, 1130 
THE RURAL, N E W-YOKKtK 
September I.;, 
Hope Farm Notes 
A T the New York State Fair you meet 
all sorts of people—most of them 
with a message. This message is a con¬ 
densed report of what life has taught 
them during the past year. If you ques¬ 
tion them a little you will obtain a clear 
statement of the best thought of agricul¬ 
tural New York. I talked with many 
farmers this year, and what follows may 
be accepted as a fair statement of what 
they are considering. 
Alfalfa. —All along the limestone soils 
in Central New York Alfalfa is working 
out farm miracles. Wherever its culture 
becomes general all crops improve, land 
values rise, incomes increase and pros¬ 
perity mellows the farmer and makes his 
life happier and better. It looks as if 
Holstein cattle follow the Alfalfa. Some 
of the sections whore this crop does well 
have become famous for the production 
of black and white cattle. A few years 
ago when I said that an acre of Alfalfa 
in central New York was like a free 
ticket at a mill for four tous of wheat 
bran some people called it a wild state¬ 
ment. History has proved it true—and 
more. 
Selling Hay. —Most of the arguments 
for growing Alfalfa are based on the plan 
of feeding the crop to dairy cows at 
home. There is another side to this. Our 
old friend Hamlet Worker of Onondaga 
County sells the hay. Mr. Worker was 
formerly in the dairy business, but sold 
his cows. He has 35 acres or more of 
Alfalfa which this year will give four to 
five tons of hay per acre. This will aver¬ 
age $16 or more per ton. Perhaps two 
months of labor are required to handle 
the crops. In that country a field well 
started in Alfalfa will last eight years or 
more—perhaps 25 cuttings. Mr. Worker 
has tried lime and phosphate on the Al¬ 
falfa, but could not see any improvement 
where they were used. The strong soil of 
that section grows more and more pro¬ 
ductive as the result of growing Alfalfa 
and plowing under its sod. 
Other Consideration. —It was the 
universal comment that Alfalfa growing 
increased all crops and enlarged business. 
One man said that 12 years ago he had 
one mower, one horse rake, and pitched 
all the hay by hand. Now as a result of 
Alfalfa growing he has three mowers, 
several rakes, hay loaders, hay slings and 
a gasoline engine to lift the hay into the 
barn. With this improved machinery a 
boy could do the work of at least two 
strong men working with the old-time 
tools. There were men from certain sec¬ 
tions of the State who had tried Alfalfa 
and failed. It might do fairly well one 
year, but then it faded away. The soil 
was not naturally adapted to it—beiug 
very shallow or wet, with a hardpan. 
The lime supply was too far away and 
freight rates too high. These and other 
reasons made Alfalfa too short-lived or 
too expensive. It is quite a problem with 
these men whether they shall try to over¬ 
come the natural soil difficulties or give 
up Alfalfa and try crops which are bet¬ 
ter suited to sour soils. Certainly the 
man on an Alfalfa soil has a great ad¬ 
vantage. 
Motor Trucks. —Farmers are studying 
the transportation question as never be¬ 
fore. Grant Hitchings, the apple man 
with the mulched orchards, tells me he 
has about 25,000- bushels this year. I 
went out to the Hitchings orchard years 
ago when the crop was less than 1,000 
bushels and all the experts laughed at the 
plan. For years Mr. HitchiDgs hauled his 
fruit in a wagon over the hills to Syra¬ 
cuse—the load averaging perhairs 30 bush¬ 
els. Now lie has an auto truck which 
will take 105 bushe's at a load and prob¬ 
ably go in less than half the time the 
horses took. These horses are left at 
home for farm work. All over the State 
farmers are studying this transportation 
problem. Many of the larger farmers and 
fruit growers have auto trucks for road 
work, while in some cases several farmers 
combine and organize a trucking service. 
Automobiles. —It is astonishing how 
many farmers own and drive their cars. 
I heard a conversation between two farm¬ 
ers—one middle-aged—the other older. 
The younger man said that 75 per cent, of 
the farmers in his section owned cars. 
“Did they mortgage their farms?” 
asked the older man. 
“No They are well-to-do farmers who 
have paid for their farms and have a sur¬ 
plus!” 
“What good does the car do them?” 
"Well, they see more of life! They 
have worked hard and deserve an easier 
time. They can take the women folks 
and get out around 50 miles from home 
and see old friends and make new ones 
Most of them did not buy these cars for 
business, but for social and mental bene¬ 
fit. Life looks better to them through the 
power of getting away from home—and 
back again quickly.” 
“They better save their money!” 
“The money belongs to them and they 
figure that it is better for them to have 
some enjoyment out of it. Why should 
they not use their money for such a pur¬ 
pose instead of leaving it for their chil¬ 
dren to quarrel over? Most boys would 
be far better off if their parents used the 
fruits of their own labor to make their 
lives more enjoyable.” 
“Down our way when a man buys an 
auto he neglects his farm !” 
“That is not so .with us. As the farm¬ 
er gets out more and sees how others are 
doing he studies new ways and new 
crops, and take more pride in keeping 
things up. Then he learns more about 
markets and prices and the value of 
things and he comes to be a better busi¬ 
ness man.” 
“But he may neglect his home!” 
“I do not think so. One trouble with 
the telephone was that it was keeping 
people too much at home. When you can 
call up the neighbor and talk to them 
over the wire you do not feel so much 
inclined to go out to meetings where peo¬ 
ple gather. The same was true of rural 
mail delivery. People quit going to town, 
where they could talk to their friends and 
visit. The auto car comes to mix people 
up and get them together where they can 
learn what is going on.” 
Gasoline Engines. —They are work¬ 
ing in everywhere and doing all kinds of 
work. The little engines are used to some 
extent on potato diggers or manure 
spreaders to work the machinery so that 
the horses have only the weight of the 
implement to haul. Thousands of these 
little engines are going into the house to 
serve as “tireless hired girls.” where they 
run the churn, the washing machine, 
cleaner and a dozen other things which 
formerly demanded the best or the worst 
of hand and back. Farmers also told 
about putting heatiDg and water fixtures 
into their houses. More of this is being 
done than ever before. I am sure there 
never was a time before when thrifty 
farmers were doing more and spending 
their money more freely to make them¬ 
selves comfortable and save the women 
f dks. 
Old-Time Farmer. —One of the Syra¬ 
cuse papers stated that the old-time, or 
real farmer, has disappeared. It could 
not find a man “chewing straw and with 
overalls tucked into his boots” and there¬ 
fore claimed there were no longer any 
“farmers.” The fact is you could not 
pick the farmers from the town people by 
any external evidence. To prove this, 
Frank Rupert, one of the fruit judges, 
approached a group of well-divssed men 
and asked each one if he was a farmer. 
They -were all farmers, not one having 
any other business. They were dressed 
just like town business men. talked even 
more intelligently, carried themselves in 
a dignified way, and gave just as good a 
business impression. A dozen things may 
be said to have led up to this, but the 
thing most responsible for it is the fact 
that farmers are reading and thinking 
more than ever before. They have 
learned that a large proportion of the 
people cat vrith their eyes —that is, se¬ 
lect the fruit or other food that “looks 
nice.” They also find that the world is 
inclined to give ini'll place in society by 
the way they look and act. This may not 
always be fair, but the farmers find it a 
fact, and as they mix up more and more 
with other people they learn how to pass 
with the best business people, and you 
cannot separate them. Who will say that 
this is not a desirable thing? 
The War. —People discuss it intelli¬ 
gently—that is they do not pretend to 
know just what it is about, but they have 
a clear idea of its effect upon this nation. 
It is a sobering effect, for these farmers 
fear that out of it may come a weakened 
faith in the real power of democracy. It 
may mean a demand for a IT. S. standing 
army of half a million or more, with mil¬ 
itary drill for every man ! The general 
fear is that so long as there are autocratic 
military governments in the world the 
peaceful nations are at their mercy. The 
man who goes about his peaceful business 
—no matter how large and strong he may 
be—would always be at a disadvantage be¬ 
side his prizefighting neighbor who spent 
most of his time training to fight while 
his wife and the boys supported the fam¬ 
ily. That is what these intelligent fann¬ 
ers feel may be the comparison between 
the successful insolent military power and 
a peaceful democracy ! In a business way 
our farmers, except for the fruit growers, 
are very optimistic over the future. They 
argue that six or eight million men in 
Europe a re taken from food production 
or manufacturing. There is never a 
year’s supply on hand—usually not over 
six months. If the war continues it seems 
clear to our farmers that America must 
be expected to food and clothe the fight¬ 
ing nations. The farmers expect to get 
their share of what this demand means 
and they are preparing to get it through 
organization. This general feeling that 
the export trade will be adjusted so as 
to help the home demand makes farmers 
on the whole more hopeful for the fu¬ 
ture than I have known them in some 
years. It is a fact that what wc call 
“good times” will depend as much upon 
spirit and hope as upon actual produc¬ 
tion and sale. 
Fruit And Vegetables. —Evidently 
the production of these crops is growing 
like a snowball in New York State. As 
Rochester was once the flour city and is 
now the city of flowers, so in New 
York State, horticulture is now com¬ 
ing to the head. It is not gen¬ 
erally known that several counties in 
Western New Yoi’k are richer and more 
prosperous than any other fruit counties 
in this country or in Europe. There is 
even greater wealth in several sections 
where vegetables are grown. The Hudson 
Valley too is growing beautiful fruit. The 
Clintondale Grange of Ulster County won 
first prize for their fruit collection, and it 
certainly was a fine display. Then Long 
Island is coming as an apple section. 
Peter Elbert Nostrand, the man who put 
Long Island on the fruit map, was at the 
fair with a fine display. The grain farm¬ 
ers and the dairymen are doing great 
things, and they show well in the figures 
with Alfalfa to help them, but with each 
decade all suitable land within 150 miles 
of the Atlantic must go more and more 
into intensive culture of fruits and vege¬ 
tables. There can be no escape from this. 
Eastern land must increase in value in 
proportion as it is suited to producing 
food. No man can afford to practice low- 
class methods on high-priced land. None 
but the wealthy can ever keep “boarders” 
in crops or animals. In fact the entire 
lesson from the State Fair this year is 
one of good cheer. A young man with a 
piece of land never had a better oppor¬ 
tunity. ii. w. c. 
E VERY year we have a good many 
questions from readers who ask about 
the culture of flax. It would seem 
as if many of our people are interested in 
this crop. For the benefit of these inquir¬ 
ers we will say that the North Dakota 
Experiment Station has issued a bulle¬ 
tin on “Flax Cropping and Harvesting 
Methods.” This gives an excellent story 
<>f the way flax is grown in North Da¬ 
kota, particularly with regard to methods 
of harvesting the crop and taking care 
of the seed. It is an excellent pamphlet, 
well illustrated, and gives just the in¬ 
formation that so many of our people 
have called for. 
Wiikx you write advertisers mention 
Tiik It. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick 
reply and a "square deal.” See guaran¬ 
tee editorial page. : : : : 
For any writing you have 
to do either out or indoors, 
Waterman’s Ideal will make 
it easier. The smallest size 
will write about 20,000 
words with one ink filling, 
and will always start to 
write the instant the pen 
touches the paper. The 
entire pen is strong and 
safe to carry. One Water¬ 
man’s Ideal will last for 
many years. Saves not only 
time but money and makes 
better writing. There is also 
a Safety Type for women. 
Every pen stamped Waterman's Ideal is 
guaranteed to give satisfaction. Gold 
points furnished to suit every hand. 
Prices $2.50 to $50.00. Illustrated 
booklet on request 
Sold at the best stores in most 
all cities and towns. 
L. E. Waterman Company 
173 Broadway, New York 
Always 
Q 
mo\\ 
lw«jUSij§ 
OUl 
to 
Get the 
Right Pump 
First 
Then you won’t spend money pulling out 
the one that failed. 
We make over 300 types of pnmps—one for 
every purpose. Tell us what you need a 
pump for, and we will suggest the type that 
will serve you best. Write Mr. Gould, care 
of our Consultation Department. His advice 
is free. It may save you many dollars and 
days of wasted time. 
RELIABLE 
imps. 
turns out more pumps than any other concern in 
the country. And this multiplied output means 
greater efficiency and u lower cost to vou. Before 
you buy any pump, look up the Gouids dealer in 
your town. 
Write for Free Book 
A little volume of pointers on "Water Supply 
for the Country Home." illustrated with pictures 
and diagrams. Tolls how to have 
running wuter on tho farm. Send 
for it. (27> 
THE GOULDS MFG. CO. 
68 W. Fall Slrael 
SENECA FALLS, N.Y. 
The Largest Manufacturers 
of Pumps for Every Purpose 
Use NATCO Drain Tile — Last Forever 
Farm drainage needs durable tile. Our drain tile are made of 
best Ohio clay, thoroughly hard burned. Don’t have to dig ’em up 
to be replaced every few years. Write for prices. Sold in carload 
lots. Also manufacturers of the famous NATCO IMPERISH¬ 
ABLE SILO, Natco Building Tile and Natco Sewer m Pipe. 
NATIONAL FIRE PROOFING COMPANY, Fulton Building PITTSBURGH, PA. 
' ‘it -“L’y/s 
'M'- 
Fireproof, Durable 
Easy to apply 
Send for free booklet , 
• Better Buildings* 
ROOFING 
Made from tho well known Apollo Best Bloom Galvanized Sheets, 
and unexcelled for lasting service and satisfaction. Apollo Best 
Bloom Galvanized Sheets are specially adapted for Culverts. Silos, 
Tanks, Cisterns, Roofing, Siding, and all forms of sheet metal work. 
Sold by weight by leading dealers everywhere. Accept noeubstituto. 
AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY, Frick Bldg., Pittsburgh., 
