The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-03-13
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
Farm Notes.

FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
Farm Notes.
The best way to protect the bark o1
trees from mice, rabbits or farm stock,
it to tie small bundle of dead branches
around the part to be protected.
Care of the orchard, whether young o,
old, will require good fences and gates
to keep out intruders of all kinds. A
stray OK or horse may cause serious dam
age in q young orchard.
The constituents of SCOT are those once
forming fertilizing material Of the soil
They are valuable, whether Of coal or
wood, and contain charcoal, ammonia,
compounds, muriatic acid, lime, mag
nesia and other substances.
A nest-egg, capable Of deceiving the
most knowing hen is made, the Scien-
tifc american says, by removing the
contents of an egg through a break in
the end, say three-eighths Of an inch in
diameter, and filing with powdered
slaked lime, tamped as closely as posi-
BILE, and sealed with plaster Of Paris.
The Gardeners Monthly well re-
marks: ",Some people say that land
which will raise good corn will grow
good fruit trees, which is all right; but
they should add that, like corn, they
require regular and continuous manur.
ing" To which we would add, that,
like corn, they require thorough cultiya-
ton of the soil, especially during their
younger years, and many farmers would
even regard a clean, mellow soil instead
of q grass sod in their corn-felds, as
more Important than manure.-Country
Gentleman.
Fowls drink water freely, but they
know just how much they need, and
when they have access to the fluid clean,
sweet and fresh, they imbibe no more
than is good for them. 1t is, therefore,
unnecessary to mix your dough too thin
and sloppy at the morning feeding.
Have the meal well scalded, and feed the
mixture to the stock stiff and dry, COM
paratively. This feed should generally
be composed of both corn and rye meal,
with vegetables-say one-third each. In
our own practice we have found this
preferable, both for the birds and as an
economical provision for the old or the
growing stock. A little pepper occasion
ally in this dough, and always salt, giu
improve the mess.
Cultivation Of Horse.Radish.
Any kind of soil will suit horse-radish,
providing it is cool and moist. A low,
moist, sandy soil, we'll enriched with
COW yard manure. is the best. In place
of barnyard manure, Peruvian guano, or
a mixture of Underground raw bone
dust and unleaehed ashes may be used
with benefit; 500 to 800 pounds per
acre of either of the above fertilizers, or
twenty tons Of manure will be sufficient.
Unleached ashes are excellent, but need
help; a strong ammoniacal fertilizer is
needed as well as potash. The best
mode of cultivation is to plant root-cut-
tings about one quarter inch in diameter
and three to six inches long, in rows two
feet apart, and sixteen inches apart in
the row. The cuttings are made from
he smaller roots, and as they are made
the tops should be cut square and the
bottoms slanting, so that in planting
they may not be put bottom upward.
They are to be set three inches below
the surface. This crop is not grown
from seed ; by planting slips in May the
fall crop may be harvested in December.
About 12, 900 roots are grown per acre,
and good roots will weigh three-quarterf
of q pound, giving 10000 pounds pei
acre, when the cultivation is the best
possible. The roots are dug as late as
possible, trimmed and put away in pits,
and covered with soil just as potatoes OF
turnips are kept over.
How to Manage Fowls.
The Butter, Cheese and Egg Reporter
tells of Mr.. Benton, who keeps eleven
different kinds of fowls, and is very
successful in their management. Mr..
Benton found weak lye and wood ashes
an efectual remedy for the canker. The
doctors recommend chlorate of potash.
Ashes are also excellent for the hens to
wallow in, and he keeps box in each
coop for that purpose. This efectually
keeps off lice. The -four of sulphur
sprinkled in the nest OF setting hens is
excellent. Mr.. Benton's principal feed
is Indian corn, which is kept constantly
in reach of his.hens by means OF boxes
in the partitions. one serving for two
coops. Water in dish set under nail
keg, with hole cut in the side, serves
for watering. The nests are in a long
box along the ends of the coops; the
hens enter through holes and are then
in comparative darkness. Lids on the
outside give access to the nests. Mr.
Benton thinks Indian corn the best grain
for hens, because of its heating nature.
In addition, he feeds scraps from thu
table, butchers refuse, and green stuff.
Corn and fat will at once set hens te
laying.
The Boston Journal of Chemistry
gives particulars of process recently
patented in France and England TO,
supplying q green color, extracted from
vegetables, which is to be used for col
oring pickles. TO procure. this extract,
leaves of spinach, sorrel, or simila,
plants, are scalded in hot water, chopped
into mass, and then boiled in q solu
ton of caustic soda till dissolved. Or
cooling, green cake is deposited, which
is to be dissolved with the phosphate o.
potassaa or ammonia, and reduced tc
the required strength by adding water
In the liquid thus obtained, when it if
heated to boiling point, ten or fifteen
minutes immersion will give to pickles
fine and permanent green. AS the
color consists of the chlorophyn OF
plants, it is quite harmless; which can:
not yet be certainly said Of the salts OF
copper, although French experimentera
have recently found them less poisonous
than had hitherto been supposed.