Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 November 1878 — AGRICULTURAL NOTES. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Weeds about the walls and buildings should be cut before permitting them to mature seeds, and burned. A single weed neglected will be a frightful source of evil next season. No animals unless well fed at all times can give a constant return for the food consumed, and no pasture is safe from injury by over-feeding if overrun in dry weather by a herd of poor, hungry, animals. Milking Kicking Cows. —Take a half-inch rope seven feet long, make a loop in one end, put around the cow’s body just forward of the udder, put the other end through the loop, draw snug and fasten with a half-hitch. This is quickly done and will not hurt the cow; she cannot struggle, and one can milk at his leisure. —Letter to Country Gentleman. Cow Leaking Milk.— There is no cure for a cow that leaks milk. This fault arises from a laxity of the muscular structure which closes the duct of the teat, and is therefore beyond remedy. To bother with devices to prevent it would cost more than the loss arising from selling the cow for beef, and procuring another. —American Agriculturist. A hitching-post is a cheap thing, and any man, after feeding his horses, can set one up before breakfast. But a neglect to do this is only an idea of the character of the man. It is not the only deficiency about the premises. By close inspection it will be found that- nearly all the little improvements and conveniences which should be about all farms are missing. The owner is halt, lame and blind to his duty. lowa State Register. Muck and Marl.— A compost, to be of any effect, must have some active fermentable matter in it. Muck and shell marl together would be quite inert, but, if caustic lime were mixed with a quantity of these materials, they would be decomposed and made useful. One bushel of fresh oyster-shell lime, mixed with a wagon-load of muck and marl, would be proper. The compost, along with some stable manure, would be beneficial for grass or corn.—American Agriculturist. Dissolve common salt in water, sprinkle the same over your manure heap, and the volatile parts of the ammonia will become fixed salts, from their having united with the muriatic acid of the common salt, and the soda thus liberated from the salt will quickly absorb carbonic acid, forming carbonate of soda; thus you will retain with your manure the ammonia that would otherwise fly away, and you have a new and important agent introduced, viz: the carbonate of soda, which is a powerful solvent of all vegetable fiber.— Chautauqua Farmer.

Protection Against Mice. —Many fine fruit-trees are destroyed in the winter by mice, perhaps just as they are coming to yield something to repay years of care. Let us tell our friends that at the cost of 1 cent a tree they may rest easy about tlie mice every night in the winter. Out common plasterer’s laths just long enough to reach the lowest limb, and tie around each tree enough to protect the trunk. Common cotton twine is sufficient, one tie near the top and one near the bottom.—Rural New Yorker. The Mexicans have a method of subduing fractious horses and such as are inclined to run away which might be introduced here with profit. A hood or winker is so arranged that the driver or rider can, in an instant, draw it directly over the eyes of the animal, effectually blindfolding him. When this is done the horse instantly becomes quiet, and a repetition of the blindfolding two or three times gradually results in his becoming quiet and docile. Such an arrangement would be a valuable appendage to the head-gear of such horses as are disposed to run away. Squashes for Feed.— The squash is very rich in flesh and fat-forming elements, consequently it is a valuable food for stock, and all the waste of the crop should be carefully saved and fed. The specked and green ones, boiled up and mixed with meal and shorts, make excellent food for swine and poultry; and cut up raw they are valuable for cows and young stock. When feeding them to hens and cows giving milk the seeds should be removed, as they have a diuretic effect, which tends to dry up the milk and cause hens to cease laying. Squashes are worth half as much per ton to feed as good hay.— Western Journal.