The National tribune., 1888-03-15
OUR RUR4L TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for 0uT
Agricultural Readers
TOOLS rnR TIE eARnEx.

TOOLS FOR THE GARDEN.
After garden is plowed, hoe, manure and
shovel may be all the tools that are absolutely
required for the cultivation of the garden; but
there is no good reason why there should not
be supply of implements that will save time
and labor. Seeds of all kinds may be planted
by hand, but that is not reason why seed
drill, that saves time and very tiresome labor,
should not be used to plant such as can be so
planted. There are variety of such imple-
ments. The garden rake is an almost indis-
pensable implement in the garden, and
may very often be employed to better adj
vantage than hoe in stirring the soil and
uprooting weeds. A good farmer has a variety
of tools of ali kinds; SO, too should the good
gardener. There should be hoes for different
purposes, and by all means a wheel hoe; it will
accomplish so much in short space of time,
especially with such vegetables as onions, beets
carrots, parsnips, etc. There should be trans
planters, the watering-p pot and all kinds of i'm
plements that come into practice in a well-or-
dered garden The wheelbarrow should be at
hand to remove all rubbish that may aCcumu-
late, such as small stones, cornstalks, ETC., that
require transportation to unsighty places
Germantown Telegraph
ACTION OF LIME.
Lime of itself supplies kind of inorganic
food, which appears to be necessary to the
healthy growth Of cultivated plants, but per-
haps no more important office is performed by
it than that by which it facilitates or causes
| useful organic and inorganic compounds to be
produced III the soil, by promoting decompesi-
ton and change, whereby fertilizing elements
are prepared for entering more speedily into
| the circulation and growth of plants 1t at
tracts carbonic acid; and when brought in con-
tact with animal or vegetable matter, causes a
more rapid decomposition and reduction to a
state for entering the roots of plants. 1t is for
| this reason that lime produces so good results
! in its effects when applied to a soil newly
| broken up, where there is vegetable matter
contained in the stubble and plant roots to be
! decomposed. BY its chemical action it is be-
! lieved to act in setting alkalies at liberty and
| in the formation Of soluble silicates that are
useful in all grain crops. 1t is, therefore, for
| the above reasons with many others, that lime
! is brought into use upon the farm. Its appli.
cation is Of high antiquity and its utility has
| been recognized in all countries and through
all ages, and has probably been as extensively
| used as any mineral substance known.
COMPOSITION OF ASHES.
| The value of ashes depends very much upon
! the kind Of material from which they are OBJ.
| tanned. From tables of analyses, 1t appears that
/ they are of least value in potash in the bark oil
| the trunk and greatest in the sap wood con.
! tanning almost so per cent. more than the heart
| wood, while the quantity Of lime is much the
! greatest in the trunk bark Reckoning the
! quantity Of lime and phosphoric acid contained
in ashes, beech wood gives the best results, but
| in potash it is less than some other varieties Of
wood, White hickory is richest in potash o.
/ common forest wood. We have the impression
| that apple tree twigs are very rich In potash
and possibly also in lime.
NOTES.
- Those who wish to grow cucumber plant,
in lettuce or radish house. to follow the lettuc.
or radisheg, usually prepare hotbed inside the
! house, and cover it with hotbed sashes, so tha
| the cucumber plants can be kept at a higher
| heat than the lettuce or radishes will bear
| from this bed the cucumber plants are easily
| transplanted after clearing OFF the early crop
Sowing celery is now occupation of the
! gardener. The chief trouble In raising celery
! is the failure in starting them successfully 81
| that the surest way for the novice is to buy tn,
plants from the greenhouse. Set the plants Ii
| rows about six inches apart in the richest cor
ner Of the garden and cultivate every few days
| There is no reason why farmers should not have
| CpiSiy AoI blStT oHh USE ycb pEODdDly GuS ma
jority have an impression that it is an unat
tainable luxury.
: - 1t Is somewhat strange that because few
persons allow their work horses to go unshod a
all seasons Of the year so many others are In
duced to try the same thing, however much il
may be against their own judgment, thereby
causing much suffering to the animal. In nearly
every part of the world, except, perhaps, in al
| geria, where the ground is sandy and soft, horses
| have DppO Ehod from time m punoral. and
Notwithstanding this as well as the additions
fact, shown by all experience, that horses with
out shoes cannot do near as much work as thos
that are shod, some try the experiment Withou
so much as ever thinking of the amount of suf
fering they occasion the animals
"A correspondent asks for remedy TO
gapes, and, in reply, we quote from the Farmer
Home We are asked for gapes. The OLE
method of curing this evil by taking feather
trimmed to the required size, dipping 1t Ii
| kerosene oil, inserting it into the Windpipe
turning it around and Withdrawing it, thereb!
removing the grown worms may be necessar,
where these parasites have got possession. Blu
a much better plan Is to prevent them, by neve
rearing chickens on the same plot of grount
two years in succession. The worms will neve
mature from the Larvae, unless in damp eartl
or water. 1t is said that 10 grains of salicyli
acid in the water Of so chicks, daily, is a pre-
ventiye; and that gargle, composed of waite
10 parts, carbolic acid one part and saiicyli
acid one part is a positive cure. To use tn
gargle, press the esophagus of the fowl wit
thumb and finger, so that it cannot breathe
fill the throat and mouth with the gargle, let
ting it remain in the mouth, then pour it out
This will kill the parasites, and coughing vii
expel them. In our experience, onions an
sulphur fed occasionally have prevented th
gapes; and sprinkling the throat and openin
of the windpipe with sulphur has cured a.
cases that have come to our notice. "-EEchang