738 
Jbt RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 21 , 1921 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
i L — ■ ■ . - - 1 / 
We finished dusting the trees on 
May 7. In former years we have 
usually carried this work of spraying or 
dusting to kill the worms on to Decoration 
Day. Thus this season the fruit is about 
three weeks ahead of the normal. For 
other crops it is not so far in advance, 
though the rye is very large for this date. 
The frequent rains have pushed the grass 
and grain along rapidly, and the hay crop 
now seems assured. There is apparently 
enough moisture in the soil to provide 
for the apple crop if we can hold that 
moisture by cultivation or mulch. That 
seems to be the problem on our hills. As 
a rule the Winter’s snow and the Spring 
rains fill the soil with moisture. Then 
there will come high winds which will 
suck this moisture out during May and 
early June unless something is done to 
prevent it. A thorough stirring of the 
upper soil will hold much of this water 
or a mulch of manure, grass, weeds or 
straw will prevent its escape. This year 
we use the mulch on most of our orchards. 
it it it if it 
Our plan is to get as much growth as 
possible on the trees during May and 
early June. Some of the earlies had made 
a growth of 10 inches or more by May 7. 
T found McIntosh apples as large as peas. 
In fact, we have never before had any 
such early growth. This should mean 
quick maturity for the earlier varieties, 
and from our reports this early fruit 
ought to bring high prices. I do not bank 
on any such condition, however, since in 
years past we have seen demand and 
supply smash into each other and fight, 
when they should have shaken hands and 
walked along side by tide. At this mo¬ 
ment, however, it looks well for the early 
fruit. We still have a few pessimists 
who will not see any sunshine. 
"It way look right vow—hut wait for 
the June drop!” 
That is what they say. and they go on 
to show that the fruit has been injured 
by the cold. It may start growing—but 
most of it will drop off in June! I think 
some of it will drop, but that may be a 
good thing for these overloaded trees. At 
any rate, I am going ahead in the belief 
that we shall have a crop. Whatever 
else you may say of it. if there happens 
to be a family of children around, you 
cannot possibly do a worse thing than 
constantly to predict disaster. My chil¬ 
dren seem to think that an extra dish of 
rhubarb sauce is good treatment for the 
blues. Sometimes I think that the 
“Blues” do us more harm than the 
“Reds.” 
it * * * if 
There is still an open discussion as to 
the relative merits of dusting or spraying 
for the apple worms. It is closed here, 
since three years of trial have convinced 
us that the dust does the business in 
about 35 per cent of the time required for 
liquid spraying. This season has been 
unusual—with high winds and much rain. 
On our steep hills, with long hauls for 
water, we could not. have put on the 
liquid in time to head off the worms. 
The dust cost more than the liquid, but 
the saving in time was considerable. I 
think the dust stays on the trees in a 
rainy season better than the liquid. But 
do not get the idea that you can safely 
dispense with all liquid spraying if you 
have scale in the orchard. The dust will 
not kill the scale—I care not what ex¬ 
perts or interested parties may tell you. 
You must have some sort of double outfit 
if you want to fight both scale and worms. 
I am hearing from people who sold all 
their horses and undertook to substitute 
tractors entirely for horse labor. They 
have several machines, but they find that 
some parts of farm work cannot be pro¬ 
perly done without the help of old Dobbin 
and Cray. It is much the same with this 
dusting. It will prove very effective for 
all leaf-eating insects, but for the scale 
and other suckers the liquid is needed. 
Another thing: I think the dust will 
prove more dangerous to pastured stock 
in an orchard. Sometimes it collects quite 
thickly cii the grass and under the trees. 
T have had no reports of actual loses from 
this, but some animals are as foolish in 
their eating habits as are some humane, 
and there is danger. 
* ;jc * * * 
I am greatly interested in our wild 
strawberries. Each year we dig 50 or 
more of these wild plants about the farm, 
transplant them and give them the same 
eare we give our Marshalls. Scattered 
about our 100 acres of land I find patches 
of these plants, evidently varying in size 
and quality as do our cultivated varieties. 
I am told that 00 years or more ago this 
farm was somewhat noted for strawberry 
culture, and I have an idea that some of 
these so-called “wild” plants are runa¬ 
ways from the old cultivated varieties. 
Will they “come back” under cultivation? 
That is what I am trying to find out. 
Suppose you took a dozen fully educated 
and cultured colored people and dropped 
them in the interior of Africa, where they 
would be forced to live under primitive 
conditions. Years later if you could bring 
some of them or their descendants back 
ro “civilization.” how much of their for¬ 
mer culture -would they show? Would it 
return with the civilized conditions, or 
would it all be lost? Take a dog like 
Bruce, with almost human instincts, and 
turn him with others of his kind into the 
wilderness to hunt their own living. Then 
later bring their descendants back. Would 
they be different from the wild animals 
who never had in their ancestry any 
friendly contact with human life? There 
may be no fair analogy between these 
illustrations and the habits of a wild 
strawberry plant, but I am going to find 
out. 
$ $ $ $ 
Last year we planted about 30 of these 
plants in gobd soil, and gave them 
good culture. They are right alongside 
our bed of Marshalls. I notice that the 
wild plants, as a rule, have a smaller root 
than the cultivated varieties, yet they are 
more tenacious of life. All these plants 
grew freely and made a strong, healthy 
leaf growth. The majority of them re¬ 
semble the true wild plant, with a small 
leaf, short stem and low growth and 
e-mail flower. There are five, however, 
which are distinctly different. They 
stand upright far above the others. The 
leaves are nearly as large as Marshall, 
and the flowers but little smaller. They 
are very vigorous, loaded with bloom and 
already throwing out many runners. They 
have every appearance of an improved 
variety, yet I know that they were taken 
from an old fence corner, for I dug them 
myself. If I know anything about straw¬ 
berries we have in this lot at least two 
superior varieties—so far as health and 
vigor go. As for the fruit, of course no 
one can tell yet, but if we are to judge 
from the flower and the way the fruit is 
forming these prodigal plants brought 
forcibly back to the fold ought to have 
value. What I want is a berry of good 
size, with the flavor of the wild fruit and 
the vigor of the wild plant. I have often 
talked with plant, originators about this, 
and they invariably laugh at the idea of 
finding merit in these despised wild 
plants. They say the only way to obtain 
improved varieties is to cross the im¬ 
proved sorts and plant the seeds. I 
understand them to say that not one of 
our best improved sorts ever came from a 
wild berry. Yet look at the long list of 
superior apples which evidently started as 
wild seedlings without any aid from man 
—Baldwin. R. I. Greening, Northern 
Spy. Ben Davis, Grimes—not to mention 
Bartlett pear and Concord grape. At 
any rate, I am interested in my wild run¬ 
aways. They may come to nothing—as 
the wise men assert—and yet the wander¬ 
ing sheep may become the prize animal 
at the county fair. 
* it it if if 
The most remarkable example of a true 
family group I have ever seen is given 
by our geese. We have four Toulouse 
ganders and eight geese, and seven of the 
latter have had their turn as ‘incubator. 
The eggs from the young geese were not 
very fertile, but there is a group of gos¬ 
lings—and they are certainly being well 
cared for. The entire floek of 12 geese 
stay right by these youngsters. They 
move about the farm as a family group, 
the old birds walking slowly, so as to ac¬ 
commodate the children. In case of any 
threatened danger the goslings scurry to 
the center, and the old geese range around 
them with open mouths and wings ready 
for a blow. No rat or dog or cat would 
dare approaching this squad of home de¬ 
fenders. The goslings are taught how 
to graze and what to eat—how to swim; 
in fact, everything that a goose ought to 
know. From grandfather gander down 
to the youngest goose every member of 
the flock is on deck, ready to brood these 
fortunate youngsters or fight for them. 
It is a great thing to see this group of 
gray birds, as much alike as peas, in a 
pod, sitting on the grass in a group, tak¬ 
ing turns at brooding these little ones. 
Mow different this is from the way the 
hens act. Take that big Red' hen with 
her brood of Black chickens. She never 
goes near the other hens. The rest of 
the flock will give her no help. The 
rooster is too lazy and selfish even to 
scratch a worm for bis children. They 
grow up as best they can, and no feath¬ 
ered friends seems to care whether they 
live or die, except their nurse. As soon 
as they get reasonable size this nurse 
drives them away to shift for themselves, 
while the geese remain together as a com¬ 
munity as long as they live. 
$ ft it * 
There are a good many rural com¬ 
munities which might well take pattern 
from our geece. Too many children are 
treated much as the hen treats her chick¬ 
ens. We seem to turn them over to a 
teacher—usually a stranger of whom we 
know nothing—and forget them. The 
teacher is hired to keep them straight— 
why don’t she do it? We pay her enough; 
why don’t she tend to her business? That 
is about the spirit of the hen. and who 
can. wonder if when the chickens grow 
up to be hens and roosters they become 
the most selfish things you can imagine— 
utterly incapable of caring for themselves 
without direction from some supermind. 
And’ that is partly why so many of our 
boys and girls grow up so narrow and 
selfish that they cannot get together in 
real co-operative work. The result is that, 
like the poultry, they must be directed or 
ruled by some superior mind, and forced 
to pay a bone all they produce, and their 
very lives in addition, for the privilege 
of receiving protection which they might 
easily give themselves if they could only 
organize as the geese do. For the geese 
seem to have at least one right idea about 
raiding children. Every member of the 
community is interested, each one willing 
to give up some little personal gain in 
order to protect the young geese. Some 
of these older geese might easily wander 
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