The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-03-12
OUR RURAL TOPICS,
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.
A MODEL FARM.

| l have it fenced in four equal tracts, nearly as
possible For convenience at the corner where
they all join have good well, arranged to
| furnish stock water for each field. | manage
to keep so acres in cultivation, so in clover,
each year. as follows: Twenty-Five in corn, %
! in wheat When the corn is cut off seed this
| field to wheat, and the following Spring to
clover. l aim to take crop of corn, then a
! crop of wheat, then back to clover ia two years,
and find this as long as clover should stand to
| be profitable. By this method | manage to
keep the laad in high state of cultivation
without the use of commercial fertilizers.
Il raise stock enough to eat up all the sur
! plus corn, hay, ETC. / stack the straw and feed
around the stack. Towards Spring throw it
down, so the stock can tramp it down. In this
| condition it rots much faster, and is ready to
| haul out sooner. This manure | spread in the
! poorest places when | have leisure and it is
| good hauling. BY doing this L keep nearly
! everything on the farm except the surplus
| wheat, which | market soon as thrashed.
! while it is III the sacks. This saves a large per
| cent. on shrinkage, besides extra handling. and
| you have the use of your money. Any field
have will bring a good crop. / always have
! clover sod to put i'll corn that has lain two
| years and it takes no longer and is not so much
expense to farm good land as it is poor land.
| The pay is surer, besides the satisfaction of
seeing your crops in thriving condition and
promising good reward
RAISING CARROTS.
Carrots are valuable as a substantial food for
| stock and cattle. Prof. Mapes maintains that
! they are useful to horses not only for the nOur-
! ishment in themselves, but because the acid
they contain enables the animal TO digest and
assimilate food elements which would other
wise pass off unused. A few carrots morning
and night fed to milch COW will improve the
| quality and color of butter made from her milk.
| The root is large bearer, an acre Of ground
yielding from 500 to 800 bushels.
Carrots grow well in deep soil which has
| been made fine by successive plowings. The
manure should be spread broadcast on the sur
face before the last time of blowing. Har-
| rowing should be done twice, and before the
| last time the soil should have dressing of COM
post which will insure a vigorous start for the
carrots. The field should be laid out in ridges
made by blowing through in straight lines,
! and on them the seed is sown, which should be
fresh and about five pounds to the acre.
Peter Henderson says that this is particu-
larly safe crop for the farm, and we can never
| go far wrong in growing plenty of it, as it is a
| harder root than beet, and can be left until
! late in the Fall and dug at leisure times but
always before there is danger Of being frozen
! IN, ana VIII always Dfiup Il price III IndI-
ket, rarely selling for less than 81 per barrel.
The average crop on suitable soils is about 300
! barrels to the acre.
RESTORING OLD ORCHARDS.
A chief cause of decline in fruit trees may be
| soil exhaustion, for no trees can continue TO
throw off crops year after year for generation
| without receiving ample returns of foods to the
roots. Top dressing with stable manure is the
best remedy here. This may be applied over
| the surface at any time during the Winter. An
application of liquid manure to the ground
over the space that is Overhung with branches
will answer the same end. But this must not
be applied until after the frost has left the soil
| Any dead wood on the tree should be cut out
now, and branches that are bark bound had
also better be removed. Taking such out will
cause new branches to start up farther back
for future fruitage.
| HORSES WITHOUT SHOES.
1t may do very well for those who are mex.
| perienced in the use of horses to talk of aban-
doning the process of shoeing, but it will not
| convince those who are accustomed to draw
| heavy loads with this animal that they can be
safely employed without the necessary foot pro-
lection. Even admitting that during the Sum
mer season, when the soil is soft, horse could
be used without shoes, to suppose that it could
be safely used when the ground is roughly
frozen and covered with ice is simply absurd
And the absurdity is increased III those por-
| tons of the country where the surface is billy.
| Take, for instance, portions of New England
with hills rising ut an angle of 40 degrees, and
with seasons of ice as they sometimes occur, ii
would be utterly impossible for a horse to travel
with even no load without shoes having sharp
cauIlls. If Nature did provide feet it did not
provide for the hauling of heavy loads.-Ger-
maatOwa Telegraph
PLAN AS WELL AS WORK.
The average farmer does too much work
This may sound strange and you may doubt it
yet it is none the less true. Less work and
more planning will make him richer health
Ter and happier. 1t is folly for any man to at
tempt to work II to 10 hours day without
expecting to so enfeeble and break down his
constitution that he will be unable to accom-
plish as much in two days as he ought to do in
one of reasonable length, when full of energy
and vitality. Never let your work drive you
| but keep yourself i'll condition to drive youl
work. This can be best done by carefully
planning all the details, and the time spent in
this manner is as we'll employed as though
spent in the manual work Of the farm.
NoTELErs.
- Before the Spring opens look to your hen.
houses. If they cannot be made air tight
there is no use i'll fumigatng with sulphur
Kerosene is always safe and sure agent in
the destruction OF hen lice. Use 1t Literally,
saturate every beam, perch and nest with it.
"A correspondent oil the Tribune and FdTmer
says; The best fertilizer for apple trees that
have found is wood ashes and lime A good
coating of these should be sown broadcast on
the ground once or twice year, and | think
it pays TO hoe the dirt away from the trunk oil
each tree, and sprinkle several handfuls oil
ashes and lime around them, and hoe the dirt
back again twice year. In this way the tree
is not only fertilized, but the borers and in
sects are prevented from making their depre,
dations.
- Sheep will not bear to be shut UP close, as
well as most other farm animals. Too much
confinement tends to lung diseases. Have
snug quarters, but leave the door open.
- Stables and pens should be airy and well
ventilated, but not dratty. Place horse OF
other animal that is warm from exercise in a
stall where draft will strike, and injury must
surely follow to the health of the beast.
- Kerosene win soften boots shoes that
have been hardened by water and render them
as plable new.
A slop-holc at the back door will make
enough doctors bills to drain the whole farm
says the Rural Home
- 1t pays to keep good stock of any kind
but good sheep offers two inducements foI
consideration-an extra carcass and d fine
fleece.
- The first thing to be done to secure large
flow of Winter milk is to make the cows com
Portable; the next, to feed judiciously and lib
orally.
An authority on poultry says that old tin