Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1892 — REAL RURAL READING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

REAL RURAL READING

WILL BE FOUND IN THIS DEPARTMENT. How to Protect Hay That Is Exposed to tho Weather—Concerning Irrigation—A Weed Killer and Cultivator—High Prices for Stock. Roof for Haystack. It frequently occurs that on the farms there are produced a few tons more hay than there is mow room for in the bam, and it must, as a rule, be stacked out without protection. A large proportion of it is always lost, and in case of pure clover it had better be left in the Held than stacked without protection from the weather, according to a Rural New Yorker correspondent.

The following is a practical roof or covering in use by him, and is known to serve its purpose well. The required materials are a number of 1-inch boards, a foot or more In width and as long as the stack to be covered, some wire, such as Is used for slat wire fencing, and some staples.

Beginning at the ridge, a board is laid on and the wire which extends down each side of the stack is stapled fast; a second board is placed under this so that the lap is about two inches or a trifle more and stapled fast as Is shown in the design. This is repeated on both sides of the stack after the fashion of a common board roof until it reaches well down toward the ground. Finally, to prevent the wind from blowing it off, it is weighted down by hanging a heavy stone to the end of each wire. For a long stack the cover should be made In three sections, the middle one slightly overlapping the other two. Irrigation. Considering the great antiquity of the idea of irrigation, that it has been successfully practiced in the countries of the world for ages, and its benefits been known through all the succeeding years, it is a matter of surprise that so little thought has been given to the subject in this country, except in those sections where from their aridity it became compulsory. Though many portions of our country are favored with rains that give security against absolute drought, there are periods of time when a supply of water would make a great difference in the yield of crops. A successful system of Irrigation means expense in the construction of the necessary ditches; but does not the removal of stones, the building of fences, underdi ainine and many other things considered necessary in agricultural operations also mean expense? Whatever will increase the crops grown and will serve to insure their growth, must be recognized by all farmers of advanced thought, and wherever a system of irrigation can be successfully entered upon, those who can he benefltted thereby should unite and make such constructions of ditches as will be neoessary.

Suggestive Notes. Plan to have something ready to selL Sod can be plowed when quite wet. Plowing under clover saves manure. Plant as soon as the ground is ready. Never make sudden changes of feed with the stock. In lessening the number of stock always sell the worst. A rich soil is an essential item in the growing of good crops. A sharp plow makes the work easier both on the men and teams. Husbanding our resources is an important.item in farm economy. The only safe rule in feeding is to feed according to the animal’s needs. Preparing the soil as a good tilth before planting the seed helps to head off the weeds. All of the feed supplied to an animal after it has matured is given at lessened profit. High Prices for Stock. We frequently have complaints about the high price of pure-bred stock and have several times taken occasion to notice them. We think that there is a very erroneous conception of the matter in many minas, and that a better understanding should be had. Some do not hesitate to charge the breeder of thoroughbreads with being a monopolist, when as a matter of fact there is not a single element of monopoly in his business. A monopoly or anything approaching to it, in breeding, is utterly out of the question. A man might own all the animals of a certain breed that there are in the country, but that would not constitute him a monopolist; and at this stage of the history of live stock in this country, he could not get a single dollar for an animal more than it was won-h to the buyer. If he asked a thousand dollars for an animal that was worth only five hundred for any purpose he would never sell it Either that breed would never get beyond his farm, if he continued to ask for its representatives more than they were

worth, or somebody else would import other animals—Rural. Printing Butter, It always pays to attend to some little matters in farming operations, and among them is that of printing butter in family dairies. Putting up butter in large, smooth rolls has had its day, and the use of prints has its effect in the price. Neglecting to put up butter in good style may be the means of losing a sale, while an established print serves as an advertisement and assists in the sale. It will also pay to use parchment butter paper in which to wrap it It gives the package a neat and attractive appearance, and is one of the “littles” that pay. Dairy Dots. No amount of straining can remove the taint communicated to milk by negligence and dirty handling of the cow’s udder. When straining your milk don’t try how much stuff you can force through the strainer that is not milk and that never can be profitably incorporated with milk. Since the tide has turned toward winter dairying, the assertion that it does not pay to keep pigs is heard more frequently, and is made with more than old-time emphasis. If we had skim milk, no pigs no calves and no fowls, we would give it while sweet to the cows if they would drink it. We have never heard anyone claim it was not good for cows that were giving milk to drink milk. —Ex.

First thoroughly rinse your milk pail oncan with cold water, then scald it with boiling water and kill several millions of bloorl poisoning bacteria, likewise saving the milk from being tainted when you either sell it at the factory or keep it at home. Occasionally give milk vessels a thorough boiling up in soda water. This is done in some of the best milk bottling establishments every day. Fruit Buds of Peach Trees. Experiments for protecting the fruit-buds of peach trees from injury by cold during the winter have been made for several years at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and for four years past In the early winter the roots of several of the trees have been loosened on the south and north sides and the trees laid over on the ground. In this way, if the roots are cut off during the early summer, the growth will be forced into the roots on the east and west sides, and these will be simply twisted a little in the process of bending over. The trees are bent toward the south to avoid the direct rays of the sun on the trunk ‘and main branches. In the first experiment the buds were injured by heat because the trees were covered too closely; after that they were covered with mats and other light material, and a large percentage of the buds were saved.

Last spring, while about 52 per cent, of the l’ruit-buds were destroyed on unprotected trees, those which were protected show only 10 per cent, destroyed. Many of the trees treated in this way are more than ten years old, and they are easily set up In the spring, grow well and mature a crop. No covering should be put on the ground under the tree, as the moisture seems necessary to keep the buds in good condition, and if the land is in sod the trees should be sprayed with the Bordeaux mixture and with skimmilk and paris green to protect them from field mice, which are very fond of them.—Garden and Forest. Weed Killer and Cultivator. To make a weed killer and cultivator a correspondent of Farm and Home says: Take a board 20 inches wide and long, and cut a wheel out of it. Then make a frame of lj-inch-square lumber, and two small brace strips near wheel, of lighter lumber. Get a blacksmith to make the scuffle hoe out of steel as shown in figure 2 with

four small short rods, riveted back of blade. These little rods are curved up, and turn up the roots of weeds to the sun. You can take this device off and put on a shovel if you want to cultivate deep. It runs light for amount of work done, and is superior to any $5 wheel hoe I ever saw.

Bwarf Bees. For several years there has been considerable inquiry through the bee journals in regard tothocasc of dwarf workers among bees. As yet I have failed to see even a guess as to their origin. Last season I noticed them among some of my colonies. Some were scarcely two-thirds the size of workers. They possessed a sting, but were not inclined to use it, even when caught by the wing, unless ill-treatec*. They seem to be incapacitated for gathering honey or work in the hive and were dragged forth by the workers in the same way they get rid of drones. This season when straightening some crooked brood combs my thoughts turned on these small bees, and I also recollected of straightening some combs last season concerning larvae. This gave me satisfactory cause of the dwarf- bees. Straightening the crooked combs narrowed the cells on the convex side of the combs, which as a matter of necessity made the workers smaller in those cells. Doubtless the workers in the cells on the opposite side of the combs were larger, hut as they were able to assist in the labors of the colony they were unnoticed. —Druid in National Stockman. The Flight of Bee*. It seems to be almost a general idea that honey bees will fly nearly a mile a minute. Those who have watched loaded bees coming to the apairy near sunset have a different opinion, however. A heavily loaded bee when the sun is low may be seen a distance of twenty rods. It will require fiom nine to twelve seconds for it to go that distance. I have also timed them a distance of from forty rods to half a mile with an apiary in full

view by setting a single bee at work on a comb containing syrup. The quickest time made would be about five minutes, the longest from twelve to fifteen minutes. Allowing it twq minutes to disgorge Its nectar and it will easily be seen that a honey bee is not the swiftest thing in creation. Probably the flying time of bees on their outward trip is at the rate ol from fifteen to twenty miles an hour. A loaded one will require about twice the amount of time to make the same distance. If bkes flew at the rapid rate that some Insist they would make but few trips through woods before dashing themselves to atoms against obstructions.—J. H. Andre in National Stockman. A Baking: Table. I made a baking table as sjiown in illustration. It is 4 feet, 6 inches long, and 2 feet wide. The end is closed up with narrow matched lumver. Two drawers are at one side, one for oat meal.» the other for bread. The bread drawer is lined with tin. The balance of the front consists of

two doors. You open them, and can then pull out n bin for flour, 20 inches wide, 26 inches high, and 26 inches long. It rests on rollers, and holds 200 pounds of flour, with a small partition on top for spices, etc. This contrivance saves my wife many steps.—Chas. Welstead, in Practical Farmer. Hints to Housekeepers. Scorched spots may be removed from cotton or linen by rubbing well with chlorine water. White spots can be removed from furniture by holding a hot iron over, hut not on the place. Acid, wine or fruit stains may be extracted by first being moistened with ammonia, then washed in chlorine water. An ingenious female has hit upon the idea of a “dress album,” in which tiny cuttings of every gown belonging to its owner are to be chronologically arranged under the dates on which they were purchased. Whkn a garment is worn-out and discarded, cut the buttons off and string them all on a string and tie it. Then when you want them, the whole set will be much easier found than individual buttons. Much valuable time is spent in searching for things that were not properly put away.

If you wish to avoid streaks when washing nicely painted doors, begin at the bottom and wash all the way to the top of the door. Now the paint is all wet, begin at the top, wash downward and wipe dry as you go. Streaks are caused by soapy or dirty water rupning down over the dry paint. There is nothing more useful about the kitchen than sal soda. It will.dissolved in a little water, remove grease from anything, and there is nothing like it for cleaning an iron sink. It is also the very best thing for cleaning hair-brushes, which, by the way, should be cleaned more frequently than they are. Miscellaneous Recipe*. Strawberry Jam.— Take equal weights of the fruit and granulated sugar, mash them well together, put it Into a preserving kettle and boll it rather more than half an hour while it is warm, put in jars and when cold seal down. Canned Strawberries.—A half pound of sugar to one pound of fruit. Mash enough for cooking juice andpour over the measured quantity; cook ten minutes, stirring constantly; add sugar and cook three minutes. Plunge the jar in hot water, fill, pour out, then put in the fruit, allowing the can to set in the hot water while it is being filled. Remove the top from hot water and screw down quickly.

Stbawberry Cream Tart. —Roll good puff paste out very thin and lay it in a tart-pan; put in a thick layer of fine strawberries and plenty of white sugar to sweeten them to taste; put on a thin covering of the paste and bake quickly. Beat well together half a pint of thick sweet cream, the yolks of two fresh eggs and a little sugar. When the tart Is done cut a neat round hole in the center, into which gently pour the beaten cream. Let it get cold before serving. Properly made, this is delicious. Strawbebry Tartlets. —Make a short paste with one white and three yolks of eggs, an ounce of white sugar, an ounce of butter, a pinch of salt, and flour sufficient to make it into a paste; work it lightly, roll It out to the thickness of a quarter of an inch and line some pattypans with it, fill them with uncooked rice to keep their shape, and bake them in a inoderate oven until done. Remove the rice and fill the tartlets with fresh sugared strawberries, and on the top of each put a spoonful of whipped cream.

THE ROOF IN PLACE.

PORTION OF ROOF.