Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1869-10-01
FARM AND FIRESIUE.'

HOME MADE MANUREs. Much, very much
has been said and written upon this subject
within the last two decades. If cultivators
of the soil, on the farm and in the garden,
had been as industrious in making and ap-
plying n,anures as writer's have been in Of
fering theories, our country, from Maine to
Texas, and from Florida to Alaska, would
at this moment be like blooming garden,
clothed in all the luxuriance Of fruits, and
flowers, and grass, and golden grain. Alas!
it is not so; and it will never be so until
our farmers awake from their lethargy and
incidence. No other alternative is left them
but to awake, and ''work or de-" They
must battle with stubborn facts. Among
these facts none is more patent than our once
fertile lands have been brought to leanness
and barrenness by runious system of cul-
ture-a system that took everything from
them, and gave no thing in return. To re-
store this lost fertility, liberal supplies of ma
nure are wanted. But where shall this ma
nure come from Within our forests and on
our plains, along our streams and among
our hills, lie the rich materials, that only a.
wait the skilful manipulation of science and
art to transform them into golden fruits and
grain, which will fill the hearts of our pco-
Pile with food and gladness." The great
bulk of our manure, however troublesome it
may be, must be made at home, for we can
not afford to purchase only 1.-THE of what
we need. Away, then, with your teams to
the forest; gather the rich stores of leaves
and mould that centuries have buried there;
go dig your beds Of mari; your limestone
deposits; your swamps of muck; 60 where
ever nature deposited her vegetable or min
eral stores draw forth and apply the food
which your crops will take up and appro-
pirate, and return you golden stores of au-
tumn wealth. Yes, let it become your daily
thought and daily work to make and apply
manure. Go, collect it and spread it, ,broad-
cast it and drill it, put it upon the ground
and within the ground, compost it., commit
mute it, concentrate it. Yea, think about it
read aboutit, talk about it, and even dream
about it, for there IS no safety aeitAout it
Southern Planter d; Farmer. Dr..
How TO KEEP WINTER APPLES Fruit
growers who are So fortunate as to have
Winter apples, can prolong their keeping
by packing in sawdust, other than pine, if
posi- BILE. Put it in some dry place for sew
eral weeks before using, spread out thin, so
as to. be perfectly dry. Keep your apples on
the trees as late as'possible, not to be touch
ed by the frost. Pick in the middle of
pleasant day when perfectly dry. Handle
with care, and leave all the stems on. Pick
no bruised, wormy or defective fruit Pack
in barrels. Take them and the sawdust to
the place of picking. Sprinkle an inch of
of the latter on the bottom of the barrel
Place the apples in layers very carefully on
the sawdust-a row next to the slaves, and
a row next to those, and so on till you fin
ish in the centre with single apple. Cover
this layer with sawdust, and so continue un-
til the barrel is full, with layer of fruit and
layer of sawdust, leaving an inch or more
of the latter on the top. Put the head in
with light pressure, gently shaking the
barrel and keeping the contents perfectly
tight Remove to some outbuilding and
keep there till hard freezing weather comes
on, when the barrels should be stored in a
dry cellar, placed on blocks or planks so as
not to touch the ground
In this way the latest keepers will be per-
fectly sound the 4th of next July, and they
will be perfectly fresh, in perfect order, and
favor unimpaired. Packing in sawdust has
many advantages over sand. First, it is so
much lighter, and adds nothing to the ex-
pense of freight Second, the sawdust alb
serbs all the moisture and sweat from the APP
pie. Third, if by chance an apple rots, it
cannot contaminate its neighbors by coming
in contact with them. q If the barrels are
made as tight as they should be, the fruit will
be kept from the air, and come out as good
as if canned. The above is no theory or
guess work, but has been tested for several
years. sand Yt-
TRANsrLANTINe FULL-GRowN TREES
Thirty beautiful elms, their tops reaching
above the height of three stories, have been
transplanted in front of the site of Congress
Hall, at Saratoga, to take the place of the
trees destroyed by fire. They were taken
from the forest with a large ball of earth
around each, and the men who transplanted
them guaranteed that they would live. They
are in full leaf, and the experiment appears
to have been entirely successful They must
be twenty or thirty years DID, and their re-
moval cost only thirty five dollars for each
tree. AT this rate, men can easily surround
their dwellings with adornments such as art
cannot rival. The same thing has been sue
cessfully done in Scotland, and some of the
splendid trees that are the chief ornament of
the magnificent Bots de Bologne, at Paris,
were transplanted full grown, thus anticipa-
ting the natural process of generation
y How TO Test Flour. The writer of the
following, which we quote from an exchange
paper, speaks as one with authority, and.we
give it the advantage Of our circulation for
the good of whomsoever it may concerni:, g
: Place thimbleful in the palm Of the hand
and rub it gently with the finger. If the
-four smooths down, feeling gentle and slip,
perry, it is Of inferior quality, though Of fan
cy brands, high priced, and white as the
virgin snow-drift, and will never make good
light, and wholesome bread. But if the flour
rubs rough in the palm, feeling like fine sand
and has an orange tint, purchase confident
~. 1t will not disappoint you. Such -four,
whatever may be its branded reputation,
thong h its price be at the lowest figure, will
make good, light, nutritious bread. Oh, ,a 10.
A FACT TO FARMERs.-It may not be
generally known that the seed of the sun
flower is the most infallible remedy yet dis
covered for the speedy cure of founder in
horses. The directions, which we CLEAN
from brief article upon the subject in the
Essen Banner, are: Immediately on dis
covering that your horse is foundered, mix