Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1876-01-22
Farm, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
SensOnable Farm Hints.

Sens0nable Farm Hints.
The stock of seeds for the coming sea-
son should be procured as soon as pos
sible. If left until seed time is at
hand, much delay may occur, as seeds
men are then crowded with orders. A
good plan is to send to some respectable
scotsman for a catalogue, and select
some well known standard kinds for the
main crops, both for the garden and the
fields. If any new varieties are tried, a
small quantity only should be used at
first, until it is known that the soil and
locality are favorable. Make a list of
all seeds needed at once.
This is the best season to repair and
paint wagons, carts, and implements.
Everything of the kind should be put
in the best order for future use. More
tools rust out for want of care, than
wear out. What is saved by care, is the
same as earned twice over, the thing is
not only saved for use, but the price of
another is saved too.
Much may be done in cleaning out
drains, and in some sections in making
drains. When the spring rains arrive,
or the ground is full of water, draining
cannot be done with advantage.
Washouts are by far too common in
the South, and greatly injre the value
of farms where they occur, besides Civ
ing an unfavorable appearance to the
country. They may be prevented by
blowing the hillsides deeper, and using
sidehill pillow, making the burrows
diagonally up and down the hill, instead
of level back and forth, or around them.
To fill them, throw in brush or stones,
and pillow the edges into the hollow,
gradually widening the blowing, until
there is a gradual hollow. Where they
are feared, number of pillow burrows
should be made sloping gently down
the hill, to carry off the water.
Calculations for fodder crops should
he made for the coming season. Where
the winter is open, some blowing may be
done for these crops. Fodder is never
too plentiful, and in the Southern States
it is the great need of the farmer. Oats
and peas, or tares and barley, furnish
heavy crops of green fodder, or dry
hay if cut when in blossom. They may
be sown as soon as the danger from
frost is over. -Four bushels of the mix
ed seed per acre is a proper quantity tc
BOW. The richer the ground, the bet.
ter for fodder crop.
Yards should be kept we'll Uttered
and dry; the feed troughs should be al
ways turned over at night, so that il
snow should fall they would not be filled
with it; and the water troughs should
have loose covers for the same reason
--AgricoIt1wiSt.
Restoring the Fertility of Farms.
We must save liquid manure. A large
portion of it runs to waste, and il
thought by many not worth saving.
know now make twice the value of ma
nure at my farm that I did by simply
throwing it out of the window to take
washing, as is now practiced at almos
every barn. After experimenting few
years, [ became satisfied that the liqui(
manure was very valuable, and too gooC
to be lost. I at last put under my ii,
up plank reservoir and caulked it, anC
now save the liquids and solids entir,
from my cattle while at the barn.
never allow them to stand in the yart
at any time. In summer, at night, the,
come up to the barn and go into thei
chains as if they meant business.
throw in behind them old pickle, loan
lime, plaster, ashes, dry chip dirt, etc
1t all works down and comes out tn
best of manure. If this plan was gen
orally adopted, we can see at once wha
we should gain in an agricultural poin
of view. Such manure as this, whel
applied to the soil, holds out remarka
bly, we'll. Green crop blowing I know
nothing about, but I think it best t,
adopt the above plan first. This woulC
assure you better crops to turn in. TIL
most of our farmers in the older part O
the State would not produce g. gree
crop until the land is first MANFRED.
look upon this as the best and cheapee
way our farms can be brought back t
productiveness. -Mai,1e Farmer.