Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1890 — FARM AND GARDEN. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND GARDEN.

Is trimming trees this fall bear in find that all wounds made by cutting Bibs that are an inch or more in diam~ ter should be. covered with paint, rafting wax, or shellac varnish. Remember that cream always loses i quantity by souring; oversourness esults in greater loss. There is gain a both quantity and quality of butter y churning as soon as cream is ripe. The Maine experiment station has sen conducting an experiment in utter-making with cows of differer-, nt breeds. Alderneys, Holsteins ad Ayrshires were tested, and it was >und that the cream from the cows lving the poorest milk (Holsteins felded less butter by about 26 pe) «nt. than the Alderney cream. Mixed grasses are better for stock han a single variety. No matter totr valuable any particular grass irop pjay be, or how large the yield, he stook will thrive better when fed » a variety. The individual preferences of cattle may differ and they rill all times accept a change of ood, which promotes appetite and hrift. T|te investigation of the South ’arb&na station upon the composition ft fodders has determined that for a ►idrogenouß crop the cow<-ppa vines rq almost without a rival. The crop rifl probably produce more digestible pod than any other, add the manure raich results from the feeding is of he highest value. These excellent rehits are due to the fact that the cow>e& derives a large proportion of its Qtrogen from the atmosphere. G. B. Greer says that he has found he key to the successful management >f a large flock of poultry. It consists >f a house six feet square and six feet ilgh for each fifteen to twenty-five owls; yards 50 by 125 feet to each louse, with a sub-yard 10 feet square n which to confine them close to the muse when desired; lath fences only our feet high between the yards and slipped wings to prevent them flying >ver. This plan, he says, brought both lealthy fowls and eggs. Perennial weeds are the worst of all reeds on the farm as a rule, for when hey are opce in a land they hold their >wn and yearly produce a new crop of ieeds. To get rid of them they must Ittt be kept from yielding seed and hen the plant itself must be eradicate id. If large, they may be pulled up; f small, keeping the leaves cut off rill eventually kill them, but the best iractice of all is to get rid of them by borough and repeated tillage, with torno hoed crop of the land infested. The series of dairy schools which las been started by the Now York )airy Association is a movement in the right direction in the line of agricultural education. Practical instruction m the farm, in all the most approved iractices of agriculture, is quite as accessary as abstruse experiments at the stations. "Science, with practice, ’’ ihould be the agricultural motto

ihroughout civilization. Only by comilnation of tbe two can we learn to avail ourselves of all our resources, pit is certain npw that it is a year of short crops and high prices, Apples are more scarce in both the United States and Canada than for many years. The only region in which the crop is even fair is in the famous orchards of the Annapolis valley, Nova Jcotia, in Maine, and a limited area of Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee, High prices will range for all fruits, and winter apples will be scarce at $4 uad $5 a barrel. Corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes are all short, and prices will range higher than for many seaions heretofore. . We are commonly told that barni yard manure is a ‘complete fertilizer. ” Phis is only true when it is saved and bandied under the very best of conditions. When it is left lying through the winter in small heaps in the open yard, or right under the eaves of the barn or piled up under cover so as to heat, it is by spring very far from bebag complete. Unless it can be stacked under cover and turned frequently, it is better practice to haul it upon the fields and spread it as fast as made. kept in a shed where hogs have the Fun they will keep it well stirred up, especially if a little corn is covered under it once in awhile; but the swine )must not be allowed to sleep in it, as it will scald their 6kins and get them heated and out of condition. In green manuring the best time to plow a crop under is just as it comes into full bloom, or soon thereafter. It is triio that the nitrogen increases up to the time of maturity, but when it has reached that stage it does not decay so readily, and, in consequence, is not ready so soon up to the accumulated store of plant food. By plowing under earlier the fertilizing value will be better distributed throughout the soil, and there will be no annoyance from plants springing! up, which will often be the case where the seed has been allowed to jj Ipen. Quantity, in green manuring, ■ hardly less valuable than quality, qecause of the mechanical effect upon tjbe soil.

; The average potato field this year will turn out a good many small potatoes, and it willgbe a question how to use them to the best profit. If a good flopk of poultry is kept it will pay well to utilize them for poultry food. They should be boiled, and while hot mash with cornmeal and bran, and feed warm. Give only aa much as will be eaten up clean, and not' oftener than every other day. The trouble which Often results from feeding potatoes to is caused by over feeding When the fowls are hungry, and. by Wiving tue potatoes unmixed with anyfiling else. With none of the domestic pnimals is a variety of food more necessary than in the poultry yard, and those who would gain the best results must be continually on the alert to

r supply this need. On« trouble from feeding too large a quantity of toes is that it Will have a tendency to make hens lay eggs that have lightcolored yelks, which th very objectionable. The cornmeal will help to remedy this, as will feeding whole yellow corn and chopped clover hay. Food that will' produce yellow butter will make yellow yelks, and vide versa Aside from the question of increased productiveness, the quality of fruit is enough better to repay the cost There is a wide difference of opinion as to the best method of fertilizing the orchard. In some regions it is the regular practice to ieave the orchard in grass and give regular top dressing of stable manure. It is .doubtful, however, whether the trees receive an adequate benefit from thin method. In a short time the sward becomes so thick and heavy that the fertilizer penetrates to any depth very slowly, and is mainly absorbed by the grass before reaching the trees. If the grass is cut for hay the benefit is still further lessened. A better plan, where the orchard is in grass, is to pasture sheep there. These will keep the grass down close and the sward so well cropped that droppings and manure will more readily penetrate to soma deptji. They also eat up the wormy apples and help keep the coddling moth in check. If the surface is cultivated the fertilizers will soon reach th» tree roots, and the fruit will have the full benefit, as there will be no growing vegetation to take up any part of it.

There is little doubt that the next (and last, by reason of the exhaustion of cheap, cultivable lands) general movement of agricultural home-seek-ers that we shall witness within the present boundaries of the United States will be toward the South. During the lastr few years there has been a large emigration toward that region, but largely in the line of commerce and manufacturers. There has been but a slight augmenting of the agricultural population, and a comparatively | slight increase in production, except the great staple-cotton. Lands are yet cheap there. The development of manufactures has created new markets. Railways have been built so that the shipment of products has been facilitated. The soil responds readily to cultivation, and the husbandman may make choice among a vast number of industries, any one of which he may find profitable in following. It is not well to cultivate a restless spirit, nor to be continually seeking a change; but, if you are looking for new fields to conquer, take advantage of some one of the many cheap railway excursions that are now running to the South and look the land over for your- 7 Self. It does no harm to go away from home once in awhile, anyway. It sometimes serves to make one the more contented with the present lot.