r2 



THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



A/^ox.. IV. JSTo. ZKI. 



r^e Farm and Garden is published at 725 i^iV- 

 (frcri Street^ Philadelphia, Penna. It is mailed to 

 ■subscribers from the 25th to the last day of the 

 "month preceding date of issue. The subscription 

 iprice is 60 cents a year^ but it is sent in clubs of 4 

 "nr more at 26 cents a year. 



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l>age 10.- 



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Page 16.— A 



CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER 



—The Farmer's Home Garden Cullivatins. 

 Sloboots in bis Garden. 

 Sawdust and Potatoes. Bones Dissolved wuh 



Ashes. Contingencies. 

 ■Golden Opportunities in the South. The Poeir\ 

 and Proseof Bee Keeping July Paragraphs. 

 The Crawford Apple. Fruil Notes. 

 ■Fruit Notes (continued). Letter from New 



Zealand. 

 -Our Flower Garden. 

 ■Our Flowei Garden (continued). 

 -Live Stock. 



•Difficuitles during InciibaWon Ducks arrt 

 Geese. Poultry lor the Table. Eradicuiinu 

 Lice. Poultry Scratchines. 

 A Good Scavenger. Habits of Disorder In 

 Kurly Years. Our Foui-Footed Friends 

 Taking a Play-Spell. Tlme-teaverg. 

 Odds and Ends. 

 Editorial Comment. 

 Clippings 

 Corresprjiiflence. 



Correspundence fcoDtiDued). For the Ho i 

 Weather. 

 Collection. 



These prfces Include the paper named, and 

 the Farm and Garden. 



^merloaB AgrtcaUurlRt, . $1.35 



Arthur's Hom« yagaiiae. 1.T5 



Bret^.icri Gaielle, . . . 2.:t5 



-Carpenirv and Ituildlog. . 1 00 



Cemurv Magftciae, ... 3% 



Chicngo Weekly News, . . 1.20 

 Cultivator aad CouDtry 



()>MUl(!meii 2.S5 



Demoreat's Monthly, . . 1.86 



FRrm^r's Magaziuc 50 



Tarm Journal 60 



Parmer's Review 1.S5 



Oolden Argoty. . . 1.60 



Oreeo'a Fmlt Grower, . 



Harpvr'sHa^azfoe, ... z.'a 



Home Rill) Farm ':'> 



HoUBVtl^t'i l.IO 



New Vurk Trlhuoe, . . . \.r:^ 



Poultry Keeper 70 



Poultry Worl.l l.IO 



Purrty • Pnilt Reoorder, . K. 



Rural New Yorker. . . . 2.2? 



SaturdaT ^veiling Poat, . l.S.i 



Trllxioe'and Farmer, . . 1.05 



VlclCB Honltity 1.15 



ToQLh'a CompaDtOD, S1.80 S.IO 



eoiTOi^iAii Comment. 



10 sel such a trap where tall trees and woods are 

 near. In that case the shot gun must do the 

 work. 



Protect all Insect-eating birds and Uielr nests 

 from cats, crows, and squirrels, and no less from 

 mischievous boys. 



There is no danger in good, sound vegetables 

 and ripe fruits ; avoid those not fully matured. 



Eat plenty of berries and let your children 

 have all they want. 



The Judicious use of water, both Internally 

 ■ind externally, and the removal of all fllth, fun- 

 dus, and fermentation from, in, and around the 

 house,— In short, cleanliness and moderation are 

 sure preventives of cholera in its malignant 

 form. 



True temperance is moderation, and should be 

 e.\ercised even In the use of water, particularly 

 iced water, during hot weather. Water kills as 

 many people as whisky. If not more. 



Buttermilk Is an excellent harvest drink. So 

 IS a mixture of milk and water, or water flavored 

 with lemon Juice (or vinegar with a trifle of gin- 

 ger). With or without sugar. 



July. " Ready for the reaper stands the golden 

 .grain." Harvest time has come. The wheat crop 

 is greatly injured by drouth and wlnt«r, and the 

 yield not as large as we would wish it to be, yet 

 there is plenty for all and to spare. Will you 

 ..grumijlc because It is not more? 



The (probable) advance in price will gladden 

 the heart of the wise grower, and make up lo 

 him the loss in quantity. Everything will turn 

 out all right in the end. 



Wheat cut when in the "dough" state gener- 

 ally makes the plumpest kernel. Cure well, and 

 draw at once to the barn. 



If you have to stack wheat out-doors (which is 

 the common practice in the large wheat-growing 

 sections of the South and West), employ good 

 hanibs to do the stacking. The stack should shed 

 rain as well as an umbrella or a shingle roof. Top 

 out with coarse hay. Thresh It at an early date, 

 and sell wlien you can.* 



We prefer s/kiHou' and flat cultivalion for corn. 

 ■Nothing is gained by excessive hilling. Much 

 moisture Is lo.st if the season be dry. Cultivate 

 early, often, and late. 



A lew pounds of strap-leaf turnip (purple-top 

 Is good,) sown broadca,st on the corn field after 

 the last cultivation, will make line pasture for 

 late fall, and one particularly valuable lor sheep. 



Weeds are still growing, and insects and bugs 

 are bent on their work of destruction. Do not 

 tire of fighting them. 



Protect your stock from flies and the heat. 

 Give them shade, or stable horses and cows 

 (luring the day, and if you pasture, do so at 

 night. Provide good w:iler for your animals- 

 plenty of it and often. Do not work your learns 

 between the hours of 11 and 3, unless you are 

 obliged to do so. 



Your hen luiuso must be inspected often, and 

 kerosene applied as soon as you notice signs of 

 vermin. 



Feed your chickens regularly and often with a 

 variety of food. Chickens but a few days old 

 soon learn to cat wheat, millet, sorghum, all of 

 which are excellent food for them. Chickens 

 need water (or milk) to drink, and should have 

 ■ It, if some people and poultry journals do deny it. 



Tlie best use that can be made of skim milk, 

 sour milk, and butter milk is to let your fowls 

 have it. ■ 



Cats are often very destructive to chickens and 

 turkey chicks. Kill the robbers! 



You can catch liawks with a steel-trap .astened 

 .\3p0u the end of a tall pole or post erected in the 

 miiddle of a tieuliss lot. But it will do no good 



Set out celery now. Almost everybody likes it. 

 Plant In very rich soil (or soil heavily manured 

 with well-rotted compost), not in deep trenches 

 (unless required in a hot climate) nor on top of a 

 ridge, but in the bottom of well-rounded-off fur- 

 rows, say tiiree or four inches below the even 

 surface of the soil Get good ptanu or let them 

 alone. Shade with boards or leaves for a few 

 days, if necessary, and water often. 



We were pleased to meet during a recent visit 

 at Richmond, V'a., and quite accidentally, the 

 famous small-fruit man, J. T. Lovett, and his 

 brother. These gentlemen evidently believe in 

 the superior climate and other advantages of 

 that .State, and were looking for " Golden Oppor- 

 tunities." J. T. Lovett has found that section 

 admirably adapted not only to grape culture, but 

 also to the iiuioduction of an excellent quality 

 of grape roots. We wish him success. 



him to be, we would, alone in consideration of 

 the change in the Department, rejoice in the 

 change of the administration which caused it. 

 If the Department will consume a vast amount 

 of the farmer's money annually, we desire to be 

 benefitted by It. Practical information is what 

 we want, and what we pay the money for. Let 

 us say, for once, "Full value received 1" 



Does the preservation of long sprouts on seed 

 potatoes promote earllness in the crop? Only in 

 theory. The facts, which we have gathered from 

 our own observation and experience, show that 

 some of the still undeveloped buds generally 

 overtake and outgrow the earlier (long) sprouts. 

 We would not take the least trouble to preserve 

 Ihem. 



Some of our agricultural contemporaries are 

 very kind Indeed. They keep on telling us that 

 with our liberal premiums of seeds and plants, 

 we might do an injustice to and ottcnd our seeds- 

 men and florists, and consequently lose the pa- 

 Ironage of that class of advertisers. Our 

 brethren, in their anxiety for our welfare, would 

 deeply regret .such a loss to us, and almost con- 

 sider it a calamity. 



Have no fear. The F.\RM .^XD Garden is the 

 grandest advertising medium out, and our adver- 

 tising seedsmen know it. 



Do our premiums really hurt their sales? Far 

 from it. Regular seed buyers buy seeds of their 

 own selection, whether they receive our seed 

 premiums or not. But nine-tenths of our sub- 

 scribers who do receive tlieni have never bought 

 seeds directly from the advertisers. 



By giving to them a collection of valuable 

 seeds, we show the advantage of getting such 

 seeds by mail from a reliable source, and many 

 subscribers will become regular. seed-buyers. We 

 claim that our advertisers art benefitted by our 

 business methods. 



Have no tear, brethren. We shall not know- 

 ingly do an injustice to our subscribers or to our 

 advertisers. 



A trip down the James River from Richmond 

 to Norfolk, in May, is an enjoyable allair. We 

 took occasion to stop off" at Clareniont, Surry 

 County, Va., for the purpose of investigating the 

 "colony." We never will regret the two days 

 spent there. We met happy and contented faces 

 everywhere, good society, every modern im- 

 provement, and unmistakable signs of thrift and 

 prosperity. We expected to get into the " back- 

 woods," but we were greatly mistaken. 



Now, while village and city people sleep away 

 the best hours of their lives, the farmer, who is 

 early to bed, healthy, and wise, witnesses the 

 glorious sunrise and breathes the fresh morning 

 air. Life is short, and sleep consumes one-third 

 of It, but this one-third should not be the very 

 best part of life. 



The husbandman's work compels li im to be out 

 In the burning sun more or less. He is always in 

 close communion with nature, and not afraid of 

 sunstroke, like housed-up and tender-brained 

 city people. Yet, as he rises early, he can well 

 aflbrd to lake a two or three hours' rest during 

 the middle of the day. It will pay him also In 

 strength regained. 



When at work In the hot sun put a handful of 

 clover or a cabbage or burdock leaf into your 

 hat. It will keep you cool and comfortable. You 

 need a firm muscle and a cool head. 



Thousands of pounds and hundreds of bushels 

 of next-to-wortbless seeds and S32 in cash. That 

 seems to be the ridiculous remnant of the SIOO.OUO 

 appropriated by Congress for the governmental 

 free-seed distribution, and a fine siiowing for Dr. 

 Loring's management of the Department indeed! 

 What a senseless waste of the people's money ! 

 Yet Dr. Loring is not to blame more than Con- 

 gress, who have made the Department more of a 

 political than an agricultural institution. There 

 is abundant room for reform, and if Col. Colman 

 is the right man in the right place, as we expect 



It Is not too late to sow fodder crops. The hay 

 crop is quite short in many sections. Pastures 

 will fail in the fall : prepare for it. You can still 

 grow a crop of sweet corn lor fodder, or a piece of 

 Hungarian grass. You will probably need it. 



There Is a prevailing paragraph now illumina- 

 ting the otherwise dull <'Olumos of many of our 

 exchanges, declaring the English sparrows a 

 nuisance, and citing numerous ways in which 

 they are injurious. They say they drive away 

 other birds, encourage the cultivation of insects, 

 destroy fruit buds and grain, and propagate dis- 

 ease. Such foolishness can but amuse the practi- 

 cal farmer who remembers the measuring worm 

 now never seen, who sees fruit set and mature 

 in the very trees in which the birds roost, and 

 who compares the amount of grain and ripe fruit 

 consumed by the sparrows to that of blackbirds, 

 robins or other native birds. Better get some- 

 thing new to grumble about. 



Everybody who farms understand* how togrow 

 turnips, but everybody will not take the precau- 

 tion to use plenty of seed. The fly is the scourge 

 of this crop, and can only be beaten by using 

 seed liberally. After the seed is up sprinkle 

 ashes around the plants, but not in direct contact 

 with them when very young. Gas tar, when 

 used lor impregnating water, which should be 

 sprinkled over plants, is very obnoxious to all 

 kinds of insects, and may be used freely on tur- 

 nips, cabbages, squashes, melons, and other vege- 

 tables, as it is not injurious in any manner to 

 plants. 



We venture to say that those who had pigs 

 farrowed in February and March are wiser than 

 they were a few months ago. No possible advan- 

 tage can be gained by having the sows come in so 

 early, for the labor and care required to protect 

 them from cold and sudden changes of weather 

 cannot be compensated. A check to pigs in the 

 beginning is a check until they are butchered. 

 Better bring the pigs in during May, lor they will 

 overtaketheearlierones. Even April istoosoon 

 sometimes. 



It is enough to make a granger smile to hear 

 Ihe average citizen talk about the weather and 

 crops. Men who never lived a week in the 

 country will gravely discuss the efl'ects of this 

 rain and that hot day on corn and wonder whether 

 the cold snap will kill the buds on the wheat, 

 and if it is too damp to sow strawberry seeds. 

 The less a man knows the more he talks. 



The Agricultural Department is rotten from 

 one end to the other. If there ever was a time 

 and place for a "clean sweep" in public olBce, 

 this is the time, and the "Government Seed 

 Shop" is the place. Mr. Colman has been in 

 oflice o^er two months and like a majority of 

 the Agricultural press, the Farm and Gakdem 

 has looked for and hoped for some change for 

 the better. The flrst change, and one that could 

 have been made ot once, is the reinoval of all 

 Employes and Subordinates in tills ilepartmeut 

 who have been assistants in its corruption, and 

 a cause of its deficiency. 



The month of June is a dull month for papers, 

 and the year 1S85 has not been considered a g<iod 

 one. Yet in June ISSI the Farm and Garden 

 received nearly twice as many sub.^cribei'S as in 

 June 1SS4. 



