448 Tfie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
From an Indiana Hill Farm 
A Farm Woman of the Central West 
Ax Unflattering Attitude. — Our 
farm is on the rolling uplands along the 
north side of the Wabash River Valley. 
As is often the ease. th» upland farms 
here are the oldest, earlit cleared lands, 
and quite naturally have some of the 
characteristics of worn-out farms. No¬ 
body has shown a very loving spirit to¬ 
ward these farms: even some of the own¬ 
ers have displayed considerable scorn for 
them. We had had some connection with 
ours for a number of years and during 
that time had heard so much contempt 
for hill farms and worn-out land in gen¬ 
eral. and our own in particular, that I had 
not been very favorably impressed with 
our piece of property, although 1 had 
never seen it. I remember on my first 
visit to the place, shortly before we came 
here to live, that T observed farms and 
farm homes from the train window all the 
way down. I looked at the most ex¬ 
hausted lands aud dejected-looking places 
that we passed and thought to myself that 
it must be like those. But I was so tired, 
so weary of rows of houses and lawns, of 
parallel lines of sidewalk and continually 
passing people, of keeping our three small 
hoys on their own lot. lest they annoy our 
exacting neighbor on our left or our 
agreeable neighbor on our right, and of 
our dark roojns and the indoor life for 
myself, that the most unpromising-looking 
farm seemed endowed with possibilities 
for a home. Of course. I warned myself 
of the unseen difficulties which were also 
possibilities and which were, no doubt, 
responsible for some of the results which 
the dejected places showed. But I felt I 
was prepared for anything I might find. 
Back on the Dirt Road. —To reach 
the place one turns off from the main 
road, the pike as it is called here, and fol¬ 
lows a dirt road up and down hill for a 
lit tle more than a half mile, where a creek 
crosses the road. There is no bridge, and 
the creek is forded without difficulty ex¬ 
cept at times following heavy rains, when 
it swells into a torrent. The dirt road 
and the creek were about what I expected 
to see. having heard before of them also. 
But now’ we were there, or here, rather. 
The road wound past a rolling field just 
turning greeu with Alfalfa growth (March 
•11 1 aud past a bend of the same creek 
where the water runs over a smooth rock 
floor and down a limestone terrace, form¬ 
ing falls two to three feet in height—a 
real waterfall of clear spring water. Here 
we turned and went up the hill to the 
house. 
The Blooming Countryside. — We 
visited the place again in early Summer, 
and nothing could have discouraged me 
then from making our home here. Never 
have I seen such flowers aud green hill¬ 
sides. wooded slopes and glades, such 
varied color and sky effects, and over it all 
a spirit of peace and quietness. I could 
thank the hill road for that. In the Fall 
we took possession and came here to live. 
It seemed lovelier than before and. though 
we were very much occupied with finish¬ 
ing up the Fall work and getting ourselves 
established here, every day was a luxury 
to me. and the children were the happiest 
I had ever seen them. 
Struggling Crops. — Of course, one 
cannot live or pay debts on beauty or 
mere happiness, though they count for 
more than we usually realize. And we 
found more than that here. We found 
the worn-out characteristics sure enough. 
The crops were thiu aud struggling. The 
farm was somewhat cut up by the mean¬ 
dering stream, and by gulches. But we 
found plenty of tillable laud, more than 
enough to keep one family busy, and it 
has never worried me because there were 
irregularities aud some waste land. One 
usually must pay for‘beauty in some way, 
aud if all had to have level, regular fields 
many of us would go without homes iu 
the country. Along with the struggling 
crops we found gigantic weeds. I never 
saw weeds grow as they do here. Their 
roots seem to have no difficulty in pene¬ 
trating the soil and finding elements for 
their growth. They worried me till it oc¬ 
curred to me that where weeds can grow 
other plants can be made to do so. too. if 
conditions are made right. That, of course, 
is our chief problem, and will keep us 
studying for some years. 
A Busy Fall. —There was so much to 
be done that Fall. We felt we could not 
afford to hire help, and there were few 
men to be had anyhow, so I helped in the 
fields and about the chores as much as I 
could. I took for my regular chores the 
care of the hens and a small lot of pig.s 
which we purchased. I knew very little 
about feeding pigs, but we studied the 
farm papers and bulletins, and worked out 
our ration subject to modifications as 
seemed advisable. I had fed three small 
boys quite successfully for several years, 
so I thought 1 could surely learn. I found, 
too. that feeding children had given me 
some points that might be useful in feed¬ 
ing young animals, and I observed the 
pigs carefully while they were still iu their 
mother's care. I do not know whether 
those pigs had all they diould have had. 
or just the kinds of feed they most needed, 
but I watched indications just as I had 
done with the children, although the indi¬ 
cations were not entirely the same. I 
found I could understand pig cries much 
as I had learned to interpret a baby's cry, 
and could tell whether they were just 
plain hungry or famishing because they 
were not getting enough at each feeding. 
I am never so much afraid of underfeed¬ 
ing as of overfeeding, so I was proceed¬ 
ing cautiously. But as long as their tails 
curled iu persistent little knots, they kept 
a certain degree <>f plumpness and were 
active and playful. I concluded they were 
thriving on my ration. This is a woman's 
way of feeding hogs, sure enough, but I 
felt that my results were not so bad. 
When they w ere 4 1-1! mouths old I turned 
them over to my husband to finish out for 
market. At six months he sold them, and 
they averaged a little over 200 lbs. each. 
Everyday Happiness. ■—Chores aud 
farm duties do take time and lm mistake. 
Wo worked early and late, took no recrea¬ 
tion and did not even rest on Sundays, for 
we were always thinking that iu another 
week or two we would have those odds 
and ends of tasks done and everything iu 
smooth running order. Wo are beginning 
to learn better, for some of them are not 
February 2S, 1920 
done yet. But iu spite of it all, there is 
something every morning when it is get¬ 
ting light to see how our world looks this 
morning—never quite twice alike. And 
animals and children seem to be purely 
happy and enjoy life as I have never seen 
life enjoyed before. The place may never 
be able to supply all the complex desires 
of the grown-ups. but very few have those 
satisfied anywhere. I feel safer to take 
my chances with the children and the 
creatures. ruth h. ashley. 
Indiana. 
Refusal of Telephone Number 
Our postmaster here has a telephone 
installed at the post office (whether at 
private or Government expense, I do not 
know > and does not permit connections 
being made with anyone except those that 
he has given the number to; when you 
call for the postoffice you are told that 
they have a telephone but connections are 
forbidden. Has the telephone company a 
right to refuse connections, to a subscri¬ 
ber, with any of the ’phones iu the system, 
on tin 1 instructions of owner, who has 
given his number to a select few and for¬ 
bids all others? Does the Fostoffice De¬ 
partment give such privileges to their em¬ 
ployees? If so. why could not railroad 
offices do the same thing? The postoffice 
is not troubled any more than railroad and 
express offices are. aud all under Govern¬ 
ment control the same as the posiofiice. 
Is there not a Federal or Ohio State law 
that compels telephone companies to make 
connections for ail paying subscribers with 
all 'phones wired into the same central? 
Ohio. c. a. n. 
I called at the office of the Assistant 
Postmaster General, aud he stated this 
postmaster has no free Government 
'phone. It is a private 'phone aud there 
are no rules prohibiting him from doing 
as he desires. I Called at the general of¬ 
fices of the American Telephone Go. and 
they inform me the postmaster lm> a right 
to refuse connections. It is hi< right and 
privilege to do as he is doing. There is 
no Federal law preventing his refusal. I 
could not find anything here regarding a 
State law on the subject, and if there is it 
w ould not apply to the Bell system. 
. Washington, F. n. c. 
disston 
SAWS AND TOOLS 
The saws and tools you need on the farm—let them be 
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You know the fame of Disston Saws—known and used all over the 
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Good hardware dealers everywhere sell Disston Saws and Tools. 
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Send today for the free booklet “Disston Saws and Tools for the 
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"America’s Largest and Longest-Established Makers of Hand 
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The Farm Drudge 
Handyman 
Chore Boy 
Burden Bearer 
r I A HESE nicknames and others are 
** frequently attached to the good kero¬ 
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