Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 December 1878 — FARM NOTES. [ARTICLE]

FARM NOTES.

Holidays. The holiest of all holidays are those Kept by onreelves in silence and apart— The secret anniversaries of the heart. When the full river of feeling overflows— The happy days unclouded to the close. The sudden joys that ont of darkness start As flames from ashes; swift desires, that dart Like swallows singing down each wind that blows. White as the gleam of a receding sail; White as a cloud that floats and fades In air; White as the whitest lily on a strekm, These tender memories are; a fairy tale Of some enchanted land we know slot where, But lovely as a landscape in a dream. — LonQfellow. Around the Farm. Farm Yards. —A good, well-hung gate will save its cost tlie first year in the time saved by stopping to put up bars whenever any one passes. Farm gates ore pleasant for master and men, and in England there are good, substantial ones opening into every field, so that the farmer can go all over the farm without dismounting. There are no wagon-ways of any kind, without gates for the convenience of equestrians, in that country. To Believe Choked Cows. —In the always-interesting proceedings of the Elmira Farmers’ Club, as officially reported in the Husbandman, we find the following: “My way is to open the mouth of the choked animal and insert a clevis wide enough to keep the jaws distended, and give space for the passage of a boy’s hand. I hold the clevis in place, while my boy passes his hand through and picks out the apple or other obstruction. Any boy whose hand is small enough to pass without crowding, can easily remove the trouble, with entire safety. I have tried to do it myself, but my hand is too large. There is no difficulty or danger if the clevis is firmly held in position.” Another member said that an easy way to bring relief is to cause the choked animal to jump over high bars, as high as may be leaped with considerable exertion. It never fails to eject the offending substance or cause it to pass downward. He has tried it many times, always with success.

Saving Seed Corn.—There has been a good deal said about saving seed corn, and a good many foolish notions advanced, such as ransacking the field before the com is cut, and selecting the ears that ripened soonest, leaving on about one-third of the husks to be hung up in the peaks of some building; others recommend putting into barrels or boxes, etc. To put seed corn into a tight barrel or box would be the worst treatment it could have. It should be put where it can dry out as soon as possible. In going around the field, picking ears before husking, you Avill not get the best, but will fritter away much time; besides, selecting seed com is a common-sense business operation, with no fine or critical points about it. All will admit that the best-developed and best-matured ears are the right ones to bepaved for seed, and the easiest way to obtain these ears is the best. I have raised the same kind of corn for fifteen years without changing the seed, and it has steadily improved all the time. And yet, I don’t attribute all the improvement to the selection of the seed, but part of it to cultivation, for no variety of corn can be kept up to a proper standard without good cultivation. Any corn will degen, erate and run out if not half cultivated although great pains may be taken in selecting the seed; but, by obtaining good crops, the variety Avilimprove. Now, for the way to save thel seed: After the corn is husked out of the shock and throAvn on the ground, take, a basket and go from one pile to another. The ears Avill all be in sight, and in this way the best in the field can be obtained with little trouble. Put it where it will dry out quickly, the quicker the better. I have practiced this plan for fifteen years, and never missed hax ring excellent seed that sent up a strong and A’igorous stalk. Never plant the butt or till kernels, never pick the largest corn, but good, fair-sized kernels, closing Avell over tip of ears.— Practical Farmer.