Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1907-06-05
FARM and GARDENS.

fHRM ANU dARDtN0.
II is more often scrub care than
scrub stock that is responsible for the
rough financial Shedding that a good
many farmers encounter.
Soil fertility Is a good deal like the
milking capacity of good dairy COW,
In that il is "A good deal easier to main.
tain IL than II Is to restore Ii after II is
lost
We have known folks who seldom in
dulged their early rising inclinatons
beyond the point OF setting the alarm
at an early hour OH the evening be.
fore.
The pile of horse manure Is the chief
breeding PLACE Of the common house
fy. Keeping the pile sprinkled with
lime will tend 10 reduce the fly pest
materially.
1t is the crop OF weeds that grows
and natures its seed after@'the cult
waited crops are laid by that befouls
the ground and makes untold work for
another season.
There are two things the landowner
Is justified In going into debt fora
manure spreader and a thing OF his
wet acres. Both are sure to fetch gen
erous returns on the money invested.
The barren cornstalk Is one OF the
can he infested. These come from
weak and sickly seed whose vitality Is
very largely used up In the process of
termination.
A very rich piece of land may bo
able to grow an average of four stalks
of corn to the hill advantageously.
Many another which has been 3is-
treated will produce a maximum yield
with only two In the hill
Unless the hand separator Is thor
OOghly cleaned out and scalded each
time ii Is used the economy effected In
the matter of time through using II is
more than Offset by the deterioration
Of the butter product resulting.
If the spare hours during March were
properly employed. some of the farm
vehicles and machinery were given a
coat of paint 1t is more often lack OF
paint than wear that causes the wood
en- portions OF vehicles and machinery
to go TO pieces.
In many localities In the north cen
trail states ii is entirely useless to try
to get start in alfalfa unless chick
ems or turkeys have the run OF the
farm and thus keep in check the grass
hopper pest. which relishes nothing
more than the young alfalfa plant.
If care Is taken TO plant row OF
sweet corn every ten days, beginning
with the earliest varieties and ending
with the evergreen corn, a continuous
supply OF one Of the most relished gar
den vegetables may be secured. All
too often the sweet corn season is OF
but two or three weeks duration when
II ought 10 cover six or eight.
Under the operation Of the lately en-
acted federal pure food law pure maple
strip will not only he a mighty scarce
article, but will also fetch a fancy
price. The common folks will have 10
be content with brown sugar corncob
concoction, which will taste just as
good as that which we have often
bought under a fancier name.
A paris green solution suitable for
killing the worms on the currant and
gooseberry bushes as well as fixing
the potato beetles may be made by
adding one-quarter pound Of the chem
zeal to fifty gallons Of water. In order
to prevent burning Of the foliage
ene-half pound of freshly slaked lime
should be added and stirred I'm.
There are good many swlndles that
can be worked to a considerable ex-
tent and the victims be none the wiser,
but when one defrauds the soil by
wrong systems of tillage and rQbs Ii
of its fertilzing elements the theft IL
automatically registered and cannot
be covered up. Crop returns are an
unerring detective of this kind of a
swlndle
There are two classes of charity
boarders which should not be tolerated
the hulk Of n boy that Is lazy and
won't do a lick of work IL he can help
it and the dairy COW that does.not give
milk enough to pay for the feed she
consumes. The former should be put
on diet of bread and water until he
reforms: the latter should be sold TO
the butcher.
system of thing properly laid not
only tends to draw the moisture from
a piece OF land In wet season. but In
a dry season tends to keep IL from
baking by insurlng a good circulation
Of air through the soil and a proper
conservation Of all the moisture that
is available This Is the universal tes-
timony of those who have given such
a system a fair trial