742 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 23, 
Hope Farm Notes 
Big Strawberries. —The plant pic¬ 
tured on the first page is a fair sample 
of several thousand of our Marshalls. 
We could easily have selected larger 
plants. The peach basket and the tape 
measure will show the size exactly. This 
plant was dug after fruiting on July 6. 
It was set out as a layer plant in April, 
1909, and stood with others 18 x'24 inches 
apart. With a good season it would have 
given about three pints of berries, but the 
last frost killed some of the blooms and 
the continued rains rotted many berries. 
You can imagine what would happen if 
such plants were set one foot or even 18 
inches apart each way. This heavy 
foliage held the moisture around the ber¬ 
ries just when it was not needed. 
On July 7 we took the mowing ma¬ 
chine and ran oyer the field, clipping off 
as much of this top as possible. Fig. 
314 shows this same plant with the top 
cut off. If I could I would have every 
plant in the field handled like this, but in 
field culture and when clipping with the 
mower this is not possible. Some of the 
lower stems are not cut off, as they trail 
on the ground. In a small garden patch 
I would clip off the top as shown in the 
picture. A beginner would find it hard 
to cut off these great plants and clip 
them back to the roots. He would feel 
about like the nurseryman who once said 
with some impatience—“Why do planters 
call for a large tree and then go and 
cut it all away before planting?” The 
essential for next year’s crop is not the 
foliage of this year, but the crown and 
the root. I have demonstrated to our 
full satisfaction that we cannot get a 
satisfactory new top or a full set of 
fruit buds for next year if we let the 
old top remain. New stems and leaves 
will grow up among the old ones, but 
these are never as strong and vigorous 
as when they can grow by themselves 
without any restriction. The clipped tops 
and the root shown at Fig. 314 will, if 
well fed and cultivated, grow another 
top for next year as large as the one 
shown, and this would be impossible if 
this old top were left. It is somewhat 
the same principle as pruning a tree to 
induce a new growth when the limbs are 
cut. Nature starts in to repair damages, 
and being naturally prodigal of such 
growth, she gives five or six times as 
much wood as is actually needed. We 
start our cultivation as soon as the 
clipped tops have dried, working up and 
down between the rows. Then the hoes 
are used to clean between the plants. 
The fertilizer can be put on in late July 
or early August to stimulate the de¬ 
velopment of fruit buds. It may be asked 
by some readers what we want of such 
big plants. The Marshall variety is par¬ 
ticularly well suited to hill culture. Its 
habit is to develop a large, well-spread 
plant, and the berries must have air and 
sunshine in order to develop properly. 
This is why it fails in matted rows, or 
on light and poor land. If we are to 
grow it at all it is better to put the plants 
or hills wide apart, and grow them to 
full size. 
Oats and Peas. —The last of this crop 
went into the barn July 9. It might have 
stood a little longer, but we took advan¬ 
tage of the dry weather and cut while 
most of the oats were soft and milky. 
We have kept a record of this crop, and 
I now repeat the figures, since we have 
the total. For cutting and hauling in we 
spent about 10 hours of horses and men, 
or $4. Raking, forking over and loading 
meant 10 hours of man or $2, and three 
of single horse at 10 cents or 30 cents. 
Seed oats .6.25 
Seed peas . 5.00 
Labor at seeding. 7.80 
Fertilizer . 6.00 
Harvesting . 6.30 
$31.35 
We cut the crop as we would any other 
hay. It lay over night and the next af¬ 
ternoon was raked up and cocked. The 
next morning it was opened out with 
forks and hauled in during the afternoon. 
We put it on top of one of the mows in 
order to feed it out first while the horses 
are at hard work. The peas did not 
make a full growth, and the mixture is 
about two-thirds oats. We have no 
scales for accurate weighing, but our es¬ 
timate is about 3/4 tons of dry hay. Such 
fodder would not sell for over $15 a ton 
here, though for actual feeding I consid¬ 
er it worth as much as Timothy. This 
land cost me $200 an acre. If we add 
the interest and the taxes, there is not a 
very wide margin, but yet a small profit 
on this crop. 
Farm Notes. —Where is this man who 
a few weeks ago was talking about wet 
weather? Let him stand up and tell 
honestly what he found on his farm on 
July 9. The soil was as dry as a bone. 
The cultivators have kept the corn grow¬ 
ing, but we need rain before we can plant 
the cabbage. The weather report has 
indicated “Probable showers” several 
The KNOX 
Rotary Plow 
Does Greatest Amount Of Work With Least Help. 
Especially adapted to stony and stubble 
land. Only successful working plow 
on marsliy land. Unequalled on clay 
soil and for breaking sod after haying. 
times, but they have not gone beyond 
probabilities. Now we need water. Rye 
harvest is giving us a little trouble. I 
sowed this rye last Fall in order to have 
the ground covered with some living 
crop. The plan was to cut it for hay 
when in bloom, but at that time the 
floods of rain put haymaking out of the 
question. I think now we would have 
done better to cut the rye and let it lie 
under the trees, but I let it go to grain. 
Now we are up against the problem of 
cutting it. There is small chance for a 
reaper to work between the rows of trees, 
and many of the fields are too rough for 
a reaper anyway. It was therefore a case 
of cradling the grain, and not one of us 
knew how to use a cradle to advantage. 
Add to all this the fierce heat which beat 
down into the fields, and the fact that 
our wind-breaks kept the air from cir¬ 
culating and you can imagine the merry 
Hope Farm harvesters at work. To com¬ 
plicate things a rank growth of clover 
has sprung up among the rye, which 
made cradling about as hard a job as 
prize-fighting. And yet that clover was 
about the most promising thing on the 
farm, for we worked for years to get it 
started, and only succeeded last Fall 
when we put on lime. Rye straw at $20 
per ton is worth sweating for, but 1 fear 
your expert grain farmers would smile 
if I told all the makeshifts we finally 
adopted to get that rye into some sort 
of bundles. . . . One of the oldest 
Hope Farmers could feel satisfied with 
his week’s work, and that was Jerry, the 
veteran old horse. He had dragged a 
cultivator through the corn day after 
day. I started with him July 4. Mother 
and the girls were busy fixing the picnic 
dinner, so I was delegated to see that 
the baby did not burn things down with 
his firecrackers. I took him up the lane 
by the brook, and while he celebrated 
gloriously I worked old Jerry up and 
down the sweet corn. The boy got into 
some trouble with his “punk,” and I was 
called into service. I would not have 
done it for any other person on the 
farm, but little redhead has a powerful 
argument, and I left old Jerry in the 
field and jumped the brook for action. 
It was a very small firecracker, but there 
are great possibilities wrapped up in 
some small packages. This one let off a 
roar like a gun, and while the child 
shouted with delight, old Jerry put up 
his head with a snort and started on 
the run across the field. That cultiva¬ 
tor went jumping and flying, and every 
time it hit the ground it seemed to gouge 
out a hill of corn! Jerry looks as if he 
might have carried a soldier through the 
Mexican War, and yet here he was rac¬ 
ing at a firecracker. And he kept up 
Iris patriotic service all through the 
week, pulling that cultivator along the 
corn rows as if there were firecrackers 
on it. He kept Jack on the trot behind 
him. A Fourth of July celebration un¬ 
fits most men for labor, but here was 
old Jerry carrying ’the spirit of ’76 into 
his daily task like 60. There is need of 
it, for with the return of hot weather 
the weeds come upon us like a great 
army, and there are 50 things to do at 
once. The nice point is to know which 
49 to let go at the moment. One thing 
which makes the future more hopeful 
is the fact that Astrachan apples are 
ripe. After them will come Porter, 
Nyack Pippin and the long list With a 
pan of baked apples always on tap one 
cap stand many things which otherwise 
might make him give way. Apple time 
is good time. h. w. c. 
For prices and further particulars write 
The Harmon Machine Co., Watertown, l\l. Y. 
Thomas Phosphate Powder 
(BASIC SLAG PHOSPHATE) 
The Best as well as the Cheapest Source of Phosphoric Acid and Lime, for 
Wheat and Other Fall Cereals, Gr r- , Clover, and Alfalfa. 
ONLY BY BUYING 
PHATE POWDER 
TRADE MARK CAN 
GET THE GENUINE 
MATERIAL. 
THOMAS PHOS- 
BEARING THIS 
Ifl] YOU BE SURE TO 
0/ UNADULTERATED 
ALFALFA SEEDING TIME IS ABOUT AUGUST 15TH. 
THE BEST TIME TO SEED TO GRASS FOR PERMANENT MOWINGS IS THE LAST OF AUGUST OR FIRST OF SEPTEMBER. 
IT IS TIME TO ORDER YOUR SUPPLY NOW 
Our special bookie!, “ Fall Cereals and Forage Crops,” is sent free if you mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
The Coe-Mortimer Company, Net^York^cS 
SPECIAL IMPORTERS 
Sole Manufacturers of E. Frank Coe Fertilizers and Peruvian Brands 
(We ship Thomas Phosphate Powder from New York, Boston. Mass.; Belfast, Maine; Baltimore, Md.; 
Philadelphia, Pa.; Old Forge, Pa.; Norfolk, Va.; Wilmington, N. C.; Savannah, Ga. and Charleston, S. C.) 
May we assist you in getting 
a successful start on that crop 
of alfalfa which you are hoping 
to raise this year ? 
If your soil is sour, 
you cannot possibly raise alfalfa 
without a thorough applicatton of lime in some form. 
What form will you use ? Our marble limestone, ground to 80- 
mesh, is the ideal form of lime for most soils. Is approved by all Experi¬ 
ment Stations. We can also supply you with burned lime if you prefer. 
Now is the time for making this attempt and you should arrange for your 
supply of lime at once. Write for our circulars explaining why, when and 
how to use it. 
THE STEARNS LIME COMPANY, Danbury, Conn. 
BARREL BASKETS 
Better and Cheaper than Barrels or Boxes ^-barrel baskets 
PEACH CARRIERS 
THE No. 34 BRACED 
BASKETS 
are 3 to the Barrel and are 
coming into general use for 
shipping Fruit and produce 
of all kinds. 
THE SCANT V 2 BARREL 
SIZE BASKETS 
are used for Sweet Potatoes, 
Apples. Onions, Cauliflower, 
Peas, Beans, etc. 
CARLOAD ORDERS 
SHIPPED DIRECT 
FROM MILL 
Best Fruit brings more money when 
packed in these crates.—Commission 
merchants advise using this style 
package for good fruit. 
LESS CARLOAD OR- Diameter on top 16 inches 
DERS SHIPPED FROM Diameter on bottom 10 in- 
NEW YORK. Depthf, inches 
COLES & COMPANY, 109 G 111 Warren St., NEW YORK 
Telephone, 3751 Cortlandt Established 1884 
