FARM FIELD AND GARDEN

Te Aroha News, Volume XI, Issue 1712, 6 February 1895, Page 3

FARM FIELD AND GARDEN

HARVESTING POTATOES.; Handling the Tn'bera So as to Prevent 804 and Insure Long Keeping. -By postponing the harvest untfl th© cold rains of autumn set in rot is often indhoed bythe accumulation of toud on the tubers. The crrdinaiy crops should be dug, as a rule, not later than the end of August, according to directions given in The American Cultivator, from which the following is gleaned*. **When growing' in dry, gravelly'soil, they should bp.dug a day or two after a shower of vain, so .that * thd soil will not Adhere -to them, but on muddy, loamy soil it is better to dig them when the ground,is verydry. One can easily select a time when the soil is in the right condition to fall away from the potatoes when. turned up either with the plow, potato digger or fork. By having a dean crop m this wfiy ihir lahbr'of harvesting is greatly lessened. Potatoes’shohld hot be washed, as a rule, yet they must if we dig them with the soil adhering to them. - A dirty crop of potatoes will not well '-* ' • ‘ ~ i .. * /" “Sometimes, however, . potatoes will get muddy from necessity, arid then some place to keep them while they are washed should, be provided. It is riot such an easy job to wash potatoes, for the mud is only loosened and not washed off by throwing water over them. If they are piled up in a heap and then washed with a hose for some time* the tops will be as dean as a whistle,, but down toward the bottom-the mud has .accumulated. The easiest wayto wash them is to make a temporary lattice work on the top of four barrels. Lay bean poles across the four rails so close that the potatoes cannot slide through. On top of this place one bushel of potatoes at a time and then turn the hose on them. ijfThe water and dirt will drip through the lattice work to the ground and leave the potatoes bright and clean. And as fast, as cleaned the potatoes should be spread out on a canvas or boards to dry before storing. They will dry in a very short time in harvesting seasons. They must not be stored away in a damp, cold place while wet, of the rot will surely set \n. “A good drying and storing place for potatoes should be provided beforehand in the barn. A latticed floor should be made somewhere on the north side of the barn, and either stretched from mow to mow or constructed on a cheap frame work. The floor can be made of bean poles or cheap scanning. The spaces between tbe slats should be only about an inch. If such a storage place is provided, the potatoes can be placed there even when they are wet, for the dry air circulating through them soon carries away the moisture. All through the rest &f the summer and the early fall the potatoes .can bQjkeot imthia cool place in the best of -condiuen. Ifpotafbfcs areioba

kept until late in the winter for Bale, they will torn out 60 per cent better if cared for in the summer in this way. All of the moisture is dried out of them, and heat has no chance to rot them.” ' -3^ 1 Ladoga Wheat. From the Canada central experiment farm comes an account of the introduction and dissemination of Ladoga wheat in the Dominion of Canada and of milling and baking tests of this variety. Ladoga wheat was first introduced into Canada in 1887 and' has since been tested $y a large number of farmers in different parts of the Dominion. It has been found that this variety can be successfully .grown even in the colder regions and that it ripens at least s week earlier than Bed Fife. Analysis shows that it contains a high percentage of gluten, which is, however, ‘‘inferior in color and I elasticity and more sticky” than that in Red Fife.

The flour from Ladoga is drier than

that from Bed Fife and is not so easily made into good bread... The color of-the bread is usually quite yellow. The opinion is expressed that unless the proper methods for treating this flour to procure

nnif ormly/good results could be ascertained it likely that Ladoga will be i acceptable e&her to millers or bakers as long as the flour of the Red Fife is obtainhble. Hence wherever Bed Fife can '..be ripened. th© efforts of those settlers engaged in wheat growing in the northwest should be directed to’its production in the greatest perfection by early sow- ' ing and a proper preparation- of tho soiL

Comb Honey Veram Extracted Honey.

- The query,,. ‘‘Which will pay (jie jjet-' ter if sold in the. home market, comb honey at 10 cents a pound or extracted honey -at $1 per gallon?" was.recently answered .by- 24.'.well'^toio!wn"apiarians in The American Bee Journal. . With one . ; • ■ feiooption iail J 'honey.” ' The was - Mr. 'J. P. JR Brown, ; who thought where • the*Jb@es are. well i managed that comb honsjy Will pay the bests,; : "/ -;f .. J. E. Pjmd said: “Extracted by all means, as [here is only about 2 cents per pound difference.. ia,_price, In my own locality I.conM make it pay better to iell extracted i t 6 cenia per pound than comb hooej/ at 10 cents. Localities difthough) in regard to 'noney gathering. Some l»eekeepers have told me that, taking all iii all, they c&n ; do better producing comjb honey where j both sell at the same price.” Mrs. Jennie Atchleyreplied: “Extracted will pay Ijbe best at $l per gallon or 8 a pounji, as you get more honey, 3nd if, you can sell your extracted a 3 ■\ jeadily at 8 djnts as your comb honey at $0 cents by all means produce extracted.”

The Pa nltry Keeper’s Dog. The poultry keeper’s dog, says the Fanciers’ Journal, should be one of .varieties of terriers; 18 to 22 pounds weight is about the sifee. Two or three of these little fellows will, if the building be so arranged than they can get about, keep the place free! from rats, skunks, coons, minks and all ithe list of predatory animals which make war on chickens.