The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-10-12
FARM AND. HOUSEHOLD.

confidence. Such a character, coupled
with robust and hearty good health,
would be the best half OF a young farm
er's stock in trade. Then. again, he
should be thoroughly versed in the de-
tails of farming as an art. When and
how to plow, to SOW, to hoe, harvest, to
garner, and to sell; how to keep his land
improving in richness and i'll tiltb how
to buy, how to breed, how to grow and
how to sell his live stock; how to drain
land, build fences, lay out in fields, ar
range and construct farm buildings,
make roads, and manage all kinds OF
farm machinery; how to manage the
dairy, from the setting OF the milk to
the marketing of the produce. All this
and much more should be learned-not
parrot-fashion, but 30 that the knowl-
edge will become intimate as an instinct
and be always ready in any emergency.
Underlying all this should be knowl-
edge of the science of agriculture-the
treason why" of all this work, so far, at
least, as the present state of agricultural
knowledge makes possible; vegetable
physiology, that is the construction OF
plants and the manner in which they
form their growth and perpetuate their
species vegetable chemistry, or the
composition of the same parts of various
parts of plants, and the different stages
of growth; vegetable nutrition, or the
source from which the plant obtains its
food, and the manner in which the food
is assin,ilated; the chemistry and me-
chanics of the soil the manner in which
it is influenced by growing and by de-
caying vegetation, by the action of frost,
Of water, of air, and of the various chem
ical agents; why wet land should be
drained, and why dry land irrigated or
frequently stirred.
Look TO Your WHTEwAsn1NG.-
Good whitewashing, well applied to
fences, rough siding, and the walls and
ceilings of buildings, has q highly sani-
tary influence, as well as being in the
highest degree preservative in its eff
fects. To be durable, whitewash should
be prepared in the following manner:
Take the very best stone lime, and slake
it in close tub, covered with cloth to
preserve the steam. Salt, as much as can
be dissolved in the water used for slak-
ing and reducing the lime, should be ap-
piled, and the whole mass carefully
strained and thickened with small
quantity of sand, the purer and finer the
better. A few pounds of wheat flour
mixed as paste may be added and will
give greater durability to the mass, es-
pecially when applied to the exterior
surface of buildings. With pure lime,
properly slaked and mixed with twice
its weight of fine sand and sifted wood
ashes, in equal proportions, almost any
color may be made by the addition of
pigments. Granite, slate, freestone and
other shades may be initiated, and with
out any detriment to the durability of
the wash. This covering is very often
applied, and with good effect, to the un-
derpinning, stone fences, roofs, and the
walls of barns and buildings. Prob
ably the pure whitewash ismore healthy
than the colored, as its alkalescent pro-
perties are superior, and when in cellars,
kitchens and sleeping apartments, pro-
duces salutary results.
No person who regards the health of
his family should neglect to apply coat
of it every spring. County places, espe-
cially farm out-houses, fences, etc., are
greatly improved in appearance by an
annual coat of good whitewash, and will
add to their permanency much more
than many would imagine. 1t is
cheap and easily applied, SO that neither
expense nor labor can be pleaded against
it.-GermantO,on Telegraph.
SUNDRY HINTS FOR FRUIT GROWERS.
TO prevent the dropping off of grapes
make circular incision in the wood,
cutting away ring of bark about the
breadth of the twelfth of an inch. The
wood acquires greater size about the in
cision, and the operation accelerates the
maturity of the wood, and that of the
fruit likewise. The incision should not
be made too deep, nor further than the
bark, or it will spoil both the wood and
the fruit.
To protect grapes from wasps-plant
wasps will so far prefer the yew tree
berries as wholly to neglect the grapes.
To preserve plants from frost-before
the plant has been exposed to the sun,
or thawed, after a nights frost, sprinkle
it we'll with spring water, in which sal
ammoniac or common salt has been dis
solved.
10 destroy moss on trees-remove it
with hard scrubbing brush in Febru-
ary and March, and wash the tree with
cow dung, urine, and soap suds.
TO prevent the blight or mildew from
injuring orchards-rub tar we'll into the
bark of the apple tree, about four or six
inches wide, round each tree, and about
one foot from the ground. This effec-
tually prevents blight, and abundant
crops are the consequence.
CELERY.-A correspondent writes /:
We could never account for the fact
that so few farmers and villigers under
take to raise this excellent esculent. 1t
is easily raised, easily kept though the
winter, affords an excellent relish for
meats and favoring soups, and is very
wholesome. The seed should be sown
now in rows on rich soil. Keep clear of
weeds, and when the plants get four
leaves shear them off to induce stocky
growth and as they grow up again,
they may have second shearing, which
gives them a better supply of roots, and
enables them to stand transplanting bet
ter. In June or July transplant to a
rich bed in rows three feet aplrt, plant
six or eight inches apart i'll The rows.
The earth is to be pressed tirmI} about
the roots with the foot.