32 
Hope Farm Notes 
Last week I went down to Winchester, 
Vn., to attend the Virginia State Horticul¬ 
tural Society meeting. When the average 
person hears of Winchester he immediately 
says “20 miles away,” and pictures a short, 
fierce-looking man riding a black horse along 
a country road. That is the sort of indeli¬ 
ble advertisement which a poet has given 
the Shenandoah Valley, and it has obscured 
other practical and useful things. If we 
call Vermont the “bashful” State and Maine 
“contented” because they will not let peo¬ 
ple know the .full truth about their apples, 
1 do not know what name to apply to Vir¬ 
ginia. This valley produces apples iu such 
variety and of such beautiful color and 
quality that a fruit show here is like a 
flower garden. At the Boston fruit show 
Baldwin, R. I. Greening, Russet and North¬ 
ern Spy provided most of the specimens. 
At Winchester I found only one plate of 
Baldwins and not one Greening, though 
some . Northwestern Greenings were shown. 
There was a great display of York Impe¬ 
rials, Grimes, Winesap, Albemarle and other 
varieties which apparently grow to perfec¬ 
tion in this valley. Mr. Van Dcman, who 
judged this fruit, and who has been doing 
similar judging all over the Northwest, told 
me that several boxes shown at this Vir¬ 
ginia exhibition were the finest he ever 
saw. The color was superb, and as for 
quality I do not know what more I can 
say than that some of those Virginia Ben 
Davis were plenty good enough to eat. 
This great fruit show would surely have 
proved an eye-opener to thousands of Ameri¬ 
cans who do not realize what the people in 
this valley have been doing. Quietly and 
without any bluster or bluff they have been 
growing and shipping these beautiful apples. 
A large share of the fruit has gone to Eu¬ 
rope. Once let these Virginians get together 
in cooperative societies such as they have 
in Oregon, and this boxed fruit will be put 
into our Northern markets. Then “Sheri¬ 
dan's Ride” will be forgotten in the rush 
after these York Imperials and Albemarles. 
I presume that the old-time Virginian would 
object to anything that seemed like “ped¬ 
dling” fruit. He would rather sell in a 
wholesale way to exporters, and give them 
tin 1 profit. This spirit is passing away, for 
there is no reason why our old enemy, preju¬ 
dice, should take his big share of the con¬ 
sumer’s dollar. I met one man who sold 10 
barrels of Albemarle Bippins for $120! I 
saw a barrel of fruit much like this lot, and 
we estimated that there were about 300 
apples in it. A man who had just come 
from New York bought at a fancy fruit 
store a “Virginia Albemarle” about like the 
average in this barrel, and paid 10 cents 
for ft. That means $30 a barrel at retail, 
so this grower did not rob the retailer after 
all. 1 could tell true stories of the money 
returns from single trees or from orchards 
in this valley that would read like fairy 
tales. The great wonder to a Cape Cod man 
is that men living in a section possessing 
such natural advantages do not even pos¬ 
sess a “tin horn” and have no inclination 
to blow one if they had it. Why, these men 
do not seem to care for new varieties of 
apples. Why should they, when their great 
quartette of York, Albemarle. Grimes and 
Winesap grow to such perfection? Here and 
there on the tables were plates of Black 
Twig almost a dark blue in color. I met 
one man who has 70 varieties, but I under¬ 
stand that York Imperial is still being 
planted as the standard variety. This apple 
looks as if some one had taken it while it 
was soft and with a sidelong squeeze 
crushed it into a block shape. The shape 
and flavor never appealed to me, and it is 
far inferior to Baldwin with us, yet as a 
market variety in the Middle South it ap¬ 
pears to lead. 
The Virginia Horticultural Society seems 
to have had the history which goes with 
such organizations. For years it struggled 
on, the meetings being attended by an “old 
guard” of faithful ones. Then suddenly and 
without apparent cause it began to gain, 
and now has over 500 members and a strong 
organization. That seems to be the way 
things are working everywhere. It means 
that unseen forces of education and ambi¬ 
tion have been quietly at work upon younger 
men. We older men do not stop to realize 
that boys have grown up and are now ready 
to do their share, and that the old seed 
apparently sown upon barren ground, is 
really giving a crop. If I am not mistaken 
too this Virginia society is like many others 
in another line of development. For years 
at its annual meetings the problem of how 
to produce more and better fruit was the 
keynote. Now it is found that the question 
of economical production is only one side 
of it. but that the selling has come to be 
most important of all. We are all learning, 
some in one way and some in another, that 
we have been standing back to let the mid¬ 
dleman carve up the consumer's dollar. It 
is time we had more of the white meat in¬ 
stead of “dressing.” drumsticks and gravy— 
and the only way to get it is to take a hand 
at carving. The study of how to do this 
ought to be a definite part of an agricultural 
THE RURAL 
education. It seems' to be starting in the 
farm organizations, and it ought to spread 
through the farmers’ institutes, colleges 
and experiment stations. 
One notable feature of this horticultural 
meeting was a visit to the famous apple 
orchards of S. L. Lupton. We do not hear 
as much about the “Sunny South” as we 
used to, and it is a good thing for these 
who like to stick to facts. The lower edge 
of the “blizzard” hovered over Winchester, 
and when we were ready to start for the 
orchard there was a coating of ice over all 
the trees, with the air full of sleet. The 
procession consisted of one automobile and 
perhaps 20 carriages. As I do not often 
have a chance to figure as prominent citizen 
or distinguished guest I felt the sense of 
honor and power as I sat in the auto and 
went whirling by all the horse vehicles! 
At the orchard the chilled horticulturists 
grouped around a hot stove and enjoyed a 
good lunch. It was too wet to travel over 
the fields, but we had a good chance to see 
how the trees are headed and pruned, and 
how the soil is handled. The spraying prob- 
lem is a serious one all through this valley 
—both for the scale and other insects, and 
for fungus diseases. Mr. I.upton tells me 
that the Department of Agriculture has 
been using the new combination of lime and 
sulphur and copper in his orchard, and has 
obtained very satisfactory results. The air 
pressure system of spraying power is used 
in this orchard. There were four outfits on 
exhibition. As most of our readers know 
this outfit consists of two steel tanks con¬ 
nected. The spraying liquid is put in one 
tank, while air is forced into the other so 
as to give a high pressure. Then by open¬ 
ing the valves between the two tanks the 
spray is forced out by a force like that of a 
big pop-gun. Mr. Lupton has an ingenious 
plan for forcing water out of a well 195 
feet deep. Instead of pumping it up in the 
usual way a small air pipe is put down in¬ 
side the larger water pipe of the well. 
Then air from the compressor is forced 
down this small inside pipe with such force 
that it blows the water up to a tank. This 
water blows out of the pipe as white as 
foam. 
On our way back to town the distinguished 
citizens in the auto led the procession as 
before. About halfway there was a snap 
and a lurch, and we hauled up with a 
burst tire. Then the mechanics got their 
tools and a new tire from under the seat 
and went down into the ice and mud to re¬ 
pair damages. The old tire had to be taken 
off and a new one put on and blown up. 
Then came the long procession of carriages 
by us as we stood in the mud. Every horse 
seemed to straighten up and let out a 
“horse laugh” as he went trotting by, and 
every passenger had some pleasant i - emark 
to make. I consider it something of an ed¬ 
ucation to realize just what it means to be 
plunged by one puff of air from the position 
of leader to that of tail-ender. However, 
our folks got that new tire on and then by 
a little burst of speed got in at the middle 
of the procession after all. 
It seems as if these people in the Shen¬ 
andoah Valley have been as modest about 
telling their history as in “booming” their 
apples. Perhaps it is our fault for not doing 
more studying. I was told about fine brick 
houses 200 years or more old. Every brick 
was brought from England and hauled from 
the sea coast either in wagons or on horse¬ 
back. Let us think what it meant to carry 
these thousands of brick through the wild¬ 
erness to build great mansions in the forest. 
What a fine disdain for ordinary building 
material, and what a sublime faith in the 
future of this country. It was not a good 
day to see the land, but I noticed the rolling 
sweep of the great valley. The timber at 
this point seems to have been mostly cut 
off, but young fruit trees are going in, and 
it is only a question of years before this 
section will be one vast sweep of orchards. 
“It is surely God’s country!” said my 
companion. “I have travelled all over the 
land, but I always come back to the Shen¬ 
andoah Valley to say it is the best part of 
Virginia—and surely God’s country !” 
“God’s country.” IIow often I have heard 
men say that! Ohio, Canada, Florida, Cali¬ 
fornia, Maine, Oregon—wherever men live— 
be it in some humble cottage or in some 
palace. If life means contentment and 
peace the locality does not matter. 
It is “God's country”—and that is home. 
H. W. c. 
Grinding Bone for Fertilizer. 
I want a horse po\ter machine that will 
grind up bones fine enough so that I can 
use the meal as a fertilizer. I can get 
bones in fairly good quantities for the 
trouble of hauling them. Will it pay to 
buy the machine, grind up the bones and 
put them on the land? r. l. s. 
Mississippi. 
It is doubtful if horse power will grind 
the bones fine enough. There are special 
mills for crushing bones, but they require 
strong power and in most eases the bones 
are steamed first. Crushed bone makes an 
excellent fertilizer—supplying phosphoric 
acid and some nitrogen. If you can get 
enough of them it would pay to get a 
steam heating plant and a power mill. 
With only a small quantity you can soften 
the bones by packing them in layers of wet 
ashes. 
NEW-YORKER 
January 22 
Do you want your watches delivered this way? 
The above picture appeared in an ad¬ 
vertisement of a paper manufacturer offering 
CATALOGUES made strong enough to 
“stand the mile a minute bump received 
when the mail bags are thrown from a 
rapidly moving train. ,, 
Catalogues may be strong enough for 
this-WATCHES ARE NOT. 
Waltham Watch Co. 
Waltham, Mass. 
Planet Ur. Tools 
get largest crops with least work 
What’s the use of drudging to get ordinary results when a Planet Jr 
Seeder or Cultivator does six men’s work, and gives you an increased 
yield besides ? Planet Jrs are patents of a man skilled both in farm¬ 
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light, strong, lasting, and fully guaranteed. 
No. 4 Planet Jr Combined Seeder and Wheel-Hoe 
saves time, labor, seed and money. Almost all useful 
garden implements in one. Adjustable in a minute to 
sow all garden seeds, hoe, cultivate, weed, or plow. 
Pays for itself quickly, even in small gardens. 
No. 8 Planet Jr Horse Hoe and Cultivator 
will do more things in more ways than any other 
horse-hoe made. Plows to or from the row. A 
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hoe; and unequalled as a cultivator. 
The 1910 Planet Jr catalogue is free. 
It illustrates and describes 55 dif- ^ J 
? ferent implements for the 
farm and garden. Write* JJT — 
for it today. s 
S L Allen & Co 
No. 8 
Box H07V 
Philadelphia Pa 
CAHOON SEED 
Saves buying expensive drills. Most 
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and grass seed. Accurate, simple, 
durable. Made of steel, iron and brass. Lasts a life time. 
Saves time, saves seed and gives bigger crops. 
Highest priced sower made, but pays for itself many times yearly If 
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GOODELL CO.. 14 MAIN St. Antrim Nfw Hampshire 
CLARKS 
CUTAWAY 
TOOLS 
i 
DOUBLE ACTION “ CUTAWAY” HARROW 
WITH EXTENSION HEAD. Is made especially for Orchard 
work. It will increaseyoui crops 25 to 50 per cent. This machine 
will cut from 28 to 30 acres, or will double-cut 15 acres in a day. It 
is drawn by two medium horses. It will move 15,000 tons of earth 
one foot in a day, and can be set to move the earth but little, or at 
so great an angle as to move all the earth one foot. Runs true i n line 
of draft and keeps the surface true. a n BIG 
All other disk harrows have to run I w* i CROPS 
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The Jointed Pole Takes All the Weight Off the Horses’ Necks, 
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We muke 130 sizes and styled of Dink Harrows. 
Every machine fully warranted. 
Send for FKEE booklet with full particulars. ' DOUBLE 
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839 Main.. St., HIGGANUM, CONN. iiakkow 
1 
