198 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEE. 



July 



TREES SET LAST SPRING. 



When these are drooping they should he 

 cut back to a few buds, give them a thor- 

 ough watering and mulch ; in a few days 

 they will show signs of returning life and 

 active cjrowth. This is a severe month on 

 all newly planted trees, and too much care 

 cannot be exercised. Look well to them, 

 and see that they do not suffer from drouth ; 

 if you can do no more for them throw up a 

 mound around the base of the tree to steady 

 it against the wind and to protect the roots 

 from the scorching sun.. No leaves should 

 be cut or rubbed off from newly planted 

 trees the first season, as these are the life of 

 the tree, or the lungs through which they 

 breathe. This does not include the cutting 

 back of trees when first set or when droop- 

 ing, for in this case it is evident that the 

 top is too large for the roots, and should 

 have been cut back, but even now it may 

 save the tree if the knife is judiciously ap- 

 plied. One thorough watering and mulch- 

 ing is all that will be needed. This is par- 

 ticularly the case with evergreens A thor- 

 ough workinar of the soil with the hoe or 

 steel rake will have the effect to keep the 

 earth moist at the roots of trees, and an- 

 swers even better than mulching, but in this 

 case do not water unless you remove a por- 

 tion of the top soil to be replaced after the 

 water has settled away. It is better to pur- 

 chase ten dollars worth of trees and expend 

 another ten in giving them the proper cure 

 than to lay out twenty-five dollars and neg- 

 lect them afterwards. Of staking trees we 

 shall have something to say as soon as we 

 can find time to make the proper drawing to 

 illustrate the subject. 



-••-■ 



— A Dancer once said to a Spartan, "You 

 cannot stand on one leg as long as I can" — 

 "Perhaps not," said the Spartan; ''but any 

 goose can." 



— A person who was sent to prison for mar- 

 ryrng two wives, excused himself by saying 

 that when hu had one, she fought him, but 

 when he got two, they fought each other. 



Hay Making. 



As the season for making hay is approaching 

 we will give a few words of caution in advance. 

 Don't dry your hay too much. Hay may be dried 

 till it is as worthless as straw, As a good coffee- 

 maker would say, "Don't burn your coffee, but 

 cure it* Our good old mothers, who relied upon 

 herb tea instead of " 'potecary medicine," gath- 

 ered their herbs when in blossom, and cured them 

 in the shade. This is the philosophy of making 

 good hay. Cut in the blossom and cure in the 

 shad. The sugar of the p'ant, when it is in 

 bloom, is not there ; if later, the sugar has be- 

 come converted to woody matter. 



H ay should be well wilted in the sun, but cured 

 in the cock. Better to be a little too green than 

 1o > dry. If, on puttinfr it into barn, there is dan- 

 ger of " be'ting in the mow," put on some salt. 

 Cattle will like it none 'he less. 



Heat, l^g!it, and dry winds, will soon take the 

 starch ana sugar, wliich constitutes the goodness 

 of hay. out of it; and with the addition of a 

 shower, render it almost worthless. Grass cured 

 with the least exposure to the drying winds and 

 scorching sunshine, is more nu;ritiou3 than if 

 longer exposed, however good the weather mny 

 be. If over cured, it contains more woody fibre 

 and less nutritive matter. 



The true art of hay-making, then, consists in 

 cutting grass when the starch and sugar are most 

 fu:iy developed, and before they are converted 

 into seed and woody fibre ; ai:d curing it to the 

 point when it will answer to put it into the baru 

 without heating, and no more. — Ohio Farmer, 



The above we may call good, sensible ad- 

 vice. A large amount of hay is spoiled by 

 over-curing every year, and though our far- 

 mers are making progress in the right di- 

 rection, yet too many overlook the true mode 

 of curing hay. Hay should be only vnlled 

 in the siocn-th and cured in the cock. Do 

 not forget this and you will need little corn 

 to winter your stock. Ed. 



^ » 



Farming in Makios Co. — We learn that eight 

 farms have been opened near Sandoval, in this 

 c 'unty witiiiu the last year, and that on them 

 will be Sown this fall about fif:eeu hundred acres 

 of wheat. 1 his is a fine farm ng county, and we 

 are glad the land is so fast being put into culti- 

 vation. It would be extremely diflBcult to find a 

 county in this part of the State that can beat old 

 Marion in agriculture and horticultural purposes. 

 — Centralia Com. 



-«©►- 



Discovery of a New Planet. — Mr, N R. Pay- 

 son, lately appointed Astronomer at Madras, In- 

 dia, on the 17th of ^pril 1-ist, discovered a plan- 

 et which he named " Asia." It ai peared as a 

 star of the eleventh magnitude, and is the fourth 

 he has detected. 



