Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1860-10-11
Farm Work for October.

We are just winding up the month Of Sep.
ten'ber. We will remember" thirty DAYS
hath September"
Now for the harvest month-tho latter har-
vest. Luckily" October hath thirty and one
days" We shall want them all to secure
our corn, potatoes, garden vegetables, &c.
The frost has held off up to this time,
Sept. 25th. This is not what Farmers OK.
pected two weeks ago. We cannot yet pro.
nounco this real corn season, though the
growth of the stalks has been remarkable
Farmers want hot nights for corn, yet VIC
have had but very few. We have had many
fine sunny days-vaIm enough to work with
out jackets. But the thermometer has not
risen to ninety degrees in the shade at any
time.
Still we expect pretty good harvest of corn
not one hundred and forty bushels per acre
as one of our writer's on farming had it few
years ago.
The main business of October will be the
harvesting Of corn ard potatoes. Most Of
our Farmers in this quarter follow the old
practice of cutting the tops first and securing
them in shock or pixies. All this can be done
before the corn can be touched. This must
stand till the frost has opened the husks and
shown the shining kernels. Thus the frost
aids us materially in husking--it lays the
ears to view, and many Of them are partially
husked before we take them in hand.
Our best Farmers contrive 10 haul their
corn into the barn, and do the husking in the
long evenings Of October One load. each
day, will do tie business up in good time
Entertainers tilt up their corn in heans
beside the barn, and busk in the evening IN
the open air. This does well enough in warm
and dry weather but not when the corn is
wet, and the weather cold.
The husks must all be carried under shell.
ter eventually. Those who have barn room
therefore should put the corn and husks to.
gcther into the floor ways and do the husk-
ing by lamp light
Potatoes may now be dug without much
danger of heating in the cellar. We incline
to think them better after lying out till Octo-
ber-whcther any tubers are rotten or not.
Since the rot has prevailed so extensively it
is well to let the potatoes lie few hours in
the sun, to be more sure to detect the rotten
ones.
The vines must be all burned as soon as
they are dry enough. Let not q stalk OF
leaf remain. Tho ashes will be worth more
for manure than the vines are when rotted in
heaps. Burn the vines and you advance
step in the right direction to kill that little
mite of maggot CD your vines which the ma
ked eye can detect.
Burn your squash vines also unless you
intend to multiply that bug which SIN ellis
worse than he looks Burn all the cucumber
vines as soon as you have picked the fruit,
1t is no wonder these destructive bugs null
tiply from year to year when gardeners neg
lect to destroy them. If the wheat straw
should all be burned on the ground ne wee
vii and the nudge would not so abound as it
now does
Some wheat growers SOW the same acres,
year after year, and neglect to burn the straw.
BY this course q few Hessan flies, or midges,
or weevils will become a thousand, and at
length ELL the land.
We cannot doubt that the potato rot has
come upon us by means of very minute in
sects, and maggots, that are small to be seen
by the naked oyo We're they as large as
feas or bed bugs Farmers would understand
their operations better But they are not
seen, and many are analysing the atmosphere
to determine why potatoes rot now worse than
they did twenty years ago.
We have now entertained these visitors, at
great cost since 1845-but as we are never
in favor of long visits, wo think it is time to
give our guests hint to depart. Will some
careful men try the effect of fire, and burn up
] all their potato vines ?-PIo'&ghman.