Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 May 1893 — HOME AND THE FARM. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME AND THE FARM.

A DEPARTMENT MADE UP FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. (Veil Tried Varieties of Strawberries— Requisites lor Good Cows—Profitable Pig Raising—Drained Land for Clover—Bow to Sharpen Stakes—Kotos, Etc. Best Varieties of Strawberries. The list of good varieties of strawberries has now become quite large, so that one can scarcely go amiss in selecting from almost any of the numerous catalogues sent out The object at present, however, is to name a few varieties which have been tried and which may be tried again with a reasonable assurance of success. For the home garden, or for the market, the following he found satisfactory if given a chance: Buhach, Lovett’s Early, Eureka, Parker

Earle, HaVerland, Cumberland, Warfield, and Greenville. The lour illustrated herewith are among our best pistillate varieties. Warfield Is especially valuable for canning as it holds its coler and flavor better than any other we have tried. Lovett’s Early and Parker Earl. are among the best of the newer perfect flowering kinds. Try some of these and. if you have not beet: ip "the habit of eating home giown strawberries, you will meet with a very agreeable surprise next season. Orange Judd Farmer. To Sharpen Stakes The best way to hold posts or stakes, so that one can sharpen without another man to help, is to put two rails over the fence, or, if no fence i 9 convenient, to drive two posts and nail a board across, as

shown in the cut, fastening the rails with chain or rope so that they will keep in place. The ends of the rails want to be higli enough to be out of the way of the ax. The block should be in front enough so that the post will lean and keep in place It enables the one at work to use both hands if he wants them and the post is always in position as turned around. Kequlsitoi lor Cows. For fifteen years I have fed and milked my own cows, and in that time have tried all kinds of feed and nearly every kind of cow. ltegularity as to time and quantity of feed has nearly as much to do with the quantity of milk as does the quality of feed. I try to feed my cows at the same time each morning and evening and make the cow’s appetite the gauge of the amount, always giving as near as possible just what she will eat up clean. I use as far as possible a mixed ration, composed of hay, grain, and cottonseed meal, in the proportion of three quarts of grain to one of cottonseed meal, with all the hay she will cat up clean. The best ration I ever used was composed of one part of peas, two of corn and four of oats, well mixed and ground together. Of this I give from eight to twelve quarts per day. according to the size of the cow. the hay. of course, included. I give, in addition to the above, about three times a week, wheat bran all they will eat, besides the parings of potatoes, turnips, eta, from the kitchen But I would never allow a cow to drink slop from the kitchen. To make good* pure milk the cow must have pure water. Kindness and good shelter are also prime necessities in the management of a cow. The finest Jersey would prove a failure if curried with the milking stool and sheltered with a barbed wire fence, no matter what kind or how much feed she had.

Lute Sweet Corn. Every farmer should see to It that his family Is suppl ed with that delicious luxury—plenty of sweet corn during the entire season. This can be accomplished by successive planting in the garden or patch devoted to this cropi Let the soil be heavily enriched so that there will be a vigorous growth and fully developed ears. A satisfactory succession of ears is dependant upon the succession of planting, which should be continued at intervals until a time beyond which there would belittle hope of securing the maturity of any of the corn: and wo prefer to fail in the last planting rather than fail in getting the corn as late as possible. We last year picked (Oct 15) our last sweet corn, which was deliciously sweet. We usually plant at intervals of two or three weeks from the commencement of the season until as late as the 4th of July; and while occasionally we are caught by early frosts, this event very seldom occurs, and we get the full benefit of our labor fibm the cultivation of this plant.—Germantown Telegraph. ‘Manure ami Weed*. A farmer who has manured bis hoed crops, no matter with what kinds of fertilizer, has thereby put himself under bonds to wage a harder warfare against the weeds. It is

commonly thought that stable manure only increases the number of weeds by bringing to the land additional weed seeds. But other fertilizers, if good for anything, will make weeds grow where none or few were known before. It is with weeds as with cultivated crops: On the very poorest soils weed seeds germinate only iD the most favorable conditions. Increase fertility and millions more are ready to germinate. Thorough and frequent cultivation increases the number of weed seeds that, sprout. But it also insures that the weed seed goes no farther than sprouting, and, what is better, bv being destroyed at this early stage It adds its mite to soil fertility instead of taking from it Canada Geese. Our illustration which we re-en. grave from Poultry World is of a pair of Canada Geese. They are not a variety but a species and are found in the wild state and also domesticated. As soon as the ice breaks up

in spring they may he seen on the way North and their passage is looked upon as a harbinger of spring. They fly with great swiftness. In the wile state they are very cautious and diffl cu tto shoot but they are easily domesticated by severing the first joint of the wing so they can not fly. The markings are the same oa the wild and tame. Prolltable Pig Raising. In order for a farmer to make pig raising pay, says the National Stock-i man, he must breed his sows tha,t they will farrow two litters of pigs each year, and to have two litters a year there must be a fall pig in the pen. There should be one litter the last of March or the first of April, and the other the iusb of .September or first of October. With a good warm pen to sleen in, good clean feeding floors and plenty of brown middling slops and a little corn, the fall pig will get a good start before Christmas. Have a place separate from the sows for the pigs to go to for their feed. As soon as they show signs of wanting to eat a little put a little slop in a shallow trough and when about, one mouth old they will begin to sup a little each day, and as they grow older of course they will take more of it. When cold weather sets in warm the slops. Clover Aoeds Drained Land. The best success of clover are only possible on land naturally dry or which has been thoroughlv underdrained. The seed will catch and grow all right the first season where the ground is filled with water in winter. But that is the last of them. Clover is even more liable to winter killing than is wheat. Often we have seen its deep roots drawn up in spring so that the plants seemed each to be standing on a single stilt. The clover could make little growth, and when mown the scythe or mower cut the root below the junction with the top. Even if not winter killed it is not possible for clover roots to strike down to the subsoil on wet land, which they must do to be of much benefit to the soil.

Dairy Dots. Any plan of working the butter that scrapes it will injure the grain to a more or less extent The quality of the butter depends more upon the operator than upon the plan of operation. With a large class of farmers the lessons in dairying must be largely upon the kind of ccwand her management. The proportionate cost of a pound of butter will vary by theper section of the machinery used in its manufacture. One item in farm dairying is to see that nothing is allowed to go to waste either before or after the butter is made. It is what a cow digests with the least expenditure of nervour force that determines the proport onate value of the ration. Tne value of the dairy cow must be gauged by the amount of solids she will give for a certain amount of food consumed. Milk giving and beef forming are not analogous and to a ccrta n extent at least, each needs its special breeding and feeding. No skill of making can govern the fleeting flavors of butter, so that usually the qu cker the best butter is on the market the better. Change the cow’s food once in awhile. She will ap. reciate it. Eveu a change to a less valuable food for a time or two would be profitable. Poor butter in neat packages will sell better than good butter in mussy, dirty looking packages, but good butter in neat packages sells best. Don’t st'nt your cows for room. In England the ru’e is four cubic feet of space for each 100 pounds ol animal. Here fully as much or more is ueeded.

Orchard and Garden. TnE rhubard and asparagus plants will be the better for a good covering of coarse manure, at this time. An old grape vine does not require manure close to the seem as the small roots are farther away. If your trees are to be shipped some distance, arrange to have them pack ed in boxes rather than bales. When plants are wanted the run ners sbou d be encouraged, but when fruit is desired keep them cut off. Give trees plenty of room if yoi would have them vigorous and thrifty, and bear large, well matured fruit. Deep freezing benefits the garden soil, hence one of the advantages in p owing the garden deep in the fall. When bloom rather than seeds if wanted a good plan is to remove the seed vessels as soon as the bloom begins to fade. There is no better trademark than ' the growers name, with well grown. | carefully assorted fruit, honestly pul I up in neat, c ean packages, of full ca I sacity, to back it up.

HAVERLAND

WARFIELD.

EUREKA.

SOME GOOD STRAWBERRIES.

BUBACH.

How TO SHARPEN STAKES.

CANADA GEESE.