Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1894 — REAL RURAL READING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

REAL RURAL READING

WILL BE FOUND Ifll THIS DEPARTMENT. Good Method of Gathering the Corn Crop— Quadruple Step-ladder for Picking Fruit —Conditions t’nder Which Cereal Crops are Profitable—Nitrate of Soda Free. Harvesting the Corn Crop. I plant my corn in sections of twelve rows, skip three, plant twelve more, skip three and so on, writes A. 11. Watts, in Farm and Home. 1 plant potatoes, peas, or anything that can l>e harvested befoie the co n in those three rows. For a harvesting wagon I take the Axle A A and wheels of my hay riging, and take two stout poles B B and attach them to the rocker and hind axle the same as to a hay rigging and then bore four holes CCC

i C in each po o. I then put four stakes DD D I) in each pole underneath and let them hang down eighteen inches from the top ot the poles, then put the cioss pieces on from ono stake to the other and pin them fast, and lay a couple of boards on the cross pieces for the bettom and put one on each side Put a piece in front rnd one behind and that forms a-box Use wooden pins or bolts to fasten the pieces together, j This rigging is drawn to the first 1 gangway, a bar dr ven in the ground ' aud the horse hitched. I pick the ears of « orn first and put them in this rigging. 1 take six rows on each side I of the gangway and when 1 come to the next gangway I do the same and so until the piece is covered. The ears of corn are put in a large open chamber and husked at my leisure. Then 1 made a horse for shocking corn. Take a small pole and bolt the legs to the pole and bore u hole for the pin. The cornstalks are shocked as Igo along. I take six rows, three : oh each side of the horse, and bind

the shocks with rope. There will be two rows of shucks in a secton. I use the same rigging to draw my cornstalks to tne burn and the shocks are easily taken off. I put my cornstalks just where I want them and do no not disturb them until fed out. There is no waste In feeding, I do my work all alone without any help. This Is the cheapest way and best to harvest the corn crop that I know of. Wire Cabin for Carrying Water. In the mountain regions of Vlr. glnla an ingenious contrivance Is used to bring water from distant

springs to the house. The springs are often at along distancedown i very steep hills, but as the water is very puie and good, they are preferred to wells close by, which would have to bo deep. The 11 ustratlon, which >s taken from the American Agriculturist, shows the different parts of this ‘ water telegraph,” as it Is called. A large post, a, is set In the ground near the house. A bent iron rod, b, is

fastened to the post, and to the upper end of this, rod is attached a strong wire, c. over which runs an ordinary sash pully, I, which is attached at h to carrying arms, d, which are so bent that the bucket of water will swing under the pully. The other end of the wire is attached to a similar post at the spring. To a bale on the pully is attached a small rope, which is wound upon a windlass at the house, and being unwound allows the bucket to go down hill on the wire.and reach the spring, Into which it dips by Its own weight and is filled. The windlass is turned, and winding the rope brings the bucket full of water up to the house. A similar contrivance is often used carry coal and ore from mines down the mountain side, or across gulches. Convenience in Fruit Gathering. Designs for fruit ladders are legion, some good, some bad, and some indifferent. The quadruple stepladder here illustrate 1 must be classel

among the good designs, for obvious reasons Placed under low, branching trees its use permits one to move about within reach of a large portion of the whole side of a tree, because of its four sides, about which one c n freely step. Moreover, when not occupied as “standing ground,” the topafior- s an excelle.it resting place tor the basket. It should not be made strong, but light, so as to be itadily mov d about. Cereal Crop*. As a result of five years’ continuous < ulture of wheat and oats, eight trials of wheat and twenty-one of corn on soils varying widely in character, the Chio Station has reached the conclusion that at present prices of cereal crois and of fertilizing materials respect!'ely, thfo profitable production of corn, wheat, and oats < pon chemical or commercial fertilizers or upon barnyard manure, if its cost be proMO.tionatc to that of the chemical constituents of fertility

found fn commercial fertllf era, is a . hopeless undertaking, unless these crops be grown In a systematic roUr 1 lion with clover or a similar nitro gen-storing crop; and the poorer the soil in natural fertility the smaller the probability of profitable crop production by meahs of artificial fertilizers. Experiment* with Corn. The experiments at the lowa experiment station last season as to the proper time tor < utting corn may be worth remembering. Plats of corn were cut Sept. 17 and 21 and Oct. T, 8, and 15, respectively, aud shocked in the field, sn ad owning plat of equal size was left standing until le. 17, when it was ha vested. The <orn from all plats was husked Lee. 17 and brought in, at wht h time samples were taken of the corn and fodder from each cutting and analyzed. The yields ot t e dlflernt plats ranged from forty three aud a half to sixty-tour bushels per acre, increasing gradually up to the fourth date of cutting. The largest amount of fry matter in the sto er was secured at the time of cutting the second plat, Sept. 24. The greatest amount of dry matter secu.ed in the kernel was reached at the time of cutting the third plat, Oct. 1. The bluest ag regate of dry ma ter from an acre ot both stoier and kernels was 6,782 pounds, and was secured from the second cutting, hept. 24, and the next highest f,515 pounds from the third cutting. The above results indicate that the best time for cutting corn according to these experiments is between Sept. 24 and Oct. 1. The loss resulting from leaving corn in the held until December amounted to nearly half the total yield in weight besides in deterioration in feeding matter.— Hartford Courant.

Coal-Chewing l’g«. Pigs like to chew coal, and they do it from a natural Instinct. Among ths causes of indigestion, diarrhea, and other functional disturbances of the digestive organs, is a state ox abnormal acidity. To satiate a consequent craving for an anti add. says the Massachusetts Ploughman, we often find horses licking the earth or 1 mo washed walls when opportunity occurs, and probably for the same reason pigs will evince a desire for crumbling coal or coal clndeis. In coal hydrogen Is the predominating element, and It is also probable that when pigs are fed for any length of time on lood which Is deficient in nitrogen, instinct prompts the animal to evince a desire for bituminous coai. Coal also contains sulphur, which, to some extent, servos a beneficial purpose In the animal economy. A desire to consume indigestible material Is not Infrequently met with in all our domestic animals, but this evidence of a depraved appetite Is due to some functional derangement or disturbance ot the digestive or gans. A Convenient Table. The cut herewith shows a table that some sou or father might well undertake to niaao for the mother ot

the family. The construction is simple, and the con leniences to l:e thus secured for the sewer are many. Whlte>wood is the be-t material for such a purpose, as It is easily wroked.and is comparatively

inexpensive. It may bo stained a handsome rod. and varnished when completed. Theextra lease provides for increased top room, when such room is desired, while the variety and the abundance of drawn s will prove a great convenience, us sewing materials, darning materials, materials for crocheting, etc., may find separate accommodations, and yet all be within reach of the hand.

Farm Notes. Somebody has said ‘ you must feed your feed if you want it to feed you." and this is true. If you keep taking off your farm and never putting anything back you are breeding poverty for jour children. Farming is largely experimental, and must be so long as soils differ. We learn successful cropping in part from others’ experience, but largely from our own. Where such a course brings profitable results we know that it is good practice. An Ohio man who fed twelve hogs on wheat estimates that he got 467. z 0 for fifty bushels of wheat by marketing it in the form of porg, whereas if he bad sold it he would only have received $26. He advises buying hogs, even at a good price, to feed the wheat to. It will never injure land to have it near two crops a year, it two applications of manure or fertilizer, in sufficient quantities to teed the crops, are applied. There is no limit to the possibl Ity of tiie land, provided all the conditions are favorable. It will always pay to grow two crops Instead of one, but not unless the farmer thoroughly unde: stands how to do it.

An acre of ground may yield by poultry raising from SIOO to $1,000; but the management has much to do with the pro ts. A bright, energetic Yankee can oftentimes bring about resu ts that another would say was impossible. A certain Massachusetts lai me* makes $4,000 per annum from poultry because he knows how to go about it He makes it pay better than farming, and keeps bls flocks on the land that used to feed his cattle. If you pull out the feathers of* fowl- new ones will grow in their place; but If they are cut off such will not be the case till next molt. Sometimes it is necessary when a sick fowl requires bracing that the tail feathers be pullsa out, which stimulates blood action, and the fowl usually improves and picks up. If a hen flies much then the wing primaries should be cut with a scissors. An interesting contest recently took place In Rochester, N. Y. public scho >ls. Prizes were offered for the students and the school whl h could collect the greatest number of cocoons of the tent caterpillars. One school actually collected 4,191,489 of . these cocoons. Some expert has figured out that that means the destruction of 7,500,000,000 eggs! The pupils who collected these cocoons received handsome prizes, which were well deserved.

HOCHE FOR SHOCKING CORN.

WATER TELEGRAPH.

QUADRUPLE STEPLADDER.

HOMEMADE SEWING TABLE.