| Show r I EARn c AND GARDEN I MATTERS OF INTEREST TO AGRICULTURISTS pes rsliMit Hint Atmnl mill Uan 5 Ih roll J held ileeeo 1IInU Iori htsea 1 olIuROI IIOrM UK May rrturns of Ihe department of r agriculture show a decline from Iho April condition of 12 points 80 2 I against 81 4 last month sail n 7 I Ju rch1 I 1896 Thn I avrV K ofth e A rrlnrlu WII ale arc hut is Ohio 8Z a11R1grn Pf lni1 ann Cl ininol 37 Mlvwur 1 lit 1 Kanmit 7 8 rallfnrnU 17 PcnnsrUanla M Tic nv ran a lu the southern stales arc hell rafntlnc from K In MlMlnnlppI to 98 In Tel and In Iho minor tarot New Jtrrtj Delaware Maryland and VlglnU boor SS la New Jersey to 102 In Marln < As reported In April the wwrr Injuries from fretting and deficient anew In Illinois Il-linois I I though Ihe bordering states Hi leas IICOUIIII Iowa nmt jiujoun repor Uttere winter Injury and siali bordering itttfi Ohio Michigan Nf brllka amt Humps show reduced rendition ren-dition figures User Slit country else i here the condition Is unusually good being practically normal rasl of the AI Icghaolrs and quite high also on tho Pacific stole Winter tie has lent nearly near-ly I one point since lat month lu average aver-age for May being U per cent against S9 for the wimo dale In April This percenttce of New York Is Oi Pennsylvania Pennsyl-vania > s Michigan VOl Illinois 70 Wisconsin 71 f MlmiMotn 91 Iowa 83 Kansas 90 Nebraska 93 California 98 The average condition of winter barley li 964 per clot against W5 In lUll and 911n I89S The lowest conditions condi-tions ire In Indiana Illinois nnd lIch igan and Ibo hlRliMt In Oregon California Cali-fornia and Iowa the laller stale showing show-ing 1UO or a full crop condition Tho nvcnue condition of spring paslutc Is 934 against 932 a car ago and that of meadows 93 4 against 91 S In IVJi tho wet spring particularly In this regions of deficient rainfall The perrrntngn of spring plowjnt Bnlihed May 11 Is cl 9 tin isu tj pfrctntago being 78 Only Iho ex trctao northrrn unit soulhcrn states shoTtli + customary proimrtlon Kvey lJ1ife she delay rcuullcHl from Iho lute eu uII1 heavy rains Tho report fritai Karvpo aro Kenerully favorablo r M to thVcbnilltlaii of crops but In France there It a reduced urea under wheat and the crop Is expected to fall short ofkhut years ux least IGOOOUOO bush OIL la Part ut Prussia the spring sonlnji have hen retarded by ruin TLiAvleerov of India lelcxranhs that 5 111 tie no tvhrat for nxporlallon I 1i1i t7 t toUDtry i this year Sou on Teclu llfMline I1 Wm hone It u1 in nf N II I Kxpcrlmrni notion i There Is I probably no plant wo have so mucli literature upon and that has becnUtudlcd so thoroughly from Ibo standpoint uf plant breeding as the tomato to-mato This Is I doubtless duo to the fact that III t Is easily grown commonly used and offers exceptionally good opportunity oppor-tunity for study The tomato plant Is quickly susceptible suscepti-ble careful selection and It Is I by this that value Is I given to cross results whether natural or mechanical In selecting lomalo seed It has been demonstrated thai the plant as a whole has more hereditary Influence than Ihe chancier of the Individual fruit Hepealrd experiment havo shown that nothing Is I gained by selecting seeets from first ripe fruit regardless of the character of the plant from which they come When new varieties are desired through crossing tho foregoing applies equally to ouch parent 1 he more uniform uni-form end persistent the parent the greater Is the chance that Us cbarac lerlillcs will be transmitted When the desired variety Is I once realized re-alized It Is I kept only by constant at tendon to selection It II I doubtless chiefly due to carelessness Ir selection thai our varieties of tomatoes as a whole are so comparatively short lived Tillage fertilization nnd other treatment treat-ment of plants have their effect upon tomato hrerdlni Poor soils nnd In iiifficlcnt cultivation tend lo pervert Ibo sanely Keeping quality evidently has not been l generally taken Into cl1l1hllmlll1n up In tho prevent tlmo In breeding the tomato Experiments at the Cornell New York elation go to show that wild varieties may not be the best keepers Hybridizing between the larger varieties varie-ties nnd the clustered or curriinl loma too generally results lu producing fruit Intermediate In slzo Crosses hctwreu the larger or potato leafed and commonleafed tnrlcllra us unlly re milt In nn liitrrnicdmn foliage The red varieties seem to batn She power to Hump their color on the offspring off-spring of crosses with other colors Varieties of tomators mix very readily read-ily when crown In the sam lleld Pure seed should bn selected 1 from hoisted varieties Tho tomato ns with other rrjps needs n rotation The plants grown on the same land from year to year although highly fertilized naturally deg de-g In time In order to secure results from cross hog the Inmate one can not be iou well acquainted with the parent tarJeties I nor hove too clearly defined plans of procedure I Haphazard riosilng ij of little vnlue When the parents nro very different In character Iho chuncen are that tht I offspring will be weak while thus off I s spring Of closely related specie of races Is likely to be very vigorous OIllOIN OF TOMATOES The evolution of our cultivated to mMoes Is Interesting Tho two species from which all our garden varletlci have originated are Lycoprrslcum ptm Plnelllfollum and Lycopenlcum escu lentum The former Includes the Currant Cur-rant varieties which are small and borne In large clusters sometimes spoken I spo-ken of as tho HMiln tomaloes Till species Is I a South American variety and Is found growing wild 1 In both lira zll and Peru Although known fo some time comparatively little use hu been made of them except for pickles preserved and for ornamentation L mculentum II the specie from which our commercial tomatoes coma It Is thought also to have originated ll Pent although It has been found li other countries as In Mexico and California Cal-ifornia In a form similar to tbe cherry tomato I History of Growth While the toma to was known In Europe as far back at I5G1 but four varieties were found In Cngtand In 1819 In these early days It was grown mainly for ornament Pit > f d IUII OIl finds that the fruit was ant Introduced Into this country al niltad ihla by n Irench refugee from St Ikdlnr0 In Jj 98 and again by an Italian paint r Cum at Salem Mass alNiut 111 the beginning of general eutliire nf the Kniato for market It ptarrd at ahout 1SX1 From this time III I > to the present tho frolullot of the tomato tune hell steady Ironi the flat rough soft angular tot Utlues beautiful beau-tiful round nviilar fruits have been teveloped flute Paragon variety was no flrst to bo so itavilopcd Since I then other superior varieties have come sod gone One wouM think further Improvement Im-provement almost an Imporslblllly but doiibllrss She adranmncml of Ibo oral t ten yiMra will bo as Knul It not greater great-er than that of Site last decade < A correspondent of the Wool l nnd Cotton lleporler aye Clint ninoug the Impnrtanl point combined 1 In the blfnl I Is Its grent ublllly In reproduction reproduc-tion eir Shut pmllllr qualltlm of the cots They may le bred at any sea non of the year und three crop ol lambs can easily lie l priMluced lu two years wltheiut any decease In roosll liitlonnl strength or fccdlng qualllle Tire milking qualllle of Shun ewes art certainly of tho most wonderful proportion pro-portion and demmiMriitrd to me their nblllly to oars for two or three Inml nt I time which In 1 n common and nlnimit regular eircurrcnrn In mn ID lleioks Thai lambs when drllII ere ulwnB slrong and active and uri nblei In like their rations without with-out pMlntuliro fniin She shepherd limit ennnui be I unlit of many other lirrvdn fire fwiii Invuilably Drove Ihe best eif mothers and with riasonnble earn will cornet Intel condition for mutton mut-ton after raising n pair of line mutton lambs An Important feature of the Doriut breed Is their nblllly lo resist Iho attack of deer which aro such a ew moron lIullnco III this eotitry and In no sense a decreasing one VIt1 other sheep would run this breed will stand their ground and fight and have been known In many Instances lo drive the dog from Ibo field The horns em both ewes rind rIM are a favorable accompaniment In this direction di-rection and are an attractive ornament orna-ment to tho animal I Is I especially pleasing to tbe eye to look upon a flock of Dorset ewe with this addition addi-tion or at least I find It al The wool producing qualities I form nn Important feature of the breed the grado being ono class of combing wool of great length and strength of fiber having a fancy appearance which could not fall to please this manufacturer of wonted and other goods In whlcli these wools are desirable while the webt ol fleece averages from seven t ton pounds The results of crossing nor set rains upon other breeds was bowl to be of a most satisfactory nature as an excellent million lamb was oh Islned which would mature In three or four months reaching from 80 to 100 pounds and making a high clue or mullou Intlll < ali Imperil The value of live animals Imported for food by Great Urllaln She put three months was I1GOO000 as compared with 112800000 Ibo same lime last year O the 122219 head of cattle Imported the United States furnished 100918 the Argenllno Hepubllo 10750 and Canada 4ICC We lent 8GOO catllo less than last year Arucntlna sent G2SO less whllo Canada sent 1200 more Wo sent only G3031 sheep slightly moro than half the number exported last year the Argenlluo h29 against 00015 and Canada IliSC Against 301J hunt poor Tho value of the dead meat Imported was SilGuOOOOO und but II1GOOO over the tamo Slits last year fresh beer t Import were 4 39 31 bee-r twl and fresh mutton u CJC112 cwlnll Increase ol 9 000 cwt of beef but I decrease of 40 000 cwl of million Great Drltalni exportation of live stock Is practically all for breeding purposes Kt Clover Tho mrdliim red clover win grow us Iilno as Is I pioHtablij for feeding feed-ing It ton cm rich laud 1 Tho mammoth mam-moth or pea tins clover as It Is often called Brow too course for feeding und I I lifeldcs co hard to euro that much of It lurns dark before It can be put In barn or stuck Hut for plowing under tbu mammoth clover In I best I I Is also I much aura mcdir than Is I the medium clover lloiiRh Ihls depends lu 1 part on Clue uumoer of bumble bees which nerds to bo pretty lurg with the mammoth variety ns It seeds with the IIrot growth In order to have the chive seed ripen Iho mammoth clover Is usually cut later and often after Iho vines have fallen au tie ground sc that much both of Ibo COUT and seed Is lad No maier how carefully Ihn inanmolli clover Is cut enough seed Is I spilled upon Slue ground to make a good deal rf clover come Ir onrl r WOcfa i whenever In tutor yens too land ll plowedlx |
