Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1881 — FARM NOTES. [ARTICLE]

FARM NOTES.

There are no horses in Greenland and Lapland. Is 1739 a society in London, England, offered a premium of £IOO for cochineal grown in India. It is asserted that the dairy products of the United States have twice the value of the wheat crop. A co mt* anv has been organized in New Orleans, with a capital oi SIOO,OOO, to manufacture jute bagging, which has hitherto been imported. A recent sale in England of one hundred Hereford bulls for shipment to Buenos Ayres, shows that even there the improvement of stock has commenced. Good sweet milk contains one-iourtn more sugar than butter; this sugar turns to acid, and if this acid is too much developed before churning the coveted aroma is destroyed. The past season has been a very fine one for seeding wheat, and there has been a full crop sown. Winter, wheat is reported in many places as having come up remarkably well The following may be accepted as an approximate to the average qualities of milk given by different breeds of cows: Natives produce annually 1,794 pounds; Jersey, 3,820; Ayrshire, 4,300; Holstein, 4,-527 pounds. In Germany the dairyman sends his butter through the mail to the consumer’s table. In winter it is sent in parchment paper and wrapped in common paper; in summer in tin cans or wooden boxes made expressly for that purpose. Thk Elgin, Hl., Board of Trade are doing a service to Western dairymen by showing up the Chicago frauds who are putting up neutral lard, deodorized deadhorse grease, and other nauseous and deleterious mixtures, under the name of Western creamery butter. Mr. Lakin, of Powyke, Worcestershire, England, says that his short-horn cow, Old Strawberry, gave an average of 4,200 quarts per year, for fifteen years, her daughter Star gave an average of 3,200 quarts for seven years, and her granddaughter Stella gave au average of 3,920 quarts for five years. In the process of dressing hogs for English bacon the hair is removod by being singed, instead of being scalded off; therefore, the animal must not be too chuffy. Hogs suitable for making this singed bacon, for which there is a growing demand, are a cross with the pure Berkshire s. Few persons are aware of the manurial advantage of sewage. It is said that if the sewage of London could be applied to au entirely barren soil, it would confer upon it the power of producing food sufficient for 150,000 people, and yet this is drained into the river Thames to poison its waters and send pestilence along its shores. A practical solution of how to utilize sewage would be a boon to the world. The Bothamsted experiments by Dr. J. B. Laws show an average product this year of twenty-eight and one-sixth bushels per acre for the unmanured plots that have been in wheat without fertilizers for thirty-seven years in succession, and thirty-four and five-sixth bushels per acre for the manured plots. This is a much better result than the average of ten years past, not so good as the preceding eighteen years, yet a little better than the average of twentyeight years. It appears from a series of experiments at the agricultural academy of Eldena that Holland cows consume about five pounds of hay or its equivalent for every quart of milk, and Ayrshires nine pounds of similar food for each quart of milk. Another series of experiments conducted by Villerory resulted iu showing that 100 pounds of hay produced in Hollanders twenty-nine quarts and in Herefords sixteen quarts. On a comparison of these figures with other data it appears that the average for all breeds is about six pounds of hay, or its equivalent for one quart of milk. Squashes are of tropical origin, and therefore when spring opens it is useless to plant them until the soil is quite warm and all danger of frost or cold nights is over. Again as they make a very rapid growth there is no necessity of haste in getting the seed into the ground. Squashes are good feeders, liking a rich soil. It is best to manure in the hill. In sowing place a dozen seeds in each hill, and when danger from the bugs is over pull up all but three or four. A mellow, warm soil is the best. For bush sorts make hills three or four feet apart, and for running kinds twice that distance. All winter squashes should be ripened thoroughly or they are watery, lacldng sweetness and richness, also lacking keeping properties. Mr. Hadwen of Worcester, in giving his experience with shade and ornamental trees, at the Southboro meeting of the Massachusetts. Board, said that the Norway maple would succeed where many other varieties of the maple failed. It succeeds well on a stiff, heavy clay. European larches grow rapidly under favorable circumstances. In cultivating them he has had the benefit both for ornamental and economical purposes. Twenty-six years ago he set out a row of Scotch larches on the line of his avenue leading to the public highway. This season he was in want of twenty large sticks of timber for his cow stable floor, and was unable to obtain what he wanted conveniently elsewhere, so he took out every other one of these trees, and they squared eight by ten inches, thirty feet long. Those which were left were sufficiently ornamental and answered the purpose of shade almost as well as before the row was thinned out. He planted a belt of white pine trees to protect his buildings, and for thirty years has had the benefit of their shade and their influence as a wind-break. They are ornamental and useful, and will be valuable in the future as wood. He has had good success with certain varieties of trees and shrubs from China and Japan, and found them well adapted to the soil and climate of Massachusetts.