The daily gazette., 1876-04-27
RURAL TOPICS,
rLANO TATOES EARLY.

The experience of farmers every
where is that the best crops of potatoes
are produceh by planting early, or as
soon as the land can be got in good
condition. 1t is bad policy to plow
land when wet; and when the season
is cold and rainy, it is better to wait
for good we eather to put in any crop,
but.plant your potatoes as soon as you
can safely. An excellent way to man.
age, so as to have but little work in
cultivating the crop, is to plant either
In drills. or hills and cover the seed
with a plow, forming a ridge over
each row; and when the potatoes have
been In the ground from Is to 30 days
they will have grown up several inches
IN the ground. Then take a harrow,
turn it owe with the teeth up, put
upon 1t large stone or two in fir ont,
lengthen your trace chains as much as
you can, and go over the ground
across the ridges, till the land is per.
fectly smooth. If some of the potato
sprouts are uncovered no harm will be
done. The weeds will all be destroyed,
and your potatoes Will come up and
grow rapid and generally will re-
quire no other cultivation, but with a
horse hoe or cultivator, using a mould
board cult1vator, or plow, to turn up
the earth d few inches high around
the vines to finish up the cultivation
Tor the season.
ONION CULTURE.
1t is important to plant the seed
early. The red Weathersfeld is the
most reliable variety. The land should
be made rich with stable manure every
season; and onions may be grown on
the same ground for long time. In
garden culture the rows should be
about a foot apart, and allow the
onions to grow from four to six inches
apart in the rows when thinned out
Ii ysur soil is liable to form crust on
the surfaca cover the seed about
quarter Of an inch deep with earth,
then tread it down firmly, and cover
lightly with sand or sifted coal ashes,
so oas to prevent the baking .of the sell
over the seed and preventing it COM
ing up. There is no other seed thai
seems to require the ground to be so
firmly packed around it to make it
vcgctate as onion seed; and the back
of spade should always be used on
the sand OF ashes for this purpose in
small plots, and hand roller for field
culture.
ABOUT CARPETS.
If the corner of a carpet gets loose
and proven Is the door opening, or trips
everyone that enters the room, nail it
down at once. A dogs cared carpet
marks the aloven as well as the dogs
cared book. An English gentleman
travelling some years ago, took q ham
mer and tacks with him because he
found dog 3 cared carpets at all the
inns where he stopped. At one of
these inns he tackled down the carpet
which, as usual, was loose abeut the
door, and soon afterwards rang for his
dinner. While the carpet was loose
the door could not be opened without
hard push; so when the waiter came
up he just unlatched the door, and
then going back a couple of yards he
rushed against it, as his habit was,
with sudden spring to force it open.
But the wrinkles of the carpet were no
longer there TO stop it, and not meet
ing with the expected resistance the
unfortunate waiter fell sprawling into
room. 1t had never entered his head
that so much trouble might be saved
by means of a hammer and half
dozen tack until his fall taught him
that make shift is a very Improbable
kind of shift. There are good many
houses in the United States where a
similar practical lesson might be of
service
Beat carpet on the wrong side first
and then more gently on the other
side. Be careful not 70 use sticks with
sharp points, as they arc liable to tear
the carpet.