Port Royal commercial and Beaufort County Republican. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1873-1874, 1874-03-05

Changing ssll. Pern.ns.tIy.

nure again, and that farm or garden,
ia fine condition, if not fed with fert,l-
izers. will run out after while. But I
have tried one way of improving the
soil that is permanent, and the improve
ment, I calculate. will last hundred
years OF least. My soil is heavy, too
heavy for gardening, and I have made
il lighter by drawing on sand in winter
from a knoll composed mostly OF sand.
When the horses and hired man had
little else to do, I had them hitched to
the sled, and covered part Of my gar
den with stratum of sand two or three
inches thick. Ia year or two, when
il became well mixed through the soil,
should like you to have seen the crops
tina. grew there I measured q crop Of
carrots at the rate of 1900 bushels per
acre. This was nearly twenty years ago,
and it is now the best part Of the gar.
den. It don't exhaust. The sand stays
there-it cannot evaporate. It would
be too much to draw sand for q farm,
yet think it would pay we'll on some
particular spots for root crops. If the
sand ID handy, two men and team
will cover ten square rods in a day,
costing say $50 per acre, and well worth
it on q small scale. Have not some Of
your readers sand knolls that they
could get ready for winter drawing?
B. Y.
Value OF Wood Lots.
The Canada Farmer says: "Time
was when the wooded part of farm
was considered the least valuable, and
was we'll nigh regarded of no account
until cleared. Now the opposite con-
dition of affairs is fast coming to be &C.
cepted as tie true state Of the case.
Partially cleared farms are bought with
the timber estimated as q most impor-
tsnt item in the purchase account.
Bush land is no longer drug in the
market. Most of it is either already
within such easy access by railroad, or
it is expected soon will be, that pro.
prietors are figuring up the profits CT
cordwood, and buyers are doing the
same. The consumption OF wood as
fuel by locomotives, makes q steady,
enormous drain on our forest resources.
Already the price of cordwood in our
towns and villages has reached what
were city rates five or ten years ago. As
wood becomes more scarce, its value
will 70 up, until it reaches the coal
standard, and that is likely to be raised,
from the large demand made for it in
manufacturing and railroading."
Kindness to Cattle.
A Massachusetts, farmer says, in re.
gard to the management OF cattle: "My
cattle like my company. When in the
pasture they will follow me until ]
leave the lot, and, as q general rule,
they come up to the barn-yard every
night about sunset, and, in their way,
call for q lock OF hay. Though / give
them all they want, they take but few
mouthfuls, which satisfies them and
am confident it does them o great deal oi
good. 1t keeps their bowels regular,
and they thrive well and are happy
They do much better than they did
when changed pastures once week
they now have change OF food every
day instead Of once q week. Cattle
need kindness, and they pay well for it.
] can handle my steers and others as
please. They will come up to me while
I am milking, and invite me to play
with them. The time, think, is moi
far distant when soiling cattla ~ill be
the most profitable where most OF the
farm can be cultivated. Provide small
lot for them to run in, feed green fod.
der, save ali the manure, and our farms
will grow richer"
Time to Cut Timber.
DR.. Hartwig, who has made numer.
ous experiments to determine the point,
states that March and April are the best
months in which to cut timber for
building purposes, as it then contains
its lowest per cent of moisture, which he
states to be forty-seven per cent. Dur.
ing the three previous months it has
fifty-one per cent, and in the three
following ones forty-eight. He furthe,
states that properly seasoned timbe,
should not contain more than 20 to 25
per cent. of moisture, and never less
than 10 per cent. II the moisture il
removed to o still greater extent the
wood loses its strength and becomes
brittle. An English authority states
that If trees are felled as soon as they
are in full leaf, and allowed to remain
undisturbed until the leaves dry up and
fall of, the timber will be found well
seasoned, the leaves having exhausted
all the moisture in the wood.
Storing Ice.
A cellar under ground, with stone
wall two feet thick, may be filled with
ice by turning water from q spring into
~ all
it to freeze. If only half the cellar is
to be occupied, it will be necessary Ia
put double partition across it, leaving
a space of eight inches or foot to be
filled with sawdust. A lining similarly
filed should be made around the part
in which the ice is to be stored. The
bottom OF the cellar will need to be
well drained, and heavy layer of saw.
dust will be needed upon the top of the
ice. But the difficulty which will occu,
in cutting out the ice for use, and which
will arise from want of drainage. will
cause more trouble than the labor O,
cutting the ice and packing il in the
usual way. The cellar would make ar
excellent storeh ,use for ice put up in
the customary manner; but the plan
may be worth trial.
Roast Ham.
Scrape, soak, and wipe the ham. Put
1t In q dish pour bottle OF Madelrs
wine all over ;; cut a carrot and two
onions in slices, which put over also
with two bay leaves, two cloves, and
six stalks fparsley. Bastenow and then
and leave thus for twenty-four hours
then remove the bone at the larger end
trim of fat and lean, and put it in 3