Rensselaer Democrat, Volume 1, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1898 — THE FARM AND HOME [ARTICLE]

THE FARM AND HOME

MATTERS OFINTEREST TO FARMER AND HOUSEWIFE. Much Knowledge Xs Required to Prune Trees Property-Fertilizins Value of Clover, Beans and Peas—New Process for Drying: Damp Grain. PrnninK Trees. At the Michigan “round-up” institute last season, I’rof. L. R. Taft In discussing pruning trees, said: “More knowledge is required to prune properly than to till properly. In pruning we need to know the habit of growth of each variety of plants as well as the social environment of each plant. In pruning young trees we strive to develop the best frame work to support the leaves and the fruit, and our pruning is directed to securing the proper distribution of fruit and leaves. We strengthen the stem by cutting back, bringing the head di the tree nearer the ground, giving the sap a less distance to travel, thus forming a thick and succulent trunk. “The trees should have low heads, first, because the trunks are thereby thickly shaded; second, Jhe later pruning is done more evenly; third, the thinning of fruit is done more easily; fourth, the very act of cutting back helps the thinning of the fruit; fifth, the spraying can be much more easily and effectively done; and as the spray must be delivered in the form of a fine mist, the nearer we can get the nozzle to the branches the greater the economy of the fluid and the efficiency of the application. Finally, the fruit can much more easily be gathered from a low tree than a high one. “For young trees of most kinds of fruit it is wise to head back fully onehalf or even two-thirds. Select three to five strong shoots and cut back to five or six strong buds. Leave the center shoot and allow branches to come out, not from one point but at intervals along the upright stem. In that way there is less dapger from crotches. “Adjust the pruning to the habit of growth of the given variety. In spreading varieties have the shoot grow upright; in varieties already too upright have the buds so as to throw shoots to the side. While it is wise in the second spring to head back the shoot, do not carry this practice to excess in the peach tree for fear of forming too thick a, head. Seek rather to widen the tree, by leaving the side branches from fifteen to eighteen inches long. After this, as w ith other kinds of fruit, head back one-half for four or five years. Avoid growing too much brush in the top; cut back so as not to have the head too dense. I’rßpe early, preferably between March la and April 15.”

Mineral Manure for Barley. Barley needs to be grown very early to bring the best crop, and though its grain is larger than oats, and the blade of tha young grain i<s broader, it may be greatly improved by putting in with the seed 150 to 200 i>ounds of concentrated fertilizer. There is little nitrogen in the soil in early spring, and if the barley be stunted theu it never fully recovers from It. This grain, like all others, depends on its leaves to furnish the carbon which composes so large a part of its bulk. If the leaf is made smaller than it should be it will not absorb so much carbonic acid gas from the air. But if the leaf growth is made rank by stable manure it Is very likely to cause the leaf, and perhaps also the grain, to rust. The crop then 1 will be worse than if no manure had been used. Mineral manures make the stalk harder, so that rust will be less likely to affect it, and this Insures plump and well-filled grains.—American Cultivator. Dryins Damp Wheat. A new process for artificially extracting moisture from wheat was put to a careful test in Berlin recently. The trial was carried out at the instance of Mr. Yerburgh, M. I\, who sent over fifty quarters of English wheat to be submitted to the precess. The result was satisfactory, over 6 per cent, of moisture being taken from the wheat—which was a very dry sample in excellent condition—while the’heat to which it was subjected could not possibly affect it injuriously. The principle of the process—viz., that of drying under a vacuum—has been applied to many articles of commerce, and the result of this trial Is to show that it is equally well adapted to wheat. It is hardly necessary to point out that the subject is one of great interest to British farmers, who would be greatly benefited by the provision of facilities for getting their wheat into condition, particularly In a wet season. The full details of the trial will be laid before the agricultural committee on corn stores.—Loudon Times.

Growing One’s Own Nitrogen. Nitrate of soda is extensively used for its nitrogen, and, as it is very soluble, it Is at all times available for the use of plants. It contains about 16 per cent, of nitrogen, or 320 pounds per ton of 2,000 pounds. The cost of the nitrogen, at 15 cents per pound. Is S4B per ton of nitrate of soda. The price of nl< trogen is fixed, however, aud varies according to the demand and supply. An application of 1,000 pounds of nitrate of soda Is considered a large one, and 500 pounds is even far above the average. Estimating 1,000 pounds of nitrate of soda at $25, and containing 160 pounds of nitrogen, it may be considered a large expenditure for a farmer to devote to one acre, but when the nitrogen Is grown on the farm the gajn to the farmer may be equal to the value of a crop that te sold in the market. A ylekl of four tons of clover hay on a farm is equivalent to 1,000 pounds of nitrate of soda in nitrogen, estimating each ton of hay as containing 40 pound* of nitrogen. Such a crop, there-

fore, If fiot harvested at all, and allowed to remain on the ground to be plowed In, would be equal to $25 worth of fertilizers purchased for the nitrogen contained. But farmers are correct in utilizing clover hay as food for stock, as it is then not only coverted Into milk or meat, but that portion not utilized (undigested) is reduced to a more available condition for plants by being passed through the bodies of the animals. It is claimed, however, that the mass of roots and stubble left over in the ground is nearly equal to the tops, and the farmer, therefore, enriches his soil from that source. Lettnce Preceditiß Cucnnibers, One of the favorite uses for the hothouse by maket gardeners Is in winter to glow successive crops of lettuce, planting as many as three successions, and then following with a cucumber crop, which may continue bearing until all danger of frost is passed, and when the hothouse may be kept warm enough by the sun's rays shining in on the plants during the daytime. In fact, the sun will heat any hothouse too warm for any vegetables. The windows must be opened for ventilation all through the day. Some bees should be kept by every gardener who grows cucumbers, as they are necessary to carry the pollen from the male to the female blossoms. The male blossoms are the first that appear on the cucumber vine, and they are much visited by bees. So soon as the female blossoms appear the bees also visit them and fertilize the flowers. When cucumbers are grown on hothouses a swarm of bees inside the building devoted to this use Is a necessity.

About Btes. It is always best to start with a full colony of bees, and one that is in every way in first-class condition. It is true that you can buy a part of a colony for less money, but it is the dearest in the long run and more liable to be a failure with you. A full colony of bees in one season is capable of storing 100 or 200 pounds of honey; besides, they may swarm and make from one to three colonies; and more, a full colony of bees are in a condition to take care of themselves, and do not require such difficult manipulation as that of a nucleus, or pounds of bees, and a queen, etc. Full colonies are always sent in the ordinary hive used in the apiary, and are equipped with the necessary fixtures to have everything in working order the moment the bees are located, and the entrance opened.

Resular Feed for Calves. In the spring the press of farm work is apt to cause neglect of farm stock, aud especially in feeding calves. So long as the calf gets its regular feed, It is thought a matter of small moment whether it has this sprved at the usual hour, or whether it has been allowed to get cold. When the temperature is no longer freezing, tlie milk pail may stand from morning until noon with the calf milk In it, and, when given, the milk will so chill the calf s stomach as to do more harm than good. There Is no surer way to produce diarrhoea or “scours” than to put a pailful of cold milk Into the stomach of a half-starved calf. The stomach Is immediately chilled, and its first effort Is to rid itself, by purging, of the mass of cold fluid that has been put into it. Many an animal that would have made a good cow has had Its digestion ruined by feeding •it as a calf Irregularly or with cold food. Rootinx Currant Cuttings. It is very easy to make cuttings of either curarnt or gooseberry bushes. A foot length of last year’s growth, with the end smoothed off and fixed standing in the soil, will put out roots from Its smoothed surface. This will make tbt stem for the future plant. Poultry Notes. Feed a variety. Give breakfast at C. Exercise is an egg tonic. Hens won’t lay if too fat. Milk Is a complete egg food. The starved hen is worthless. Feed the mash warm—not hot. Underfed hens are poor layers. The morning mash is imperative. Let breakfast be only half a meal. Overcrowded flocks give few eggs. Cold quarters check egg production. Boiled wheat is a food much relished. Good stock almost always finds quick sale.

Feed night meal an hour before dusk. Proper feeding means health and profit. Be very careful to keep the feed troughs clean. Eggs sell better when sent to market in regular cases. Beans qre a good feed because they are nitrogenous. The laying hen consumes more food than one not laying. The early pullets are the profitable winter cgg-producers. Ten hens with one male make about the proper proportion. Ten weeks from shell to market is the time alloted a chick.

Keep cabbages hanging in the house within reach of the fowls. Egg shells ground to a powder make a good addition to the mash. Ten flocks, each consisting of ten hens, are enough for an acre. Ground oats, cornmeal and bran constitute proper foods for poultry. Scatter the grain at moon among litter, so the fowls must exercise. . Steeped clover, mixed with the morning mash, Is a great egg-producer. Ten bens in a bouse 10x10 feet are enough. The yard should be at least ten times as large as -the floor of the llOUMh" ~~ ~ ~~~ “ ——;