Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 October 1890 — DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [ARTICLE]

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

HOUSEHOLD AND AGRICULTURAL TOPICS DISCUSSED. ABudptof Useful Information Relating to the Farm, Orchard, Stable, Parlor and Kitchen. THE FARM. Preparation lor Corn Crops. It is not altogether the culture that corn and potato crops get while growing which determines their profitableness. Quite as much depends upon having the soil thoroughly and deeply pulverized before the crop Is planted. Sometlmos It is thought that a mellow seed bed is sufficient. If the soil is full of vegetable matter that may decompose them sur-. face preparation will be enough. If there are lumps and clods at the bottom of the furrow they need to be brought up pulverized and mixed with the surface soil. The effect of poor preparation is worse in drought; but whatever the season it always pays to fit the soil thoroughly and deeply for any hoed crop. It is as necessary for corn as for potatoes. Thefactthat.com roots ordinarily run near the surface does not do away with the need for a reservoir of moisture deeper down, to be drawn upward wheriA the roots can reach it by capillary attraction. How to Grow B«an*. Most people consider that as easy as to “know beans;” but the Germantown Telegraph gives these directions: Choose a good piece of land, in the summer, manure thirty loads to the acre, plowed in in August; sow, to rye on September 1, crop it by feeding as soon as it is high enough before frost, and at spells through the winter. Keep feeding up to the middle or last of may, then plow It under out of sight, l’lant beans In drills (Brush variety) June 1; cultivate the weeds out of when their Is no dew or rain on the leaves; very soon tho crop will cover the ground and stop tho weeds. If any get too largo hand pull them. When the crop is ripe, pull and lay in rows till well dried. Next build a platform of rails large enough to hold tho crop in a pile five feet high, platform high enough to keep the beans off tho ground. Cap the stack well to keep out wet. Thresh tho beans on a dry, clear day. Winnow and sift them, hand pick If necessary', sack them nicely, and you will get the top price. Use tho same ground again and again, sow rye every fall, pasture it till May, and proceed as above. Here are two crops a year—pasture and beans. Both pay well, — Farm, Field, and Svockman. Hogs and Hog Food. The country Is just now suffering from an unusual season of drought, which appears to be Universal, both East and West, as well as in tho South, In some localities. The consequence will be a shortage of feed for stock of all kinds. The cry of overproduction has ceased and a shortage will be tho cry now by elevator men and grain speculators. While such Is tho facts to a great extent there will bo a scarcity of feed. I advise farmers to be oaroful about disposing of their breeding stock, especially in the way of brood sows. It docs not require a great deal of hard grain to winter sows that are intended and bred for spring farrowing. A piece of early sown rye makes most excellent winter pasture for old sows, if they are of the right sort, bred up to perfection; if not they had probably better be marketed and replaced with some of tho improved early maturing breed, even at a sacrifice In numbers, fori always contend that there Is greater profit In a few good hogs, well kept, than in a largo herd of Inferior ones, poorly kept. Turnips can yet bo given if there is moisture enough in the soil to sprout them. While they will not mature, they will help materially to mix In with other feed, if steamed and mixed with other grain feed. There is nothing better for slop if fed warm In winter. Late sown millet can be cured lightly and fed to stock hogs, once a day. I find they relish it for a change, and cut flue In the cutter box and steamed with the other rations, it Is preferable to the whole grain rations, the usual hog ration when corn is cheap. Good care and proper housing, with an eye to comfort, will not only save feed,, but improve your stock as well as Increase tho number of pigs from each sow. At present the stock yards are overcrowded with all sorts and sizes of pigs. Some, of course, are selling from necessity, while others look upon the hog as being cheaper than grain and as not paying for their feed. Should our next grain crop bo more abundant, it will probably be just the opposite, with cheap grain and a paying hog crop.— A. D. Johnson, in Practical Farmer,

THE STOCK. RANCH. Stock and Dairy Note*. To keep a dairy warm enough in the winter is far easier and cheaper than to keep one cool in the summer. Fuel is cheaper than ice. The hog cholera crop will soon be mature. As wc sow we reap tills crop. The seed consists of poor food, bad water, a low condition and then profuse corn feeding, which the weak stomach cannot digest, and hence intestinal fever (hychderia) will be the result. A small flock of sheep may be kept on every farm with profit, if only for the domestic supply of mutton during the summer. A carcass of mutton is easily disposed of among three or four neighbors who can take turns in slaughtering. Meat clubs have been formed in many localities with good results. Feeding flavors all animal products, more especially the fatty parts of them. This is due to the fact that the fats and oils of food are not digested, but are absorbed in their natural condition without decomposition or change. Hence the great importance of using foods devoid of HI flavors or'of Impurities of any kind. The udder of a cow is the concentrated outlet of the drainage system of the animal. Diseases, impure products due to ill health, impurities of food, water and air; even medicines used with illjudgment, all escape through the miik. The cow Is saved from many dangers in this way, but the milk becomes a means of distribution of them. We are only beginning to learn the nature of milk in this respect. For profitable fattening, young pigs should be pnt in a clover Weld for two months before the final finish. Then bran and cornmeal in equal quantities, with skimmed milk or water added twelve hours before feeding, so as to be slightly acid, will make sound, sweet* meaty writ, h clover fed pirn never Am the

cholent or ftie common paralysis which makes the hind limbs useless. Bloating is a dangerous form of indigestion in cattle. The enlargement of the stomach by the pressure of gas in it interferes with the action of the lungs and prevents suffocation. An English remedy is to dash cold water over the animal’s back. This reduces tho temperature of the stomach and condenses the gas and favors its escape by eructation or through the bowels. The only really safe preservative against premature souring of milk is perfect cleanliness. These two words have a very broad meaning, and they relate to the health of the cow, her feed, 'lodging, condition of skin, the water she driuks, tho habits of the milker, the condition of the stable, the milk pails, strainers, pans and the atmosphere and condition of the dairy house. Any fault In any one of these is a breach of perfect cleanliness. Truly, cleanliness is next to godliness, and few there be that practice it as they should.

THE DAIRY, Helfnr Calves. As our State (Wisconsin) is fast becoming a dairy State, the training of heifer calves with a view to make them grow into good milkers is an important matter. Several very good articles on the subject have from timo to timo appeared in your paper, so I will only note a few things not treated very distinctly In those articles. First, havo a calf paddock as near tho house as possible, allowing an acre to each three or four calves. As soon as tho calf has learned to take skim milk, put it into tho paddock. My own practice Is, lot the calf suck four or five days, then gradually tone it down to skim milk. When two weeks old it will generally be ready to go into tho paddock. Offqr your calves water every day about noon, as plenty of water is as Important for a calf as it Is for a boy or man. Tho main point is so to food that tho calf Is kept in good thriving order without getting fat. To this end lam careful not to produce “scours” by giving the calf too much skim milk at a feed, as an attack of scours puts them back at least a week. The skim milk is slightly warmed. When a month old I put a fistful each of bran and middlings into its milk. As soon as tho warm weather curdles the milk, give cold curdled milk. Continue tho skim milk as long as you havo It, say eight months, and the bran and middlings Increase in quantity until grass tho following spring. But tho most important article of food for them is potatoes. Commence with potatoes when two months old, and continuo It until tho calf Is a year old. I cut them Into suitable pieces and give about a half a pailful once a day. See that they drink heartily of water at all times, especially In tho winter. If they won’t drink cold water, warm It. See them drink with your own eyes. Never trust to your son or to your hired man about watering calves. They do not see tho point.—Correspondent Farm, Field arid Stockmun. Dairy Notes. Cows are usually at their best at six to nine years. Sat. soda is bettor than soap for washing dairy vessels. Did you ever notico that the petted cow is almost always a good one. Treat all cows kindly. The dairy Is no place for the common “dorg;” experience has prpved that over and over again. Ip one man can keep five cows on five acres, to give back 300 pounds of butter each, why can’t othor men get ten cows on ten acres to do the same? If they can do It on ten why noton fifty? Our rule for salting Is an ounce to the pound, as that suits most of our customers. Our own taste is an ounce and a half. But we make butter to sell as well as to eat, so salt as tho majority like, and go with tho majority.