The bee., 1883-01-20
FOR THE FARM AND HOME.
Farm and Garden Notes,

of manure than dairying.
Keep the poultry busy if you wish to
keep them in health, and make them
scratch if you wish for eggs; but keep
them quiet and well fed if you wish to
make them fat.
Agricultural societies should be
managed with the understanding that
they are institutions designed to bene-
fit farmers and promote improvement
in agriculture.
Potatoes, when dug in an unripe
state, may be at times watery and not
fit to eat, but if spread as thinly as
possible in dry, airy place they will
in time become as mealy as if left to
ripen in the ground.
If you have easy access to woods,
secure as large quantity as possible
of leaf mold. 1t is an especially good
fertilizer for sweet potatoes. Dirt from
old wood piles should be carefully col
lected and added to the compost heap.
Most failures to grow celery originate
in not having the soil rich enough.
/ The manure intended for this crop
should, if possible, be applied the pre-
vious fall, so that it may become thor
oughly Incorporated with the soil. This
will help to keep the soil moist during
summer drouths.
| One Of the most successful breeders
of fowls says that fowls need moved
hay as substitute for green grass,
and adds that they will eat large guam
! titles of it every day in winter when
/ placed before them. Another breeder
writes in high praise of the use of en-
silage as winter feed for poultry.
/ Poultry breeders do not seem to ap-
preciate the great value of bones for
! their fowls, and but limited few ever
make use of them for this purpose. No
matter whether the birds are confined
or not, they are sure to be benefited
by a moderate quantity of bones,
though those which are kept in close
| confinement need them most.
A member of the Oxford (Ohio)
| Farmers club claims that it is no trick
to raise 500 bushels, and even 1000
bushels per acre of mangold wurtzels.
in a good season on good land, with
the same labor needed to raise an acre
of potatoes. The roots should be pit
F.. ted just as winter closes up the ground.
and kept in the pit until March.
When a horse is not doing well pint
of lnseed oil may be given with bene-
fit. It improves the digestion and
softens the skin. A quart of linseed-
cake-meal given once day will have
the same effect. and pint Of molasses
put in the crib feed will be taken now
and then with relish and benefit. A
teaspoonful of ground ginger may also
be added occasionally.
If you are careful cultiYator and
have cultivated a particular kind of
field-corn for dozen years or more, Sc
lecting the best ears from the most
fruitful stalks, while they stood in the
field, and kept the corn improving from
year to year, you have corn with a
pedigree. and it can hardly fail to give
better crop next year than any seed
corn you can buy, far or near.
A writer in the Cultirator and
Country Gentleman says: / had an
opportunity day or two since to see
the manner of buying swarms, prac-
tieed by some old bee-keepers in the
neighboring district of Ontario. A |
conversation with the owners tended I
to confirm all that has been claimed for /
this method, as to safety and very
small waste of bees and honey while I
under ground. The bees were kept in
old-fashioned box hives.
Andrew Burnett, of WelIesly, VT.
who raises considerable quantities of
fiat turnips for feeding to his mich
cows, writes as follows: When | grass
down on we'll manured lands the mid
die or last of August sow one-quarter
of pound of white fiat turnip seed to
the acre with the grass seed, harvest
ing the turnips after about three
months growth. Too much seed is
commonly used in raising tuTnips. / |
should use less than one pound of tur-
nip seed to the acre if / were sowing
nothing else at the time.
The american AgTiculturist says of
wire-worms: The term "wire-worm''
is sapplied to the ]arvae of special species
of insects. Some of these live upon
decaying wood and are not injurious. |
These lava are all long, in proportion
to their breadth, and this has suggested |
the common name. The crop which |
are most injured by the wire-worms |
are potato, corn, cereal grains, and |
grasses. In England. where these
"wcrms" are abundant, potatoes on
nf CO f0ly