522 
C’Ae RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 7, 1917. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Warming Up. —We have, at last, had 
a few warm days in sucession, and it 
looks more like Spriug. Just as we say 
this, however, report of a “cold wave” 
appears in the i)apers, and we are not 
ready to get out the plows. The ground 
is still full of frost. Life appears in the 
maples and the willows, but on the whole 
Si)ring is Indiiud her schedule and not 
likely to catch up. We can haul out 
manure, prune, get ready for grafting and 
pick up the trash and waste for burning. 
We do very little early market gardening 
on our cold soil, and this year we are 
planning as .simple an arrangement of 
work as possible. 
Crops. —laibor will be scarce and high 
—workmen demanding shorter hours and 
higher wages. In our country the work¬ 
men have the advantage this year in two 
ways. The factories are busy and paying 
high wages, and the “gentlemen farmers” 
offer more for hand labor than practical 
farmei's can afford to pay. Therefore I 
think we should all plan to handle our 
crops with the least possible hand work. 
Some men will say they have always 
grown c*ertain crops in a certain way— 
therefore they must do the same this year. 
Now my idea is that when a man gets 
into a condition of that soi-t he is headed 
straight for loss, flood farming is not 
measui-ed by the gross amount taken in, 
but by the net amount, after expenses are 
paid. I can conceive of a farmer planting 
10 acres to tomatoes, peas, celery or other 
garden truck, lie pays a small fortune 
for lime, manui-e and fertilizer and em¬ 
ploys 8 or 10 men to hand-work these 
oroi)S. They turn off a big crop and sell 
it to fair advantage, but tlie cost of pro¬ 
duction is so heavy that the net returns 
are small. Now that same man might 
seed the 10 acres to oats and peas, with 
clover and rape added, divide it into two 
or three parts and turn in 7.5 or 80 pigs. 
They could be fed in self-feeders, well 
Avatered, treat(‘d for cholei'.a and left to 
help themselves. -The farmer and hi.s 
boys could easily care for the hogs. There 
Avonld be no cash paid out for labor, fer¬ 
tilizer or marketing. The gro.ss sales 
wonld be smaller, but the net i)rofit would 
be nearly as large, and the field Avould be 
in great shape for a truck crop when 
labor conditions come back to normal. ' 
UixifiE Reefing. —I was born on the 
Atlantic coast, and know how the sailors 
handled the fishing boats. In a light or 
fair wind they gave them all sail. In .a 
storm or in a heavy, changing wind they 
“reefed”—that, is, shortened sail by tying 
part of it up so the wind could not blow 
upon the full-sized sail. I think in times 
like these ji farmer may Avell plan to 
"reef” by <'hanging his methods so as to 
let more of the crops harvest or care for 
themselves. The use of pigs mentioned 
above is only a suggestion, yet I think 
many farmers will try it out this year. 
On many fruit farms the use of sheep 
will be increased and more young cattle 
will be kept. Of course, I am speaking 
more particularly of this section of coun¬ 
try where I live. We do not know so 
much about other s<‘ctions, but I think 
conditions are much the same elsewhere. 
PoniiER rROP.s.—While I think almost 
anything in the line of food will bring 
fair prices this ye.-ir I have decided not to 
plant largely of truck ci-ops. On several 
fields which might yield good crops of to¬ 
matoes, pei)pers and similar vegetables we 
shall seed oats and i>eas and clover. The 
object of this is to economize in hand 
labor, and put most of our time ujKm the 
fruit and the potatoes. These being our 
stai)le crops I think it will pay us best to 
give them great .attention and let most of 
the farm go to grain or fodder crops for 
the present. We ai’c working out of 
strawberries. They recpiire too much 
hand labor, and demand too much atten¬ 
tion when the fruit and potatoes must be 
attended to. Of course. I shall be told 
that we ought to hire more laborers and 
care for the strawberries, but I am satis¬ 
fied that, as Ave are situated, the extra 
labor cost will not pay. We are digging 
out a big plantation of currants for much 
the same reason, and this land Avill be 
put into a big family garden in Avhich will 
be planted some choice peach varieties for 
high culture. 
The Orchards. —At this moment the 
chances are for a heavy crop of fruit. 
Both peach and apple trees are well cov¬ 
ered with fniit buds, and the trees are 
healthy. Now what shall we do with our 
apple orchards? I hjive been planning to 
have them plowed early and well culti¬ 
vated up to the last of June, when I would 
seed with a mixture of Alsike and Sweet 
clover. This would stand for two years 
—the crops cut and left on the ground, to 
be plowed under and reseeded as before. 
Now last year we scattered Sweet clover 
seed all over the thin sod of the largest 
orchards as an experiment. Last Fall it 
did not seem that much of the clover was 
starting, and I expected to plow this year. 
As the ground warms up there seems to 
be more of the 8weet clover than I ex¬ 
pected. I know from last year’s experi¬ 
ment what this cloA'er comes to after it 
starts, and if it comes on as now .seems 
likely there will be a great crop by June. 
If it does come I shall not plow this year, 
but mow the first crop of clover and rake 
it in under the trees. Then cut the sec¬ 
ond crop later and leave it on the ground. 
If April and May are moist I think the 
cro]) of Sweet clover left cut on the 
ground will hold enough water in the soil 
to enable the trees to make their crop. 
Watching. —Thus we cannot tell just 
what to do until we are sure about this 
cloA'cr crop. The boys cannot see much 
prosi»ect for the clover to come on, but I 
shall stay by it and give it every chance. 
I tell the boys that if we put the time re¬ 
quired to plow that orchard into more 
thorough spj'aying and more thorough fit¬ 
ting of four acres of jxjtatoes we shall be 
better off. Of course, if Aju-il and May 
prove dry and the clover does not come 
on properly it will pay us to plow and 
I’oseed in .Tune. I am in hopes, however, 
that the Sweet clover Avill give Tom and 
Broker more time in the potatoes and 
gai'd(‘n crops. Whenever po.ssible I shall 
work this clover plan in the orchards and 
save at least one year’s plowing. 
I’EACir I’l.ANS. —The peach orchards 
ai-e in gi’cater need of cultivation. The 
mulching plan does not suit peaches as 
it does most varieties of apples. They 
are Avithout doubt b(‘tter for cultivation, 
yet in a moist season there may be greater 
l)rofit in cutting a good crop of clover and 
le.aving it on the ground. I think this 
Avould be particularly true on heavy land 
—which is not so well suited to peach 
growing. A rank, hejivy groAvth of clovei- 
will suck suri)lus moisture out of such a 
soil Avhen it is too wet and when cut and 
left on top of the ground, hold water in 
the .soil in time of drought. We must all 
remember, however, that any mulch h'ft 
on the ground in this way is a danger iu ; 
a dry time if fire is started in it. As for i 
peach growing, however, we ai-e not plant¬ 
ing heavily. I think the business is being 
overdone—particularly in varieties which 
ripen about with Klberta. Then it re¬ 
quires a "peach” of a man to make 
l)eaches do their best, and a human 
“peach” is something of a rare bird. We 
do better with the apples, and our chief 
work will be put into the apple orchards. 
We shall always have a fcAV hundred 
peach trees, but we are quite content t.i 
leave the big orchards to others. 
The Garden. —After all that is the 
mainstay on any place where there is a 
large family. I have said all I could in 
former years to urge farmers to make 
sure of a good garden. I do not mean 
some little patch off back of the barn, 
with a pint of peas and a few packets of 
beets and turnips planted. I mean a 
])iece of the best land on the farm— 
fenced iu if you let the hens run at large 
—but anyway Avell manured and weU 
Avorked, with a good a.ssortment of vege¬ 
tables. Can’t afford the time? It is .a 
To to 1 chance that 20 per cent, of your 
time is now spent on work that does not 
pay any profit. If you can find what 
work that is, out it out and sjiend the 
time iu a good garden. You will find it 
the most pi’ofitable move you ever made. 
H. V,\ C. 
Mildred had just had her first dip in 
the ocean. "How did you like it, dear?” 
a.sked her mother as she fastened up the 
little six-year-old’s frock. Mildred glared 
angrily at the sparkling sea. "I didn’t 
like it at all, mother,” she replied, cold¬ 
ly. “I sat on a wave, and I went 
through.”—Credit Lost. 
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