U TBI: FARM. 



than if sown dry. Especially is this true of the McLean pea and other deli- 

 cate gi-een peas, and of the various kinds of sweet coi-n. When the weather 

 is dry and hot, however, it may be an advantage to steep the seeds before 

 using them, and especially so in the case of seeds that are slow to germinate, 

 such as celery and parsnips and carrots. To steep these seeds for a few 

 days until germination has started and then dry them just enough to make 

 them pass readily through the seed drill, will hasten their commg up, so 

 that weeding will be less difficult in case the land is foul; but such seed 

 should not be sown upon foul land if it can be avoided. Care is required in 

 steeping seed that fermentation does not occur, which will frequently kill the 

 seed. It may be arrested by turning oif the water and spreading out the 

 seed thinly upon a piece of sheeting and partially drying it. To steep seeds 

 in chemical solutions with the belief that this ■will answer in place of fertihz- 

 ing the land, I believe, is sheer humbug and imposition upon common sense. 

 The only chemical stuffs that have proved useful, so far as I know, are tho 

 blue vitriol to destroy germs of smut, strychnine to destroy crows and black- 

 birds and a smearing of tar on com seed for protection from these birds. 



Raising Roots. —The average farmer is now devoting all his energies to 

 the production of the greatest possible number of bushels of grain. Concen- 

 tration of effort is generally commendable, but when applied to one particu- 

 lar branch of agriculture to the exclusion of others just as important, or to 

 the detriment of the whole enterprise, it is not commendable. In other 

 words, it is very bad management, and the evil effects of such a course will, 

 Booner or later, become manifest in the exhausted condition of the soil, where 

 this system of indiscriminate grain raising has been pursued. 



The true policy of farming is to produce good crops and feed them out, so 

 far as practicable, upon the farm. The larger the stock carried on tho farm 

 the greater will be the amount of fertihzing material produced. 



In this case, good management would consist in growing those crops from 

 which we could realize the greatest return per acre, thereby enabling us to 

 carry more stock upon a given area. 



Considered in this way, the root crop is an important factor in stock 

 raising, as it J^eld8 largely to the acre, and is a most nutritious and whole- 

 some diet, when stock is deprived of other green food during the feeding 

 months. Aside from their nutritious quahties, roots possess a mechanical 

 value of no less importance, as they materially aid in the assimilation of dry 

 food, which too often forms the exclusive diet of stall-fed stock. 



Of all roots, carrots are the most nutritious, and when the soil is deep, 

 rich, and mellow, they will yield enormously, sometimes as high as ten or 

 twelve tons to the acre. They keep well and can be fed all the year round 

 if properly cared for. They are not so easily harvested as the beet and man- 

 gold, as the roots penetrate deeply into the soil, necessitating the use of the 

 spade or plow when harvesting. Probably, for this reason, they are not so 

 extensively raised as they should be. 



The mangold seems to be tho favorite at present, as, perhaps, all things 

 considered, it should be. Under the most favorable circumstances it will 

 yield even heavier than the carrot, and it also keeps well for spring feeding. 

 Rutabagas and turnips come last in the order when considered as to their 

 respective values. The greatest argument in their favor is, that they can bo 

 raised with tho least labor and can be raised as a second crop, sown late in 

 the season. This is particularly the case with the turnip, wluch may be 

 gown as late as August Ist. 



