THE FARM OF THE FUTURE
compiled by Dee Finney

This entire paper is copyrighted. You may print it out for your own use, 
but it may not be sold, traded, or bartered for any amount of money or goods.
updated 12-15-07
 
2-4-06 - DREAM: I was sitting at my computer, looking at a list of links. I decided to play with the list and eliminated links until I had a list where the letters lined up perfectly on a diagonal until they spelled: 

m
   o
     t
       h
         e
           r

I thought that was a clever way to remember my mother who had passed away last year. 

I decided I would read a book. I had lots of books I hadn't had time to read yet. 

I went down the stairs to my library to pick out a book and I heard this preacher coming down the hallway, yelling, "Jesus Saves!  Jesus Saves!"    I didn't want to hear him or have to speak to him. He had nothing practical to say that would save me. 

So I went up to the attic to get a book that my mother had left me and decided to read from that one because it was a thick old book and I didn't have time to read much these days.

When I got back downstairs with the book, there was a young couple who had gone to the hospital and returned with a new baby girl.  We had been babysitting their two older children who were just old enough to ride bicycles - around 3 and 4 years old - a boy and a girl. 

They now planned to move to Florida. 

I was riding in the car with them as they prepared to go to Florida and their two older children rode their bicycles alongside the car on a narrow path that ran next to the road.  I knew they'd never get to Florida because they would hit their own kids with the car when their kids lost their balance on the bicycles.

They young man decided he would rest on the sofa before they left on their trip, so I sat next to him on the sofa to read my book, which I hadn't yet had time to start. I just stuck my thumb into the book at random and began to read - it was rather near the end. 

Instead of closing his eyes and resting, he kept starting into my eyes. He had brilliantly blue eyes and they were distracting me from reading my book.

I told him I was trying to read, but he kept staring into my eyes.

All of a sudden, he grabbed the book away from me and put it behind him. He smiled and continued to stare into my eyes - never blinking. 

I said, "Hey! I was trying to read my mother's book!" I had to wrestle with him to get my mother's book back. 

When I finally got my mother's book back, he had lost my place and I said to him, "You lost my place in the book, now I have to start over from the beginning."

I opened the book from the front and discovered that the book was about running a farm the old-fashioned way - with horses pulling plow - not using gasoline run tractors. This was from way back in the olden days. It looked fascinating and now I wanted to know how they lived with no electricity and no gasoline.


 

An Old Fashioned Farm 

By Delmar E. Wilson

On my parents' farm in Benton County, Iowa, in the 1920s and 30s, we raised cattle, hogs, chickens, and sometimes sheep. We also raised a few colts since horses pulled our carriages, our machines, wagons, and hay racks. The machines included a walking plow; two two-bottom, fourteen-inch plows with seats requiring five or six horses each; a disc with a seat using four horses; a harrow with a cart with a seat using four horses; a clod chopper for occasional use; a two-row corn planter; a ten-foot seeder for oats and clover and timothy seeding; and four one-row corn plows.

We needed two hay racks and four grain wagons with high sides and higher band boards for picking eared corn. At home we had two cribs and two elevators driven by horses. We drove into the barn with wagons of oats and shoveled the oats off into a large bin for horse feed. The hay racks were unloaded with a large fork and a rope over pulleys drawn up by a horse—Daisey or Harley—ridden by one of the younger children.

Our work would generally be considered fun since we exercised and were strong and healthy. We worked together, ate together and played together. At one time, all seven children went to school on the bus, which was a model T truck with a special transmission and an exhaust pipe running down the center of the bus, boards on each side to rest our feet and keep us warm.

In extreme weather, snow or mud, we used a sled or a wagon and a spirited team of horses. In cold weather, our feet in the sled were warmed by slabs, with soap stones heated in the oven, plus many blankets and horse blankets, and many clothes, some made by our parents, and handed down from older child to younger child, with necessary alterations by my mother.

We think we ate well. Much of our food was fresh. Mother's garden had many varieties of food such as lettuce, radishes, onions, peas, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and watermelon. With many welcome hands and numerous pails it was irrigated when necessary. We filled a tile with water to irrigate the cucumbers. Water came from a stock tank and was handed over a fence. We had a small push-weeder as well as numerous hoes and rakes. For potatoes we borrowed a machine to plant the cut-up potatoes, as well as one to dig them. We moved the large potato patch, as well as items in the variety garden, yearly. We used no herbicide or insecticide with few exceptions. Our apple and cherry orchard was sprayed with a smelly ingredient.

With our large family and hired men at meals, we often needed plates for twelve or thirteen. We butchered steers and hogs on the farm. Much of it was cooked and put in jars. One time we canned 100 roosters. My father cured ham and bacon in large barrel-size crocks. I believe some items were covered with boiling lard and kept in the basement.

Our meals would always include meat, or sometimes canned salmon. Salmon was plentiful before the dams were built on the other rivers. We had a huge bin of potatoes, perhaps sixty bushels, in the cool area of the basement, and many shelves of jars containing peas, beans, pickles, corn, applesauce, berries, cherries. You can see we had pies and cakes. Most of our bread was home baked. We had graham, or rye graham, as well as white. We bought the rye and graham at the local elevator where it was ground, and the white flour from the store in Dysart. It came in fifty pound sacks. Auntie Em baked a large assortment of bread and rolls, including some with frosting.

During much of the season our food was fresh from our garden. We supplemented our butchering with fresh meat from the local butcher, "Oysters Meat Market." We purchased it on a daily basis and kept it in an ice refrigerator. Sometimes we helped a neighbor fill his ice house from a large creek and we could secure some of that ice in return or buy it. Naturally we had our own eggs, which we used, and we traded the excess for groceries. We used a mixture of feed for the chickens.

We used self-feeders with ground oats, linseed or cottonseed meal, and tankage or meat scraps, exactly what I've forgotten. With shelled corn tossed in their litter late afternoon to scratch for, chickens roamed the farmstead. There was a high fence bordering the house yard in one area.

Mother hatched the eggs with a "cluck" hen and used little metal individual houses for the hen to raise about a dozen chicks. The hen could use her house in a storm or at night. She identified with her house and called her chickens, "cluck, cluck."

We sold cream from our dairy cows, and fed the skim milk to the hogs, sometimes letting it sour in barrels with added water and ground feed to make a slop. We had fresh milk twice daily, with no pasteurization. It was filtered through a fine screen in a funnel and cooled in the basement if we had no ice, and no refrigerator. We disliked the taste of pasteurized and homogenized milk. We used a Guernsey cow's milk to have more cream. We ate all our cereal with cream, and had cream for coffee or desserts, as well. Our whipped cream was delicious. We served it for company meals. Of course, we made our own butter.

Dad arose first each morning at 4:30 and soon called up the stairs. We men and boys followed shortly to our appointed tasks—one on the pony to bring in the milk cows and horses, another bringing the clean milk pails, about six. Then we all milked while Dad fed the sows and horses, and then headed to the hog house. Others fed the fat cattle, harnessed the horse, etc. Then we carried the milk to the house basement and separated the cream. Soon after we would eat a breakfast of oatmeal or cream of wheat, pancakes, eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, corn syrup, and butter, milk and coffee. Everybody including children drank coffee if they wanted.

We had a bull on the farm and our protection and herding was aided by a black snake (bull whip) reaching about 15 feet. We could snap flies off the barn wall with it. Actually our bulls were tame and good natured, sometimes tied-up and led to water twice daily. But they were never to be trusted.

We were careful, maybe lucky, to avoid serious injuries. One time the hay fork came loose at the barn roof and came down, splitting the straw hat brim of my brother Jim and lodging in the hay rack floor.

We had the runaways of the horses, sometimes lasting to the next fence, or to home, but we had no injuries. My Dad and Uncle Dave bought horses in the West, broke some and resold some for profit. Dad used a "w" on the horses' legs with which he could pull the rope and stop the horse in training. He would then hitch it with one or two other horses and it would soon learn the signals. We loved and respected our horses. Our pony "Pet" walked very slowly when a small child was on her back, and stopped if they started to slip off—bareback of course.

Delmar E. Wilson was born July 14, 1917 in Dysart, Iowa. He resides in Springville, Iowa.

http://www.westonaprice.org/farming/oldfashionedfarm.html

 
1864 The first Amish family arrives in Knox County
 
Amish Farming

"The Amish have traditionally maintained a scale of farming that enabled each farm to be worked by a family. Few farms have more than eighty tillable acres, which is about the maximum a father and son can easily work. If more help becomes available the operation may be expanded to include more livestock or possibly specialty crops such as vegetables. Rarely are more acres added."

David Kline, 1990

Many of the Amish brought with them the farming skills passed down by their ancestors who founded their Swiss Anabaptist heritage in Switzerland and Germany nearly three-hundred years ago. In order to keep their religious, family and community values, the Amish have chosen to do without some of the technology that other farmers use. For instance, they often use horses to plant and plow their fields instead of tractors and combines. Many Amish also avoid using pesticides. Instead, many Amish famers use manure to fertilize the land. They also use crop rotation to keep the soil healthy. The Amish work to combine their knowledge of science, technology and experience to maintain their traditional way of farming. This type of farming benefits the families and the community.

 

CROP ROTATION

Now that you've bought new land you need to design your own rotation. A crop rotation is a multiple year plan for what crops you will grow in a particular field. A rotation means that you will plant different crops in the same field. Continuous cropping or monoculture is different from rotation because you plant the same crop in a field year after year. A rotation is especially important because certain crops add nutrients to the soil and other crops take nutrients from the soil. A common rotation plan is to follow corn with soybeans, then winter rye, then hay, then again to corn. As a farmer you must understand the different ways in which your crops impact the soil so that you can keep your soil healthy and productive. Read about grasses and legumes in rotations and then return to plan your own rotation!

Often farmers plan a fallow period for their fields, or in other words, give the fields a vacation from producing crops. One way in which to renew soil nutrients is to allow livestock to graze in old fields. In these pastures the animals' manure will decompose and replenish the soil so that it can continue to support crops. View the layout of your farm.

 

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FROM: http://www2.kenyon.edu/Projects/Farmschool/types/crops1.htm

"What crops are grown on an Amish farm?"

"Main crops raised by Amish in Lancaster County, in order of acreage, are corn, hay, wheat, tobacco, soybeans, barley, potatoes, and other vegetables. Farmers also grow various grasses for grazing. Corn, grain, and hay crops usually stay on the farm for feeding livestock. Tobacco, potatoes, some grain and hay plus vegetables are raised for marketing. Farming is done with horse-drawn equipment with metal wheels (no rubber tires.)"

 

Organic Farming

Organic farmers are different from conventional farmers because they choose not to use any chemicals on their farm. This means that they never spray their fields with pesticides or spread any kind of chemical fertilizers. This also means that they never give their animals any non-organic feed or give their animals any drug past a certain age. For a farmer to be able to sell his product as certified organic in Ohio, the soil must have been chemical-free for at least four years. However, it varies from state to state. While in California your soil only has to be chemical-free for one year in some states it may have to be chemical-free for ten! Each organic farmer has his own reasons for choosing to farm organic. Some farmers do it because they feel that it is cheaper to farm organic. They don't have to pay for the chemicals, they get higher prices for their products and they can use a crop rotation to produce the same kind of crop yields. Other farmers do it because they feel that they are producing a healthier product. Most farmers choose to farm organic for a combination of those reasons and others.

FROM: http://www2.kenyon.edu/Projects/Farmschool/nature/organic.htm

Importance of Sustainability in Eco-Farms
Modern farming consumes more energy than it produces, but an eco-farm will produce its own: Little Ash Eco-Farm supplies its own energy from wind, solar power and wood. On the eco-farm, hedges and woodland can be managed to produce biomass. Plants such as sunflowers can supply biofuel, and animals provide biogas. Water can be recycled and rain water harvested from farm buildings. Horses can also be used for plowing.

Manure and composts from the farm feed the land with nutrients, trace elements and minerals which will build long-term fertility. Nitrogen levels can be raised organically through green manuring using legumes (such as clover) which have a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria.

Established pastures may be enriched and sustained by the inclusion of deep rooting plants such as docks which help bring up minerals which might otherwise leach away. The herbal ley seed mixtures will produce good grazing turf which is sustainable without the chemical management required for the rye seed monoculture of the chemical farm.

Diversification is a key element for the eco-farm so that if disaster strikes, risks will be spread and some produce or animals should survive. A range of ecosystems will support different species and should include woodland, orchards containing local varieties of fruit trees and grazing, fishponds, water courses, land for a wide range of arable and vegetable crops, and pasture for hardy stock suited to local conditions – like the Sussex beef herd on Tablehurst Farm near East Grinstead, and the South Devon cattle at Little Ash Eco-Farm in Devon – as they will also be less susceptible to disease.

Although labor costs may be higher on the eco-farm (it takes one hour to spray an acre and one day to hand weed an acre) the exorbitant prices of energy, fertilizers, pesticides, and high protein animal foods are avoided and eco-farms are able to provide a liveli-hood for the farmer and his workers. As Dr. Kiley-Worthington from Little Ash Eco-Farm says, “These farms are not ‘hobby’ farms”.

The lure of the eco-farm is so strong that unpaid labour may appear as neighbours, friends and burnt-out executives often jump at the chance of being involved in the work. During the potato harvest at Tablehurst Farm, the field became full of helpers working together, making new friends and feeling enormous satisfaction with their back breaking work!

The Importance of Trees on the Eco-Farm
As trees and hedges have been uprooted to create bigger fields for ever-larger farm machinery, the levels of carbon dioxide have increased. Trees are essential to reduce pollution, stabilise the ground and cast welcome shade over it. They form the backbone of the eco-farm. Woodland can form a shelter belt for the farm or protect the banks of a stream. It will support a myriad different species of insects, birds and small mammals which form an important part of an ecosystem. Delicious nuts, fruit and edible mushrooms contribute to the abundance of the harvest; and the timber is important for biomass, building and furniture. While the best soil will be earmarked for crops for grazing, woodland may thrive on poorer land and be a wonderful attraction for visitors – children and adults alike can delight in listening to the birdsong, admiring squirrels scurrying along branches, discovering pockets of primroses, or swathes of bluebells in the spring, and in the summer enjoy the cool leafy canopy.

This way forward for farming aims to create and sustain a beautiful landscape and reawaken the symbiotic relationship between man and his environment, conserving the land’s precious resources while respecting the rights of animals. The eco-farm can provide a livelihood for the farmer, and generate other small businesses. It has the potential to sustain a thriving rural community and to give children live education in the wonders of organic food production.

Michael Littlewood is a landscape architect specialising in sustainable design for urban and rural projects, particularly with Local Agenda 21, as well as being an author. Tel: (01626) 834668.

FROM: http://www.permaculture.co.uk/mag/Articles/EcoFarming.html

The Practical Application of Permaculture

Permaculture is not limited to plant and animal agriculture, but also includes community planning and development, use of appropriate technologies (coupled with an adjustment of life-style), and adoption of concepts and philosophies that are both earth-based and people-centered, such as bioregionalism.

Many of the appropriate technologies advocated by permaculturists are well known. Among these are solar and wind power, composting toilets, solar greenhouses, energy efficient housing, and solar food cooking and drying.

Due to the inherent sustainability of perennial cropping systems, permaculture places a heavy emphasis on tree crops. Systems that integrate annual and perennial crops—such as alley cropping and agroforestry—take advantage of "the edge effect," increase biological diversity, and offer other characteristics missing in monoculture systems. Thus, multicropping systems that blend woody perennials and annuals hold promise as viable techniques for large-scale farming. Ecological methods of production for any specific crop or farming system (e.g., soil building practices, biological pest control, composting) are central to permaculture as well as to sustainable agriculture in general.

Since permaculture is not a production system, per se, but rather a land use and community planning philosophy, it is not limited to a specific method of production. Furthermore, as permaculture principles may be adapted to farms or villages worldwide, it is site specific and therefore amenable to locally adapted techniques of production.

As an example, standard organic farming and gardening techniques utilizing cover crops, green manures, crop rotation, and mulches are emphasized in permacultural systems. However, there are many other options and technologies available to sustainable farmers working within a permacultural framework (e.g., chisel plows, no-till implements, spading implements, compost turners, rotational grazing). The decision as to which "system" is employed is site-specific and management dependent.

Farming systems and techniques commonly associated with permaculture include agro- forestry, swales, contour plantings, Keyline agriculture (soil and water management), hedgerows and windbreaks, and integrated farming systems such as pond-dike aquaculture, aquaponics, intercropping, and polyculture.

Gardening and recycling methods common to permaculture include edible landscaping, keyhole gardening, companion planting, trellising, sheet mulching, chicken tractors, solar greenhouses, spiral herb gardens, swales, and vermicomposting.

Water collection, management, and re-use systems like Keyline, greywater, rain catchment, constructed wetlands, aquaponics (the integra-tion of hydroponics with recirculating aquaculture), and solar aquatic ponds (also known as Living Machines) play an important role in permaculture designs.

FROM: http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/perma.html#characteristics

SUPPLIES LIST FOR 12 PEOPLE FOR ONE YEAR

FOOD: TOTAL 1,000 QUARTS OF VARIOUS FOODS - (If you have fewer people to feed, you won't need as much: Your choice from the following:

Beef - Cooked and Canned
Pork - in lard - will not spoil even if not refrigerated
Canned chicken.
   Note: In winter, you can wrap meat and leave it outside frozen where animals can't get it.
Sardines (optional)
Tuna
Flour - wheat, (300 lbs per person)
             whole wheat, 
             rice, (100 lbs per person)
             corn meal  
Oatmeal (50 lbs per person)
Alfalfa seeds (10 lbs per person)  Seeds can be sprouted and eaten raw.
   Alfalfa and wheat seeds are excellent in salads.
Salt  (3 lbs per person)
Spices
Sugar  (60 lbs per person)
Spices
Coffee
Tea
Rice
Peas (50 lbs per person)
Beans  (50 lbs per person)
Lentils  (50 lbs per person)
Honey  (60 lbs per person)
Cayenne Pepper -  1 large can
Herbal Seasonings
Dried Milk (80 lbs per person)
Powdered Coffee and Tea
Peanut butter (50 lbs per person)
Assorted Cheese
Granola Bars
Kook Aid and Instant Fruit Drinks
Hard Candies
Cookies
Popcorn
Noodles
Bisquick
Mixed Nuts
Instant Puddings
Bottled Water
Corn
Soybeans
Dried Beans
Poppy Seed
Green Beans
Tomatoes
Carrots
Canned Fruits
Canned Vegetables
Canned Seafood
Sunflower Seeds
Almonds
Walnuts
Maple Syrup  (You can grow your own trees. Cooking 40 gallons of sap makes 1 gallon of syrup.  (See Survival for instructions)
Canned Pumpkin
Canned Potatoes
Canned Yams
Canned Pineapple
Cake Mixes
Bread Mixes
Canned Berries
Canned Pie Fillings
Dried Cereals
Canned Spam
Salsa
Canned Chili
Canned Soups
Canned Frostings
Dried Potato Mixes
Beer
Soda (not Diet - it doesn't keep in warm weather)
Pasta Sauce
Refried Beans
Pastas
Dried Fruits
Olive Oil
Corn Oil
Cannola Oil
Corned Beef
Gatorade
Sports Ade
Toaster Tarts (you can eat these untoasted too)
Cannas Pastas
Energy Mixes - Dried and Canned
Ramen
Split Peas
Watermelons can be kept in the granary covered with grain. They won't spoil.

OTHER NEEDS

Garbage Bags
Dish Soap
Laundry Soap
Fabric Softener
Toilet Tissue
Paper Towels
Nose Tissues
Stacks of Old Newspaper
Bee Sting Kit
Coffee Grinder
Whole Wheat Grinder  (Make sure to keep mice and rats away)
Meat Grinder
Medications
Baby Supplies if you have an infant
Dog Food
Cat Food
Bird Seed
Medications for your pets
Clocks

CLEANING EQUIPMENT

Brooms
Dustpans
Vacuum cleaners
Rags
Soaps of various kinds
Deoderizers
Mops
Cleaning chemicals - various kinds

CAMPING:

Mosquito neting
Punk sticks
Bug spray
Bug repellent
Bee sting kits
Snake bite kits
Sleeping bags
Rain slickers
Hiking boots
Extra dry socks
Rain boots
Gloves
Tents
Tarpaulins
Air mattresses
Puncture kits
Rain repellent coating paint
Ropes
Ridge poles
Stakes
Pins and rings
Repair kits
First aid kits
Mallets
Nets
Straps
Clips and hooks
Hammocks
Bungee stretch cords
"D" rings
Buckles
Silicone water guard
Brass grommet kits
Sewing awl and thread
Stuff bags
Ditty bags
Mesh bags
Air hand or foot pump
Wool blankets
Folding camp stools
Folding tables
Folding pots, pans and utensils
Back packs
Climbing gear
Pick axe
Helmets
Hats

Survival Food Kits
     Raisins
     Hard sausage
     Sticks of beef jerky
     Canned and slab bacon
     Powdered orange drink
     Bagels
     Powdered coffee or tea
     Assorted cheese
     Pita bread
     Granola bars
     Peanut butter and jelly
     Kool Aid instant fruit drink
     Hard candies
     Instant soups
     Cakes, rolls, cookies
     Popcorn
     Minute rice
     Instant  mashed potatoes
     Noodles
     Bisquick
     Mixed nuts
     Dehydrated fruits
     Instant puddings
     Salt
     Pepper
     Honey
     Sugar
     Take along 5 days worth of food in case you might get lost

Propane Stove
Propane Heater
Halogen Lamp
Flashlights 
Batteries 
   (Get the new type you shake with LED bulbs)
Insulated food and drink containers
Grill grids
Canteens
Waterproof matches
Foxhole shovels
Fire sticks
Magnesium fire starter
Insect repellent
Sun screen
Heavy clothing
Portable toilet facilities/bags
Toilet tissue
Sun glasses
Binoculars
Mini tool kit
Snow Shoes (in winter or in the mountains)
Skies (in winter or in the mountains)

OTHER EMERGENCY PREPARATION

Have an extra pair of glasses available
Have dental work or surgery done before an emergency happens. Don't put things off.
Keep an extra supply of medications on hand.
Keep extra gasoline and a gallon of water in the car.
Keep a sleeping bag and blankets in the car.
Keep at least 5 gallons of drinking water in the house. One gallon per person per day.
Boil water after an emergency situation. - Don't take chances with bad water.
Keep on hand a supply of dried fruits and nuts at least 5 days worth per person.
Have basins or buckets to catch rain water in.
Have a supply of water purification tablets or bleach - plan to boil water otherwise.
Have a good first aid kit.

Water purification kits

Water
    1: go away at least 100 feet from the shoreline to get your water
    2: Avoid any water that has a greenish tinge. It contains algae and is loaded with micro-organisms.  (It is usually found in shallow water)
    3: Don't take water from backwaters or stagnant areas.
    4: Don't drink water contaminated by wastes from a paper mill. Secure your water from
incoming streams instead.
    5: Don't take water near beaver dams or lodges. Diseases from them can make you ill for several weeks.

FIELD TREATMENT OF WATER:

   1: Boiling. Most organisms are killed instantly when water reaches a rolling boil. A one minute boil is usually adequate, except in problems areas or high altitudes.
   2: Portable filters, the vacuum operated, portable filters sold at camping shops will produce quality water, but they are slow. Not all filters kill all organisms.
   3: Chemicals will release iodine or chlorine are available in tablet form from most pharmacies and camping shops, generally iodine is more effective than chlorine. Neither works well in cold or cloudy water.
   4: Boiling remains the most reliable method for treating drinking water.

CLOTHING

Underwear - many sizes - for all ages and sexes
Nightwear for colder weather
Blouses
Shirts
Pants - male or female - all ages and sexes
Hats - for protection against too much sun
Caps - same
Handkerchiefs
Scarves
Bandanas
Belts
Coats
Sweaters
Socks - wool for winter and summer socks
   Learn to darn socks - don't wear socks with holes
Shoes - no high heels
Boots
Robes
Slippers
Sunglasses
Eye glasses - varied prescriptions as needed
Magnifying glasses
Watches
Aprons
Diapers - cloth only
   (Indians used moss or dry grass in a buckskin cover)
Women's cloth pads - no disposable pads

 

OTHER NEEDS FOR YOUR FARM

This list is in alphabetical Order. You can choose from this list as you desire. Not everyone will need all of this: 

ANIMALS

Animals also require their own types of food to plan for

`Chickens
   Pigs
   Cows
   Goats
   Horses - working type
   Beef Cattle
   Rabbits

BEES

Bees are kept in boxes stacked in piles
     See topic Bees at Survival
25 boxes should be sufficient
Inside the boxes are frames on which the bees make their honey. Frames are made with a foundation of wax impressed on both sides with a pattern of honeybee cells. Bees use this pattern to build their cells.
The hives are protected with heavy plastic during the winter. Beeing season begins when the trees and flowers start to bloom in spring.
The colony of bees, can be up to 60,000 bees, but there is only one queen bed.
To take care of the bees, a bee suit is required, a coverall which fastens at the wrists and ankles tightly.
A hat is worn over the head with a heavy veil.
A zipper on the bottom of the veil connects to a zipper at the top of the coverall suit.
Leather gloves are also worn.
A bee sting kit should be handy in case of allergy to bee venom.
When the hive is opened, it is heavily smoked with burning twine which makes a heavy but cool smoke. This makes the bees load up on honey which makes it harder for them to sting.
A hive tool is used to loosen the seal the bees made between the frames and the box.
A healthy hive needs to be fed with syrup dripped down into the hive through small holes.
If the frames are empty, a new queen is needed immediately or there will be no honey during the summer.
Queen bees can be ordered from a supplier of bee equipment.
A record must be kept of each box, detailing what is being done and what is needed.
New queen bees arrive in a small cage with worker bees.
The queen cage is sealed with a piece of candy.
It takes about 3 days for the bees to eat the candy and release the new queen. The bees will be used to her by then and take care of her.
When hives are being combined, a sheet of newspaper is put between the cages. They will eat through the newspaper and by that time, they will know each other well enough not to kill each other.
Bees work only inside the hive during the first 20 days of their life. Then they begin to forage. They produce only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey during the 6 weeks they live. Many new bees must be produced during this time to take over his place.
A bees makes about 10 round trips from the hive in one day.
Bees travel no more than about 1/2 mile from the hive.
Dandelions are usually the first flower visited by bees in the spring.
Sweet white clover and alfalfa make excellent honey.
Clover honey and orange blossom honey is light in color and mild flavored.
Honey from things such as buckwheat would be dark and strong tasting.
When a colony swarms, about half of the hive leaves, taking the old queen with them.
The hive will swarm if it is too crowded - in one season with good care -  9 hives can turn into 56 hives.
Queen cells will be made at the bottom of the frames.
A new hive or swarm needs a new queen bee.
Royal jelly produced by the bees are fed to the queen cells which turn a regular bee into a queen.
To prevent swarming, remove the cells with the new queen bees developing, or add an empty hive body with a sheet of newspaper between, or divide the hive into two hives. This is not foolproof but worth trying.
A swarmed hive makes no money that year.
The bees need a place to store their honey, so you put the 'Supers' (Boxes) on top of the original, and keep stacking the Supers on top as long as the bees keep making the honey.
A stack may have as many as 5 Supers on top, but nine Supers is not unusual.
To prevent the queen from entering the Supers, a queen excluder which is a piece of plastic with small holes that only the worker bees fit through. This is placed on top of the hive separating the queen from the Supers with small holes that she won't fit through.

A BEE FRAME: is removed to begin honey processing when the Super is 3/4 full of capped honey cells. When you remove the frames from a hive, you also remove the bees clinging to them. To remove a whole Super, you must use bee repellent. A bad smelling chemical which repels bees - called 'Bee go'. You place the chemical face down on a fume board over the Super which drives the bees down into the next Super down into the hive. The the Super can be removed, just by brushing away the last few remaining bees. You must cover up the honey filled Supers to keep bees from other hives from coming over and stealing the honey. They are attracted by the sweet smell. Once bees become robbers, they will invade other bee hives to take the honey.

THE HONEY HOUSE: The honey house has large glass windows and a concrete floor. Along the walls the Supers are stacked. In the honey house, honey is taken from the frames and put into glass jars.

EXTRACTING: First the caps must be cut off the cells using an electrically charged knife. The frame is propped over a decapping tank. (If there is no electricity, you will have to improvise with a regular knife by hand)  The wax caps fall down into the tank along with the honey. Not all of the honey falls out however, which must be put into a machine called a honey extractor. The barrel shaped machine has a rack that holds 12 frames. The machine spins like a washing machine tub. The rapid spinning pulls the honey from the cells and throws it against the walls of the extractor. The honey runs down and collects at the bottom where it is withdrawn out through a spigot into buckets. Filters over the buckets catch bits of wax which is not wanted in the honey jars.

NOTE: The scraping from the edges of the honey frame are used medicinally to prevent colds, flu, etc. It is dark and strong flavored, and can be used in tea and is as good or better than penicillin. 

AUTUMN CHORES: Check the coverings on the hives to make sure they are secure. Make new frames for the hives for spring use.

 

COLD FRAME/HOT BEDS

By means of hot beds, plants of desired flower and vegetable varieties may be started weeks or even months before they can be sown outdoors. One may start their own seedlings rather than relying on other sources for seedlings or potted plants. Thus, one can start one's own seed in the hotbed, priced-out in coldframes, inured to the weather 'hardened off' and when outdoor conditions are favorable, transplanted to the garden.

By starting hardy perennials and biennials several weeks before outdoor sowing would be safe the plants may be often be made to bloom during the first season instead of having to wait until the second year. Similarly, cuttings of many perennials, roses, and other flowering subjects may be started in a hotbed and advanced by the same stages to the open ground. 

The coldframe alone may likewise be used for slower rooting varieties. Risks of starting tender subjects too early or too late outdoors may be avoided. When seed of such varieties is sown too early in the open weather may be so cold and wet, it may decay or the seedlings may be nipped by a tardy spring frost, when too late, the plants may meet unfavorable summer conditions develop poorly and perhaps be destroyed by an autumn frost before they have reached their desired development. This is of special application to growing cantaloupes, cucumbers, watermelons, tomato, eggplant, pepper, dahlia, canna, and geranium.

In localities where blight destroys watermelons, cantaloupes and cucumbers, hotbeds and coldframes also enable the gardener to avoid this disease or to ward off its effects until after the fruits have ripened, for by starting the plants on inverted sods, in flower pots, or other convenient receptacles to favor transplanting, they may be kept in the frames and readily sprayed, dusted, or fumigated to kill cucumber beetles and squash bugs which not only feed on them but spread blight infection from plant to plant.

Even when not growing plants, coldframes are used for extending the ripening season of tomatoes that would otherwise be spoiled by an early fall frost. The fruits that show pink may be gathered when falling temperatures threatens damage, placed on deep layers of straw in the frames and covered with sash whenever the weather is wet or cold. The rate of ripening may be accelerated to a week or so by keeping the sash on the frames during the day, thus raising the temperature, or it may be delayed by leaving them off whenever the weather will permit without risk or frost-bite. Thus the tomato season may be extended to Thanksgiving day or even later. The frames may be used to store such late vegetables as celery, endive, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and chicory, and for carrying semi-hardy plants such as chrysanthemums over winter.

Standard hotbed frames are made in 3' x 6' and 6' x 12' foot sections.

For a coldframe, no excavation is usually made, for a hotbed, the area to be excavated should be at least 6' wider and longer than the frame so there may be plenty of space for the foundation. This may be made of stone, brick, concrete or 2' planks, preferably 'pecky' cypress, otherwise clear cypress or some other wood that resists decay - locust, chestnut. The foundation should extend a few inches above the surface to increase the longevity of the frame itself. A post is at each corner and at 4' intervals on the sides of all wooden foundation frames.

The depth of excavation will depend upon the climate, it varies with the local frost line. From Maine to Minnesota and northward, 24" to 30" is favored, in south-eastern New York, 18" to 24", near Washington DC, 12". In the south the frame usually rests directly on the ground without excavations or foundation frame.

Though all commercial sash are 3' x 6', users have preferences and objections to various types. Some prefer lightweight styles because they are easier to handle than heavy ones; others prefer heavier ones because glass breakage is less. For this same reason, many growers prefer sash with four rows of panes rather than three, but three row style casts less shadow.

Double glass sash have both proponents and opponents, the former claiming protection equivalent to straw mats placed upon single glass sash, thus avoiding the work of laying and removing the mats (real work when wet or icy) giving the plants full sunlight, and therefore better growing conditions than under single glass sash.

Opponents object to the greater weight of the double glass sash. They also say that more moisture is retained, therefore adding to the risk of decay. 

The only difference between a coldframe and a hotbed is that heat in the former all comes from the sun. Hotbeds may be heated in several different ways. Fermenting material especially fresh horse manure, is objectionable because of its scarcity, high cost, labor to prepare, short period of usefulness, fumes of fermentation, and the excess of attention to ventilation that beds so heated require. It is inferior to all other means of heating hotbeds.

Electricity has become the most popular source of heat because of its advantages over all other methods, but in the time and period where there may be no electricity available, the coldframe method will have to be used and heated by the sun. 

A coldframe may be converted to a hotbed and vice versa by merely turning a switch off or on. 

Coldrames can be kept from freezing by hanging electric cables around the inside walls and turning on the current if electricity is available. Regulation is done by the thermostat which may be set to operate the current at any desired temperature. 

Bottom heat should be least costly for seed germination, lights most desirable for rapid growth, especially in cloudy weather. A combination of the two would supply the widest range of adaptability. Lights would be desirable for beds smaller than 6' x 6'.

Heating capacity of 200 watts would require 120 feet of cable, a length cumbersome to install in small areas.

COMPOSTING

Compost all kitchen food scraps
Compost all cut grass and leaves and garden waste.

COVER CROPS:  See green manure

CROPS: HOW TO CHOOSE

Crops to grow, area to plant, livestock and how much to keep are problems which demand knowledge of market requirements, conditions and personal usage. When the produce is to be sold, the advantages and disadvantages of various competing regions, knowledge of price trends and the potential production of the individual farm.

Most farm products are supplies by many farmer working independently and competing with one another in the marketplace. Usually the keenest competition does not come from producers, it other districts, but from the neighbors. Each farmer, therefore, should know what these competitors are planning to do. He should use the knowledge supplies by the department of agriculture as to the combination of the various crop and livestock enterprises and economic conditions.

SHORT SEASON CROPS ONLY

1. CORN

A cover crop of hairy vetch will yield 40 bushels of corn per acre, whereas 200 pounds of phosphate fertilizer would only produce a crop of 13.5 bushels per acre. Adding 85 pounds of nitrate soda to the 200 pounds of phosphate would produce only 24 bushels per acre.

Start your own corn breeding by choosing the best 50 or 100 ears of corn you can find in the crib. Be sure they are properly cured specimens of good form and size, well filled out and well rounded on both ends, each one pleasing to the eye. Lay them side by side on a table, critically examine each under a good light in comparison with the others and ruthlessly discard the poorest, the next poorest and so on until only 10 are left. These are to be your nucleus for breeding. Before shelling the grain from the cobs, pick out 10 or 20 individual kernels from the center of each cob Discard the butts and tips of each cob. Do a germination test of these kernels, keeping each cob kernels separated so you know which ones sprouted quickest and sturdiest. The best cob should be used to grow a 'test plot' in a row by itself. During the summer, examine the plants to make sure which row or rows produce the sturdiest plants. Especially determine which plants produce two ears per plant. The ones that produce only leaves or poor cobs, cull out and feed to the cows or make into compost.

At harvest time, cut and cure these test rows by themselves and for the following year, repeat the selection process already described. Use the two ear stalks from the other rows to sow the general field for seed corn. Each year your crop will be more valuable than the year before.

2. HAY /WITH OATS: in grain, hay and other field crop farming, the rent or interest on the land cost may be 50% of the total expense of growing and harvesting.

     Sweet clover is hay
     Alfalfa is hay

3.  WHEAT
            Winter wheat is planted in fall

4.  RYE
      

If no cattle - corn or oats

SOYBEANS

OTHER DRY BEANS

POPPY SEED: 50 TO 70 POUNDS
     After seed head forms - pull the leaves off so head dries faster

POP CORN - 1,000 pounds a year. Baby rice - white is best. Keep biggest ears for seed for following year.

RADISH, LETTUCE, CARROTS, KOHLRABI, PEPPERS, CAULIFLOWER, BRUSSEL SPROUTS, PEAS, ONIONS, (Several kinds)

MELONS

GREEN BEANS

POLE BEANS

TOMATOES

POTATOES:  Plant various kinds - Not all one kind.  Red potatoes are not keepers. Eat them first. For breeding, pick out the best shaped, good sized, shallowest eyed tubers. Cut each tuber in quarters from end to end, but keep each four pieces separate from the others. Plant each piece in a hill by itself. Then kip each fifth hill so as to keep the four pieces of each tuber in consecutive hills. During the summer, treat them all alike, watch for differences of foliage, resistance to disease and other point good and bad, and dig the weaklings for 'new potatoes'. At harvest time, dig each hill carefully by hand and place the tubers from each four hills together for judgment. discard the groups of four that produce unsatisfactorily either as to size, number, irregularity, or other defect. Keep only the best for seed for the following year.

Put a fresh coat of cow manure on the garden every year. If chicken manure, use very lightly.   Horse manure is okay. Sheep manure stinks really bad.  Farm land should have 25 tons of manure per acre per year. If commercial fertilizers and frequent green manure or cover crops have been the regular practice, the land should be in good condition.

CULTIVATION

In cases where cultivation must be done by horse or tractor and the rows must, therefore be spaced farther apart than when the wheelhoe is used, it is essential as a time saving factor to make the rows long and few rather than short and man, so as to reduce the amount of time turning at the ends. Even so, time may be saved by skipping several rows when making each turning because less time is needed to make a long turn than a short one, especially with a horse or a fast moving, heavy, or long radius tractor.

Should a complete row be likely to produce more of any one vegetable than would be needed, it should be filled with two or more kinds that require the same general cultural treatment. A well balanced farm garden may be arranged to provide a large assortment and continuous supply of vegetables  throughout the growing season for use fresh, canned and for winter storage. 

Sowings should be made at four different times. This is because of the effects of frost and because seasons vary, some being early, others late in opening. For the latter season, the time between the early sowings should be increased in an early spring and made about the time that the earliest trees, such as silver maple open their buds.

To take advantage of the cool fall weather, a second crop of cool-season vegetables may be grown.

Fall garden vegetables do not thrive in warm weather and too early planting will stunt some kinds and cause others to become coarse, woody, or pithy and unfit for use.

Crops should be rotated from year to year

The soil may be fall plowed and left rough over winter to catch snow and avoid runoff. Snow fences may be set up to catch snow. Effective snow barriers may be made with a row of corn shocks or even by several rows of standing corn plants.

The function of cultivation with vegetables is to conserve moisture by eliminating weeds, to close up cracks and provide a loose, rough surface which will absorb rainfall and prevent runoff. Deep cultivation destroys many roots, reduces the yield of most vegetables and is unnecesary. Shallow surface cultivation is recommended for all vegetables, especially in un-irrigated soils and in dry seasons.

Snow and avoid runoff

Mulching gardens with straw or other litter such as hay or manure is a practical way to increase yields and produce vegetables of the best quality. The benefits are greatest with long-season crops and in dry years. Though straw mulches have increased the yields of nearly all vegetables, their use is not recommended with early short-season crops such as leaf lettuce, peas, spinach, seeded onions, cauliflower, and early cabbage. With root crops such as carrots, beets, and parsnips their use does not appear advantageous and with transplanted onions is of doubtful value. The difficulties of applying straw more than offset the advantage which most of these crops might gain. Straw mulching has been found desirable with all long season crops except sweet corn. Straw should not be applied until the plants are well established. A mulch of 2" to 4" is adequate. Deeper is unnecessary and undesirable.

Between 10 and 15 tons of straw are needed for mulching an acre, or about 500 pounds foro 2,000 square feet. 

At the end of the season, straw mulches should be removed and burned because of the unfavorable effect upon the soil when such a large amount of dry organic matter is plowed under. This isi most serious with un-irrigated or sandy soils.

With potatoes, the straw mulch should be applied before the plants come through the soil. With other crops, such as tomatoes, eggplants, and other transplanted vegetables, before transplanting or after the plants are established, preferable at the latter time.

Irrigation

Most vegetable crops can be increased and improved by irrigation. Straw or paper mulches are also useful. Irrigation will be found desirable at some time in practically every season and often in many seasons. Except for hastening seed germination in a dry spring, irrigation is seldom needed before July and not after August.  {In dry climates where there is no rain at all after May, use your best judgment as to when to begin and end irrigation]

Needless or excessive irrigation early in the life of the plants might cause the development of shallow root systems. However, vegetables should be kept growing steadily. Knobby, growth-cracked, hollow, rough-shaped, double and otherwise undesirable vegetables are produced when growth is uneven, especially when a period of abundant moisture follos one of prolonged drouth.

One inch of water, in one rain, or from irrigation should maintain vigorous growth of most vegetables for five to seven days during hot weather, and 10 to 15 days in cooler weather.

Smaller amounts or larger amounts of water at one time are less desirable, because the soil will be poorly aerated for a time and the loss from rotting, blight, etc. will be increased.

DRAINAGE:

Undrained lands are not merely wet but cold and often acid. Because of wetness, they cannot be worked nearly as early in spring as well drained lands, when seed is sown it germinates poorly, unevenly, or not at all; such plants develop roots near the surface and when summer comes they suffer because they cannot then reach water which by that time is at much lower levels. Crops are therefore late, poor and unprofitable.

When land is not naturally well-drained, artificial drainage is a necessity, tile drainage of agricultural lands is a comparatively expensive improvement and the capital expended in drainage work cannot be recalled or transferred, but owing to its permanant nature a properly installed drainage system should continue to return dividends for many years.

All soils not naturally drained require drainage. These are usually cultivated areas with fair surface drainage but with heavy subsoil; heavy clay soils with little or no surface  drainage; rolling areas with impervious subsoil areas, large and small, saturated long enough each year to destroy the physical condition of the soil and to interfere with spring seeding and harvesting operations; pot-holes and swamp areas.

Tile may be installed either by hand or by a ditching machine. The latter, when properly operated is quicker, more efficient, and usually more economical. 

The grade must be uniform so there will be no depression to collect sediment; a solid bottom is essential - tile laid on muck or other soft material are likely to shift out of alignment and to obstruct the flow of water; stones and other obstructions encountered in the trench must be removed, the holes carefully filled and tamped to give a solid bottom; only the best tile should be used; blinding and backfilling must be carefully done to prevent the breakage of tile by rolling in stones or by horses stepping in the trench; junctions and outlets must be carefully laid and trees likely to block the tile with their roots must be removed.

Tile should be laid as closely together as the cut ends will permit. In heavy clay soils, a little opening is not objectionable, but in sands or sandy loams, it is necessary to fit them closely together. In the latter, it is often desirable to cover the upper half of the tile with tar paper to prevent the sand from entering. Junctions should be carefully constructed in order that no obstruction may offer resistance to the flow of water. A few inches of soil, preferably the surface soil, should be placed over the tile as soon as they are laid to make sure they will not shift by accident. Backfilling should be done as early as possible because soil often becomes baked after a rain or in other ways is hard to move.

Depths and distances apart of drains depend almost entirely upon the nature of the soil. The lighter the soil, the deeper and farther apart; in heavy soil, they must be placed closer together and somewhat shallower.

Quicksand is the worst of problems. Undertake quicksand drainage during the driest part of the season; if possible, after opening the drain into quicksand, leave it until the water drains out of the sand and solidifies and the drain can be more easily completed. In some cases, it is better to remove the last foot or so by hand, as action of the digging wheel seems to provoke the trouble; sod thrown in the trench and around the joints is practical for short distances; straw, sawdust, shavings, gravel and cinders are often used to good advantage, cemented sewer pipe may be found practical in some cases; a silt basin should be constructed on the line of tile as soon as possible after passing through the quicksand area and the deposits of silt removed when necessary. 

Tree roots seldom interfere with a drain unless it carries seepage or spring water during the dry season. All trees such as willow, poplar, soft maple, elm, and elder bushes should be removed from the location of the drain. They are likely to clog the tile with roots. Where it is desirable to leave a shade tree, cemented sewer-pipe should be used for at least 50' on each side of the tree position. In orchards and permanant crops, cut-off drains should be installed to remove all seepage water as this has a tendency to feed the tile drain during the summer and thus give trouble by root development in the tile.

The outlet of a drain should be well-protected. The last 8' or 10' should consist of a piece of iron pipe or sewer pipe. A retaining wall may be a necessity, so may be a concrete or stone block to spread the water and prevent it from eroding the earth at the exit. Protection of the mouth to prevent the trampling of cattle and horses is also essential, and so is a grating, preferable hinged or hung from above, to prevent the entrance of small animals.

Tile may be made of clay or concrete. They should have the following characteristics; smoothness inside to reduce friction and promote rapid flow; hardness inside to reduce friction and promote rapid flow; hardness to assure drainability; good shipping and handling qualities; good shape-cylindrical - not warped; clean cut ends to assure good fitting; freedom from burnt limestone to prevent breakage due to slaking of the lime.

EARTHQUAKES

Be prepared for possible earthquakes, especially if you are in an area that gets big ones.

Discuss preparations and various courses of action and have earthquake drills. Learn to listen to the earth so you will have advance notice if something is going to happen. Animals are perfect warning systems. They sense earthquakes long before humans do.

Know how to shut off the gas, water, and electricity. Keep the gas tanks full at all times for emergencies.  If you are religious, make prayers, offerings or ceremonies for the keepers of the fault line or volcano close to you.

ELECTRIC POWER

Electric power may not always be available. Have a supply of candles always available. Have flashlights with good batteries available. Use solar or wind power if possible.

FAILURE: WAYS TO:

Unfavorable soil
Undrained land
Rocks and stones everywhere
Wrong crops for your area
Improperly prepared and tilled land
Too large area devoted to lawns and ornamental planting
Excessive time devoted to pets
Pets occupy areas that should pay profits
Inadequate manuring or fertilizing
Failure to fight insects and plants diseases

FARM CHORES

ALARM:  5 A.M.  Milk cows, goats
Heat up water for animals in winter
Get kids up for school - make breakfast
Kids eat cereal or eggs and bacon
Meat and potatoes for farm workers
Children as young as 5 years old can help do chores
   They can feed chickens, geese
   They can help in the house
    hey can be water boys for the workers

CHORES:  Winter - clean barns
    Spread manure on fields
    Feed cows, pigs, coats, chickens
    Grind feed for several days use
                   Summer - 

    Let cows out for pasture
    Horses: feed horses - takes 8 or 9 horses for 160 acres if there are no tractors

    Do field work - plow - seed  - cultivation
    Run rows north and south wherever possible for more favorable distribution of sunlight.

    MAY: First crop of hay - stack outside for outside feeding

    JULY: Second crop of hay
               Cut grain - no shocking - 6 weeks drying

    AUGUST:  Do threshing
                      Neighbors get together for crews
                      Go from farm to farm until all are finished

    SEPTEMBER: Third crop of hay

FENCING: 

If there are many fences made out of split rails or zig zag fencing, oro fences made out of stones and rocks 10 to 15 feet wide, you are wasting many feet and acres of usable soil better used for production. You can use the rail fences for fire wood. Get rid of the rock fences, since they harbor weeds, insects, and animals that attack crops and annually require labor, time, and expense to cut the gangly growing bushes and trees that start in the. You can make one large field out of an area that is now two small fields. One large field is easier to farm than two small fields.

FERTILIZER:  Commercial - use only when fresh manure is not available
                         Commercial fertilizers are of two classes.
   Organic (of vegetable and animal origin)
   Inorganic (of mineral origin)

Dried blood, dried fish, and cottonseed meal are all rich in nitrogen, but contain less potash and phosphoric acid. Ground bone is noted for phosphorus, but has less nitrogen and potash. Tankage has good phosphorus, but less varying nitrogen depending on what it consists of. Nitrogen is the growth maker. 

In the presence of sunlight, when supplied with water, plants are able to get all their necessary plant food except nitrogen from the air and soil. Growth, repair, and reproduction are all directly or indirectly dependent on nitrogen. Nitrogen washes out of the soil easily. Therefore it should be applied in frequent doses by small amounts during the first half of the growing season, never late in the growing season because it causes fast sappy growth which freezes when cold weather arrives. 

Nitrogen can be supplies from nitrate of soda, and sulfate of ammonia. The former contains 15% nitrogen, and should be applied in small doses every 2 to 4 weeks. The latter contains 20% nitrogen and is less quickly dissolved and less likely to be lost by leaching. It should be used in light soils like sand.

Nitrate of soda tends to make and maintain soils in neutral or alkaline condition - favorable to vegetables and ornamental plants. sulfate of ammonia tends to make soils acid and unfavorable to vegetables, but favorable to blueberries, rhododendrens, and other acid-tolerant plants. The acid condition of this fertilizer may be neutralized by application of wood ashes or lime.

Potash is the fiber maker, often lacking in sandy soils which have grown root crops (turnips, carrots, beets, parsnips, etc.) When deficient, the stems and branches of plants are weak and spindling and easily broken by wind.

Potash is available from wood ashes (4%), muriate of potash (50%) sulfate of potash (45%) and Kainit (12% to 16%) Ashes contain all the mineral elements of the plants burned to make them. In order to be most useful, they must be stored and applied dry. It will not usually be worthwhile to buy them, but use homemade when available. 

Muriate of potash is the preferred type because it is not washed out of the soil and applied in very small amounts. It can be applied any time of the year when the ground is not frozen. 

Phosphorus is the ripener, causes fruit and seed to ripen well. When lacking in the soil, crops may be slow to mature or may fail altogether. It is usually applied as superphosphate. Basic (or Thomas) slag or pulverized phosphate rock (floats)

Superphosphate (acid phosphate) is the leading seller. The objections to it is that it's analysis is only 17% to 20% which is low, and humid weather tends to cake because of its absorption of moisture from the air. 

It is soluble in water and the adventage is that is that it is less likely to burn the crops to which it is applied.

Before applying any fertilizer, it is advisable to know which one is needed and which not; to avoid wasting materials and money. 

The simplest way to do this is to divide the garden into strips of at least 10 feet width at right angles to its width and sow only one unmixed fertilizer on each alternate strip, leaving the others unfertilized, then sow crops lengthwise of the garden so as to cross the strips. The development of the plants will suggest what plant foods are lacking in the soil and therefore which ones to apply.

Yellow foliage will indicate shortage of nitrogen. Weak stems (lack of potash), poor ripening fruits and seeds, (lack of phosphorus)

The best time to apply potash and phosphorus acid is shortly before seed is sown or plants transplanted.

Leafy vegetable are generally stimulated by top dressings during chilly, wet spells when the rate of growth is slow. Cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes are often helped by an application of nitrate of soda just as the first flower buds develop. Root crops do not respond so strikingly to surface applications, because they forage more deeply in the soil.

Top dressings usually range from 150 to 300 pounds to the acre. the lower amount being applied, generally all at one time, the larger amount in two dressings. Make fractional dressings at 2 week intervals.

A good mix of fertilizer is: 
     Nitrate of soda - 5%
     Sulfate of ammonia - 10%
     Dried blood - 15%
     Muriate of potash (or sulfate) - 15%
     Superphosphate or ground bone - 55%
The analysis should be published on the package.

It's application should be followed in the vegetable garden by one to three surface dressings of nitrate of soda at intervals of three to four weeks. 

Fertilizer must be distributed evenly throughout the garden to avoid burning or killing the plants.

Fertilizer gives best results when placed more or less locally to the seeds or plants rather than scattered promiscuously over the surface. 

FINANCES

The net worth or total value of all property above liabilities tell whether or not the enterprise is being run at a profit or loss, and how much. It shows how the total investment is apportioned among the diverse branches of the business. 

Cash on hand, is not a safe guide as to earnings, an inventory prevents drawing false conclusions as to prosperity at the close of the year. Often a comparatively small amount of cash discourages a farmer who has done well, but whose earnings are tied up in some kind of property. Conversely, a large amount of cash on hand may have come from a decrease in inventory of other property. an inventory kept up to date, enhances credit relations with banks and other loaning concerns when adjustment is necessary after a fire, it is highly valuable.  It is fundamental to the keeping ofo any accounting system.

Farm accounts reveal the less productive, less economical methods and practices and where income may be augmented; but they are of little or no value unless analyzed and the results studied. 

Among important items, they should show the following facts:

1    - net earnings the farmer pays himself for his labor and management.

2    - gross income or total amount received on sales of crops, live stock and live stock products and increases in inventories each year. 

3    - volume and increase in business as a whole and from each department - live stock and individual crops.

4    - total operating expenses.

5    - cost per $100 of income from each department as a check upon expense control.

6    - total live stock.

7    - productive animal units per area or the proportion of stocking to the land stocked.

8    - acres pastured per animal unit or the economy of pasturage.

9    - receipts from stock departments.

10 - receipts per unit whether animal or crop, as a check  upon the quality of product. Low returns per unit indicate that quality is below par.

11 - records of how well horse, tractor, and man labor are being used.

12 - productive labor or the average number of hours - horse, tractor, and man - necessary to manage each crop and class of live stock annually.

13 - total number of available days' labor annually.

14 - use of man labor compared with available days labor to care for each crop and class of live stock.

15 - number of men needed annually to run the farm.

16 - crop-acres per man or number of acres grown per man.

17 - productive animal units per man, or number of head per man. 

18 - crop acres per horse.

19 - days of productive horse - labor to care for each crop and department of lives stock.

20 - days of work, per horse or tractor per year.

21 - after the record has been analyzed the less economical and less productive methods and practices may be studied, amended, or replaced by better ones, and what can and cannot be done to improve conditions may then be considered. 

Every farmer should have his account book, take inventories, keep records of receipts and expenses as suggested and thus increase his income. 

FIRE: TO BUILD

See:  http://www.greatdreams.com/fire.htm

FIREPLACES:

See: http://www.greatdreams.com/fire.htm

FIRST AID

bandages
mecurichrome
aspirin
tweezers
needles
thread
splints
alcohol
snakebite kit
skin lotion
scissors
nail file
toe nail cutters
boric acid powder
healing herbs (See HERBS)

Have several people trained in first aid care. Keep a kit only in the house, but in the car and in the barn, with you when you camp or picnic, or hunt, or fish. Always take it when traveling.

vitamins and minerals
apple cider vinegar
honey, garlic, sage tea for colds
mint tea, golden seal, brandy
herbal tinctures
catnip (to help you sleep)
herbs for cooking, including onions and garlic
cayenne pepper, cumin, basil, coriander, salt

FROST DAMAGE PREVENTION

The killing of plants and plant parts by frost may often be prevented by simple, inexpensive, easily applied, means as air cools, it's power to hold water in vapor form decreased until it deposits more or less in tiny drops (dew) on objects cooler than itself such as foliage. The temperatures at which this frost occurs depend on the proportion of water vapor in the air at the time. This varies as cooling proceeds, during summer the dew point, as the deposition or saturation temperature is called, is often above 60 degrees; in winter often is below zero.

When the dew point is below the freezing point, the water vapor condenses on still cooler surfaces in the form of fine particles of ice, which because they reflect the sunlight and appear white, we call hoar or white frost. Often this can occur when the temperature is several degrees above the freezing point. 

The condensation of water vapor tends to check the fall of temperature because of what is called, "latent heat" in this vapor is returned to the air which, scientific instruments prove, become measurable warmer. Thus, within variable limits the deposition of dew protects plants from frost damage as the temperature approaches or in some cases even goes below instead of above the freezing point. We can often take advantage of this phenomenon and save our plants.

Plants vary in their resistance to frost damage according to their origin and condition. Those which originate is a cold climate (apple, cabbage) naturally are strongly resistant; those from a warm climate (orange, tomato) are weak and easily destroyed.  Between these extremes are many intermediate grades. Those plants that, in a given locality, live through the northern alpine winter in spite of deep freezing of the soil are called 'hardy' in that locality; those that succumb to the slightest frost are 'tender' and those half-tender. and semi-tender, (french artichokes).

Tender plants are usually injured more or less when the temperature continues at 32 degrees, 31, or 30 for several hours especially when bright sunshine or quickly warming air strikes them in early morning.  Few, if any of them can stand lower degrees than these for even a short time, half-hardy plants often survive temperatures of 20 degrees, but seldom lower degrees.

In all these cases plant condition plays an important part; for plants that have made rapid growth, have soft, immature tissues and are full of water, are far less resistant than those which have developed slowly, have denser stockier growth and are less full (perhaps even in need of ) water. This statement applies to hardy as well as tender plants; for even trees normally hardy in a given locality may be winter-killed because they made a later, sappy growth which did not ripen or which was full of water when cold weather arrived.

The mere deposition of frost on the surface of foliage does not necessarily indicate that the plants have been killed or even damaged. But when the air is too dry for dew to be deposited they may be frozen by a dry wind, or on a clear night without the deposition of either dew or hoar frost. In such cases, damage is too to freezing of the water inside the plant and the consequent rupture of the tissues. When the sun shines on tissues thus injured, the internal ice melts, the leaves have no chance to mend th broken cells so the leaves droop wilt, and turn black; hence the term  'black frost'. 

Anything that will prevent the fall of temperature to or below the freezing point and anything that will shield the plants from direct sunshine while they are still frozen, covered with hoar frost or severely chilled will help ward off damage or even save plants that would die or be seriously checked in their development.

A wind that springs up in the evening, clouds that appear during the night or early morning, or a rain that follows a frost will often either prevent the freezing or check the thawing process and thus save the plants. All these phenomena of nature are beyond our control, but we may imitate them.

During the spring, we can avoid over-feeding our young plants with stimulant fertilizers such as manure and nitrate or soda and also avoid giving them excess of water. both these tend to make sappy growth easily killed by frost. On the other hand, by keeping plants cool, almost cold ('hardening' them off) as they approach the time for transplanting to the open ground we can increase the hardiness of hardy, semi-hardy, and even tender plants. Plants so prepared will stand cold snaps whereas those of the same species not so inured would probably be killed or so chilled that they would 'sulk' for several weeks before recovering or renewing a normal rate of growth. 

Similarly, we may prevent winter injury of hardy trees, shrubs, and vines by supplying ample water during summer and early autumn, withholding it later, avoiding applications of fertilizer and manures from midsummer forward, counteracting any excess of these by liberal dressings of potash and phosphoric acid during early fall, or by sowing buckwheat in July or rye in September or both these together in July as these crops grow they remove excess water and nitrogenous plant food from the soil and develop plants which when plowed or dug into the ground in spring return the plant food and their own bodies to form humus. 

Fortunately, we can predict accurately enough for practical purposes when to expect frost. The daily forecasts by the U.S. Weather Bureau  give suggestions as to the general weather to expect; but we can make our own temperature observations and predictions. Local conditions influence temperature. For instance, a nearby body of water such as a lake, the sea, a wide or deep river, or even a large pond affects the rate at which air temperature changes. In spring, more or less retards plant development. In autumn, the reverse effect occurs. The water being warm not only warms the air but fills it with water vapor thus warding off frost. 

Open and flat country and small villages are more likely to suffer from late spring and early autumn frosts than the large cities and their nearby suburbs because, in the former, heat loss by radiation into space is more rapid in clear, clean air and under cloudless skies the latter where the air is filled with smoke and dust and where the fires in countless houses, factories, and other buildings directly raise the temperatures.

Dark colored, sandy and well drained soils absorb and hold more sun heat than do light colored, clayey and poorly drained ones so are less likely to be frosty. Other conditions are also warmer than western and northern ones because they more quickly absorb the sun's rays. Though this favors earliness of plant development it often makes the growing of certain fruits (apricot, peach, Japanese plum,) Precarious or impossible because the flowers are encouraged to open so early that spring frost kills them and thus prevents the fruit production, though not usually killing the trees.

Frosts are morly likely to occur when the air is still, the sky is clear and the stars are brilliant, than when there is wind or clouds, especially overcast. The direction of the wind also help to make a local forecast. One that blows strongly from the north is far more likely to bring a cool or cold weather than one from the south, just as one from the east is likely to bring clouds and rain and one from the west clear skies and colder weather. The rate at which the barometer rises also helps because it indicates the approach of clear weather and, in rapid, also of cold weather. 

An usually warm spell is almost sure to be followed by a cooler or cold one because our general weather moves in prodigious waves from southwest to northeast across the country, hence a light frost following a warm spell is likely to do more damage than an even more severe one following cool weather. For this reason, we should be on guard when on of these warm spells occurs in spring. Be ready to protect your seedlings, newly transplanted plants and the flowers on your fruit trees and bushes.

When the sky is cloudy, when there is fog, or even when a haze occurs during or toward evening, frost is less likely to occur, than when the night is clear because these condtions of moisture in the air prevent loss of heat from the earth.

A reliable sign of approaching frost is the rate at which the temperature falls during the late afternoon and early evening, starting with 50 degrees or less, clear skies and no wind. a fall of 2 degrees or more an hour between four and either o-clock, usually indicates that freezing temperatures will be reached before morning unless clouds or winds develop or unless we do something to prevent frost.

FROST PREVENTION

In a small way, individual plants may be protected by inverted flower pots, peach baskets, and other receptacles placed over them, by newspapers spread and held in place by stones or clods of earth. A more convenient adaptation of this way is to use a light screen or burlap mounted on a frame placed over the plants or beds. These all tend to hold the heat around the plants.

Smouldering fires which produce abundant smoke and steam form artificial clouds which check radiation in the same way as do true clouds. When the air is still the smoke spreads out evenly and proves effective as a protection nearly as far as the clouds extend. This method is infeasible where the smoke would prove objectionable to neighbors. Numerous small, bright fires of wood, coal, or oil are used extensively by commercial growers of fruit and vegetables to heat the air. they are less useful in small areas than the methods already presented.

The most genreally feasible method is to fill the air with water vapor in one of the following ways;

Stirring the soil with the wheelhoe or the cultivator towards evening to expose an increased surface of damp earth; sprinkling th e plants, the ground and the adjacent area with a hose nozzle that breaks up the water into small drops, or using an overhead irrigation system fro this purpose. The water evaporates and as the vapor condenses iti liberates heat and thus checks the cooling process. 

Freezing of the ground may injure even established trees, shrubs, and vines of some kinds, so anything that will reduce the depth of frost penetration or prevent alternate freezing and thawing will tend to prevent such injury. 

Just before winter, a few forkfulls of manure or shovelfulls of soil or peat banked around the trunks of exceptionally vigorous peach trees may survive the winter whereas untreated trees may not. 

In order to have extra early beans, corn, melons, and cucumbers, you can sow seed much earlier than locally popular, thus risking frost damage, when no frost occurs you are ahead of competitors, and if frost comes, you can protect the plants as mentioned.

If a frost occurs and you were unprepared, you may possibly have the plants anyway if you spray them with cold water as soon as possible after dawn or before sunrise and also shield them for direct sunlight after the sun appears until they have thawed out and returned to normal activity. Better to keep them shielded until 10 a.m. to noon. 

When water freezes, it swells and lifts the crust of frozen earth above the unfrozen ground below. As it does so, it also lifts shallow rooted plants, roots, and all. when it thaws, the soil settles back, but the plants do not. They are left with more or less root exposed. Each succeeding freeze lifts them some more and each thaw leaves them farther out of the ground with the result that they dry and die. Hence the importance of applying a mulch in the fall.

In the spring, equally fatal results may follow unmulched plants because when the surface thaws above a lower layer of still frozen earth the thawed layer settles and when it later freezes and lifts it breaks the roots of small plants by pulling them. Hence, again, the importance of mulch.

GARDENING

Learn how to garden indoors if necessary.
Learn how to sprout seeds for food.
Have a small truck garden near the house as well as large fields.
Flower pots
Sterilized soil
Hoes
Shovels
Watering cans
Watering hoses
Boric acid powder
Learn how to forage for food in your area, such as fruit abandoned in orchards or other abandoned gardens
Learn how to find wild edibles, nuts, berries, herbs, etc.

GREENHOUSE

One of the most important advantages of buying certain standard stayles and widths is that these are made in sections. Thus a beginner or a person short of money may start with two, or preferably three sections and add others as he gains confidence through experience or as his finances improve.

By using bench and walk widths as a basis of measurement, the greenhouse companies have decided upon standard widths. Among the favorites are 15', 18' and 25'. A standard house 25' long would consist of two sections, each 12 1/2' long. A 50' one of four such secitons or two sections of 25' each. 

Such being the case, the beginner may not only avoid making countless mistakes in construction. But knowing that he may make harmonious additions to his first small greenhouse. Whenever possible, the house should face south. A house 15' or 18' wide will prove a better investment than any narrower size. Narrower sizes are harder to operate during changeable weather because of the relatively small volume of air they contain. The air is affected by outdoor temperature and the fluctuations of intermittent sunshine and clouds, to say nothing of wind. 

Another advantage of a standard greenhouse is that guesswork is eliminated, especially with heating. The heating requirements of each plant species to be grown is different. The standard green house will keep plants healthy even in blizzards or zero weather.

Adequate ventilation is no less important than heating, for without it, the plants may be 'cooked' even when the weather outside is below freezing. Unless the ventilating system is properly proportioned to the area of roof and the volume of othe house it may be inadequate to keep the temperature and the humidity favorable to plant development. Moreover the ventilating apparatus must be constructed so as to be easily oeperated regardless of outdoor conditions. 

GREEN MANURES AND COVER CROPS

Green manures are crops grown solely for the improvement of the soil. When sown toward the close of the season, either alone or among other crops as these are approaching maturity they are often called cover crops because they are intended to cover the ground during winter and thus prevent loss of plant food through washing over the surface ('sheet erosion') or by seepage to lower levels and drainage. In the latter case they are always plowed under in early spring before they have made much growth. Otherwise they might become woody they might decay slowly and thus, for a time be a detriment to the soil. 

Plants used for green manures are of two classes; nitrogen gatherers, those that work over atmospheric nitrogen from the air in the soil, and nitrogen consumers. Those that cannot perform this function. But use what nitrogenous compounds are already in the soil. The former are generally the most important because they increase the supply of this important element of plant growth. The most expensive to buy and the one most easily lost from the soil. 

The principal nitrogen gathering crops are clovers, vetches, peas, cowpeas, and soy beans. The consumer crops are buckwheat, rye, cowhorn, common turnips and dwarf essex rape. Often these crops are sown together to perform both functions at the same time. One favorite combination is rye and winter vetch. Another is buckwheat and crimson clover. Sometimes all four are sowed together in July, after an early vegetable crop has been harvested. Buckwheat plants are killed by the first frost, and winter will kill crimson clover. The vegetable matter these crops develop will be just as good as if alive when turned under. Rye and vetch will probably live through the winter, must be dug or plowed under before they get 8" high or the job will be difficult and the effecs may not be as good as if the plants were more succulent.

When fresh or rotted manure is available, it is highly advantageous to apply liberally just before a cover crop or a green manure crop is turned under because the bacteria these contain will help break down the buried plants and thus make their plant food material more quickly available to the succeeding crops. 

For best results, the soil temperature should be at least 65 degrees and have moist conditions following plowing under for best decomposition.

Choice of the green manure or cover crop will depend on whether or not an increased supply of nitrates is desired in the soil. For summer sue cowpeas, soy beans, velvet beans, and summer vetch. For fall and winter, use crimson clover, hairy or winter vetch, and Canada field peas.

Sweet clover has notable value as a green manure, especially on heavy soils because of its deep rooting habit and the abundance of its foliage. However if the soil is acid it may fail unless lime or superphosphate is applied shortly before seeding. Also it may fail if 'unscarified' (machine scratched) seed is sown late - after the ground has become dry in spring. Such seed gives best results when sown in late fall or on the snow during winter. In these cases, the plants et an earlier start than the weeds which they choke out. Scarified seed cannot be safely used in this way because it germinates too early. 

HERBS:  See; http://www.greatdreams.com/herbal_healing.htm

Wild foods for survival.  These are links to:  http://www.indianspringherbs.com/wild_food_contents.htm

Acorns
Alfalfa
Amaranth
American Beech
American Elder
Arrowhead
Asparagus
Blackberries
Black Birch
Black Walnuts
Bull Thistle
Burdock
Butternut
Cattails
Chestnuts
Chickweed
Chicory
Cleavers
Coltsfoot
Dandelion
Daylily
Elecampane
Evening Primrose
Ground Cherries
Groundnuts
Hickory Nuts
Honewort
Jerusalem Artichoke
Kudzu

Lamb's Quarters
Milkweed
Mint
Muscadines
Passion Flower
Paw Paw
Peppergrass
Persimmon
Plantain
Puffballs
Quickweed
Redbud
Red Mulberry
Rose Hips
Sassafras
Sheep Sorrel
Shepherd's Purse
Spicebush
Stinging Nettle
Sugar Maple
Trout Lily
Violets
Wild Blueberries
Wild Carrots
Wild Ginger
Wild Onions
Wild Strawberries
Winter Cress
Yellow Dock
Yellow Nut Grass

 

HUNTING WEAPONS - Guns/ammo/bows and arrows/ traps, etc.

A .22 caliber rifle will kill anything up to a deer.
     Have 500 rounds of .22 hollow point bullets.

For larger animals - have a 30-39 or a 30-06 shotgun with at least 200 shells.

Bow and arrow is an excellent weapon. 

Carry a sharp hunting knife also.

Hunting:

Squirrels - 150 to 200 a year feed 12 people. (Fall and winter hunting)

Rabits - 150 to 200 a year feed 12 people.  (Winter hunting only)

Pheasant

Grouse

Wild Turkey

INSECTS

Be aware of ticks, mosquitoes, and ants, and the diseases they carry.

Be watchful for Lyme disease from ticks. Also Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Fleas can also carry disease

Find a natural insect repellent. Marigolds give off a scent that bugs and mosquitoes do not like. 

Relieve itching: Use a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with white vinegar straight from the bottle.

Repel Mosquitoes: Tie a sheet of dryer sheets through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.

Mosquito bite relief: - Rub some onion juice on the bite. Smells, but works!

Insect Repellent: Make a solution of mint oil and rubbing alcohol, place in a spray bottle and spray yourself before any outings, the mint acts as a natural deterrent for most insects.

Bee sting relief - combine a little baking soda and water to form a paste...dab on bite.

Ants: 
Keep a small spray bottle handy, and spray the ants with a bit of soapy water.

Set out cucumber peels or slices in the kitchen or at the ants' point of entry. Many ants have a natural aversion to cucumber. Bitter cucumbers work best.

Leave a few tea bags of mint tea near areas where the ants seem most active. Dry, crushed mint leaves or cloves also work as ant deterrents.

Trace the ant column back to their point of entry. Set any of the following items at the entry area in a small line, which ants will not cross: cayenne pepper, citrus oil (can be soaked into a piece of string), lemon juice, cinnamon or coffee grounds.
Ants on the deck? Slip a few cut up cloves of garlic between the cracks.

Cockroaches

It is a little known fact that roaches like high places. If you put boric acid on TOP of your kitchen cabinets (not inside), if space allows between ceiling and cabinets, the roaches will take the boric acid to their nests, killing all of them. Boric acid is toxic by mouth - keep away from children and pets.

Catnip is a natural repellent to cockroaches. The active ingredient is nepetalactone, which is non-toxic to humans and pets. Small sachets of catnip can be left in areas of cockroach activity. Catnip can also be simmered in a small amount of water to make a "catnip tea" which can be used as a spray to apply around baseboards and behind counters. This natural repellent should only be used in homes without cats!

Keep a spray bottle of soapy water on hand. Spraying roaches directly with soapy water will kill them.

In an empty one pound coffee can, place 1 or 2 pieces of bread which have been soaked thoroughly with beer. Place in areas known to have roach infestations.

Leave bay leaves, cucumber slices or garlic in the affected area as deterrents.

The fruit of the Osage orange tree, the hedgeapple, is a natural roach repellent. Leave one hedgeapple per room for effective deterrence up to two months. You can learn more about hedgeapples for pest control at hedgeapple.com.

Non-toxic roach traps are commercially available. Inspect regularly.

Fleas

Citrus is a natural flea deterrent. Pour a cup of boiling water over a sliced lemon. Include the lemon skin, scored to release more citrus oil. Let this mixture soak overnight, and sponge on your dog to kill fleas instantly.

Add brewer's yeast and garlic, or apple cider vinegar, to your pets' food. However, it is not advisable to use raw garlic as a food supplement for cats.

Cedar shampoo, cedar oil and cedar-filled sleeping mats are commercially available. Cedar repels many insects including fleas.

Fleas in the carpet? The carpet should be thoroughly vacuumed especially in low traffic areas, under furniture, etc. Put flea powder in the vacuum cleaner bag to kill any fleas that you vacuum up, and put the bag in an outdoor garbage bin.

Trap fleas in your home using a wide, shallow pan half-filled with soapy water. Place it on the floor and shine a lamp over the water. Fleas will jump to the heat of the lamp and land in the water. The detergent breaks the surface tension, preventing the flea from bouncing out.

Mosquitoes

The most important measure you can take is to remove standing water sources. Change birdbaths, wading pools and pet's water bowl twice a week. Keep your eavestroughs clean and well-draining. Remove yard items that collect water.

In a New England Journal of Medicine study, oil of eucalyptus at 30% concentration prevented mosquito bites for 120.1 minutes, while Bite Blocker with 2% soybean oil kept bites away for 96.4 minutes. (the eucalyptus oil must have a minimum of 70% cineole content, the active therapeutic ingredient.) Citronella, a common alternative to DEET, performed poorly, warding off bugs for only 20 minutes.

If you're using the barbeque, throw a bit of sage or rosemary on the coals to repel mosquitos.

An effective natural bug repellent can be made using garlic juice. Mix one part garlic juice with 5 parts water in a small spray bottle. Shake well before using. Spray lightly on exposed body parts for an effective repellent lasting up to 5 - 6 hours. Strips of cotton cloth can also be dipped in this mixture and hung in areas, such as patios, as a localized deterrent.

Neem oil is a natural vegetable oil extracted from the Neem tree in India. The leaves, seeds and seed oil of the Neem tree contain sallanin, a compound which has effective mosquito repelling properties. Neem oil is a natural product and is safe to use. Neem oil is also an excellent skin moisturizer and highly regarded for its wound healing properties. Look for new Neem Oil-based commercial products on the market. The website, nutraceutic.com, is one source.