Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1879 — AGRICULTURAL. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL.

November Work on the Farm. [From the American Agriculturist.] Fences and gates of the orchard and nursery should be in good order, especially at this season, when a stray animal may do serious damage. Draining, if necessary, should be done before hard freezing weather. Surface water shonld not be allowed to collect; a few furrows in the right place will be useful in carrying off the water. Plowing the com-stubble shonld be made the first business of this month. In fact, the plowing under or otherwise disposing of all rubbish from gathered crops shonld be done as soon as possible. Regular rations are absolutely necessary. Steady feed means steady thrift and profit. Scarcely any two animals have the same appetites. In feeding, observe closely and know the habits of each animal; the winter is the time for this study. Cions may be cut as soon as tile leaves fall, when they should be put into sawdust, or, in its absence, sand, and kept in a cool cellar. Only healthy, thrifty trees of well-known varieties shonld be selected from. It is better to buy than to use poor stock. A mound of earth at the base of young trees will serve the double purpose of a support to the tree against the winds and storms, and also prevent mice from gnawing the trunks and killing the trees. The mounds should be eighteen or twenty inches high, and of earth free from weeds, so that it may pack firmly. Apples. —With the present short crop, fruit that in years of abundance would not b 9 thought marketable will sell, and should be sorted with this in view, and put up in tho best possible shape. The rejected fruit can go into cider, which is better when made at this season, because the process f ofermentation goes on more slowly. The chinch bug has been unusually destructive the past season. Its winter harbors are in the stubbles, and any standing weeds that remain in the fields. Doubtless the ravages of this pest are encouraged by the safe shelter it finds in this way. Wheat farmers may take a hint from this, that cleaner culture may be found an effective metiiod of destroying this and other pests, by depriving them of winter quarters. Winter Feeding for Cows.—The yield of milk and butter in tho summer depends greatly upon the winter feeding. All the feed given to cows is not consumed without return. The manure gives a good dividend upon the outlay, and the animals are storing up energy and strength to be made available afterward. The winter is the season for liberal and judicious feeding, and not for “short commons,” which is but another term for half starvation. Rabbits can do much harm if left to themselves. If the trees are few, they may be protected by bands of lath or tarred paper, tied on with fine wire. Rabbits have a great distaste for meat, and may be kept away from the roots by smearing the trunks of the trees with blood, or rubbing them with liver or other refuse meat. A small “ bounty” on rabbits will make boys active with their traps. The rabbit is at its best in November, and a fat young one is most excellent. Fences and Ditches.— Before the ground freezes, put fences and ditches in good order. Fence-posts that are loose may be tamped solidly, and a stone rammed on each side will steady a post better than packing with earth. Mounding up around the posts will turn the water from them and save them from heaving. The weeds that have grown in the ditches, and the accumulations of leaves and rubbish, should not be loft in them; remove all such and make a clear channel for the water to flow away. Cows.—Dairymen have reason to hope for better things. An advance of 100 per cent, on cheese, and 25 per cent, on butter, is cheering, although, unfortunately, tho dealers get all the benefit of it at present. Tho dairymen, however, will have the advantage in tho future, and this will be an incentive to improve the condition of the cows. Winter dairying is a profitable business, and the best dairymen are gradually working into it, but it will be pnly the first-class dairymen who will succeed in it. Green manuring is one of tho cheapest and easiest methods of fertilizing land. A stubble plowed early this month may be sown with rye, at a cost of less than $2 per acre, and the rye may be plowed under in the spring, April or May, and tho ground sown with another crop. Otherwise the rvo may be cut for fodder, and the ground used for oats. But an occasional green crop plowed in will be found very useful in keeping up land, and rye is the only one that can bo used at this season. Deep Drains. —Making drains is especially a work for this season. If a field, or part of one, or a low piece of land is properly drained each year, by-and-by the whole farm will be put into good condition. Patience and time are especially needed in farm work. One cannot do everything in one year, nor in ten, in many cases, so that a farmer should not be discouraged, if he cannot do all that he desires in one or two seasons. If what is done is completed, as far as it goes, one should be satisfied. Roots After Corn.— A badly-plowed com-stubble is the worst possible ground for roots, and, if these are to be grown next season, and com-stubble is to be plowed first, it must be plowed deeply, and all the com-stubs well covered. Root culture requires good farming, and rough, uneven plowing, with loose com-stubs on the surface, is not good farming. A well-plowed comstubble may be worked with tho diskharrow in the spring, and well fitted for roots, which are preferable to oats to follow com.