Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1860-02-03
81 a9rit
From the american .4gricuLturatist.
Forward Spring Work Now.

Uh waA u cPhAkR9 wwOk h A~US
s'Take time by the forelcck" is as good
maxim for farmers as for others. While there
are some kinds Of labor that can only be per-
formed at particular seasons, there are others
that can be done at any time, when the weather
favors out door operations. The Spring, 10 all
the northern part of our country is very brief
season, and upon the farm, it Is usually over
crowded with work. Slack farmers especially,
leave every thing to this season. The manure
| is not carted until the ground is settled the
| blowing IL put off until May, and the planting
until June the potatoes and oats that flourish
best in cool weather, are forced to mature ir
the heat of dogdays, and rot and smut are Of
ten the result of the late sowing aud pl nting.
| Something can be done ever at this season,
to help on the Spring work. The wood house
is, or ought to be already filled SO that the ak
will not need to be lifted to prepare fuel from
March to December. A good part OF the ma
nure can be carried now, much better than in
planting time. The ground is now frozen 50
that the cart path to the field to be plowed, is
soon worn as smooth as a railroad. 1t will Be
a much less tax upon the strength of team to
draw bundred loads of manure DOW, than to
do it in April, when the team is pressed with
blowing and other farm work. 1t is pretty
we'll established now, that yard manure pre-
pared in the usual way with muck and loan,
does not lose much of its value, when piled sp
in Winter in large heaps in the field where it
is to be used. From our own experience we
do not think green stable manure would be in-
jured by the same treatment, If it were we'll
mixed in the field with muck or peat. The
piles should be made long, narrow, and high
say FIVE or six feet 50 as to shed part of the
rain.
If any of the meadows are to be dressed
with 6ue compost, there is no better time than
the present to do it. The sward will not be
cut up, and the warm Spring rains will carry
down the fertilizing properties of the manure
to roots of plants. This must Lot be done
however, on rolling land, or on steep bill sides
where the rains would wash off part of the
manure before the frost comes out OF the
ground.
A large portion Of the Spring work can be
anticipated before Winter breaks up, and then
the farmer seize upon the best time to
plant and sow, and drive bis work all through
the season instead of being driven.
fastening VEGETATION IN SPRING. One
mode is by bheltering plants from cold winds,
and exposing them much as possible to the
rays of the sun. This can be effected by
stormy sides of gardens aud orchards, also by
surrounding them with hedges and belts of
evergreen trees. In England, it has been
found by an experiment of several years, that
ripen their fruit ten days or fortnight earlier
than 10 an open orchard. In cold, damp, aud
cloudy summers, the difference is less obvious,
but even then, the favour of sbe wall fruit is
superior to the other.
Skillful gardnerS sometimes gain an advan-
tage of several days, by throwing up beds or
banks with slope to the south, of about 40
deg, and planting thereon their earliest crops
of lettuce, radishes, peas etc. the northern
slopes being used for late crops.
Of the influence of manure in accelerating
vegetation, we need hardly speak. Everybody
knows what tropical growth horse manure en-
genders in hot-beds and forcing houses, while
yet the soil of the common earth around is
cold and uuproductive. Everybody knows
what wonders guano, hen dung and other fer
tilizers perform every spring in garden and
field. But aside from the action of real una
nure, there is benefit 10 be derived from the
use of other substances, such as sand aud lime
on clayey soils, of chipdirt and lcat-mold, the
tendency of which is to tighten up the ground
and free it from surplus water. The uae Of leaf
mold, charcoal, chipd dirt, blacksmith cinders
and whatever tends TO make the soil dark
coored, contributes TO the same result.
Here too, may be mentioned the powerful in
hueuce of understanding, which rids the soil
of standing water, and prepares it to absorb
the earliest rays of the Spring sun. Ridging
up the earth in winter, tends in the same d.
rection, and for the same reason. Faithful at
tention to these two last processes often gives
the gardener gain of a week or fortnight in
spring.
Hero may be mentioned also, the importance
of selecting proper seeds. The seeds of fruits
OF vegetables, which ripened earliest the pre-