782 
Iht RURAL. NEW-YOKKF.R 
May 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
The first cutting of asparagus was made 
April 17—a little earlier than usual. The 
quality this year is superior; at least we 
always think so when we cut the first 
mess. The bed is in good shape and ought 
to keep us in “grass” feed until .Tune. 
The cows went out to get a green bite in 
the orchard at about the time our as¬ 
paragus poked its nose out of the soil. I 
watched Black and Spot bite off the green 
rye and Orchard grass, and they surely 
wore the same expression on their faces 
that our family wore as the big dish of 
asparagus came on the table. Oh, how I 
wish it were possible to make some of 
these farmers realize what they miss in 
not having a big bed of asparagus. The 
plea that they cannot find time-to care for 
a garden will not work in this. There is 
no vegetable which will grow with less 
care. Asparagus comes up wonderfully 
under treatment, but it will stand more 
abuse than a chopping block and still 
keep on smiling. 
* * * * * 
We have Reading Giant of a strain 
which is practically rustproof. I have 
seen no sign of rust in our patch for some 
years. This year I have a few plants of 
the new strains or varieties. They are 
called Mary and Martha Washington, and 
great things are properly claimed for 
them. They are really a selected pair out 
of over a million seedlings. They have got 
to live up to their names in order to beat 
Reading Giant, but I think they will be 
able to do it. We have never attempted 
to grow asparagus as a commercial prop¬ 
osition. A man to do that properly must 
be half asparagus himself—that is, quick, 
resourceful and very capable of saving his 
money. The asparagus grower gets his 
money in a bunch, and must make it 
spread all over the year. You may take 
two boys at the table and give each the 
same sized piece of butter. One will 
smear it all on his first two slices of bread 
and have none left for the rest of the loaf. 
The other will save so that all his bread 
will be buttered. In farming, the aspara¬ 
gus grower may be said to stand at one. 
extreme and the milk dairyman at the 
other. One gets his money inside of a 
few weeke; the other has it scattered 
through the year. 
* * * * * 
Another thing about tin; asparagus crop 
may be well applied to human business. 
Most people seem to think that the crop 
must be fed and cultivated while it is 
working. That is what we do for the 
horse or cow. To get that big flow of milk 
or to keep that big horse pulling the plow 
we shovel feed right into the animals 
while they are working. Then, when they 
go dry or idle we let up on the feed. Now 
we cannot work that way with the as¬ 
paragus. It must be fed and cultivated 
while most people think it is idle—that is, 
after we stop cutting the shoots. For the 
asparagus, unlike most humans, works 
hardest during its vacation. All through 
the Summer-and early Fall it is storing up 
nutriment in its big roots. What we eat 
in the Spring is • the growth coming from 
those roots as the result of this storing up 
in Summer. Thus the roots go on year 
after year absorbing food during the Sum¬ 
mer and giving it up during the early 
Spring as “grass.” From this it is easy 
to see that the time to feed and cultivate 
asparagus is during the Summer. Very 
little good will be accomplished by feeding 
while the shoots are growing. The life of 
the asparagus plant is one long round of 
filling itself with strength like a giant 
and then exhausting itself for the benefit 
of mankind. I have known people to 
iaugh at or scold men and women who 
spend apparently useless time in study or 
reading, or in practicing some simple 
thing. It is not lost time. Like the as¬ 
paragus plant, they arc storing up power 
which at the right time will sprout out 
into deeds. ^ 
* * *. . . * * 
The first potatoes were planted April 
10 in a warm, sand’’ °r>ot on the east 
slope. This vear we ai planting only 
about three barrels, a little more than 
enough to feed our own family. Careful 
figuring ’ast year convinced me that we 
lost money on potatoes. Our soil is not 
naturally adapted to this crop, and the 
high cost of seed, fertilizer and labor, 
when put into cold, black figures, made a 
convincing statement. Others find po¬ 
tatoes profitable. I will leave the chance 
to them. I think we have now come to 
the time when we must stop planting 
crops just because it is a habit to do so. 
We have all got to get rid of the dead 
beats and free passengers, and plant the 
crops which offer a chance at profit. A 
friend in Virginia urges us to plant all 
the potatoes we can. lie says the South¬ 
ern crop will be short and ours will be 
sure to pay. Thanks for the tip. which I 
think is good, but I will pass it on to 
others. We are done putting our labor 
and capital into crops which wo know 
from careful figuring will not pay. 
* * * * 4= 
Sweet corn pays us better; that is, we 
can get more out of it from a dollar spent 
in labor, fertilizer and seed. The motor 
truck makes it. possible to put this crop 
right into the New York market when we 
want it. With the horses I doubt if it 
would show much of a profit. As I have 
stated, we start out this year to produce as 
near to 300,000 ears of sweet corn as we 
can. That statement brings up a friend 
in Maine who wants to know how much 
acreage this will require, and how much 
of this corn will be Golden Bantam. It 
will require 15 to 16 acres of very good 
corn—different varieties—to give that 
yield. We must have the conditions right 
to do it. As for Golden Bantam, we shall 
plant not over three quarts in the garden 
for our own use. Our market varieties 
are Cory, Champion, Perry’s Hybrid, 
Early Mammoth, “Sheemanie” and a lit¬ 
tle Country Gentleman. Thomas does 
not like Evergreen because it is a feeble 
starter and does not give a good stand on 
some of our cold, wet soil. The New York 
market calls for a white ear. There are 
some customers who know the flavor and 
quality of Golden Bantam and ask for it, 
but the great majority want a white ear. 
I think it is much the same as the demand 
for white eggs. They are in no respect 
better than brown eggs, yet. it. has be¬ 
come a habit or fad for New York people 
to call for white eggs. Tims the general 
demand is for a white ear of sweet corn. 
***** 
My friend in Maine is interested in a 
canning factory and finds‘Golden Bantam 
very superior for canning. Others tell me 
the same thing. At several places in New 
England I have eaten the most delicious 
yellow canned corn. Yet our own people 
prefer the white ears. My friend says he 
pays 12 cents a dozen for good ears of 
Golden Bantam. Last year he planted 
two. acres of an improved Strain of that 
variety and picked 28,200 ears of canning 
corn! That means 14.100 ears to the 
acre! It. must have been planted at 
least as close as 21•> ft. each way, and I 
Cannot see how they did it. 
***** 
On April 17 we finished planting about 
three acres of Cory corn. This was in an 
old peach orchard. The trees were pulled 
this Spring. This orchard had not been 
plowed for two years, and most people 
know what a peach orchard goes to in two 
years. The tough old sod was plowed 
under. Then a double-action cutaway 
chopped up that sod both ways. This is a 
heavy, hard-working machine, but Tom 
and Broker made play of it. Then it was 
smoothed with the Acme, marked three 
feet each way and planted by hand. If 
lime had been sold at a living price we 
should have harrowed in a ton, but in this 
year of close figuring we let that go. 
When the corn is about three inches high 
a mixed fertilizer will be put near the 
hills and worked in. On part of the field 
I expect to experiment with a combination 
of sulphate of ammonia and barium phos¬ 
phate. This field will be cultivated at 
least four times and hoed once—twice if 
need be. There is no use counting corn 
ears before you hear the money drop 
into the bank, but if the crows, the chip¬ 
munks and the corn worms give us a 
fair show we ought to pick 18,000 or more 
ears. IIow much? We have sold Cory 
in past years all the way from one cent 
to four cents an ear! At the last culti¬ 
vation we plan to sow rye, clover and tur¬ 
nips in the corn. Most of the turnips can 
be sold at about 50 cents a bushel, while 
the rye and clover will make a cover crop 
which will be like spreading about eight 
tons of manure to the acre free. 
***** 
My Maine friend suggests that some¬ 
one should educate the New York con¬ 
sumers so they demand more Golden Ban¬ 
tam corn. I agree with him, but do not 
nominate myself as educator. I used to 
tell customers what they ought to do, but 
of late years I have been willing to let 
others do it. For instance, I had my say 
about the Ben Davis and the Wolf River 
apple, and also about Twenty Ounce. Last 
year Twenty Ounce and Wolf River 
brought us as much money as anything 
except McIntosh. While I was making 
remarks about Wolf River Mrs. John 
Barclay won first prize on best plate of 
baked apples with samples of that abused 
variety! It is easy to tell a man that he 
doesn’t know what’s good when he gnaws 
an ear of Cory corn from choice, but I 
rather feel like letting him educate him¬ 
self as to the superior virtues of Golden 
Bantam. I will give our customers what 
they call for. 
***** 
J wish i mul : ;• |,„ w 
Easter Sunday came t<y ns with tne 
peaches in bloom and (lie crabapples show¬ 
ing their pink. I never saw Spring start 
in so beautifully as this year. It is great 
to be alive this year. We have great 
promise of a fruit crop unless the weather 
prophet, is right about his big blizzard. 
We will not worry about that, but go 
ahead. The children have just been sing¬ 
ing. As an end of the performance little 
Rose mounted the table and sang the first 
verse of the Marseillaise hymn. There 
was true feeling in that little piping voice 
as she sang 
Bl 
sat 
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