The National tribune., 1888-08-02
OUR RURAL TOPICS,
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
TURNIPS.

said If you SOW your seed on the 25th of July,
rain or shine, you will always raise turnips
l have two acres of the Cory's sweet corn,
which has matured in time to cut up and SOW
tie ground in turnips. The turnip seed being
small, 1t is important that the soil should be in
the finest possible condition, and not clod or
lump to be allowed in the patch you SOW. The
ground should be plOwed frequently and Guilt
waited thoroughly before sowing, in order to
allow the weed and grass seeds to terminate,
thereby Kidding the place of these nuissnces
before planting. The crop is especially a
Summer crop, and natures quickly. It can be
grown on land formerly occupied by early
potatoes, onions or sugar-corn. The seed
should be soWn before or after a rain, while
the ground is moist, as on the strength of the
early growth will depend in a great measure
the success of the crop. The fly is very de-
structive to the turnip crop, especially dur
ing the warm weather, and frequently eats off
the entire field as fast as the young plants
make their appearance. The best plan is to
SOW an abundance of seed at the rate of two
pounds the acre; and if the young plants are
too thick in the drills, thin them out by hoe
ing, or with a light harrow if sown broadcast.
they are safe from the fly, but should the crop
be destroyed, loosen or harrow the ground
Immediately and re-sow at once. The seed
sower | would prefer in sowing; it opens the
furrOw, plants the seed, and covers it with
small roller, thus MASKING every clod plant
from threequarteTs to one inch deep, and seed
every six inches, if yOu possibly can.
The kind of seed to SOW for Winter use are
-baga, or Swede, aud the purple-top. The
-baga grows the largest and is the most
productive Swede known. 1t is very highly
recommended, and no sort will produce such
handsomely formed roots or greater yield. 1t
is very solid, of q beautiful orange color, with
handsome purple top. The purple-top is
variety of easiest culture and general favor
tie; will do well to SOW in drills or broadcast,
and will form gOod-sized bulbs in favorable
season in about seven TO eight weeks from SOW
ing. 1t is of perfect, fiat form, with a small
tap-root and a bright purple top. The leaves
are short and narrow, growing erect from the
bulb. 1t is fine table variety and excellent
for feeding stock.
Turnips may be kept perfectly sound until
! Spring by being taken up about the first of
| November, or before severe frost sets in. Cut
| the leaves off within half an inch of the bulb
collect the latter and put them in a dry pit or
| cellar, cover with straw, and earth over all.
| Thus protected, they will be found fresh and
| perfect until February. The Swede will be
III lDI Cii0 IdDIb until u fll- 1A0aS lot OpEIuS
| use can be pitted out Of doors in dry situa-
| ton, piling them 10 conical form and cover
| ing them with three inches of straw and foot
| or IS inches Of EARTH which will be ample pro-
! tecton. In good season can raise from 400 to
| 500 bushels per acre; sells at 40 cents per
| bushel.-W. L. FRoss, Donnelsyille, o.
LICE ON YOUNG CHICKENS.
Young chickens are often found suffering
from lice, and howlto get rid Of them is a diff
| cult problem to solve, since measures adapted
to adult fowls are too heroic for the young
chicks lady correspondent Of the Kansas
Farmer gives her method of treatment as fol-
lows:
Take a soft white cloth and sprinkle with
! kerosene, just enough to make the cloth look
greasy, but not wet; put one end in basket
or old pan, place the little chicks in it, and
turn the other end over them nicely, and place
! another cloth over all, and let them remain in
| this fume-bath for one or two hours Cooking
at them occasionally to see that they are all
! right; at the end of that time remove them
to clean, dry quarters. You will be surprised
| at the amount of creepers on the cloth. Just
| pour boiling water on them and rest assured
| you will not be troubled with them again. II
you let the chickens run with the hen you
| might have TO repeat the process again. She,
| however, should be thoroughly busted with in
sect pOwder-never with sulphur. / have fol-
lowed this method of treatment for years and
find it far better than the old way of greasing
the little fellows all over with salty grease
It is entirely original; it is very effective and
perfectly harmless; try it. l never lose a
chicken from natural death, and very few by
accident"
SEED SAVING.
Seed TO be used next season should be saved
early. To be of any advantage to the saver il
should be saved carefully In the first place
attention should be paid to the growth of sew.
eral plants, that the best may be invariably Sc
Iected for perpetuatiOu. AS soon as the seed!
are gathered, no matter how pressing the needs
Of the hour may be, they should be put intc
packages that shall contain the names Of the
seeds and any memoranda that it may be es
sential or desirable to know when the sowing
time comes.
To fill the pockets promiscuously with ripen
ed seeds, intending later to separate, is a worth
less work, and to save seed promiscuously
mixing kinds or color that should be used sep
arately, is worse than neglecting to save seed
entirely; for, in the latter case, the reliable
scotsman must be resorted to and the result b.
satisfactory almost invariably, and in the
former instance the temptation will be to put
in the ground O mixture of seed that had bet.
ter have been thrown into the fire. By al
means save seed, but take time to do the worl
properly, remembering that time and patience
now will atone for vexation and more time
OTHERWISE necessary 10 De spent at an equally
busy time.-Massachusstt Piougbman.
THE APPLE-TREE B0RER.
In June and July look out for the apple trer
borer, the insect that weakens, if it does no
totally destroy, SO many of our young trees
In its full grown or beetle state it has whit
stripes lengthwise along its back and is an inch
in length. Its work is done in two or three
years. Look for it in the soil near the base O
the tree. Scrape the bark and wash it will
strong soft soap and soda. This will destroy
many of the young insects and the eggs. II
order to do this it viii be necessary to remov
the soil little way round the trunk. Instead
Of putting back the same soil throw in hal
bushel Of coal ashes By all means remove thu
sod from the vicinity Of the trunk. Wewoul(
almost feel justified in offering Il reward for thu
discovery OF a single tree that has been badly
injured by borers which has been always il
cultivated ground. If the insects have alread!
commenced their boring DO the best you can t.
destroy them in their tunnels by inserting
wire A little cutting of the treee with knit
to get at them will be kindness to the tree
lfaiL and Express
TREE LABELS
There has been Of late great deal said as tt
the best labels for fruit trees. We have tried
variety of them, aud have found that strip
of zinc written on by chemical ink (the prep
aration of which we have frequently made
known, retained the name for many years
but the wire is liable TO wear its way through
the metal. Some write on the zine simply