The gale., 1888-01-13

sowing seed, and better fruits and crop.
} might be grown.
The manure made upon the farm
should all be employed first, and then il
there is deficiency, resort to artificial
means Of supply from without.
If farmers fully appreciated the value
of wood ashes, they would take better
care of them, and spread them upon NOW.
ing land or apply them to growing crops
They contain the essential inorganic ele.
ments of plants.
Those who have mulched tree trunks
during the summer, to retain moisture in
the soil, should be careful to remove the
coarse litter in time or it will become a
refuge for mice during the winter. Again,
there may be so much mulching done rs
to incline roots to come too near the sur
face.
Because Pigs huddle together at night,
and thus keep themselves warm. many
think that shelter is less important for
them than for other stock. Their feeding
place, especially, should always be
covered and protected from winds The
pig has little hair on its body, and is
more sensitive to cold than any other
farm stock After being huddled up
under cover all night, their exposure in
feeding is all the more likely to be in
furious.
1t has generally been supposed that
| tomatoes which mature during cloudy Or
rainy seasons are more acid than those
that mature in bright, hot sunshine. We
have found, however, that the late to-
matoes, which were picked off to ripen
under cover are notso acid as those which
ripencd on the vines. They are not 50
high-havored, it is true, but still less acid.
Nearly all the tomatoes now so abundant
in thGmarkets arc ripened under cover,
and they are larger, more shapely, with
less crack and rot than the earlier supply.
-Rurdl Neao Yorher.
Roots for table use should not be al
lowed to freeze, or shrink from drying.
The supply for the kitchen may be packed
in barrels or boxes, covered with dry
earth, and placed in the cellar. Large
quantities should be stored in trenches.
Cabbages may also be stored in trenches.
Onions may be placed in barrels and the
whole deeply covered with hay. Onion
sets are best kept by planting, if the soil
is open. Parsley may be had when
wanted, by planting roots in box OF
soil and keeping it in the kitchen or other
light room where it will not freeze.
We have long thought that much of the
soft corn almost wasted in fattening pork
might be more profitably fed to cows.
The well-fed pig rejects the soft green
cob. which in this STAGE has q good deal
popular belief, is not as good as that of
the COW. Give the fattening piga greater
variety of food, and he will not only
thrive better but make more heathful,
if not quite so fat. pork. The corn Judi
ciouslv fed to milch COWS will give far
better returns, keeping them from grow
ing poor, as COWS are apt to do at this
season when not given extra feed.
We are satisfied from long experience
and observation that a great mistake is
made in ordering large size to year
old fruit trees in preference to a smaller
size of two years old. First, the freight
or express charges are double. Second,
the larger trees are more likely to die be-
cause Of poorer roots. in proportion to the
size of the tree Third, they can not be
packed as well and so a long journey as
safely as smaller trees. In our long ex-
pcriencc we have found that a medium-
sized Q year old tree taken up and set at
| the same time as large 8 or year old
tree, will come into full bearing first and
be the healthier --Topuzur Gardening
The mystery of the formation of the
potato scab is explained by the Connccti-
cut Experiment Stations: The skin of the
potato is layer of cork-cells, and when
! injured it heals by the formation OF new
cork layer When the tuber grows in
water, or in wet soil, the cork layer
thickens at various points, ptoducing
many little warts on the surface, and rem.
! dering the cuticle less resistant OF decay
! If the excess of water continues fora con-
siderable time, decay sets in and the
starch and tissues of the tuber become
discolorcd. But if the decay is arrested,
the cork layer forms between the de.
cayed and healthy parts and the potato
is scabby.
Some farmers have tried banking up
the basement of barns, especially the
roadway to the doors, with loose stones,
covering the whole with dirt. This
makes dry roadway, but the objection
is that these covered stone heaps become
the harbor for rats, and it is almost i'm
possible to destroy or drive them away.
The best rule is to keep farm tools housed
when not in use. If, however, they have
been left out until now, no time should
be lost in getting them in. The wastage
from exposure of costly implements is
enormous every year, and it is response
bic for considerable of the hard times
that some farmers complain of No mat