The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-05-22
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Farm and Garden Notes.

FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Farm and Garden Notes.
We think it pays to spread the coal
ashes under the trees in the orchard.
Lime is a good manure for clayey soils
and plaster for sandy ones, because the
former retains and the latter attracts
moisture.
Have a place to put all the bones that
accumulate about the farm. They are
worth money, and can readily be dissol-
we'd by wood ashes and chamber lye or
by muriatic acid.
Dust young cabbage plants with sui
phur and plaster to check the greenish
black jumping beetle, that sometimes
attack them. Guano is particularly &C.
ceptable to the cabbage plant.
Don't plant till the ground is fit. As
a rule you gain nothing by premature
gardening. When the clods crumble
thoroughly under the pressure of your
foot. the ground is dry enough.
In cases of caked udder in cowsfoment
the affected part with hot water and rub
with the hand several times o day. Pro-
per feeding and a dry bed will, as a rule,
obviate the necessity of any treatment
for this complaint.
Do not cast aside the old favorites-
sweet William, petunias, phlox, holly
hooks, lady slippers, verbenas, chrysan.
themums, Canterbury bells-for any new
tangled flowers. There are many new
and desirable things in the floral world,
bnt it will not do to discard these old
Jewels of the garden and the lawn.
Potatoes flourish we'll in heavily ma.
nured sod. The following is said to be
a good formula for q fertilizer for this
crop: Thirty pounds Of wood ashes, thir-
ty pounds of air.slacked lime, twenty
pounds of fine salt, fifteen pounds OF
bone dust, fifteen pounds of plaster;
the whole to be thoroughly mixed. An
ounce of this compound in each hill Of
potatoes will tell a good story at harvest
time.
On q large scale, no way of improving
an orchard is equal to blowing in clover.
Prepare the land carefully and SOW clo-
yer and nothing else. Plaster ut the rate
of three pecks to the acre. Don't NOW
the clover but pillow in when Mt full
growth. Sow clover again and treat
with plaster, and pillow in again, sowing
no r meanwhile, and the fertility of
your orchard will be wonderfully in
creased.
During the discussions of the Penn
s~ylvania Fruit Growers Society several
members expressed their confidence in
whitewash as a preventive of blight in
the pear. Mr.. Meehan said he never
saw blight on trees that were white
washed. He said Mr.. William Saunders,
of Washington, believes it to be an alb
solute remedy. MI. Hopes stated that
during his trip west he had Witnessed
the beneficial effect of whitewash on
trees. MI. Engle thought there was no
excuse for not trying this remedy.
If the COW mopes, don't fancy she has
the hollow horn," and 60 to boring
holes in her horns for the purpose OF
injecting vinegar, pepper, or other stuff:
The horns Of a young COW are soft, and
warm with rapidly circulating blood, but
as she grows older and the horn has
more surface, it becomes cooler, because
comparatively less blood circulates there.
In the process of growth q portion of the
center Of the bone becomes absorbed,
leaving a cavity. Into this the cold air
from the nostrils passes, helping to cool
the horn. The older the animal, the
larger will be the hollow in the bone and
the colder will be the horn.
How Grapes Feed.
A curious, interesting and suggestive
experience is thus recorded in the
+ Country We had planted q row of
Delaware vines, one of which was placed
about three feet from a hole in which a
quantity of bones had been buried. The
vines all made a healthy growth, but the
one referred to was specially vigorous.
This, however, we attributed to its gen.
eral vigor, and not to any special in
huence, having forgotten all about the
buried bones. But one day, after dig
ging near this hole, we noticed that our
healthy, vigorous vine was willing, and
in a few hours it was as completely wilt
ed as if it had been pulled up by the
roots and exposed to a-hot sun. Unable
to account for this strange circumstance,
and %suspecting some new enemy, VIC
dug it up, carefully following all the
roots to their extremities.
To our surprise, however, there was
only one root of any consequence, and
this led directly to the aforesaid hole.
Following it up, We came to where we
had cut it, and there taking up the
severed end, and following that, we
found that the pit full of bones was one
mass of roots. It was evident, there
fore, that when first set out, n of the
roots had pushed off in the direction of
the bones, and on reaching them, it had
found sucls a supply of nutriment that it
alone was competent to carry to the vine
all the food it wanted. The other roots
therefore dwindled away, or, at least,
made but a trifing growth, and the vine,
depending wholly upon the single root
just described, persisted when it was cut
off. .
We may add that the root was almost
bare of fbrils or branches in it's course
from the vine to the bones, but once
there it divided and branched in every
direction, running into the interior OF
the hollow bones, and clasping both In
ternal and external surface with a per-
feet network of fbrils. To us it showed
several points. Bones are evidently one
of the best manure for the vine, and as
we wish them to last for years, they
need not be broken up. As it is well to
have the roots of the vine spread over a
considerable space, bones or other very
rich manure should not be placed in
holes, but distributed through the soil.
Household Hints.
Make q paste of soft soap and emery
for polishing steel.
Use carbolic acid and water to purify
sinks, drains, etc.
Dip candle wicks into spirits OF tur-
pentine and then dry before using.
Old paint pals and cans may be
thoroughly cleaned with strong, hot lye,
When washing cambrics, do not allow
soap to come in contact with the fabric.
A spoonful of vinegar should always
be put into the water in which fish is
boiled.
A small quantity OF turpentine added
to stove backing will make the stove
easier to polish.
Ink stains on silver can be removed