American Agriculturist, November 8, 1924 
Fall Farm Practices 
From Spreading Lime to Putting the Bees to Bed 
T HE shortage of clover seed for the coming 
season will make it necessary for farmers 
to take especial care to make the most 
of the clover sod which they already have 
and of new seedings to be made next year. 
The one outstanding way to do this is to be 
liberal with lime. The wise farmer will haul more 
lime this winter than before in years, and the good 
thing about it is that lime can be hauled and 
applied on the land during the winter when there 
is more time to doit. When the sleighing is good, 
larger loads can be drawn on sleighs than can be 
hauled on a wagon other times of the year. If 
the snow is not too deep, limestone may be ap¬ 
plied at any time during the winter. Burned and 
hydrated lime, however, may be put on more 
advantageously when the soil can be worked so 
as to mix the lime with the surface soil soon after 
spreading. Unless this is done, hydrated and 
burned lime cannot be mixed in the soil well later. 
Any kind of lime should be kept in a dry place 
until applied. Lump lime is sometimes piled in 
the field to slake. This 
results in waste. Hy¬ 
drated lime, if not kept 
dry, will slake and the 
bags burst open, making 
them difficult to handle, 
and causing some waste. 
In many ways, the ground 
limestone, if ground finely, 
is a better proposition for 
most farmers. 
As to how much lime 
should be applied, differ¬ 
ent counties have different 
needs. If the soil is acid, 
of course a larger amount 
of lime is needed. It is 
easier to apply too little 
than too much. A small 
amount of land might 
better be covered liber¬ 
ally than a large acreage 
too thinly. For many of 
our acid soils, two tons 
of ground limestone is 
none too much, or three- 
fourths of that amount of 
hydrated lime. 
Clover, alfalfa and the other legumes have a 
special need of lime. A normal yield of alfalfa 
will contain about two hundred and twenty-five 
pounds of carbonate of lime to an acre. 
Lime more than anything else has done more to 
bring back the large acreages and yields of the 
old-fashioned clover growths that our fathers 
used to get; and we repeat that if progress in 
keeping and increasing these clover growths is 
maintained next year, more than an ordinary 
amount of lime will have to be hauled and applied 
this winter. 
* * * 
Storing Vegetables in Pits and Cellars 
O F late we have received a number of in¬ 
quiries relative to a procedure followed in 
storing vegetables, such as celery, cabbage, car¬ 
rots and potatoes. There are certain funda¬ 
mentals necessary in storing whether pits or cellars 
are used, but different vegetables do better under 
certain conditions. Celery invariably does better 
in a temporary outdoor pit or trench. This mode 
of storing will adequately protect such a crop as 
celery against severe freezing until it is marketed 
in the early winter. 
A trench is dug to a depth not quite equal to the 
height of the celery. The celery is packed in quite 
lightly, standing it upright with the roots still on. 
ll is a little better if some soil still adheres to the 
roots. When the trench is packed full, straw is 
placed over the tops of the celery. Sometimes 
growers lay boards over the tops of the straw 
before covering with soil. The one essential in 
pit storage is to make sure that the pit is so 
located that drainage is thorough. A vent is also 
desirable every 15 or 20 feet. A common drain 
tile stood upright will suffice. It is a good idea to 
have a covering over the top of it, however, to 
prevent rain water from getting in. 
Pit storage is also ideal for such root crops as 
carrots and beets. Long Island growers build 
their pits very narrow to avoid heavy frost damage 
if it reaches down to the vegetables. Only the 
surface vegetables are hit in this case. They make 
their pits quite deep. The roots are simply 
dumped into the pit, covered with straw and then 
covered with earth. The earth covering is heaped 
quite high to shed the water off to the sides. 
Where cellar storage is available there should be 
cold intakes to allow perfect ventilation. A 
ventilator at the top will allow the moisture to 
pass out and the cold air intake allows removal of 
any unwanted gases. To secure best circulation, 
false walls and floors made of one-inch boards on 
2x4 timbers should be provided. This will per¬ 
mit the cool air to pass underneath and on all sides 
of the vegetables being stored. 
Constant temperature, correct ventilation and 
protection against heavy frost damage, are essen¬ 
tial to proper storage. 
* * * 
How I Sell Butter and Vegetables 
Y EARS ago, about the only money I could 
get together handy was what I was able to 
make from the butter and eggs. To-day things 
have changed to some extent and I market much 
of the produce, vegetables, berries, etc. 
It might be of interest for me to briefly outline 
the methods that have made us money and at 
the same time created an unusual demand for 
our products, especially my butter and eggs, 
strawberries and cherries. 
In the first place I want to say that butter¬ 
making is within itself an art. Good butter will 
always sell at a premium. What makes good 
butter? Good cows to start with, cleanliness in 
handling. By this I mean the process from milk¬ 
ing until the finished product is put up ready for 
market. Attractiveness of the product. My 
butter is put up in pound prints carefully wrapped 
in waxed paper in order to keep out all dirt. 
The product §ells itself. Have had one customer 
12 years. That’s proof. 
My eggs are always sorted as to color and 
size, guaranteed strictly fresh or your money 
back. I have been able to sell my eggs when 
they were a drug on the market. 
My strawberries and cherries have been sold 
because of the good variety and manner of ap¬ 
pearance, good measure and fair treatment of 
the customer. 
Summing up my experience along this line, I 
might add that what I have done others are 
doing, or at least are learning to do. The fol¬ 
lowing therefore may be of practical help and 
value to those who seek to create a permanent 
market for their products. 
First: Attractiveness of the product to be sold; by this I 
mean the manner it is put up and the attention given to dis¬ 
play. First impressions are lasting ones, remember. 
Second: Cleanliness, not only in marketing, but about the 
home and premises. Many of my customers come to see us 
and take away much produce in their joy cars, saving me lots 
of extra trouble in getting the product ready for market. 
Third: Be liberal in measure and always give full weight. 
That is paramount. Be friendly with all. Businesslike. 
Specialize.— Mrs. Edith Swope, Pennsylvania. 
* * * 
Packing Bees for Winter 
O UR success as honey producers will depend 
entirely upon the manner in which our bees 
go through the winter, for if a colony has been 
seriously depleted in numbers it will not be strong 
enough to gather a surplus of honey, no matter 
how abundantly the flowers may yield. Many 
beekeepers store their bees 
in cellars for the winter 
in absolute darkness, and 
with a temperature rang¬ 
ing between 45 and 60 
degrees. 
The most progressive 
beekeepers are coming 
around to the outdoor win¬ 
tering idea, as it not only 
saves the trouble of carting 
the bees in and out of the 
cellar every year, but it 
also saves them from 
dysentery and spring 
dwindling,to which cellared 
bees are especially prone. 
Bees wintered out of doors 
take advantage of mild 
days to have a cleansing 
flight, and free their bowels 
of the accumulations of 
weeks, a thing impossible 
to those wintered in cellars. 
The best feed is equal 
parts of hot water and 
best granulated sugar, 
stirred until thoroughly 
dissolved, and fed the colony in an overhead 
feeder. If your hives are the single walled ones 
and you do not care to go to the expense of buying 
chaff ones, then a fair substitute is to wrap" the 
hive with thick waterproof paper. Before doing 
so, place an empty full-depth hive body on top of 
the under cover and fill it with chaff or planer 
shavings. 
Where the winters are severe, it is best to have 
the regular double walled chaff hives, though in 
most sections the paper covering with chaff in 
the upper story will suffice. When fixed for the 
winter, the bees should be let alone until the 
following spring. A heavy fall of snow should be 
left on the hives; it is nature's blanket and con¬ 
serves the warmth. I like to see mine covered 
out of sight all winter long.— C. A. Umoselle, 
