News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-09-13
FARM AND GARDEN,

A GARDEN HINT.-A seasonabIe re
minder concerning spinach and lettuce
for fall and spring is given in Thc Nc,e
E31gland Farmer:
Spinach may be sOwn from August
10 to 20, for cutting up in fall, but if de-
sired to winter it in the field it should
not be sown before the 25th, and often
does quite as well sown about the mid
bic OF September. When sOwn early
for cutting in fall, it will pay to thin out
the plants to about three or four inches
apart, so that they may grow large and
require little labor in cleaning in winter:
If to he wintered in the field, however,
1t IS not usual to thin at all until spring,
when the largest plants are cut first for
sale, leaving room for the others to GROW.
Lettuce seed may be sown up to about
the 10Th for heading in the open air.
sown later than this it should be in
shelter of glass when frost approaches
late in September To make the seed
of lettuce germinate in hot, dry weather
usually requires a little watering for a
few days; for spinach it usually sufices
to roll the land well just before sowing
andagain just after. Of course, in show
cry weather such precautions are un-
pncessarY.
10 KEEP SALT PORK FROM Spelling.
Farmers always wonder why their
pork spoils in summer when there is SO
much salt in the brine. 1t makes no
difference how much extra salt there
may be in the brine, nor how strong the
brine is, if the grease and impurities in
it, which always rise to the surface. are
allowed to remain there for any length
of time, the pork will be injured. The
grease and other impurities on the sur
face coming III contact with the air. they
decay, which produces putrefaction, and
this in turn taiDts the brine, which of
course affects the pork. 1t is plain,
then, that no amount of salt or strength
of brine will prevent this result, unless
the grease and other impurities mingled
with the brine are removed.
The most efectual preventive is to
boil the brine before warm weather sets
in and skim off the oil and impurities
which will rise to the top. The salt in
the brine may be cleansedin the same way
by boiling it with the brine and stirring
it frequently, which will cause all for
eign substance to rise to the top. If the
brine on top Of the meat should be fire.
quently stirred, every two or three days
so as to mingle the oil with it, thus tax
ing it away from the air, it would not
probably become tainted. For the
above reason, where pork is taken out of
the brine every day or two, thus stirring
it, it rarely spoils, unless the brine is
very dirty. Another preventive is to
put such an amount of salt on top of
the meat, that the brine will not come
to the surface but be covered by the
salt. This prevents contact with the
air and keeps it from becoming tainted.
p. D. CrRTl&, Kirby Homestead.
Noyr York
SEED PoTATOEs.-G. Williams, PhiIa-
delphia county, Pa, writes: "A good deal
is said and written about seed potatoes.
Now, ii seems to me, and my opinions
are based upon my experience, that
like produces like" in potatoes as in
most other things. Potatoes of good
quality and fair size are the best sort |
for seed. always cut these to two eyes, !
for do not believe one eye is sufficient. |
as a rule. [ think it is all nonsense |
claiming that eye ends are preferable to
stem ends for seed. If the potatoes are
of excellent quality and good size, and |
will be fresh at time of planting, my
word for it, there will be no difference
between the yield of seed from the stem
or butt end of the tuber."
FERTILIZERS FOR PEAR TREEs.-'I
have had considerable experience i'll pear
culture and have learned that i'll nine
cases out of ten pear trees suffer for
want of prepared fertilizers. A common
mistake consists in allowing the trees to
take care of themselves for a number of
years, then, when they begin to fail, ap-
plying large quantItyof strong manure
Now, this is all wrong. It is on the
same principle of starving man a num-
Der of days and then feeding him big
dinner. The best way is to apply every
fall dressing Of some well decomposed
material, such as good manure, leaf
mold, a little gypsum of lime and muck;
work this into the soil around the roots.
Never apply fermenting manures to
fruit trees of any kind. A good plan is
to apply compost one year and wood
ashes or bone the next.