The National tribune., 1882-09-23
FARM AND FIRESIDE.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.

In former ages it was considered neces-
gary 10 allow land to rest at least one year
out Of seven for the purpose of recuperation.
But as lands in anything like good condi-
ton would. if left undistuTbed, soon become
a mass of weeds, the seeding of which would
furnish crops of weeds to all the adjoining
lands, the blowing of the ground became a
matter Of necessity, so that these fallOw
lands, as they were called, were frequently
turned over during their resting term, and,
in consequence, gave good crops when again
sown But their improved condition was
not owing TO rest; rather the reverse; the
frequent plowings turned over new surfaces
10 be more directly acted upon by the atmos-
phere. which caused more rapid and search
ing decomposition than could have taken
place if the land had not been disturbed.
When land is not cropped it is said TO be
resting: but why land should need resting is
not explained, except that it improves in
available plant food as already noted, and
this it viii do in tenfold manner if plowed
and worked. Resting, in this sense, does
not mean repose. Lands should never be
idle, in the sense that they are neglected
There are some parts of the country where
TWO crops can be taken from land yearly,
but in most all parts one crop can be secured
as a matured crop, and another as a manure
crop, to be plowed under when the main crop
is put in. The time will come when this
method will become popular, as it certainly
viii be profitable.
A NEW POTATO.
The Rural Ne5r Yorker speaks highly of
new potato called the Blush, which is inter-
mediate between the Beauty of Hebron and
the White Elephant, which are respectively
the best early and the best late varieties.
The Blush has been fairly tested during the
present year, along with fourteen other new
kinds, and it was the only variety that did
not materially suffer from the drought, and it
yielded more than any two others put to-
gether. The tubers are of medium size and
singulaTly uniform, never growing very large
and yielding very few small ones. The vines
bear small leaves and the stems are notable
for their branching habit and slenderness.
The potato is of the very first quality, and
the plant seems to be remarkably adapted to
4 dry season. 1t viii form one of the series
of valuable seeds and tubers which will be
distributed to the subscribers of the Rural
Nc7c Yorker. We cannot refrain from re-
marking that the articles distributed by this
paper are Of the very highest order of merit;
rhev are new and mostly rare things, and
not ihc surplus stock of cultivators. How
infinitely more valuable to the country are
these determinations, as compared to the
food of iifth-rate chromos which one SO fire.
euently meets with, as so-called gifts
ACTION OF LIME ON LAND. ---
Sir J. Il. Lawes, in summing up remarks
on lime, says: Lime, therefore, acts in a
double capacity it furnishes an important
ingredient in the food of roots and legumin-
Gus plants, and in addition it furnishes the
key by which stores of organic nitrogen in
the soil are unlocked and rendered available
as the food Of plants. 1t is in this latter
capacity that its functions are more liable to
be abused. As lime does not furnish any of
the more important or more costly iDgre-
dents which plants require TO form their
structure and seed, it is quite evident that
these must be derived from the soil this
being the case, if the views of those who
hold that agriculture should be carried on
without any reduction of the fertility of the
soil. are correct, if is evident that an applica-
ton Of lime should be accompanied by an
application of all those ingredients which
are carried away in the crops or by feeding
with stock"
WHEAT GROWING.
At meeting of the oxford pa Farmers
Club amember stated that in regard to wheat
fertilizers he would put clover first, stable
manure second, and commercial fertilizers
last. He put clover first because it was
cheapest, and because he always grew heavy
wheat on a clover sod. He would either cut
the first crop for hay or would pasture till
the middle of July He had grown thirty
bushels Of wheat to the acre on clover stubble
on land which, two years before, produced
less than eight bushels. For every load of
stable manure which he applied as a top
dressing, he expected an extra bushel of
wheat He did not find commercial manures
certain in their action.
CARROT TOPS FOR HAY.
It is stated that the tops of carrots, moved
off about the time that the roots have COM
pleted their growth, and made into hay, pro-
duces fodder Of which animals are extremity
fond. Very few farmers cultivate carrots for
feeding stock, notwithstanding that horses
and cattle eat them greedily and thrive well
upon them. As the preservation of succu-
lent food in silos becomes general it is prob
able that ensilage will not be confined to
green corn stems and leaves; carrots, tur-
nips, parsnips, and other vegetable matter, if
cut up and mixed with the grasses in filling
silos, would undoubtedly add to the intrinsic
value Of the food, and afford variety to the
animals fed upon it.
KILLING CABBAGE WORMS.
A correspondent of the Elmira Farmers
Club says that after trying the effects of
sprinkling with red pepper, with black pep
per, dry salt, Il mixture Of dissolved salt and
saltpetre together, busting with wheat bran