Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1901 — GARDEN AND FARM. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GARDEN AND FARM.

EGGS FOR HATCHING PURPOSES. In using eggs for hatching purposes endeavor to select those from hens rather than from pullets, as chicks hatched from eggs layed by hens are usually stronger and more vigorous than those from pullets’ eggs. Some pullets begin to lay before they are fully matured. DESTROYING WEEDS IN LAWNS. When weeds appear in lawns it is sometimes difficult to eradicate them, even when the lawn is frequently mowed, as it may happen that dwarf weeds will drop seed, which will grow, while other weeds are propogated by sending out roots in every direction, from which young plants come. The best way to destroy such weeds is to pour about one teaspoonful of sulphuric acid on the crown of each weed, as no plant can stand the effects of the acid. TEMPERATURE FOR LETTUCE. The temperature that suits lettuce is forty to fifty degrees at night and ten to thirty degrees higher by sunlight. The young plants will endure extremes of temperature very well. Now' that the weather is becoming warmer the young plants may be put out in the open ground. The early lettuce are artificially grown during the winter, but with early plants now ready good prices will be obtained from the lettuce grown before the main crop comes in.

CULTIVATING ALFALFA IN THE FAST — Alfalfa has been tested in the East and has been found a very useful crop in this section. Once it occupies the land it will produce crops for years. It may be moved every month or six w’eeks and produces from two to four tons of hay. according to the capacity of the soil. On the light, sandy soils of New Jersey it has done well, which is evidence that it can l>e made to thrive on other soils than those that are extraordinarily fertile. A GOOD INSECTICIDE. The following is recommended by a practical gardener as an insecticide : Take the leaves and stems of the tomato plant and boil them in water until the juice is all extracted. When the liquid is cold it is to be sprinkled over the plants attacked with insects, when it at once destroys caterpillars, black and green flies, gnats, lice and other enemies to "vegetation, and in no way impairs the growth of the plants. A peculiar odor remains and prevents insects from coming again for a long time. USE OF INCUBATOR SPREADING. The use of incubators is spreading. They are now’ made of all sizes, beginners preferring the smaller sizes. As a too-egg incubator will hatch as many chicks as eight or ten hens, and as the chicks can be kept in a small space together under one brooder, there is no more care required than in attending to a large number of broody hens. As all the chicks can be hatched at once they consequently reach the market in one lot and are uniform in size. The best time to learn with an incubator is in the summer, when eggs are cheap, as the cost of running the brooder is also then low. It is not difficult to operate an incubator, but there is something to learn, hence the incubator and brooder should be operated as a trial before attempting to hatch for market. IMPORTANCE OF CLEAN CREAM. “Ripening,” for want of a better word, expresses the whole series of changes that take place in the cream caused by the growth, nutrition and death of bacteria. Ihe flavor they produce is the substances of things sought for. The changes they produce in the cream are certainly the evidence of things unseen, but evidently the result in producing | successfully the first or last condition depends on to what extent co-operation exists between the dairyman and butter maker. No dairyman is doing bis whole duty ! when the cream made from his milk is tainted by the presence of dirt produced bacteria; no butter maker can do his duty when he is compelled to receive such cream, and. although the butter maker may receive many hard words for not producing "extras,” the loss ultimately falls where it belongs—on the milk producer. The only injustice is that the loss does not fall on the dirty one but on his neighbors as well, on the just as well as the unjust.— Hoard's Dairyman.

RAISING OR BUYING FEED. Where the farmer grows the fodder /and grain for his animals he is justified in feeling that it has cost less than it would if lie paid the cash for it in the market if he has been successful in getting good crops. He has made a market for his own labor, the labor of his team and use of tools, and for the manure that was a waste product of his stock. All of that forms a part of his profit, and the crops may be said to have cost him the seed, hired labor and fertilizer bought. But it may not be the cheapest feed for him to use. He may be able to sell it and purchase other food materials that would give him enough better results to repay him for the labor o r drawing both ways. Bran and gluten feed produce so much more milk than corn meal that he tnay sell the corn he has raised, and buy the other feeds which he does not raise. Other foods are better for hens than the corn, or even than oats. The man who tries to be so independent as neither to buy or sell, had better set up a hand loom and a cobbler's bench, to save spending money for clothing. We could fatten hogs and cattle on turnips and onions

cheaper when we sold them and bought our com than we could to have fed the roots, and we thought cheaper than if we had grown the com.— American Cultivator. MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. This is an age of invention, improvement and progress. Those who have lived half a century and have kept their eyes open must admit that they have witnessed great and wonderful improvements in the science of agriculture, the foundation of all sciences. Yet there is still room for improvement in every department of agricultural pursuits. In the first place the majority are afraid of incurring a little expense in procuring the best breed of animals, but they go on year after year breeding scrubs that a wise farmer would not have upon his farm. Too close and saving to save a few dimes in the first outlay they lose dollars that might have been made had they been willing to spend a trifling sum at first. Unless something is known about the animals’ breeding or ancestors it is very easy to be deceived. A fine looking* male or female may breed the most unlikely and scrawny looking calf which may develop into one of the most beautiful and valuable of animals. While on the other hand, a well proportioned and fine looking calf may grow up to be" an object of great disappointment. Nothing is more damaging to the hopes of a beginner than to have expensive young animals shrink on their hands, and nothing is more unnecessary if he gives them attention, proper care and kind treatment, which no animal appreciates more than cattle, as they are naturally gentle, it is then only by neglect they acquire habits harmful to themselves, and perhaps annoyance to their owners. Good common sense is a factor not to be ignored in breeding and management of cattle on the farm. To know what to do and when to do it To the best advantage requires the highest order of common sense. Another thing we must learn is the practical value of early maturity and superior qualities that brings the top prices. The importance of giving proper shelter to our young cattle, yes, to all our cattle, cannot be too strongly urged. It does not pay to have cattle left out of ' doors in the cold and winter winds, the animal heat must be kept up so long as life lasts, and it is cheaper by all means to keep up the animal heat by good shelter than by food.—Louis Campbell in Agricultural Epitomist.

SUB IRRIGATION OF FRUIT TREES. At the recent meeting of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, in Philadelphia. there was much talk about spraying fruit and ornamental trees, shrubbery, etc., to destroy injurious insects, but I failed to hear a single argument in favor of root-spraying. The farmers' institutes in the fruit-growing sections of the State took up the subject, and all agreed that it was wise to spray the branches. Admitting the necessity for spraying the limbs and foliage, to keep down the fruit destroyers, frequently this is not the whole cause of failure of crop; it will be found at the root of the tree. I have for many years contended that root-spraying is highly essential, not only to obtain good fruit, but to save the tree; and whatever insect may be at the root, this system will destroy it. Where there is a lack of fertilizing material, this would furnish it; or when a worm is suspected, the use of an insectide will not injure the tree, and will obviate the necessity of digging and sacrifying the root with a knife, which oftentimes is more injurious than beneficial. And again, in time of drouth, what is more reasonable than using water and ammonia, thereby producing sufficient moisture to save the tree? Spraying the roots will certainly cause the growth of the tree to be doubled in one season, and the increase in quality and quantity should more than compensate for labor expended. Growers frequently notice signs of diminishing vitality; in fact, this was the gist of argument at the meeting -poken of, and the tree-doctors called it "blight” for want of a better name. Now what is blight? It is solely atmospheric, or it is solely confined to the soil ? It has been noticed that in an orchard some trees were termed blighted while others standing beside them were full of vigor. Why? Because the vigorous trees were capable of extracting from the soil and atmosphere all that was necessary for their sustenance, thereby preventing the weaker stock from absorbing it; hence we hear of "blight.” You must give the weaker trees that which is necessary to their growth. • Vegetable nature is very much like human will steal from its neighbor, and in vegetable life we must give back to the tree that which has been taken from-it. Lack of moisture may prevent bearing the following year. The full annual duty of a tree is to perfect its fruit and prepare for the next year's crop. A continuous moisture supply is necessary to maintain activity in the tree, as it will make a large draft upon soil moisture while making new wood and large fruit, and if moisture fails, then it may be forced into .dormancy Itefore it can furnish good, strong buds for the following year’s bloom. I believe root-spraying to be thoroughly practicable, notwithstanding the fact that it seems to have been neglected. The keynote of success is to supply the tree with fertilizer and moisture at the proper time. Some years ago in damming water for an ice-pond, I observed a leak. Investigation shpwed it followed the course of a root and found exit at the end. This convinced me that water could be artificially supplied to the roots by a spraying process with success.—F. C. Hall in The Country Gfttleinan. “That makes me soar," remarked the inventor as he looked at his flying machine.