Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1872-09-07
For the Alexandria Gazette.
AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.
BY PEN SCISSORS.

BY PEN SCISSORS.
Last year Wisconsin produced | SOL 5SS lbs.
OF cheese, averaging one pound Of cheese to
! y.SS pounds Of milk, and sold it from y to 4
cents per ID. Wisconsin is no better adapted
for cheese than Virginia; it only wants the same
enterprise aud industry to make her equal, if
not superior, to Tic former as a cheese manu-
featuring State.
John Il. Woods writes to the Planter aud
Farmer, saying that now the Southern cult
vators. having to pay for labor must abandon
the old system aud follow the example Of the
shrcwd people OF the North. who manage to
diversity the products of the farm as much as
possible. He thinks persons residing on lines
Of railroads running to Alexaudria Richmond,
or Norfolk, would fnd it greatly to their inter.
est to commence the business Of rearing early
lambs for Northern cities. To do this they
| should purchase common ewes, and improved
bucks, Cot>wold or Leicester, or a cross Of
these with the South Down rr Shropshire
Down. The lambs from these wcald be much
larger and tattcr.
No producer should be SPECTATOR: nol
should Il farmer as rule hold bis crops, with
the idea that he may tlerby influence :he
uark et. Markets arc notthus Influenced. u
d rule, the sOOner crops arc marketed the bet
ter for the producer Thresh and gather in
the crops early, aud realize the highest price
he may, Is nearly always, ii not always his best
course, and the most profitable 1t is the farm.
! cr privilege to speculate, but il he loses let
him not lay the blame to his own proper busi-
| HESS.
If housekccper is ambitious, and priIes
| herself on shining tn-ware, let her use whiting.
Wash the tin clean and wipe dry, and then pol
sh with u dry cloth and dry whiting. That
article is cheap, and gives u new, bright look to
every thing it is used on. In short there is
nothing SO effective.
Peaches were exhibited at the late meeting
Of the Fruit Grower Association, in Washing
ton, picked from a tree said to be one hundred
years old. The tree belongs to COL Chamber
lain Of Waterford Loudoun county, Va.
y ton OF well saved corn fodder is worth, if
we'll used, the price OF a ton Of hay; yet how
rarely it is we'll saved. Exposed to all the storms
Of October. it is tardily stacked 10 November.
and. mu>ty and mildcwed washed and wealth,
er-bcaten, it Is not on y the poorest feed, but
absolutely Injurious to stock, to which 1t is
thrown III the toughest aud most careless way
in the barn yard Then it is tramp!cd down III
the snow and mlrc, and the next spring is cursed
as the greatest nuisance farmer mas to contcnd
with. But let corn stalks be shocked up care
fully, spread well at the butts Of the shock and
ricd closely at the top until the corn Is huskcd,
and then put up in convenient bundles, and
again set up 50 that the rain cannot penetrate the
ShnckS, and As soon Us cured be carefully stack
| ID or put away beneath ght roof and it be-
comes agreeable looking. sweet smelling, nu-
trluu- to,id"r and readily eaten by all sorts Of
stock. l. it is cut up with any one OF the varl-
Gus fodder cutters into short lengths, or even
| chopped with an AK on the barn floor, wcttcd
and Sprinklcd with little salt and hand full
of bran and corn meal. it will be entirely con-
Sumcd. and the MANURE pile in the spring will
be altogether freed from the objectionable, uu-
rottcd and tangled stalks, and thus what is 4
source of trouble may be turned to good account
anl money made by it. Before farming can be
made profitable, the huSbandman must derive
his fertilizers tiDm his Lt1m wutl aud not from
distant cities.
No farm is complete without a 6rSt.class
straw cutter. \ good cutter will cut corn
stalks as well as straw Don't get poor ma
chine because it is cheap. Better sell 4 COW or i
horse and get u good one, than buy an inferior
one.
In cutting up corn cut the stalks near TO the
ground and save every inch for fodder. Also
save every pound of straw, and see TO 1t thai
it is protected from the weather by being vel
>taikcd or put in barns and sheds. No doubt
1 quarter OF Il million Of dollars is lost ever!
year ~ Virginia farmers by careless regard
io1 straw aud corn stalks. PROGRESS.