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FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDE N. 



(4 inches wide will be sufficient) in the 

 shape of the letter V, may then be put 

 into this branch, and the plowing re- 

 versed till the ground is made level. This 

 method has a double advantage — 1. It is 

 a cheaper method than to dig the full 

 depth by hand, and the wood is cheaper 

 than tile. 2. By turning up and thus 

 loosening the subsoil to that depth on each 

 side of the drain, the water would find its 

 way into the drain more readily than if 

 only a narrow ditch had been dug from 

 the surface down, leaving the sides un- 

 moved and almost impervious to water. 



DOCKS, to Eradicate. — Cut them off 

 close to the ground when the tops are 

 fully out, but the seed not fully formed, 

 and they are done for. The stalk dies in 

 the ground; but you must cut them so 

 close to the ground that you leave no 

 leaves on the stalk, else they will not die. 

 The end of June is generally about the 

 best time to cut them ; but it depends on 

 the season. In the pasture-fields they are 

 soon cut with a scythe. In wheat and 

 meadows they have to be cut with a knife. 



FGG-PLANT, Culture. — Sow in hot- 

 bed very early in the spring ; transplant 

 when two inches high, into a second hot- 

 bed ; if that is not done, thin to four inches 

 apart. Do not plant out till the weather 

 becomes settled and warm. Keep the 

 plants watered for a few days if hot when 

 put out. Where hot-beds are not con- 

 venient, a few plants can be started in 

 flower-pots or boxes, and when planted 

 out must have a deep, rich soil, and full 

 exposure to the sun. 



ELM TREES, Ulcers, U Cure in.— The 

 remedy consists in boring every tree at- 

 tacked by the disease, at the ulcer itself; 

 and in applying a tube to the hole occa- 

 sioned by the borer, penetrating about 

 nine lines in depth. The sound trees, 

 which are also bored, afford no liquor, 

 whereas those that are ulcerated afford it in 

 great abundance, increasing particularly 

 in fine weather, and when the wound is 

 exposed to the south. Stormy weather 

 and great winds stop the effusion. In this 

 manner the ulcers dry and heal in forty- 

 eight hours. 



FIGS, Drying.— The editor of the Rural 

 Alabamiati, who has had some experience 

 in the drying of figs, says that there is no 

 more difficulty in putting a first-rate article 

 of dried figs into the market from the 



Gulf States than from Smyrna. The tli.- 

 ficulty has been that the right varieties 

 have not been cultivated. The common 

 large yellow fig of the South is not well 

 adapted for drying, being too juicy, too 

 hollow, and too open at the eye, and it is 

 very liable to injury from damp or rainy 

 weather at the time of its maturity. He 

 recommends the Brunswick, Large White, 

 Genoa, Smyrna and Figue d'Or varieties 

 for drying. 



FIG, Culture. — On warm, dry, rich, 

 sandy soils here the fig grows with as much 

 freedom as in the Gulf States, and on ac- 

 count of our exemption from late spring 

 frosts, the first crop is more certain than 

 in Georgia or Tennessee. One is aston- 

 ished to see their luxuriant foliage, which 

 is remarkably free from curled or yellow 

 leaves, a fact doubtless due to the uni- 

 formity of heat, light and moisture of our 

 climate. One peculiarity of the fig is that 

 its fruit-buds start simultaneously with the 

 leaf-buds, which can be readily distin- 

 guished the fall previous. The buds be- 

 gin growth here the forepart of May, and 

 by the middle of June the new shoots are 

 about one foot in length, and the young 

 figs the size of hickory nuts. Then they 

 commence swelling very rapidly, and in a 

 few days are the size of small green pears; 

 in two or three days more, or about the 

 first of July they become yellow, when 

 they are ripe and ready for picking. In 

 some countries they are used as daily food, 

 eaten in milk, and are very wholesome 

 and nutritious. They can be canned or 

 dried, but are too good for that purpose 

 until more abundant. The second crop 

 begins to grow as soon as the first is re- 

 moved, and usually gets ripe the fore 

 part of September. It is not always nec- 

 essary to give them protection in the 

 winter, but for the purpose of dividing 

 them, and to guard against extreme win- 

 ters, it is advisable to heel them in, which 

 can be done at any time after the frosts 

 of autumn remove the leaves before severe 

 winter approaches. The process is very 

 simple ; dig one plant and lay it on its 

 side in the hole, then dig the next, throw- 

 ing the dirt on the first, and so on until 

 they are all covered. Reverse the process 

 in the spring, at which time you can di- 

 vide and prune into shape, using the cut- 

 tings for new plants, which strike root 

 readily, and often bear fruit the first sea- 



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