The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-06-12
TOPICS FOR THE FARM

zIOEICS sFOR THE EARM
/, A Field Boiler.-A good roller is an
implement which the Western farmer
prizes highly and of which he makes
very free and frequent use; but the
Eastern farmer, although claiming to
give great deal better culture to all
his field crops than the farmers Of the
West, uses the roller but very little.
have Travelled extensively in this part of
the country and have seen but very few
rollers, although other implements have
been very plenty. In my own neighbor-
hood, a strictly farming community, too,
not one man in twenty-five has anything
in the shape of field roller, and of the
very few which are owned, the majority
are quite poor.
Probably two reasons have prevented
the extensive employment of rollers.
Of these the principal has been that far
mers have not appreciated the value
of these implements, and the other may
be found in the expense involved in
their purchase.
There are some soils upon which q
it would do the farmer good service.
If used at the right timeit will break up
the clods and enable the harrow to make
the sursace soil very fine. Sometimes
the soil is so soft that it is very desira-
bic to roll it before the sowing is done.
Some of the grass seed can be covered as
well with a roller as with anything, and
the land will be left in much better or
der if it is used. than it will be if a
brush harrow is employed. On stony
fields a roller saves great deal of time
and labor by crowding the small stones
into the earth where they will be out of
the way of the scythe. Grass land is
often benefited in the spring by the use
of the roller, which packs the dirt around
the roots of the plants. Winter grain is
frequently saved from the destructive
influence of the frost by rolling in the
spring. The roots which had been par
TALLY thrown out are pressed back into
the land. There are so many purposes
to which it can be profitably applied
that a farmer who never had one would
be surprised to find how often it proves
useful 3 -.
The cost of good roller is consider
ably less than it was a few years ago,
though an iron one, and in five or six
sections, is still quite expensive, but a
| pretty fair one can be made of plank
for a very moderate sum. It should be
maue in two sections. The round log
which is sometimes called a roller is a
miserable and very inefficient substitute,
| yet it is better than nothing. But as
this implement is in only occasional use,
it seems to be the best possible plan for
several neighboring farmers who are in
| moderate circumstances to unite in pur.
chasing first-class iron one. One i'm
| plement of this sort would answer fol
eight or ten of the small farms in New
England, and their different owners
could easily arrange the times when each
should have its use. By this means the
cost for each farmer would be quite
small, and each one could have the ben
eft resulting from the ownership Of an
excellent roller.
Cheap Fertilizers.-I saw in youl
columns not long since, says a CORES
pondent of the Inter- Ocean, an inquiry
concerning cheap fertilizers. 1 may moi
be able to give much information, but
[ can say that l know of farmers scat
tered all over Iowa who continually
complain of the decrease in yield pei
acre OF corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, ETC.
which continues from year to year un
til forty bushels of corn, ten or twelve
of wheat, thirty or forty of oats, and
one hundred and fifty of potatoes il
the average. These very men bemoan
ing the disappearing of times of thirty
sixty or even a Hundred fold" daily
lead their teams to and from their stall,
| in fof1
farms which will not produce the aver
age named, which have yards where {
fence-post may be set most anywhere il
the yard to the common depth withou
striking the earth. Would not the long
idle months furnish time to remove
pest from the vicinity of the dwelling t.
enrich a worn out spot in the grain
field? l remember seeing, in Connect
cut, schooner discharging load o
stable manure for use on the tobacct
farms. Isuppose tobacco needs it, ant
it pays. If plentiful sprinkling o
manure will increase the yield of tn,
common crops fifty or seventy-fve pc
cent, will it not pay our farmers to a
least use enough to insure clean, DIR,
yards for their stock? l would like t,
know what the experience is of some o
those who practice this habit, for / be
lieve many have tried it, and none t
their sorrow. 49,.
Useful Bees.-There are few person
who have any idea of the immense agri
cultural and horticultural service an
nually rendered by bees, but calcula
ton just made by the Rev. M. Sauppe
great bee-master, of Zuckendorf, Sax
ony, goes far to prove the utility an
importance OF bee culture. His calcula
ton is that out of the 1900 hives to b
met with in Saxony 10000 bees fly pc
day-equal to 170 millions each be
four times, equal to $50 millions o
fight, or in 100 days, equal to $50, 90
millions. Each bee before flying home
wards, visits fifty flowers. therefore tn
whole assemblage has visited no less thai
3,400, 900 millions of flowers. If out o
ten only one flower has become fertil
ized, 340, 900 millionsof fertilized flower
would be the result. Supposing tn
value of the fertil zation of 1000 flower
to be only a German pfennig (one-tentl
of penny, the united bees of Saxon,
have earned per annum the sum of 6S mil
lion pfennigs-680,O 900 marks, or abou
$4,000. Thus each hive is calculate,
to do a national service to the value o
$40 per annum, and this they do Will
paying more than the expenses of thei
keep by the honey they gather. Upol
these figures M. Sauppe reconend
that more bees should be reared an,
kept in Saxony, but his recommends
ton will do for this country as WELL
I Snake Bites.-I had stopped for tn
night at e hotel in Southern Missouri
says a correspondent, when anothe
traveller fastened in whose dog had bee
bitten when mile away, and its throa
was then swollen equal in siz
with its head, and the animal was il
great agony its owner asked for spirit
Of turpentipe." :" which. being furnished