Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1903 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

SEEDING GRASS LANDS. The claim I* often made that the grasses should have the protection of a grain crop when newly seeded. As a rule, there Is nothing gained by trying to grow two crops at the same time, says Professor C. S. Phelps, In the American Agriculturalist. The grass needs the full use of the soil In order to make a vigorous growth, and so do the grain crops. In seasons of light rainfall the grass plants are often so crowded, when grown with a grain crop, that they make a slender, spindling growth, and burn up as soon as the grain is cut. This Is quite a common experience in seeding grass with oats. Another drawback lies in the fact that the grain often lodges in places and the grasses are almost sure to be killed in spots.

If a protecting crop Is to be used at all, preference should be given to wheat or rye, and the grass seed should be sown with grain in the fall. These crops are not as liable to lodge as oats, and the longer season of growth gives the grasses more time to be established. On the whole, my experience favors seeding grasses and clovers, after midsummer, separaate from all other crops. A common error lies in delayirig the seeding until September or October, and thus the crop does not have time to make a good cover for the soil before winter. For several years I have practiced seeding in the early part of August, and thus far have not failed to get a good catch and a vigorous growth before winter.

In seeding meadows, too many kinds are frequently sown together. It 13 not uncommon to find in the maxkets grass seed mixtures containing five or six kinds, the period of blossoming of the earlier and later kinds sometimes being from three to four weeks apart. When growing mixtures of this kind, some of the grasses are sure to be old and woody before others are in full bloom. Mixtures may be made which will Include only early kinds, and others which will be wholly of the late kinds. Such grasses as the Kentucky bluegrass, orchard grass and the tall meadow oat grass will make a good mixture for early harvest. The common red clover may be grown with these to good advantage. These are well suited to a warm, loamy soil. For a medium early crop, meadow fescue, timothy and red clover, with a small proportion of redtop will make a good mixture, while for still later cutting, timothy, the common redtop and the Rhode Island bent grass are desirable kinds. On cold, clayey soils, which do not dry out readily till midsummer, the common redtop and the Rhode Island bent may be grown without other kinds.

THE FARMER’S GARDEN. The first requirement for a good garden lies in possessing the proper kind of soil. No plant can attain perfection unless the conditions for its growth are favorable, and the best soil for a garden is generally conceded to be a lively loam. Indeed, a greater variety of vegetables can be grown on light soils than on clay, and they will also be of better quality. Most plants that are cultivated in the garden can be developed successfully on light sandy soils, whereas there are many with which this does not hold true on a heavy, wet, clay soil. Accordingly, If a»llght soil exists anywhere near the farmhouse, so the farmer will pass it almost dally as he goes or returns from other parts of the farm, it should, by all means, be devoted to small crop culture, for nothing stimulates his Interest In a garden like being able to. see It often and observe the things it 13 planted to. He will then be much more likely to give It thorough tillage and guard the plants against insect pests than if ■ the garden were hidden in some out-of-the-way corner, especially when other work is crowding him. It should not only be cultivated often and thoroughly, but always as soon as it dries up after a rpin. By proper management, there Is no difficutly at all to have a garden In good shape; even a few hours work at a time, frequently employed, will keep the weeds down and ths vegetables growing. Particularly is this so if the ground was well fertilized and deeply plowed the fall before. Vegetables to grow quickly and tender require a rich soil, either naturally fertile or made so, and by plowing the-ground, heavily coated —if necessary—with manure, just before winter seta in, will cause myriads of Insects to bo frozen out and the soil to work up better and earlier, whereby early vegetables can be given a good start. In preparing ground for these it is advisable that that which is left for later planting should likewise be stirred or harrowed, as this will prevent a crust forming, and also destroy weeds, thus making its cultivation easier later In the season. As soon as the soil Is in the proper condition In spring It Bhould be planted to peas, beans, beets, radishes, lettuce, sweet corn and the like, and In about a fortnight’s time there should he another planting of these. By this plan the fanner or any one else may have a succession of the most delicious vegetables upon his table at all times,

throughout the summer months, and with a little forethought extend tha same even well into the winter.— Fred. 0. Sibley, In Agricultural Epltomlst.

DRAINAGE FOR CRANBERRIES. Good drainage is a very Important pqrt of the cultivation of the cranberry. It is safe to say that all marshes used for raising cranberries should be drained so that the water in the ditches will stand at least one foot below the surface, and many marshes will stand more than that, 2 and even, 3 feet. But that depends upon the conditions or composition of the much or peat. It has been noticed that vines will grow on the sides and even on the top of dams that are 2 atad 3 feet above the water in the ditches, and these vines are the most thrifty, have the most perfect bud 3, bear the most and largest berries. It has also been noticed that vines along the ditches are mo3t thrifty and as you go away from the ditch the vines are thinner with fewer buds and berries. This simply shows that there is not enough drainage in the centre of the bog. The remedy is to ditch or sand — ditch anyway. All marshes which contain much peat should have a ditch a foot, wide and 20 inches deep divided across the fall of the marsh every two rods. Drainage ditches should be wider and deeper, so as to carry off the water quickly. It does not seem to make any difference as to how quickly a marsh is flooded or drained, especially when flooded for frost. In the spring the water should be taken off gradually, as early as possible in April, or by the first of May at the latest, before the water gets warm, and the vines allowed to have the air and sunlight. —Ralph Smith, in New England Homestead.

’VENTILATION IN INCUBATORS. It is the popular idea that ventilation evaporates the moisture from eggs during incubation, and so It does to a limited extent, but the main cause Is the pressure In the egg due to the growth of the chick and the shrinkage of the shell. Eggs, during incubation, get rid of the excess moisture more because of the pressure within than on account of the ventilation. At best the ventilation can only carry off the poisonous gases. As proof that pressure forces the moisture out of fertile eggs during incubation, look at the infertile eggs in the same machine which only perceptibly shrink in size and weight. The danger of getting the air cell too large is more imaginary than real. The lack of sufficient ventilation fails to carry off the arising from the eggs, and the natural conditions and actions of the egg are interfered with, the chick fails to develop naturally, hence wet, weak chicks with an unripe appearance.

It is vfery evident to anyone who is taken for the other. Excessive applied moisture has .exactly the same effect as the lack of ventilation —the heavy, muggy condition of the air blocks the expelled or evaporated moisture from the egg. Another proof of the pressure within eggs during incubation is the enlargement of the air cell as the incubation progresses. I dispute that the air cell is for the purpose of furnishing air to the chick except just before it pips the shell. The division between the air cell and balance of egg is air and moisture tight. If It were not tight it would fill with moisture. The chick could not possibly use the air. Even its movements and different positions would dispute the theory. Just before the chick pips the sheel it usually breaks through to the air cell, but not always. The first real breathing of the chick is after it pips the shell, and from that time until it makes further effort it is accustoming itself to real air.

The has a purpose. It helps form a pressure in the other end of the egg, it holds the contents of the egg intact, it forms a backstop, and makes it possible for the chick .to brace for action. Ventilation Is just as Important as the temperature in incubation. Ventilation does the same work in incubators as elsewhere. In incubators, as in houses, the question of ventilation when we correctly draw a line between plenty of air and drafts of air.—M. M. Johnson, in American Agriculturist V PROFIT FROM CROPS. The kind of crops and the manner of cultivation determine the profit. While some farmers barely subsist on a farm of a hundred acres, it is not difficult for others to make small farms of only ten acres pay. There are some sections in which a twentyacre farm is considered a large one, and yet such farms pay well and their owners are prosperous. A CATCH CROP. Clover serves a useful purpose as a catch crop during the antumu months, when the ground would be otherwise bare, retaining fertilizing material brought down by the rain, and also that formed in the soil during the Summer months, much of which would otherwise be lost through the leaching aeMon of rains. '•