St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-02-22
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
D INDUSTRIES.

AAAALAAXN AU1SxOO0X OxAa0s
-
KINDRED INDUSTRIES.
Poultry and Frsit-Raising Kladred InAaa-
tries and Bookkeeping . Near Neigh
b0r.
Every farmer should be . poultry
keeper. Every farmer should be . bee
keeper. and every farmer should raise
fruit These are kindred industries.
Poultry, bees and fruit harmonic to per-
lection. They work in-and-in, and arc
quite as good a a cash deposit in bank.
The produce Of the orchard, the produce
Of the hen-house and the produce Of the
beehive is eve in demand and can be
turned into cash most any time.
That poultry is . benefit to an orchard
is generally admitted, and that an or
chard is beneficial to fowls We know
from experience. The range of an
orchard is the best place in the world
for chickens to forage. The presence Of
the fowls in the grass or crops about the
fruit trees reduces the ravages Of
damaging insects to . minimum, and as
these pests have a tendency to harbor
and multiply about orchard sites, they
afford an abundance Of insect food for
the flock.
In the fall Of the yea the wind-falls,
and damaged fruit that drops to the
ground. is a source Of green food to the
fowls, so necessary to reproduction.
In starting and maintaining . young Or
chard and in r~ejuvenating an old one.
the droppings from the hen roost are Of
great value. Here the hen says to the
tree: ''YOu helped me and now 1 bene-
a. you" Hardwood ashes, domestic
poultry guano and virgin forest soil or
leaf-mold mixed in proportion Of about
one-third each and applied about the
trees, mixing it with the loosened sur
face soil with q mulch of leaves or
straw, causes . rapid growth and dark
foliage in young trees, and makes the
older mes bear more abundantly.
The productive orchards are
those close by large apiaries. That bees
assist in the fertilization Of fruit bloom
is unquestioned. That the presence
of countless bees among the bios
SONS in the spring time in
sures fruit in season we fully
believe. Indeed, it is our observa-
ton and experience, and that others can
offer similar testimony we do not doubt.
Thus the bees benefit the trees; but this
is not all. Think of the ocean of
sweets that would 60 to waste but for
that wonderfully intelligent and tire
less little insect that is ever on the
alert to add to its store of delicious nee !
tar! Only a tiny insect! One, two,
three, q dozen, a hundred. . thousand |
yes twenty to forty thousand Of them in
one well-stocked colony.
Associate ten, twenty or fifty colonies |
of these small but earnest workers on
premises and we have millions of
well-trained lsborers who clothe nd
feed themselves and asked Of us no
compensation for their work. Yet they |
work, and work with . vim. They are
the very essence Of energy and activity.
They are never SO happy or 70 peaceful
IS when the harvest Of bloom is ripe
md the honey flow at its highest tide.
Then it is that they will part
with . portion Of their stores in
peace, and offer but little resistance to
our high-handed robbery Of their store
but beware of them when the
is over and the laborers are
forced to idle away the sunny hours
about the hearthstone. Then there is .
v~iciousness and a vigor about them in
the defense of their home and its con-
tents, that warns all intruders to be-
Every N of them is . soldier
a genuine home g~uard-armcd to the
teeth, and in the twinkling Of an eye
al of them are in the face of the enemy
It the first sound Of his approach.
Some fruit-growers entertain the idea
hat bees work injury to ripe grapes
md that for this reason bees should
This opinion is lot = mooted
dea merely, but has been the cause Of
Especially is this true Of
where there has been SO
much conflict between bee-keepers and
ruit-growers. During the blooming
,eriod the bees are certainly bene-
icial to grapes; but IS to whether
hey puncture the skin of ripening
'rapes and thus induce rot or evapora-
AOh VI HUI We CSu HUI say pOSlt1vclys
nut from our observation in this respect
re are led to believe that in the major
ty of instances, where the ordinary
'oncy bee is seen on grape clusters, the
ruit has been previously punctured by
anger insects, such As yellow-jacks, =!
ETC., OF has been damaged by the -.
ction of the wind in tossing the vines T,
bout, thus cracking the skin and at i.
the vigilant bee. But allowing .
nat possibly bees do sometimes work a !.
tile injury to the fruit of q vineyard. =.
not this small damage be morc than :
f-set by the increased prolificness of :
he vines, occasioned by the presence =
the bees in working on the bloom. =
Jus insuring superior fertilization? /.
he grape injury aside, bsscs arc such !.
value to orchards in gen. I"
al. and such . source of profit to the =
ltelligent keeper, that they should y
we . place among the kindred in !,
b. Greer, in Dixie Farmer. I"
METHODS COMPARED. I
lrm Labor In Ohio ~. Farm Labor In "
For Farmers to Pom Il
1er. .,
The most marked difference between a,