The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1878-08-08
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
A Good Liquid Manure.

Journal of Chemistry the following for.
mula for liquid manure for flowers.
The materials may be had at any black.
smith shop:
"Put one bushel of the clippings from
horses hoofs into barrel, and fill il
up with water. Let it stand for week,
when it is ready for use. Apply it with
a watering pot. All bedding plants can
be watered with this liquid every other
day, if they are pot-bound; newly-re-
potted plants should be watered once a
week until they have plenty of working
roots to take up the manure. It will
also be found excellent for hard wooded
plants if used once or twice a week.
Two or three weeks after the plants
have been watered with the manure, the
foliage generally changes from green to
a golden yellow, moving from the stem
down to the point of the leaf, which,
however, lasts only for few weeks.
when it changes to dark glossy green.
| Plants under this watering grow very
strong; the flowers are very large and
bright in color. Plants thus treated call
be kept in very small pots for a long
time without being transplanted. This
is especially advantageous to the mar
ket gardener, who can sell his plants in
three or four inch pots, while he would
have to shift them into five and six inch
if he used rich soil alone. Flowers wat
| cred with this liquid manure will bring
twenty-five per cent. more than other
wise; besides, being In small pots, they
are lighter, can be packed closer, and
are easier to be handled. The fertilizer
is not stimulant, but plant food, and
plants that are watered with it, if plant
ed out, will continue growing and kept
in good growth, which cannot be said of
guano. 1t is as powerful as guano, as
quick in action, and more lasting.
"It will not do the slightest harm to
the foliage; most other liquid manures
spoil the foliage when they come in con-
tact with it. 1t forms no crust on the
pots or soil. 1t is cheaper than any
other good fertili zer which is used in
liquid form. The chips need be renewed
or replaced only twice year, while the
water can be withdrawn every day. I
filed barrel last October, using all the
water it holds every day, and I shall not
find it necessary to renew the chips be-
fore May or June. When liquid guano
it used too strong, it will cause the
plants to drop all their leaves. This
liquid manure will not, even if used
once or twice day for short time"
Gather the Best for Seed.
Two very important but widely differ
ent theories are entertained by the farm.
ers of the United States in regard to the
influence of domestication or cultivation
of plants. One is that The natural result
of cultivation is degeneration, and those
who uphold it point to every failure
of an old variety as proof, never credit
ing poor, worn.out soils, or neglect in
cultivation, as having any influence be-
yond Fastening the time when the sort
under consideration would never fail A
much smaller number of agriculturists,
but probably more intelligent, hold that
universal progression is natural law,
and that degeneration is but the result
of ignorance and neglect. We believe
that the latter is the more reasonable OF
the two theories, as in accordance with
what is known Of the origin and present
condition of the various fruits, grain,
and other cultivated plants. Therefore,
we advise the selection of the best OF
everything for seed, not only because il
is important that the present standard
should be maintained, but that still
further advance be made whenever and
wherever possible. The farmer who
desires to produce better wheat next
year than this, will not wait until all the
present crop is harvested and put in 0
bin, good and bad together, before
selecting his seed for the next crop; but
ho ,snIy ar1t tIa
and preserve it separately for the pur.
pose named.
1t is seldom that field of grain oi
any considerable extent is uniformly
good. There will be good spots, and
very poor ones, and it is easy to gather
the best and keep it for seed, while the
poorest goes to the mill. The same
should be done with all kinds of grain
as well as fruits and vegetables that are
raised from seed. By selection there il
a possibility of further progression, and
not otherwise; and man who once
begins to practice it will not only learn
to observe, but will eventually become Q
much better and more careful cultivator
In fact, he will soon become imbue6
with progressive ideas, and learn that il
is just as easy and more profitable to &c
ahead than to lag behind. d.-New Yorl
Sun.
An English Experimental Farm.
The famous English experimental farm
of Rothamsted, one thousand fertile
acres in Hertfordshire, twenty-fiv miles
from London ON the Midland Railway
is described by Professor Silliman, who
has recently visited it. John Bennet
Lawes inherited the property in 1884, 6
fine old English estate, with its park Of
oaks and ancient mansion, and for nearl,
half century, in company with DIR. j
I'll. Gilbert and large corps of assist
ants, Mr.. Lawes has devoted himself tc
agricultural chemistry on large scale
he has also set apart fund of 91OO, OO(
and a section of land for the continuanc,
of these Investigations after he is gone
The purpose is to discover what crops
are best for different soils, what fertil
izers will best assist their growth, and tc
experiment on such a scale, both as te
area and time, that the Fundamental
principles of farming may be made al
plain and sure as those of any othe]
business. In 1856 Mr.. Lawes was pre-
sented with laboratory by public sub
scription, and there DR.. Gilbert and {
considerable staff of assistants have beer
at work ever since, experimenting ex
periments, making and applying ma
nures, and analyzing soils and crops
Thirteen acres of wheat have been under
experiment in plats for thirty-five years
and grass, oats, potatoes and other crops
nearly as long. The results of this lone
and careful investigation have establish,