Connecticut western news., 1880-10-06
FARM AND GARDEN.
DOUBTS THE VALUE OF s1nos.


 The American Dairyn1an seems to l doubt the value of silos for preserving | fodder for stock. It says that there are plenty of enthusiastic rich men amateur dairymen-who will never miss their money if things go wrong, and who will make pits or silos after the most ap- proved patterns, and having blown off all their extra steam and got over the first flush Of victory, will begin to count the cost, and thereby we fear heavy discount on the present calculations" There is, no doubt, much truth in these statements, and there are comparatively few farmers who can afford to build silo and fill it in the proper manner to insure the fodder keeping until wanted | for use. There is demand for too much capital in this "new dispensation in dairying to make it useful and popular among the majority of dairymen.
 PoTAroEs.-I tell my way of taking care of potatoes. As soon as the vines
 begin to get hard and die, dig, let it be early or late. Reason why-the bugs leave the vines at that time and go for
 the tubers. Some ask if they will keep put up so early. I never had them hurt,
 put in quantities of number of hundred
 bushels in each bin dig at 8 proper
 time, dry properly, put in dry, cool
 cellar, and you will be very likely to
 have good potatoes. Never let them lay
 in the hot sun; if they get heated
 through they will rot.-C. H. RockaOood,
 Bennington Co.,, W.
 To HARVEST BEANs.-In harvesting
 beans it is necessary to preserve them
 from rain, else when dry again the pods
 open and the beans shell out, and,
 besides, the beans become discolored and
 damaged for sale. To prevent this it is
 usual to put the beans in small, high
 stacks around stake driven in the
 ground, and cover them with 8 cap of
 straw made of sheaf tied at one end and
 spread out. The beans are first thrown, ] as they are pulled from two rows, into the space at the right hand beyond the second row, and in coming back, those from the two next rows are thrown to
 the right hand so as to fall with the others. Thus, the beans lie four rows in one. If the weather is steadily fine they may be left until dry, and be raked up and taken home early in the morning while damp with dew, or if they are dry, the wagon is covered with sheets or blankets to save the shelled beans. If ) the weather is suspicious, stakes six feet long (half rails) are driven into the
 ground and the beans piled around them in stacks about three feet wide and as t high as the stakes, and are covered with straw, as above stated
 RUBBING PosTs.-"I It will pay well tc put one set of rubbing posts in every lot : or yard, and when the pastures are larger than five acres, two sets should be pro 3 vided, and more in large pastures. The 5 best plan I now think of, is to set two 3 strong posts firmly in the ground, say ter g feet apart, some rods from any fence 8 One post may be three feet high, the othe - ten feet above ground. A stou
 coupling pole five or six inches il
 diameter may be fitted and fastened t,
 the top of each post, reaching from on
 post to the other. This will give chanc
 for animals of various sizes to rub, whic] D is equally convenient and necessary t : all sizes and most kinds of stock especially in the spring of the year. An ,, it may be set down as certain that suc N 8 simple convenience to the animals vii pay for more than its cost in preventing 'o the destruction of fences"
 REFUSE FOR MANURE.-Dr. c. A Q Greene, Lancaster, Penn., made, at recent meeting of the local agriculture Q society, this good suggestion abou a utilizing refuse for manure: "The care ! full farmer will save all substances C whatever character that while decayin :, and undergoing decomposition will ful o nish plant food to raise wheat, corn beans, and other crops, such as decayin = weeds, saw dust, old bones, hats, ashes ;. either coal or wood, old carpets, mat
 and straw, and place them with his nigh = soil in heap, in clayey, hollow piec of ground, where their virtues may b <, retained under 8 shed in the first place . . for if diluted with rain water they vii
 escape into surrounding places. Al ? farmers should make box of plank an ;, place it under their privies, on rollers
 and occasionally throw on to the nigh :. soil some muck or mellow earth, an, A when the box is full roll it out and con
 vey the contents into your compost heap
 to be mixed with ottier manures. Il
 this way you will never have any un
 pleasant smell. The privy should b J high enough to allow of this box bein,
 removed easily and readily from the req . portion of the building. There shoul' be three common wooden rollers abou five inches in diameter and as long a V the b x."
 A POTATO EXPERIMENT. At the sug
 gestion of MT. D. s. Marvin we plante aerow of potatoes last fall on Novembe :, 12. A potato of medium size, of yer " productive new variety which is not ye Il introduced, was cut in eighteen piece !, (single eyes) which were placed one foo 'i apart in drill six inches deep. On ; pound of potato fertilizer, mixed wit . !, soil, was strewn over them, and the dri > filled in and leveled Over this mule II II of coarse salt hay and Red Cedar bough It was placed as winter protection. Ever II piece grew, and the vines were large an |. T. healthy. The row was dug Septembe s1 6, and the yield weighed just eightee u pounds, being variable in size, and i Il shape by no means symmetrical.-R,wc '0 NeW Yorker.
 n.