720 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
May  12,  1923 
HOPE  FARM  NOTES 
“A  Spring  Day’’ 
Part  I 
Fifty  days  ago  we  should  have  felt  like 
Committing  assault  and  battery  upon  the 
person  of  anyone  who  accused  us  of  call¬ 
ing  for  rain  or  any  sort  of  moisture.  At 
that  time  the  face  of  New  Jersey  was 
well  covered  with  ice  and  snow  and  slush. 
The  last  thing  we  wanted  was  rain.  Oh, 
to  be  dry  !  was  the  song  we  practiced  then. 
Vet,  to  show  how  fickle  we  are,  and  how 
inconsistent  life  is.  I  am  forced  to  record 
the  fact  that  when  I  first  looked  from 
the  window  on  April  28  it  was  cause  for 
rejoicing  to  find  the  sky  clouded  and  the 
air  thick  with  that  moist  feeling  which 
makes  one  hunt  for  the  umbrella.  Fifty 
days  ago  we  were  close  to  the  end  of 
the  most  uncomfortable  Winter  we  have 
ever  known.  We  were  so  tired  of  water 
in  the  form  of  ice  or  snow  or  mud  and 
slush  that  we  never  wanted  to  see  an¬ 
other  storm.  Since  then  the  good  old 
earth  has  absorbed  all  of  it.  and  now  calls 
for  more.  We  have  had  a  long  stage  of 
cold,  dry  winds  blowing  down  our  valley, 
sucking  the  moisture  out  of  the  hills  and 
leaving  the  upper  soil  as  dry  as  a  brick. 
Each  day  stole  more  and  more  of  our  soil 
moisture.  We  had  our  land  plowed  and 
harrowed,  and  the  strawberry  plants 
came  on  time.  There  were  8,000  or  more 
planted  in  this  dry  soil — with  the  wind 
sucking  up  the  water  that  they  craved. 
I  knew  well  that  they  could  not  stand  it 
much  longer,  and  it  was  their  necessity 
which  made  us  forget  our  feelings  of  50 
days  ago  and  beg  for  rain. 
***** 
Well,  there  was  every  indication  that 
it  was  on  the  way-- — loitering  and  playing 
by  the  wayside,  perhaps,  but  still  coming. 
Most  of  my  family  were  still  sleeping. 
They  were  out  at  a  prize  contest  the 
night  before.  No,  we  are  not  patrons  of 
the  prize  ring,  though  that  seems  to  be 
fashionable  just  now.  Our  local  high 
school  went  over  in  a  crowd  and  debated 
with  another  school  on  the  east  side  of 
the  county.  My  daughter,  who  is  a  teacher 
in  our  local  school,  went  along  to  coach 
the  team,  and  Cherry-top  was  one  of  the 
debaters.  lie  was  to  try  to  prove  that 
the  ship  subsidy  is  desirable.  No  one 
could  tell  from  iiis  appearance  as  he  lay 
asleep  whether  he  won  or  lost— for  what 
do  the  poor  commonplaces  of  life  matter 
in  that  beautiful  land  of  dreams?  One 
of  the  girls  was  up,  and  we  had  our 
breakfast  of  cereal  and  cream  and  pan¬ 
cake*. 
“Rain  before  night,”  was  the  unanimous 
verdict  as  we  went  out  the  back  door. 
That  dry  wind  had  gone  down,  dark 
clouds  covered  the  sky,  and  there  was  a 
damp,  clinging  feel  to  the  air.  The  "indi¬ 
cations”  were  right,  and  yet  on  this  strip 
of  land  between  the  Delaware  and  the 
Atlantic  nature  often  fools  us  with  signs 
which  are  as  deceptive  as  the  northern 
lights  to  an  Arctic  traveler.  Thomas 
and  Rene  hitched  the  big  horses  to  the 
wagon  and  started  over  the  hill  to  put  in 
the  oats  and  clover,  and  I  started  the 
finish  of  that  berry-planting.  We  needed 
several  hundred  plants  to  fill  out  the 
field,  and  I  decided  to  use  Howard  17. 
We  have  found  that  a  fine  variety  for 
our  soil,  and  so.  with  the  girl  to  help  me, 
I  started  digging  plants. 
*  *  *  *  >Ss 
We  used  a  pronged  spade  in  digging. 
This  is  driven  into  the  ground  so  as  to 
bring  up  a  large  bunch  of  plants  together. 
Dumped  on  the  ground,  the  soil  is  shaken 
from  the  roots  and  the  best  plants  selected 
and  thrown  into  a  basket.  It  is  hard  to 
explain  on  paper  just  what  we  mean  by 
the  "best  plants."  It  takes  a  practical 
eve  to  form  a  standard  and  quickly  detect 
it.  If  the  sun  was  out  and  the  wind 
blowing  today,  I  should  dig  each  plant 
with  a  trowel  and  leave  a  ball  of  dirt 
around  the  roots ;  but  we  feel  sure  of  rain, 
and  will  take  our  chance.  With  the  bas¬ 
ket  well  filled,  we  take  it  to  the  pump 
and  soak  the  plants  with  water.  WTe  are 
planting  this  year  in  a  young  peach  or¬ 
chard  back  of  the  house.  The  ground 
was  covered  thick  with  well-rotted  ma¬ 
nure,  and  plowed  as  deep  as  the  plow 
would  run.  Then  it  was  torn  up  with  a 
spring-tooth  and  smashed  and  leveled  with 
an  Acme.  It  is  about  as  near  right  for 
strawberries  as  we  know  how  to  make  it. 
Our  ordinary  crop  is  planted  in  rows  3 
ft.  apart,  2  ft.  in  the  row.  That  will 
answer  for  varieties  which  are  natural 
plant-makers.  For  Marshall  and  some 
others  which  seem  to  be  natural  hill 
plants,  we  put  them  2  ft.  each  way;  but 
that  makes  great  labor  in  hand-working. 
In  planting  berries  I  notice  that  most 
people  get  down  on  their  hands  and  knees 
and  use  a  trowel.  Increased  years  have 
given  me  increased  respect  for  my  back, 
and  I  use  a  long-handled  spade.  This 
spade  is  driven  into  the  soil  just  where 
you  want  the  plant  to  stand.  Then  by 
pushing  on  the  handle  you  open  a  hole. 
As  I  did  this  the  girl  thrust  the  roots 
of  the  plant  in  just  behind  the  spade. 
With  a  quick  jerk  and  lift  the  spade  is 
pulled  out  so  that  the  soil  falls  in  around 
the  roots,  and  when  pushed  down  with 
the  hands  and  stamped  wtih  the  feet 
the  plant  stays  firmly  in  the  ground.  With 
the  common  method  too  many  plants  are 
put  in  with  cramped  roots  or  with  the 
crown  exposed  or  pinched  up  with  the 
fingers  so  as  to  leave  a  sort  of  brick 
around  the  top. 
We  finished  our  job  in  good  season. 
The  last  planting  of  Marshalls  will  be 
made  next  week.  That  will  be  largely 
for  potted  plant  production,  but  what  we 
finish  today  is  for  next  year’s  fruit  crop. 
We  have  put  out  the  following  varieties: 
Campbell’s  Early,  Howard,  Big  Joe,  Me- 
Alpin,  Chesapeake  and  Gandy,  in  addition 
to  our  own  Marshall.  Then  we  are  tak¬ 
ing  a  chance  on  about  2,0(M)  of  the  “ever- 
bearers.”  We  have  Progressive,  Francis, 
America.  Peerless,  and  I  hope  to  try  a 
few  of  the  new  Rockhill.  I  mean  to 
give  these  "cverbearers”  a  fair  chance  as 
a  market  proposition.  Various  circum¬ 
stances  have  compelled  us  to  make  a 
lightning  change  in  our  plans.  We  have 
cut  out  sweet  corn,  tomatoes  and  similar 
crops  for  market.  Careful  figures  prove 
that  these  crops  do  not  pay  on  our  old 
and  heavy  land.  There  is  no  profit  in 
tomatoes  unless  you  can  get  them  very 
early,  and  that  requires  light,  warm  soil. 
Last  year’s  production  of  these  crops 
proved  a. calamity  for  us,  and  increasing 
taxes  and  general  expense  compel  us  to 
find  new  crops  better  suited  to  our  soil 
and  conditions.  We  think  we  have  them 
in  strawberries  and  poultry — as  side  part¬ 
ners  to  our  apple  orchards.  For  20  years 
now  we  have  been  developing  a  strain  of 
the  Marshall  strawberry,  until  we  think 
we  have  an  improvement.  Marshall  is 
never  what  you  may  call  a  heavy  yielder. 
We  think  we  have  improved  the  yield  a 
little  and  kept  the  high  color  and  great 
size  of  the  berry.  I  cannot  recommend 
Marshall  for  ordinary  market  culture. 
It  will  not  give  enough  fruit  unless  you 
can  supply  a  fancy  market.  For  beauty 
and  flavor,  however,  the  aristocrat  of  the 
strawberry  world.  -I  think  Marshall 
still  stands  at  the  head.  We  think  there 
is  a  better  business  for  us  in  producing 
these  fine  plants  than  in  growing  sweet 
corn  and  tomatoes.  It.  is  curious  how 
things  work  out.  The  Indians  who  origi¬ 
nally  lived  on  this  ridge,  found  that 
grapes  grew  well  in  this  soil.  I  under¬ 
stand  they  hunted  in  the  woods  for  su¬ 
perior  grapevines,  dug  them  and  trans¬ 
planted  them  here,  where  the  vines  were 
given  a  sort  of  rude  culture.  It  is  said 
that  Indians  of  other  families  or  tribes 
for  miles  around  came  here  to  buy  grapes. 
They  gave  corn  or  furs  or  what  they  had 
in  exchange.  Then  our  Indians  could 
sell  what  they  traded  for  grapes  to  the 
Dutch  for  other  necessities.  The  first 
white  men  grew  “farm  crops” — a  little 
rye  or  corn — a  little  of  everything.  There 
came  a  time  when  this  did  not  pay,  and 
strawberry  culture  came  to  these  hills. 
They  raised  the  old  Wilson  strawberry, 
selling  in  little  cups  or  woven  baskets. 
The  Wilson  was  a  good  yielder,  but  sour 
and  none  too  good  in  flavor.  As  better 
varieties  were  developed  and  other  locali¬ 
ties  started,  the  business  of  growing  Wil¬ 
son  on  our  rough  hills  went  out  of  date, 
and  was  finally  abandoned.  Now,  after 
GO  years  or  so,  conditions  have  changed, 
so  that  it  pays  us  to  put  the  farm  back 
into  berries.  We  could  not  do  it.  with 
Wilsons  and  old  methods  of  culture.  We 
must  have  varieties  like  St.  ;Martfin. 
Chesapeake  or  Marshall,  and  use  enough 
salesmanship  to  make  people  come  to  us 
and  pay  .30  cents  or  more  per  quart.  You 
see  that  GO  years  ago  there  were  hardly 
500  people  within  25  miles  of  where  I 
stand  who  would  pay  any  such  prices. 
Now  there  are  close  to  a  million  and  a 
half  of  such  customers. 
***** 
I  think  of  all  this — how  all  through 
history  industry  has  swung  back  and 
forth  in  this  way.  I  imagine  we  are 
making  a  last  stand  on  the  high-priced 
land  of  these  hills.  The  overflow  from 
the  big  city  will  claim  them  before  many 
years.  Well,  these  new  comers  must 
pay  for  the  privilege,  and  we  can  move 
further  back — to  more  distant  hills— -for 
it  seems  to  me  that  I  should  not  care  to 
live  in  a  level  country.  The  girl  has  been 
suggesting  for  some  time  that  she  is 
needed  in  the  house  to  wash  dishes.  As 
she  puts  the  last  plant  behind  the  spade 
the  boys  come  from  the  house.  The  ora¬ 
tor  is  waving  his  arms  in  triumph,  for 
our  side  won  the  great,  debate.  The  rec¬ 
ord  of  Congress  means  little  when  our 
boys  can  prove  to  the  judges  that  America 
needs  subsidized  ships.  My  daughter 
beams  proudly  at  the  back  door  and  waves 
her  apron  like  a  banner.  She  is  surely 
crowding  her  parents  out  of  the  hall  of 
fame,  for  under  her  skillful  coaching  the 
debaters  first  proved  in  one  contest  that, 
the  subsidy  is  all  wrong,  and  now  they 
have  demonstrated  before  a  new  set  of 
judges  that  it  is  all  right !  But  few  of 
us  can  expect  to  live  by  oratory  alone, 
and  I  do  not  intend  to  pay  any  subsidy 
to  sick  trees,  so  our  young  orator  and 
the  Japanese  boy  take  ax  and  grub-hoe 
and  start  on  half  a  dozen  peach  trees 
which  show  signs  of  “yellows.”  I  think 
I  shall  go  up  and  have  a  look  at  that  oat 
seeding.  There  is  the  gray  goose  sitting 
patiently  on  her  nest  of  eggs.  The  old 
red  rooster  is  strutting  about  as  if  he 
owned  the  place,  and  he  comes  near  doing 
it.  too.  His  20  daughters  at  the  egg-lay¬ 
ing  contest  seem  to  be  leading  the  world 
this  year.  Last  week  they  laid  108  eggs, 
with  a  total  of  over  1,700  since  Novem¬ 
ber  1.  It  isn’t  often  that  a  red  rooster 
can  be  said  to  change  the  policy  of  a  farm. 
That  is  usually  left  to  the  boss,  but  Red 
Dick  is  responsible  for  our  plunge  into 
poultry.  I  will  tell  about  that  a  little 
later.  It  is  a  hard  climb  up  our  steep 
hill,  but  on  a  clear  day  the  view  is  worth 
if.  As  I  look  off  across  the  great  billows 
of  land — off  to  the  dark  slopes  of  the 
Palisades — it  suddenly  comes  to  me  that 
I  miss  something.  There  ought  to  be  a 
More  Than  Pays  for  Itself 
If  you  have  threshing  to  do,  there  are  many  reasons  why  a 
Case  Steel  Thresher  will  prove  a  very  profitable  investment. 
Under  ordinary  conditions  it  increases  your  yearly  profits 
enough  to  pay  for  itself  in  a  short  time,  and  it  continues  to 
earn  these  good  profits  for  many  years  more. 
These  Case  steel  thresher  advantages  make  your  farming  more 
profitable  and  the  results  more  certain: 
Low  First  Cost— Superior  quality 
at  low  price  is  made  possible  by 
large  volume  production  in  a 
well  equipped  factory. 
Great  Durability — Steel  construc¬ 
tion,  large  bearings,  ample  pro¬ 
vision  for  lubrication  and  well 
balanced  parts  make  the  Case 
durable  and  dependable.  Most 
of  the  first  steel  machines  sold 
in  1904  are  still  in  use.  The  pres¬ 
ent  machines  are  even  more 
durable. 
Big  Capacity— Case  machines  do 
fast,  clean  threshing  of  all  grains 
and  seeds.  They  operate  con¬ 
tinuously  from  morning  to  night. 
Easy  Running — Simplicity  of  con¬ 
struction,  rigidity  of  the  steel 
frame  and  self  aligning  bear¬ 
ings  contribute  to  easy  running 
and  power  economy. 
Service — Facilities  for  prompt  serv¬ 
ice  insure  Case  owners  against 
possible  delays  at  threshing 
time. 
Properly  handled,  a  Case  machine  lasts  twenty  years  or  more.  Divide 
the  first  cost  by  twenty  to  get  the  cost  per  year.  Then  figure  what  you 
pay  now  for  less  satisfactory  threshing.  Can  you  afford  not  to  own  a 
Case  thresher? 
Write  for  “Profit  By  Better  Threshing,”  and  learn  how  the  Case  thresher 
makes  your  profits  sure. 
J.  I.  CASE  THRESHING  MACHINE  COMPANY 
(Established  1842) 
Dept.  E22  Racine  Wisconsin 
NOTE:  Our  plows  and  harrows  are  NOT  the  Case  plows 
and  harrows  made  by  the  J.  I.  Case  Plow  Works  Company. 
You  can  get  away  from  the 
tiresome  job  of  pitching  hay 
onto  the  wagon  in  the  field, 
and  still  require  less  farm  help 
and  harvest  the  hay  quicker 
and  cheaper,  by  using  a 
New  Deere 
Hay  Loader 
Flexible,  floated  gathering  cylinder 
automatically  adjusts  itself  to  handle 
successfully  either  the  lightest  swath  or 
the  heaviest  windrow.  Strong,  spring 
steel  gathering  teeth  pick  up  only  the 
clean  hay,  and  the  hay  is  put  on  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  wagon.  Automatic  coupling. 
Wheelbarrow  mounting — weight  is  car¬ 
ried  on  the  hubs,  causing  the  wheels  to 
run  true. 
Sold  by  John  Deere  dealers. 
FREE  BOOK  describing  this  load¬ 
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system  of  curing  hay  sent  upon  re¬ 
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will  also  send  you  “Bookkeeping  on 
the  Farm,”  just  the  book  you  need 
for  your  records.  Address  John 
Deere,  Moline.  Ill.,  and  ask  for 
Package  XN-687. 
£ _ _ 5 
JOHN  £  DEERE 
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