Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1891 — AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL TOPICS.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR OUR RURAL READERS. Shiftless Farming—Care of the Stallion—A Home-Made Ditcher—Stoct Suggestions —An Kgg Machine—Valuable Suggestions for the Dairy—The Sheep Fold. THE FARM. Shiftless Farming.

WE have always claimed that, indirectly, poorpreparation of the soil before putting in a crop was a loss, | but the following, 1 relating to the Jl V whoat pest in Kan- [ i sas, taken from the Kansas Farm - T /\ er, puts poor preparation of soil in a Ju new light. Tho ■ Fanner says: Iff “Secretary Mohisgrv v. l er > °f the State Sp'/gS Board of Agriculture, and Chancellor Snow, of tho

State University, after making a thorough investigation of the reported damage done to the wheat fields by a new pest, says that all fields in which the seed wheat was drilled in last fall after proper preparation of the soil by plowing or by previous thorough cultivation of corn in 1890, w’ere found to be in prime condition. No bugs of any kind are present in these fields, and there is no indication of weakening of the wheat plant in any way. “But fields in which the wheat was put in upon stubble ground or upon poorly cultivated corn land of 1800, are in a damaged condition. Unfortunately, more than half the fields visited in a drive of ten miles south of Russell aro of this character. The wheat plants do not well cover the ground, and in many places are turning yellow. “In some of these damaged fields the plants aro infested by a small green bug. This insect is not the ‘grain aphis’ nor the‘oat louse,’as has been reported in some of the newspapers,but a true hemipterous bug, rather smaller than tho chinch bug, and not previously known as attacking wheat. “It appears, after all, that the primary cause is entirely duo to improper preparation of tho soil, and therefore not very complimentary to our fellow farmers.”

A Homo-Miulo Dltcbnr. Take two pieces of 2 by 12-inch lumber 12 feet long (10 feet will do very well, however). Bevel or miter one end of each piece so as to fit together nicely when the hindmost ends aro about four feet apart. Nail them together in the form of a V (see engraving). Near the bottom, and about a foot from the ends of this frame, secure a brace of 2 by 4-inch scantling, set edge up and well nailed. Put another braco about midway of the frame, and also near tho bottom or lower edge. Theso braces prevent the pressure of the dirt from breaking tho frame. Nail some wide plank across the top for the driver to stand on, and also to lay additional weight upon if necessary. The weight of this ditcher

can be made to correspond with the strength of your team. Either two, four or even six horses can be worked to it, and the weightcan bo increased or diminished accordingly. Plow the ground well where you want your ditch, just as you would if a scraper was to be used. Follow the plows with the ditcher, alternately, until your ditch is of proper depth. For shallow, open ditches this device docs the work more rapidly, a good deal, than you can do it with scrapers.— Farm, and Fireside. Care of the Stallion. “Rest and fat are the greatest enemies of the horse,” is a saving of the Arabs, and if every stallion owner would embody its truth in his practice there would be little need to write anything further on this subject. Its observance would be potent to improve the horse in health, strength, virility, endurance and longevity, and by “holding up the glass to nature” correct the irrational treatment and abnormal conditions under which he is often reared. Not that the conditions surrounding the horse in a state of nature should be wholly imitated, for they do not all tend to his improvement in the qualities adapted to man’s use. But it is worthy of note that the wild horse is tough, sound and healthy, and making due allowance for the influence of natural selection or the survival of the fittest, when we observe that he is seldom in a state of rest, that he lives unconfined in the open air, upon natural food, we may reasonably connect these as cause and effect, and safely consider exercise, pure air and simple diet the fundamental conditions upon which to build up, by skill in breeding and training, the highest and most perfect equine type.— Breeders' Gazcttei Rural and stockman SoggealloiiH. Give the hogs a chance to get at rock salt. Put it in the pasture. They like it. “A good many farm horses arc injured and some are ruined by improper feeding,” says an exchange. We should say so. Horses ought not to be allowed to eat too much hay. It is too bulky. Many a horse is injured by eating too much hay. Animals sometimes are affected with insanity. We have seen horses that we had no doubt were as “crazy as bed bugs.” A stallion or bull may be ever so gentle, as long as we have known him, and yet it is always wise to keep an eye on the animal. If the breeding animal—sow or boar—does not prove a success, a pedigree as long as the moral law will not atone for the failure. If we persist in feeding musty hay to horses we ought to be under no necessity ot asking what causes the heaves when they appear. If we would all resist the temptation of overstocking when the prices for this or that class of animals is high, what a great blessing it would be to all of us. All kinds of live stock breeding re-

quire patience and intelligence. Stupid men or impatient men do not achieve tho best success in breeding animals. What is the first element of the model hog? asks a correspondent. The first element is constitutional vigor. Of course somebody will say: “Well, then tho razorbaek has the first element.” He has. That is tho only element ho possesses, but he has that. * The hog has made tho farmer a great deal of money in the years gone, and it will yet make a good deal. But swiue breeding and feeding requires a good knowledge of hog nature, which comprises a vast deal, more than the belief that a hog is simply a hog with all that the term implies. lFcstcm Rural

A HOME-MARK DITCHER.