Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-08-14
RURAL TOPICS.
INFORMATION FOR THE HUs-
BANDMAN AND HOUSEWIFE.
Some Practical susgesiions for tho Farmer.
Stock BREEDER. Pouitersr. NurserymHn,
and housskeepers. ~
How to store Potatoes.

now TO etOro FotatOoas
Different men have different methods
and different climates require different
treatment for their root and cereal crops.
Many farmers say pieing or burying is
the best, while others again say storage
In cellar or barn is the best. Each Is
good in its way, and below will be found
two methods which very rarely fail to be
satisfactory II properly managed.
In the first place be certain that the
tubers are fully ripe. Potatoes that are
dug too early will not keep properly;
they turn soft, are unsavory for cooking
and weakly for seed. The best way to
determine whether the tubers are fully
matured, is to observe the haulm. The
leaves turn yellow and the vines shrink.
Having dug the potatoes, If they appear
dry, they can be carted away to the
place of storage at once; but, If at all
damp, they should lie on. the ground in
the sun until the moisture is entirely alb
sorbed. First, method of storing is to
dig trench about two or three feet
deep, and large, according to the quantity
of roots to be stored. Carefully and
compactly fill the trench, cover up with
hay or straw then cover with earth and
the spring, sound and sweet.
Another method is to cart them from
the field and spread them in cool cellar
and leave them until late in the fall,
then heap them together and cover them
with sacks or straw, or fill them into
barrels, keeping the cellar always about
five degrees above freezing point. Great
care should be taken in storing the
potatoes in cellars, that they do not be-
come too warm and rot, or sprOut too
early, or freeze and become worthless.
Farm Notes. -.
FLAT culture is better than hill cul-
ture, in dry weather.
STEADY application is what counts,
especially in agriculture.
CLOVER hay makes a capital feed to go
along with corn silage in winter.
HERE is. rotation for ~soiling crops:
Rye, red clover, oats, timothy, corn.
KILL weeds as soon as they show them
selves. This is the only way to keep
them down. na @ %
THE farmer who makes his own pork
and beef puts another bond on health
and pays himself for so doing.
IT is estimated that over seven hun
dred thousand dollars worth of clover is
devoured annually in New Hampshire by
the woodchuck.
THE atmosphere contains ammonia
and nitric acid, but these must be ab-
sorbed by the soil in order to benefit
vegetable growth.
WHAT kind of stock do you believe in?
yol oF e.
barreled stock-meat and wool, was the
reply.
WE are apt to become narrow-minded
| and selfish when we allow ourselves to
fret and worry because we can't work in
a certain groove.
The number of acres of irrigated land,
also, the number of flowing artesian
wells on farms, will be included in the
census returns this year.
SOILS that easily bake should be worked
over with harrow or cultivator after
each rain. A loose soil is essential to ad-
NIT moiture and warmth.
THE manure from animals differ.
Growing animals take from the food
eaten, about six per cent. of manurial
value, and milch cows about nine per
cent.
A GOOD crop of both corn and weeds
cannot be grown on the same ground
at the same time, any more that two
railway trains can pass on the same
track.
CLOVER can be put in the silo, we
would say to a correspondent. 1t should
be cut when in bloom, millet when the
blossoms fall, rye when the heads begin
to show.
You can't cheat nature. Starve and
neglect your farm and it will starve you
off of it in due course of time, and when
it does you will go around growing at
everything. See!
A SOUTHERN farmer remarks: ssLife
is lived to little purpose if at the end of
| twelve months the farmer knows nothing
more to his advantage than he knew at
the beginning"
A BOY should learn the habit of easy
politeness in all circumstances, but if
there be one place ON earth where one
should use freely his very best manners,
| it is in his own home.
SMOKE introduced into the bottom of q
smoke-house through piece of pipe
long enough to allow the air to cool be-
fore it reaches the meat is much better
than fire in the smoke-house.
UNRULY cattle on a farm are very
| troublesome, but the cause is not hard to
find. 1t is almost invariably poor pas
ture and semi-starvation. Why shouldn't
a hungry animal jump fences or push
them down?