Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1893 — HOME AND THE FARM. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME AND THE FARM.

A DEPARTMENT MADE UP FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. Care and Management of Dairy Calves— Secure Gate latch—Clover ns an Annuul Injury to Wheat by Frost—Evergreens for Windbreaks. Secure Fastening lor a Gate. In the far west, a barnyard Is called by the Spauish name, corral. A gate to a corral that is proof against being opened by swine or cattle should always be provided. One that is excellent for security, and that can be easily constructed by any farmer, is shown in the illustration taken from the American Agriculturist It may be of any desired width, but it over three feet wide, it should be provided with a diagonal brace, extending from the lower hinge corner to the opposite upper corner. The gate is made of one-iuch lumber, four inches wide, with bottom pieces six inches wide. The vertical cleats on the sides are double, and secured by wrought or wire nails driven clear

through and clinched. A sliding bar, a, with pegb extending through for a handle, Is notched on the upper side, and placed between two of the gate bars. Two cleats, c, of IxtJ inch stuff, are nailed across two bars on the hinge side of the gate. To theso cleats a drop catch, d, Is fastener by a wooden pin, so that it will allow the sliding bar to traverse beneath. When the sliding bar is pushed forward into a mortise in the post, the catch falls into the notch, and no cow or horse can possibly remove it. How to Make Insect Powder, There are few people who havo any idea to what extent the flowers of Chrysanthemum cinarariuefolium are cultivated in Dalmatia, for the sole purpose of making the powder which has such a reputation as an insect destroyer. The whole of the supply of these flowers has hitherto been derived from the Austrian province of Delmatia and the neighboring state, Montenegro. Trieste is the market to which these (lowers are brought, and from whence they are distr.buted to the average annual value of £40,000 to £50,000. The plant is one that is easily cultivated in any kind of soil and almost any climate. Within quite recent years it is said to have been introduced into Australia, California, and South Africa, in each of which its cultivation on an extended scale for commercial purposes is contemplated. In the neigborhod of Berlin it is also stated that the plant is grown largely, but up to the present time Dalmatia is the chief source from whence Europe and America draw their principal supplies. The harvest commences at the beginning of June, and in the face of the report that the plants bad suffered much from the severity of the past winter the crops are looked forward to with much anxiety.— Gardener’s Chronicle.

Frost Injuring Wheat.

Dr. Galen Wilson gives some good practical advice in the Jfew York Tribune about sowing wheat and clover. He advocates a compact seed bed which experience has proven best for wheat But when he attempts to give the reason he falls into error. He says truly, “Frost heaves clover only when the soil is deep and soft;” but he adds, “Like wheat roots, those of clover penetrate the compact undersoil, and frost has no effect” We have often seen clover roots snapped at the surface of the ground by frost while the lower part of the root was held In frozen soil. It Is not that the compact subsoil holds the wheat or clover root firmly that saves wheat and clover from winter killing. The shallow seed bed in fall with a compact strata beneath it prevents the wheat root from going deeply. So soon as the young roots strike this hard pan they branch out horizontally. The top also does the same, making the “spreading habit of growth” which all growers of Winter wheat so much desired. Then, when cold weather comes this mellow seed bed is generally raised in a body with its wheat roots spread out and not much injured. The lower strata is ouly mellowed bv freezing, and in the spring the wheat roots that have wintered without injury strike down into the subsoil often to great depths. They ought not to do so in the fall.

Selecting Cows. Ib selecting cows for dairy purposes, care should be taken to get them of a uniform type if possible. The head small and lean, eyes full and mild, neck full and thin, backbone prominent and open between joints, hips wide, legs short and fine boned, barrel well rounded and large, deep through liehiud the shoulders to give plenty room for heart and lungs, udder large, running well forward and hack, teats, short, hut thick and wide apart Avoid those whose udder shows a tendency to collapse after being milked. Such cows are usually large milkers and may be set down as thin milkers. The skin should be soft and mellow to the touch, covered with thick, soft hair. Do not mistake size for constitution. A cow weighing nine hundred pounds is as large as I care for. V * '•/( f Clover as an AnnuaL A writer in the American Agriculturist claims a valuable discovery in the fact that spring-sown clover cut just after harvest has produced a good crop of seed the same season. If he had waited until spring he would not be so enthusiastic. Treating clover in this way, seeding early on rich land and cutting close to the ground at mid-summer, he changed clover into an annual. This is sometimes done with other plants, beets, radishes, and carrot, but the plants after seeding will at once die. What is most needed with clover is to it perennial. This to some extent

can be done by entirely preventing seeding the second year. This requires several cuttings. The plants should not even be allowed to blossom, for that also is exhaustive.— American Cultivator. Caro or Dairy Cairo*. Prof. Robertson says that breed and feed are to a cow like two wings to a bird—one alone is of but little use. A rule that will apply to a mature cow ought to apply with full ak much force to a young calf. A calf may have descended rrom a good strain of animals, those possessed of good milk and butter qualities and yet be injured In bringing up. A calf may be Injured by extremes in feeding, by feed ins' too much of too concentrated food and by feeding too little of poor food. We have seen numerous instances of the latter treatment, and carried a little too far for the health and even the life of the calf. As a rule, we are favorable to a natural course unless it is too uncertain and expensive, and believe that the milk as It comes from the cow Is fullv as beneficial as any artificial food that can be produced; but tho question of profit after a time comes in and the cream can bo better employed than in making calves, so after one gets a fair start skim milk may be employed with dry ground oats. The oats are fed dry so as to securo a healthy degree of salivation which by aiding digestion ensures a healthy system and stimulates growth. A regular healthy development of a calf is likely to prove far more satisfactory than an abnormal and unnatural development—Germantown Telegraph.

The Yearling Heifer. The heifer with her first calf is but half a calf, as the saying goes. She is but at the dawn of her development for the purposes of tho dairy. It is at this point that the necessity of careful and prudent management steps in. The man entrusted with the development of a cow for the first year of her milking impresses his defects or excellencies on her milk production ever after. At this period the heifer’s teats aro inclined to be small, but if the man handling her at this period is a competent person these will be enlarged to their normal size under his manipulation and regain so during her life. This is the critical point In the heifer’s career, if she is to grow into a profitable dairy cow, and should Impress on tho dairyman the importance of having her looked after in an intelligent manner. She should bo managed bv a careful person who possesses her confidence In the fullest degree and whose method of treatment is acceptable to her. This is the point where to avoid the mistakes of tho past that you committed in the training you used with your former yearling heifers.—American Dairyman. Tho Useful Skunlc. The true usefulness of the skunk Is fast becoming understood. When the sun sinks low and the injurious worms begin to feed and cut tho corn the skunk, bolding bis head down to the ground, walks slowly, listening intently at each plant* and, hearing the movements of the worm, he digs it out with his snout and quickly swallows it, of which a hundred hardly suffices for a meal. This animal has some disagreeable habits, it is true, but It Is to be taken with all its faults and made the best of for what it really Is worth.—New York Times.

Peas and Oat* for Feed. Farmers have long known that to sow oats and peas together made an excellent feed, cut any time before fully ripe. They are both strongly nitrogenous, and yet paradoxically the combination docs not exhaust the soil. While the oat crop gets its nitrogen from the soil, the pea-root has power to take nitrogen from soil-im-prisoned air. Sometimes we have thought, noting how the oats thrive among the peas, that the pea root fed not only their own plant, but in some way left a little in the soil for the use of oats also. Removing Wart*. A mixture of sal ammonia and camphor dissolved in water is claimed o be a specific for the removal of warts from cow’s teats. And a correspondent of the Maine Farmer said a year or more ago that saturating the portion of the cow’s udder or teats that warts wore on, every few days with kerosene oil, will cause them to disappear.— Hoard’s Dairyman.

Farm Note*. The margin of profit in farming is too small to admit of any unnecessary waste. Keep all tools under cover. It is better to stack the hay out if there is not room to house both. Increasing the size of the pieces of seed potatoes Increases the yield; result of three years trial. Soften up the collars of the working teams bv pounding with a stick and kneading with the hands. Every farmer should feed his products so as to make all the manure possible, and then apply it wisely. Plenty of shade and fresh water are needed during the hot spells. Keep the water in the shade and renew frequently. • With really good roads, the farmer six miles from town or the railroad station would find the cost of transportation no more than one now three miles away. The foundation for success in live stock farming lies in the economical production and use of feeding stuffs. Then, given good stock, the problem is pretty nearly solved. It has been found at Eilerslie, Mr. Morton’s famous Guernsey farm, that one acre of ground will produce ensilage for from three to five cows, while it takes two acres to produce a similar supply of hay. The total yield, or the yield of straw and grain, was some fifteen per cent, greater on the plats irrigated at night, aDd the ratio of straw to wheat was therefore much greater on the plat irrigated at night. The beginner is specially warned against, spending his money lor any novelties in bees unless he wishes to test them in comparison with what are recognized as the best, and can afford to spend money for such purposes.

SECURE GATE LATCH.