THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



to keep oif stock, and to shield from keen frosts. 

 This brush must be removed after the plants get 

 of some size. 



The best soil, according to my experience, for 

 growing tobacco is a ricli loam of a red color. 

 Black loam is inclined to make dark tobacco. 

 The ground sliould have a liberal dressing of 

 well-rotted manure. The soil sliould be broken 

 deep and tliorou^dily pulverized. If a good 

 breeze comes after the first breaking', all the 

 better, it will clear the soil of cut worms. 

 Mark off three feet and a half eacli way. In 

 making hills be"iu at one side and make a cross, 

 and then walk back ; in this way tlie hills are 

 made more reijuhir. To make a cross, both going 

 itud coming, the hill will be zigzag. In setting 

 I ])reter a medium season to a heavy one, if to 

 be had. If I can have a choice of plants I would 

 take a yellowish looking plant of a stocky 

 gn,)Wth, "they will live better and take root in the 

 soil sooner, I think. Avoid a long shauky plant, 

 it will not give satisfaction. 



Tlie cultivation should commence as soon as 

 the plant begins to grow. The soil should be 

 loosened around the plant with a hoe, care should 

 be used not to break the plant loose. Tobacco 

 should be cnltivated once every week until too 

 large to get between the rows with a horse, and it 

 will make heavier and finer crops. From my 

 experience in growing it I find there is a 

 certain stage in its growth that it should be 

 topped to make the best tobacco. If ygu .^vill 

 notice the first four or five leaves grow smaller 

 as they near the top, trim off these smaller' 

 leaves at the bottom as soon as the plant can be 

 topped at ten leaves above, then we have the 

 best part ot the plant. Some growers top 

 tobacco at sixteen leaves, but from observation 

 in this respect I find tobacco not so heavy or as 

 large leaf by tliis plan, besides having more 

 leaves to work and strip. 



Due attention must be given, to worming. 

 Destroy all eggs that can be found. They are 

 usually on top of tlie leaf It is more tedious to 

 keep the small worms otf, but if they are left to 

 grow larger they injure the tobacco more, and 

 worm-eaten toljiicco is not only injured in looks, 

 but loses in weight. Keep the suckei's off, that 

 the strength of the roots nuiy go in the leaf 

 Tobacco will usually sucker four tfnies, but will 

 Bucker at the ground until cut, or rather until 

 the roots die they must be kept od' until the 

 tobacco is cut, I have left them to grow some- 

 times when my toliacco was late, they cause the 

 tobacco to ripen earlier, and they do not draw as 

 heavily as the first suckers. 



A TOOL HODSE. 



Dy TI'. D. Boijnton, AppUton, Wi3. 



Very few farmers have a place built and de- 

 signed expressly for the storing of tools, while it 

 must be admitted that there is quite a large class 

 that do net furnish any shelter at all for their 

 farm im]ihnients. The mower, the horse-rake, 

 the harrows, plows, and seeders, are found along- 

 side the fence, or behind the barns, where they 

 are exposed to the sun, rain, and snow, during 

 the few years that they hold together when so 

 treated. 



The more prudent and intelligent, who have 

 learned by experience that tools exposed to the 

 weather will not last more than halt as long as 

 those that are kept housed, either erect a building 

 for the purjiose, or utilize tlie nooks and corners 

 of other buildings, wherever available space can 

 be had. 



The latter method is by far the most common. 

 We find farm tools stored in all imaginable 

 places, — the wood-shed, the corn-crib, the barn- 

 floor, and even over the pig-pen, or in a corner of 

 the stable. This is much better than allowing 

 the tools to remain out doors, but still a very 

 inconvenient, and often expensive method of 

 storing. Fowls are roosting upon or over them ; 

 stock often get loose and are injured upon them ; 

 while they are more or less iu the way at all 

 times, 



A building designed for the storing of tools may 

 be built at very s'uiall cost. The construction is 

 so simple, that any farmer who can use a saw and 

 liammer, may do the work himself. It may be 

 in the &irni of an inclosed fine roof shed, or a 

 neat double roof building, finished to suit the 

 taste anil iiurse of the builder. Whatever it is, 

 it should be storm jiroof and dry. I have seen 

 many tool sheds that were open on the Irinnt, 

 like cattle sheds. These may be very convenient 

 for running wagons and machinery in and out, 

 but they are very ]ioor ]>rotectioii against driving 

 storms, whicli in winter will often pile such sheds 

 half full of snow. Swinging or sliding doors 

 should be provided in front for large, heavy 

 macninery that the o^yner does not wish to take 

 to ineces for storing. 



The tool house should have a good solid floor, 

 so as to avoid the dampness from the ground, 

 that sometimes seems to allect the whole contents 

 of a building The building .should be deep 

 enough to allow reapers, binders, mowers, horse- 

 rakes, wagons and buggies to be backed in and 

 completely covered. In the usual narrow shed, 

 the tongues and shafts of the implements. must be 

 left sticking out to the weather. Twenty feet is 

 a good dejjth for a tool house or shed. The 

 length of the building must, of course, be gov- 

 erned by the amount of machinery to be housed. 



A work sho]i partitioned otl' one end of the 

 building is a very convenient arrangement, as 

 there is always more or less repairing to be done 

 in connection with the machinery. With a little 

 practice, and a full set of- jols for the work, the 

 farmer could save many/- the dollars that he is 

 annually paying to the ier and blacksmith, 

 and that too, during Wtii-i^vi when he could not 

 work iu the field. 



MY EXPERIMENTAL PLOT. 



Sy Thoihas D. J>aint, QreenviUe, Ky. 



From two unavoidable circumstances my e.x- 

 ]ierimental plot will not be as interesting as I 

 had hoped to make it. From a long continued 

 wet spell the grass got such a hold that I had my 

 phit idewed-'to-feiil thevgress while thcsivrt'^?;fs 

 t^q wet, which caused it tohake. ami I was taken 

 so badly with flieumatisni-X'coUld- uut take4»tes 

 its progress. 



My early cabbage had 40 pounds of fertilizer 

 broadcast and well mixed with the soil. The 

 ground was large enough for 600 hills, IS inches 

 in the rows, rows ,S feet apart. Fifty pounds of 

 fertilizer were put in these 600 hills. These 

 cabbages were set out the second day of May. 

 First heads used June 27th. The remarkable 

 feature of it is the market being very dull the 

 cal-ibage have not all been sold, and those yet 

 standing are nice hard heads, no sign of bursting 

 yet, and this the 1.5th ot September. They are 

 the Early JerseyWakefield variety. 



My Peas: — The Farly Sunrise and Clevelands 

 First and Best did not give satisfaction. The 

 .Sunrise had a large bloom but did not mature its 

 fruit. Bliss' Abundance and Everbearing peas 

 were splendid. The Abundance w*ere in bloom 

 six days earlier, but except this, I saw but little 

 difference if any. The vines were some two feet 

 auda.hatf.high, verv riuik. I did not-6tiek thent- 

 but they' will do better with sticks. The pods 

 are long and filled" with large peas, six and eight, 

 peas in a pod; flavor excellent. With me they 

 both ceased bearing at the same time. Some of 

 the vines had fifty jiods on them at one time. 



For early market or family use I find the 

 American Wonder ahead of all others; of good 

 size pods, and pea of excellent flavor. The next 

 is Carter's Premium Gem. This jiea is not as 

 early as the American Wonder, but is as well 

 flavored and more ]>roductive not quite as large. 



My onion seed was sowed 29th of March; three 

 varieties, Keil Weathers field, Yellow Globe, 

 and White Giant I'occo. The tops were dead by 

 the middle of August, with bottoms two to three 

 inches in diameter. 



My Beans : — The Canadian Wonder wa.s a very 

 rank grower, pods some eight inches long, filled 

 with large beans, but with me they were tough 

 and not very productive. Lemon pod proved to 

 be a very heavy vine, bean of excellent quality, 

 very prolific. The Crystal White I find to be one 

 of the finest snap beans I ha\:e met with, exceed- 

 ingly productive, retaining'tli'eir juicy succulent 



flavor for many days after they are ready to pull. 

 The jiods are nearly transparent, very fleshy ; iu 

 habit of growth they are very bushy, branching 

 out. . For family use or late market they are very 

 tender and crisp and unexcelled. 



My jiot.atoes yielded thus : — Stem e%d, 10 eyes, 

 cut any way, yielded 80 potatoes, weighed 12 

 jjounds'; middle, 10 eyes, 92 potatoes, weighed 

 IGi pounds ; seed end, 10 eyes, 88 potatoes, weighed 

 15 pounds. Eyes cut deep,-stem end, 10 eyes, 94 

 ]>otatoes, weighed 14^ pounds ; middle, 10 eyes, 

 102 potatoes, weighed loi pounds; seed end, 10 

 eyes, 110 potatoes, weighed 12i pounds. 



THE BEST IS BEST 



BiJ Ehtn E. Hex/nrd, Shiocton, Wis, 



I have often urged, iu the various periodicals 

 devoted to agriculture and gardening, to wdiich I 

 contribute, that our farmers and gardeners should 

 obtain the best kinds of vegetables and grains, 

 and grow nothing of inferior quality. I have 

 said that I believed it to be the best of economv 

 to ]iay a little more, — or a considerable more, if 

 necessary, — and secure seeds of improved varie- 

 ties. This belief I repeat, and it grows stronger 

 every year. I have attended several fairs this 

 fall, and in my conversations with our best farm- 

 ers and market gardeners, I have had my belief 

 corroborated by a narration of their experience. 

 Fmir n5«V.Tl.SMhcr!! ftira ' Ouegardener tokl- me how 



every Mil'qiirtber now OQ the much ihore he luul ob- 

 list will nmke the Faflm am> . ■ i r i • a . j 



.^*RHji»ihktaisestand most tamed for his tomatoes and 

 inniientrarfStSKfs papif.' ' (iiirlypeKS than aneighbor- 



It is but a mile thing to &sk, . •' * , u 1 ^- 1 



inrt we are an.vious for jou lug gardener had, simply 

 wiiwit- because he had planted a 



superior variety, while his neighbor hail con- 

 tented himself with old varieties. He had been 

 oliliged to jiay more for his seed, but the crops 

 had sold for enough more to make up for all 

 extra expense and give him a much larger jirofit. 

 He had not been able to fully supply demands, 

 while his neighbor had found it difficult to get 

 rid of his at any figure. Another man told me 

 his experience with jiotatoes. He had invested 

 a gootl many dollars in superior varieties. His 

 neighbors had told him he was foolish to do so, 

 for the kinds they intended to plant were just 

 as good, or, if not quite so attractive, jierhaps, 

 would bring just as. much in market. He had 

 his new jiotatoes on exhibition alongside tlie old 

 ones of his neighbore, and he showed me, with 

 comniendaWe satisfaction, a large numlier of 

 orders that he had taken, while his neighbors had 

 not taken artfT' He knew it paid to' get the best. 



I see this same thing illustrated among my 

 neigUI>oc*iji.s.tock. Some of them, a few years 

 ago, concluded that it did not pay to' keep on 

 with "scrub" cattle. They satisfied theluselves 

 that it was a paying investment to get a better 

 grade of cows if they wanted to make butter, and 

 that it would pay to change breeds if they in- 

 tended to raise cattle for market. They bought 

 thoroughbreds at prices that made them the 

 laughing-stock of their less progressive neighbors. 

 What was the result? It brought dollars into 

 their Tiockets where they had only had shillings 

 from the old "scrub" stock. They found that it 

 cost no more to keep the better grade than the 

 inferior one, and they found that the returns in 

 butter or beef trebled. They can sell a yearling 

 for more, to-day, than their conservative neigh- 

 bors can sell one of their best cows for. 



It is the same witli horses, with hogs, with 

 sheep, witli anything you rai-se on the farm or iu 

 the garden, be it vegetable or animal. Buyers 

 want the best and are willing to pay good prices 

 for it, /or they recognize the fact that tlie best ig. 

 the cheapest. 



POTTED STRAWBERRY PLANTS 



FOR SALE. Jiimbu, S1.0Q a diz.Ti; FriiK-i- of 

 Herries* SI.QOii du/.eii: Alnntic. SI. 00 a duz. Dnii- 

 Uoone. laver plants. SI. 50 a Hhi, by *xpr.-ss. 



JAS. LIPPINC OTT. Jr., Mount Holly. New Jersey. 



Mil I IMM STRAWBKRK Y, R LACK 

 IVIILLIUll UKRRV. RASPBKRUV.aiul 



A <'RAM5I:KI{ V l'l>ANTS lor ¥n\\ Plant. 

 ^^^iii«:. Varieties PURE. Packed in the best manner. 



2 Write lur cirnilar, nii<l sve lAtw Pric-t's. 

 I. A J. I.. LEO.\.\KI>, lONA.NKW JKK8EY. 

 P. S.— Medits, LehuTiuit County. Ilukota. April 

 Sntli. lSJ!i4. "Ttie lUHi strawberry planta received by 

 express, and iu npU'ikImI coiulitioii." 



HOWTHE FARM PAYS 



BY 



William Crozicr and Peter Senderson, 



Just Issued. Anew work of 400 pages, containing 

 2"5 lUustratiuns. Sl-uI postpaid f-^r S.i,0O. Table of 

 Contents, showing scope of the worfc, mailed on ap- 

 plication. Agents wanted fur this the most compre- 

 henisive book: oii American farming ever issued. 



PETER HENDERSON & CO., 



81 & 37 Cortlandt Street. New York. 



NEW STRAWBERRIES. 



Free Catalntiin- t,'ivis full lirsrription of all wortliv of 

 ctiltivatioii. Pot oi- lim-r plants now ready Inr Snni- 

 nipr or Fall pianiiny. fruit next June. Extra stock at lair 

 prices. IIAI^K ISHOS., Su. (whistonbiiry, Coiiu. 



PLANTS 



POTTED TO ORDER. 



STRAWBERRY 



All tlie BEST mid NKWEST VARIETIES 



grown )n pots for Summer and Fall planting. PLANTS GROWN 

 TO ORDER AT LOWEST RATES. Send a list of varieties 

 wanted, and get pnoes. stating number of eaoli kind 



IRVING ALLEN, Springfield, Mass. 



wanted. I 

 Address 



POMONA NURSERIES. 

 PARRY STRAWBERRY 



A srtdltMi: '^l.Tersey Queen. Vigorout 



grower, perfect flower. Very productive ; most 

 eautlful bfigtit color; large size; highest In 

 color^anfl lirm. BEST (orMAftKET or fAMILY use. 

 niAlf MiOltO. the largct earl« Raspberry. 

 ^VIT.SON .IK., the largest earlv Blackberry. MEADOUAR- 

 TERS FOR KIETFER PEARS. A complete list ot Small Fruit 

 Plants, (iriipes. Ciirrnnrx. tStc. C.iTALOGUi; free. 

 W.U. PAKKY, PAKRY P. O., New Jerney. 



