THE farmer's calendar. 753 



give a warm bath with brisk but gentle rubbing until dry, warmin-. 

 by the hre or with liot bricks; those apimrently neai^ aendTifi 

 usually revive and do well. When fodder is scarce it is a -It 

 temptation to many fanners to turn their sheep out, for thev wi 1 

 eat a great deal of the drying grasses that grow amon^ clumps of 

 bushes m_ hedge-rows and among the stones in the cow pa^urcs 

 :No practice can be worse for the summer pasturao-e Tlie onlv 

 proper pasturage which sheep can have at this season is in bu'^h 

 pastures which were cut over in summer, where tlie youn- SDrouts 

 of the bush are just starting fresh and green, and in law^ns where 

 tussocks of orchard grass or other coars'e tilings disfi<rure the turf 

 These coarse grasses and weeds start earlv, and sheep fruits or 

 horses, tethered where they will crop them close, wil'l^'destrov 

 many. •' 



Mulching Fruit Trees.— If a mulching is employed at the time 

 of planting trees they will never need watering. Uniform tem- 

 perature and a constant supply of moisture are the prime elements 

 . of success ill fruit culture. Mulching enables us to accomplish 

 this. ISIulching acts beneficially in oUier ways. It prevents, to a 

 great degree, the cracking of fruit, and causes those varieties 

 which are generally spotted and detaced, to become clean and 

 covered with a rich bloom. 



MAY WORK. 



Farm Laborers should be hired for the season now, as you will 

 be likely to get much better help than if you wait till later". Most 

 farmers employ too little labor and unskilled laborers. The remedy 

 is to employ laborers by the year and build tenant houses for them 

 upon the farm. If every farm had a tenant house upon it, and 

 laborers were employed by the .year, the farming communities 

 would be plentifully supplied with reliable resident laborers. A 

 farmer having a tenant house could employ a married man, con- 

 stitute him his foreman, and entrust him with the interests of hi.s 

 farm operations. He would thus have a safe reliance when he 

 was absent, and alwa3^s a leader and director of his other help. 



Blanure should all be worked over and pulverized as much as 

 possible before hauling into the fields. If you apply your manure 

 in the fall, keep the winter made manure under cover, haul dirt 

 and mix with it, let the hogs have constant access to it, if possiMo, 

 and in the fall it will be in prime condition to haul on newly 

 plowed sod and harrowed in. 



Preparing the ground for crops, is the most iinjiortant work of 

 this month, at the North, and we refer to our remarks of last 

 month on the Roller and Clod Crusher. Give more attention to 

 incteasing the yield of your fields. Not one farmer in ten gets 

 the yiekfhe ought. Don't be satisfied to secure the customary 



