The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-03-15
FARM AND FIRESIDE.

BOTTLE GRAFIING.-The London
Garden describes a method of marching
by placing the graft in bottle of water,
yet growing on its own roots, as in the
common mode of marching. The graft
and the stock are then spliced, or faced
together, and when the union is effected
the bottle is removed. Sometimes the
graft throws out roots into the water, in
which case the lower part may be cut of
and set out separately. Oleanders, myr-
ties, camellias, ETC., are successfully
grated in this way. The bottle, If too
heavy to be tied to the stock, is sup.
ported in the fork of branch stuck into
the ground beside the stock. For some
plants it would be easier and simpler to
adopt the japanese method of inserting
the graft in bag of wet moss-the bag
being made of nurserymen's oilcloth,
would hold the moisture of the moss a
long time.
DEEP FLOWING FOR CoRN.-A cores
pondent of the Rural World remarks as
follows: 1t is better to raise one hundred
bushels of corn on one acre of ground
than fifty bushels an acre on two acres.
The yield could be doubled on nearly
every acre of ground in cultivation in
the West. What is wanted is deeper
blowing and better preparation of the
soil and more thorough alter cultivation.
The skimming over the ground is one of
the greatest evils in Western farming.
Plow deep and then cross pillow deep, and
you prepare food and moisture for the
plants and enable them to resist the
droughts, and make them laugh and
thrive and bear abundantly.
On the above, Moore's Rural NeD Yorker
remarks: The positive iteration of gen.
eralities, and especially the emphasis
placed on deep blowing for corn, invites
the suspicion that the writer was airing
some very plausible theories, Instead of
writing from practical experience. 1t
may be under certain circumstances that
corn will do better on deeply-plowed
land; but we never saw such case. As
for cross-plowing deep for corn, we
know that this is only theory; for if corn
is planted on newly-turned sod, as it
should be, cross-plowing would only
turn the sod uppermost again. Most
probably the writer of the paragraph
quoted does not know anything of the
subject which he was discussing, but has
borrowed some plausible ideas from the
agricultural wisdom always floating in
the newspapers.
THE FATTENING PROCESS. The Jour
ndtof Chemistry, in discussing the ques-
ton from scientific standpoint, says
that the poor animals consist Of about
two.thirds water, while fat ones only one
half, in the total weight, and com.
pares poor animals to bog meadows. 1t
adds that when the fattening process be.
gins, water commences to disappear, and
fat or suet takes its place, and the in
crease in bulk during the process lie largely
of adipose matter. 1t is a curious cir
cumstance, that, during fattening, the
proteids or heterogeneous compounds, in
crease only about seven per cent, and
the bone material: or inorganic sub
stance, only one and one-half per cent.
The cost to farmer of fattening an
OK is much greater at the close of the
process than at the commencement; that
is, increase i'm bulk or dry weight at that
period lie much more costly. If il cost
three cents pound for bulk for the first
month, after a poor animal is put in the
fattening stall, 1t will cost five cents the
last month. IF then, a farmer consults
his money interests, he will not carry the
increase in fat beyond a certain point,
provided he can turn his partially fat
tened animals to fair advantage. Far
mers have perhaps learned this fact from
experience and observation, and hence
comparatively lean beef abounds in our
markets. While this is OF advantage to
the farmer, it is very disadvantageous to
the consumers of the beef, for the flesh
of q fat animal, in every case is much
richer in fixed, nourishing material,
than that OF the lean, and IL is never
good economy to purchase lean beef. 1t
Is better to purchase the poorest part of
fat animal than the best of lean one.
The best piece of fat OK (the loin) con-
tains twenty.one to twenty.eight per
cent. more fixed material than the cor.
responding piece in lean one, and curl.
ously enough the worst piece in the lean
animal-the neck-is the richest in
nourishing material. The flesh Of the
neck improves very little in fatteniug,
hence, economy considered, it is the best
portion TO purchase, rs its value il, in 0
measure, q fixed one,