The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-17

their physical condition. This must be
considered, and an extra allowance made
IL the hens are expected to continue lay
ing through the winter.
Ducks generally begin laying in January
and quit In August, but very often those
that were Matched early win begin laying
about Christmas and lay well through jan
uary. A northern breeder who has been ex-
perimenting with Pekins had early hatch
ed ducks that began laying in October and
other broods that began in November. 1t
is now probable that these fowls can be
made egg producers throughout the year
Freshness of an Egg---To ascertain the
freshness of an egg without breaking, hold
IL before a strong light and look directly
through the SHE'LL If the yolk appears
round, and the white surrounding It clear
the chances are that the egg is fresh. or,
you may drop IL into water; IL the egg
sinks quickly and remains at the bottom it
Is in all probability fresh. but If IL stands
on end it is doubtful and quite bad II it
floats. The shell of a fresh egg looks dull.
while that Of "A bad one is glossy
Bulbs Grown in Water-Those who grow
hyacinths and similar bulbs in water are
often at a loss what to do with them after
they have done Towering. lady wrote
me recently inquiring what TO do with
her sacred lily, and asking IL il would
bloom again the coming year. 1t must be
remembered that there are two kinds of
bulbs or plants grown in water, those nat
urally water plants, such as true water ILL
les, and others not water plants, but sim
ply placed in water for little time, to get
the flowers, just as we may place shrub
in a bucket of water for a few days to
bring out its buds. In the latter class are
most all the bulbs grown for winter bloom
ing, the hyacinth. tulip, crocus, narcissus.
etc. When these have been lowered in
water, they are of but little use for any
MIR fnss xra1t4
to which they can be put is to place them
in the ground when spring comes to let
them form young bulbs, which in q few
years would be strong enough to flower
When planted out and left out permanent
ly there are young bulbs forming all the
time, and so every year there are some of
them perfecting themselves which give
flowers. 1t Is of no use keeping them over,
thinking to flower them the year after their
first blooming as the old bulb does not
flower again; 1t is the young ones which
are produced from the old ones. that do
this. The sacred lily is in the same class
IL is not true lily, but a narcissus. and
would have to undergo a treatment in soil
for awhile before flowers could be looked
for again. Gala lilies may be treated al
together as water plants IL desired as In
states where it does not freeze thew are
left out in fountains all winter and do
very well. Florists and amateurs prefer 70
treat them as house plants and bring them
to rest after Towering by almost diving
them off In summer, and in this way thew
flower nicely from year to year.
Effect of Rotation on Fertility Of Soil
To determine the effect of rotation on the
humus, or vegetable matter, In the soil,
says the Orange Judd Farmer, sthe Minne-
sofa experiment station grew wheat corn.
oats and barley continuously on four plots
and on two these same plots were grown
IN rotation with clover and manure Anal
ysis were made of the soil before and af-
ter growing the crops and also of the crops
themselves 1t was found that when wheat
was grown continuously for four years on
the same plot there was an annual loss OF
I'll pounds of nitrogen per acre. About
twenty-five pounds were removed by the
crop, while 146 pounds per acre were lost
from the soil by the wearing away of the
humus. When wheat was grown I'm ro-
talon, after clover. there was yield OF
i've bushels per acre more of wheat than
when grown continuously. When manure
was used and clover was grown there was
a gain OF nitrogen, and at the same time
larger yields were obtained. When corn
was grown In a rotation ID yielded severn
teen bushels per acre more than when ii
was grown on the same plot continuously.
When corn, oats or barley was grown
continuously on the same plot and no
manure used, there was an annual loss OF
from eighty to 200 pounds of nitrogen from
not carried away IN the crop, but was lost
by the destruction of the humus. The an
nual loss per acre of humus when wheat.
corn, cats or barley was grown continue
ously ranged from 1.5O0 to 1,e0O pounds.
loss of humus from the soil has made
the soils lighter colored, caused them Ia
weigh more per cubic foot and has re-
duced the power of the soil to store up
water. When summer following is extern
sively practiced, the yield of the following
crop Is increased at the expense of RENDER
ing five times more nitrogen available than
is required by the crop. The available nj
trogen IL not utilized by the CROP is not
stored up in the soil, but is lost.
Poultry House Whitewash.-A capital
whitewash Is made by mixing common
water lime cement with sweet, skinned
milk to the proper consistency. The fol-
lowing Is the government whitewash and
fine whitewash 1t is: Put two palefuls OF
boiling water in a barrel, add one-haIf
bushel of well burned, fresh quiclxlime:
put In quickly one peck of common salt.
dissolve in hot water, and cover the bar
rel tightly to keep in the steam while the
lime Is shaking; when the violent ebulli-
ton Is over stir till well mixed together.
and, IL necessary, add boiling water, so as
to have the mass like thick cream, strain
through a seve of coarse cloth Make a
thin starch of three pounds of rice -four
and one Of strong glue, having first soaked
tne glue IN cola water, ana 70 the latter
mixture add two pounds of whiting. Add
this to the lime wash, and also sufficient
hot water to dilute to the proper consist
ency; keep hot while applying. II wIl re-
quire about six quarts of the mixture to
100 square feet of surface, and ID will
last remarkably well It goes without
saying that 1t may be made any color de-
sired.-Poultry Keeper.
--GodIlke qualities were not always the