Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 June 1891 — AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL TOPICS.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR OUR RURAL READERS. Storing Tools—How to Seed Down Ground —Birds Pulling Corn—Pijrs in Clover— Keeping Sows to Breeding Selling Young Pig»—Diymg Out Rubber Boots— Ko tee. STORING TOOLS. Illustration of the Carelessness Which Too Frequently Prevails.

WHEN returning from a little lecturing trip in Ohio we were delayed some * hours by an accident, and our train \ “laid off” in one of \ the finest agricul- \ itural sections of gjjjjklthat gem State, j IToward evening k /the prospects of getting to any town for supper ;Sr became very gloomy, and a half ggg dozen or more struck across t to fields for a farm house, and were much gratified at

the devices adopted for storing farm tools and machinery. A good plow, apparently nearly new, had been left in one corner of the field standing in the furrow, just where, last fall, the plowman had finished his stint. Probably the timber needed seasoning—it was certainly getting it: or, maybe, it was left there for acclimation. Perhaps the farmer left it there to save time in the hurry of spring work.in dragging it from the shed. Perhaps he covered the share to keep it from the elements and save it from rusting; or, again, perhaps he is troubled with neighbors that borrow,and left it where it would be convenient for them. He might at least have built a shed over it.

Over in an adjoining field was a reaper and binder just where the job was finished last fall in gathering the wheat crop; in fact a few bundles of straw—the hogs had taken the wheat —were thrown over the concern, and the hogs had a cozy nest among the gearing and on the bundle table, and In their zeal to get the warmest place had worn all the dirt and rust off in many places, and the constant friction of their bristles made the machine take a high polish In places. Approaching the house, we passed through the barn yard, and if this man does not act soon it will be a grave question which he can easier move, the farm buildings or the manure heaps. Passing to the house the same order prevailed, though we managed to get something to eat, aud paid seventy-five cents apiece for some bread and milk and a greasy doughnut or two. After returning to the train, we were tired, and ordered our berth prepared and were soon asleep and dreaming. We again visited that man’s barn; boards were kicked off, partitions were half broken down, racks broken, floor a foot deep with manure—there was no room to throw it out —hay trampled under foot and wasted, grain squandered, The wagon had not been hauled under the shed, though it was raining. The harness was scattered about—hames in one place, the breeching In another. The lines were used for halters. We again went into the house. A shed stood near by in which a family wagon was kept for the women to go to town in. The hens had appropriated it as a roost, and, however plain it once was, it was ornamented now inside and out. (It should be borne in mind that hen manure does not injure growing melons, squashes, cucumbers, etc. This farmer bought these things in town). We peeped into the smokehouse, but of all the fixings ever seen this place beat them. A Chinese museum cannot compare with it. Onions, soap-grease, decaying pumpkins, hogs’ bristles, soap, old iron, rags, bones, kettles, a broken spinning-wheel, a churn, a grind-stbne, bacon, hams, washtubs, a barrel of salt, bones with the meat half cut off, scraps of leather, dirty bags, a sack of corn meal, old boots, smoked sausages, the ashes and brands that remained since the last smoking, stumps of brooms, half a barrel of rotten apples, together with rats, bugs, earwigs, sow bugs, and all the vermin usually found in damp dirt. Two gentlemen told us the next morning that we did not dream half what they saw when they went to the house in the back way. The window near the door had twelve lights, two wood, two of hats, four of paper, one of a bunch of rags, one a pillow, and the rest of glass, more or less broken and patched. Under this window stood several cooking pots, and several that were not used for cooking, and as they were debating whether to enter or not. such a squall arose from a quarreling man and woman that they feared violence if they entered. Two of us entered the front way and escaped the circus aud museum heard and seen by our frieuds. Amazing change! a front door, a piano, pictures, books, and smiles. The back door principally old junk, slop barrels and quarrels. Oh, what contrasts can our most vivid imagination picture. But what else can one or could one expect from a person who stored his implements and machinery out of doors and spent most of his time at the grocery or saloon talking of hard times and the down-trodden agriculturalist

My friends, the foregoing is no sandy sketch, and its counterpart can be found in nearly every farming community. Then the question is raised why the boys will not stay upon the farm,' but seek the glare, glitter, and achievements of town or city life? This class of farmers have no money to pay for or time to read the agricultural paper, bnt will eagerly subscribe for some political blatherskites thrice told tales, and can always be relied upon to have a bottle ot whisky in the haymow or in a hollow log. These things ought not so to be; this is what brings the high, the noble, the exalted pursuit of agriculture into disrepute, and causes many of their neighbors to hang their heads in very shame. Such farmers as these are invariably dodging their creditor and waiving protest; their notes are seen everywhere, and finally they make a big sale, pay all their debts,' but the Sheriff is the auctioneer.— Farm, Field and Stockman. How to Seed Down Ground. It depends largely, in seeding ground, whether it is to be used for permanent pasture or merely for bay for a year or two and then to be plowed up again. If for permanent pasture, we want the sod very thick, and a variety of grasses, so

as to be fresh and succulent ail through the season. If to cut for hay, we want only one or two kinds of grasses, so that they will ripen together. For a permanent pasture, a mixture of clover, timothy, rodtop, blue grass, fescue, orchard grhss and some others may be used. From half a bushel to a bushel of seed per acre is none too much, as the sod must be very thick to withstand the drouth and tramping upon it. The best grass for hay is timothy, as it sells the highest in the market. The ground may be seeded on wheat, rye, bariey or oats, but it is not a good plan to sow the grass seed alone as, if this is followed, a crop of w’eeds is sure to grow, and a grain crop is much better than a weed crop. If seeding down is the main object, a less amount of grain should be sown. Some practice sowing lightly of timothy in the fall, and sowing with timothy and clover in the spring. From four to eight quarts of timothy seed per acre is used and from four to six quarts of clover seed; In mixing grasses always have one kind in greater proportion than the rest Oats make an excellent crop to seed with, as they shake the ground and keep out the weeds. But they must bo sown early to dowel). Barley is also good. Grass seed should bo sown after the grain, and not harrowed in deeply, because the seeds are so small. If the weather is dry at harvest, cut the stubble high, so as to keep the young grass plants still shaded. A heavy seed for mowing lands is one bushel of red-top, one-half bushel oi timothy and eight pounds of clover seed, For permanent pastures the amount and the kind of seed will greatly depend upon the richness of the soil and the amount of moisture in it. Grass seed may be sown on the snow on wheat or rye. It will settle down and as the ground softens the seeds go in and soon start growing. Practical Farmer.

Birds Pulling Corn. Blackbirds are often very troublesome about pulling corn when it first breaks ground and until it is too tall for them to handle. They have no fear of the lines around the field that would keep off the crows, and they are too numerous to be shot, and too brave to be afraid of scarecrows, or of a man with a gun when he is more than a gunshot away. Corn they want, corn they will have, and it is the best way to let them have it. A peek of corn scattered around the borders of a ten-acre field, putting the larger part on the edge next the swamp, where they most do congregate, will usually satisfy their appetite while the corn is growing, unless they are very numerous, and they would rather pick it up than pull it from the hill. If one feeding is not enough, give another, as It takes but little more corn and much less labor than it would to replant the Held. Do not poison the corn, as the blackbirds, robins and other birds that would eat it are troublesome only a few days in the year, and the farmers’ friends, in these days of numerous insect pests, the rest of the time. — American Cultivator. THE PIGGERY. rigs In Clover. Pigs in clover, or those fed in clover either in the field or in the pen, are the best pork producers. The old idea was to make pork from slop and dirty dish water, and a sole diet of corn, but now that pork is made from good milk, clover and grasses, it is better, sweeter and more commonly used. Grass-fed hogs, or those which are fed clover until autumn, and then fattened on the new corn, are nearly always exempt from hog cholera and other swine diseases. Clover and other sweet grasses are essentials In the diet of pigs as well as In other animals. The farmer that feeds his cows and horses on an excellent diet of corn, and denies them clover and grass, would be voted down as a lunatic or fool. Yet about the same sort of system has been applied to the swine for many years past, and growers as well as consumers are awakening to the fact that sweeter and more wholesome pork is being sent to the markets. Germany and France complain of our pork, and often with good cause. No country in the world Is so well adapt to swine raising as this, and more pork than can be consumed In the States Is grown every year. Foreign markets are thus essential to the swine raisers, but these cannot be opened and kept supplied unless more pains are taken in sending abroad good, sweet, wholesome pork. American pork has received a bad name on the other side, but with the improved method of raising swine on good sweet clover and grasses, and fattening them on new corn, there is every possibility of greater success In the business. As it may not be practical always to pasture the swine out, it is a good plan to adopt a system of soiling which will keep the hogs supplied with green food in summer, and roots or sfiage in the winter.. If the hogs are given the run of the hay stack tney will subsist for months with but very little grain. A ration of hay or dry grass during the season when the pastures are covered with snow will be very acceptable, and great!y reduce the cost of wintering the herd. Our pfg money must now come out of the pasture, the clover, the orchard. and other cheap foods. The old demand may have been for pork in the lard sense, but the coming demand Is for meat in the muscle sense, and good, sweet, wholesome meat at that. The active hog, which has the range of the fields, will produce this kind of meat much faster and better than the inactive, sluggish one, penned up and fed on an exclusive diet of corn. The sluggish one will fill up with fat, and the secretions will be dried up and the blood will thicken. The system of such an animal is always more susceptible todisease, and besides it Is always more costly to prbdnce fat than good meat, and to-day it is the least value as a food. The old idea seems to have been to begin to fatten the hogs as soon as born, and as a result nothing bat fat pork was produced. People liked this less and less, and then when the germs of a deadly disease were found in the great rolls of fat the consumers became frightened. Pork was no longer the meat of the people. The hog that is brought up to make muscle and lean meat, and then when needed for the market fattened on corn, always pleases the butcher and the consumers. A complete change has thus teen inaugurated in swine breeding, and for the better. The result is going to be more profitable for the breeders, and more and superior pork for the consumers. It will also blot out the bad name which American pork has received abroad quicker and more effectually than all governmental interference. The whole trouble and remedy lies In the hands of the swine breeders.r— IF. E. Farmer, in American Cultivator. Keeping Sowa to Breed ng. The fact is not so well known as it

should be that from three to five days, after dropping her litter of pigs a sowwill mate again. It is best with large, fully grown sows, to let them have pigs as often as possible, as in our experience they do better and produce more thrifty growing pigs by this method. The explanation of this paradox is that this method prevents the sow from getting fat, so as to Injure her breeding, as she* is sure to do if loft too long without pigs suckling her. Sows thus treated not only bear but will need liberal feeding, as the growing foetus and suckling pigs are drawing on the sow. besides the nourishment required to maintain her owa existence.— American Cultivator. Selling Young Pigs. There is no way of making profit fromhogs so easily afid certainly as keeping a number of first-class breeding sows and selling the pigs when from six to ton weeks old. The price of pigs at this age> generally represent both in the eye of' the seller and buyer a considerable share of what the pig will grow to if properly fed. It is true the young pig makes, more weight from same amount of feed than ho does when older, but generally the man who sells the pig gets this profit, or a good share of it, without the expense of feeding.

Notos. Uniformity in size, color and weight will add to the value of a lot of hogswhen they are ready to market. Rivalry among swine breeders is agood thing, so long as it does not lead them to disparage the merits of others. Of the seven to nine months required to feed a hog for market, from five to seven of them should be spent in good pastures. In a majority of eases It is the breeder and feeder that looks after the little things in the management that makes, the most money. It is to the credit of hog breeders that, in comparison with other classes of stock fully as much Improvement has been made, says the lowa Farmer. The best profit is not realized with the greatest weight in swine, says an exchange. It is medium weight and early maturity that is the most desirable. Many beginners got discouraged in attempting to improve the quality of their hogs because prices get low, but thia should only be an inducement for further Improvement, says a writer. THE HOUSEHOLD. Drying Out Rubber Hoots. Many farmers would wear rubber boots more than they do if they knew how to get them dry inside. A wet rubber boot-

Is about the most uncomfortable thing one can put on his feet. Mr. M. H. Q. Gardner, of Orange County, N. Y., tried hot oats, hot sand and a hot oven, with poor success, and was about ready to • give up rubber boots when he hit upon the plan for drying shown in the Illustrations. A stout wire is bent as shown, with loops largo enough to admit the boot legs. There is a hook at the back to hold the wire in place when put over the.

stovepipe. The boots are thus out of the way, and when a fire Is kept overnight they are perfectly dry and warm in the morning.—Rural New Yorker. Hints to Housekeepers. It is said that sciatica may be cured) by applying a coating of flowers of sulphur to the afflicted limb. Gold rope Is much used for picture--frames. It should not be more than half an inch In diameter, except for lar geepictures. Hemp and manilia are alsoused; but hemp Is better, for it ia> smooth. A good plan for keeping butter cool and sweet in summer is to fill a box with sand to within an inch or two of the top; sink the butter jars in the sand, then thoroughly wet the sand with cold water. Cover the box air-tight. The > box may be kept in the kitchen. For tender feet, take two quarts of cold water and add one tablespoonful of bay rum and two tablespoonfuls of ammonia. The feet should bo soaked in> this for ten minutes, throwing the waterupward to the knees. Rub dry with a crash towel, and the tired feeling will be gone. A useful cement for mending earthern or stone jars, stopping leaks in the*, seams of tin pans or iron kettles, ortightning loose joints of iron or wood, few made by mixing litharge and glycerine to a thick cream. This will resist acids,, heat and cold, if the article is not used, until the cement has hardened. Macaroni should be used much more, than it is. It is a very good substitute for potatoes when that vegetable is. scarce and high, as it is this year. Many physicians object seriously tu the use of" old potatoes after they have begun to sprout, and on their own tables use macaroni instead. The simple ways of preparing this dish everybody knows. Rattan and willow chairs should be cleaned, like straw matting, with salt and water. First thoroughly remove • the dust. Then wring a clean cloth out. of salt and water, rubbing chair or mat--ting dry with the other hand as you goon, or, at any rate, as quickly as you can. so that it may retain nona, of thft. moisture.