Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1891 — HOME AND THE FARM. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME AND THE FARM.

A department made up for OUR RURAL FRIENDS. Good Seed. Good Soil and Good Cultivation Requisites to Success—Live Stock Notes—A Dairy Well— Household and Kitchen. Three Requisites.

GOOD seed, good soil, and good cultivation are the three requi- . sites toward atX taining success \i n agriculture. \ All three of these jare largely within Jour own control, k / and if we neglect any of them we' have no right to ■-j coujrjain at the result. Ttlse’asy" Sg to determine -Y whether seed is xK good by testing a '•lsmail quantity

before planting. A small box of moist earth placed in a warm corner will tell the story quickly. The seeds should be counted before they are placed in the soil, and if at least 75 per cent, do not germinate the seed should be discarded., Good soil is also within reach of all, to at least some extent. However poor the farm may be as a whole, we can find some portion that we shall be able to bring up to a good state of fertility; then upon this portion it would pay to expend our major effort, practicing intensive cultivation hereon until We could find means and opportunity for improving the balance, And good Cultivation is within the reach of any able bpdied man, for a good, short, and simple rule for the fAHh is to not attempt to cultivate more than you can cultivate wellWhether it shall be a large farm halftilled, or a small farm well-tilled, is the question before the great majority of our farmers to-day. We believe time will prove latter to be the best.—Farm Journal.

A Cheap Silo, “You may build a small silo in the basement of a barn at a iittle expense,” says The Country Gentleman. “The inner wall, separating it from the rest of the basement, should be a stiff frame or studding to which the boards may oe nailed; and if the rest of the basement is but little exposed to the frost, a single thickness of boards would be sufficient, provided it is made air-tight by matching, or by a good cover of tar building paper; but a more thorough and safe way would be to apply two thicknesses of boafds with the building paper between, which would afford protection from frost in all ordinary instances.. The boards would last longer if a heavy coat of petroleum i£ applied to them on both sides. The bottom of the silo must be well drained; and it should be on a level with the adjoining cow stables as a matter of convenience in feeding. Any good fairly durable lumber will answer, and the contents may rest on a dry, well-drained and well-leveled and beaten bottom, or the bottom may be of hydraulic cement.”