The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1884-07-11

AS soon as melon and squash vines begin to
spread, hoe in little fine manure or wood ashes
between the hills.
When the black-knot makes its appearance
on plum trees the only known remedy is to re-
| mover the twig or branch affected and burn it.
| Something in the way of preventative may be
found in stirring the soil. Trees growing r
| grass in some uncultiva;ed door-yards are often
| transformed into mere mass of black-knots
while trees in neighbOring gardens under good
| cultivation are entirely exempt. The same can
be said of trees planted within an enclosure de-
| voted to poultry.
Ashes are very valuable FERTILIZER for on
| ions, for two reasons; they are rich in potash,
and while a valuable fertilizer, they add no seed
of weeds, grass and the like as in the case with
| manures OF vegetable origin. AS the onion is a
surface feeder, it is well to work the fertilizer
| into the surface rather than to bury even mod
| eratcly. Onions should be sown early, and the
seed should be scarcely more than pressed into
the soil, but the pressure should be strong
enough to make the muck quite firm.
Mr. Nutting of Vermont describes in the New
York Tribune how he obtains all the advan-
tages of a creamer from his cool we'll. He uses
three large cans for his nine COWS. His skim
med milk, after twenty-four hours setting"
or hanging, is always sweet; he ripens the
cream before churning his butter is better than
by the shallow-pan process, and the small loss
in quantity is many times repaid by the saving
of household labor. The cool well, of course,
with its fit windlasses, handy and under cover,
stands for all time, while newer fashions, one
after another, blow serenely by without agitat-
ing bis mind in the least.
A correspondent of the Western Agricuturist
says teaspoonful of salpetre dissolved in a
gallon Of water and the solution applied to the
grapevines, will check the ravaSes of the rose
bug. This remedy might be worth trying.
The free use of gas lime as top dressing for
orchards is believed in New Jersey farmers te
be remedy for the apple aphis and other in |
sects.
Hoe often and deep, is the motto of the sue |
cessful gardener; but refrain from watering, |
except in extreme cases where it is necessary |
to keep the plants alive. Instead of watering a |
little and often, water only In extreme cases of
dry weather. and then give them soaking
every week or ten days, in the evening with
rain or pond water.
On six acres we raised enough ensiage corn
to feed forty cows once day for seven months,
three pounds of grain being given to each cow.
Our ensilage is just what we expected; it takes
.he place of the root crop, saves the feeding of
hay once day, and with less grain we get bet
er results in milk, butter and flesh. Frost
bitten corn came out of the siO fresh and green.
think it very fortunate that we had our silos
quilt and giving firstrate satisfaction before the
'quelcher on ensiage made his report, for very
likely there will not be any more silos built
liter this.-[Farm and Home.
The Maine Farmer has the following bit of
rood advice. "SeJ the cultivator to work early.
10 not wait for the corn and the potatoes to get
arge and strong, but as soon as the rows can
70 seen the cultivator should be set at work.
Delay at this time gives the weeds time to get
trong stand and deep roofing, when it will
e much more difficult to destroy them, The
ime to hoe is just before the weeds make an
ppearance. This applies to the field and gar
EN- alike. Then there are no weeds 70 trou BILE,
nd all that is called for is to simply stir the
urface of the ground. This is an easy and
nipple operation compared with the tearing out
nd destroying matted growth of deep-rooted
reeds. The modern practice of substituting
he horse and implement for the former hand
'ork is based on this early attention to the
elds. If the fields were deeply stirred and
roperly fixed before the planting, no deep
Torkingis called for in the hoeing. A stirring
the surface only, done early and often, is all
lat is called for. No neglect or delays are adj
disable at this time. The farmer must be
rompt and active ii he would keep ahead of
is work and ahead of the weeds. This will be
,und much the cheaper course in the end.
ess work is required, the land will be cleaner,
nd the crops will be heavier"