The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-05-08
Farm mud Garden Notes.

A Massachusetts, poultry fancier re-
commends knit hoods for covering the
combs and whites of black Spanish
fowls.
1t is not necessary to keep cocks I'M
less the eggs are intended for sitting
hens. The hens will lay Just as well,
perhaps better, and the eggs will keep a
longer time.
Rats have a great aversion to the odor
of the chloride of lime, and, when mixed
with water and poured into the holes
through which the rats pass, they usually
vacate their haunts. This mixture is
harmless, does not kill the rats, but
drives them away.
A solution of India rubber in benzine
has been used for years as a coating for
steel, iron, and lead, has been found q
simple means of keeping them from OK
dining. 1t can be easily applied with a
crush, and is as easily rubbed off. 1t
should be made about the consistency of
Dream.
Here is a new English remedy for crib
biting. Nail a strip of sheep skin, about
eight inches in width, the entire length
bf the crib; select a skin covered with
ong wool, and sprinkle it freely with
Cayenne pepper. Renew it occasionally.
md the worst cribber can be persuaded
o desist from his habit.
The small streams which often flow
through farms are almost invaluable
|ources Of fertility, if the mud which nc
Fumulates in them every year cleaned out
nd spread upon the land. All the
caves, together with the fine mold
rom cultivated fields, find a Judgment
n the beds of these streams. Several
Dads of manure as valuable as that made
n stables may thus be secured every
ear.
A farmer whose neighbours stock has
Peen driven to his well all the last win
er made a calculation that the loss of
ime in driving stock. to say nothing Of
he loss from insufficient supply of water
B enough to pay the interest or fifty
ollars easily. Yet a good well could be
vt in the barnyard with wooden pump
or less than half this sum. The loss Of
manure from driving stock far for water
q winter is a serious item.
The old practice of putting ashes in
each to make SOAP is less common than
o-merly among farmers. The ashes are
1orth more as a fertilizer to crops than
or soap. Good potash can be bought
bore cheaply than in the form of ashes,
nd it is not in as good shape for apply
hg to crops. However, there is still
luch virtue in leached ashes, and where
hey can be got cheaply they will we'll
ay for hauling on sandy land.
The milk from heifers is neither 30
Rrge in quantity nor 50 rich as that from
be same COW as she becomes older. The
Id rule which reckoned a heifer with
er first calf as equal to half a COW was
ot far from right. The growth Of the
eifer is SO much deducted from what
ould otherwise go to milk production,
ut with young COWS capable of eating
nd digesting an unusual quantity Of
bod a larger proportion may go to the
hilk pail.
In answer to the question, what is the
est season of the year for pruning a
Dung orchard2 the Country GeHtiemuu
Rys: Late in winter, or early in spring
efore the buds swell, if you wish to
(~aintain the vigor of the trees. If they
&C so thrifty as to give annual shoots
lree feet long, you may prune late in
bring or early in summer If the prun-
g Is 10 ne very lSnt anu Win sHlall
hoots, the time will not be very impor-
mt; but if the trimming is heavy, the
bove rule is to be carefully observed.
The value of the bean crop is not in
foliage but in its grain. An exces-
We amount of nitrogen in fertilizers
axes straw, bat without a proportion
c amount of pods. This is more
pccially true in coarse stable manure,
hich heats in the soil, causing in.
leased warmth. Finely rotted manures,
%nilrates in their concentrated form,
e often apparently as helpful to grain
oduction as mineral fertilizers. They
ldoubtedly make available some min.
al plant food in the soil that would