Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1869 — Agricultural and Domestic. [ARTICLE]

Agricultural and Domestic.

Cultvating Orchards. Should ordmrdn be cultivated, ig it question frequently diseased among pOmologiSta. There are, however, very few ikhfriiMrto dispensing with'hb important an operation, particularly while the trees are young. Cnltyvation hastens mft’tarity,lnasmtfch as it assists growth,and those t»ho neglect it will usually discover their 'Aiutake wheu too late for introd nerng a remedy. Hy keeping the surface of the soil open and loose, wo insure the rapid .descent of rain to the roots, and the absorption of moisture from the air, both very important oonsideratious iu a dry climate ‘er season. That a loose, sponge-like soil' not only admits moisture more readily than a heavy, compact 'une, but will retain a larger quantity and for a longer time, is welliinown to every one who has esamined a cultivated and uncultivated field. As moisture is not only an important element iu itself, forming, as it doe~, the greater part of the bulk of many vegetables, as well as dissolving the plant-food in the soil, and then becoming tlie medium, of transmitting it through the living organism, it must be apparent that a supply is one of the requisites of success in all dopartments of fruit culture.

Too much moisture may lie as injurious as too. little, and as a iultivated soil permits the Surplus to pass by percolation ns <ve!l os evaporation, the imjKirtanee of cultivation is evr dent to prevent extremes in either direction. If we sow wheat, rye, oats, or any Of the cerials among trees, they abstract a large amount of moisture from the soil, and usually at the very time when the trees need it most; consequently such’ - crops are more or less injurious. To seed down the laud to grass is even a more objectional practice, because the soil is not disturbed once in a season, which would beof-some benefit to the trees growing therein. It is not ofiTy for regulating the supply of moisture, that cultivation is recommended, but frequent manipulation of the soil assists iu its decomposition, thereby furnishing the requisite atnount of food Tortlie trees. *' For,the first few years after planting the trees, the soil around them should be thoroughly cultivated,, ami as few people will do this unless an immediate return for their

labor can be secured, such crops as beaus, potatoes, or other the orchard, but as much fertilizing materhils should be added anuually as is removed fn i the orop. There arc without douM s6rls so rich and deep that they wit l support trees without any of these precautions, but they must be considered as exceptions to the general rule; but no weeds, grass, or other plants should ever Le ..allowed to grow near the stems of young trees, especially api de-trees, because as is well mown, the parent of the appletree borer will deposit her eggs frequently in trees thus surrounded than those not furnished with siich a convenient retreat.

Mulching the soil around newly planted trees is sonie-tiines-practiced with benficial n silts, but if continued for several years in succession, it will cause the roots to grow near the surface, where they arts .Vjnore liable to be injured in,fee-1 ivere Winters, as well as in 10ng,., protracted droughts in summer than if deeper ip the soil. In cultivating an orchard .with;a plow, 6ome carets requisite to prevent injuring the roots, and the soil sfion-ld not Hd '-ew deep Bitter, the trees as at a distance from then'q | but jf an ucojesional rpot or * number of them are destroyed, oif %iUtbd‘farless injurious thair ■ I When the / frees become so “ far»te “iilftt theiycß'hade the soil 1 mnuemeatli Them, then cultivation may be dispensed with, and the land seeded down to .tdovier.fer ptyfcjiffhat would be still better,-uaeil m a pasture for but in no case

allowed in au orchard. Am a rule, orchards should be cultivated for the first ten or fifteen years, but should circumstances elrow that this system can. be dispensed with in less time, then adopt such a pbm and* adhere to it for the alternate system of plowing* for a year or two, and down the land among trees is scarcely to be recommended for any soil or location. —Hearth and Home.

f’nr.r.SK Vuow'ONi; Cow— There arc some people who keep* but one cow who would like to make ajittle cheese now and then if they knew how. A n exchange gives them .these instructions; ‘‘Take cool weather, either in spring or fall, when milk and cream will keep and flies &*iD>scarce. Strain your milk in some deep vessel that will hold two milkings, in the morning skim slightly; warm the muk.to a blood heat, add the water which has soaked a bit of rennet about two inches square over night, and as soon as stiff cut with a knife; let it stand a few minutes, when you can put it into a cloth strainer, and Jay it by until you accumulate as large a curd as yuhr hoop will hold, w hen you chop the whole scalding with hot-whey, justso it will,give, a croaking sound if c-hewed. Theft add u little salt, sage, or whatever you like and pres*. The whole 'operation need not require overau hour’s time.’’

—The tea plant is in successful cultivation some tm miles from Knoxville, on the farm of Captain Janies Campbell where it has been .grown for about ten year*. It is said that Fast Tennessee tea drinkers can easily raise their.own tea with very little Cost or trouble. The plant is a deep green shrub,

and grows about five feet high. It is hardy, and needs no protection ..from foost. ‘lt Kefirs an abundant crop, with beautiful fragrant ‘flowenf, in October. The fbfiqwii’ig, season it matures a seed, somewhat resein-bling-tlie seed of our native hazel, and grows up readily. Thw vigoralul liordinhaslof this plant, and its adaptation to the climate, ljavej b&fn tested. The tea produced from tile leaves of the plant very much resembles in flavor the tua from the Young Ilyson plant.

—A Maine farmer gives his method of treating baulky horses as follows; “Let me inform the humane men and hostlers, and all wto hold the rein, that the way to cure -baulky horses is- to take iUutu from the earriagi and whirl them vapidly round till* they are giddy! It requires two men to accomplish this, one at the horse*tftail. Don’t let him step out. llojd him to the smallest possible circle. One dose will often cure him; two doses are final with the worst horses that ever refused to-stir.” -—Boiling writer should be poured all over the iuside of a d uek dr goose, before you prepare them for cooking, to take "out the strong oily taste. Let the "fowl be picked clean, and wiped dry with a cloth, inside and out; fill the body and crop with stuffing. If you * prefer not to stuff it, put an oniou inside;, put it down to the fire and roast it brown. It will take about an hour and a half. —The farmers of Goodhue, Minn., claim to have- a new variety of early corn which yields -LAJ.fcheiled bmltelsafaytheaei'e^ —An Alderney cow, recently- imported by Charles L. Sharpless, of Philadelphia, has, on two separate trials, made thirteen founds of butter per week, giving twenty-one quarts of milk per day, with no feed, but grass.

—-Mr. If. Pane of Lawrence, lie last year raised 140 pounds of sage on of an aefe of grouqd,-from which lie realized $l4O. He Cultivates the English brOad leaf sage as the. best and most productive, anU contemplates putting in two this yes»\ -T-Nft>raska claims to raise more and a better quality' of Spring wheat to the acre tha\i any oilier State ip tWe UniouY