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1% oa Conducted by Pro oH - crops. 2 stamped and addressed envelope Question--M, P.:--1I have purchased two tons of ground limestone to ex- periment with. How, when and where' shall I apply it to get best results? I intend to sow oats, barley, corn, sugar- beets, clover and wheat. The land is all under-drained and fall plowed except corn stubble and beet ground; soil, good clay loam. Intend to sow barley on corn stubble land disced up in the spring and seed to red clover. Answer: --I would advise you to pick out three acres of uniform corn stubble land. Apply one ton of ground lime- : stone to the first acre and thoroughly By disc it in, in preparing the seed-bed for the barley which is to be seeded to red clover, should lies right between one and three thoroughly disc the land but do not apply limestone and seed to barley and red clover. On acre No. 3, apply the remaining 1000 lbs of ground lime- stone and disc up the land in prepara- tion for the grain seed. Just before seeding time, or a week or ten days after having worked the limestone into the soil, apply 200 to 300 pounds of a fertilizer analyzing 2 to 8% ammonia and 8 to 10% available phosphoric acid. If your seed-drill has not a fer- tilizer drilling attachment, scatter the fertilizer as evenly as possible over the : acre and thoroughly harrow it into the = ground. Then sow your barley and x red clover as before. At harvest time weigh the results from the three individual acres separ- ately and you will have a clear demon- stration of, first, the value of the lime, second, the value of the lime and fertilizer. Besides weighing the bar- ley, be sure to note the earliness with which it ripens on each plot and the weight per bushel of the grain when it is harvested. Also note how suc- cessful the grass and clover seedings have been on each plot. Ground limestone is a corrector of i soil sourness and is not essentially a plantfood. When you have limed the The object of this department Is to place' at the: v service of our farm readers the advice of an acknowl. 'edged authority on all subjects pertaining to soils and ' Address all questions to Professor Henry G. Bell, in care of The Wilson Publishing Company, Limited, To- .ronto, and dnswers will appear In this column in the order in which they.are received. As space Is limited It is advisable where immediate reply is necessary that e enclosed with the question, when the answer will be mailed direct. On the second acre which, soil you have corrected its condition so that clover will thrive on it, but when you have added 200 to 800 pounds of fertilizer in addition to the lime, you have given available plant- food to the tiny clover crop just the same as you give whole milk to the young calves, and the results from seeding both the young barley and clover crops should be quite as appar- ent as they are in good feeding of live- stock. Question--8. C.:--Am thinking of sowing a couple of acres of beans. How would they do on sod plowed in the spring? The land is sandy loam which has not been worked for quite a while. Would sow the beans with a ten hoe drill. . How deep should they be planted and would the common white bean be all right? Answer:--Beans should do well upon spring plowed sod, if after plow- ing great care is taken to thoroughly disc and harrow the seed-bed, and pos- sibly if the ground appears to be too loose to roll it and follow with a har- rowing. The point is that the turn- ing under of the heavy sod may make the seed-bed too loose and actually in- jure the water supply around the growing plant. This can be avoid- ed by thoroughly working the seed- bed into a compact but still mellow form. om 5 : Prrvinany dt uvoerwooD 3 COMING BACK TO This picture shows graphically what i faces the Belgian refugees when the | Germans have swept over their towns. This aged couple after wandering homeless and penniless for months have returned to pick up the shreds of their lives. Where there was a prosperous town they find only ruin and desolation. What is left for them to do? It seems hopeless, yet thousands of them have faced their reconstruction period long before it was safe to do so, with the same fortitude that the Belgian nation displayed in resisting the in- vasgion. But these courageous people must have help, until they can get on their feet again and find means to keep themselves alive, they must receive aid ey DEVASTATED HOMES, ~~ from their friends abroad. = At leat food must be supplied them, : 'This is the work the Belgian Relief Committee undertook to do and has done with a thoronghness that has astonished the world. It has tireless- lessly labored to give these people the chance they have so well earned to re-establish themselves. In this work it has been aided by the people of Canada most freely, and it is dependent on Canadians still, with their brothers in Great Britain and the United States, to continue the work as long as the Germans remain on Belgian soil. Subscriptions should be sent either to the Central Belgian Relief Committee at 59 St. Peter Street, Montreal, or tq the local branches. The gardener's greatest aids in raising early crops are the hotbed and The general rule, in sowing seed, is the cold frame. The hotbed enables him to plant seed and produce seed-| ESSENTIALS FOR THE GARDENER Construction and Care of Hotbed and Cold Frame--Both Are of Greatest Assistance in Obtaining An Early Start With Market Produce. position and bank the sides and ends Pe "Lorna Doone," I Address all cor Castle Frank Read, dia attr, "lin DX For yor of Great Inventions," by E. E. Burns; "Legends of King Arthur and His Court," by F. N, Greene; "Old Greek Stories," by J an Ice-pan," by Dr. W. T. Grenfel; "David Livingstone," by C. 8. Horne; "The Boy's Nelson," by H. D. Wheeler; "Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous," by 8. K. Bolton; "Historic Boyhoods," by R. 8. Hol- land; "Heroes and Heroines of Eng- lish History," by A. 8S. Hoffman; "Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls," retold by W. H. Weston; "Ivanhoe," and "Kenilworth," by Sir Walter Scott; "Tom Brown's School: Thos. Hughes; "John Halifax, Gentle- a splendid series of twenty volumes, for boys and girls from eight to four- teen, of which a few titles are: "Birds That Every Child Should Know," "Earth and Sky That Every Child Should Know," "Water Wonders That Every Child Should Know." Some of the other subjects treated are: "Wild Animals," "Pictures," "Songs," "Trees," "Famous Stories," "Heroes," "Meroines." This series affords a vast amount of useful information in very readable form. L.W.:--The wedding anniversaries are as follows: 1, Cotton; 2, Paper; 3, with manure. Place about three | inches of good garden loam on top of the manure inside the frame and cover | Leather; 4, Fruits and Flowers; 5, Wooden, 10, Tin; 12, Silk and Fine Linen; 15, Crystal; 20, China; 25, 5 Se ? be. publighed w rite on one side of "papers nd addressed envelo ice for this departh by Blackmore; "Story |. us, Baldwin; "Adrift on 8," by | man," by Miss Mulock. There is also to put them not deeper than four times lings long before the seed planted out their longest diameter. This would' of doors has begun to germinate. The mean that the beans should not be | old frame enables him to get the planted deeper than 2% to 3 inches. ! soo dlings produced in the hothouse The common white bean is a service- it with the sash. After the heat has,igjiver: 30, Pearl; 40, Ruby; 50, Golden; reached its maximum and has subsid- | 6 Diamon d pT ar ' ed to between 80 degrees and 90 de- odd " grees F., it will be safe to plant the CR 3 : (seeds. Select the plumpest, freshest ALR:--1. 'Milk dishes are the boiling 4, A paint the lowest step stairs white, Or a fold can be tacked to the bet To cut new bread try usi which has been dipped i nn 6. Fresh coffee stains can | removed by pouring boiling water through the fabric. 7. If steak is rolled in 'flour before frying, it will keep in the juice and make the meat more terider and delicious. ; C.B.:--Iron rust stains cannot be taken out by water. Try a mild acid, such as cream of tartar, spread on the | stain and washed through by hot wa- ; ter, or dilute oxalic acid. When the stain is removed be sure to wash out the acid. : - V.D.F.:--A_ good play for your school concert would be "The Making {of Canada's Flag," in which from fif« i teen to twenty-five children may take "part. Another patriotic play for boys. and girls is "The Key to Jack Can: {uck's Treasure House." It deals with { our splendid national resources. Both these plays may be obtained from city booksellers at 25 cents each. | S.N.:--A mixture of one-half ounce borax, one-half ounce glycerine, three ounces rose water and two ounces bay rum will soften and whiten the hands. Cornmeal is also excellent a whitener, and glycerine and juice mixed is recommended. If a bowl of oatmeal is kept beside the kitchen sink and rubbed over the hands after washing it will prevent roughness. able type to grow but you should take care to sift out all the undersized and injured beans and to pick out 100 beans and lay them between a damp cloth, keeping them in a warm room. You can watch the sprouting of these beans after they have been prepared as described, and if at the end of a week or ten days they do not sprout strong and show considerable vigor, you will do well to obtain new seed. Cire Sone) Chronicindigestion is indicated by the following symptoms: Unthriftiness, capricious appetite, increased thirst, + irregularity of the bowels, dry, star- ing coat, hide bound, sometimes slight, colicky pains. If due to imperfect mastication have teeth attended to. Give purgative followed by a dram each, ginger, gen- tian, nux vomica, and bicarbonate of soda 3 times daily, and food of first- class quality. Increase the feed gradually, and give regular exercise at some kind of work. When the hair begins to shed, the heavy coated horses should be clipped. When not at work, have a blanket handy to throw over the clipped horse and he will not take cold. There will be no delays in the spring work if the work teams are properly prepared at the start. Gradually toughen up the horses that have been standing in the stable. A poor collar hurts worse than a heavy load: Adjust the traces to the length of the horse. Get your horse as near as. possible to the load he is to pull. Mud-spattered harnesses on a clear day look as if something were wrong. Wash them up after the spring storms and bad roads are over, and keep them washed, A harness that is permitted to go dirty will not last so long as one which is cleaned and oiled often. A horse that does not eat when food is before him is wrong somewhere. Look at his teeth. Watch all danger signals, ind up the week's feeding with a bran mash. Stop f g ng geese twelve or fifteen hours before you kill them. the best-founded efforts at success. given in winter should be meat in some b cold air is the only thing that ep the hens from freezing to A few sickly hens will undermine} ke Five to ten per cent. of the food |' SF bry I The tested and 'approved cow, and the dairyman determined to do his best, make a winning combination. Above all things let no one pester the bull. Nine out of ten cross bulls are made so by wrong treatment on the part of some one who either does not think .or who does not know any better. . With-all our kindness let us keep a firm hand and a good stout staff on the bull. ' The cow due to calve soon should be fed only laxative, easily digested food. Toughen your cows, not by expos- ing them to the raw spring winds and storms, but by daily exercise on sun- shiny days, and careful stabling when the winds whisk around the corner. Before we offer a farm for sale, we know it pays to slick it up and make it look the very best we can. Same way with a cow we want to sell. We can't expect men to take much interest in a rack of bones or a dung heap fast- ened to a pair of hind legs. Clean up, Put a good coat of flesh on your cow, and then offer her for sale. Pastures which are used one week too early in the spring will generally run short at least three weeks earlier than if they had been properly con- served. d ------ Rig up an old pasture for the hogs this season. It will be a great saving in feed. - Tas Lots of folks down-town never know what good bacon & ham it. Make yours extra good this year. The constant cold weather of the eans of gradually accustomed to outdoor eon- | oq. ohtainable. Use standard var- ditions and to raise these into strong,' t liab od sturdy planting stock by the time the jeties and get them from reliable se | garden is ready for them. The cold frame is used in hardening ! the plants which have been started in the hotbed sor in mild climates for | starting plants-before the seeds can be safely planted in the open. Resetting plants from a hotbed into the cold frame gives them a better root system and makes them stockier and more valuable for transplanting in the open ground. Building of Hotbed. The hotbed should be in some shel- tered, but not shaded, spot which has a southern exposure. The most con- venient size is'a boxlike structure six feet wide and any multiple of three feet long, so that standard three by i six feet hotbed sash may be used. The frame should be twelve inches high in the back and eight inches on:the front. This slope is for the purpose of securing a better angle for the sun's rays and should be faced toward the south. ' The hotbed not only 'must collect Crisis in Plant Life. n | Keep the bed partly dark until the 'seeds germinate. After germination, however, the plants will need all the light possible, exclusive of the direct rays of the sun, to keep them growing rapidly. This is a crisis in plant life and ven- tilating and watering with great care are of prime importance. Too close | planting and too much heat and water | catise the plants to become spindling. ' Water the plants on clear days in t morning -and ventilate immediately to dry the foliage and to prevent mil- The cold frame, so useful in harden- ing plants started in the hotbed and for starting plants in mild climates, is constructed in much the same way as the hotbed except that no manure is used, and the frame may be cover- éd either with glass sash or with can- vas. A cold frame may be built on the i surface of the ground, but a more permanent structure suitable for hold- ing plants over winter will require a any heat it can from the sun, but also pit eighteen to twenty-four inches must generate heat of its own from deep. The cold frame should be filled fermentation in fresh manure. Fresh ith a good potting soil. The plants 'that the inner bark .of the scion -fits horse manure, free from stable litter, | is best for gemérating heat. If the hotbed is to be an annual af- fair, make 'an excavation eighteen inches to two feet deep, about two the frame carrying the sash. Line the 'excavation with plank or with a brick or concrete wall. A drain to carry off surplus water is essential. After a sufficient amount of fresh horse manure has been accumulated, fill the pit, and while it is being filled tramp the manure as firmly and as evenly as possible. When the ground level is reached place the frame. in feet greater in lengthhand width than, should have more ventilation in the cold frame, but should not receive so { much water. It is best to keep the soil rather dry. - In transplanting, remember that plants usually thrive better if trans- planted into ground freshly cultivated. ! Transplanting to the open field is best | done in cool, cloudy weather, and in| the afternoon. This prevents the sun's rays from causing the plant to lose too much moisture through evap- oration. In transplanting the garden- er will find a child's express wagon an excellent trolley tray for bedding out his seedlings. INTERNATIONAL LESSON APRIL 1. "i Lesson L--Jesus Gives Sight To The Blind--John 9. 1-38 Golden 2 'Text--John 9. 5. gud Verse 1. Passed by. A spurious a dition to John 8. 69 (see margin) woul quite al--"one day as ) W link this verse with the last. JLeoamy, : their hard theorizing in the presence of sorrow. They should be looking out for opportunities of joining their Mas- ter in his Father's works. While it is day--See John 11. 9; 12. 35. The par- able itself guards against misuse: man's intellectual and spiritual work is often done at night. 'But just as our work for ly bread normally stops sundown, so the op unity of ministering to men in their sorrow Will ease with death. if iin gh Com} or 17. 11) 1s not the only one. See Les- son Text Studies for March 18, verse men Mar fd 02 of saliva is used iin e Sug (and refuse to intermarry. formula for grafting 85. Cast him out--See verse 22 and John 16. 2. The Son of Man (margin) ~--So read, beyond doubt, Since this great title refers tacitly to future judgment, there is special significance in verse 39 in this connection. 87. He it is-----Compare John 4. 26. 38. Worshiped--Jesus accepts a re- verence which angels refuse (Rev. 22. 8, 9). el a THE ART OF GRAFTING. When in the spring the sap begins to move in the stock, be ready; this occurs early in the plum and cherry, and later in the pear and apple, Do the grafting, if possible, on a mild day during showery weather. , The neces- sary tools are a chisel, or a thick- bladed knife or a grafting iron (with which to split open the stock after it is sawed off smoothly with a fine- tooth saw), a hammer or mallet to aid the splitting process, a very sharp knife to trim the scions, and a supply" of good grafting wax. Saw off a branch at the desired point, split the stock a little way down, and insert a scion at each outer edge--taking care snugly and exactly against the inner #stock. This--together with the exclusion of air and moist- ure until 'a union results--constitutes the secret of success. Trim the scions wedge-shaped, insert them accurately; bark of the 'the wedge should be a trifle thicker on the side which comes in contact with the stock's bark. Lastly, apply graft- ing wax. Each scion should be Jong enough to have two or three buds, The "spring" of the cleft holds the scion securely in place, and therefore tying should be unnecessary. If both scions in a cleft grow, one may later be cut away. When grafting large trees it is best not #0 cut away too much of the tree at once; therefore a few secondary branches should be left untouched, and these, after the scions are thrift- ily growing, can gradually be cut away the following years. Or, part of a tree can be thus top-grafted one year and the remainder the next. Many a wonthless tree has thus been entirely changed. You can't graft a pear or an apple on a cherry or plum tree, or vice versa. The stone fruits and the maceous. fruits are separate families ep ET thick | THE PARIS DOLL LIKES 'R NEW HOME. It was past 12 o'clock in Toytown and big fat Policeman had come' around as he always did every night to see if there were any new dolls in the window. Sure enough! ere was a new. dollie, with big blde eyes and light golden hair, and the big Policeman thought the big Boy Doll Was looking at her very strangely. No wonder, for the Paris Doll had { just been put in the window of Toy- 'town that very afternoon, and she was so very beautiful that all the other dolls stoped looking out of the win- dow just to see her. The Brown Monkey stopped pulling the Stuffed Cat's tail just to see what it was all about. The Tin Soldiers stood up very straight as if to salute, while the Wooden Firemen looked around to see if there was a fire anywhere. "Have you been, here very long?" asked the Boy Doll of the Paris Doll "Oh, no," said the Paris "1 came from across the w. e dear little girls packed me a box "and gave me a lot of kisses to give to Canadian boys and girls, and one of the 'dollmakers taught me English so that I could understand what w: id to me." es "That is very wonderful," said the Boy Doll. "I hope you like it here." "I know I shall," said the Paris Doll, "Every one is so kind." 5% Just then the big Policeman turn- ed his back and the Brown Monkey threw a block at the window and the big fellow jumped right up in the air. He turned around very quickly and thought he saw all the dolls, tin soldiers and firemen laughing at him. 1 wonder if they really were? --een : Th - Where a flock or individuals in it are not doing well, there is no mystery 'about it, =~ Remember parasites, in- ternal as well as external. If you are up to date ; the experiment station reports. SN