Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 May 1878 — AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

The Husbandman. Gire fools their gold, knaves their power; Let fortune’s bubbles rise snd fall; Who sows a field or trains a flower, Or plants a tree, is more than all. For be who blersee most is blest; And God and man shall own his worth Who toils to leave as his bequest An added beauty to the earth. And, soon or late, to all that sow The time of harvest shall be given ; The flower shall bloom, fruit shall grow, If not on earth, at last in heaven ! —John O. /*****■. Around the Farm. See tiffit the coops of young chickens are kept decently clean and oomfortable. The hatchway is now open, and thousands of chickens are entering the world through it The gape-way is open, too, and thousands of chickens go out of the world by that way. English breeders use blankets made of silk for horses and cattle, for the prevention and cure of colds,chills,and rheumatism. Moths will not touch them, and their warmth, comfort and lightness render them invalnable. Hot beds and cold-frames, in which seeds have been sown, will need increased care as the sun gets warmer. Let them have abundant ventilation during the day, early closing of the frames, and covering in cool nights.

The English feed for fattening sheep consists of cotton seed and turnips, They claim that it will put on the most fat, is the safest feed, makes the best mutton at a less cost, and produces the best and strongest manure. Where it is suspected that cut-worms exist in a corn field, more grains should be dropped to the hill than usual; then if the worms appear and go to work it is au easy matter to go over the field and kill them one by one. A field can soon be gone over. This idea appears in the Country Gentleman, and seems like a sensible one. Throwing salt or lime on its tail won’t destroy the cut-worm. As to rods to protect buildings from lightning, use round iron an inch in diameter, which your blacksmith will put together for you; tip it with gold or platinum; let the lower end run deep into the ground, say four or five feet, Have no sharp bends in it. When a lightning man comes around give him a $5 bill for getting away as quick as he can; if he then don’t go, boot him. Dairymen—the wide-awake ones—will not fail to plant a patch of corn now, to cut for fodder during July and August, when the pastnres are short. Drill in rows and cultivate; don’t sow broadcast. Field com will do; certain kinds of free succoring sweet is better. Holsteins and Ayrshires are tho best breeds to cross with native stock for milk producers; butter producers should have a big streak of Jersey blood in their veins.

After a wet piece of land has been tmderdrained it may be best seeded by plowing and sowing with oats rather thinly. Oats succeed well upon cold, moist ground and upon a sod, and if there are no more than two bushels of seed per acre used the grass seed will take very well with this crop. A mixture of four quarts of timothy, a bushel of red top and a bushel of blue grass per acre would be preferable.—American Agriculturist. Toward the last of May and during June the codling moth will lay its eggs on the young fruit of the apple and pear Each female lays between 200 and 300 eggs, distributing them over the tree, one to an apple or pear. Wherever an egg is laid the fruit will be destroyed almost certainly. Hogs should run in every orchard; (1) to root up the ground; (2) to fertilize the soil; (3) to eat the fruit that falls in consequence of being injured by the larvae of the codling moth. If all wormy fruit is eaten as soon as it falls to the ground there will soon be no moths to trouble the orchard. It is the second crop of the insect that does the most mischief, which hatches out in August and burrows in the full-grown fruit; but destroy the first crop and there will not be a second. Agricultural writers are inclined to recommend small farms. As well advo cate doing business of any kind on a small scale. Better have a small farm paid for and well managed than to owe for a large one, without the means to work it well. But, if a farmer is able to own a large farm, and has the ability to manage it, no one need to waste any sympathy on him. Large farms are often poorlv farmed, so are small ones. The difficulty is not so much with the size of the farm as wit the capacity of the farmer. Good farming can be done just as well and mare economically on a large farm than on a small one. Teams, implements and farmhands can be used to better advantage on the large farms, for the farmer can afford to have a variety suited to his needs. It is foolish to seek to get a large farm just for the sake of room, but if the large area is fully utilized then we see no objection to It.—Husbandman.