Farm and Garden

Lake County Press, Issue 2254, 7 January 1909, Page 2

Farm and Garden

ARTICLES. (All Rights Reserved) BEES: NOTES AND HINTS. Now is the time to feed either candy or stimulating syrup, bearing in mind that a few pence spent now will bring a return of shillings later on. Do not on any account feed with honey, as this will set the apiary in a ferment at once; besides, nothing starts robbing so quickly as leaving honey lymabout, and no one with any consideration for either himself or his neighbour would do so. As the season of liower gardening is now on, select the flower seeds with a double purpose —first, to attract the eye, and then to feed the bees. Many bee-keepers will now be purchasing appliances. Be careful what you buy. give a fair price for an article, and deal with a good man. Be careful of novelties, and any reasonable man will not go far wrong. Continue to place water where the bees may cashy rear,, As soon as the October sun warms the hives, open them out on a sunny afternoon and sweep the floor-board clean, and look carefully over the frames to see whether there is any foul brood about. It can easily be detected by the pitted-in cells and the characteristic odour. Even if the hive is clean it will do no harm to drop a piece of naphthaline, the size of a nut, into the back. This is a very valuable' dis : infectant. If foul brood exists burn' bees, hive, everything. It is far better than fceding r on medicated food, which is very uncertain. Do not keep opening up the hives for curiosity's sake, else chilled brood may result, as to the deceased person's state of Look over straw skeps, see that they are quite free from damp and that their stands are not rotted through at the base and liable to become upset when weight is placed above. Later or clear away everything from the entrance to the hives, so that the bees can hove a clear flight. GRAIN AND GRIT FOR POULTRY. Perhaps there is nothing that the ordinary poultry keeper knows so lit-

about as how to feed his stock, and yet it is the most important item of all. The poultry keeper must remember that food represents money, and it may be productive and yield a good return, it may be fed wastefully and prove a loss, it may cause the hens to become excessively fat, and thus check egg production, or it may be absolutely injurious in other ways. Food should be given in such a manner that the birds are not able to foul it. Soft food should be served in troughs so fitted that it is impossible for the fowls to trample in them. When

fowls trample upon soft loud a great deal of it is wasted, as it sticks to the feet and treads about, taking to itself much of the filth that it happens to come into contact with. Grit should not be mixed with the soft food in the morning, as many do, because the fowls are compelled to take it whether they want it or not. The best means of supplying corn and grit to the fowls is bv placing in a box such as shown in the sketch. These boxes not only keep the food clean, but great economy is effected in feeding :hcll, grit, grain, etc., the top being covered by a hinged flap to prevent the fowls getting in and scratching out the contents, thereby preventing waste. Being automatic in their action, the lower compartments are kept filled as the grit or corn is consumed. MUSTARD AND CRESS. If mustard and cress is required M be had in the very best condition, it must be grown quickly and free from all grit or dirt. One very good plan is illustrated heiewith. The article

required consists of an ordinary galvanised iron vapour trough, and a wooden frame, ldin. wide and the length of the trough*. The next thing to do it to cover the frame with wirenetting, except the part across the centre, where the trough is placed, liaise the frame a few inches from the ground on four blocks, place the trough into position in the centre, and fill it with water. Next cover the frame with pieces of wet flannel, which must hang over and dip into the water contained in the trough. The seed must be sown rather thickly on the iiannel, which is kept moist by the water in the trough, and if placed in a warm greenhousje will quickly commence to grow. Water must, ot course, be added from time to time to eplace that lost by evaporation and aken up by the flannel. When nustar' 1 and cress is grown in boxes )r p3._d, the soil should first be made thoroughly damp, and the seed sown thickly on the surface, and afterwards be pressed into it by means of a smooth fiat piece of wood. When grown in this manner, no covering of soil is necessary, because when the seed is covered and germinates, small particles of soil adhere to the growth and consequently the salad becomes gritty. " FUNCUS DISEASE OF 1 ::UNC FRUIT TREES. The fruit trees most liable to this disease are young standards up to the age of eight years, and as the stem or stock is the part attacked, the "girdling" of this portion of the plant by the fungus growing in the bark means the death of the entire tree, which in a dull damp season, usually occurs during the spring following.the first year of attack. Plum—especially the Victoria variety—and apple trees seem to suffer most, apricot, cherry and peach to a less extent. The fungus is also often very abundant on wild plum, bullace, blackthorn, etc., and from such wild trees cultivated stock are infected. This disease first shows itself by the premature yellowing and fall of the leaves, followed by a dryt

ing up, browning, and shrivelling of the bark of the slem. In the spring following the first year's attack numerous minute, elongated cracks, arranged in clusters, appear in the dried-up bark. These arc the first form of the fungus (Fig. 1), and arc followed in the second season by larger, fewer, and more scattered cracks, containing a second and more highly developed kind of the fungus (Fig. 2). To prevent the spores from germinating, paint the entire stem of the tree with the following composition: Reduce soft soap to the consistency of thick paint by adding a strong solution of washing soda in water. To every five gallons of the dissolved soap, add one pound of powdered quick lime, and stir the whole until thoroughly mixed.

Apply this to the trunk with a paint brush, being careful to cover every part. This mixture is tenacious, not easily dissolved by rain, and usually lasts for one season if properly made and applied. Spores of this fungus are shown at Fig. 111.