854 
7ht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Hope  Farm  Notes 
I  think  every  farmer  would  do  well  to 
have  some  personal  job  that  he  may  ride 
as  a  sort  of  hobby.  Or,  rather,  he  should 
ride  on  a  hoe  or  cultivator  into  the  land 
of  accomplishment.  Too  many  farmers 
come  to  the  time  when  they  can  no  longer 
shoulder  a  bag  of  fertilizer  or  carry  the 
butt  end  of  every  heavy  job,  and  feel  that 
life  has  little  worth  while  for  them.  If 
they  did  but  know  it,  they  could  take  a 
small  piece  of  ground,  substitute  a  hoe  for 
the  plow  or  heavy  harrow,  and  make  a 
liner  showing  than  they  ever  did  with  the 
big  tools.  I  know  how  hard  it  is  to  make 
a  hard-working  farmer,  in  the  full  power 
of  his  strength,  realize  that,  'but  I  have 
seen  it  worked  out  many  a  time.  I  know 
men  who,  when  Nature  gave  them  full 
warning,  took  one  good  corner  of  the 
farm  and  let  the  boys  work  the  remain¬ 
der.  By  growing  flowers,  or  fruits  or 
plants,  or  some  choice  vegetable  like  cel¬ 
ery  or  lettuce,  they  sold  more  ott  an  acre 
than  any  10  acres  of  the  farm  could  pio- 
duce  at  ordinary  crops.  They  did  it  with¬ 
out  straining  or  heavy  lifting,  and  they 
gained  a  greater  reputation  as  gardeners 
than  they  ever  did  as  farmers.  And  even 
before  a  man  feels  ready  to  drop  the 
heavy  labor  it  will  do  him  no  end  ot  good 
to  take  a  small  piece  of  land  and  try  to 
make  it  shine  with  what  I  may  call  hoe 
polish.  I  do  not  know  of  any  finer  feel- 
in#  of  accomplishment  than  to  offer 
plain  evidence  that  you  have  hoed  oil  a 
pimple  on  the  face  of  nature  and  turned 
it  into  a  dimple. 
*  *  *  *  * 
I  am  taking  my  own  advice  this  year 
with  potatoes  and  strawberries.  Ihe  po¬ 
tatoes  are  being  grown  in  the  laziest  pos¬ 
sible  way,  while,  in  order  to  make  a  bal¬ 
anced  labor  ration,  the  strawberries  are 
grown  in  the  way  that  requires  most 
hand  labor.  We  took  a  level  piece  of 
ground  out  back  of  the  house  for  our  po¬ 
tato  patch.  It  is  naturally  hard  and 
tough,  and  never  did  have  a  fair  chance, 
though  we  have  tried  almost  everything 
there.  It  was  plowed  deep  and  harrowed 
smooth.  The  Japanese  boy  and  I  are  in 
partnership  on  this  patch,  and  we  picked 
stones  and  crushed  clods  by  hand  until 
we  had  the  soil  quite  fine  and  level.  We 
decided  to  plant  that  blight-proof  potato. 
It  is  a  good  yielder  and  this  close  plant¬ 
ing  ought  to  give  it  a  full  test.  I  have 
some  of  the  original  seed  from  Nova 
Scotia  planted  alongside  of  our  seed.  11ns 
potato  has  many  eyes,  and  cuts  up  wen, 
and  we  cut  to  rather  small  pieces.  Ihe 
plan  was  to  plant  these  seed  pieces  18 
inches  apart  all  over  the  patch.  After 
getting  the  land  level  we  drove  stakes  at 
both  ends.  Then  we  could  run  a  line 
straight  across;  I  took  a  long-handled 
spade  and  drove  it  into  the  ground  at  in¬ 
tervals  along  this  line.  By  pushing  the 
handle  ahead  a  hole  was  made  behind  the 
spade.  The  boy  dropped  a  seed  piece  into 
this  hole,  and  with  a  quick  jerk  I  pulled 
the  spade  up  and  let  the  soil  fall  back 
upon  the  seed  piece.  With  a  light  step 
on  the  place  the  seed  was  firmly  placed 
just  where  we  wanted  it.  We  use  tins 
same  method  for  planting  strawberries, 
or  it  can  be  used  for  tomatoes  or  cab¬ 
bage.  After  you  get  the  “knack”  of  it 
you  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  fast  you 
can  work.  A  few  days  after  this  planting 
we  covered  the  entire  patch  with  strawy 
horse  manure.  This  makes  a  cover  about 
three  inches  deep.  Last  year  we  used 
rotten  sawdust,  but  it  did  not  answer  as 
well  as  we  expected.  The  straw  or  light 
manure  will  be  better.  That  is  all  there 
is  to  it.  The  potato  plants  make  then- 
way  up  through  ths  “mulch.”  A  few 
weeds  also  come,  but  they  are  quite  easily 
pulled.  Lawn  clippings,  weeds  and  such 
trash  are  put  right  on  the  top,  and  that 
is  all  the  “culture”  required.  No  hoeing 
or  cultivating  and,  with  this  blight-proof 
variety,  no  spraying.  If  the  beetles  are 
numerous  a  little  dusting  will  get  them. 
The  potatoes  form  under  the  mulch.  They 
are  easy  to  dig  and  are  of  remarkable 
quality.  The  yield  is  usually  heavy.  I 
do  not,  of  course,  suggest  this  lazy  meth¬ 
od  for  general  culture,  though  I  have 
known  acres  of  potatoes  to  be  grown  in 
this  way,  in  the  West,  where  straw  is 
cheap.  I  have  known  farmers  to  say 
that  it  does  not  pay  to  grow  potatoes, 
since  they  interfere  with  other  farm 
work.  This  method  should  suit  them,  for 
this  blight-proof  variety,  grown  under 
straw  or  manure,  will  require  little  work 
or  care  and  give  a  fair  yield. 
While  this  potato  growing  may  be 
called  a  lazy  man’s  scheme,  there  is  noth¬ 
ing  of  a  soft  job  about  the  strawberries. 
Last  August  we  planted  about  1.000  Mar¬ 
shall  runners  in  between  young  peach 
trees.  The  soil  is  naturally  strong  and 
weedy.  It  had  been  well  manured  and  a 
crop  of  early  peas  had  been  picked.  After 
picking,  vines  and  weeds  were  plowed  un¬ 
der  and  the  ground  harrowed  smooth.  The 
Marshall  plants  were  put  in  two  feet 
apart  each  way,  and  it  was  a  struggle 
with  the  weeds.  I  used  a  Butch  or  scuf¬ 
fle  hoe  almost  entirely.  As  you  know, 
this  does  not  dig.  but  cuts  under  the  up- 
per  soil.  You  do  not  strike  with  it,  but 
nush  it  ahead,  cutting  off  the  weeds  and 
leaving  a  layer  of  loose  dirt  on  top.  This 
kept  the  weeds  down  quite  well,  and  the 
plants  went  through  the  Winter  without 
great  loss.  We  must  always  expect  to 
lose  some  plants  from  this  late  setting, 
whether  they  be  potted  plants  or  just 
common  layers.  As  soon  as  the  ground 
was  fit  I  began  pushing  that  scuffle  hoe 
among  the  plants,  cutting  up  the  soil  and 
slicing  off  the  weeds.  If  these  plants  had 
been  grown  for  fruiting  alone  we  should 
have  covered  them  with  a  thick  mulch 
and  left  them  alone,  except  for  hand 
weeding.  As  we  are  after  early  potted 
plants  we  want  open  and  loose  ground, 
with  the  plants  pushed  along  into  active 
growth.  These  plants  were  worked  in 
this  way  five  times  up  to  .Tune  1,  and 
they  show  the  effect.  When  you  get  just 
the  “hang”  of  pushing  this  scuffle  hoe  it 
I  am  going  over  the  patch  and  marking 
about  150  of  the  finest  plants  for  breeding 
or  propagation.  I  want  a  big,  strong,  up¬ 
right  plant,  with  heavy  foliage  and  strong 
stems,  and  a  good  set  of  fruit.  Over  in 
the  orchard  I  have  a  pen  of  Red  hens  for 
breeding.  There  are  nine  of  them ;  the 
best  of  the  trap-nested  birds  from  last 
year’s  egg-laying  contest.  Some  of  them 
have  records  of  nearly  200  eggs.  I  feel 
reasonably  sure  of  getting  some  extra 
good  pullets  from  that  pen,  as  I  know 
their  mothers  are  superior.  Now,  the 
problem  is,  will  these  superior  Marshall 
plants  transmit  their  good  qualities  to 
their  runners,  much  as  the  Red  hens  are 
to  be  expected  to  give  their  daughters  a 
legacy  of  merit?  I  am  working  on  the 
theory  that  they  will.  It  seems  reason¬ 
able  to  me  that  good  potted  plants  from 
The  Boston  Flower  Market 
is  not  hard  work.  On  level  land,  free 
from  stones  and  the  soil  fairly  loose,  an 
active  man  can  cut  over  an  acre  of  land 
in  a  day. 
***** 
As  these  big  plants  grew  and  prepared 
for  fruiting  it  was  clearly  evident  that 
workers  and  drones  were  mixed  together. 
Some  of  the  plants  burst  into  bloom,  giv¬ 
ing  two  or  even  three  sprays  of  good  flow¬ 
ers.  For  a  Marshall,  set  in  August,  that 
is  quite  remarkable.  Others,  though 
growing  large  and  green,  gave  no  bloom 
at  all.  These  drones  will  not  give  a  sin¬ 
gle  fruit  this  year.  Next  year  they  will 
no  doubt  come  into  bearing,  but  this  year 
they  are  as  useless  as  one  of  my  pullets 
these  workers  will  repeat  and  give  a  fair 
crop  next  year  when  planted  after  an 
early  crop  of  peas  or  sweet  corn.  I  do 
not  care  to  propagate  from  any  of  these 
drones.  What  little  experience  I  have 
had  in  the  past  indicates  the  possibility 
of  developing  a  superior  family  or 
“strain”  by  selecting  these  “workers”  for 
breeding  stock.  I  do  not  know  surely, 
but  this  seems  like  a  chance  to  find  out. 
We  are  using  a  good  many  paper 
bands  and  drinking  cups  for  potting  this 
year.  Of  course,  there  must  be  a  hole 
punched  in  the  bottom  of  the  cup  for 
drainage.  'We  mark  the  finer  plants  by 
driving  ux>  a  little  stick  beside  them. 
Flowers  Handled  on  Trucks 
at  the  egg-laying  contest.  This  bird  has 
laid  but  few  over  a  dozen  eggs  since  No¬ 
vember  1.  while  her  own  sister  has  laid 
close  to  160.  I  found  one  group  of  what 
I  call  ideal  Marshall  plants.  They  grow 
upright,  with  strong  stems  and  big  leaves. 
They  will  average  more  than  half  a  quart 
of  berries  each- — while  right  beside  them 
are  big  flat-growing  plants  with  not  a  sin¬ 
gle  bloom  or  berry  on  them.  All  these 
plants  came  out  of  the  same  bed,  selected 
for  their  appearance  of  strength  and 
vigor.  Something  like  one-third  of  all 
the  plants  in  this  patch  are  “drones.”  I 
would  not  from  choice  plant  a  runner 
from  any  of  them.  Yet  we  could  not  tell 
the  difference  until  we  had  them  in  this 
way,  two  feet  apart,  where  their  behavior 
is  open  and  evident.  I  never  before  saw 
such  evidence  of  the  difference  in  berry 
plants. 
Then  with  trowel  in  hand  and  pocket  full 
of  paper  bands  we  walk  through  the 
rows,  going  systematically  over  every 
good  plant.  The  runners  have  already 
started  out.  When  we  find  one  with  the 
little  leaves  formed  at  the  joint,  we  fill 
the  band  with  fine  good  soil.  This  “band” 
is  merely  a  strip  of  heavy  paper  fastened 
into  the  shape  of  a  small  pot,  with  both 
top  and  bottom  open.  Some  judgment  is 
required  in  placing  the  new  plant.  You 
want  them  grouped  around  the  parent  so 
that  the  weeds  can  be  kept  out  without 
too  much  finger  work.  With  our  trowel 
we  dig  a  little  hole  in  the  ground,  put  the 
filled  “band”  down  into  it.  smooth  the 
soil  around  it  and  then  put  the  tip  of  the 
plant  on  the  fresh  soil  in  the  band.  A 
small  stone  or  clod  is  put  on  the  tip  to 
hold  it  in  place.  In  a  short  time  the 
roots  of  the  tip  will  strike  into  the  soil 
June  1G,  1923 
and  develop  inside  the  band,  finally  filling 
it  full.  Of  course  the  runner  is  left  at¬ 
tached  to  the  parent  plant.  Later  the  lit¬ 
tle  plant  can  be  cut  from  the  parent.  It 
will  have  a  mass  of  roots  inside  the  dirt 
band,  and  can  be  shipped  with  the  band 
around  it,  or  transplanted  by  ripping  the 
band  off.  No  one  can  reasonably  expect 
a  full  crop  the  following  season  from 
such  plants,  but  they  give  some  fruit,  and 
it  is  a  good,  though  expensive  way  to 
get  started  with  new  varieties.  I  am 
mostly  interested  in  seeing  if  these  work¬ 
ing  plants  will  raise  a  brood  of  indus¬ 
trious  children.  I  think  I  will  pot  a  few 
of  the  drones  and  plant  them  alongside 
the  workers  for  comparison.  But  it  is 
great  for  a  farmer  to  mount  a  hoe  in  this 
way,  and  try  his  hand  at  a  few  new  and 
interesting  things.  h.  w.  c. 
Selling  Flowers 
Boston  Flower  Market. — Inquiries 
are  often  made  through  The  R.  N.-Y. 
about  sending  flowers  to  the  city  markets 
on  commission.  Farmers  and  others  in¬ 
terested  in  flowers  who  visit  Boston 
should  make  a  point  of  inspecting  the 
new  Flower  Market  on  Tremont  Street, 
just  beyond  the  Arlington  Street  Theater. 
This  market  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  world,  be¬ 
ing  only  surpassed  by  the  famous  Covent 
Garden  market  in  London.  It  occupies  a 
vast  building  covering  acres  of  space  and 
lighted  by  an  immense  dome  in  the  cen¬ 
ter.  Tons  of  flowers  come  to  this  market 
each  morning  from  all  over  New  England. 
No  selling  is  done  at  retail,  but  florists 
gather  soon  after  daylight  and  buy  then- 
supplies  for  the  day’s  trade.  Many  of  the 
growers  have  stalls  and  sell  only  their 
own  products.  Other  stalls  are  controlled 
by  commission  men.  with  whom  it  is  pos¬ 
sible  to  make  selling  arrangements  if  con¬ 
signments  of  a  sufficiently  large  amount 
can  be  made.  To  visit  the  market  and  to 
see  the  methods  by  which  flowers  and 
plants  are  handled  in  bulk  is  a  revela¬ 
tion.  It  gives  an  entirely  new  conception 
of  a  trade,  the  inside  workings  of  which 
are  but  little  understood  by  the  general 
public.  Flowers  are  shipped,  not  only  to 
all  parts  of  New  England  for  resale,  but 
as  far  west  as  Detroit  and  as  far  north 
as  Montreal.  e.  i.  Farrington. 
An  Enthusiastic  Old  Farm  Boy 
I  want  to  talk  to  the  boys,  so  listen 
and  answer  this  question  in  your  own 
minds.  Where  are  all  these  folks  in  cities 
and  towns,  and  the  people  flocking  there, 
going  to  get  enough  to  eat?  They  have 
hard  enough  times  now  getting  places  to 
sleep  and  live ;  but  how  will  they  get 
food?  Another  question.  The  farmers 
who  will  not  desert  are  wearing  out,  and 
production  must  diminish.  Where  will 
the  farmers  for  the  future  come  from? 
Let  me  tell  you  something.  Before  10 
years  there  will  be  no  “dawn  market” 
for  hucksters  to  pick  off  what  they  want 
at  any  price.  They  will  drive  to  gardens 
and  pay  the  price  the  owners  ask.  and 
they  will  ask  enough.  There  will  be  no 
watchful  waiting  at  roadside  markets, 
but  hungry  folks  will  come  and  hunt 
producers.  This  will  hold  good  with 
milk,  grain  and  everything  to  support  life. 
Dealers  will  phone  over,  “What  will  you 
take  if  we  run  our  trucks  out?” 
People  must  eat,  and  as  sure  as  taxes 
they  will  have  trouble  getting  enough.  It 
takes  labor  for  production,  and  the  laborers 
are  few.  Oncoming  age  and  these  ephem¬ 
eral  high  city .  wages  will  make  them 
fewer,  and  the  ones  who  stay  will  be  in 
demand.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is 
always  a  good  place  to  sleep  on  the  farm, 
with  plenty  to  eat.  but  the  city  hirelings 
are  becoming  too  thick  to  thrive.  Shortly 
they  will  be  competing  for  jobs,  under¬ 
bidding  each  other.  They  have  had  their 
day,  which  may  last  a  little  longer,  but 
there  will  be  “soup  lines”  before  three 
years.  Think  of  a  farm  boy  in  one. 
This  is  the  best  time  ever  known  not  to 
quit  the  farm,  but  to  plan  for  expert 
grain,  milk,  vegetable,  and  fruit  growing, 
because  the  demand  will  be  insistent 
shortly.  The  young  man  who  knows  how 
and  is  willing  can  command  good  wages 
from  an  owner  making  money,  or  can  em¬ 
bark  and  be  an  independent  profiteer  him¬ 
self.  The  turn  will  come  before  a  year, 
and  in  a  few  more  we  will  be  looking  back 
thinking  of  the  trials  of  producers  in 
1920,  1921  and  1922,  as  sure  as  one  ex¬ 
treme  follows  another.  All  I  hate  about 
it  is  that  I  am  72,  but  I  have  a  boy,  and 
he  has  one  who  can  be  what  we  formerly 
talked  of,  “the  independent  farmer.” 
Take  my  word,  boys,  farmers  will  not 
be  crowding  each  other  competing  to  kill 
the  prices,  and  Providence  may  not  be  so 
bountiful  as  since  that  old  war  began. 
Farm  labor  is  demoralized,  and  the  labor¬ 
ers  who  are  intelligent  and  willing  can 
find  employment  from  growers  who  are 
making  money,  or  can  turn  growers  them¬ 
selves  and  give  these  business  profiteers 
some  pointers.  Listen,  every  boy  who 
reads  this  and  stays  will  think  back  on 
it  with  pleasure,  and  the  ones  who  leave 
will  regret.  Wise  boys  will  stick  and 
plan  to  own  farms,  so  they  can  have  all 
the  comforts  during  life,  and  be  followed 
to  a  country  cemetery  afterwards  by  genu¬ 
ine  friends.  w.  w.  Reynolds. 
Ohio. 
—Mrs.  Knagg:  “When  we  were  first 
married  you  used  to  sav  vou  loved  the 
ground  I  walked  on.”  Husband  :  “So  I 
did.  that  ground.  But  we’ve  moved  six 
times  since  then.” — Credit  Lost. 
