Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1895 — TIMELY FARM TOPICS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TIMELY FARM TOPICS.

MANAGEMENT OF THE FARM, . GARDEN AND STABLE. £nstractiona for Making a Good Brooder—Work Done by the Honey Bee —How to Teat a Cow—Dressing of Salt for Potatoes. To Make a Brooder. Make a box 4x3% feet and 6 inches high, cover top with boards and bottom iwith zinc, making a box like the heater of an incubator. Take a piece of old cloth, some heavy materia}, and cut strips 4 Inches wide and long enough sto reach all around the 3x4 box or 14 feet Tack this cloth around bottom edge of the box; it will hang down 4 Inches below the box. Cut the cloth

(Description: a, brooder pipe and lamp; b, t running up to brooder.) every 4 inches. The box will then be surrounded with pieces of cloth 4 inches square. Put a block 4 inches square under each corner of this box Sand the chicks will get in under easily by pushing between the 4-inch strips ■of cloth. Fix one tin pipe to heat the ■brooder, and one lamp will keep the ibrooder warm. Place a %-inch escape pipe in each corner of the brooder to draw heat over the surface of the zinc evenly. As a lamp cannot be connected In the pipe if. the brooder is on the floor, make a table a little larger than the brooder with legs 6 or 8 inches high. A board from the brooder to the floor .will soon be used by the chicks. Do not set boards around the brooder to keep the ehiGks in, for they will crowd up in the corners and kill many. As the chicks grow put higher blocks under the brooder so they can get under but not high enough so they can get on top of eaeh other.—Farm and Home. ,r, o' The Work of Bees. A writer in the Revue des Sciences des Naturclles makes the following calculations in regard to the work done by the honey bee: When the weather is fine a worker can visit from forty to eighty flowers In six or ten trips, and collect a grain of nectar. If it visits 200 or 400 flowers, it will gather five grains. Under favorable circumstances it will take a fortnight to obtain fifteen grains. It would therefore take it several years to manufacture a pound of honey, which will fill about 3,000 cells. A hive contains from 20,000 to 50,000 bees, half of which prepare the honey, the other half attending to the wants of the hive and the family. On a fine day 16,000 to 20,000 ndividuals will, In six or ten trips, be able to explore from 300,000 to 1,000,000 flowers, say several hundred thousand plants. Again, the locality must be favorable for the preparation of the honey, and the plants that produce the most nectar must flourish near the hive. A hive inhabited by 30,000 bees may, therefore, under favorable conditions, receive about two pounds of honey a day.

Prepare for Haying. Have the mower, the horse rake, tedder and hay fork in order. If the mower needs repairs have such repairs, done at once. If extra bolts and knife blades are wanting, they can be gotten and put in on a wet day. A few extra bolts should always be kept on hand; also, knife blades and rivets. All such tools should be kept in a dry place, out of the rain and free from moisture. A machine that has rusted by exposure is liable to break when put to a severe test. The clover and grass fields should be free of stumps and stones; if such obstructions are in the fields, mark such places by driving a stout stake three feet in length that can be readily seen by the driver at each obstruction. Another Important point is not to lend or hire your mower without you send a trusty man with it A machine will last many years if carefully used on well-prepared fields. If the field is badly prepared and left rough and stony, the machine will be ruined after a few days’ cutting over such fields.—Baltimore American. Keeping the Reins Dry. Drivers are sometimes annoyed by the plunging and splashing the horses make with their noses when driven to the watering trough, wetting the reins iand splashing water over everything in their reach. How this may be prevented is shown in the accompanying (illustration from the American Agriculturist Make a float of any ordi-

nary board, of just the size and shape to cover the surface of the water in the trough. Into this cut as many holes as you have horses to water at once, of just sufficient size for the horses to drink through. through these they will drink, and if the reins are loose, or a halter strap is hanging down, they will not become wetted in the least The water is kept cleaner by the shield, much of the dust and dirt which would otherwise be dropped in the water being caught on the board. Salt for Potatoes. A dressing of salt on potatoes is good for them while growing as well as when they are cooked. The school boy wrote in his composition about salt that “It is what makes potatoes taste so bad when you do not put any on.” The salt should be sprinkled over the hill after the potatoes come up. The effect of the salt is to make soluble mineral plant food that the crop could ndtotherwise make use of. The salt has" itself no fertilizing properties, but enables this crop, which has to make its growth In a few weeks of hot weather, to get more from the soil than it could If the salt had not been applied. Testing a Cow. The best test of the cow is to weigh the milk and butter she produces. If a cow is well-bred she~will give a good account of herself on the scales, but

no matter what her breeding may be, if she gives a satisfactory yield, keep her. It is much easier to hold on to a good cow than to take the risk of getting one in her place when she becomes dry. Every cow should be tested, and scales should be conveniently placed where the milk can be weighed as soon as it is drawn from the cow. Hints on Poultry. Any building you erect for your poultry should, if you keep one hundred head, have a room in the center for storage of grain and such tools and cooking apparatus as is necessary about a well-ordered henhouse. The building should have wings on either side, with a three-foot passageway In the center, throwing pens say five by ten feet on either side, the number of such pens depending upon the size of the building you erect Hens like green cabbage when it is hung up where they can chip off a bit when so inclined, and in the winter and early spring, when there is little green food growing, nothing Is more convenient and beneficial. Onion-tops In springtime are excellent as a blood stimulant and should be fed with soft food. White Plymouth Rocks make an excellent cross with White Wyandottes for general market fowls or eggs.

The Land Is “Sick of Corn.” Sandy loam soil, heavily dressed with manure from milking cows, yielded increasing crops of ensilage com for seven years, but the yield has fallen oft steadily the past three seasons, and the com Is more liable to smut, Is the complaint of a Massachusetts dairyman. This land is sick of corn, says the Agriculturist, and needs a change. The smut germs have gone into the manure and back to the soil yearly until the earth is charged with them, and the smut thrives if weather permits. The manure probably supplied as much nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid as a good crop would require, but the soil has evidently got in such a condition that the corn couldn’t avail itself freely of this food. Sow to grass or grain, or put in potatoes or vegetables, applying only a good dose of unbleached wood ashes, and in ’96, or, better, in ’97, it will probably be as good as ever for corn. Shipping Small Frnits. The accompanying cuts represent a picker’s stand and case, used on fruit farms. Fig. lis a 6-quart case and Fig. 2 is cover attachment Fig. 3 is a square tin box into which a quart box fits. It is fastened about the waist with a strap, and is used only for raspberries and blackberries. Ship only to reliable and trusty dealers and commission men. By neglecting proper preparation and careful shipment,

much small fruit goes on the market in bad condition, bringing low prices and also injury to the reputation of the grower. Observe strict cleanliness. Strawberries especially should be carefully attended to. Mulch with straw or any coarse litter. This keeps the berries from becoming dirty during a shower. When pickers are at work, watch them; allow no bad or dirty fruit to be placed ip the boxes. All imperfect specimens must be thrown out Fill boxes neither too full nor too scant. Leave calyx and stem on strawberries. This gives them a much nicer and cleaner appearance when placed on the market. They also stand a long shipment much better and keep longer. Do not allow them to be pulled off, as much fruit is then smashed. This applies to all small fruits. Never pick raspberries and blackberries with stems on. Instead of pulling off the berry, roll it off. Never expose small fruits to the sun or wind. If stands are used see that they have a cover for protection. Barn Doors on Rollers. If well made and hung the bam door fixed to slide on rollers will last longer and give much better satisfaction than if it is swung on hinges. The swinging door is soon liable to sag or to be broken by the violence of the wind. The doors In basement bams both above and below ought to mn on rollers. One of the important advantages of the roller door is that no more need ever be opened than is necessary, while the swinging door must either be entirely shut or be liable to have a gust of wind take it, and either break the frame work in pieces or wrench it off from its hinges. The saving of labor In handling the two styles of doors will make the rolling door cheapest in the end, and we are not sure that its first cost is now any greater than is that of the other.

To Fight the Cutworm. For the cut worm mix with dry wheat bran sufficient Paris green or London purple to color it faintly, and so completely that every part of bran will carry its particle of arsenic. Mix with sweetened water to make a soft mush. Place a teaspoonful on each hill of plants to be protected, the evening of the day the plants are to be set out Professor Smith, of the New Jersey station, in giving this remedy for the cut worm, says all who have tried his method report it absolutely successful, and claim that they lost no plants after using it Getting the Start of "Weeds. The first cultivation given a crop is the most important for if it is not done thoroughly, and any weeds remain, the hoe may be required to clean them out A little extra care at first and doing the work at the right time, will save labor. Weeds can be destroyed when they are young, and the field easily cleaned. One or two thorough workings will leave but few, If any, to annoy you as the season advances. Sunflower Seeds Are Good. Don’t fail to plant some sunflowers In the spring, for sunflower seeds are the best single grain for laying hens that can be given them, and it is surprising what a quantity can be grown in odd corners.

HOME-MADE BROODER.

DEVICE FOR PROTECTING REINS.

PICKER’S STAND AND CASE.