A Cheap Greenhouse

For tlie benefit of market gardeners a pithouse is described in a bulletin sent out from the South Dakota station. A hole 8 f eet deep, 10 f eet wide and a multiple of 8 feet in length waa excavated, the length depending upon the uumber of sash to be used or the capaoity of the house desired. Around the edge but inside the hole cedar posta were set eix feet apart, the tops extending slightly above the surface of the soil. Between these posts and the dirt bank, boards or planks were placed and the joil filled in and tamped down. The tops of the posts were sawed off at an angle oorrespondiug to the piteh of tbs roof, a 2 by 4 seantling was then spiked to the top of the posts, forming the plate. Raf ters were cut from 2 by 4's and so arranged that they would carry the ordiuary 3 by 6 foot hotbed sash. The rafteri were notched, so that the top of the raf t3r carne flnsh with the top of the plate, which has the same slant as the raf ters themselves. The sash were firmly screw3d to the rafters and a ridge board placed over all. It is advised that the ends of the house above the soil be doublé boarded, and the ridge should extend north and south, the south end having a door at least 2 feet square to admit air for ventilation. At the north end an inclined plaue should be arranged to accommodate the door at that point. Inside boards should benailed to the posts, thus making an air space between the two walls, keepiug the manure, which is used to furnish the heat, away from the cold outer walls, which is a feature of considerable importance in a cold climate. Through the center of this house an al ley is provided, which is tightly boarded from the bottom of the pit to a height corresponding with that of the side walls. The top boards of this alley wall should be 6 inches wide, and, as the manure and earth settle, these may be removed, thus making it more convenient to care for the plant. The only point requiring particular care is to tramp the manure, which should have the same preparation as for an ordinary hotbed, evenly and very hard. It is claimed that the only disadvantage of this house is a slight loss of area for growing planta as oompared with the usual hotbed. The advantages claimed over ordinary hotbeds are : No danger of breakage from wind blowing off the sash. The house can be cared for more easily and at times when an ordinary hotbed could not be opened with safety. There is larger air space above the plants, and consequently less in jury to planta from sun scald, and, all safih being fastened, the doors at the ends serve as ventilators. -Itcan beused as a cold storage pit during winter. It is advised that houses for winter vegetables be built upon the saine plan as this pithouse - namely, exposed as little as possible, the roof being the only portion above grouud. Narrow houses are more easiJy constructed in this way than three benchhonses. The Cure For Alkall Soil. A Nebraska farmer asks i f there ia any remedy for an alkali soil. Rural New Yorker makes reply as follows : Before seekiug a cure let ïis look for the cause. As a rule an alkali soil is sterile because it contains too much soda in a forra that makes it harmful to planta. The cure is either to get the soda out of the soil or change -it into such a form that it will not hurt the plants. The only way to get the soda out is to drain and then flood the soil - in other words, to wash it out. It is not likely that this can be done in your case, and the next best remedy is to use 700 pounrts or more per acre of gypsum or land piaster. This will change the form of the soda so that the plants will not be injured. For the Farm Workbench. A couvenient device for the workbencb is made by a blacksruith from au old flat file or strip of iron. The illustraticu, from the New York Tribune, WHEN A BOARD IS TO BE PLAÏTED. shows the devioe aud its application. When a board is to be, planed upou the face, this is driven iuto the back end aud the other two poiuts driven iuto the top of the beuch, when the board will be held seeurely frora swinging to one side or the other. News and Notes. If uot in full supply of soil and sand for hotbeds, better secure these at once. Silage is of most value when fed in combination with other food richer iu protein. It ia not a complete food. Most of our grain crop3 will mature more seed if the gronnd is moderately dry duriug their ripeniug period. In the burning of green wood nearly one-half the heat is lost in evaporating the water contained in it. Turnips will not only bear frost without injury, but it is the belief of many farmers that their quality is improved af ter the first frost. Horse breeders are not hopeful for the future. Decline in values is not sectioual. Cottonseed meal and cotton huil ashes - there's a wonderful fertilizer for truck. With a littlenitrate of soda added, it ought to give great resulta, saya Rural New Yorker. Efforts are being made to stir up interest in the Angora goat. English farmers want the bicycle taxed because it has nearly ïuined the horse trade.