Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-07-26
FARM AND GARDEN.


lowed to mature, or ego to seed" i'll
lures the plant more than a dozen new
buds. Cat your flowers. then, all of
them, before they begin to fade. AdOrn
your room with them; put them on
your tables send bouquets to your
friends who have no flowers or ex-
change favors with those who have.
All roses, after they have ceased to
bloom, should be cut back, that the
strength of the root may 90 to forming
new roots for next wear. On bushes,
not seed should be allowed TO mature.
--NcrihHCr'S.
SEh-WEED M,SU'EE.-It has long
been customary on the sea-coast to use
sea-weed for manure, its value for
this purpose being considered by many
AZ scarcely inferior to stable manure.
This applies, however, to sea-weeds
y oper, the eel-grass being OF very
fercnt character, and, on account OF
slow decomposition and different
-nemical combination, of much less
value. An especial feature OF the true
sea-wccds consists in their large per-
C 'ntage of heterogeneous matter, and IN
me great amount of ash. The prlncl-
pal objection to the use of sea-weed rs
a manure consists in its very small per-
c"ntage of phosphoric acid. This,
however, can be very easily remedled
bv the addition of some phosphate,
such as bone meal In the large amount
of potash and gypsum it contains. sea
weed serves admirably as dressing for
grazing lands. II is also very well
suited to potatoes and other roots, to-
bacco. fax, and growth requiring good
deal of potash. As an element in com
post it is quite unrivalled. owing to the
readiness with which it is decomposed
and the intimate combination which it
enters into with other substances.
A FLOWER ALWAYS IN BLooM.-A
writer in the floral cabinet says: If You
will have the kindness to tell your little
friends that the rose-colored perpetual
oxalis is always in bloom, You will
oblige lover of flowers. 1t requires
all the sun she can give it. 1t blooms
all winter in sunny window, and all
summer, if plugged in cinders and coal
ashes under the pot. My abutilon, ma
lakoff. mesopotamia, and ThOmsOnn
are always in bloom. When L repot
them, / wash the pot in warm water ::
water the earth in hot water, and let it
stand a short time before l set the plant.
When cool enough, lift your plant care
fully; see there are no worms around
the roots. After potting it, set the pot
in a pail oe warm water for two hours.
If covering slips with grass does not
cause them to strike, let your subscri-
her give them bottom heat. Bore holes
in the bottom of box, and put pieces
of hower-pots over the holes; prepare
the earth, set you slips, and if you have
no green house or hot-bed, set the box
on warm bricks, keeping the slips moist
and changing the bricks as they cool.
Keep the glass over them, and nine out
of ten will strike.
STIRRING the soil during the growing
season cannot be done too often, pro-
vided it is not wet enough to pack. As
an antidote to droughts it is unrivaled.
A man who can stir the soil every day
about his plants and trees, can virtually
defy drought. The operation seems
to create moisture, or at least to attract
it, both from the subsoil and atmOs-
phere. The weeds, of course, have no
cha zee under such a system, and the
moisture they wOuld require and take
goes to a purpose "where it will do
most good" Horse-culture is the
cheapest mode, but in gardens too
small for horse-culture must be de-
pended on. The difference in effect be-
tween frequent and occasional stirring
will astonish those who have not before
observed it. The man who has plenty
of muscle and time, and little or no
money to expend on fertilizers, will find
that frequent stirring of the soil will go
a long way to supply the absence of
fertilizers. In fact, culture without
manure is worth much more than ma
nure culture. When both can be dis
cretely applied it is advisable, but
when choice must be made, shall al
ways choose culture.-N. y Observer.
EMPLOYMENT FOR FowLs.-To keep
fowls from eating eggs and each others
feathers, and to keep them in health,
give them something to do. There will
generally be no trouble about feather
eating when fowls have their liberty all
the while and are well-fed, and the
same is true of egg-eating. But when
it is necessary to oOnfine them, the own
or should make it his study 10 keep
them at work. One good method
is to cover their yard, when not in grass,
with some sort of litter straw, leaves,
cornstalks, salt, hay, sea-weed, vegeta-
BILE tops, ETC., and then scatter grain
over this freqently, and cover most of
it. This will necessitate scratching
for it, and they will undertake it with
out any further urging. Where litter
is abundant, the work of the fowls in
scratching may be utilized in getting
the litter reduced to " very fine filth, y
as farmers say of ground we'll prepared
for seed. They will scratch moder-
ate layer of straw or salt hay out of
sight after while, if allowed to do so,
and even corn stalks, also, after srffi-
cient exposure to the weather has made
the stalks brittle. Another good plan
is to pillow or spade their enclosure fire.
quently; SOW it with corn or other
grain, and harrow or pillow this under.
1t will soon sprout +; and while the green
tops will be eagerly eaten, the half-de.
composed grain is also dainty food
for towels, and the work of scratching
it ont will furnish agreeable employ.
ment and exercise till it is all gone.
And still another excellent plan is to
lightly bury beef-heads, or tough
pieces of refuse meat, in the chicken
yard. In due time, in warm weather,
this becomes inhabited, which the hens
are not slow in discovering. Of course