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Show FAIM -AND garden.- "I MATTEIta OP INTEnEST TO AOniCULTUniSTS. flint Urt-to-I)Rln Illntt About Cat-tltatlon Cat-tltatlon nt His Ball ami Vlelds Thereof Horticulture, Mtlcaltura nnd Floriculture. A Novel Method of I'lHntlng Btraw-betrlcs. Btraw-betrlcs. From Farmers' Hovlcw. The cultivation culti-vation of a spring-set bed of strawberries strawber-ries is most costly during tho first month nnd a half after setting In tbo field. Attention must be given them at n time when tho grower is most busy with other farm work. Tho best way of reducing this work that has como under tho writer's notlco nnd has been found by him satisfactory Is practiced In some of tho fields of Western West-ern New York. Tho young plants are dug in early spring, tho roots shortened shorten-ed to about four Inches, nnd tho dead leaves trimmed off. In shortening, the Plant is held In tho left hand, tbo thumb and forefinger embracing It at the collar. All roots that hang below be-low tho little finger are cut off with a pair of shears. Tho trimmed plants are then set In rows a foot apart. They nro shaded, If they need It, until they tako hold nnd aro mulched with well-decayed, well-decayed, short stable manure. During tbo month or six weeks that tho plants remain In the bed they nro sprayed frequently fre-quently for diseases and Insects and watered If they become dry. Before they nro removed tho ground Is thoroughly thor-oughly drenched, so that they may bo packed close together upon trnys and taken to tho field. Tho splendid root system they dovelop In tho bed pro-vents pro-vents tho danger of a check when set. During this tlmo tho field Is being thoroughly prepared. After harrowing It tho weeder is run over it once each week or ten days, to kill tho weods, ox-poso ox-poso grubs to tho crows and keep tho surfaco looso and open. Tho plants have thus a mellow Ded, well warmed. In which to Btart. Thoy aro not checked, check-ed, as Is ofton tho caso with April-set plants for which tho ground has been plowed, perhaps necessarily, beforo it was In fit condition. After the plants nro set tho treatment Is tho snmo as for ordlnnry plantations. Desides tho advantages mentioned this system is admlrablo In that tha plants may bo sprayed much more thoroughly in much less tlmo and with much less fungicide than when set In tho open field. Further, unless the field bo dls-caso dls-caso Infected, plants grown nnd treated treat-ed In this way will, after being set, seldom need a spraying during tbo first year. Tho setting of theso plants In tho Hold comes at n tlmo when tho greatest rush of spring work Is over nnd may bo taken more easily. When plants come from tho nursery In poor condition they can ho treated to best advantage by this method and losses In tho field thus prevented. Lastly, plants so grown are fully as good as pot-grown plants, nnd for this reason should bo valued by persons that never think of setting out a bed until the fruit begins to appear In tho markets. Surely enough to commend tho method to the grower I M. U. Kalns. Boll for Applo Orolmrria. Tho soil for nn npplo orchard should bo selected with a great deal of caro. It used to bo the Idea that any soil was good enough for tho applo orchard, and wo find In many cases applo orchards or-chards set out on soils entirely unsult-cd unsult-cd for them. Soma peoplo have tho Idea that the poorer tho soil tho better It will bo for tho applo orchnrd. This opinion evidently nroso from the experience ex-perience of people In setting out orchards or-chards on very rich land and finding them unsulted for them. They quite naturally Inferred that If the rich land was not good the poor land must be good. Hut rich Innd Is not sultablo, for the reason that It occasions a too great growth of wood and not enough of fruit buds. As wo say, "It all grows to follagol" Land should bo rich enough to Insure In-sure a good growth of wood, but not too rich to permit fruit buds to dovelop do-velop In largo numbers. Generally a meadow will bo found unsuitable, for the reason that the soil-water stands so near tho surface that the roots arc soaked during it large part of thu year. The water does not have to lie near tho surface to do this, for, as Is well known, tho roots of applo trees penctrnto very deeply Into tho ground, sometimes seven sev-en or more feet. Tho hill location Is generally best for the applo orchard, for the reason that there la no underlying sheet of water. Tho drainage Is natural nat-ural and rapid, and tho roots nro nlways nl-ways ablo to do their work without Interference. In-terference. A medium cloy soil is generally gen-erally good, for tho rcasou that In It tho fertility is held till taken up by tbo roots. A sandy soil gets rapidly poor, and when fertilized leaches so badly that much of tho mnnuro Is loot. 1'uaturliiL- Mcadoira. In the management of tnoadowa thero aro too many who seem to think that they can cat their cako and still have It and a great deal .of pasturing Is done that should nover be permitted, says Iowa Homestead. Many think that as soon as tho hay crop Is removed It Is good economy to turn on tho cattlo and thus mako a continued use oflho field on tho theory that nothing should be allowed to go to waste. Many others oth-ers pasture the meadow lu tho fall to consume tho growth of grass after recovery re-covery from tho cutting. Economy Is a good thing, und, other things bolng equal, he will prospor best who permits per-mits tbo least waste Uut thore Is such a thing as making a saving at too great expense, and much of tho pasturing of meadows Is of this class, for It Is done at the expense of tbo future hay crop. A nowly cut meadow for Instance, Ib not a stubblo field from which a penny snvod Is necessarily earned. It Is tho place where the next year's haycrop is to bo grown nnd should bo managed with that Idea In vlaw. To pasture the meadow In IV fall may savo some feed that la worth saving, but It may also leavo tho ground so baro that when winter comes great Injury Is dono to the grass roots and It may not recover. Whon ono sees himself short of pasture, either In midsummer or later In tho fall, and the meadow shows up well with considerable consider-able feed on It, thero Is a great temptation temp-tation to turn tho stock on, nnd there may be times when.lt Is really the best thing to do under the circumstances as thoy actually exist. It Is1 better, for Instance, than to let the stock surror when it Irlnnl or ftdtlifhg' Buf Such circumstances should not bo permitted to occur. To provldo a fodder crop In a corn country is so easy that there Is no necessity for It to occur, nnd the management of tho meadow should bo carried on for the meadow's own good and with an eyu slnglo to tho largest possible hay crop. Tha Hnglltli TlioronRhlired. Mr. J. II. Sanders, in his book on "Tho Breeds of Live Stock," says: "The thoroughbred horso Is peculiarly n British production. ... Of the Oriental sires it Is generally admitted that tho Godolphln Arabian Imported Into England in tho year 1728170 years ago Is tho last that has provon of any special benefit to tho English stock; nnd whilo this blending of the blood of tho Orient with tho old races of England furnished tho foundation, thero cannot bo the slightest doubt that the caro nnd skill of English breoders In selecting and coupling with tho Btoutctt, best nnd fleetest for successive suc-cessive generations has been a more potent ngent In tho formation of tho breed as It now exists than tho Arabian and Barb blood to which trnditlon has ascribed its superiority. Many Importations Impor-tations of the choicest blood of the Orient lmvo been niado both to this country and England within tbo last half century, and yet scarcely n name among them can be found In tho pedigree pedi-gree of n horso that has distinguished hlmsolf upon tho turf. ... In every ev-ery Instanco In which tho speed and stoutness of our thoroughbreds have been tested sldo by side with the Arabian Ara-bian they havo proven superior to their eastern competitors. This fact Is so universally rceognlzod that nearly nil countries upon tho civilized globo havo for many years regarded tho, English thoroughbred, or 'blood horse,' ns tho basis of all substantial equine improvement. improve-ment. . . . Our American horses aro largely permeated with tho blood of tho English thoroughbred. Many of tho best stallions and marcs of England Eng-land havo been Imported to- this country, coun-try, nnd their Influence Is seen on every ev-ery hand. It ontcra largely Into tho groundwork of nil our trotting strains, and It is doubtful It a slnglo great road horso or trotter has been produced in this country that did not possoss a large sharo of this royal blood as a foundation founda-tion upon which tho trotting supor structuro has been built." ltnalo Sing on Clr Land. Experiments conducted In the west of England by tho Bath and West socioty havo brought somo useful results In manuring with basic slag on clay land to light, after three years' experience, says Farmer and Stockbreeder (Eng.). Thcso nro briefly (1) On certain soils, tho full effects of basic slag nro not npparcnt until a considerable period ha's elapsed; but (2) tho development of thcso effects mny be, and probably Is, hastened or retarded by the condition condi-tion of the season following the application appli-cation of the manuro; and (3) that It may perhaps bo assumed that tho beno-flclal beno-flclal effects of tho slag aro not onfy maintained over a very considerable period, but that thero Is also n marked tendency to Increase obscrvablo In thcso efforts from year to year, such as would seem to point to a gradual improvement im-provement in tho gcncrnl condition of growth, nnd probably also to the production pro-duction of a condition of food-avall-ablllty In the soil, which Is specially favorable to the growth of leguminous plants. The stimulus given to clovers so far as hus been observed, has not been carried out at tho expense of thf ordinary grasses. Where. Are tho Wllit I'lceont. In response to an Inquiry as to tho causo of tho dtsappoaranco of tho once abundant wild pigeon, the Information Ib here given that tho wholesale butchery butch-ery of theso birds resulted In almost exterminating the species, says Wisconsin Wiscon-sin Agriculturalist. Tbo market hunters hun-ters followed tho birds to their nesting grounds, whero countless thousands of wild pigeons congregated to breed, and a morcllcss slaughter was Indulged tu, year after year, until few of tho species remain. Tho larger portion of the pig-cons pig-cons (old birds nnd young squabs, Indiscriminately) In-discriminately) wero killed on tbo roosting grounds, nnd shipped to tho inrgcr cities. A smaller percentage was netted or trapped and sent alive in crates to spoilsmen's clubs and associations asso-ciations for trap-shooting purposes. Tho trap-shooting sportsmon of America Ameri-ca nro thoreforo "occessorics" in tho nefarious work of destroying tho wild pigeons of the country, though tho greed of the market hunter Is mainly rcsponslblo for "tho doep damnation of their taking off." Grape Growing on Llttlo Land. It Is bui prising how little extent of earth's surface is needed to root a grapa vine. It It can grow upward and havo open spaco enough ou one or two sides to got plenty of sunshlno, the area In which Us roots can run Is matter of comparatively llttlo Importance. W havo seen thrifty and productive grape vines whero there was only tbrco feet space between a house with Its collar wall on ono side and tho street sldo-walk sldo-walk on tho othor. As tho sidewalk was mado of plank, the grape roots undoubtedly oxtended under it. But even with this there was scarcely a tpaco sevon by 25 feet ou the earth'u surfaco, and this supported for years two grape vines, each of which ran up a trellis as high as the houso, and boro every year fine clusters of luscious fruit it the top. Ex. Butter Plentiful in Colorado. The Denver Post says that never beforo In tho history of Colorado havo tho manufacturers manu-facturers and dealers In olco mado so llttlo monoy as they have during tho past four months. The oloo business has been practically ruined by tho over-production of butter, nnd the state dairy commissioner, whoso principal duties aro to see that tho olco laws aro enforced, finds his usefulness gone for the time bolng, as a result. Prior to March 15, oieo was being shipped Into Donvor from Chicago and Kan-eas Kan-eas City by the carload, but nowadays tho changed conditions have caused tbo article to bo In little or no demand de-mand at nuy prico. Dairy Commissioner Commis-sioner Cannon says that tho slump In the oieo market was caused b tbo plentiful supply of butter all over the state As chicks grow they should be given moro room In the brooders. Crowding CO chicks in a sps.ee fit only for 25 will stunt tho whole lot. Newspaper1 UulleUn No. 69 of the In-1 dlana experiment station says: With-In With-In the past fow years a bacterial disease dis-ease of tho cabbage has become so prevalent In Certain cabbage-growing localities as to occasion very serious losses to thoio engaged in tho business. Although It has been said to occur In Indiana, it has not como to tho attention at-tention of tho station until recently. Sovcrnl fields In the vicinity of Lafayette La-fayette nfTcctcd with this bacterial disease, dis-ease, have been examined by tho writer the present season. In ono of theso fields, containing over 20,000 plants, which wero attacked early In tho season, sea-son, not a slnglo marketable head was obtanled. In other Holds, Judging from a cursory examination, from 10 to 50 per cent of the heads were affected. In view of thcso facts, It has been thought best to bcud out a noto of warning In regard to tho disease. In order that such precautionary measures as are deemed most valuable may bo at once employed In keeping It In check. Fortunately tho life history of tho disease dis-ease has been qulto thoroughly studied of lntc, and the result of the Investigations, Investiga-tions, together with other vnluablo information, in-formation, may bo found In Bulletin No. C5, ol tho Wisconsin experiment station, and Farmers' Bulletin No. G?, of tho U. s. department of agriculture. Tho latter bulletin Is sent free on application ap-plication to the secretary of ngrlcul-turo. ngrlcul-turo. Tho conclusions of thcso Investigators, Investiga-tors, although working Independently, nro esscntlnlly tho same. Both aro agreed that tho only hopo of successfully success-fully combating tho disease is In the careful observance of several precautionary precau-tionary measures. Symptoms of Disease. A dwarfing or one-sided growth of the heads, or in caso of an early attack, the ontlro nb-sonco nb-sonco of nny heads. Occasionally tho heads rot and fall off. In tho leaves tho symptoms usually begin at tho margins nnd consist of a yellowing of all tho affected parts, except ex-cept the veins, which become decidedly brown or black. Infection. The bacterial germ is conveyed to tho leaves of tho plant by wind or' Insects, nnd In most cases gains an cntranco to the tissues of the plant through the edges of tho leaf. Precautionary Measures. As thero Is no remody known, preventive measures meas-ures must bo relied on lu combatinir the disease. Thcso measures aro as follows: Avoid planting In land on which infected in-fected plants ha,ve been grown. Sov-eral Sov-eral years may bo necessary to rid tho land of tho germs. Do not uso manure, containing decayed de-cayed cubbago leaves, or stalks cither In the seed bed or field. Wet land Bliould bo avoided, as It favors tho development of tho disease. Keep the plants as freo from Insects as possible Itcmove nnd destroy all diseased plants or portions of tho plant, as sooh as diseased condition Is noticed. If any of the readers of this artlclo have been troubled with the disease, they will confer a favor by reporting the snmo to tho Indiana experiment stai.sn at Lafayette William Stuart. Assistant Botanist. lllz Ylrltla of Corn. Some weeks ago wo mentioned the fact that at tho Illinois State Fair there wero six entries of corn tor tho award for greatei' ncro yield. Tho yields, as reported, were as follows:: W. F. Schnapp, ISO bushels G3 pouuds. Samuol D. Maddock, 71 bushels C5 pounds. Albert Brown, SI bushels 10 pounds. John II. Powers, 17G bushels 40 pounds. F. D. Nuncs, 145 bushels 22 pounds. ) C. W. McMurray, 12G bush'els 10 pounds. I This shows what It Is possible to do I on land proporly'mnnurcd and properly I cared for. Tho previous year thero I were many other entries, hut none that enmo up to the high-water mark of this year. It Is a pity that more entries en-tries were not made. It would seem thnt hundreds of farmers might com-pcto com-pcto In this class. It would ho a good thing for the agriculture of Illinois It moro money wero dovoted to this part of tho fair. flooil Ln)rrs. A writer In Farm Poultry this month publishes tbo record of a Light Brahma pullet born July 10, 1897. Sho begun to lny on Jan. II, and her record to Oct. 10, 1S9S, wns ns follows; January 12, February 19, March 30, April 23, May 23, Juno 21, July 29, August 23, September 20, October tlO days) 8, making mak-ing a total of 218 eggs, Tho Farmers Itovlcw regards this as a remarkablo performance, but ono to bo believed, 11 only shows tho possibilities of building up laying strains In almost any of the breeds. Thin hen should be kept for tho purposes of breeding. Not all ol her eggs would produco chicks of such fecundity ns their mother, but somo ol them probably would. Sell tho Hnrness, Too. Whenever a horse is sold, the harness in which It has been used to working ought nlwnys to go with tho bargain. No two harnesses har-nesses wero over mado to fit nllko and especially whero the prossuro comes on the ehouldor or neck in drawing. Tb sltln under the old harness has been gradually toughened by pressure on ono spot, but with tho now hurness the prewsuro Is shifted, It may bo only an Inch or two, but It comes whero the skin Is tender nnd will quickly break when exposed to the collar. If the wholo harness cannot go, bo at least suro to secure tho collar with any now horse purchased, so that the animal can work without being tortured. Tho collar col-lar on:o used for ono horse ought nover nov-er be used for another. Eh. Hogs Fed on Horsos. A forelgnor farming near Delphi, Ind., a veritable ghoul, 1ms been Indicted by tho state board of health for feedlug hogs on dead horses. Ho found tho hogs would fatton for n tlmo on tho offal and dead horses, so ho bought up all the old cheap horses ho could find to feed to his hogs and managed to soil them oft before they dlod of hog cholera or disease. dis-ease. The stnto board of health say tho hogs so fattened are dangerous to use as food. Any farniar should be Indicted In-dicted who will feed dead animals to his hogs, nnd it is sure to develop hog cuolera. Ex. r Early maturity for marhet means a great deal n malting up the profits. |