1885 



gleanixgS in bee culture. 



86i 



or, how shall we make or get the very best 

 kind of soil ? is a question that comes up 

 constantly to young and old lovers of plants 

 and flowers. So far as my experience goes, 

 I believe I should place stable manure ahead j 

 of all other sources. Have it well rotted, so 

 it can be raked up fine. If you can not get 

 it well rotted, get what you can and rot it. 

 Almost any experienced farmer or gardener 

 can tell you what kind of stable manure is 

 needed. Next, I believe I would have this 

 stable manure composted, and mixed with 

 decayed sods. Get sods from the roadside, 

 or anywhere ; pile them up in heaps until [ 

 they are thoroughly rotted, and then mix | 

 them with your stable manure. In regard i 

 to the best kind of earth, I know of no bet- i 

 ter way than to get samples, in little boxes, 

 of such soil as is procurable around you, and ; 

 test it. I once got a wagon-load of earth { 

 down near the creek, that had been washed 

 from a fertile hillside, or gradual slope. 

 Some of them laughed at me for my pains, 

 saying that my dirt was not good for any 

 thing. But it grew plants better than any : 

 thing else we had. Woods dirt and decayed ; 

 leaves are often collected witli great care, j 

 and probably we shall find nothing better 

 than decaying leaves. In view of this I j 

 think it is a very good speculation to rake up ] 

 and pile in heaps all the leaves we can get 

 hold of. Use them for bedding for the cow, \ 

 horse, pigs, and even poultry. Cover the 

 floor of the poultry-house with leaves to the 

 depth of a foot, then scatter their feed in tlie 

 leaves, and make the fowls dig it out. When 

 the leaves get broken up fine they will ab- 

 sorb and hold the manure or the droppings 

 from the fowls, so as to make them compar- j 

 atively inoffensive ; and tlic resulting com- ! 

 post is just the best kind of manure you can : 

 procure. If a peat-bog is near you, you can i 

 use vast quantities of peat in just the way I ' 



have mentioned with leaves ; but it should 

 be thrown up in heaps or long ridges, to let 

 the frost break it up fine and draw out the 

 water. If your soil is of a kind that crusts 

 over on the surface, and bakes, by stirring in 

 the peat you can get rid of the baking, en- 

 tirely. 



Go all over your neighborhood ; hunt up 

 every thing that can be found, in the way of 

 material that can be converted into manure. 

 Get some experienced farmer (that is, if j^ou 

 are not an experienced farmer yourself) to 

 tell you how much it would be safe to offer 

 for old manure-piles ; then when you have 

 purchased them, scrape up carefully, with 

 hoe and rake, the very ground on which the 

 manure rested, and draw that away to put in 

 your compost heap also. Cet weeds, bog hay, 

 and every thing you can lay hold on— refuse 

 from the slaughter-houses, spent hops from 

 the breweries (if you are so unfortunate as 

 to have any such institutions near you), and 

 waste material of every sort, in fact ; and be 

 sure you are not making a mistake. Make a 

 test of all these things, as far as possible, be- 

 fore you buy any of them. Keep testing dif- 

 ferent materials and substances by growing 

 seeds in little boxes, until you find what ma- 

 terials give the best results. Feel your way 

 before you, as it were, so as to avoid making 

 expensive blunders. 



Now, before going further I Mish here 

 briefly to say something that touches on all 

 the facts we have been over. In fact, it in- 

 cludes this matter of saving not only all the 

 manures and fertilizers, but the summer 

 showers and the winter snows, and all these 

 gifts from God that are daily going to waste. 

 It is, in short, a brief notice of a new book 

 just published, entitled, " The New Agricul- 

 ture ; or, the Waters Led Captive,"' and we 

 will take the latter part of the title for our 

 next chapter. 



CHAPTER V. 



Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?— Job 8: 11. 



You will please bear in mind that the 

 book was not received and read until after 

 the foregoing was in type. 



THE WATERS LED CAPTIVE. 



This book, with the above title, has just 

 come out within the last few weeks, and its 

 author, Mr. A. N. Cole, of Wellsville, Alle- 

 gany Co., N. Y., is an enthusiast on the j 



subject of growing plants. Although he is 



a prominent character in political circles, he 

 has, nevertheless, nearly all his life made 

 the subject of plant - growing a hobby. 

 When he was but a boy he got hold of the 

 well-known experiment of growing a great 

 crop of cucumbers in a single barrel. Per- 

 haps many of our readers have tried it, and 

 many more have heard of it. The way he 

 did it vt-as this : He procured a good-sized 



