The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-09-30
AgritnltnraI.
FARM. GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
rraHspIanting and sI.TehInp


saturated. Place the plant, and press tb,
ePrte down solid. When removed in thi
way plants viii hardly realize the change
and If protected for few days from tht
heat of midday, will go on growing as 4
: IN their original quarters,
AS the weather becomes warmer and
dryer, the mulehing of trees set this sprino
should not be neglected. For this purpose
use can bo made Of straw manure. chin
dirt or any litter which may have accumu.
, lated duriag the winter. Should a long
period Of dry weather occur, remove the
tmUich, fork over the ground and replace
the mulch as nightly as possible The
trees can by this method be kept growing
night along.
The watering of plants and vegetable
should never be done in tho middle of the
day. The best time is at night, unless this
temperature Is quite low, when it should
be performed early in the morning.
Cut back all trees and shrubs set this
spring which seem to be living at poor
dying rate. The roots and roOtlets many
OF which were torn away when the trees
were remOved-are vainly trying to sup
ply nourlshment to the full sized top with
numberless leaves and branches, but unless
some OF the latter arc removed The tree or
shrub viii surely die. Therefore cut back
and pinch off portion of the top strug-
Cling for life. Watch allshrubs and trees
for this purpose, and do not fear to DruDo
heavily if necessary.
One Of the readiest means of propagating
many kinds of shrubs and vines, grapes
especially, is by layerings. Bend down
the part you wish TO layer, and cover to
| The depth of two inches; if necessary con-
iine with peg. The vine will send out
TOOtlets from each joint; another spring it
can be disconnected from the parent vine
and removed. Homestead.
Keeping Sweet Potatoes.
II. B. O. DsWitt, Mo.-PIease- give me
the best method of putting up sweet pota-
toes so as to keep them safely through the
winter
The conditions of the tubers at digging
time and the eonveniences for storing
them vary so much in different parts ofthe
country that no method can be recommend
ed as the best under all circumstances. If
the season to perfect the potatoes and to
insure their having thick skin, and there
is, vithal. dry cellar, the temperature and
dryness of which may be regulated, there
IL little difficulty in preserving sweet po-
tatoes in bulk the same rs Irish potatoes.
If, however, the potatoes are mo- thorough
ly npened, and havo thin skins, and there
is no suitable collar for storing them, il is
a somewhat difficult matter to keep them
over the winter. In al cases the potatoes
should be dug before they are injured by
frost and should be left in the sun till they
are quite dry. They should be handled
carefully, so as not to iDjure the skin. In
the absence ofa suitable cellar, they may
be kept in chamber or attic over the
cOok-room, or they may be packed
suitable boxes and kept in the kitchen. Iu
order to insure them against frost and to
prevent the rot from spreading among
them, many recommend placing some sub
stance between the potatoes to keep them
from coming in contact Many things have
been recommended for this purpose, such
rs oats, saw-dust, chaff, eut-straw, bran
and sun-dried sand. Rotten wood, dried
and pulverized, and peat served in the same
manner, are also recommended. The OBJ
j ct should be to pack them in some sub
stance that is a bad conductor of heat,
which will absorb moisture, and which will
not injUre the skin of the potatoes. Old
flour barrels are very convenient for pack
ing purposes. Put in thin layer of either
of the substances spoken of; then place a
layer of the potatoes as close as they can
be put without touching. adding the filling
AAOAu bAtLO " lAIAO I'LL bUO DdkEtl ID unEIg
when it may be headed up. a few small
holes in the barrel would be useful for. ven-
iilation. The best temperature is one
that is even and is only sufficiently warm
to prevent the potatoes from freezing. If
the air of the apartment is too dry, the po-
tatOes viii have shriveled appearance in
the spring, which will injure them for ia
bic purposes. ETmsr.
Arnold read a paper on this subject before
tho Ithica Farmers Club at a late meeting.
He said that the first settlers pursued the
policy of taking from the soil all they could
get, and returning as little as they could
help. This policy has been commenced
at the East, and was now vigorously pros
ecutod at the West. But the Eastern farm
ors, after running their farms nearly out,
saw the necessity of improving them, and
went TO work to that end. This improve
ment also was going on from East to West.
The question for us Is, on which side of
that liGe Of improvement are We? Bya
reference TO the census-tables for 1915 and
those for 1866, Mr.. Arnold show
ed that IN every crop except oats
there was q gratifying advance in the av-
erage amount per Gcre yielded IN 1865,
rs compared with 1916. The decrease in
The oat crop no attributed to the dryness
Of the census year 1864. So our soil is
improving. There are two
sources of Improvement: 1. Barnyard ma
lUre. ?. Green crops. We can not doubt
That our improvement is due almost en-
.irely TO the latter, and mainly to clover.
In order to keep up the fertility of our soil,
We need to return it as much as we take
rom it. Now, we DO not return, in barn
yard manure, one quarter of what the crops
AXE off. But rotation in which clover
holds prominent place has a wonderful
power of improving worn-Out land. Var
Gus instances were given in support of
his theory. Twenty years ago farm was
bought for S12 per acre; it was gTayelly,
DOOr, and thoroughly worn out. The
owners now get first-rate crops fromit, and
would not take 500 per acre for it now.
This has been accomplished by clover.
VALUABLE TESTIMONY ABOUT HAYS. II.
of China, Me-, in an article
recently published in the New England
Farmer, states the following facts:
1.-TWO years ago put into bay twenty
our by seventeen feet some eight tons of
nay that was cut when in full bloom, with
machine, after tine dew was of; ;raked and
put up before the dew fell at night; opened
he next day, and got in in the afternoon.
1t the same time bad about two tons that
lad tho sun only one day, but as it looked
ike a storm, 1 put it on top of the other.
As there was no storm, l Immediately filed
I'D the NOW with well-made hay-sOme
sixteen tons in all. In September follow
ng 1 pressed it, commencing on the top
With the later cut hay. The bales weighed
rom $50 to $50 pounds each. When
,ame to the hay that was put in green, the
lales went from $40 to $40, and the hay at
he place where the person stood who
moved away was turned to very dark
;oIor and was matted together. When L
,anle to the early-cut and thoroughly-cured
nay, the bales went from $50 to 40
pounds"
WHEN TO PRUNE APPLE 1REEs.--A cor
respondent ofthe WatertOwn, n. Y, Times
says: "It has long been the practice
among farmers to commence pruning apple
.rees in February, mainly 1 suppose, be-
cause there is leisure then. There are rea-
sons why this should not be done. There
will not be sufficient action in the tree to
harden the surface whore n limb has been
taken off before the sap ascends IN the
spring. When this action does take place