Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1874-06-20
Farm, Garden and Household.
Practical Hints.

Ut IN ali the crops YOU can take good
care of. They are likely TO be wanted.
Corn planted by hand may be soaked
in warm, soft water for twenty-four to
thirty-six hours. If the land is moist.
mellow, and warm, it will soon germi.
nate and grow rapidly.
Corn for fodder may be sown any
time this month. You p,ust have rich,
dry, clean, and mellow land. If it can
be avoided, never SOW broadcast. Drill
or drop in rows p to 3 feet apart, so
that you can use a horse hoe to clean
and mellow the land.' Use plenty of
seed, say from six to eight kernels to
each foot in the row.
Narrowing is rarely done as thor
oughly as it should be. 1t is very i'm
portant to make a fine, mellow seed
bed.
Rolling is also too much neglected.
Roll and then harrow and then roll
again until you have four or five inches
of fine surface soil. Such a soil will
attract and retain moisture.
Swedes turnips or rutabagas should
be sown about the middle of the month
or before. The soil should be made as
fine and mellow as possible. Drill in
rows p feet apart, using two to three
pounds of seed per acre. The object
of such thick seeding is to give some of
the plants chance to get ahead of the
so-called tifTnIp-fy or beetle. If pos.
slble, drill in with the seed two or three
hundred pounds of superphosphate per
oara Tniyo1 with fbroo on Co., 49, l.
bulk of sifted coal ashes, Thin out the
plants when in the rough leaf to foot
apart in the rows. Do not neglect to
roll the land Immediately after it is
sowed.
Mangel-wurzel or beets should now
be ready to hoe. Thin out to fifteen
inches apart. If it is necessary to
transplant, be careful to dig up the
plants with the hoe, and not pull them
up out of the hard earth and thus strip
off the soil and fine roots. In hoeing,
do not cut too deep. In hoeing tur-
nips, it will not hurt the plants to take
away nearly all the soil from their
roots but this is not the case with
mangels. The less the soil around the
roots of the young plants is disturbed
the better. Cultivate every week or
ten days. You should have a narrow
tooth horse hoe, so as not to throw the
earth on to the young plants.
Fight the weeds as you would fight q
fire. Do not let them get beyond your
control. Kill them while in the seed
leaf. On loose, mellow soil, fine har-
row, if used just as the weeds are
breaking through the soil, will kill
them by the million but if DELAYED a
few days in warm, growing weather it
will have comparatively little effect.
Start the cultivator the moment YOU
can see the rows of corn, or potatoes, or
mangels. The outside teeth of the Gull
tivator should be bright, sharp, and as
thin as possible consistent with the
necessary strength, and they should be
set so as to throw the earth towards the
center of the row. With good Guilt
vator the soil may be stirred within an
inch of the plants, and leave little ne
cessity for hand hoeing. - Agricuz-
turiSt.
Bruising Horses.
The following sensible advice is from
the NeeO England Farmer: GA man
who will habitually take horse through
a narrow door knows very little of what
horse remembers, or what is fair
treatment to the animal. One single
blow on the hip against the sharp
corner of doorway is sometimes suffi-
cient to ruin valuable horse. But
when that blow has been several times
repeated the horse becomes valueless,
because he has become a highly dan
gerous animal. We have seen O horse
whose hips were never healed after
striking two or three times III passing
through narrow way. Another dan
gerous practice is the leading of horses
out of the barn door, by the sides OF
loads of hay, grain, etc. A slight blow
upon the hip will sometimes so excite a
high spirited horse that the person
leading loses control over him, and
he escapes upon jump, banging his
shoulders and hips as he proceeds,
leaving patches of skin and hair as evil
dence that he has got through. Many
valuable horse has been ruined in this
way, and many a valuable one can be
saved by never leading him through &
narrow space"
Cleaning Painted Surfaces Unvarnished
Put upon plate some of the bes
whiting; have ready some clean water
and piece of flannel, which dip into
the water ard squeeze dry ; then TAX,
MS much whiting as will adhere to it
and apply it to the painted surface
when little rubbing will instantly re
move any dirt or grease wash well of
with water, and rub dry with sof
cloth. Painted articles thus cleaned
look equal to new, and without doing
the least injury to the most delicat,
color. 1t will preserve the paint mucl
longer than if cleaned with soap, ant
does not require more than half TIN
tune occupied in cleaning.
Farm Hands.