The true citizen. (Waynesboro, Ga.) 1882-current, April 06, 1883, Image 2

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Agricultural. Renovating Old Carden9. After a garden has been maintained in the same place for many years it sometimes loses its productive power, in spite of repeated and heavy manuring. Many kinds of vegetables refuse to thrive, and it becomes necessary to •change the garden-plat or infuse new life into the cloyed soil by a period of rest and a partial return to a state of The location of the vegetable garden is not always a matter of choice, and frequently there is but one place which unites the different requirements of soil, exposure and convenience, and after this has been permanently enclosed it is annoying to arrive at a period when the garden becomes unable to meet prompt ly the demands upon it. It has long been known that heavily stocking an old garden with red clover, and allowing it to remain two years without plowing, will bring the soil hack to its fertility and vigor. This is sometimes done by farmers, but it is hard to persuade a village resident to adopt a remedy so far outside of his usual course. As a substitute which, under certain conditions, is even better than clover, I would recommend plant ing strawberries. One-half of the gar den may be planted at a time, leaving the other half for the raising of such vegetables as still continue to flourish. Plow at the usual time, and in April plant strong plants of any very vigorous variety, with perfect blossoms and de sirable fruit, in rows thirty inches apart and fifteen inches in the row. Keep ■clean and allow the runners to cover all the ground. Late in the fall mulch lightly with chopped straw, and in the following spring pull up any weeds that show'tliemselves. Under anything but extraordinary circumstances—such as a /very late frost or peculiarly unfavora ble weather at blooming time—you will /in June pick a large crop of berries, 4 which will be a trifle more difficult to ^ J pick than if they were in separate rows. After picking remove all large or tall- growing weeds that may have grown and leave the plantation for another . year's fruitage, mulching again in win ter. The result will be a crop of ber ries nearly as large as the first. Immediately after bearing, the heavy crop of old and new plants which covers %e land should be plowed under and tne ground planted to late cabbage or Swedish turnips. The following spring it will be in condition to grow a very large crop of early potatoes, followed by celery. After this the ground will be fit for any garden crop, and the other half of the garden can be subjected to the same rotation. The result of treat ing a garden once in ten or twelve years to a change of this kind will be emi nently satisfactory and profitable.— American Gardener. ful, while market-gardening in the same hands would prove disastrous. Market gardening is a remunerative business when a man understands it, but it is far from being an easy road to wealth for those who have all the. details to learn. —American Agriculturist. Market Gardening. Every season furnishes its crops of unsuccessful merchants or mechanics, who ask our agricultural editors if •'market-gardening does not pay large 'profits, and if there is not a good 'Clutnoe in this business for an indus trious man t? better his condition. Judged by the high prices the average citizen pays for his vegetables in the large cities it seems to him there must be money in raising vegetables. If he could remove to the country, say within an hour’s ride, he could attend to- his city business without loss of time, and by hiring a good gardener he could have '-cheaper vegetables and fruits, and add Something to his income by sending the HU fid us to market. Nothing looks more feasible on paper; nothing is more de lusive in practice. Every business, to be successful, requires a responsible head, thoroughly acquainted with all its details, and giving it his personal atten tion. There are many points in market gardening that can only be learned by experience, and if a stranger to the business undertakes it, he will pay dear ly for his education. Some three hun dred dollars to the acre are needed as capital to carry on the business to advant- je, even when a roan is practically ac- nth it, and knows how and ; evaasadollar. The ques- jation in refer- irhat kind and rrow ; what Hedge Fence. It makes but little difference whether you plant Osage orange or hawthorn for fencing in your farm. Either one makes a good fence when properly at tended to, and neither one makes a fenc at all when neglected. The Osage orange will make a fence in less time than hawthorn, but it will cost more to keep it in order, on account of its thrifty growth, unless you let it take its own course, as our worthy (or un worthy) trustees do the one growing on the burial grounds of onr country seat. Said hedge is twenty-five or thirty leet high, and where it is thin enough for a cow to walk through they have put in boards and nailed them to the stems of the hedge. That kind of a fence I would call a nuisance. The nice thing about a well-set hedge fence is, you always have a surplus of materials, and the brush or trimmings will always pay to gather and burn them ; whereas, in repairing a rail fence you must always supply new rails in place of those that have rotted out. The hedge fence, if taken care of, is an everlasting fence. I never knew one to die that was taken care of. I could show you hedge fences more than a hundred years old, and good fence yet—good enough to turn hogs of horses. I would advise every farmer that has a nice-laying farm to plant hedge fence for road and line fences. It don’t make any difference whether it is hard froze, or wet from the last big rain, you can trim hedge fence all the same; in fact, winter is the time to shape up the hedge fence. With a good hedge fence around your farm you can rest contented till morning, without being afraid the wind will blow down the line fence and let your neighbor’s stock in on your fields of grain. I ad mit there are other kinds of fence that can be made quicker and cheaper than hedge, but they will eventually rot out, and then to replace makes them the most costly of the two. Not so with the hedge. It starts up every spring and puts out its leaves, and appears to enjoy life with the fresh grass and growing grain. As for the hedge dying out on account of thin soil, it is out of the question when sod is put under and subsoil on top; the leaves from the hedge will keep the soil rich enough. I Avould rather attribute the cause of the hedge dying to the surplus of stagnant water poisoning the roots.—Iowa Home stead. Farm Notes. With slow-growing sorts like celery, carrot, sag<\ asparagus, and even par snip and onion, mix one-eighth of quick growing sorts, like turnip and radish, to mark the rows for an early weeding. A writer in ’ the Farmers' 1 lieview notes as a “singular fact” that all the persons injured or killed by “dangerous bulls” in Illinois during the past five years were attacked between the months of August and January. With very careful management and attention to the health of the ewes, couplAl with personal attention at lamb ing time, one hundred lambs can be raised to the one hundred ewes. The ewe flock should be kept in good heart, »nd fed enough, A writer in the Home and Farm used about a quart of sawdust in each hill of one plot of potatoes and none in another plot. The sawdust hills yielded nearly twice as much as the others, and the potatoes were larger and smoother, I). K. Shauer, in a letter to the lama Homesteud, says that a simple, auje and easily applied cure for lice on animals is in give a few slices of onions in their feed. They eat them readily, and one or two feeds does the business ef fectually. During his recent travels in Eurojie Professor Budd, of the Iowa Agricul tural College, found a vast fruit region in nothern Russia never before explored where the mercury sinks to 50 J lielovv zero, in which choice apples, pears, plums and cherries were grown in un limited quantities. tjs worth the experiment of train- vines of til* sweet potato t< A recent write] rows so treateq greater coil A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer writes that he has tried fla and hill culture ffir cucumbers, squashes and melons. When hot, dry weather came the plants in the hills began to dry up, while those or level ground grew freely. He thinks tlat cultivation de cidedly the best, unless on wet ground. Dusting of cucumber, melon and squash plants with plaster early in the morning, when the dew is on, has long been practiced for checking the ravages of the striped bug. A little Paris green or London purple, however, either ap plied in water or mixed with the plaster, is a much more effective application. If cabbages are set out one yard each way nearly 5000 can be grown on ofie acre. Such being the case, it is a 'profitable crop when successfuly grown, as this vegetable not only sells well but, on account of its keeping qualities, af fords, green food in winter for animals and poultry, to say nothing of the fami ly.—Farm and Garden. American Wonder is a seedling pea, the result of a cross between the Cham pion of England and Little Gem. It is one of the earliest wrinkled peas in cul tivation, of the finest quality and wonder fully productive. Its great distinctive feature, however, is its compact and dwarf growth, seldom exceeding ten inches in height. In transplanting trees all the roots which may have become bruised or bro ken in the process of lifting should be cut clean away behind the broken part, as they then more readily strike out new roots from the cut parts. In all such cases the cut should be a clean sloping one and made in an upward and out ward direction. possess the disagreeable taste and odor ! of gas-tar and it has lieen supposed the fruit absorbed this volatile substi noe from the air. Recent investigations prove, however, that the odor and flavor of the grapes are due to the fact tjiat the sap of the vine absorbs them from the soil. If disagreeable odors may thus find their way into the grapes, why, by a similar artificial process, may not grapes, and indeed other fruits, be pos sibly flavored to suit the taste, however varied and whimsical. From six grade Jersey cows Mr. D B. Marden, of East Vassal boro Me., made, from January 1,1882, to January 1, 1883, 1318 pounds of butter, besides, milk used in a family of four persons. This butter was sold in Boston for $178.04’ or nearly $80 to each cow. It sold in summer for 34 cents per pound, and in winter for 40 cents per pound. Peter Henderson says the best shading he has ever used for the glass in green houses or hot-beds Ls naphtha mixed with a little white lead, so as to give it the appearance of thin milk. This can be put on the glass with a syringe, very quickly, at a cost not exceeding 25 cents per 1000 spuare feet. It holds on the entire season until loosened by the fall frosts. Some think very highly of the Shrop shire breed of sheep—good for the pro duction of mutton and what is known as clothing or delaine wool. This sheep is possessed of strong constitutional vig or, produces a compact fleece, matures early and has a beautiful form. It is claimed that Shropshires do excelftntly wellin large flocks, and the ewes are very prolific, producing, it is said, 40 Iter cent, of twins. The ewes makegood mothers, giving plenty of milk, and are careful. A correspondent of the Kansas Farmer says he has been experimenting with S irglnim as fodder for farm stock, and finds one acre of it equal to an acre of com. Ilis cattle eat it readily, consum ing stalk and all, and it makes them a# sleek and fat as corn-fed stock. lie plants in hills, about double the quan tity he would use if he were cultivating for sirup, and when the seed is ripe cuts, shocks and cures, same as cornfod- der. If cut before frost he says it will retain its sweetness all winter. Professor L. B. Arnold says the points in favor of dairying are : First, a dairy farm costs 10 per cent, less to operate than grain growing or mixed agriculture; second, the annual returns average a little more than other bran ches ; third, prices are nearer uniform and more reliable ; fourth, dairying ex hausts the soil less; fifth, it is more se cure against changes in the season, since the dairyman does not suffer so much from wet and frost and varying seasons, and he can, if prudent, provide against drought. The reixirt of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture for August and Septem ber furnishes some figures respecting dogs and their work which are most striking. In 1881 Ohio contained 101,- 027 dogs, which killed 84,(>0fl sheep and wounded 31,422, of a total value of $172, oil—perhaps more money than all the dogs in the State are worth. This re- I>ort is from the books of the county auditors as returned by township as sessors, and is no doubt approxim correct. Secretary Chamberlai says that this furnishes a pr t Sham Butter and Cheese. Can anyone tell what dairying is drift- ng to ? We hear of all sorts of queer monstrosities, from lai^d-cheese to cot ton-butter. No man knows what he eats it he buys it. Simulation is the spirit of the age, and no end of science and skill is employed to deceive. A clever imitation is w r hat men prefer to produce, and the public are led to de vour. The simplicity of genuineness is out of the running, as things go in the world. The public must eat what is given them, asking no questions. The oleomargarine men have done a terrible lot of mischief, and offal is the god whom they delight to honor and exalt. At all points they aim to circumvent the dairymen and swindle the public. The taste of the people is degraded by the sham butter and cheese which seems to be real. Men’s stomachs nowadays are sepulchers for strange abominations which they ignorantly rather than inno cently swallow. This sort of thing is leading them they know not whither, and posterity will pay the piper. It is no longer that which cometh out of, but that which goeth into the mouth that defiles. Meats and drinks of many kinds are not what they pretend to be, and there is a great deal of “tricks that are dark” in what passes for dairy goods. Whose fault is this ? Well, in a great part the dairymen’s, for they have spoiled good milk. They have given an opening for the shoddy men of the dairy who are growing rich out of offal. The law complacently lets men sell what they like, and the sham is, often enough, better than the real one. . Shoddy sells well enough to be carefully made, and so the makers of counterfeit butter and cheese do flourish. Dairymen who make inferior butter and cheese no matter how. real the goods may be, are out of the running entirely. If only the palate of the public is suited, it matters not if the article be real or pretended, so care less dairymen can hardly “make ends meet and tie.” But one thing is clear : the makers pf really first-class cheese and butter can hold their own and will hold their own against the nefarious stuff that is made in any and every country. A wepding-out process is go ing on, and goods which are mere simu lations will take the place so long occu pied by the products of mil that was spoiled. If, then, the oleomargarine business, the melted tallow and other less creditable things, shall result in bringing about a thorough reform in dairy methods, we shall have reason after all to be grateful to men for whom few of us entertain feelings that approach to respect or affection. But let the public have fair protection, let them know what they buy; then the dairymen will win—if they want to; and if they don’t the fault is their own. The New Boy. He was a bran new ofifee boy, young, pretty-faced, with golden ringlets and blue eyes. Just such a boy as one would imagine would be taken out of his little trundle-bed in the middle of the night and transported beyond the stars. The first day lie glanced over the library in the editorial room, be came acquainted with everybody, knew all the printers, and went home in the evdting as happy and cheery as a sunbeam. The next day he appeared, leaned out of the back window, ex- pectorated on a bald-headed printer’s pate, tied the cat up by the tail in the hallway, had four fights with another boy, borrowed two dollars from an occupant of the building, saying his mother was dead, collected his two days’ pay from the cashier, hit the jani tor with a broomstick, pawned a coat belonging to a member oi the editorial staff, wrenched the knobs off the doors, upset the ice-cooler, pied three galleys of type, and mashed his finger in the small press. On the third day a note «\tas received, saying: “Mi Mother do want I V> work in sueh a dull place. “" ' * ike a Good The Workshop. By means of a recent invention, bands of steel, suitably tempered and hard ened, are employed to transmit motion from one pulley to the other, the faces of the pulleys being turned, for this purpose, perfectly fiat, and then faced with a varnish of rosin, sliellaG and asphalt. A foreign manufacturer has figured out, mathematically,, that in windmills the most serviceable wind is one that blows at a velocity of some twenty-three feet a second. The fans of the wind mill revolve, it is to be noted, with nearly double the velocity of the wind. The lowest number of days during any year that the wind proved serviceable was 180, and the greatest number 280. In the production of French window glass a mixture is used of 100 parts quartz sand, with from thirty to forty parts of dry carbonate of sodium, or as much sulphate with charcoal, and thirty to forty parts of chalk. Gennan win dow glass consists of a double silicate of chalk and potassa—100 parts of quartz sand, fifty parts of pearlash, from twen ty-live to thirty parts of chalk and two parts of nitre. In many mixtures com mon salt is an ingredient. One of the first qualities of glass is composed of 100 parts quartz sand, fifty parts dry Glau ber’s salts, 17£ to 20 parts of lime, and four of charcoal. Do not empty the boiler under steam pressure, but cool it down with the water in ; then open the blow-out tap, and let the water pour out. To quicken the cooling, the damper may be left open and the steam blown off through the safety valves. Do not, on any ac count, dash cold water on any of the plates. But, in cases of emergency, pour cold water in before the hot water is let out, and mix the two together so aifto cool the boiler down gradually and generally, and not suddenly and locally. If a boiler is blown off under steam pressure the plates and brickwork are left hot. The hot plates harden the scale, and the hot brickwork hurts the boiler. Cold water dashed on to hot plates will cause severe straining by local contraction, sometimes sufficient to fracture the seams. An English mechanic gives the follow ing for softening steel: “Heat your steel to a dull red heat, hold it in some dark or shady nook or corner until you can just see the least possible tinge of redness; then cool immediately in water at the ordinary temperature, and you will be able to file or turn it with very little difficulty. I have tried this on steel from the smallest sizes up to one inch in diameter with success; beyond that I have not gone. I do not claim that this way is better than, or as good as, some that have been given for annealing steel; but there are times when the delay of the ordinary process is extremely iffcon venient, as in the filing of tuiavtag tools of a particular shape, reanligat ing steel when the skin Jfc taken etc., and then this mode answers] mirably.” Common articles of hardware, as screw eyes, hinges, handles, etc polished by tumbling in a reyolvin barrel. The tumbler is charged abou half full with the goods, mixed with a material selected according to experi ence as best suited to do the work. Small scraps of iron, sand -and gravel with the attrition of the metal take away the roughness and put a moder ately smootflsurface to the work. Then charge the work into a tumbler partly filled with leather scrap or skivi^fes cut") fine, mixed with crocus or any tin polishing powder; after which it can cleaned and brightened by an additio tumbling in sawdust and lime. u bove is a general feature of tli of work. Almost every inanuf has some peculiar system of ment suited to the special kind, made. Some use oil or water, the work in lime water, and ble in sawdust to dry a The black oxide of iron is much used were it a little plumbago is sometim into the tumbler to give th shining black surface. A str or keg on trunnions with a for charging is the most su light work. * ¥ ittcbi Western Shovel Mant Pittsburg.—The q\ of the Western ShoveJ Association JBiMhel iai