Connecticut western news., 1884-12-03
FARM AND GARDEN.

A II AhM HIOp- erly worked and manured farm garden improves every year. Starting with ordinary farm land, it is almost impossi- ble to get it in the best and highest con- dition the first season. The chief reason for this is probably because, no matter now much manure we may use, it is difficult to get it thoroughly mixed with the soil. An eminent chemist, the late Professor Way, once said manure needed to be digested by the soil before itwas in the right condition to be assimilated by the roots of plants. This may be somewhat fanciful, but at any rate, every gardener must have observed that raw land, even though it may be heavily manured, seldom gives the best results the first year. To avoid disappointment the first season, therefore, We would earnestly recommend those who are about to start a new garden next spring, to commence preparation this autumn. If there is time for nothing more, remove all the rubbish aud weeds and large stones. Plow it deep and we'll, and if the soil is dry enough to pulverize. put on the harrow and roller. and reduce it to the finest filth.
 TIE CULTIvATIoN OF ONIoNs.-Onion growing is a speciality in certain sections principally on black, mucky land. The onions are grown year after year on the same land. In many localities, where onions were once largely grown, the crop has been abandoned, owing to the ravages of the onion maggot. This gives farmers, in places where the crop is not extensively grown, a decided advan- tage. The maggots are not likely to be very troublesome for a few years. To those proposing to grow onions for the first time We desire to offer some sug- gestions: Get the land ready for sow ing in the fall. Flow it, harrow it, pick of the stones and rubbish and work in all the manure you can. Act exactly as though you were going to SOW the seed. but do not SOW it until spring. Drill in the onion seed in the spring the first moment the land is dry enough to work. There are dozen other little matters of more or less importance, but these points. properly observed, will do moro to insure success than the whole dozen. As to the best land to select for sowing onions, we may say that we have had good crops on light sand, and on heavy clay, and on black muck, and on soil possessing greater or less degree of all these characteristics. Success depends more on the man than on the soil.
 SEAsoNABLE HINTS. Boiled small po- tatoes, mixed with meal, will cause pigs to grow and fatten. Give horses cut feed in the winter. Cut the hay and oat. straw together, and sprinkle on the meal; it saves the hay, utilizes the straw, and the meal itself does better service. Corn stalks should be cut for cattle. If you own an old horse, that has barely lived through the summer, it would be act of mercy to put him out of the way now He would otherwise eat a ton or more of hay before spring opens, and then be worthless. Keep salt be- fore the cattle, or at least so convenient to them, that regular ''salting" will not be forgotten. Farmers should make a careful study of the feeding of store cat tie. They make a mistake who feed simply to keep the animal alive through the winter. It requires two-thirds of a full ration to sustain life without growth, whereas the other third will produce growth, and yield profit on all the feed. The animal, which comes out in good condition in the spring, has long way the start of one that, from insuffi- cient food, must take a month on grass to get thrifty again. Do not delay fill ing the ice-house, for a single day, after the ice is six inches thick and of good quality. Get out the years supply of fire wood, and any logs needed for tim Der, lumber, etc. Agricrd. turiSt .for December.