The record-union., 1891-06-12
FARM And ORCHARD.
Plant Foods and SOilS-The Power
of Roots.
Stlkworms-Individua characteristics
Hen Roosts--Poultry and General
Farm Notes.


The fertility of soil depends not solely
on the composition of the soils, but also
upon the availability of the food existing
therein that comes within the capacity of
the plants to appropriate, either by the
effects of chemical reaction, or by the
power of the roots to change the compo-
sition of the soil itself. When the soil is
turned over with plow the warmth of
the sun, the air and moisture are thus
given free access, and certain changes are
effected which render soluble some por-
tions of the soil that are inert, and by the
changes thus effected others are induced,
the processes being nearly identical with
those occurring in the laboratory, the diff
ference being that the changes in the soil
are not always apparent. Silicates and
other insoluble matter are changed and
converted into materials that become
plant food, some rapidly and in some
soils slowly.
1t is not to the solubility of plant food
alone, however, that the plants secure
their needed Sustenance i'll every case.
Experiments made at the Rhode Island
Experimental Station throw additional
light on the methods of plant-feeding, as
1t has been demonstrated and accepted
as a fact that the roots of plants are
able to take even more plant food
from the soil than that which water
alone can dissolve, as the ends of
the little rOotlets have been shown
to be acid, and where plants are growing
upon limestone soil it is an easy matter
to find some stone over the surface of
which a rootlet may have furrowed a
channel, which demonstrates that the
NIy,<- 7 l.
their power TO extract plant food from
the soil is greater than that of water.
The power of the roots to convert inSOlu-
bic material into plant food is one of the
factors that enter into numerous processes
that permit the soil to be increased in
fertility when green manurial crops are
grown and turned under, which is a re-
storation to the soil of that which has
been derived from it by first changing
the composition of the soil and convert
ing 1t into plant food, the rootlets being
the agents.
Not only do rootlets have the acid re-
action mentioned, but the dissolving
power of roots varies, as experiments
with the grains have shown, oats having
greater power to extract potash from the
soil than has wheat, barley or rye. This
variation renders it impossible to make a
correct analysis OF the soil, and the only
method by which the farmer can satisfy
iALISelI - W experiment WlIn various
fertilizers on separate plots and note the
effects OF the applications, comparing
them carefully, making observations fire.
Quently and recording the results until
the crops are fully matured.-Philadel-
phia Record.
INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS.
flock of hens, though only one flock
and looked upon as a collective number
is really composed of individuals that
nlT .aln,
so many human beings, and this fact is
nearly always overlooked, though it is
matter deserving as much consideration
as any other. We are all familiar with
the feeding of animals, and know how
one OF them may be fastidious. refusing
TO eat certain foods; while around the
family table we find some of the members
are very partial TO particular dishes that
are rejected by others. With the knowl-
edge Of these things, so far as they apply
to animals, poultrymen seem to conduct
the feeding of their fiocks as though
every hen IN the flock was exactly like
every other hen, and each ate exactly the
same kind of food and the same quantity
with the same relish. To attempt to
estimate "hoW much feed a hen should
have" would inflict upon the party max
ing the estimate the duty of first learning
the desire of that particular hen, as well
as her surroundings, whether confined or
-
into consideration the season, her produc-
ton OF eggs, and many other details, and
when such thought has to be extended to
the whole flock it is only by daily obser-
vation, weighing the food, noting the
variety and study of each individuals
characteristics, that perfect familiarity
with the matter can be gained.
But If the poultryman is to become
familiar with the individual characteris-
ties of his hens, and attempts to keep
large numbers, how is it possible for him
10 do so? 1t is doubtful if he can. even
over long period of time, accomplish
Such purpose, but he can at least feed in
manner TO cater, to some extent. TO the
desires OF his flock, by varying the food
frequently and feeding such foods as NAV
be required for his purpose. Nature
prompts the hens in their selection. 10
some extent and the poultryman should
at least separate his hens into flocks that
arc as uniform as possible. He should
not have the laying hens and the non
layers in one flock, or the old hens and
the pullets together. The laying hens.
when producing eggs, need heterogeneous
diet, and little care in providing them
with food rich in the elements that com
pose the eggs will keep them in good con-
dition. To leave them with hens that are
being fatted for the market will induce
them TO eat the more carbonaceous food
In leu OF the nitrogenous, and thus seri-
ously interfere with the duties of both
floclls.
The poultryman has another privilege.
be can breed for uniformity. BY careful
selection Of those hens that are hardy and
have good appetites, he can Gull out many
OF the delicate ones, and by using some
preferred breed and selecting males that
wlIl, IN his opinion, transmit their quail
ties, greater uniformity will be secured.
production will be increased, and the
labor Of feeding more or less reduced bv
reason OF more general approach 10
some individual type on the part of all
the members of the flock. The failures
of many are due to the non-recognition of
individual characteristics. and it may re-
quire a complete change of the stock in
order to secure uniformity. The person
NO uses the pure breeds and knows
their points of excellence and pec,Iliari
ties, has great advantage over him who
breeds his fowls in a hap-hazard way,
without regard to individual merit or the
uniformity of the flock.-P. II. j., in Ru-
raj New Yorker.
ABOUT SILK WORMS.
The silk worm is as old as history. In
dia and China from time immemorial
have raised the larvae that furnish the
silk of commerce. So long ago as the
time OF Ilberius men were forbidden to
wear the lustrous fabric woven of the CO.
coons OF the silk worm, and since that
time the fair sex have made themselves
lovely with silk tissues even TO this dav.
The Romans got all their silk from the
East, with one notable exception. Hello
gabalus defied the Roman canon, and ap-
peared in the amphitheater clad in silk
from top TO toe,' and suffered reproach
therefor.
About the year $50, monks brought silk
from China TO ConstantinopIe. From
thence the eggs We're carried first to
Greece, thence to Sicily, and later to