Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-05-23

Pumpkin Time.
This is the gala-time of the farm.
There may be more leisure in the
winter, or even perhaps between hoe
ing and harvst in the summer, but
no season has the same crispness and
exhiliration as pumpkin time. Quail
are piping across the fields, the naples
and birches are exchanging their
early autumn gorgeousness for more
sober hues of browns and grays, and
in the air are subtle suggestions of
fragrance which ali other seasons
Of the year lack. Overhead the sky
is mellow, genial blue, and crossing
it are occasional banks of honking
geese. Every grass blade seems to
have its shriIl trumpeter, and every
limb IT'S migrating bird
1t is more play than work, gather
ing up the golden balls from among
the yellow-brown shocks of corn. and
carrying them in great wagon loads to
convenient places outside the barns
and sheds, where they are to be piled
in long heaps until severe weather
makes it necessary to remove them to
the cellar or some place exempt from
frost.
Their very profusion gives an air
of prosperity to the farm, and their
color in itself is an emblem of cheer
and the housewife looks out and sees
visionary rows of pumpkin pies, and
the farmer rubs his hands and cal
culates how much good hay they will
save, and how much better it will
be for the stock to have varied diet
Even the small boy regards them
generously as possible Jack-o'-lan-
terms, and is ready to go on good be-
havior for an indefinite time in view
of possession.
AS the days go by the corn is
brought in and husked, the turnips
topped and stored away, and the win
ter's wood hauled. And then. when
severe weather approaches, the choic-
est of the golden emblems of prosper
ity are taken to the cellar for table
use, while the great bulk of them
finds storage in the barn and sheds,
to await the cold winter days when
they are to vary the diet of the farm
stock.-Farm Journal
How to Treat Muck
When first dug, muck is sour and
cold, as we'll as wet. It should be ex-
posed to the air for at least three
months after it is thrown out, and if
allowed to freeze and thaw it will be
still further improved in quality.
When it has been sufficiently weather
ed and dried, it will be of considerable
value to spread upon the stable floor
as an absorbent and as material for
compost. Upon some soils applica-
lions of 40 to so bushels per acre of
the clear muck spread upon the sur
face like manure, prove a great bene-
fit; but as rule it is OF more value
to use in the stables or the compost
heap.-Mass. Ploughman.
Practical Points in Orcharding.
Select the varieties that have been
found successful in the locality Much
of the failure in growing apples re-
suits from neglect. The trees are gen
orally left in the sod, unpruned and
unsprayed, and the loss due to this
practice is more than could be made
from several times the number of
acres Of farm crops. Although my
farming operations have been fairly
successful, I averaged for seven years
from 40 acres of bearing apple trees,
$55 per acre, which was more than
came from the other 200 acres in
farm crops. pillow the orchard in
the spring and SOW field peas, upon
which hogs are turned about August
l. They eat off the peas, stir up the
soil and devour the wormy apples.
I spray with boreaux mixture and
paris green and consider the gain
from that alone in 1895 equal to
$500 In gathering the fruit the
windfalls are first picked up, and then
The apples are taken from the trees
and hauled to the barn, where they
are placed in bins and packed and
shipped as soon as possible. Bald
wins and Kings are among The great
est favorites for shipment.-R. II. S.,
in New England Homestead.
Value of Gauze.
Four dollars were well spent five
years ago in the purchase of a roll
of fine wire gauze, to line one of my
corn cribs The crib is IL feet long
four feet wide at the bottom, eight
feet wide at the top, and eight feet
high, in the side of driving shed.
Every year, the mice made me mis-
cradle by their waste of the grain as
well as by the fouling of it. So a
happy idea struck me one day, which
was to line the crib inside with this
gauze. Getting roll of 200 square
fete, at two cents foot, covered
the inside of the crib with it, and
have had peace and comfort ever
since. No mice have got into the
crib, and as I have just cleaned out
the last grain from it, there is no
waste, no filthy rubbish, and no fouled