Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1890-09-10
Farm, Orchard, and Garden.


Do farmers as a rule pay as much atten-
tion to preparing their own supplies of dried
fruits as formerly, or do they depend more
upon canned goods from the stores? We
are inclined to thiuk that the latter is the
case, and that less attention is given to
small domestic economies of that sort than
there was ''iu the good old days" Ia New
England, half century ago. nothing was
cause for greater pride, or redounded more
to the credit of the farmer and his help
meet, than the well-stored cellars with
which they calmly prepared for the advent
of the long and severe winter. There were
dried fruits, running through the whole
list; dried vegetables, such as sweet oo.n,
peas and beans, pumpkins, squashes, tur-
nips, cabbages, beets onions; in fact, al
most everything that grew in the garden in
summer and for summer use was grown
and harvested in due proportion for the
winter. The nicest care was expended in
storing them SO that they would save with
out injury; and when to these were added
the barrel of pork and of beef, and gener-
GUS stores of maple sweets, it mattered
| little if storms did come and roads got
blocked. The farmers life was more inde-
pendent then than now, because be took
good care to make it 30. "Home thrift" is
term of which we are fast losing sight, to
our own vast detriment.
From recent article on cider-vinegar
making we condense few good points,
They are the meat of the complete instruc-
tions given by L. Il. Bryant before the
Cider and Cider Vinegar Makers Associ-
alton of the Northwest: The essentials for
making cider-vinegar on a small scale are
a grinder to CRATE the apples up into fine
I'M n n " ho i1to hav
rels to put the juice iD, frost proof room
| or cellar to store the product, and, of
course, good supply of decent apples
Ordinary good windfalls will make good
material for vinegar, but immature, wilted
and rotten apples should be rejected. The
better the apples the better the product
Put the cider, when made, into good irop-
bound barrels and place out of doors, but
| in the shade, and allow to ferment. On the
approach of freezing weather rack off the
vinegar stock into clean barrels (only
three-fourths filed. Draw from the first
barrels by means of a faucet placed in the
end, or, preferably, with syphon made of
five-eighths inch rubber tubing. Now re-
move the barrels to winter quarters, take
out the bungs, and let remain undsturbed
until the contents become good vinegar
When the vinegar is thoroughly made q
cool, dry cellar is an excellent place to
store it, and the barrels may be filled and
bunged up. Never put the barrels in the
sun in hot weather, as they will be spoiled
and the contents lost. To make good cider
or vinegar use good, clean apples. Ex-
posure to heat and air is what makes vine.
gar. To have bright, clear vinegar, free
from must, rack it before moving, if it has
been standing for any length of time, and
thoroughly clean all barrels as soon as
emptied.
Missouri and Kansas seem to be the ban
ner States of the Alliance. The two to-
gether have more than 5000 Lodges.
Where wire worms are troublesome plow
the ground early in the fall, and after har-
row frequently. This will keep them near
the surface and give the birds chance at
them.
1t pays better to feed a lean or moder- |
ately fat animal than one that has already |
flesh enough to warrant sending to market |
The weight that is added in s'fiuishing off, |
an animal is often put on at a positive loss. |
The only way in which it pays is by increas-
ing the value of the whole.
In the single county of Windham, Yer
mont, are more than 40, 900 acres of land
once cultivated, but now deserted, because
of the superior inducements that cheap
lands in the West have offered, and partly, |
also, because of the great attractions of city |
over rural life for the younger generation.
Fruit will be scarce and high generally
throughout the United States this fall and |
winter. Those who are so fortunate as to |
have any for market will find themselves |
we'll repaid for all extra care expended in |
sorting and packing. Fine fruit, put up in
small packages, will command fancy prices. |
There seems to be no limit to the de. |
velopment of the uses Of the cotton plant. |
The stalks that have heretofore been a
nuisance are now to be turned into bag
ging. II is estimated about $4,000, 900
that formerly went for jute bagging will
now be kept in the country, beside which,
planters will be relieved from the oppres-
sion of the jute bagging trust that has an
noyed them so long and seriously.
In addition to the fact that, as meat pro-
ducers, geese are as valuable as any other |
poultry, each bird will make annually at |
least pound of feathers. These will be of
as much value as the average egg product
of single hen. The white or Embden are |
the most valuable, not only because of the
increased value of their feathers over those |
VI bu6 gray VI 1UulOusS, Uub UoCdu6o VI Lu6 |
finer quality of their flesh.
The value of beans for feeding horses IS
not as we'll known in this country as in |
England, whore they are largely grown |
especially for that purpose. They are very
nutritious, containing $40 parts of nutritive |
matter to the thousand. They may be fed |
alone, or ground up with other food Two |
pounds of crushed beans day added to the |
horses food during the winter will greatly |
increase his strength and endurance.
A prolific source of loss in stock feeding |
with some farmers is that the stock is not |
'.'kept going" continuously. If cattle, |
swine, sheep or horses are ouce allowed to
get down in condition it always requires |
more food, more time and better care to
get the animal up than would be required
if it were kept up all the time. Just now
the margin of profit is at the best 50 meager
that we can not afford any drawbacks
which can possibly be avoided.
Frequent grooming is juat as necessary
in the dairy as in the horse stable. A COW
whose skin is not kept clean will not fur
nish the very best milk, free from all i'm
purities and unpleasant odors, for the
reason that these, which should be thrown
off through tho open pores of the skin,
must find an outlet elsewhere if those are
closed. To have pure milk and sweet but
ter the skin must be kept clean and free
from the scurf which otherwise fills up the
pores.
We notice a good suggestion in an ex-
change that the manure product upon the
farm should be considered as crop, and
equal attention paid to housing and caring
for it that is given to the other crops. To
some farmers this will bs new way of
looking at the matter, but it is the proper
one. This is the one crop that never fails,
and if we once get it on to the land 10
proper shape it is bound to repay US some
time. Its value varies, according to the
care given it, as much as other crops vary
according to their cultivation.