7h* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1579 
A Farm Woman’s Notes 
Come Snow! 
The wind tugs at our windows, sweep¬ 
ing snow across a bare valley. This 
snow is our first assurance of getting a 
white Christmas. If in the South, Santa 
has to take off fur coat and mittens, na¬ 
turally, and change to wheels. But 
northern folks like to have him come in 
the reindeer sleigh with his bells jing¬ 
ling, an'd a green Christmas is about as 
popular as a June frost. Snowbanks 
and plenty of them, make the most sat¬ 
isfactory setting for the jolly old fellow 
that comes down the chimney. The snow¬ 
flakes riding to their places have filmed 
the clear yellow of the straw Daddy put 
on the strawberry patch yesterday, and 
of the ground there is nothing left to see 
but the brown topknots of the highest 
mounds of earth. 
The lily pool is still half filled with 
water. We intended to empty it, and 
did let out the water. There were min¬ 
nows in the bottom, and one mite of a 
goldfish that a friend had brought us in 
September. The minnows were destined 
for the pasture spring, and the goldfish 
for the house bowl. However, we found 
that the goldfish had outgrown such 
captivity as we could offer. Ho was 
wild and strong, and of a brilliance that 
was almost like a light, but in the bowl 
he began to go dead. So Daddy replaced 
the ifllet hose, half filled the tanlk out¬ 
side, and put him back. The last we 
saw of him he was nosing liis way down 
into the muddy water. In the encyclo¬ 
pedia. I read that goldfish are really 
carp and that fish are the only creatures 
known able to suspend growth indefi¬ 
nitely until food conditions are right and 
then’ develop with startling rapidity. 
Goldfish may become eight to 10 inches 
long. Leaving water in the tank is very 
much of an experiment. It seemed that 
the only thing to be done was to cover 
the top with plank and batten it. down 
with barnyard manure, and this was 
done, leaving a little air hole in one cor¬ 
ner. Covered also by a liberal snow¬ 
storm, the concrete ought to be safe 
from freezing. . 
IJke one of the migratory birds, the 
man from Florida lias hastened to put 
snow and cold behind him. Writing back, 
he says that it is too hot to rest nights, 
that everybody is busy picking oranges 
which are a fair price, $1.50 on the tree. 
“ Vnd I figure on getting a box to you be¬ 
fore Christmas,” he finishes, setting the 
children dancing in whirls of joy. A 
box of oranges, well packed and selected 
will last all Winter in the cellar V\ lien 
Mr. Perkins went away, be was looking 
verv extra in a new suit of clothes. These 
chothes represent a new stage of develop¬ 
ment in our understanding of a colored 
man. Last year when we paid lnm his 
wages lie was disappointed that we had 
not invested part of the money in a suit 
of clothes. It seemed unbelievable. But 
this year he requested it beforehand, and 
seemed satisfied. All well enough of 
course, but when I fancy handing white 
help a suit of clothes in lieu of money, 
I am impressed by the difference m at¬ 
titude. White help might be badly in 
need and still resent such an offer. White 
help looks down on the employer, while 
colored help wants an employer he can 
It. seems apparent that the radio is 
sweeping the country as the automobile 
did a few years ago. The radio section 
of the music stores and the hardware 
store are crowded with buyers looking 
for an instrument to tit the pocket-book. 
I observe that most of the fascination ot 
radio lies in being able to get far sta¬ 
tions and a variety of stations. I he 
song heard from South America may be 
no different than what is picked up near¬ 
by. but gives the operator more thrill and 
a" fillip to his imagination. For the mo¬ 
ment lie feels as if he has really visited 
South America in person. It appeals to 
me that it is the contact with others that 
fascinates, rather than the music for it¬ 
self. or the speech for its thought. Hear¬ 
ing President Coolidge on the radio is 
so near like being spoken to by him in 
person that it satisfies a hunger for com- 
panionship. Many a farm family vvill 
make itself a Christmas present of a 
radio receiving set this year, and m each 
family there will develop at least one 
electrician. 
The little brick sclioolhouse around 
the corner is agog with the doings of near 
Christmas. The children are looking in¬ 
to every home closet for something “old- 
fashioned.” It has leaked out that such 
as these are to be worn in an act en¬ 
titled “Skeeters Corners,” but other in¬ 
formation is withheld so that we may be 
surprised properly when the time comes. 
We have nothing sufficiently old-fashion¬ 
ed. and Elsie is discouraged. It looks as 
though she would have to resort to the 
rag bag. We may be somewhat sur¬ 
prised to see ourselves on the stage as \ 
was several years ago in a shirtwaist and 
long skirt cut flaring at the bottom. It 
will be thoroughly enjoyed by the chil¬ 
dren, that’s certain. 
The snowflakes have stopped comine. 
A cloud slips past the sun and a mild 
trickle begins in the low water of the 
cistern. Little Mark pounding at a nail 
in a board with a hammer almost as big 
as himself, stops to listen. “There goes 
the snow.” cries Elsie. But Daddy is 
bringing in the mail, and here’s a letter 
from the Idaho cousin. The girls are at 
each elbow instantly. “I won’t forget,” 
he writes, “what I promised Jane last 
Summer.” Jane divulges tremulously 
that “ ’Twas a dolly as big as myself.” 
We are all surprised that Cousin Jason 
could remember folks so far away. 
Perhaps getting ready for Christmas 
is the best time of all. The fresh ever¬ 
green and the pink cheeks of happy chil¬ 
dren ; the play of mystery, of expectation, 
the solemn thoughts, set Christmas apart 
from any other holiday of the year. It's 
a great day when it’s well lived. This 
is the opportunity for father and mother 
to impress upon childish minds a love of 
home to bring them back after they have 
left the nest. Whoever forgets the 
Christmases of childhood? It’s for re¬ 
membrance, that we should plan. 
MRS. F. H. UNGFR. 
From the Sagebrush 
Country 
I can no longer call myself by any sou¬ 
briquet containing the word “sagebrush,” 
although I might well do so, for it is 
only the length of a kite string from the 
Idaho State Technical Institute to the 
sagebrush. And what makes me fee! 
still in touch with farm people is that 
the majority of the students in the Tech¬ 
nical Institute, or “Tech,” as it is famil¬ 
iarly called, are from farms. You would 
be sure of this could you but enter one of 
my classes. You could name almost with¬ 
out fail, those who are from the city and 
those who are from the country. The 
latter are such splendid specimens of 
physical young manhood and womanhood. 
The farm breeds independence. I be¬ 
lieve that to be the reason for the fact 
that a large percentage of the young peo¬ 
ple here are working their way through 
college. They learn to work from baby¬ 
hood on the farm, at anything presented 
to them, and when they come to this in¬ 
stitution they are willing to do anything 
that will take them through whatever 
course they have selected. And here they 
can learn to Ik* anything from a first- 
class agriculturist to a teacher—not ohly 
of the grades, but of music, typewriting, 
or the higher cultural courses, and many 
other things, home economics included. 
The boy who sweeps my room is from u 
farm near a small town not far away, 
lie is not only helping himself through 
college by his janitorial work, but he is 
one of the stars on the Tech football 
team, one of our best debaters, and a 
splendid student in the bargain. I won¬ 
der if the city could have given as much? 
The cashier in the cafeteria, the first day 
that I came here, said, “Don’t you re¬ 
member me, Mrs. Greenwood?” lie then 
explained that he used to work for us on 
our farm—-trading work with a neighbor 
farmer for whom lie worked. He is now 
working Ms way through the Tech by 
acting as cashier, selling silk hose and 
socks, and singing, for pay, in the 
churches of Pocatello. He has an excel¬ 
lent bass voice. lie is president of the 
freshman class. 
One of the most attractive young men 
I ever knew comes from a farm in North 
Dakota. He and a friend of his left 
their farm homes, as so many farm lads 
do, on account of the wanderlust. They 
reached this part of the country and sud¬ 
denly decided to enter the Tech. Then, 
at the last minute, one boy changed his 
mind. The other boy is still here. He 
walked the streets of Pocatello, looking 
for a job, and was almost in despair, 
when he got a chance to help some people 
move. The woman of the house liked 
him so well that she hired him to help 
her, instead of hiring a girl. She had 
been a caterer, and from her this young 
man is learning very many valuable 
things. lie gets up in the morning, 
builds the fire and cooks breakfast, help¬ 
ing later with the housework. He has a 
good home with this family. Who but a 
farm boy could fit in such a position? He 
is a brilliant boy, a good writer, and very 
witty. His college work is all of high 
grade. 
One young man in my American litera¬ 
ture class supports himself entirely 
through a local newspaper. His ambition 
is to be a teacher of literature. Since he 
is a wide reader, and a lover of that sab- 
ject, I judge that he may yet succeed. 
One thing I note in particular here is 
that each student has a well-defined am¬ 
bition. The young man who does my 
janitorial work (intends to become a 
teacher of history. I believe he received 
his inspiration to become such from an 
excellent teacher of history here in this 
institution. The boy from North Dakota 
expects to become a construction engi¬ 
neer. The young man cashier of I he cafe¬ 
teria is training to be principal of 
schools. 
Y'ou find the technical students in all 
the stores of Pocatello. The merchants 
make a point of employing Tech students. 
One young man, a student of pharmacy, 
here in a local drug store as soda foun¬ 
tain clerk, is from the part of the coun¬ 
try from which I come. lie walks a mile 
to the Tech and a mile back to the drug 
store, and works all day and part of the 
night. I wonder when he studies. An¬ 
other young man is a shoe clerk, and, by 
the way, one of our best debaters. An¬ 
other works in a furniture store. This 
young man is editor of our school college 
journal, “The Techniad.” A member of 
my college essay class works all night, 
and then appears at my S:10 class in the 
morning without having slept. It is a 
good deal like a night school for him. 
The girls, too, are working their way 
through. Some of them wait on the cafe¬ 
teria table. I forgot to say that many 
of the boys do this also, and many of 
them wash dishes and help in the kitchen 
of the Tech cafeteria. The cooking is 
done by salaried experts, and I do not 
believe there is a better college cafeteria 
in tbe United States today than that of 
the Idaho State Technical Institute. One 
can obtain a filling lunch, hot soup, two 
generous slices of bread and butter, and 
a pudding, all for 20 Cents. The cook is 
famous for liis pies. One of the girls 
who dishes the potatoes and meat comes 
from the Italian colony near Acequia, 
Idaho, where I taught last year. Other 
girls are living in homes all over the city, 
helping with the housework before find 
after going to the Tech. 
For the ambitious people of Pocatello, 
young and old, who have to work by day, 
there is night school. A great many who 
attend are those studying to become nat¬ 
uralized. Pocatello has a large foreign 
population. A viaduct divides the town 
at the north. On one side is the foreign 
business part. The shops contain every¬ 
thing one may wish at prices no higher 
than I have experienced in larger cities. 
The shops for women are very alluring, 
and there are good fish markets. There 
are no street cars, but motor busses cover 
the principal streets of the city every half 
hour. 
The immediate surroundings of Poca¬ 
tello are not. more attractive than those 
of other Idaho towns, although the cli¬ 
mate is delightfully mild. Our first snow 
lies on the ground on this, the seventh of 
December, but it is not very cold. Take 
automobile into the mountains for a few 
miles and the most glorious scenery is 
open to you. Giant fir trees tower above 
your head, varied by the picturesque as¬ 
pen groves and the winding streams. It 
is an unforgettable experience to stand 
on the shoulder of Scout Mountain and 
look over the backs of innumerable other 
mountains, lying, like even greater mam¬ 
moths than those of pro-historic times— 
to look across to the valley where one 
may discover Pocatello cuddling at the 
feet of these terrifying protuberances on 
the earth’s surface. These are real moun¬ 
tains, not the hills which the Easterners 
call mountains. 
We go to the farm for Christmas. 
Those of the family who are still there 
send word that they are beginning to 
clean house in preparation for our com¬ 
ing. I shall be glad to go again to the 
sclioolhouse and mix with the good farm 
folk whom I have known so long. They 
have been having exciting times recently, 
religiously, having baptized a number of 
our farm people in the canal back of 
Howard’s house. We shall go back to I lie 
farm and see all the folks and all the 
dogs, and all the chickens and all the 
horses and all the cows and everything 
once again. There is so much more to 
see on a farm than in the city. 
ANNUO 1>IKE GREENWOOD. 
Desirable Cherries 
Will you suggest varieties of cherries, 
either sweet or sour, other than the 
Montmorency, that it might be well to 
try? We have a number of Montmorency 
trees. I recall reading of another 
variety that grew well and sold well, but 
do not recall its name, F. a. ,t. 
Among sweet cherries the. Windsor is 
as jirofitable a variety as can be grown. 
It is a late, black, firm-fleshed variety 
that is adapted to a wide range of soils, 
and that bears consistently year in and 
year out. Black Tartarian is the earl¬ 
iest commercial black sweet cherry, and 
is highly desirable. Quite recently a 
new sort, Seneca, has been introduced for 
trial by the. New York Slate Agricultural 
Experiment Station. Geneva, N. Y., 
which is even earlier than the Black 
Tartarian and which is considered quite 
promising for the early markets. Lam¬ 
bert and Schmidt are two other black 
sweet varieties of importance. Lambert 
is a good bearer, the fruit is large and 
attractive, and the quality is very good. 
Schmidt is of much the same type as 
Lambert, though a trifle earlier though 
the tree is liable to be a bit tardy in 
coming into bearing. 
White-fleshed sweet cherries are not 
so much in demand, but some of them 
are of unusually high quality. Coe is not 
much grown because it is soft, and be¬ 
cause of its light color, but it is one of 
the best for home use or for local market. 
Governor Wood, ripening early in the 
season, is also profitable in spite of its 
large pit, because of its earliness. Na¬ 
poleon is a standard firm-fleshed variety 
that is much used for canning, and Yel¬ 
low Spanish is another variety of the 
same type that is much grown. 
There is not much choice among sour 
cherries. Montmorency is the standard 
light-fleshed . sour variety, and English 
Morello is the standard dark-fleshed sort. 
Ripening before Montmorency, is Early 
Richmond, which is desirable to a small 
extent for its earliness, while a new 
Morello type, Chase, is now being re¬ 
ceived with favor H. n. t. 
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