The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-06-02
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Corn Culture.

Corn Culture.
An early start with the corn crop is
a good point gained, and there is no
doubt but that the use Of special tertll-
izers in hill or drill is of great adVan-
tage provided always the soil outside
contains sufficient food to carry The
plant once started on to the perfection
of it's growth. The best method for
inducing large yields of corn, con,
sists in first narrowing in q liberal
amount of stable manure after the
ground has been plowed, or, if chemical
manures are employed, sowing these
broad cast and narrowing in; then IN
hill or drill applying some concentrated
fertilizer, as poultry manure, Peruvian
guano, superphosphate OF ashes and
plaster. The seed, by the way, ought
never to come in immediate contact
with manures which are placed IN the
drills; a covering OF earth should
separate them. In soils where corr OF
previous seasons growth has been la
BILE to fall, a want OF salt, gypsum ana
ashes is indicated, and the application
of these will assist greatly in strength
ening the stalks and inducing them to
keep an upright position.
The fact that Observation-Disclosures
differ as regards the question Of level
and hill culture proves that both are
| right under certain conditions. On dry
land level culture doubtless has its adj
vantages, while wet lands produce best
when the crop is planted in mills.
Corn, for big results, requires cultiva-
| ton from the time THE seed terminates
until it is IN tassel. Handwork, where
large areas are planted, is too costly,
and horse cultivation has largely taken
it's place. =,
The distance of planting this cereal
depends on the variety of seed; large
growing kinds require drills three and
a half to five feet apart, while small
corn thrives well at a distance OF three
feet or less. The seed should not be
covered too, deep; two inches is all
sufficient and more than enough in
mellow,ground. Under present modes
of cultivation suckering is generally
dispensed with. Repeated experiment
has proven that suckers do not lessen
the yield of the grain to any appreci-
able extent, and that it hardly pays to
remove them, except of course from
such portions of q field as seed is to be
taken from.
Tarring seed corn to prevent birds
from pulling. the young, plants up IN
order to obtain the kernels is practiced
with good results by many farmers.
This is, perhaps, most easily, accom-
plished by soaking the seed in tar
water and rolling in plaster to dry it.
But little tar is required for the pur-
pose. One tablespoonful to a quart OF
corn in sufficient water to wet the corn
is enough.-NcaU York World.
Household Hints.
Buttermilk is excellent for cleaning
ponges Steep the sponge in the milk
for some hours, then squeeze it out and
wash it in cold water. Lemon juice is
also good.
Tea leaves, used for keeping down the
dust when sweeping carpets, are apt to
stain light %colors; salt is best in the
winter, and new mown hay in the sum-
NOR.
A tablespoonful of pulverized alum
sprinkled into q hogshead Of water (the
water stirred at the same time) will,
after a few hours, by precipitating to
the bottom the impure particles, so
purify it, that it will be found to pos
sess nearly all the freshness and clear
ness of the finest spring water. A pail
full, containing four gallons. may be
thoroughly purified by a single tea
spoonful of the alum.
An exchange gives the following re-
cipe for q paste for cleaning knives:
Make a mixture. n part emery and
three parts crocus martis, in very hne
powder. Mix them to a thick paste
with O little lard or sweet Oil. Have
your knife-board covered with a thick
buff leather. Spread this paste on your
leather to about the thickness Of a
quarter of q dollar. Rub your knives
in it, and it will make them much
sharper and brighter, and will wear
them out less than the common method
of cleaning them with brickdust on a
bare board.
Preserving Flowers and Fl uit.
Fruit and flowers may be preserved
from decay and fading by INNER
sing them in q solution Of gum arabic
and water two or three times, waiting
a sufficient time between each INNER
sion to allow the gum to dry. This pro-
cess covers the surfaces ofthe fruit with
a thin coating of the gum, which is en-
tirely impervious to the air, and thus
prevents the decay of the fruit or the
whitening of the flower. Roses thus
preserved have all the beauty OF freshly
plucked ones, though they have been
separated from the parent stem tor
many months. To insure success in ex-
oeriments of this kind, it should be
borne in mind that the whole surface
must b. completely covered; tor if the
air only gets entrance at a pinhole, the
labor will all be lost. In preserving
specimens of fruit particular care
should be taken to cover the stem, end
and all, with the gum. A good way is
TO wind a thread of silk aboutth stem,
and then sink it slowly in the solution,
which should not be so strong rs to
leave n particle of the gum undissolved.
The gum is so perfectly transparent that
you can with difficulty detect its
presence, except by the touch. Here
we have another simple method Of fix
ing the fleeing beauty of nature.