Show BOX HOLDER FOR BUSH BERRIES provide receptacle for berries and leaves both hands free to pick make a box of crate material inches and three inches deep sharp en a wagon box rod at the lower end and six inches from the top flatten the the box holder rod and punch two holes two laches apart the size ot copper rivets the box Is then riveted to the rod and when it Is placed in the ground both bands are tree for picking use ot the device shown in the ac illustration above described bed says the prairie farmer will be found to add a good many quarts ot berries in the course ot days picking fertilizing THE ORCHARD what prof voorhees ea thinks Is the best treatment prof voorhees spoke on fertilizers for fruit growers at the late meeting of the new jersey horticultural society he called minerals and water the two elements of most importance to the irule grower greater care should be taken in the use of stable manure in orchards than with any other kind of fertilizer the original soil Is a very important factor and the fruit that grows well on one will not grow to a good maturity oa another A mixture of one third ground bone acid phosphate and nitrate of potash Is good tor most kinds of fruit the quantity to be applied may be regu by the needs of the soil and crop an annual application of 1000 pounds per acre in the early life of an orchard would not be too much also a light application each year the amount to be used must be determined by the grower cover crops should be used he says but not allowed to mature as they take too much moisture from the trees they should be plowed down while in a green state to supply humus from which to secure nitrogen for future use WET AND bricky SOIL let it alone until it can be safely worked A minnesota correspondent of the banners Fan ners review says the ground Is too wet and sticky to work to ad vantage the wise thing to do with such land Is to let it alone till it dries out the temptation to work such soli should be resisted at all hazards if the soil sticks to the implements it is a sign that the soil particles will stick together if they are pressed together during the working that Is the way clods are made it Is the way also that bricks are made even when they are made without straw or sand many a good field has been plowed when in that condition and has afterward proved the despair of the farmer the air and sun will grad bally pull enough ot the moisture out of the top soil to do away with the ABOUT THE FARM A farmer Is known by the tools he uses manure Is never so valuable as when fresh weeds often take more plant food than the crop spray your potato vines with bordeaux mixture and a good arsenate not once or twice but at least three or five times sweet potatoes raised from cuttings of the vines from the early planted jnes make potatoes that keep better than those grown from the early ihring plants whistles thistles es spread only from the seed if the plant la not allowed to go to seed it will not spread over the pas ture the best time to cut the weed Is just before it comes into bloom and before there Is any possibility 0 the seed maturing planting potatoes A reader wants to know when pota toes should be planted if they are grown extensively at the same time they are planted when grown on a small scale the right time Is usually as early in the spring as the ground can be properly worked and not betor MAKING OAT har what the experience of one farmei ha taught him when the hull or the grain on top of the head begins to turn yellow la the time I 1 begin to make oat hay at this time these top grains are in the dough state and the remainder la mostly in the milk and the stalks and blades are still green writes a correspondent spon dent in the banners Fan ners voice while as a usual thing stock does not relish oat hay as much as mixed timothy or clover I 1 find it to be a good substitute it must be well cured as it Is one of the worst crops to draw dampness heat and mold it should never be put into the barn when the least tough or damp I 1 have made a good deal ot oat bay and find it fairly good it cut at the right time and properly handled many farmers allow it to get too ripe to make the best ot hay when allowed to almost mature there will be a greater amount of grain it can be more easily cured there will be less danger from molding but it will not be oat hay it will be oats in the straw when handled this way the animals will eat the grain readily but will only eat the straw when driven to it by hunger and will get but little good out of it nor should they be cut while too green as in that case it will be very hard to cure sufficiently while green oats cut in the milk makes very good feed tor milk cows but the curing Is very difficult owing to the long period necessary tor properly drying and the difficulty ot getting good weather it Is absolutely necessary that the fodder be thoroughly dried before storing when the surface of the ground Is smooth I 1 cut the oats with mower and let them remain several days then turn them over repeating this operation until thoroughly dry it usually takes me about a week to cure my oats properly when the weather is not favorable and I 1 fear a rain before they have time to dry in the windows I 1 build very large cocks and build them BO as to turn the water as much as possible these cocks will go through a sweat and may stand it necessary two or even three weeks after which they must be stacked or put into the barn when unloading every two loads can be salted liberally and tramped down it will then go through another sweat such hay when fed with clover will prove excel lent for horses and cattle MAKING CREAM CHEESE how the farmers family can enjoy choice home made article we make our own cheese for home use and as there are perhaps some who do not know how to make this highly nutritious food I 1 will give our method writes a farmer in farm and home to make a three pound cheese that Is good after four weeks and bet ter with age we take five gallons milk cream and all if it has beet for a while and heat till about milk warm we then dissolve one halt of a aso 2 rennet tablet in half a teacupful of cold water stir it well into the milk and add one tablespoonful tul salt to the milk and then stir we remove it from the alre and let stand from three to six minutes when it becomes thick like clabber As soon as it becomes solid clabber it Is ready to break up we then stir the clabber or curd as it Is called which separates the curd from the whey and let it stand until the curd settles to the bottom with the hand we press the pieces say one inch thick put into a crock and over it pour hot water it Is then stirred with a spoon and let set till it seems tough like leather which will be in about three minutes we again cut in pieces as it has run together salt as for butter and it 13 ready to be pressed for the press we take a gallon syrup can and melt off both ends and make ends for the can from one inch boards to just fit inside we set the can over one board and line it with a well greased cloth long enough to fold over the top pour in the curd fold over the cloth and put on the other board it Is then set where it can drain a 15 pound weight is placed on top left tor 24 hours and then removed from the press we take off the cloth and grease the cheese lay it on a plate in a screened box and grease and turn it every day un til it is ready to use A JOINTED GATE very handy for farmers ac he does not have to handle big gate A A gate that Is used much is handy when made with a hinged joint ao a A good jointed gate person can pass through easily with out opening the big gate when th main gate Is to abe opened the short brace la lifted with the toot and lodged on a hook the gate shuts against a short post in the ground and a hook and staple at this place makes it steadier grades or pure bleds the scrub hen and th scrub farm er make a scrub team the grade hen and the grade farmer make a grade team purebred teams alwawi attract 14 |