1456 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Wo are told to keep records of our 
crops so that we may know what they 
cost, and then cast out the drones—or 
those that do not pay. That is good ad¬ 
vice. but it is hard for the average farmer 
to follow it The reasons why this is 
so will not appear to the city man. but 
perhaps I can make some of them clear 
in tin* following figures. There is one 
part of a field near the house which we 
planted in sweet corn. We used a local 
varm'v called “Sheemanie”—an improved 
Ear 1 v Mammoth. There are a little over 
40.000 square feet in this field, or a little 
less than an acre, and we kept as careful 
a record as possible of labor, expense and 
income. 
* $ * * * 
The following table shows what we 
make out of it: 
EXPENSES. 
Plowing ground. 
Harrowing and marking. 
Planting . 
Fertilizer . 
Cultivating (four times). 
Hoeing . 
Pulling suckers.. 
Picking corn ... . % . 
Trucking to New York. 
Total .$148.00 
RECEIPTS FROM CORN. 
0.000 ears, average $2.75.$105 00 
1.000 ears, second size. 15.00 
Total income .$180.00 
In addition to this we have the fodder 
or stalks and seed for next year. I think 
this fodder will offset about $20 worth of 
hay. while the seed would cost at least 
$5 at this year’s awful prices. We also 
have a crop of pumpkins coming on. I 
cannot yet estimate their value. The 
ground is now well seeded to rye and part 
of the field is a young peach orchard. 
These trees have made a fine growth as a 
result of fertilizing and cultivating the 
corn. Who can tell what all this is 
worth? It is all a part of the “crop.” 
***** 
On the other hand, we have made no 
charge for rent of the land or for “over¬ 
head” charges, both of which would go 
into any other business. What is a fair 
rent for this land? I paid $50 an acre 
for it 20 years ago. but now similar land 
all around us is held for at least $250. 
IIow shall I estimate this interest? As 
for “overhead.” this acre should carry 
its share of those yearly expenses which 
are steadv or constant. For example, avc 
probably work our horses less than 200 
days in the year. They are idle the rest 
of the time, but expenses of keeping them 
goes on. Repairs on buildings, tools, 
labor spent in keeping the farm going, 
feed and a dozen other things all must 
be paid for with no direct returns in 
sight. I should lump all that together as 
“overhead” charges, including costs of 
barns, sheds and other buildings needed 
to conduct the farm. Perhaps you have 
not considered that, but my observation 
is that many back-to-the-landers fail be¬ 
cause this “overhead” is too large. I will 
take that point up again later, but now I 
Avant to ask hoAV this “overhead” should 
be distributed. Should Ave include the 
entire farm or only the productive acres? 
If the latter, should I charge more of it 
to this acre of sweet corn and less to an 
acre of young apple orchard where the 
grass is just cut once and piled around 
the trees? It is no easy matter to figure 
these things after all. We had a com¬ 
bination of good crop and good prices this 
year. You see what would have happened 
had Avorms and smut been bad or had xve 
struck a market below $2. 
***** 
Some of you will question these figures 
of horse and man Avork. As it happens 
we have been obliged to hire some work 
at plowing and fitting. The charge has 
been $7 for a nine-hour day, and that is 
now the “going” price in this country. 
A few years ago the price was $4. We 
consider -our team ' Avork worth as much 
as avc must pay to others. We spent 1*4 
day plowing that field, as we wanted to 
do it right. The other figures are based 
on what Ave have been obliged to pay Out- 
Ridel’s for similar service. No charge is 
made for seed, as Ave grew our oavu seed 
last year, and have saved enough out of 
this year’s crop to offset it. As for the 
trucking, my idea was to charge the cost 
of gasoline and oil. a fair proportion of 
last year’s repair bill, and the time of 
the driver. Thomas argues that we should 
consider our own time and trucking worth 
as much as Ave would charge others. We 
would charge $20 for carrying a load to 
Ncav York for others. Since avc charge 
ourselves the same price avc pay for out¬ 
side plowing why not also charge our¬ 
selves with what avc would charge others? 
That seems fair enough, and so Ave let 
it go. The other fields of sweet corn are 
harder to figure, since they Avere mostly 
grown in bearing orchards, where the 
yield Avas less because the fruit got some 
of the benefit from fertilizing and culti¬ 
vating. 
***** 
What is the cost of producing apples 
and Avliaf is a tree worth? Shat problem 
is harder than a corn or potato yield. 
One of our boys Avanted to buy 12 bearing 
trees this year. lie selected six McIntosh 
and six Baldwins. I made a contract 
with him at a stated price—the trees to 
belong to him during their life, not in¬ 
cluding the ground where they stand 
He is to spray, prune, pick and pack or 
3.50 
2.50 
50.00 
0.00 
10.00 
5 00 
15.00 
40.00 
nay for having it done. The six McIntosh 
trees have been picked and the fruit Avas 
promptly sold. The fruit from these six 
trees brought $113,80. The Baldwins 
have not yet been picked, but they are 
not so good. Now what should I have 
charged the boy for a tree? They are 
strong and vigorous and look now as if 
they were good for 20 years more. They 
are annual bearers and ought, to gh r e 
more and more each year. They stand in 
sod and do not need cultivation. If they 
were your trees with such an income in 
sight Avhat would you charge the boy for 
six of them? (live your estimate and 
I AA’ill tell of the bargain Ave made. 
* * * * * 
You have got to remember that an 
orchard is not like a field of corn. For 
nearly 10 years these trees were carried 
at a loss. They gave a feAv apples at six 
years, but not until they were 12 years 
from planting did they pay much of a 
profit. Then they had to pay the cost of 
the long, weary Avait from planting to 
bearing until they could be considered an 
asset. Some men might take the boy’s 
figures and say ihe t -cos give an income 
of $10 each. There are 42 trees on an 
acre and that means $708 per acre. Plant 
20 acres and take in $15,000. - As easy as 
ricking cherries! I have one orchard of 
Baldwins that looks good for 200 barrels, 
and I figure the SAveet corn grown in the 
center of it has paid all its own expenses 
and also the cost of dusting, pruning and 
fertilizing these trees. One of those trees 
alone looks as if it would produce $50 
worth of fruit this year, but it. has taken 
long years of work and spending to get 
that orchard going, and the cost of all 
that long waiting must be considered. 
So I find it hard to tell what a tree is 
worth. Quite a number of people talk 
of reutin; old orchards of neglected trees 
and trying to bring them back. The 
OAvner of the orchard usually Avants a 
good cash rent or a good share of the 
fruit from the start. Of course it de¬ 
pends on the condition of the orchard. If 
it were like some I have seen—neglected 
in both tree and soil—I would not touch 
it without a five-year lease and a con¬ 
tract to give me all the apples I could 
raise for three years and two-thirds of 
the crop for the remaining two •■•ears. It. 
might seem like hard terms, but if I han¬ 
dled it so as to make it, pay me the owner 
would find his property doubled in value. 
***** 
The poultry and fruit meeting at Hope 
Farm on September 20 was a success. 
It Avas just an informal gathering under 
the trees, where avc talked over our plans 
fviT boosting this “backyard of Bergen 
County.” Professor Lewis and Professor 
Aubry came up from New Brunswick 
and talked hens. They had one of the 
new gasoline lamps for lighting the hen¬ 
house hung to a tree. Coming across the 
lawn I suav this light, and really thought 
they had connected with the electric wire. 
Several of our poultrymen will try to 
turn night, into day this Winter. Professor 
Blake gave one of the best possible talks 
on budding and grafting. lie found a 
seedling peach tree groAving back of the 
house, and the crowd gathered around 
while he cut buds from an Elberta tree 
and put them into the seedling. The 
Hope Farm man undertook to welcome 
the company, and little Rose was to stand 
iu front and make a boAV Avhen he men¬ 
tioned her. At the “mention” the com¬ 
pany laughed loud, and I turned to find 
that Ro,.e had forgotten her lines and was 
licking the last remnant of ice cream off 
her plate. Well, they Avere Aveleome any- 
Avay. The object of this meeting was to 
organize for the purpose of securing an 
egg-laying contest in this county. It is 
a good thing, and Ave all want it. We 
need the help of every man, Avoman and 
child who keeps hens or eats eggs or 
poultry and Ave want to enlist the entire 
county. 
October 4, 1910 
That great, race at the Vineland egg- 
laying contest seems to be developing into 
a procession. The Hope Farm pullets 
seem to be in the hearse. At the end of 
the forty-sixth Aveek the race stands as 
follows: 
Underhill Bros., R. I. Reds.2,230 
O. S Greene, W. Leghorn.2.142 
Pinehurst Farm, W. Leghorn.2.137 
P. G. Platt, W. Leghorn.2.129 
Fred J. MatheAvs, \V. Leghorn.2.127 
In that forty-sixth week those remark¬ 
able Reds laid 44 eggs—every one of the 
10 pullets laying. The Leghorns seem to 
have cracked first under the strain. My 
belief has been that the Reds Avould sIoav 
up in Sentember, but they have kept on 
gaining and the chances now are that 
they will win with the best certified record 
ever given 10 pullets. Now, when this 
contest Avas started, no one kneAV that Mr. 
Underhill had developed this remarkable 
strain of layers. He did not kmnv it 
himself. In fact, this contest has brought 
to light a dozen or more flocks where 
either by scientific study or just “instinct” 
men and women have developed strains 
of birds which have remarkable laying 
power. This work of locating these su¬ 
perior flocks and making the blood from 
them available will pay back to New 
Jersey, through poultry development, 500 
times the cost of this contest and breeding 
experiment. My oavu Reds? They have 
openly and ignominiously cracked in the 
race, right at the home stretch. They arc 
No. 3 among the Red pens, but this week 
they Avent down to four eggs. The one 
bright spot is that tAVO of these four eggs 
were laid by Hope Farm Beauty, who 
noAV has a record of 213. It is worth 
the price of admission to know about her. 
We make no complaint and smile at the 
failure of our birds to overcome their de¬ 
sire to brood. The frying pau awaits five 
of them. Strange, too, for these birds 
are really second cousins to the Under¬ 
hill pullets. II. AV. C. 
(COLO AfR WARM AIR COLD AIR 
ADJUSTABLE COL" 
LAR TO ADAPT 
HEATER TOR VARI' 
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PATENTED ONE 
PIECE CAST IRON 
RADIATOR 
DIRECT CONNECT¬ 
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LARGE FEED DOOR 
OPENING FOR COAL 
At -O' OR WOOD 
ARRANGEMENT FOR 
MOT WATER COIL 
NO JOINT HERE 
NO SEPARATE FEEO 
DOOR FRAME 
NO GAS LEAKAGE. 
inicA 
CVERY JOINT A 
DEEP WIDE CUP 
JOINT 
WATER PAN 
NON CLINKER FOUR l 1 ----- 
BAR TRIANGULAR - 
GRATE (SIMPLEST OEEP ROOMY ASH PIT 
AND BEST GRATE 
EVER INVENTED) 
CAST IRON ASH PIT 
BOTTOM 
S sure, this winter, that every room in your house is as warm an 
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Don’t compel your family to dress in cold, chilly rooms. Give thei 
Pipeless Furnace 
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circulates warm, moist air evenly in every room—as warm as you like it. It produces the 
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there Mill not spoil. 
Install a New Idea and eliminate the work 
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Get All The Facts 
Write today for complete information. You 
want to know all the facts. Don t delay,for 
cold weather will be here before you know 
it. There’s a New 
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us and we’ll send yifflib&dv*/, ^ 
you his name 
