The National tribune., 1896-12-24
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for oar
Agricultural Readers
Cultivation OF the liz.

"ere ~ BtitSr Known now easily tno
fruit Of the fg may be obtained fresh from
the tree, the bush would be much oltener
seen IL gardens than it is to-day, writes
Josrph Meehan. in the Country Gentleman.
In some of the private gardens about Phil
aaelphia the fig crop is q regular one, and
1t Is produced with really but little more
iroujle than some other fruits cause. All
that is dose with the bushes is 10 peg them
down to the ground and cover with soil,
straw, or leaves when Winter comes. Tax
ing rs an illustration the bushes of Ger
mantown grower, planted about Is years.
ago, there is a board fence along The east
era side of his garden, and the bushes ars
close to il, and are fastened to it in Sum
nler. They are not permitted to get over II
feet high, that they MAY not be seea by
outsiders, who might be tempted by the
fruit, and also for the reason that The cover
ing in Winter is more easily accomplished.
These bushes have been bent over for SO
mary Winters that there is no troubls 10
do it again. Toward the close Of November,
after an admonitery light freeze or two, the
surface of the ground is made level, the
branches bent over, and kept In place close
to the ground by stogt pegs. In former
years abont six inches OF earth was placed
over them, but lately it has been found that
straw or leayes-enough to keep ont caHsid-
cradle frost-is sufficient, and it is more
easily done. Branches Of trees are placed
over all, TO keep the covering in It's place.
and the work is done for fhe Winter. With
he Of 10
removed and the limbs stsaightegied Up and
tied in place for while, TO ceunteract the
tendency to lean which the bending down
gises them.
1t takes but about three years for fig to
bar fruit. 1t is not advisable 10 plant them
| in oyer-rich soil, or they grow too much 10
wood and become unwieldly, and they do
not fruit as early as when IN soil not so rich.
| The fg bears continuous crops of fruit, 50
that in warm countries fruit can be- gathered
adj the Samnaer through. Often when COW
cred for the Winter here there are almost
imperceptible little figs to be seen. These
will develop in Spring, but ii of size to
show their share, they rot off when under
cover or dry mp. The little ONES spoken Of
and others which follow with the pushing of
the leaves constitute tie first crop, and these
ripen nicely in due time. Though the fruit
is somewhat CONTIGUOUS, it comes, IL meas
ure, in crops, and with the ripenipg of the
first the second one is seen advancing. This
crop, too, ripens well, but these two are all
that can be relied on. Bat from July until
freezing weather comes there is fruit to be
had
In%egard to varieties Brown Turkey is
mostly grown about here, but it may be
partly from its having been the one first dis
4 l.
harder sort, and it bears gocd-sized, pear
shaped fruit. Osborn's Prolific, which was
received here from the United States De-
partment of Agriculture some years ago, has
| a longer fruit than the others, and it is Of
excellent flavor Besides this, it is good
bearer and sort that does not make q ram
| pant growth.
Beside outdoor culture, rs described, the
| fs is considered ornamental as tub plant
| on lawn, and grown In this way it bears
abundantly. The owner of such one told
ME to-day that his bush had born dozens of
! figs this Summer. The plant is wintered in
| cool cellar.
Butter Tests at the Iowa Station.
To test The truth of the Claim often made
/ that bntter from fresh cows has a better
flavor than that from strippers, the Iowa
I Station separated the dairy herd of the sta
ton in two squads, one of which contained
| 10 head, averaging 107 days since calving;
| the other Is head, averaging 239 days since
| calving. Several samples of butter made at
different times, but always by the same pro-
cess and on the same days, and from the same
feeds in both divisions, were sent to experts
to be scored at different city markets The
| experiments show that when the cream Is
separated by separator, there is no differ
/ ence in flavor; but when the cream is raised
! and then SKINNED in the old way, there Is
sometimes a difference in flavor. This is
probably because the fat glebules in the
milk Of shippers are smaller than those in
fresh milk, and rise more slowly, requiring
| the milk to set longer time, and it is we'll
known that milk kept some time at . low
| temperature develops bitter flavor.
1 Farm Notes.
| A ton of butter sold from the farm de-
i prives the soil of about so cents worth of
fertility, while a ton of wheat costs the
| farmer 10 times that sum. When the
/ farmer sells an article that does not take q
large proportion of fertility from the soil he
| is Just as much the gamer as though he had
gotten his price for the same, as the plant
food in the soil is always prepared and stored
as so much raw material for producing the
next crop. In fact, when farmer sells the
fertility Of his soil he is really selling the
farm itself, as he is compelled to supply ia
some form to the farm that which he takes
from it to be sent to market
Milk is sure to absorb any odors with
| which il is brought in contact. Cream and
butter, having greater proportion of fats,
absorb edoTs even more quickly than will
| milk. This fact emphasizes the necessity
| of keeping both milk, cream and butter out
of reach of foul odors of any kind. This
can hardly be done while the milk il keps
where the odor of cooking vegetables OF all
kinds can reach it. Almost any kisd Of
odor from cooking, when cor,bined with
butter fats, soon becomes exceedingly offens-
i've, rs in the fat the character of the 0dor u
greatly changed.
William Booth Meets Samuel Brown.