148 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 31, 
- =N\ 
Hope Farm Notes 
Fkost. —We had one with white whis¬ 
kers on January 6. Our thermometer 
registered five below zero, and the 
mercury hovered around the danger point 
for several days. This was mild com¬ 
pared with what others report. The boy 
at college in northern New Hampshire 
says the mercury gave a gasp and went to 
32 below. Years ago I worked in a lum¬ 
ber camp in northern Michigan, and one 
morning the thermometer certainly regis¬ 
tered 40. The boy wrote me that I 
would have been surprised to see how 
fast he could move in the frosty air. 
Where one is well fed and well clad this 
nipping cold is good. It is a bracer which 
only Ihose who live in it can realize. 
That’s all very well for human beings 
well protected in wool, but what about 
our fruit buds? They were quite open 
and tender when this icy baud reached 
out to touch them. The mild Fall had 
acted like a gay deceiver to fool them into 
thinking Spring was on her way. I can¬ 
not tell yet what damage was done. I 
think the peach buds are badly hurt; 
however, during the past 10 years my 
records show that we have thought that 
seven different years and yet we have 
always had at least a light crop. It is 
hard to see how our buds could stand 
this freeze, but we are good waiters and 
before we say “Good night” we shall 
wait for the bloom. 
Ttie Scrub IIexs. —We are no longer 
at the tail end of that egg-laying contest. 
During the week ending January 9, one 
of our birds woke up and laid three eggs! 
We are no longer in the “also ran” class. 
The Silver C-ampines, the Cornish and 
one pen of Reds are still at the zero 
mark. Here we are tied for seventy- 
sixth place with a pen from the Con¬ 
necticut College. Are we going to come 
sailing up near the head? Watch us! 
There is certainly room at the top. On 
January 15 my report was that one bird 
was laying, three showed “some develop¬ 
ment,” and six “no evidence.” Diming 
that week there were 851 eggs from 820 
birds. These eggs were laid by 236 birds, 
for it is a fact that 5S4 birds never laid 
an egg. Nine of my scrubs were guilty, 
and I cheerfully admit it. but what about 
the other 575 blue bloods that went dry? 
For example, the Ileneta Bone Co. have 
entered a pen—personally fed under their 
direction. These birds (Leghorns at 
that) never laid an egg during that week, 
and have laid only 13 in all. Out of the 
236 birds which laid, 123 laid more than 
the Hope Farm scrubs, while 112 laid 
three ov less. I am not prepared to 
match ‘Hope Farm Lady” against one 
of Tom Barron’s Wyandottes, but she 
may yet be the great-grandmother of a 
pen of winners. At any rate, win or 
lose, we stay by the Hope Farm scrubs. 
Calling Names. —One of our good 
friends wrote that he is very sorry to 
have me allude to some of our children 
as “redheads.” This, he thinks, must be 
humiliating to the children, and to clinch 
his argument he says “How would you 
like io be called old Redhead ?” The 
name would not fit me, for my head is as 
devoid of red hair as my scrub hens are 
of eggs. I care very little what people 
call me. If the name is appropriate I 
could not dodge it ai yway, and if it does 
not lit it will soon drop off. Instead of 
feeling ‘‘humiliated,” our three little peo¬ 
ple feel rather* proud of their flaming 
tops. They know that this is an endear¬ 
ing title which fits them well. The color 
of their hair skipped two generations, but 
came originally from a very good man. 
As I write little Redhead sits by the 
fire reading a book about wild animals 
which keep warm and comfortable in 
the snow. I think the little fellow is 
rather proud of his title. They all know 
what we mean, and tttey take no offense. 
Out tumbling in the snow or sliding on 
the ice the red in their faces matches 
their hair, and while I cannot prove it 
scientifically, I think this red pigment 
is an indication of vigor and health. 
Women’s Work. —This cold weather 
makes life a trouble to many farm 
women. Some of them are naturally 
delicate and cold and others have been 
overworked with trying to perform all 
their duties without conveniences. Our 
folks know what this means, for there 
were several years when all water was 
pumped from a well and brought to the 
kitchen stove. Then we piped it to the 
kitchen and finally arranged for a regu¬ 
lar water system. Then there are cold 
and windy houses, inconvenient kitchens, 
and what is often worse, a lack of ap¬ 
preciation of what the mother trios to 
do. For “mother” is expected to lx* the 
hub of the household wheel, no matter 
lmw tired or sick she may be. It comes 
hard for her in such weather as \vo are 
now having. Great things for the benefit 
of the farm are being suggested. Many 
of them will be carried out and put in 
force. What about the farmer’s women 
folks? Many years ago in a pioneer 
town out West there watj a debate in 
the school house—on this remarkable sub¬ 
ject : 
“Resolved, that for a man on a back- 
woods farm a cow is of greater value 
than a woman.” 
The debate ran along about even until 
the affirmative speaker made this re¬ 
markable argument. He claimed that 
“value” meant money and nothing else, 
and that if the crops failed and the man 
could not pay interest he could sell the 
cow, while the woman would be an ad¬ 
ditional expense. This won the debate 
for the cow! The judge made his de¬ 
cision almost as follows: 
“My sympathy is with the wimmin, 
but the money goes on the cow, for as we 
all know sympathy don’t pay any mort¬ 
gages or buy groceries.” 
A woman with her face shining with 
righteous indignation jumped up in the 
audience and told how she had with her 
own hands supported a lazy husband and 
fed a cow and five children, but the judge 
decided that her argument did not count, 
as she was not one of the selected de¬ 
baters! Now I have had farmers tell me 
that the farm papers do not give them 
anything to think about. I suggest that 
there is some food for thought in that old 
debate, and the way the judge shut off 
the most effective speaker! 
“Exchange.” —Some time ago a man 
in Florida thought he would like to ex¬ 
change grape fruit or oranges for apples. 
As this was a new proposition his note 
was printed as an experiment. The let¬ 
ters began to pour in at once. This man 
wanted one or two barrels of apples, but 
at least 30 people wrote him wanting to 
exchange. Now I get this note from the 
Florida man: 
That Tiie R. N.-Y. is effectives goes 
without saying. In this present case I 
am reminded of the Christian Science 
absent treatment for a man with, one leg 
shorter than the other. The treatment 
worked fine for a while. Soon, however, 
the suffering patient appeared at the of¬ 
fice of the doctor, who was out of town, 
with the request that the doctor be wired 
to “stop that treatment immediately; 
that the short leg was now longer than 
the other one.” 
There is no question about the fact 
that our readers are interested in an 
“exchange.” Every person has wants 
and wastes. By tin* latter I mean things 
which he cannot use at home, yet which 
bring but little when sent to the whole¬ 
sale market. There is always some one 
to buy these things at a direct trade if 
they can only learn how to get them. 
Rights In a Child. —Here is a ques¬ 
tion which gets down to the root of 
trouble in many families: 
Last Summer I took a little child to 
raise. The mother is dead, but the father 
came to see me and told me I could have 
her, but there are no witnesses to prove 
this except tin* child. Have I any hold 
on her, or can he take her any time he 
wants to? She is devoted to both my 
husband and myself, and the father never 
notices her or gives her a piece of cloth¬ 
ing; will not even visit her. G. ii. 
Maryland. 
This is one of the things we know 
something about. The safe thing for 
you is to take out guardianship papers 
or get the father to sign a paper to the 
effect that he gives up his right in the 
child. As a rule such men are very 
willing to have some one else provide 
for their little children. When such 
children grow large enough so that they 
can work and earn something such fel¬ 
lows usually show up with a demand for 
their “dear little ones.” They want to 
put these “dear little ones” at work and 
pocket the income. You can of course 
present a bill for the c-are of the child, 
but the father will not pay it, and this 
would only make a bad feeling in which 
the child would join. h. w. c. 
E. Frank Coe Fertilizers 
1 ft £7 THE BUSINESS FARMERS’ STANDARD 1 Ol O 
_ lOO/ FOR OVER FIFTY-FIVE YE ARS lyio 
Do You Raise 300 Bushels of Potatoes per Acre? 
HREE hundred bushels per acre is 
not an unusual yield by any means, 
but did you get it this year? 
tjlf you were planning to raise 300 
bushels of potatoes to the acre how 
^ far apart would you space your rows? 
How far apart would you drop the seed pieces in 
the row? 
<JHow much fertilizer would you use to grow 300 
bushels of potatoes per acre? How would you 
apply it? 
•JAre you sure that your seed potatoes are true to 
name and true to type? 
(flWhat are you doing to prevent “ scab ” and early 
and late blight? 
CflDid you have a short crop of potatoes because of 
dry weather? Have you decided how you will 
overcome this trouble in the future? 
<JA11 these practical points, and many more, are fully covered in our 
new book 
“Potatoes: A Money Crop” 
which will he sent free to every potato grower who requests a copy, and 
mentions this paper. 
•JThis book is written by a man who himself has hod years of experience a 9 
a potato grower, and who has made a careful study of the hest methods of 
other growers. , 
<JjIf you read this book you will keep it for future reference. It is a “ worth 
W’hile ” publication. 
The Coe-Mortimer Company 
51 CHAMBERS STREET, NEW YORK CITY 
TOWER CULTIVATORS 
Are the best for corn cultivation A 
Are “ « “ potato “ 
Are “ “ « bean “ 
Are “ “ “ cotton “ 
They avoid root pruning entirely 
They slaughter all noxious weeds 
They form the desired IDEAL mulch 
Thus: they mature crops much earlier 
Largely increase the average yield 
Write for 20th Century corn book today 
J. D. Tower & Sons Co. 
m 
KING HARNESS 
I Will Outlive Your Horse 
I Buy custom-made, oak-tunned tinmens direct 
' from factory at U'holcsufe prices. We can 
pave you money on any harness. All harness 
guaranteed—money buck it not satisfied. Big 
roe catalog illustrates over 75 styles for all pur- 
es—sure to show harness you need. 8cnd for it 
today. We also sell Horse Clothing and Fur Coats. 
Ask for catalog 
KING HARNESS CO., Desk C. Rome, N. Y. 
Don't Stop - 
to make fast the rope. Use the Burr Self-locking 
Tackle Block for all kinds of lifting. Booklet FREE 
postpaid. Ask your dealer or write us. 
THE BURR MFG. CO. 
2105 Superior Ave„ N. W. Clevelund, O. 
Forkner Orchard 
^Cultivator 
Does more work with less draft and leaves a 
better surface mulch than any other cultivator made. 
It Works Right Up To Your Trees 
Cultivating the entire surface beneath low branches 
without disturbing boughs or fruit. Write for eata- 
loKtie and free book “Modern Orchard Tillage.” 
\1GHT DRAFT HARROW CO.. 612 Nevada Street, Marshalltown, low? 
a’?#"/' 
Cizt&w&y Disk Harrows Fill 
Over 100 Styles and Sizes to 
We have the tool to meet the needs of every 
farmer, whether he uses one small horse or a big 
tractor engine. For over a quarter century we have been 
making Cutaway (Clark) tools so good that today 
they arc the standard of real worth. Our 
little book, “As Told By Others,” tells what 
users of Cutaway (Clark) machines 
think of them. Write for it today. Ask the Cutaway 
dealer in your town to show you a Cutaway 
(( lark) harrow. If wo have ro dealer there, write 
direct to us for catalog. Don't accept a substitute, 
CUTAWAY HARROW CO., 839 Main St.. Higganum, Conn. 
I\ Taker of the original Clark Double Action Harrows 
The ♦■Bill 
Choose From 
SEND FOR BOOK 
“The Soil and 
Intensive 
IT'S 
FREE 
