Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1891 — REAL RURAL READING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

REAL RURAL READING

WILL BE FOUND IN THIS DEPARTMENT. Agriculture the Baals and Fonndatlon of All Wealth—A Home-made BarrowCare of Farm Animals—HouseholdOrchard and Garden, Etc. Dignity of Agriculture.

SGRICULTURE is the basis, the foundation of all wealth, and the . other pursuits are \ so closely con- \ nected with it \that their prosL#)perity depends I upon thfe success \ J° f farming. There is not only !|P n o antagonism •-j between them, ■jy. but they are K mutually benefleial to each A other and the utmost good feeling

should exist, and they should endeavor to promote each other’s interest. No portion of the cummunity needs higher intellectual advancement and more refined culture than the cultivators of the soil. They occupy a proud, high, and honorable position and they should make it greatly sought after. The youths of the country, instead of abandoning agricultural pursuits, should seek them and endeave to make them a source of profit and give them high improvement. In this way they will have culture and refinement as well as health and pleasure. Let the intelligent, progressive, and practical farmers in every neighborhood meet on some Saturday afternoon in every mQnth to consult and advise with each other. Let them give in public meetings the results of their experience, show how to increase the fertility of the soil; to cause greater productions and to improve their live stock. These meetings will become schools of instruction. They will be pleasant and agreeable, as well as instructive, and will enable the farmers to get the benefit of each other’s experience. I know of no better method the farmers can have of improving the agriculture of the country and of making it profitable as well as agreeable. How could time be better or more delightfully spent than at these meetings? They are not held for the purpose of advancing the political interests of the men engaged in them, and enabling them to get some office by ■creating antagonism between the different classes of the community, hut their object is to advance the interests of the whole community and to improve agriculture. None but intelligent, progressive and thrifty farmers can be expected to take an interest in these meetings. All such, by uniting together and acting in concert, will exert an influence, the happy effects of which will be felt throughout the whole region in which they exist If they need any pecuniary assistance to keep up the association, it can be obtained by voluntary contributions made by the members at such times as not to feel them.—Exchange. Home-made Corn Harrow. This, for effective work, cannot be beaten. Take four pieces of good plank, 2x6 inches, and ten feet long; soak in water thoroughly; then drive

two rows-of 20-penny wire spikes into each plank, about two inches apart each way; now bolt three pieces across these, as shown in cut; attach an evener with three chains and you have the harrow made. Corn can be harrowed till two or three inches high with this harrow, without injuring it, and, therefore, is superior to the common harrow for that purpose. —J. W. Armstrong, in Practical Farmer. Farm Proverb*. Use dlligeaaoe, integrity and proper improvement of time to make farming pay. Do not have more live stock than you can keep well. House ail things as much as possible—animals, utensils and crops. When you are offered a fair price for your produce do not store it for rats and speculators. The more comfortable you can keep your animals the more they will thrive. A good cow Is a valuable machine; the more food she can properly digest the greater the profit. A few roots daily to all the stock are as welcome as apples to boys and girls. Iron shoes on sleds last a lifetime and are cheaper in the end than wooden ones. Replace the bars where you often pass by strong gates, and then wonder that you did not do so before Although in draining land thoroughly your purse may be drained, yet the full crops that follow will soon fill it again. Always give the soil the first meal; if it is well fed with manure it will feed all else — plants, animals and men. A borrowed tool if broken should be replaced by a new one. A sense of honor in such matters is much to be commended. How Much a silo should Cost. In reply to a question how much a silo should cost, it is told In a bulletin issued from the New Hampshire Station that the day of costly silos is past, and it is this fact alone which enables the rapid extension of this system of storage. A wooden silo keeps its contents with less loss than a stone or cement one, chiefly because of the penetration of air through mortar and cement. A silo built independent of the barn, having its own frame, roof, etc., can be built for $1 per ton of capacity, if above seventy-five tons capacity. If built in the corner of, the barn the cost of material and labor will be about one half that sum, but on most farms when F'«re is lumber, and where

much of the work can be done by the farm help, this cost can bo reduced almost, if not quite, to an actual cash outlay of $25.