Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-09-30
AGRICULTURAL.

% II ~ eae usual manner have since used
-4"uu1e iot me purpose. and find that it an
S"ers perfectly Last winter all the late
celery was eerthed up in say-Gns+ opd Il l[ont
quite sound till April, and no sInos of insects
attacked III under ground the hcads heine
very soild, clear and crisp, and Wen favored
hsd some doubts that the sawdust from the
resihouS trees might give the celery disa-
greeable flavor, but on trial fonnd tb;s not
TO be the case, and the sawdust Is now taken
lnd15crlmlnately from the saw-pits where dif
/ terent kinds Of trees are sawn IN. Rafora
the late severe frost occurred in Octohar
had JusS finished the earthing ur of all the
| late celery with sawdust, and find it is now
| wonderfully fresh, the frost not having pene-
| trated far through the surface TO the hearts
/ -Gardener'S Chronicle
DBIED Arms We have known a helm
meet cut and dry apples during the winter
| instead Of the fall, and il has been enough
| for us. On seeing the white, clean, dried
| pieces, we are at once convinced. Here is
| the point; Not a fly speck was there, no
mould no rot. 1t was the perfection of a
| dried apple.
Another advantage: Apples then are ripe
| or, nearly so, they have the perfection Of
| their flavor, and this flavor viii be present
/ when the fruit is served
Do our housewives consider this? The
| fruit should be, when dried, Just what it is
when used in the fall or winter undried
! Then we are particular TO select the best.
| But for dried fruit anything viii do"
| What an error this is. No wonder that dried
| fruit pie Is an ordinary affair compared with
| the fresh, juicy apple pie.
| THTxNING THE LEAVES or GRAPEs.-One of
the most absurd practices prevalent, is that
| OF pulling off the foliage OF grapes, in order
| (as ii Is said,) 10 ripen up the fruit. those
| who do this say they can't bear to see the
] clusters so shaded they kgt0lC the sunshine
| would color them. And so they thrust right
| and left, covering the ground with green
| leaves. This is great error. The ripening
| of fruit depends upon the presence and
| successful working OF well formed and healthy
| foliage ON vigorous vines The leaves are the
| lungs and stomach of the plant. Through
| them it breathes; by them it digests its food,
| and prepares nOurishment for the fruit and
/ the whole vine. Go to the sides OF the forest
and YOU find the blackberry developing larger,
| and ripening up finer in partial shade, than in
| the sunny field. Go Il little further and you
will find the wild grape growing luNuriantly
/ and ripening perfectly where the sun seldom
shines; certainly, where ii never reaches the
! clusters, and where no one pulls off the leaves.
! Some of the handsomest clusters ever picked
| in our garden, hung all summer IN the shade
J Of leaves and on the north side OF the trell-
/ is-bar The leaves had the sunlight all day,
/ but the fruit did not. We have no doubt that
| one reason why the costly wineries OF the
country show so much half ripened trJil is
| because the gardeners so perpctually NEEDLE
with the foliage.
| KEEPING VERBENAs OVER WINTER. My
| better half has no difficulty in keeping the
| Verbena in the house through the winter;
| with her the question has been how to keep
| Vcrbenas in the open border After many
| experiments she has succeeded the past win
| ter by placing over the plant frame made
! for protecting cucumber hills, having in 1t u
/ 10 by Il glass. The Nerbena remained IN
| fine condition, fresh and green, all winter,
was uncovered early in April, then growing
| vigorously, and on the 10th OF May was IN
| full bloom. Those kept III the house are pot
ted in the fall early enough TO root we'll before
| freezing weather comes on they are then
placed in the east windows of our sitting
! room, where we have wood fires, and never
allow the frost TO enter The plants are kept
! clean and moist tobacco smoke applied when
necessary, and thus the plants ase kept vigor-
| Gus and healthy through the entire winter.
| This spring they commenced blooming the
/ last of March.
Ii one will but pay attention to tie plants
/ it is easy to see whether they suffering
/ from dust, want OF moisture or insects, when
| the proper remedy can be applied and the
| plants kept in ii healthy statc.-N2rticlatay0
MANUmNG TREEs-It is very common but
mistaken and useless practice, to apply all
/ the manure close about the foot of the tree.
( The roots have shot off a long way from this
narrow circle, and very few get any of the
| rich feeding intended for them. Others, with
| more Judgment, but still erring regard the
| circle of the roots as large as the circle of
| the branches, and apply accordingly. The
/ circle should be still larger; for as general
rule, the roots extend far the distance
from the bottom Of the trunk to the eytrem-
cites Of the talIest or longest branches hence
I
each other above, the roots below have form
ed one continuous net work through the whole
surface of the field.
SHADE 4 FERTMIzER-One holds that dark
ness favor. the deposition Of nitrate Of potash
which Is fertilizer, in the sol. Another,
that shade brings in the earth-wOrm, whose
perambulatiOus benefit the soil. Wherever
there is a fat stone or beard, or head of rub
bish, thither comes the eaTth-worm. Tie is a
regular sapper and m:ncr boring the ground
for foot deep, with multitude OF holes, and
leaving behind in his eNcretons compost
which Is quite enrichIug. He is a Jethro
Tull, tilling the ground and so fertilizing it
with the gasses OF the atmosphere.
LIVE AND DEAD WEIGHT OF SHEEP,-A rule
for mutton she ep is to weigh the live sheep
and divide the amount by seven. Thus,
sheep weighing 40 pounds, divided by seven,
would give 20 pounds dead weight, equal to
tue Hti9At oI "a quarter OF cD pOuIiu5 Aot eilc
mutton. The pelt and rough tallow would
make about 20 pounds more, thus making
what is called in the Boston market four
quarters TO the animal. OF course, sheep
poorly or extra fattened will 20 above or be
low this average but on the whole the rule IL
not far from correct
Hay AND CoBS SERNKAGE BY DRYING.-The
loss upon hay weighed July 10th, when cured
enough to put IN the barn, and again February
Goth, has been ascertaincd to be 27t per cent.
SO that hay at SO a ton in the field, Is equal
to $50 and upward when weighed from the
NOW in the winter. The weight Of cobs in a
bushel Of corn in November ascertained 70 be
~ BIS, was only Z! lbs in May. The cost of
grinding bushei of dry cobs, counting hand
ling, hauling and miller's charge, Is about one
cent a pound. i the meal worth the money?
-.Sciegtifc Americpa.
Coal TAR FOR BR4SDEG SHEEP.-We are
informed, by one who knows, that coal tar il
really one Of the best articles cxtant fOI
marking sheep. It gives, without any pre-
paratior, durable, bright brand. Twenty
five cents viii purchase enough to brand two
thousand sheep. While the same amount of