The National tribune., 1896-12-03
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
Oaks. Hickories ard waluu.s.

lings that aeorns and nuts must be sown IN
the FALL This is but partly true, says the
Country Gentleman 1t is correct to this ex-
tent, that there must be no drying out Of
the seeds permitted; but with few excep-
tons those who raise seedlings as q business
do not SOW the seeds until Spring The ex-
ceptions are among the oaks. There are a
few species which must be planted as soon
as they are gathered, OF within a few weeks
thereafter, or they decay. These sorts are
the white oak, chestnut oak, post oak and
ciinquapin oak. Many will have noticed
the aeorps of these sorts lying under the
trees aud pushing their roots into the damp
ground. On account of this habit, they are
always sown in the Fall very soon after they
are collected.
All other oaks, and the hickories and
! waInuts, are better stored away until Spring.
! Indeed, some of them, the pecan nut and
English walnut, for example, will rot in the
ground if sown in Autumn. The most sue
cessful men keep all such seeds till Spring.
| The practice is to get the kinds together as
soon as they are ripe, and place them In
| boxes or barrels mixed with almost dry
/ earth, and keep them in some cool place till
| Spring. One of the most successful growers
does not even mix his seeds with soil. tie
| has an oId-fashioned barn cellar, with earth
/ floor which is always slightly damp. HIS
acorns and nuts are placed in boxes, each
| sort by itself with no soil at all with them,
/ and there they remain all Winter, absorb
/ ing a little moisture instead of losing ii, so
| that when Spring comes they are as plump
as can be, and every sound one of them
grows. Keeping the kernels plump is about
FL nN<
| Where such damp cellars are not available,
mixing with soil or sand effects the same
purpose The material need be but slightly
damp, just enough that the seeds mixed
with it do not lose weight.
The idea entertained by many, and which,
in fact, has been advanced by more than one
writer, that frost is necessary to the develop
ing of nat seeds to seedlings, Is not at all
correct. A hickory, walnut. and such stone
seeds as peach, plum, and cherry do not need
frost The three last named are the better
for being in soil moderately damp all Win
ter but frost is not essential. Consideration
would convince anyone that frost is not neees-
sary, for in the Southern States, where no
frosts occur, these seeds sprout as freely as
they do here.
Referring again to the eariy-sprouting
acorns, they have been known to keep over
in dryish soil until Spring. But sowing
them at that time is troublesome, as they
have an inch or two of root then which needs
careful handling.
Servings could be made where the trees
are desired, two OF three seeds in place, all
but the strongest plant to be taken out in
the Fall. In commercial places the sowings,
are in narrow beds-not wider than can be
reached over for the purposes Of wedding.
The work is done as early in Spring as the
season will permit. The seedlings are
transplanted the next Spring or the second
one thereafter, not often going to the third
year.
How to Water Plants.
Dousing water ON the surface with either
hose or watering pot helps TO compact the
surface and exclude air. In heavy soil,
when the water so poured on dries off,
hard crust is formed from the evaporation
ON the surface. II, Oh the other hand, the
soil is all the time saturated with water,
this excludes air, and bumic acid is formed
in the soil, which is poisonous to the roots
of all plants, except moses, ferns, and h
| chens The proper way to water plants is
from beneath, the water rising in the soil,
and the surface being cultivated to keep it
from evaporating too rapidly.
In the f1ower-pot the plant is best watered
by filing the saucer In which it stands with
, water until the soil near to the surface is
moist 1t is better not to have the surface
soil moist in pots for house plants in Winter,
for if it is chilled, as must often be the fact,
the more water in the soil near the surface
the more the plant will suffer. A good way
to water house plants or plants out of doors
is to make little holes near the plant and
partly Gil them with water. Then level the
surface, filling the holes, keeping the surface
4 looc an
much as possible.
Forage Plants at the Illinois Station.
From recent experiments the Illinois Ex-
pertinent Station concludes as follows: The
composition of cowpea ensilage corresponds
very closely to that of clover hay, the inn
| portant difference being in the higher per-
centage of fat found in the clover, but the
digestibility of the cowpea enSilage Is 30
much greater that it furnishes an equal
| amount of fat and much more protein and
total energy than the clover hay. Sofa bean
ensilage resembles clover hay both in COM
position and digestibility. 1t furnishes an
equal amount of protein, more fat, but less
Il total energy than clover hay.
o Both of these leguminous forage plants
y draw upon the free nitrogen of the air In AN
J. indirect way for part Of their food supply.
}. Their composition shows a high percentage
improving the soil.
Corn fodder and corn ensilage have about
= the same digestibility for total dry matter
r and furnish equal amounts of energy. The
d fodder furnishes more digestible carbo-
= | bydrate extract, but the ensilage slightly
. more of the other Nutrients.
As compared with cowpeas and SOFA beans,
the corn fodder and corn ensilage have much
9 higher value for energy or fat production,
a but the cowpea ensilage and the SOFA bean
= ensilage are moro valuable for animal
d growth or the production of milk.
:. Farm Notes.
. Blight in pear trees has destroyed the
;. trees entirely in some sections, and no SURE
II remedy has as yet been discovered. One Of
d the causes is forcing the trees too rapidly
!, when they are young. The disease finds its
; way into the soft, succulent wood at the
+ tips of the branches and works downward
= to the trunk. The diseased branch should
h be cut away, making a smooth cut with q
;. sharp knife, applying coating of white lead
and linseed OIL This work must be done
on the first appearance of blight; and, al
though portions of the tree may have to be
cut away every year, yet the new growth
will more than compensate for the loss, as
but small portions need be cut away if the
work is done promptly every year and close
observation of the trees is made.
:. Coloring the butter only gives an appear.
~ | onoo demanded nv cusfomerS hit it adds