Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1894 — OUR RURAL READERS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OUR RURAL READERS.

SOMETHING HERE THAT WILL INTEREST THEM. flow to Matu> a Good Clod Crnkher—Profit. of Track Farming - A Garden Tool and Storage House—Fruit and PoultryFarm Notes. A Convenient Garden House. The illustration herewith presents a new idea in tne line of garden conveniences—a convenience, however, that will .be appreciated when located alongside of one’s garden, if gardening is made a feature of any prominence whatever. A small inexpensive house close to the garden will be very useful on many occasions

and for numerous purposes. Here can be placed th? garden cart or barrow, the hoes, rakes, shovels, and the forks that are continually needed. Here can be placed the commercial fertilizer to be used as needed and In the upper part can be stored the plant protectors, bean poles and other sticks and stakes that are needed by the gardener. But of special value will such a building be at harvest time, especially if one makes a business of producing a large quantity of any one ftuit or vegetable. It then becomes a sorting house where the crop can be carried and prepared for market or storage.—American Agriculturist. A Wheel Land Measure. A device for accurately measuring off any piece of level land is given herewith. An old wheel from some cast-off buggy or other vehicle is required, and may be of any convenient size. Make and fix the handles as shown, so that the wheel may revolve easily on its axis. To use the device, mark one spoke with a strip of cloth or a dab of white paint, and

roll the wheel carefully along the desired boundary with a stake or other object as a guide for the eye. Count the number of revolutions the wheel makes as the distance is traversed by the wheel, and by multiplying flhe number of these revolutions by the tbe circumference of the wheel the length in feet may be found. To get the circumference, the wheel may be measured with a tape line or string. —Farm and Home. Sowing Clover Seed. Upon farming land that is cultivated by crop ro ation, clover shoufli be sown If it is practicable to do so. For enriching the soil red clover is no doubt one of the best leguminous plants, as it grows rank and: sends ixs roots down deep into the soil However, where a permanent pasture or meadow is desired, timothy should be sown with clove.- at the rate of four quarts of timothy to five or six quarts of clover. The first year the clover will be prominent, the next fear less clover, and tbe third season ’ tvholly timothy. For the benefit of the soil the next season after seeding, wholly with clover, it the medium red variety, it should be cut in June or early in July for bay, and latqr for seed. This double cropping sends the roots deeper in the soil, which is just what is wanted, and is found to be more beneficial than simply close pasturing. Alsike does well, makes good hay, but does not •nrlch the soil like red clover. Alfalfa w.ll be the best for dry climates. Setting Fence Posts. Posts that are to be placed in a clay soli which is liable to heave by the action of frost, will retain their original position longer if they are set in dug holes instead of being driven. Unless all the sharpened portion is placed below the action of the frost, and even then, if at the time of freezing the soil is soaked with water, the action of frost is liable to raise the post upward. However, as soon as the frost leaves the soil a few blows on top of the post with a heavy maul will return it to its original depth, which could not be so easily done if the post Was Square at the bottom, as earth would fall la the cavity. On most soils sharj ened posts are best, and when of durable material like cedar, oak, «r chestnut, and where the fencing material is wiie, a post four in hes in diameter will last as long and be just as serviceable as one six or more inches in diameter, and the cost is usually less. Test for Oleomargarine. Most people can easily distinguish between genuine butter and its various fin-itations by the flavor. But there is an immense amount of very poorly-flavored butter which is no better than oleomargarine. A test that will always distinguish genuine butter from its counterfeits has been discovered by Dr. Hen y Leffman of Philadelphia. A spoonful or two of ®ne sample is put in a narrow cup /and quickly heated to the boiling point. If it is true butter it will boil quietly and foam up in a mass of fine bubbles, often overflowing over the side of the cup. If it is butterine or oleomargarine, sample when heated will foam up but little, but will crackle and sputter aa it

bolls. After one or feRO trials, any one can decide with <• tainty what the sample offered constats ot No fraud can escape this test

Profits of Truck Farming.

An association of farmers in Kent County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, has sent a comm ttee to investigate the profits of market gardening, or truck farming, as the phrase is, in Lancaster County, Pa. The committee returned to report having seen one farm of eighty acres from one-halt of which a market gardener sold yearly $16,000 worth of fruits and vegetables, and another farm of twenty acres that yielded a gross sum of *B,OOO per year. Another market gardener had a profit of $6,000 yearly from six acres, and still another sells from $15,000 to SIO,OOO worth of products from ninety acres. The committee ;<urges the members of the association to give up peach culture and turn to market gardening. Such a change of policy means almost a social revolution in a community of aristocratic tradition, where lands have been long in family jossession and where laud-holding is a badge of respectability. It means the substitution of small culture for large, and the breaking up of large holdings, because few land owners have sufficient capital to undertake market gardening on a great scale. Movable Yard for Poultry. A convenient portable yard for fowls is shown in the illustration. This yard is especially designed for those who keep poultry in cities, and are not able to let them run in the garden. It is six feet long, three feet wide, and two feet high. It>is made of strips which are thirteen feet long. Five of these strips will

be needed to make a frame of this size. First make the frame for the top and sides. Two of the frames should be made six by two feet, two three by two feet, and one six by three feet They should all be covered with coarsely woven wire fencing. The illustration shows the frame put together without the wire. These frames are to be fastened together by tbe mortised joint shown at a. and pinned with wooden pins or nails. A door may be put in on one side to suit the one who is making the yard. This yard Is easilj- moved about on the grass or ground. Sharpen Cultivating Tool*. Tools that are used to work in the soil will dull rapidly if there are many stones or if the soli has much grit in it. For this reason they should be ground daily when used- A few minutes at the grindstone, putting a cutting edge on a dull hoe, makes the work easier all the day. Cultivator teeth should also be kept sharp. The cultivator works more easily, and besides they wll not slide over weeds and thus leave them uncut until it is nearly impossible to keep the field clean. Fruit and Poultry. A poultry grower says that tbe fruit grower can combine fruit growing and poultry raising without occupying more land than would be required tor one pursuit, and the results from the orchard and from the hens would be more satisfactory. The fowls can be made to assist in protecting the trees by giving them loose soil for dusting near the trunk of the trees, and placing their drinking water under the trees and feeding them at the base of each tree. Good Clod Crusher. To make a clod crusher similar to the one shown here, which, it may be said la a good one, take three

light poles 4 or 5 in. in diameter and 7 or 8 ft. long; also a plank 12 or 14 in. wide. In front two pieces, 4x4, are bolted across, each piece being notched. This rough evener will crush lumps, even the field and smooth the horses' tracks. Notes. It is stated that 44 out of every 100 persons in the United States are agriculturists, 56 in Canada, 48 in France, 17 in Germany and 7 in Eng- ■ land. Experiments in seeding oats inI dicate that eight pecks per acre is about the correct amount, of seed to use, the largest yield of grain being I derived from that quantity on the i land. Shropshire sheep have performed great service in improving the com- ; mon flocks, but the best mutton I breed is conceded to be the Southdown, though it is not as large in i size as the Shropshire. I Any farmer can Improve his crops by selecting seed from the best specimens every year. .Variety largely influences the yields, and the best varieties are the results of careful selection of seed from the most perfect plants. a distinguished fruit-grower, in an address before the agricultural students of the Ohio State University, gave it as his opinion that you* can sell 5,000 bushels of pears of one kind more easily than you can dispose of one load of mixed varieties. The value of farming land in this country is greatest In New Jersey. Ic 1888 It averaged; New Jersey, $65; Massachusetts, SSO; Ohio, $46; New York, $44; Vermont, $36, Maryland, $32; Wisconsin, $23, and in some W estern States less than $5 per acre. Bran iind linsepd meal should be used occasionally, if for no other reason than that of affording a change of diet. Such foods are also rich in the mineral elements, and serve to supply any deficiency in that direction. Growing animals and milk cows are always benefited by foods that contain an abundance of miner- ; al matter.

A GARDEN TOOL AND STORAGE HOUSE.

WHEEL LAND MEASURE.

PORTABLE POULTRY RUN.

CLOD CRUSHER.