Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-05-24
SEASONABLE FARM NOTES.

IHE plum should be allowed to be-
come fully ripe before being picked, and
the fruit will be finer as the tree has a
more sunny exposure.
If good brood SOW is rightly kept
the pigs from her will more than pay for
her keeping by the sale of some over and
above those intended to be kept.
A FAT calf is IS per cent. water and Is
per cent. fat, while an extra fat sheep is
81 per cent. water and 4S per cent. tat.
and fat pig is 43 per cent. water and A
per cent. fat.
DEEPLY-ROOTED crops, as wheat, red
clover and mangel, are those best fitted
to resist drouth, while shallow-rooted
crops, as grass and turnips are those
that suffer most from 1t.
No dog, care not how much practice
he may have had in killing sheep, can
be induced, even under the most trying
conditions, to attack flock having from
fourteen to sixteen bells of different
sizes and tone.-Joaunal.
A SUCCESSFUL Boston florist says that
seldom failed to root slips of the most
tender and rare plants. He credits his
success to a layer of oats placed upon
the usual layer of sand in which the
slips are planted; when moistened they
act stimulant and feeder to the tender
roots of the slip.
G. BECK, in the Massachusetts,
Ploughman, tells of an asparagus bed
which he says controverts the theory
that the beds will run out unless re-
newed every 25 or 80 years. The bed in
question is at Quincy, Mass, is over 80
years old, and still as good as ever, both
as regards quality and productiveness.
Poor care, shelter and food will in
few generations make scrubs of the
finest pure-bred stock, and chickens are
no exception to the rule. Pure-bred
scrubs are little better than natives, and
the farmer who raises either will always
be poor. Breeding the best stock, and
keeping it in the best manner possible,
pays the largest.
In arranging perches for fowls allow
six inches for each bird. The perch
should not be placed high when there is
no space for the birds to fly down with
gradual swoop, as is natural to them
when roosting in open places. Three
feet from the ground IN confined places
is high enough from the back wall to
keep the tail plumage clear.
JOSEPH ROBINSON, in the New England
Farmer, says: A false impression that
stalks abroad Is, that peas with bug holes
In them are worthless. To great ex-
tent this idea is without foundation, for
the writer has experimental both with
earth and damp cloth and water, time
and time again, and from handful of
peas, it is few If any that will be missed.
Mr.. B. HURLBUT, Portland, Mich,
says he knows by two years successful
experience that dash of soap suds is
death to currant worms. "Try it," he
tells the Fruit Recorder, I" in just such
strength as will curl them in a second of
time" He uses it very strong, and after
it has served this good purpose the rains
wash it down, and it acts as a stimulant
to the bushes.
PRoF. E. WoLLNY insists that the
quality of grain is best when the plants
stand sparsely. In root crops, also, the
roots or tubers are, within small limits,
larger the larger the space allotted to
their growth; and In general the produc-
ton of plants increase with the size of
the space, because abundance of room
implies enough of light, heat and moist
ure, and such a healthy condition of the
plant that it is capable of resisting par
asites.
PROFESSOR LAW says that "the great
majority of ringbones in young horses
come from the failure to shorten the
toes" To this may be added that ring
bone is apt to be formed if colts are al
lowed to stand on plank floor, or any
where else where the footing is hard
during the first eighteen months of their
age. Whether In stable or yard during
this period, let them have earth for
standing or walking free from stone OF
gravel.
An Iowa farmer has come to the con-
clusion that the treatment generally re-
commended for timothy is all wrong and
contrary to that practiced on other kinds
of vegetation. He states that the So
called authorities recommend cutting
the stalks quite high, and condemn the
practice of pasturing the fields after the
crop has been secured for hay or feed.
In his opinion the old stalk should be
removed after the scythe or mower has
suit it off, as it damages the root and pre-
vents 1t from throwing up sprouts If it
remains on the plant.
PETER HENDERSON says that the best
known fertilizers of commerce are Peru
Wan guano and bone dust. Whatever
kind of concentrated fertilizer is used,
he finds it well repays the labor to pre-
pare it as follows before it is applied to
the land: To every bushel of guano or
bone dust add three bushels ofleafmold,
well pulgerized dry muck, yard scrap
ings, veil decomposed stable manure, or,
If neither of these can be obtained, any
loamy soil, but in every case the ma
terial mixed with the fertilizer must be
fairly dry, as 1T is used as temporary
absorbent for the fertilizer.
CATALOGUES do best upon sod land
or any good, warm, loamy soil. For
early crop, light, sandy loan is best.
A large shovelful of well rotted stable
manure to the hill is the usual allow
ance. These should be at least five feet
apart; they are best made with the hoe,