Connecticut western news., 1877-04-20
AGRIGUhFURAL.

to get the very best condition out of z race e-horseiOr a hunter. It also has re. centiy become known that horses. dc slow work and get fat, indeed too fat
 on maize and Indian corn, which is fire. quently one-third cheaper than the best oats. 1n the East, horses are fed on barley, and it Is a popular idea with English officers who have lived in Per. sia and Syria that the change of food from barley to oats often, when inn ported, produces, blindness in Arat hefses. Now, although no men under stand better or so we'll how to get blood horses into galloping condition as Eng fish grooms, they do not, and few of their masters do, know the reason why oats and beans are the best food for put ting muscular flesh on horse. The agricultural chemist steps in here, makes the matter very plain, and shows that if you want pace, Indian corn, al- though nominally cheaper, is not cheap at all. When we feed a bullock, a sheep, or 8 pig, for sale, after it has passed store stage, we want to make it fat as quickly and as cheaply as pos sible; but with horse for work the ob- ject is to give him nuscle--ini common language, hard flesh. There are times 4b pIVAtdOlO IO HUI SO fat, as, for instance, when he is going up for sale. For this purpose an addi, tion of about pound and half of oil feet. It is especially useful when a horse that has been closely clipped or singed is in low condition. It helps on a change to the new coat by making him fat. A horse in low condition changes his coat very slowly.
 When from any cause there is difti- culty in getting a supply of the best oats, an excellent mixture may be made of crushed maize and beans, In the pro- portion oftwo-thirds of maize and one of beans, which exactly afford the propor- tions of flesh-forming and fat-forming food. Bran is a very valuable food In a stable for reducing the inflammatory effects of oats and beans. Made into mashes 1t has cooling and laxative eff feet, but used in excess, especially in a dry state, it is apt to form stony secre- tions in the bowels of the horse. Stones produced from the excessive use of bran have been taken. out of horses after death weighing many pounds.-London Lire Stock Journal.
 PLANTING CORN IN DRIL1s.-Among the experiments of the Kansas Agricul tural College last year was one having for its object to ascertain the relative values of the two methods of planting corn-in hills and in drills. Four plats were laid off across portion of the it's soil. Each plat contained four rows feet apart. In the first plat the corn was planted in drills, in the second in hills, after the common fashion; again, the third was planted in drills and tine fourth in hills. When the corn was about six inches high the drilled plants were thinned out leaving the stalks as nearly as possible ten inches apart in the rows; the plats in hills were like wise thinned out, leaving the same number of stalks in every plat through out the experiment. % In cultiYating the plats care was taken to give each the same treatment, and beyond thinning, hoeing once and cultivating twice, no special treatment was given the plats. The corn was husked November II, and the weighings showed for the drilled plats a yield of seventy-one bushels per acre; for the, ,plats in hills sixty two and a half bushels per acre-an advantage in favor of the method of planting in drills of eight and half bushels per acre. By the "bushel" of corn men, toned in these experiments it is to be understood in every case seventy-two pounds of ears. -'5 ''
 DIsBUDDING FRUIT TREEs.-The sea- son for disbudding fruit trees is fast ap- preaching. The importance of the operation is generally acknowledged, O Sod Stc l bends the production of clean, healthy wood and the best of fruit. Take, for instance, @ single branch of the peach tree, when it first starts in the spring if in healthy, fruit-bearing condition, it will throw out many shoots and a great number of blossoms, and if the whole of these were left, it is probable two or three of the leading shoots would draw all the nourishment to themselves and become rank and over -luxuriant, whilst the remainder would be weak and worthless. In like manner the fruit would be small, ill-flavored and 8 great portion abortive. Hence the pru- ming called disbudding by which we mean the removing of every shoot that is not required, and the stopping of new shoots that apparently are not wanted to give form and health to the tree, by rubbing out buds which, if left, would grow. The same should be done with the fruit blossoms; SO many of them should be rubbed away as to leave the remaining ones'to gather full blood and form good fruit. All varieties of fruit trees require annually this system of pruning, and the time to do it is when they are in full bloom.
 MosT of our plants are injured by too much heat. For general collection of house plants it is not best to allow the thermometer to be above seventy, and if they could be kept in a room where the thermometer would usually not range above sixty-five it would be much better. In the night time fifty is high enough. Give little fresh air every fine day and all the sunlight attainable An effort should be made to give mois- ture to the atmosphere, for our own good, as well as for the health of the plants. This can be done in various ways by evaporating water, but when plants are in separate apartment, like little greenhouse, it can be done more con- venientfy and effectualIy, although this separate apartment be only bay win dow, with glass doors, separating it from the living room. In this, water can be used freely, Dy sprlnkl1ng, etc., and a moist atmosphere preserved. The tenn perature, with this arrangement, can be lower than would be comfortable in the living-room. and the plants are saved from dust and many evils which we manage to endure and live, but which generally prove too much for the plants. -Rorticulturdl Journal.
 To PREVENT fowls from flying, cut the primary or flight feathers in one wing only. but do not disturb the secondaries or wing coverts. This method will not mar or disfigure the bird in the least, and by so doing many high-fiying birds can be kept enclosed by an ordinary picket fence. When this method is fol. lowed the fowls must be provided with
 low roasting places or ground nests
 Strangers and anything that causes sud- | T c-s, Il