Connecticut western news., 1881-04-06
FARM AND GARDEN.


 TH1srnEs. only practical method of keeping thistles in check is to grow something else. If the land is naked they will grow in spite of fate. If the wireworm thins out the spring grain they will be stocky and strong, because they are relieved from competition with the crop, and the potato field perfectly clean in July, may have sod of this ties in October, because the ripening of the vines has left the coast clear. Sheep are great promoters of missiles because they keep the grass down and let the thistles come up, more especially on lands seeded within two years. There is no difficulty in getting rid of them if the land is rich enough to bear decent grass by seeding down and moving early. There will be few at the second moving and none at all the third. If the ground is too poor to "catch, there is no remedy except to improve it's condition, nor should there be, for growth of thistles is greatly better than nakedness. The poverty of the land is the real disease thistles are merely one of the symptoms.
 REDUCING BoNEs.-The appended re- port of simple method of reducing bones is current in the newspapers. It first appeared, we believe, in correspond ence of The Massachusetts Plougha,aa,e: : "Pack the bones in green horse ma- nure, making the heap with layer of manure at the bottom, and putting the bones and manure in layers of about three inches in thickness. Wet the.Iay- CTS as the heap is made. A few weeks time is all that is needed to reduce quite large and solid beef bones to a condition in which they can be broken to coarse powder by the fork when the heap is overhauled. Any tough pieces are put in another heap. A ton of bones can be routed at one time in this way in less than two cords of horse manure. The top of the heap should, of course, be covered with earth or muck to ab. sorb the gases"
 | RooTs vs. HAY.-Professor J. w. Sanborn, having estimated roots as "worth $175 when hay is worth $1O," 6 correspondent of Zhe Mai,ee Fdymae, is moved to make the following state ment of experience in way of reply
 "For the past few years have fed sev eral hundreds of bushels of mangolds tt swine and they always thrive on them Last winter l fed over 600 bushels tc swine with good results, keeping my breeding sows upon mangolds only, fec raw, they not having one dollars wortl of any other food for the winter, ant in the spring they brought me iron $30 to $60 worth of pigs each. Thi winter I am wintering eighteen swin, of different ages and more than three fourths of their feed has been man golds, and my son is afraid that par of the sows are getting too fat fo breeders and that we must feed nor
 sparingly. If the roots are so nearl,
 worthless, what makes the pigs grow |
 good for anything to feed has pair o
 nicely matched steers and plenty o
 these worthless roots, l would like t.
 have him give one steer nothing bu
 dry hay, and the other four-ffths a much hay, together with as man pounds of roots as he gave the other i Ihay, and see if when spring comes h
 don't think the watery things are wort
 something."
 OATS AND GRASS. s.-The opinion of
 Virginia farmers club is that winte
 oats should be sowed in the fall fro1 September 1st to the 18th and ths spring oats should be sowed as soon a the winter breaks, and that the prope . quantity of seed is one bushel to tn acre. It was also decided that gras seed should be sown directly after tn harrow that puts in the oats, before raj falls on the land. Timothy ought to t I sowed, without other grasses, 8 quarte of bushel per acre. Clover and Tim,
 thy mixed should be in proportion
 third of the former to two-thirds |. the latter. Sow eleven pounds to u
 acre. Orchard grass and clover see . should be mixed II bushel of the fir 0 to 1-16 bushel of the second to the acr e Plaster sown on young oats al 0 grass pays we'll. It is the practice wit 7 some of our farmers, as soon as the ca j. are ripe, to cut with the old fiye-fngert t cradle bind in moderate-sized bu . dles shock III shocks of from twelve e fifteen bundles, and, as soon as cure y stack or put away in barns.