Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1893 — AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL TOPICS.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR OUR RURAL READERS. Points ot Law for Farmers When to Water Horses-Pneumatic Fountain for Poultry—Common Sense in FarmingFertility of Pastures, Etc. Farm Law. There are certain points of law that govern the rights of farmers that should be known to be used as a guard against personal liability, as well as to protect ment of rights. The question of right to fruit growing upon branches of a tree standing upon land ot one and overhanging land of another is liable to arise. It is a settled principle of law that where a tree grows near a boundary line and the roots extend upon the land of another and derive nourishment from such land,' even though the branches extend over the line overhanging a neighbor’s land, the entire tree is the property of him on whose land it stands, together with all the fruit growing thereon, and it has been decided by the courts of Vermont, Connecticut, and New York, that any attempt to prevent the reaching over and picking such fruit on the part ot such neighbor makes an actionable case of assault and battery. In a case in New York where the daughter of the owner of a cherry tree stood upon the division fence and attempted to pick fruit from a limb overhanging a neighbor’s land and on being forbidden by such neighbor persisted, the neighbor in attempting to prevent used force, but did no personal injury. On an action the court awarded, ahd the neighbor was obliged to pay SI,OOO. Regarding the right to enter upon the land of a neighbor to secure fruit fallen from overhanging branches the law does not seem to be fully settled although decisions in Massachusetts and Vermont seem to imply that such a right existed if it could be executed without injury to the neighbor. These points are probably but faintly understood by average farmers. We judge so for the reason that we heard of a case where the fruit from overhanging branches was all picked by means of a ladder. No trouble grew out of the case although the two owners were at variance, but it is quite clear that the fruit being the property of the owner of the tree, the taking of it by another made a clear case of theft. —Germantown Telegraph.

Pneumatic Fountain for Poultry. One of the best troughs for supplying fowls with drinking water is made of an empty five-gallon kerosene can as shown in the illustration from the American Agriculturist. A hole two and one-half inches square is cut near the bottom as in Fig. 1. Next cut an empty tin can in two, and about three inches deep as in •fc ig. 2, and bend the edges in at right angles. With a soldering iron, solder this section of can to the five-gallon tin opposite the hole at Fig. 1, so that when the section is fixed on, the hole will file one-half inch lower than the top rim of Fig. 2. The two put together are seen at Fig. 3. , The re-

suit is that chickens cannot tramp through and soil the water. Five gallons will hold enough for a large flock of fowls, and the drinking pan fills as quickly as they drink from it, and by throwing a sack over the fountain it will keep cool in hot weather, which would be a great advantage in warm climates. Lt is easily moved from place to place, and is far prefeiable to open dishes which get so hot in the sun. There must be no holes in the kerosene can, except the one below, or else the water would all rush out, and for the same reason the one hole must be a trifle lower than the top of the tin they drink from. The Inventor has found it to act very well, and sends this description, trusting that other poultry lovers will find the contrivance satisfactory. Common Sense in Farming. There is much talk these days about educating the farmer. The right kind of an education is highly beneficial, but the farmer wants common sense and eyes which will see. If he cannot learn by observation and experience then a collegiate education would be useless If a young man wants to educate himself to be a farmer he must take off his nice clothqs, and roll up his shirt sleeves, and go. to work in earnest He must learn by experience, from books and papers, observe what his neigh--bors are doing; how they manage their farms to make money. He must learn what crop is best adapted to produce the most profitable crops on his farm. This decided, be must use hts best efforts in trtHPrtght direction to develop this crop to its fullest extent, and if successful he is on the way to greater success. Forty-five years ago a young farmer, in looking over his farm in order to decide what would be the best crop to rely on for profit, concluded to set an apple orchard. With this object In view he went to work. He raised trees from the seed, budded or grafted them, and then they were set out on the farm. The natural -trees he renovated and grafted. The result was just as he expected. He now has an orchard which gives more profit for the labor bestowed than any other crdp on the farm, and will without doubt for years to come.

Watering Horses. The digestion of food may be very much interfered with by mistakes in watering. This should always be done before feeding and never soon after. The water is absorbed by the intestines with great rapidity. A few minutes will suffice to absorb three or four gallons of water, and this dilutes the salivary secretion so as to supply all the water needed for the digestion of the food, and no water will then be needed soon after feeding. This avoids the washing of undigested food from the stomach into the intestines, where it ferments and produces much gas and causes those frequent colics that on the whole re-

duce the usefulness of our workhorses fully one-half. For every attack of disease cuts off so much of the thread of Life, and there are very few horses that are not affected injuriously with colic—the result of mistakes in feeding, but more in watering—sufficiently to have an appreciable result on the duration of life. Depth ot Corn Roots. Tlie following experiment was made by the North Dakota Agricultural College for the purpose of ascertaining the length of roots of corn and wheat: An iron frame was constructed in the shape of a cube five or six feet in each of its dimensions.' The frame was tilled with shelves of wire netting, placed one above the ot':er, withan intervening space of about two inches. These frames were then sunk in the ground entirely beneath the surface. Corn and wheat were then planted on the ground, and as the plants grew the roots were not obstructed bv the layers of wire netting imbedded in the soil beneath, but forced their way readily through the meshes. In the fall the frames were carefully dug out and the soil washed away with water. The netting held the roots in the very position in which they grew, and a valuable object lesson for the study of root growth was thus presented. The roots of the corn plant had gone beyond its six-foot Limit, and some of the roots were broken off in removing the frame. In the case of the wheat plants some of the roots had gone downward to a depth of between three and four feet What a lesson this experiment gives in regard to the manuring of the soil for wheat, so commonly considered as a shallow-rooted crop, and how it shows that farm practice must be based on a correct growth ot plants. I have seen corn roots eight feet long in a wash on a hillside, and the top soil completely filled with a mat of shorter roots.—Colman’s Rural World.

Huir-Sllls for Bahn Basements. In the construction of barn basements, walls of stone are dispensed with, only in places where the building is located on a steep side hill, and the discarding of a wall necessitates the use of many strong basement posts, if these are framed into the lower side of sills in the usual manner, they are greatly weakened by the cutting away of so "much tlAber. Tl ■—J 1 r

By the use ot the false or half sill, shown in the engraving, the main sill is actually strengthened. This short sill may be of sawed stuff, and for a common barn should not be less than 4x12 inches. The ends may be spiked, If the whole building is raised when empty, and a false sill placed below, the structure will be made more firm find durable.

Salting the Cowl. We used to know careful farmers who made it a practice to salt cows every Sunday afternoon, after return from church. Once a week is better than leaving the malting to accident, but if salt is placed cows can get it all the time they will not eat too much o( it. Ro?k salt is best. Leave large lumps of It where the cows can lick them, ana you will find that they will soon learn tovisitthem daily, taking a small amount at each time. Thus fed there is no temptation to get more salt than is for the animal’s good. Salt in quantity cannot be digested, and, of course, operates as a powerful purgative, besides injuring digestion. Eaten in moderate amounts it makes the digestion better.—Exchange. • c/

Milk With pry Hands. The practice of wetting the hands with milk is a nasty one,and is, mdre- ' over, much more likely to make cows teats sore than is milking dry. Both bag and teats should be brushed or wiped clean with a rag used for the i purpose, and this will remove the small bits of dirt or other offensive matter that are usually found on a cow after she has laid down all night. If any of these get into the milk pail no after straining will make the milk what it ought to be.

Crowding Young Chicks. 1 Do not try to make one hen raise the number of chicks that two hens : should care for. Giving the broods l of several hens to one hen, in order to make the one hen do what the others should do, may save the work i of the hens, but It will be at the cost of a loss of chicks, especially in cold : weather, as a dozen chicks are all that [ a single hen can properly hover.

Odds and Ends. An oiled floor is excellent for the i kitchen, because the grease never shows. Towels will give better wear if overcast' between the fringe before they are washed. MignoneTte may be kept as a pot plant for years, provided no seeds are allowed to develop. Never put patent fasteners on shoes until they have been worn and stretched for a couple, of weeks. The toughest fowl can be made j eatable if put in cold water, plenty ot it, and cooked very slowly from five to six hours.

Always put through the eye qf the needle first the end of thread which copies off the spool, and the thread will be less apt to knot and snarl, If one wishes to cool a, hot dish in a hurry, it will be found that if the dish be placed in a vessel full of cold, salty water, it will cool for more rap■idiy than if it stood in water free of salt. Instead of putting food into the oven to keep hot for late comers, try covering it closely with a tin and setting it over a basin of hot water. This plan will keep the food hot, and at the Same time prevent it from drying. Have the table at which one sews at night spread with a light color, or, if it must have a dark one, a sheet of white paper may be used over it A needle can be threaded with much greater ease if held over a white surface.

Fig. 1. Fig.

2. Fig. 3.

MANNER OF APPLYING HALF-SILLS.