The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-11-14
AGKICULTURE.

sprouts ls 10 Lurn IN the 6neep. IL YOU
are 80 unfortunate as not to have flock,
better manage to get it. No risk but
that you will find them useful in other
ways
Rather than be two weeks late in
having the wheat come up because OF
an improperly prepared seed bed. be
week late in getting the seed into the
ground; also, in the former case there
will be a continual battle with weeds.
Low grade fertilizers cost less by the
ton. but COST great deal more if meas
ured by the benefit derived. If com
PEELED to buy fertilizers at all, buy good
ones. II you are not posted. you can
find neighbors who are.
Each field of the farm is best fitted
for some special use. Have due consid-
Grafton for the soil, the past rotation
and fertilization and needs of the pro-
posed crop. Let there be no haphazard
W y, but have some forethought in ad-
apting your crops to the land
There is no charm in slipshod farm
| ing, none in weedy fields, fallen fences,
| fence corners full of rubbish, or barns
| and buildings in general state of dis
order. Did you ever see such farmer
come out successfully?
There is charm about agriculture if
one is successful. The man who would
bring up his sons to fondness for agri-
cultural pursuits should make it an es
| pecial aim to present to them this sue
cessful side of the profession.
| An enthusiastic British journal say
that thousand or two POUNDS Of salt
sown to the acre will check the rust in
cereals, protect oats against the grub
and wire worm, prevent potato diseases,
dissipate fungoid growths in pastures.
stop the growth of moses, make the
rougher grasses more palatable, and
sweeten heritage generally.
Smut is seldom propagated from the
soil. The burning of smutty mass is
better than Bordeaux mixture or any
other application. These only reach
the outside of the mass. Therefore.
burn the smutty corn, and do not feed
nor throw it on the manure pile, where
it propagates faster than anywhere else.
You will not succeed in getting the
boy interested on the farm by giving
him something for his own, in which to
be interested. and then taking it away
from him as soon as it has acquired
some value. The problem of reconcil-
ing youngsters to the farm is not very
difficult one if you go at it in the right
manner,
Modern farming is intensive farming,
and this means small farms highly fer
tilted and titled, better average success,
less manual and more mental labor, a
higher plane Of intelligence and living,
the abandonment of old ways for those
which are newer and more trustworthy.
Farming is different thing from what
it once was.
There would be more general and
more individual prosperity if the aver
age farm was not 80 large. 1t is especi-
ally true that the place for the farmer
with small capital is upon the small
farm. There is sound sense in the old
adage that little boats should keep near
the shore, and this applies to agriculture
a. we'll as to other lines of business.
In the South the field pea offers the
advantage of abundant forage, steady
improver of the lands. good fattener
for cattle and hogs and a crop to ship
North The drawback is the great ex-
pense of harvesting and preparing for
market, but this will be overcome. This
country will reward with both wealth
and honor the man who will furnish the
harvester and thresher which will en-
able the grower of this crop to increase
| il ten fold.
The best time for sorting potatoes is
while picking them up. 1t is no aivant-
age to leave the smaller among the
larger, especially so il they are to be
sent to market. With no class of pro-
ducts can it be considered advisable to
make the best sell the poorest; place
each grade upon its own merit by itself.
and better average prices can be OBJ
tanned in the end than to attempt to sell
together.
We should avail ourselves of anything
which will in the least enrich or loosen
the soil. Even pillow under all the weeds
we can, rather than cut or burn them.
BY decomposing in the soil they are OF
much greater value than if the ashes
are merely left upon the surface; and
yet the better way is to have no weeds.
Keep the ground so we'll occupied by
things Of value that they will have no
chance to grow.
II the cultivation of the sugar beet is
we'll understood the grower may reckon
with considerable certainty upon the
cash value of the crop from a given
number of acres. About the only I'M
known quantity for which he must make
allowance is the weather; but where ir-
Iigation is practiced as it will be in
most of our beet-growing districts, even
this problem will be pretty we'll under
his control.
RArTEE