Daily Kennebec journal., 1884-03-31

Agricultural Items.

The European cattle diseases. according
to Consul Tanner of Liege Verviers, are
traceable to the manures that have been
used on an impoverished soil.
Dea. Mayberry of Windham. Me-. re-
Gently sold a quantity of hay that had been
cut TWENTY-FIVE years. He has been hold
ing it all that time for S22 ton, and final
ly got his price.
Sasbes covered with unbleached cotton
which has been treated with oil are recon-
mended as being better than sashes hiled
with glass for the covering of hot-beds.
They keep out the frost. admit sufficient
light and heat, and the plants grown under
them are not only "stockier" but bear
transplating better than those raised under
glass.
The Dominion Cattle Company. which
has now nearly $1,000 cattle on the zo4.-
900 acres of the Cheokee reservation.
which it leased tor two cents an acre from
the United States Government. has thus
far proved decided success. Last year
it's capital stock, amounting to almost
1856. 900. brought net profit of $3.50. 900
out Of which dividend of 20 per cent has
been declared.
Chickens when first hatched should not
be hurried out OF the setting nest For
"a hours at least, from the time the ear
Iiest commence to show themselves, II IS
better to leave them under or with the hen
mother. They need no food for from a
day to a day and half usually When
they get strong enough to venture from
beneath their mothers wings it is time to
move the brood.
The London Agricultural Gazette says
that Brittany cattle are small, silky
skinned, docile. and gentle animals. CIV
ing as rich milk as one can desire Brit
tany butter. delicate and supeaior, OF
which thousands of tons are annually inn
ported into England. is produced from the
milk of these cows. They are also natu-
rally hardy. thriving on coarse food, ana
another important characteristic is their
freedom from disease incident to cattle
generally.
A correspondent of the Rural New
Yorker describes the following method by
which an extraordinary crop of waller
melons was raised: Holes were dug 10 #.
apart each way, Is inches square and 10
inches deep. These holes were filled
with welI-rotted manure, which was thor
oughly incorporated with the SOIL A low,
flat hill was then made and seed planted.
When the vines were large enough to be-
Gin to run. the whole surface was covered
to the depth of foot or Is inches with
wheat straw. The straw was placed close
up around the vines. No cultivation what
ever was given afterward; no weeds or
grass grew. The vines spread over the
straw, and the melons matured clean and
nice The yield was abundant, and the
experiment an entire success.
The Germantown Telegraph thus in
forms its readers how to grow onions
without labor: prepare bed, say 10
feet square. of proper fertility, cultivate
deep and rake it smooth and fine. Now,
lay on a board about one foot wide at one
side of your bed, stand on the board and
place your sets close to the edge. say four
inches apart, the entire length of the
board. Now, lay down another board one
and a half inches from the other, place
your sets as before, and proceed thus un
til the bed is completed. Leave on the
boards until the onions have matured.
Thus you will have nice bed of onions
without labor. save the preparing of the
bed and placing of the sets"