The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1878-08-23
VOL. XXII---NO. SO.
farlMers' Column.
Speed the PIOlC.o
Farm Notes.

When commencing your agricultural
life, remember that industry, economy and
integrity will insure success, and form the
best capital that can be employed.
Bones buried under trees in their
whole state have been found improbable,
but better way is to grind them before
using as fertilizer, the finer the better.
"A Cornell student who served as waiter
at the Fabyan House last season, says that
the poultry for the White Mountain hotels
is stored in the fall in ice houses and
brought out as needed the following Sum-
mer.
The best thing to do with cobs, says a
correspondent of the Practical Farmer is to
burn them to nice charcoal, pulyerize, stir
in little salt, and feed to hogs. His eat
the mixture very rapidly, and he is sure it
helps to keep them in good, healthy con-
dition.
MIR. NJ. J. Blackwell, of New Jersey,
who is an experienced fruit grower, says
1--WE have used lime on our apple orchard
for number ofyears, and consider it bene-
fetal in moderate quantities-say twenty
bushels to the acre. We have an old or
chard that has borne heavy crops for sever
al years. that we have lined with good re-
suits"
During the press of work the care of
the animals must not be neglected. Plenty
of good food and pure water should be
given with regularity; the latter is espe-
cially important and necessary for health.
They should be protected from flies and
other insect pests, sheltered from the ex-
IRENE midday heats, and kept clean. The
ordinary sanitary rules which apply to our
own health should be observed in regard to
them.
Benjamin Franklin has the credit of
being the first person in the country who
made use of gypsum or land plaster as
fertilizer. The manner in which he used it
may seem somewhat egotistical. He SOW
cd it in the presence of q number of skep-
tcal farmers on a portion of field of grass
on hillside, in the form of large letters,
spelling his name. After few weeks the
grass upon which the plaster was sown so
far outgrew the rest that the name B.
Franklin could be plainly read for long
distance. From that time there was no
doubt in the minds of those who knew the
secret, of the value of land plaster as a fer
tllizer for grass.
Every farmer should have small room
tight and warm, which he can lock and
where he can keep his small tools. Then
he wants good, solid workbench, with
an iron vice on one side, and wooden
one on the other. For iron working ne
wants a solid piece of iron for on anvil,
sevcn-pound steel face hammer, q rivcting
hammer, one large and one small cold
chisel, two or three punches from one-fourth
to hree-eights inch, a trimmer and counter
sink, to be used with bit stock, screw
plate that will cut screw from one-fOurth
to three eights inch; then, with round iron
of the various sizes, and ready-made nuts,
he can make any bolt lie wishes. For car
penter work, he wants square, shaving
horse, drawing knife, set of planes, auger
from one-half to two inches, q fine hand
saw, with coarse cross-cut and rip saw,
large cross-cut saw for logs, and grind
~stone.
-Suel Foster says, in the New York 7ri-
bune: Plow and cultivate your orchards,
young and old. Do not SOW small grain
and grass, but plant corn, potatoes and
other herb crops. Solved grain and grass
grow the early part of the season, the same
time the trees grow, then the crop is taken
off, and sometimes the warm rains of Au-
gust and September will start the trees to
late growth, greatly to their damage. Not
so with corn or potatoes; their growth is
mostly in July and August, the time we
wish to check the growth of the trees
Therefore, do not plough the orchard after
July until near the cold weather; then it is
often beneficial to destroy insects, and to
mellow the ground through winter. Buck
wheat is an excellent orchard crop. Har-
vest some where the ground is rich, but
where the orchard needs fertility and
mulching, let it fall to the ground and
rot. Mulch the ground under the trees,
not close around the body, but under the
limba