The Democratic advocate., 1909-10-08

A heavy freeze which struck the
Michigan and Wisconsin cranberry
fields at picking time ruined the crops
of many growers. AS result OF this
the festive berry will be high at
Thanksgiving time.
The natives of Hawaii can't go out
in the back yard with big slice OF
watermelon and enjoy it with the
same zest asAWe do in America, If they
are finicky at all, for the melons grown
on the islands are likely to be 1nfest-
ed with maggots, which appreciate a
good thing as much as folks do.
One of the surest as well as most
profitable crops for the Pacific coast
horticulturist is the English walnut.
The trees are remarkably free from
the insect pests and fungus which so
often attack fruit trees, while the crop
is one that is much less perishable and
can thus be held if prices are not sat
isfactory.
If the little people who come into the
home are to reach IL respectable ma
turity, scalding water. fly poison, rough
on rats and headache tablets should so
far as possible be kept out of their
reach. Hardly a week passes but one
sees chronicled in the daily papers the
death Of helpless little babies who run
afouI of some one Of these things.
A good, square look at piece Of
meat reeking with tuberculosis germs,
and the exhibit is being made fire.
quentIy these days, is calculated to
make the consumer Of meat and milk
products thankful that some one in the
past decade had patriotic concern
enough for the public health to assist
in giving this dread plague its present
publicity.
A town the writer visited the other
day was an improvement over many
others in that a considerable number
of its vacant lots were busy growing
q. .falfa instead of being allowed to pro-
duce rank growth of burdock, mus
tard or what not It furnished a good
bite Of nutritious hay for cow or horse
and was quite an advertisement Of the
possibilities of the soil of the locality.
While lime is in no sense a SubSd-
tute for manure and should not be used
with this thought in mind. it does serve
as a corrective of soil conditions
sweetens sour soils and puts them in
shape to furnish food for growing
plant life. A ton of lime per acre is
usually sufficient to set things right.
and it may be applied to the land with
manure in the shape of the freshly air
Stacked product or it may be put on
alone
Ventura county, Cal, produces three
fourths Of the worlds supply of lima
beans, the output last year being 6S,-
100000 pounds, worth $2,72O,OOO to
the growers This is one Of the spe-
cial agricultural interests which i'm
press the traveller through southern
California, fields Of beans in the dis
uCfOlcu W SlO"lhS IhCAAA oIA SSSAA-
ing as far as the eye can reach. The
fields are planted to permit Of horse
cultivation and are kept remarkably
clean.
One Of the many interesting exhibits
in the forestry building at the Seattle
exposition was section Of a pile taken
from Galveston bay last year which
had been doing service for thirty
three years. That it was able to with
stand the attacks of the teredo, a mol
tuscan borer, during this long period
was owing to the fact that 1t was
treated with creosote before being
driven. Had it not been so treated it
would have been riddled and worth
less in very few months.
With every year that goes by that
easy way Of harvesting corn, hogging
it down, makes new friends, and this
because it saves the job Of husking
and because hogs fed corn in this
fashion do better and make more rapid
gains than in the usual method Of pen
or lot feeding. Not only do the hogs
get the corn, but at the same time a
good deal of green forage, which keeps
their systems in good condition, ena-
bling them to consume a generous ra-
tion of corn with the largest possible
advantage. This method requires good
fencing, but the gain in one season
will usually pay for this.
A bunch Of lambs will find abundant
feed in the average cornfeld from the
time the corn dents until December.
One who has tried this plan states
that the lambs will clean up the grass
and weeds first and. while they will
later browse some on the leaves Of the
corn, rarely disturb the ears or break
down the stalks. Not only is such for
age waste that would count for moth
ing, but the devouring Of it and the
tramping of many seeds into the soil
mean an infinitely cleaner field the next
season. Sheep will do more for weedy,
unkept farm than almost any other
single agency at the disposal of the
tiller Of the soil. and flock Of them
should be kept on every well managed
farm, whcu the above plan can be
given test.
While it is true that tract set apart
as an orchard should not be turned
info q hoo lot If iS povorfholosS worth