Connecticut western news., 1881-08-03
FARM AND GARDEN.
THE FRUIT GARDEN

The excellent condition of the soil an other work not being so pressing, th
 tau IS the most advantageous time fo
 setting the plants for 8 fruit garden
 We have often urged that every farme should have a fruit garden-one larg enough to furnish all the fruit necessar,
 for continuous supply for the table from the coming of the earliest straw
 berries until the latest grapes are gone
 NOW IS the time for all who lack thi
 supply to stop and count their loss. ane
 take steps to make that loss good il
 coming years by planting fruit garde1
 this autumn. Those who already have
 such garden will need to give it some
 attention this month. Pinch the ends
 of the growing shoots of the bIackberr,
 and raspberry shoots, that have beer
 left for the bearing of fruit the comino
 year. Six feet is high enough for black.
 berries and four feet for raspberries.
 The lateral shoots that put out will need
 to be pinched later this will afford
 good stocky canes, that will bear abun.
 dantly the next year. The old canes
 that have borne this year should have
 been cleared out as soon as done hear-
 ing, and all new shoots not des1red for
 tru1tlng should be treated as weeds and
 destroyed. Strawberry plants that have
 been rooted in pots, if planted in the
 fall, will bear 8 fair crop next year
 Runners that have rooted in the usual
 way, will need a years growth before
 fruit In quantities may be expected.
 Plants set this fall will have some ad-
 vantage over those set next spring, in 8 more vigorous growth, and as it is less
 busy time, it is best to set them in the fall. Growers of plants usually advise spring planting largely, because the plants that are set out in the fall would. if kept in the propagating bed, put out runners and produce other good plants, to be used for the spring sales.
 Grape vines, both old and younp need plnching of the shoots as directed in notes for previous months. If mill dew occurs, as it frequently does after a wet spell, followed by bright hot sun. dust Flowers of Sulphur upon the leaves. The dealers furnish bellows for the prop CT application of the sulphur.
 THINNING RooTs.-One can form but an imperfect estimate of the value of a field of roots by knowing the weight of the largest one grown. Very large roots do not mean very large returns : medium sized roots and more of them IS more paying crop. Other things remaining the same, the size of the roots depends upon the thinning. At this | season of the year, when the roots are growing vigorously, they should be so that they shall have space | between them in the rows equal to their own diameter, and no more. It is bet ter for the roots to be ten than fourteen inches apart in the rows. If the thin ning be carried beyond this, they grow arge and coarse, and will be much less as food than the smaller ones.
 HE SIZE to Cur FODDER FOR THE 51os.-In the experiments with ensil- lge thus far, the fodder has been cut nto pieces of half an inch or less in ength. Probably the size of the pieces s Of more importance than has been not so much as regards the backing and keeping, but in respect to comfort of the animals in feeding. One 'f our friends called on us a while ago. md informed us that one of his neigh. DOTS, who had succeeded admin ably in preserving his fodder, found that after lis COWS had fed upon it for while with 'vident relish, they all at once seemed eluctant to eat it. An examination howed that the gums of the COWS were 'adly cut and infamed, to such de- ,ree that they were unable to chew the odder. This trouble was found to be lue to the fact that in the act of chew ng, the short pieces of fodder would be bitten endwise, and the out: r portions of the corn, which at the 'ase of the stalk might get very hard, 'eing presented endwise to the teeth, were so sharp as to laeerate the gums nd the tender parts of the mouth. This gentleman proposed to overcome the lifficult y by cutting the fodder longer; the pieces were longer than broad, he animal would take hold of them in he usual way and bite against the cir umferen ce of the stalks rather than gainst the ends. Of course such rouble can only occur when the rind of he stalk has become hard and firm, but t is one of the difficulties that should be guarded against. st.-Agr5culturist.