The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-07-14
Farm and Garden Notes.

salts to the surface unuer The Ice anu i"AS ~
in; then mulch with old hay, leaves or straw.
The German crude mnrlate OF potash WIN ne
the least expensive. Use one or two pounds,
according to size of tree. Apply one pound
IN the late fall and same quantity in the
spring.
grindstone should be secured to the shaft
by nuts and washers, and the washers fixed so
that thew cannot turn with the nuts as they |
are screwed up or unscrewed. In hanging the |
stone. great care should be taken to hang it |
true sideways, not only for convenience in US
ing, but because stone that is not true side
wise can never be kept true edgewise.
A good way to plant some flower seeds which
you wish to take particularly good care OF is
to take turnip. cut it in halves, scrape out
the she'll then fill with earth and plant the
seeds, and when the time come to put the win
ter plants out doors, dig hole in the flower
bed large enough to set the turnip Init will
rot in a short time-and your plants will
thrive by not having the tender roots dis
turbed. XE.E t.t
Gas lime contains some sulphides of lime,
some sulphates and little sulphate OF ammo
MIA, but not enough to give il much value as a
fertilizer. l 1 used in any large quantity 1t
would destroy vegetation. The best use to
which we ever saw it applied was upon the
and weeds, which it did most efectually, at
the same time making very firm, dry and
durable walk.-CuttiOdtor.
be caused by the gadfy, which deposits it's egg
In the nostris of the sheep during the summer
and autumn; although they cause much pain
they are not usually fatal. To prevent them,
apply tar to the noses of the sheep, occasion
ally, during July and August, or smear the
feeding troughs with tar. To cure the sheep
when the grubs are once Matched, blow tobac-
co smoke up the nostrils or syringe the nose
with decoction of tobacco.
June, July and August are the best months
for layering roses. If the soil dries quickly
water the layers twice day, as they must be
kept moist. By October they will be ready to
be taken from the parent plant. Cut them off
within two inches from the tongue Dig
deeply with trowel to take them up and
transplant where they will remain. The fol
lowing spring they should be pruned down to
three or four buds. Some of them will flower
in the summer.
Our best farmers are beginning to learn, and
in fact, most of them have already learned.
that time spent in destroying weeds In the au-
tumn is well spent, and that If they would save
time in cultivating hoed crops they. must keep
the weeds from seeding as much as possible in
all parts of the farm a little carelessness in
this respect will soon cover a farm with weed
seeds. A single root Of milk weed IN NOW.
ing field, if left unmolested, will spread over
and take possession OF large field in a few
years.
A writer in the Poultry World recommends
bones, baked in an oven till they are brown. as
a valuable contribution to the food of laying
hens. On the other hand the american Cult
Gator says "Some persons are in the habit o.
burning the bones before feeding them tC
poultry. 1t is true that after being burned
they are much easier broken up, but the raw
bones contain large amount Of gelatine
which is most excellent feed for making hens
lay, and gelatine also contains large, amount
OF nitrogen, which is driven into the atmos
phere by the heat. When the bones are fee
raw this nitrogen is retained, and having don,
duty as food for the poultry and constituting
Part OF their system, it is still capable of agaiI
doing duty as fertilizer, but once becoming
tree nitrogen in the atmosphere it is not 30 cas-,
matter to combine it in such 9 manner tina
it shall be rendered available as plant food. Ii
pounding raw bone it is not necessary tomak
it so fine as people suppose, for a hen will
swallow much Larger, piece than many wOul,
think possible and when at once in her crol
it will be digested and properly economical.
A BUG-KILIING DEyICE.-A simple remed,
for all insects that annoy farmers Is given by
WenOna, ILL.,, agriculturist. He says: "Gathe
all the old straw and hay into long row
around orchards, potato and cabbage patches
and set fire to one end to burn against the win.
all night and they will burn up millions an,
millions every night Of the male insects tina
fly, and bugs ofall kinds and descriptions sucl
as destroy the trees and potatoes and all tn
cabbage, and the canker worms on the appl
trees. They will fly right into the blaze an,
burn their wings off, and drop into the fire.
told man to do that who said the ground il
his potato patch was crawling alive with pc
tatO bugs. He ploughed ditch around filles
1t with straw, and burned them all up in on
night, and he raised big crop of potatoes
The prairie fires in former years used to burr
them all up. Do this and you will soon be ri
of the whole miller tribe Of insects.
How TO PLANT CELERY The old metho
of setting celery at the bottom of a trench
still occasionally followed, either by garden
ers who have done this in the old country, o
by our own people who have not learned tn
better way of planting it on the surface. Gel
cry is one of the plants with which little i
gained by hurrying; it will not grow rapid,
until after midsummer, when we have the ia
vOring conditions of warm days and cool dew,
nights and our most experienced gardener
do not set out the main crop until the presen
month. Market gardeners grow celery as sec
sNCAop w ioAO" OIL OuC lOI WuiCA tiC nOl
has been well MANFRED; ifthis can not be done
then the soil must be well enriched befor
planting. 1t rarely pays to raise celery plant
IN private garden, lfOne is where they can b
purchased. In buying plants. select those tina
look strong and stocky, a condition produces
by proper cutting back their leaves Will
in the seed-bed. The plants are t,
be set in rows, four feet apart, and 81,
inches distant in the rows; they require care
full planting, and should be no deeper in tn
ground than they were originally in the seed
bed. In all transplanting, it is important Il
have the earth closely in contact with tn
roots OF the newly set plant this may be dom
by going along the row and pressing on eacl
side of the plant with the foot, or by carefully
crowding the earth down with the hands a
each plant is set. If cloudy time cannot b.
selected for planting. then do the work to
wards evening. and givea thorough watering
The plants have nothing further done to then
until September, when the leaves are brough
to an upright position, and earth is drawn tt
hold Them there. We hope to give the aftel
treatment in the proper month; in the mean
time, the celery has nothing to do but grow, il
which it must be encouraged 0y hoeing or cul
tivating often enough to destroy all weeds an(
Keep the soil loose, taking care in these opera
tions to not throw any earth into the hear
of the plants.
Mr.. RICHARD GRANT WHITE is said to bs
engaged on critical and historical sketch O
music in America, for which he has accumu
lated large mass of material, illustrating oul
musical annals for more than fifty years past
A efudauf of yauu;al IN, n ,~,,.:.:..