The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-08-26
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
~ FARM sBUILDINas.--The excellence Of
farm buildings does not consist 80 much
in the materials of which they are built
as in the use made of those materials.
Useful buildings may be made Of logs or
prairie sods, or poles and coarse. hay
and these by skillful arrangement, may
be made to serve az useful purpose as
dressed lumber and paint or pressed brick.
The main points are warmth, dryness,
and ventilation; for food is wasted when
an animal shivers In its stable, or when
its health is injured by damp, filth, or
bad air. A farmer who is thoughtful
about such small things as this (although
this is more important than it appears)
may be taken to be thrifty man, who,
by and by, will be able to build barn
with all the Improvements; and to build
it properly too. The old proverb, "Take
care of the small things and the large
ones will take care of themselves" is APP
plicable to matters about farms and barn
yards especially. When the small things
are well watched large ones are not for
gotten. iH'
DONG WITHOUT RAIN.-It would be
by no means improbable that some
scientific and inventive mind should
adapt means to do away with the need
for rain. Good farmers already do this
now in part by mulching newly set trees,
keeping the soil moist and light by deep
and thorough pulverization. The air is
always charged.w with moisture, as we can
see on the dryest, hottest day by the
drops deposited on the surface of an ice
pitcher. All that is needed is that the air
should freely circulate 30 deeply in the
soil that its moisture will be condensed
by the colder particles of earth. Or some
substance having strong affinity for
water applied to the earth would answer
the same purpose. A French chemist,
M. Paraf, has found this in chloride of
calcium, which he has successfully ap-
piled in time of drought to sand hills,
road beds, grass and all kinds of soil. He
claims to be able to irrigate land more
cheaply than by means of canals or pump
ing water. One application will con-
dense and retain moisture three days,
while if applied by irrigation the water
would evaporate in an hour.
DESTROYING WEEDs.-The Rural New
Yorker says that July and August are
prabably the months in the year for de-
strOying weeds. The summer heats are
at their fierccst, and all annual weed cut
down at the root especially wither and
die. The tougher perennials have their
growth for the season, and have nearly
perfected their seed. The root then has
least vitality, and if the top be cut off a
feeble effort is made to reproduce it, es-
pecially if the woods grow in tough sod
of grass. We have known frequent now
ings of thistles in sod to reduce the
vitality of the patch so much that it
would produce only here and there a
stalk until the field was again plowed.
In the growing corn August is, of all
months, the time to destroy Canada
thistles and quack. Keep the plant down
as much as possible early in the season |;
then, as the corn begins to tassel out, 60
throu III with a light hoe and cut out
every spear of thistle and pull up every
blade ofquack, with all the root that can
be got attached. The quack should be
put in heaps and burned, but the thistle
roots will seldom if ever start again, and
pulling up at this season of the year, or
even cutting off, is final and certain de-
structien. The cost of doing thisis not
large, varying with the price of labor
and abundance of weeds; but we are sat
isfied that it is always profitable opera
ton on all land foul with thistles. We
have repeatedly had the cost more than
repaid not only in the corn crop, but in
the succeeding oats and barley, besides
leaving the land cleaner for years there
after. at
BUCKwHEAT.-The principal value of
buckwheat to farmers in this latitude
consists in it as a supplemental crop, or
as one that can be substituted where one
has failed by reason of insects or other
wise. On account of the destruction of
all kinds of crops by the Rocky Mountain
locust in so large an area in Eastern Kan
sas and Nebraska and in Western Mis-
souri, and Iowa, more than the usual
quantity of buckwheat will be sown.
The condition of the soil, and more than
the usual fall of rain at this season of the
year, are both highly favorable to the
growing of this crop. AS this crop re-
quircs from sixty to seventy days to ma
ture, it should be sOwn usually from the
9Th to the 25th. of July, although many
good farmers prefer sowing it from the
goth of July 10 the1st of August. On low
grounds, subject to early frosts, it should
be sown as soon as the first date given,
while on high airy locations it may be
deferred to later period. The soil
should be thoroughly pulverized on the
surface, so that the plants will get good
start at once. If the soil is moist when
the seed is first sOwn, twill sprOut very
quickly. Sow with a wheat drill set to
sow half bushel as the plant is not
spreading and branching in its habit, it
will be seed enough. After sowing, if it
be very dry, roll the land; if wet, do
not
The usual time for harvesting this
crop is when the principal portion of the
seed has assumed dark color. 1t shells
80 easily that it must be handled with
great care. 1t can be cut with reaper.
One having a dropper attachment is to
be preferred. Drive very slowly and
drop the grain in small gavels. Two men
are usually required to set the grain up
in small stocks or punches, which ut the
base are about as large as two-bushel
basket. When set up, twist the tops
slightly of each bunch, and tuck them
in and let the punches remain in the
field until cured. This grain. must no,
be bound like wheat and must never bt
stacked. 1t usually becomes sufficiently
cured in two weeks to thresh. Then, i
the weather is favorable--that is, clear
and dry-spread some blankets upon the
hay or grain rack, and haul it to the ma
chine. To thresh with a machine, leave
only one row of teeth in the concave be
meath the cylinder. If small quantity
is raised, the grain may be beaten on
with fail as fast as it is brought, o.
may be trodden out with horses. 49, -.
| u Household IIelpN. u., -t...t
LAYING CARPET AwAY.--Ifl laid aside
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