The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-01-16
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions FOX Our
Agricultural Readers

| The best blackberry land is a deep, mellow
/ clay loan. Loose, gravelly soils are too de-
| ficient in water for the blackberry. 1t is i'm
/ portant to plOw hard lands deep, for if the
/ plants are TO escape the effects of the STidsum-
mer droughts the roots must 90 deep and
there must be a liberal reservoir for water
| upon the foundation or hardpan. Flat lands
with hard subsoil should always be tile-drained
for blackberries.
/ Spring is the best season in which TO set
blackberries, says Prof Bailey, of the Cornell
Station, and strong yearling plants are COM
monty used. They should be set in fnrrow
six or seven inches deep. Potatoes or some
other crop may be grown between the burrows
| the first season. Three or four canes NAV be-
allowed to grow the first year. AS soon as
| the canes have reached hight of two or three
| feet they should be headed back tt is best to
remove the dying canes after fruitng is DONE
but they may be left over until Spring. The
growing canes should be headed in when
about three feet high, but the laterals which
now push out should be allowed to grow their
full length until Spring, when they are short
ened. From u to 20 inches is TIE length at
which the laterals are generally left. Thus
! trimmed, stakes or trellises are unnecessary.
In places where Winter protection is neces-
sarv, late in the Fall the bushes are tipped
over and covered with earth or marsh hav.
generally the former. The amount of pro-
lection depends upon the bleakness of the
situation and the hardness of the variety.
Care must be taken not to crack or split the
canes. If there is no fear of late Spring frosts
the bushes should be raised early in the season,
otherwise they are best left under cover until
complaining time.
Flowing should be done in the Spring. and
frequent if not weekly cultivation with q
spring-tOoth cultivator should be given up to
within day or two of picking time. It Is
especially important to cultivate as soon as
possible after rain before the soil has baked.
A patch well cared for will last 20 years or
more. Blackberries are capable of Welding
200 bushels per acre, and sometimes reach 300
bushels.
n Good Fodder Crop.
Peas are an excellent food for mich cows or
for hogs. Take piece Of Fall blowing and
harrow it well to make good seed bed Sow
broadcast two and one-half bushels of the
small Canada peas, or three bushels of mar
rowfats, and pillow under four OF five inches.
The pea is a deep-rOOted plant and should be
put well down. Sow on tOpof the ground one
they come in as a green forage after clover.
and may be cut with scythe and thrown in
to them, or movable fence may be put
around a small portion of the field Good
success has been obtained by putting the peas
and oats in the silo or they may be cut and
cured, threshed and ground into meal.
Potash from Orchard Wood.
All farmers wives know that the wood from
oil
branches pruned, is very rich in potash. The
same is true of stone fruits, such as the peach
or plum. The reason, apparently, is that
the tree, IN fruiting, makes large demands on
the root for potash. and that the annual
growth is made up from what is left over of
the same kind of sap Young fruit trees that
have never borne have not so much potash,
though they all have more than trees grown
In dense forests
Replacing Tree Labels.
Some fine day make it a business to inspect
and readjust the labels ON your fruit trees,
vines etc, and to replace those that are miss
ing. Often the names gradually become dim
and effaced. If long neglected many names
may be lost entirely. Use painted labels of
large size, write the name of
variety on it legibly, and fasten it to one Of
the limbs with copper wire in a large loop.
Weeds Have a Mission
Weeds are feared by those farmers who
have made some mistake in the management
Of their fields, by virtue of which the weeds
have found a chance to prosper, says DIR.
Bailey, in a bulletin of Cornell Station.
Weeds, therefore, may be said to have a mis-
sion, first, to educate the farmer, and, second,
to ameliOrate the soil. Good and judieiOus
tillage and cropping are the only effective
means of keeping down weeds foul place
can be cleaned by inaugurating for time,
short and vigorous rotation of crops.
Here and There.
The ever-bearing roses are the favorites
Thoroughly tend them, and use hellebOre to
destroy the slugs. Some ANIMALS planted
among them the first year will do no harm.
Do not allow more than one bud to set the
first year, and pick that as soon as OPEN
The dealers claim that the hardy roses need
no protection, but it is well to see that the
roots are well-covered.
Australian bees have been successfully in
troduced in England, but the English bee
keepers do not regard them as possessing any
merits. They are about One-third the size of
the common house fly, and are valuable only
rs a curiosity. They are unable to sting, but
bite, and cannot endure temperature below
30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Small sheep and lambs of a tidy build and
possessed of good finish find reader sale than
arge sheep of equally good finish but not so
refined in build. This is more particularly
true of lambs. The tidy, neat, compact,
lamb is what is wanted.