1502 
October 11, 1910 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
As I write, Sept. 29, we are having a 
race with Jack Frost that is more ex¬ 
citing than that one for second place in 
the egg-laying contest. As October opens 
it would seem as if Underhill’s Reds were 
reasonably sure to win first place. As 
for the contest between Jack Frost and 
our late corn, it is a toss-up on the home 
stretch. On Sept. 27 I was in Sullivan 
County, N. Y., and they reported a heavy 
frost in the valleys. I noticed the corn 
had begun to curl a little and the bean 
vines were a little scorched. Most of the 
corn in that county had been cut, for 
they knew from experience that after the 
Summer boarders begin to go home they 
may expect Jack Frost as a Winter 
boarder at any time. I came home ex¬ 
pecting to find the fingermarks of old 
Jack here, but somehow ho missed us. 
He would show his mark on the Lima 
beans if anywhere. It was a close shave 
at best, and when the face of Nature is 
as tender as it lias been this Fall close 
shaving is painful. 
i'fi % Jfc % # 
We have three cornfields that need 
about one week longer fully to make 
good. One is a field of Luce’s Favorite, 
planted on very wet land. The constant 
rains have held it back, and it has not 
had a fair show. We planted thickly— 
much as you plant silage corn—for we 
were after fodder rather than grain. It 
has made some ears, but the stalks are 
good, and if we can have a week more of 
good weather there will be a big yield 
of fodder. We use it in place of hay, 
and when hay costs $10 or more per ton 
a field like this one becomes a good propo¬ 
sition. Then there is a field of Early 
Mammoth sweet corn. This was planted 
late—after July 4th. That is taking a 
chance on sweet corn, I know, but unless 
you take chances now and then oppor¬ 
tunity will get tired of ringing your door¬ 
bell. So we plowed under a big growth 
of rye and weeds and grass on a piece 
of low ground, planted and fertilized, and 
took our chance. Most of this corn looks 
well—some of it is the best of the year, 
but one week more is needed before the 
corn is ready for the human teeth to 
gnaw at it. I presume there is nearly 
$200 of value in that field. Does it go 
to help out the high cost of living, or 
does Jack Frost use it as an example of 
the high cost of dying? We are not 
worrying—we have taken too many 
chances for that—but I’ll admit that the 
first glance out of the window on the dim 
mornings is full of interest! 
♦ * :Jc * Jje 
Then we have a good-sized field of that 
Hope Farm flint. Usually we plant that 
variety on the hilltops, but this season it 
happened to be on the lowest land we 
have. A fine place for old Frost to begin 
his raids. This flint variety is one that 
we have been selecting for nearly 10 
years. You cannot call us corn breeders. 
We started with a strain of Early Canada 
flint which had been grown for years on 
a hill farm in New England. From this 
we have selected year after year the 
plants which come nearest to what we 
want. That is a slender, medium-sized 
stalk with two fair-sized ears growing 
low down on the stalk. We want a corn 
that will develop well inside of 100 days 
from planting. Most of our corn is 
grown in young orchards. The large, 
long-growing sorts are not well adapted 
to this culture. They must be planted 
too early to get full advantage of the 
cover crop, and they make such a rank 
growth that they shade and rob the young 
trees too much. While good for the silo, 
these big varieties are not of much ac¬ 
count as a dry substitute for hay. Horses 
would eat the leaves and part of the top, 
but reject most of the stalk. Our corn 
is slender, and makes a greut growth of 
leaf, so that our horses eat practically 
all of it. We feed it in place of hay 
through the Winter, and any fruit farmer 
may know what it means to haye a hay 
substitute which he can grow in the 
young orchards and still give cultivation. 
* * * * * 
The advantage of a quick-maturing 
corn is evident to us year after year. 
We use cover crops, like rye, clover or 
turnips in place of manure. I have come 
to believe that most of us plow these 
cover crops under too early in order to 
plant ordinary varieties of corn or other 
crops. We have to do it in order to 
mature these crops before frost, but we 
lose something by _ plowing under the 
cover crop before it has made its full 
growth. I think the last part of the 
growth of such crops is most valuable 
and one object in selecting this corn was 
to produce a strain if possible that can 
be planted after June 15 and get through. 
We had rye on our lower field this year, 
and I expected to let it go to grain. The 
rank discrimination against rye grain has 
put the price too low, and with hay at 
$40 a ton in our local market I figured 
it a better business to cut that rye for 
hay. Rye hay is poor stuff, but in these 
strenuous days we all have to do un¬ 
pleasant things, and our horses can put 
their Winter idleness to good use by 
chewing rye hay. Ho we cut and cured 
it—although it stood a little longer than 
we like. The stubble was plowed at once 
and on June 21 this corn was planted. 
With an ordinary dry season it would 
be all ready to cut now. but the continued 
rains in this low field have held it back. 
It would be nearly right for feeding now 
but we want most of it for seed, and it 
must stand longer. Shall we get it 
through? It is a problem—a race with 
the frost. Two. centuries ago the “an¬ 
cestors” of this corn made many a simi¬ 
lar race with the frost. Home of my 
own ancestors were farmers then, and 
I can imagine how at this season, when 
the corn was backward, they shuddered 
at the cold whisper of frost as they did 
at the yell of an Indian. For early frost 
meant the loss of their year’s bread. 
That does not trouble us so much now, 
but we do want to save that seed, and I 
hope Jack Frost will play the gentleman 
this year and be known as the Hon. John 
Frost, Esq. 
* * * * * 
We began picking the Baldwin apples 
September 27 this year. They might well 
stay on a little longer, but there is a 
big crop, and we will start while the 
weather is good. One trouble with Bald¬ 
win is that it drops freely when just 
about ripe. McIntosh has the same fault. 
Ben Davis and Spy will hang on even 
after they are fully ripe, but Baldwin 
seems to say, “I have done my full duty 
on this tree, and now there is no reason 
why I should hang on any longer.” Ho 
he lets go and down he comes. You 
must hustle and get Baldwin off before 
he talks that way, or a good share of the 
crop will be windfalls. We have a good 
market for such fruit, but the hand¬ 
picked apples are worth more. There are 
still some so-called fruit growers who 
send boys into the tree to shake all the 
fruit off. Then they pick up the apples 
and sell them as best they can. I have 
had some of these men argue that they 
got more for the crop handled in this 
way than where they pay all the expenses 
of picking by hand. That might possibly 
be true in a year like this, when fruit is 
high and no spraying or dusting was 
done. In fact, it is doubtful if it would 
pay to hand-pick any unsprayed fruit 
this year, for it is poor economy to put 
much time into handling wormy fruit. 
* * * * * 
Our own fruit is mostly clean and 
smooth this year. We dusted once with 
sulphur and dry arsenate—just after the 
bloom fell. I think one more dusting 
would have paid, but we were unable to 
give it in time. I am now satisfied that 
the dust will take care of the worm 
properly. It is not so good as the liquid 
for fruit diseases, and of course is of 
little use in fighting the scale. We find a 
little scale in one part of the orchard. 
I did not know it was there. Now we 
will soak all the trees with “Scalecide” 
this Winter—for luck! I rather expect 
a long, mild Fall, and that usually means 
disaster to cellar storage of apples. I 
expect to sell most of our crop as it is 
picked. We may carry 100 barrels or so 
into Winter, but at present prices I am 
not inclined to take chances on holding. 
Our plan is to know fairly well what 
things cost us and what we must get out 
of the farm in order to clear expenses. 
When we see a chance to get that back 
with a fair margin we let tilings go. If 
we run behind and cannot make good on 
what we have we must take our chances 
on a loss, or a gamble in holding for a 
higher price. While I know apples will 
be higher next Winter I also know what 
the storage loss is in a mild Fall—and 
we shall sell out early. 
***** 
Someone writes that all our plans seem 
to prosper this year. Well, hardly. The 
orchards are doing well, but some of the 
other crops are failures. Potatoes, for 
instance, are the poorest we ever tried 
to raise. We had a good crop from one 
bushel of Dibble’s Russet, but as for the 
rest—failure. Then there is our goose 
business. Last Spring I bought a pair of 
geese for $20. They were good ones. 
The man I bought from treated me right, 
and told me frankly I was too late, but 
I thought a goose was like a hen. We 
gave them good care and the goose laid 
three eggs. We hatched out two gos¬ 
lings—and a weasel killed both of them. 
We still have the geese and some ex¬ 
perience. Score a goose egg for the first 
inning, but we now know what curves 
old calamity is pitching. See us bat out 
a home run next year. Then there is 
that eggplant crop which would not lay— 
but who comes here? Little Rose and 
her tiny sister. Yes, we have them both 
for a while. We shall feed little Rita 
on milk and eggs and fruit, and you will 
see the vitamines' paint color on her 
cheeks and put solid flesh on her little 
bones. The finest thing about it all is 
the spirit little Rose shows toward this 
poor little neglected tot. Hhe plays the 
part of a little mother. Many a child 
would be jealous and fight for these 
rights which belong to the family “baby.” 
But Rose shows nothing of that. She 
brings little Rita up to me and tries to 
lift her on my knee. I confess that I 
am busy and not at first specially at¬ 
tracted to this child. But the generous 
spirit of this little woman is too much 
for me. Ho the writing can wait. Rita 
gets on one knee and little Rose on the 
other, and back we go to childhood until 
the other little girls run in to tell us 
supper is ready. "We've got a big pan¬ 
dowdy, made of McIntosh apples!” So 
in we got to eat it. My great regret is 
that you cannot go with us and have a 
big slice, and with cream on it. 
H. w. C. 
An Interesting Potato Crop 
As an example of what good methods 
will do in growing potatoes with a handi¬ 
cap in soil conditions, the crop of Ora J. 
Bayes of Cortland Co., N. Y., is of in¬ 
terest. Mr. Bayes last week sold 970 bu. 
of high grade Green Mountain potatoes 
from three acres of soil infested with 
quack. There were 20 bu. of small and 
sunburned ones that were graded out. 
The land was planted May 20. It was 
Spring plowed seven inches deep with no 
fertilizer but horse manure, and mix¬ 
ture of barley and buckwheat straw, all 
of which was plowed under. It was al¬ 
lowed to lie about three weeks before 
planting, which was done by means of an 
Elmira liillex\ 
As blight was not prevalent this year, 
the crop was not sprayed for this. It 
was planted in check rows 22 inches apart 
for ease of cultivation and was cultivated 
five times. Before planting the field was 
harrowed seven times, giving a fine deep 
seed bed. It was necessary to rehill 
after planting a few times, to coyer all 
the seed well. The seed used was of Mr. 
Bayes’ own growing. The field was in¬ 
spected once by the Farm Bureau and 
was said to have about 5 per cent of dis¬ 
eases of various kinds. 
The crop was most satisfactory, 222 
bushels of marketable tubers to the acre. 
But the price received, $1.25 a bushel, is 
a convincing argument in favor of co¬ 
operative selling of such crops. The 
Government crop reports published that 
week said the average price paid over the 
►State that week for potatoes was $2.27 
per bushel, and that the crop was very 
short in all the leading potato sections 
and rotting very rapidly, particularly in 
1-iong Island, which had been depended 
upon to counterbalance the poor crop 
grown elsewhere. 
Cortland County potatoes are an un¬ 
usually heavy crop, and heavy wholesaling 
here by dealers has resulted in a very 
heavy slump in price, unwarranted by 
conditions of the crop elsewhere. It 
would seem that the Farm Bureaus have 
a big opportunity here for service to 
farmers in helping them to sell co¬ 
operatively, as they have so capably 
helped the wool growers of the State. 
Farm Bureaus have done good work in 
organizing potato growers’ associations 
along the line of growing certified seed 
potatoes, but little if anything has been 
done to help farmers market their com¬ 
mercial potatoes. The farmers themselves 
should demand this service and not wait 
for the Farm Bureaus to offer it. 
The crop grown by Mr. Bayes’ young 
son, Rupert Bayes, was even more suc¬ 
cessful, and is a good example of father 
and son co-operation. The son, on a 
plot that lacked 200 hills of being one- 
fourth of an acre, has harvested 102 
bushel crates, four of which were small 
or sunburned potatoes. The son used 
practically the same fertilizing and cul¬ 
tivation methods that the father used. 
Mr. Bayes, senior, has more potatoes yet 
to. dig. At the price now prevailing in 
this section more potatoes will go into the 
farmers’ cellars than was likely a while 
ago when prices seemed to favor early 
marketing. m. g. f. 
Wheat Acreage in New York 
' The acreage of wheat sown this Fall 
is fully up to the average of the past 
three years for this locality. Wheat 
thrashed this Fall is yielding better re¬ 
turns than last year. The extreme prices 
asked for cattle will keep most farmers 
from increasing their herds this Fall and 
Winter, although a great hay crop was 
harvested, and silo corn is showing up 
finely. w. R. B. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. 
I am positive less will be sown than 
has been in last two or three years. More 
cattle will be wintered this year than for¬ 
merly. d. m, u. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. 
I think there will be as many cows as 
usual in this vicinity this Winter. The 
corn crop is unusually good and the farm¬ 
ers are putting. up a nice quality of 
silage, and lots of it. The corn being -so 
well cured they will not need to buy so 
much grain to make a balanced ration. 
Madison Co., N. Y. j. f. 
There is, I think, a very slight decrease 
in the acreage of Winter wheat seeding in 
this section. It is and has been very dry 
here all the Fall, and wheat is getting a 
very poor start, coming very uneven. 
While there are not many cattle fed in 
this section I think there will be about 
the usual number this year. T. c. s. 
Seneca Co., N. Y. 
In this immediate locality the acreage 
of rye is about the same as last year. 
About the same amount of stock will be 
wintered. In other localities near here I 
am informed that the acreage of rye is 
much less, and store cattle and sheep will 
be sold on account of the high price of 
hay, which will be sold instead of fed on 
the farm. f. 8. H. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. 
Very few cattle fed in this section any 
year. o. e. 
Livingston Co., N. Y. 
As to wheat acreage in this section, 
conditions are different from any I have 
witnessed in a number of years. I think 
had weather conditions been favorable, 
about the same acreage as last year would 
have been seeded, but owing to a very 
small bean crop (which is usually fol¬ 
lowed by wheat without plowing), it will 
be very difficult to seed acreage within 
25 to 20 per cent of last year. Taking 
a radius of perhaps 10 miles, we haven’t 
had rainfall enough in last two months 
to but lay the dust. Therefore, wheat 
ground is in all stages, from partly 
plowed and partly fitted to about (50 per 
cent sown. Some farmers, not caring to 
wait later than September 25 to sow, 
have gone ahead without rain, with result 
some wheat sown 10 days, is coming up, 
while other fields seem very reluctant 
about sprouting. So on the whole I 
think it safe to say that the wheat yield 
as well as acreage will be very materially 
cut, unless rain, followed by warm 
weather, comes soon, and even then will 
be short at least 25 per cent, but farmers 
now. as ever, are a very hopeful people. 
I think very few farms will feed cattle 
this Winter, other than such as they have 
on farms at present. Labor is scarce and 
high, and most farmers (unless young and 
full of red blood), don’t care to be em¬ 
ployed steadily through cold Winter when 
margin of profit is so small. Many, no 
doubt, will feed up their excellent crop 
of corn fodder to horses and sell their 
$20 hay. which for. my part I think is 
all right if not carried to extremes 
Seneca Co., N. Y. e. s. w. 
Salt Spray for Carnations 
I have carnations that need a salt 
spray and I do not know the exact por¬ 
tions to use. Will you tell me how much 
salt to use to the gallon of water? 
Walden, N. Y. f. v. d. 
The usual proportion of salt to use is 
a three or four-inch flower pot to the 
ordinary knapsack sprayer holding three 
gallons. This spray will rust your wires 
very badly if you use wires for supporting 
your carnations. A much more effective 
remedy for red spider is, three heaping 
teaspoons of cyanide of potash dissolved 
in one quart of boiling water, to a three- 
gallon sprayer, with one pound of dark 
brown sugar added. This is very poison¬ 
ous, and should be handled very carefully. 
Spray thoroughly, then in a few days use 
strong spray of clear water to wash plants 
off clean. If necessary repeat in six to 
eight days. e. j. w. 
Silver Htripes : “So she broke your 
engagement while you were overseas?” 
Gold Htripes: "Well, not in so many 
words, but she rather interrupted its con¬ 
tinuity by marrying the other fellow.”— 
Life. 
