Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1893 — REAL RURAL READING [ARTICLE]

REAL RURAL READING

WILL BE FOUND IN THIS DEPARTMENT. Directions for racking Apples—How to ( Preserve Fence Posts—Fattening Steers— Banking Up Cellars—Notes About the Farm. Packing Apples. The President or the Ontario Fruit Growers’Association gives the following directions for packing apples: Choose a solid place in tho ground, and place a barrel upon a solid piece of plank. Layj the iirst course of apples with the stem down. Tho packer should not take especial samples for this course, but take them as they come and place them so as to make a solid row in tho bottom. The next row should also ho put in carefully, with tho blossom end down. After that, as each basketful is put In, the barrel should bo carefully shaken down on that plank. When the packer comes to the top or tho barrel ho evens them off according to tho variety. One variety will press down closer than another, and that is where a little judgment and experience are required. A man must know every variety lie is packing in order to know how many to put in the barrel—whether ho will (ill it to tho chine, an inch above the chine, or further. Then the last row has-to ha placed so as to bo in an oval position bet'oro you put the press on, with the stems up, so that they will press down evenly and level, and afterward on opening the barrel you can not tell at what end you commenced. That Is when a barrel is packed properly and It will carry and carry thoroughly.

Fattening Steers. One of the best ways of fattening steers, says Benton Gabbort, is to commence on good grass with pumpkina The best pumpkins can bo grown by planting between the apple rows where the sun shines. The vines cover tho ground, keep down weeds and are a benefit to tho trees. But I have digressed. Tho stoors soon learn to love them, and a carload of steers will eat a largo wagonload daily. Commence with a llttlo corn with tho pumpkins, increase slowly, for tho steers will oat corn sparingly, until you have them on full feed. When on full feed, lot them; watering trough should bo handy. This Is necessary, a full-fed steer is vory lazy, aud will suffer for water If it is a bad place or far to go, and when ho does go will drink too much. A water founder is tho worst founder, and only happens when water is troublesome to got. The steer must bo kept comfortable—a roomy shed with hay loft above. Hay given each time you feed sparingly, with a dry bed to rest on, makes the model feeding pen. Watering tlio Cows. Cows in full flow of milk must of necessity drink a great deal of water. Therefore warm the water In winter to about 00 to 05 degrees, and then your cows will drink all they want at least once a day. But if water is very cold and the weather cold a cow will go sometimes a day or two without tasting water, and when compelled by thirst to drink will gorge herself with ice wator before sho stops drinking, and for tho balance of tho day will 'stand In the yard rounded up and shivering with the cold. Of course ehe has consumed tho greater part of tho feed given her in tho morning to warm up tho ice water sho drank and has nothing left to produce her usual amount of milk at evening, and without thinking tho dairymjiu will wonder why his cow docs nest give more milk. To-day J. wonder that all those years past I. did not know and realize how much cheaper it is to warm water in cold weather for cattle with wood or coal instead of warmlug with hay and grant

How to Dry Wot Shoes. When, without overshoes, you have been cfiught in a heavy rainstorm, perhaps you have known already what to do with your best kid boots, which have been thoroughly wet through, and which, if left to drv in the ordinary way, will be stiff,brittle, and unlovely? If not, you will be glad to learn what I heard only recently, from one whoso expericfico Is.of value. First wipe off gently with a soft cloth all surface water and mud;thcn, while still wet, rub well with kerosene oil, using for the purpose the furred side of Canton tlaDnel. Set them aside till partiklly dry, when a second treatment with oil is advisable. They may then be deposited in a conveniently warm place, whero they will dry gradually and thoroughly. Before appliyng French kid dressing, give them a final rubbing with the flanel, still slightly dampened with kerosene, and your boots will be soft and flexible as new kid, and very little affected by their bath in the rain.—Harper’s Bazar.

To Preserve Frncepost*. One way—the only one—is to char the posts, but a modern and much better plan is to get a barrel of coal tar from the nearest gas works, pour some of it into a very large kettle under which a brisk but small fire should be kept burning. While the tar is hot dip the end of the |post which is to go into the ground into it Let it drip and lav it on a log until dry, which will be but a few hours. The post is then ready for setting, arid treated in this manner will resist decay for 15 or 20 years. Of course the post must be stripped of the bark before it is dipped in the tar. The Beet-Root Sugar Industry. The Watsonville Beet Sugar Factory in California is the largest of the three factories in that State. It has a capacity of 800 tons of beets per day and 1,000,000 pounds of sugar per week. Nearly 200 men are employed in working the beets into suger. The price of beets Is $5 per t*m, and twenty tons per acre is an average yield. One farmer grew 225 acres and cleared SII,OOO after paying all expenses. It takes about four months to work up the crop. In this time *350,000 is paid for beets, *50,000 for wood *50,000 for wages. Mixing Varieties of Fruit. Only a farmer putting up fruit for his own use is justified in placing dis-

ferent kinds in the same barrel. To sell fruit thus mixed destroys the repotation of the seller for fair dealing and injures the market for all fruit of the class There Is more of thie fraudulent mixing of fruit than there should bo. l£ has materially injured the salo of American fruit in England. There the Newtown Pippin is the variety most in favor, and other apples resembling this have been placed in the same barrel. Only fruit from well-known American growers will sell for full price In English markets now. . To Make a Fowl Tender. When it is drawn and stuffed it is wrapped in two thicknesses of brown paper, tightly bound with twine, so that none of the vapor or steam may escape. According to its size and ago, tlio fowl is allowed to cook in $ very hot oven within its envelope olt paper from an hour to an hour and a half. ‘ When the fowl Is taken nut remove the paper, which is to be burned with all the grease it mar contain. The bird is now dredged with Hour, replaced In the oven and hasted every tew minutes with the juice which may (low Into the pan. As soon as it has assumed a deep brown color it is served with a rich gravy. Full-grown pigeons cooked in this manner are said to bo equal to squabs. Hanking lip Cellars. It Is a mistake to suppose that manure Is bettor than earth to bank tho cellar with. Tho common idea is that manure Is warmest, because It will ferment Ijut there is little boating in the quantity used for bunking a collar until warm weather comes, and then the manure becomes an intolerable nuisance. Not even an earth bank outside is needed if a spuce Is enclosed tightly on the inside, reaching from tho top of tho wall to ono or two foot below tho surface of thjr ground outside. Thl» confined air space keeps out cold better than docs anything else. Cold Coming Through Windows. very light henhouso is ploasunt in summer, spring, and fall, but in tho cokleat weather tho single thin plates of glass transfer the inside heat to tho outside atmosphere altogether too rapidly for comfort, or profit. Windows for ptyiltry houses ought to bo doubled In winter. The air space between tho windows will keep out cold, and both glasses being free, from ice will make tho house llghtor than one ice-covered window could do. Glass is not expensive and doubling tho quantity of sash In winter pays lu every way.

All Around tho Farm. More, infinitely more, farm machinery rusts out from exposuro than wears out lu legitimate use.—Western Rural. An orchard that Is not pruned in four or five years becomes so injured that it is almost impossible to get it into proper condition again. Tiie sheep industry seems to bo at a low ebb in some sections. We know of farmers who have been offered as low us 81 per head for good sheep this fall—Now York Independent. Farmers and dairymen should know all advices—whether patented and, peddled or given freely away—to make butter come In half the usuaf time, are humbugs. Good butter cannot be made in double quick time. Ik you are keeping sheep with an oyo to tho valuo of the wool product, you must maintain the animals in an even condition through the winter. (Sheep which are hulf starved will have weak spots in their wool in the spring. A good place to do book farming is around the fireside in the winter evenings. Take up the study of certain crops and learn all that you can about them, and be prepared to put tho knowledge Into practice next spring. Good feet are the foundation, in ipore than one sense, of a good horse. In fact, a good horse can no more stand on bad feet than a gopd house can stand on a bad foundation. Kee that your animal is sound from the ground up. The prices for hatter have been remarkable good this summer, and a good article has found ready sale. In fact, the dairy industry is about the only one that has not felt tho presure of hard times to any great extent— The Independent. The windmill serves many purposes, and after a man once has one on his farm he ever after wonders how he managed to get along without it. It will raise water for stock, grind and chop the feed and irrigate the garden. There are few farms where they will not well repay their cost.