The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-07-24
farm. Garden and Household.
Good and Bad Seasons.

n YOUNG VI Dllub WenU lll1-
nois some years ago. He bought farm
for few dollars per acre; put in forty
or fifty acres of wheat the first year,
and got thirty bushels per acre and sold
it for ST. per bushel. "And that crop
ruined me-" he said. Glow so ?" L
asked. 81 have been trying to do the
same thing ever since, and this year
scarcely got my seed back" The truth
is, there have always been good seasons
and bad seasons, and will be until the
end Of time. He is the wise man who
understands this, and acts accordingly.
1 should not like to go to sea with q
captain who expected nothing but fair
weather. 1 have little respect for any
man who hopes to get good crops with
out labor. 1 do not think such man
would succeed any better in q shop, or
store, or factory. But be this as it may,
he certainly cannot make a good farmer
until this kind of nonsense is driven
out of him. I do not believe the climate
is changing, or that the seasons are any
more unfavorable than formerly. 1
question if western New York ever pro-
duced better crop of peaches than
this year. And can imagine horticul-
tural writer's thirty years hence, in the
twentieth century, telling what magnif-
cent crops of peaches we used to grow
here when they were young men. They
will forget or say nothing about the many
years when we have scarcely peach
Wet springs and dry summers, rust and
insects, weedy land and poor wheat,
floods and hail, milk-fever and floating
curds, foot-rot in sheep aud sickly
lambs, collie in horses and hog-cholera
one or all will pay the farmer visit,
and urge him to think, and work, and
plan. If anything can make q man of
any one it is farming. 1t cannot be
said, however, that farmers do not work
hard enough. The great trouble is that
we undertake to do too much. But /
think this fact is now fully admitted by
all intelligent farmers, and I feel conf
dent that great improvement in our
agriculture will soon be apparent. The
weeds, if nothing else, will compel us to
cultivate the ground more thoroughly
D. Harris, IN american Agriculturist.
An Easy Way with n Vicious Horse.
A beautiful and high-spirited horse
would never allow shoe to be put on
his feet or any person to handle his
feet, without resort to every species
of power and means to control him. AT
one time he was nearly crippled by be-
ing put in the stocks; he was afterward
thrown down and fettered; at another
time one of our most experienced horse
shoers was unable to manage him by
the aid of as many hands as could APP
proach. In an attempt to shoe this
horse recently, he resisted all efforts,
kicked aside everything but an anvil,
and came near killing himself with
that, and finally was brought back to
his stable unshod. This was his only
defect; in all other respects he is gen.
tie, and perfectly docile, and especially
in harness. But this defect was Just on
the eve of consigning him to the plow,
where he might work barefoot, when,
by mere accident, an officer in our ser.
vice, lately returned from Mexico, was
passing, and being made acquainted
with the difficulty, applied complete
remedy by the following simple process
He took cord about the size of com
mon BEDFORD, put 1t in the mouth of the
horse like bit, and tied it tightly or
the animals head, passing his left eal
under the string, not painfully tight
but tight enough to keep the ear down
and the cord in it's place. This done
he patted the horse gently on the side
of his head, and commanded him tc
follow; and instantly the horse obeyed
perfectly subdued, and rs gentle anG
obedient as wCll-trained dog; suffering
his feet to be lifted with entire impun
ity, acting in all respects like and old
stager. That simple string thus tied
do 1a IL
one could desire. The gentleman who
thus furnished this exceedingly simple
means of subduing very dangerous
propensity, intimated that it is practiced
in Mexico and South America in the
management of wild horses. Be this
as it may, he deserves the thanks of al
owners of such horses, and especial,
the thanks of those whose business il
may be to shoe or groom the ANIMAL
Commercial advertiser.
Fruit Tree Borers.
Let not our readers forget that mucl
of the weakening of our fruit-trees is
owing to absolute starvation caused by
the workings of stem borers. The sup.
ply of the sap upward is cut off by ev
cry hole which they make, and is JUS
so much put in the way of the tree get
ting all the food it needs. 1t is no use
to manure trees and keep our eye on al
other cultural details, if these rascals
are permitted to continue their depre
dations. This is one of the best sea
sons of the year to look after and de-
stroy them. The eggs laid during the
summer are now developed to consid
cradle worm," and it is working its
way downward between the bark and
wood, or even into the wood, so as tc
get comfortable quarters for the winter
Their presence can be readily ascer
tanned by noting little fresh-lookine
matter like sawdust near the tree at the
surface of the ground, which the lar
vac eject in their boring course. To
destroy them get trowel and dig away
little from the stem, so as to find the
opening of the channel made by the in
sect, and then thrust down q piece O.
stiff wire upon it, which will general,
end its day. To many this looks like
considerable job but smart hand car
get through with several hundred trees
a dayi in this search, as the fresh dus
affords an unerring clue to the direc
whereabouts of the marauder. This il
not only a good season to look aftel
this pest on this account; but, as it il
the cider time, the owner is generally
about the orchard now, and can oversee
the work, and aid it by his advice o.
DerSOnal assistance