Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1895 — ALL ABOUT THE FARM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ALL ABOUT THE FARM

SUBJECTS INTERESTING TO RURAL READERS. Somber of Cowi a Farm Will KeepWomen Make Succeaafnl Bee Rais* era—Trough for Poultry—Tethering Horses and Carttie. Improved Feed Trough for Poultry. Soft poultry food thrown on the ground or on a board Is quickly trampled and -befouled so that It la- unfit to eat Placing it in a shaNow pan or trough helps the matter little, it any. The best way of feeding is to use covered pans or troughs which permit poultry to obtain the food and at the same time keep

them out of It ivlth their feet For small chicks, a double .trough is made of tin as shown in Fig. 1. It is 28 inches long and 3 inches wide, each half being 2 inches wide and Inches deep, with square ends soldered on. Tin is best as it is easily washed and kept clean. This trough is set Inside of the box, seen in Fig. 2, the same in width and length, inside, and 8 inches high. It lias a hinged cover fastened down with a hook and handle to lift by.. Lach side is open and fitted with wire liars placed 2 inches apart, each end of these being bent at right angles, driven

througJxthe strips of wood and clinched. The food is placed in the trough by raising the cover of the box. A tight cover is necessary to protect the food when they jump on the box and make a roost of it, which they are certain to do. Feed at one time only what will be eaten clean and keep the trough well washed. Nothing is more productive of mouth, throat and bowel diseases in chicks than soured and musty food or a filthy feed trough.—Farm and Home. Cows a Farm Will Keep. The number of cows that may be profitably kept on an eighty-acre farm, for instance, depends upon the extent to which one wishes to make the dairy business a specialty. ~The number is only limited to a cow to an acre where the business is crowded, but I would not deem it advisable for a beginner to start in with more than fifteen or twenty cows. This number will warrant a person in the necessary expenditure of means in preparing stables and dairy and necessary appliances for buttermaking. A silo is regarded by many as one of the first necessities, and I have no doubt that the silo is an economic method of preparing food, although I have had no experience with one. I put a. power and feed cutter on my barn floor and a feed mill in an adjoining building and fed all feed dry. The daily rations consisted of fine cut stalks for bulk food and a mixture of ground feed, corn and oats, with bran and oil meal. The result was very satisfactory. Pure water slightly warmed In winter was always on tap, and regarded as a strict necessity. With the number of cow’s mentioned a separator may be profitably and reduce the labor of the care of the milk to a minimum.

Tetherins Horse* and Cattle. It is often desired to tether a. horpe, cow or calf in the field. Td keep them from winding the rope about the bar or stake to which they are attached is important. Two methods are shown

herewith. A long, stout, iron hook may be pressed down into the turf, there being just curve enough In the part in the ground to keep it from pulling out, but not too much to prevent the hook from being

revolving tether turned about in the soil, as shown in Fig. 1. The hook must be long enough and stout enough so that

it will not pull out through the turf. The device illustrated In Fig. 2 needs little explanation. The wooden affair that slips down over the iron bar, and that turns freely about it, must be of hard wood and short enough to stand the strain upon it The pieces of plank may pe bound with hoop iron aroufid the edges for added strength. Even if the rope gets wound about this it will rewind when the animal pulls upon it. —American Agriculturist * ■' - ; i Tarn!pa for Sheep. Turnips are sometimes grow,a ,on stubble land, as a catch crop for sheep, by broadcasting the seed. After the turnips are ready the sheep are turned on the land, and consume not only the turnips, but the young weeds. While it is not the most profitable way to produce turnips, yet it is claimed for the method that the only expense is to plow and harrow the land and the cost of the seed, no other cultivation being given. Cottonseed Meal for Batter. Prof. A. Soule, of Texas, thus summarizes the effect of cotton seed meal on the butter: Cotton Med and Its products Increase and maintain the milk flow. It maintains the per cent, of fat in the milk. It enables churning to be done at higher' temperature, thus largely taking the place of ice. Benders the butter harder to color, salt

evenly and print satisfactorily. Gives the butter a more greasy appearance, a stiff, waxy consistence, and a flat and somewhat tallowy taste. These defects, however, are not marked, and have been highly exaggerated by many, and since cotton seed and its product* are so cheap and valuable as food for dairy cattle, it is poor economy not If use it more freely. Bees on the Farm. What farmers are looking for to-day is something that will yield an income outside of their farm. Bees would make quite an item in the income of the farmer, and would be received from what is going to waste every year. Many an article could be bought with the honey for the bees. Honey can be readily sold in any market at thirteen to eighteen cents per pound. Do not start on a large scale, but let your apiary grow. Start with about four or six swarms the first season, says Farm News. You mny lose some skips, but you must expect loss. Bees will die as well as horses or cattle, but perhaps not so often, and then there is not such a large sum invested. Take some reliable bee paper if you Intend going in it very strong. Many a farmer’s wife is in the bee business to stay. They find'it a light employment, and many a little article has been purchased with the bees’ money. Use the frame hives, as more money can be got from them than any other. Use one-pound sections, as they look neater and are in demand, as those who buy the sweet nectar like to have the combs so they can place them on the table and not cut them. Secure Italian bees, as they are the best workers and are more hardy. Bees must be protected-from the cold of the Northern States. They can be wintered in cellars or burled in a dry place in the ground and ventilation given.

Windbreaks on Bandy Boil. In every long-settled locality where the soil is sandy farmers quickly learn, after the original forest is cleared away, to plant windbreaks to protect their soil from blowing away. Such windbreaks do good, says the American Cultivator, which more than offsets the waste of the land which they occupy. Not only is soil blown away after being plowed, but during the summer there are frequent violent sandstorms whore the winds have full sweep, which uncover seeds and plants or blow sand against the foliage of plants, cutting and spoiling it. These windbreaks serve another Important purpose In winter In keeping the snow evenly spread over the fields. They should bo of evergreen wherever possible, so as to make a protection for winter as well as for the summer season. The Tobacco Worm. ( One of the pests which consume a deal of the tobacco raiser's time and materially affect the value of the crop is the tobacco worn). The moth deposits Its eggs on the under side of

the leaf, and, as they are small and light green In color, not many are discovered by the planter as he makes his daily round in search of worms. The growth of the worm is rapid, attaining from two to three Inches in length in a few days. They are voracious feeders and soon injure the market value of a leaf. Wheat Drills and Broadcast Seeders. On the Northwestern prairie soils shoe drills are now more used than hoe drills, according to Prof. W. M. Hays, of the Minnesota' 'station. In some a press wheel follows the shoe. In others a chain covers the aeqd well. The, best form has a heel so shaped as to make a V-shaped furrow, because the soft mud will not then clog the tube. For dry lands the press shoe drill does best, while the chain shoe drills gre most suitable for moist, heavy lands. The hoe drills work best among cornstalks or trashy land. Broadcast seeders are still much used for early spring seeding, especially on moist soil which is friable after puddling and drying. On clay soils and in dry climates the drill Is the best seeder for wheat

Precaution* Against Drought. Every time a rain falls all tilled land should be cultivated. There are many light rains through the summer which wet only the surface of the soli, and if this is not cultivated nnder, the moisture speedily evaporates and Is lost. This cultivation also has another effect —in developing nitrates in the soil. Whatever vegetable matter is in the soil needs only to be brought into contact with oxygen to be decomposed and its manurial elements set free. There is also on soil thatds cultivated frequently a deposit of moisture by the atmosphere which it contains, and this, being really a dew, always contains more ammonia than does ordinary rain water. Fruit Kvaporation. At no time of the year is the value of the fruit evaporator better appreciated than during hot weather. The early fruit keeps poorly, and unless marketed somewhat green can not be disposed of before it decays. But with an evaporator on the farm the f rult can be evaporated when it is at its best, and it will then be worth more than can be got for it by sending to sell on commission in the city. The cost of an evaporator can easily be saved by the saving of fruit in a single season that would be Wasted If it were not used. Clearing Land. Clearing new land is the most tedious and laborious work that can be done. No farmer should undertake to clear land without first procuring all the necessary implements for that purpose, such as stump-puller, grubbing hoes, etc., so as to economize the labor from the start Dynamite should not be used unless in the hands of an experienced person.

TROUGH FOR SMALL CHICKS.

BOX FOR TROUGHS.

HOOK TETHER.

THE TOBACCO WORM.