782 
THE RKHAL 
MEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Delayed Work. —A hard driving rain 
cut into our spraying and held it up for 
three days. It came at just the wrong 
time for spraying, but was just right for 
the rye and the grass. I had figured on a 
dry May, and the first half of the month 
eaine true to the figuring. This heavy 
rain seems to make sure of the hay crop 
with us, and drives the rye along so that 
we will have a good cover crop after all. 
Corn planting was delayed. We had our 
ground all ready to mark when the rain 
came. Now it should be harrowed once 
more, but with the rush to finish spray¬ 
ing and strawberry hoeing, plants to set 
out and the crowd of jobs at this season 
something must fall behind. T like to get 
corn planted so as to have the entire 
month of June for growing. This is the 
best growing month, and late-planted 
corn does not have the best chance. Our 
flint will get through, but I would rather 
have it in earlier 
Growth. —These cool, wet days have 
driven the grass and trees like race 
horses. By Decoration Day some of the 
apple trees had made nearly 12 inches of 
new wood. This in addition to starting a 
good setting of fruit. These trees are in 
sod, which has never been plowed. The 
grass was cut last year, and taken out as 
hay. Then, at once, such manure as we 
could scrape up was scattered around the 
trees in a circle about as far out as the 
limbs extend. The trees matured a good 
fruit crop, and here they are again with 
more fruit and a fine wood growth. We 
have never bought a pound of manure 
since we moved to the farm. The soil has 
been made over by using lime and plow¬ 
ing under cover crops. It is true we have 
used chemicals, but not so freely as to say 
they have really added much plant food to 
the soil. I consider these tough old soils 
are naturally strong. Lime and cover 
crops make them fit, as training will 
make some naturally strong man far 
more efficient. The grass has shot up like 
magic as the result of the rain. We gave 
it a dressing of fertilizer very high in 
nitrogen, and within 48 hours you could 
see the difference in color. One block of 
old peach trees does not show quite the 
color we like, and we gave a light dose 
of nitrate to quicken things up. Each 
year does more and more to convince me 
that the most businesslike way to fertil¬ 
ize an orchard is to use phosphate and 
potash on a cover crop which contains 
some clover or vetch. Plow this under 
and watch your trees. If they lack nitro¬ 
gen you can tell it by the color of the 
foliage, and by using nitrate of soda you 
can give your trees what they lack. This 
is the way successful feeders handle their 
cattle and sheep, and it will pay any 
farmer to study it out. You might call 
phosphate and potash the five-cent ele¬ 
ments (except now when potash is high¬ 
er). Let them help clover and vetch steal 
the 20-cent element, nitrogen, for you. 
New Crops. —We try a few of them 
every year. While I stick to old friends 
it is well enough to give the new ones a 
fair chance. Sweet clover is worth try¬ 
ing. It is queer about this plant. Some 
people rave over it as the great savior of 
poor, hard hill soils. Others say it is a 
mere weed. I see big plants of it grow¬ 
ing in spots along our railroad, and it is 
well worth trying. Just now I am great¬ 
ly interested in these Alfalfa seedlings. 
Some of them have made about a foot of 
growth already. I have started the seed 
of six different varieties in drills—so as 
to compare the seedlings, and particularly 
the root growth. What we want in this 
country is a spreading or branching root, 
not one long, deep tap-root. I think we 
have what we are after in two of these 
Russian varieties. I am giving no advice 
yet about using these seedlings, but the 
thing looks well thus far. 
Garden Crops. —I have a correspon¬ 
dent, a very fine Latin scholar, who takes 
me to task whenever we use the word 
“religion.” He says there is no such 
thing—the word is all wrong. I cannot 
keep up with his argument, but I would 
like to give him half a dozen meals of 
asparagus out of our garden. That would 
make him feel like offering thanks at 
least. Coming as it does early in Spring, 
asparagus is a popular visitor in our 
house. I wonder that so few farmers 
have this fine vegetable. They cannot 
make the excuse that they have no time 
to cultivate it, for when you once get it 
started, with very ordinary care, it will 
last for years. It is easy to cut and easy 
to cook, and I do not know of any pro¬ 
duct of the soil that will add more to 
family health and good nature. Some 
people put three or four tough strings of 
asparagus on a pi<" ' of toast and think 
they have a fine thing. Our folks serve it 
in cream—all you can eat—and that 
means a great dose in our family. We 
have many a supper of asparagus, pot 
cheese, bread and butter and rhubarb. I 
can understand why some busy farmers 
do not have a full garden, for I know how 
work crowds. I cannot understand, how¬ 
ever, why they do not plant about 200 
roots of good asparagus and give them a 
chance.If you have a piece of good 
garden soil and want to double up crops 
the pea and squash combination is not 
bad. We plant early peas three feet 
apart. When they get about a foot high 
we can make hills about six feet apart 
midway between the pea rows, put 
chicken manure in the hill and plant 
Winter squash. With us the peas are off 
the ground by late June, so the squash 
can have full sway. Or if you like and 
if you are willing to provide enough of 
plant food and water you can plant Ever¬ 
green sweet corn six feet apart among the 
squash. Then, of course, at the end of 
the season you will sow some cover crop 
among the corn and squash. We have all 
got to learn how to work our land hard 
if we work it at all. 
The Hen Business. —The breeding 
work with the Reds has come on satisfac¬ 
torily. Thus far we have some 150 
chicks, most of them from our selected 
pen. “Redman.” the head of this pen, 
has developed into a beauty, and the 
chicks are strong and well marked. The 
hens have not been pushed for egg pro¬ 
duction, and several of them have been 
used for hatching. They keep up their 
record as layers, and have done well. We 
also have a pen of Reds from the same 
flock of Vermont Reds which has given 
such a wonderful performance at the egg- 
laying contest. Now, as you know, my 
plan is this Fall to have some expert, or 
several of them, come and select the best 
laying pullets out of our entire flock. We 
will enter 10 of them at the next contest. 
The breeding is in them, and if we can 
find out how to select them we ought to 
have a good pen. Yet we may fall down 
on feeding and development, or we may 
find that Nature is not going to repeat. 
At any rate we will try it. The chicks are 
growing well now. They have been fed 
entirely on dry feed—mash and grain. As 
they get fair size they help themselves to 
the mixture, and also have access to fine 
ground bone. They run on the ground 
under a wire screen to keep hawks and 
cats away, and have a warm hover or 
hen to run under for warmth. As soon as 
the sexes can be separated the pullets will 
go into just such a house as is used at 
the egg-laying contest, and there they will 
stay, with food and water constantly be¬ 
fore them. By the way my “scrubs” at 
the college have flattened out this year*, 
and I apparently stand to lose on that 
1,400-egg record. I will figure what they 
have done and its cost soon. 
“Love Me Love My Dog.” —I have a 
letter from a Pennsylvania man who says 
he has three dogs, and any one of them 
has more intelligence than the Hope 
Farm man! I am not inclined to dispute 
the statement. The reason for this growl 
is that TnE R. N.-Y. is opposed to the 
sheep-killing cur dog. Our Pennsylvania 
friend, with his intelligent companions, 
ought to know that we do not class such 
specimens as sheep killers. I have no 
doubt they would fight to the death to de¬ 
fend their master’s sheep—if he kept any 
•—but be claims that the farm dogs are 
worth far more to society than the sheep. 
Well, sir, that’s a new one to me. I keep 
three dogs, or rather the children do. 
They are fed at home and stay here. They 
are never seen off our farm, unless some 
of us go with them, and so far as I know 
have never damaged the neighbors. If 
they did I would not have them around. 
We have no quarrel with a good, well- 
trained dog. On the other hand, you take 
a cur dog of “yellow” breeding who is not 
fed at home and who ranges the country 
hunting for his food, without training or 
control—that dog is a nuisance and a 
danger, and he is far better off when 
June 5, 1915. 
buried beside a tree. The funny part of 
this dog business is that when I talk 
about the cur dog I get a blast from the 
dog lovers. Whenever I admit that we 
keep a dog I hear from the dog haters, 
and learn that I am no gentleman, but 
rather a menace to society by helping to 
keep the fearful disease of rabies alive. 
One man says the dog is “the noblest ani¬ 
mal God ever put on four feet.” Then 
comes another to say the dog is “the 
most useless and dangerous of all domes¬ 
tic animals.” I go out and look at Fritz, 
the Airedale, and her puppy, and con¬ 
clude that the dog question is bigger than 
the tariff. H. w. c. 
Painting Linoleum. 
Could you tell me what to put on lin¬ 
oleum to prevent the figures from show¬ 
ing through? The figures are worn off 
in places. M. E. T. 
Grand Rapids, O. 
I take it that your linoleum is worn 
through on the face; and you wish to 
paint it to make it look an even color all 
over. Make a paint as follows: One 
quart raw linseed oil, one-half pint liquid 
dryer, one pint turpentine, four pounds 
Venetian red (ground in oil) one pound 
raw umber (ground in oil). Mix all to¬ 
gether and strain through a cloth. Don’t 
add the drier until after straining. Above 
amount will cover about 250 square feet 
two coats, giving rather a brown-red 
color. If your floor is larger or smaller 
use the proportions to mix the amount 
you need. Paint at night, dry next morn¬ 
ing. Make sure linoleum is clean and 
dry before paint goes on, or it will al¬ 
ways be sticky. A. F. R. 
A Satisfactory Concrete-block House. 
I have seen several inquiries about con¬ 
crete houses. It seems strange that there 
should still be doubt as to the success of 
concrete for housebuilding. Nine years ago 
I built a house of eight large rooms, hall, 
bathroom, closets, etc., of concrete blocks, 
and it has been so satisfactory, that if I 
were to build another it would be of con¬ 
crete blocks. Since I built my house 
there have been some eight or 10 of the 
same kind built in our little city, and I 
have never heard a word of complaint 
from anyone concerning his house. 
I used the hollow blocks from the bot¬ 
tom of the basement to the roof. In con¬ 
structing the lower story I set 2x4 stud¬ 
ding against the outside wall and lathed 
and plastered on lath. I did this because 
1 was going to heat the house with hot 
water from the electric plant, which is a 
little more than a half mile from my 
house, and knowing that the advantage of 
the hollow blocks so far as heat is con¬ 
cerned would be augmented by having the 
hollow wall which the studding and plas¬ 
ter would give, I added it accordingly. 
This studded wall applies only to the 
lower rooms and not to the basement nor 
the upstairs. The result is the cost for 
heating my house is but a trifle more than 
half that of other houses that are entirely 
frame. I remember about the time I was 
building, many people said the blocks 
would 6oak full of water and make the 
house damp, but the fact is my house I 
believe, is the only hollow block house 
that is studded. All others so far as I 
know are plastered directly on the blocks. 
As I have said my basement is neither 
studded, nor is it plastered, and yet it is 
so dry that a mechanic who keeps all the 
time some fine lumber in it declares it is 
the best place to keep lumber in good con¬ 
ditions he has ever used. There is now 
lumber ricked up in It that has been there 
for at least five years, and it is at any 
time ready to work, ready to plane or to 
glue up. 
Let me also suggest inquirers not to 
think of using either wood or plaster 
molds, but to buy a machine made for 
that purpose, which can be had at all 
prices from $20 or $30 up as high as one 
might want to go. It gets pretty cold here 
in Winter and pretty warm in Summer. 
For instance, we had a temperature here 
in this city at a government sub-station 
22 below zero. The concrete house is the 
coolest in Summer and the warmest house 
in Winter that can be built. 
Illinois. A. W. FOREMAN. 
“Where did you get that awful indi¬ 
gestion?” “My wife tried to win my 
love through my stomach.”—Philadelphia 
Public Ledger. 
Direct from 2 H-P, $34.95 
Factory a—__ 4 H-P, 69.75 
to 6 H-P, 97.75 
User h 8 H-P, 139.65 
- 12 H _ p> 197.00 
16 H-P. 308.80 
F. O. B. Factory 
PortaI>le Engines 
Proportionally Low • 
WITTE Engines 
Kerosene, Gasoline and Gas 
Stationary, (skidded or on iron baseband Mounted 
Styles. Lons-wearing, separable, semi-steel cylin¬ 
ders and 4-ring pistons; automobile ignition: spark 
shift: vertical valves; variable speed; and other 
merits without which no engine is now high-grade. 
Liberal 5-Year Guaranty 
Cash or Easy Terms. Why pay double price for 
any good engine,or take a poor one, 
for any price, when the WITTE costa 
bo little and saves you all the risk? 
Now Rook Frpp Tells you the “in- 
new cook rree. Bide engine seIl _ 
inq as well as manufacturing. Get the 
.facts whether you buy from me or not. 
Address my office nearest you. 
\Ed. H. Witte, Witte Engine Works, 
1898 Oakland Avenue, - Kansas City, Mo. 
Office 189 Pittsburgh, Pa. 
NO CLIMBING OF TOWERS IN OURS 
Every bearing is constantly flooded with 
oil. Two quarts of oil in the gear case of 
the 8-foot Auto-oiled Aermotor will keep^ 
the gears and every bearing flooded with 
oil for a year or more. With its^ 
L| CA : frr5^^dupl irate gears and twol 
PUNNiyi - P itmen lifting thel 
. ^UtlNS A. EWSSv*- , oad rtrsight upl 
__it is unbreakabloTjL 
r*»— It rnns in a breath of air/9 
- The galvanized helmet covers thoE 
gears, keeps out rain, keeps out dust, keeps;, 
in oil. If you are tired of climbing aj* 
windmill tower; if you are tired of buying/ 
repai re and having them put on; if you are 
tired of waiting for a big wind, let usi 
furnish you this self-oiling, ever-going / 
mill to go on any old tower. It 
costs but little and you will get the _ 
difference between no water in a light 
wind and an abundance of water in 
almost no wind. Write • -*• mm wire 
Aermotor Co., 1146 S. Campbell A ve., Chicago furls mill. 
Send For Book On 
EMPIRE No. 9 
EMPIRE, Jr. 
Tells why they last longest 
—why they do not rot nor sag 
—w hy they stay hog-tight and 
cattle-tight—why they are by 
far theleast expensive fences to buy in the long 
run. Farmers, everywhere, are investigating 
fencequality. Users insist on knowing the qual¬ 
ity underneath, just as they know how to judge 
ahorse. You cannot fool an experienced buyer 
with an old horse doped up—polished up—to look 
Yor *■ 1 
Open 
Heartti[ 
Steel! 
eavilyj 
[Galvan-l 
ized 
like a good horse. You cannot fool an experi¬ 
enced buyer with a poor fence doped up to look 
like a good fence. A penny postal brings you 
the money-saving book. Writs today. 
BondSteelJPost COj^!3JlaiiinpeStjj^kdrlanJ2icJn 
MAKE BIG PAY DRILLING 
WATER WELLS 
Our Free Drillers' Book with 
catalog of Keystone Drills 
tells how. Many sizes frac¬ 
tion and portable. Easy 
terms. These machines 
make good anywhere. 
KEYSTONE WATER DRILL CO 
Beaver Falls, P 3 . 
WELL dr pay's g WELL 
Own a machine of your own. Cash or easy 
terms. Many styles and sizes fpr all purposes. 
« Write for Circular 
WILLIAMS BROS., 432 W. State St., Ithaca, N. Y. 
Hydraulic 
Write for FRET 
BOOKLET, 
based on f 
Cider 
Profits 
. Also Gas¬ 
oline 
and 
(Steam 
Engines, Boilers, 
Sawmills. Getour prices. 
thirty years' 
PRACTICAL 
EXPERIENCE. 
E. B.VAN flTTA & C0..624-F Hudson Terminal, N.Y. 
99 KILLS Prairie 
Dogs, Woodchucks. 
Gophers, and Grain 
Insects. Stop their 
depredat.ionsby using 
Also mfrs. 
of Solution 
lame and Sulphur for 'spraying purposes. 
TAYLOR CHEMICAL CO„ Penn Yan, N\ Y. 
FUMA 
™ denredath 
‘Fuma Carbon Bisulphide” 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RELAT¬ 
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DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND RE¬ 
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Either of the above two 
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This practical treat¬ 
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The Rural New-Yorker, 333 West 30th 8t., N, Y, 
