The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-04-06

ing the appearance of rich cream. IL
requires about ten minutes to agitats
the mixture, as no free kerosene should
be noticed. When cold add % gallons
ofsoft water aud spray with a nozzle.
The carbolic acid is not included in
the usual formula, but it viii be found
Of advantage. Use the crude acid mot
the rehned), which Is a cheap sub
stance. Kerosene and crude carbOlic
acid will not mix with water, but both
substances form an emulsion with
strong soapsuds.
The value of the bee in the work Of
fertilizing plants by carrying pollen
from one pant to another, is greater
than its use in producing honey. In
faeS, without the aid Of bees many
crops would be complete failures Dar-
win found that in 100 heads Of purple
clover protected from the visitatiOns Of
bees not a seed was produced, while 100
heads visited by bees produced nearly
5000 seeds When two varieties Of GER
tain plants are grown in the same
neighborhood there is a liability OF
erOss-fertilization, as bees forage over a
wide territory. 1t will therefore pay
the farmer or fruit-grower to keep at
least one hive of bees or encourage his
neighbOr to do so.
The common mode Of feeding snimals
is to give the grain In a separate trough
from the hay or fodder, and at different
times. Such method is preferred be-
cause it saves labor, but the best results
are obtained by mixing the ground
grain with coarse food that has been
passed through the feed cutter. Less
food will then be required to obtain re-
suits, because the mixed f,od viii be
better digested and assimilated than
when the substances are given sepa-
rately.
A crop Of p bushels Of wheat per
acre removes from the soil rs pounds
Of nitrogen, p pounds of potash and
10 pounds of pdOsphOrie acid in the
straw. In the grain there is removed
p pounds of nitrogen, S pounds potash,
and I2pOunds Of phosphoric acid. This
is equal to the ingredients Of fertiIi-
zer containing about 255 pounds nitrate
Of soda, 65 pounds muriate Of potash
and l2j pounds phosphate rock. Un-
less the soil is well supplied every year
with the substances removed therefrom
it must eventually deteriorate. ROta-
ton OF crops, using clover in the list,
will prevent loss Of nitrogen, but il
farmers sell produce they must neces-
sarily bring something back on the
farm to take the place Of the mineral
matter removed.
There is a great difference in the COW
raised and petted on the farm and one
bought from a dealer that may have a
disposition to kick or resist the opera
tion Of milking. No farmer or dairy
man can buy COW equal to one raised
ON the farm, unless he IL familiar with
the characteristics Of the purchased
animal, rs it is always q risk when an
unknown cow or horse is brought ON
the farm.
Manure on the farm is seldom an
abundant article, and it is frequently
spread over the land injudiciously. 1t
should be the aim to apply the manure
over the poorest spots of the field more
literally than on the portions that are
fertile. By so doing the farmer can
utilize his manure to the best advantage
and in a few years have his land uni
form in fertility. When manure is
spread indiseriminately there will be
more or less waste because of not hav-
ing suilicieney to properly provide all
the requisites of plants.
Good results with potatoes have been
secured by mulchiRg between the rows
with straw as protection during dry
seasons and for keeping down weeds.
The mulehing with straw has long
been known, and has its advocates, but
one objection is that the straw serves
Us a harboring place for insects.
BY carefully weighing cubic foot Of
average soil the director at Cornell
University estimates that an acre Of
land will contain soil lone foot deep)
weighing 20s2 tons, or 4, l6i, 900 pounds.
The soil may contain ali the elements
Of fertility or be deficient in some, while
abOunding to excess in a particular kind
of plant food.
Reports Of the agricultural Depart
ment for 1897 show that the valuation
Of sheep has increased over 2S per cent.
This is due TO the fact that farmers are
giving more attention 10 sheep that
produce mutton rather than to depend
on wool. Another profit from sheep
which is increasing every year Is the
production Of choice early lambs.
a pOultryman who is noted for SUE
cess in producing vegetables states that
he grows twice as much on an acre as
formerly. He keeps 100 fowls, and has
two lots of ground, one being given up
to the fowls, while the other is used
for garden, the lots being about one
and quarter acres each. The next
year he turns the fowls on the garden
plot and uses for garden The plot
then vacated by the fowls. BY thus
giving up the garden plot to poultry
every alternate year he keeps the soil
very fertile.
If garden is made on slndy soil,
especially in a section where nearly all
the soil IS sandy, the use Of ir-sIaeked
lime will be found beneficial, as such
soils are deficient in linz. Grs linz
will not serve as a substitute for stone
lime, but shell lims is excellent, how.
ever, though the u.s. Of stone lime
should be preferred. The cost is
small compared with the benefits de-
rived.
Eow They Helped Him.