Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1892 — REAL RURAL READING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

REAL RURAL READING

WILL BE FOUND IN THIS DEPARTMENT. How to Get Sigh Prices for Fruit—Lumpy Jaw Can Be Cured—A Double PoultryHouse—Some Track Farming Figures, Etc. To Cure Quarter-Crack. Quarter-crack in a horse’s hoof, according to Farm and Home, can be cured. Have the blacksmith cut a groove in the hoof along the line where the hoof and the hitir join at the coronet, and from either end of the groove cut another, these two meeting one another at a point on a line of the crack one and one-half inches or thereabout from the lower edge of the first groove. So cut the grooves should enclose an equilateral triangle with the upper part of the

quarter-crack extending through its middle. The .grooves, especially the top one, should be cut almost

through the hoof, the idea being to entirely separate the cracked part of the hoof from the coronet so that as the new hoof grows down the crack shall not extend upward and into.the new-formed hoof. Where the hoof rests on the shoe the horn should be cut away so as to prevent it bearing on the shoe for about one inch on either side of the crack. The hoof prepared in this way the crack should be drawn together and held by means of nqils driven across it and clinched, as shown in cut Veterinarians sometimes use clamps in place of nails for holding the crack; but unless the veterinarian can see the horse frequently the nails are preferable as the clamps are liable to become loosened and so need tightening, a work for which a special tool is needed. The horse should be shod with a bar shoe unless there are •pedal indications to the contrary, in which case the slice should meet requirements. The horse may be driven during treatment. The time Required for growing a new hoof from coronet to shoe varies from nine to twelve months; the ordinary rate of the hoof being about a, quarter of an Inch per mon th. The -growth may be hastened somewhat by rubbing the region ©if the coronet with a mild fftimulating liniment like the following: Camphorated soap liniment 7 ozs., water of ammonia 1 oz. Spanish fly blisters are used for the same purpose.—Farm and Home.

Double Poultry-House. This bouse says Farm and Fireside, •should not cost more than S3O, and is intended for two flocks of a dozen hens each, but it may be lengthened ’f desired. It is sixteen feet long, deven feet wide, eight feet, high in front and four'feet at the rear. It is

toade of inch boards, battened on the •outside and lined with tarred felt inside. The roof is of felt, covered with coal-tar or cement paint. A ventilator is in the center. The sashes are four feet square. A passage way runs.along the north side, three feet wide, and a lath fence divides the house into two apartments! The doorunay be in the center, in front, ifor two apartments, but for a long house it should be at the end.

Fig. 2 shows ithe interior, A being the box to hold the droppings, twelve Inches wide and six inches high. B is the board for collecting the droppings when the fowls are on the roost. D is the box containing the nests, the fowls entering at the opening shown at C, and E isthe roost The interior plan is intended for a long house, but may also be applied to one of only two apartments.

Pure Wen Water. Ah old woodpile kept in the same place for many years is frequently a source of corruption, and the earth, if naturally sandy or porous, will be in an infected condition many feet below the surface. Should a well be located within twenty feet of the old wood pile, more or less of the leechings v/ill drain into it. The greatest source of ganger lies in throwing the kitchen slops on the surface ground near the well. It may take twenty or even fifty years before the water is rendered unhealthful, but it will certainly occur if the practice is continued. Apples for Stock-Good. Apples are not strong food for live stock, and the lack of “strength” may be shown by a short table of comparisons. The leading compounds for which a fodder is valued are the albuminoids and carbohydrates. The former contains the substance for the making of the vital juices, muscle, etc., while the latter are to do the work of the animal machines, the fuel for the engine, so to speak. Of these grdups of food elements the following Tamiliar food stuffs contain the averages as given after each: Albuminoids, Carbohydrates P0tat0e58.54%. ,84.32% Turnips9,4o% 69.54% Pumpkin.l7.32% . 56.02% Beet! (fie1d)...890%....45 78% Apples (treat)1.43% 91.61% P0mace;4.30%..76.39% Thus far we have said nothing as to the relative values of the albuminoids J nd carbohydrates, but when it is unerstood that- the tenner are the much more important, therefore ex-

are a weak food. The pomace is much better because there has been a condensation of the albuminoids. But as the albuminoids are mostly in the skin and seeds and these are the least digestible, the actual feeding value is not what the table would otherwise represent Apples are a poor food unless “wormy” and the wish is to destroy these insects by feeding them.—American Agriculturist To Get High Price, for Fruit. When fruit is a glut in the market the grower should have some means available for storing it till later in the season when prices will be more remunerative. Peaches and such fruit would be very salable at Christmas time, and early cherries in September. It is easily within the reach of fruit growers to master the market and hold their surplus when prices are too low. It can be done by cold storage, securing a temperature of 40 to 32 degrees. American experience favors a temperature of 34 degrees, but in Australia 40 degrees gives the best results in the warehouse or during the two months’ voyage to England. Fruit retarding houses can be built and maintained at less expense in the country than in the city. A cooperative society of fruit growers could readily manage such an enterprise, sell their stuff to the best advantage and get all the profits of the business instead of having the major part retained by commission merchant? and city cold-stor-age companies. Frame, for Tomatoes. Take a piece of joist two by three inches, and four feet long; sharpen one end; nail four narrow strips of board across the joist, about eight inches apart. Nail some light pieces across the ends; old flour barrel hoops,

soaked so asr tt> straighten easily, are very good for this purpose. This makes a frame two feet square. With an iron bar set the frames in the ground before setting the plants, leaning them slightly from the sun. Set the plants on the sunny side, and tie them to the frames as occasion requires. In the fal 1 remove the (frames and house them for use another year. These frames are cheap, easily made, quickly set, and easily homsed, and answer the purpose better than anything else we have tried.—H. Maria George, in Practical Farmer.

Sheep amt Swine. Never disturb a farrowing sow unless strictly necessary, Provide a separate place'in which to feed the young pigs. Let the tails atone, they are mo detriment to the pig’s growth, A sow must be well oared for that bears two litters wigs annually. The pig has a small stomach and therefore requires condensed food. Always see that the troughs are cleaned out 'before 'feeding the pigs. Many weed nests may be'destroyed by giving the hogs a Chance at them. Use a long, Slow trough for pigs, and nail slats across it so none• can stand in it Let the brood sow 'have iher freedom until within a'few days of farrowing. The first six weeksiof a pig’s life often determines its 'value for pork making. In the aggiegate better prices can be realized tor the wool 'ilf 'it is carefully sorted juad graded before sending to market Properly handled, a flack, of sheep can spare as many as iit will <«oat to keep them and yet leaves as many as were first started with. While sheep will ,nnt (pay the best profit every year, taking one year with another, they will average fully up with any other class. Young lambs, should not be«llowed to get wet, at least until the weather becomes warm and settled, and-even then it is better to avoid. Properly managed sheep will restore the worst of the wornout pastures to more than their original fertility and the renovations will be positive. Hilly lands, nqt well adapted dtor cattle, will carry sheep with profit. And upon such lands they are most apt to be healthy and easily kept in good condition.

Catting and Drawing Corn. When the corn husks have mostly turned yellow, but the leaves are still quite green, it is in good order to cut, says a Farm and Home correspondent, and it should be put in shocks containing not less than 100 hills Use a cutter, which is simply a platform fastened on runners, 6 or 8 inches high, and wide enough to pa°s between the corn rows, with knives on each side slanting backward, an< projecting far enough to reach out and cut the corn. This i&taken by armfuls, by two men riding on the platform and placed in the shock, the horse stopping at -every 10 hills. I use a rig that we find wnvenient to draw shock com on. It consists of two light poles about 6 inched in diameter and 16ft long with the forward ends rounded up, sled fashion for rummers. Three or four crop pieces sft long are bolted across it and as many feqce boards nailed lengthways to them. Fasten the two ends of a chain near the ends of the forward cross piece leaving the middle of the chain slack lor 2ft Fasten the middle of the doubletree by a clevis to the middle of the chain and it is complete. If there are hills to come down there will need be a pole to draw and hold back by. One man can load and unload easily.

Growing Plants Under Glass. When farmers begin to follow plans of market gardeners they should, so far as possible, follow also the methods that gardeners have found effective. The failure of most hot* beds is that im them plants are kept

ata very uneven temperature, and generally altogether too hot. Seeds and cuttings thus grown are urawn up too much, and cannot make satisfactory stocks for transplanting. Particular care mjist also bp observed la preventing cold draughts of wind from falling on them. It is almost i impossible to regulate heat by depending on a manure pile below the plants, and for this reason it is better to build hothouses and- manage them just as gardeners do, or else buy the early plants from those who make growing them a specialty. Cabbage and even tomatoes for late crop can be grown m open air seed beds after all danger of frost has passed, and yet be in time. To Cure Lumpy Jaw. Lumpy jaw or actinomycosis has been a subject of much controversy among stockmen, first, as to whether it was contagious and second, as to whether it could be cured. Prominent veterinarians and many cattlemen hold that it is caused by a germ which often finds lodgment in u wound, but not necessarily. M. Nocard of France has found that the form of it known as “wooden tongue” could be quickly and permanently cured by the use of iodide of potasium. Dr. Norgaard of the United States bureau of animal industry has tried the same treatment on a steer affected with “lumpy jaw” and had a complete cure. The treatment with iodide of potassium consists in giving full doses of this medicine once or twice a day until improvement is noticed, when the dose maybe reduced or given less frequently. The size of the dose should depend somewhat upon the weight of the animal Dr. Norgaard gave 1} drams dissolved in water once a day for there days, omitted the medicine for a day or two and then continued it according to symptoms. Others have given this amount for a few days and then decreased it to one dram. The animals do well under this treatment, showing only the ordinary symptoms which follow the use of iodine, the principal ones being discharge from the nose, weeping of the eye, and peeling off of the outer layer of the skin. These i symptonts need cause no uneasiness, as they never result in any serious disturbance ot the health.

Truck Farming. Some of our most successful truckers work less than twenty acres of ground, support a large family, and put mowey in the savings bank every year. ILet me state what one p<3erman family raised on eighteen acres: Four acres were set in timothy, which gave bim hay for his horse and cows, the two cows being pastured on the roadside in summer. The refuse vegetables fed three pigs, which were kililed late in the fall Frufts, flowers, celery, and onions were retailed by the wife, going to market twine a week. The gross sales amounted to $943; allowing for his own work and that of his family, $400; manuis 'bought, 8100, and 'extra expenses, 'which were less ttiam SIOO, the place gave a net income'tlDover s3oo—not 'counting the vegetables and fruit eaten from the place, nor the eggs, chickens, milk, and butter consumed by the family. This was a better showing than .many a 200-acre farm could present. (Land is only valuabls when well worked, constantly cropped, and the crops produced sold at retail direct to the consumers.—Baltimore American.

Hints to Housekeepers. For aphides (green lice) spray the plants with tobacco tea and soap suds as often as onoe.a'week. Six: or eight drops of turpentine added to blacking for one stove brightens itamtl reduces the labor of polishing. Old whisk brooms are excellent for washing dishes to avoid putting the hands in water. They are especially serviceable in cleaning greasy cooking dishes when Che use of very hot water is desired. No old wood or rubbish of any kind should be allowed to cumber the cellar. A peck or i more of lime left in the cellar in an open keg will absorb the moisture which otherwise might form in mould on the wails. Nothing is more dangerous to the health of the occupants of a bouse than a motildy cellar. The severe Hching and smarting produced by owning in contact with ivy or dogwood may be allayed by first washing the parts with a solution of soda—two to a pint of water—and then applying cloths wet with extract ofbatuarnelia. Give a ■dose of epsomsalis or a double rochelie powder. Study the situation; see where there is a space in which you can put a long shelf, or two or three short ones over each other. Iron brackets •cost but little, and are adjusted easily. A shelf six or seven inches wide will hold all the baking powder, spices, extracts, and the like in common use, and by screwing small books to the under side, egg beaters, cups, spoons, etc., can be suspended.

Miscellaneous Recipes. Cherry Sherbert.—Stone a quart of cherries and allow them to stand several hours with a quart of sugar mixed through them, then put in the freezer with a quart of water. Delicious. Strawberry Sauce.—Beat to a cream one-half cup of sweet butter and two cups of powdered sugar; add a heap half-pint of strawberries. Mash the fruit thoroughly and beat it into a sauce. To be used in any pudding. • Strawberry Sherbert. —Take the juice of two quarts of berries mashed and strained, equal quantity of water, two pounds <if sugar, whites of f our eggs Maeh um berries, cover with the sugar, let stand one hour or more, then press out the juice, add the water and freeze. Add the whites of eggs last. Close carefully and freeze again. Cherry and Currant Preserve. —Boil a pound of sugar and a pint of red currant juice five minutes. Put in two pounds of stoned red cherries and simmer ten minutes. Pour out and let stand next day, then strain the syrup from the fruit, add half a pound of sugar and boil ten minutes. Then put in the cherries, boil up cnee, and put into small self-sealiny

POULTRY HOUSE.

INTERIOR VIEW.