Connecticut western news., 1882-03-15
FARM AND GARDEN.

PRUNING FOR FRUIT. By arresting or removing the little faults of his ch,l- dren as soon as they are shown, the wise father prevents their attsining such in- veteracy as will not submit to correction, but bursts out immediately with fresh misdeeds. So with orchard trees. It is great mistake to let growth run on without res traint for two or three years, and to suppose that pruning will set all to rights. The fundamental rule of art is to take away all young shoots that are not fitted to make permanent bear ing branches. Remove these, the sooner the better, but remove no others. Cut out and suppress all wild shoots that issue below the graft, and whose growth would rob or smother 1t. Out out all shoots in the interior of the trees that will not have light enough in summer for the leaves of any fruitbuds that might form on them, and which could therefore not mature into fruitage. Thin the new growth ali over the top so that no shoot will shade another or be shaded those that are left being such as extend the main bearing branches which gardeners call "leaders." Ditch crowding branch can be propped or braced out into open light and so two branches be relieved with little or no pruning of either with gain of large fruit-producing area. One other case must be noted that of tree exhausted so much as to be covered with fruit buds and making no new shoots. A tree in health should make new shoots every year all over the top, and at least eight inches long. If it does less the soil is poor, or the roots are robbed or dried, or the stem is injured and cannot carry the sap, or the wood of the tor has become unsound. The thing to be done then is to cut back the top reduc. ing it largely, to give the exhausted sys. tenn less to do and more chance tc recover. The vexed question of even and odd years, or fruitful and barren ones in attenuation, which is so impor. tant to growers of Baldwins, Greetings and some other winter sorts, is solved most easily by resolute thinning il the winter preceding the fruitful years so as to reduce the bearing, and increase the wood and bud forming for the mex year.
 WHITEwAsH FOR OUTSIDE WORK Every spring we have numerous in quiries for "whitewash that will no rub of, " and now these begin to com, in autumn. Ordinary lime wash VII rub off and in time is washed eff b, rains. There are two methods of pre- venting this: One is, to add somethin, Ii to the wash, like glue, that will hol, the particles of lime in place, and th other is to add something to the wasl that will change the slightly solubl lime into an insoluble compound. { quarter of pound of glue, soaked il cold water, and then dissolved by heat may be added to each pallful of white wash. If fat of any kind be added t the lime while stacking, lime soap i formed which does not wash off. Whe, stacking lime for pailfnl of wash, ad pound of tallow or clean fat of an kind to the hot and stacking lime, an thin with hot water. The Treasur Department wash, used on light house and other Government buildings, wa given some years ago and IS now re peated. Place half bushel of freshly burned lime in barrel and slake wit
 boiling water; strain and add & peck C salt dissolved in water; boil three pound of rice flour in water to thin paste and add it to the lime; soak pound ( good glue in cold water, and when sol dissolve by the aid of heat, and ad this with pound of Spanish White t the wash. Thin to the proper consis tence with water. The wash is to b applied warm. Whitewash may be co ored with Venetian Red, Umber or IT digo, adding enough of either to giv the desired tint.
 MEAL FOR RUMLNANTs To the ques tion, Which is the better way to fee meal, wet or dry? The answer i; There is no difference. The simp1 fact of wetting meal with cold water no advantage. If soaked till near tn point of souring, or wet with boilin water and fed when cooled, digestio would doubtless be facilitated. Tn best way to feed meal to cattle I hay ever tried is to take hay or coarse foi der, either cut or long, and wet
 enough to make the meal which is to | fed stick to it. In eating the coars fodder the meal goes with it into th paunch, where it remains to soak an prepare for digestion, till it is remast } cated, when it goes into the third an fourth stomachs to have digestion con pleted. If eaten alone it, as 8 rul, goes at once into the third and fourt stomachs and misses entirely the prep' ration it might have had if it had fir
 gone into the paunch with the coars fodder. There is an estimated diffe
 ence of twenty five per cent. in favor feeding meal with wet fodder, over feet ing it alone to grown cattle. .-PRoF.
 B. ARNOLD.
 NEST correspondent in u Poultry Yard, writing about nest-boxe for matching, claims that these ougl
 invariably to be placed upon the ground I He claims that his greatest success b. been gained by the use of boxes wit : bottoms not exceeding half an inch /; thickness placed upon the damp groun' with small holes to admit moistur When the box is not set in damp plat