930 
Jt* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 16, 1921 
HOPE FARM NOTES ~| 
We have had a week of rain. On 
Monday it looked clear, and we felt that 
the showers had passed over. There was 
enough water in the soil for any reason¬ 
able farmer. There evidently was to be 
a week for finishing haying before the 
Fourth of July, and cleaning up the corn 
and tomatoes. So we got out the mower 
and cut down about three tons of hay. 
It is down yet—just where the mower 
left it—after five wet days. After the 
hay was cut we went into the corn with 
the cultivator and began ripping out the 
weeds. But about the middle of the 
afternoon a shadow seemed to fall over 
the field. Off in the west a bank of dark 
clouds appeared with a deep nimble of 
thunder growing clearer and nearer as 
the clouds moved our way. The storm 
came on with the speed of the wind. 
Almost before we knew it the treetops 
began to swing and lash about and big 
drops of rain came pelting down. Our 
folks were hardly under cover before the 
full storm struck us, and it seemed as if 
a second deluge had burst upon the earth. 
Great sheets of rain poured down. It 
seemed hardly five minutes before Hoods 
of water were pouring down our hill, 
gouging great furrows or gullies on the 
hillside and spreading out over the lower 
fields. 
***** 
Happily the great power of the storm 
struck a little north of us. Two of our 
big apple trees were twisted off, but we 
were fortunate to escape with small loss. 
Along the road north of us trees were 
smashed and blown across the street or 
the tops weie twisted off and tossed into 
the fields. Great trees two or three feet 
in diameter were thrown as a man would 
take a daisy in his hand, twist it away 
from its roots and throw it down. Great 
limbs on the apple trees were twisted 
and torn away as a child would trim a 
pussy willow switch with his fingers. 
There was no loss of life and little dam¬ 
age to buildings, but we were certainly 
left soaked and shocked, and every day 
since then we have had one or more 
showers. In between these showers we 
set out our cabbage and pulled a few 
weeds by hand, but that hay is still on 
the ground, and as for the quack grass 
and ragweed ! Well, I will not express 
any opinion at this time. You might as 
well try to put out a fire by sprinkling 
it with kerosene as to attempt to remedy 
a trouble by worrying about it. Will 
that- hay be worth anything? I’ll tell 
you about that later. In former years 
I have known hay to be 10 days in the 
Tain. We thought it was ruined, but 
finally raked it up and put it in the barn 
for bedding. Then we found that the 
cows ate every spear of it and bawled 
for more. So what’s the use of growling 
about something we cannot help? Bet's 
think of the good things this rain has 
done. 
***** 
What can they be? Well, begin with 
the children first. All this wet weather 
has given the boys a chance to go fishing. 
When I was a boy we had to shell corn 
in such weather, but we buy our corn 
already shelled. The boys have tramped 
off to the lake day after day with various 
kinds of luck. The Japanese boy caught 
one trout which weighed two pounds and 
nine ounces. That seems like a big fish, 
but when you divide it up among 14 peo¬ 
ple it makes a small portion for each one. 
They had some good-sized perch to go 
with it. One wet day the boys went to 
the lake, and as the rain let up a little 
one of the little girls went down to our 
brook to try her hand. The boys ap¬ 
parently did not have even a bite, but the 
girl came home walking upon air in her 
great excitement, for she carried a fish 
nearly one foot long. She was sure it 
was a trout, and for an hour or two she 
felt like a champion until the sad truth 
was revealed. 'Fhe fish she caught was 
not a trout, but a sucker! Well, she 
had her moment of tfk'.aph at least, and 
that is more than some of-us can say. 
When days are wet and weary and we 
know that the falling rain is just “dis¬ 
aster in solution” it is a good thing to 
make much of the pleasant things of 
family life. Let’s find something to 
laugh about, if possible, and if the 
women have any choice items of food in 
the pantry let them bring it right out. It 
never will be needed more than in these 
times of trouble. 
***** 
On light, sandy soil it. would have been 
possible to work in the corn between 
showers, but in our heavy fields, soaked 
with the drainage from the hills, such 
working would do more harm than good. 
It was, however, just the time for cut¬ 
ting the grass and weeds in our sod 
orchards. Most of our apple trees this 
year stand in a combination of grass, 
weeds and Sweet clover—a combination 
which came from plowing under a cover 
crop two years ago. It seems as if every 
plant possible of growth in this county 
lias crowded in. The trees have manure 
spread out about as far as the branches 
run. and this growth of grasses and 
weeds has come in strong. The rain 
has soaked the ground full. Generally I 
like to wait until about the middle of 
July before cutting this mulch, but this 
soaking is likely to be followed by a 
drought, and so we have spent most of 
the time between showers in cutting this 
mass of stuff. One man goes in with the 
mower and cuts the stuff down as he 
would a field of hay. The rest follow 
with scythes and forks, cutting the strips 
along the tree rows, and forking the cut¬ 
tings in piles under the trees. Anything 
goes for this work—grass, weeds, brush, 
vines—anything that decays around a tree. 
A dairyman would rake this all up and haul 
it to the barn for feeding the cows next 
Winter; but these apple trees are our 
cows, and we feed the weeds and hay to 
them. They will make about as good use 
of the feed as the cows would. This 
“mulch” on top of the soil will hold this 
moisture and prevent evaporation. It will 
slowly decay and thus add humus to the 
soil, and as for expense—the mowing 
machine is the cheapest cultivator I know 
of. Our advice is never to burn a weed, 
a bush or spear of grass. Always pile it 
around a tree. 
***** 
So while the hay may be rotting in 
the field, the tomatoes may be dying, the 
corn standing still, and' the eggplants 
calling, for bathing suits, this soaking 
rain will be the making of our apple crop. 
This “mulching” has given us a chance to 
look it all over. We shall have more 
apples than I expected—not so many as 
we looked for before that May freeze, but 
enough for apple saifoe at least. We can 
see a difference in varieties and in loca¬ 
tion. The Suttons bloomed freely, but 
the freeze settled them—there is only a 
scattering fruit here and there. Right 
beside them McIntosh has nearly a full 
they should be if I did not know people 
who have practically given up eating 
potatoes. That statement seems incredi¬ 
ble to many farmers, yet it is true, as I 
know from personal investigation. Itice 
is largely used in many middle class fami¬ 
lies, where in former years it was con¬ 
sidered “fit only for Chinamen.” It may 
seem like a strange thing, but we have 
got to educate the public once more up 
to the idea of eating potatoes. 
***** 
But it looks like another shower ! Some 
20 miles away from us as.a bird flies about 
00,000 people are howling and yelling 
like savage men as two human brutes 
punch each other. I would like to see 
them put right under such a shower as 
we had last night, but this one seems 
headed for our section—both the just and 
the unjust should have their share. We 
can meet it with a smiling face. That 
bunch of Black Jersey Giant chicks run¬ 
ning across, the lawn make a cheerful 
group of citizens. You cannot discourage 
them as you can most of those heavy 
breeds. When it rains they run under the 
shed and scratch in the dry ground. They 
know this rain will bring up the earth¬ 
worms out of the ground, and when the 
water stops pouring down—out they go 
for a feast. Somewhere back in the pedi¬ 
gree of these Black Giants is some 
mighty cheerful and energetic breed of 
fowls. And that kudzu. Some of the 
vines are 8 ft. long already, with three 
months to work in yet. Say, let’s go in 
and have supper and forget it. What 
Sampling the Wheat in the Field 
crop. Wolf River is short, but Twenty 
Ounce came through the freeze. The 
hardiest variety of all is Wealthy. Our 
trees are loaded with fruit, and the 
foliage is dark green, while McIntosh, 
right beside them, will show a lighter 
shade. Delaware Red Winter is another 
variety that stands up against frost. Our 
trees have a full crop. Baldwin varies, 
as usual. Some of our orchards are 
loaded to the tops, while others are shy. 
The trees on steep hillsides are best, 
while the worst are those in “pockets” or 
places where they are protected by trees 
on all sides. I presume the frost settled 
into these “pockets,” while on the hill¬ 
sides it slipped away. At any rate, we 
shall have a fair crop, and having cut 
this “mulch” on top of the wet ground 
we have now done our duty—except for 
hauling such manure as we can find for 
scattering under the trees. 
***** 
Now we must wait until the apples 
ripen—unless we have another storm. 
Should the next blast be aimed so as to 
hit. our ridge about a mile south of the 
last one our crop would be harvested for 
us. Apple prices are undetermined for 
this year. The crop is short and the 
early apples south -of ua were mostly 
destroyed. Such early fruit as has come 
to market thus far has brought big prices 
—in many cases $4 per bushel. Of course 
that price cannot hold long. People 
simply will not pay such money for food, 
except it may be a small class of wealthy 
people. T think, however, apple prices 
will be high, especially for the early crop. 
Most other farm crops, such as we raise, 
are low, and I do not see much promise 
for a raise. Potatoes are down out of 
sight, and I could not understand Avhy 
do you say to green peas, lettuce, potato 
salad, raspberries, or rhubarb, bread and 
butter and doughnuts? We have had a 
wet week, but it can’t rain forever. Even 
if it does, we will float off to dry 
ground ! H. w. c. 
Bits of Farm Law 
Probate of Will 
How long after a death must a will be 
opened in this State? F. M. 
New York. 
There is no specified time within which 
a will must be opened or proven after the 
death of the testator. It is always ad¬ 
visable, however, to do this promptly, 
before the witnesses die or move away, 
and while the devisees and legatees are 
accessible. If the will disposes of real 
property, the probate of the will is es¬ 
sential in order to pass the title. N. T. 
Fence Set Off Line 
My neighbor wishes to hold my ground 
on his side of fence, and wants me to set 
fence in old holes, so that when our fence 
joins there will be an offset. lie wants 
to take the 21-year law as peaceable pos¬ 
session, supposed to be a Pennsylvania 
law, as our judge here has upheld a num¬ 
ber of line-fence cases of this kind where 
fence stands over 21 years Does tin 1 
Supreme Court uphold the 21-year law? 
Such a law does not look right to me. 
Straight line was surveyed by county sur¬ 
veyor HO years ago, also by another sur¬ 
veyor .‘10 years ago. and the last time 12 
years ago by another surveyor. All three 
surveyed a straight line each time, and all 
on same line. The fenc - ® were never t 
on the line as they should have been. 
Pennsylvania. e. g. b. 
There has probably been more money 
foolishly spent by farmers over line fences 
than in any other way, and the cheaper 
the land, the more liable the neighbors 
are. to quarrel over it. Our advice would 
be to settle your difficulties, for you will 
probably spend more money than the land 
is worth if you go into court. We judge 
that the land in question is not valuable, 
for it. appears in your letter that although 
you have known for many years the fence 
was not on the line, you have permitted 
your neighbor to use the land unmolested. 
We do not care to say that the decisions 
of your judge are wrong or that the Su¬ 
preme Court would overrule them, for 
each case must stand on its merits. The 
question of undisurbed use and occupancy 
must always be considered in these cases. 
N. T. 
Clouded Land Title 
_ A sold a square of land to B. giving 
him a deed of the entire square. Previous 
to this transaction he sold a small corner 
to C, giving him a deed of same, which 
he told B was never recorded. Several 
months later A purchased this small cor¬ 
ner from C, and had the deed recorded. 
Who owns this piece of land, A or B? 
Could B recover damages from A for hav¬ 
ing sold him land which he did' not own? 
Maine. r. e. r. 
If B took title from A to lands which 
lie knew A did not own. he cannot com¬ 
plain. If A had sold the entire square 
to I>, and B having no knowledge of any 
former conveyance, had recorded his deed 
ahead of a prior deed, in good faith, the 
title to the entire square would be in B. 
N. T. 
Rights in Trees and Building on Parent’* 
Property 
For the past 10 years I have been man¬ 
aging a fruit place of five acres of my 
father’s property, have put out about 
185 apple trees, and have built a large 
poultry house on this place also. My 
father has not made any will. There are 
six in the family, four sons and two 
daughters. In case of my father’s death, 
could I hold this poultry house and the 
trees I have set out? The house is on 
solid foundation. For the past 10 years 
I ave paid the land taxes, amounting to 
8117.17. During the past 10 years I did 
not rent, but I furnish the household ex¬ 
penses and living for my father and also 
a niece. Could I in case of law bring any 
bill against this place for the support of 
my father? j. A. 0. 
New York. 
If it was your father’s intention that 
the buildings constructed by you and the 
trees planted could be. removed, you 
should enter into an agreement in writ¬ 
ing with him to that effect, otherwise the 
articles you have named will undoubtedly 
pass to. the heirs. From the statement of 
facts, it appears that you are receiving 
the use of the property for payment, of 
taxes and support of your father, and in 
the absence of a written agreement be¬ 
tween you and your father it is very 
doubtful if you will be able to recover 
money expended for improvements and 
taxes after his death. If you were a 
tenant on the property and the poultry 
house was built by you for carrying on 
your business, entirely at your own e2 
peiise, and it could be removed without 
injury to the freehold, it would be con¬ 
sidered as a trade fixture, and therefore 
removable by the tenant. Your general 
statement of facts seems to negative this 
conclusion. 
Rights of Monthly Tenant 
A neighbor of mine is Polish, and can¬ 
not write or read English. lie has four 
small children. He rented a farm in 
October, 1019, but signed no contract, 
and has paid his rent up to date by the 
month. Last October, when the year was 
up, they did not say anything about hav¬ 
ing to move. March 1 he got a letter 
saying they . hted the place. He saw a 
lawyer here, who said they could not 
make him move on such short notice, as 
he has cattle and cannot find another 
place. lie has been given permission to 
stay until July 1, provided he allow* the 
owner to repair road and do some work 
in the orchard. The orchard is not rented 
with the farm, and he had given permis¬ 
sion to do any work they want if they let 
him stay until Fall, so he wants to know 
if they can turn himself and stock out 
July 1. and if he could bring suit against 
them if they do? o.B. 
New York. 
Your Polish friend seems to be renting 
the place from month to month. If this 
is true he undoubtedly can be ejected by 
a 30 da ye’ notice. There is not much ex¬ 
cuse for a tenant who “takes no thought 
of the morrow.” The landlord was under 
no obligation to speak when the tenant’s 
time was up. for it was the tenant’s duty 
to find out whether he was to continue on 
or not. Some tenants are afraid to sug¬ 
gest a renewal of the lease for fear the 
landlord won’t want them any more, and 
then are-surprised and wronged when the 
landlord has to open the subject himself. 
Your neighbor is represented by an at¬ 
torney, who has undoubtedly ascertained 
all the facts in the case. N. 'f. 
