Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 September 1893 — OUR RURAL READERS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OUR RURAL READERS.

SOMETHING HERE THAT WILL INTEREST THEM. Points That Must Be Observed In Order to Secure Profit—Plan of a Coop for Chicks A Serviceable Wheelbarrow— Keeping Winter Apples. Winter Apples. Winter apples will keep all the better for being left in an open, airy place as late as it is safe to do so. Where there are but few apples to barrel a press can be made at home that will serve very well. The Philadelphia Farm Journal suggests the one here depicted. This press can be

quickly rigged by using a plank or scantling with one end under a stud reaching to the shed plato and temporarily nailed in place. The barrel to be headed forms the fulcrum. Be careful not to press the apples too hard. A reader of the journal quoted says that the best apples of the season In Bucks County were brought out of a milk vault Feh. 7, 18s2. They were Fallawaters, of a rich yellow color, with characteristic shading. They were remarkable for size, but more remarkable for their perfect preservation. Compared with apples kept in the cellar of the same house they were in far better order. The inference is that the deeper milk vault maintained a more uniform temperature. The vault had a small ventilator direct to the open air. The temperature as near as could be ascertained was about 55 degrees.

A Double-lioarti Coop. A correspondent of Farm and Fireside sends a plan of a double-board coop, for two broods of chicks. The coop is four feet square, the back being eighteen inches high, and the highest point (center) being twenty-four inches. It slopes iu front from one foot high at the center to two inches. In the 111 useration, A is a sash, fastened with hinges to the front’of the coop (B), the sash being raised or lowered as desired. This sash may he made

of wire cloth of about seyen-eighths-inch mesh, to allow warmth, air, and light to enter, and also to allow of arranging a center board between the two broods. The frame of the coop is fastened to the floor with hinges at the back part, so as to allow of raising it at the back also, if desired. No glass should be used in the sash. If the weather is severe, cover the sash with boards or tarred paper. C and D show the upper and lower sides of the coop, and E the two-inch board in front The coop protects against rats, cats, hawks, eta Profit In Agriculture. In order to secure profit from the crops produced upon the farm, there are several points that must be observed, and these are in the line of direction of reducing the cost of production, says the Germantown Telegraph. When a crop of any kind is worth no more than the cost of production, nothing >bas been gained. But the cost of production may be reduced in different ways; first, in the proper plowing of the land, or rather, in the preparation of the soil for the seed. Entire pulverization is an important element in succe>sful culture; without this, there may he a loss in lack of germination of seed, and there certainly will be required more labor in tne subsequent cultivation and with imperfect seed ng the crops will be reduced. Th s, then, should be avoided, as it may be, by the exercise of proper care and the use of suitable implements in preparing the soil. With a well pulverized soil seeds come in contact with it and the moisture it contains and germination is complete. But this brings us to a second consideration, and that, the quantity of seed; if a soil is capable of carrying to maturity a full crop of any kind, if the seed is so poor or immature as that only two-thirds or one-half will germinate, then there is a loss, and for that reason only the very best seed should be used so that the chances of full germinat on may be of the best. A third means of increasing a crop and hence the profits, is by using an abundance of fertility and of a character to insure success. It cannot pay tc plant crops in a poor soil for the reason that the yield will be light while the labor will remain about the same as for a heavy crop Another consideration is an application of fertilizers in a manner and at a time best adapted to the wants of the crop being grown. The re quirements of different crops vary in this direction and a course that would he advantageous to one crop would avail nothing when applied to some other. Still another point to be observed is reducing the cost of production to a minimum by the use of la-bor-saving implements ants machinery in the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of crops. Common sense must be employed. The exercise of good judgment usually insures success, while the exerc se of bad judgment brings failure.

Drought and Corn l Corn is never injured by drought early in the season if the ground has been properly prepared But there is a critical time when it Is silking during which too much or too little rain often proves very destructive. If a

rainy spell occurs just then the pollen from the tassels is washed off and the silk is not fertilized. That means a deficiency of kernels and late ripening. It is a curious fact that corn ears not fertilized do not harden, and the grain on them is usually soft when ears that have a full set of kernals are fully ripened and glazed. The other extreme of injury by drought more often results in the tips of the ears being defective. This shows that dry weather has spoiled either the latest silk at the end of the ear or the pollen from the tassel. A plentiful supply of suckers with tassels that blossom later will often make the corn on the mam stalk fully rounded to the end with kernels. Thus the suckers may add materially to tho crop while not themselves producing any ears.

More and lletter Fruit. It Js practically impossible to force profusely-bearing varieties to become annual bearers without weakening the vitality of the trees and shortening their lives. If we could be assured of prices that would justify hand thinning there would be much less difficulty in securing annual crops in a well-managed orchard. Hut even when we have thus secured comparative evenness, everything will be at times thrown out of gear by the destruction of a crop from climatic causes, such as continued rains during blooming, untimely frosts, the Inroads of new sorts of destructive insects, or fungi, so that a crop will be destroyed and uniformity disturbed for several successive years. But good care will give us mope and better fruit in nearly every year, and where this Is practiced it will often occur that a moderate crop on the odd year, or every year, will bring more money than alternate years of full but inferior crops. If we could get English prices for our apples wo could afford to lay out a good deal more labor upon them.—Ru al New Yorker. Serviceable Farm Whee barrow. A strong wheelbarrow Is shown in the illustration from the American Agriculturist. It casta, be made of any size. The one fqjeetched has a large box, four feet logpjdn top, two feet six inches wide>BsMi eighteen inches deep, and is bfldd l; Of six-inch pine fencing. The WhSgl'fe set into the box, as shown in'*t#l§ sketch, tho

axle being stapled directly to the lower front edge of the box. A hood, made of boards with sheet iron top, is placed, over the wheel inside tho box. The wheel is two feet high. The legs are ten inches long below the box, and form the framo of the box The handles arc two feet long, and the same boards may be made to project forward far enough to hold the axle of the wheel, If one does not want the wheel to set into the box This barrow is light and strong, and will carry heavy loads of farm materials when It is not convenient to use a horse.

Starting a Nursery. There are many opportunities of making a prontahlc business in the growth of l'ruit and ornamental trees in all rural localities. To be able to procure trees near by is an object for every planter, as the trees may be had the day they are planted, and the ilsk of injury and mistakes,ln the varieties are escaped. The method to be followed is first to select a piece of good land, and sow seeds of the trees, or procure cuttings of those grown that way. The young trees are then grafted, and cultivated as a crop or corn is, until they are old enough for sale, which is when two or three years old. If the best kinds for the locality are selected, and the trees are grown with care, they may be sold with excellent profit at half the prices charged by tho peddler. The most profitable kinds of trees are evergreens, which are so bulky as to cost too much for transportation to sell well unless they can be procured close to home. A plantation of young pines, spruces, and other evergreens has made more than SI,OOO an acre to the nurseryman.—New York Times.

Water for Hogg. Hogs are more often sufferers from lack of good water than any other stock. The milk they eat curdles in their stomach, and then its caseine does not look so much like drink as like food. The dishwater mixed with bran for middlings is more or less salty, and this makes more intense thirst than before it wasdrauk. It can do no harm at least to offer the hogs, especially those in pens, ail the water once a day that they will drink. More will drink than the owner is apt to suppose. Poultry Notes. Just think of it, chicken costs less than pork, and is much better. Sort your, eggs as to color, if you want them to look and sell well. Thoroughly whitewash the inside of your poultry house. D) not complain that it is too' hard work, but be thankful that you are able to do it. Furnish sitting hens with good, fresh, clean nests in a darkened place, and put them on in the evening. Ducks lay at night or early in the morning Don’t let them out until after 9or 10 o’clock. They seldom use a nest a little charcoal mixed with soft feed will aid digestion and prevent disease It is a good purifier of the blood and system. Little chicks will do better in the garden than any other place if you can confine the hens to prevent their making trouble. The indestructible stoneware drinking fountains are as good as any kind we have seen, and have the advantage of being cheap. Common every day dust is the best exterminator for chicken lice. Give them plenty and place it where they can revel in it. Sitting hens should have food, water, some exercise and a good dusting every day, and if they won’t gel off the nest take them off.

PRESS FOB BARRELING APPLES.

THE DOUBLE-BOARD COOP.

HOMEMADE WHEELBARROW.