Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1891 — AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL TOPICS.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR OUR RURAL READERS. Covered Darn - Yards Method In Horse Breeding—Flan of a Home-Made Hog Water—Shed tor Dairy Cows—Household and Kitchen Notes. Population Chances.

last census shows that the cities have increased their population at a faster rate dur,'vVA ing the last deJ . y cade than during I any former. The urban population { ais fast gaining on •—the rural, and w may soon equal yy it. There seems to have been a WL£. strong drift of the population away from the

farms to tha cities. It has been claimed that improved agricultural machinery has driven laborers from the farm to the city. But such is not the case. The scarcity of farm labor has largely increased the sale and use of improved farm implements. On this account many farmers were obliged to purchase labor-saving implements long before they would have done so, if the number ot farm laborers had been equal to the demand. The drift from farm to town has greatly stimulated the manufacture of agricultural machinery.—Farm and Fireside.

Hoof ml llarn-Yards. It is in my opinion a successful way of making manure to make it in a covered yard; good manure can be made without question.by heaping in open space and forking over occasionally, but with less care a better product is likely to be the average result when made under cover, whether enough better to pay the cost of the shelter is perhaps an open question; if the shelter were only for the manure, the balance might he struck against it; and if no coarse stuff goes into the manure pile (it is singular advice of one writer that it should not) the balance would certainly he against it. But the cattle may enjoy this Bhelter and profit by it, since it gives to them a large freedom to move about without exposure to storms or cold; and with the aid of their tramping a very considerable addition may be made to the value of the manure of the yard by working into the excrements the straw or other coarse stuff whioh, under conditions that may often prevail, cannot he profitably fed; there must, of course, he so much of such material that the animals will not be injured by too much wetness under foot. This coarse stuff put directly on the land is wmrth very little for fertilizing; when more or less decomposed in a well-aired mixture with animal excrements, it is worth much more.—New York Tribune.

A Handy Toot Tray. It often happens, says a writer in the Practical Farmer, that repairs are to he made to a binder, mower or other implements, something around stables, barn, fences or gates, things that cannot conveniently, if at all, he

brought to work- shop, and it is found necessary to take tools,

also materials, nails, screws, bolts, washers, rivets, wire, or whatever is needed to make repairs, from the work-shop. To carry them loose by hand, necessitates perhaps, the going or returning several times, risk of losing some of them with having no place to put them when making repairs, and neglect in returning them, when in a hurry, to the shop, when one trip will not answer. Even if in a hurry, with having a tray, all can be put in, set in some safe place where they can be taken home at quitting time, and even if you had to drive you could carry tray with one hand. The writer has a tray of which the accompanying cut shows pattern. Any one can easily make one. Prosure a bottom 24x18 inches, better if in one piece, nail a rim around it, 3 inches wide; divide by putting a partition lengthwise making it 6 inches wide at center, tapering level with rim; cut a hole for hand to carry by. You may put a cross partition on one side for small bolts, nails and screws. Make out of planed, lumber and you will have a handy, little, economical, labor-saving device for the farm.