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The Exeter Advocate, 1923-5-31, Page 7Address 'communications to. Agronomist. 73 Adelaide PACKAGES CONTAINING FRUIT FOR SALE. E. S. C., Welland Co.—What are the° bominion regulations regarding the packing of fruit for sale? Answer—You had best send to the Fruit Branch, Department of Agri- culture, Ottawa, for a copy of the orders and regulations, but, briefly, they are as follows: Every package; either open or closed, containing fruit intended for sale, has to be marked with the initials, surname, and ad- dress • of the packer, the name of the variety, and the gra • ,.c the fruit; if the package is repacked it must be so endorsed and by whom; "immature fruit," which is fruit not ripe enough for dessert, must be so described on the package; the package must be well and properly filled; old marks, if any, on the package must be obliterated, SIZE OF BERRY.BOXES. Fruit Grower, Niagara—What are the requirements of strawberry boxes regarding size and capacity? . Answer—The regulations read: Every box of berries or currants packed in Canada for sale in Canada, and every berry or currant box manu- factured and offered for sale in Can- ada shall contain when level full as nearly as practicable one or others of the following quantities: (a) four- fifths of a quart; (b) one pint, and shall be 4% by 4% inches at top and bottom and 1% inches deep; (c) two- fifths of a quart. FARM DRAINAGE. The drainage of farm lands should ceive increased attention. Many farms and even whole districts are not as fertile and productive as they would be if drained. A drainage sys- tem is essential in this humid, temper- ate zone of heavy rainfalls. Fortun- ately, throughout the greater part of Eastern Canada there is adequate St. West, Toronto drains located; then it serves as a permanent record and will save time and labor in future drainage work.' A number of permanent landmarks should be located and measurements marked on the map from these to the underdrains. In .laying out 'systems of tile it is important to keep the slope or fall as. uniform as possible. It should not be less than 2 inches per 100 feet, and where changed suddenly a silt basin ehould be built. Three-inch tile is the smallest profitable size, and as the volume of gathered water increases so the tile should be increased until the main drain for a twenty -acre field having a fall of 5 inches per hundred feet should be laid with six-inch tile. The distance between tile drains is governed largely by the depth at which they are laid. Much tile has been laid from 2% to 3 feet below the surface. The present tendency is to lay tile shallower. At these depths for field crops it is usually sufficient to place drains 100 feet apart. Then, should it be found necessary, others can be laid between, making athem 50 feet apart. The efficiency of all drains depends largely upon a satisfactory outlet. It must be large enough for the purpose and be low enough to drain the tile dry when they are flowing. LOOK 'BEFORE YOU LOAD LIVE- STOCK. Inspection of 700 arriving cars of stock at seven of the large markets by supervisors of the Packers and Stockyards Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, has shown that shippers would do well to make careful examination of cars be- fore loading them. "The railroads maintain satisfac- tory car -inspection service at the large markets, but not all cars sent to country shipping points have mov- ed directly from the terminals. As a consequence many cars have defects natural drainage. The land is rolling that may cripple animals or even or hilly. The surface formation is: cause their ' death. Of the cars in - more• or less porous and water, even; spected in this investigation 7 had after the heaviest rains of summer,' holes in the floors, 91 had projecting disappears within 24 hours from the' nails in the walls, and 88 had cleats surface of the soil. that might, and probably did, cause There are many farms that have,bad bruises. Eighty-two of the cars fairly good natural drainage, but not! were without bedding, a large factor sufficient to remove the water quick-' in the safety and comfort of animals in transit." "No matter who is responsible for the condition of cars, it is to the interest of the shipper always to make an inspection of his own, and most certainly it is up to him to see that the right kind of bedding is provided. Frequently, partitions are used in stock cars, and because of this a care- ful examination must be made for projesting nails and cleats that may have been left when these partitions ly after heavy rains and spring fresh- ets. These can usually be greatly im- proved by a system of surface drains including the plowing of fields in lands so that each dead furrow may be a drain with a definite outlet. Heavy soils and lands that lie so that the natural drainage cannot eas- ily be determined usually require underdrainage. A soil is frequently cold and wet on account of an imper- vious subsoil. Other soils are of very little agricultural value because of , were removed. The floor is the most seepage. The tile draining of such as' important part of the car. It should. these is a valuable permanent im-+ be gone over thoroughly and any provement to the farm. It will en- holes patched. Doors must be in good able the farmer to seed his crop, repair and when the cattle or other livestock are loaded, securely fastened. "Last year at one middle -western market 1,700 cattle and more than 2,000 hogs were found crippled in cars. In December more than 1,000 crippled hogs were received at one of the eastern markets. These num- bers are small in comparison with to- tal receipts, but they look mighty large to the shippers who owned the animals." earlier and to grow healthier and much larger crops. It will be better than insurance against drought and spring frosts. It will increase profits and save valuable fertilizing ingred- ients from being washed from the surface of the soil. • For any drainage work a sketch or map is essential. On it should be placed the data obtained from a sur- vey of the farm, contours marked and Killing Weeds With Brains By Mrs, E. If only a "Saint Patrick" would banish the weeds! It takes many ef- forts, long continued and well direct- ed, even to control them, much less exterminate them, and perhaps, on second thought, we would not be quite willing to banish them from the face of the earth. Many of them are so lovely that if they were rare they would be almost priceless, as for in- stance, the Mexican poppy, or Queen ,Anne's Lace, with its delicate, lacy white flowers. But if you give them an inch, they'll take an ell. As a class, weeds have a long black list against them. They rob thesoil, thus defeating the very end for which the farmer strives— that of giving his erop plants the very be„ at, ossible chance to make good: growth. They retard the work of harvesting. They increase the labor Qf cleaning the seed at threshing -time, Some of them injure stock, as for ex- ample, the needle,-grass,squirrel-tail grass, etc., the awnsof which get into the gums and nostrils and even into the eyes of the stock while they are eating. Some weeds, such as hemlock, toco and many others, poison stock, huscausing serious loss of time and money. These and many other sins ire laid at their.:door, and, few are the od qualities with which to offset WEEDS INCREASE COST OF FAR/,UNG. There is no possible doubt that weeds greatly increase the cost of lilroduetion. Without out t hem labor *nisi be almost cutntwo. The fields 'VNhicl<i have, been kept clean 'from, 'Weeds for the longest time cost least In up -keep and yield larger returns. s . a rule, one need: not go far from s own farm to . findr p oaf of this. P. Harling Ask yourself what farmer in your locality has the best financial stand- ing and see if it is not the one with the best -kept place. The one big problem on a general farm is the production of crops. If, then, the labor of cultivating and giv- ing the crops a chance to get a good start could be lightened, it would be a real economy of time and money, both of which could so well be expend- ed along other lines instead of having to be use again immediately in going, over the selfsame round. Of course, a certain amount of cultivation is es- sential, but the point is that it could be done so much more easily and cheaply if'the weeds around the edges and in the rows were kept down to the least possible number. Cultivation has two purposes; to conserve moisture in the soil, and to clear' the land of -all but the plants desired, which brings us to the matter of destroying weeds. CUT WEEDS IN PASTURES. Some method should be adopted which will prevent weeds from going' to seed in pastures. If weeds are particularly bad, then something is wrong. Possibly the pasture is over- stocked. Whatever the trouble may be, it must be remedied' before there' can be a very marked improvement. Pastures may be mowed to get rid of „obnoicious' weeds. In some instances it has been found successful to spud. off thistles, loco, and other weeds- of bad character, and by, means of an oil -can squirt gasoline into the. cut- off roots. This will kill the old plants,. and if you are careful to pull up the seedlings which will volunteer from time to' time, -two seasons • of- such faithful workLL will make a big differ. - ence. If for any reason the weeds have been allowed to some into full bloom, then the quickest and surest way to kill the seeds already formed in theflowers is to gather . the weeds and burn them. CULTIVATE, CULTIVATE, CULTIVATE, The greatest task is in the fields containing row crops and forage and small grain crops. Ahnost all farm- ers recognize the need- of keeping the ground between the rows free from weeds, but not all are awake to the. urgent need of taking care df the. particularly bad spots by themselves; of clearing out in the rows and keep- ing the ends and edges and fence corners clean. Weeds have tremendous seeding powers, and it requires no more than a moment's thought to make us real- ize that the neglected or overlooked weeds left in a field can furnish more than enough seed to cover the entire farm with a luxuriant growth of weeds. These out -of -the -ordinary places are so extremely important that particular pains should be taken to destroy the weeds on them. Much weeds should be gathered and burned, if they have been allowed to come into full bloom, to kill the' millions of seeds they carry. When you come right down to it, there is no excuse for weeds taking such toll from farmers' profits, for they -can be exterminated. The trouble with , us is that we want a sort of "get -rich -quick" method. We aren't willing to be more thorough each time; and yet it is just this little bit of extra effort which spells the differ- ence between positive success and mediocrity. Go out and take a look at the near- est patch of bindweed, for instance, whose roots are sometimes found six feet or more in depth and whose tops have runners anywhere from one to twenty feet long. Does any one think he can kill out such a plant by an oc- casional chopping or plowing through it? There would be just about as good chance for success by such meth- ods as a man weakened by long in- door life would have of thrashing Jack Dempsey. You have got to use the right method and keep at it. A sand -bur ripens more than 42,- 000, and a foxtail will mature more than 100,000 seeds. The chickweed which grows all over the place pro- duces five generations a year, and each plant is capable of bearing 3,000 seeds. No wonder it takes such inces- sant hoeing to get rid of it after once it gets started. And just for a "big- gest fish" story, let's stop with the humble purslane, or "pussley," which is credited with 1,250,000 for a single plant. Nor are these cases exception- al. Hundreds of the plants we know the best will do quite as 'well and some do better. WEED SEEDS ',IVE: MANY YEAB . "But," you .object, "I don't let the weeds grow all summer long any- where' qn my farm, . I always mow„ thein off ' once anyway." Yes, , but once isn't enough. And what do you do with the cuttings? to mow ,after plants have begun to .bloom and let the cuttingslie where they fall,' is. evidence of the lack of thoroughness for which this plea is made. In the first place, plants often begin to bloom, and therefore mature seed, long before most people.. suppose;. and. in the second place, after they have once started blooming, many plants have sufficient vitality to ripen at least . part of their seeds even after the plants have been mowed or chop- ped off, as witness the dandelion. Seeds of these chopped off plants fall the soil where ' Nature wraps tnem up carefully, apparently prepar- ing for the possible. •"seven lean years." The stubble of these mowed or chopped -off weeds nearly always sends up new branches which bloom and bear seed. Sometimes these branches will lie almost on the ground, below the usual reach of a mowing -machine, and it is frequently a fact that unless properly done, mow- ing may actually increase weeds. There seem to . be two different methods of mowing when the object is to kill weeds. First, very frequent cutting to` prevent. °blossoming. Sec- ond, cutting just as the majority of the weeds are beginning to bloom. This is the time when plants are using their maximum strength to put' forth seed, and if they are cut at this' time, they are caught when they are, most exhausted and their stubble takes! longer to send up new branches. Cut -i ting at this time is the better if the cuttings are burned, or thoroughly' destroyed in some other way. It is absolutely essential that the seeds' just forming should be destroyed, and fire is certain destruction. Dry ma- terial of some sort should be piled with the cutting and the pile lighted at once. Delay gives opportunity for the seeds to be scattered, and many thousands of them will be ripe the day after the plants were cut. The cut- tings will perhaps be too green to burn up entirely, but the big point is to heat the seeds enough to kill them. If this is done, their mischief is ended. The stubble of annual weeds can be plowed under; also many seedlings in spring and fall can be killed his way. Plants called perennials mist be treated differently. If you don't know what your plants are, dig up some of each kind, taking the entire plant including blossoms or seeds, and Wage War on the Enemy . We must be early and eternally ready to outwit the insects and dis- eaaes that lie in wait for our gardens. The best methods of handling in- sects and diseases are preventative methods, such as: encouraging. a vig- orous and resistant growth by 'proper tillage, rotating .crops and groups of crops closely related; destroying all garden refuse and weeds, and plowing in fall to kill some insects. Spraying is effective in combating some insects and some diseases while for others it is of no value at all. TWO CLASSES OF INSECTICIDES. There are two general classes of insecticides (insect spray materials). They are, poison or stomach insecti- cides and contact insecticides. Poison or stomach insecticides are used for insects having biting mouth parts such as cabbage worms and striped cucumber beetles. Insecti- cides of this class most commonly used are Paris green and arsenate of lead. Sometimes helebore and London pur- ple are used but they are less effective. For young potato beetles, cabbage worms and similar insects, 1 ounce of arsenate of lead paste per gallon of water or 2% to 3 pounds per 50 gallons will lie sufficient. With arsen- ate of lead powder or Paris green one- half of these amounts of poison are used. When old potato bugs are to be killed these amounts may need to be doubled. Arsenate of lead is the most desirable of this class, as it sticks to the foliage better and does not burn it nearly as much. Paris green can be made to stick better by adding soap to the solution and the danger of leaf burning can be re- duced by using a little more lime, by. weight, than Paris green in the solu- tion. Calcium arsenate is a com- paratively new insecticide which can be used the same way as lead arsenate. CONTACT DESTROYERS. Contactinsecticides are used for in- sects having sucking mouth parts. They kill the insects by the material actually getting on the insect and cor- roding ,its tissues or by, strangling it. The most common of these insects are the aphids or plant lice and the squash bug. ;Insecticides of this class are soap solutions, kerosene emulsion and tobacco decoctions. The kerosene emulsion is made by dissolving' one- half pound of soap in 1 gallon of hot Water then mixing with this 2 gallons of kerosene' till the .whole is thorough- ly emulsified. This stock solution is then diluted from 15 to 20 times. A number of tobacco extracts are on the e which are very market w effective and more convenient than kerosene emul- sion. They should be applied at the rate specified on the package they. come in. When l soveral materias are applied iIP in onis solution, each material should be thoroughly dissolved in a small amount of water before mixing. Itis most important in spraying to spray as soon as the first insects appear and before they become a serious pest. Some of the poison sprays can be applied in powder form. If applied in this form on a stili and preferably damp morning, they are very effective. Dust sprays should be used cautiously as some people are poisoned when ap- plying them. The most convenient device for ap- plying spray solutions to the garden plants is a hand compressed air spray- er. As spray materials will corrode metal, the• solution left over should always be thrown out and the sprayer rinsed before setting its away. CONTROLLING CUT WORMS. Cut worms, wire worms, white grubs and stalk borers give frequent trouble. All of these are controlled to some extent by fall plowing and the destruction of all garden rubbish and weeds. Cut worms can be killed with poisoned bran mash, made in the proportion of 1 quart of bran, 1 tea- spoonful of Paris green, 1 tablespoon- ful of molasses and enough water to moisten. This mixture should then be scattered along the rows or near the plants. When this is used, all poultry should be kept away from the garden. When stalk borers are found in a garden, the best thing to do is to destroy the attacked plants as soon as' they are noticed and to be sure and clean out and destroy all weeds and plant remains in fall. Most vegetable diseases can be con- trolled by proper preventative meas sures previously enumerated for the control of insects, especially by crop rotation and rubbish disposal. For some diseases as leaf blight, forms of which attack cucumber, tomatoes and potatoes, Bordeaux mixture is a good remedy,. Bordeaux mixture is, made by dis- solving 4 pounds of copper sulphate in 4 gallons of water, slacking 4 pounds of stone lime and adding enough. water to make 4 gallons. 'When need- ed, add enough water to each solution to make 25 gallons and mix thetwo solutions. This should be applied im- mediately as it deteriorates rapidly. It is important always to have a little more lime in the solution than copper to prevent foliage injury. An excess of copper can be detected by dipping a clean knife blade into the mixture.• If in excess,, a coating of copper will be precipitated on the knife. blade. An excess of lime can bedetected by blow- ing one's breath over some of the mix- ture in. a porcelain cup, in which case a thin scum will be foamed on the surface of the. water.' After the plants are badly diseased, spraying will help very little, but if a garden or locality is troubled with one of these diseases, it can be held in check by proper pre- ventative spraying,• 1 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON • JUNE 3 Jeremiah, the Prophet of Courage, Jeremiah 1: 140; 7: 1• 15; 20: 1-6; 21; 26; 32; 35: 1-19; 36; 37: 11-28; 39: 11,12; 42: 1-1'1; 43: 440. Golden Text—Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, -.quit you like men, be strong. -1 Cor. 16: 13. LESSON FOREWORD—On the occasion dealt with in to -day's lesson, Jeremiah gave the people of Jerusalem a graphic object lesson: He brought the guild of Rechabites into a chamber 9f the temple and set wine before them. Now the Rechabites were a religious party which had arisen as a protest against the mode of life which the Israelites had adopted upon settling 3n Canaan. They believed that the life in Canaan, with its luxuries, its idol- atries and its woes, was essentially evil; hence they reverted to the more ancient life ..of the desert, dwelling in tents, tending flocks and herds and living and worshipping simply. One of the greatest evils of the life in Canaan, according to their notion, was wine, and so when it was set before them in the temple they refused to partake) of it. Thereupon Jeremiah reproached the people of Judah, show- ing how the Rechabites' fidelity to their rule of life put to shame their own disobedience to God. I. A GOOD EXAMPLE, 5-11. V. 5. Jeremiah hadtaken the Recha- bites into one of the chambers of the temple. Around the outer court of the temple there were numerous chambers which were employed as priests' residences, store -rooms and for the keeping of the temple archives, etc. This particular chamber 'was ap- parently open to the gaze-ef'those who stood without. Pots full of wine, and cups. The wine was in large bowls from which it was served in cups. In setting the wine before the Recha- bites, Jeremiah was confident that it would be no temptation to them. His purpose was not to tempt them, but to bring home a much needed lesson to the Jews. V. 6. We will drink no wine. Total abstinence from wine was one of the rules of life which the Rechabites had adopted. Wine was a product cf the agricultural life of Canaan, and the Rechabites were opposed to agri- culture, root and branch. Jonadab, was the founder of the sect of the Rechabites. He took part with Jehu in overthrowing the house of Ahab, who had introduced the worship of the Tynan Baal into Israel, 2 Kings 10:15-17. Jonadab believed that the worship of Jehovah was at its purest and best in the simple life of the desert, before Israel entered into Canaan and adopted the civilization of the land. Consequently he induced his family, and perhaps others along with them, to give up agricultural pursuits and to live as nomads in the wilderness of Judea. V. 7. The rules of life practiced by the Rechabites are here clearly ex- pressed. They renounced every kind of agricultural employment with all its insecure benefits and all its temp- tations. They even neglected to builds houses. In a word, they gave up the settled mode of life and reverted to nomadic life, devoting themselves to the more ancient and, as they thought, the purer worship of Jehovah. They were not a large nor a very influential party. V. 8. Have we obeyed the voice of , Jonadab? Two centuries and more had elapsed since Jonadab had started the Rechabite movement, and through- out this long period they had remain- ed faithful to the commands laid on them by their ancestor. V. 9. Neither . . vineyard, nor field, nor seed. Bedouin, such as the Recha- bites undoubtedly were, do not culti- vate the soil, still less do they culti- vate the vine. Their only real estate consists of pasture lands for the rais- ing of flocks and herds. The modern Bedouin, however, frequently employ the peasants to cultivate the land for them. - V. 11. In 598 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, along with a Syrian army from about Damascus, invaded the 24:1 2 ThisnvJudea, as oncaused the Kings echabites. to flee from the open, unfortifiedcoun- try, to Jerusalem, which was a fort - fled city. II. FAITHLESS JUDAH, 12-14. V. 12. Jeremiah now proceeded to contrast the loyalty of the Rechabites to their established rules, with the dis- obedience of the people of Jerusalem and Judah, to God's commandments. The prophets were fond of preaching by symbolic actions, and the fidelity of the Rechabites. in refusing wino provided Jeremiah with an admirable occasion for driving home a message to the spectators. V. 13. Win ye not receive instruc- tion? The 'word rendered "instruc- tion" means, properly, training or discipline. Will the Jews never allow God to educate them in his ways? V. 14. The Rechabites had paid strict heed to the injunctions imposed upon them by their ancestor, Jonadab, but the Jews would not even listen to the injunctions which God was laying upon them through the prophets. Rising early and speaking; speaking early and often. God had not failed to make known his will through the prophets, but the people would not give the prophets a hearing. 'III. FAITHFULNESS COMMENDED, 18, 19. I Vs. 18, 19. Because of their faith- ' fulness, the order of the Rechabites will endure always, according to the I will of God. To stand before nze. "To ° stand before Jehovah" means to min- ister to him. This expression is fre- quently use of the priests. They were those who stood before the Lord. Ac- cording to a late tradition, some of the Rechabites were incorporatedinto the ranks of the lower temple clergy. We are not sure, however, that any of the Rechabites ever did forsake their des- ert life, and come to live permanently in Jerusalem: pAPPLICATION. 1. At the outset of our study it is well to note the appropriateness of the lesson title,—"Jeremiah, the Prophet of Courage." The belittling and pal- try characterization of him as `the weeping prophet" does not give a true description of hint. The outstanding feature of his call to the prophetic office (ch. 1) is the fact of the young I Jeremiah's inflexible determination to be obedient to the divine command, though it should mean setting himself in opposition to the highest and most powerful in the land because of his fidelity to God. 2. The courage of the prophet ap- pears when we recognize the magni- tude and peculiar difficulty of the task that confronted him. It was to be his lot to disillusionize his fellow - countrymen, to declare unto them the folly of their political; rulers, and the futility of the popular worship. It was his duty to say publicly and often, that the nation was drifting like an unmanageable ship in the storm to- ward the fatal rocks of destruction. For the prophet's exposure of the helplessness of the many "gods" wor- shipped by the Israelites see ch. 2:27, 28. For condemnation of the political policies of the government, see ch. 2: 36, 37; 22:18, 19. "He was both traitor and heretic because he moved in a realm of ideas that was inacces- sible to the men of his time. send them to the Experimental Farm to be named, and ask for special di- rections if any are needed. In other words, make intelligent efforts to con- trol or kill the weeds on your farm. Don't lose your work and time and. shrink your crop by going at it hap- hazard. It will cost more the first year to do it thoroughly, but far less the second. Even two seasons' work of this- thorough -going kind will bring surprising results. Saves Time and Help in Haymaking. We have a device which is a great labor -saver in haying time. It is a truck which fits a wagon rack and runs on four small wheels that use the side rails of the wagon rack for a track • The truck is 6% feet wide and 7% feet long. The frame of the truck is half the size of the wagon rack length, and the space between the wheels is adjustable so a.3 to flt any hayrack. The truck is placed on the back of the wagon rack when beginning to load hay with a hay -loader.' When the truck is full, half of the entire load is on the wagon and the other half of the load can be put on. This eliminates the necessity of handling the hay twice or dragging it from the rear of the wagon rack tothe front. The truck device is equipped with long stakes and cross -bars at one end, short stakes and one bar at the rear. Stakes, front and rear, can be olaeed flat when not in use, The truck is provided with steel arms fastened to a sprang, reaching over and under the rack rails tohold the tru�,1 k 3n -place while in use. When the truck. isfilled, the arms may be released and the truck pushed to the front of the wagon rack.. The outfit weighs 230 p'P unds and when'instorage occupies a space 7x9 feet and 9 inches deep. By use of the "hay hand," as the truck is called, one man is saved on the wagon, time is saved in unloading, as the load is in two sections and the driver is never in the way of the man handling the hay as it comes from the loader.— A. K. C. Why They Go. The farm family as weknew it as boys differs from the modern farm family of to -day. In the old days with ten or a dozen children growing up on every farm there was little need of immigration the needs were largely taken care of by natural increase. It is different to -day. The children in the modern farm home are frequently not abundant enough to replace the father and mother. Under present conditions the farm population is on the decline. Overwork, necessitated by the lack of sufficient help on the farms, has driven more boys from the farm during the past fifteen years than any other cause. With work staring the young men on the farms in the face the tendency has been to attempt more than their strength would warrant. The boys get tired of the long hours and drudgery made necessary by lackof sufficient help and seek some other outlet. . Overheard in An Orchard. Said the Robin to the Sparrow: "i should really like to know Why these anxious human beings Rush around and worry so." Said the Sparrow to the Robin: "Friend, I think that it must be That they have no Heavenly Father. Such as cares for you and ane." —Elizabeth Cheney. Many men seek fortune in order to be independent: they should rather seek character, the wily true source of independence. • r '1 4 4 4 ,40 1