Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1895 — HELPFUL FARM HINTS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HELPFUL FARM HINTS

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE AGRICULTURIST AND STOCKMAN. New Sj-stea. of Barn Building—Farmera Should Fertilize Their Brains— How to Belien, Choking Cattle — Something New la Fencing. The Plank Barn. A new system of barn building has been In use In Central Ohio for a seel e* of years, which Waldo F. Brown describes as giving a barn a far greater strength than the old plan of heavy timbers mortised and tenoned together, with a saving of about half the frame [timber and more than three-fourths of the work of framing. This bam is called “the plank bam,” and the entire frame is made of two by eight planks, except nails, tins and rafters, which are two by six There is, according to the New England Farmer, not a mortise or tenon In the building, but it is put together with spikes and carriage ■bolts, and two men wiH form a large bam ready to raise in four days, sueh a one as it would take them four weeks to frame on the old plan. At $2 per day for carpenters, the saving in wages would be SBO in framing the bam, and as a farmer must board his carpenter, counting the board of two men for twenty days at 60 cents each per day, we have saved S2O more, making the saving in labor and board SIOO, besides the saving of lumber. Brains Bid It. To get out a lot of muck and dump it on the upland to drain while the drouth lasted, this was the question.

The swamp was too soft for a team and human muscle was too expensive to lift it into a cart and wheel it ashore. But brains did it A tree growing In the woods near by was cut, and its odd shape made to serve as a crane. This could be swung out fifteen feet over the muck, loaded and swung over the dry ground a like distance, dumping In piles or on to carts. What more could be asked for? And it works as well as if it cost $5. The only blacksmith work required is a ring at the top to fasten the stay wires to.—S. Eden in American Agriculturist. A Good Soil to Cultivate. 9 R. S. Kingman, speaking of the better education of agriculturists, well says: “Fertilize the brains of the farmers with good practical knowledge, then they would be better prepared to fertilize their farms Intelligently.” Every lawyer in the land must fertile his brain or he will fail. Every docotr, every banker, every merchant, every editor must do the same or they will fail. And yet, In the face of all this, and In face of the fact apparent on every hand that it Is the brainiest farmers who succeed best, there can be fbund farmers in every neighborhood who really think that it does not pay to cultivate brains In farming. They think It Is money thrown away to buy books, papers or attend conventions or farm Institutes. If they thought these things paid, we would see them hard at it, for they want money bad enough. Good thinking lies under the success of every man in all kinds of business. A man cannot do good thinking unless he feeds his mind with good thoughts. A Portable Fence. It is often more enocomical to pasture off a piece of rich fodder than to cut it and wheel it away to the sheep, or other stock. The lack of a fence often prevents this. A portable fence can be made after the suggestions given in the sketch, which Is from the Orange Judd Farmer. A few panels of this will inclose sufficient feed for a day’s cropping, and can be shifted to new ground the next day. If sheep are to ‘ be thuß folded, an extra board will be needed in each panel. These panels may be 12 or 14 feet In length, well braced to keep the fence firm as to lengthwise motion. The crosspiece at the bottom of the upright-should be long enough

to keep the fence firm the other way. The construction Is plainly shown in the Illustration. Corn on Outside Sows. Many farmers plant two or three irows of potatoes on the outer edges of the cornfield, so that In cultivating the horse can turn on these without treading down the com, says the Connecticut Farmer. But the potatoes are worse injured by this tramping than the com is, and scattered as they are on these outside rows, It requires extra labor to harvest them. We have noticed also that when the com was planted out to the end of the rows, the outside hills, despite the injury by tramping, had more grain In proportion to their Stalks. This is undoubtedly because the outside rows get more sunlight It is a mistake to plant com thickly. Three grains In a hill, If all grow as all should, «re better than more, for If four stalks each have an ear the size of the ear will be smaller, and it will make greater work in husking and handling the crop, with little or no Increase of grain. Microbes in Plant Life. Prof. Wiley says that “one of the grandest discoveries of modern science” is the agency of the microbes in enabling plants to absorb from the air the nitrogen which is the chief factor of their growth. The theory was first suggested by Pasteur, anckit is thought to be fully confirmed by the researches lof independent investigators. If it

does not deceive expectation, it wm completely revolutionize agriculture. To increase the growth of plants it will only be necessary to feed their roots with water containing the proper microbes. To Catch Chinch Bags. Mix kerosene and salt—one quart to the bushel—and 6trew it in a row two to three inches wide around the field, in the middle of a space ten to fifteen feet wide, devoid of vegetation by plowing and harrowing. At intervals of three rods bore holes eight inches deep with a post auger, trimming off the tops with a knife to make them smooth and funnel-shaped; fill half full of water and pour In a little coal oIL The bugs strike this salt track, turn aside to go by It, and roll Into these holes, whence they can be dipped out, more kerosene added and the pile burned. Keep the holes smooth and fresh, pour a little kerosene on the salt once a day, and with a bright boy watching every day to keep things In shape, the bugs can be kept off. In this way I have saved a sixty-five acre field of corn, although it was next to a wheat lot that was badly infested. Clover and Potash. Analysis of crimson clover shows that it has a large proportion of potash. Some of the failures to grow It, especially on sandy soil, are probably due to a deficiency of potash. The common red clover frequently falls from the same cause. A dressing of wood ashes, or, where this can not be had, of muriate of potash, will secure a seeding where without it .there have been repeated failures of clover to catch. Heavy soils have usually a considerable amount of potash, but even on these a potash dressing often gives beneficial results, for it presents the mineral plant food In available form. Bipening Early Tomatoes, When the tomatoes commence to turn white and Just have a yellow tinge, they may be gathered and placed upon a table In the sun. In a day or two, after exposure to the sun, they will be ripe. Only the largest and whitest ones should be taken, the small or green ones will wilt If taken off too early. This Is the way the early tomatoes are ripened, when they command 80 to 90 cents per peck. After the price falls to 60 cents per bushel, the fruit is allowed to ripen on the vine. Fruit ripened on the vine has a firm feel and the meat is solid and of better flavor than green-picked fruit. Choking Cattle. A correspondent of “Practical Farmer” gives the following method of relieving choked cattle; Take of fine cut chewing tobacco enough to make a ball the size of a hen’s egg. Dampen with molasses so It adheres closely. Elevate the Animal’s head, pull out the tongue and crowd the ball as far down the throat as possible. In fifteen minutes it will cause sickness and vomiting, relaxing the muscles, so that whatever object may be in the throat will be thrown up. Protects the Little Chicks. In feeding chickens, provide pen or netting like the Illustration (or it may

be made of slats) under which the little chicks may feed without being crowded away by the larger ones. It can be raised as the chickens grow, and it is one of those clever little devices that help to secure the poulterer’s profits. Harvest I>rink, The following is an English recipe for a favorite haymaking beverage: Put one pound of medium oatmeal in a milking pall, with the rind of two lemons cut as thin as possible; cut away all the white pith and remove the seeds, then slice the two lemons. Pour two gallons of quite boiling water over the meal, stirring well, and a pound of best sugar; stir until the sugar is dissolved and strain off Into another pail. If made overnight It will be quite cold, in the hottest weather for use next day. Oil for a Dairy Floor. Occasional slight, very slight, dressing with hot linseed oil will keep a wooden creamery floor absolutely impervious to water and milk, easily cleaned and quick to show any lack of proper attention, says Hoard’s Dairyman. We do not argue the question for or against any style of floor, but state the fact that it is quite possible to have a floor of wood that will answer all possible requirements. Watch the Btock Well, All the stock on a farm must be carefully observed. Each individual should be kept under careful watch so as to guard against disease or a reduction of flesh or product The loss of appetite by one animal may be due to some cause that can affect the whole, and by attending to the matter in time there may be a great saving in preventing ailments among the other members of the flock or herd. Apples that Go to Waste. Professor Maynard says: “Many thousand bushels of apples go to waste which, if taken In time, might be dried with profit, or could be profitably fed to stock. Analysis shows a food value in apples for cows or horses of from ten to twenty cents per bushel. Aside from this food value, the fact that the insects in such fruit are destroyed in such using makes it of great importance.” To Keep Harness from Ripping. I To prevent splices in lines or other parts of harness from ripping: Use carpet staples (double-pointed tacks), drive through the points of the splice, and clinch on the opposite side. I drive one each side of the loop in the billet (the part that buckles Into the bit) and use them in various parts of my harness, and often make splices with them.—J. W. Campbell. Repairing Narrow Roads. A narrow road can be more easily and cheaply kept in repair, since every additional square yard of surface requires so much more work, and this Is an important matter in a community where the road tax is a heavy item of expense.

HOW THE MUCK WAS HANDLED.

SOMETHING NEW IN FENCING.

DEVICE TO PROTECT CHICKS.