The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-02-16
Agriculture.

ocst ior grapes
A cows best work * done from her
Sd 10 her 10th year.
1t takes $50 bushels of potatoes TO
make a ton Of starch.
When horses are cleaned in stables
the dust fouls the crib.
Smoking and lighting lanterns in
barns should never be permitted.
Some one has said that thorough till
ing of the ground is equivalent to NOV
Ing it $50 miles further south.
One of the farmers clubs of Ohio is
of the opinion that when potatoes sell
for less than 40 cents per bushel it Is
more profitable to feed them to stock
than 20 sell.
The want of pure and fresh water ac-
counts in many instances for the lack
of eggs during the winter season.
Fowls require Il constant supply OF wa
ter, and without it VII not lay.
Professor Cook says light Brahmas
have proved even better layers IN win
ter than MS brown Leghorns; their eggs
are finer in quality, larger and OF rich
color.
a New jersey farmer writes that he
gave a dressing OF salt eight bushels
to the acre. to land badly infested with
white grubS, and for three years after
raised good crops Of corn, which was
impossible previous to this application.
An experienced stockman in Wis
consin says: Cattle drinking shale
water are not subject to the blackIeg,
while cattle drinking surface water
from creeks or pools are at any time
liable to take the disease
The first year OF its life mullen
| forms a tuft of broad leaves which lie
close to tho ground, in which form it
passes the winter. The next spring it
throws up small stem which bears
seed, and the plant then dies. If these
flower stems be cut off before ripening
their seeds the plant can De eradicated.
Every grower of seed potatoes, says
the New York 1rtbane, well kns VS.
that it takes from three to five years to
fix the shape, color and type of any
seeding. and that by careful selection
| he can almost produce Il potato to or
der. BY taking advantage of the ten
dehcy to improvement we can con-
stantly improve any variety we choose.
The american AViculturist truly says
that in enumeraling the crops OF the
country it should be borne in mind that
the BOYS and girls are the most import
ant. A failure in the grain crops may
he remeded by succeeding harvests,
but the future prosperity of the country
depends on the character of the sons
and daughters of American farmers.
A writer in Ga3deHiHg Illustrated
saws that if Young shoots of the tomato
are taken off aud propagated like bed
ding plants they will make less ram
pant growth than seedlings, and be
more fruitful. Cuttings prove best for
ant culture; they are then to be kept
near the glass with temperature of
about 30 degrees. They will make fine
plants for spring.
The Scientific american speaks a
GOOD word for a native American with
which most boys are acquainted. That
paper says that the bullhead of our
ponds and streams will pay well Tor the
very little care and expenditure re-
ouired for their cultivation, can be
grown in shallow ponds with less care
and expense in fitting for their cultiva-
ton than required for carp, and will
readily sell for good prices.
An exchange suggests, if farmers
would 90 TO their barn on q wet day
and spend their time in making an
eaves-trough for the barn or stable, and
thereby carry away the drip which
would otherwise fall on the manure
pile. causing a waste of the elements OF
plant food contained therein, they will
make more money that day than they
could any fine day in the field
Farmers. rs much as any class OF
men in the world, ought to keep scrap
books, and fill them with agricultural
matter clipped from papers and maya
zines. Such books are always handy
and valuable for purposes of reference.
They are Indispensable to men who de-
sire to keep well informed N regard to
any profession, science or enterprise,
or to know the tone of public opinion
As to current topics OF thought.
The dcpredatons of insects on farm
ers' crops, says the western RHrdi, are
compelling farmers TO learn good
deal of entomology. 1t is much less
common than it was a few years ago to
kill worm or bug merely because it
looks ugly. Some of our best insect
friends are neither pretty in looks nor
in disposition. 1t is in the fall that
their predatory character benefits US.
for their energies are then devoted to
destroying our worst enemies.
On the subject of sulphur to remedy
the rot in potatoes, correspondent OF
the Emira On. " HHSbaHdmGn says:
"A Vermont farmer rolled his potato
cuts in fine flour of sulphur, at plant
ing; and, again, he busted the shoots
rs they appeared above the ground
and neither rot worm nor insect touch
ed them, though all around him pota-
toes were badly damaged. He added
that he never saw finer or smoother
tubers."
At the New York Agricultural Ex-
pertinent Station it has been found that
one part of paris green mixed with 200
parts of ground limestone proved en-
tirely successful against the larvae of