The Portland daily press., 1884-09-24
AGRICULTURAL,
SOME FARM PESTS.
The Importance of Clean Cultivation
NMAKA Allaanu

-. SAc oAAEu tnaL purslaln (''pus
icy the worst weed pest that the farme
or gardener has to contend with. Other
make little complaint against it, claimin
th&. II causes little annoyance except In oil
gardens that have been long under cultiva
0on. We do not believe In any worse wee,
I'm ess 1t be the one that a cultivator has th
most Of in his own fields.
Canada Thistle.
In parts of Vermont the Canada thistle 4
Dad enough, over-runnipg pastures and get
ting into grain fields where it is particular
~ troublesome thing in harvest true. In in
tervale lands that are kept in grass the vel
low dock Is often very troublesome. /
seeds profuselY and is difficult to DESTROY h,
digging up. The seeds live several YEAR
when they fall and will then grow wheney
OF the conditions become favorable, TIL,
seeds are washed down into valley mowins
nelds by the overflow of streams, and SO
farmers VINO are careful to destroy weed
S Su4 " prevent SEEDS from maturing, maj
hAve their whole farms planted with tban
BY less careful neighbors, who NAV Iiv,
above them on the stream.
Daisy and sorreI.
The OK eye daisy is yerv troublesome
weed In the vicinity of Boston and in many
other sections. but 1t can be kept down by
cultivation and high manuring. while. if chi
early in the season, while it is coming into
bloom, 1t makes fair quality Of food fol
sheep and other farm stock. Sorrel Is
another weed pest coming in our new seed
cd nelds where grass is thin, but high ma
nuring and heavy seeding to grass will keeE
IL In subsection.
The Wild Carrot.
rar worse than any of these is the wild
CARROT, as we have seen in some of the coun
Ties In eastern New York, where it has in.
creased so rapidly within two years as to
threaten full possession of the land. 1t is
also spreading rapidly N some pastures of
now England. The carrot is a biennial
plant, producing its seed the second wear.
and an unreasonable number of them on a
single plant, 80 that only few plants are re-
quired for seeding large area, aud it makes
10 little show before coming into bloom,
man 10 liable to have his farm heavily
stocked before he is aware of it. Baled hav
will carry it to new fields, and as the seed
Will live year or more In manure, it NAV
be introduced in manure from city stables.
A Hard Customer.
Being late weed it is more likely to oct
into rowen than into first cutting of NOW
ing field. We have little to offer In the wav
OF advice as to methods Of getting rid of such
pest when once established, Indeed we
know OF no one who has conquered a badly
infested farm. Any farmer who is sur
rounded with 1t from adjoining farms will
have hard struggle if he attempts to exter
inmate 1t or even keep 1t under subsection.
Gould farm be kept entirely under cultiva
ton for two or three years and the wedding
thorough, there would be Comparatively few
weeds Of any kind left, but This method
would hardly be thought practicable, though
We tried 1t at Pine Hedge farm with good
success for the extermiuation of locusts and
black erickets. To those who have not yet
got the plant We would urge the most care.
fui watching for the very first intruder. A
close observer would probably notice 1T in
Its drst years growth, but it is much easier
TO detect IL as IL comes into bloom the sec
ond season, when every plant should be
pulled and destroyed by burning or by bury
ipF below where pillow will ever run To
pull and throw into the highway, as is the
habit OF many, Is one of the very worst of
practices, as it is thus rapidly spread nv
wind or showers. If weeds are allowed to
spread In future as they have been in the
past, the time will soon come when clean
grass seed will be very scarce and difficult to
obtain at any price.-New England Farmer.
To Prevent After-swarming,
IS to open the old hive after tie first swarm
has issued, and cut out all the queen cells
except one. The exceptions to this are, the
trouble Of performing the operation, and if
tina cell that is left fails to produce a perfect
queen, the colony is left hopeIessly queen
less. Giving the old colony laying queen,
as soon as the first swarm has left, will u.s.
ually prevent after-swarming. at least for the
time being, as the queen will at once DESTROY
all the queen cells; but as soon as the hive
beeomes populous, she will often lead out
swarm. Giving the old swarm a newly
Matched queen, or queen cell nearly ready
ready to hatch, will also prevent after
swarmine, and Is preferable, unless increase
Is desirable, to giving it laying queen. A
newly-hatched queen, or queen cell ready
10 batch is of little value, while a LAYING
queen Is worth at least 81, and the colo.
nys not having a laying until the
young queen is fortified and laying, does
not become popnlous quite as soon, and con-
sequently is less inclined to swarm. A colo
ny with young laying queen is not so apt
to swarm as one with an old queen. The
writer has, the present season, practiced to
extent this method of prevent
ing aftot-swarming; that is, giving the par
ent colony mature queen cell soon after it
has cast swarm; and in no instance has
colony thus treated swarmed again. He has
. small slate hanging upon a nail driven into
the back OF each hive, and when a swarm
issues, the date Is marked upon the slate.
he has learned by experience that more of
the young queens hatch sooner than the
sixth day after swarm has issued, usually
about the seventh or eighth day; and when a
colony from which no sfter-swarms are
wasted cast swarm, it is an easy matter,
BY examining she dates upon the slate, to
dnd colony that has swarmed six or seven
days previous from which to obtain queen
cell nearly ready to hatch, to give the colony
that has just swarmed. Another method of
after-swarming is to place the
new swarm upon the old stand, removing
The parent colony to new location. The
dying bees all return to the old location, and
jein the new swarm, which 80 reduces the
strength of the old colony that it often casts
no second swarm. The new swarm is hived
In new hive and placed upon the,old stand,
but instead of carrying the old hive to dis
Eant new location, it is placed beside the new
swarm, the rear OF the hive in contact with
The new hive, bat the front turned to one
side at an angle of forty-five degrees. So
FAR as the flying bees are concerned, the old
hive occupies a new location fully as much
30 though it had been carried away rods, for
Bhey all enter the new hive on the old stand.
Each day the old hive is slightly turned to-
ward the new hive, until, at the sixth day, it
stands close beside and parallel with it. The
bees Of each hive recognize and enter their
respective homes, but let either hive Be re-
moved, and ali the flying bees will enter the
hive left upon the old location. The seventh
day the old hive is picked up and carried to
, distant stand, when, of course, all the fly
Ing bees join the new swarm upon the old
stand, leaving the old colony SO reduced in
numbers just at the time when the young
queens are Matching, that all thoughts of
swarm,ng are abandoned, the first queen
that matches biting into and destroying the
the remaining cells, together with their oc-
cupants. If several queens hatch at about
the same time, there are royal combats,
which result in the Survival of the fittest."
Country Gentleman.
9tartiRg Blackberry Patch.
The most common method of starting a
new blackberry plantation is to use plants
Of the last years growth, but it is well to
remind growers that they can do just about
as we'll with suckers of the current year if
shey will plant carefully and water at the
time of setting. Dig up plants in April or
May, While in full growth, cut the top off
near the ground, expose the roots as little as
possible, plant very soon, pour water about
the roots before filling the hole with earth;
then fill and pack the earth closely about it.
treated several hundred so this spring, and
they ale doing rather better, I think, than
plants Of last year set in April. OF these
dUftA a 0o0d MANY aituaUa die fnp snma ron