Connecticut western news., 1879-06-11
FARM AND GARDEN.
ruRN1rs AND RurA-pAaAs.

For the fall and main crop or tufnlPs the sowing is done at the North any time from July first to the last of August.
 Land newly cleared and burnt over, old pasture ground ploughed two or three times during summer, once manured
 with thoroughly decomposed manure or
 guano, and treated to dressing of
 ashes at the time of sowing will produce
 8 crop of clear sweet turnips. Wheat
 stubble burned off and made mellow
 with cultivating and narrowing the sur
 face is also excellent for this crop, as is | land from which has been taken a crop
 of potatoes provided the same be top
 dressed with 8 compost of wood-ashes
 and well-rotted manure. While the soil
 needs to be only moderately rich it must
 be fairly furnished with potash and the
 phosphates. Analysis proves that the
 turnip, like the potato, is potash
 plant, it's ash being nearly half potash.
 Salt also enters largely into it's compost
 tion as do sulphuric and phosphoric
 acids. .-..T
 The seeds of all varieties of turnips may be sown broadcast alone, or with
 corn; but when the turnips have the
 exclusive use of the ground, if planted
 in drills, much larger crops are obtained.
 as hoeing and thinning can be done with
 out injury to the crop and the roots will
 be large and the size even. The drill
 for most varieties should be fourteen
 inches apart and the plants thinned to
 five or six inches apart. The Swedes
 and other large varieties require more
 room each waysand ought to be about
 three feet apart, if on ridges, or two feet
 on level, and the plants thinned to ten
 inches apart. In the field, turnips are
 generally sown broadcast. The amount
 of seed sown per acre varies from hall
 pound to two pounds. It is generally
 conceded where the roots are designed
 for stock and large size is a consideration
 that thin seeding is best. The seed be-
 fore sowing is sometimes mixed witt ashes or dry dirt; again, it is put in tho ground clean. A very good plan is t' !, make a succession of sowings and il this way keep up succession of root
 for late summer and free feeding.
 !, The Swedish or Russian turnip (ruta baga) requires dry, rich ground an' more time to reach maturity than othe varieties, therefore it should be sow earlier-in this vicinity from tho middl of June to the first of July. Purple-tol : Swede is of strong growth and large size, therefore specially adapted to fiel
 culturo and cattle-feeding. Improve
 American ruta-baga is a fayorite wit market gardeners and is also grown fo J family use. Carter's imperial hard y Swede-an English variety-produce A large crops. The Swedes are general
 preferred for winter use, as they wi ' keep either buried or stored in 8 col ' cellar without becoming pithy.
 ~ It should be borne in mind at time storing turnips that they are impatiel '' of heat. While this root will bear 'a ~ little frost, it is readily injured by te
 much heat.
 THE GRASS CRoP.-As a rule, t! et grass crop is cut too late, and this b / comes more undesirable in practice fro ., the habit of using but one kind of gra (timothy in seeded meadows. Timotl ,5 and clover do not mature for cutting t ,s gether. The former is too late for t! = latter, and if the clover is to be saved good condition, the timothy is cut tx ~ '. early, and the yield is sacrificed; othe D wise the clover is sacrificed. By hitt;r . the happy mean, however, timothy al "a clover may be saved in good conditio o. ~ It will be found very desirable to gro ~ more than one kind of grass for hay, al ;a if any other than timothy is to be chose =. =. It should by ali means be orchard gras a '. This grass will be ready for cutting t' a weeks before timothy, and so muck ~ the hay crop will be out of the way b fore there is danger of any portion b coming too old for the best uses.
 "a RAISING P1as,-The most importa ro thing for the swine breeder at this SC ;ft son of the year is to get the greate ,o possible growth from his spring p1e ot There is no period in tho life of the h. ,d when so great return for the food co at sumed is possible as during the first s n. months, and it is here that the adva an tages of skillful feeding are apparer ,w Unless great care be taken the growth an the pig will be seriously checked wh o it is from three to five weeks old. T no milk of the dam, which was ample re promote a rapid growth of the litter ,d pigs during the first two or three weel ,b is not sufficient to answer the deman ir of the same litter as they grow olde ,d hence the pigs should early be taught " look elsewhere for part of their St ,d tenanee. This is an easy matter.
 little milk or nutritious food of any kin
 in liquid form, placed conveniently b where the pigs can have access to it =. all times, but beyond the reach of t ~ . SOW, will so ,n do the work, and 1t shou - - be replenished frequently through t a ~ day. If this be attended to, there W . be no "stunting" of the pigs at tt M St critical period, and their growth will s uniform and rapid. A good clover pa - '.1 ture is valuable adjunct, and hell = wonderfully. The true secret of unsu ,h cessful pork making is to push the p = from the date of birth until it is b
 enough for the market; and the earli the age at which this point can be reac 'o ed, the greater is the return for the foe '' consumed.
 d A Coop WoMAN.-A Louisville pap y says: Laura Mitchell, formerly u pr slave of Mrs. Elizabeth Rogers, has SUI