The National tribune., 1891-04-30
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
TRUCK FARMING.

results. By truck farming is meant the raising
Of market vegetables at Z distance from great
cities and sending them thither by rail or
steamboats,. This has all grown up in the past
50 years, and now there is over 100000 geo Of
capital invested in $4,000 acres Of land and
100000 worth of machinery and appliances.
Ii employs 2I6OOO men, 1900 women, and 49,
600 children and -. 600 horses aud mules The
net product 10 the farmer every year, after
deducting all expenses Of marketing, is SO. OOO,-
600. In New England the labor bills are the
greatest item of expense. There il costs S3i to
raise an acre of asparagus; SO for an acre Of
beets; cabbage, $50; tomatoes $40; potatoes,
SIG; peas S29; watormoons, s2i; cucumbers,
$l37. In the lower Mississippi Valley, and
some other places in the South, the labor cost
Of an acre of asparagus is but $II; beets, %;
cabbage SIG; cucumbers, &c. and watermelons,
s.. The farmers practice crowding the land
for all that it will produce and by this means
get as high as 400 saleable melons off an acre. of
which il takes 200 to load a car that will
bring in the North from $50 TO S275, of which
the net returns will DO from $50 down TO
nothing.
NOTEE
A man who at this late day persists in putting
CYLINDERS" on his horses simply makes Of him
self monument as to the difficulty Of exter-
pating foolish idea when il has once obtained
entrance into mems minds.
The best way is to sift your coal ashes, and
use the cinders for walks, giving the fine dust
10 the poultry
B. Hathaway, Little Prairie Ronde, Mich,
has found that planting corn poisoned with
Paris green is the most effective way Of getting
rio of moles. lie plants it with other corn, not
expecting it to grow, as the poison kills the
germ.
A large establishment in Champaign Co.. ILL.,,
claims to have solved the bindmg-twine prob
lem. BY using nothing but American hemp
grown in tho neighborhoOd, IL makes better
and stronger Irvine than any produced by the
Binding Irvine Combine, and sells it at much
less. But one and half pounds of its Irvine
arc needed for an acre OF good. average wheat.
1t will raise 5000 acres Of hemp this year. on
its own land, and the farmers in the neighbOr-
hood will raise 1900 acres more.
Mr. O. G. Simond5 told the recent annual
convention OF tho American Cemetery AssOcia-
ton that for a climate like the West and North
west the American elm was the best orns-
mental tree 10 plant, with the English and
other varieties Of elms coming next. The Nor
way maple is perfectly hardy, and the Tartarian
maple does fairly well. The sycamore maple
is not always hardy. The negundo or ash
maple is valuable for its foliage. The oaks are
excellent trees, with the burr-oak heading the
list, and tho white, swamp white red, black
and pn-Oaks coming next. in the order named.
The scarlet oak is also grand tree. The black,
white and green ashes deserve consideration,
and the linden is one Of our hest trees. The
Wisconsin weeper is COOL tree TO plant on the
border Of lakes. The blackberry should re-
ceive more attention than il has, aud tho June
berry is an attractive tree in the Spring.
The quail is the greatest enemy the chinch-
bug has, and they should be encouraged to
make their homes on every farm. Hunting
them should not DO allowed by any respectable
farmer. aud little corn left in the fields for
their feed is but decent gratitude for their in
valuable services
Charles +. Bessey, Nebraska Botanist, says
that the black powder Of corn smut consists Of
tAN nif'ifn WHICH AlN nllti STU ASbiAltaf Which
reproduce the smut They will grow in ma
nure and barnyard liquids for an indefiuate
period. Smut enters the corn when IL is very
young, penetrating the soft tissues of the lower
joint. II does not pass from plant to plant in
the field Outward applications will do no good.
for the fungus is out Of reach inside. BY TO-
tation OF crops smut may DO extcrminated.
Animals should not be allowed to eat the smut
in the field, as they distribute it with their
droppHgs. Care should 10 taken to keep it
from COMMUNICATING the barnyard manure.
Infected stalks should be removed from the
field before the smut-baIls open, aud then care
fully destroyed. Smut or seed-corn may be
killed by immersion in solution OF blue Wit
riol, but it is better to plant perfectly sound
corn.
One Of the best ways Of treating the ground
in an apple orchard is to SOW two or three crops
Of buekwheat upon it in one season, blowing
each ono under before it gets ripe. This
loosens the soil as no other crop will do, and
greatly helps both apple and pear trees
The first step in diminishing the evil Of "a
long distance to market" is to improve the
roads. Twenty miles to the market town over
a good road is not SO far as 10 miles over bad
one.
After series OF very careful experiments.
Clinton ID. Smith, of the Cornell Experiment
Station, comes to the conclusion that diIuting
milk binders Dreaming, and causes decided
loss Of butter.
w. f. Massey, Of the North Carolina College
Of Agriculture, finds that it is very injurious
70 tramp silage. His practice has been to cut
half day aud then 20 in and level it down
carefully. The larger the siIo. the better the
chances for good ensilage. Most of the COM
plants Of spelling come from men who have
small silOs He would never make silo less
than - feet square at the base, and as many
feet high, or higher.
After careful experimentation w. l. Cham
bcrlain. Summit County, o., comes to the con.
cluson that no water enters tile. soft or hard
burned. through its pores but through tho
joints, aud he therefore recommends the use of
hard tiles made Of potters clay, when they
can be got at the same price. The reason for
this Is the greater durability of hard tiles,
which will not fake or crumble with the frost
even al the outlets.