Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1910 — FARMERS CORNER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMERS CORNER

The Ullklns Shed.' A plan that has been proven success* ful, not only in the"improvement of tjie milk, but in the saving of the manure, is to have a separate barn or shed to do the milking In, This can be a comparatively cheap structure, 88 It would be intended to keep the cows in it only during the process of milking. The barn, however, should be constructed in ja substantial and sanitary way. -After the cows are milked they are turned into a roomy shed or barn, Where they remain loose and can eat forage <or lie down at will. There are in this shed racks and troughs for feeding hay and ensilage in. In the milking shed the cows are fastened by means of rigid stanchions, and the feed mangers, where the concentrates are fed, are built high enough to prevent the cow from lying down, thus she remains clean until the milking is done. \ The flocks should be of concrete, and there should be a gutter behind the cows. - These stables should —be thoroughly cleaned out each day, and, if possible, washed occasionally, so that there will tfe as few flies as possible and no offensive odors. There should be no hay or feed stored in this barn and it should be well ventilated, so that the air will be pure and free from dust. This is about the most practical way to keep cows clean. The feeding shed, which could and really should be the lower floor of the main feed barn, should be well ventilated and bedded, for in there the cows are allowed to run at large manure is allowed to accumulate, being covered up each day with new bedding. This plan saves absolutely all of the manure with the least amount of_handling, it being hauled directly to the land in the spring.—Southern Agriculturist. Method- of Polllnar ftnmpa, A very handy device for piling ■tumps from old orchards, and can pull 200 or more a day by this means, is shown. The limbs are <«i. oft and

the stumps (E) left as long as possible. A short rope or chain with a single pulley is attached to the stump. The anchor rope or chain with a single pulley' is attached to the top of stump (C). The Anchor rope (B) which runs through the pulley Is fastened to the bottom of a stout stump (A). . . ' A pair of steady horses is attached to the rope and always pull toward the anchor stump. With a steady pull there Is no Jumping or jerking, and they will walk right off as if pulling a loaded wagon. Use about sixty feet of one-inch rope, which costs $2.40 and the pulley $1.75, making a total cost of $4.15.

Better Breeding Each Tine. No line of breeding requires more thought and study than horse breed* Ing. This Is why so many fall In producing the highest types. One of the essentials Is knowing the type of sire to breed the njare to. Many farmers will breed a light mare to a heavy horse or the very opposite, and the result is nothing tangible in the way of improvement. Every farmer should know what kind of an animal he has and-be able to select a sire to breed her to that will give an improved offspring. With a proper selection made here the remainder will be easy.. It is well to note at the outset that no horse is absolutely perfect. Every animal has some defect, be it large or small. The defects in the mare should therefore be carefully noted, and the sire selected should be especially strong in the weak points the mare may have. It should be hardly necessary to mention that it is never a good plan to cross breeds. To make '* success of the business the horse breeder must select one breed and stick to it.'-x . ' v ■. Government WUllnp to Help. Many a farm can bd made to yield a largqr profit by laying out the Helds differently and planning a rotation of various crops. The Government will be glad to send pamphlets to farmers suggesting how this may be done, and will furnish special Information for individual cases where desired. Farm- . era ought to avail themselves more fully of the splendid services of the Government agricultural experts than they do. •—! *r * * % Mow* for Tnrntnar Over Konev. The bog commends itself t<£ the general farmer on account of Its prolific qualities. A-sow will produce two lib* ters of six to a dozen each per year and the farmer can turn his money over several times with hogs while he is waiting for other animals to mar tee —■, ::little mwe, earn aft times than Other some animals, hut

the man who Ukes to work with them and i« wiling to study their needs and give them regular care will find them a most profitable adjunct to the farm. They can be turned into money or food as the owner chooses. TO Simplify Sugar Beet Culture. The department of Agriculture la experimenting with a view to obtalnipg a single germ beet seed. Last year’s investigations were successful in increasing the percentage of the single germ seed to 60 per cent, as compared to 2« per cent for the year previous. By methods of selection from single-seed plants- this percentage may be still further increased. •The ultimate establishment of a single germ beet will revolutionize sugar beet growing, since the several sprouts sent up by tbe ordinary seed, all of which must be carefully removed by hand, constitutes tbe most difficult problem in beet raising. Handy Barrow for Winter. I have had many a tussle in trylhg to puslj a wheeHrabrow through drifts

of,snow. My pigpen is some distance from the "other , buildings, and it is I very necessary to have some sort of conveyance for the feed. After having tried my patience to4he limit for sev-

tried my patienee to tbe limit for several winters. I finally devised the scheme shown in- the cut. I made a large runner ahd put it on the barrow in place of the wheel. This skips over thd snow in fine shape, and runs fully as easy as a wheel does on solid ground.—C. W. Beecher in Farm and Home.

Blitter from Sweet Cream, The quality of butter sqems more affected by the degrees of ripeness 'at which the cream is churned than by any other .one thing, it is now becomes the fashion in some quarters to churn sweet cream. It is said that the butter keeps longer and some like it better, though a moderate degree of ripeness produces butter of the most popular flavor. - It is well known that over-ripe cream makes an ill-flavored butter, and thfe wonder is that so much of it is produced. Negligence and procrastination account for most of it. Swine Breeding-. A swine breeder ,of experience and good judgment says: “The best show pig may come from the smallest sow in the herd, but it is not safe, as a rule, to select breeders from that class. We want most size in the shortest time, and we can safely forego a little of the fattening tendency, provided we secure in the prospective breeder ranginess and a tendency to growth. I don’t care how good the 'individual, if only three or four pigs were farrowed in the litter I would not reserve one of them for a breeder.” Trimming Frail Tree*. Apple trees and other fruit trees that were trimmed in t%e winter and spring will produce sprouts around the scars the following summer. Much future labor may be saved if the orchard is gone over every few, weeks during the summer and these sprouts rubbed off or cut off. Not allowing them to grow will conserve the food supply of the tree, and it will be used for growth in .desired branches. Barrel Trapa for Rata. Two effective devices for trapping rats are made with barrels As shown here. Coarse brown paper,.with cross

slits, Is Stretched across the barrel head in the one case qpad a light cover of wood hinged' on a rod la (the other plan. The best bait is usually food of a kind that the rat's do not get in the vicinity. ■ Farm Notes. - Alfalfa is growing im fovor as a rotation crop. -Give the colts plenty of -room to run about in. , The plow has its share in the good roads movement. Fit the collar to the horse, not the horse to the collar. Owls are vermin destroyers. Encourage their presence en the farm. On cold nights do not leave the cowb out to sleep on the damp ground where they may be chilled. The manure heap Is not the farmer's bank unless he gets it out on the land. Then it returns goods interest. A fortune is Awaiting th* propagator of a hardy red raspberry. But quality must be sacrificed for hardiness. Timothy and cloVer mixed makes good hay, because the timothy holds the clover up and the curing is easier. If the cow* teats have a tendency to get hard, keep a bottle of vaseline handy and use it occasionally to soften the p*rts. -—you found out that the larger vines have no place in the garden? Plant pumpkins, and squashes in the larger fields. Make every square rod on your farm i>leid Its quota of profit Some use can be found for even the poor stripe.

FOR PULLING STUMPS.

USEFUL BARROW.