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Show rope long ago realized this truth, and their governments have been carrying on the work of forest preservation and propagation for generations. FARM AND GARDEN MATTERS OF INTEREST TO AGRICULTURISTS. Health of Show stock. Every year we hear complaints regarding re-garding disease contracted at the state fairs, and there are some breeders of excellent swine who Btay at home with their animals rather than run chances of bringing disease back with them to the farm. This should not be, and there is no need of so much trouble annually in this respect.- In the first place it behooves the intending exhibitor ex-hibitor to act fairly towards all concerned. con-cerned. He knows better than anyone else whether there Is cholera in his district. He knows whether his swine have been exposed or not whether Some Cp-to-Date - Hints Abont Cultivation Culti-vation of ' the Soil and Yields Thereof Horticulture, Viticulture and . Floriculture. Horticultural Observations. To what extent is it possible to smother the roots of trees by layers of earth over them? There are more answers an-swers than one that will be given. The following from Vicks Magazine gives one view of the subject: "It is a fact not generally known that trees may readily be killed by smothering the roots that is, by covering them so deeply with soil or other material, that the supply of air is unduly cut off and the tree dies. Such instances have frequently fre-quently come under the observation of the writer in connection with landscape land-scape gardening improvements. He recalls especially the case in a Western New York town, where, on a certain street, the front part of the lots laid so much higher than the streets that it was desirable to cut the soil down before be-fore buildings were erected thereon. Now the rear of the same lots sloped away so low that better shaped building build-ing sites could be created by filling in earth in these parts. The conclusion was easily reached that by moving soil from front to rear in the lot the surface would be about the right shape there is the slightest chance that tney may take the disease to the fair and so expose other swine. He is well aware of the fact that the germ may exist for a time in the blood of the hogs without showing the characteristic character-istic symptoms to the fell disease. Knowing all of these things then he should not take his hogs to the fair. Depend upon it that some one man takes the disease to the fair grounds. The germ of the disease is not there when the show opens. Great care is usually taken by the management to clean up after each show, to disinfect and Whitewash. This being the case the grounds may be considered healthy and the exhibitor cannot say fairly that his swine contracted the disease from germs existent in the pens. The diapaso i invariably due to and this plan was carried out. In the back of these lots, however, there were some vigorous old orchard and other trees, which were highly prized. The filling In of earth to Improve the grade called for a depth of as much as three and four feet of soil over the roots of these trees. In most cases the owners before moving in the earth made boxes . of plank about four feet across around the trees, to keep the soil away from the trunks, thinking that this was all the provision needed for their safety. Now for the lesson: The result of that filling In of earth was that after five years, not one of the former healthy trees was alive wherever the soil was deeply filled in. The trees had been smothered effectually. So far as the final outcome was concerned, the boxing box-ing of the trunks to keep back the soil might as well not have been per- contagion brought to each show by some of the exhibits. and we say without reserve that in most cases these swine might have been kept at home and so prevented an outbreak. out-break. It Is very rare indeed when investigation in-vestigation of the outbreak is made, to find that no trace can be found of the district from which the disease originally orig-inally came and when found there are usually sufficient facts to show that the exhibitor whose swine brought in the germs had some knowledge of the possibility pos-sibility of contagion, but thought it too remote to give trouble. When an exhibitor has such information there is only one way for him to act, and that is to forego the pleasure and profit of showing for fear that he may bring disease; to his neighbors' hogs. On general principles, if there is known to be cholera present In a given district no swine should be allowed to ioriueu. Now for a little on the other side of the question. The writer of this para-' para-' graph knows a good many instances where dirt has been "filled In" over the roots of trees, in this case forest and shade trees. In every case the trees have remained vigorous. Some or these cases are on railroad grounds and some on school grounds. Near the home of the writer the hickory trees have been dying for the last five - years. On his own lot all the hickories hick-ories and most of the oaks have d ed except where the earth has been filled in over the roots and hickory whose roots are buried the deepest Is the healthiest of all. These latter trees are not even boxed to keep the earth " from the trees. How much value there may be to the boxing we do not know. We have seen boxes put around large oak trees whose roots must have extended ex-tended 25 or more feet from the trees. The active parts of the roots are near come to the snow iroui ui matter whether they have been exposed or not There is always a chance that they may carry the disease. This is the plain duty of the exhibitor, but he should receive equal consideration upon up-on the part of the management of the fair or show. The pens provided for the reception of his fine hogs should be clean, dry, well ventilated and recently re-cently disinfected and whitewashed. He should see to it before he starts that the management has so prepared the pens for his reception, and if each breeder would take time to write to the secretary of the show weeks ahead just what he expects in this way the management would soon see the necessity ne-cessity and advantage of having the quarters for hogs in fine sanitary condition con-dition at the opening of the show. But this Is not all. When the swine arrives ar-rives upon the fair grounds everything should be done to prevent disease from breaking out among them. Expert veterinarians or a special veterinarian .etainoH for the Duroose. should ex- the extremities ana are iub need the air. The boxes around the trees admit tne air only to the trunks and not the active areps of roots. It is evident to any thinking person that the air In the box would have to pass through more earth to reach the roots than from the surface to the ground There is without doubt a possibility of killing roots by burying them too deep but the smothering out is not by any means as likely in one locality as in another. j p Brown, secretary of the International Inter-national Society of Arboriculture, pre-cu pre-cu that "fifty years hence Kansa and the states today planting ; tree will be supplying California and the Pacific roast states with timber." He says furtherlhat with a continuation of the present rate of timber cutting there will soon be a great dearth of west of the Rocky moun- amine each lot of hogs before it Is allowed al-lowed to enter the pens, and reject for cause any animal or lot of animals that are seen to be afflicted with any disease that is likely to spread contagion con-tagion among the other hogs. Each exhibitor should file an affidavit that cholera is non-existent in his district Each railroad company should provide clean, disinfected, whitewashed cars for the conveyance of swine to and from the fair. Precautions should be taken to keep the pens at the fair grounds scrupulously clean, so that bad odors may not arise to annoy the visitors and at the same time out of consideration for the health of the swine exhibited. At many of the shows the pens are not kept clean and disinfectants dis-infectants are not used or are so sparingly spar-ingly distributed that they fail to deodorize de-odorize and cannot possibly be depended de-pended upon to kill germs of disease. u-a.il, state agricultural association tains. He . suggests government ownership of these forests as the only means of preserving them Tree planting Is now going on quite extensively In the states west of the Mississippi river, but not . . would be done were the P owned by the state. The individual peters say that they cannot top- to roan any returns and do not like to invest in-vest to? much of their own money in Th. state is perpetual and afford to invest in forest v ant-ons ant-ons even though they will not give returns till the next generation The hard woods, the most valuable of all, are not favorites for planting, tak ng, ts ttey do, such long periods of time "rTvetpment. This Is a question which the public is deeply Inter-ted- it is a problem that the public fn'can handle successfully and in oniy can . not reason- a scientific manner. It Is ; no re ,"ay be benefited. The people of En should give some well known disinfecting disin-fecting firm the contract to keep the pens sweet and healthy during the show, and if this were done there would be few reports of disease at the fairs. Soft Rot of Sweet Potatoes. Attacks At-tacks tubers, usually after they are stored. Tubers shrivel. Black masses when skin is broken and disagreeable odor. Remedy Avoid bruising the tubers, store in dry places at a temperature tem-perature of about 70 degrees, remove and burn diseased tubers as soon as they begin to decay. Wben muck is exposed to the action of the air, as when mixed with ordinary ordi-nary cultivated soli, its nitrogen slowly slow-ly undergoes change and Is gradually rendered available to the growing PlThe United States produces as muck borax as the rest of the world combined. |