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W Mi IS -k a •. .» if t\ lit. -T, KS •V'si A $ i* I V* I By Paint them some neutral color be fore Ailing them with soil. If ordinary soil is used you will have only an ordinary development of the plants you set out to grow In It, while What you want is vigorous growth. Procure soil containing as much de cayed vegetable matter as you can. No matter how full of roots It is, the nutriment yon are in search of Is there and a few roots more or less will not Interfere with the plants you propose to grow in it. On the contrary they will prove of positive benefit as they will help to keep the soil light and porous. Vinos add. grace and beauty to the rrili. v. Before filling the boxes with soil, 3?ore a few holes in the bottom of them to allow for the escape of surplus vnter. In all probability there will be no rurplus water to escape but it is v'? to be on the safe side. Vhen you put the soil into the boxes ss it dowh firmly. If dumped in Mghtly, evaporation will be rapid and the roots of your plants may suffer in on sequence. At the outside of the box set vines of nuick development, like German Ivy, Yradescontia, Moneywort, or the Ma "ira vines. These will soon hide the box com .1 etely and after a little they will form screen for all that portion of the rranda below the rail. Morning-glories can be planted here and there along the box and trained up on strings and made to furnish rhade for the veranda as well as a ~reen. Other flowering plants can be select ed to suit individual taste. Almost any plant can be used with reasonable chance of success if care is taken to CONSERVING SOIL MOISTURE. The damages directly attributable to drouth represent an enormous annual loss to farmers. If we. would devote more attention to the work of conserv ing soil moisture during the spring and early summer, the summer drouths would be far less destructive to our growing crops. There are few seasons when there is ot sufficient moisture to mature good i-rops if proper methods are employed in handling our soils so that the moisture will not be lost through evaporation, during the primary growth of the crops. The growth of crops should not be retarded at a time when It Is within our power to provide them with moisture. The average farmer begins every spring with an average supply of moisture in his soils to supply the crops through a rainless season, but on most of our farms the lack of drainage and indifference to the con servation of moisture reduces the yield of crops. Alter the soli moisture has been al lowed to evaporate we are powerless to provide a new supply for the crops that have been robbed. Summer drouths can be avoided In no other way than by Improving the water holding capacity of the soils and shap ing the methods of tillage and cultiva tion so that we may prevent the loss of the moisture with which they are saturated at the beginning of the season. On many soils under-dralnage Is necessary and will produce wonderful It improves lte action toward heat, light, penetration or roots, and the! Implements used In preparation and cultivation and stimulates bacterial actlon, which we are Just beginning to "appreciate as an Important factor in •oil fertility. HINTS ON GARDEN WORK. Some gardeners pack cauliflower 'by draw)pi a few of the outer leaves over —cl tying the ends at the tops. If rank weeds are to be plowed under it is much better to hoe them Brst and allow them to wilt in the sun -tor a day or two. Mitl&kji 4 FLOWER BOXES FOR WINDOW AND VERANDA THE SECRET OF THE SUCCESS OF THE CULTURE OF PLANTS IN WINDOW AND VERANDA BOXES, LIES IN KEEPING THE SOIL ALWAYS MOIST- rauor Veranda or'porch bores should be at least a foot wide and a foot deep and the timber of which they are made should be of fairly good quality, for it will have to resist considerable pres sure when the box Is filled with soil. These boxes wfll be found most sat isfactory If allowed to project outside the veranda rail. They should be well supported by braces running from the bottom of the box on the outside to the veranda floor. B. BBUMO). The Petunia is another most excel lent ple.nt for this purpose, because of its combination habit of upright and drooping growth and Its profuse flow ering. Candy-tuft, Lobelia, and Sweet Alyssum are all free-flowering plants, of decided drooping habit, and can be made very effective as an edging to these boxes. If one does not care to make use of upward growing vines as a screen, tall plants with luxuriant foliage, like the Canna can be used instead with very satisfactory results. There are more than 10,000,000 acres of forest lands In North Caro lina. These forests and the industries depending upon them produce mate rial valued at more than $35,000,000 a year and afford employment for 30,000 men. "Nine persons out of a possible ten are dissatisfied either with what they have or with what they haven't." FEED-RACK FOR SHEEP. The rack is made with a pole for the bottom rail and a piece of 2x6 inch Scantling for the top-rail. The crossbars are pieces riven from an old piece of timber. These crossbars are four feet long and about one and one-half inches in diameter, shaved smooth with a draw ing-knife. The holes in the top and bottom rails are made with an inch-auger. The crossbars are trimmed to fit the holes and then wedged to hold them in place. The bottom rail Is held in place against the side of the barn by two strips of heavy sheet-iron which has been bent to fit aroupd the pole. The top rail Is secured by a piece of half-inch rope which passes over a pulley located in a hole in the wall above the rack, a weight being at tached to the outside end of rope, serving to always keep the rack against the wall. aw aw ,i I drawn down/and when filled is pushed progeny changes In the character of the soil. and ,n £3 see that the soil in the box is kept always moist. This is the secret of the success of the culture of plants in window "and veranda boxes. Do not be satisfied with a quantity of water that will wet the surface of the soil and leaves that portion of it two or three inches below almost as dry as before any was ap plied. Use it by the pailful and make sure that all the soil in the box is moist. Here Is where most persons fail In box gardening. They use a pint where a pailful is needed. They overlook the fact that because of their elevated po sition these boxes part rapidly with moisture by evaporation. Being exposed to hot air and wind on every side they are likely to become dry in a very short time and the only way to prevent this is to make It a rule to apply water in liberal quantities every day. Do this and you will have no trouble in growing good plants in them. Neg lect to do this and you will meet with the failure you deserve. While the ordinary window box af fords a great deal of pleasure by the flowers it furnishes at the window-sill, it furnishes no shade for the window. Most delightful awnings can be made with very little trouble by nail ing strips of lath together in a square and fastening them to the top of the window, letting them slant downward in front, on the angle of the ordinary cloth awning. Support them by braces running from the window frame to their out side edge. Cover them with coarse wire netting. Plant quick growing vines at the ends of the window box, and train these up by strings until they can take hold of the netting that covers the framework of the awning. In a short time you will have all the shade you need and your window will be as "attractive to the eye, from out side, as it is pleasant to the occupant of the room. The good old nasturtium makes an excellent veranda-box plant, because it will droop if allowed to, and will, at the same time, cover the surface^of the box with its pleasing foliage and richly colored flower. When the hay is put in, the rack is developed on have back agalnst the w£n close, an(J the wei«rht Th ^pt place by ^.trough placed beneath front of the r£ck 8erve8 a receptacle for the chaff and leaves of the hay—the best and most nourish ing part of the feed which would otherwise be pulled under foot and lost as food.—J. W. G. The stamens are the male plant and never produce seed. When both kinds of plants are planted in the same bed th. pollen of one flower fertilizes the other, thus causing cross fertilization. The wind, bees and other insects are also invaluable as fertilizers. v1 m" giU1 "*pn ^, if HOLD ON TO THE GOOD BRKEDER& By 9. W. Ingham. Sows should be retained for a num ber of years until their places can be filled with their equals. It is well known that the progeny from mature parents are superior to those descended from young progeni tors not fully developed. Boars and sows for breeding should be kept in a good thrifty condition but not fat. The writer has always been trou bled to keep his breeding sows from becoYning too fat and consequently farrowing a small number of scrawny Pigs. I once took a large sow to fatten for one-half the pork. I did not know she was with pig and fed her all the corn meal and wheat middlings she would eat. imagine my astonishment and vex ation when she had three little dwarfed pigs—not only smaller than pigs usually are when first farrowed, but emaciated. Sows for breeding should not be allowed to run with the fattening hogs fed on corn but kept in a pasture by themselves and given a plentiful sup ply of slop jmade of equal parts of wheat shorts, corn meal and wheat bran. Most young sows will breed when three months old if allowed to run with a boar but eight or twelve months is as young as is judicious to breed them. The pigs from large-bodied, old sows will be more in number and fre quently double the size of pigs from young sows when farrowed, and this with the Bame feed and care and will frequently weigh 50 per cent more at a year old. Not only this, but It stunts or dwarfs the growth of such young things per manently and they never sttaln good size, A neighbor of mine bought an old sow for $10. She had 10 fine pigs the following spring which were fattened and sold to a butcher in the fall of the same year, bringing him $115 and he still has the sow for a breeder. qO The recent floods In the Mississippi Valley have given the planters an ex ceptional opportunity to deal a de- It is true that the cattle tick is some what resistant to water, but the long duration of the flood and the force of the current in the present instance have undoubtedly practically, if not completely, exterminated the tick in all except high localities In many counties in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Of course, the cattle that were concentrated on the lfvees or mounds carried many ticks to those places with them. These ticks have the cattle and their relnfested the cattle. holding the hay When these cattle are returned to the pastures (which are now free from WHY CUCUMBERS DO NOT BEAR. A Pennsylvania farmer writes ask ing why his cucumber vines did not bear last year. He says they all blos somed nicely but bore no fruit. This Is probably Because his vines were not fertilized. Like strawberries and other small plants, on some plants all the flowers bear stamens and others all bear plstels only. .'.klmmed milk finds its best market in the pig pen. S S ii SPRAYED Average Yield S* Itec Merchantable fruit ,v 1 BirnVii^rTW-wyi APPLES Sprayed and Unsprayed For the purpose of showing the fanner and fruit grower how he might save that part of the apple crop which is usually sacrificed to insects and fungi, most excellent experiments were made during one entire season, by the Kansas College of Agriculture, the col lege men going into the field and per sonally carrying on the work of spray ing. The results of the spraying were uniformly good, and the owners of the sprayed orchards were well pleased. The following splendid results of this work are valuable to farmers and fruit growers in every other state in the union as well as Kansas, for they demonstrate beyond a doubt the help fulness of spraying. Commercial results from seven widely separated orchards, including both commercial and home types and composed of the varieties of apples recognised as standard in Kansas, carefully sprayed showed an aver age gain of four bushels In actual yield of merchantable fruit per tree, or 87 per cent compared with untreated parts of the same orchards. Not only was the actual and relative amount of merchantable fruit mate rially increased, but the average per centage of number l's and number 2's, which are the high-priced grades, was also Increased by 15 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively. The average net profit from spraying was shown to be $1.62 per tree, or $97.SO per acre when the fruit was sold as "orchard run," and to be al most doubled when properly graded and marketed All seriously Injurious Insects and fungous diseases have been markedly reduced and most of them have been made almost negligible. Prepared lime-sulphur plus arsenate of lead has produced the best results on apples subject to Bordeaux injury and nearly free from apple blotch, while Bordeaux mixture plus arsenate of lead gave best results on varieties attacked by apple blotch. DESTROYING THE CATTLE TICK FLOWED REGIONS ticks), they will carry many ticks with them and In this manner the pastures will quickly become relnfested. If cisive blow against the tick which proper steps are taken by owners of transmits splenetic or Texas fever of the cattle this reinfestation can be cattle. When the waters began to rise prevented to a very great extent. The tho cattle, wherevefr possible, were Bureau of Animal Industry of the taken to the higher lands, such as U. S. Department of Agriculture has mounds and the levees. In many cases been actively co-operating with the all of the cattle found In areas of many authorities of the States concerned in square miles were concentrated on the an effort to protect the overflowed levees. Consequently, for many weeks areas from reinfestation, and If stock the areas over which the cattle have owners take advantage of the present roamed have been reduced to but a opportunity, tick eradication in the very small fraction of the area over localities in question may be assured which they would feed naturally, at very slight expense. The first thing practical difficulties In applying this While the cattle have been greatly to be done Is to destroy the ticks on advice in some localities but wherever concentrated in this manner th'e ticks the cattle before they return to the it can be followed it will enable the have been destroyed in the pastures, pastures. This can be done by greas- planters to reduce the Infestation by ing the cattle with crude oil or by the ticks on their places to a very small use of the well-known arsenical dip, amount. The trouble and expense A RESTFUL INVENTION. jEJra&L .. back has been invented which can be riveted to almost any kind of metal seat. The manufacturer says that an implement seat without a back will soon be regarded as uncomfortable as a backless chair. Sitting all day long humped up over a cultivator, or any other'klnd of machine is a back-break ing job and this bracing implement will doubtless be hailed with Joy by farmers who desire to conserve their Reading good farm papers will In* strength. -Merest people in better farm conditions. fgtifW W' UFv SUMMER CARE OF PIGS. Many termers thtnk that they can not afford to feed the pigs liberally during the summer season. The pigs are allowed to shift for themselves In many Instances and of course do not make much growth but one may see a pretty good profit in feeding at the present high prices of both feed and pork. ficlent waste crop tov fatten the hogs it may be profitable to allow the shoats to shift for themselves. However, usually the hogs that,, are allowed to shift for themselves'' and get fat on the waste are easy victims of cholera and swine plague. There Is a section in the western part of my country in West Virginia where the hogs are allowed the free range of the forests and that locality is visited by cholera every year or two. There are quite as many hogs that die from cholera there as ever reach the pork barrel. Hog raising as a business must be treated in a business way and if it is conducted without cost there is little profit. If there is a fair profit in feeding Not a day too early to be making plans for sending at least one of the boys to an agricultural school next fall. Perhaps If he has a few acres for his own use he may be able to pay part of his expenses. At any rate he Is en titled to an education and a fair start in life. UNSPRAYED Average Yield far. Tree Merchantable Fruit The hogs will just about live on the pasture they can gather from the field and what grain 16 given them goes to growth and any one who has tried it Poultry products of various kinds has found that only a moderate ration form one of the greatest crops pro fed to the shoats on pasture will make duced upon American farms. The ever a good growth throughout the season.' increasing number of farms and Early spring pigs of any good breed: plants devoted exclusively to poultry can be made to average a pound of' keeping produce large amounts of high gain a day by the time they are eight! grade goods, although these are incon or ten months old and a large part of slderable when compared with the vast this can be made on pasture. supply coming from the small flocks The pig that is fed enough food/to scattered upon the farms and in the keep it growing rapidly .from the suirt villages throughout the country. Un to finish is usually the most profitable questionably the great bulk of poultry porker. products has come in the past from In some sections where there is suf- the latter sources, and this condition hogs the business should be ,conducted much Is lost if they are not marketed in as careful and business-like way as the feeding of cattle and sheep.—A. J. Legg. OVER- I This step alone will prevent the rein- necessary is inconsiderable. On ac festation of the pastures. Another count of the great gain to be derived step should be taken to insure the by taking advantage of the very ex continued freedom of the pastures ceptional conditions that have pre from ticks. If the cattle now returned vailed. It is urged that planters make to the pastures are allowed to visit the a special effort to combat the tick in places where they have been concen- the manner described. As has been trated on the levees or mounds they explained, the two steps to be taken will naturally become Infested with are, first, the destruction of the ticks the progeny of ticks hatched from on the cattle when they leave the levees, eggs deposited by individuals that and second, the prevention of rein were attached when the cattle were testation of the cattle and the starv^ taken to the higher places. It is tion of the ticks by fencing the areas therefore necesdiary for some time to where they have been concentrated. prevent the cattle from grazing on the areas where they have been concen trated. Experiments Indicate that seed ticks on the areas where the cat tle have been will die of starvation within 120 days after the cattle have been removed. Consequently, such areas should be^kept under 'fence or the cattle otherwise prevented from visiting them for four months after the cattle leave. At the end oif this period the levees will be entirely free of ticks and the cattle may be allowed to return to them without danger. It is understood that there may be The farmer who invites his city friends to go out and shoot quail on the place would better present them with a couple of dozen shot on the farm of some other man who prefers insects to the birds.—John Green lough. the late foliage plants all around the vegetable garden produces a fine ef fect. •v W-'* if T*. is likely to continue. Most farmers concede that their flocks of poultry yield them a fair profit, although any intelligent ob server has but to spend a short time in investigating the great markets to learn that poor methods of preparing and marketing alone prevent the pro ducer from receiving much greater returns. The majority of poultry raisers fail to realize that their profits could be largely increased, first, by the production of better and more uni form goods and second, by Improved methods of disposing of them. Not Infrequently it is stated that high-grade goods sell themselves, and in a sense this is true, but it is not enough to turn out superior goods: According to his opportunities the poultryman may choose from several methods of disposing of his products, selling direct to the consumer, selling direct to the retailer, or shipping to commission merchants for sale upon the open market. Selling direct to the consumer is regarded &8 the most prcmtable method of disposing of high-grade goods. As a rule substantial Increase may be secured over the prices paid by stores and markets. Hotels, restaurants, clubs, and hos pitals are excellent customers, and very frequently they contract for their MOVING LARGE TREES. The moving of large trees Is now made possible through a single con trivance which may be attached to the running gear of an ordinary wagon. The tree can be raised to any desired angle and retained there, by means of the endless chains on the cog-wheels in the upper part of the frame-work and their connections with the block and tackle below. The old-fashioned guy ropes, usually fastened to the head of the tree, are discarded, as they have frequently proved to be Injurious by disconnecting or loosening the roots from the ball of earth. It Is the "know how" that counts or. the farm as well as In other call ings. Did you ever hear of the plumber who sent in a bill for fixing a pump and which read as follows: "Fixln", 50 cents: knowin', $5?" This is just about the proportion of "knowin* how" to actual work that exists successful farming. Investigations and experiments show, that it does not make much difference whether a horse is watered before or after feeding, provided he is not al lowed to drink his fill on an empty stomach while warm, «Nrt- naK CORRECT MARKETING OF POULTRY PRODUCTS IF THE MOST SATISFACTORY PRICES ARE OBTAINED THE QUESTION OF MARKETING MUST RECEIVE DUE CONSIDERATION. By P. H. grrONEBURI*. He The best trade in the great cities pays the very highest prices for all kinds of poultry products, but this trade is difficult to secure and can be held only by those able to ship stated quantities of their special products regularly during the year, or at least throughout the season when such pro ducts are in demand. It is, therefore, usually a waste of time for those who can ship only at uncertain intervals to attempt to handle this trade. In order to get the wagon directly over the ball of the tree, and also over the hole wheTe the tree is to be re planted, the rear axle of th'. wagon is removed and the back of the truss or "for "the"''u"suYf purpo£ elevated framework upon which the tree is suspended keeps this part of the wagon together at any width re quired. To prevent damage to grass areas, wide tires are used. In the case illustrated, 14-ln€h tires were used on the rear wheels. A^1 A marketed throughout the year to in the most careful manner. The poultryman who receives the highest quotations for his products throughout the year Is the one who studies "how, when, and where" to market. He learns that during certain months in each year there is a shortage of differ ent kinds of poultry products, and he plans to produce as large a quantity as possible of these products during the season of scant supply. He then ascertains in which markets he'can early April and continues wall Into dispose of these goods to best Different style* of then advan- tage and prepares and packs .them son of the fowls and therefor* the according to the requirements of tfcose period of greatest prbduetton. Tho markets. Poultry products are concentrated and valuable, although not extremely perishable. Therefore, Improved means of transportation make it possible for the Doultryman to place his goods in off, and large numbers of egg* ar* In me puuiuyuio" Ak.i. eaitllillliv. »hi the best markets without greatly In creased expense. During the period of heaviest ductlon vast numbers of eggs ara^ placed In cold storage for pre»erv»tlongnf until the season of want supply. Thlgp| system really act* ae a balance-whoal,^ as It absorbs all surplus at a fair pdMk .:' There is no doubt that, without thl* or some similar method of pi—orration., egg prices would go to a ruinously low, figure every spring, as at that time production Is greatly In *xe*M «f sumption. vs The world has for u* Just what w* have for it. It Is a great whimpering gallery which fling* buck the echo of^C our voices. If we laugh, it laughs1, back if we curse It curses back. ECCENTRIC FARM WORK, BUT IT^"' PAID. On ?sl? T~?$ -•V TO BIB supplies in this way. As a role eeeh Institutions are willing to pay good prices, and their trad* to desirable be* cause heavy supplies are needed and it is easier to ship the entire ootpat ,! 4 oi a farm to one large customer t* divide It among several who nee ——M quantities. No special poultry prodoet" S can sqoh good advantage ae eggs. When gath ered from the nest they are a "finished product" ready for paoMng and ship* ment without the Intermediate pro* cesses of dressing and ooollag whleh so greatly trouble the seller of dressed poultry. The farmer or ponltrymaa who makes a specialty of producing market eggs can estimate within a very few cents the price they will bring him throughout the year, ao advan tage possessed by no other farm prod uct. With almost the regularity of a pendulum egg prices swing backward and forward according to season, as a careful study of market reports cover ing several years clearly demonstrates. Generally the period of lowest prices begins the latter part of Mareh or tn (May. Thi? Is the natural breeding *ea- period of low prices varies somewhat from year to year, an early spring hastening the drop in price, and a late one retarding it As the fowls toooma broody the production beglna to drop cubated, thus further reducing the supply available for consumptions Prices then take an upward tarn,. ri*» ing gradually from May to September^' when a large proportion of th* adult fowls go into molt and practically cease egg production. From thl* point the rise is rapid, reaching th* highest point in December and January and, dropping rapidly during Pebrnary and^U March as the spring flood of «ggt gins to reach the market. i* neighboring farm lhred an English gentleman who certainly had some novel method* 6t working. His farm consisted of some day lands. In the center of this farm was .A,,' a very rich, black field that had for merly been a swamp. 1 The soil w^s mainly made up of de cayed vegetation, and when drained was a* loose as an ash heap. In this field he annually grow po tatoes and watermelon. When th* Colorado potato bug came around h* headed them off tn this way: He planted the potatoes In drill* and leveled the land smooth. Wh*g the potatoes began to come up he ran along the rows a cultivator and cot ered all the young shoot* under. In a week or so when they mad* a4: second appearance he did th* samo thing, using a larger shovel on th* cultivator. This was done th* third time using a single shovel plow which left the rows properly hilled U]. The bugs never got a chance at the potatoes—got disgusted and looked for other fields to work on. The covering of the shoots seemed to help, for when* they wer* left to the light and air they\grew tremen dously thrifty. His potato crop wa» always the wonder of the community. He raised watermelons and lot* of they are grown. He pressed the Juice from th* melons, boiled It down in copper evap orators to a fair syrup, antf with thl* syrup he used apples for thickening, to make apple butter, and it was of a quality hard to beat. He supplied large quantitle* of It to the near-by markets and at good prices. The syrup was of finest qual ity and much of it was used.—J. XL H., Indiana. IN THE SHEEPFOLD. One good quality in the Dorset* la their pugnacious disposition which makes them able to use their big horn* in a defense against dogs. Some owners of land in the far west claim they can raise 14 sheep to th* acre'on alfalfa and beet pulp. A pure bred ram of the coarse wool breed crossed with Merino ewes pro duces a good lamb for early fattening i[ 1 ai