562 
THE RURAL NEW-YOKKER 
April 10, 1915. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Merrill started plowing March 24. 
This is earlier than last year, but the 
dry cold winds have made the sod ground 
fit. For several days big Tom, the gray 
horse, has been looking out of his stall 
and longing for the power to express him¬ 
self so as to tell his master that plow¬ 
ing time has come. Tom is a giant. IIis 
father knew nothing but work, but his 
mother had a touch of trotting blood, and 
that means intelligence, imagination and 
pluck. I could imagine Tom calling 
across the barn to his partner Broker: 
“Come now, let’s make a row and force 
these lazy farmers to get us out into the 
field in front of that plow. What are we 
doing here on such a fine day? First 
you know they will have you on that 
nasty sprayer. Let’s kick !” 
But Broker has no imagination. His 
father and mother both taught him to 
be content so long as food is abundant, 
and wait until the boss puts the harness 
on and then pull blindly and with all his 
power. 
When Merrill came with the harness 
Broker accepted the straps and buckles 
and waited for the next move. Tom 
snorted and shook his vast bulk and, 
could he have spoken, would have told 
how to put the harness on. He was a 
little disgusted when he found it was not 
a plowing job, but even worse than spray¬ 
ing—hauling lime. There were 12 tons 
of lime in a car at the station, and the 
railroads are like time and tide—they 
wait for no man. Merrill put 45 100- 
pound bags on the wagon and the big 
grays walked off with it like a play¬ 
thing—Broker steady and slow, accept¬ 
ing the lime dust like fate, while Tom 
held his head up, snorting at what he 
called an indignity. What a satisfaction 
it is to have a team capable of hauling 
such a load! They eat up a haystack 
every month, but when time is called at 
the opening of a short season, they are 
there. 
Tom will have plenty of exercise on 
the plow and harrow this year. The first 
plowing was in an old Alfalfa field. This 
was seeded some years ago. It dH fairly 
well for two years and then slowly pe- 
tei’ed out—until now only a few scat¬ 
tered plants were left. The grass came 
in to make a thick sod. The Alfalfa 
roots are like little ropes holding the 
plow back, but Tom and Broker smashed 
through and ripped the sod over. It was 
a trifle wet in spots, but on the whole 
in good condition to plow. This field is 
at the base of our steep hill, and joins 
the apple orchard. Here we are to try 
an experiment with 100 or more dwarf 
apple trees. After plowing the land 
will be chopped up with the Cutaway 
again and again and well fitted with the 
Acme. The trees are to be planted 16 
feet each way and potatoes in drills 2% 
feet apart planted between. These po¬ 
tatoes will be planted by hand. Lines 
are stretched across the field and the seed 
pieces dropped into holes made by driv¬ 
ing a spade down and working it back 
and forth to open the hole. This puts 
the. seed piece deep down into the sod 
without turning it up. Then with shal¬ 
low culture the surface is kept open and 
loose and the tubers develop in the mel¬ 
low, decaying sod below. It would not 
pay of course to work large fields ot 
potatoes in this way, but where a large 
yield is wanted, and the conditions are 
right, this plan will answer. A sod of 
this sort will give a large amount of 
plant food, but we use potato fertilizer 
in addition and plan to give mostly hand 
culture. 
Of course these dwarf apple trees are 
put further apart than is necessary. The 
experts tell us that 10 or 12 feet is 
none too close, but the trees in the ad¬ 
joining orchard are 32 feet apart and 
thus we plan to have the alternate rows 
of dwarfs in line. I would not advise 
dwarf apples as a commercial enterprise 
though several well-known people claim 
that they pay. I am trying to find out. 
We have some 40 dwarfs scattered about 
—most of them fruiting. They surely do 
give beautiful fruit, but we have treated 
them more like standard trees, and nol 
given them just the culture which dwarfs 
require. I find many people who do not 
understand what a “dwarf” is. A scion 
from a standard or full-sized tree of 
Baldwin. Mclntosl? or what not is worked 
upon a variety which naturally makes a 
small or dwarfish growth both in top and 
root. Of course the top of a tree de¬ 
pends upon its root, for that is where it 
is nourished. Therefore the wood of the 
Baldwin will grow true and in time pro¬ 
duce Baldwin fruit, but its growth being 
limited by the dwarf root it becomes 
a bush or shrub rather than a tree. Its 
growth is stunted, but what wood it does 
make is sound and the fruit it produces 
is usually large and high colored. Nat¬ 
urally such a tree requires special care or 
petting, and the trouble with most dwarf 
orchards seems to be that they are treat¬ 
ed about as we would handle the larger 
and stronger trees. You would hardly 
apply this method to dwarf or runt chil¬ 
dren or barnyard animals and the little 
trees should also have a show. 
Up to this year we have grown flint 
corn in our young apple orchards on the 
hill—seeding a cover crop at the last cul¬ 
tivation. This corn crop has usually 
paid—in grain and fodder—the cost of 
working the orchard, aside from spray¬ 
ing. Last year we had our first crop, 
and the indications now are for another 
one this year. If we find the bloom 
heavy we shall cut out the corn per¬ 
manently. The rye and vetch will be 
plowed under as usual, packed down and 
limed. Then, instead of planting corn 
we expect to keep Tom and Broker well 
at their job of escorting the spring-tooth 
and Cutaway harrows up and down these 
hillsides until late July, when the next 
cover crop will go in. We shall miss the 
corn and fodder, but the orchards have 
now come to the point where they ought 
to respond to “entire attention” and 
when that point is reached it pays to cut 
out the side crops. 
We expect to try some new crops and 
methods this year. Sweet clover ought 
to do well on our hills as a mulch and 
cover crop and we aim to try it in 
various ways of seeding. Sudan grass is 
another new crop worth trying in a 
small way. I have been advised by sev¬ 
eral enthusiastic people to “boom” this 
grass and get everyone to plunge on it. 
We do not do business that way. I 
would always try these new things in a 
small way and study them, but as for 
plunging—you will never get advice to 
do that from the Hope Farm man. I 
knew a boy, very headstrong and in¬ 
clined to plunge, who made a dive into a 
“swimming hole” without knowing how 
deep it was. He struck his head on the 
stones and nearly broke his neck. If he had 
waded in first he would hare known bet¬ 
ter than to plunge. I wade before I 
dive. Then we hope to sow beardless 
barley in drills like fodder corn. This 
will be in a young apple orchard—the 
drills wide enough apart for cultivation. 
This barley will be cut and bound by 
hand, to be used for chicken feed, and 
a cover crop will follow it. Then comes 
this idea of testing new Alfalfa varieties 
or transplanting the seedlings. The trou¬ 
ble with our farm is that the rock is too 
close to the surface. The tap-root seems 
to go down and meet this rock and then 
curl up and slowly die. The surface 
rooted grasses thrive on this soil, but 
the tap-rooted Alfalfa gives up after the 
second year. So that, as it stands, Red 
and Alsike clover and Soy beans seem 
more profitable on our soils than ordin¬ 
ary Alfalfa. Now I want to try some 
of the branching root kinds. I have seen 
seedlings of them, and I think they will 
thrive in our soils. They are worth try¬ 
ing. Then comes this matter of trans¬ 
planting the regular Alfalfa seedlings. It 
would pay us to do the work, if we could 
make the crop grow on our hills. I have 
a letter from a man in Ohio who will 
plow up and pack Alfalfa roots at one 
dollar per thousand! This man claims 
that when the tap-roots are cut or broken 
off and transplanted they do not make 
another tap-root, but spread out. I 
should want to see this. I know that we 
can change the rooting habits of a fruit 
tree somewhat by close pruning the root 
and planting in a small hole. That gives 
a deeper rooted tree beyond question. As 
for this scheme about Alfalfa, I do not 
know. I just speak of it to show how 
many new things are being tried this year. 
Try what you can of them, say I—with¬ 
out getting up on your toes and losing 
your balance! 
Our hens are still at the front. Our 
breeding pen of 11 R. I. Reds laid 90 
eggs in January. 152 in February and 
178 in March. Two of them were hatch¬ 
ing for nearly three weeks in March. 
Little Red Head’s pen of 12 Rose Comb 
Reds have beaten my breeders. These 
birds practically take care of themselves, 
with water and dry mash before them all 
the time and scratch grain in the litter. 
There is a deep box of sifted coal ashes 
where they can dust and play, and the 
way they make that dust fly would be 
a terror to people who want to keep clean. 
They came out of that ash box as grey 
as a ghost, but as happy as larks. 
“Redman,” the head of the pen, is a 
beauty and with an egg pedigree behind 
him that promises great things in front 
for his daughters. Here is the foundation 
of our Hope Farm strain, and I hope the 
mortar and concrete will hold. h. w. c. 
Spraying Pays 
Not only aa protection against bugs and blight, but 
every spraying makes healthier plants and larger 
yields of better quality. Machine pays for itself on 
ten acres, first year. 
IRONAQE Sprayers 
have double actingr pumps, wood tanks, thorough automatic 
mixing of solutions, wina shift, pressed brass nozzles and 
strainers. For one or two horses. See your dealer and write 
us for new “Spray" catalog and spraying guide. Both free. 
BATEMAN M’F’G COMPANY 
50 or 
100 
Gallon 
Tanka 
Box 
29 
Grenlocii 
N.J. 
Orchard 
Attachment 
If wanted 
Whitewater Falli Farm 
J. C. Robiion, Towanda, Kan. 
T^ROM this 1,920 acre farm over 3,000 Registered Percherons 
A have been sold since 1884. The building outlay has been 
large—$9,000 for one barn alone. To maintain these costly 
buildings economically, Air. Robison uses 
Dutch Boy White Lead 
and pure linseed oil. Besides economy he achieves beauty, also. 
Dutch Boy White Lead and Dutch Boy Linseed Oil will pro¬ 
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wood and tinted to suit your taste. They grip the wood, wear 
smooth, and last as no other paint ingredients can. 
Would you like to see a simple test that will help make you paint wise? We 
will send you materials and directions for such a test, together with booklet of 
practical suggestions and color schemes. 
Ask our nearest office for Painting Aids No. 293 
NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY 
New York Buffalo Boston Chicago Cleveland 
St. Louis Cincinnati San Francisco 
(National Lead & Oil Co., Pittsburgh) (John T. Lewis & Bros Co.. Phila). 
ki¬ 
rn 
*£HTIL! 
NOW 
is the time to increase 
this year’s crops 
TEN POUNDS OF GOOD FERTILIZER NOW ARE 
WORTH A TON OF REGRETS IN AUGUST 
Hubbard’s 
ON 
Fertilizers 
are the result of Scientific Research, and contain a 
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Let us tell you more about them; what they have 
done for others; what they can positively do for you. 
Write today for our latest booklet, "How to Grow Corn.” The Science of 
Big Crops in Corn is simplified in its pages. Also ask for “ Hubbard's 1915 
2? one-Base Almanac .” Free for the asking. 
THE ROGERS & HUBBARD CO., Address Dept. A, Middletown, Conn. 
Office and Works, Portland, Conn. 
Set Your Plants Riqht 
B II • Jl -Al ■ A A •*< ■ " i 
i m m: 
Works successfully with 
either press wheels or press plates. 
Packs the loose soil around the wa¬ 
tered plant. Water supply easily regulated. 
Convenient, lever regulates furrow opener to 
cut any desired depth. Another lever regu¬ 
lates the pressure for the pack wheels or 
23 Different Spacings 
from 8 to 50 inches apart. Easy to change. Works on 11 
inch ridges, or in 5-inch furrows and is the only practical 
machine for planting sweet potatoes or other plants set 
in ridges. Plants any transplantable plant equally well. 
Guaranteed for one year against breakage. Weighs 700 lbs. 
ASK YOUR DEALER OR WRITE FOR FREE BOOKLET 
telling you all about this wonderful ma¬ 
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NEW IDEA SPREADER CO. 
198 FIRST STREET COLDWATER, O. 
Operator can do better 
work, as he constantly sees what 
the droppers are doing as they sit in 
front of him. A necessary feature where 
accurate planting is required. Fore truck 
breaks up any small lumps, smoothes the 
soil, and takes all neck weight off the team. 
Look for the 
NISCO 
Trade 
Mark 
