When To Cut Grass

The usual time for cutting grass is bo lato in the year that most of the juicy, sncculent portions of it have escaped, and cowa will avoid it even when it is growingvin the field. They will lea ve the patches of full grown grass and search for that of younger growth. Every dairyman knows what a difference the early pastures have upon the milk flow, and how, later in the season, when the grass becomes mature, the milk and butter lose that first fine fragrance and superior flavor All of this argües that grass loses much of fts valuable parts for the dairyman after it has reached a ccrtain stage of maturity. We cannot expect hay made from such grass to be any better. The fine quality in the butter which fresh spring grass produces cannot be obtained in the winter from cows fed on such overripe hay. The cutting and cnring of hay earlier in the season will save for the cows a great deal of this mysterious substance which affects the milk so favorably. The haying season for the dairyman shonld not be the same as that now adopted by general consent by farmers who raise it for the markets or for general stock. There is no special week or month in which hay should be cut and cured. The cows will be the monitors. When they seem to like it the most it should be cut before it has time to lose this fine, succulent flavor. This necessitates early harvesting, and it also demands a repetition of it. Three cuttings may be obtained from one field in a season, or two cuttings at the least. It-is doubtful then if there is any loss sustained in quality if two or three cuttings are taken from the field. The dairyman, to get the best winter hay then, should cut his grass before it has headed or blossomed. This may not be the best hay for stock of a general nature, but it is certainly the ideal dairyman's winter fodder. - American Cultivator. Asparagus for Maiket. The wise asparagus grower will cut sparingly the first cropping season, and always, and every season stop cutting at the first iudication of weakuess of the plants. Long continued putting ia a great strain on the roots. The cutting must be done with a careful hand, in order to avoid injnry to thetops of otfier stalks that have Dot yet reached the surface. In preparing asparagus for market reject all, the ill shaped and undersized stalks. Make neat, firm bunches, about eight or nine inches long, and fonr or five in diameter, holding two or three pounds of "grass." If not possessed of one of the patented bunchers now for sale at most hardware stores, the asparagus can be neatly bunched by means of a homemade buncher, such as is illustrated so plainly as to require no description. Rubber bands are now being used in place of tying material, as these eave time and labor and make a neater package. If the product is to be shipped to market, the bunches must be packed in sonie soft material, and pressed firmly and tightly into the package to prevent injury by jarring or shaking about. Knives for cutting asparagus are kept on sale by hardware dealers. One of the various shapes is here illustrated. Un sinall plots a common, sharp Mtchen knife will answer. The above is reproduced f rom "How to Make the Garden Pay." by T Greiner. The Best Layen. 'In my breeding," says a covrespondent in The Farm Journal, "I avoid long necks or long legs in birds. With silver Wyandottes, which I have bred exclusively for many years, 'high stationed' birds are particularly objectionable, not alone because they do not conform to the American standard of excellence, but for the reason that I find them inferior egg producers; neither are they as good for table purposes as tha type having shorter legs and neck. My ideal of a good layer is that she should have a broad, deep, round body of moderate length; she should not be too chunky." Kobber Hees. Dr. Miller says in Gleanings in Bee Culture: Robbers sometimes clean out a weak colony in spring. Whatever you do, don't take a hive away that the robbers are at work on. If you do they'll only attack a neighboring colony. Xake most of the contents out of the hive, but leave at least one comb with a little honey to finish. If you must take the hive away, put another in its place with Bomething for the robbers to work on. Here and Tkere. The phosphate mining industry of Florida is being rapidly developed. Australia's wool clip this year, it is said, is the largest in the history of the colonies. It has been estimated that the Vermont maple sugar erop for the season is 17,000,000 pounds. About 40 per cent. is sirop. It is suggested in The Rural New Yorker that "if the legislatura is to do anything for the roads, let them begin by legislating the narrow tires off the heavy lumber and truck wagons." The permanent exhibition inaugurated by the fourteen southern states, New Mexico and Arizona, is to be opened in Raleigh, N. C, May 15. The object is the display of the states products and resources. Northern manufacturera and dealers are invited to make exhibits. ! John T. Patrick, Raleigh, N. C, is the 1 secTetary.