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Fertility and Fruit Growing.
At a meeting of horticulturists , Pro
Ccssor John Craig , of Cornell University .
ty , said :
"Every modern system of cultivating .
ing fruits recognizes as a first principle -
clplo the right of the fruit tree to uo
considered a specific and sufilclent
crop under the soil , or at least to ue
regarded as a crop quite as exhausting .
Ing III character liS any grown by the
farmor. Unless the fruit grower realizes .
' the eBsen'
lzes and puts Into practice
LIlli part of this principle he will full
liS n cultivator of frulls. Experiments
In orchlll'tling conducted some years
ago at the Cornell Experiment Station
proved conclusively that It cost the
soil more to produce twenty average
, crops of IlPljes ) limn twenty average
crops ( of whenl. In other words , more
fertility was extracted from the land
III growing nn acre of hearing apples
for twenty years than In growing
twenty consecullvo crops of wheat. As
/1 rule , the farmer recognlezB time food
needs of the wheat plant , but too often
does he look upon the UPlllo or fruit
tree as a mere tenant of the Boll , und
one which Is not to he regarded as a
specific crop. Hllvlng recognized the I
principle ) , the particular method of 01" '
chnnllng must be worked out by the
fruit grower himself. This method will
dOllOlul upon soil conditions and cli-
I11UtO. Nevertheless , It IB safe to say
that In eight cases out of ten that
method which employs clean tillage
for at least part or time season wlll he
most successful 11. Is also safe to say
.that all secondary crops In orchards
are Injurious. "
Shaping and Heading Trees.
Ideas nnd traditions with respect to
methods of cultivation and management -
ment , as well liS varieties , were formerly
mel'1y brought from the eastern states ,
where conditions arc very different
from our own. The Horticultural Society -
ciety begun agitating the question of
adapting methOt ! : ! of shaping fruit
tl eos and of pruning to our own local
condillons. Members of the society
began experimentlllg along this line
and reporting their results at the
meetings Early copies of the reports .
ot' this body show that for a series of
years attention was fastened largely
upon the question or adopting low
head ! and 1\ dense branching system
for their fruit trees. A8 Il result anew
new system of shaping the tree , better '
adapted ) to our conditions , has been
1e\'olol1Od. < < In the eastern states , with
maritime climate , trees were given
high heads , so the ground ! under the
trees would warm up and so grasses ,
or' other crops , could be harvested
under their brunches ; the trees were
given open tops , and were freely
pruned , so os to admit sunlight and
air to ripen and to color up the fruit.
As opposed to this we have grlllluall
adopted In the west , where our sunlight -
light Is Intense , low heads , to shade
the trunk of time tree and the ground
under It ; wo have adopted 11 straight ,
central trunk , with dense lateral limbs
. and Its
as protection to the tree
fruit. Earlier fruiting und closer
planting have been adopted as better
I suited to our comlltlons.-Prof. J. C.
Whitten.
Strawberries on Low Land.
4 Some farmers find It dlfilcult to locate -
cato a strawberry bed except au low
land and therefore do not locate It at
all. Such land Is good , provided It Is
well drained , but very often It Is not I
well drained by natural means. Strawberries -
berries like \ moisture , provided It Is
only properly proportioned with air
and soil , and on a low place the supply .
ply of water In a dry time Is likely \ to
bo better than on a high Ilace. )
Minnesota has a little over 800
cret\merles.
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Sixteen Things In Good Butter.
Some thinker leas declared that sixteen .
teen ounces In weight Is nol all there
is J In a pound or IJ\ltter. lIe enumer-
ates sixteen other things needed as
follows : (1) ( ) An ounce of wisdom In
selecting materials ; (2) ( ) an ounce of
precaution in the preparation of the
utensils ; (3) ( ) an ounce of concentration -
tlon , by which the whole mind shall he
put on the work In hand ; ( " f ) an
ounce of cleanliness , which needs to
uo exercised In the whole process ot
bllllermalelng ; (5) ( ) an ounce of deter-
mnination ' which will help to overcome
all dJtIlcllltles ; (0) ( ) nn ounce of prevention .
\'entlon. hY which nil deleterious ) con-
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ciltlons will he prevented from Inter-
Cering with time process of buttermak-
Ing ; (7) ) an ounce of care , which Is
needed at every stage ; (8) ( ) an ounce
, of forethought regarding time market
and Its demands , which vary as to
coloring , salting and flavor ; (9) ( ) an
ounce of discrimination , which is needed .
ed In choosing sail , color and packages .
ages ; (0) ( ) an ounce of accuracy ,
which means time use of the scales to
determine weights ; (11) ( ) an ounce of
judgment rcglll'ding the temperature
at which to churn ; (12) ( ) an ounce of
common sense , which leads time churner .
el' 10 stop the process when the hut-
1f'1' Is In the granular form ; (13) ( ) an
ounce of patience In using the ther
momoter , In draining the wash water
from the butter and In giving the salt
lime to dissolve ; (1 ( f ) an ounce of ox
tmerienCe , which alone can tell when
the working of the butter should stop
and thus prevent ) greasiness ; (15) ( ) an
ounce of ncatness , which applies to
both person and product , and also ap-
plies to the printing and wrapping of
tile butter ; (16) ( ) an ounce of honor ,
which keeps time butler up to standard . ,
both in quality and weight.
Licensing Buttermakcrs and Cheese-
makers.
There Is an agitation In some of the
states to license the factory UUttN'
makers and chee emaleers. The object .
jcct of this Is to get a better class
of manufacturers of dairy products.
Factories cannot bo inspected without
money and money cannot be obtained
from most legislatures In sufilcient
quantities to make the work oC inspection ,
tlon errectlve. This Is a problem that
Is not now. The government of the
United States Ions ago adopted the '
principle of taxing everything that
had 10 UO Inspected so that It would
pay for the governmental work put
upon It. 'rho placing of a license on
the makers of huller and cheese In
the factory would yield some revenue ,
which would go far towards doing the
very work that needs to UO done.
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Jersey Island t.conomles.
Only one kind of cattle Is kept on
time Island of Jersey , and that kind Is
of course time cow that has made the
island famous. 'rho cows arc pastured ,
hilt are not allowed to run at will.
They arc tied In rows , and the whole
row of cows Is moved forward at on'e.
'fhe land must be carefully handled
and highly fertilized 10 permit It to
carry two cows to the acre , as It Is
Eulel to do. It shouJd he remembered ,
however , that the cows are somewhat
smaller than the Jersey cows In this
ccuntry , as there has been a decIded
increase in..r tzo of time breed since !
coming to the United States.
Blights are caused by minute plants
called fungi. These are vegetable
parasites ) , which sink their roots Into
the substance of the plants and draw
nourishment therefrom. As long as
the plants cnn supply more food than
these parasites can use , the effects of
the blIght Is not apparent. As soon
as time parasites begin to use more
food than their host plants supply the
die , or such parts of them as are af-
leaves or twigs as the case may bq
fected by the blig"
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All Plants Change.
One or the great truths that is bo
lug brought out at the present time
11:1 : that all plants change their character .
acter according to the conditions that
surround them. \Vo are but just awaking .
Ing to the magnitude of this possibility -
ity of change. From the largest plant
that wo know to the smallest that wo
do not yet know nU are subject to
most radical changes. This fact was
empbaslzed by Professor Moore at
Washington in an address recently de
livered. lIe told of time experiments
with bacteria that cause the nodules
on the roots of leguminous plants and
said that Il had been fully proved
that such bacteria change their character .
acter very qulcl\ly. Alfalfa seed may
be planted In It field In which clover
Is growing , and for some time the
bacteria there , even though they be
from the clovers , will not bo able to
affect the roots sufilclenUy to produce
the nodulos.
But In the course of a few years the
bacteria In that soil will adapt tmem- }
selves to the new plant that has come
among them and will ultimately Inoc-
elate the soil with the desired species
He expresses the belief that there Is
but one kind of bacteria but that aU
varieties are from the one lelnd. lie
says the mhtalco : ! has been in not
planting the desired legume on the
same soil year after 'enr. If red
clover docs nol do well on a certain
soil It should ho repeatedly planted
there so that time ground may ultimately .
match' become Infested with the mln-
ute genns that are so helpful to the
plants.
This Is In accord with the testimony
of some of the "oldest" Inhaultants
They speak of certain localities In
which red clover would not grow when
time laud was new , where now It is
very easy to get a catch. It is 1re.
sumed that the bacteria on the roots
of some wild plant , perhaps the wood
vetch , developed a character enabling
It to become parasitic on the red
clover. If red clover grows weakly on
one plot one year , do not change It to
another field the next year , but leeep I
It In the same place for some years ,
at the same time treating a part of the
field at least to a dressing of manure.
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Weights of Seed and Grains.
There should he a national law regulating .
ulatlng time weights of seeds and
grains. As It Is , chaos prevails largely .
ly In such matters. Wheat Is quite
uniform In weight throughout the
states , but such Is not time case with
most of our grains. A move in this
direction should meet with success
Ccnservlng Feed and Opportunity.
In Denmarlc everything is used to
time best of advantage , and the grass
In the pastures Is carefully fed out
systematicallY uy tethering time cows
in the nelds. Time tramping up of the
pasture during a wet time Is not per.
mllle . Only In this way 1& It possible
slulo for this little country to get so
much from the land that she can supply .
plY her own needs and ship to other
countries millions of dollars' worth
of butter , cheese , eggs and bacon
'earlY.
Whitewash In the Hog House
Whitewash Is cheap , und there Is no
reason why It should not be used more
than It Is In the bog house. Whether
the boards that compose the hog
house arc smooth or rough , the white-
wush will uo found to UO a help. It
wlll stop up the hiding places of vermin .
min and will tend to give a sweeter
smell to the places where the hogs
sta ' . In addition It adds light as does
any light color placed on the walls.
It shows the dirt more plainly than the
unpainted boards and acts as a re .
minder to the owner to clean out the !
i
hog pen often.
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Testing Seed Corn. .
I never feel satisfied to plant seed 1 1
corn without testing It. One year In j
the press of the work this was post- , 4
paned from time to time until It was
too lato. Part of the seed was saved ,
from a field that had fully dried before I
frost , and part from a field that was 1
largely green when frosted. I thought , f
however , that what I saved was BO solid I
Id that It would bo all right. That
from the first field seemed to send up
a strong stall for every grain planted , . _ -
but that from the second field gave little -
Uo more than half a stand , and that
did not grow off rightly. '
For this year I have seed saved last '
Call from the field , more tha f thought i
I should need , but afterward found _
that I would have more ground and. . ,
saved from the crib and shock at 1
shredding time. , I shall test samples :
from the whole , but from the different i
lots separately. I take two or three
grains from different parts of the ear.
Take 100 , 200 or more grains , according .
Ing to size of lot to be tested. Put .
them in shallow vessels , covering
lightly and evenly so that aU shall receive -
celvo a uniform amount of warmth.
Keep dirt moist. This is best done by
covering with glass. Set It near a
stove , but not where it will bo too
warm.
When the first sprouts appear , turn
time whole out and count ' the grains
and make an estimate of the percent- "
age that has germinated. Some others
may start later , but I should be afraid
that they would make a weak growth. '
If much less than 90 per cent have
germinated , I should not like to plant
It If I could do bolleI' Testing the seed
Is little trouble , as one may save the
grains when shelling the corn , which " , '
should be done before the first of
March to be sure that the good wife
will not have to help do It at planting
time.
Then the testing may save a lot of
work in replanting when the farmer
ought to be stirring his ground and . . . _ _ _
save many dollars' loss from delayed " i
cultivation , weal and irregular growth , .
barren stalls and nubbins ! and frost- 1
ed , chaffy corn in the fall. No farm. I
er can afford to take the risl { . C. , .
1Ioward County , Indiana.
Admirers of Fine - Stock. - . ,
One of the very first things which
Impresses the visitor to Great Britain a Z .
Is a strong love oC good animals , which
to all appearances Is one of the bored- 1
Ital' y traits of time native Drlton. Go
where you will , time same thing exists.
From the very humblest laborer to I
his gracious majesty the king there
13 shown a strong love for real high-
class stoele. In a recent visit to the i
borne at a famous Scottish Shorthorn j .
breeder , whose name Is familiar to
lovers of good stock in aU parts at
i
the world , the writer was somewhat I
astonished to learn that the gente-
man In question was also one ot the :
most prominent business men of the . i
town. Upon questioning my most ' . . t
worthy host as to how he managed to ; ; - l
divide his time between his city business . '
ness and his stock farms , he replied \ :
"I am In my city offices only when I . .
am compelled to be there , as that line
of work Is very monotonous. But
with my stacie farms It Is very differ-
ent. I love to be there all day and to .
dream of being there by night. " These ' "
are the .words of one of the very
greatest of present.day stoclcureeders ,
and are very significant , as a love for
any line of work is the very first
eEsential to success.-W. J. Kennedy. "
Height of Ears on Cornstalks. . .
The lower the ear on the corn stalk ' . .
the less likely is the stalk to be blown
down by n. high wlnd. Experiments
are being made to breed low cars.
Seed from corn with low ears has been
replanted enough times to produce a
little variation In this regard.
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