Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1888 — FARM AND GARDEN. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND GARDEN.

Young trees that have been shaken by the late heavy rains and winds should be examined, straightened aud the earth packed around them. Each tree requires a certain amount of space, according to its kind. You can crowd it only at the risk of getting reduced .crops of undersized, inferior and badly colored fruit. Canada thistles and other noxious weeds should be eradicated by the use of sheep. Salt should be put immediately around the stem at the root of the plant. The sheep, in getting at the salt, eat the weed close to and a little below the surface of the ground. There iS no kind of stock that can be improved much more rapidly than the hogs, provided, of course, that good care is taken in the selection, the mating and the breeding, and at the same time good care is taken to feed well and give such other attentions as are necessary to secure a rapid gain. To lead a stubborn cow, put a rope around her horns in the usual fashion and then pass it back of and around her ear, then forward and under the rope which goes around her horns, pulling the ear tight against the horn. When the rope is properly arranged, the most stubborn cow will trot along nicely. The farming of the future must be gradually contracted in the number of acres. Higher cultivation, more remunerative crops. Less hard -work over broad fields and closer attention to special paying crops on the fields that surround the house. More pasture, more stock and plenty of ensilage—this insures the purchase of less commercial fertilizer and the very best results from the contents of the barn yard. Do not sell hav; it is the most unfortunate crop that we can sell from the farm, making an exceedingly heavy draft on the fertility of the soil for a very limited money return. The money value of the..elements of plant food contained in a ton of timothy hay is $(>..18; in a ton of clover hay, $9.29. We cannot afford to go into the market and buy the chemicals which will produce these goods for the sums mentioned. Bees will not pay unless there is plenty of bee pasture. To simply procure a hive of bees and expect them to produce honey, with nothing for them to work upon, will result in a failure. Do not rob the bees until the honey season is over unless the comps are all full, and care should fba exercised in so doing, as a failure to leave a supply of honey for the use of the bees in winter may result in a loss of the entire colony. Sheep will need very little care r now, as they can find abundant subsistence in the young grass arid weeds that come up. As they graze close to the ground they will find something to eat ! on nearly all kinds of waste places. They should have a dry place at night, and not be left out in the fields, as dampness is injurious. If the feed be scarce on the grazing ground a half pint of oats to each sheep may be allowed at night. A sure protection against the cut-worm is found in old tin fruit cans. Throw them on a fire and melt them apart, and place them around single plants, after setting them. This method will prove effectual in keeping off these pests. They should be firmiy pressed into the soil, being careful not to leave an open space. I have used them for tomatos and cabages for three years without losing a plant.—*[J. T. P., in Farm and Home.