Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1887 — RURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE]

RURAL TOPICS.

Some Practiced Suggestions for Our Agricultural Readers. Information of Value to the Farmer, Stock-Breeder, Housewife, and V Kitchen-Maid. Salt for Manure Files. Salt is one of the best materials to put on manure heaps in winter. It will keep them from freezing during very cold weather, and when it is warmer will keep the heap moist and prevent fire-funging. ■Salt in connection with carbonic acid gas is an excellent solvent, and it is a good fertilizer for land containing a large' amount of vegetable matter. Of course where salt is applied on manure piles it should be where it will not be long exposed to rains, as its power to make fertilizers soluble will then cause loss. B.ut if the, manure is to be at once drawn on the field there is little . ganger from this, as the fertility will be absorbedby the soil. Fall in Drainage. Most beginners In draining are apt to require too heavy a fall. It is desirable, of •course, to have the water run off rapidly, but a uniform fall from one end of the ditch to the other, with a good outlet, is more important than a steep decline at any one point. If one place more than another requires a sharp fall it is the outlet. This will clear avtay any sediment which will naturally accumulate in the lower end of a ditch. We have seen good underdrains made when the fall for eighteen or twenty inches was scarcely perceptible, but the level was used so as to avoid the depressions and elevations in the bottom of the •drain, which inevitably cause the passage to fill until they are levelled.— American Cultivator. llotc to I.aise Good Carrots. “I draw to the field intended for carrots plenty of well-rotted stable manure and give the ground a liberal dressing. Before the plowing in the ground another good dressing of manure. I then harrow the surface level, plow quite deep, and harrow until the surface is left as smooth as it is possible to make it. It is then ready for the seed. After the rows are marked out two and a half feetapart I sow the seed by running the drill in the bottom of these rows. The garden roller will cover the seed sufficiently. By rolling the whole piece over I find that soil retains the moisture better should it be dry when the planting is done. When the young plants begin to show themselves I scrape the soil away from the plants into the spaces between the rows. This gives the young plants a start and at the same time kills all weeds that may be starting. As soon as the weeds begin to grow I put the horseshoe and cultivator to work, going through them at least once a week until the tops get large enough to shade the ground. Three inches apart is about the right distance to leave the young plants in the row.”—Our Country Home. ■ It Fays to Grow the Best. Will it pay to raise anything but the best? Does it pay to go on year after year cultivating and using inferior fruits when it is just as easy and much more profitable to raise the best? The best is good enough for any one, and nothing but the best is good enough. In saying the best we mean the best the climate, the soil, and the circumstances surrounding one will enable •one to raise. The fruit that will be the best for one may not be the best for another; there is, in other words, no absolute best—one that in all places and all circunastances is the best—but there is something better in all classes of fruits than the varieties our fathers raised. Especially is this tine of apples, currants, and berries. In some States varieties were grown years ago that, unless a boy’s love for apples has deceived us, have not been excelled; but these ■ are few in number and limited in area. . In the newer States of-the Mississippi Valley new fruit adapted to the conditions of climate and soil had to be found. Many of the standard sorts could be grown with success, and new varieties were introduced. It goes without saying that the varieties have been improved wonderfully in the years of trial. He who clings to. the old sorts is making a serious mistake. In currants there is such an improvement that the old sorts and the new ones are like entirely different fruits. The improvement is not only in size but in bearing qualities and flavor of the berry. Currants are so cheap that no one should cling to the old sorts simply because he has them. The new ones should be set, and, when grown, take the place of the old ones. r Ais is also true of most of the berries. In the raspberries there is no comparison between the new and old' sorts. Theraismo reason why any one should not have all the fruit he wants in the garden, and in sufficient variety and quantity to last the season, through, and that of the best varieties raised.— Farmers' Budget.,