Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1907 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Do not whip a frightened horse. It .only adds to his fright. Sheep require a clean place to eat and , must have it or else their health will be impaired and food wasted. Regularity is perhaps more important withother animals, for sheep are naturally regular in their-habits. While a small bunch of sheep can be kept on any farm to good advantage, they serve a double purpose, as they enrich the farm and bring a cash income at the same time. —The majority- ofThe-high-roads in Belgium are now planted with trees along the way, to the great pleasure of travelers and to the advantage of the country. In a total distance of 4,775 miles there are no less than 800,000 of these roadside trees. Among them are Included 300,000 elms, 170,000 oaks, 70,000 evergreens, 70,000 ash trees and 4!,<)<jO maples. There Is no better way of weaning lambs than by allowing both they and their dams a couple of weeks’ run of the rape field and then removing the ewes away to some poor pasture out of their hearing. The run of a second growth clover pasture and a little grain in conjunction will not come amiss, especially where pure-breed sheep are considered. Experiments made in France with the sunflower gave a return of 1,778 pounds of seed from an acre, yielding 15 per cent of oil (about 120 pounds) and SO per cent of cake. The product varies, of course, with the kind, the climate and the soil/ The common oil is used chiefly for woolen dressing, lighting and soap-making in Europe. The purifie d article is largely employed for table use, and is considered by some as equal to olive oil, ~

For very large hanging baskets the maderla vine Is very satisfactory. It Is best not to give it very rich soil; its growth will not he so strong, but the leaves will be closer together and also be more attractive. Pinch it back mercilessly until the basket or trellis is covered with foliage. After that let a few vines grow, allowing some to droop and others to train up along the wire or strings, suspending the basket. Keep the glossy leaves clean and the result will be a handsome basket, and a charming plant. Rye for Pasture and Sailing;. Rye is not half appreciated by the American farmer. It is very hardy, will grow on the poorest land, makes good winter and spring pasture and if sown early enough makes good fail pasture. It is a good early spring soiling crop. It makes a fair quality of hay If cut In bloom or before, and it always sells at good prices and makes the best of bedding for cattle and horses. It is also an excellent green manure crop for turning under in early spring. While it does not add nitrogen, as the clovers do, it makes a great deal of humus, and thus improves the texture of worn-out soils. It will grow in any section that can grow any of the small grains. Where corn or potatoes or cowpeas are grown after corn, rye may be sown in the corn at the time by “laying by” or may be sown on the stubble after the corn is cut and be plowed under in the spring for any of the crops mentioned. —W. J. Spillman. Solia tor Tomato Hailing. Almost any soil from sand to clay will produce good crops of tomatoes, says a Maryland bulletin, but here again extremes should be avoided and except under special conditions, such ns where very early markets are to be supplied, it will be better to avoid the very light sandy soils. The soli must be in & good state of cultivation. Manures, fertilizers, lime, and the growing of clover or other legumes all help to briDg about this condition. If a sod field Is to be used, plow In the late fall oclearly spring and replow, cutting but a shallow furrow, In time to prepare for planting. Do not plant tomatoes on a piece of land which has had corn upon It the previous year, but rather let corn follow the tomatoes and later wheat or some other grain crop with grass and clover. Many farmers expect to get good tomatoes upon thin, sour land. Blight and disease In unfavorable seasons are always rampant upon such land and the grower becomes discouraged and la convinced that his soil is unsuitable for the crop when. In reality, the failure Is due to a condition readily rectified by the application of lime and manure. Uk*r SsTla«na Crop Or»wi»*. At the meeting of the National Aseo platlan of Agricultural Implement and

Vehicle Manufacturers, the statement was made that in hours of labor were required in growing a bushel of wheat', but that in ISt)G the labor required amounted to less than ten minuets; that a bushel of corn represented four and one-half hours’ work in ISSO, and forty minutes’ work in 1904. Modern machinery plants and harvests crops at a cost of one-lialf what was paid fifty years ago, though the men who operate the machines receive double the wages. American machinery Is being introduced into the Philippines and is a continual wonder to the natives. Last year a steam rice thresher was imported. The natives who used the thresher got so much more grain than those who'did not use It that many of them conceived the Idea that rice was hidden inside of the saparator, and allowed to flow from the spout of the machine.

The I.ogan Berry. This hybrid berry, originated some years ago In California, bids fair to displace in'"the markets of the Pacific coast the old Lawton blackberry, and to some extent the red raspberry. The hybrid Is a cross between the two, and Combines the good qualities of both. It is very popular with housewives, the vines are enormously prolific and propogate readily, and the cultivation on an extensive scale for the markets of the Pacific northwest is planned. This berry shows a wonderful evolution in the fruit industry within a few years. While the strawberry has no rival as an uncooked table berry, an abundance of logap berries would make is possible to do without blackberries and raspberries—-even including the wild blackberry without missing them. The development of this berry and the rapidity with which it has come into market would be phenomenal had not the experiment of Luther Burbank in the plant world during the last ten years have made anything possible in this line. —Oregonian.

Early Green Foods for Live Stock. Corn is an excellent fodder crop, but tlie be&f fodder crop is that consisting of small, tender stalks, which are usually juicy and “sifcculent. In order to add to the quality the fodder,should be sown thickly in rows, and cut when quite green. Some prefer to cut corn todder when the corn is in tassei, and others at the time the young corn begins to fill out, when it is cured, stored and fed, after being cut into small lengths. It is suggested, however, that corn can be cut when about three feet high and tied in bundles. The advantage of this method is that two crops may be sown the same season, and if properly cured and stored it does not crumble so readily. It Is an excellent, clean fodder for horses, and may be fed in the bundle, or cut into short lengths. Peas answer best early in the season, and are suitable for cattle and sheep. They are usually sown with oats and fed directly from the field to the stock, in the yards, under the soiling method. Such a crop may be fed and gotten out of the way for a late corn fodder crop, or for turnips. In attempting to grow two crops on the same location, however, the land must be manured heavily, or it will be injured, though the exhaustion will not be so great as when such crops are allowed to mature and produce seeds.

Fertiliser, for Potatoes. Potash is the principal plant food preferred by the potato crop, and phosphoric acid is likewise an indispensable necessity, that is, so far as tubers are concerned. But the tops are also to be made, for without good growth or vine the difficulty of producing a large yield of tubers will be greatly Increased, potash existing largely in the vines. The manure, as stated, should be well rotted, as in that condition It becomes more available as plant food. Fresh manure, as all should know, Interferes with the keeping qualities of the tubers, engendering disease and decay ; not only while they are In the ground and growing, but also after being harvested and stowed away. Chemical fertilizers are better for potatoes than for any other crop, as such fertilizers are surer and cheaper in the end, and conduce to better quality of tubers. For an acre of potatoes, a fair proportion will be about 75 pounds nitrate of soda, 200 pounds muriate of potash and 200 pounds superphosphate, but these proportions must be varied to suit the soil. If the soli Is fertile less quantities will suffice, and in other cases the nitrate may be increased If preferred. This fertilizer may be broadcasted on the surface, and after the land has been made ready, and after the potatoes have been covered up. Then go over ail with a light harrow, and before the young plants are very high a healthy appearance will denote the telling effects of the fertilizer, though the use of fertilizer In the hills or rows Is preferred by some Before planting the tubers, cut and roll thfcm In plaster. Cut a week before planting and they will sprout the sooner for It. In using parts green for Hie bugs let It be mixed with plaster. Wood ashes may also be used liberally on potatoes, broadcasted on the surface. Keep down tho grass and weeds, as they rob the potatoes of moisture at all times. (Rye plenty of room to each plant In which to grow, and keep the cultivator busy.