Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-09-26

II
year Of the great columbian exhibition,
the financial panic, the silver question,
the failure Of the fruit crop and the
prevalence Of the codllng moth, tho
white grub and the apple scab. have
experienced what we call the on year In
the fruit business. but never saw ono
that MAS 90 completely OF for every
thing ~ this season. And what little
fruit has grown (as prcdicted) L. 90
small, wormy and scabby that q cider
mill would feel insulted II presented
with it. The man Who has good fruit to
sell this fall can be as Independent a. he
pleases aud dictate his own price. The
late rains will ensure fair crop Of ex-
cellent potatoes where the tops are green
but they came too late for those early
planted, and on dry ground. They Will
slso bring the sweet corn which IL about
all the corn grown In this locality, up to
an average crop and will greatly benefit
the fall feed and brighten the prospect
Of the hay crop for another year.
s. II. DAWES.
NORTH BRiDGrON.-I will briefly
answer question No. 10. After more
than fifty years experience and observa-
tion as to the manner adopted In the
cultivation Of hoed crops which proves
most satisfactory. The ground is sup
posed to be well plowed either In fall or
In spring which ls the foundation Of all
good cultivation. When the soil ID In
suitable condition to work we use the
disc harrow lengthwise and across the
burrows, aud level with heavy brush
or smoothing harrow. Continuing on
with the disc or springtooth until work
ed a. fine as possible, which constitutes
the first hoeing. Corn planted with q
Killings planter In drills six to twelve
Inches In the row. and rows three and
one-half feet apart. As soon "a the first
shoots appear, use the smoothing har-
row crosswise the rows, and from four
to elk days later lengthwise with the
same. The soil being mellow the planter
leaves small furr0w which the harrow
fllls, leaving the cOrnheld as smooth as q
field Of grain. Run the cultivstor be-
tween the rows as soon and as often a.
time will allow until the corn is knee
high. The lighter II IL run after the
first, the better. believe, by careful
observation, that II the land Il first
properly fitted, that deep cultivation be
tween the rows is not advisable, and
that light harrow Of the right kind is
preferable to the cultivator after the
frat. Potatoes I would plant In fur
rows. as deep as the soil would allow,
aud fifteen inches apart In the rows, and
the rows three feet apart. Hill as little
as possible to keep the tubers under the
soil. GEORGE L. CuADBOURNE.
IIARRIsON.-The face of nature has
changed very much for the better since
my last report, on account OF the b0un- |
tlful rains, but much damage was done
by the drouth which no amount OF water
could repair. On the whole the outlook
IL much better, as corn has improved
very much In appearance, feed is start |
Ing considerably In the pastures, and
fields that were barren In appearance
month ago are now green with growing |
grass. Potatoes that are not killed by |
rust are improving very much, and the |
'catch" Of grass In the grain fields has, |
Ia many cases, been partially saved.
Oats are universally grown hereabouts,
an occasional farmer raises barley, and |
still q smaller number SOW oats and |
peas. Judging from the reports the last |
named are the ones that are the best |
satisfied. Some of our farmers regard
the feeding Of grain without threshlng
as very wasteful, but II Is undenlable
that the results reported by some OF our
best and shrewdest farmers give abund-
ant proof that II Il very economical
and satisfactory method Of dispOsing OF
our grain, and less threshing than usual
will be done this fall. The farmers who
use the broadcast seed sewers, run by
horsepower, are so well satisfied With
them that should certainly recommend
their use when large quantities Of grain
are sown. The greater part OF our corn
is now planted With machines, and near
ly all agree that they do the work better
than Il II possible to do 1t by hand, and
at one-fOurth Of the cost. Corn should
not be hilled In hoelng, according to my
experience, but, taking everything Into
consideration, l think potatoes should
be hilled to n moderateextent. Cultiva-
ton, especially of corn, should be con-
tlnued well Into the season. ] make the
horse and cultlvator do much the greater
part of the work. Cultivating without
hoeing Il much preferable to hoelng
without cultivatlpg. I usually cultivate
potatoes two or three times, and when
the tops are about one-third grown put
on the horseshoe attachment and 70
through them again. Then finish up
with the hoe, aud do nothing further,
except to cut ul' the weeds.
ALrnONso MOULTON.
KENNEBEc.
ALBiON.-The oat crop, which Ii the
crop soun Ia this vicinity, has
suffered materially from drouth, reduc-
Ing the yield Is per cent below the aver
age. Many farm'rs have cut their entire
crop for forage, thereby utilizing the
whole, and saving the expense OF thresh-
Ing, which Il quite an Item. The using
of the smoothing harrow upon Held OF
corn Il n question upon which good
farmers Disagree; and my opinion, form
ed after making two trials, is that II the
ground Il free from small stones, s0ds,
witchgrass roots, and everything else, II
Il possible to run smoothing harrow
over piece OF corn without damaging
10 very materially, but not otherwise.
prefer To be q little longer getting over
piece, and use q cultlvat0r about the
usual size, With nine teeth similar to
those Of the smoothing harrow; running
Il twice In a row as soon as the corn Ia
In sight, keeping close to one row going
one way, and the opposite one coming
back, thus going over all the ground and
killing all the weeds, without Injury to
the corn. After few days the "Planet
Junior" is run through II In the same
way. then after the corn gets quite large,
and lust before haylng the Swings" are
NAT ~, n nd tha dirt thrOxSu I'm amOuRat Il
the corn, slightly hllling II.
KNOX.
wARREN.-On q little over three
eighths Of an acre l sOwed thirteen
quarts of oats and seventeen quarts Of
peas. Sown May llth. On August 10Th
hauled them to the machine, and they |
threshed out twelve bushels OF the mix
ture. There was one-hOrse load OF
straw. The peas did not turn out ~
well a. I hoped, ss the lambs run out OF
the pasture beside Of the piece and ate
SOME Of the young peas. This was my |
frat experience With mixed grains.
Corn and oats are all OF the grains
have raised for the last ten years. But
besides the mixed grains sowed some
barley for fodder thls year. have
small plot Of land seeded with clover
that I wish 10 turn the second crop |
under. got the Idea from hearing T.. |
b. Terrey lecture before the board OF
agriculture. have not enough manure |
for the farming want to do. The
threshers tell me the yield OF grain this
year 10 better than last except on high, |
u