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/ J l, By Maintaining the Fertility of the Orchard Soil Your Trees Are Due to Bear a Heavy Crop of Fruit. An Apple Orchard in Bloom Last Spring That Yielded This Fall a Wonderful Crop. Care of the Soil Helped in This Instance. The problem of securing the fertil ity already in the soil is a matter which we should carefully consider beforewe apply commercial plant foods and manures to our orchard soils. On soils which contain a reasonable amount of available plant food and which have been brought to a good physical condition, the need of apply ing manures and commercial fertil izers will be reduced to a minimum until the trees have attained a size i during y and age when their roots occupy practically all of the soil. How to prepare the soil so that the roots may go deep into the sub soil after mineral plant food, and so that the surface roots may reach out into the surface soil until they inter lock with the roots of adjoining trees is the question for us to consider. First of all, ttye soil must be well drained and prepared sufficiently deep so that the roots may reach deep into the subsoil. Second, the surface soil must be cultivated frequently and a rotatlpnof .cover crops and catch crops employed"'so'Yhar"a suf ficient amount of plant food will be made available to promote a rapd and healthy growth, rather than forc ing the growth of the trees by the use of manures and fertilizers rich in nitrogen. In some Instances the soil may he deficient in plant food and the intel ligent use of mineral plant foods will prove very beneficial to the young trees. It is when the orchards begin to bear large crops of fruit that the de mands for plant food must be met if profitable crops of fruit are secured. At this time the roots of the trees have taken possession of practically all of the soil and have utilized the larger part of the available plant food, so that the addition of some form of manure or fertilizer is essential. The function of the soil in fur nishing the tree with plant food is an exceedingly complex one, and there are certain well defined laws that must be kept in mind for the Im provement and maintenance of the fertility of the soil that is occupied by the trees. Some fruit growers ad- a system where ail three may be maintained and improved by the use of a limited amo,unt of mineral fertil izers and the use of a well-planned system of legume crops for maintain ing the supply of humus and nitrogen, and the use of fertilizers to encourage the legumes in the work of gathering nitrogen and plant food, and the em ployment of a grass or cover crop to protect the fruit from the mud hen the trees are due to produce a large crop of fruit, The physical condition of the soil is very important, but if we consider it alone we wjll gain increased crops for a few years, but in the end will exhaust our soil and the crops of fruit will become smaller and more imperfect until we will be compelled to use large amounts of manure or fertilizer. It is always more profit able for us to maintain the fertility of the orchard than to skin off the fruit and then try and bring it back to a condition where it will produce profitable crops of fruit. To success- j a n( j fully maintain the physical condition of the soil we must supply it with an abundance of humus forming material and give it good tillage. The biolog ical condition of the soil deals with the soil organisms that work for us in making the substances of the soil into a condition available to nourish the growing plants. Without them the soil would not be in a condition to furnish the plants with nitrogen and the growth of the tree would be practically arrested. These soil or ganisms require for their best devel opment suitable temperature^ air movement and an abundance of mois ture. some base for their products to combine with and some food. When we discuss the chemical con ditions of the soil many orchard own ers think we are discussing some thing mysterious, and jump at the conclusion that the subject is one which they cannot understand. The first law of chemistry is that we can not make something out of nothing, and that we are the loser every time we try to get a crop of fruit from a soil which is deficient tn available plant .food. The trees must have and at the same time improve all three of the important conditions, be sides adding large quantities of ni trogen for future use. Cover crops will also prevent soil washing and hold the leaves until they may be plowed under. Have you ever noticed how a clump of grass will hold leaves from blowing away? The saving of leaves is nature’s method of maintain ing fertility for the tree. When the trees are making too heavy a growth of wood it is often best, to use some other crop and omit the legume for a season or more. Rye, wheat, oats or buckwheat may be employed. There is no question but what we may conserve consider able moisture in the soil by keeping it occupied by. a growing crop that will prevent washing and evaporation. When cover crops are employed cau tion must he used not to allow they to grow too late and consume too much moisture that is needed by the trees. Cover crops should be plowed under rather early, while in a suc culent condition, so that they will readily give up their decaying re mains to nourish the growing fruit and trees. If the orchard is seeded with a cov er crop rather early it is better cut the crop and allow it to remain where it falls. This forms a mulch and also a place for the fruit to lay where it will not become mildly from fall rains. The fruit will be of better color and ripen more evenly than when the soil is cultivated un til nearly the^ time it ripens. Of course if the season is unusually dry, it may be better to continue cultiva tion until late and omit sowing a er crop. As a rule, buyers will pay more for fruit from an orchard that is well seeded with a cover crop, be cause it prevents the fallen fruit and barrels from getting muddy, and greatly facilitates the work of harvest ing the crop. I believe that a rotation of cover crops and clean cultivation Is the best method of soil management in the orchard.. It certainly has all the advantages of other methods and the disadvantages are reduced to a mini mum. All systems of soil manage ment in the orchard must be varied to meet the demands of the trees, the amount of plant food in the *oil and the condition of climate if they prove efficient. Here is the one place where the intelligence of the grow- er must decide which is the best method, the kind of fertilizer to ap ply and the proper time to apply it ow cover crops. Actual experi ence alone can determine which is the most judicious course to follow. FALL CARE OF THE COLT Young colts should not be left out in the pasture until they begin to get low in flesh. It is much more profit able to <begin feeding them a little grain and hay along before pastures begin to dry up tQ_have them in readi ness to go on dry feed later without any serioue trouble. ***** > This is ‘too often neglected; and, when young colts are brought in thin in flesh, and they cannot be taken through the winter in the condition that they could have been, this neg lect is Inexcusable. In weaning the colt from the mare, it should have the very best Of care, as the change of conditions is liable to cause some trouble. While on the good summer pasture the mare gave milk that was easily digested and in taking colts from milk to dry food, it is necessary that they should ceive the very best of attention. They should be properly fed in order to prevent any bowel troubles. This rule will hold good in taking young calves through this period and in fact will ap ply to all kinds of live stock, but more especially to the young of the farm which are expected to turn in a profit for the farmer the next year. NOTES OF THE FEED LOT Rape is a great thing for hogs, but should not be fed to horses. Locate tha. feed lot next to the pas ture if you^tan; if not, place it as close as possible, with a well-fenced lane connecting. Fodder should he fed in racks and not on the ground. The saving in bad weather will soon pay for the racks. The ground surrounding the feed racks should be made to slope away in all directions, and it would be all the better if tile drained. Pumpkins contain 90 per cent, wa ter, but the other 10 per cent, contains mighty good material for dairy cows and brood cows. A water heater will cost less than the loss of flesh occasioned by cattle drinking ice water. At the present high prices of feed it takes a good feeder to get ahead of the game, even with hogs and cat tle selling high. A bran mash, once a week* is a renovator for the driving horse. Two quarts of shelled oats and the same quantity of wheat bran, scalded about mid-day and then covered with a blanket or cloth, to keep in the steam, add a pinch of salt and feed at night. Give no other grain with this mash, but of course the regulation ration of hay. This once a week mash, given preferably Saturday night, will do your driving or riding horse all the good in the world. The work stock will also appreciate the mash, too. Sell ofT the old stock. Corn and hay are both high this year, and it’s long time before spring. It is hard to put fat on these old fellows in cold weather, so you had better sell them for what they will bring, and thereby save feed and incidentally ex pense. The plan of blanketing work horses is a very good one in many respects, but you must remember that when once you put the blanket on, you must be very careful as to how you take the blanket off. Give the horses more care and warmer quarters, thus saving high- priced feed and horse flesh. * Try a measure of kindness for a balanced ration. The work-horses must have exer cise and fresh air when not in use. Turn them out during the warm part of the day, and let them enjoy them selves. Are you simply feeding the horses to keep them alive this winter, or are you feeding and caring for them with Fruit Fed to Horses. Figs during the fig harvest time form the food of the horses of Smyr na; they turn to this from oats hay. In the West Indies the green-tops of the sugar cane are fed to the horses. In Egypt the khedive’s best mares are fed largely on currants, and these fruit-fed animals are noted for their endurance and speed. For long weeks in many parts of Canada midfall apples form horses’ only food. In Tasmania peaches are greatly relished by the horses. Dates take the place of the usual hay, corn, oats and bran in Arabia.— E. V. B. vocate sod mulch, others depend upon j food from the soil before they clean cultivation and the liberal of manures and fertilizers, others grow cover crops and use mineral fertiliz ers as a means of maintaining the fertility of their orchard soils. The fact that no two soils require the same line of treatment has caused a confusion of ideas in the management of orchard soils. After studying the matter In its various phases, 1 have arrived at the conclu sion that the best line of management consists of a system of clean cultiva tion, the use of cover and grass crops 1 and the use of an incomplete fertil izer; the whole line of management to be governed by the growth of the trees and the year they are due to bear a heavy crop of fruit In adopting any system of soil management for tbe orchard, it is imperative that we select the one which possesses as many of the good points and eliminates in a large de gree all of the undesirable ones and exhausts the least fertility from the soil. and which will need the least possible amount of purchased fertiliz ers, and at the same (line maintain the trees and fruit in a thrifty and healthy condition. When we consider any method for maintaining the fertility of orchard molls, there aTe three classes of rela tions that must be given considera tion, both separately and also in their relations to each other—the physical, the chemical and the biological condi- tlon of the soIL These three relations are so closely connected and so much dependent upon each other that it is a difficult matter for us to decide where one begins and the other leaves off, so I will consider tbemjtogether IBd show how it to possible to adopt produce fruit. Now. after discussing these three relations, let us discuss the methods best adapted to maintain them separately, and also in their re lations to each other, so that we may feed our trees and fruit in the most efficient and economical man ner possible. Plowing under green foliage adds humus and improves the texture of the soil, assists in conserving mois ture and prevents soil washing. The amount of plant food which is made available depends largely upon the carbonic acid produced by the decom position of the vegetable tissue, and the roots and organic matter. Thus In humus we have a substance that assists in the liberation of mineral as well as of nitrogenous plant food, be sides improving the physical condi tion of the soil. All plantd will make humus, but when we employ legumes we are en abled to increase the nitrogen content of the soil, for these plants have the power of obtaining their nitrogen from the atmosphere and depositing it in the soil in a form available for succeeding crops of fruit and wood. Thus, when legumes are grown to in crease the supply of bumus and ni trogen, it is not necessary to nse nigh-priced complete fertilizers. Ni trogen is the most expensive element of fertility, and the air is~*a much cheaper source than the fertilizer works. . In many respects cultivation and cover crops resemble each other dn their general effect upon the store of plant food In the soil. It is made more available by tillage, while cov er crops and tillage together will ac complish all that tillage possibly can, Give Your Neighbor a Lift. If you are a bit forehanded with the late fall work, and a neighbor has had hard luck, why not take the boys and a team over and give him a lift? It will pay big heart interest. We all have good reason to be thankful that we are living in an age where the farm is more highly regard ed as an uplifting factor in civilization than before. We have" never yet seen a farm so small that a good *farmer could find no work to be done upon it. Some men are honest because it pays, and a few because they cannot help it The man who will sit ,baking bis back before a hot stove during stormy weather, while his animals are left to huddle In the lee of a rail fence, has a fatal twist in his make-up. It is the first blizzard that gives the animals a hard set-back. Everything for their protection should be ready against the day. 1 *-• * The man who plants a 50-acre apple orchard now and takes care of it for ten years can have no fear of want in the future. Keep open the windows of the sleep ing rooms—pile on the blankets, and Imported Percheron Stallion. an eye to their good flesh and useful ness when next spring’s work opens up? Honestly, now, how many men did you ever see salt their horses in win ter? Don’t allow the offer of a good, stiff price for the best colts to tempt you in letting go of them. You’ll need some fresh young teams on© of these days, and It takes an almost fabulous sum of money to buy a span of young horses suitable for farm purpose*. If you can't get a competent black* smith to shoe the horses, they ar« better off without any. The cause of most hoof troubles may h© traced back to ill-fitted shoes. MUST HAVE GRASSES. By W. R. GILBERT. In attempting to farm without grass es the farmer is lifting without a lev- ; he is pulling a loa'd with the weight on the hind wheels; he is cut ting with a dull ax. With grass as a basis, grains, fruits, vegetables and meat, all the triumphs of farming are possible. The first thing I would advise all those who con template buying a farm to look into, would be its capacity to grow clover and other nutritious grasses, and learn what means would be available for fer tilizing such meadows. The grass can be converted Into milk and its products, into beef, pork or mutton and returned to the land in the form of manure for the grain "crops, -or ydu may sell the hay by the ton, acording to the facts of your par ticular locality. , I would not advise anyone to think of buying a farm that did not have at least 20 acres of grass land that.would produce at least two tons of hay per acre under favorable conditions. The greatest thrift and profit made by farmers off their farms in ten of the leading agricultural states that I have visited during the past two years have been made by those who make dairying and the growing of live stock their chief reliance. The great questoon.of keeping up the fertility of the soil for future crops can be solved in only one way that is by tbe growing of more clovers and grasses and feeding more live stock and returning all of the manure thus made to tbe fields. SOME LESSONS IN PLOWING keep the fires going all night, If neces sary. Warm air can be pure as well as cold air. The man who fails to cut ice in the winter does not cut much ice with the women folk at any season. No matter if our neighbor is too lazy to. do his share of dragging the road. We must drag it ourselves, as we can better afford to ignore him than to miss good markets on account of poor roads. You can generally tell the quality of farmer by the fence be keeps. It’s a mean man who will allow his wife to hang out wet clothes in freez ing weather. - Lime in Oyster Shell. The oyster shell /theory is a fact One pound of shells Contains suffi cient lime to manufacture about sev en dozens of eggs. The only proper way to feed them Ik to have'a small box within reach so the fowls can help themselves at will. Mixing the Bbells in the morning mash is % f Xjsky jqbi as a fowl ia apt to consume thus more than she will need, and the shells of the egg become too hard. By J. G. STEIN. . There are different ways to plow One way Is straight, and the other must be crooked, of course. By the straight way is meant keep ing the furrows straight as possible, and square each piece so there will not be any triangles or bellows-shaped pieces. Have the field true on all sides; that is, it may be longer one way than the other, but each side should he straight, so if you plow straight when you start you will have the dead furrows even and no wedges at the end. There will* also be no odd shaped pieces in the center to make a lot of extra turning. The crooked ,-way is used by many, who start a furrow any old place on one end of the field and drive to the other end, without a mark to go by. A little crook with people of this kind does not seem to be of much import ance, but crooked furrows take extra time and are a nuisance in general. Anothqj thing which saves much time, particularly in harvest, is a space which should be left between the fence and the field unplowed. This should be about 16 feet wide, and should be sown to grass. This strip will save going through, the grain with a binder, and back, and it also saves the hired man a lot of extra work in shocking, as he can start as soon as the reaper does and will not haye to wait until a swath is cut in which to place tbe shock. Common .Sense *n the Hog Cot The hog lot has much to do about determining the lot of hogs. Long legs In a hog ought to bar him as a breeder. Porkers, not racers, are what most of us are after. Meat, and lots of it, in now and then a mess of boiled and mashed pota toes. Little soft new corn at first. It’s hot stuff. May give the porkers the stomach ache. I doubt if any man ever had to fight hog cholera who kept his premises clean and fed right up to the mark. Work off some of the shoats and stop the cost of feeding. Get just as near to the man who eats your meat as you can when it comes to selling time. A few sweet apples now and then are fine for an appetizer. Not much meat in them, but they help to keep the system fn good order, "and so are of value as an article of diet. Hogs do not need much salt. A lit tle goes a good ways. But be sure they have that little. Throw now and then a charred stick of wood over in the yard for the hogs to work at. A good tonic. Keeps the Btomach in good order. If you feed sour milk, stick to sour milk, not change back and forth from sweet to sour. Somehow it seems to most of us that it is a big waste of time to do much thinking about the food we give a hog. Anything will go. That is one reason why we never have anything The Scratching Shed. If every farmer would but consider that the scratching shed, in which to feed the poultry all Bmall grain, fur nishes both shelter and exercise for the laying hens on chill or stormy days, he might see that it is impossible to secure best results without one. Milking by Electricity, Gilt-e Ige butte.- can come only from gilt-edged fingers. The cows are the beginning. Some cows give milk that can be turned into good hard, sweet butter. Others, you cannot make good, firm butter from to save your life. Do the best you can, it will still be waxy, soft and of poor flavor. So the cows must be right if you would make butter that is right. It takes a few years to change off a lot of poor cows, unless a man has a good pocketful of money. Cows cost these days; but by taking a bit of time, you can grow calves up through to fha dairy which will do good work, and take a lot of comfort doing it, too. After you get your cows, look out for men to handle them right. Be such a man yourself. That Is, be kind, be carefuL be thorough. You may think these things have little to to brag of in the way of hogs. To win, we must do some thinking, some planning and some putting Into effect. There will be better hogs a few years hence than there are now. Be fore that day comes, there will have to be better men. Breed to the best male you can find. It may cost a little more. You will get it all back in the better pig* 1 you get. Keep your hogs cool, but don’t cool them in a mudhole. Turn off some of the shoats while the price Is booming, which is most likely just now. Stop the cost of production as soon as you can. That’s the way to make money. Better than a ring in the nose for the hog that loves to root is a good chance to root and have a good time. Hogs are making money for you when they are rooting good and lively. Wheat feed, that is not too coarse, is a fine feed for hogs this time of the year. Hog cholera rarely strikes the pen of the man who keeps his hogs clean. The disease ia a filth trouble. If your hogs are shut up so they have no chance to root, dig a load of sods for them now and then and throw them over into the yard. It helps to keep the porkers busy, land when they are busy they are looking out for your interests all right. A poor fence is an Invitation to get out. You haven’t time to look after that sort of a thing. Make the fences good on the start. do with butter that will take the blue ribbon, hut they do. If you give your work this kind of attention, you are bound to win. Take pains. Where? Care in having the cows nice and clean at milking time. Be careful yourself. Care in handling the udder of the cows gently. The cow that feels good gives most milk and the best mill Care in getting all the cow has to give. It is the last few streams that puts the money in your pail. Care in straining the milk and getting it to the milkhouse. The way milk Is separated from cream makes a lot of difference, too. Somehow you must skim clean. If you have a separator, let it be a good one, and learn how to nse It right Ripen your cream in a place where there will be no bad smells-to flavor it More butter than we know ot to spoiled by badly ripened crfftOb