The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-03-24

49, oAAA, oAAAA0 A4ssrkS. q nAAt STOWIns ana
when the summer drouth comes they
are strongly rooted, while the later
soWn wither and blast.
The wood-house at this time should
be Well.filled with prepared wood SO
that IN the busy season, the boys or
hired man : will not have to be
called from work to sscut wood 8 or
nave their energies used up in chop.
ping before breakfast. There is
nothing gained by planning so that
the hired man . never has 4 minnie
to himself. Constant and unremitting
drudgery destroys his interest n the
work and welfare of his EMPLOYER and
makes him a reluctant slave instead
of a willing help.
The fences Of the farm should he
examined, and whenever needed. re-
paired. Especially line fences. which
probably are the source of more nm
neighb0rly feeling then ANYTHING else.
Not that material for fencing has
become so costly, and the land occu-
pied so valuable. 1t is we'll to con-
slider II some of the inner fences can
not be spared, and the fields enlarged.
To fence one hundred acres into five.
acre fields as is done on many farms,
is a tax which takes a goodly income,
besides the waste of surface and hind
rance to cultivation. a fence should
never be kept where it can be spared,
and when adjoining fields are to be
cultivated for a year or two. it will
pay to take the fence away, and by
culture smooth the surface and des.
troy the weeds that always get a strong
hold where thus protected.
In most of the Northern States clo-
yer seed is sown this month, on wheat
lands; but the practice is not to be
encouraged. It is shiftless farming
to SOW seed on the surface. trusting
to rain and frost to cover it. Experi,
ence has taught that the best manner
TO sow clover seed, on wheat is to wait
until the ground becomes firm, even
II this does not occur until the last of
April, and after sowing give the field
thorough narrowing. Not only will
this cover the clover, insuring it
against drouth and making it stronger
and deeper-rooted, but is a great bene-
tit to the wheat, destroying all the
starting weeds, and breaking the
encrusted surface.
1t timothy is sown on the same land,
it can be sown with the clover. The
habit OF farmers has been to sow this
grass seed with the wheat in the fall,
but it often gets such growth as to
greatly injure the wheat. Before SOW
ing this grass seed, it should be re-
membered that it is one ofthe most ex-
haustlve,-far more than wheat, and
that fields seeded with it have quite
the reverse of a "rest,' as is usually
supposed.
The severe winter has greatly in
jured the fruit trees of the Northern
States, and the injury has extended
far into the South. Many fruit grow
ers will become discouraged and cut
| down the barren orchards. The wise,
however, will give the greater atten-
ton to their trees, for what they have
! produced and what they are expect
| ing to produce in the future. If the
trees are not in bearing, they will
make greater growth, and should
be stimulated to do SO by good culti-
walton and careful pruning. Orchards,
when once established, give, in a
series of years, the largest return for
the least expenditure OF any farm crop,
and should not be condemned because
they occasionally fail.
Every farmer should have a small
| hotbed, to start early vegetables for
transplanting into the garden. Such a
bed is readily constructed, and it will
be a source of amusement, pleasure
and profit, and at least month is
gained in the garden, and a larger and
better supply of vegetables than when
dependence is placed on the village
grower, whose crowded, sickly plants
are scarcely worth transplanting, and
unless carefully nursed are unsatis-
factory.
The coming year will be one of the
greatest activity ever witnessed by
this country. Gigantic schemes Of
public improvement and vastly widen
ing acres of cultivation will absorb
the capital and enegry of the nation.
The farmer holds the balance in all
these great enterprises. The world
looks to him for food, and never before
were such opportunities offered to
him. Hudson 7htttle, IN Young
Folks Rural.
| Iln~vv In Wall To.sI.