Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1896 — FARMS AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMS AND FARMERS

To Regulate Water Flow. Regulating the flow of water into troughs and tanks is something which causes farmers more or less anxiety and trouble, for tbe reason that many of the patent regulators now in the market fall to work satisfactorily for any length of time. Many simple homemade devices, however, can be made to work. The one shown in the illustration, which is from the American Agriculturist, has a number of strong points.

The water pipe enters near the top of the tank, which places the valve out of water, thus relieving it of all danger from rust or the collection of sediment. Hqjijvever, where necessary, the pipe , ipqy. enter nearer the bottom of the tank, and if the valve is kept clear the device will still serve its purpose. Another point in its favor is that, if desired, the valve can be closed just as effectually’ when the tank Is one-fourth full as when filled to the brim. The lower half of the long, jointed lever connecting the valve and float has a shorter one attached to it, the upper end of the latter having a number of holes In it. By having a hole In the upper half of the jointed lever and using a pin, the angle at the joint can be changed at will. Making it as large as possible will necessitate the float being lifted near the top of the tank before the valve is entirely closed, but by decreasing the angle the valve will be closed while the float is still near the bottom. A sealed can or bottle makes a good float. A board or block of wood soon becomes soaked, and in consequence its lifting power is greatly diminished. Dry Lima Beane for the Table. Few of who like the succulent green Lima know that they are. if not good, at least superior to common Held beans when dried for wiiter use. We used always when 4 ro "’i n S Limas to put up those that wit could not use green, and the winter supply was usually exhausted before spring. We think a profitable market for Lima beans in their dried state can be found in most cities or villages if farmers will tell their city’ friends how good they are. beans have, even when dried, much of the rich, nutty taste that makes them popular when eaten green. There is another reason also for saving the late beans left at the end of the season for use in winter. They | re quite often used for seed, with the result of making the Lima bean crop each year a little later, so that in some places very few would be fit for use ultil frost came and nipped the vines. Tjie first fruits of anything in which earliness is important should always be used for seed. A Movable Chicken House. A chicken house that can easily be moved about is shown herewith. In size it is convenient for a hen and her chickens. Slats are vertical in front and far enough apart to allow chicks to run in and out. In front is a base board, nailed to a bottom strip extended from each side, on which chicks may be’fed. It is well to provide shade or shed rain by a board awning as shown.

A floor to ths coop Is not’necessary; as hens prefer to dust at will. ~ Ridding Lamb* of Ticks. •■’‘Fter r-some time after shearing the ■fclofthun the new shorn sheep will Dot MHWtf ticks. They consequently all congregate on the young lambs, whose wool has been growing .since birth -and ni-ikes a convenient, hiding place. Our wfly- when we kept sheep was to get a Quantity of tobaeco stems and boll them, making a strong decoction of the tobacco. This would kill the ticks on till the lambs Immersed in it nnd/tre never knew the lambs to be injured thereby. If a careless plunge immersed the nose of the lamb Into the liquid it would be sickened thereby for a Utt’s while, but would soon recover. Cow Peas for SoiHhu. As Northern farmers become better acquainted with the cow pea and its advantages, they are likely to largely use it in conjunction with and partial for corn as a fodder crop. T£' Js much richer than corn In nitrogenous nutrition, and that is always the kind that Is most costly and hard to procure. Besides, the cow pea gets its nitrogen as clover does, from air in the soil. It Is one of the leguminous order of plants, all of which have this power. The*chief objection to growing cow peas in the North Is the difficulty in ripening their seed. One or two kinds will ripen in New England In a favorable season and If put In early. But we

can procure the seed cheaply from the South, and if farmers found they could never ripen its seed, they could still afford to grow some every year to need in alternation with fodder corn or to put in the silo. It is not, however; so good for the silo as corn, as'the nitrogenous material of which it is composed heats too rapidly, making it as hard to save sweet as clover ensilage is. A Costly’job, but It Pays. The cost of applying paris green as a protection against potato bugs has been estimated by Prof. Fernaids at a sum equal to about two cents per bushed of the crop. At this rate it costs about $5,000,000 a year to insure against potato bugs throughout the country! That may be a little high, but what’a saving if the Colorado beetle had been stamped out upon its first appearance twenty years ago! A concerted campaign at that time, at state and national expense, would have done the business. Just so we advocate Congress providing the money to help Massachusetts stamp out the gypsy moth—a pest which that State alone has held In check for some years at a cost of half a million. If allowed to spread over the country, the gypsy moth, would do more damage each year than potato bugs, rose bugs, grasshoppers and chinch hugs put together. Here is a chance for government work to good purpose and in a way that would benefit the whole country.—Farm and Home.

Take Care of the Forests. • Fortunes are being made in the lumber business by those who understand it. Where there is reasonable assurance that wood and timber land will not be destroyed by fire, its purchase at a reasonable price is almost always a profitable investment. Improvements in handling and manufacturing are such that “a log can now be brought from the pineries by railway, put Into the boom, sawed, kiln dried, matched and be ready for use in the construction of a building in sixty hours.” Destructive methods of lumbering still prevail and only in a few cases is care taken to preserve the undergrowth and young trees. It is probable that the State of Maine will soon enact a law’ restricting the cutting of timber to trees above a certain size. ■ Protect Haystacks from Rain. Where hay Is stacked out of doors for several mouths, it will pay to secure large sheets of old canvas and stretch over the stack, pinning the corners by driving a peg in the stack. The plan Is a modification of the smaller hay

caps used extensively in the field, during the hay harvest, when rainy weather suddenly comes on. Such a cap will effectually keep rain and snow from the hay, thus rendering it far more nutritious and palatable to stock,— Farm and Home. Sweet Corn in Succession. By planting some of the very earliest sweet corn on rich land the last of April it is possible to have it on the table from the middle of July until long after frost has nipped the leaves. It is the late varieties of corn like Evergreen that are in order for late use, and there should be at least two plantings of these, one for early and to ripen seed, and the other late and not intended to ripen at all. If the corn is cut before frost and the green ears are plucked from the stalk and put in a cool cellar, the corn will be nearly as good most of the winter as it was in the fall. We know some farmers who only can or dry corn for late winter and spring use, as they keep green ears of their latest planting fit for use until January or later. If the ears are left on the stalks they will ripen too much to be in good condition, but if plucked off and kept very near down to freezing temperature and in a dry place to prevent mold, late Evergreen corn can be kept in condition long after frost and snow have come.—American Cultivator. Pinching Back Grape Shoots. Grape vines left unpruned during the summer exhaust themselves by producing an enormous amount of useless wood. In the fall most of the new roots are cut out, and those that remain are allowed very few buds. Into these all the strength of the vine is thrown. Some strong-growing varieties, like the Rogers Hybrid, have been known to make eighteen to twenty feet of long, slim., cane. If pinched back when the vine Itad jjlioQtjsttirpe dr fouj- fee ( t long, the; new ca.neg will be thfcker and much better prepared to bear a crop the folowing year. Carlas for Sprinc Planted Tree*. If half the trees planted each spring lived through their first season the demand for nursery stock would not bo so' large as it now is. Yet we doubt wheth« er the lack of care in planting and keeping the tree In condition after planting is in any way beneficial to the nurseryman. The cost of the tree and all the labor bestowed upon it becomes a total loss if it dies. This is very dis-, couraglng. and after a few such experiments the planter concludes that fruit growing don't pay, which for him is probably a proper enough conclusion. There is some difference of opinion among onion growers as to thenecessity for breaking down the tops before harvesting. If the stand Is uneven and of varied degrees of ripeness, the tops will die down so that the crop can be gathered without breaking them down. But most onion crops are not uniform in growth or ripeness, and for such the old-time practice is a necessity.

REGULATOR FOR WATER TROUGHS.

MOVABLE CHICKEN HOUSE.

A PROFITABLE HAT CAP TO USE.