Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-09-18
PARM. GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
The U.e rfLIne .. a FerlIIIter,


kinds best adapted, are of sufficient i'm
portance to occupy the mind of the
farmer, and to a greater extent than is
occasi nally given, when it is consid-
cred that inferior or unadapted seed will
produce, as a rule, an inferior crop.
Thus to SOW wheat on a soil which con-
talns no limo or marl-either naturally
or nrtifici0ny-is sure to bring poor re-
turn. A remarkable instance of this
took place in ireland after the famine.
1t is fact we'll known by the more in
telligent farmers in that country that the
extensive central plain which occupies
the surface of land at the foot of the
mountains contains no lime or mari, and
that dressing with these materials were
at stated times applied when the culture
of wheat was intended. The product
from au average year was twenty barrels
per acre Qrish), or about sixty bushels
to the English acre. After the famine
the poverty and want of heart to do
their best by the land compelled those
who remained on their farms, unsubdued
by the famine and pestilence, to omit the
usual application of lime to the soil, and
the consequence was that, instead of
twenty barrels per Irish acre, the yield
was from five to seven barrels, being
reduction of from two-thirds to three
f,,,rfla AnaAl,nr fnctorna anrrn1
the case of three farmers from Suffolk,
who took tract of land of about six
hundred acres near Sligo, inclosed with
wall as park. In letter from one OF
them after they had been there a few
years, he stated that they were about to
abandon their horlings, as the land would
not grow wheat for want of lime, of which
there was none to be obtained In the
neighborhood, while the soil contained
not particle of that material, and there
was none within reasonable reach OF their
farms. In such cases as this the appI-
cation of lime is required to be renewed
frequently, because either lime or mari
will sink in almost any soil, especially
light, so that the process of renewing
the application of these materials is very
expensive.
There is, however, drawback to this
favorable account of the effects of the APP
plicaton of lime to the soil, namely: that
it is possible to overtime; that it pro-
duces larger crops for a certain number
of years, after which the return falls
away until it becomes less than before
the lime was applied, so that it appears
to have exhausted instead of enriched
the soil. In accounting for this adverse
effect of what is admitted on all hands
to be a benefit, the chemists state that
lime acts on all the organic parts of the
soil, by which it is rendered more SER
viceable to the growth of plants. On the
other hand, the proportion of organic
matters in the soil gradually diminishes
under the prolonged action of the lime,
and thus the soil becomes less rich in
those substances of organic origin on
which its fertility to certain extent de-
ponds. The same effect is produced on
the mineral matter in the soil, when there
is abstracted from it more abundant
supply in proportion with its immediate
effect per Sc. Unless, therefore, an ade-
quate proportion of those matters are
supplied in other manures, the soil will
necessarily become exhausted to such an
extent as to counteract or neutralize the
action of the lime. The way, therefore,
to prevent this effect, is to manure large
ly with farmyard manure and saline sub
stances, and thus return or repay to the
soil whatever may have been extracted
too speedily or too copiously from it
U0rk Lane Express.
Fruit Carbon.
After the old blackberry canes have
fruited, they should be cut off and burn
ed. Tie up the new growth to stakes,
emitting back to the required height. Dig
out all suckers which appear between
the rows, unless needed for planting,
which is better done in fall than in
spring keep the ground loose and free
from weeds by means of the horse cult
vator.
Cut out all old raspberry fruiting
canes which may have been left until
this time, and cut back the new growth
as for blackberries. The plants will be
benefited by dressing of fine manure,
forked under slightly between the rows.
Most of the red varieties are propagated
by suckers, or from root cuttings.
Black-caps are multiplied by covering
with earth the tips of the shoots, which
bend over late in the season; these will
make roots, and in the spring may be
cut from the old plant and set in rows in
rich soil.
Fill up all vacancies in the old straw
berry beds, and set out new ones. Take
only well-rooted runners, and if the
weather is at all dry, dip in thin mud be-
fore setting. Plants set in the fall may
yield small crop the following spring,
but there is no real gain over spring
planting.
The grapes in many localities will be
small, owing to the severity of last win
ter; the vines should not be neglected
but provision made for securing 6
healthy, well-ripened growth for next
season. Where heavy rains have com
pacted the soil, use the horse or han6
cultivator to make it light and open