The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-09

rows where the plant food is most needed.
Economy in Weed Destructon-There
are some farmers who still think that
there is nothing lost in allowing weeds
TO grow ON land that has no crop, pro-
vided the weeds are cut down before GO
ing to seed. II is true that the weed con-
| tains all the mineral and heterogeneous
plant food that il has taken from the soil
! When it decays as II lies, most of this is
| returned to the soil. But there is always
some waste, and if it were otherwise the
plant food in the weed is not available
/ fertility as that which it took from the
| soil during its growth. The time when a
weed can be destroyed with greatest ben
| eft to the soil is Immediately after it has
terminated This is also the easiest time
to kill it, The worst weeds, like the pc
rennial Canada thistle, for example, are
when first terminated, as easily killed as
are any of the annual weeds. The slight
| est brush with a hoe will destroy them.
! Leave them a few weeks, and these pc
rennial weeds begin to form their under
ground system of roots, and it takes a long
time to accomplish what could SO easily
have been done at first.
Wide Tire Legsation.-The extent to
which the value of wide tires has come to
be recognized is shown by the fact that
during the last twelve months the legis-
/ lature of nearly every state has been
! asked to pass a bill providing for their
| compulsory adoption. The state of New
/ Jersey had already adopted a law of this
/ kind, and 1t is reaping the benefit in the
/ possession OF the best roads in the coun-
/ try. With wide tires i'm use even the PRES
/ ent country roads will improve, for tires
serve as rollers to make the road-bed
/ compact instead of cutting deep ruts, as
do heavily loaded wagons on narrow tires
! Preventing Burdocks from Seeding
Though only a biennial. the burdock is a
! bad weed from its innumerable seeds,
which are distributed by every person or
1 animal that comes in contact with the
ripened plant Cutting the burdock
down when it begins to form blossoms will
! usually kill IL, as at this stage Of growth
/ the root has but little vigor left. But when
these large burdocks are piled for burn
| ing there should be plenty of dry wood in
the heap. So as to make a hot FIRE If the
weeds are burned alone some of the seed
will fail down to the bottom Of the burn
ing pile and escape destruction. In a slow
fire made from green weeds there is a stra-
tum of carbonic acid gas al the bottom of
the heap in which nothing will burn.
Crops in Bearins Orchards.-Aside from
using up the fertility needed for fruit pro-
duction, the growing of crops in bearing
| orchards is a mistake on account of the
| difficulty of harvesting the fruit without
injuring, if not destroying, the crop There
is necessarily a good deal Of tramplng of
the ground when a large fruit crop is
gathered. If those harvesting the fruit
crop try to avoid stepping on the crop
! cultivated under the trees they are him
dered so much that it more than offsets
the value of what can thus be grown. One
crop at a time is enough, and when fruit
trees bear the concentration of all effort
| on them produces better results than di-
viding it,
Crimson Clover.-Aug. /. 1894. 1 sowed
crimson clover seed in my orchard of 200
acres of apples and pears. This clover
| grew we'll and now, May 10, stands twenty
inches high and is in full bloom and ready
to cut for hay. If so desired the ground
can be plowed and planted to corn and
| cantaloupes, and would be in a much finer
condition than if it had been allowed to
remain bare all fall and winter.
My object in sowing the clover was for
| two purposes-for seed to sell and for
green manuring. After the seed is ripe
enough to thresh it will be moved high
so as to leave as much of the stubble on
the ground as possible, which will be
| turned under at once. This will furnish
all the humus and nitrogen required for
the orchard, and l think it is the cheap
est way l can get them.
/ have counted 60 stalks of clover from
| one seed or root and have found that the
| roots will run from three to four feet
! deep. This clover has done remarkably
well on the poorest land l have, some Of
which is very light. No progressive far
mer can afford to do without sowing Grim
son clover seed every year.
Arthur j. Collins
Moorestown, N. ].
Better Road Laws Needed.-The road
/ tax system of personal service or COM
| mutation is unsound a principle un-
! just in it's operation, wasteful in its prac-
tees and unsatisfactory in its results.
! Some system should be devised, based
upon property, and property owners
should not be exempt on account of age.
| AS the case now stands, some families
| escape any road tax, year after year
| all of the members being either too young
! or too old, but they are abundantly able
| TO do their share and use the roads quite
| as much or more than any one. In the
1 meantime, their poorer nefghbors, tenants
| IL may be, or young mep without land,
] must leave the crops I'm a critical condi-
/ ton. at the within and convenience of the
| roadrnaster. Often the worst piece of road
| Is untouched and a bit suiting the road
master or his friends is worked after a
/ fashion.-Farm and Home.
Fall Pruning of Fruit Trees.-S. E;
I Fruit trees should not be pruned in the
/ fall of the year, If for no other reason
| than that the buds are in process of for
nation and IL reduced in number will
not ripen as they should do. Then being
/ filled with sap, they are exposed to great
| risk during the winter and may be serious
| ly injured by weather that would not
/ hurt the fully ripened ones. So, too, the
/ fall pruning encourages the growth of
wood sap into the remaining buds and
\ thus exciting them to excessive growth
| in the spring. Experience has shown that
/ for apples and pears in the northg Febru-
/ airy March is the best time to prune
while in the south, where the growth in
| the fall is more advanced and the buds
/ are ripper the pruning may be done in
December or January. This. however, ap-
| plies mostly to bearing trees. Young ana
| growing trees may be pruned in the fall
I as this will encourage the growth Of wood
/ the next year. This shows how the rea-
! son for ana results Of. any process should
| be considered before any work is DONE
: in the orchard, or. indeed, in any part OF