The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-01
AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.


HoED Farmers frequently
stop the cultivation of hoed crops toe
soon and allow the weeds to gain pos
session of the soil. Cultivate early and
often should be the rule for corn.
shEEPISG GRAPES. "A lady has dis
covered that grapes packedin granulated
sugar viii keep fresh longer than when
packed in sawduSt, and, as the sugar Is
not injured, expense viii not prove an
objection.
tONtoHs.-An old gardener says in the
Detroit Tribune, with regard to eulti-
waiting onions, that if care is taken to
draw away tho earth gradually from the
| bulbs until they are quite uncovered,
! and only the fbrous roots are in the
! earth, yOu viii never have scJllions, but
very large, soand onions. -a
/ .CiRAREs VINES. -Trellises for vines can
I 9s,Ssallsaor repaired. cheaper and more
1 conveniently now than in spring. Lo-
/ Gust Is the most durable wood, red ches-
| nut and chesnnIt rank next Where To-
/ cUst is scarce pieces three feet long may
! be sunk two and half feet in the ground
| aud uprights OF pine or other timber
nailed to them.
| SALT FOR LAND.-Salt should not be
| applied to such lands as border on the
| sea or are In any way affected by the
/ spray of the ocean Coarse salt should
| he mixed with the compost heap and
not applied directly to the plants. As
| paragus, naturally "a native of the sea-
! shore, VIII require large quantities of
salt. This should only be applied, how
ever, when the shoots are growing. At
amy other time it viii iniure the roots.
Used on the beds about the end of May
it Will help to kill weeds and grasses.
SrRAwBtRRrEs IL THE Cry. The fol-
lowing novel suggestion IS from the
Ei1tt Recorder, and is one that might
pense: "How many OF our city readers
might have fresh, fragrant strawberries
and other dainties, with but little care
or troubleh But, say some, the rain
wafer would be filed with dirt No, not
H1properly grOwn-that IS, by setting the
pots or boxes holding the plants In pans
'Or boxes that are water tight. Fifty
plants Of strawberries would give a fam
lily of four TO five persons a nice dish
daily for two weeks. FIFTY pots of an
nuQis like petunins, balsams, etc, would
make a show that would be beautiful and
wellrepay all trouble. Try it, readers. -
ORCHARD NoTEs. 1t Is commonly the
case that the orchard is cropped year
after year until the diminished yield
shows that something must be done. The
proper way is to give a moderate manur-
ing Annually; stable manure put on in
the fall and plowed in, or in small or
chards forked III, may be alternated with
ashes or lime on other years Glover to
be pastured by hogs, and afterward
ploWed under, Is one OF the hest fertiliz-
ers Trees of forced growth are moro
tender than others and so suffer more
from sudden changes of climate. For
tins reason too high cultivation Is as bad
as not enough Heading back and root
pruning are the best methods Of restor-
ing barren trees. Wood ashes is the best
fertilizer for trees, vines and bushes.
Prune apple-trees so as to give them q
low, well-balanced top. One such tree
Is worth several tall, irregular trees.
Peach orchards shouldhave a dry. fertile
soil on a Northern or Western slope
LATE EvERGREEN Corn. "A trust
worthy writer in the Rural Ne1C Yorker
plants his evergreen sweet corn IN the
following way: The soil is sandy gravel,
naturally warm, and of moderate fertil-
satisfactory crops without manure. which
1 did not have in sufficient supply TO feel
sure of n full crop Consequently pur-
chased little superphosphate to give
the corn the benefit of its effects Of any
in its earliest growth. As the crop of
field corn was planted, having a little
manure yet IN the cattle yard, we scraped
together what we could and spread it on
the plot to be planted to sweet corn for
green fodder. The piece had wheat
grown on it the year before, the ground
having been plowed IN the fall and re-
plowed in the spring before applying
the yard manure, also after the manure
was applied. The reason why / plowed
so many times was that part of the
piece had an abundance of quack grass
ON it, and L wished to destroy that if
possible. Everything was now ready TO
plant corn on the 25th of May, the plot
having been narrowed and marked. We
then put about a tablespoonful of the
superphosphate st each crossing of the
marks, covering it slightly with mellow
soil and planted the corn on the places
thus prepared.
PRoFIr ANDBoss WITH POULTRY. A
sensible writer says that the direct profit
or loss with stock of any kind whatever
comes from the feeding resorted to. Ii
proper food has been given, at regular
intervals, in sufficient quantity, profit IS
the natural result, while haphazard mall-
agement results disastrously. In the
feeding and management of poultry
there Is more lax discipline than with
any other kind of stock. There is far
too much corn, in different forms, TED 10
breeding poultry, and to layers to Sc
cure the best results, for corn has great
tendency to produce fat, which Is not
desirable where plenty of eggs are ex-
pected, the fat forming so thickly on and
around the ovaries and other organs as
to effectually prevent the fowls from lay
ing In cold weather, warmth and heat
are necessary, and feeding corn moder-
ately to the: laying hens is not so OBJ
iectionable as it is during the warm
summer months, while over fat fowls arc
more liable to disease and ailments than
those only in good condition. For the
laying fowls no better food can be given
for a principal diet than good, sound,
whole wheat, though itmust not be given
in the same quantities as corn. Screen
ings are not all Objectionable, provided
they are not musty or spoiled, though
the price at which they are usually sold
makes them more expensive than good
wheat, for the simple reason that scarcely
one-half the screenings is wheat or will
be consumed by the poultry, the greater
part being cheat, cookie, weed seeds,
etc. For the fattening of poultry corn
is the very best and cheapest food which
can be given to accomplish it. To Sc
cure the greatest profit from the poultry
it is, economy in the end to keep the
birds growing rapidly from the start,
and couple of weeks before they are to
be marketed have them penned up and
fed principally on soft food, such as
scalded corn meal, well boiled mush,
oat meal mush (if the meal can be gotten
cheaply), ETC., feeding twice a day at
first, and toward the last three times,
,,I 1,.Io4 A. iii 90 - ,,-,+I, -, o,,,,a