The National tribune., 1883-09-27
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.
snwING SEEDS.


There rs no complaint more frequent by
May amateur cullIva.ors tAau that ~ getting
bad s,-e,ls No nla. ter iium what source they
may happen 80 procure thefD they itil 10
grow aud the sccdsAre denounced, AS well as the
source from whence hey @ere ehiained No.
wltl,standing all ths. Il - safe t0 say that good
ss-cds are the iule and bad sse'is the exception,
every se.sdsma 0i r'sl'eclae standing nsssN all
the precautions that experience aii'i hisln' 81
cunls.t ltis,n suggests in ,0rdcr 30 secure seeds
oi the best quaiIIl,s. The truth probably Is.
that seeds iail 80 grow because thvy Az not
prop. ry managed. aud We do not Know aiy-
thing ~ prolific ai failures than that of esiveT-
ing seeds too deeply with soil. when they
elti,r from tou much water and issa little
air. ar. IL theA d" ecrminale, the ieee stalk ~
nnabe ta oNcrrunie the weight # sod u has 10
lcnst fslIs o. fore reaching The hight. The
proper dtp h for each kind of seed must tle
judged by lts appearance aud the nature oi the
sui We think thal, as general rule SEEDS
should i,e covered with depth uf soil eguai Ia
thFc.- diaiiegers Of Their respective a1'-s, Z! the
soil u of AN oid nary ioainy character la
sandy sols aud Marin. dry ciluaJ this guie
would uu iiuld good. la the ard western
plains. ani iu the light sands which are iognd
la >0use l4rt> of thal =. z ou. the Indians pant
corn abuln a fool b. lOH the suriace aud tn the
sandy sasls al Florida ID IS fogild necessary 60
plant seeds aud sBuch de, pr han ia ihe
eane kind of snils ia colder aud yeiter q y
IT cts ard all n i better j0 cover seeds
rather iightty ia heavy or cidyey soils.
With rrry iine soeis, sach as tobacco seed
and nl,rSt uf oar grass seeds. the only covering
needed such wall toe given by rolling the
sur,aue after sowing. narrowing with very
light harrow; these succeed best wltru merely
pressed Into the sot SnAll seeds zown IN
frames and greenhouses, where they can be
protected from drying winds and hUi suIi, wall
but I'm open cullu ar, unless under the most Ia
vorahle c.,ndllio = Of cliwase with regard 10
rain and moisture, they arr most certain 10 dry
up even after gcrmiuatIRg - thai the best
season as 20 rainfall and moisture should Ice Sc
lected for sowing seeds of thls klnd. where no
protection can ue given. The period of sowing
has much Il do ia securing snccess If soNn
too early the risk OF failure has 10 be oonsld-
cred. Unhealthy plants 10 result
when heat and m0IsJgrs are presented in vary
ing quantities O. the young plant; dry. FRI
sble and warm soil s required for rapid ger
minatIOn and uninterrupted healthy growth
Seeds which are inrlOsed la hard shells vege-
tate most freely when they are suwn soon as
they are ripe. For Instance. seeds OF The grape
If planted immediately after the fruit is ripe,
will vegetate in a few werks. bat if they are
kept dry until the following spring. and then
sOwn. but few viii vegetate until they have
isan in the soil for twelve months; they viii
vegetate the following spring.
ECONOMY OF SPACE IN sILos-A HEAVY CROP
OF CLOVER.
Mr. Alvin Devefeux. Of Delaware Co, y. Y,
writes 10 local paper as follows: recentiy
cut seven acres of clover which turned out q
remarkable yield, and few facts as 10 how we
gathered t NAV be interesting
I'VE cut half acre and put il in cscks. which
numbered one hundred aud eighteen. and you
can guess they stood pretty thickly uIon the
ground Nearly every day we had rain. and
the problem was how TO cure such 4 crop of
clover and make good hay. We decided the
question by determining 10 pat the clover with
out curing into the sIio. aud ~ we had 10 drive
over the scales, we determined 10 know Just the
amount that grew on the seven acres When
the last load was weighed e toHnd thai il footed
up a. tons 300 pounds. and the question c=sfge
up. how much cured hay it would make The
hast load which weighed l.520 pounds was
spread from the wagon 10 dry. Leaving il
until night ii pm ~ the cocks "a sweat.
opened again the next morning and thoroughly
cunsd il was drawn Ia tie harm ln the after
noon and weighed. The product was GS0 pounds,
the grass yielding over - per cent al hav. which
would give a weld Of .s5 tons from the seven
acres As soon AS the last load was ia the silo
we commenced putting on the cover. One nun
dred and fifty tubs of stone were placed 0R the
covers weighing 45000 pounds. The clover
uftcr Ilc weight has ScblifN CAEhb ana "A lail
feet SO that it now occupies spare equal 10
k.675 cubic feet. If II taxes 500 feet of clover
hay 10 weigh ton. then this crop made into
hay would have used up IS. $40 feet OF barn
SO from this conclusion can le drawn between
the silo and the hay-hay of the harm. | viii
only say that it would have required two bays
each 30 by l6 feet and 20 feet in depth, 60 have
held the hay"
RAsPBERRIEs.
Mr. e. Williams. of New Jersey. who we know
20 be excellent authority, has the following
about raspberries in the Country Gentleman
''The Early Prolific is the earliest aud nIost
productive Of The red varieties and has al ways
given us better results ia every respect thar
Reliance. Highland Hardy is little earlier
but too small and light bearer. Turner is
little better, but two small. Cuthhrrf is larg,
and productive when well cultivated and
thinned- Superb Is large, productive and prom
ising, and there is little difference between thi.
and Montclair. the latter being the sweefer
Brandywine is Of no account. save to prodnc,
plants. The little fruit which il gives is hard
dry, and destitute Of good qualities Clark.
produces fine berries, but they require careful
handling even for home use. and the plants arr
not fully hardy. ShaffeT is a very vIgorou
grower. the fruit resembling red biack-caps til
fully ripe, when il assumes darker color
Some Of tire berries are monsters in size. averag
4
about the same IN quality as the Rochelle whicl
we have had 20 discard on account of It's liabiit,
20 disease. The Caroline gives Us great safis
faction. being hardy, healthy and productive
the berries large, very attractive in color sn'
admirable in quality. IL finds It's way To oul
table oftener than any other"
GREEN MsNURIXG.
We have repeatedly called attention g
the value Of plowing down green crops 70
manure as an easy End cheap method Of main
tanning fertility in soils More particularly hav
we endeavored 10 show that this can frequentl,
be done without sacrificing years cropon land
We suggest that land should never remain
Idle but rs soon as crop is removed make
sowing Of rye. buckwheat, millet. or whateve
best suits the season and OCCASION and piow
under when the time arrI yes for cropping th
field with It's proper rotation crop.
From an article In the bdiana Farmer We ex
tract as follows this subject: When
green crop is plOwed down. account OF il
watery nature and the amount of unstable nj
trogen il contains, il decays rapidly. The bene
fits are given 70 the immediate ensuing crop. {
that quick return is made for the period q
rest The decaying roots leaves and stem
leave the ground more porous than before: th
hir circulates through these pores and by il
action the soil becomes loose aud mellow B
the chemical action OF fermentation the soil
made several degrees warmer than that
which there is no fermentation going on Fhi
heat viii have its effect upon the ensuing GRO
1t VIII render productive many cold. claye
piece of land that would otherwise be barre
and unprodUctlVe."