Farm And Garden

'mere kit few nynriotw insect Ier whii'li '.■ ■ ntul 'piTvnüJii'llave been I iled than i lie -t cncnmber he everyi üi-re atnrndant "yellow Ihí;;.1 with b'acb stripea along its back, wbich attacks squashes, cucumbers, inslons and 6imilar plants. A large proportiou of these remedies are doubtless worthless, if, indeed, not positively injurióos. Obviously the only safe plan to prevent injnry is to fence out the insects. Of the various iorms of apparatus for this purpose are the ones shown in the accompanying cuts from American Garden. The simplest method, and one largely practiced in some of the great melon growing sections, is that of laying H piece of thin cloth over the hills before the plants are up, covering the edges of it with loose earth. This works very well while the plants are young, but is liable to cripple them if left on too long. To obvíate this difficulty Professor Weed, of the Ohio experiment station, , tried varions methods of holding the cloth up in the raiddle. One of the simplest and perhaps most satisfactory methods, accor Jing to his experiments, is to take tSvo pieces of wire and put their ends in tbc ground s0 as t0 fonn a doublé arch, like the center aren of a croquet ground. Over this the cloth is laid, the edges being held down by loose earth as before, and as shown in Fig. 4. Or the wires may be twisted around each other as shown in Fig. 3; or a single long wire may be bent as shown in Fig. 1. A half barrel hoop makes a very good substitnte for the wire. as may be Been in Fig. 5. The best cloth fouud for ihe purpose is the lightest grade of plant cloth sold by seedsmen. This can be purchased in quantity for three or four cents a yard, and one set of covers properly cared for ought to last at least three seasons. After they have been used on the early squashes and meions they are ready for the late cucumbers. They require little storage room between seasons. Professor Weed also tried boxes covered with thin cloth (Fig. 2), and found them less desirable than the cloth, because they do not admit snnshine and air as well, so that the plants do not grow as rapidly and vigoronsly. When the plant reaches the top, also, it cannot lift the cloth with it, while with the cloth alone it can raise it without difficulty. It is necessary to keep the covers on until the plants have put out five or six leaves, and perhaps In rase of cucumbers and meions even longer; for the beetle Bometimes attacks tbem in great nurabers af ter the covers are removed. These appliances are cheaper than the wire screen protectors sold by dealers, and which do very effective work for cucumbers ar_-? melons. round Bone as i Fertilizer. In a report on experimenta made at the New Jersey station with ground bones as a fertilizer, it is pointed out that ground bone is both a phosphate and a nitrogenous mannre, insoluble in water, but when in the soil is decomposed, and yields its constitnents to the feeding plant in proportion to the fineness. It varíes but little in composition, and is less Hable to adulteration than most fertilizers They. in fact, are usually pure. Ground bones have a tendency to cake, and to avoid this the manuf acturers may use other substances, which, whüe aiding mechanically, reduce the chemical value of the mixture. Raw bone is roost usually pure, but the fat it contains renders it less easily decomposed. Bones having served the purpose of the gluemaker are low in nitrogen and very high in phosphoric acid. The method now employed of steaming the bones under pressure im provea their quality without altering the amonnt of the plant food ingredients. As the value of ground bones depends upon composition and their fineness, a mechanical as well as chemical analysis is required to determine their value. The farmer must determine by erop tests which grade he should buy - whether, for exaraple, pay a dollar for ten pounds of phosphoric acid in one condition, or for eighteen and a half pounda in another fonn. Average wood ashes are worth nine dollars per ton, but the best vary considerably. Governor Tillman, of South Cnrolinii, who has been taken to task for using railroad passes, explains that lie saved I money for the State by their use. I V -