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1' F03 FARMERS: STOC

__i_lI_€ _ CIIARLOTTETOWN GUARDIAN

K BREEDERS A ND

PAGE Tllnlpm

/Pr0per Feeding For Rabbit Farm

Primer feeding is essential to gucczss with every kind of live stock and rabbits are no excep- tion to this rule. The inexper- ienced keeper of rabbits is indiu- ed to overfeed them. so that care should be taken to feed only what will be eaten at one meal. Gener- ally speaking two feeds a day, morning and evening. are all that are requlred.but for nursing moth- grs or during moulting or when a rabbit becomes in down it is ad- visable to feed oftener. A noon {and in addition is usually suffic- ien .

The time of giving the different reeds is optional. one breeder pre- ferring to give the feed of all- grain and roots in the morning and the all-hay at night. Other breeders prefer the reverse course, while still others prefer to divide the feeds, giving part of the hay and grain in the morning and part at night. It is really immg. terial and may be arranged to the best convenience of the breeder. Only sound clean feed should be used. It is imperative that the hey or grain should be free from musiilness. the green feed fresh and never heated, and the roots clean. . '

Feed should never be allowed to remain lying on the floor of the hutch to become soiled. All left- over feed. except hey which should be kept in racks or the dry grain in troughs, should be removed be- fore the next feeding. Water and feed dishes should be kept scrup- ulously clean, and should be inths form of heavy crocks or attached troughs which the rabbits cannot move about. There is still a pop- ular belief in some quarters that rabbits do not require water. Ani- mals fed on succulent green feed d0 not. P97115415. need water to the same extent as those fed mainly on hay and grain, never- theless all rabbits should have clean water available at all times so that they may drink when de- sired. The necessity of having the does liberally supplied with water at kindling time cannot be too

lily fimphssized. as neglect of t is precaution has caused theloss o! many a good litter.

Full information on the feeding of rabbits. together with tables mowing the composition and dig- estible nutrients of feeds. is eon- tolned in the bulletin "The Feed- ing of Rabbits,” issued by the Do- minion Department of Agriculture

and obtainable free on request from the Publicity and Extension Branch tawa.

Seed Treatment Reduces iloavy LOSS

Farmers are now busy making preparations for spring seeding. G°°d "OPS and heavy ye.ds are directly associated with the we 0d clean healthy seed of the best quality. ‘The annual losses, due to the ravases of seedborne bacterial and fungou; parasites. are much greater than the average farmer realizes. I'm this reason, all seed should be treated before it is sown, "Sardless 0. its quality.

Seed treatment of wheat, oats and barley has been greatly simp- lifled in recent years w-th the appearance on the market of organic mercury dusts. These dusts, when pmnerly applied. effectively control the amuts of oats, covered smut 0d barley, bunt or stnklng smut of wheat and the other seed borne fungi and bacteria that are roillflnslble for the blight and root rots commonl found in our cereal crops. Dus their application, eiffectivenem. land stimulation to germination. they are rapidly re- placing formalin and copper car- bonate. They are not, however, recommended as a control for the loose srnuts o.‘ wheat and barley. These smuts are not affected by the use of the ordinary seed treat- ments, but can be controlled by the hot water treatment.

In applying organic mercury dusts to the seed, care should be exercised to follow instructions as outlined on the container. The amount oi dust recommended should be evenly distributed over the seed coat. Insufficient dust will be ineffective in control, and an excess will injure germination. Grain. lifter being treated with mercury dust. should not be fed to livestock or poultry, or used for human consumption. It can, how- ever, be kept over, under suitable storage conditions, and used as seed the following year.

Further information conoemlng seed treahnents may be obtained ‘by writing the Dominion Botanist Division of Botany, Central Ex- perimental Farm, Ottawa, Can- ada.

Look over tubers in the basement for mold and excessive dryness.

Seed is one of the cheapest gar- den materials; ordgr enough.

Let magazines. catalogs and books play an ‘mportant par‘. in your fire- side gardening; then, let the in-

ANI Mill HIISBANIJRY

INJURIOUS INSECT!

In a series of articles an st- tempt will be made to throw some light on questions regarding in.- sect pests, their habits, life mg- tories and control, without the use of unnecessary details or un- familiar words.

The need for more accurate and complete information regarding our common farm pests is sufficiently well emphasized on the mere con- sideration of the damage result- ing from the army worm, zebra, caterpillar. turnip aphis. canker worm, the forest tent caterpillar, etc. In addition such ‘ asi out worms, cabbage worms, cab- bage maggots. potato beetles, etc. take a heavy annual toll from farm and garden crops. Alltheselnsects can be readily and in many cases, cheaply controlled if the outbreak is taken in time and the right remedies applied.

While much information is bo- ing continually offered the farmer relative to better methods of pro- duction, comparatively little is written with respect to the protec- tion of crops during the growing season. For the student there are numerous and excellent tests, but most oi’ these are too long. too expensive, and too technical for the general farmer.

It might be wcll to state 1n the beginning that any worthwhile views accuring from time to time are not merely those of the writer but have been set forth by a suf- ficiently authoratlve entomologist as to be of worthy note.

Insects are usually known as bugs though a bug is a name which should be confined to one special groups of insects. The term bug is often applied to many small forms of animal life which are not insects at ‘all.

If we take an‘ earth worm. s. spider, a. centipede, a millipede. and a grasshopper, we will see that they have one important re- semblance in that in all of them the body seems to be made up of joints or rings. Upon examination it will be seen that the grass- hopper differs from the others in having wings-two pairs of them. it has only three pairs of legs and its body appears to be divided into

formation you gather form itself into a plan on paper.

I100 lflnnrd’: for colds.

00m) mama 1s AMATEUR/S aasr mrsun

m those tantalizing weeks of ‘any spflng, when a warm sun all“! day sets the garden fever burn B and freezing Well-m" m” night chills the courase. a wld "9"" l‘

i less. prggrybody needs one, irhouGh 5° may have ayhOb-beli‘. P? “m” green-house in addition. g0 u"? great majority °f 11mm 3"’ anerii the cold frame will suflice for a ma! needs in early 59191118- -

Easy to build. and simple to OP-

to go ahead w‘th anything.

To make a cold frame. the ac- companying illustrations give full and detailed instructions. The soil which is used in it should be fine, friable top soil. we"! pulverized. Sow the seed as you would in a flat, or hotbed, water thoroughly and firm the soil over the seed, pressing smooth with a brick, or p'ece of board

Watering now becomes of great importance. At no time should the soil be allowed to become hard and dry. Yet excessive watering may cause the seeds to rot, sour the sou,

Is‘): s’ IS srauoaao SASH 512E

HINGE SASH TO FRAME FOR EASY HAN LING. .

GROU ND LEVEL

%l5'-"a. l

sat rams on aalcks

1:29 L K TO PREVENT savruno

BRICK i5 couvnumr roe ._ asisiuc. sisu 1o .., ANY uncut ,;~.-.._( _ LNECESSARV. 11/» .

The Cold Frame Story- Row to Build and Use It

crate, it enables seeds to be sown several weeks before it would be safe to sow them in the 0pm- Wm‘ the protection of the glass sash 0n frosty nights the seeds will 881'- rrdnato, and the seedlinils 8m" sturdiy, until they are lame 811011811 h transplant into the 0P6" Emwd- Success in cold frame practice de- pends upon the ludillllellt "5"! l“ timing the sowing. so that when transplanting date arrives the dan- ges- of frost injury is past- Bowlns dates may vary with different crow; depending on the length of semin- ating periods, which vary Greatly l" flower seeds, and on the tendsrufltl! of the seedling plants. Wh l0 Ill baby plants. like baby annuals. m less hardy and resistant than adults. some wil stand light. frosts Wllllt others will dl: at a touch of frost. The earlier you wish to sow seeds. the more imnoriant these consider- ations of driall become. If Y0" l" content i0 wai: with sovsinn untl

tou- weeks before it would rt- w» b plant outdoors, a nbo

uldbesefo essoouelyouoen-

use LuMauz 'Z"TH\CK.5"NAlLS AND Abe emanate moms As snowu m saercu

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l we com‘. uv THE xiii“ PISUESEPLBIEGISZAILED FOR VENTILATION.

HOW SEEDS IF (‘DVJS THE NADLQW WAY OF

FP\ME

9

make out with the naked eye. There are also a pair of "feelers" attached to the head. About the mouth are certain jaws, liptlnetoo called thorax are attached the

three distanct parts or regions. All but the earth worm also have paired, jointed legs and other ap- pendages. In the case of the centipede and millipede, the sig- ments behind the head are almost exactly alike. In the centipedc there are many legs, one pair to each sigment, which in the milli- pede there is a still large number of legs, two pairs for most of the body sigments. 1n the spider the body is divided into two distinct parts and there are only four pairs of legs. In the grasshoilllel‘ the body is divided into three dis- tinct parts or regions and there

are only three pairs of 108$. "W" are also two pairs of wings.

In reality, the grasshopper is

the only one oi! the five that should properly be called an in- sect and what is noted regarding it applies, in general, to all We thus see that insects can be distinguished from all other ani- mals by having Jointed bodies divided into three regions known as head, thorax and abdomen. with three pairs of legs and usual- ly two pairs of wings. This ap- plies, of-couise, to adult insect-B only. Inmature insects have’ no wings and differ in other import- ant respects, which we will study later.

insects.

Studying the insects more care-

fully we see that the head bears a. large pair of eyes called corn- pound eyes. seen under a microscope. each of these eyes is made up of a large number of six-sided divisions each of which represents a distlnt eye. 'I‘he animal has also three simple

because as can be'

yes but these are dlfflfllllii I0

To the

parts”. wings

"mouth

i-d ping ofl." When the (plartitsuszppeg: thin them out, n1- mwmg egich m grow singly wit-b- out crow n8-

After the seedlin88 appear. Wei"- ihg is still important. Good drin between whch the sol! dries some- what without becoming crusty and hard, should be the rule. And fresh air is the next sleet nwd- Wulila‘; ny dgyg, the sash should be early in the morning. Olllilwl" u" tgmperaillto may quickly "l" ml?‘ dangerous height. Inspect the 00 frame at least svofy 100mm! 5nd arsemoon, and remember it when- ever the weather changes abruptly- You will soon learn the p108!!!" needed to keep the younl P1811" growing vigorously. which means with good heavy roots and =90"! mm, stocky rather than tall and spindlinl.

When transplanting time comes. take up the seed] rigs with as little disturbance of the roots as P05511315- and get them back into the ground

' feeds on the juices of plants, and

and legs. It will be seen that the

part forming the foot of the grass-

hopper is composed of a number of

seg-mints and bears a pair of claws

The abdomen bears neither legs

nor wings. Small openings celled

breathing pores are found on each

side of the body. These connect

with air tubes which conduct air to all parts of the body.

As has already been pointed out there is situated around the in- sects mouth a number of sp- pendages called “mouth parts" and these may be fitted for either bit- ing or sucking. where the mouth parts are fomied for biting, the insects feed upon solid food. bll" ing off pieces 'of the food plant with a pair of head jaws which work sideways instead of and down. Where the mouth parts are constructed for sucking the insect

such insects possess a beak. which contains certain structures by means oi which they pierce the plant and then suck up the juice We must first learn to r ‘ these two groups. 50681188 they i" "killed in different ways. Those that eat solid food can be killed by food poisons such as arsenical compounds. examples of which are Paris Green and arsenaic of lead. which may be sprayed or dusted on the plant. Those that suck the juice of plants are not affected by such poisons. and we must there- fore use materials that kill by con- tact, that is. a suffocating or corroding substance is required. or one that enters the breathing nores of the insects. or passess

NE WSY NOTES a

A NATUBALISTB

In “ te ' . ‘then comes the dlwlnthe change, the fall‘, as Tennyson says of another occasion. The night closes in earlier. and with the adiveut od’ cooler weather our tourist visitors from other lands “Dart. So do our summer-resi- dent birds. The grain harvests are

CALENDAR

gathered_ in; the pastures look brown and bare. Popular belief credits the “‘ ulncctial period

(Sept. 30-29) with gales, but a ro- eearch conducted by the writer some years ago. brought out the‘ fact that half of the years under observation had gales around that period. and the other half hadn't! This will not, of course. stop folk from of "Equinocual Gales!" Often s. sharp "killing frost" occurs in September with disastrous results to tomatoes. pota- toes, cucumbers, pumpkins and Dahlias.

Out wheat, Sept. l, 1916; this was hauled in Sept. 10th. Slight frost, night of Sept. 1, 1923. Pota- toes killed by blight Sept. 1, 1927- blights and rusts very prevalent this year. but very few potato “bugs" (really beetles).

Tomatoes ripe, Sept. 2, 1931. Maximum of 79 deg. recorded Charlottetown, Sept. 2, 1930.

Bad N. E. rainstorm, Sept. 4, 1924. Wind N. E. Sept. 5, 1913: getting into a bad art again! Cucumbers, etc, frozen night of 4-5 Sept.. 1918.

Nuptial flight of ants, Sept. 6, i926, followed by rain on 7th. Note on Sept. 7, 1923; "Insects scarce this year; very cool summer." N. W. wind, cool, 52 deg. in house, Sept. 7, 1917. Wonderful display of aurora at 9 p.m., on Sept. 7. 1928: again on Sept. 8, right up to zenith; followed by great storm, wind and rain, on the 9th.

Tiger-lilies in bloom Sept. B, i929. Heavy gale and rain from N.E., Sept 9, 1913. Woods full 0d fungi, toadstools, etc, Sept. l0, 193i. This was a bad year for harvesting grain: wet weather.

Humid; water-pipes in cellar dripping, Sept. ll, 1924. ished cutting oats Sept. 13th. 1915; 14th, 1918; 15‘.E1. 1921. Flights of swal- lows passed over Sept. l3, 1920. migrants from more northerlyre- glons. Birch leaves falling, Sept. l8, I931. Cedar Waxwings plunder rowans in the lane, Sept. l3, 1934.

Observed several hundred grack- les flying S.W., Sept. 14, 192.9. Guardian reports maximum 58 deg. in the City, Sept. 14. 1933. Severe frost kills tender garden stuff, Sept. 16. 1919. Lovely weather, 68 deg. in the house, at 2.15 on Sept. 17. 1917. City reports 74 deg. Sept. 1B, 1930. Leaves begin to fall, Sept. I8. 1932.

Aurora "dancing" to zenith, Sept. 19, 1919; many displays this month. Harvested garden beans, Sept. 20, 1926.

luxtraordinarliy wet summer in Northern Hemisphere, while a drought in South Africa. destroys three million sheep and nearly eight milian perish in Australia - note on Sept. 21, 1937. Flight of thousands cf small Aphodius beet- les, Sept. 21, 1930.

THE GOOD OLD TIMES

Let us go back rather better than a century, and see how matters stood on this continent. In March 1842 Henry Clay uttered these words in the American House of Representatives.- "In casting our eyes around us the most promin- ent circumstance which fixes our attention and challenges our deep- est regret is the general distress which pervades the whole country. It is forced upon us by numerous facts of the most incontestahle character. It is indicated by the diminished- exports of native pro- duce by the repressed and reduced state of our foreign navigation, by our diminished commerce by .. crops of grain perishlng in our barns and barnyards for want of a market; by the alarming diminu- tion of the circulation medium; by the numerous bankruptcies; by a universal complaint of the want of employment and by a u nsequent reduction of the wages of labor; by the reluctant resort to the peril- ous use of paper money; by the. intervention of legislation._in the delicate relations of deemi- and creditor, every description of the whole mass of the property of the nation, which has. on the average, sunk not less than fifty per cent. within a few years. This distress pervades every part of the Union, every class of society, all feel it. It is like the atmosphere which surrounds us—all must inhale it. and none can escape it."

With a few unimportant altera- tions, thls might well serve for a description of our own times. Have we gleaned any experience, either at first hand or from history, that will help us to mitigate the next slump?

A former vice-president of the United States, Charles Gates Dawes, the well-known banker, told a gathering of financiers that “i931 and 1938 will probably cover the peak years in this present per- iod of prosperity." While wam- ing capitalists to play safe with their money. Mr. Dawes made no

on the living mailer. Nicotine and soap sprays are examples of this class of compouud. It is there- fore necessary to know how an in- secils mouth parts are constructed before we can tell what poison to use. In addition to this. the struc- ture of the mouth parts. together with that of the wings. helps us to recognise the different mah: groups of insects such as beetles bugs. flies, moths. etc. This know» ledge therefore serves s double pur-

P059. AGRICULTURE!‘

througbtheskinandactsdirectly

suggestions for helping the unem-

ployed and other sufferers in the

dgilrression he regards as inevit- e.

some Asraonosnosr. rmAsvamralv-rjs

WhenIfirstbegauiotaksno- tics of the stellar universe. it was the custom to grade the visible stars into six classes. This con- venient system originated with Hip- parchus, of Nicsea, an astronomer who lived in the second century 3.0. The brightest stars visible to the naked eye, he said, were in class one, or, as we afterwards made it, were "of the first magni- tude." Those stars at the extreme limit of human vision were of the sixth magnitude. When astron- omer! invented exact photometric apparatus they abolished the old classes and set up a new scale. Taking Alpha Centaurl as magni- tude 0 (zero) they graded upward by means of—-(mlnus) figures; and downward by unmarked or plus figures. The series ran:-4;-3;-- I; 0; l; 3; 3; 4; etc. Each magni- tude is 2 l-2 times the one below it: a star of magnitude 0 is z l-2 times as bright as a star of magni- tude 1.

On the 12th of February. 1937. the planet Venus was-AB magni- tude and therefore 100 times brigh- ter than Regulus, a star of magni- tude 1. Readers may figure this out for themselves.

Sirius, the brightest star in the sky has, in the new notation, a magnitude of-1.6; Alpha Centauri (long thought to be the nearest of the fixed stars) has a. magni- tude of 0.0 (some say 03); and Aldebaran a magnitude of 1.0. ‘Pherefore A. Centauri is 3 l-2 times, and Sirius ll times, as bright as Aldebaran.

I cannot say that I regard this scale with a favorable eye; the zero in the middle and the use of the minus sign seem rather clumsy expedients: but there they are!

In some special cases the dis- tance between the earth and the sun is used as an astronomical unit of measurement, just as we use the mile in terrestrial dis- tances. This is equal to about 93.- 900000 miles, but large as it ls, it is too small for the measurement of stellar distances. It was neces- sary to seek a longer “yardstlck" and it was here that the light-year came in. Light travels 186,000 miles in a second, which figures out to 5880 billion miles (or 63,310 astronomical units) in the year. This distance —- nearly six trillion