Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-12-05

way. The great point, however, is to
husband our manure. Superphosphate
is good, but it costs good deal If you
put in Sc an acre in this fertilizer, and
get only ten bushels more Of oats or
barley, where are you going to find pay
for the work and all the rest? Save the
manure! Save all you. can! Half that
is made is wasted, Or badly. applied
The cheapest purchased fertilizer is
plaster, and farmers should buy it by
the ton. To allow manure to waste by
washing down into streams to poison
fish, he regarded as positive SIM"
These remarks are sound. Farmers
must make all the manure they possibly
can, as they cannot depend on CONNER
cial fertilizers. Keep as many swine as
you can feed well, and they will make
great deal of very fine manure. if kept
in a pen, where you throw in frequently
a load or two of weeds, or anything that
will make manure. Save all your hen
manure, as it is worth as much as guano
when mixed with soil, and so left two or
three months. az aee.s
Another farmer spoke of narrowing
ground in the spring sown the previous
fall to wheat or rye. Som etimes the
roller will break the crust, and effect
the desired result to loosen the surface.
He thought that the wheat crop would
be from five to ten bushels more per.
acre if it could be narrowed at the right
time, or before rain. He said there is
no danger of hurting timothy sown the
previous autumn by narrowing in the
h11t L.
benefited by the operation.
WATERING WINDOW PLANTS. There
is nothing that the cultivator of window
plants asks more about than how and
when to water plants. There is nothing
he or she asks that is more unsatisfac-.
torily answered. The florist tells him
to water when the plant needs it. But
how is it known when the plant needs
it. But how is Unknown when the plant
needs water? That is just the point of
ignorance. Yet it is very difficult to
give the knowledge.to any one. Unjust
come of experience; and yet there are
few hints that one may profit by in
trying to find out when plant needs
water. With experience one can soon
tell by the weight of the pot. One
knows about how an empty pot ought
to feel, and how the same pot seems to
weigh when filled with dry earth
When very wet the weight is nearly
double. A plant never wants water
when the pot with the earth is heavier
than a pot of dry soil. Then the color
of the earth will tell, with very little
experience, when it needs water and one
To liCt1 Ix-
is almost always much lighter in color
when dry than when wet and if the
earth is as dark as it is When fresh
watered it wants no more till it gets
lighter. And then experience will
soon teach one to know when plant
needs water by the feeling of the earth.
When dry the earth will crumble a
little when it is touched on the other
hand it seems to press together and to
be smeary when wet. With a very
little experience it is SO easy to tell
when plant needs water by the feeling
alone that a blind man might make
florist in this respect. Those who wish
to know how many times a week to
water their window plants can never get
an answer. Plants will need more
water in warm room than in a cold
one, in a dry atmosphere than In one
that is moist, when plant is growing
vigorously than when it is at rest, when
it is in good health than when it is
somewhat sick, and in light, shady
earth rather than in stiff or heavy
ground. Nothing at all but a little ex-
perience will help one, but if there is a
true love for the helpless little thing it is
astonishing how soon the knowledge
comes to one. There is no such one
but soon becomes a good "plant man. u