Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1874-10-09
AgrifmltnraI.

WINTER BEDDING PLANTs.-A correspondent
of the Country Gentleman, who has no green
house, writes TO the editor of that paper to ask
now to take care of his geraniums, coleus, peri
wrinkles, &C., over winter, and gets this answer:
The geraniums can be taken up before frost
Kills them, and packed closely in a box of moist
garden soil. box 12 inches square will hold
from six to twelve plants. The roots should be
carefully pressed together and completely covered
With earth, so that no air can come at them.
The tops should be pruned away to three or four
stubs, 10 or IL inches long Thus packed thev
VIII keep in an ordinary cellar free from frost,
needing no water or care during winter The
periwinkles (TncGs) will live in pots in the sit
ting-room, or in boxes in the cellar, being as a
class quite hardy. Some of the varieties (such
as y minor and 7. minor rGriegGta) will live oct
Of doors without protection CoIsus will not en-
dare cold, and unless the temperature of the
room in which they are kept never falls near the
freezing point, it would not pay to try to keep
them over winter. They are cheap, and, in our
experience, il is less expense to buy in the
spring, at ten or fifteen cents each for named
varieties. They will live In the sittinr-foom if
never allowed to get chilled.
KEEPING SHEEP on WHEAT FARMs.-Everv
wheat grover possessing one hundred and sixty
acres of land, should keep at least one hundred
sheep, and his farm should be so fenced that
they may he changed from one field to another
every two years. By this system the land NAV
be kept tolerably free from weeds, and always
be in good condition for wheat
Ny plan is this: ! keep flock Of about one
hundred and fifty, and every spring, seed thirty
acres with timothy and clover. The following
spring my sheep and cattle are turned into this
field, where they are kept two seasons, blowing
it up in the fall of the second year for wheat the
next. This field is now clear and viii produce
large crops for three or four years. When first
commenced this practice, Immediately after the
war, my land was so completely overrun with
weeds that it would not produce paying crop,
while the wild rose bushes were SO thick that
my hands and knees needed to be case-hardened
in order to stack it with any degree of comfort.
now get large crops Of wheat on the oldest
land, and there cannot be briar found on the
farm. The benefit to the land pays for the keep
ing Of the sheep, and l have the wool and in
crease clear profit. This year my flock sheared
four and three-fourths pounds per head, and pro-
duced between forty and fifty lambs. Every fall
l sort out all the wethers over two years old and
the old ewes, feed them three or four months
and sell them for mutton, at generally from five
to six dollars per head. l also sell from fifty to
sixty dollars worth of mutton to the butchers
during the summer, and can always have sup
ply of fresh meat for my own table at small cost.
Some seasons l have turned my flock into
field without seeding, using the plow wherever
opportunity presented during the summer. This
plan works well also, and field served in this
way will produce as much wheat the next year
as it would in two years following without.
When this plan is adopted, sufficient stock must
be put on to keep the weeds from going to seed.
There may be better ways to ''keep up 4
farm, but the results obtained from my system
are very satisfactory farmers Eaioa.