Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 May 1882 — BRIEF FARM TOPICS. [ARTICLE]

BRIEF FARM TOPICS.

The cattle showing for fexks is no smaJHtei*. .Th*Ofel CQ*ntxiall&6r 4,464,000 head. The estimated value of these is about S4O 0)0,000. As large a sum as $2,000 has recently been paid for Merino rambs, to go to the far west. Why does not Kentucky take a hafijl in this Merino business ? A Missouri Arm, Messrs. Gudgeli & Simpson, Pleasant Hill, have imported into the United States 150 head of Hereford, and -10 head of PoliedAngus cattle. Soap Suos for Currant Worms—Mr. B, Hurlbut, PortiaiM, Mich., ssys he knows by two \eu.r-’ successful experience that a dbsh of soap suds is death toe nratit wor ns. “Try it,” he tel s the Fruit R< curder, "‘in just such strength as will curl them in a secoud of lime,” He uses it very strong, and after it has served this good purpose ilie rains wash it down, and it acts as stimulant to the bushes. Bhoeing to Prev.-nt Interfering—l have the best succe-s in making the inside of the shoe the shortest, but this has not been satisfactory in all cases. I also turn the inside calk the heaviest, making it stand lengthwise of the shoe, or the same as a calk turned half around; then as I drawl incline it a little under. I take care not to let the shoe lay out past the hoof toward the heel. I find that many horses interfere behind on that account.—[Blacksmith aud Wheelright. •>• Enrich the Ground—A good many crops will be put in this season, to be harvested early, and the land seeded to grass. Now when this is to be done it pays to manure heavily. You can’t get a good first crop without some manure, and grass has got to have lots of manure beneath it to yield good crops for several years. There is mu6h of science in agficulture, but the farmer who has an abundance of good barnyard manure, and isu’t afraid to“sock it on,” is pretty sure to get satisfactory results.—New England Homestead.

This Wet Weather—Oh, I know Just how lots of you feel. AH that corn ground to plow and can’t get a team on to the land, Wet all last fall and no plowing done. Hay getting scarce, corn high and can’t do a lick of work with the teams. New don’t you wish most of your farm was down to tame grass? More showers then only makes more grass, cattle then all getting their living. This is now the lOth'if April. My fields and pastures are green and young stock and sheep can do well on the grass. Let it rain, who cares?—L. S. Coffin. Preserving Potatoes—Preserving potatoes for the table in sunctmer by slightly heating the surface and thus destroying the eyes, was recently suggested in the New England Farmer as a method worthy of experiment. Mr. J. G. Adams, Green county, Pa., writes the New York Tribune that the plan is practised in his county to a considerable extent. The eyes are destroyed by simply pouring scalding water over the tubers, which are then immediately dried and put away when “they will keep indefinitely.” Mr. Adams says he knows whereof he speaks, for being engaged in the grocery business he has bought and sold potatoes treated by this process repeatedly. It is not too late for housekeepers to give the germ destroying process a trial the present season. Carrots—Carrots thrive best in rather light loam. The ground should be well manured with fine, well rotted or composed manure, six or eight cords to the acre, and be thoroughly worked quite deep, by two plowings made at right angles with each other. Also cultivate find drag if there are any lumps, and then rake level, burying all remaining lumps and stones. Plant in rows 14 inches apart, and thin plants three to five inches in the row. Plant from the middle of April to the middle of May, to insure crop; though good success is often met with if planted as iate as the 10th of June. As the dry spells which sometimes prevails at that season are apt either to prevent the germination of the seed or to burn the plants as soon as they appear above ground, it is therefore advisable to increase the quantity of seed, which under the circumstances will give the crop a better chance. Keep very cleaD of weeds.—Am. Cultivator. Bean Growing—The land for beans should be plowed early and worked over once or twice before planting time, so as to kill the weeds and get it in good condition. The best time to plant I have found to be from the first to the tenth of June, and 1 prefer to plant as soon after a rain as the land will work well. Ido not like to have a heavy rain fall on them before they come up, for two reasons. One is that they are likely to be crippled and not come up well, if the land is clay; and the other reason is that a crop of weeds will come up and start with them. I use from half a bushel to three pecks of seeds to the acre, and prefer to sow with the force feed wheat drill, using every foarth drill, which makes thu rows about two feet apart. This I consider wide enough for the Navy beau, but some of the large varieties I should plant 82 inohes apart. I can planl| three rows at a time with the wheat drill at the first named distance. The beans do not need much cultivation, as when planted close they soon shade the ground so that nothing else can grow; but it will pay to run through them with a cultivator as soon as they are large enough and after each heavy rain until they shade the ground. In an nidinary season two cultivations will be enough, while in some seasons they may need three or four workings.