The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-11-27
HOUSE AND FARM

HOUSE AND FARM
Agricultural Notes.
1ropagating Plants by Cutting = The
season is approaching when this mode of
increase is practiccd by those wishing to
DO SO. The class of plants capable Of In
crease by cutting is very large, including
among trees, catalpa, mulberry, cotton
WOOD, iombardy poplar, and many others,
as well as culrants, gooseberries, grapes,
blackberry roots, ounces, and frequently
apples and pears, as we'll as roses. wiepe-
lea roses, snow ball or yiburnum. and
many OF the ornamental plants. BY far
~ tne pest mode OF doing this is to take of
the cuttings in fall, and bury all winter
IN dry place in the ground. An ac-
qualntance takes off currant cuttings very
early; as soon as the leaves drop in Au-
gust or September, buries them, and
pants out next spring. He claims that
they then grow better than if SET out with
Weil-1ormed roots-T.,in Prairie Fa,r:er
70 prod~ee Heapy, Elmo and White
FIesh Po'1try.-We translate the follow.
ing from late German paper: "Use for
their feed only flour of fresh grain and
mix the paste with salt water g 10y ozs.
OF salt to 3-4 pints of water). Mix with
the paste small quantity Of rough sand
to assist digestion; feed your poultry at
least twelve hours before YOU intend to
kill. Poultry if killed during the nro-
gresss of digestion, will keen. at the
most, only eight days. Don't be in a
hurry about pulling the feathers; if they
are pulled before the blood is curdled.
the duct on the end of the feather Will
I'LL itself with blood and the skin will
consequently look stained. BY observ-
ing this rule, poultry will keep, even in
moderately mild weather, from two to
three weeks, and a great deal longer in
cold weather; the keeping quality OF the
meat may be increased yet more by fll
ing the inside with small pieces of char
coal. "-Ruraz Neu. Yorker.
TIE Food Of tho Ro6in.-Lieut. Lyle, of
the United States Army, has made seine
interesting observations on the food of
the Robin. He details IN the american,
Naturalist the experience in feeding
young birds and testing their decided
preference for beetles and other insects.
showing that they ate seeds only when
there was lack Of insects, and that for
every cherry or grape they ate they de-
! stroyed thousands Of injurious insects.
In the Springfield armory grounds twenty
three pairs OF robins were known to be
nesting in one mouth. It was estimated
that. as one young robin was found to be
capable OF eating seventy-two large bee
ties in one day, it is not unreasonable to
assume that each bird would destroy at
lest one hundred insects per DAY, taking
them as they come small or large.
Hence the forty-six birds known to be
fed on these grounds and vicinity would
require 1900 insects each day, or in
thirty days they would dispatch 13s, 900
insects.
Itedsons for Fruitfulness-T Gard
ner,s Monthly gives the following as the
philosophy of fruitful strawberry Every
one knows that some strawberries bear
more abundantly than others; but few
could give any intelligent reason WHY.
The leading reason is, the capacity of a
plant to stool or make crowns. When a
tall strawberry plant goes to rest in the
the fali, It generally seems content with
| one good terminal eye; but some vsrie
ties will make half a dozen or more.
These multiplied eyes seldom make good,
strong stalks, throwing the fruit well up
from the ground, but having generally
number of smaller ones. The Crescent
| seems one of this class, as We Judge BY
plant sent us. 1t is a last years plant.
1t had ten of these sub-crowns of it, and
the first crop was in proportion. This is
why 1t IS such an abundant bearer. Of
course, the reason Why these crowns are
SO multiplied is another question; but
we generally have to go down a sood
many steps to get to the bottom of the
we'll In which truth lies. It is a gain
when we have successfully made one.
Culture of Orchard z'rces.-Mr. T. T..
Lyon. we'll known and an excellent
Western fruit grower, and who was one of
the genealogical judges at the Centennial,
gives some good advice in the Rural Ne,s
! Yorker on the management of orchards
during the summer. He shows how the
common recommendation of mulchlne
orchard trees during the summer can not
be so good al stirring the surface soil, and
we quite agree with him. We have al
ways regarded ''mulching" orchards on
any very extensive plan, as impracticable,
and never saw any large orchards SO
treated: On these large plans we regard
the choice to be, first, between giving up
! the ground wholly to the trees and keep
ing the surface stirred by the cultivator,
IN order to pulverize the soil and keep
down weeds. Secondly, ploughing up
and growing vegetables, fruits or grain
among the trees. Thirdly, cultivating
grass in the orchard for hay, or pasturing.
it with hogs or cattle. Mulching for
large orchards, we regrad as one of the
things out of all calculation in profitable
fruit-growing.--Gar Gardeners AontAly.
stock I'm the south.
The New Orleans Picayune says:
''There is quiet kind of an improve
ment going on in the Southern States that
but few people seem to fully realize. In,
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