, a woman who owns much 
property or has a family of children 
might be justified in having a say re¬ 
garding the questions of property and 
education. In my own case I might 
add that my sister and I are the only 
ones in our home but I am willing to 
let the males of other families do the 
voting. I would not vote if I could. 
I do not think it a woman’s place. I 
think the women—mothers and sisters— 
should see that the home is not corrupt 
and use their influence to help hus¬ 
bands, brothers, sons, and friends grow 
up into pure, strong, serious, God-fearing 
men. Then the votes can safely be 
trusted with them and the women can 
remain where they belong. Their good 
influence on the men should be suffi¬ 
cient. 
I feel certain, at this present day at 
least, that the world would be no better 
and it might be in danger of becoming 
worse, if women had equal votes with 
men. My sister is also in sympathy 
with the above statement. F. L. c. 
Massachusetts. h. w. c. 
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