Evening star., 1884-03-15
FARA1 AND GARDEN.
Notes and suggestions.

- leas should pe soakcq III water twenty-fOur
hours before being planted.
An Ohio farmer washes his appe trees
every spring and fall with strong I've that will
float an egg. and finds it to be sure death to the
bcrers. He claims that he has not lost a tree
since beginning this practice, although he had
lost several previously.
- The value of wood ashes as fertilizer is
too little appreciated. They contain, in vary
ing proportions, the valuable mineral properties
needed 10y plants. They are especially valuable
for orchards in bearing having an yet uneX-
planned effect in pertectins the fruit.
A good whecharrow is a necessity. No
implement equals it in utility about the garden.
or on the farm for that matter. They are not
expensive. Select one with reference to light
ness and strength as the boys are often dele
gated to use it. The common dirt barrow is the
best.
- Raspberry tips need little more than to be
covered if planted early. 1t is better to spread
the roots out flat rather than to drop them down
into hole with the thought of their finding
moisture. Never put a plant into dry dirt
Take off the top dirt. spread the roots out on
the moist place thus made cover with the same
dirt to two inches deep and press it firmly with tie
feet. The root will feel the heat quicker and no
danger Of drying out.
- Prof. W. J. Bea!, in the Gardeners Moatllv.
gives some curious eccentricities peculiar to
plants Roots grown in damp air in the dark
will often make Il complete coil, sometimes two
or more of them. Ii piece of gumned paper
be placed on one side Of the root tip it becomes
unusually excited and begins to coil away from
the paper, sometimes tying itself into knot.
and often succeeds in rubbing off the paper
Roots generally turn downward though not al
ways
- The New England Homestead pertinently
asks: ''lave you got in the workshop a few sea-
scned hard wood pIanks of different thicknesses3
If not now is q good time to take log or two
to the mill and have them sawed 1t comes
very handy when whiffietree, or ladder round
or something else breaks. to have lumber ready
at hand to make new or repair old. Get out
few plank for a drag or stone-boat. 1t is one
OF the hardest and most cheapIy made
tools"
- As to the feeding qualities of the different
breeds. the mcrinos require more coarse fodder
in proportion to grain than do the mutton
breeds. A practical breeder and feeder of
COtswolGs. in order to fatten them to the best
advantage. placed them in 4 close stable, giving
as morning iced all the corn they would eat
When they would eat no more they were given
oats. OF which they would eat a great amount
This was repeated at noon and night. with all
the turnips they would eat. Hay also was
allowed thcm.-Mictigal Farmer.
- The Veterinary Journal says that the dis
agreeable habit of paving" may be cured by
boring hole Cn each side of the stall. little
nfront of where the fore legs stand. Insert
rawhide, weiged Tightly In. and allow the ends
TO reach well out toward the center of the stall.
When the horse paws he will catch the rawhide
with the foot with which he paws, and in fetch
ing back the foot the cord of the rawhide hits
him on the other foot. few experiments will
convince the horse that paving with one foot
always causes punishment on the other, and
soon the annoying habit Is cured
A writer in the ohio Farmer. says that he is
lat few years to no purpose, and thinks he has
struck the keynote Of success in raising wheat
in thorough fitting of the soil before sowing
the seed, and he Is convinced that poor piece
of land dragged, rolled and then retitted until
the ground is as mellow as an lash heap will
produce Il better yield of wheat than a rich
piece of land poorly plowed. half dragged. aud
the seed scattered among the Jumps and clods
and a portion of it without covering or any
chance to germnate and obtain hold.
- Pound butter prints can be kept good
while in safety in brine in this way: Make sat
urated brine of the purest salt, using a pound Of
saltrctrc to about twenty pounds of salt. Bring
it to boiling heat. Skim and apply when sut-
ficiently cool. The casks should also be care
fully prepared. The gum and sap in the wood
may be removed by thorough steaming with a
high pressure. or by soaking in brine till the
wood is saturated and then filling the cask with
boiling brine and letting it stand until cold
by keeping the cask in cool place and the but
ter under the brine the butter will keep safely
Rural Home.
- Much difficulty is often experienced by
farmers in making cuttings of grape and other
wood grow when planted in cold soil in the
spring. The trouble partly alises from the fact
that air is much warmer than the SOIL which
starts the bud before root action commences.
If cuttings are placed with their base ends in
dry soil in the cellar bottom the base will cal
lOus and be ready to emit roots as soon as
planted. Market gardeners make every cutting
live by furnishing bottom heat. which simply
means Keeping the soil in which the cutting is
planted warmer than the bud, which is exposed
to the air.
- In former times It was generally held as
good doctrine that fast growing trees produced
wood of but little value. In this country how
ever. at the present day, there are many cases
showing the rule will not hold good. 1t is true
that ''scft woods are usually of rapid growth.
On the other hand, ash, hickory, bird cherry and
many similar trees not at all slow in growth pro-
duce the best of timber. In the case of catalpa
tree that grows rapidly and has quite pithy
wood when young. it has been shown that the
wood is of a very durable nature, and, used as
posts in the ground, or for purposes above
ground. it will outlast the wood OF many slow
growing trees.
- AS to the pulse of animals, in horses at rest
it beats forty times per minute in an OK from fifty
to fifty-fve, and in sheep and pigs about seventy
to eighty times 1t may be felt wherever a large
artery crosses a bone, for instance. 1t is gen.
orally examined in the horse on the cord which
crosses over the bone Of the lower jaw in front
OF it's curved position, or in the bOny ridge
above the eye; and in cattle over the middle of
the first rib; and in sheep by placing the hand
on the left side, where the beating of the heart
may be felt. Any material variation of the pulse
from the figures given above may be considered
sign of disease. If rapid, hard and full. it is
an indication Of high fever or inflammation: if
rapid. small and weak, low fever loss OF blood
or weakness; if slow. the probabilities point to
brain disease. and if irregular to heart troubles.
This Is one of the principal and sure tests of
health OF any animal.
An Ohio man, after giving his unsatisfac-
tory experience with incubators. tells how he
hatched chickens with success and economy by
using turkey hens. Last spring. he says. II
had one rearing Chickens and she laid fifteen
eggs and then went to Matching her own eggs.
The chickens would go and hunt feed and come
back to her, and at night they would all gather
around her to sleep. When she would 90 off to
feed and water they would all 60 with her and
enjoy the trip as if there was no Matching going
on. She was a perfect mother to them ALL This
was the grandest sight | ever saw in the pOul-
try business, and hereafter l shall do all my
Matching and rearing in this way. and not waste
good eggs with tidgety old hens OF expensive
heat WITH and lose sleep at night etc. When
once started you can hatch all the chickens you
want. Mind. after the first lot OF chicks are
taken out you can fill In new lot of eggs, using
the remaining turkeys again. and SO on, using
as many turkeys or as few as you may, for many
or few eggs"
THE onion trials of the last season at he New