Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1890 — RURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE]

RURAL TOPICS.

INFORMATION FOR THE HUSBANDMAN AND HOUSEWIFE. Some Practical Sucgeiilinni for lira Farmer, Stock-Breeder, Poulterer, HnrwrfmM, and Housekeeper*. THE FARM. Sprouts Around Apple Tree Trunks. Wherever the body of an apple tree lias been injured, sprouts start out which are hard to get rid of. Cutting them while they are in full leaf is the best remedy. A few may appear next summer, but should be cut again. If the tree is checked in vigor by this, it will do all the better for its fruitfulness next year. Cutting sap sprouts while the tree is dormant makes large growth of wood and little fruit. How Much Seed? With all crops a good, even stand is an important item in securing a good yield. At the same time it is easily possible with all crops to have the plants too thin or too thick, either of which conditions will affect the growth or yield. The condition and the fertility of the soil should largely determine the amount of seed and the number of plantsthat should stand. With fall-seeded crops, if the seeding can be done in good season and the soil is in good tilth, less seed will be needed than where the soil is rough or cloddy and the seeding delayed. In the fall it is usually considered best to use less seed in a rich soil than in a poor one for the reason that in a rich soil the plants will have a better opportunity of starting. Hut in sowing all kinds of seed, more than is really necessary is used, booause more or less of the seed will fail to germinate, and the vitality of the and the conditions 0 f germinatlon Thlist !mmWisidoTed.* v ' With wheat sown in good season, say the middle of September, with a soil well prepared and in good condition, and with sufficient moisture to induce a good germination, and an average soil, at least as regards fertility, live pecks of seed will be sufficient. The later the seeding is done, or if the land is rough and cloddy, a larger quantity of seed should be used. Generally it is better to use too much seed rather than too little. Moisture heat and air are the three essentials to germination, but it is possible to have too much or little of either, and in sowing the seed the condition of the soil should always be considered. Generally in using a drill or seeder the seed is distributed more evenly than can be done by hand. It is best to take all reasonable precautions to secure a good, even stand at the start, as the cost is but very little more, while the growth and yield will often be affected considerably.—N. J. Shepherd, in Farm, Field and Stockman. Agricultural Notes. Don’t let anyone fool you out of your potatoes. They are good property, and the probabilities are t hey will be till another crop. If yoh have any manure lying around, get it onto the land. It is better there, even if not plowed under, than leaching In the yard through the fall rains. Ten acres of clover hay, cured as every farmer can and ought to cure it, is worth more than twenty acres of the coarse, woody, unwholesome stuff we find everywhere in abundance. “Alfalfa is especially adapted to dry climates, and withstands drouth much better than ordinary clovers.” For this reason it is largely relied on in Coloradoand California, especially where irrigation is used. While a southern climate is more favorable to alfalfa, numerous experiments have shown that it will do well in many localities in the Northern States, and when established will produce from three to five crops each season. The most neglected part of the majority of farms is the pasture. Once seeded, the usual rule is to leave it to shift for itself. This should not be so. No part of the farm will respond more generously to good oare than the pasture. Cut out the brush and weeds, sow grass seed in their places, and give it a gpod top-dressing of manure In the fall, being careful to spread it well, and the growth of grass next season will be wonderfully increased, If you have muck land you wish to renovate or make productive, the quantity of lime required depends on its caustic nature and on the acidity of the land. Try ten barrels of fresh slacked, or twice that quantity of air-slacked lime at first; note the result and repeat as needed. Wood ashes contain not only a mild form of lime (carbonate), but also a caustic potash, and a quantity of phosphoric acid, and heavy applications of them are good treatment for muck soil.

THE PIUUKKY. Feed l'or (irowlng I’igH. A very good substitute for milk may be found for young animals of all kinds in line wheat middlings, with a small proportion of boiled flaxseed mixed with the mess. The last gives. the pigs enough oil to keep them sleek, and it is more easily digested than the starchy nutriment in corn which is difficult of digestion. Still we advise using all the skimmed milk that can be got in addition. if there be only enough to color the swill before the fine food is mixed in, the bone and flesh-forming elements in the milk will not be lost. If the hot dish water is mixed with it in the pail just before feeding, the mess will be all the quicker digested. It is the warmth of the dish water rather than its nutritive elements that gives it value. CpsaiHl Downs with Figs, Owing to the rapidity with which pigs can be increased, the price of pork often varies greatly within a year or two. It depends partly also on the abundance or scarcity of grafn, especially of corn. When the corn crop is poor, as it is in many places this year, farmers easily get ovdr-stockcd, and either kill or sell off their surplus. Yet this is usually the best time to begin breeding. Good shapely sows are always profitable stock to keep. If crossed with a thoroughbred boar their pigs will make as much pork as if they wore thoroughbred. If bred this fail the pigs will be dropped in the spring, and may be fattened on next year's grain, by which time the country will probably grow an extra large corn crop to make up the present deficiency. No other country in the world can compete with this in corn and its products. A short crop here is always sure to be followed by greatly in-

creased acreage and crop the following season. Concentrated Food for Pigs. The stomach cf a hog is not large enough to adapt it to bulky, innutritious food. As it does not chew the cud it can not make use of grass or hay in such large amounts as do cattle and sheep. Pigs will eat a little clover, but if left without other food will not grow much if at all. Knowing this, as most farmers do, it must seem a waste of effort by the New York Experimental Station to make a trial of ensilage and comfrey as food for growing pigs. The result was what might have been expected. The pigs merely rooted over the ensilage enough to secure what bits of corn were scattered through it. Then they, when driven by hunger, chewed as much of the ensilage as they could. Prickly comfrey was eaten in a very similar manner. The pigs fed on bran and corn meal, with a small amount of ensilage, did better; but neither they nor those fed on corn alone produced [Kirk at a prqiit. The experiment, in short, decided nothing not already well known by farmers. The cost of the ensilage and of the prickly comfrey was estimated at $1 per ton, while rather curiously the manure from this same ton is estimated at 51.48. According to this the ensilage-fed pigs, though gaining nothing themselves, were really a source of profit as machines for making manure. It is even suggested in the bulletin recording this experiment, that breeding animals, both boars and sows, may be kept on ensilage, as no increase in their weight is expected. Hut how is the sow to nourish the young she is bearing, or the boar to be kept in proper vigor for breeding, on such food as this? The experiment was made with improved breeds, the Cheshire and Du-roc-Jersey. A wild, long-nosed Southern pig would have been better adapted to this style of feeding, and with such specimens this unfortunate experiment might have succeeded better. THE DAIKV, Milking Cow* by Machinery. The difficulty with allattempts to milk by machine power Is that the attempt is made to imitate the sucking of a calf. The motion of the hand in milking is very different, and It cannot well be reproduced In any machine. Cows allowed to suckle their calves quickly go dry. The whole secret of modern dairy success is in prolonging the natural flow of milk much beyond what it would last if the calf did the milking. Keep Cow* Clean. Sometimes milk has a“cowy”odor and the cause is little understood. Cows drink large quantities of water and not half of It passes through the kidneys. When in health and the skin clean, by far the largest part finds an outlet through the pores of the skin and takes along with it effete matter and offensive odors which are thrown off through the fine capillaries with the perspiration. Proper action of the skin Is as necessary for the purification of the blood as is the healthy action of the lungs. When milk has a cowy odor, it Is certain that the skin is not working right, allowing the impurities to be thrown back into the blood, whence some of them find their way into the milk, making it smell of the cow. •This suggests tjiat to have piuje milk and sweet butter, the skin must be clean and free from scurf which fills up the pores; frequent grooming is the easiest way. Clean cows do not give “cowy” milk. For the same reason most people afflicted with diabetes are those who neglect personal cleanliness. Incipient cases of this malady can sometimes he remedied by judicious bathing; and so can offensive odors of the person. — G. IF, in Country Gentleman.

Dulry Notes. Good butter contains ten to twelve per cent of water, but it should show no trace of buttermilk. Butter should be kept cool during the working, and also during the few hours it may be left for the salt to dissolve*. To mark a fine quality of butter,either dairy or creamery,requires healthy cows, good feed and judicious handling of cows, feed and the milk. To him, the future of creameries have poorcows, poor milk, poor machinery, poor buildings, poor maker, poor butter, poor consumption, poor price. As soon as the salt is dissolved, butter may be worked the second lime In order to correct any streakiness which the first mixing of sail may have caused. Cheerfui., active labor is a blessing. An old philosopher says: “The firefly only shines when on the wing; so it is with the mind; when once we rest, wo darken.” Three-quarters of an ounce of salt to the pound will be the right quantity for most markets for immediate consumption, and one ounce to the pound for packed butter. Milk cans should be washed in cold or tepid water first, and then rinsed in boiling water before they are exposed to be aired. The addition of a little soda and borax to the hot water will increase its cleansing properties. . It has token the farmers forty y'ears to be convinced of the advantage in co operative dairying. How many years will it take them to be convinced of the advantage in extending this co-operation? How many years will it take them to see that they should co-operate to secure better dairy education, so secure better results from their present scattered cooperation in the shape of creameries and cheese factories? — Farm, Field and Stockman.

THK FO U DTK Y-YARD. Enemies to the Poultry. Minks, skunks, weazels, and similar depredators are great nuisances to the poultry raiser, and in some places it is necessary to wage continual war against them. They will find some way to get into the most ingeniously contrived henhouse, and feast off the best eggs or the fattest hens. Poultry-houses constructed near water enables the sly enemies to sneak up and do considerable damage to the flock in the day time, but as a rule the greatest damage is done at night. A l pair of mink in a poultry-house over | night would do more damage than all j the chicken diseases put together. Where I these nuisances are specially active and numerous it would be well to set traps for them—the common steel-trap being the best—and at the same time to put some protective wire around the poultryhouse. This can be done very easily and cheaply. Securely enclose the henhouse, either inside or outside, with a strong, close wire-netting. Even the floor inside should He covered with it so that no mice can enter. If a ventilator is used cover that also with-the wire. * The little red and large lice are also prolific and active enemies to the poultry at th's season of the year. Some-

times the young chicks are covered witk. lice, and no outward manifestations of them are to be observed, This should not be allowed to continue long, or disease will inevitably follow. By searching close on the skin of the head and neck even the very small mites may be discovered. The heads and necks of all such chicks should be greased about twice a week, the best mixture for this purpose being one gill of lard oil, or.» teaspoonful of oil of pennyroyal, and ten drops of carbolic acid. The body of the chicks should not be greased, as the oil is injurious to their health, but their heads and necks should be thoroughly rubbed with the mixture. The largo lice cannot be found except down among the larger feathers, and they usually come from the old fowl. A dirty poulty-yard on a heavy clay soil is a great enemy to the poultry, for it invariably promotes disease. Cholera* gapes, and roup frequently have theii source in a filthy yard, where all sorts of vermin soon begin to breed. The yard must bo cleaned out occasionally and spaded up. This will give the chickens fresh soil to scratch over, and the smaller the yard the oftener it should be turned up. As soon as spaded it should be disinfected by sprinkling freely over it a mixture made of a pound of copperas, dissolved in two gallons of water. The poultry will appreciate this extra labor bestowed upon their comfort by improving in health and by laying more and larger eggs. Where the poul-try-yard is divided up into two sections it is a good idea to turn the chickens into one section while the other is spaded up and planted with fresh seeds. Quite a little growth of vegetables, grains, and grasses can be obtained before turning them into their new quarters. Then treat the ottier section in the same way, changing the poultry back and forth several times during the season. There is no better way of securing green food for chickens than this, and there is a great amount of saving to be obtained from it if the yard is largo enough for two sections. —Annie Webster, in Practical Farmer.

THE HOUSEHOLD. Hum*. There Is nothing more common or inoro painful than a burn, if It Is slight, tio it up immediately in baking powder laid upon a wet cloth. This seems to keep out the inflammation. If it does inflame and get sore, bathe with equal parts of raw linseed oil and lime water; a bottle of this mixture kept in the house will ho very useful. After the Inflammation, is out, heal with zinc salve, which any druggist will furnish you. When nearly healed and still tender, keep covered with surgeon’s plaster. This is much more pleasant than court plaster. 1 found upon inquiry I could buy a yard, nicely put up in a case, for 50 cents. Wherever there are children this should be kept In the house, as it. will save many a scar. Never throw cold water on a burnt person, as this induces inflammation. One of our little ones ran quickly to get the hatchet to chop a pin In two to use for something; Instead she chopped; rliight through the nail of the left forefinger to the bone. 1 Just wound It up in surgeon’s plaster, and never took it. off till it healed, which ft (kill without the least trouble, as she never took the least cold in it. Not long after I saw Just such another linger, hut It had been neglected and only a.rag tied about It. It. had festered and hid fair to lose the top of the finger entirely. Just being prepared for the emergency made the difference in the two. —Farm and Fireshie. Hint* to Housekeeper*. A void a bare corner in your room. A. table with a few selected pieces of brlc-n----brac upon It will look well here. In a. sitting-room, In what was once a dull, corner, stands one of the pretty cabinets, now so often seen/ hung with dainty curtains of plush, lined with satin. Tho shelves are lined with books, bits of bric-a-brac, etc., tho whole making a most attractive feature of the room. An English genius has invented a tray containing a night-lamp and a small, sauce cup for holding, Infant’s food. This mechanical arrangement can be attached, to the bedpost, and is invaluable in a. home where their is an invalid a baby and few or no servants. The night-lamp emits sufficient heat to keep the child’s food warm. When not required for service tho tray is a convenient place lot a hook.

THK KITCHEN. Spanish Stew. Boil 1 M pounds steak till tender—boiling gently. Save the liquor. Next day cut the beef into small pieces, put'in & saucepan with one teaspooufnl of butter* one-half pint highly seasoned strained tomato sauce, and the liquor In which it was boiled, and let it simmer one-half hour. Just before dishing, mash lino the yolk of a hard-boiled egg, stir into it onequarter teaspoonful of curry powder anti add to the stew. Loaf Cake. Five cups of dough, three of sugar, 1 % of butter; work the ingredients well together; add a yyineglass of wine or inilk, a half teaspoon fill of soda dissolved and strained in as little water as possible, and four eggs; work these in the mixture and add a pound of seeded rasius cut once. Spice to taste. Line basin with, buttered paper, pour in the mixture. Bake as soon as very light in a moderate oven. Make the dough with home-made yeast. Tomatoes. Tomatoes may be cut in slices, cooked in butter and with the addition of a tablespoonful or two of cream or milk, make a nice addition to luncheon or tea where cold meat is served. Dried bee/, chipped ham and chipped corn beef all be heated in a chafing dish. Remains of cooked fish may be heated up with a little butter or cream, and if the yolk of am egg be added, you will have a palatabledish, only requiring a moment’s preparation. Codfish Hails. The best codfish balls are made of onethird picked-up cod and two-thirds potatoes. The dry salt fish,merely washed, is laid in the pot over the potatoes andi enough boiling water poured over both, to justcover them. The fish and potatoesare boiled half an hour, and then the water is drained off }them and they are shaken in the dry and mashed with av potato masher till the lumps are all gone. A tablespoonful of butter and beaten, eggs are stirred through the mashed potatoes and fish with a spoon, and the codfish balls are moulded with the hands in round, smooth balls. The balls are now plunged into a pot of boiling hot fftt. deep enough to immerse them and very, hot—as hot as for Saratoga potatoes