News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-08-20
FARM AND GARDEN.
sEAsONABLE HINTS ABOUT WORK TO
BE DONE.
The Month of August and Its Demands-The
Kitchen and Market Garden and the
Orchard.

The Month of August and Its Demands-The
Kitchen and Market Garden and the
Orchard.
From the August American Agriculturist.l
Of all the months in the year August
Is the month in which work is least
pressing. The wise farmer will devote
this month or large share OF it to recre-
alton. Let the farmer take his wife, and
leaving the boys and girls to look after
the farm, go somewhere. The eastern
farmer may 60 west, the western farmer
east, and both may go south with Pront.
II long journeys are not convenient, make
neighborhood visits. An observing man
can not go to another farm, near, or at
distance, without learning something
that he can proftably practice at home.
The main business of the month is to
take vacation, and leaving the farm
and its cares behind him, refresh him
self with new scenes and take long
rest. Are you ready for the fairs2 Every
wlde-awake farmer will visit the nearest
fair, and as many others as he can, and
exhibit some product of his farm. The
next is the great fair month, and the ex-
hibits should be already selected and in
preparation for the fair. If a steer or
other animal is to be shown, see that it
IS well fed, and groomed or brushed.
If cabbages or other vegetables are to
be exhibited, coax them by means of ex-
ira hoeings and occasional applications
OF liquid manure, to do their best. So
with fruit; select branch, and remove
all and inferior fruit, thinning the crop
at least one-half, that the fruit left may
grow large and fair. Cut oats before
they are fully ripe; they will shell out
less, and the straw will be more valua-
BILE. Buckwheat sown early this month,
will usually escape the frost. Should it
be injured, it will yet be valuable for
blowing under.
The old New England method was to
work three times. The first hoeing was
called wedding; the second, half-hilling,
and the third was to hill the corn; after
this it was left for the ground to be
over-run with late weeds. The better
method is to run the cultivator as long
as horse can pass between the rows.
The cultivator only stirs the surface, but
kills the weeds. A pillow should not
the root-crops. Sow strap-leaf turnips
one hundred and fifty pounds to the
acre of superphosphate, or bone flour,
near the seed. Give meadows a top
dressing of old manure or fine compost.
Harrow bare and messy spots in pastures,
and sow seed on them. Give dressing
of lime or plaster. Cut brush with a
brush-hook; burn and save the ashes.
This is harvest month for weeds. The
perennial kinds run up to flower, and
will ripen seeds to make future trouble.
Cut and burn, if they cannot be grubbed
up by the roots. The manure heap
should increase in size. Add to it pota-
to tops and other refuse, weeds that
have not gone to seed, sods from the
roadside, etc. If wheat is to follow oats,
pillow as soon as the oats are off, turning
a light furrow to cover the stubble.
When the scattered oats start, kill them
by the use of the cultivator. If the
wheat is to be sown on a clover sod, turn
under the clover as deeply as possible.
If lime is to be applied, place bushel
at every two rods each way. The lime
will Stake in few days, or with the first
shower; spread it evenly, ready to pillow
in next month. Turn work horses out
to pasture at night, and give their usual
grain feed besides. Scrape off, or wash
off with warm water, the eggs of the
Bot-fy from their fore-legs. Give
long rest at noon. Let them have water
often, with handful of corn-meal stirred
in. AS the pastures fail, give cows a
plenty of corn fodder, cut short and
sprinkled with two to four quarts of
corn-meal for each COW, daily. This will
keep up the flow of milk, and increase
its richness. If there is not ample shade
in the pasture, give the cows three hours,
in the heat of the day, in a clean, cool
stable. Give calves -rfrc-b benefit of a
clover aftermath; supply salt daily, to
prevent bloat
Wean the lambs, and place the rams
in field by themselves, and give them
a little extra feed. Give the lambs,
daily, handful of mixed bran and oil
cake. Ewes with full bag should have
a portion of the milk drawn off every
night, until dried Off Smear the noses
of the sheep with tar, to keep off the
Gad-fy. Swine at pasture should have
clean water. If a pig appears sleepy,
and disposed to hide away by itself, pen
up the animal alone, and give it soft |
food, with linseed meal and four ounces
of salt. A pound of corn fed now will |
make as much pork as two pounds in
cold weather, and now is the time to pen |
up store pigs for fattening. Give the
poultry house a coat of hot lime-wash,
to each pailful of which is added an |
ounce of carbolic acid Go over the |
whole interior, including the roosts, to
destroy lice. Clear out the droppings |
frequently, and spread ON the compost |
heap. Old fowls often get fat ON the
and are ready for SALE Sell off |
or consume the surplus cocks early.
ORCHARD AND FRUIT GARDEN.
Marketing of early fruits should re-
ceive proper attention in neatness of |
packages, and in asserting the fruit. |
peaches is noted elsewhere.
Do not send windfalls and misshapen
apples to market; it pays better to make
them into vinegar; a small cider mill and |
press may be used. A large quantity of
cider for conversion into vinegar may be
Early pears soften more rapidly than
late ones, and should be gathered while
still very hard.
Young trees should be mulched when |
planted; it will be beneficial to mulch |
even now.
Destroy weeds before they get too
large to be killed with the harrow or
cultivator.
Grapevines must be watched for mill
dew, and if it appears sulphur must be
freely blown upon them with bellows.
The insects attacking the vines at this
season are mostly large caterpillars and
beetles; hunt for, and pick them off by
hand. Break off all shoots not wanted,
and continue to pinch any taterals that
push.
Plant-lice often appear in large num-
Oers on trees; strong soapsuds or strong
tobacco water, will kill them.
If fireblight appears on pear trees, cut
away the dead portion.
Budding is done whenever buds are
we'll matured, and the bark of the stock
fits freely.
KITCHEN AND MARKET GARDEN.
Keep asparagus clear of weeds, using
she hoe until the tops prevent, then pull
he large weeds that appear. Hoe cab