Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1876-06-17
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Hints About Work.

The cold, backward spring has helped
the weeds more than the corn, and q
good crop can only be expected through
thorough cultivation. To choose the
proper implement is very important; a
pillow goes too deep, and Injuries the
roots; while a cultivator that slips over
the hard spots, only half does the work.
The surface must be well worked and
kept loose and mellow. As soon as the
rows can be seen, cultivation should be-
gin, and then the advantage of having
the rows perfectly straight will be mani
fest, for in straight rows the cultivator
can be spread so as TO cut close to the
plants by going once only in a row.
Thorough and frequent use of the cul-
tivator will save hand labor; no farmer
can afford to hand hoe his corn crop
nowadays.
Early planting almost assures a safe
crop of potatoes. By planting early the
crop will be out of the way of the second
brood of the Colorado beetles. A
farmer should always be Independent of
markets, and he may be SO, to a great
extent, by feeding what he cannot sell.
Potatoes fed to pigs the past season
have been worth fifty cents per bushel,
and although this is exceptional, on &C
count of the high price of pork, it is
rarely the case that twenty-five cents a
bushel cannot be made out of potatoes
by feeding them.
The Colorado beetle is most to be
dreaded when in the larva state. II
then eats voraciously, and isvery numer
Gus the perfect insect eats also, but
there are not SO many of them. The
whole secret of safety is in being pre-
pared for them, and not only brush
them off the vines into pan, but have
paris green in readiness for the larv@
Small quantities should be hand picked
1t should be borne in mind that the
larvae of the lady bugs are useful, ant
not to be destroyed; they are long ant
narrow, very active, lead colored, will
bright spots, and quite unlike the larva
of the Colorado beetle. The pup@ O
the lady bug, attached to the vines
should also be spared; they have beef
mistaken for the larv@ of the Colorad,
insect, and many have picked them off
they are perfectly dormant.
Beans are crop that gives good prof
when we'll managed. 1t is poor plan t.
plant it upon ground that will groy
nothing else. On good, clean land,
corn stubble, or newly plowed Glove
sod, beans should yield twenty-five t
thirty bushels per acre. They yiel
best when drilled in rows thirty inche
apart, and two to three inches apart i
the rows, but we find this gives mos
work in pulling them. A planter wi
drop and cover six acres a day wit
single beans, three inches apart, or fou
beans every ten Observation-Disclosures.
Spades and Forks.
Farmers do most of their soil liftin
with the pillow; but those who garde
have to use the spade considerably; BIT
the knowledge that the spade has bee
in a great measure superseded by til
fork has not Travelled near as much as
ought TO have done. We see many
one digging garden" and preparin
for spring, spade in hand, utterly III
conscious that with modern diggin
fork he can do as much in day, an
with far less fatigue, what with an oil
fashioned spade it would take him tw
days to do. In the use of fork ther
is no digging to do. The tines run int
the earth by the downward descent {
the fork in che operators hands alon
and in throwing over and leveling,
single blow Of the tines is enough to pu
verize and make level surface.
Some say their land is too light; tn
the earth passes through, and they ca,
not take up forkful; but in this ca
work it when it is little wet. Eve
sandy ground can be dug with fork,
the proper time is chosen for it.
course, the spade can never be abando
ed. There will always be some grour
that is very weedy or full of roots, whit
9 sharp edge like that of spade will
necessary to sever, and in digging I
trees and garden vegetables nothing C!
replace the spade in hardness; but the
are q number of instances in gard,
work where a digging fork can cor
into very great labor saving.
Worms OIL Grapevines.
If the worms are slightly hairy, crea
colored, spotted with black and mark
with orange along the sides, forming
lDOp III "Hlh1bS, puO SluCS WI
ammonical liquor diluted with wat,
BY experiment on some useless pla
with tender foliage, ascertain the lei
amount of dilution which will not pro
injurious to the vines. If the worl
are of blush green color, dotted wi
black tubercles, have ten legs, are abe
an inch long and form loop in walkir
dust with hellebore powder or with lin
Scatter newly slaked lime around t
vines when the worms drop. 9th
wise syringe the vines and dust wi
lime, or syringe with lime water.
single pair of sparrows, it is calculate
will destroy 5000 worms week.
Changing Crops.
W. Ell. White, in an article contribut
to the Country Gentleman, says of
practice of changing crops: "Expe
ence in the production of an arti
gives one the advantage of quite o p
centage in profit over theinexperienct
with the same article, and this shol
be borne in mind when the question
substituting any other article of cult
comes up" And again: "My own
perience and observation teach that
farmer who, if he makes change in
leading crop produced, makes t
change gradual, meets with better s
cess than he who invests his whole
ergies and resources at once. By t
course he gains experience at only sn
cost, even when he does not succeed
A Vegetable Curiosity.