1034 
f?eptember 1, ICIT 
Oic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i! HOPE FARM NOTES 
The 0i>d House. —When we first 
oame to the farm we found an old stone 
house—plain, solid and “old-fashioned.” 
We finally moved out of it, but I al¬ 
ways felt that it was a business asset, 
if it could be treated ris^ht. Many of 
you have read Will Carlton’s poem. 
“Out of the Old House, Nancy!’’ The 
old pioneer has prospered and his chil¬ 
dren have finally induced him to build 
a new and modem house. The day 
they move into it the old people go 
and l(K)k at the old log house which has 
sheltered them so long. There they 
fought their hard battles; here they 
faced joy, sorrow, trouble, success, fail¬ 
ure. All come back to smile, or scowl 
at them from the shadow of the old 
liou.s'c as the old folks stand in the 
moonlight and say farewell to their old 
home. 
Stone Work. —It is a great picture 
of a scone which many Western people 
will recall. All through the Mis.sis- 
sippi Valley, except on the great 
prairies, the first farmhou.ses were built 
of logs—for most farms were gnawed 
out of the forest—one a.x blow at a time. 
Those who built them of cour.s'c knew 
up the past to meet the future. I 
knew a plain farmer of middle years 
who married a ambitious young city 
woman. She could not see that her hus¬ 
band’s strength lay in plain, honest, 
siinjile and straightforward living. Had 
she been wise she would have helped 
to strengthen and poli.sh this way of 
living and her husband w’ould have 
risen up to power and influence. She 
ti-ied to make him ape the city sports 
or society men in dress and manners 
and the result was that both were made 
unhappy and ridiculous. Somehow I 
think of that when I see these solid old 
stone houses, with all they .stand for, 
made over with bay windows and ells 
and angles and gables until the fine old 
original hou.se' is buHed under the 
trimmings. If spirits ever return to 
visit their earthly abiding place what 
language these old Dutchmen must use 
when they come back at night to look 
over things and ti*y to find ihe old house. 
They would feel better to have it de¬ 
cayed and vanished like the old log 
houses, but to imve it still endure and 
be dressed up in mode.'u clothes must 
give them the fe'ding a man has when 
after long work big in a comfortable 
.soft shirt, I;e finds his chin held up in 
the air by a st'ff high collar which 
Nature Painting of the Old Stone House. Fig. 471 
that the timbers could not endure, and 
that their grandchildren could hardly 
expect to grow up and see the old 
home. Thus there was always that 
feeling that the evidence of the hard 
struggle of pioneer days must pass 
away. The Dutch, who settled our 
country, did not intend that the evi¬ 
dence of their hard toil should be lost. 
So they built of stone. This old hou.se 
of ours is, I presume, 150 years old at 
least. It is as sound and solid today 
as it ever was. These old timers just put 
one scpiare stone upon another and 
in between iiut tough clay and 
rye straw to bind the two 
together. The concrete engineers think 
they have made ni’ghty progress 
ill construction yet a century -and a half 
from now the walls of my old house 
w'ill be standing—.still settin,' the pace 
for their work. So when we moved out 
of the old stone hou.se we could not feel 
like the old pioneers. We did not build 
the house—some five generations had 
lived there before we came. When you 
try to work up any tender sentiment 
over such a place you find you own ex¬ 
perience mixing up what you imagine 
may have happened to the other families. 
A.x As.set. —I felt that as long as 
the farm endured this old house would 
be a good farm asset. There are but 
few of these old timers left. The farms 
are bought by strangers or new-comers 
who seem to have little reverence for 
the past, and less idea of how to dress 
nearly saws his head off. 
Fixing Ur. —So instead of build¬ 
ing onto this old house I .started in to 
bury it under green vlue.s. At the front 
end, which faces east we planted Bos¬ 
ton ivy and two climbing rose bushes. 
They started and we let them alone as 
I think Nature knows her business 
when it comes to draping an old relic 
like this house. Every year I like to 
show progress that \ve may see how 
Nature is wmrking, and this year’s re¬ 
sult is shown at Fig. 471. I think we 
have about the two largest climbing rose 
bushes in the country, and in late .Tune 
it is a wonderful sight, the bright colors 
of the flowers contrasting with the dai’k 
green of the ivy and the rose leaves. I 
suppose if some nurseryman or seeds¬ 
man were to print a picture of this in 
colors on his catalogue jieople would 
promptly accuse him of “painting the 
lily” •w'hich is a polite name for the sin 
of faking nature. 
The Asset. —But how does this 
add anything of value? Our country is 
becoming a short cut for travel between 
several big towns and the Hudson river. 
Hundreds of cars come this way, and 
they are mostly filled with what I call 
.sentimental and inquisitive buyers. 
These are people who eat with the eyes 
and the mind as well as with the mouth. 
If our old stone house stood there just 
a house without ornament these people 
would be interested, but the women 
(Continued on page 1043.) 
The Best for Small Fruit Growers 
“I believe the Goulds ‘Pomona’ Barrel Pump is the best for 
small fruit growers,” writes W. B. Nissiey in charge of 
k Vegetable Gardening at the New York State School of k 
\g/iculture. Long Island. ‘It is of sufficient strength and ia 
large enough to rnaintain a high, even pressure, which la 
one of the most,»'~’Portc.nt things to keep in mind for sue- t 
cessful spraying.' your dealer to show you A 
—50 styles—one for every spraying need. 
All thcrougnly tested. Our free book, 
“Hand and Power Sprayers,” gives val- i 
Ik uable hints on spraying and d.e* A 
'a scribes snrayers for every pur- 
pose. Writf* today for your JBf- 
copy. Address Dept. 11. 
The Goulds Mfg. Co. 
3 Main Office and Works: 
tBV Seneca Falls, N. Y. 
« Philadelphia Chlcam 
« Boston N«w 
% 1 Plttsburfrh 
Atlanta Houstcm 
Goulds Fig. 1100 
"Pomona” Barrel Sprayrt 
Simplex Soil Tester 
It’s a peouhar thing and hard to understand r/Uy some Patented of 
fanners eontinuo to plant important ?rop3 on land not know- course 
ing if the soil contains ouflicient lime or limestone to 
counteract the acidity of the soil to insure a profitable yield, 
when for ^ cent’s worth of Muriatic Acid and five minutes 
of their time The Simplex Soli Tester Will answer this very 
important question aud forever eliminate all guesswork. The 
price of a complete simplex Testing Machine, delivered to 
you, is very small, shipped all charges prepaid. Fully 
guaranteed to be accurate and perfectly satisfactoiy, or every 
cunt of your money returned in 15 days. Order one today 
and begin saving the money you are throwing away. 
SIMPLEX MANUFACTURINQ OOMPANY 
Dopt. XX283 • • • . » Baltimore, Md. 
CABBAGE WnRM^ Destroyed by Past. 
uinaiLf'HAMMOND^S SLUG SHOT 
Soused for30 years. SOLD BY ALL SEED DEALERS. 
For pamphlets Tvorth Iiavinj? write It* llAMMONI>, Itenoon, New York 
New York State Fair 
GREAT FOOD TRAINING CAMP 
A BIGGER than ever Program—More Extensive Exhibits—New Inventions in Farm Machinery—More 
interesting, amusing things to see — BUT the real hig idea behind the Fair this year is that it is a 
.. ■ , FOOD TRAINING CAMP —the one place where you can learn, and should learn the 
big lessons of Food Production, Food Uses and Household Economy 
COME this year above all years — your Nation and State urge this. Come and see Twenty Thousand of 
Uncle Sam’s Troops in Training at Slate Fair Military Camp for service in France. 
We face a National Crisis — one every man must help meet. If you are not a soldier you can learn your 
part at this Fair, learn it_interestingly and quiciciy. 
See Blooded Cattle, Horses, Sheep and Swine, and latest improved models of Agricult¬ 
ural Machinery and Implements. 
PATRIOTIC PATRIOTISM—The Nation’s By-word. If you are practical and patriotic you will get the 
benefit of the big lessons at 
THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR 
SYRACUSE—September 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 
