897 
RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Struggle. Will it pay? I plan to put 
in about 3,000 more plants as soon as 
the peas alongside are out. And this 
is only the beginning of the plan to 
conquer about two acres of weedy land 
in the same way. That will make the 
children wonder, but when they see 
what comes of all this they will fall in. 
After Supper. —So here we are at the 
end of the day. We had supper as usual. 
Of course there had to be baked beans, 
but to satisfy those who do not date 
back to New England there were also let¬ 
tuce and boiled egg and fried potatoes. 
We have saved the bay without a drop 
of water, got the cabbage field started, 
finished the Alfalfa roots, made the 
strawberry patch shine and got the 
onions going; the potatoes are “laid by” 
and the corn is all ready for cultivating, 
and it’s time to consider the cover crop. 
Next week the rest of the hay will come 
in and the oats and peas will follow. 
The children are having a great game of 
tennis, the sun has gone over the hill, 
dozens of birds are flying back to nest 
in the ivy in front of the old stone house, 
cars are rushing past on the road with 
belated families hurrying home. Mother 
sits inside the screen room with a great 
pile of mending, and here I am in the 
hammock making no bones about the fact 
that certain bones ache from my long 
hoeing, but quite well content with the 
result of the exercise. And here comes 
one of the little girls. She will sit here 
in the big chair and gently swing the 
hammock until it is more than likely I 
shall doze off into the happy country 
where ragweed never grows and quack 
grass bears strawberries. H. W. C. 
Berry Picking Vacations 
In a recent issue of The R. N.-Y. 
there is reference to some Pennsylvania 
women who spent the Summer vacation 
of 1010 picking berries on a Massachu¬ 
setts farm. Tt may possibly interest some 
readers to know more of such possibili¬ 
ties. 
The plan may be said to have started 
early in the Spring of last year, when one 
of the women had an acute attack of 
wanderlust. The R. N.-Y. has for many 
years been to her a very good friend in 
perplexities of various kinds, so it was 
decided to carry this difliculty there also. 
This particular attack of wanderlust was 
a difliculty because a stay of many 
weeks’ duration was desired in the coun¬ 
try, while the funds available for it were 
extremely modest. 
The R. N.-Y., with its usual wide 
sympathy, saw a means of bringing town 
and country in touch and forthwith 
printed the request. To the writer’s 
great surprise, the result was 54 replies, 
mostly from New England and New Y’ork 
State. Almost all were interesting; 
many ■were practicable One, however, 
stood out as unique, as it offered occu¬ 
pation. When it was found that a free 
house was included it seemed too good a 
proposition and the nigger in the wood- 
pile was hunted zealously. He never was 
found. 
.Tune came, and with it the announce¬ 
ment that the “camp” was ready and the 
berries ripening. A vei-y pleasant jour¬ 
ney was made from Philadelphia to New 
York city by steamer, thence by steamer 
to New Eondon, Conn., thence by steam 
car to the hlassachusetts destination. 
The reality exceeded all expectation. 
Those who know Western Massachusetts 
know how impossible it is to describe its 
charms—the grand Berkshires in all 
their varying shades of color, and the 
placid, beautiful Connecticut River in 
contrast. Even the sky and clouds seem 
different from those farther south, the 
clouds hurrying along in ever-changing 
forms. How many nights have we 
watched the sun disappear behind the 
hills! 
As we approached our railroad station, 
it seemed as if we were strangei's in a 
strange land, and some of us began to 
wonder what kind of greeting would 
await us. Any anxiety we might have 
was quickly removed, when we found our¬ 
selves met at the station with a hearty 
greeting, to be repeated again when we 
reached the house and met the other 
members of the family. A drive of about 
a mile and a half brought us to the farm 
which was to be our happy home for the 
Summer. We found a charming tenant 
house fixed up ready for us, with every¬ 
thing that kindly, thoughtful care could 
plan for our comfort. Again and again 
we marvelled that we should have found 
such unselfish generosity and consider¬ 
ation. 
Our housekeeping cares were reduced 
to a minimum as the farm provided rich 
Jersey milk, butter, eggs, Dutch cheese, 
vegetables and even bread. Of course, 
berries came along in due season. 
The village, about a mile away, is won¬ 
derful in its development. Small as it is 
in population, it has two churches, three 
good stores, an exceptionally good library, 
a town hall and a flourishing Grange of 
about 150 members. The consolidated 
school has about 150 pupils, mostly 
brought by wagons from outlying dis¬ 
tricts, teaching excellent, equipment 
good. 
The berry business was interesting as 
the aim (and the vcluevement) was to 
supply the best possible and to keep up 
the fine reputation. At first there was 
picking every other day, late- there was 
plenty for every day. Such difficulty in 
getting sufficient pickers! This may 
seem strange to those ■w'ho know the size 
of the Polish families in this section, but 
in proportion to the size of the family 
seems to be the size of the onion and 
tobacco fields which they must weed and 
keep clean, hence the impossibility of ob¬ 
taining help in the berry patch. 
By the time the berry season w'as over 
we had got so much attached to our sur¬ 
roundings that we thankfully availed our¬ 
selves of the kind permission to remain 
longer. Infantile paralysis then caused 
delay in opening the schools of Pennsyl¬ 
vania so we were enabled- to extend our 
visit beyond the middle of yei)tember. At 
last, however, our glorious vacation came 
to an end, and we reluctantly said good¬ 
bye to those who had so kindly be¬ 
friended us and made our scheme such a 
success. It seemed too sad to say “if 
we come again.” Wo buoyed ourselves up 
by saying “when we come again.” 
The return trip was made by the Hud¬ 
son River day boat, and was very enjoy- 
Young Farmers at “Attention” 
able. Then the steam cars landed us 
once more in Philadelphia, full of grate¬ 
ful. happy recollections, to cheer us 
through many a Winter day. Also, it 
may be added, with a comfortably satis¬ 
fied pocketbook. 
ilegcd to join this most interesting com¬ 
munity, and find an even better berry 
patch awaiting us. In addition to the 
pleasure of the outdoor life is the in¬ 
terest to be found in the experimental 
part of the business. Part of the field is 
staked off as experiment plots, careful 
record kept of the respective yields, and 
thus different kinds and varieties of com¬ 
mercial fertilizers on different kinds of 
strawberry plants are tested. A few 
plants less thrifty than the other>s, have 
been sent to Amherst that their malady 
may be diagnosed. Berries also .are sent 
there for analysis, to test the effect of 
potash on the sugar content. The ber¬ 
ries are of the finest kind, and the de¬ 
mand is far beyond the supply. 
This year our creature comforts .are as 
carefully looked after as they were last 
Summer. There are some slight altera¬ 
tions in the arrangements i s our former 
house is occupied by others. Instead wo 
sleep in a real camp, jit the top of <a hill. 
The roof of the camp is solid, the sides of 
muslin and mosquito netting. The 
breezes blow through vigorously and 
healthfully. Our day habitation is a 
made-over .sap house, with everything we 
need, and nothing else, .so that house¬ 
keeping is reduced to a restful and sen¬ 
sible minimum, leaving us time to ai)pro- 
ciate the charm and advantage of not 
being cluttered up. 
After all this little account gives but 
the dry outline of our happy vacation 
scheme. IIow can one give any idea of 
all those countless acts of courtesy and 
sympathy which have been so generously 
given to us? May these fine, staunch 
people reap a harvest of happiness and 
prosperity in proportion to what they 
This year, we find ourselves again priv- deserve! 
A. E. E. 
A MAN is so busy these times that when he does get 
a couple of days’ hunting or an afternoon at the 
traps, he is looking for action. 
He wants to be sure about his gun —and that is one 
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from Remington UMC Smokeless ''Arrow” and "Nitro 
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powder, the old established "New Club,” 
Sold by Sporting Goods Dealers in Your Community 
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THE REMINGTON^ ARMS UNION METALLIC 
CARTRIDGE COMPANY, Inc. 
Largest Manufacturers of Firearms and Ammunition in the World 
WOOL WORTH BUILDING, NEW YORK 
