388 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Hope Farm Notes 
Missionary Work. —I presume I look¬ 
ed very much like the agent of a wash¬ 
ing machine as we drove away from 
Hope Farm on Sunday afternoon. I 
had a sample machine tied on behind 
the wagon, and Mother and the baby 
were with me on the seat. I might 
have made a strong argument for the 
machine by pointing to Mother as an 
emancipated tub slave, washing day no 
longer a terror—with a child to work 
this machine. As for the baby, his 
clothes would have advertised the ma¬ 
chine—so long as we could keep him 
off the ground. 
But you will say this was a nice 
business to be up to on Sunday after¬ 
noon—and worse still to go and tell 
about it. I must hasten to explain that 
this was not a peddler’s outfit—we were 
more like missionaries—delivering the 
goods. On her journeys to the church 
Mother had found a woman with a sick 
husband and a family of little ones. The 
burden of bread-winning had fallen 
upon this woman, and she took it up 
bravely. In our country about all such 
a woman can get to do is washing. We 
have a large proportion of families the 
women of which are not strong enough 
or think they lack the power to wash. 
This makes abundant work for those 
who will take up the elevating job of 
rubbing out dirt. I say “elevating,” for 
I will leave it to you if the woman 
who gives the world clean clothes does 
not come nearer to religious service 
than the one who hits at a typewriter, 
serves as clerk or sells goods. 
Xow Mother is a practical person. 
She realized that this brave woman 
needed the prayers and religious help 
of the church to strengthen her heart 
and spirit, but that a washing machine 
to save her back might well go along 
with the spiritual helps. So here I was 
delivering the goods. When I put the 
machine down by the door of that hum¬ 
ble home I felt that “the wolf” that had 
been howling there realized that two of 
his best teeth had been knocked out. I 
have never heard of any better dentistry 
for that sort of a wolf than to give a 
fair chance of labor. So the point of 
what I am trying to get at is that the 
best help you can give people is the 
right and power to work and be paid 
for it. As husband of the president of 
a missionary society, I might be per¬ 
mitted to speak with some knowledge of 
the subject. My advice is to keep in 
mind John Randolph’s remark: “The 
Greeks are at your door 1” A good 
washing machine might well be kept in 
stock by every missionary society; to 
be put where it will save some woman’s 
back and enable her to put up a good 
face to the world. As a scout for the 
church, or a feeler on one of its strong 
arms, such a washing machine may help 
save a home and help keep a human 
soul sweet and clean. 
One of our boys ;took another turn 
at missionary work. When the lilacs 
burst into bloom he heard of the poor 
children in the city who rarely see 
flowers—except behind a “keep off the 
grass” sign. So he made up a great 
basket of lilacs. The children went 
with him over to the spring and picked 
a peck or more of violets. In the after¬ 
noon this boy went to New York with 
his flowers and gave them out. There 
was a great rush of little street waifs, 
and in less than 10 minutes the baskets 
were empty and 100 or more children 
were racing home with our lilacs and 
violets. I am glad that something of 
the beauty of Hope Farm can get into 
the city’s brick and stone. 
The other day I was in the city and 
saw a crowd on a street corner. I 
found the center of attraction a poor 
blind man. His eyes had been destroyed 
by an explosion, and his face was black 
with the powder. He was trying to 
sell shoestrings. The crowd stood there 
looking at that horribly blackened face 
—never thinking of helping the poor 
fellow. It only needed some one to 
step up with a dime and say: 
“Now, gentlemen—looking at this poor 
fellow’s face does not help him or you. 
Come up and buy a pair of shoestrings. 
If you do not need them—give him the 
price!” 
Every one of those people was will¬ 
ing to help. They simply had not thought 
of it. You see the practical missionary 
is one who goes ahead and starts things; 
others will fall in. 
Farm Notes. —We were not able to 
harrow those potatoes until May 7. On 
that date I spent one hour with a single 
horse running over them. That cost 30 
tents or a total to date of $30.55. The 
plants were just breaking through—21 
days from dropping the seed. There 
promises to be a good stand. Just as 
soon as we can distinguish the rows we 
shall begin with the cultivator and work 
twice a week, first one way and then 
the other, as long as we can get through 
the vines. . . . The strawberries 
are white with bloom—I never saw a 
more complete flowering. On May 7 we 
had not been able to put out our Spring 
planting. Those plants are still heeled 
in and are not suffering, but they ought 
to be planted. The soil is now ready 
and before next week I hope to report 
them in place. I actually find runners 
forming on the older plants. One lot 
which has already given seven crops is 
loaded with bloom and already sending 
out runners. I never saw them come 
so early before. They will be cut off 
or the plant will exhaust itself making 
runners. Then, should there come a 
drought, the plant cannot support all its 
children and the berries will be worth¬ 
less. I find that many people are start¬ 
ing strawberries in hills. They must 
remember that cutting off the runners is 
the essential part of success. 
Thet new grain is coming along. The 
speltz came up quickly and looks at first 
somewhat like quack grass. It does not 
resemble either wheat or oats in growth. 
I shall watch this with great interest, 
for we need a Spring grain that can be 
seeded later than oats and give us more 
of a crop. The Spring rye came up in 
five days, and is growing rapidly. I 
shall keep on sowing this rye up to 
July to see how late we can put it in 
and still make a crop. ... In vari¬ 
ous parts of the young orchards I am 
trying the Southern plan of sowing 
grain in furrows. The alleys between 
the rows of trees are plowed and well 
fitted and then marked out in furrows 
2V 2 feet apar.t. The grain is scattered 
in the furrows much like fodder corn 
and covered with the harrow, with fer¬ 
tilizer broadcast over all. As the grain 
comes up we shall start the cultivators 
and work the same as we would for po¬ 
tatoes or corn. We expect td cultivate 
as long as we can get through. At the 
South I have seen remarkable crops of 
oats grown in this way. The straw un¬ 
der this culture is often five to six feet 
long and the heads very large and fine. 
I have already seeded oats and Spring 
rye in this way, and shall follow with 
Japanese millet and Alfalfa. We get a 
chance in this way to cultivate and kill 
out the old grass and weeds, while the 
yield of grain will, I believe, be larger 
than where it is broadcast. After cut¬ 
ting the grain we can sow fodder corn 
and follow with rye, or seed at once to 
Crimson clover and turnips. ... I 
shall, during June and on through the 
Summer, sow considerable Alfalfa in 
this way—that is, make furrows and 
seed like fodder corn, so we can give 
good culture. In this case lime will 
be used freely, and we shall dig soil from 
the old Alfalfa field and scatter it along 
the furrows. This seems the best way 
to use Alfalfa in an orchard. The cul¬ 
tivating will help the trees, and I think 
we stand a better chance in this coun¬ 
try to obtain a catch of Alfalfa in this 
way. The large stock farmers should 
understand that nearly all our land is in 
orchards, or will be as fast as we can 
plant. Therefore, practically all our 
feed must be grown between trees. It 
is a mistake to broadcast grain in a 
young orchard and let it mature, for 
during June and July there is rarely 
moisture enough for both grain anil 
fruit. The cultivated grain, however, 
will not waste as much moisture, and 
the trees will not suffer. I think the 
plan I have mentioned will enable fruit 
growers to grow the Alfalfa needed for 
their stock without hurting the trees. 
And what a mulch the Alfalfa crop 
would make. 
All Sorts. —People ask why the ex¬ 
perts advise against the use of potatoes 
as a crop for a young peach orchard. 
The chief objection is that the peach 
trees ought to be left alone after Au¬ 
gust. Cultivation stimulates growth, and 
when it is kept up too long the peach 
trees continue growing until late in the 
Fall. Thus they come into Winter soft 
and green, and are liable to be injured 
by cold. When cultivation stops in Au¬ 
gust and grass, weeds or some cover 
crop occupies the land the trees stop 
growing and “harden up.” Now pota¬ 
toes are dug in September or later, and 
this digging stirs up the ground and 
acts like late cultivation at a time when 
the nitrates are most active in the soil. 
This forces a late growth. We have 
found our low-growing flint corn well 
adapted to growing in young orchards. 
We think our plan of cultivating grain 
with a broadcast crop to follow will 
act well. ... I think I have told 
before of our plan for crowding crops 
on small areas. One piece near the 
house was heavily manured. Peas are 
May 21, 
now growing on it. Late in May hills 
of Hubbard squash will be made be¬ 
tween the rows of peas—6x8 feet. When 
the peas are too ripe to eat green the 
vines will be pulled and the squashes 
given good culture. Three kernels of 
sweet corn can be grown in each squash 
hill provided you add fertilizer enough 
and the season is not too dry. Early in 
August at the last cultivating Crimson 
clover and turnips can be seeded. In 
order to get a full stand it will be neces¬ 
sary to use a hand rake around the 
squash hills. The corn and squash can 
be harvested in time and the soil left 
in clover and turnips over Winter, or 
plowed and seeded to spinach. This is 
only one scheme for getting much out 
of the land. There are many combina¬ 
tions that can be made. Of course," I 
realize that no one can lay down a 
definite plan of farming for another, yet 
I think on our Eastern hill farms a 
general plan of crowding a few of the 
best acres hard and leaving the -hills to 
fruit, grass or grain on a system which 
does not call for great labor is best. 
We have been spending much 
time trying to fit one of .our "loafer 
fields.” I mean by “loafer” an old field 
at the back of the farm which had 
been practically abandoned for cropping. 
Such fields arc usually moss-grown and 
covered with birch or cedar. I hate to 
see anybody or anything standing idle, 
and I have spent time and muscle trying 
to brace these loafers. The soil proves 
to be strong and productive when we 
once get it clear. One such field has 
been worked with the disk and plowed. 
Then we dug or scraped it with the 
spring-tooth and smoothed with the 
Acme. It will be marked both ways 
and planted to corn and well fertilized. 
Then the two boys, with Jerry and 
Nellie, will cultivate that field until I 
fear the entire quartette will weary of 
the job of reforming a loafer. In this, 
however, they will be in line with 
some of the greatest minds of the age 
who have struggled with human loafers. 
If we conquer that field, and that is what 
we start out to do, it will be planted to 
apple trees in the Fall—that is the ulti¬ 
mate end of all the hill land at Hope 
Farm. The cost of fighting this field is 
heavy, and it would hardly be fair to 
put it up against any crop we can hope 
to get this year. If the rain will only 
let up so that we can get our corn in, 
we shall try it anyway. h. w. c. 
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