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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 11 
Hope Farm Notes 
GIFT OF SEED CORN. 
If your neighbor was out of seed corn 
you would help him to a supply. If his 
home had been destroyed and a great mis¬ 
fortune had swept over him you would 
get out with others and help put him on 
his feet. That is true neighborly feeling. 
The more we have of it the better off we 
all are and the closer we get to that big 
brotherhood and true cooperation which 
we know must come before we can make 
this world what we want it to be, and 
what our children should have. 
“Who is my neighbor?” 
Not alone the man whose farm touches 
ours, or who lives in the same valley or 
country. Any man who is in need or 
who faces a great calamity or who has 
met with great misfortune. In other 
words, any man who is sorely in need 
of your help is your neighbor in the 
larger and better view of humanity. 
Now listen to this. 
Men, farmers and therefore neighbors 
are dying of hunger in their ruined 
homes in Albania. On the map you 
will see that this country lies to the 
southwest of Turkey. »/m. W. Howard 
has just returned from a 400-mile 
journey through the mountains of Al¬ 
bania. i,ast October the Servian troops 
destroyed 100 villages, burned or blow 
up 12,000 houses, killed 8.000 people, 
drove off the live stock, and destroyed 
the Winter supply of grain and fodder. 
As a result thousands of men, women 
and children are without shelter and 
food, and what is worse, without seed for 
the next crop. 
The chief grain crop in these moun¬ 
tains is corn. The local varieties are 
small flints of an inferior quality. New 
and improved seed will mean wonders for 
the future of that country, aside from 
the pressing need for food. Now will 
you give your mite to help these un¬ 
happy neighbors in their trial? We do 
not ask for money. A few wealthy men 
will take care of the expense of distribut¬ 
ing and handling. You can help by send¬ 
ing what you can spare of seed corn by 
parcel post. For the mountains flint 
varieties from New England and the 
northern part of the country are most 
desired. For the richer plains and val¬ 
leys dent varieties from the West or Mid¬ 
dle West will answer. A good quantity 
of Hope Farm flint will go, and this ap¬ 
peal is made to you—not for money, 
but for as much seed corn as you feel 
that you can spare, and the postage to 
carry it by parcel post. Such seed will 
not only produce food for starving peo¬ 
ple, but it will grow into a blessing as 
well. Will you write me at once what 
you can do? I will give directions for 
sending the seed. 
Treks On Fence Rows. — I find a 
good many people who buy farms and 
conclude that they can plant all the fence 
rows to fruit trees. Their argument is 
that they can, in this way, economize 
space. Their fence rows ought to give 
them a good fruit supply, while the fields 
are left clear for farm crops. The claim 
is that these fence rows or stone wall 
lines always show strong soil. So they 
do, but such soil is full of brier roots and 
weeds, and trees planted there require ex¬ 
tra good care. To plant a tree on these 
rows and then let it alone is to invite 
some disaster. You cannot plow or cul¬ 
tivate close up to the fence, and unless 
you are willing to do much hand work 
the tree will suffer. We have grafted 
seedling trees in such places and had 
them do well. Such trees have formed a 
root system which adapts them to rough 
and ready culture, but the nursery tree 
planted in such a situation cannot endure 
what the seedling can. It must be hoed 
and kept clean for a circle of at least 
three feet and the trash must be kept 
down. Most people neglect to do this, 
but leave the tree to grow alone on that 
“strong ground,” and it becomes a stunt 
or the borers get it. Better keep away 
from fence rows unless you are willing 
to do much hand work. 
Should I lime my corn ground after 
plowing sod under, or wait until I seed 
it down to grass? It needs lime. Shall 
I plant potatoes on the same field where 
potatoes were planted last year and 
seeded down to rye? Both fields are 
alike. m. r. 
New Jersey. 
Of course a man should see these fields 
and know all about them before giving 
any decided answer. Generally speak¬ 
ing I should plow this sod and plant corn 
without liming—but use the lime when 
seeding down. Corn does not respond to 
lime as oats or wheat do, while grass 
needs lime. By working in the fresh lime 
at time of seeding you will give the 
grass a better chance. On general prin¬ 
ciples I would plant potatoes on the 
corn land rather than follow potatoes 
once more. 
I have no stock and have a great quan¬ 
tity of straw. What is the best to do 
to get it back on the land? T. J. B. 
Iowa. 
I should haul it out, spread it much the 
same as manure and plow it under. Do 
this in the Fall or early Winter if possi¬ 
ble, so as to let the straw rot all it will. 
I have known cases where farmers ran 
this straw through a fodder cutter before 
spreading it, but this would hardly pay. 
Here is the amount of plant food in a 
ton of straw: 
Pounds To Tiik Ton 
Pho<?. 
Nitrogen Acid Potash 
Oat straw . 12 4 25 
Wheat straw . 10 3 12 
Rye straw . 10 G 17 
In our country such a thing as you 
speak of doing would be called very 
wasteful. We can sell rye straw for $20 
and more per ton, while the plant food 
in that ton is worth only about $3. 
We have large apple orchards (10.000 
bearing trees) and the humus problem is 
on account of our hilly land. Our State 
orchard expert advises to use one part 
nitrate of soda and three parts acid phos¬ 
phate, six to 10 pounds per tree for bear¬ 
ing apple orchards whose condition and 
production are not satisfactory. Would 
a mixture of one part acid phosphate and 
four parts duck manure applied at rate 
of 20 pounds per tree, be a good substi¬ 
tute? What is relative value of am¬ 
monia and phosphorus in the two mix¬ 
tures. Would it be advisable to sprinkle 
the acid phosphate over the floor of the 
duck sheds as the manure is made, or 
wait until ready to apply it? The ma¬ 
nure is kept in sheds comparatively dry 
and run .through an old thrashing ma¬ 
chine before using. It comes from a 
large duck ranch where thousands of eight 
to 12-week old ducks are grown and fat¬ 
tened for the market, and old stock kept 
to supply the eggs. Would applying the 
acid phosphate to the runs of the young 
ducks be injurious to them in any way? 
Would floats be a cheaper or better 
source of phosphorus from the acid phos¬ 
phate in this instance? j. w. w. 
Virginia. 
For apple trees we think the duck 
manure will answer. It will be slower 
than the nitrate, but with a crop like 
apples the organic forms of nitrogen will 
answer. The availability of the nitrate 
as compared with the duck manure would 
be about as 100 to 75. Why not use 
potash also? The trees will need it un¬ 
less you know the soil is rich in that ele¬ 
ment. 
Testing Nursery Tree. —The Bab¬ 
cock fat test for milk revolutionized the 
dairy business, as it provided an easy 
way of deciding the value of a sample of | 
milk. The water in 100 pounds of milk * 
was of no value; the butter maker bought 
it for the few pounds of fat mixed in 
with the water. When he could tell quick¬ 
ly just how much fat he was buying his 
business came down to a scientific basis. 
This principle is now being introduced 
into all sorts of products. Even coal is to 
be bought by sample on the basis of the 
units of heat which it contains. The fat 
test of milk is so familiar, and has been 
so useful, that farmers apply the name 
“Babcock” to any method of preventing 
the blind purchase of an article by apply¬ 
ing a quick and sure test. Thus we speak 
of a Babcock test for nursery trees. This 
is very simple. You take cuttings from 
the trees as they are unpacked, and graft 
them into strong and healthy trees, as 
you would regular scions. They will 
come into bearing in two years or more, 
and show whether they are true to name 
or not. It is probable that the test can 
be quickened by grafting into dwarf trees, 
as such dwarfs are likely to force fruiting 
earlier than standards. n. w. c. 
“If you don’t mind, sir,” said the new 
convict, addressing the warder, “I should 
like to be put at my own trade.” “That 
might be a good idea,” said the warder; 
“what may your trade be?” “I’m an 
aviator,” said the new arrival.—Credit 
Lost. 
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