The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1886-08-11

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of their best effects is in sprouting
scattering grain, which may then be
highly cultivated under for green
manure. Do not pillow very deep and
make the surface for wheat as com
pact as possible.
CHECKING TOMATO VINES.
Where tomatoes r. grown in
gardens or other very rich soil they
will grow too much to vine at the
expense of the fruit. Pinching or
cutting off the ends of the vines
checks this excessive growth and in
duces fruitfulness. In a large patch
the work may be expeditiously and
thoroughly done with the scythe.
If some blossoms Or even fruit are
Topped off, what is left will be enough
earlier and better to more than COM
pensate the loss.
PEA AS A EALLOW CROP.
1t is an excellent plan to precede
wheat with a pea crop. The protec-
ton which the vines give the soil
during the Summer is almost equal
to a dressing of manure. Peas eX-
haust land less than almost any other
grain, and are at present prices a
more profitable crop than wheat. Of
late years the bug is much less troub-
lesome than formerly, and farmers
who have grown twenty-five to thir-
ty bushels per acre of merchantable
seed say that i'll proportion to labor
required it was the easiest crop
grown, as we'll as one of the most
profitable.
FEEDING YOUNG PIGS.
Young animals of every kind gain
faster than they do after they are
older. Hence the necessity Of Civ
ing all that can be eaten and di-
gested. Extra feeding Of this SOFT
is the best way to force pigs until
they are two or three weeks old.
After that age they should be en-
couraged to eat all they will them
selves to diminish the drain on the
SOW. But the digestion Of young
pigs is weak, so that very rich food
should be avoided. Corn meal, if
given exclusively, will make them
fatten rather than grow. Oatmeal
and milk constitute the best feed,
next to that from the mother.
WARNING BY ELECTRICITY.
Vineyardists in some parts of Cal
ifornia have learned to use electricity
in guarding their vines from frost.
They have thermometers arranged
in different parts Of the. vineyard,
with an apparatus attached to a wire
connecting with the house, and which
rings a bell whenever the tcmpera-
ture comes near the freezing point.
Then everybody arises and all light
fires in different parts Of the vine
yard, the smoke Of which raises the
temperature until danger is past.
This frost bell, as it is called, has
saved thousands of dollars to vine
yardists, and is now considered in
dispensable in a climate where sud
den falls of temperature are always
liable to occur in the night.
MANURING CLOVER SOD.
If clover has been cut early enough
the second growth will start rapidly
without manure. If it has been left
until in full blossom, or the heads
just turning, the aftermath will be
small whatever is done. Sowing
gypsum or land plaster is helpful, as
it helps to retain moisture on the
leaves. Coarse manure should not
be used unless with the intention of
leaving all after-growth to lie on the
ground for manure. 1t will smother
the clover so as to partly offset what
ever good it may do. 1t is surprising
how thin a covering owe a clover
plant will suffice to smother it. Even
the scattering hay is injurious, and
for this reason should be raked up
and removed, more to get it where
it will not hurt the clover than for
the value of the hay.
T~HRESHING BY STEAM
Steam power has superseded that
of the horse in threshing, as surely
as the latter did the old method of
threshing with the fail. Threshing
is always hard work, but the latest
method of doing it, while it has let
horses out, has made it harder than
ever for men. There is no let-up
while the powerful cylinder is taking
in great forkfuls of straw and grain,
and discharging the latter at the
rate of a bushel or more per minute.