1916 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 25, 1920 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
Christmas 1 i in a finds' ns comfortable in 
body if not in bank account, If our safe 
deposit box al tin* bank wan ns well filled 
with «oen cities ns tin* Mopo Farm folks 
are with supper and sal inflict ion, \ve eon I I 
take that long desired European trip. 
My figures show Hint after raising the 
biggest and most expensive crop that ever 
mine nut of this fni'in. file inrreased in¬ 
come will not quite equal the increased 
cost. However, we made a good bailie, 
and some of the middlemen have reason 
to la* merry at least. Hut let ns forget 
the linaneial part of the past season. \Ve 
must, have gained al least To pounds of 
child growth and as for wisdom if we 
can. use it properly it ought to weigh a 
ton. It is cold outside, but I have n 
roaring fire, a basket of apples, two new 
books, a box of nuts, and 1 think I know 
where the girls have hidden the doughnuts 
and pumpkin pie. Bruce, the new Aire¬ 
dale dog, a big, shaggy fellow, lies on the 
mat studying me with one big brown eye. 
Take it all in all, 1 have no business to 
complain. I shall have to go back into 
history a little to find something to growl 
about. 
* * # * * 
And that is not. all a permanent growl, 
either. I shut my eyes and let my mind 
drift back until it bumps into the harbor 
of those old days in Colorado long, long 
ago. It was gloomy enough, that day 
before Christmas. A storm was just 
tuning up, and the dark shadow of the 
mountains seemed to s<llle over us like 
an evil spell. The dry, brown plains 
stretched away from tin* river the cattle 
I was herding were ranging over it vain¬ 
ly searching for a bite of grass. Down 
beside the river, in the corner of an old, 
abandoned sod corral. I had built a lire 
of sticks and chips where I was to cook 
my dinner. The riding pony was picketed 
near by. Now and then a prairie dog 
would pop out of his hole and view me 
with curiosity. There was no evidence 
of joy except the song of the (’ache La 
l’oudre River as it went singing and 
laughing down its shallow course. It 
seemed to me that the liver was laughing 
at its escape from a hideoufl country and 
a desolate life on its h 'pp.v journey off 
away to that country where the waters 
all run into tin* ocean. For this was my 
first Christmas away from the Atlantic 
Ocean. Cope Cod seems like a dreary 
and unremembered spot to those who 
merely visit it, but in memory it seemed 
very much like a heaven to me that day. 
You did not have many visitors in that 
lonely life of herding. A hungry man 
from “down the Platte” came riding in 
upon me. lie ale two thirds of my dinner 
and was disappointed because I hyd no 
tobacco to lend him. 
“The Potidro is kinder low.” be said, 
pointing to the river, lie could not bear 
the laugh and the call which came to me 
out of the rippling water. “Kinder low; 
I reckon .. mountains are freezing up 
t heir snow !” 
“Ilow did it get. the name?” 
"They tell me that years ago, when 
this country wasn’t: nothing a crowd of 
traders and (nippers went through here. 
They latched their powder nearby and 
went on. 'Ketch' is tin* French word for 
hide. Most of ’em died. A few got back 
and found the Indians bad emptied the 
'ketch.’ Some nf them fellers went crazy. 
I’ve heard folks say this place is haunted. 
They bear them fellers yelling and singing 
at night. Me- I don’t believe in such!" 
• He mde off and left me in the shadows 
listening to the laugh and call of the 
river. I remember thinking that if I 
had rt boat I would like to get into it and 
let the river carry me far away to the 
Platte, to the Missouri, to the Mississippi, 
where the waters ran away, ever on until 
we reached the peace which should come 
with Christinas. I did not dream then 
that the years and tin* rushing waters 
would sweep me along to this roaring lire 
and this peaceful farm among the hills of 
New Jersey. 
* * * * # 
Old Lophorn was the meanest cow in 
the herd. Perhaps it was not meanness, 
hut a toothless month •that sent, her wan¬ 
dering over the plains searching for a pos¬ 
sible long tuft of grass. Slu* wandered 
nbout here and there, and by this roaming 
habit made herself a lender. The other 
cows might be knee deep ill rich grass, 
bill If they looked up and saw old Lop- 
liorn headed for some distant spot they 
would leave their pleasant place and fol¬ 
low her. Ever since tin: world began men 
as well no cows have left contentment 
and reasonable siicccess" to go chasing off 
after so-called lenders who do not know 
the road to better things, but are simplv 
abnormal through the lack of teeth with 
which to enjoy the plain, satisfying things 
of life. The lirttt I knew I/ophorn was 
far away over the plain moving ahead 
with her ears sticking out straight and 
her foolish head bobbing up and down. 
One by one the other cows lifted their 
luads and looked til her and then darted 
to follow. There was nothing for me to 
do bill circle around the herd and drive 
the foolish old leader back. The pony 
was cold, and lie quickly beaded off the 
old cow. She had nearly reached the road 
to town, and as T turned the cattle back 
toward the river I saw coming over n little 
roll of the plains, as strange an outfit as 
a Christmas watcher will ever be likely 
lo gee. Knell thing were not uncommon 
al that time, when men and women were 
struggling to make a living on the raw 
prairie, but this one was exceptional 
even for that period. 
A rickety wagon with one good wheel, 
two with missing spokes and one out of 
commission with a cottonwood polo fas¬ 
tened under Hie axle and dragging oil the 
ground. A thin horse and a bony mule 
harnessed, or rather tied, to the wagon 
with ropes or strings iff rawhide. On 
two broken chairs at. the front <>f the 
Wagon sat. a man and woman. Their 
clothing was patched and made over until 
but n reinnnlit. of Hie original cloth was 
left. The patching had been done with 
empty llmir sacks- roughly done, without 
regard to color or lettering. The front 
of tin* woman’s dress was part of a sack 
with the name of the brand left on the 
cloth. *»n her breast 1 read the words. 
“Pride of the Prairie.” At tin* hack of 
the man’s coat was another name, “King 
nf the llnrveKt.” Tin* man’s tangled hair 
seemed growing up through the ludes in 
his hatttered hat. A thick gray heard 
hid most of his face, except a honked nose 
and a pair of glittering eyes. The woman 
was bent and thin. Her face was wrinkled, 
her eyes like bright heads, and her hands 
opened and shut will) a motion which 
seemed to me like the clawing of some 
animal. They stopped as they reached 
me. The horse hung his lieftd in shame, 
as though lift remembered better days. 
The mule, with tile stupid independence 
of his father, pointed out his lug ears 
and stared impudently at my fat and 
jaunty pony. The man and woman sat; 
regarding me gravely without, a word. 
“Merry Christmas!” I confess that 
this remark was prompted by habit. \ 
had never see two people further removed 
from merriment:. 
For answer Iho man broke into a vol¬ 
ley of Hu* most remarkable curses I had 
ever heard and I have lived arn0l)g many 
nougli people who pride themselves on 
their profane vocabulary. The woman 
did not sneak, hut her bend-like eyes 
shone, ami those hands kept; up their 
clawing motion. 
Finally they told their story. A few 
years before they had owned a good farm 
in Iowa, but 1 presume some old Lophorn 
of the human herd induced them to wan¬ 
der. They heard of a wonderful new 
country on the Platte, where they were 
sure to become rich. So they sold their 
little home and came West, to find only n 
dry, treeless desert. They had been 
robbed. They had struggled on for a few 
years against fate. One by one the chil¬ 
dren had died. Then they fell into the 
hands of the local money-lender, “Old 
Two Per Cent Davis. He had n mortgage 
on everything they owned, and they could 
not pay. They had been to see him, and 
he had driven them away. Tomorrow the 
sheriff would ride down the river and 
clear them out. It was just one of these 
plain, heart-breaking tragedies so common 
among those who fought for the new 
Wwt. “Merry <Jhristmas!’’ Indoed, ii 
seemed a mockery spoken at the grave of 
this home. Perhaps this man and woman 
had been careless or shiftless or foolish 
about their property. I do nof know, 
hut the laugh and call of the river seemed 
all out of place at. that time. 
* * * * * 
I had been sitting on my horse, with 
hack to the river, listening to their story. 
Suddenly t.lie man started lo his feet and 
pointed north, lie took off his battered 
lint and waved it in the air. 
“Hurrah! Thank Hod,” he shouted in 
a hoarse, frightful voice. 
(•lancing over my shoulder I saw smoke 
rising from a house built on a low bluff 
on the other side of the river. 
“Don’t you see it?” screamed the man. 
“It’s a judgment from Hod. That’s where 
’Two-Pcr Cent Davis’ lives. His home 
is burning. Thank Hod! Thank Hod!’’ 
And his screaming voice rose to a roar of 
ecstasy. 
Tin* woman sprang to her feet, threw 
her arms high, and shrieked in joy. I 
remember thinking ns I saw those claw¬ 
like hands clutching al the air. that. Mir¬ 
iam must have looked like that, as she 
danced and Hang before tin* Israelites 
when they saw the Egyptian hosts 
drowned in the Itcil K<*a. There had been 
no such Christmas celebration on Cape 
Cod (since the days of King Philip’s War! 
Quickly the man caught up liis whip 
and gathered his reins. 
“We must go over and see ii burn.” 
He lashed at his team like a frenzied man, 
and Hu* horse and mule went galloping 
over the plain at an astonishing speed. 
One more wheel gave wav, and the cot¬ 
tonwood pole cracked, hut they reached 
the river and splashed through the shal¬ 
low waler to the other side. The man was 
singing and Hie woman still clawing with 
those dreadful hands. 
My pony followed them close behind. 
We saw them splash through the water 
and climb the steep road up the bluff. 
When I readied Hie top i saw the man 
and woman peering iu al a side window 
of the house. The lire was in an outside 
shed. The llames were just reaching the 
house itself. The man and woman had 
rushed to the window to gloat over their 
creditor. I saw the man’s hack with 
“King of the Harvest” printed on the 
patch, And this was what he saw not 
old “Two Per Cent Davis.” hut a feeble 
woman lying helplessly in bed with u 
little baby at, tier breast. The man was 
not: al home. 
The ragged, wretched coupled looked at. 
each other for a moment, and then, urged 
by a common impulse, ran to the door. 
They ’had come there with worse than 
murder in their hearts, but the sight, of 
Genuine 
Aspirin 
Name “Bayer” means genuine 
Say “Bayer”—Insist! 
Hie woman and child had changed that.. 
Without a word they ran into the burning 
house and caught up the mattress upon 
which tin* woman lay. They carried it 
tenderly out through the door and laid 
tin* fainting woman iu tin* barn on the 
floor in safety. They had hardly covered 
her with bags and an old blanket before a 
borne dashed into the yard bringing Davis. 
Hu* woman’s father. Without a word lie 
and the ragged man from tin* Platte 
knocked down the burning shed, got water 
from tin* well and put out Hie tire. The 
house was- scorched and blackened. Inn: 
that was all. And then “Old Two Per 
Cent Davis” wiped tin* sweat off his face 
and looked about, him. 
In the (shelter of the little barn lay his 
daughter. She lay on Hu* mattress, while 
and feeble, but slu* held out lu-i* hands to 
him with a smile. And by her side, sit 
ling on the hay, was the women from 
“down the Pintle." The fierce, hard look 
had gone from her eyes. Her head was 
limit down over a liny baby, which slu* 
held close to her breast. I noticed that 
her hands had.stopped that awful claw 
ing movement. Beside tin* baby’s Imad 
I read the words on that, old flour sack: 
“Pride of tin* Prairie.” And "Two-IVr 
Cent Davis” stood there watching tin* two 
women. Finally Hu* head bent over tin* 
baby wa« raised. Tin* woman looked at 
her creditor and almost smiled as slu* 
said : 
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Davis.” 
« * # * * 
I do not know what happened then. 
I glanced across tin* river and saw old 
Lophorn leading her sisters into a far 
country, I had to round her up, and it. 
is belter lo let such things settle them¬ 
selves in private. A little child will 
usually settle them right—-where nothing 
else can. You see tin* entire theory and 
practice of “Merry Christmas’’—as well 
ns everything else worth while is built 
around the story of a child. ft. W. C. 
Kay “Bayer” when buying Aspirin. 
Then you mo sure of getting true "Bayer 
Tablets of Aspirin”—genuine Aspirin 
proved safe by millions and prescribed by 
physicians for over twenty years. Ac¬ 
cept only nn unbroken “Bayer jsu'kagc” 
which contains proper directions to relieve 
Headache, Toothache, Earache, Neuralgia, 
Rheumatism, Colds and Pain. Handy tin 
boxes of 12 tablets cost few cents. Drug¬ 
gists also sell larger “Bayer packages.” 
Aspirin is trnde mark of Bayer Manufac¬ 
ture Monoaceticacidcster of Nalicylicaoid. 
Grattiny the Grapevine 
I have recently bought a place here on 
which are several large, old Concord 
grapevines. They are from two to three 
indies in diameter at butt; some run lo 
to IK ft. before branching. I want to 
give them a severe trimming this Winter. 
How much can I cut them back and get 
fruit next season? If l can graft onto 
some of these, what is a good variety 
for this locality? How is grafting done, 
and how is grafting wax made? 
Hartford, Conn. N r . P. 
If these vlnew have no new growth ex¬ 
cept at great distances from the ground 
it proha lily will be better to graft them 
all rather’ than to attempt to get them 
again in ren unable hounds, though this 
is only possible through removing a por¬ 
tion each year for several years. 
For graft ing, the trunks are sawn off 
cleanly two or three inches below the 
ground level, and into these fttuhs, clefts 
or slots are made with a hack saw to a 
depth of two indies or less. The scions, 
consisting of three or four buds, are 
din pod as in grafting the apple, and while 
(In* slol is opened with n wedge they are 
pushed firmly into place, care being taken 
that th<* growing layer of stock and scion 
ore in contact in at least one point. With 
large stocks two scions are inserted, one 
on either side of the stub. Tin* greater 
the area of contact tin* better will be the 
union. After Hu* scions arc brought to 
the desired position the wedge is carefully 
removed. If tin* stock lias not. been splil 
too deeply tin* scions will lie (irmly held 
by tin* spring of the stock, hut: it is better 
to make sure that such is the case by 
tying with strong twine wound two or 
three Ilmen around the stock. No graft¬ 
ing wax is advised for granc grafting, 
hut. some think that good results come 
from putting a layer of moist clay tightly 
around the exposed surfaces, and even 
over tin* portion of the cleft not tilled 
by the S' ioas. In either event, after tying 
is done, Hie stub with the inserted scions 
is covered with tine soil and a mound 
mndi* nbonl the seimw to the level of the 
top hud. The object of mounding is, of 
course, to keep the parts from drying 
until such time as n union lias taken 
place. The following Spring Hie soil is 
leveled about the graft, and from that 
time it is treated as a newly planted vine, 
except that if Hu* union is good much 
greater growth will result than with the 
young vim*, because of the well-estab¬ 
lished root: system, It is not uncommon 
Ihal hut a year of fruiting is lost with 
the grafting of a well-established vine, 
and wlii'ii it is considered that tin* vine 
thus secured is more easily handled on 
the trellis, and that all of lln* old wood 
of the original plant except the root sys¬ 
tem has been eliminated, tin* loss is more 
tlinn balanced. 
If Concord ripens at Hartford, and 
other varieties are desired, Worden, Ni¬ 
agara and Delaware naturally suggest 
themselves as worthy varieties, ('amp- 
boll, when grafted on strong-growing 
slocks, yields large crops of beautiful clus¬ 
ters. 
A good grafting wax may be made from 
the following formula: Resin, 1 11 is. ; 
beeswax, 2 lbs.; tallow, 1 Hi. Melt all 
three together, then cool somewhat and 
pour into cold water. < (reuse the hands 
well, and as soon as the wax becomes cool 
enough lo handle pull and work it as in 
stretching molasses candy until it as¬ 
sumes a light brownish-yellow color. It 
may then lie nodded into balls of con¬ 
venient size and stored in a cool place 
until wanted. E. r. Of.AnwiN. 
MR. FARMER 
IT’S WORTH YOUR WHILE TO GET 
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT 
BARIUM- 
PHOSPHATE 
an; alkaline fertilizer 
Containing 
287«'| PHOSPHORIC ACID 
7‘/o BARIUM SULPHIDE 
and 
SULPHUR IN A WATER SOLUBLE FORM 
Hnariqnart.rs nlno lor all 
FERTILIZER MATERIALS 
For “HOME MIXING” 
j Nitrate ol Sodii. I'otnnli Suits 
GROUND PHOSPHATE ROCK 
Witherbee, Sherman & Company 
2 Rector Street, New York City 
HIGH CPR AVERS 
Pressure. (J* ExpiriVn* 
OspraytllO With speclalfcnlmenullthelrnwn, 
C'ntnlna They claim your kind attention, 
ftv » In every sl/.o .... for every zone j 
*'CC They furnish eurr protri'thm, 
FIELD F0R0B PUM? 00., Dept. 2 Elmira. Now York! 
Representative Local Agents Wanted 
In uiiorriiplnd territory for Niiw .Inrany, Now York 
hod (’entniI PotiiixyIvnnln. Cointnmiiente with 
Godfrey Fertilizer & Chemical Go., Newark, N. J. 
AMKi; A OOM.AIt UN HOIK, ItLLMKMH I'M 
ii imtt'iii pittHi for hiHhintTy mpiidfrtg IohIam 
in/ill ii t «* ii n i) h, Haiti pic p h r It ii^ i* fi t't«. 
< OMJ'TTIC M l ii. CO., ION, \ m«tpriliiio* \. \ . 
P RINTINf t<• r)«i’ll 1 1n nn<l Knvii. with name ond «<l 
nin i mu iircHM, delivered, for 92. Write for Nimipl< a . 
MILLER PRINT SHOP, P O Rom 2854. PHILA , PA- 
I The Farmer 
e His Own Builder e 
By H. ARMSTRONG ROBERTS 
— A practical and handy hook of all kinds — 
— of building information from concrete to ZZ 
S carpentry. PRICE $1.50 = 
For Bale hy 
1 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 1 
333 West 30th Street, New York 
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 
