The record-union., 1891-03-11
FARM And ORCHARD.
Selling Milk From the Soil-Get.
ting Ready for the Spring.

Orange Flower Syrup-Pruning Goose
berry Bushes = Harvesting Ma
chines-The Value of Geese-General
Farm Notes.
That milk takes away from the soil (in-
directly through the agency Of the crops
grown thereon) a large proportion of the
plant food is as true as of any other pro-
duct sold from the farm. Milk is an
article that robs the farm of greater
number of substances than anything else,
as it is itself almost complete in the ele-
ments that serve to provide the essentials
for sustaining life. Though largely COM
posed of water it has been shown that 100
pounds Of milk contain from ten to four
teen pounds of solid matter, which varies
according to the individual characteristics
OF the animals and the food upon which
they are fed. Beginning with the ASH OF
milk, which does not include the fat or
nitroGencnoGs matter, there is nelrly
twenty-five pounds Of potash in every 100
! pounds of the ash, over twenty-cight
pounds of phosphon: acid, nearly ten
pounds OF soda, three pounds of magnosia
and twenty-five pounds of lime. These
substances are sod with the milk. being
dissolved III it, and represents tho min
cral matter. The fourteen pounds OF
solids may vary in the amount OF mineral
matter, but the ash is about seven-tenthS
Of orc per cent. OF the whole milk. and
when Euge quantities Of milk are sold
daily there is Il heavy loss OF mineral
| matter.
The proportion of fat III milk varies,
but il is usually about 3 per cent, the
n!trogenous matter and milk sugar being
about 9 per cent. This represents another
| tortilizing substance carried away in TIE
mllll-nltro2cn-w which varies according
to the composition and quantity OF tho
solids, the lat being the cheapest portion
OF the milk, except water, as il is not de-
rived from the soil. 1t is plain that no
farm can long sustain the drain made on
it from the sale Of milk unless the farmer.
either purchases Il large share of the food
OF his stock, or resorts to the use of fer
lilizers TO retain the fertility of his soil. 1t
IS an inpoSSiblHty to increase the pro-
ductive capacity OF a dairy farm by grow
ing all the food thereon, and depending
solely upon the manure produced, as
sooner or later the milk viii reduce the
amount Of plant food, and deterioration
OF the farm begin. For the same reason
a pasture that is not iertilized must cease
to produce grass. The farmer should buy
the cheaper grains OF the West and CON
vert such food into milk, as his sell Will
then increase iii fertility. The science OF
farming is to have the hand richer at the
close OF the year than it was at the begin
ming.
ORANGE FLOWER SYRUP.
Never having seen a receipt for that
dnlI ,f |
be new TO many of your readers, and
specially interesting to those living in
Florida and California, where these fra
grant blossoms VIII in a few months hence
be abundant, says Mrs. j. II. Farr in the
Florida 1g1TcHttaYtSt. The following
receipt was given me by a noted preserve
manufacturer of st. Augustine. The
blooms are not usually gathered from the
tree, but as the fruit sets the ground is
White with fallen petals, and these are
gathered and sold for twenty cents a
pound. The petals only are Used in the
syrup, as any other portion of the blossom
would render it bitter. To make the
syrup, select and wash, without bruising.
one pint of white petals of the orange
flower. While they drain on cloth. pre-
pare a rich syrup of granulated sugar and
water, the same as for any fruit syrup,
allowinga quart for each pint of blossoms
After skimming carefully, drop in the
,
stir gently. strain and bottle. Seal while
hot. 1t will be of a delicate sea-green
color, retaining all the fragrance of the
flower, and reminding one, when opened,
OF an orange grove in spring. A spoonful
added to glass OF water makes most
delicious drink, and is regarded by the
Floridians as a nerve tonic. 1t is also a
unique and charming favoring for Gus
tards, icing or pudding sauces.
HARVESTING MACHINES
The new self-binder harvesters are
very cumbrous and difficult TO get under
shelter easily. There are few gates that
they can be driven through except with
the greatest care. AS a consequence thev
are usually left out of doors until the
harvest is completed, and quite often un-
til the completion of thrashing makes
room for them on wide barn floors
Every man who OWNS a harvester should
at once provide AN oil-cloth cover large
enough to protect every part from becom-
ing wet. These costly machines rust and
rot more than they wear in service The
rusting of the iron portions, and the
swelling and shrinking of wood work.
soon makes the parts uneven. Often
after Il single years use the harvester
thus neglected costs more to make it run
as it should than the work it does is
worth. After all the seasons work is
completed, the harvester should be taken
apart, and each piece laid so that it will
not only be free from dampness, but Will
not be liable to be bent or warped before
being put together again. If the harvester
Is left standing, care should be taken to
see that all the parts are properly sup
ported. We know a harvester which.
after summers use, was carefully
housed, and when brought out the next
season the cutting bar had sagged sc
much that it had to be taken to the black
smiths and Strengthened before the
knives would work freely in it. All the
iron parts should be cleaned and oiled be-
fore storing, to keep them from rusting
PRUNING GoosEBERRY BUSHES.
No greater error prevails in the culture
of this popular and ever wholesome frui;
than the practice, still followed by many
people, of cutting back the individual
shoots to within q bud or two of theil
base, with the natural, but very undesira-
BILE, result that thicket of weakly shoots
and small fruits only is produced The
way to obtain fine large berries as well as
} handsome bushes heavily laden with
ropes of rich fruit is to thin out the shoots
freely, and where very long and weak tC
shorten them back a littIe so as to pro-
mote balance of growth in the bushes
as well as to prevent the fruit-laden
shoots from touching the ground. in
which case they would sustain injury by
grit and damp. Thus treated, the bushes
III consequence OF the weight of the crop
WllI assume a pcndulouS habit and the
center of each bush being partly open
the crop can be gathered without the
hands being scratched in doing so. The
/ sooner the pruning is performed after the
fall OF the leaf the better will be the re-
suits. When the pruning is completed
remove the prunings to the fire heap, and
with a rake draw back thickness Of one
inch of the surface soil about three or four
/ feet according to the diameter of bra n cbes