Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-03-08
AGRICULTURAL.

YOUR horses need salt often, IN shorl
they need it whenever they want it
Being governed by instinct they make
no mistake in such matters. To avoid
their becoming salt hungry, it is best te
have it within their reach SO that they
can help themselves. There is no dan
ger Of their taking zoo much.
1T needs no argument to convince an
observing man that the roads Of the
country have more or less effect on the
condition of the horses. In country
where the roads receive proper atten-
ton and are In frst-class condition, it
will be observed that the horses limbs
are cleaner and more free from blem-
ishes than those are that are compelled
to trample over rough cobble stones or
drag through deep mud. 1t is an item
worth looking after in the saving OF
horsefesh alone, that your roads be
observation-disclosures.
In recent French work on the phil
osophy of pruning the following rule is
given: "The system is based on the fact
that, as wood is formed by descending
sap alone, q wound made on q tree can
only become covered with healthy new
wood when its entire surface is brought
into connection with the leaves by
means Of the layer of young and grow
ing cells for ned between the wood and
The bark. To make this connection it is
necessary to prune in such manner that
no portion Of the amputated or dead
branch shall be left on the trunk.
The cut should always be made close 10
and perfectly even with the outline of
the trunk, without regard to the size of
the wound thus made. This is the es,
sential rule in all pruning, and on its
observance the success Of the operation
depends"
The Importance and advantages of
thorough drainage are apparently not
understood by great many farmers
judging by the very slight attention il
receives. There are thousands Of farms
on which this article will be read where
the introduction of 4 few hundred yards
of tile would increase both the practical
and commercial value of the premises
ten times the cost of the improvement.
Especially do clay soils need the benefits
of drainage. In commenting upon this
subject a prominent agricultural writer
says: The ordinary operation of plowing
has tendency to form hard surface
at the bottom of the burrows which In
time becomes eempacted and acts as a
basin in holding water. Soils of this
kind are we'll designated as cold. The
heat of the sun cannot warm the soil
until the water is first removed by evap-
grafton, process which produces cold 4;
so that, in addition to the impractical
bility of putting in early crops, every
heavy summer rain eools the earth. and
the plants growing in it receives 3 Sc
ries of checks in their progress towards
maturity. Draining removes all these
evils. Some of the advantages Of drain
ing are the removal of the superiuous
waters from the soil, and thus the tenn
perature OF the earth near the surface
is kept nearly to it's normal state. This
makes early planting possible, and hast
ems the growth Of crops; it equaliZes the
temperature Of the land it equalizes the
moisture of the soil, and growing plants
are thus to a great degree exempted
from the evils which follow either de
ficiency or excess of rainfall: the roots
of plants are more generally supplied
with soluble food carried down by
rains; the formation of plant food is
increased by the admission of air to the
soil; the land is more economically
worked. and cultivation suffers less in
terruption at all seasons, and as con-
sequence crops are increased to their
maximum production, at least SO far as
they are dependent upon the physical
condition OF the soil, a factor of equal
Importance with that of chemical con-
stituents and one which is greatly under
essimated.-Stockman