Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1877 — AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

Around the Farm. Should your wheat be too rank and in danger of lodging, you may go over it with a long roller before it shoots into head. It will check the growth; the wheat will rise again. It has been known to save a crop. A gallon of warm water poured on a pailful of walnut leaves will make a safe wash for horses and cattle, and save them the annoyance of flies. We recommend its use daily until we hear of something better. M. Chatot recommends common salt as an antidote for mildew on vineß. By sprinkling a handful of salt around the base of each vine, the effect, he says, was marvelous; and vines hitherto covered Avith this fungus grew luxuriantly, and had an abundance of grapeß entirely free from oidum.— Paris paper. When planted in very rich soil, tomatoes often produce much wood and little fruit. The best crop of tomatoes I ever saw was furnished by main stems as free from side growth as a walking-stick. All growths, except the leaves and flowers attached to the principal stem, had been pinched off as they appeared. —The Garden. We are often recommended not to give manure Avater to grapevines until the fruit is swelling. I always apply it freely from the time when the young shoots are one inch or two inches long until the fruit is coloring, and I find it to do far more good in strengthening the shoots and produce before the bunches are in flower than at any subsequent period. —Northern Gardener. Some of the best hay wliich we have found in the market this year has been that made from Nepaul barley the yield of which on some tule farms exceeds three tons to the acre. The greatest hay-producing district this your Avill include the reclaimed lauds, and even lands partially reclaimed, the owners of which have no complaints to make about drought, northers, or heated terms. — San Francisco Bulletin. Mr. Steeke said if wo could attract tiie birds to our orchards and fields, we would find a great help toward a successful victory over insect enemies. Among our "best friends is tho little Avren. The blue jay he does not like for his destructive habits toward other birds, and lie has waged a deadly war against them. Our common house cat is a very destructive enemy of birds, and should be watched carefully.— Michigan Farmer. A Derry correspondent of the NewsLetter writes as follows: “Don’t kill the crows even though they raise a little corn on their own liook. A farmer in our town shot one last week, and found his crop literally packed with potato beetles. These are meaner than crows.” We are informed that a Londonderry farmer is this year successfully fighting tho bugs Avith a little army of guinea hens, and there are some Avho claim that ducks will earn an honest living destroying the bugs. —Mirror and Fanner. Heading Down Neavly - Planted Trees. —This subject has been Avritten about for a thousand or more years, but a uoto now and then to a ucav planter of trees may be useful. Iu transplanting more or less of broken roots have to be removed ; these must be balanced by toe top which they have to support. However carefully we may transplant a tree there is a certain cheek given—a certain disorganization of the system takes place. When the roots aud tops are shortened at the same time, the cheek aduiiuiofcerotl in twofol.l We must, therefore, prune very carefully the top of ft newly-planted tree and according to the injury given to the roots. It is possible to raise calves Avitliout giving them fresh new milk, for with a little skimmed milk and hay tea they will thrive almost if not quite as v/01l as upon the pure lacteal fluid. Fifty years ago Sir James SteAvart Denham, of Scotland, instituted experiments in raising calves with hay ten, taking them from their mothers when three days old, and those experiments Avere eminently successful. Two pounds of hay avoic steeped in tweuty quarts of water, aud then boiled down one-lialf, and to tliis av as added a quart of skimmed milk. In some instances molasses was added-also to give sweetness, and the calves not only thrived upon this diet but preferred it to fresh milk. — Farmers' Union.