722 
The rural new-yorker 
May 10, 
Hope Farm Notes 
With great interest, not to say anxiety, 
I await the Hope Farm man’s comments 
on the invasion of Mexico, which is as 
germane to agriculture as his report of 
the baseball game, as exciting and inter¬ 
esting as any I ever read, though I do not 
devote much time to them. What busi¬ 
ness have we there? If American honor 
is to be maintained, why not seize Vera 
Cruz and hold it for awhile? But to 
invade Mexico and punish the nation for 
the wanton act of a usurper, seems hard¬ 
ly a dignified or excusable performance. 
Maine. c>. s. p. 
You can never convince me that any 
large number of Americans are lying 
awake nights waiting for the Hope Farm 
man to fire an opinion at the Mexican 
situation. I know no more about it than 
10,000.000 or more other citizens; not as 
much, apparently, as some of my friends 
and neighbors who 'can tell you just what 
this nation ought to do. I cannot think 
what the American people were doing 
when they did not elect some of these 
warriors in place of Mr. Wilson. Why 
he did not select one of those walking 
exponents of wisdom for Secretary of 
State is past understanding. Personally 
I am opposed to war for many reasons. 
During the former Mexican War Lowell 
put it like this in the “Biglow Papers” : 
“As fer war—I call it murder. 
There ye have it plain an’ flat. 
I don’t want to go no furder 
Than my Testyment fer that!” 
“Laborin’ man an’ laborin’ woman, 
Have one glory an’ one shame, 
Everything that’s done inhuman 
Injures all of ’em the same.” 
That was written 07 years ago, but it 
has grown truer with each year. A war 
with the Mexican people would be 
straight, brutal, unjustified murder, and 
it would put back the real progress of 
farmers and other working people in this 
country for 25 years. If you will read 
the “Life of Mark Hanna” with careful 
thought you will see how the great “pa¬ 
triotic spirit” aroused by the Spanish 
War enabled the politicians quietly to 
work through and develop much of the 
legislation which we are now fighting so 
hard to overcome. 
There were five in my family who were 
thrown out of a normal childhood by the 
Civil War. These valiant fire-eaters 
think they can tell President Wilson how 
to conduct the case, but I challenge any 
of them to tell me something new about 
what war really means. I would rather 
take care of the orphans and desolated 
homes that we now have, rather than 
make new ones. Lets go back to the 
“Biglow Papers” again: 
“Call me coward—call me traitor, 
Just as suits your mean idees, 
Here I stand a tyrant-hater 
An’ the friend o’ God an’ Peace.” 
At the present time there is no great¬ 
er tyrant in this country than the mis¬ 
taken “patriotism” or prejudice which 
drives men to yell and wave their hats 
over a war scare when right within gun 
shot of their homes are quiet issues and 
humbler things which demand their pa¬ 
triotism. 
As for the “insult to the flag” part of 
it I think bloodshed would only drive the 
spirit of it in deeper than ever. Some 
years ago in a crowd of people a man 
told another to go to a place which a 
great general said was the equal of war. 
He was a little snipe of a man. The 
other could have taken him over his knee 
and shingled him, and the crowd all ex¬ 
pected it to be done—for that was the 
accepted method of resenting an “insult.” 
The larger man looked at the little whip- 
persnapper puffed up like a bantam 
rooster, and there came to him the sav¬ 
ing grace of the comical side of it. And 
so instead of punching him the big man 
said: 
“Thank you, sir, for the invitation to 
go home with you, but I might interfere 
with your domestic arrangements!” 
The crowd roared, and after he saw 
the point this “insulter” laughed too. 
The two men have been friends for years. 
To talk about plunging this great nation 
into war because a few Mexicans may 
make faces or swear in a language we do 
not understand is nonsense. 
The fact is that no man can give a 
single reason for a war with Mexico that 
will for a moment stand the test of rea¬ 
son, religion or plain common sense. You 
might take a man who for long years has 
worked to obtain justice and a “square 
deal.” No one paid attention to him be¬ 
cause he could not interest them. At last 
after long years he made his case so 
clear and strong that he attracted at¬ 
tention, and the people who were to de¬ 
cide the matter began to think of giving 
him justice. All that was needed was a 
little more clear, honest thinking and 
the thing was done. Suppose right at 
that time some one went to these people 
who were to decide and inflamed their 
minds with whiskey. Where would our 
friend be after his long struggle to 
arouse popular thought? He would take 
a back seat once more until these people 
“got over it,” and then he must begin 
again. Now in a larger way that is 
what a war or a “war scare” would 
mean to our farmers and workmen. We 
would lose the hold upon popular thought 
which we are gaining for the 25-cent dol¬ 
lar, farm credits and co-operation, and 
when the war was over it would be 
necessary to begin all over once more. 
For this reason alone, if for no other, 
the farmers of this country should op¬ 
pose a war as powerfully as they have 
fought a dozen other things which were 
clearly against their interests. As for 
handling the situation, T have the great¬ 
est confidence in President Wilson and 
Secretary Bryan. I am going about my 
business without advising or criticising 
them. 
Farm Notes. —Spring finally came 
rushing into our valley like one who 
had tarried by the wayside against the 
rules and then ran in with a great bluff 
of finding fault with others. And all 
the Hope Farmers, from Aunt Jennie 
down to the little black and white calf 
in the barn, are glad to see Spring and 
what she started in the meadows and 
trees. The crab apple trees came first. 
They were in leaf by May 1 with the 
bloom just opening. Most of the crab 
bloom was killed by a late frost last 
year, and we had little fruit. Now we 
are to make it up. The Carman peaches 
came next. They are budded full, and it 
looks like a bumper crop. Carman and 
Belle of Georgia always stand the hard 
Winters better than Elberta, though that 
variety carries a fair crop this year. 
Last year was our heavy apple year and 
I did not expect a full crop, but the 
trees have more bloom than I expected. 
Strawberries never came out finer and 
the cover crops are jumping. Hoik? Farm 
as usual faces the season with good na¬ 
ture. Sorry it is so late, but when your 
land is all plastered with cover crops it 
does not make so much difference, be¬ 
cause these crops will give some sort of 
an income anyway—if you let them go. 
There are several hundred thousand 
new Hope Farmers to be introduced. We 
never started beekeping somehow. The 
children were stung badly when quite 
small, and no one here cares for a bee. 
A neighbor exchanged honey for some of 
our surplus. But now I have arranged 
with a bee keeper to pasture some of his 
bees, lie lives some miles away where 
manufacturing has killed out most of 
the bloom. So he brought some 15 hives 
up on our clean, wind-swept hills and set 
them under a big apple tree. They went 
to work at once, and proceeded to busi¬ 
ness on the first flowers. They mind 
their own business. One of the Italians 
thought to investigate them, but they 
did the investigating, and he did the 
running. We get a share of the honey 
and the bees are said to help our fruit. 
All hands have been working on the 
lawns at our job of landscape gardening. 
Mr. Kemp has charge of this job. Mother 
and I stand back and work in the ranks. 
The first thing he did was to make a 
map of the grounds, with each plant and 
shrub numbered in place. Then he be¬ 
gan with the hedge along the road. It 
is something like putting a machine to¬ 
gether in order to get it right. To me 
there can be no argument worth consider¬ 
ing against beautifying the home sur¬ 
roundings. It cannot always be done on 
an elaborate scale, or with expensive 
plants and shrubs, but the habit of mak¬ 
ing the home grounds neat and tidy is 
one of the best things a child can pick 
up. If a man and woman can give their 
children clean and neat habits of mind, 
head and hand they give them half the 
battle of life. Many a farmer would 
far better spend the money he would pay 
for an auto in beautifying the grounds 
around the house and water fixtures in¬ 
side the house. That is our theory—and 
practice. 
Then comes the old familiar garden 
question. We had our first asparagus 
on April 27—it was late this year but 
we hope to make up for lost time. What 
can be better than a supper of tender 
asparagus tops cooked in milk and served 
with cream, bread and butter and baked 
apple or stewed rhubarb? It takes a 
large asparagus bed and a well-bred and 
very sympathetic cow to keep our fam¬ 
ily going. The peas and a dozen other 
vegetables are coming u n to help later. 
What can a farmer bo thinking about 
when he lets the garden go, or leaves the 
wife to hoe out a poor little weedy strip? 
What is your honest opinion anyway of 
a man who claims to be able to tell Presi¬ 
dent Wilson what to do in Mexico, and 
yet lets the season go from asparagus to 
turnips without an attempt at a decent 
garden? I have my opinion of him as 
pronounced as that about war. 
As usual Spring comes with high dry¬ 
ing winds that suck the moisture rapid¬ 
ly out of the soil. This requires special 
treatment, for on our dry hills this soil 
moisture is precious. The land should 
not be left in rough furrows after plow¬ 
ing any longer than necessary. These 
rough, loose furrows let in the air and 
the wind blows out tin* moisture and 
leaves the soil in dry clods. Such soil 
should be harrowed down level as soon 
after plowing as possible. This presents 
less surface to the wind, and the soil 
being more compact holds more of its 
moisture. On such land as ours it will 
pay to harrow down each day’s plowing 
as the last job of the day. Most men 
object to doing this, and they do not like 
to change from plow to harrow but it 
will pay to do it. 
To what extent can a regular yearly 
subscriber to a rural telephone legally 
allow it to be used through his exchange 
by members of his own family or visiting 
friends, or neighbors without a fee being 
imposed? Has the operator a right to 
require name of subscribers before mak¬ 
ing the exchange or connection? 
The extent to which members of a 
subscriber’s family, visiting friends and 
neighbors may use his telephone is de¬ 
pendent entirely upon the terms of the 
yearly contract. A contract allowing the 
us of the ’phone by the family would in¬ 
clude visitors of the family, but would 
probably not include neighbors who come 
in purposely to use the ’phone. So this 
subscriber may allow his family and 
visitors to use his ’phone, but unless the 
contract so specifies should not allow its 
use by neighbors where they come in 
specifically for this purpose. If the con¬ 
tract does not allow anyone but the sub¬ 
scriber’s family to use the ’phone, the j 
operator is justified in inquiring if the 
user is one entitled to its use. ir. w. C. 
Hog Manure for Apple Orchards. 
On page 141, I note your remarks on 
nitrogenous manures affecting the color 
of apples. Our orchard is located in the 
Okanogan Valley, and we have planted 
a seven-foot strip of Alfalfa between our 
tree rows. Over this strip are moved 
portable hogpens. Is the hog manure 
going to take the color out of our ap¬ 
ples? The hogs are only a money-maker 
and we do not wish to have anything on 
the ranch that in any manner detracts 
from the apple. w. n. m. 
It is not likely that the penning of a 
few hogs on the strips of Alfalfa will 
so affect the apples on the trees as to 
cause them to grow too large and lack 
color, but it is easy to try it out in a 
small way. Hogs running loose in an 
orchard are often a decided benefit by 
adding fertility to the soil. In the Okan¬ 
ogan country, which is in northern , 
Washington, I have seen apples on young 
trees that had been over-irrigated caused 
to grow too large and lack color, but by 
reasonable control of the water I do not 
think there is such danger. 
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