The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-12-15

| swarming, only one good swarm would
| be hoped for. If a second or third came
forth. they were weaklings, and not
worth saving.
A silo has been built in North Caroln'
of heavy plnnk, on top of the ground
It has double walls, four inches apart
filed with earth to exclude air. Size
thirteen by sixteen feet; cost sixty dol
lars only.
Dry leaves from the woods make the
best bed for pigs, as fine litter OF any
kind is always preferred by them to that
which is course. Mast-fed pigs always
bed comfortably in the woods.
If cream becomes sour, the sooner 1t Is
then skinned and churned the better,
but it should not be churned while too
new. The best time for the skimmlng
and churning is just before acld1ty be-
comes apparent.
Park Earle, the great Illinois straw.
berry-raiser, says unmulched vines Will
be more or less dirty, and good mulch
helps in drouth. The paths and al! va
cant ground should be mulched, which
WILL lap on to rows somewha..
The INGREDIENTS Of commercial fertil-
izers, upon which both their agricultural
and commercial value depend, are nitro
gen, phosphoric acid and potash. Sui
phuric acid and lime are also always
present in superphosphate in the shape
of plaster.
The finest butter product is only pos
sible where the butter is made from
the best milk. by the most careful pro
cesscs, untou>hed by hand, and when it
is brought to market just at the time
when it; oxidation or mellowing by con-
tact with the air brings about the mature
or ripe flavor.
No kind of stubble, except of clover
of which the root forms the princlpa!
part, is worth anything as manure. OF
grain crops especially, neither the stub
bic above ground nor the root below IS
worth regarding as fertilizer. IT the
straw of grain stubble can be burned, It
is no waste to make this disposal of it.
In selecting dairy COW the most i'm
portant point is good constitution, in
dlcated by large lungs, stomach and d.
gestive capacity. She should come from
a good milking family, the eye should
be bright, muzzle broad, nostrils thin
and large, chest and lips broad, legs fat,
udder broad, milk veins large and head
small.
A Southern paper says potatoes should
be dry and handled carefully, not
bruised nor cut, put in banks or hills OF
twenty or thirty bushels, covered with
litter or cornstalks set up all around, and
then old boards or split stuff, and over
these at least foot of dirt. Those who
put two feet of dirt on each hill say they
never lose potatoes by frost or otherwise.
One of the best devices for keeping
stock warm in winter is to put up a
frame, cover it with poles from the
woods, and build straw stack over IT.,
leaving On opening on the side opposite
the direction of the prevailing winds.
With plenty of straw shed Of this char,
acter is as warm rs basement barn ana
much cheaper, and can be made by any
farmer. 1t docs not even require ham,
mer and nails, though with these and a
few boards the work can be made more
attractive in appearance.
Ashes which have been leached often
contain much fertilizing value. In phos-
pilates they are sometimes richer than
the unleached, from the fact that phos-
phate in ashes is not readily soluble.
But this inert phosphate is of little
value. Occasionally, however, old
leachcd ashes have been so long in places
where they have alb orbed nitrogen that
they have formed nitrate of potash,
which is one of the best fertilizers
known. Such ashes, whether leached or
not, are very valuable.