078 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Juno 25, 
Hope Farm Notes 
I have often said that if I could have a 
good number of clean and ambitious young 
men and women of 20 and make them really 
know what.it means to be 50 years old that 
I could come close to moving the world. 
Tew men of my age will deny the possibili¬ 
ties in such a combination. But why 
should middle-aged men assume to know 
it all or suggest that their growth is ended? 
Not long ago I met ex-Senator H. G. Davis, 
of West Virginia. I was told that he is 87 
years old, yet he is as vigorous as many 
men of 50. Here was a man who was four 
years old when the first crude railroad of 
live miles long was built in his country. 
Just think that over and consider what it 
means! Now, Mr. Davis seemed to regard 
me as quite a young fellow. I could imag¬ 
ine him thinking that if he could take a 
few such young sprouts as I am and make 
us realize what it means to be 00 he could 
do something with the country. It never 
quite struck me in that way before, but I 
think he is right. And why stop at 00 or 
150 or 200 years? History or biography 
will take us back for centuries into the 
lives of men who have all come to the 
same lessons of life. They all tell us the 
same story—that no one has any right to 
sit down and say he has exhausted all 
there is in the art of living. That is one 
reason why I would urge all children to 
begin early to read good poetry and true' 
history. That will show them as nothing 
else can that the greatest problem of life 
after all is how to keep hold of the faith 
and hope of childhood. When you And some 
great character shining out like a star you 
will find that he was able to carry the best 
things of boyhood along with him. The 
failures are usually those who grew sour 
and sullen, and have forgotten how life ap¬ 
peared to them as children. 
People in our neighborhood need about all 
the help which such things can give them 
this year. The railroads and the weather 
seem to have turned against us, and that 
is a strong combination for us to laugh at. 
Many of our people are “commuters,”—that 
is, they ride to the city and back each day. 
The service is not first-class, yet rates are 
to be raised. From our station the in¬ 
crease will be over $7 per year. From other 
stations the increase is nearly $20. This 
means more than you think in these times 
of high prices. It gives me strange 
thoughts to see the children and grandchil¬ 
dren of our older farmers held up in this 
way. For these old people practically gave 
this railroad to the Erie. I have told the 
history of the deal before. The road was 
built in sections, the bonds being taken 
largely by our country people, who also 
gave “right of way.” These farmers put 
their money into what they thought was a 
permanent investment in railroad bonds. 
The road passed through the hands of a 
“receiver” and preferred stockholders, and 
was finally bought by the Erie at a low 
price, the small, original stockholders being 
squeezed out as usual. To 'see these old 
families after creating the road originally, 
held up for increased fare strikes me as 
about the best illustration of low-down 
"high finance” that one is likely to get. 1 
am not a member of an “old family,” and 
none of my money went to buy the roadj 
but my family. has during the past 2.» 
years paid in freight and passenger fares 
about $3,500. It is remarkable how these 
expenses crawl up during a term of years. 
Here you see is enough to buy a farm spent 
in getting to work or in hauling food or 
supplies. When we ask why our rates 
should be increased we are given about the 
following explanation : The cost of run¬ 
ning a railroad has been increased, wages 
are higher, equipment costs more, new sta¬ 
tions and side tracks and bridges are 
needed, and a fair rate of interest must be 
paid on stocks and bonds and other obliga¬ 
tions. Ask them further and you will be 
offered figures showing the exact cost of 
carrying a pound of freight or one passen¬ 
ger. Get into this cost and you find it 
quite largely made up of interest charges 
and what they call a fair dividend on the 
stock. The leading officials must first of 
all be paid large salaries. Then a sum 
must be put aside for paying dividends on 
the par value of stock, whether it be 
watered or not. E^r example, the stock of 
our branch road may not have actually cost 
the Erie 15 cents on the dollar, but when 
it comes to figuring the cost of carrying a 
passenger dividends on the par value will be 
counted in. The Erie, like other railroads, 
will claim that all this must be paid, and 
that the price of a ticket must be made 
high enough to meet these changes. 
Let us suppose farming finances could be 
handled that way. A farmer might talk to 
his wife about this way : "Now, Mary, our 
farm is worth $3,000—let's be liberal and 
call it $5,000. Five per cent is fair, so we 
must have $250 as interest. My services 
are worth at least $800 a year, and you 
are far below your value at $500. The 
two boys we will call $300 each. That 
means $2,150 which we must get out of 
the farm on these fixed charges. Add a 
little for "contingent fund” and it makes 
$2,500 which, the public must pay for 
what we grow.” Now suppose that man 
went on the market with any such propo¬ 
sition. Where would he come out? And 
yet the estimate of the farm's value or of 
his own labor may be very much fairer 
than the actual value of the railroad 
“securities” or the salaries paid favored 
officials ! But of course your railroad man 
will say-that there is strong competition 
in farming. Right; and why not in rail¬ 
roading also? Try to start a trolley line 
or anything that would compete in carry¬ 
ing passengers or freight and see what you 
run up against. I think there is hope' in 
the development of motor cars for passen¬ 
ger and freight service, but I expect the 
railroads to try to control our public roads 
when the competition becomes really ser¬ 
ious. 
As for the weather, it has got to the 
point where it can hardly be mentioned in 
polite society. We had three days of prac¬ 
tical sunshine last week, and got some 
work done, and then down came the rain 
again. The boys picked strawberries in a 
soaking rain, then dried up and sold the 
fruit. The Marshalls are magnificent, but 
we shall lose most of the crop I fear. The 
fruit cannot ripen well, and pickers can¬ 
not be had to swim and dive after berries. 
We did our best, and have the vines and 
the fruit for a record-breaking crop. They 
never were finer, but sunshine is as neces¬ 
sary as care and hard work, and we are 
not masters of the elements. One thing we 
can do, and that is cat berries. Our family 
tucked away 10% quarts of those bi« beau¬ 
ties in one day. One has to be a tanner 
in order to live high. Even if we lose half 
our crop, as seems likely, these rains are 
lift' to the plant trade. The currants, rasp¬ 
berries and blackberries are great, and this 
will all help us out. We can look away 
from the berries and the corn on the wet 
ground, and take a look at the hills. The 
grass, the rye and the young trees are 
magnificent. Oh, the weather is all right, 
because changing it is beyond our power. 
The railroad problem is wrong because the 
people can, if they will, change it. 
During these few good days our folks did 
things. The boys hoed that potato field 
and "spent 17 hours at it. That means 
$3.40 to be added or a total cost of $38.35. 
I should have cultivated twice more if the 
weather had permitted. The crop is in 
splendid shape now—but how will this wet 
weather affect the blight? It seems too 
cold for it to spread much yet. but no 
spray would last 24 hours in this down¬ 
pour. . . . You remember that we 
planted 4,000 Marshall strawberry plants 
two and one-half feet each way. The field 
is really too wet for berries, and some of 
the plants have died. The cost was $34.00 
when we finished planting. The wet weather 
has prevented cultivation as we wanted to 
give it. Thus far four and one-half hours 
of man and horse have been spent at this 
work at a cost of $1.35. Fertilizer to the 
value of $6 has been applied, all of which 
brings the total cost up to $42.25 thus 
far. ... We were unable to cut any 
of the green rye in time to make hay of it. 
It will all go to straw and grain and a 
great crop is now promised. That Spring 
rye has jumped up at a great rate. By 
June 10 it had begun to form heads— 
seeded May 5. The speltz comes along, but 
makes what seems to me a feeble growth— 
looking more like quack grass than grain. 
H. W. C. 
JACOBSON 
SELF-CONTAINED ENGINE WITH AUTOMATIC DRAINING 
WATER TANK. 
No Frcczlnir No Overheating 
No l.urge Water Tank 
The Agency is available in some sections and 
valuable in all. 
JACOBSON MACHINE MFG. CO. 
Ill Irvine Street Warren,Pa. 
Tgovukoh) 
-■G: 
*) r 
r I 
on the ^ THE WATERLOO BOY HAS ^ EAR 
ALL THE GOOD POINTS THAT 
GO INTO ANY GASOLINE ENGINE 
All gasoline engines have some good 
points, or there would be no sale for them 
and they would soon be taken off the 
market. Some engines have more good 
points than others, that’s why some en¬ 
gines are better than others. 
WATERLOO BOY E^GINES E 
have all the good points that go into any 
gasoline engine, besides many exclusive, 
patented features that increase their effi¬ 
ciency and durability; make them marvels 
of simplicity and wonderfully economical 
engines to operate. Thai’s why wesay the 
Watorloo Boy is the best engine for farm 
use. You can buy a Waterloo Boy for less 
money than you will be asked for engines 
containing half of the good points we build 
into our engines.^BesIdes we will send a 
Waterloo Boy to any responsible farmer 
and let him try it for thirty days on his 
farm, doing whatever work he has to do. 
We will pay the freight both ways and re¬ 
turn his money if after a month’s use he 
cannot pick out the good points for him¬ 
self—if he can’t see that it is the one and 
only engine that will give him complete 
satisfaction. Better write us today J 
for our catalog and free trial offer. yJr.,. 
Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co., ^^ AYS 
CAfACITY'^k 1B4 W. Third Ave., Waterloo, lowa.^^r FREE 
W»0 trial 
Cheap as Wood. 
liiiiiiiiiimiiiimimmi 
111 •!< >I< >I< >I< >I< »K £< *I< ft >3 £< it >3 >3 >3 >3 >3 *3 >3 »3 >1 3»3'3>3»3>3 
Wemanufacturo Lawn and Farm Fence. Sell direct 
Shipping to uaereonly.atmanufacturers’ prices. No 
ngonts. Ourcatalog is Free. Write for it today. 
UP-TO-DATE MFG. CO. 936 10th St., Terre Haute, Ind. 
THF WARD 
Ward Ornamental Fence 
Cheaper and fur more durable than 
wood for Lawns, Churches, Ceme¬ 
teries, Public Grounds. Catalogue 
free. A*k For Bpcclnl Offer. 
KXCE CO, Box 443. Herat a r Ind. 
The Pot c^w. l S! i l ?S. ep Do wden 
>le, strong, always in order. Works in all 
_., all depths, hillside and level. No cutting 
and none missed. Potatoes always clean, lying 
on top of ground. Works well in heavy tops. 
DOWDEN MFG. COMPANY 
1022 Elm Street, Prairie City, la., U.t»>A. 
Send for Free Catalogue 
The 
Has nev¬ 
er been 
beaten in 
trials. 
We can 
f u rnish 
testimo¬ 
nials, on 
request, 
from all parts 
of the country. 
Write for cat¬ 
alog, prices, <Sc. 
Tliis Ma¬ 
chine is 
not a new 
thing, but 
has been 
thoroughly tested in all 
kinds of soil, and under all 
conditions, and pronounced 
—as its name implies—the BOSS OF 
Al.L ItlMCERS, and to-day is in tiso 
by The best potato raisers in the coun¬ 
try. It weighs about 5(H) pounds, and 
is easily handled by TWO IlOltsES. 
it is so adjusted that the operator can 
dig every row and deliver them on one 
side of the field, making them easy to pick up. It 
will dig an uneven surface, and on side hill as well 
as on the level, making a complete separation of the 
tubers from the soil and the weeds. It is made 
strong, durable,will do good work on stony ground. 
E. R. ALLEN FOUNDRY CO., Corning, N.Y. 
“B 
O 
SS” POTATO 
No Barn is Complete Without a 
PORTER LITTER CARRIER 
<; reatest capacity, 
easiest to operate and 
strongest of litter car¬ 
riers. Carrier wheels 
tire roller bearing and 
are swivelled in such 
a manner as to round 
a curve with perfect 
ease. Runs on onr 
celebrated "Colum¬ 
bian ” track, which 
can be bent to any 
curve, and will sus¬ 
tain any reasonable 
weight. The hop¬ 
per is held auto¬ 
matically at any 
height and can be tripped at will of operator. Send 
for descriptive catalog of carriers, hay tools, etc. 
J. E. PORTER CO., Ottawa, III- 
MAKE MONEY 
for FARMERS 
It is easy to make lumber for 
yourself and neighbors with an 
AMERICAN mill. All sizes. 
Work rapidly with liphtpower. 
No experience needed. Get 
Free Catalogue ami Low Prices. 
American Saw Mill Mach’y Co. 
129 Hope St.,HaekettKloTvn.N.f!. 
1582Terininal Bldgs., New York 
DE DERICK’S 
■■ 
Always reliable. Wonderfully durable. 
*y 
Highest grade materials and workmanship. 
Latest improvements. Holds record for 
neat work, capacity and speed, even with 
limited power. Presses adapted to every 
kind of baling. Free catalogue describes 
entire line.—Send for it before you buy. 
P. K. DEDERICK’S SONS. 69 Tivoli St.. Albant, N T. 
SELLING OUT AT COST. 
A S15.00 HAY RACK ONLY S8.00. 
To close out our stock at once, we 
offer these racks at the very low 
price of $8.00, f. o. b. cars here. 
Send money with order. Shipped 
“knocked down,” to reduce 
freight; complete directions for 
setting up. Rack is 7 ft. wide, ad¬ 
justable from 12 to 10 ft. long by simply changing 
length of wagon. Built for wagon 38 inches be¬ 
tween stakes, but can be varied a little. Order 
to-day. Prompt shipment. Satisfaction guaran¬ 
teed. PA PEC MACHINE CO., Shoktsvii-lk, N. Y. 
A utomobiles 
We build them We guarantee them 
We sell them to you direct from our factory 
Real Inside Prices 
O UR new Automobile Catalog quotes THE ONLY 
REAL INSIDE PRICES ON AUTOMOBILES. 
In this catalog we show automobiles for $370.00 
and up, six different models, all built by us in our own 
automobile factory. When you buy a SEARS you get it 
direct from our big Chicago factory at the factory price. 
With our new Automobile Catalog we will send you 
our Booklet of Testimonials showing pictures of custom¬ 
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with letters from them telling their experiences. 
If you are interested in an automobile of any kind, write today 
for our Sears Automobile Catalog No. 66R41 
Sears, Roebuck & Co, Chica 8 ° 
