PRUNING ROSES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 468, 25 May 1912, Page 6

PRUNING ROSES.

Pruning is the most important operation in rose growing. It is necessary for several reasons. A rosp bush requires to be kept in order. Left to itself it would soon grow out of all proportion, especially if it were a strong, vigorous growing variety, and the soil favourable to its growth. An important reason for pruning is the means oE keeping thi roses in bounds. Roses, like many other garden flowers, have undergone so many processes of [improvement that unless they are pruned they quickly return to their natural state, the ways of the wild briar. The natural tendency of all flowering plants is a backward one. Then pruning keeps the plants free of all the weak and decayed woods. Roses like plenty of air. Cut out the wood found in the centra of the bushes. They only rob 3the trees of nourishment. Remember to always prune to an outward eye. Lead the new growth upwards. The dwarfer and weaker growing kinds will require a much closer pruning than the free growing ones.

CARE OF THE BROOD SOW,

Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the importance of selecting only the beat specimens from large litters. They should be of good bone, open frame, and a tendency toward lanlcness, and with plenty of taste. The brood sow should receive plenty of good fuod and ba grown steadily until she is six months old. During the seventh and eighth months cut down the feed and give plenty of exercise. If the week you start to breed her you begin feeding full rations again she will -'settle" well and the litter will be large. Only matured males should be used. The sow should be bred to ward the end of her heat, and removed from the rest of the herd as soon as served. Never have a aow served more than twice, or, a most three times; and if she does not then become pregnant, kill her. It may be mentioned here that old sows, if bred, will put on weight better, but should be marketed before any signs of pregnancy become apparent. Above all things, a brood sow mu3t have brand Six or seven days before farrowing she should be isolated and most of the protein taken from the ration —that is to say, feed but very little midlings, milk and concentrates, but increase the bulk. Feed but little garbage. On the day of farrowing give the sow cooling drinks. If possible, be present at the time of farrowing. As soon as the pigs are born pick them up by the ears and put them in a basket until an hour and a half old. This precaution is necessary only when the sow is nervous. If she is very nervous after farrowing put ten to fifteen drops of laudanum in each ear every half hour. Two or three doses are usually sufficient. It is advisable to feed nothing but warm water during the first twenty-four hours. The next morning give a warm bran mash containing a teaspoonful of Epsom saltn. At the next feed give skim milk and middlings mixed. Never leave feed before her all the time. About the third day give her some exercise, but du not put her on full feed until two weeks after farrowing.—C. C. Page in Agricultural Gazette. HOW I FEED MY LAND. The maintenance of soil fertility is my first care as a farmer. I _ see much in the "Farm and Dairy" about feeding cows. That is all very well. We cannot give our bossies too much attention. But there is a more important problem still. "We must feed our land also.

The waste of fertility that is going on every year on even what we consider well managed farms is something tremendous. We hear much of the crops that are reaped by the settlers of New Ontario from the new land of that country. It is not_ so many years since we were reaping equally good crops from the new lands of old "Ontario. Our carelessness in conserving soil fertility accounts to a large extent for our decreased yields in rural Ontario.

How are we to feed the land? On our farm we endeavourto keep up the fertility of our farm by growing the proper kind of crops, practicing a short rotation, feeding all the feed produced on the farm to dairy cattle, handling the manure in the best way we know, and by good cultivation of the soil.

Of course clover stake a prominent part in our rotation. We aim to grow clover once in four years at least on every field on ths farm, hence we get our nitrogen for nothing. All the manure is applied to the hoed crops. We believe that a ton of manure applied to the hoed crops will do as much as a ton and a half or two tons a a top dressing on meadows. We also find that a light dressing of manure once in four years will give better results than dressing twice as heavy every eight years.

An advantage that we see in dairy farming is that the dairy cows will return a profit on bought feeds bran, oil meal, cotton seed, etc. These feeds contain much of the fertilising ingredients. We get two profits on these feeds, first from tho cows and then from the land.

Feeding the land is of first nn portance, for the land feeds us. —T. L. Parker, Huron Co., Ont.

A shipment of a thousand cases of apples left Auckland on Wednesday for the Argentine. This is the first fruit shipment that has ever left Auckland, and it is hoped that it will be the forerunner of many others. The apples are drawn chiefly from the districts above Auckland, and before leaving they were inspected and graded by Government officers, Messrs Campbell and Pearce being in Auckland for that purpose. Previous shipments have left the south for the Argentine, where New Zealand apples appear to be gaining popu larity, and a good market should open up there not only for this, but for other classe3 ofNew Zealand produce.