Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1872-12-06
Tbs Staunton Dimoifator.
FARM AND FIRESIDE.

FARM AND FIREsIDE.
EFFECT OF FERTILIzERs IN DIFFERENT
SEASONS The editor of The Boston Jour.
nal of Chemistry, in giving the results Of
his farm operations the past season, says:
"One of the most Interesting facts which
this extraordinary vet season has brought
out is, that fertilizers applied to soils in dry
| Summers without apprecahle effects, arc
rendered available in these that are wet.
| The plate upon which cur fertilizers have
oeen applied during the past years, when
the rainfall has been sc deficient, produced
wonderfully this season. The lertilizing
substances have been lying dormant in the
soil for the want of water to render them
soluble or TO hold them in solution, and ths
year the conditions have been favorable for
promoting the changes, chemical and me-
chanical, necessary for plant food to be made
available.
Owing to the dry weather the past three
years, it has been difficult to con.
duct experiments with manures, and reach
anything like reliable results Hundreds of
farmers have been misled, end have ccu-
demned as worthless manurial substances
which had positive value, but which needed
the usual meteorological agencies to render
them sssimilable. Farm dung and stable
manures, as well as chemical fertilizers,
have not exertel their full influence upon
soils to which they had been applied, be-
cause of the absence of rain.
This season they have been thoroughly
r,,h,o - L.
havo been benefited by the dormant manu-
rial agents applied two or three years ago.
Manures are not lost which do not act
promptly, unless they are blown away by
winds. or ara washed into brooks in sudden
and violent showers, which sometimes fall
upon the baked earth in Summer. If they
remain in or upon the sell, favorable sea
sons. which are sure to come, will force them
to give up to plants the food they contain,
abundant crops.
RUST IN WHEAr.-"R NJ. Y" Abing.
don, Va, writes to the Southern Farm and
Home: "While do not claim to have dis
covered an infalible cure for rust in wheat,
| believe l have found the means of prevent
ing rust IN four crops out Of FIVE, perhaps
more. You remember how destructive rust
was to tho last crop in nearly all the wheat
producing sections Of ihe South | raised as
fine crop as ever | had in nay life, and
am an old farmer, whilo all my neighbour
crops were ruined by rust. I attribute my
escape to top-dFessing my wheat in March
with wood ashes, putting on about twelve
bushels to the acre. got the the idea from
some Northern publication q forget the
name) which recommended ashes not only
as prev entive of rust but as the best ma
nure for growing wheat. My experiment
was SO successful that 1 mean to top-dress
my crop this year if I have to buy and haul
my ashes.
HEALING-IN TREES More trees are lost
from imperfect healing-in than from any
other cause whatever, which every observing
person who has seen the way in which the
roots of trees are buried in masses, with
large interstices Of air everywhere among
the the roots, will assent 10. Trees badly
healed-in should not remain so twenty-four
hours before planting out. Cods and masses
OF earth are merely thrown on the top of the
roots and only shade them from the SUMS
rays. In few days the roots will become
dry, because they are not in contact with
the m DIST earth. If the heeling.in is we'll per-
formed, every crack and crevice will be COM
pactly filled with fine pulverized earth, and
the trees will keep long time, as we'll as in
the nursery rows.
HAIR REsToRAT1vE.-Hair turned gray on
account of lack of iron in the system;
supply that and the trouble will Frequently
cease.
A simple remedy is made from the leaves
of the herb sage, little borax, and iron
nails. Steep handful of sage in quart of
water; add to it tablespoonful of powdered
borax, and boil it until it is reduced to a
pint. Strain out tho leaves; put handful
of rusty nails (uew ones will do) into a bot
tie, and turn the sage tea over them quite
hot Let it stand three days, and then wet
the scalp very thoroughly with it every 9th
er night, rubbing it in with the fingers. 1t
will stain the pillows, ETC., bat it washes
out easily
Lone BURROWS IN PLow1NN. German
agricultural journal prints plea for long
burrows. The turning of the pillow and the
commencing of new furrow requires more
exertlon in the plowman and the team than
continued work on straight line; and how
great may really be the loss of TINA from
frequent interruptions in short turns may
be shown by the following calculations: In
field 225 feet long, FIVE and half hours
out OF ten are used in re-directing the plow:
with length Of SIS feet, four hours are
sufficient for the purpose; and when the
pillow can proceed without interruption for
sOO feet, only one and half hours of the
daily working time are consumed.
The EARAcuE. Generally heat is the
best remedy. Apply warm poul,ice or
warm oil to the ear. Rub the back of the
ear with warm laudanum. In case of a
foetid discharge, carfully syring the ear with
warm milk and water. In all cases keep
the ear thoroughly cleansed. Relief is o.
ten given bp rubbing the back of the aar
with little hartshorn and water.
To MEND CHINA.-Take very thick So
luton of gum arabic in water, and stir into
it plaster of Paris until the mixture becomes
of the proper consistency. Apply it with a
brush to the fractured edges Of the china.
and stick them together. In three DAYS The
article cannot be broken in the same Mace
Inc whiteness Of the cement renders it
douEly valuable