Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-02-14
FARM AND FRUIT.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR
FARM, ORCHARD AND VINE.
VaJ1,e of Stones in Land-Trees for
Fences Good Butter Cows
The conference.-the.

Some people, on every occasion when op-
portunity offers, take pains to remove all
the stones they can see from the soil in
their gardens. Perhaps it might not be
too much to say, says the Gardening Itl'is-
fratea that, nine times in ten, mischief is
done rather than good by the practice.
Stones in soil serve more than one useful
purpose. When lying on the surface
they act as mulch, checking evaporation.
Their slow decay and disintegration by the
frost and the action of the elements con-
tribute to the replacement of the food ex-
,racted from the soil by the roots of plants.
When the staple of the soil is a stiff clay.
their action Is particularly beneficial, as
they break up It's coherency and modify
the texture. Professor Wrightson, in his
handbook on Agriculture" says: Many
soils now worked as light lands would be
unworkable clay were they not lightened
up and divided by countless stones" 1t
is true. light, stony soils soon dry up, the
water easily percolating through them,
and, subsoil being generally of the same
character, water is soon drained away.
Further. stones absorb no moisture, the
amount of moisture absorbed by the soil
being in the inverse ratio (other
things being equaD to the quantity of
stones it contains. But removing the
stones will not remedy the evil. That
would not add to the stock of moisture
neither would that removal increase the
quantity of plant food nor enlarge the ex-
VI 70 = ,a
aforementioned particular, the only effect
of the removal of the stones would be to
make the soil shallower. There is yet an
other Office performed by stones in the soil.
BY breaking its continuity it checks capil-
iarity, or the upward motion of It's moist
ure to the surface, thereby indirectly re-
tarding evaporation. Howbeit, if the sub
soil contained material of sufficient guam
tity and suitable to the end, and it were
practicable by deep trenching, with the
removal Of the stones, to form soil of
sufficient depth and suitable texture for
the healthy, vigorous growth Of plants
then the carrying out of the operation
might prove an advantage.
"rHE LITTLE BUTTER COW"
The following argument for "the little
butter cow in the Western Rural will APP
ply to any small cow if she is . good one,
lust in proportion to her yield: "The
principal object seems to be to breed a COW
that is the best for milk, butter and beef
combined, which is as hard Job as it is to
breed a horse for the droy, farm and race
horse all in one. Some object to the Jer-
sey because she is too small 10 turn into
beef when she is too old to milk. Now,
then, it is generally admitted that the Jer-
sey will make two pounds of butter week
more than most of the large breeds, if not
all Allowing such to be, which my ex-
perience teaches me it is, two pounds Of
butter week at % cents per pound would
be so cents 4 week for, say the first six
months, and one pound week for the next
three months would make $l6 % in q
year. Allowing each to be MIXED ten
years, would make 1852 30 in favor of the
Jersey for butter, At this age put both
up to fat and the Jersey viii dress 500
pounds and the larger COW 500, making
800 pounds Of beef to offset 1852 so for
butter, which makes pretty dear beef, does
it not This is allowing it costs as much
10 keep a small COW as 4 large one"
THE CANKEK WORM.
According to Professor Riley's pamphlet
on the subject, there are two worms called
the canker worm, both destructive to ap-
pie, elm and maple trees, and much alike
One is called the spring canker worm, be
cause the moths come out Of the ground in
the spring; the other, the fall eanker
worm The moths crawl mp the tree and
deposit their eggs upon the buds, where
the larye on being Matched out, began At
once to feed upon the tender leaves. The
preyentives against their appearance de-
pend largely upon the fact that the female
moths are wingless, and can only reach the
tree top by climbing up the bark. They
consist, therefore, principally in surround
ing the trunk of the tree with something
in the nature OF an obstacle that the worm
cannot climb by The trunk may be
tarred or creased, or a tin band may be
tightly fastened around it. Such appli-
ances are classified 10y Professor Riley into
those which prevent the ascension of the
moth Inv eutangling her feet and trapping
her fast, or 10y drowning her: and those
which accomplish the same end by pre-
venting her getting foothold. Other
remedies are to jar the trees and burn
the worms in straw which has been
laid at the bottom TO catch them, and
applying poisonous washings and dust
ing to the trees The worms have para
site foes, and hosts Of industrious enemies
among the birds, of which Professor Riley
names more than forty species, In New
York and Brooklyn they have been exter-
minated by the English sparrow.
CHICKEN CHOLERA.
a correspondent Of the Amcricqa Agrj-
c7lturiSt saws: We find chat cur flock Of
thirty Plymouth Rock fowls confined in a
small yard. eat eagerly and thrive we'll on
any chopped green food offered them.
When the early lettuce was gone we gave
them chopped suu1ower leaves, by way Of
experiment, and they devoured them
greedily. We are convinced that cholera
among fow.s-as among men-may often be
prevented by cleanliness, especially in
drinking water Few fowls confined in
chicken yards, or even running at large,
have access 10 perfectly pure water or as
much as they wish. The water left to them
in vessels is soon soiled by their feet, and
becomes 4 source Of disease. We have
kept large sardine boxes, which are deep
enough for convenience and a wooden
trough in our little chicken yard. These
are emptied, rinsed and re6lled with fresh
water twice day-often If very warm.
We have not lost a chicken by cholera,
though our neishbors Just across the street,
and through the town, have lost a great
many with the disease. Our care with the
drinking water has been rewarded by
plump and clean young broilers.
RUSSIAN MULBERRY.
4 tllicket Of dozen Russian mulberry
trees, SAYS an exchange, viii soon take
possession Of the ground keeping down all
the weeds and viii make most welcome
shelter for the fowls, which Will thrive on
the fruit that may happen TO fall from
them. 1t viii not be long before tree
will bear a peck of fruit, ana in a few years
more il will viela hnshel. and as It OBJ