West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-06-28
AGRICULTURE.

PEPPERs.-Thel large fruit of the Bell
pepper. so much used in fall for pick
ling, Is raised In considerable quanti-
\ ties by the gardeners near large mar
kets, as late crop after lettuce, early
| green's or set onious. The pepper seed
is sown In hot bed the lst OF April.
and, as II Is tropical plant, il needs a
/ good qeal of heat and moisture to start
the seeds. / have always had the best
success in bringing Is up when the bed
was mulched with piece of bagging
until the seed began To break ground.
The plants are usually picked out I'm a
hot bed about April 20. 300 to 300 per
sash, and set in the field about the LIST
of June, after the early crop of lettuce,
&C., has been cleared and the land
plowed. The pepper requires a good
deal of manure; but if the land was
well dressed for the early crop, IL will
need no more, otherwise they NAV be
manfred in the drill. The plants are
set in rows two aud q half feet apart, to
allow cultivation by horse, and the
plants one foot apart in the row. The
after culture consists only i'm frequent
stirring and hoeing through summer.
The crop requires frequent attention at
gathering time to pick the pods before
they turn, the red ones being less sala-
BILE. Peppers are sailed for winter sale
In precisely the same way as cucumber
and other pickles. The picking fac
tories use large quantities of peppers I'm
fall ut cost of about 81 or So per barrel.
They are very productive and moder-
ately profitable at these prices. Care
is needed when handling peppers not
to rub the eye or any other tender part
of the body before washing the hands,
as the juice of the pepper is extremely
acrid and causes painful irritation when
applied To tender spots.
MUCK.-There is an cutlery against
muck, iu now. Somebody has dis
covered that great deal of this sub
stance has no value as fertilizer, and
this is key note for a certain class of
writers, who, If they are not sensation
al are nothing, and now they are try
ing to see who can say the worst things /
about muck. The simple truth about F..
this whole matter is what every sensi- /
bic man has always known-that the /
fertilizing qualities of muck differ ac-
cording to its composition. But we
never saw any that was worthless
never saw any that would not pay for
handling where access to it was easy
and convenient. Remember that 1t is
not alone the actual fertilizing matter
in muck that gives Ii value, but its abb I.
sorbing qualities as well, by which Ii |
can be made To save liquid wealth which /
would otherwise waste. OF any two
or more substances used for this pur-
pose, IL is wise to choose that which has |
both the power of absorbing and retain !
ing the liquids and gases of the barn
ward and stables, and also has fer iliZ-
ing value in itself, and no other sub /
stance can excel dry muck in these par
ticulars. Prof. johnson analysed thir- .
ty-three samples of peat and muck, and .
found the proportions of ready ammon-
la to vary from SO to 4 06 per cent,
showing that one deposit may be seven
times richer than another. Mr.. Har-
ris, In commenting on this fact, in his
late work on manures, says that bed
of muck containing three per cent of
ammonia or nitrogen, is mine of
wealth TO any farmer, and that one ton
of such dry muck contains as much nj
trogen as seven tons of straw. He
clinches the question with this strong
statement: "A ton of dry muck, on
an average, contains at least twice as
much potential ammonia as the average
of our richest stable manure" This is
the statement of a man who understands
what he is talking about.