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Show .BflBBBBBBBBBB.BBSBBBBBJ Aacfiiw Soil Stimulants. A man Is somotlmcs deceived as to tho valuo of a fertilizer, or a so-called fertilizer, by merely putting it on tho land nnd getting a large crop from it. Somo of tho things that aro thus applied ap-plied to tho land nnd havo obtained popularity among tho farmers, are moro stimulants. A real fertilizer is a substanco that adds plant food to tho soil. A stimulant Is somothlng that causes tho plant food In tho soil to becomo moro quickly nvallablo. It is therefore taking out of the soil tho latent plant food, -and by so much Is Impoverishing it. When It docs glvo out, It will glvo out nil at onco, bo-causo bo-causo tho plant food will bo exhausted. exhaust-ed. Such soil stimulants lncludo in tholr number frcshly-burnod limo, gypsum gyp-sum or land plaster, and salt in mod-crato mod-crato quantities. Thoro was a long period of tlmo when gypsum was sold as n fertilizer. Farmers appllod it to tholr lands nnd beliovod that It was adding a great deal of fertility to thorn becauso thoy found that after Its uso thoy, wcro nblo to get larger crops for somo years than thoy had previously done. !n tho end, liowovor. fnrmers lenrned that gypsum did not realty add anything to tho soil. It moroly holped thorn got out of tho soil what was there. Gypsum and limo not only Uborato plant food, but in doing so destroy de-stroy tho humus, which makes thq land less ablo to sustain drouth. I do not advocato tho uso of soil stimulants stimu-lants when they aro to bo used as stimulants. Doth land plastor and limo havo a placo In our agriculture, but thoy aro as correctivos to thd soil; rather than stimulants. Limo, either in tho form of burned rock, or in tho form of ground unburncd rock, corrects cor-rects tho acidity of tho soli and permits per-mits tho soil organisms to flourish. Tho caustic limo rather destroys tho humus and doubtloss also has a tendency ten-dency to destroy soil organisms. J. Y. Hudson Oregon Water Hemlock. This Is ono of tho poisonous plants growing in our pastures, especially to tho west. Tho root stock is vortical, ns shown in tho Illustration. It contains con-tains most of tho poison found In the li 2352jmvZ i?a5v mmLW npyr ML HkWJsv FWi.1T. Tfn wMtr btnlock (Ofnifa mm)i a, pUM llh leM, or.-lith tutgn) da- (V tMtiWck mi1 LorlioDtU rootoi V, MUn it wUtoek, liU ilt i , toaltul tn&rt. 1st natural tltei 4. dowwfctt; j.ry. full t plant. Tho fibrous roots run out from this and follow tho surfaco of tho ground. This root stock rots or dwindles dwin-dles away almost cntlroly boforo tho seeds mature, but fresh ones aro formed from It for noxt season's growth. A.pleco of this root stock tho slzo of n walnut la fatal to a cow. A plcco tho slzo of u marblo Is fatal to man. Tf)e Stone Drain. - On farms wlicro tho land is stony, stone is used extensively exten-sively in tho construction of dralnago ditches. Tho work of building a drain of this kind Is much greater than It Is of building a tlio drain, but whon it is built it often proves very offoctlvo In doing what was required of it. Tho aitcn must do roauo wiuor man in tuo caso of tho tlio drain, and there must bo room for a man to work at tbo bottom. bot-tom. Thoro Is, howovor, tho ndvantago in favor of tho stono drain tbnt It does not havo to bo bolow tho frost lino as docs tho unglazed tlio drain. Tho floor of tho drain must bo hard and oven. Tho sides aro mndo by putting up stonos of nearly uniform height. Tho top consists of flat stonos placed on top of tho sides. Ovor tho flat stonos nro thrown In smallor stono and very small stones on top of those. Usually hny Is thrown in nnd an oven layer mado nnd on top af this is placed tho dirt. Tho hay will rot, but by that tlmo tho soil will havo comparted Itself nnd Is not likely to work down Into tho drain. Tho water tablo In tho soil must ro-colvo ro-colvo tho early attention of tho fanner. fann-er. It should nov'cr bo near tho surface sur-face after tho ground has thawed out In tho spring. Intolllgonco can ovorepmo both drouth and froshot, at least in their after effects. There is sorao crop that will grow on almost every kind of land. |