1884 .] 
AMEBICAJN AGRIOULTTJEIST. 
239 
clean management of the milk and cream in every 
way, from the miikiug, until the butter is packed 
for market. Calves that are to become milch cows, 
need a quiet place by themselves, and regular ra¬ 
tions of milk and meal. They should be gently 
handled, and taught to lead with halter. Pigs forthe 
early market need a good run in a pasture—clover 
is best, and a daily supply of bran and meal slops. 
The proper place for pigs is in the orchard, where 
they may feed upon the wormy fruit that falls, and 
thus destroy vast numbers of injurious insects. 
Kats, owls, skunks, and hawks, are natural enemies 
to the young chickens, and to keep them away the 
yards must be watched by day, and closed coops 
provided for the night time. The garden may be 
rid of many insect pests by allowing the young 
chicks to run among the growing crops. 
Orclisti'4l iiiiil 
Indications point to an abundant fruit year, 
though the peach crop may be injured by late 
frosts, or a long cold rain while the trees are in 
blossom, may diminish the “set” of apples and 
pears. These disasters are likely to be local. 
In years of abundance, while common and poor 
fruit hardly pays its carriage to market, really flue 
fruit brings about the usual price. It is in such 
years that the growei', by care in producing fine 
specimens, and packing them in an attractive man¬ 
ner, finds fruit-growing profitable, while his indif¬ 
ferent neighbor declares that “fruit don’t pay.” 
To produce fine specimens, the number borne by 
the tree must be reduced; this might have been 
done in the winter by pruning, but now the orchard- 
ist must rely upon thinning the fruit. If we give a 
single specimen the nourishment that would have 
been divided between three and four, the result 
will be seen in the extra size and beauty of the one 
thus favored. In no fruit is there such a difference 
in price between the common and extra, as in the 
peach, and it is a well established fact, that with 
peaches thinning pays. It will also pay with pears, 
and especially early apples, to the production of 
which fruit-growers should give more attention. 
Strawberries .—See that the pickers do not mix 
over-ripe berries with those to be sent to market. 
While the berries at the top of the basket may be 
turned to show the best side, the fruit should be 
the same all through. 
Currants, when nearly full-grown, in some mar¬ 
kets, bring a higher price than when ripe. If green 
currants are marketed, thin the crop so that that 
which is left to ripen, may be benefited. 
Odosebet'ries are generally sold green. Look out 
for the worm on both these and currants, and use 
White Hellebore, a tablespoonful of the powder in 
a pailful of water. Apply with a syringe or garden 
engine. 
ITe/its which the Insects pitch in the heads of trees, 
should be removed early in the morning. The 
hand, with, or without a glove, is the best imple¬ 
ment yet invented. 
Grape-vines .—Tie up the young shoots. Pinch 
out the ends, leaving two or three leaves beyond 
the last bunch. Each shoot usually bears three 
clusters. If these are reduced to two, or even one, 
the fruit will be all the finer. The rose-bug is very 
destructive to the grape—shake it off in early morn¬ 
ing, and catch in a pan in which is a little kerosene. 
Kitchen and itJEai'lcet Ciai'den. 
Weeds are the important crop just now. If they 
have been allowed to get a foot-hold, cultivators, 
hoes and other implements must be set at work. 
If a long, sharp-toothed rake is frequently used be¬ 
tween the rows, or wherever there is a bare surface, 
it will destroy the weeds while they are young, 
and save much labor—use the rake. 
Sowing for Succession is often neglected in private 
gardens; the season for each vegetable may be pro¬ 
longed by successive sowings. Beans, peas, corn, 
beets, etc., etc., may well be sown weekly. 
Lima Beans .—If the first planting failed, try again. 
Asparagus .—cutting as soon as peas are 
ready and let the tops grow. 
Cabbage and Cauliflower .—Seedlings for the late 
crop should be thinned, to get strong plants. 
Ciccumbers for pickles do best when the soil is 
well warmed—the middle or last of the month is 
soon enough. 
Squashe.i .—Plant the winter sorts in highly ma¬ 
nured rows, made ten feet apart, dropping a dozen 
seeds every four feet, ultimately thinning out the 
plants to two. As soon as the plants appear, dust 
them heavily with plaster, or a mixture of plaster 
and ashes, and if rains wash it off, repeat it, until 
the plants are strong enough to resist insects. 
Bhubarb .—Keep the flower stalks cut away as 
they appear. 
Sweet Potatoes may be planted during this month, 
according to directions given elsewhere. 
Tomatoes .—-Continue to tie to the trellis. Cut 
away all the badly-formed fruit, and look out for 
“the worm,” which maybe detected by its drop¬ 
pings on the ground below. 
Items .—Thin freely, especially with root-crops. 
One well-grown carrot, salsify, etc., is worth more 
than three or four starved, spindling roots_Pro¬ 
vide a seed-bed of sage, thyme and other “season¬ 
able ” herbs, from which to draw plants to occupy 
ground cleared of other crops_If celery plants 
get large, cut off the tops to make them stocky.... 
Store sashes, straw-mats, and similar appliances 
under cover. Especially use the rake freely to 
destroy young weqds in the garden. 
Greenhouse and Window Garden. 
It is generally desirable to remove the plants 
from the windows, but those in the green-house, as 
a rule, can be better cared for by shading and wa¬ 
tering, than if they are taken outside. Plants in 
pots set outside forthe summer, should have par¬ 
tial shade. Set the pots on coal ashes, to keep the 
worms from entering. The roots are often much 
injured if the sun falls upon the pots; this may be 
prevented by setting a board on edge to shade 
them. Many fuchsias and cactuses bloom only in 
summer; the best place for these is on the veranda. 
Hanging baskets are best watered by plunging 
them in a pail or tub of water, until the earth is well 
soaked through. Boxes upon the outside of the 
windows should not be allowed to get dry. Unless 
the surface of the soil is all covered by the plants, 
it is well to cover it with moss, such as is found at 
the bases of trees in the woods. All repairs to the 
green-houses or the heating apparatus, should be 
made during summer, and the earlier the better. 
The Clover Crop. 
Red Clover {Trifolium pratense) is the most valu¬ 
able of all forage plants, but is not suited to wet 
land. When cut in full blossom and well cured, it 
is excellent feed for work horses, but if badly cured, 
dusty, and unripe, it should never be fed to them. 
As a renovator for the soil, there is no crop 
equal to clover. It makes the best food for cattle 
and sheep, and their young, including colts, and 
will add greatly to the value of the manure-pile. 
Clover is the easiest to start, and more certain of 
producing a crop than any grass. There need never 
be any failure, if the ground is properly prepared, 
and the young plants are not choked out by an 
overshadowing and exhaustive crop of grain. A 
large variety of clover is best where enriching the 
land is a main object in growing the crop, as it will 
afford more stalks and a larger amount of vegeta¬ 
tion to decay. It does not make hay of as good 
quality as the medium or smaller varieties, being 
so much coarser, and on strong land it is liable to 
fall and become matted, so that cutting it with 
either scythe or machine is diflflcult. The smaller 
varieties will produce two crops of hay of supe¬ 
rior quality in one season. The Alsike or Swedish 
clover {Trifolium hybridum) is a variety between 
the Red ( T. pratense), and the White ( T. repens), with 
scarlet blossoms, and will ripen its seed and renew 
itself if allowed to do so. It has no merit over 
the red clover as a forage plant. 
The Flower Garden and Lawn. 
The rule to mow the lawn once a week should 
not be followed blindly. In a dry time, when grass 
grows but little, mowing should be suspended. Be 
governed by the condition of the grass. As shrubs 
and herbaceous perennial plants pass out of flower, 
cut away the faded clusters, unless it is desirable 
to save seeds, when a few may be left for that pur¬ 
pose. Roses have many enemies; the slug may be 
treated with White Hellebore, and the rose-bug may 
be shaken off and caught, while torpid in early 
morning. When the leaves of hyacinths and 
other spring bulbs begin to fade, lift the bulbs, and 
when dried, store in a cool dry place for fall plant¬ 
ing. Continue to transplant annuals, and to set 
out summer bulbs, such as gladioluses, tuberoses, 
etc. Give stakes to dahlias, and all other plants 
that need support. Ornamental beds, or ribbon 
lines, need attention to keep the kinds distinctly 
marked. Cut back the plants that trespass on their 
neighbors. Sow annuals for succession. Do not 
forget the “Everlastings,” always so much in de¬ 
mand for Christmas and other winter decorations. 
Bones on the Farm. 
It is weli enough known that bone, when ground 
fine, makes one of the best and cheapest manures, 
especially on lands long in use. The needs of far¬ 
mers with abundant capital are well enough met in 
the commercial fertilizers. With the Experiment 
Stations to analyze the samples, there is not much 
danger of adulteration. The high price of this 
comminuted bone, two cents a pound and upward, 
deters many farmers from using it on a large scale, 
even where there is no doubt that the investment 
would pay. In a limited way, the smail farmer has 
the means within his reach, of reducing several 
barrels of bone to a fine powder every year. A 
solution of potash will reduce bone to a fine condi¬ 
tion, and make it available for plant food. Most 
farmers still use wood for fuel, and the ashes from 
the fifteen or twenty cords used in a year, if saved, 
would reduce all the bones ordinarily within reach 
of the farmer. The old-fashioned leach that used 
to stand at almost every farmer’s back door for 
soap making, was a good contrivance for reducing 
the bones. But any tight, strong cask or box, w’ill 
answer quite as well for this purpose. Water 
poured upon the asiies makes a lye, or solution of 
potash, strong enough to decompose the bones. 
The casks should stand under cover, so that the 
quantity of water applied to the bone and ashes, 
may be under control. The time it will take to re¬ 
duce the bone to a powder, will depend upon the 
amount of potash in tlie ashes, and attention be¬ 
stowed upon the process. It is essential that the 
ashes and bone should be closely packed in the 
mass, and that they be kept in a moist state, adding 
water as it evaporates from the surface. The finer 
the bone before it is packed in the ashes, the sooner 
will it be reduced. The process can be hastened by 
putting into the mass a few' pounds of common 
potash. But this is only necessary to save time. 
Ashes from hickory, or any of the hard woods, 
contain sufficient potash to decompose the bone. 
When the mass is soft enough to break down with 
a spade or shovel, it can be mixed with land plas¬ 
ter, dried peat, or loam, to make it convenient for 
handling. It is a concentrated fertilizer, to be used 
with discretion in the hill, or applied as a top-dress¬ 
ing to growing crops in the gardener field. We 
are quite sure that any one who uses this prepara¬ 
tion of bone and wood ashes, and sees the vigorous 
push it gives to garden and other crops, will be 
likely to continue it. But many farmers near sea¬ 
ports and railroad stations, use coal mainly for 
fuel, and will have to resort to a hand or horse- 
mill to use up the waste bones. Small mills are 
extensively used by poultry men, for crushing oys¬ 
ter shells as well as bone, and the machinery can be 
adjusted to break the bone coarsely for hen feed. 
The oil and gelatine of the bones have an alimen¬ 
tary value, and, turned into eggs, pay much bet- 
I ter than when used as a fertilizer for the soil. 
