Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1895 — HELPFUL FARM HINTS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HELPFUL FARM HINTS

SUGGESTIONS FOR THt- AGRICULTURIST AND STOCKMAN. Bow to Make an Ice Box at the Coat of One Dollar-Mendins Fence* ia'the Spring—Habita of Beca-To Prevent Balter Pulling. An Inexpensive Ice-Box. Refrigerators and their plebeian cousins, plain ice boxes, ate now sold In the stores at prices that are within the proverbial "reach of all,” so to speak, but there are some people, nevertheless, that find it advisable. If not convenient, to make one at home. For their possible benefit the accompanying cut Is printed, with a description of how to make the box therein shown. The arrangement consists of two boxes,” the larger one about three feet square and the smaller one just enough smaller to allow a space of about three

Inches between the two around the four sides and also at the bottom. This sjjace should be filled closely with sawdust, or with fine charcoal. Line the inside of the inner box with zinc and through the<bottom bore a hole that will admit a half-inch lead pipe. The lead pipe must be long enough to carry off the water that will come from the ice. This box will be found a good preserver of Ice, and It should not exceed one dollar In cost, If made at home. Oats Too Kxpensive to Grow. The low price of oats is due to the fact that they can be so easily grown. They are sown In the West especially on fall-plowed land, or after corn without any spring plowing. If the season is favorable this easily produces a good crop. But when we consider what the oats take from the soil, It is found that this easily-grown crop Is very nearly the most expensive that the farmer can sow. Oat roots fill the soli much more thoroughly than does any other spring grain, not excepting wheat. The oat leaf is not broad, and if it were the plant Is not one of the kind to extract from the air the nitrogenous elements with which the grain is filled. We do not wonder,therefore, that many Eastern farmers are dropping oats out of the rotation. If It Is not convenient for them to buy what oats they feed, they can grow enough for home use. But for most kinds of stock a mixture of oil meal with ground corn furnishes the oat ration in a much cheaper form than it cab be got In the oat grain.— American Cultivator. A Movable Plfrpen. The Illustration, reproduced from the American Agriculturist, shows a very complete pigpen that can be moved about from place to place to Secure fresh ground. The construction is well shown In the sketch, the only point not shown being the partition that divides vthe pen Into two equal parts, the part under the roof being thus shut in to provide a shelter against

cold and storhis. The trough pulls out like a drawer to be filled, or may be made long enough to be left half within and half without the pen. There Is, of course, no floor. Mending Fences. Every spring there is sure to be some trouble with fences. 0 Winter winds have more free sweep than they do while trees are. in full leaf, and the freezing and thawing of the soil is sure to tilt posts that are not deeply set In the ground. These should, be driven down with a heavy beetle while the ground is still soft. It takes but a few blows to put the post where It belongs and compact the soil around it. Loose boards and broken wires can now be replaced. The breaking of wires is caused by the contraction of the metal during severe cold. When the wires are set on the posts in warm weather some slack should be allowed for this. Working Farm Horae*, A fault In handling farm horses, of which not a few of us are guilty, is to keep them idle much of the time, If work is properly managed, horses can be used 234 days out of the year. Ground can be plowed in the fall, fence material be hauled in place, wood bo sledded up and gullies be filled in the winter. When work is so managed, less horses will suffice than when their work is put into 180 days of the year. I find that our horses work on an average of above 230 days of the year and have lasted an average of fifteen years.

Apple Orchards. A hillside is the best location for an orchard. Many of our best orchards are found on land that can’t be plowed. Where the land is suitable for tillage first prepare the soil by raising some hoed crop. Wood ashes are a very good fertilizer for trees. Have but few of the best varieties for market. The Ben Davis is not a good apple for home use, but one of the best selling apples we have. The Baldwins and the greening are always wanted and bring the highest prices. March and April is the best time to prunq trees. Coarse. Feed with Grain. Grain is, so far as nutriment goes, quite as cheap as hay, and hay is even cheaper in proportion to its nutriment than is straw. But some portion of the less nutritious food has to be given with grain as a divisor, lest it should heat in the stomach and do Injury rather than good. With a very concentrated ration, as with oil meal or cot-

ton seed meal, good bright straw Is bet* ter as a divisor than Is the ASest'hay. Well-cured clover is itself a strong food, and contains besides its woody material toq large a proportion of nitrogenous matter to be the best divisor for linseed or cotton seed meal. Petoah for Corn. We hear s great deal,about the need of potash for the potato crop, but It is quite as necessary for corn. The latter crop requires a great deal of potash, and if the mineral can be given In the form of wood ashes it has an additional benefit in making the vegetable mould decompose more rapidly, and thus become available I’or the crop. Potash and decomposing vegetable matter make nitrate of potash one of the most stimulating of all manures. It is ,usual to drop a handful of ashes on each hill after the corn is planted. That is rather late for the best effects. A much better way is to use rather more potash, and broadcast it over the corn ground as soon after It is plowed as you can. This will mix the ash thoroughly with the soil, and set the vegetable matter to decomposing by the time the corn is planted. Extra Manuring for Strawberries. The strawberry ripens earlier than does any other of the small fruits. It begins to flower and make its growth before the air has imparted much warmth to the soil and when its stores of fertility are therefore smallest For these reasons extra manuring is required to produce the best crops of strawberries, no matter how rich the ground may be. There should be a good supply of mineral manure, especially of potash. This is necessary to keep the foliage healthy and to promote ripening of fruit. If stable manure is used for strawberries It should be well composted and be applied very early in the spring. In this way, the nitrate It contains will be dissolved and carried to the roots. Wood ashes with composted stable manure furnish what the strawberry plant needs and in its most available form. <• Trough Under a Pump Spout. When pumping is stopped water will usually drip from the spout and when a person is in a hurry he at once removes the vessel and allows the dripping water to fall near the pump. The consequence Is a slippery platform and muddy ground all around. This can be avoided by a trough under the spout like that shown in the illustration. It

does not interfere with lining the pall and will catch all the water that drips. It is connected with the well by a box reaching through the platfprjn.i or It ’ may connect with the pump box. Habit* of Bees. It Is said that under favorable circumstances a colony of 30,000 bees may store about two pounds of honey in a day. Of 30,000 bees In a hive, which is a moderate sized colony, half of them stay at home keeping house, tending the babies, feeding the queen and guarding the stores. In line, clear weather, a worker may gather three or four grains of honey in a day. As large colonies contain as many as 50,000 bees, it may be seen that possibly 25,000 individuals are out seeking honey. The amount each one brings In is infinitely small, but there is strength in numbers, and one can readily imagine, by watching the little workers pouring into a hive, that even the tew grains at a time will till up the cells quite rapidly. But a single bee would make slow work of It, and would, If continuously occupied, require some years to gather one pound of honey.—New York Ledger. Canning Peas. Green peas are readily salable nt all seasons of the year. Recently one of the largest vessels that ever came Into Philadelphia brought hundreds of tons of canned “French" peas from England. They do not differ in the least from the kind grown In this country every year. Why cannot farmers grow peas in large quantities for canning purposes? By co-operative effort an outfit for canning peas could be Introduced in every community, not only providing a profit to growers, but also affording employment to many In pickling and hulling the peas. Halter Pulling Prevented. To break a horse of halter pulling use a strong halter and pass the tie through the ring In a post or manger and tie to one fore foot at suitable length. I improvised this plan when I

saw a mustang pulling badly and it broke him in a short time. The strap around the leg should not be sharp or stiff and the limb should be protected by a piece, of thick wool or cloth.—H. B. Frink in Farm and Home. To Secnre Early Potatoes. Better than early planting, while the soil is still cold, is such preparation of the seed as will make it come up quickly after It has been planted. Potatoes exposed to the sunlight in a room where frost Is excluded will turn green ind the buds will be of the same color, If the potatoes are cut and left to dry one or two days before being planted the cut places will harden and there will be no danger of the seed rotting, however wet and cold the weather after planting may be. Thai exposure of potato sets to sunlight until the buds are nearly ready to burst into leaf makes the crop earlier by a week or 10 days than from seed planted, the same day without such preparation.

CHEAP ICE-BOX.

SERVICEABLE PEN FOR PIGS.

THOUGH UNDER THE STOUT.

CUBE FOR HALTER PULLING.