The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1879-06-20
FARM TOPICS.



hes. either for comfort or economy.
No people living in the same latitude
est 80 much meat IS do the citizens Of
this country. and especially the farm
err. The Esquimanx and Laplanders
eat more. As they have scarcely any
vegetables, and their climate Is 50 cold
As TO require an abundance Of blubber
and other heat producing food; but for
the inhabitants Of the temperate zone q
cor slant diet Of meat Is too stimulating,
drix ing the animal machinery too fast
and wearing il out too s0on- Every
farmer knows that II he feeds his cows
liberaEv with oii-cake, or even with
corn-meal. they produce an extra al
lowance and an extra quality Of milk,
hut are liable to garget and other in
fammatoIy diseases, and wear out pre-
mafurely- II he feeds with corn-meal
q liberal ration Of mangle or other
roots, the iI1ammatory tendency IL in
measure counteracted, and the general
collapse Of the cows constitution is de-
layed. Pork and fat beef are much
more concentrated and heat-producing
foods than oil-cake and corn meal, and
should never constitute the staple diet
UI MUN NAklELM Va AHD @1tAA pc &AI
zone. We are no vegetarians.
Man i evidently q carnivorous ami
nal, but It i equally evident that
he Graves. and must have naked diet
Of meat. vegetables, and fruit. The
latter are antiseptic and cathartic in
their nature, and. therefore, serve 10
counterfeit the stimulating effects Of
meat. We have known children that
had an abnormal appetite for meat and
rejected almost every kind Of vegetable
and fruit, not relishing even straw
berries. Such children are uniformly
unhealthy, and seldom live out half their
DAYS. Farmers should also remember
that vegetables are far more economical
than meat II requires an average acre
Of corn as bushels) 10 rear and fatten
$50 porker, but this same amount Of
corn. used a. breadstuff, will sustain
quite flock Of children. In the torrid
regions, where comparatively little meat
i used, an acre Of vegetables and fruit
will maintain several families. A ma
tive Hawaiian, with small patch Of
kalo, made a suf'iciency Of his favorite
food. poi, 20 sustain rs many wives as
he pleased 70 possess, and IS many OF
their offspring IS he chose TO bring up.
We have no hankering after the
Hawaiian mode Of living. but there il
golden mean between the vegetable diet
Of the Sandwich Islanders and the bluo-
Der food Of the Esquimaux, and this
mean il i the privilege Of farmers in
the temperate zone 10 enjoy TO its fullest
extent, II they will only live up TO their
privileges Our friend has enumerated
few Of the vegetables which flourish in
this favored region, and we need not 90
over the catalogue. Our object is rather
10 cal the attention Of farmers to few
Of the most important and most neg
lccted.
Spinach Is among the best OF vegefa-
bles. though farmers seldom raise il.
They seem 70 prefer 70 send their wives
around the lots 70 cut dandelions Tor
greens, or their children into the
swamps after cowslips- II viii spoil an
hours time Of : pretty smart woman 70
cut dandeIions enough FIR the dinner Of
= g0od-sized family, and when they are
cut they ara not % tender and snccu-
lent e. spinach, that may be cut in i've
minutes Arrow 81 spinach 20 feet long,
sCwn ~ the end ~ row Of parsrips or
onions, will furnish greens enough for
IN ordinary family, as il can be cut
several times, for il grows like Jon his
gourt- Some ignorant culs;vators pull
u mp BY the roots This is killing the
goose that lays the golden egg. The
true way j. 70 cut the tops, leaving
few leaves for the plants TO breathe with,
and il the ground Is rich the roots will
furnish another crop in few days. The
cuttings may be continued as long rs
greens are wanted, or till substitute Is
found in thinning out beets, when the
roots may be drawn ard cucumbers or
tomatoes planted in Their place.
Asparagus Is another excellent vege-
table for the health and comfort Of farm
ers and other folks There Is no vege-
table that makes larger and better re-
turns for labor than asparagus, Is il Is
perennial, and, when once well rooted
IN deep, rich soil, will continue, with
an annual top-dressing, to furnish .
score Of crops each rear for half CEN
Jury The cultivation Of asparagus is
not half 50 expensive Is u commonly
supposed The custom which our
faihers inherit from England, Of cult
waiting this vegetable in beds three or
four feet wide. trenched three feet deep,
the trenches paved with stone, old bones,
boots, etc, Is discarded nowadays by
All market gardeners, and should be BY
Al amateur producers II can be cul-
tivafed much more economically and
harvested more conveniently in rows.
With the present competition in market
gardening no one can afford to cultivate
asparagus otherwise than in rows, and
oy horse power. The favorite soil for this
vegetable i deep, rich sandy loan. The
ground should be plowcd deeply, and
1.-THE snbsoil Is hard-pan, = subsoil