346 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



stroying insects, and is at the same time valuable as a fertilizer for all garden 

 crops. It must not be mixed witli lime else its ammonia will be dissi2)ated, 

 but if the soil is dry and hungry a little salt may be used with it. Soot steeped 

 in water and allowed to stand and settle for a day or two is also a most excel- 

 lent fertilizer for house plants, possessing precisely the same qualities that the 

 parings of horses' hoofs do. For flowers out of doors it is especially valuable 

 since it may be easily applied, and tends to increase the vividness of the bloom, 

 and, mixed with salt, it is a most excellent fertilizer for asparagus, onions, 

 cabbage, etc., in connection with compost, in the proportion of one quart of 

 salt to six quarts of soot. For two bushels of compost this quantity makes a 

 heavy dressing for each square rod to be worked in next the surface of the soil. 



EOAD DUST FOR LAWNS. 



I recently gave my lawn its fall coat of road dust. I have been practicing 

 this with the most gratifying success for years. There is much in knowing 

 how to manage. Fortunately I have a much traveled road passing by my 

 premises, making it convenient to procure the dust, — plenty of it, and highly 

 charged with horse dung. I scrape into heaps with a hoe, and remove with 

 wheelbarrows to the place where it is to be applied, which latter I do with the 

 coal scuttle. After some practice it can be pretty evenly distributed in this 

 way. I follow with a woodon rake with short, strong teeth. By raking it well 

 I get the dust more equally distributed, and well down on the ground. By do- 

 ing the work now, the grass will get some effect before winter, and this stimu- 

 lus will help to sustain it against the frost, besides aifording a coat of protec- 

 tion for the roots. In spring the grass will start finely. The time of day for 

 gathering and applying the dust is worth considering. It should be done 

 early in the morning when it is damp, which prevents it from flying while be- 

 ing handled. 



Two bushels to an area of ten feet square is a good application, and should 

 be adopted where the grass is light and the soil poor. Less will be sufficient on 

 a good turf. Let it not b3 supposed, however, that more than the above heavy 

 ap})lication will be hurtful. 1 have ap[}lied it nearly an incii thick in some 

 places to raise the ground where ithai settled, raking up the grass well after 

 applying, and here grew afterward tlie best grass. AV^iiere much dust is re- 

 quired, it is a safe and good way to gather it during the summer, so as not to 

 fail in securing it should the weather happen to be wet in the fall, or heavy 

 rains wa>:h away the dust. — F. G. vi Countrij Gentleman. 



PRESERVING AND MARKETING. 



OVEK-PKODUCTION. 



If any one will take the trouble to look into the facts about the compara- 

 tive price of the dilfei'ent kinds of fruit grown in this country they will see 

 how foolish is the idea that the counlry is in danger of being overstocked. 



