896 
'i'lrdtc KUKAL NliVV-VORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
A Farmer’s Gathering. —The Pres¬ 
byterian church at Youngstown, N. Y., 
is larger than the average country 
church, and its walls are solid and lirm, 
yet it could not hold the great crowd of 
farmers which gathered about it on Sat¬ 
urday, June 26. Every seat was packed, 
the aisles were filled, chairs crowded up 
to the rail, the pulpit steps were occu¬ 
pied, and the choir seats filled by peo¬ 
ple who could not claim to be singers. 
Outside in the sunshine of a perfect June 
day, at least 200, unable to crowd into 
the church, sat under the trees or on the 
bluff along the beautiful Niagara River. 
Inside the church the sunshine, mellowed 
and tinted by passing through the stained 
glass windows, fell upon about the finest 
audience that one could ask for. It was 
like a great family of fruit growers made 
independent through successful farming 
and made intelligent through their hard 
study of farm problems. A speaker look¬ 
ing over that closely-packed audience felt 
like saying “fallow sardines” instead of 
fellow citizens. 
What It Was. —This was the June 
meeting of the Niagara County Farmers’ 
Club. The past 25 years have produced 
many wonders in farming. Among the 
first seven at least will rank the con¬ 
tinued success of this club. Thousands 
of farmers’ clubs have started, flourished 
for a time and then died of the dry rot 
of failing interest or the wet rot of pol¬ 
itics or personal interest. A few live 
on, small, mutual admiration societies, 
or political nests, but very few con¬ 
tinue. active and vigorous and young at 
the heart. If any farmers’ club in the 
country has held on to its youth and its 
ideals better than this one in Niagara 
County, I do not know where it is. I 
have been visiting it for the past 15 
years—not every year, but often enough 
to watch its progress. Year after year 
the faithful veterans line up, a little 
whiter at head, perhaps, but younger at 
heart and braver in spirit than ever be¬ 
fore. I cannot see how they do it, and I 
doubt if any one of them could explain 
it, for the development of this club has 
been like the growing of a great apple 
tree. 
Favoring Causes. —There are 12 
towns in the county and the plan is to 
meet once every year in each town. The 
meeting is held in some country church, 
with a dinner served by the women. 
Most of the meetings are held away from 
railroads—in quiet country neighbor¬ 
hoods— an( i n o attempt is made to make 
any elaborate display. Thus every meet¬ 
ing is like a big family gathering—where 
“our folks” drive in for 20 miles around 
to talk and visit. The modern car has 
done much to make these meetings “go.” 
When I first went to Niagara County 
some 15 years ago there were some 25 
carriages in the church sheds. On Sat¬ 
urday _ '"'n ted-over 155 cars parked up 
around the church—practically all of 
them owned by farmers and bought with 
money obtained from fruit. And these 
people brought rapidly to the meeting 
hated to separate and go home. After 
the formal “meeting” in the church they 
stood outside and talked, and most of 
them had supper as well as dinner in 
the church basement. I once attended 
a meeting where, right in the middle of a 
strong address, half the people got up and 
walked out. The chairman hastened to 
tell the speaker that they hated to go, 
but the cows must be milked. The cows 
did not trouble them much in Niagara 
County, for many a man with 100 acres 
in fruit will keep but one cow. So 
milking and “chores” do not trouble 
them, and they stayed and visited until 
the long shadows gathered under the riv¬ 
er bluffs and the last sunlight gleamed 
on the tents of the Canadian recruits on 
the other side. 
A Beautiful Place.-— It was hard to 
leave such a scene. Youngstown stretch¬ 
es out in a long street at the top of a 
bluff below which the Niagara River 
pours into Lake Ontario. The dull roar 
of the falls comes up from the south. 
The river has roared and beaten and 
smashed through the Whirlpool Rapids, 
but here it flows steadily and majestic¬ 
ally, a broad stretch of sparkling blue, 
on to the great lake. As you stand on 
the bluff in the late afternoon of a June 
day the strong, quiet river makes you 
think somehow of a human life. It has 
passed through the uproar and turmoil 
of youth and the fighting years, and now 
flows calmly on in that peace which comes 
from quiet, overwhelming power. Off to 
the right, the American side of the river 
curves around like a finger point into 
the lake, with old Fort Niagara as the 
finger nail. One who had soaked his 
mind in history could walk at nightfall 
through the old fort and see it peopled 
once more with a long procession of In¬ 
dians, white-coated Frenchmen, red-coat¬ 
ed Englishmen and hunters in deerskin. 
Off to the South Brock’s Monument 
stands up like a finger to remind us of 
another war, and close at hand directly 
across the river 10,000 young Canadians 
are gathered for the war in Europe. 
There they were, big, hearty young men 
from town and farm—ready to cross the 
ocean to fight with other big, hearty 
young men from the same walks of life, 
and who had the same dreams of man¬ 
hood and the same labor problems to work 
out. 
The Fruit Business. —Stretching 
along the bluff south to Lewiston runs 
a beautiful ur>'’e or boulevard which is 
said to rank as one of the most beautiful 
and richest avenues of fruit in the world. 
It ranks with that wonderful fruit road 
at llilton, N. Y., or the great orange 
groves in California. It is a .road of 
beautiful homes and splendid orchards of 
apple and peach and pear. And what 
wonderful culture you see looking down 
the long orchard rows. They will have 
a bursting crop of peaches this year and 
a fair crop of apples, and they deserve it 
all, for nature’s green paint on that fol¬ 
iage shows that man has done his best. 
As you pass slowly down that drive you 
realize that sweeping East from the riv¬ 
er for miles and miles are similar or¬ 
chards loaded with fruit. It is like a 
glimpse into fairy land. And the stor.es 
these older fruit growers tell of the crops 
they pick and sell read like fairy stories. 
You can see farms which a score of years 
ago sold at about $-10 per acre now giv¬ 
ing annual returns of $600 or more, 
while they have already paid the original 
cost 50 times over. 
To Think About.— I left that fine 
audience packed into the church. There 
can be no better place to leave them, for 
they belonged there and fitted in well. 
If there could be such a club as this in 
every rural county of New York State 
there would be little worry about future 
history. No man who is wise will ever 
attempt to go before this club and tell its 
members about their business—not if he 
spent 10 minutes in some of these or¬ 
chards. That makes it a greater wonder 
that the club has lived on with solid 
growth. Most people, when results show 
that they understand their subject, stop 
growing and stand still. I think the suc¬ 
cess of this club must be due to the fact 
that it is run like a big family—openly 
and fairly and with equal rights to all. 
They never discuss politics, always stand 
for the farmer and his rights, they bear 
and forbear and, large and small, rich and 
poor, meet on terms of equality and stand 
by each other. It may not be possible 
to do this thing in localities where there 
is a mixed population or mixed farming, 
but in Niagara County this Farmers’ 
Club seems to be as sure and powerful a 
thing as the falls or the river. 
Renewing A Strawberry Red.—I 
have a fine-looking strawberry bed two 
years old. Can I profitably fruit it an¬ 
other year? J. s. k. 
It will depend somewhat on the va¬ 
riety and upon the present condition of 
the vines. We plan to fruit Marshalls 
four or five years, and generally succeed 
in keeping up the yield properly. Some 
varieties, however, do not respond as well 
to this continued culture. Our plan is 
to cut off the tops as soon as picking is 
ended. On the larger fields this is done 
with the mowing machine, on smaller 
patches with a sickle or scythe. The ob¬ 
ject of this is to clean out diseased fol¬ 
iage, and thus prevent the spread of rust 
or similar disease, and also to start out 
a new and vigorous top. These tops wilt 
upon the ground, and are then raked out 
and burned if there has been any disease 
on the vines. Some growers advise start¬ 
ing a fire on a windy day and run it 
across the patch to burn up these dead 
vines, but there is danger to the crowns 
in doing this, and we prefer to rake and 
burn them. The cultivators are then 
started the same as in new set plants, 
and the middles are well worked up and 
kept open. It is good practice to use 
GOO to S00 pounds to the acre of a high- 
grade fertilizer at this time. The buds 
for next year will be formed during late 
Summer and early Fall. Therefore fer¬ 
tilizer applied at this time will be roost 
useful in supplying the needs of the 
plants. As the runners start, we go 
through with a hoe and cut most of them 
off along with the weeds. Ideal culture 
of this sort would mean rooting down 
four or five strong runners around each 
parent plant, and keeping the rest 
chopped off. In the case of matted rows 
it would be a good plan to take a small 
and very sharp plow, and run through 
the centers of the rows so as to cut down 
the matted row to about one foot wide, 
leaving strong plants which will send 
out runners and make a new matted row 
if desired. One object in cutting off the 
vines after picking is to stimulate a new 
growth, for this cutting appears to act 
upon the strawberry much like pruning 
a tree, as nature starts in to repair the 
injury by sending out new wood. Some 
judgment is required in handling these 
old beds, and each one really is a law 
unto itself, but in a general way the ad¬ 
vice is to cut off the tops of the vines 
promptly, either plow or cultivate be¬ 
tween the rows, use a good fertilizer 
freely, and give thorough culture with a 
hoe, cutting out the surplus runners and 
keeping the plants clean. One thing that 
must be remembered about these old beds 
is the fact that year by year the crown 
seems to push up a little higher out of 
the ground, so that it must be hilled up a 
trifle and not left level as would be the 
case with a new bed. n. w. c. 
The Mail Bag. 
Renovating Lard. 
When I killed my hogs last December 
it was a little warm. The lard from that 
cause or some other is a little strong or 
musty. Is there any way to treat it to 
remove this taste? s. G. 
Maryland. 
Melt the lard slowly m a large vessel 
over a not too hot fire. Add about one 
teaspoonful soda to every eight pounds 
of the lard. Heat to the boiling point, 
or until it stops foaming or showing any 
inclination to foam, when it may be re¬ 
moved from the fire. Some add sliced 
raw potatoes to tainted lard, allowing 
them to remain until they are browned, 
but we have always had better success 
with soda. k. c. w. 
Ohio. 
A Marvelous Powder. 
There was a man going around here 
representing the Lebanon Chemical Co., 
selling a powder called Palphene, which 
will do all the following things: Keep 
the Hessian fly from the wheat by sim¬ 
ple mixing the powder in with the seed 
wheat, and keep the flitter-miee out of 
the wheat in the barn by powdering the 
wheat when hauling in, and by jawdering 
the seed potatoes it would keep them 
from scab and wireworms, the birds 
would not pull the corn plants, when the 
seed is powdered ; it would also be good 
to put on hogs for lice, or in chicken 
houses, or to fumigate sinks and water 
closets, and also to disinfect horse and 
cow stables from contagious diseases. 
Macungie, Pa. c. a. l. 
We never heard of this stuff before, but 
they claim too much for it. We do not 
believe any powder or collection of chem¬ 
icals could do all these wonderful things. 
This man seems to be what we call a 
“guff slinger,” and we think his oratory 
is more wonderful than his powder. Our 
advice is to let him alone, or to sprinkle 
some of his own powder over him. 
Concrete Chimneys. 
On page 815 I saw an inquiry by F. A. 
P. regarding a concrete chimney as com¬ 
pared with brick. I built such a chimney 
five years ago, and it has shown no signs 
yet of needing any repairs, and appears 
to be good for years to come. I used 
square flue lining and built a form in the 
regular way around it, but set 2x3-inch 
spruce in the corners for nailing strips to 
nail wall board to, driving eight-penny 
nails about one-half way into the wood, 
where it was imbedded in the concrete to 
anchor the strips. I used run of bank 
gravel five to one through the house and 
four to one above the roof I put in con¬ 
crete a little wetter than usual, and 
worked an old saw blade between con¬ 
crete and form to work out air and give 
July 10, 1915. 
smooth job on outside. Round tile could 
be used as well as square as far as I can 
see. F. A. P. will find that concrete will 
be more airtight, give better draft and 
will be more permanent than brick, as it 
will never need repoiuting above the roof 
as the ordinary brick chimney does. 
Connecticut. A. F. R. 
Killing Burdocks. 
Will you publish a remedy for killing 
the burdock pest? c. w. S. 
Frankfort, N. Y. 
The only effective method we have 
found is to cut the roots off three or four 
inches under ground before the seed head 
forms. Destroy the tops. We use a spade 
or “spud” for cutting the dock. To be 
fully effective put a handful of salt on 
the root after cutting. 
Feeding Game Birds. 
I notice several items about feeding 
game birds. For young game birds of any 
kind, do not feed anything for 36 hours 
after hatching. Be sure to have fresh 
ground that hens have not fouled. Pen 
should be either good and big or if small 
(8x10) should be changed to fresh 
ground, preferably weedy grass at least 
once a week. For partridge provide 
shade; hot sun will often kill chicks in a 
few minutes. Never feed so much that 
any feed is left on the ground. 
Massachusetts. davenport brown. 
Poultry and Maggot Trap. 
Will you permit me to suggest that if 
anyone wants to try that maggot trap 
shown on page 775, without going to the 
expense of building the concrete basin, a 
good lively flock of chickens would know 
just what to do with those maggots as fast 
as they fall through the frame that sup¬ 
ports the manure. s. S. chandler. 
Vermont. 
R. N.-Y.—In the description of this 
maggot trap it was stated that a flock of 
ducks consumed so many of the maggots 
that the count of the insects was inter¬ 
fered with. 
Steam-canning Outfits. 
Do you consider a steam pressure can- 
ner safe for use in the home by women 
and young people? The argument is 
made by some people that these steam 
pressure outfits should be used only by 
experie ced people, and that the water 
canning outfits are preferable for hoir.-' 
use. MRS. G. B. c. 
Winchester, Mass. 
Few, if any, steam outfits are “fool¬ 
proof,” though some of them are nearly 
so through governors or safety valves. 
Most women who have had experience 
with hot-water boilers in the kitchen 
ought to be able to manage a steam outfit, 
but it is more in the worker than in the 
outfit. Fnless we knew that the women 
and young people had good judgment and 
experience we would let them work with 
hot water. 
The Three-horse Evener. 
On page 815 .T. P. describes a three- 
horse evener arrangement and asks if the 
three horses each pull an equal part of 
the load. They certainly do. The princi¬ 
ple of physics involved is, “The power 
multiplied by the power’s distance from 
the fulcrum equals the load multiplied by 
its distance from the fulcrum.” Let x 
equal the force exerted by the horse A, 
and y the force exerted by each B and ('. 
By reference to the diagram it will be 
seen that A is at the end of a simple 
lever of which 20 inches is the length of 
the long arm and 0% inches is the length 
of the short arm. Therefore 20x6(4 
equals force applied at end of the lower 
lever. 
Then 20x6(4 xl5 equals 2yx24 or 300x 
equals 300y. Ilence x equals y. 
e. a. p. 
On page 815 J. E. asks whether each of 
the three horses pull equally. Any such 
equalizers are a failure, since there is al¬ 
ways a side draft on the horses’ necks, the 
side draft depending on the length of the 
iron rod. Neglecting the side draft, the 
horses pull equally since, following the 
diagram A pulls one-half as much as B 
and C. The backward leverage on the 
tongue by horse A is balanced by a for¬ 
ward leverage of the long evener. But 
these two leverages are not in a straight 
line with the load, hence a side draft on 
the horses follows with a tongue free to 
move sideways. w. l. b. 
Albion, N. Y. 
