THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



GARDEN NOTES. 



Sowing garden seeds is an easy enough tnslt, 

 when you have the use of a garden drill. Parsnips 

 and salsify, however., must be sown by hand. 

 Nor is it advisable to plant peas with the garden 

 drill, which leaves them too near the surface and 

 partly uncovered. It is best to scatter the peas 

 in plowed-out or hoed-out furrows, about three 

 «r four Indies deep, and cover. 

 + 



When neither garden drill nor hand cultivator 

 is to be used, try the following plan with onions. 

 Mai'k out the rows of proper width, then plant 

 eix or eight seeds every eight inches apart in the 

 row. The onions growing in bunches will do 

 just as well as singly, and the weeding be much 

 easier. 



■i- 



It is a good plan to mix a few radish seeds with 

 onions, celery, parsnips, and all other seeds 

 which do not germinate quickly. The radishes 

 germinate in a few days, and indicate the e.xact 

 location of the rows, thus enabling you to hoe or 

 cultivate even before the other vegetables can be 

 seen above ground. 



Now remember that lettuce, peas, onions, rad- 

 ishes, etc., can be sown just as early as the 

 ground is ready. If you have a good hand culti- 

 vator (Gem of the Garden, or Ruhlman's Wlieel 

 Hoe), which every farmer who works more than 

 one-quarter acre of garden ought to have, you 

 may plant these vegetables in long drills, four- 

 teen to sixteen inches apart ; otherwise make the 

 rows far enough apart that you can cultivate by 

 horse power. , 



Celery for plants must be sown as early as 

 possible in a moist (if possible a little shadyl 

 place and soil as free from weeds as is to be found. 

 Always sow in rows far enough apart for you 

 to hoe between them. Sow thinly and thin the 

 plants. Good plahts cannot be grown thickly 

 together. There is little difference between dif- 

 ferent varieties. The half-dwarfs are good. Do 

 not risk too much on the White Plume. 



Cabbages are easily grown with good commer- 

 cial phosphate and no other manure. Five hun- 

 dred pounds per acre will make good cabbage ; 

 but 1000 pounds will produce more valuable re- 

 turns for the outlay, as the cabbages will grow 

 more rapidly and be safer from the cabbage worm. 

 Early planted cabbage is usually more safe from 

 the worms than later. We advise early planting, 

 the use of phosphate, well spread in the hill, and 

 good culture, and you will have fine cabbage. 

 The most successful cabbage growers we know, 

 practice our plan of growing. 



ACCOUNTS WITH CROPS. 



J?l/ John E. Read. 



It Is generally considered very desirable that 

 the farmer should grow large crops. Indeed, 

 this sentiment is so strong that the rank which 

 any individual cultivator holds in the commun- 

 ity in which he lives, is very largely determined 

 by the rate of production which he is able to 

 secure. Unless their is some serious defect else- 

 where in his business arrangements, the man 

 ■who produces large crops will be a far more 

 successful farmer than the one who obtains but 

 a small return from the land which he cultivates. 



To be benefitted by his crops, the farmer should, 

 in some manner, dispose of them after they have 

 been secured. And in order to dispose of them 

 intelligently and profitably he must know what 

 they have cost him. The manufacturer is obliged 

 to know just how much it costs him to produce 

 the article which he sells. In no other way can 

 he know the price at which he can afford to 

 furnish his wares. Neither can he tell when a 

 sale has been made, whether the transaction has 

 yielded him a fair percentage of profit, or in- 

 volved him in a direct loss. To this it maybe 

 said that the farmer has little or nothing to do in 

 determining the selling price of his crops, but 

 that he is obliged to sell them at market rates 

 ■or not sell them at all. 



The knowledge obtained by keeping account 

 will aid him in making a wise selection of the 

 crops which he will cultivate. Thus, the man 

 who keeps a record of the cost of his crops will be 

 prosperous, because he will grow those which 

 more than pay the expense of cultivation. 



Unless there are valuable compensations, no 

 farmer can afford to grow crops which cost liim 

 more than the cash price for which they can be 

 sold. 



In the expenses of growing a crop should be 

 included the rent of the land, cost of seed, value 

 of fertilizers applied, of labor performed, and 

 everything involved in its production. Credit 

 should be given for the crop as a whole, not only 

 for what is sold, but for every portion u.sed on the 

 farm, and for such proportion of the fertilizers as 

 probably remains in the land, .and will be avail- 

 able for the u.se of succeeding crops. 



Valuable as is the principle which has been set 

 forth, it must not be carried to an extreme. 

 While the farmer should choose crops that are 

 worth more than tliey cost, he should not devote 

 all his attention to the production of any single 

 one, even though careful accounts should prove 

 it to be more prolitable than any other tliat he is 

 able to grow. He cannot afford to risk all his 

 time and labor upon any single crop, for. if it 

 prove a failure, he might thus lose all his work 

 for the season, and also, the best results can only 

 be secured by growing several different crops 

 upon the same farm. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances, a rotation of crops is an absolute neces- 

 sity. A diversified system is certainly safer than 

 the cultivation of only a single crop, it utilizes 

 labor to much better advantage, and is far less 

 injurious to the soil, consequently, each farmer 

 should grow several crops. He should keep a 

 careful account with each, in order that he may 

 knowjust what it costs, and that he may thus be 

 able to choose in an intelligent manner, the ones 

 to which he will give tlie most careful attention. 

 It is probable that an account of the expenses 

 involved, and the receipts obtained, would prove 

 to many farmers that the land they have been 

 devoting to certain crops which they have grown 

 for sale, might be more profitable given to other 

 plants, and that some crops which are now 

 lightly esteemed, are really more profitable than 

 the ones which are considered the most valuable. 



GRAINS OF CORN. 



Bn John M. Slnhl. St. Louis, Mo. 



I have found it of doubtful propriety to use the 

 roller upon corn ground before the corn isplanted. 

 I may say that upon prairie soils, there is no 

 doubt about the matter, for all my experience 

 and observation condemns the use of the roller 

 before planting. In the spring the ground is sat- 

 urated with water, and the object is not to retain 

 moisture, as in the fall, but to hasten its evapor- 

 ation. Thei'oller is an excellent implement to use 

 when it is desired to retain moisture, for it paclvs 

 down the ground, preventing the ready entrance 

 of the sun and air, hence it is advisable to use 

 it in the preparation of ground for winter wheat; 

 but this very fact condemns its use upon ground 

 for corn in the spring. Again, upon the prairie, 

 and other, soils, there is al-ways imminent dan- 

 ger of packing by heavy rains; and this danger 

 is greatly increased, if not reduced to an unpleas- 

 ant certainty, by the u.seof the roller. In the fall, 

 heavy rains are infrequent, and such is the con- 

 dition of the soil, that they do not solidify broken 

 ground; but heavy rains are frequent in the 

 spring, and such is the condition of a majority of 

 soils that the rain will convert them into an 

 amalgam if the roller has been used. The field is 

 in a sad condition— often in worse condition than 

 before work is begun ; the saturated ground will 

 dry slowly, and be in a condition totally unfit to 

 receive tlie seed ; while the work required to put 

 the seed-bed in condition again, will be delayed 

 by the wet condition of the ground. I would 

 strongly recommend that the corn be first 

 planted, and then if is absolutely essential to use 

 the roller, put it upon the ground just before the 

 plants reach the surface, or when they are three 

 or four inches in height, when the passage of the 

 roller over them will not occasion any serious 

 injury. By this time the soils will have become 

 dryer, and the frequency of rains will have 

 decreased. 



The germination of the corn can be hastened 

 tiiree days by soaking it in warm water for twen- 

 ty-four hours before planting. This matter as- 

 sumes an important phase when for any reason 

 the work of planting is delayed until late in the 

 season. It is not possible to use soaked corn in a 

 two-horse or a hand planter; but when the season 

 Is late, it will pay togo to the- extra trouble of drop- 

 ping by hand, and covering with a hoe or with 

 some device for the purpose, in order to be able 

 to use soaked seeds. I attach great importance 

 to the early planting of corn. All farm work 

 should be done at the earliest seasonable moment, 

 but the neglect of some is attended with greater 

 loss than the neglect of others ; and there are few 

 operations, the delay of which, beyond the pro- 

 per season, reduces the profits to a greater extent 

 than the planting of corn. The reason is this: 

 corn Is a semi-tropical plant. In the latitude in 



Pleasr mrnlion THK FARM AND GARDEN. 



NIAGARA WHITE GRAPE VINES 



S'i c.ieh, or win be snlrl to planters on time; lOpf^rcent 

 (tnivii, balance In '2 or 3 years: or will take nav ont of 

 the net proceeds of fruit. Reference— Niagara White 

 Gnipe Co., Lockport. N. Y. Address. 



M. J. MITCHELL, Greenville. Mo. 



SPPPTAni rC t^nvojneteva.Thermometera, Photo- 

 rtU I HULtO m-n;j/:fc (hiint.i far Amateur f, 

 Oppra OfafiKf't, Mif^-')sr.opes, Teleacopes. \V, H. 

 „^. \yAL,M.Sl.EY & CO.. sucotssorsto R. & J.BecIt, 

 PUiIadelphia. Illustrated Price-List free to anv address. 



which the bulk of tlie corn is produced, the sear 

 son at its best is barely long enough for the nor- 

 mal development of the plant. Its growth may 

 be cut short by drought or some other circum- 

 stances, and then the season may be apparently 

 too long for its complete development. But if 

 conditions were favorable, the longest season 

 would be none too long for the life and fruition of 

 the plant. Hence the wisdom of lengthening the 

 season by beginning planting at the earliest 

 seasonable moment. Doubtless, my readers 

 have noticed, as I have, that in nearly every case 

 the earlier planted corn grew the stockier, showed 

 a better color thi-oughout the season, and made 

 the larger yield of the better quality. It had a 

 longer season in which to grow and mature. 

 There is another circumstance which makes it 

 desirable to plant early. The weather in July, 

 August, and perhaps in September, is apt to be 

 droughty, and it is best to have corn well ad- 

 vanced by the time this season of drought is 

 reached ; otherwise, the corn will be checked 

 when it is bending all its energies to the produc- 

 tion of the grain, and tiie result will be a light 

 harvest of cars from stalks which promise much 

 more. 



From the above it must not be understood that 

 I would have corn planted before the ground is 

 fitted for it. By so doing, nothing is gained, and 

 frequently, much is lost. If the ground is cold or 

 too wet, the seed will fail to germinate in many 

 instances, and the result will be an imperfect 

 stand. I do not believe in replanting a hill here 

 and a hill there; the replant will be a week later 

 than the other, and if cultivation Is .suited to one 

 it will be unsuited to the other. Hence, I would 

 advise that when one-third of the seed fails to 

 germinate the whole be replanted, unless the sea- 

 son is far advanced. And because I dislike a 

 partial stand, I say do not plant until the season- 

 able moment, but be sure to plant at the earliest 

 seasonable moment. Corn planted on warm, 

 mellow, well-prepared ground will, in one month 

 after planting, be ahead of that planted two 

 weeks earlier, -n-hen the ground was cold and wet 

 and could not be properly prepared. I remember 

 of planting corn, in Illinois, one season on the 

 I9th of June, because the ground was not in con- 

 dition earlier; and I raised a crop that averaged 

 fifty bushels shelled per acre, while those who 

 planted corn in mud, labored for weeks at the 

 peril of theiy health, and did not have half the 

 yield that I did. Plant at the earliest seasonable 

 moment. Plant at the earUest seasonable mo- 

 ment. 



Often we attempt to raise too many ears, and 

 sacrifice quantity and quality yet more. We 

 must acknowledge that our land is not so fertile 

 as it was ; and even when it had its virgin pro- 

 ductiveness, four grains in the hill were too 

 many. I am sure that t-wo stalks per hill will 

 produce a greater quantity of ears, and certainly 

 of better quality, than four stalks per hill. I 

 would r.ather have one good ear than six nubbins. 

 Though the nubbins may make the more bulk, 

 the ear will produce more beef or pork. The ear 

 is always of a better quality than is the nubbin ; 

 and I am inclined to think that we pay altogether 

 too little attention to the quality of corn. We are 

 careful about the quality of many products, 

 because the buyer makes a difference; but we 

 feed our corn, and because the hog or steer does 

 not talk, we are careless about quality. 



MAKING A HOT BED. 



Sy E. B. Ransom, Kahoka, Mo. 



The manure should be fresh— right out of the 

 stable if possible— and about half straw, leaves, 

 or something of the kind, for making on top of 

 ground. The frame should he about two and a 

 half feet at the back and the front, and when you 

 have forked the manure over twice, it may be 

 put in to the depth of one to one and a half feet, 

 pressing down thoroughly. If the dirt is dry, 

 wait a day or two until the vile heat passes off, 

 but if it is frozen put it on to thaw out. The heat 

 will rise for the first two or three days to 120°, but 

 when it subsides to 90°, the seed may be sown. 

 Cover with boards and keep covered when the 

 weather is at all severe, but open on warm days, 

 the soil for the bed should be composed of fine 

 manure, sand, or dirt,— in equal parts. 



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