The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-10-18


,e overlooked. Carp can be kept and
ed, and made to grow rapidly in res
,rvoirs, tanks, small ponds, or other
mall bodies of water during the
summer that would not be safe from
'reeZing during winter. And they
ire often so kept in the old countries.
Stock fish for such a purpose would
have to be procured annually from
some carp-breeders.
CULTIVATE THE ORCHARD.
There are few cases in which thor
Ough, judicious culture pays better
than in the orchard. We have in
mind two apple orchards planted side |
by side at the same time and upon
similar soil. In one the trees were |
in ~a ather twenty. The former |
was plowea ana manfred frequently. |
until the trees were well in bearing;
it was trimmed yearly, and when the
trees began to shade most OF the
ground the whole orchard was treated
every odd, ight-bearing year to
heavy mulching of straw and finely
chopped trimmings from the trees
themselves. The other orchard was
neglected; if it was cropped, there
was llIIlc VI AO lhdlulC dPPl1Cu. AhO
trees were not washed, and insects
were not fought.
A few years ago an average North
across the fence from each other, was
measured, and their general thrift
ness compared. The tree in the
neglected orchard had a top fourteen
feet in diameter and trunk nineteen
inches in circumference. The apples
it bore were few, wormy and knotty,
hardly worth the gathering. In the
other orchard the tree had top
twenty-five feet in diameter, and
trunk twenty-seven inches in circum.
ference. 1t regularly bore several
barrels of number one apples, which
never failed to bring the very highest
market price. The smaller tree had
sickly aspect, yellow leaves. and a
trunk SCARED by borers. The other
was a marvel of thriftiness, with a
clean, straight and handsome trunk.
Both the trees had at this time been
set seventeen years.
That which is true of the instance
| in question is true wherever q poorly
cultivated tree is contrasted with a
well cultivated specimen Now that
apples are being gathered, let the in
| terested farmer notice the difference
in yield in orchards under different
states of cultivation, for "by their
fruits ye shall know them" -Ameri-
| can Cultivator.
UNDERDRAINING.
Says the Massachusetts, Ploughman:
When it is once decided to drain a
| field, it requires good Judgment to lay
| the work out so as to have it done to
the best advantage. The distance the
drains should be apart, the depth OF
the drains and the size of the tile, are
all matters of Importance. The dis
lance apart must depend somewhat on
the depth, for the deeper the tiles are
laid the greater will be the distance
which the water will be readily
drawn. The greater the fall the
smaller may be the tile. 1t is surpris
ing how large quantity of water viii
run through two-inch tile in twenty
four hours, even when the descent is
but two inches In a hundred feet, pro
viding the tile is properly laid this is
important. The bottom of the trench
should be as near a true incline as
possible, especially if the fall is not
large. To do this properly, use
straight-edge made of board twenty
feet long, six inches wide at one enc
and as much wider at the other as
is the fall of the trench, so when the
top of the board is level, which can be
ascertained by carpenters level, the
bottom of the trench will be right
When it is possible the tile should be
laid below the frost, and on most of
soils the lines should not be more than
| forty feet apart. AS to the size of the
tiles, two-inch is large enough, except
for main lines. Before covering the
tiles some straw or eel grass should be
placed over the joints to prevent the
dirt from washing into the tiles and
and filling them up. If nothing bet
ter can be had, good sod laid on with
the grass next to the tile answers a
very good purpose.
There is no better season for drain
ing land than during the three months
commencing with September; the
farmer is not so busy as in the spring
and the weather is not so hot as in
the summer; in the winter the ground
being frozen, the work cannot be
done.
FRESH COWS IN THE FALL.
An exchange remarks that it usu-
ally is quite as well to have cow
calve in the fall, particularly where
milk and butter are more important
than the calf. With ensilage feeding
winter will prove the best time for
butter making, and the silo system
will probably be so slow in coming
into general use that the price of but
ter must be high for many years to
come. The worst season of all to
have cow calve is in late spring or
early summer. The first flow of milk
then comes at a time when it is least
valuable and costs most labor and
| trouble to make into butter.