Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1881-12-14
AGRICULTURE.

true doctrine, and the reason II ls not mere
gepenlly known is that manure is scarcely
ever applied then. 1t IL known that q
forced growth has g. tendency to defeat
fruiipg, yet when the crop is already set
the case is different, as then the push
benefits the fruit more than the wood. MOI
that the growth Of the wood is no. also ad-
vanced, but to less extent; not Sufficient
to effect the change offruIt gems into wood,
which results when the growth IS forced
early In the season, lessening the succeed
| ing year,s crop. One of my neighbors has
a row of pear trees on good ground Some
| Of the trees are cultivated and enriched;
the rest are in sod, the grass cut and re-
moved, and no manure given, These last
are bending with fruit, the others are bar
rem; and In season unusually favorable
for pears. Before the ground OF the bar
rnn trees was cultivated and enriched they
bore fruit. Now the wool growth is i'm
mense. Root p:uning would probably be
the remedy and it was advised. An In
creased growth of fruit can be effected by
pruning, though to less extent than with
manure had case OF this kind, the
present season, of an apple tree standing
in the field in sod. removed here and
there small branch and did some other
light clipping, in August, when the fruit
was perhaps two-thirds grown. After
while decided improvement followed In
both fruit and wood. Of course, rash cut
ting is out of the question, as an overdose
of manure might be. The same holds good
with the strawberry: manuring at the bios
soming time sustaining the growth, hea-
Wy set of fruit demanding it. have also
been successful with the kittatinny black
berry in this way. manuring heavily In the
spiing and keeping the ground cultivated.
This gave me an unusual crop OF the lar
gest, finest favored berries, lasting through
August up to the middle of September,
with some later shoots, whose berries arc
about half-grown, vigorous and healthy,
and will probably ripcn yet. There bai
been an unusual growth of the bushes, with
corresponding growth of fruit the later
yield beng the best. Last year, with little
manure, the crop was unsatisfactory; What
effect the forced growth will have upon
next years crop remains to be seen. Clay
predomlnates in the soil and irrigation was
practlced part of the time, which proved
| oil luiLuCucC diu III thC ShSo& b~os sAAe
drought.
SULPHUR.-The fumes OF sulphur can be
used to most excellent advantage in puri-
flying barrels and casks that are TO contain
cider and wine to be kept ill store. They
are also valuable for preparing barrels tnat
are to hold meat of any kind. If tie tarre
or cask contains both heads it should bt
first rinsed out with cold water and then
scalded. When partly filed with hot water
it should be bunged tight TO allow the
steam to penetrate the pores of the wood.
Strips of cotton cloth coated with sulphur
should be employed for producing the
fumes. The sulphur should be slowly
melted In any snitsble dish. and the strip:
of cloth dipped INTO or drawn through it.
One end of a strip should be lighted and
dropped into the bung-hOle and the otheI
end held in place with the burg. The
fumes Will soon fill the barrel and penetrate
all the pores. A barrel to contain meat may
be changed with sulphur fumes in the
same way, except that the movable head
should be employed to-keep in The fumes.
1t may also be charged by setting fire tC
some sulphur in q saucer or lineup placed
on the bottom of the barrel. The tune:
of sulphur act as an antiseptlc, and also aci
to destroy all the animal and vegetable
germs that IL ay be in the wood.
THE barn-yard is Of more Importance in
| farm economy than the house yard, be-
cause out of it are the issues of crops. II
is there that the manure is made and pre-
served. Some farmers lave no barn yard,
and they make very little manure, and save
or preserve none. Such farmers must
sooner or later go TO TIE wall. The no-barn-
yard system of farming will answer as
long as the virgin fertility of the soil is not
exhausted, but after that the farmer who
forgeis his manure pile, or neglects to
guard it with covetous eve, is behind the
age. A proper barnyard for the advanced
and progressive farmer, is one that is dished
l-slopIng from all sides toward the centre
with the bottom cemented. or in some
other way made water tight. The anima.s
are fed under cover, and the yard is for
the keeping of the solid and liquid manure
that comes from the stock. The litter
should be so abundant that the liquid is
absorbed by it. To preveat the washing
of the manure by rains, a cover for the
yard, or that part devoted to the preserva-
tion of manure, should be provided. Such
cover costs only few dollars, and will
pay for itself the first year il larger
quantity and better quality of manure.
Look ont for the manure. and see that none
of this valuable material goes to waste.
TIE weight of soil on an acre of land is
SO enormous that small proportions OF
planting food may amount to very consid-
cradle quantities. Nine inches depth of
arabic soil, clay or loan, will weigh when
perfectly dry, about 3, 900, 600 or 8, 900, 900
pounds. A pasture soil will be lighter, the
first nine inches when dried, and the roots
removed, about $500, 900 pounds. Sup
pose dry soil to contain one tenth OF one
per cent. of nitrogen, phosphorlc aud or pot
ash, the quantity in nine inches of soil
will be from 2. 250 to 8. 500 pounds per acre.
As regards the best methods of protect
ing steam pipes, foculent or fibrous mate
rials, which are poor heat conductors, are
TO be preferred and, if possible. an air
space should be left between the pipe and
the inner wall of the covering Hair, felt,
loosely felled wool shoddy, so called min
eral wool, asbestos, cork scraps, ETC., are
all good nOn- conductors. A trench filed
with saw-dust, answers very well for under
ground pipes.
ONE of the best deodorizers in stables Is
ground plaster. 1t may be srTinkled about
the stalls and over the manure heap daily.
II will ahsnrb tho ammoniaI odore and ra
tain them, thus increasing the value OF the
dressing.
WHEN We come to an exta good hill of
potatoes toss them out separately and pick
them into bsrrel, and save especially for
seed. viii not this have a tendency to In
crease the yield if practlced for term OF
years?