THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



FARMER'S HOME GARDEN. 



11,1 Jrmi.h. 



Competition Is tin.- soul of business. It acts as 

 a healthy stimulant to tlie often dormant ener- 

 gies of the liome-gardener. Wherever we see, 

 among the members of our neighborhood, the 

 ardent desire to " l>eat" in the production of veg- 

 etables, we generally And good gardens. I like 

 to see a trifle of this kind of Jealousy between 

 neighbors. 



Pride is another powerful stimulant. Lot the 

 work be well begun, the land richly manured 

 and responding with luxuriant growth, the rows 

 straight, the seed coming up even and in good 

 Boason, and— ray word for it — the fortunate 

 farmer will say to every visitor *' come and see 

 my garden!" The heautifiil appeals unresist- 

 ingly to the farmer's nature, and he will willingly 

 furnish what time and labor is needed to keep 

 up a work which was so well begun. I therefore 

 say:— "My dear farmer's wife, insist upon hav- 

 ing this gardening business started in right, and 

 use good seeds." AVcU begun is half succeeded. 



+ 

 I have no cause to eulogize female village'gos- 

 sips. They may have personal charms ; they 

 may be dressed in silks and satins, and :n the 

 latest styles, but— tlie lieuuty of (he parrot— what 

 does It .amount to? When I say, however, that 

 the farmer's wife, as a rule, is Ood's noblest and 

 best creation, I am fortunate eYiough to speak 

 from my own persona] experience. Blessed the 

 man, who agrees with me in these sentiments. 

 Many mechanics, luckily, can Justly Include 

 their wives, when they speak of this noble '* fem- 

 ininity." J, 



A farmer who ha.s plenty of land, must be a 

 brute indeed, if he expects his wife to cook pork 

 and potatoes and beans every day in the year, 

 and to do without vegetables unless she produces 

 tbsmwith her own hands; and without lierries, 

 unless she hunts them up along the hillsides and 

 fence corners. Do not put too much on her 

 shoulders, yet never stint her with kindness and 

 appreciation. . 



JS'o doubt, that little woman of yours wants a 

 few nice plants, a bed of geraniums or Pelargon- 

 nms, a handsom*- primrose, a few ever-blooming 

 roses. By all that Is great and good, make her a 

 Resent. 8he deserves such things. How it will 

 brighten her care-worn face. 



Good, well-rooted rose plants can now be 

 bought for a very few cents each. Ask the ad- 

 ▼•rtlsers of Farm and Garden. 

 + 

 Sometime in the latter part of winter, I took 

 am acquaintance down in our cellar to show him 

 a big heap of mangels stored there. 



"How shall I plant mangel wurtzel seed?" he 

 aeSiig. "I have had no luck thus far. Could 

 ■eTer get the seed to .sprout." This matter is of 

 Sreat importance, and I mu.st answer at length. 

 We generally use the garden drill in sowing ; 

 but I confess that I consider it a handy and 

 4iuick, but also a slii/ttrxs way, and the one re- 

 oommended for onions In April number is much 

 better, as it saves a great deal of labor in cultiva- 

 ting and particularly in vcediiiff, and insures a 

 quick and sure germination. 



Soak the seed in tepid water. In fact, all root 

 or»p seeds, (carrots, beets, turnips, etc.), should 

 be thus treated. Then dry the surface, either l)y 

 exposure to sun and air for a short time, or better 

 by mixing the seed wilh dry sand or plaster. 



Now plant by hand, as you would corn. Mark 

 the land, so the rows will bo tlie desired distance 

 — from two and one-half to three feet apart, then 

 provide yourself witii the prepared seed and a 

 hoe. Drop a pinch of seed— from three to five— 

 In the row, cover lightly, and sU-p on it, then drop 

 a few more seeds about one foot apart from the 

 first hill, and soon, yievcr neglecting to step upon 

 the seed after covering it. 



If the seed is good, it will germinate and break 

 ground within four or Hve days after planting. 

 If it does not appear within a week of reasonably 

 clear weather, bu.v -new seed and replant. 



Where silos are not in use, mangels must be 

 considered a necessity for winter feeding. Many 

 small farmers and mechanics in country towns 

 keep only one cow for family use. If these peo- 

 ple knew how easil.y an abvmdant supply of roots 

 can be grown, and how the flow of milk can 

 thereby be increased, they would naver try to get 

 along without them in the winter. 



It is not at all difficult to raise forty-five tons of 

 mangel or carrots to the acre, or al.iout loiH) bush- 

 els. One-twentieth of an acre, therefore, or a 

 piece of land containing eight square rods, would 

 give you more than one ton, perhaps nearly 

 scEventy bushels of mangels, sufficient to feed one- 

 half bushel per day through almost five months. 

 last think of this 1 Seventy bushels can be grown 

 In a few rows across your garden ! Why not do 

 it? 



Only bear in mind that the manure has .to be 

 put on //licA:, and this should never be neglected 

 in any garden. To grow mangels in this way 

 pays zrell on a small scale, and it pays still better 

 on a large scale. », 



The seed o£ carrots, parsnips and vegetable 

 oyster, of course, has to be evenly distributed 

 OTer the rows, and these latter may be quite 

 close, say fifteen or eighteen inches apart. Car- 

 rots and parsnips may be sown with the garden 

 drill, salsify must be sown by hand. Always 

 firm the seed bed after planting. Parsnips are ex- 

 cellent for stock in early spring, and may be left 

 in the ground over winter, until wanted. 



KILLING THE CABBAGE WORM. 



From report of C. r. Rdetj, Entomolotjiit for Dept. of Agriculture. 



One of our most valued correspondents. Dr. A. 

 Oemler, of Wilmington Island, near Savannah, 

 Ga., has long fought cut-worms by trapping them 

 under leaves and grass. To make use of his own 

 words : — 



" My method of dealing with cut-worms of late 

 years has been to remove them from the field be- 

 fore the crop to be jeopardized is up or the plants 

 are put out. By placing cabbage leaves and bun- 

 dles of grass along the rows of watermelon hills, 

 four years ago, I caught, by hunting them daily, 

 1.5.38 worms on about one-1'ourlh of an acre, before 

 the seed came up, and lost but a single melon 

 plant. On one occasion 1 captured, one morn- 

 ing, 58 of all sizes, under a single turnip leaf, and 

 my son found 15 at the root of a single small 

 cabbage plant." 



A year or so ago wc wrote to Dr. Oemler that 

 his remedy would be much improved in point of 

 economy of labor, if he. poisoned bis traps before 

 setting them, or, in jither words, if he sprinkled 

 his cabbage leaves, grass, or other forage used for 



less. I have in my mind at tliis moment a young 

 man who went to Florida last vviuter for his 

 health. He was troubled with malaria, and 

 his physcian advised him to spend the winter in 

 the South. He went; but the Southern climate 

 only aggravated his trouble and he came back 

 worse oft than before. 



1 have had this desire to go South myself, but 

 from what I have seen and heard from friends, 

 I have concluded that cold New England is far 

 healthier and more invigorating than the debili- 

 tating climate of the South ; while in a money 

 point 'of view the former is far superior to the 

 latter for the working-man. I should advise 

 farmers and working-men who are comfortably 

 fixed to remain where they are. For capitalists, 

 the South offers great inducements, but as a 

 permanent residence for Northerners I very 

 much doubt Its advantages. 



From seed of seed end of potato, 

 this purpose, with a solution of Paris green or. From one eye to hill, 



CUTTING THE SEED.* 



Single Eye. Dra. Sturtrvant and Terry. Yields resulting from 

 different amounts of seed. Reliable Tests. 



Thus far we have dealt with theory only. How 

 is this supported by the results of tests and stub- 

 born facts? 



In Bulletin 12 of the Missouri Agricultural Col- 

 lege (1884), Professor J. W. Sanborn, in summariz- 

 ing the experiments which he has conducted 

 personally during nine years, with the Early 

 Rose, says : 



"The following table will give the average re- 

 turns for seven years from measured ground and 

 weighed potatoes, the product of two farms, and 

 in .agreement with the unrecorded results on a 

 third farm : 



PRODUCT PER ACRE. 

 From seed of whole potatoes, large, 227 bushels. 

 From seed of whole potatoes, small, 177 

 From seed of stem end of potato. 



London purple. In order to save himself the 

 troubleof hunting for the wormsln the morning. 



We again quote from Dr. Oemler concerning 

 the practical working of this plan :-- 



".'Vfter the land is jireparcd for cal)bages or any 

 other crop needing iirotcction, I place cabbage or 

 turnip leaves in rows 15 or '20 feet apart all over 

 the flelil, and about the same distance apart in 

 the rows. The leaves are first dipped in a well- 

 stlrreil mixture of a tablespoonful of Paris green 

 to a bucket of water; or they may be first moist- 

 ened, then dusted with a mixtm-e of one part of 

 Paris green to twenty of flour, and placed care- 

 fully with the dusted surface next to the ground. 

 Two .such applications, particularly in cloudy 

 weather, at intervale of three or four days, will 

 suflice to allow the cut-worms to make way with 

 them.selves, which they generally do with perfect 

 success. This plan first recommended by Profes- 

 sor Riley, Is the best I have found. Whoever 

 adopts It will rid himself of the i>est at least cost 

 and trouble, and will not be compelled to replant 

 constantly or to sow his seed thickly." 



148 

 168 

 81 

 Iftt 

 160 



THE SOUTHERN FEVER. 



7;.r/ t'ltiytnn OtUniuer. 



The craze for going South increases as time 

 passes, particularly among farmers. I have seen, 

 to my sorrow, well-to-do farmers in New England 

 leave good farms, friends, schools, and social 

 advantages to "get rich" in the South. They 

 go South, settle in the wilderness, and after years 

 spent in clearing and getting the land ready for 

 cultivation, they have, perhaps, as good a farm 

 as that which they left behind them in the North. 

 A farmer, with children, who has been seized 

 with the ".Southern fever" should ccjnsider well 

 the step he would take. We all know that the 

 educational advant;\ges in the South are very 

 poor— next to nothing, in fact, though somewhat 

 better than they were ten years ago. A residence 

 in tlie South for the farmer means, in most cases. 

 Isolation from all society and the deprivation of 

 even a common-school eflucation for the children. 



Wages in the South are low. Negro labor is so 

 plenty that new comers find it almost useless to 

 compete with it. I can name mechanics who 

 were getting three dollars a day at their homes 

 who went South to "get rich." They went, but 

 did not find the country as promising as the 

 lying land agents had pictured it. They are now 

 working for fifty cents per day and though they 

 are first class workmen, find it hard to get work 

 all the time. 



Malaria is the worst disease with which settlers 

 of new land have to deal. Rarely do you meet 

 the man who has not sulTered from It more or 



From two eyes to hill, . 

 From three eyes to hill. 



Of the season of 1881, he reports a complete fail- 

 ure as to the one, two, and three-eye-to-a-piece 

 system of planting. The yield of the one-eye 

 seed was but five bushels to tlie acre, against 176 

 bushels from whole large potatoes. 



"Notoverone-half of theseed brokethe ground 

 In germination, and a part of these were so small 

 and weak, compared with fuller seeding, that a 

 few slightly covered died. The balance, under a 

 very wet season here, did not thrive. This result 

 is given to show how great a variation may occur 

 under unfavorable conditions, between ample 

 seeding and deficient seeding. * « « » Since 

 beginning these trials, 1 have seen two foreign 

 tests, covering about seven 5'ears each, wherein 

 the efleet of cutting on the future vigor of the 

 plant was studied, with results against fine cut- 

 ting. One eye and small potatoes gave less favor- 

 able results at the Ohio Experimental .Station, 

 last year, than whole large potatoes." 



Let us now look at the tests conducted by the 

 generally very careful Rural yew Yorktfr, and re- 

 ported In the issue of March 1.5th. 18S1. 



"Test 16, A. The seed potatoes were selected 

 all of the same size, and peeled, all eyes being cut 

 ofl", except the strongest near the mid- 

 dle, that is, whole potatoes were peeled 

 so that but one eye was left with a ring 

 of skill about it. * * « • The vari- 

 ety was the Peerless; the amount of 

 chemical fertilizers used, UHK) pounds 

 to the acre. « * » * « 'i'ield, 806.66 

 bushels to the acre. J 



" Test 47, A. The pieces were cut as 

 shown by figure 4, and of that size. 

 Planted three inches deep. So many of the pieces 

 either failed to sprout or died after sprouting, 

 that no estimate could be made of the yield per 

 acre. 



" Test 48, A. In this test, cylindrical pieces 

 were cut through the potato, as shown 

 In figure 5, with a strong eye on one 

 end * * * * t yield, 211.75 bushels 

 to the acre." 



" * Enough is as good as a feast,* con- 

 cludes the Rural. But what would be 

 enough in a wet spring, might prove 

 too little In a dry one; what might 

 serve in a rich soil, might prove insuf- 

 ficient in a poor soil. The quantity of 

 fiesh which should go with each piece 

 is, theoretically, that which, without 

 unneccessary waste, will best support 

 the eyes, until by the growth of roots, 

 support is no longer required." 



Fig- 4. 



Fig. 5. 



• From new hook hy " Joseph," entitled. " Monej- in Potatoes." 



X Million Cranberry Plants, ^,' 



^ 1000. Wliite - •■ - — 



2otliei 

 free. 



other thiiiKs. 



I. & J. I> 



«-eet Potato 



. . alUsSl..'iOpr. 

 V roots .^Oc. each- iljott* of 

 Calaloeiieof SMAI.I. FKiHTS 

 L120NARO. lona, N. J. 



THE BIGGEST THING OUT ''!;"E%"f?i?:?^'* 



(new) K. NASON .t CO., 120 FuLTOM ST., New York. 



SHORTHANP.'.^..^-^ 



tiintinii'^ 



end fur rii- 



byiiinil or per^onnlly. 

 iH-ociirrrt fnr pupils when ronipetent. 

 •'ik-.r. \\\ (i.rH.VFFFF.Osuego.y. Y. 



SEND to KING A CO- Owcso, >.V., Tor ('ulalm-ue 

 and^rjceJJst of CUSTOMJIAHO-MAOE HARNESS. 



e« A "B Uce, Ticks, Mang*. Cure Warranted. Send 

 idVAiD* Btanjy toT. W. Lawtobd. Baltimore. Kd 



