Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1888-03-05
FARM NOTES.


to the sun any longer than is needed
to dry them.
The insect-eating birds are among
the farmers best friends, to be cher
rished and protected.
A little time spent in care of the front
yard and in growing flowers will moi
be wasted time.
Florida claims to have extensive
phosphate beds equaling if not sur
p passing those of South Carolina.
Judicious thinning of tree fruits is a
very fine and profitable thing when
ever it can be conveniently practiced.
Use every endeavor to induce the
birds to build near the house and barn,
as they are the best insect extermina-
tors.
Buttermilk thickened with wheat
middlings and ground oats, with plenty
of grass, is the best food for CROWN Q
pigs.
The Government of Victoria, Austria
liza, is spending at the rate of 800, OOO
a year to keep in check the increase OF
rabbits on crown lands.
In curing hay and planting corn for
fodder have in mind our long winters,
and when you think you have enough
secure or prepare IA little more.
In several localities on the Hudson
River. New York, Concord grape
growers report that phylloXera are
gnawing at the roots of the grape vine
After the rains it will require close
attention and extra work to keep down
the weeds and grass, as they now have
the most favorable conditions for
growth.
When young tree runs up in height
with but few strong branches and a
slender trunk the top should be
trimmed off a few inches, especially of
| the main shoots.
By feeding oats unthrashed, we save
| the labor of thrashing, and also get
the straw and grain together in the
stomach, getting a better digestion of
both than when they are fed separate.
The introduction of labor-saviug
machinery has disarranged the old
methods of farming, and in nothing
more than in the changes it has
necesstated in the employment of
hired help.
Waldo F. Brown says in the National
St0c6madn: One mistake which is
made by many breeders of Jerseys is
to allow them to breed too young, and
l think this has done much to reduce
their size.
Any agricultural society can save
money by restricting the number of
prizes in each of the classes. Two
premiums are enough to offer for any
thing, as no exhibitor cares for third
or fourth prize.
Save all the manure A quarter of
century ago many Western farmers
dumped their manure into the rivers,
not suppOsing that manure or fertiliz-
ers is now being discussed as well as
the methods of restoring fertility.
Crab grass springs up after a rain.
1t should be eradicated when very
young, and on dry, warm days. Ii
cleaned out in its first stages the work
will be easy, but if it be allowed to
root well and make growth it will en-
tail a vast amount of labor.
Every time you use the cultivator in
order to kill out the grass and weeds
you are at the same time stirring the
soil, thereby admitting more air to the
roots of the plants, providing greater
amount of moisture and converting the
insoluble substances into plant food.
German millet, sown and lightly
narrowed in, in the proportion OF one
bushel of seed per acre, makes ar eX-
cellent crop for summer. But it must
be cut as soon as it shall blossom. for
if allowed to ripen its seed it will be-
come hard and woody. On good,
well-manured land it should produce
two tons of hay per acre.
An English experimenter finds that,
contrary to general opinion, the
growth of ivy over a house renders the
interior entirely flee from moisture;
the ivy extracts every possible particle
of moisture from wood, brick or stone
for its own sustenance, by means of
tiny roots, which work their way into
even the hardest stone.
All the government departments of
France. including that of agriculture,
have had to submit to a reduction of
the sums proposed for their use during
the year 1888. The agricultural de-
partment will have 2,S2S, $50 francs
less than the sum originally asked for.
The most general regret is occa-
stoned by the reduction of the vote
for agricultural education by 36,620
francs.
Immense quantities of vegetables
are daily imported to London from
Jersey, principally potatoes. The
trade has greatly increased during
the last few years. Last season near
ly 100000 tons of potatoes passed
through Southampton, and 80 special
trains were dispatched from the dock
station at that port, laden solely with
vegetables from the Channel islands,
each train carrying about 250 tons.
Partly with view to the develop
e
iect for making Vera Cruz a free port
of entry is beng discussed with great
interest. The idea is that European
merchants would open branch estab-
lshments in the country, and that
agriculture would be promoted in
order to stimulate trade. Europeans
favor the project as the best means
of helping them to meet American
competition.
To secure fall blooming among roses
after blooming in the spring the strong
new canes should not be cut back, but
be allowed to remain and be bent down
to or toward the ground, fastening
them securely with pegs. In this
position great many shoots will start
out with more or less bloom. In the
following spring cut away as much of
the previous years growth as may
be thought best. Very strong grow
ing kinds can be allowed more wood
than the weaker ones.
At a meeting of the Physiological
society of Berlin, it was given as a
fact that when the bee has filled his
cell and completed the lid, a drop of
formic acid, obtained from the poison
bag, connected with the sting, is added
to the honey by perforating the lid
with the sting, This formio acid pre-
serves honey and every other sugar
solution from fermentation. Most of
the insects that have a singing APP
paratus similar to that of the bee are
collectors and storers of honey, SO the
sting has double function-it is a
weapon and picker.
An association is about to be formed
in Sullivan county, New York, with
headquarters at Cochecton, to be
known as the Empire Sheep and Land
Company of North America, with
capital stock of $4,000. The object of