The record-union., 1891-01-22
FARM And ORCHARD.
Spring Flowing and the Spreading
of Manure.
THE FARMER CONSIDERED AS a
MANUFACTURER

ASSuihss AoNiS ior Legs ana Nlarkeu-
able Chickens-Preparing Honey
How to Raise Large eAsparagus-Corn
SheIling in Mexico-Use of Sulphur
for Bleaching Dried Fruits.
The sooner the ground can be plowed
in the spring the better, especially on
heavy soils. During the warm days that
sometimes occur in the winter plowing
may be done, provided the ground is not
too wet for work. 1t will not interfere
with later plowing, for the later plowing
Will only serve to reduce the soil to finer
condition. No doubt an objection may
be urged against blowing at a time when
the ground may be wet, but the frost will
pulverlze the Jumps and make the soil
mellow. To plow early, leave the ground
III the rough, and cross-plow later; then
harrow down fine for the crop, will be of
great advantage to the crop, allowing
more plant food, lessening the damage
from drought and warming the soil, as
well as preventing the baking of the top
soil to certain extent. When the manure
is not decomposed in the heap it must de-
compose in the soil before the plants can
utilize it as food, and the sooner the
manure IS spread the better il will be for
the crop.
AS it is difficult to spread manure on
ploWed ground, owing to the labor of
hauling over the rough, soft ground, the
| method practiced by those who plow
| twice is to spread the manure on the un-
plowed ground, plow it under and leave
| the ground in the rough mot harrowing),
and when the land is cross-plowed later
| OH the manure is more Intimately mixed
with the soil. The early blowing also
destroys cutworIns and grubs, and allows
the frost TO go down deeper into the
ground. 1t may be mentioned that the
frost will pulveriZe the soil much better
than can be done by any mechanical pro-
! cess, and it Will save labor if allowed to
work on the clods and Jumps, which are
reduced by the expansion and contraction
OF cold and heat.
To plow twice instead of once appears
laborious, but it is not economical to
withhold any labor or other expense that
viii result in gain later on. If better
results can be derived from the manure,
| and the ground can be worked more
easily in the summer, by reason of the
| excellent condition of the soil (due to the
careful early preparatory the labor Of the
summer season will be lessened, the only
increase OF labor being in harvesting the
| larger crop, to which no farmer will have
any obiection.-Ptitadelph Record
THE FARMER.
A farm is complete factory, where the
staple is grown and converted into pro-
ducts entirely different from the oriui-
nails. The farmer has his raw materials
at his door, and he selects for his purpose
those best suited for manufacturing into
articles that are mostly in demand at his
nearest market The farmer is, through
the agency Of his animals, manufact-
urer of butter, milk, wool and meat, and
the better his goods the higher the prices
he obtains. He is compelled to compete
in the markets with others who are en-
gagged in the same enterprise, and in
order to cheaper his articles in cost and
crowd his rivals aside he must resort to
the easiest, most inexpensive and best
machines for his purpose. What the ma
chine is to the cotton manufacturer the
| animal is to the farmer. 1t is his ma
| chine for utilizing the raw material of the
farm. To secure the best results the best
kind of a machine must be used-one that
Will not waste the raw material or turn
out an inferior article. And the better
the raw material the more efficient the
machine and the lower the cost of manu-
tacture.
The farmer should not engage in his
business without a knowledge of the ma
chimes (the breeds) for his purpose. He
cannot secure a large amount of milk
from beef-producing animal, or meat in
choicest shape from a milk-producing
one. Nor must he expect to secure the
largest amount of milk from material
that can be best converted into meat, or
expect to realize the most unless he
adaptS the machine and the materials to
the proper conditions for manufacture.
The farmer is as much compelled to
watch the markets, and push his sales, as
well as introduce his articles, as the mer-
chant, and it is just as important for him
to keep accounts, and avoid risks and
loss as it is to have all his ANIMALS and
farming implements up to the required
standard and capacity for realizing, to the
full extent, all that it is possible to Sc
cure. The farmer also has the advantage
of being able to annually increase his
supply OF raw material by manufacturing
into manure all that cannot be utilized
into some salable product. The success
of the farmer depends more on the intelli-
gent management of the farm than upon
the farm itself, for, after all, it is by the
use of the animals best adapted for the.
objects in view that the farm is made to
pay Philadelphia Record.
POULTRY CROSSES
A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer
asks that paper if erossbred fowls make
Most certainly they do, and the first
cross producing halt-bred fowls presum-
ing that the mother hens are the ordinary
mixed blood of the farm, will be the most
satisfactory. The reason of this is as we
breed up we get less and less proportional
blood. For instance: The first generation
is half-bloods, the second generation, us
ing full-blood males, gives three-ouar-
ters blood. The third, seven-eighths. So,
every succeeding generation gives less
infusion of the pure blood. There is
another reason why the first cross is so
marked. This is in the prepotency of
the male. In succeeding generations the
inferior qualities of the original female
common bred) birds are apt to crop out
through atavism, or the recurrance of the
original type of the mother, and espec-
tally of imperfections. Our advice for
farm breeding for eggs and for market
able chicken supply, is to cross breed
from some pure breed you like, and at
the same time breed pure fowls, male and
female, not necessarily from premiums,
and consequently very high-priced birds,
yet from those that are essentially pure.
Then sell off your mixed fowls and keep
your fock pure and at the same time
stout, by proper infnsion of blood bred
in line with your own. But if your aim
is to produce premium fowls, as fancier,
then close study must be made of the
points of the birds as well as the
characteristics.
FARM NOTES.
Buttermilk is sometimes too valuable
for the pigs. Use it instead of water
when making bread, and use it as
drink on the table.
While 'agriculture is the first and no.
blest of the Sciences stock-raising is the
right arm ofagriculture.