Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1892 — AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL TOPICS.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR OUR RURAL READERS. A Plea for Permanent Country Roads— Simple bat Effective Rat Trap—Corn and Hogs—Apple Trees Along Roadsides, Bio. Country Roads.

IF there is anything which would naturally set the country people to think- \ ing upon the best M method for the it improvemet o f the average country roads, pera manent roads and ip* streets should be f the motto henceforth. I! v th c use of the avail- £ able material and the modern processes of road construction and

for the manufacture of the durable product for road ballast and construction, permanent roads may be commenced and extended until the road bound thraldom of the producers might be thrown off. The loss to the country at large, during the periods of trade suspension, is very great and were the lost time invested in permanent road-making the country would soon be redeemed from its slough of despond. The labor already expended in work which at best can only be temporary is a great waste of time and energy which if put into permanent work would result in lasting future benefits. The average State debt at the present time is doubtless comparatively small, so that any of them might, to the advantage of the general public, t appropriate large funds for road-making, appropriating to any township a sum equal to the expenditures of the local investment. By this meansa steady advance might be made and the tax would be so evenly distributed that the 'burden would not be felt 'Cities and towns slrould help to build the country roads, and the sooner legislation is directed to that end, the bettor for -all concerned. —Rural A Rapid Rat Trap. A rat trap I recently saw 'consisted •of a barrel, the head of -which was hung in the nMdle and tipped both To hang the head, boles were bored in the Staves diametrically opposite and a -couple of wire spikes driven through the holes ;and into the bead. The head was balanced in a horizontal position by driving an old file into the center on the -under side.

(Fig. 1 Shows the head, bottom side up. To set the trap, the bait was fastened'to the head, as in fig. 2, with about a foot of water in the barrel. Then, -when the rat got on the head for the bait, the head tipped up and let him in, -springing back ready for the next one. This trap has a record of twenty-four rats in a single night, with pumpkin seeds, fastened on with brads, for bait. Fresh meat will also do.—Charles Lewis, in Farm and Home. Making: and Keeping Manure. If the farmer cannot draw his manure to the fields as fast as it is made, it should be piled, free from sink holes, and to guard as far as possible against the evil and malarial consequences of being too near the barn. I am absolutely opposed to manure basements under the stable, writes an experienced farmer. Experience taught me of the dangers of the manure heap. My barn had a large manure pit directly below the cows. The cellar was below the ground surface and the surface water accumulated. In driving the cows to the field one dropped dead. A veterinary -surgeon could not discover the cause. The next day another cow dropped dead. A post-mortem examination was of no avail. The next day while •milking another cow dropped dead. I went fight to work, took up all'the ■stable floor, drew every parcle of the 'manure out, whitewashed everything, put the floor back and never a sick -animal after that. The poisonous gases from the manure stable were the sole cause of sickness and death. Keep your manure away from your buildings. It breeds malaria, •sickness and death. Ido not believe in liquid vaults, but bed and litter the .cattle thoroughly without straw. Keep everything clean and get it away from the barn. Do not house the manure under cover, but draw it directly to the fields. Let the sun and the rain return it again to the earth, to bring forth the wealth of the soil.

Smut In and Own. For the information of the subscriber who asks for a “remedy to prevent smut or blasted heads oats and wheat” we give a portion of the chapter in “Soils and Crops of the Farm” on diseases of wheat. The disease is spread by the use of smutted seed and is to, be prevented by sowing on clean ground and with seed free from smut spores. The infected seed may be practically if not entirely freed from the disease. The methods used consist in soaking the seei in certain solutions, or simply in hot water. The most common solutions are a saturates solution of common salt and a five per cent, solution of copper sulphate. The wheat should he placed in sacks or baskets and allowed tostand twentv-fourto twentysix hours, when the wheat shoul’d be spread out to dry. More recently the Danish investigator, Jensen, has introduced the method of soaking the wheat in water at a temperature of from 127 to 133 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes. American experimenters recommend fifteen minutes. Smut is much more common and destructive on oats than on wheat. The same treatment is recoifamended. •