882 
‘Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 24, 1919 
i 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Some of you may have read Washing¬ 
ton Irving’s “Wet Sunday at a Country 
Inn - .” Such fortunate, people would ap¬ 
preciate our feelings as we look out over 
the wet and dripping hills. Irving’s hero 
was stranded in a little tavhrn back 
among the hills at a time when travel 
on Sunday was prohibited by both law 
and mud. There were no telephones or 
pianos or house comforts or lively books 
at such an inn in those days. When the 
rain caught a stranger there all he could 
do was sleep as. much as possible and 
spend his waking hours watching the 
rain and trying to take the blue dye out 
of his thoughts. Irving’s Sunday priso¬ 
ner was a philosopher, and he did his 
best to be cheerful. Among other things 
he notes the flock, of hens under the shed. 
The gray rooster with them is cheerful— 
he flaps his wings and crows. But his 
defeated rival has no voice for a crow. 
This white bird has lost the battle, and 
now he stands out in the rain with droop¬ 
ing feathers—a picture of misery and 
soaked feathers, lie is old. and the gray 
rooster is very likely one of his own sons, 
and there he stands like King Lear fig¬ 
uring out the hard problem of what it 
means to have a “thankless child !" And 
no Cordelia comes to his aid ! 
$ Jjc * * # 
That is a good story or sketch to read 
on a day like this. We may realize how 
human life has developed since that old 
day. Here we are with a more depress¬ 
ing rain than Irving ever saw. For days 
we have been driven out of the fields, and 
it will be days yet before we can get 
back. Dusting should begin this week, 
the seed corn is rotting in the ground, 
the bees cannot work on the bloom, and 
—why, I could go on for a page with 
true complaints. But we are not priso¬ 
ners as Irving was. In place of tin* mud 
roads which held him up we have roads 
as hard and firm as a floor. lie was 
shut in from the world. We have a tele¬ 
phone, and if need be can reach any part 
of the world where the wires run. We 
can telephone to some central point and 
reach the ends of the world by wire or 
wireless. Irving had a cold and cheerless 
dinner. We shall soon sit down to three 
roast chickens with all the “fixings.’’ in¬ 
cluding about a peek of asparagus! There 
will be seven children and six adults to 
make away with that dinner. There is 
a good blazing fire in the fireplace, and 
there are books enough to keep anyone 
out of mischief. I can see the cows 
gnawing at the fresh grass as the children 
gnaw chicken bones. If the hens have 
their wet day troubles they know enough 
to keep out -of sight. The turkeys seem 
glad of the chance to Whe, and as for 
the geese, this weatliet ,ecms made to 
order for them. The houS'e is big enough 
to let the children stretch and play. It 
is true the bees do not wear rubber boots, 
.but how the big apple trees are pumping 
up this water. It will come back to us 
later in good fruit and we shall sell it 
at about $5 per barrel. And so we can 
look out over the dripping hills with 
something of a smile. It is bad—but it 
might be worse. 
* $ * * * 
A few months ago everyone who had 
any thought on the subject was telling 
about the immense crop of grain and other 
food about to be dumped upon the world 
I have not been greatly impressed by all 
this talk. I think it is started and car¬ 
ried on chiefly by people who are interest¬ 
ed in cutting down prices to farmers. It 
is a part of a well-orgar ' . game to dis¬ 
credit country people. w j.ie point is to 
keep talking about the big surplus of 
wheat and other food which farmers are 
producing. Then when the speculators 
try to boost retail prices the public will 
have been educated to believe the farmers 
are responsible for the jump. On the 
other hand, the speculators seem to rea¬ 
son that if they keep talking big crops 
and over-production they may frighten 
some farmers into selling for less than 
they should receive. That is a very smart 
game, and we must realize how completely 
the big . interests of this country have 
control of the newspapers, magazines, 
schools and colleges, and most other in¬ 
struments of education. Of course, you 
may say that this Hope Farm man’s 
spirits have been frosted and soaked by 
the cold wave and the present weatlie* - —. 
but just think for a moment and see what 
you can make of it. 
***** 
It seems to me quite doubtful if this 
country can really produce such an over¬ 
abundance. The cold wave may certainly 
hurt the fruit and much of the early vege¬ 
table crop. The cold, wet rains have pre¬ 
vented a full seeding of Spring wheat, and 
corn planting will be late. I think, too. 
some of the Winter wheat will be hurt by 
the wet weather While there will be food 
enough, there will be none to waste, and 
all this talk about over-production is 
largely nonsense. There is greater call 
for our surplus food than ever before, and 
if these rains keep up it will not be pos¬ 
sible to produce what is called a “bumper” 
crop of corn. The point is that practical¬ 
ly everything in the line of food will be 
needed this year, and I think we are to 
have reasonable prices. The late season 
will force many of us to chantre our 
plans, cut out some of the cultivated 
crops and seed to grain and fodder. I 
know a number of farmers who had 
planned to put in sweet corn, potatoes, 
tomatoes, etc. The cold, wet weather has 
held up planting, and the cold snap killed 
many plants. So these farmers will fit 
the land and sow oats, barley. Soy beans, 
or some crop which does not require cul¬ 
tivating. That means a saving of labor, 
and the crops can be fed to pigs or cows, 
of sold_ to dairymen. We shall keep right 
to our orginal plan in spite of the weath¬ 
er. I could easily tell a tale of woe about 
what the frost and the rain have done to 
us. but what’s the use? These are small 
things compared with some of the big 
events which we are permitted to con¬ 
sider. 
❖ * ❖ >|c «, 'Jjt 
The Victory loan went “over the top” 
in our town by a big margin. All hands 
helped. Toward the end of the “drive” a 
meeting was held at the schoolhouse. 
Cherry-top attended, and the speakers 
convinced him that he had a duty to per¬ 
form. The boy bought bonds in the 
earlier loans, but school work prevented 
his working much this past Winter, and 
the trapping season was a had one. So. 
after some thought, he came to me with a 
proposition. lie had $35 le t in the bank. 
He proposed that I lend him $20. he giv¬ 
ing his note for it. Then he could buy a 
bond and have $5 left as a “nest egg.” 
“But,” lie said, “I don’t want you to have 
my note discounted at the bank, for that 
might hurt my credit.” I explained to 
him that if the bank discounted his note 
it would mean that they had full con¬ 
fidence in his paper. I lent him the 
money and took his note. When school 
is over he will work and redeem the note 
and then have tin* bond. Our town hopes 
to secure one of the captured German 
cannon. If we get it we will have a little 
park by the lake, and in it will be one 
German gun at least which will never 
shoot at Americans again. Cherry-top 
has also secured a German helmet. 
***** 
It is a good thing, as I believe, to start 
our children with some idea of business. 1 
find some people well grown-up who have 
little idea of the functions of a bank, the 
meaning of commercial paper, or the way 
property is recorded or transferred. Cher¬ 
ry-top understands what his note to me 
represents, and how the value of such 
paper is decided by the character of the 
person who signs the note. I put it to 
him this way: Suppose you work hard 
for 200 hours and earn $20. You are 
asked to exchange these 20 sweaty dol¬ 
lars for a piece of paper with a name at 
the bottom of it. Now you know perhaps 
50 people well enough to understand their 
character. How many of the 50 would 
you trade with, you to give dollars and 
they a piece of paper? That puts it to 
him in a way he can understand. 
And this advice about business meth¬ 
ods is not all; the children need advice 
about play. This same boy came home 
from school full of a great athletic scheme. 
The school is to organize a baseball club 
and play games with other schools in the 
county. The boy goes to Mother to ask 
it he can join, and she sends him to me! 
Come. now. some of you old timers ; what 
would you do? Your chief stock in trade 
is “Y\ hen / was a boy we had no such 
nonsense as baseball. T had to work, I 
did. and this farm is short of hands right 
now !” 
I thought of that, too. as I watched I 
that eager little face, and I also remem¬ 
bered a certain small boy who had what 
you may call an unorganized and unen¬ 
lightened childhood. My present conviction 
is that if the boy I saw in memory could 
have had a few more games of baseball, 
trained and organized, lie would be bettor 
for it. So I am forced to say that the 
boy and T went out on the lawn and I 
showed him how to pitch a few old-fash¬ 
ioned curves. I find my slow out-curve 
still breaking right, and that drop curve 
still seems to fool them, though it makes 
my arm ache. My boys are good enough 
to say that I have “ everythin!i but speed.” 
With the rush and fire of youth they 
think speed is all there is of life. They 
will find that control and “team work” 
will win over speed. I think the self- 
control and quick thinking and co-opera¬ 
tive work needed to play the modern game 
give fine training to children. Most of 
us do not play half as much a - ve ought 
to. 
* * * * * 
As if to prove the above assertion, here 
comes little Rose, pushing my papers 
away and pulling me out of my chair. I 
must come out and walk with the chil¬ 
dren ! There are few of us who care to 
face tin* evidence of disaster, and there 
seems little else as the result of this del¬ 
uge. But the rain has stooped and the 
clouds at the north seem thinner. We 
found another egg in the goose pen. and 
the turkey has also presented ns with a 
good spec ten. As for tin* Reds, they 
seem to realize that an egg is largely 
water, and so they have filled the basket. 
How the rye is growing. I never saw 
ocas and onions jump as ours are doing. 
We find sweet corn two inches high and 
the oats are fine. The hills are wet. but 
the plowed ground has soaked in the 
water and soon we can run the harrow 
ov» r it. That will hold the moisture just 
where the trees need it. It is true the 
lower farm is soggy as poor biscuit, but 
let’s keen away from that and go up to 
that sandy spot on the hill! There we 
can look oil across the rolling country 
where the hills have been washed and 
scoured, and where the leaves are fresh 
and green. Surely we have much to be 
thankful for—including the rain. H. W. o. 
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i 
Is Your Table Drink 
A Real Part of the Meal ? 
There’s no food value in coffee or tea. 
They are only accompaniments to the 
meal. 
Postum Cereal 
is part of the meal and a right royal 
part, as one well knows who enjoys a 
hot, full-flavored cup of this snappy, 
invigorating drink. 
Why do hundreds of thousands of 
Americans now drink Postum in pref¬ 
erence to coffee? 
The better health from a 10 days’ trial 
in your home will tell. 
Postum is boiled just like coffee (15 
minutes after boiling begins), is a bev¬ 
erage of rich, delicious flavor, and 
economical. 
Two sizes, usually sold at 15c and 25c. 
4 
SELL YOUR WOOL DIRECT 
TO THE WOOLEN MILL 
We pay the HIGHEST PKICE. 
Ship your wool to us an<l we make prompt 
returns. 
No lot too small or too large for us to 
handle. 
You make the middleman's profit. 
LIBERTY WOOLEN MILLS 
YANTIC, CONN. 
Representative sample References : 
bags of your lot of Norwich Sav. .Society) of 
wool cheerfully ap- Thames Nat. Bank ^Norwich, 
praised. Uneas National Bank J Conn. 
Ask for Cat 
alog No. 274 
The Special 
nhnpe teeth cut 
the weeds close 
to the hill ami 
do not c over 
the crop with 
earth. 40 years 
actual service. 
Rear wheel furnished if desired 
CUP YOUR WEEDS 
with a COLT 
Wood Beam 
Cultivator 
BATAVIA CLAMP COMPANY. 215 Centtr St.,Batavia,N.Y. 
TOP DRESSING 
TALKS no io 
C ORN is high, but so is labor. To cut down the cost of grow¬ 
ing, increa c e the yield. A moderate amount of fertilizer at the 
time of planting may be profitably followed by a top-dressing of 
Arcadian Sulphate of Ammonia 
applied when the corn is 1 to 2 feet high. 100 to 150 lbs. per acre. 
ARCADIAN Sulphate of Ammonia is the well-known standard 
article that has done you good service in your mixed fertilizers 
for years past. Especially kiln-dried and ground to make it 
fine and dry. Ammonia 25^% guaranteed. Made in U. S. A. 
The Great American Ammoniate 
For information 
as to applica¬ 
tion, write 
The 
Company 
AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT 
New York 
N. Y. 
ARCADIAN SULPHATE OF AMMONIA 
is for sale by : 
NEW YORK: New York: The Coe-Mortimer Co., 
The American Agricultural Chemical Co., Nassau 
Fertilizer Co.,W. E. Whann Co., Patapsco Guano 
Co., The National Fertilizer Co., Bowker Fertil¬ 
izer Co., Frederick Ludlam Co. NEW JERSEY: 
Chrome: Armour FertilizerWorks, (address Bal¬ 
timore, Md.) NeiParA : Listers Agricultural Chem¬ 
ical Works. Trenton: Trenton Bone Fertilizer Co. 
CONNECTICUT : Bridgeport: The Berkshire 
Fertilizer Co. MASSACHUSETTS: Boston: 
The American Agricultural Chemical Co., Bow¬ 
ker Fertilizer Co., The National Fertilizer Co. 
VERMONT: Rutland: M. E. Wheeler Co. 
