Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1895 — FARM AND GARDEN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN.

BRIEF HINTS AS TO THEIR SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT. The Stump-Sooted Carrot Excellent for Family Use —How to Make a Farm Roller —A Movable Hen's NestFarmers Should Raise Everything. Half-Long Stump-Rooted Carrot. There is much less attention paid to the choice of varieties of carrots for a given soil than the importance demands, says Farm and Home. For field culture the long orange was the variety in general use until within the past few years, since when several new

types have been introduced, the tendency being for shorter roots, both on account of a saving of labor in digging and in greater productiveness. For most varieties, particularly where the soil is light and thin, the stump-rooted varieties are preferable. To grow to perfection carrots require a iieh, deep, sandy loam, well pulverized aud deeply cultivated. For an early crop sow in May aud June in drills about one foot apart, thinning out to four inches in the row. Sow for the main crop in June and July. After sowing tread the rows firmly. On poor, light soil, where the weeding aud cultivation have been neglected, the half-long, stump-rooted carrots have yielded at the rate of 520 bushels per acre. This is more than double the quantity that could have been raised had long-rooted varieties been planted aud not nearly as much as would have been produced had the soil been in good condition and well cultivated. Heavier crops can be produced in. deep, rich soils with the long-rooted varieties, but iu thin soils the shorter kinds give by far the greater yield.

Progress of Agriculture. The average of wages has risen 00 per cent since 1870, and at the same time the accumulation of urban wealth per head has been 70 per cent more than iu the period from 1850 to 1870, which shows that the rise in wealth and the increase of wages go almost hand in hand. But the farmer has nevertheless a corresponding advantage, for his life is a healthier one, the statistics of mortality showing that the death rate in American cities, especially among children, is greatly in exeess of that of rural districts. The farmer may make money more slotvly, but he has a safer aud less agitated life, and his children grow up around him in affluence and comfort The census of 1800 showed that tlie United States had 4,505,000 farmers, the aggregate value of whose farms, cattle aud implements summed up 15.082 millions of dollars, giving to each an average fortune of $3,505, most of these men having begun on a capital of a couple of hundred dollars. The number of uew farms created since 1860 lias been 2,520,000, bringing into cultivation 105,000,000 acres, and the greater part of this work has been done by European settlers. In fact, if the United States had no urban population or industries whatever, the advance of agricultural interests would be enough to claim the admiration of mankind, for it has no parallel in history.—North American Review. An Excellent Hen’s Nest, The accompanying illustration, taken from the American Agrculturist, shows an easily constructed and very excellent movable hen’s nest which is fitted . with a device which permits the eggs to be gathered from the outside of the hen house. The nest boxes have no

backs and are hung by hooks against the wall, as seen in Fig. 1. They can be taken down aud emptied in a moment, in this way avoiding all chance of harboring vermin. The opening in front should be just large enough for a hen to enter. An alighting pole may be placed In front of the nests. If there is a passageway at one side of the fowl house, or a room adjoining it, the nests

can be hung against the partition, and the eggs gathered from the outside without going into the pen. Let round holes be cut behind each nest in the partition, and these openings covered'by a slide as suggested in Fig. 2. The same arrangement could be used upon the outer wall of a hen house standing; by itself. The Family Garden. The family garden idea Is the thing to be cherished just now. Farmers are much, more apt, says the Nebraska Farmer, as a class, to give themselves over to the study of how best to meet the wants of their live stock through a variety of feeds best suited to building up the system and giving vigor to the constitution than they are to spend much thought or labor In meeting the same class of wants for the various members of the family. The garden spot should be the center of economy

for every farm household, not simply In a money sense, but in the better sense of providing fresh from the soil all those delicacies of the table in and out of season that are never procured in so good form as when produced directly by the hands for whose use they are Intended. Every member of the family can be made to feel an interest in the garden, and now is about the time to make that interest manifest by good deeds.

Unevenly Matched Teams. The worst result of having the team unevenly matched In work Is that neither is able to exert its full power in pulling. The slow and fast each hinders the other, and neither can do its best. This is a pracical basis for the ancient injunction in the law of Moses that the ox and the ass should not be yoked together. 'Jhere Is also a need for due proportion between the team and Its driver. The great majority of farm work requires that the driver shall walk, and a slow team limits the amount that an active, able-bodied man can accomplish. We well remember while a boy on a farm plowing with an ox team that could not be made to turn over an acre a day. A smart horse team with the same plow would turn an acre and a half or two acres. Such a difference as this explains why much farm help fails to earn its wages. The team for farm work should be active rather than plodding. This activity is not at all incompatible with superior strength and endurance.—American Cultivator.

The Farm Roller. The value of a farm roller as an aid in preparing ground for planting, or sowing is not sufficiently realized. The function of the roller on most farms is to go once over a piece of grain that has been sowed with an accompaniment of grass seed, to put tho ground into smooth condition for future mowing. This use of a roller is all right, but it is extracting only a small part of the value that can be got out of it. Nothing is better for making fine the soil, and getting an admirable seed bed than a thorough rolling, followed by a thorough harrowing. The roller breaks up lumps and clods and firms the soil so it can be thoroughly pulverized by the subsequent harrowing. A roller should be made in two sections so that one may roll back and the other forward in making a turn, otherwise a bad gouging of the surface occurs at every turn. The illustration show's the best manner of constructing a roller. Two pieces of plank are halved together at right angles for ends, and pieces V-shaped are fitted in at the four corners. These ends should be twentyfour or more inches in diameter, making the roller twenty-eight inches in diameter. The ends are covered with narrow strips of plank, with edges sawed somewhat beveling. This can be done at the mill. These strips are spiked

to the ends, and over each end a stout iron hoop is put on hot, and allowed to shrink into place, as a wagon tire is put on. This makes a solid job. Get this ready before planting time, and use it before putting in the seed as well as after. Care of Farm Machinery. It was formerly a common thing for the traveler in the West to see farm machinery of all kinds, expensive harvesters and thrashers, plows and all the ordinary implements, standing in the field, left where they were last used, usually without shelter from the elements. It W'as a common thing for the •wner of largo wheat and corn fields to buy new machinery in the spring or at harvest time, use It one season, leave it where used, and when the next season came round find it In no condition for use without considerable repairs. In such cases the farmer was very apt to trade off his machines for new ones, paying a large bonus, and often mortgaging them for all or part of the purchase money. The hard times and low prices for farm products are operating to cure the Western farmer of this extravagance and to compel him to manage bis business as closely as the manufacturer does his. It used to be a common saying on the rich prairie lands of Illinois that a farmer w'asted enough each year for a New England farmer to live on, and there was a solid foundation of truth for the saying.—Springfield Republican.

Early Spring Crops. Early crops, such as asparagus, strawberries, etc., that can be sold in the spring and early summer, usually pay much better than stuff that is raised for the fall and winter markets. The great majority of farmers grow crops for the late markets, which makes competition keen and prices low, says the Farmer. More early truck is grown each year, but it will be a long time before the spring market is as well supplied as the fall. The Guernsey Butter. The Guernsey as a dairy cow has been more talked about since the World’s Fair than she ever was before. It is undisputed that the Guernsey butter has the richest natural color of any breed. The Guernsey the world over has the rich, yellow skin which the old-time dairy people always said indicated a good butter cow.

Planting for the Hereafter. Trees cannot usurp the place of a broader agriculture, but can often be worked In conjunction with it. That farmer is but “casting an anchor to windward” who plants an orchard, a vineyard, a nut grove or a tract of timber. If he cannot live to enjoy it to the full, his children may. Black Knots in Cherry Trees. How can we, destroy black knots on our cherry trehi? is often asked. Simply cut'off‘the limbs and burn them, says American Gardening. The pest that causes these knots is in them, and fire alone will cause their destruction. But the work must be general to be useful. Farmers, Kaioe Everything. The farmer who keeps cows, poultry and hogs, who raises his own fruit and vegetables, and buys nothing th*t h* can raise himself, is the most snecessfol.

FINE CARROT FOR FAMILY USE.

MOVABLE HEN'S NESTS.

REAR SLIDES.

A FARM ROLLER.