Vol. LXIX. No. 4074 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 26, 1910. 
A THANKSGIVING CROP OF CHILDREN. 
What Lime Did for the Farm. 
In California the Watsonville apple growers organ¬ 
ized a crowd and went to San Francisco to advertise 
their apples. There were men and women, boys and 
pretty girls, headed by a brass band. They carried 
boxes of apples which were tossed out to the street 
crowds as these apple boomers passed along. This 
so impressed the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce 
that its president offered a prize to the Apple Growers’ 
Association to be awarded as the association saw fit, 
“to the man with the best quality of apples, with the 
greatest quantity of apples or the largest number of 
children.” If these apple growers are wise they will 
select the last-named qualification for the prize, and 
Waring, of Center Co., Pa. lie sends this picture 
and the one at Fig. 463, page 1091, showing part of his 
crop of Carman peaches, that we may realize that they 
produce something besides coal and timber in that re¬ 
gion. Mr. Waring has this to say about that part of 
Pennsylvania: 
“This section was one vast forest, hilly and too 
rough for large farm operations. The first settlers 
selected the smoothest and less timbered spots to farm, 
and made a living for ii few years, then the timber 
became of market value, and the farmers became lum¬ 
bermen in Winter. But about this time the farms 
refused to produce crops, clover became very rare and 
farmers became discouraged. About tliis time it was 
discovered that the world needed the coal that was 
under our hills. Railroads were built up every ravine, 
This country has been saved as a farming section 
by lime, for that has meant clover, and when clover 
thrives a farmer can do anything with his land. When 
a man has saved a farm and brought up such a fam¬ 
ily of children as are here shown he can be said to 
have done his duty. 
DRY ROT IN POTATOES. 
At the time of harvest, with most farmers in this 
locality of western New York, the potato crop was re¬ 
garded as one of the most profitable of any farm crops, 
200 and more bushels per acre being a common occur¬ 
rence and of excellent quality apparently, and at the 
same time many of us who had not applied any of the 
remedies for the prevention of blight, etc., congratu¬ 
lated ourselves that our yields compared favorably 
A TPIANKSGIVING FAMILY ON A PENNSYLVANIA FARM. Fig. 463. 
they will not limit the family to the man's own chil¬ 
dren. The man or woman who can and will take 
half a dozen children which would otherwise lack 
suitable home and training and “raise” them properly 
does quite as much for society as he who brings up a 
great family of his own. Children and apples go well 
together. We find it very practical to feed many wind¬ 
falls to children. 
Yes, the child crop is a great institution, and there 
are some big families left. As an appropriate picture 
for Thanksgiving we show a Pennsylvania family 
which would make a strong bid for that California 
apple prize. Would not you consider it something to 
be thankful for if, as you carved the bird, you looked 
dowm the table and saw these 12 children lined up 
with hearty appetites? 
The fortunate man who can do this is Frank 
then some venturesome farmer bought a car of lime 
and put it on his land; clover reappeared, and grass 
and grain grew as well as on new land. The working 
of the mines brought in a large population of plain, 
honest, hard-working people from Europe, who are 
large consumers of cabbage, potatoes and fruit, so now 
many are growing these perishable crops. One of my 
friends has just housed 900 bushels of potatoes from 
3J/2 acres. Another of my friends this season har¬ 
vested 150 bushels of wheat from three acres, which 
he had grown potatoes on the previous year. We also 
have discovered that strawberries, apples and peaches 
will grow on this land without the aid of lime. But 
these fruits need to be planted on high land to avoid 
damage from frost. Apples and peaches are a full crop 
here on the hills, but all killed by Spring frost on 
low ground.” 
with those who had faithfully performed this work. 
However, in due time as the market opened for pota¬ 
toes, it was discovered that some of the tubers were 
being affected with the “dry rot,” though not to an 
extent to be seriously considered. But at the present 
time (November 10) the trouble has developed to so 
large an extent that after unusual precaution has been 
taken in sorting for market, the farmer has several 
bushels from each load to draw home that the buyer 
refuses to accept, and the fact that several carloads 
of potatoes consigned to different parties have been re¬ 
jected from the same cause, and that buyers in some 
localities are disposed to discontinue dealing in them 
altogether, presents a phase to the potato situation not 
very pleasant to contemplate. At the same time, in the 
midst of these alarming and unpleasant conditions, 
comes the reports that the crop of one of our towns- 
