1206 
■a/ye RURAL NEW-YORKER 
^rtohor 1^0, T.tlT 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
P>IG Api’i.ks.—O n th(‘ mantel over the 
firejjlace stands a row of big red apples. 
They surely are beauties. ;uid 1 glance up 
at them as 1 write. I have measured 
several, and they average inches 
around. They have that dark shining 
eheek that we all delight to see on an 
ajijde or huniiin beings, and they surely 
do look “good enough to eat” as the tire- 
light flaslics over rhem. If you were here 
I should sa.v “Have something!” ajid 
point at the biggest red apple. Let im* 
tell you .iust what you would do. You 
would hesitate a little—demur at taking 
the largest fruit, and finally end by tak¬ 
ing it down from its place. Y'ou would 
sit in my big cliair and hold this fiiH> 
Hi»ecimen up and admire it awhile. Then, 
with a deep sigh of satisfaction, you 
would take a large bite, while a blissful 
expression would come over your face. 
It would not stay there long, for the or¬ 
gans of taste v.-ould reach out from your 
tongue and "wfiiie that oxi)i-es.Sjon( off. 
You might sw.allow your bite, but you 
would look at me in jiained surprise. Foi' 
these big gaudy fellows were never made 
to eat out of the hand ! 
Woi.F PiVKH.—Th.at is tlie name of this 
big blulTer that goes 'about in gay <'lot,h- 
ing—like many a human “gold brick.” 
With us. Wolf River is the largest apple 
Ave can grow, and the imorest in quality. 
Ben Davis? Ye.s, I think old Ben is a 
luxury compared with Wolf River, Ben 
Davis doesn’t pretend to have an.v par¬ 
ticular flavor. He has n dr.v, common 
flesh, Avhich, I admit, some folks like. It 
is true that sometimes be tides to pass 
him.self off as Xorthern Spy in his coloi- 
and stripes, but he does not make any 
great effort to pretend that he is trying 
to give a good acid flavor! On the othei’ 
hand, Wplf River started out to mix the 
acid of a crab with the spice of a Snow or 
^IcIntosh and failed to in-oduce either. 
It looks as if Nature saw what was de- 
•signed and substituted a strong dose of 
<‘atnip tea for the rich flavor. That took 
the tartness out of the crab and the 
sweetness out of the “bouquet,” and Ave 
have a great, beautiful monster with a 
heart of saAvdust. Sometimes a .store¬ 
keeper will Avant these big felloAvs in 
order to make a fine display in his Avin- 
doAv, and a feAV customers will try them 
for cooking, but for anyone who wants to 
deA'elop a qualit.v trade, my advice is 
let Wolf River alone. I shall no doubt 
be confronted Avith market prices and fig- 
ure.s to sliow how this variety has paid, 
and pei'haps kept the AA-olf from the door. 
I cannot dispute it; pei-haps the Avolf at 
the door got a taste of this variety and 
ran off to the riv<'r for a cleansing drink ! 
M.v advice to you is not to take another 
bite. Let .Jeremiah .Jersey 'and his friends 
have the rest of that Wolf RiA’er! Eat 
that IMcIntosh, then folloAV Avith that 
Northern Siiy, and forget it! 
Ho.v. .Joii.x FnosT.—That is what aa-c 
must call him this year up on our hills. 
In the A’alley beloAA’’ us much damage^was 
done two Aveeks ago, but on October 7 Ave 
were still eating sAveet corn, tomatoes, 
Lima beans and other tender things which 
.stood Aip in the garden Avithout the turn 
of a leaf. This late season has giA’on the 
Soy beans and tbe coav peas a chance to 
mature, and Ave have a good seed crop. 
On the lower fields these crops weie cut 
October 3. I had intended to have the 
vines pulled like beans, but Avhen aftei*- 
noon came it looked .so much like frost 
that AA’e went out Avith sharp scythes and 
cut the vines off. It was a false .'ilarm 
after .all, but a safe moA'C. After a few 
days of drying on the ground the vines 
are forked into high, narroAV and open 
piles or cocks, I think it Avould pay to 
put a straAvben-y crate standing on end 
at the center of each cock, to admit the 
air and help dry out. AA’hen the vines 
are full.v dry Ave expect to beat out the 
seed Avith forks or flails, putting a blanket 
on the ground and throAving onto it a 
forkful of vines for the beating. This 
may look like schoolboy Avork to^ the big 
growers, but there are no machines for 
doing it ia this country, and Ave need the 
seed. The late carrots and yellow tur¬ 
nips are growing on, and can stand an¬ 
other month outdoors. 
PoTATOE.s.—Our crop is practically all 
dug, and just about paid expenses and 
no more. We are at a disadvantage in 
growing potatoes, since our only aA'ailable 
land is in the alleys betAA’een roAvs of 
young trees. It costs far more to fit and 
cultivate these narrow strips than it 
Avould to care for 50 alleys all put in one 
open field. Our seed cost us ,$10.50 per 
sack, and all expeu.ses were high. We 
fought off bugs and blight, but this new 
plant louse caught tis unprepared and 
ruined part of the crop. We sold the 
marketable potatoes at .$1.50 per bushel, 
but it cost over $1.40 to produce them 
this year, under our .system of growing. 
There is, of course, another gain to _ us 
which I can hardly estimate. Worki ig 
the ground and fertilizing helps the tr^ s 
to some extent. As soon as the potatoes 
were dug we took the horse-rake and 
raked up the AA'eeds and vines. aese 
were throAvn around the apple trees. 
'Phen the ground was disked and seeded 
to rye as a cover crop. Next year Ave 
may plow this rye under, or sow clover 
sc(>d early and cut the j-ye to be piled 
iu-ound the trees. 
Faix Obcuako Wohk.— How shall avc 
send our fruit trees into Winter? Of 
course, if a farmer is wise he will have 
his live stock fat and strong before cold 
AA’eather comes, and see that the children 
are in good fle.sh and spirits. Fat fights 
oil' frost,- and it is fine to h.ave a full suit 
of flesh ! The apple trees de.serve a good 
start for Winter. We have been at work 
digging or chopping around all the 
.A-ounger trees. The plan is to kill 0 )it all 
the grass or weed groAvth around the 
trunk, leaving an open space about thre<^ 
feet in diameter. Of cour.se this should 
not be a mere holloAV in Avhicli the ice 
and Avater will gather, but it shouhl 
be hoed so the water Avill drain off. At 
time of this digging avc can cut off Avatcr- 
sju'oiits and get out many borers. If 
(•(Mild do it I would go over these trees 
again in I)oceml)er .and give each one 
about tAA'o good shovelfuls of coal ashes 
in a mound around the trunk. We sh.all 
also clean out all manure and trash and 
giA’C each tree at least 2.5 pound.s—not 
close to the trunk, but out under the 
branches. We arc also buying chicken 
manure and litter for this same use. 
Next year each tree will have a dose of 
acid phosphate, and I am considering the 
jdati of treating a ton of phosph.ate rock 
Avith sulphur on the plan suggested by 
Dr. .7. (L Lipman. sSome groAA-ers ma.v 
object to this plan of using manure on 
the trees during October and November, 
but Ave intend to try it anyway. Our 
apple crop is short this .year, but there is 
ji fruit bud promise of a AA’onder next 
year, so we are making ready for it by 
giving the trees a square deal. 
The Baba'. —.Just as I got to the mid¬ 
dle of a sentence there came a tug at my 
knee, a small hand reached up and an 
imperioTis voice demanded. “I Avauta get 
up dere !” There is nothing to do but let 
the baby climb up on my knee, pull doAvn 
(be light and sit with her before the fire. 
The baby ! That must be a ueAV one. It 
is. Kitty is three years old and only a 
temimrary member of the family, but her 
30-odd pounds fills a large part of tln^ 
house. What a stoi-y 1 could tell about 
Kitty and the way she came to us. 1 | 
think it Avould make some of those child- 
hat<'rs and lapdog lo\’er.s A’cry thoughtful. 
That may come out at another time, but 
just noAV it is enough to say that little 
Kitty, black-cj’od and lively, is at Hoi»«r 
Farm having a beautiful time, playing the 
]|a)-t of baby in a family of 14 peoi)le. 
She ha.s gained two pounds, they tell me, 
and hoAV she does put away the milk and 
cereal and fruit and A'egctables. It is a 
Avonderful thing to liaA-e a baby in the 
house, and this one fills the bill to per¬ 
fection. I think as I sit and hold her that 
it would be a great thing if Ave could 
have some of the older children' back 
Avhere she is now, so that av<‘ <*ould put 
(('ontinued on page 1215).) 
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a/ye RURAL NEW-YORKER 
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333 W. 30th Street, Nezv York City 
7 
1917. 
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The Rug-beating Squad at Hope Farm 
