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THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER, AUGUST 25, 1886. 2 gjotejs. BEES AND FLOWERS. 1 Bees in their search for honey visit only one kind of flowers on the same trip. This is not accidental, but is a wise provision for prevent ing hybridization of different varie ties from the pollen which bees al ways .ojstribute in their journeys from flower to flower. SUMMER CARE OF CELLARS. Thorough ventilation is necessary where milk is kept in cellars, or it will become injured by mould or foul odors. This is more otten tne cause of poor summer butter than any other. The butter is tainted be fore it goes to the churn, and no possible after-care can make it good or keep it fit to eat until winter. ALSIKE CLOVER. The yield of alsike generally disap points the expectations of those who look it while growing. Its stalks are fine and do not weigh in propor tion to their bulk, as they are harsh and lie loosely. It is a good crop to sow with the common red clover, as it will fill in spaces where the old fashioned clover fails to catch. PROTECTION FROM FLIES. Green smartweed briskly rubbed on neck, sides and other exposed parts of cows or horses will keep flies from attacking them. To be effectual the rubbing should be given twice a day, but it will well repay this trouble. Smartweed can be found on most farms, and is valuable enough for this purpose to claim the room it occupies. COTTON-SEED MEAL. An experienced farmer warns oth ers against giving cotton-seed meal to breeding cows, or to your stock of any kind. It is very difficult to di gest, and fed to cows often causes abortion. Great care must be used in getting animals accustomed to this food, which cannot be fed in large quantities, even to stock accus tomed to it. Young calves fed even a little have been killed by it. THINNING PEACHES. The great majority of poor peaches are inferior chiefly because the trees overbear. The peach pit is always a large proportion of the fruit, and it is the part that is most exhaust ive to the tree. Nature never neg lects the seed. It is the means of reproduction, made more important as the vitality of the tree becomes impaired. A peach tree attacked by the borer or in a dry, sterile soil will always set more fruit than one well cared for and manured, but it will be worthless tor eating. CULTIVATING BEARING ORCHARDS. One of the chief reasons why or chards should not be cropped is be cause it requires cultivation during the summer season. When roots are destroyed by deep working the ground it often results in perman ent injury to the trees, especially if done late in the season. Since the clearing of woodlands has given winds a free sweep the soil dries out much faster than formerly, and this makes trees more liable to injury from mutilation of their roots. SWEET APPLES FOR FEED. Some varieties of sweet apples are such abundant bearers that the trees are worth keeping if the fruit can only be used for feed. There is a great deal of nutriment in sweet apples, and they are relished by every kind of stock. Given in mod eration and with other feed they are good for everything. It is because cows if allowed their run in an or chard will gorge and thus injure themselves that apples have the reputation of drying up cows', milk. GRAPES FOR TABLE USE. Except in California, only a small quantity of our grape product is de voted to wine-making. The demand for eating constantly increases, and a large proportion of even large vine yards is sold in the bunch. Vine yardists have injured the sale of their fruit by excessive eagerness to be first in the market with it. The poorly colored, sour and unripe spe cimens thus sent out spoil the de mand for it, and probably more profit would be made if . none were sold until fully ripe OLD HORSES. For a farmer's use a horse is worth more at seven than at any other age. He has nearly as many years of serv ice as at a less age, and at seven is past the danger of being strained or injured by overwork. How old he must be before becoming superanu ated depends upon circumstances. A horse overworked becomes played put at an age when one well treated is still able to do good service. Feed inc moistened cut feed is less wearim - , to the teeth than whole grain. Oats especially are apt to be gritty, be sides beiug stimulating. An oat-fed horse will overwork himself and be come worthless at a comparatively early age. KILLING SURPLUS FOWLS. Summer, when eggs are cheap and fresh meats in the country scarce and diffiult to get, is just the time to thin out surplus towls. lhe roos - - rh ters should behrst disposed ot,as n( more breeding is desirable this sea o son. The hens will lay as well or better without their attentions Then resolutely kill the hens two years old or over, ana cull out the noorest of the vounger flock. In X 9 ' this way only can a first-class lot be maintained, and a lew ot the best are much more profitable than a great many poor ones. SILVER HULL BUCKWHEAT. This new variety, commonly known as gray buckwheat, has the pecu liarity of remaining in blossom a long time. It begins early and will continue blossoming until frost. This makes it excellent for beekeepers, but also makes it difficult to save the crop without some loss. The grower must use his best judgment incut ting when the largest portion is ma ture, but the long period of bloom ing insures against entire failure. It is apt to be rather thin-skinned, and in a good season to make more flour to the bushel than the old-fashioned kind. TREES OUT OF PLACE. A large proportion of trees planted never serve the purpose designed, whether for ornament or fruit. A little judgment or study as to the probable size of trees when mature will guard against setting Norway spruce, for instance, within four or five feet of a house, or apple trees in a little yard which one full-grown tree would more than fill. There is nothing more common in some cities than to see valuable lots filled with apple trees planted ten, or at most twelve, feet apart. Long before they get to be of bearing size they will be removed as worthless cumberers of the ground. OVER-FEEDING IN SOILING. One chief reason for many failures in soiling is over-feeding. Green food in warm weather sours rapidly, and if only a little more is given than will be eaten clean it soon becomes very offensive. And herein lies the economy of feeding some grain or meal, not with but after giving the green food. We can give them no more of the soiling ration than will be eaten clean, and yet with grain or meal run no risk of giving less than is needed. The fact is that the food last given tempts the appetite and induces the animal to eat more than it otherwise would, which is always an advantage. BACTERIA AND FUNGI. Bacteria is really fungi, but as there are different kinds of fungi, it is not out of place to state that al though fungi is considered a minute parasitic plant, it is not an easy matter to draw the line as to what class it belongs. There are hundreds of different kinds of fungi, and each has its own field of operations and feeds on special substances. When we notice the decay or fermentation of dead matter we may come to the conclusion that millions of the small est vegetable parasites are busily at work. It is their special food, and they do not attack living creatures, but there is no escape, for other kinds of fungi attack the living, whether vegetables, fish, birds, or animals, and we class their work of destruc tion as that of disease. Some species of fungi also attack both the dead and the living, having a wider range of destruction, and to this class bac teria belongs. The mildew of the berries, the rot of the grapes, the potato disease, corn and wheat smut, and even some diseases of animals may be ascribed to fungi. In future science will assist in unraveling some of the mysteries surrounding the work of fungi. We may retard and prevent injury, but the rapid multi- Elication of the fungi gives but little ope of escape from molestation. One of the difficulties in the way is that a remedy against one kind is not a remedy for another, and until the time arrives when a more com plete knowledge is gained, and the parasites classified, and their habits and characters 'known, we will have to battle against them in the dark, and depend upon 5 care and vigi lance as the only safe and sure safe guard against depredations from such sources. Exchange. OATS. Fayetteville, N. C, ) Aug. 17, 1886. J. Editor Progressive Farmer: The enclosed article regarding the oat crop was published about three years ago and l tninK u win now bear publishing again, as it is time to prepare for sowing. The severe freezes last winter did much damage to the small grain crops. I would like for the farmers who sowed small grains last fall to answer this ques tion: Did you sow any grain in the month of September, if so, wTas it killed to any extent by the severe freezes of last winter? J. P.M. "Judging from accounts given in the newspapers, crops generally will be cut short this year by drouth and other causes. The probability is that corn will be scarce and high next year. If this should prove to be the case, as it likely will, then it behooves every farmer as far as practicable to prepare for it by rais ing such crops as may be substituted for the corn crop. For feeding stock oats perhaps make the best substi tute for corn, and when sowed in time they are easily raised. I find the best time to sow them is in Sep tember or as early in October as possible. When sown early in the fall they are not likely to be killed by the freezes of the winter, they grow taller and come off earlier in the spring. February is the month to sow spring oats, but when sown at this time from bad seasons and other causes they often fail to make a good crop. I consider the yellow rust proof oats the best to sow, its grains are larger and heavier than either the black or the white kind and they ripen earlier in the spring. The quality of the land should gov ern the quantity to be sown to the acre on poor land about one bushel to the acre, on rich land about two bushels to the acre. Oats like corn is a gross feeder and requires a fer tilizer containing a large amount of ammonia. The fertilizers can be spread and ploughed in with the oats,' but the best time to apply fer tilizers on oats or any other small grain is just before they take a start to grow in the spring. Spread the fertilizer broadcast over the growing grain and harrow it in. Thisprocess looks like ruining the crop, but it does not injure it on the contrary it is a benefit in two ways: it covers the fertilizers and at the same time cultivates the growing crop. Sow in lands about fifteen feet wide and plough in about four or five inches deep the' ploughing should be thor oughly done, that is, if possible every square inch of the soil should be well broken and pulverized to a uni form depth of about five inches. If the crop is not harrowed in the spring as already stated above, the harrow ing should then be done immediately after the grain is sowed and plowed in. This levels the land and enables the reaper, when his time comes to do better work he then cuts smoother and cleaner. Oats for feed should be cut when they are ripe or nearly ripe; it is not best to cut them green as some do. When cut they should be put up in twelve bundle shocks and remain so until they are well dried before stacking or hauling into the barn. If these shocks are well made they can re main for several weeks; the weather will not hurt them. For oats or other small grain, if possible select a large field with a fence enclosing the head of a branch or pond that does not dry up in the summer sow the whole of it, poor spots and all. In saving grain in such a field reap only the best spots or such only as it will pay to reap, and when the crop is saved turn every hog on the premises into the field. They will improve on such a pasture and for a few weeks will not require any other feed. M. A CONDENSED PRODUCT. The importance and value of the hog in civilization is not irenerallv understood. Every part of the ani mal is valuable except a portion of the intestines. In no countrv of the world is there so many swine raised, according to the population, and in no other country are they so eco nomically raised and fattened as in the West. We have four-fifths as many swine as inhabitants, or 45.- 000,000, and the average life of the U Z 1 A. " ' iL io uui iiLue more man a year. Russia has onlv 10.839.93' swine : Germany, 9,205,791; France, 5,565,- An1 "TTT . I - 1 ozu; Hungary, 4.1bU,127; Austria, 2,721,541; Spain, 602 -Italy, 1.163,916; and eryi i.wui,- - other several countries of Europe u million each, JN or Uvc ioao v " - .,i Inst, in the list, with only 101,020 head. None of these countries produce enougu ducts for their own consum. the United States alone produces a Trorv rmvt. nf the hog is utilzed in the great packing establishments of this country, me nme, nun, flh liVnment. tendon and bone all used and the small intestines and a portion of the larger are put The hair and bristles of the hog will give an indication of how every part is maae to pay. xue hair alone on a hog will average to be worth 5 cents. Thft Chicago Mail lately gave th process by which the hair was saved and made mercnaiuaDie, irom which we collect the following facts: Whfin a ho? is scalded two men range themselves on either side of the "bench on which the carcass lies and with tweezers rapidly pick out the large bristles. These are care fully packed in a barrel and pre pared for shoemakers' use. The hands of the men fly like lightning in this work, while a keenness of vision is absolutely necessary. Then the scraping machine is brought into play, and like a flash the hog is as smooth as an egg from snout to tail-tip." The hair is then carefully and thoroughly washed, pressed and forked into carts and taken to the hair-field, where it is spread out like new-mown hay. It is not quite so aromatic, however. Two of these many plats of ground in Chicago are each over one hundred acres in extent. The "curing" process usually occu pies all of four months. It is shaken up and winnowed constantly until thoroughly dry, and all the foreign particles have been shaken off. The bristle department requires special care. The hair is packed in bales and shipped to be assorted by hand and sold to manufacturers. Numerous devices have been in vented in the past few years for the cleansing and curing of hog's hair, the object being thoroughness and expedition. None, however, was satisfactory until a patent was tested a short time since, which performs the work of four months in four hours. Farm, Field and Stockman. DEHORNING CATTLE IN THE WEST. I tried Mr. Haafs plan of dehorn ing cattle, and like it very much. I have a thoroughbred Holstein bull, 4 years old next June. He was always very quiet until this spring. I let him run at large in small pas tures with the cows, and he got in dependent and threatened the passers-by, and would meet me half way when I went out with a bucket of water to feed him, and I had to drop the corn and give back for him. So I concluded I had always been boss, and I would just dehorn him. I put him in the barn and and with the assistance of the ring ... .... o in his nose, 1 tied him up to a post with a three-fourth inch rope about his head and neck, and then took an old gunny-sack and blinded his eyes so he could not see to fkrht me: I then took a fine tooth meat saw and sawed both horns off close to the head, or at the seam between the head and horn. He bled some three or four tablespoonfuls of blood in all. Then I turned him out and let him run two days: then took him up and used a small can of nine tar on the stumps to keep the flies off, and a little sprinkle of spirits of turnen- tine. But it is all healed up now 1 V -WW m . and well. le is as docile as a calf now, and my little boys 8 and 11 years old, drive him where they piease. as tor hooking and butting the other cattle, my three year old cow can eat corn from the same bucket with him. His head was so sore and tender he will remember it for six months before he can begin to learn to butt anything. The horses run in the same lot with him safely. I think it is the best wav to keep control of horned cattle, and does not hurt the looks of the ani mal half so much as I expected. Ho looks just as the Polled Anerus cattle do, without horns. I believe I can save feed and much abuse to cattle and stable room by dehornino- all of them, especially the old ones, and ' n. . . . ' lining the horn germs off the calves at three months old with the point vi a uarp KUiie. . W. A. T. Moistein Tark, iNorth Topeka. Kansas Farmer. ROTATION OF CROPS. A subscriber asks us for infri f irm n nnnr T.nn rmntii Thisjs one of the most imvmQ uiv" v w v vm i. iv;it 111 t miAstions relating to fm in tiT-w.i deserves especial consideration'1 t has long been considered as inj pensable to good and successf farming and there is no reason t suppose under the light of all th? later knowledge derived from exix iment and study, as wellasimproV practice, that the old fanners Ver mistaken. The old practice was t follow grain with a grass crop 0 with one which required froqUen cultivation of the soil. This was s established that among the EiHiJJj farmers whose crops on the average have more than doubled ours, every tenant was bound by his ljas0 conform to it, and never to follow a grain crop with another one of the same kind. The reason for this was and is that the growth of conseou. tive crops of the same kind rapidly exhausts the soil, or encourages the growth of weeds. It is found in the natural growth of plants and forests that a certain growth is generally succeeded after it has attained its maturity by a different kind of vegetation ; for instance, when a pine forest has been cut off, or has been destroyed by fire, hard woods suc ceed it, or when oaks or other hard woods have been cut off, pines grow in their place. The old fields of the South are a standing example of this, and the "old field pine" covers the abandoned land from which a hard wood forest was cut off, to make room for tobacco and cotton. The explanation of this fact is, that hard woods are rich of potash and taking a large quantity of this ele ment from the soil, leaves the land deficient in it, and unable to produce another growth of hard woods, but as pine is rich in silica and poor of potash, and having an abundance of silica, produces the pine with ease, when it could not produce oaks, hickories and other hard woods. The same principle applies to farm ! crops, and hence wheat is followed by grass or clover, and these with ; un. A scs'TTia na-nnnin I nrn ,1 , J ' corn, and corn with oats or barley; and then the land is manured, and wheat is grown again. In practice, we think this rotation is too short, and would be greatly improved by a root crop after corn, and oats and barley after the roots, with clover following and the second years : clover plowed in for wheat with which grass is sown, with clover added in the spring. But this, too. might be improved, perhaps, by sowing the grass and clover to themselves in the spring, and not with the wheat or early in the fall, as soon as the wheat is removed, thus permitting the soil to be thor oughly prepared for the grass seed ing, by which its success is greatly encouraged. American Agriculturist. THE TIME TO CUT TIMBER. On this ftiihiftft. Prof. Budd writes to the Iowa State Register asfollovys: . A t thft (front fnrAstw ronvention at Moscow, we were told that the united results ot the many tnais uau the lat- ter part of June, while the bark- would yet slip. The common pi. tice now in all the government for ests is to fell the trees at this time, and at once to peel the bark from the trunk as hiedi un as it is valuable for timber. Above this point the limbs and foliage are left to aid m the work of evaporating the water from the cell structure of the log In about ten days after felling the cut into lumber, ties, posts, etc., after which the drying process is tu pieted as rapidly as the most iaw ble conditions will permit. rpi j : f;lV0r j-uuury aim practice umw v ,A tiiiB iiiiiu iurs me culling a' n drying of timber. If cut in the fall, winter or early spring, the cell struc ture of the loir is stored with starch for the extension of growth the suc ceeding spring. However useful this starch may be to the growing tree, it is evident that it can only tena to fermentation and decay jn tn dead post, tree or stick of timber. So far as I know, the teaching ot a" the forestry schools of Europe recently favored the views her expressed, yet I notice that the olae t wn- w nter una most oi me x . ters who follow them, favor the win ter cutting of timber. Tliai-o Una Kan nrt Mill HI ColO' rado during the past three monl. and in consphiifinfift rivers are dryi o up and the crops and the stocK the rangemen, as well as their i lias, ar a fi'nffViw'nff frvr want of a