Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 April 1879 — FARM NOTES. [ARTICLE]

FARM NOTES.

Watering Horses.— Horses should drink after, rather than before, eating, aa a rule, though there are exceptions. A very thirsty horse may have a little water, though not all he desires, especially if heated. Sheep Pulling Wool. —Sheep pull each other’s wool when they are suffering from indigestion and a depmved appetite. When this is noticed, it would be well to give a strong dose of salt, which will act as a purgative, or one ounce of an equal mixture of salt and Epsom salts may be given to each sheep separately, lest some get too much. Lost Cud. —Suspended rumination, Commonly called lost end, is the effect of indigestion. This is frequently removed by giving the cow one pint of raw linseed oil, or melted lard. A very popular remedy is to cause the cow to swallow a salt mackerel; this is often effective, and operates doubtless by the action of the salt and the oil in the mackerel. To Prevent a Cow Leaking Milk. —To use an elastic band around a leaky teat will be injurious. The compression will soon cause mischief. Any other mechanical contrivance will doubtless have the same effect. A safe practice is to procure some cullodion at the druggist’s, and so soon as the milking is over, to cover the end of the teat with a film of it. This dries instantly, and shrinks in drying, thus closing the orifice so gently as not to be hurtful, and will break away in milking. Red ants are often a great pest in a house, and it is difficult to get rid of them. A friend says that they may be readily trapped thus: Ants are fond of fresh lard, and if a plate be greased with that they will leave almost everything else and go for it; in their greediness they get caught in the lard and cannot get away. The plate is to be occasionally warmed and wiped, and then regreased and set again. It is well to place some small sticks against the edge of the plate to serve the ants as bridges and ladders by which to reach the lard. Sod vs. Stubble for Corn.—A subscriber, in Fellow county, Ind., planted eighteen acres of com last year; half on a clover sod, the other, half on “the best side of the field, in corn the year previous;” all planted the same day and having the same treatment throughout. The result was thirteen bushels per acre on the com-stubble, and fifty bushels on the sod land. Although the stubble had some manure, it is very evident that the clover added vastly more fertility to the soil, and was the cause of the larger crop. It is a common experience that a clover sod is one of the best manures for any kind of grain crop, and it is highly valued by most wheat-growers in all sections. Choice of Hens. —The sitters should be chosen of a breed characterized by persistence and regularity in incubation, fidelity to their chickens, and gentleness of disposition. The Light Brahmas are our resource, and can not be excelled for hatching and rearing. Pure bloods, however, are not used; but, to give less awkwardness and greater spread of wings, they are crossed with barn-yard fowls. The half-blood resemble the Brahmas the most in form and other characteristics, and are almost uniformly docile. The half-blood Brahmas are extremely valuable for hatching and taking care of chickens. If, however, it is more convenient to use some variety of pure-blooded fowls for incubating purposes, the Plymouth Rocks, er either variety of the Cochins or Brahmas will do very well. If the stock of eggs be more than ordinarily valuable, we prefer hens in their second and third year. They are better mothers when the younglings most need a mother’s care; they are always more steady and constant after being nested, and they will bring. up their chicks, on the average, with considerably greater certainty than will yearlings and pullets. —Poultry World.

Distance Apart for Drains.—When the conditions are such that a sufficient fall or depth cannot be had otherwise, the outlet may be under the surface of the water a portion of the year and the drains still work well, especially if the outlet is into a running stream. The question of distance between drains is a more general one, even, than the last. The custom of the English drainers is, to put their drains deeper and closer to each other than the American. It is quite' natural there should be this difference in most cases, for, as a rule, our soil, especially in the West, is of a freer and more pliable nature, possessing the property of permeaability to water to a much greater extent than the clay soils of England. I find many rules for our guidance, but believe we must fall back upon practice. A common rule is twenty feet apart fora three-foot drain, forty feet for a fourfoot one, and eighty feet for a five-foot one. A granger writes to the Prairie Farmer, under date March 23, 1878: “The experience has proved in most casei that 150 feet apart is near enough except when the ground is naturally spongy or marshy.” As a note to the communication the editor suggests that ten feet in width may be allowed for each foot in depth. My own opinion is: Tile drains may be put as near to each other as we please, and that they will do good service in the usual soil of Hlinois as far apart as proposed by the granger. —Prof. Shattuck, in Drainage Journal.