Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1893 — HOME AND THE FARM. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME AND THE FARM.

A DEPARTMENT MADE UP FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. How to Handle Barbed Wire with Convenience—Saving Voung Pigs in Winter —A Halter for Cows-Fruits and Vegetables In CoUars. Barbed Wire. To take up barbed wire where a temporary fence has been thrown around a crop or a portion of a pasture or garden ts a disagreeable task,

but a correspondent of the Rural New Yorker ha 3 found an easy plan for handling the wire with the aid of the contrivance shown in the cuts. He gives the assurance that it is an easy matter to build the simple framewdrk seen in the first cut and to screw it through the sills, A A, to the bottom of a cart. Put the spool on the crank, C, which lifts out of the siot, E, then

one man pushes the cart and another turns the crank, and the taking up of any amount of wire is a pleasure and not a painful duty. The upright pieces, B B, are framed to lean ahead, so that when the cart handles are raised for pushing the frame stands perpendicularly, and when at rest the weighted spool rests ahead of the center, so as not to upset the cart Saving rouug Pigs In Winter. It was a quick-witted Irishwoman, who, when remonstrated with for allowing her pig the freedom of her kitchen, quickly replied: “Sure, and who has a better right? Isn’t he the gintlcman that pays the rint?” In these days, when pork is bringing very high prices, and every pig, however small, seems unusually valuable, the story seems, applicable to many farmers, who. if thoy have not rent to pay, have taxes, interest on mortgages, and the thousand and one expenses, towards whose payment piggy will prove an important factor after he Is grown and fattened. If a litter of fall or early winter pigs should come, must they be lost, or, what is quite as bad, so stunted by cold that all the pork they can ever make will cost more than it comes to. Not at all, and the pig need not be allowed the freedom of the kitchen, either. Put the pigs in a close box, and all the better If enclosed In another close box. In a few days after the pigs are taken off, then the sow may be bred again for a spring litter. All that the pigs will need at first will be milk warmed to animal heat or a trifle abovo. As soon as they will eat more, boil an oatmeal porridge in water, and stir this in with the milk. There is nothing better than this to make young pigs thrifty. The double box will keep them warm In any building, and the pigs will be thrifty in the spring.—American Cultivator.

Halter for Cows. A useful halter for cows, and one they seemed to like, was employed by owners at the fairs last fall. It consisted

of a heavy strap about the neck and another around the .nose connected to it by straps running from one to the other on the face and under the chin. On the fac9 strap a

ring is strung so it plays from na-e to horns as the tie strap which is snapped in it is tightened or loosened. —Ex. Quinces Not Bearing. It is undoubtedly the fact that more disappointments occur to growers of quinces than to growers of almost any other kind of hardy fruit. The trees often are killed outright by severe winters in exposed localities. If not killed the trees are unpropuctive. Quince trees require rich, deep soil, kept moist enough through the winter so that it does not freeze deeply. Dressing of wood ashes are especially beneficial to quince trees. Ashes not only furnish mineral fertilizer the tree needs to perfect its fruit, but tbey also help to keep the soil moist and open for the reception of rains. Scaly Legs on Fowls. When the legs of a fowl are covered with an unsig'htly, rough crust, which become thicker as the bird advances in age, the time will come when it will walk with difficulty, as the formation of the crust is due to tbe work of minute parasites, which are found in countless numbers, each adding to the crust Grease of any kind destroys them, and if a mixture of one part kerosene and ten parts cottonseed oil, linseed oil, or melted lard be applied once a week, two or three -times the scales will soon begin to soften and Anally disappear altogether. Fruits and Vegetables In Cellars. Apples and vegetables that have been stored in the cellar in boxes, barrels, k>t upon shelves, should be sorted over at least twice during the winter, and all injured, decayed, or decaying specimens removed. In the case of apples, where only a decayed spot is found, the remainder will be utilized by the economical housewife for culinary purposes, especially if the fruit be scarce. Vegetables should be carefully looked over, particularly potatoes, as the emanations from the decaying ones are positively unhealthy, and a decayed tuber infects its neighbor. Perquisites for Poultry When fowls are shut up in the winter they often want for some things which are essential to their well-be-ing, and which can be supplied with a little labor aud thought The dust

bath is tKtessary to Keep them free from vermin, and this should be prepared now while the ground is dry. Hoad dust is excellent for this purpose and a sufficient amount can easily be gathered up and put away in barrels to last until the spring. Keep an open box filled with it all the time in the hen house If you neglect to procure the dust in time wood ashes may be used as a substitute A supply of lime is also necessary, and the best way to provide this is to give pounded oyster shells. Bones pounded fine, so as to have long splinters, may also be u-ed, or fine gravel which contains limostope Attention to the littlo things is what makes poultry pay in winter. Add to these, comfortable quarters, good food and perfect cleanliness, and your winter’s income from the fowls should be very satisfactory. Condition* for Honey Secretions. The conditions necessary for the secretion «f honey are peculiar, and not well understood. There have been days when we thought everything was right, yet the bees were idle. The nights have been warm, followod by hot days and a moist, balmy atmosphere, with plenty of bloom in the fiold, yet there was no honey gathered. The why is a mystery. There must have been some element wanting, or nectar would have been secreted. And how do bees know when it is secreted';* Thoy may be at home one day with very few bees leaving the hive for water, or any other purpose, yet the following day by day-break they aro leaving on double quick, and all is hurry and activity. Who told them there was honey';* Do they scent it in the air?—Field and Farm. Clump for Filins Cross-Cut Haws. Not one owner in ten of a cross-cut saw has a proper clamp for firmly holding the saw while being filed. There are many forms of these clamps, but one of the best Is shown in the illustrations, Figs. 1 and 2, from sketches by L. D. Snook. The sides of the clamp should bo as long as the saw, if patent handles are used, or

FIG. 1. FRONT VIEW OF SAW CLAMP, just the length between the handles if the old style be used. The sido boards should be about one inch thick and ten inches wide. Two common Dolts, four inches long are used, and are provided with winged or handle nuts (Fig. I,) the bolts being located at a point so that the back of the saw resting on them will allow the

FIG. 2. REAR VfEW OF SAW CLAMP, teeth and half an inch or more of the body of the saw to project above the clamp Nall a strip, one-quarter of an inch thick, on the lower inside bottom of one of the clamp 3, thus making the upper edge lit firmly against the saw. The clamp can be put in a common bench vice, or, by having two irons bent at right angles (Fig. 2,) and attached to the back of the clamp and then bolted to tho bench or table before a window. The saw will thus be held socuroly for filing. It takes but little to make these clamps, but they will lastonany years.—American Agriculturist. Sowing Buckwheat. Buckwheat Is the latest of the grains to be sown, ltmaturesqulckly and should it be sown when Spring grains are, or even at corn or potato planting time, it would blossom during the hottest weather, and then could not fill well. Sowing too late exposos it to the danger from frosts, though for a number of years Fall frosts have done little damage to this crop A more important point than anything else is to ha"e tho grain come up quickly and make an even stand. One-half bushel of seed per acre is thick enough, and if on rich ground, one peck is enough, as the plant spreads ?tncl fills best when not crowded for room. It is much more often sown too thickly than otherwise.

Feeding Bed Pepper. Red pepper possesses but little virtue as an eg? producer, and has no more effect on the generative organs of fowls than on human beings. It scryes well as an occasional corrective of the bowels when the fowls are sick from over-feeding, but a teaspoonful in the food of 100 hens is ample for all purposes. Salt Cowi Regularly. During the winter season many farmers neglect salting cows, thinking they need salt less than when at pasture. There is not a week when cattle will not eat some salt if they can get it, and if they have a supply before them all the time they will be less likely to take too much. Chicago's Live Stock Receipt#. During 1892 Chicago received 175,. 144 cars of cattle, 112,207 cars oi hogs, 11,395 cars of sheep, and 6,347 cars of horses. The average to the carload was twenty cattle, sixty-nine hogs, 144 sheep and thirteen horses. Poultry Picking*. It usually does not cost much to keep fowls on the farm, and no class can raise fowls or secure eggs as cheaply as the average farmer. Ik there is any difference between feeding young ducks and young chickens it is in the fact that young ducks require more bulky food than chickens. WmLE ordinarily the keeping ol either ducks, geese or turkeys can be made more profitable than chickens, only the better breeds should be kept. There is one economical result in poultry keeping that Is often lost sight of, and that is the large amount of waste food that the fowls pick up. Quality rather than weight fixes the prices of dressed poultry. This is the same reason it pays a big profit to fatten, dress, and pack for market in the most approved manner. Look to your poultry yard for youi ready cash to keep up the table during the winter, rather than else where, for this will not disappoint you if you use care and judgment