River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-03-13
NOTES FOB THE FARM AID HOUSE.
Farming Notes and Suggestions.


Top-dressing at this season. with any
thing but the very finest and best ma
nure, except on sod for corn, is waste
Of time and labor. The effect comes
too late to benefit the crop. Some ac-
tive commercialfertilizer should be used
instead.
Reserve enough of the most thorough
Iy decomposed and fine manure for top
dressing the lawn In the absence OF
this, apply ashes, nitrate of soda or
some other fertilizer.
Less grain and more grazing tend to
a better development of frame and mus
Gle than when corn is fed TO hogs ex-
clusively Build the frame first, and
lay on the fat afterward.
English gardeners pay from $l5 to
$40 per hundred for toads and frogs to
keep in the garden as insect destroy
ers.
In Indiana when man has sheep
killed by dog he must report the loss
to the township trustees within ten days,
and any person making false statement
of the amount of damage done may be
fined 800 and imprisoned In the county
jail thirty DAYS. An assessor who fails
to list any dog Is liable to fine of 80
for each case, and any one making
false statement OF the number of dogs
may be fined 500. A dog caught kill
ing sheep may be killed without cere-
mony.
The Rural New Yorker describes en-
easy manner of relieving choking cat
tie. 1t is to with thumb and foreinger
squeeze the side of the gullet together
below the obstruction until the latter is
forced up to the jaws. Then quick
upward thrust should be given or the
animal should be choked until it shows
signs OF distress, when the hand should
be quickly removed from the throat,
and in nine times out often the obstruc-
ton will be thrown entirely out of the
animals mouth.
Prof. Thomas Taylor, microscopic in
the department of agriculture, read an
essay before the District Horticultural
society lately upon "Insecticide in rela
ton to horticulture. The essay abound
ed in information in reference to the de-
struction of the grapevine by the ply
loxera. as well as r4any other insects de-
structive to plant life. The professor
stated that in experiments made by
him he had found that naphthaline was
one of the best insecticides yet dlscov-
cred, and gave very extended account
of many experiments made by its use
upon insects, and that if the naphline
was pure, no injury would occur to the
plants, but if impure, it would be inju-
rious to plant life.
The winter radish is rarely found in
farmers gardens, though it is consid-
cred a treat TO all who are fond of this
vegetable at this time of the year. Try
it in the garden ~the coming season.
The seed need not be sown until the
TINA for turnips. Trimmed and well
cultivated they will grow from ten to
twelve inches long and three inches IN
diameter, when they are gathered
bury them in sand IN the cellar. Be
fore using, place them for an hour in
cold water. They viii not grow well
during the hot season and nothing is
gained by haste in planting. The white
California is much spoken of.
The history Of the potato is quite
modern and gives rise to the question:
How did our great grandsires do with
out the esculent? 1t is originally
South American plant, and was intro
duced into Virginia in 1929, but not
generally known in England until cen
fury or more later. In Pennsylvania
potatoes became popular about 1888,
the followers Penn being good iivers,
but the New Workers were slower in in
Producing them In 1875, as we are
told. Ii 900 bushels were grown on q
sixteen-acre patch in New 1ork--rather
large potato story, even for virgin
soil They were deemed an exotic rarity
at a Harvard University dinner in 1907,
and not brought into culture in New
England till IT'S. In Connecticut it
was held that if a man ate potatoes
every day the habit would kill him in
seven years -just as some of our South
ern farmers now contend that if the soil
is plowed more than three inches deep
it will ruin the ground, land it won't
fetch anything" The world moves
Commercial Gazette.