The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1885-10-14

it is doubtful if any plan is
superior to The old fashioned one of
in rail pens. Instead of boards
laid on without mailing and kept down
by weights, plank an inch and a quar-
ter thick, OF proper length, will found
moro convenient and more effective as
n covering. A good supply of such
planks should be kept on every farm
temporary shelter purposes. "A
loaded wagon, II pile of hay or other
stuff could be rooted in u few minutes
against II threatening rain. When not
in use they could be stored under
shelter and would last for years. The
next best plan is to cut aud stack the
viucs at once, without drying, around
a second growth pine with low branch
ing limbs, the ends of the limbs being
cut of SO us to make the outlines of
the tree after it is trimmed cone SNAPS
cd. The limbs prevent the vines from
settling down too closely and the
shrinkagc in drying gives a plenty Of
ventilation. or course brush or rails
raised above the surface, are placed
around the bottom of the tree to keep
vines off the ground. 1t is well also to
cap with hay or straw. as pra-yimes do
moi shed water very well. After they
are well cured, put up in barns, as
such stacks will not bear long exposure
to weather.
Much crab-grass hay can be saved
on every farm cut when In bloom, or
n little after, the quality is excellent.
Most of that which is usually saved is
cut too late, the seeds having already
formed and drawn from the stalks and
leaves their most valuable contents.
Thn Good ncro1l,- ,lrnn nn ot,1 odd
nothing of value TO the hay. a train
cd hand, with a good rcap-hook, can
cut n great deal Of this grass in places
where the moving blade cannot reach
it. Swamp grasses, if cut early just
in bloom, make good medium hay for
cutie and mules, but as in the case of
crab-grass they arc generally cut too
late. Never let grass, after it is partly
dried, take dew; all that is cut before
two or three o'clock should be put up
in cocks just before night, and as fast
as it cures, several small cooks should
be brobght together and put into II
large cock. The rule is to expose us
possible to dew, rain or sun, and a
large cock has less surface in propor-
ton to its contents than n small one.
We have have often tried to curc
potato vines, but without success. ~
week or so, however, before the usual
time for digging potatoes the vines
may be SraZcd off without apprcciable
injury to the crop. Most persons pre-
fer to dig after the vines arc singcd by
frost, and the work is usually duEc
from the Goth of October to the 10th of
November. If the ground is dry, SO
that there is lie danger of injury from
freezes, it is we'll to defer the digging
as late as possible, as it is desirable
that the potatoes should be cool after
they arc dug-coolncSs, dryncss and as
little variation of temperature as pos
siblc arc the conditions requisite for
keeping potatoes. The temperature of
the interior of the bank or hill should
fall below forty degrees, and if
practicable not raise above sixty. In
warn weather it would be difficult TO
keep the temperature down TO sixty !;
therefore VIC say it is best to put up
potatoes after the weather has become
settled cold. The sinking below forty
degrees is to be guarded against by n
liberal covering of pine straw, corn
stalks, etc , finished off with a layer of
earth. After the strawSs compressed,
it ought to be six inches thick and the
layer of dirt OF outside from six inches
TO Il foot, according to the severity of
the climate. The thicker the coating
of straw and dirt, the slower the
changes Of temperature in the interior
of the bank this, therefore, is n very
good means Of preventing sudden
variatiotion from warm to cold or the
reverse. Another is to protect the
bank from direct sunshine. A Their
momctcr being in the shade will show
less variatins of temperature during
the t~wcnty-four hours of night and day
than one hung in the sunshine. For a
like reason a shaded potato bank will
have a more Uniform temperature than
| one exposed to the sun during the
day and to free radiation at night.
Potatoes go through n sweating process
soon after they arc banked; it is well,
therefore, to have a vcntilator through
the the centre of the bank and an
opening at the top during the first
three or four weeks after they are put
mp. Subsequently the opening should
be thoroughly closed, not only with
straw, but with dirt likewise. Exclude
air, exclude moisture, and exclude
light; keep the temperature uniform
hot or cold-thcsc arc the requisites
for preservation. The potato is a
tropical plant; in the tropics there are
two seasons, the wet and the dry. In
its relations to vegetation, the former
takes the place of our summer, and the
latter of our winter. Vegetation is
more or less dependent during the dry
season. The sweet potato bridges it
over by its tubcrs. which remain UNI
changed in the dry hot soil. The tenn
pcrature Of the soil, though high, is
uniform, and this uniformity, together
with absence of moisture, keeps the
tubcrs dormant. a cool soil would be
better If above freezing point, because
heat is one of the stilmulants to germi-
nation, or s%prouting, which is similar
to termination, and to rotting, which
is always an accompaniment Of gcrmi-
nation. The swcetcning of the yam
during winter is evidence of a slow
chemical change in its contcnts-its
starch being gradually converted into
sugar and thus made soluble and fit to
nourish TO young sprouts, which, in
the course of nature, are soon to APP
pear. The gradual approach of cold