Middletown transcript., 1876-04-15
A9ritultural;

Written for the TRANSCRIPT by one of the
most experienced farmers, gardeners and
frp6 growers in the United States.] gE
PLANT POTATOES EARLY.
The experience Of farmers every
where is, that the best crops Of pota-
toes are produced by planting early, or
as soon as the land can be got in good
condition. It is bad policy to plow
land when wet and when the season
is cold and rainy, it is better to wait
for good weather 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 bills. and cover the seed
with q plow, forming ridge over each
row; and when the potatoes have been
in the ground from fifteen to twenty
days they will have grown up several
inches in the ground. Then take .
harrow, turn it over with the teeth up.
put upon it large stone or two in
front, ,lengthen your trace chains as much
can as you, 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 rapidly, and generally will re-
quire no other cultivation, but with a
horse hoe or cultivator, using mould
board cultivator, or plow, to turn up
the earth few inches high around the
vines TO finish up the cultivation for
the season.
ONION CULTURE.
1t is important to plant the seed
early. The red Weathers6eld 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 lifetime. In
garden culture, the rows should be
about foot apart, and allow the onions
to grow from four to six inches apart
in the rows when thinned out If your
soil is liable to form crust on the sur
face, 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 as to pre-
vent the baking Of the soil over the
seed, and prevent it coming up. There
is no other seed that seems to require
the ground to be SO firmly packed
around it, to make it to vegetate as
onion seed; and the back Of spade
should always be used on the sand or
ashes for this purpose in small plots,
and hand roller for field culture.
TREES FOR A LAWN OR DooR-YARD.
What a great mistake farmers and
owners of village residences make, by
neglecting to beautify their homes with
ornamental trees and shrubs! When
We travel through the country and
through villages, and see houses located
in delightful situations, with not tree
around them. either for fruit or shade,
we are compelled to ask mentally, "are
the owners insane p Why, for every
handsome shade tree around q gonteel,
or even q good comfortable house, cost
ing perhaps a dollar originally, one
hundred dollars are often obtained in
the enhanced value Of the place when
it is sold. Soft and hard naples, elms,
European larch, mountain ash, weep
ing do, willows, evergreens, &C., are
all obtainable at small cost, and they
tend to render ones home attractive.
GROWING uoRsERADIsH.
Horseradish requires a rich soil,
spaded or plowed deep, and if il be
somewhat moist, that is if too wet for
garden vegetables, it will be very good
for it. A single root may be divided
into as many pieces, an inch or two
long, as can be made, and have small
portion Of tie escrown, attached to- each. 4
For g6tden eeltures the rows should be
about eighteen inches apart, and the
cuttings six inches apart in the rows.
AS field crop il is quite profitable,
when one has all the facilities to pre-
pare it and put it in jars for market,
the labor Of preparing being done in
the season. The rows in field culture
should be far enough apart to admit
horse-cultivator. 5fkkss z
PEACH TREES.
1t has been found that banking up
peach trees swith. earth, about aszfoot
high around the trunk, causes them, in
many places, to produce. good crops Of
fruit, as the earth Keeps out the borers
that infest the trees at the surface of
the ground, or little below it, Before
insect life begins to depredate, the trees
should be examined, the borers cut out
with knife. scraping out every indi-
cation of them; and then throw up the
earth around the trees, and beat it down
with spade or shovel, SO as to remain
in it's place, and in most cases the trees
will be healthy, and bear large crops of
fruit If the climate is suitable for peach
growing.
ASPARAGUS.
To make an asparagus bed all that is
to be done is to dig up the soil about
fifteen inches deep, with a very heavy
coat of well-rotted manure mixed with
it; then set the plants about eighteen
inches apart, with the crowns about
two inches under the soil. The most
popular variety is "Conover's collopal;;"
yet some asparagus growers contend
that all varieties can be made to grow
large by good cultivation. Plants one
and two years old are suitable to set.
but none older. When the roots are
long they may be shortened in for con-
venient setting. In the fall cut down
the stalks even with the ground, and
cover with barnyard litter, mixed with
manure, as a winter protection and fer
tilizer
HEAvES IN HORSES.
The followinp is a GOOD remedy for