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ROCKY MOUNTAIN HUSBANDMAN i_ l4.o o - do C t s. iPER ANNUM. A Journal Devoted to Agriculture, Livtestock, Home Reading, and General News. PER SIGLE CO'Y. \OE. 1. DIAMOND CITY, M. T., FEBRUARY 24, 1876. NO. 14; • . mm ,.1 r. m . I.. .··P- · -- m u - t,,© ..m- •u p UBLISHEDI WEEIKLY BY B. N. SUTHERLIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. The ROCKY "MOUNTAIN II1USBAND.rAN is designed to be, as the name indicates, a husbandman in every sense of the term, embracing in its columns every de iartmient of Agriculture, Stock-raising, Horti culture. Social and Domestic Economy. ADVERTISING RATES. " S " " r" " " · · n" Iweek $ $73 $ , 87 $9 11 $20 $30 2 weeks 3 n 10 12 15 28 40 1 month 5 8 12 15 18 21 40 60 :nimonths 10 11 21 30 30 42 80 120 i months 18 25 3(i 45 54 65 120 200 1 year 30 40 60 75 90 105 180 250 Transient advertisements payable in advance. Regular advertisements payable quarterly. Twenty-ive per cent. added for special advertise mnents. AGRICULTURAL. THE PLEASURES OF FARMING. It is a pleasure to an intelligent man to be the owner of a good farm and to carry on the business of farming, it done. properly. No other pursuit is so well adapted to afford health and happiness. To have sweet milk and fresh butter and eggs, and vegetables Sand fruits from one's own garden and or chard, and poultry, mutton and bacon of one's own raising, to live upon-is very agreeable. To see the pig lambs, calves and colts increasing, the crops growing, the stock improving in value, the fruit trees bearing their scarlet and golden harvests, and everything prospering as it generally º will under wise management--affords any good man pleasure. But the farmer, to enjoy pleasure, must manage his business well. He must plan wisely and execute promptly. He must be a sort of miitar~y man in this respect. He must lay the plan of hiis Icampaign, at this season of the year, and carry it out as thor oughly as possible. To enjoy farming, one wants the best of everything-the best cat tle, horses, sheep and swine, and fruits and crops. IHe should be ambitious to have the best, and should strive for it constantly. HIis crops should be put in in the best manner. He should have the .neatest and best kept meadows and pastures, the finest orchards and gardens, and neat farm buildings, and everything should show an air of tidiness and order dictated by an intelligent mind. It is not necessary to have expensive buildings. Aniy, however cheap, if put in the proper places, surrounded by neat fences, and the grounds adorned by shade and for est trees-will look well. The passer-by will be pleased at the outlook. He will see there the evidences of a happy home. The house sits back a few rods from the road, on a little knoll, so the water drains easily from it. Shrubbery and shade trees are planted In the yard. To the right or left of the house, and a little back of it, the barns and stables are built with some system. The garden and orchard are convenient to the house, and everything is arranged in order. The farmer has. taken pleasure in formiig his plans, and now takes pleasure in seeing how neatly everything looks. His wife and sons and daughters and neighbors feel the influence of these admirable arrangements. It has cost no more, or but little more, than to put up everything in a slip-shod, hap-haz ard manner, It would sell for two or three times as much. But homes should never be sold. They are sacred places. They should be made for one's children, and children's childrcn. How dear are all of the associa tions of our childhood days! Why break them? Why let strangers intrude and dese crate places that are the holiest on earth ? If farmers would exercise this care and foresight and taste. in making their farms and hbone att:r:ietive. there would be a stonger love for country life. There is too much inclination among the young people or the city, and yearly our cities are incrias ing in population and influence, at the ex pense of the country. Could parents see what we are compelled to see ahnlmost daily as we go from our coun try home to our otlice in the city, they would spare no labor to endear farm life to their sons and daughters. Could they see the de bauchery, open and notorious, incident to all cities, they would shudder. Could they see the young men, yes, and young women, too, that parade city streets, bearing every evidence of vice and intemperance and deg radation, that a few weeks or months or years ago came fresh and pure from country homes, and then consider that such perhaps may be the fate of their own kith and kin, if country life is not made more attractive would they not say it is our highest duty to attach our children to farm life, to favor in nocent amusements, to patronize good books and papers and libraries, to help elevate the tone of society, to carefully consider the tastes and wishes of young people, and to give them proper direction, so that the dan gerous period of youth may be passed in safety, and the rocks which have shattered the barks of tens of thousands of generous youth, may be avoided in the voyage of life which all must travel.-Rural World. A NEW WAY TO KILL GRASSHOPPERS. On Saturday last we were visited by Mr. Ferdinand Reimann, a farmer of German birth, living in the town of Butternut Valley, who imparted to us a new, cheap, and we believe effective means of killing grasshop pers, which though too late to be included in the report of the 'grasshopper commis sioners, is still of sufficient importance to be entitled to the widest publicity. It is well known that tihe ordinary coal oil is one of the surest means of killing grass hoppers, and during the payment of the bounty in this country it was used quite ex tensively to kill the insects before market ing ti em. And coal oil is the chief of Mr. Riemann's plan for killing the grasshoppers. He says that the smallest particle that will adhere to one's finger, if touched upon the body of an insect will cause almost instant death. He takes a'piece ot cotton cloth a yard wide, and about twenty feet long. One side he fastens to a rope, the ends of which extend over the cloth a foot or two. To the bottom of the cloth he fastens, say one foot apart, lead sinkers, of sufficient weight to keep the cloth firmly stretched. The cloth is then soaked in coal oil until thoroughly saturated, and with a man at each end this apparatus is slowly dragged over the grdund occupied by the insects. Every grasshopper touched by the oil is instantly killed. The cloth is soaked from time to timc, as one's judgment dictates. 3Mr. Riemann says the first soaking consumes a good deal of oil, but afterwards much less is required and he estimates that one and a half to two gallons is all that is necessary to kill the grasshop pers on eighty acres. The process is to be applied as soon after hatching as possible, when the grain is small. Where it touches the grass or weeds more or less oil adheres, and this kills such insects as come in contact with it. This process is very much preferable to that of dragging a burning rope saturated with oil over the grain, for it does compara tively little damage to vegetation, while this is the chief objection with us to the other process. Mr. Reimann tried the method last spring, and it worked to his complete satisfaction, destroying the grasshoppers upon his prem ises, and what injuries sustained by his crops were tracable to insects that came upon him from other localities.-Mankato Review. TIERE is much uneasiness in many' sec tions lest the warm weather shobld prove fatal to the fruit crop. THIEY Tre using corn for fuel in some parts oi Kasuas. EFFECT OF CAMPHOR ON SEEDS. Certain curious and all but forgotten ex periences of much interest to agriculture and gardening have been lately revived by a German savant. Very many years ago it was discovered and recorded that water sat urated with camphor had a remarkable in fluence on the germination of seeds. As of many other useful hints, the stupid world took no notice of this intimation ; but a Ber lin professor, having seen the record of it, appears to have established the facts that a solution of camphor stimulates vegetables as alcohol does animals. He took seeds of various sorts, some being three or four years old, and possessing a slight degree of vitali ty, and placed them between sheets of blot ting paper. Some ot these he wetted with pure water, and others with camphorated water. In many cases the seeds did not swell at all under the influence of the simple moisture, but in every case they germinated where they were subjected to the camphor solution. The experiment was extended to different kinds of garden seeds, old and new, and always with the result of showing a singular awakening of dormant vitalism and a wonderful quickening of growth. It also appears from the professor's researches that the young plants thus stimulated continued to increase with a vigor and vivacity much beyond that of those which were not so treated. On the other hand, when pounded camphor was mixed with the soil, it appear ed to exercise a rather bad effect upon the seeds. The dose in this latter case was pos sibly too strong. At all events, this action ot camphor is worthy of an examination by seedsmen and gardeners, and even farmers might determine how far wheat and barley miay be profited by the strange power this ,crug appears to possess over the latent life of Vegetable germs.-Horticulturist. FLflRlIGULTUI e. HARDY PLANTS. We use this term with reservation, inas much as the capabilities of endurance pos sessed by many novelties cannot at first be ascertained, and we may include also some subjects which are known to endure but a slight degree of cold. Under this head we place what we regard as the grand acquisi tion of 1875-the splendid hybrid Lilium Parkiimaiui. The immense size and rich color of this lily place it far above ever the magnificent L. auratum, which was one of its parents. Other bulbous hardy plants of merit are the Tulipa Eichleri, from Georgia, with bright crimson flowers, and intermedi ate in character between T. suaveolens and T. oculis sohls ; Galanthus Elwcsii, a snow drop of Asia Minor, related to G. plicatus; and Crocus Crewei and C. veluchensis, both Grecian, both spring-flowering-the former allied to C. biflorus, and having white flow ers with purple stripes, and the latter vary ing in color from purple to pale violet and white. Amongst hardy perennials Cypripedium japonicum perhaps deserves the first men tion, not only for its beauty, but for its sin gularity of structure. Its two broad nearly opposite rhombeo-ovate plaited leaves give it a very distinct aspect, whilst' its large flowers, with the lip suffused with pink, ren der it at the same time ornamental. This is from Japan, and has been obtained for us by the New Plant and Bulb Company. Cal tha polypetala is a showy perennial, allied to our own marsh marigold, an attractive but somewhat plebean flowerfrom the Cau casus; Mertensla alpina, a boraginaceofs plant from the Rocky Mountains, With its brilliant blue lf owers, should be a welcome and brilliant addition to our rock plants-; while amongst the Bellwort~ Mr. W Smilth's Campanula. an accidental hybrid' baCnu C. fragilis and C. pumila alba, produchig its grayish-blue flowers abundan!tly on dwarf erect sterns, and. Wahienbergia Kitaibeil, a d(ecunlbent plant with remarkably showy heads of violet-blue flowers, may be reconm mended for the same purpose. The.French gardens have an Iris gigantea, said to be from Central Asia, and which grows five feet high or more, and bears white flowers striped with brownish-yellow near the base of the outer segments. A choice plant of garden origin, falling into this category, is Mr. Noble's Gyneriumargentlum pumtlium, which rejoices in perennial dwarfhess, and has all the feathery beauty of its more state ly ancestor. Clenriatis Viticeila ereetai, a French garden variety; bears very large deep blue flowers, and grows about a foot and a half high. Of-the "hrubbery Series we have inMr. Jackman's Clematis alba magna gained without doubt the finest of all the w hite blossomed varieties of the noble and lIopu lar climber, the seplals being so broad that any two meet together across the intet1sen ing one, and thus form a more solid-lobko g flower than we get In the case of any ME variety. Cytisus Laburnum aureas, a : with rich golden-hued leaves, will be lakost telling plant in shrubberies and.planta tlns, Besides these we have Balbisia vertitllhta, which though 'one of the Geraniace ,:has large regular golden-yellow' flow~r, as -if representing a monster Hyperleuth 'Hy menanthera crassifolia, a small-leaved ·lew Zealand evergreen with white bei~ths , LI gustrum Quihout, a pretty evergreeni: ith bluntly rounded leathery leavesaqdndt itlteo flowers; Viburnum Sandankwavp, 1i, ver. green from Japan, withtargishoii ifg- tate leaves, and corymbs of white blossoms ;rand Cedrela sinensis, a Chinese tree .t.'lthfine pinnate leaveg, and found to be ha dt4y "4the climate of France.--Qardeneret ChroWke. TENDER PLANTS THA T. HAVE:PR The disastrous effeets.which tender pJith which have become froen a re 4ubct: to, generally known to ulditfvat.s; btitw r plant life, Is nut sooeasfly attempts heretofore made by ieitit.i men, to solve the question, have been at most: ly partially successful. In practieal exp4 ence it is found that the length of time "," the degree of cold to which i a~ i are ex posed, affect them in propo.etiBoit e' dura tion and intensity of these conditions, *hleh points therefore, to the speedy restoration.of a suitable temperature, as the liest mealis of restoring plants that have been unfortuiute ly exposed to frosts. But the thawing out should hi all cases be moderately gradual, and one of the best things to do when plants have become froz en, either in the dwelling, eonservatOry or open air, is to sprinkle the foliage*withic old cistern or well water, as the temperature turns to rise. In the dwelling or, conserva tory, however, it will be necessary to tart the fire in the stove, furnace ore A~e thefirst thing of all to give temperature. an send ancy, but it should for several hour ;not be allowed to rise above an ordinary .suitable degree. Some advocate shading- the plant4. ,ot the sun and light for some length o i iaJt, but the policy of so doing ha , "r e been apparent to me, whileI havye1ueq yhbad proofs to the contrary ;; a.dthe stt's i oa s striking upon thelplata: with gradually in. creasing heat, l. a -great measure aids in their recovery# There is ~geat dIfference in plant: as re gards thele .itbiity to resist coldrad while some the slightest frost will injure beyond cure, others will bear various degreps, and even alternate freezingand thawing.~ u~g agan, with inpunity. Avoid b ag .lant in a frozen condition as i9 siblnas the injurm to thl.m en should the leaves e oz be toughly brushed over. ,ose QW . that have become frozen, api a e in Cold water until they havn thaw pxgt.-A-d, GERMAN florists dyer ,.8 osse al4oCra asLr in a great varietyaiv 1f- uP i t: a'L