The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1872-05-31

Farm and Garden.
Castor Bean.-The castor bean Ricinus
Community has been cultivated with
varying success in the North, but not
with profit above the latitude of st.
Louis. A good deal of interest is being
manifested in Kansas in this industry.
The seed should be planted four feet
apart each way, on warm land naturally
rich, or made 30 with manure, and the
plants thinned to one in each hill the
planting to be delayed until all danger
Of frost is over. The plant came origin
ally from India, and is extremely sensi-
tive to frost, and even to cold winds.
At the South it is perennial; instances
being known when it has continued to
fruit, year after year, fer eight years
consequently the yield will be in pro-
portion to the length Of the season.
The crop must be kept entirely free
from weeds, since, when ripe, the pods
burst, and the seeds are often thrown
out to a considerable distance. These
are regularly picked up and carried to
the drying floor provided for the pur-
pose, or the ripe pods are cut just before
they open, and carried to the place pre-
pared for drying. The crop must not be
bulked together until thoroughly dry,
since it is liable to heat. Plant the
light-colored, small, firm, Northern
beans, not only on account of their
earliness, but because the quality of the
oil manufactured therefrom is better
than from the coarse Southern varieties.
In Texas, Florida, and other favorable
localities South, from seventy to one
hundred bushels of seed are reported
per acre. In Southern Illinois, Missouri
and Kansas, from twenty-five 10 forty
bushels Of clear beans would be a good
yield per acre.
Bleeding Of Grape Vines.-A correspond.
emit of the Gardeners Chronicle recon-.
mends as preferable to the method of
placing potato on the freshly-cut end,
to stop bleeding in grape vines, to Use
flexible collodion, which has been found
so thorough styptic for wounds of the
human body. Two dressings were given
with the end of feather, thoroughly
covering the wound twice in the course
Of few minutes, the third or final coat
being put on about half an hour after
wards, when the cut was completely
sealed up, and in the course of few
minutes became quite hard, so tina;
there was not the least sign of any
bleeding. In the course of ten days
the vines grew away strongly and vigor
ously, and have since continued to dc
so. Some choice pelargoniums were
also cut down and dressed twice this
was quite sufficient to heal the wound
and in the course of three or four days
the eyes were starting again, showing
great vigor. 1t was found equally eff
Gent with ApAeland,a Leopoldii, Euphor
bia jacquinigtaora, and Lucuiia gratissima
In the treatment of the Euphorbia, and
all the tribe of plants that bleed at the
same rapid rate, it was found necessary
to have small piece of sponge to wipt
off the milky juice, so as to get thu
collodion to adhere, and they require I.
be gone over as many times as thu
vines.
Root Crop for Hogs.-But a very small
percentage of farmers grow root crop
Tor stock. Occasionally patch of car
rots or mangolds are found, but as gen
eral thing they constitute no part of tn,
standard farm products. Still all ex
perience points to them as among tn
most economical crops to be fed on
upon the farms, and at the same tim
they constitute healthful and nutri
tive article of diet. In recent lette
, to the Rural World, w. j. Medley, Q
LaSalle county, Illinois, says that las
year he grew FIVE acres ofmangolds,whicl
, yielded about thirty-one tons to tn
, acre. He says that hogs are very fon'
of them, and in the fall will, when tn
T other food is scarce, eat them, tops an
all. He thinks one acre Of them vii
produce as much food as five acres G
corn. Mr.. j. s. Tibbits writes to tn
Michigan Farmer that he raised suga
! beets FOR his hogs last year. He
ready to believe them very valuabl
, food for fattening hogs, and superior I
any other root crop for stock Of a
/. kinds.
Grass Lands.-The proper manag
|. ment of grass lands will be, before lon
r if it is not now, the key to successf,
!. agriculture in America. We find
# difficulty in maintaining the productiv