620 
TShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 27, 1918 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Cranky Spring.— We thought the 
working season had surely opened, and 
the plow was going at full speed when all 
at once Spring took on one of those tan¬ 
trums whieh sometimes afflict public 
characters who possess “nerves.” There ^ 
came a blizzard with floods of rain—a 
driving snowstorm and a raw, cold wind. 
The crabapples were in loaf, but other 
fruits had not opened, so no great damage 
was done. We had planted half a peck 
of Alaska peas, but they are safe enough 
in the ground, and after f^ve days of this 
mean weather the sun came out once 
more. Spring smiled again. 
Cold Ground. —Our laud is naturally 
cold and hard, and there is not much use 
trying any early gardening. We plan to 
make up in the lengthened Fall what we 
lose through the belated Spring. One of 
the Avater pipes has only .iust thawed out. 
This is the pipe from the spring. It en¬ 
ters the house on the noi th side, where 
the gi'ouud is well shaded. Our folks 
made much complaint about the children 
tramping mud into the kitchen, and so, 
after the pipes were put in, we laid a 
sort of stone pavement around that side 
of the house over the pipes. This keeps 
the yard clean, but it also holds the frost 
in the .soil, and while the rest of the pipe 
seems to be free this part could not thaw 
out until the sun got its heat in past that 
stone pavement. On April 13 Spring 
took .Tack Frost by the ear and pulled 
him out of that pipe at last. ITe hated 
to come. He gurgled and groaned and 
belched out a great flood of thick, rusty 
water, but he had to come. After a 
while the pipe was scoured of rust and 
the pure, clean spring water came 
through as before. Winter had ended! 
Irrigation.—N o one can tell how Avel- 
come that Spring water was, except those 
who went through the trouble last Win¬ 
ter. I know of one case where the pipes 
froze, and it was necessary to dip Tip 
and haul the Avater for 20 head of stock 
in zero Aveather. Our windmill helped 
out, but that is a creature of the Avind, 
which is as fickle as Spring. Sometimes 
when the tank is full the wind Avill jump 
and roar and tug at the mill like one of 
those fellows who rush in to offer their 
services when they knoAV there is no job 
for them. Then Avheu the tank is empty 
and Avork is needed they stand with folded 
arms and tell how Avilling they were— 
when they knew there was nothing to 
do! But I do not like to see such bluffers 
escape, and a willing worker like our 
mill .should have a chance. I look for a 
dry Spring or Summer, and we plan to 
utilize all this surplus water. We are 
planting a larger garden than ever and 
have used more manure than ever before. 
I shall invest in a good length of hose 
and run all our surplus water from the 
spring and what the mill can pump 
right OA'er the garden. We have got to 
make our garden the food guardian this 
year, and Avater is usually the lacking 
element. Up among our hills the seasons 
usually run in groups. First w’e have five 
or seven more or less wet seasons, and 
then about the same number of dry ones. 
Old Trees.—O ne of the first jobs of 
this year Avhen the ground thawed Avas to 
pull out 400 or more old peach trees. 
They stood near the house on good land, 
but have outlived profit. The past hard 
Winter just about finished them. The 
tops were cut off with an ax. Then we 
cut the roots on one .side, hitched Tom 
and Broker to the trunk, said “Get up!” 
and what was left came out. The brush 
was burned on the land—the ashes scat¬ 
tered. The trunks are cut up for .stove 
wood' and the roots go for the fireplace. 
As a rule peach orchard land Avhen 
cleared in this way Avill grow almost any¬ 
thing.# Last year the weeds and grass 
worked in, so we thought it too foul for 
potatoes. It Avas ploAved early ajid 
planted to Cory SAveet corn for an early 
crop. When this comes out Ave hope to 
have some late transplanted cabbage to 
put right in. If it does not make hard 
heads it can all be fed to the pigs. And, 
of course, rye Avill be seeded last of all in 
the cabbage. 
The Bearing Orchard. —This is our 
,jear for a heavy apple croi> on the hill 
orchard, and we have studied how to han¬ 
dle it to best advantage with limited la¬ 
bor. This orchard has been in sod for 
throe years, Avith Alsike and Sweet clover 
well mixed Avith the grass. I bought con- 
.siderable chicken manure, and have tried 
to give each tree the equivalent of 15 to 
20 pounds. On part of the orchard stable 
manure Avas used. This Avas scattered 
under the trees on the sod. Early this 
Spring we plowed .seven furroAVS on each 
side of the rows of trees. This leaves a 
strip of grass along the tree toavs and a 
wider strip in the middles. This latter 
strip will be plowed in May and three 
rows of flint corn phuited in each middle. 
There were tAvo rea.sons for leaving this 
middle .strip unplowed. First, Ave are 
crowded for time, and have much plowing 
to do for our corn and potatoes. If we 
stopped to ploAV the entire orchard noAV 
we could not get our other crops in on 
time. By ploAving and harrowing these 
strips along the tree rows we give the 
trees early culture and hold much of the 
Winter’s moi.sture in the ground. I am 
figuring on a dry Summer, and it is neces¬ 
sary to get as much early growth as pos¬ 
sible. Another reason for letting the 
middles go longer is that there Avill be a 
much larger growth of clover to turn un¬ 
der. We need all the nitrogen and or¬ 
ganic matter thi.s .soil can haA'e, A good 
growth of the clover turned under, 
packed doAvn and limed will give us a 
good corn crop, and we can reseed to 
buckAvheat and clover again in late July. 
I’lroRPiiATES.—I am sure that this soil 
is particularly in need of lime and phos¬ 
phorus. The lime is specially needed both 
to SAveeten the soil and to break or open 
it. The growth of grain and other seeds 
makes it clear that phosphorus in some 
form must be regularly supplied. Our 
tree.s have had chicken and stable manure 
applied, and there aauII be added eight to 
10 pounds of a phosphate to each tree 
during late April or May. This will be 
cultivated in. As an experiment I am 
using one of the so-called “raAv” forms of 
phosphate this year. It is almost im- 
pos.sible to obtsiiu acid phosphate as you 
desire it, and so we shall try the crude 
phosphate in several forms if possible, 
so as to see for ourselves what it AA’ill do 
along with manure and .sod. If it is pos¬ 
sible to develop supplies of phosphates on 
the upper Atlantic .slope and make them 
reasonably effective in orchard or farm 
practice, I think it is our duty to try to 
do it. We have got too much into the 
habit of depending upon other sections to 
supply us. Here is AA’here I try to find 
out about this new pho.sphate. 
PoTA.sn.—On any farm within 100 
miles of the coast that A\mrd has come to 
stand for a familiar trouble. I shall buy 
a little in mixed fertilizer, but we depend 
mostly on our oavu .supply of ashes. We 
have used more Avood as fuel than ever 
before this pa.st season, and the pota.sh 
piles out under the tree have a fair share 
of this precious substance. Our heavy 
soils are not essentially lacking in pot¬ 
ash, and we can grow a number of po¬ 
tato crops yet with manure alone or 
nitrogen and phosphorus. On the lighter 
soils I find that farmers generally believe 
that potash must be .supplied for po¬ 
tatoes, at any rate. You can buy all the 
potash you Avant if you are willing to 
pay for it. I suppose it Avill cost at least 
.$5 per unit—that is about .$5 for each 
per cent of potash in a mixed fertilizer. 
Before the Avar this cost was not far 
from one dollar per unit. On oTir .soil 
I doubt if at this price it would pay us 
to use the old potash mixture containing 
6 or 7 per cent. 
The Season’s Work. —At one time— 
during the depressing Winter influences— 
it seemed as if aa’c should be obliged to 
limit our work this year to the orchard 
and garden—letting the cover crops go to 
grain and straAv. I even thought of sell¬ 
ing Tom and Broker as war horses. They 
could Avell represent Hope Farm on the 
battlefield. I would like to see Tom 
snorting and straining every muscle to 
bring some big gun up into action. 
Mother and I talked it over, and Ave have 
decided to try to push the place harder 
A 
Pa.cka,ge 
GiapeNuts 
teaches food 
conservation. 
Saves 
FUEL 
SUGAR 
TIME 
WHEAT 
AND 
WASTE 
SOLD BY 
GROCERS. 
When you write advertisers mention 
The Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get 
a Quick reply and a “square deal, ” See 
guarantee editorial page. 
Y OU could rub till doomsday, and with a quality 
oil at the point of contact the bars would never 
wear out. Without oil, or with an inferior oil, friction 
would result with its heating and wear. 
So with the bearings and cylinders of your tractor 
or motor car engine. If you want power and long 
service you must protect them AA’ith an oil that still 
lubricates, no matter what the weather or speed at 
which you drive, and no matter how hot the engine 
may become. 
There is no practical way to test motor oil unless 
you use it in your automobile. No “free sample” 
will prove anything except to the expert analytical 
chemist. But if the experience of a vast majority of 
the better class of car owners all over the country 
were to guide you, you would empty your crank 
case today, clean it out with kerosene, fill it up with 
Havoline and start running. You'd be surprised at 
the new lease of life your car would take, running 
on Havoline. 
You may find it necessary to drive your present 
car next year and the year after that. The oil you 
use is important to the life and service of your car, 
whether you continue to drive it yourself or want a 
good price when you sell or trade it in. 
Your dealer knows the kind of Havoline Oil and 
Havoline Grease for the motor and gears of your ^ 
tractor or passenger car. Ask his advice. Havoline 
Greases are compounded of Havoline Oil and pure, 
sweet tallow. 
HAVOUNE eSL 
REO. U.S.PAT. OFF. 
** It makes a difference 
Snbian Companp of Petroleum New York 
Sneorporateb 
