The Farm

A correspondent in the Country Gentleman offers the followingtimely words concerning the prepr.riition for sumnier wovk: Thoughtiul farmers are now perfecting their plaus for the coming busy season. A management shouldbe planned for every field, and everything possible made ready for the opening of spring. It is a common error to lay out too much work - more than can be well accomplished in season. Many farmers are already working too much land for the best profits, and would do well to lessen tho acreago to be tilled, rather than to add to them. AYith most crops a fewj acres well tended, ar.d the product carefully housed and marketed, will yield much more profit per acre than doublé the acreage which necessarily suffers some neglect and mismanagement from lack of timely attention. After a long winter's rest. tho body and energy become strengthened and we are prono to over-estiniato our capabilities. Then, too, we forget in a measure the diflieultics and annoyances which are always sure to come. It is well to bear these diflïcnlties in mind; to remember that weedsgrowfastestin the inval. ;'[.-j sraotuö, ;iuu vvjieii ina weamer is most depressing to strength and energy ; t hat hired help is inore diflicult to obtain and keep during the trying periods, and Ihat unfavorablc woather often provea a formidable set-back to work. The tendency referred to is most frequently noticed in tho layiiig out and management of kitchen gardens. It is generally conceded that a good garden is an important adjunct to a farm. At least most farmers mako proparations for atgarden in early spring, and plant a varicty of vegetables. Tho work is dono witk commondable care and pride, and the farmer finda pleasure in working tho clean, mellow garden soil, and when the work of preparing beds and seeds is completed, ho looks over lii.s garden with prido and satisfaction. How his face í-ould chango if bo could see, by a suddeu transition, the sanio sarden as it will annoar a few months later. A vast amount of labor may bo saved in tho garden by planting xll articles, except onions, lottiice anda few othor things, in rows far enough apart to permit horso cultivation. ït will requiro more labor to koop the cntiresurface of tlio garden freo from weods than tho producís will bo worth f 14 must bo done by hand work. A careful hand, with a'gentlc horso and a good cultivator, can kill more weeda in i garden in an hour than two mon could destroy in a day with hoos. To mako t convenient to use a horse, the rows should bo made as long as possible, vhie'i will obviate the necessity of turnng so oí ten. Jn laying plans for lield crops, the iuestion of proiit is not the only one to receive eonsideration. With labor difiïciilt or impossiblelooljtain when necded, what ruight provo most profitablc with plenty of labor at hand may prove loast proiitable without sufficient help to perform tho work well and in season. Fining Barnyard Manure. 'riie gardener well understands tlie importanco of having mauure and fertilizcrs well decoraposed and fined, that whon they first appear, as well as later. To this cud it is csseutial that all fresh manui-es should bo forked np and mixed. Straw, cornstalks and droppings of animáis, in the yard, are all trodden down lirmly during winter; the air is ofi'ectually excludcd, and in this condition thé material will remain without rotting for a long time. If it ia loosoncd up so that the air cnn cironlato among it, the entire niass will ferinent and docay in a few weeks so that it will bc easy to spread. The most expeditious tooi for pitching long mannre up clean froin the bottom is a horse foric. Iiig up some sheers, as for pitching hay on n stack; make holes through the manure so that you can insert tho fork tines underneath the manuro, and turn it up in ' large rolls into ono or more piles, i ing it to pieces with manure hooks and i forks, so that air may easily penétrate - and enter all parts. Tho horso forks 1 are of the greatest servico whero a I siderable proportion of tho manuro is i very long, Aftev it lias rotted a man or 1 two will pitch it faster by hand. A plow, or "Lyon's stamp pulier'' will expedito business by loosening up so that air can penétrate, making it much easier to fort over by hand. If barnyard manure remains in tho yard all summer it is very ïnuoh better to fork it over and keep it in pilos, eorered over witk a few niches of earth. or under cover of a shed. To Michigan Applo Growers. The following recoramendation, nmde at the reeent meeting of tho Michigan HorticuulUiral Society at Flint, will bo of interest to Michigan apple growors: Red Canada is the best; ne.(, and searccly inferior, the Baldwin, then Northern Spy; and fomth, the Rliodo Island GreeniDg. (iolden Russett keep3 into spring. Tho Rod Canada, being of rather small growth, shonld bo grafted standard heiglit on strong stocks, with rich culture added. Ono of the members gave the four leading roqiiisites for suecos- eultivuting llioroughly, praning heavily, thinning scverely, and packing neatly. Anothcr urged bnildiug iruit housGS, in which winter sorts might bo kept till prices were good, keoping t.lim cool by cont rolling ventflütidii. Farm Notes. Awntcr ia "Gardening Uhntrated" correctly rcmarks tliat currants, which are so fruitfiü as to bear abundantly if neglected, will give muuh linor fruit if regularly pruned with the main shoots at what looks like a wido distsnce apart. Cut away the old wood, and givo the new vigorons shoots a good chance. _Awriter in "Gardening Illustrated" givcs directions for mulching fruit trees, which hc haSfoimd the most sufeöessfnl. nu remores tno son aown to tnc roocs, niulelies, with manure, and then rcplaccs tho soil so as to cover the manure. This prevenís any of it from blowing about, and it will not becorue so dry as when lullj' exposed. About two inclics of soil over tho two niches of nmnuro will answcr woll. In the early spring pruning of youag applo and pear trees, tho forrn niay bu much improved by modifying t'ie work according to the natural growtli of tho tree. If, for instance, tho growth is naturally quite eïect or upright, tho branches will be too compact or crowded if this natural tendeney is not relieved; md with such applo trees as the Jïortkern Spy and Early Strawberry, and the Bartlett and the Buifuru pear, when the hcads aro thinned.leave such shoots as point outward, and cut away thoae which becomo too spreading or drooping, lila; tho Rliode Island Greening, cut' away tho downwanl branches and leavo the most erect.