Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 July 1898 — THE FARM AND HOME [ARTICLE]

THE FARM AND HOME

MATTERS OF INTEREST TO FARMER AND HOUSEWIFE. Seal Exercised to Stamp Oat Tuberculosis In England—The Farmer’s Table Not Costly—Caring for Cellars In Summer—Brief Farm Kotos-% * Stamping Out Tubercnloskt Active as many of our municipal and State authorities have showu themselves to be In the attempt which is being made in this country to limit the inroads of tuberculosis, no less zeal is being exercised In furtherance of the game object in England. The royal commission appointed in England to investigate the best means for preventing the dissemination of tuberculosis in meat and milk has recommended that all sanitary authorities be empowered to demand the provision of public slaughter houses, the Inspection.of all meat slaughtered elsewhere than in a public slaughter bouse and brought into the district for sale, and the inspection of all animals immediately after slaughter in the public slaughter house. In Great Britain, the Inspection of meat in the rural districts is to be administered by the county councils, and in Ireland by corresponding authorities. No meat shall be offered for sale that has not been killed in a licensed slaughter house, and no person shall be permitted to act as a meat Inspector before undergoing a qualifying examination on the law of meat Inspection, the names* and situations of the organs of the body, signs of health and disease In animals and carcasses, and the conditions rendering fresh meat fit or unfit for human food. Special precautions are urged in the case of pork, which is regarded ns especially dangerous. With regard to dairies, the report recommends that In future no cow shed, byre or shippon shall be permitted or registered in urban districts within 100 feet of any dwelling house, land that to secure the registering of a dairy in a populous place, It must in future have an Impervious floor, a sufficient water supply for flushing, proper drainage, a depot for manure at a sufficient distance from the byres, minimum cubic contents of from 600 to 800 cubic feet for each adult beast, a minimum floor space of 50 feet to each adult beast, and sufficient light and ventilation,

The Farmer’s Tabic.

A farmer can keep a good table at less cost than any one else. Ho can keep an orchard with all kinds of fruit, a garden with all kinds of vegetables; in fact, anything that can be grown he may have it fresh at his own door and at the actual cost of production. The farmer's occupation, although it contains a good deal of hard work and some drawbacks, is generally free and healthful, and perhaps the most independent of any. There is no machine work such as is generally found in a shop, where the operators have to do one thing all the time. The work Is constantly changing, making it more Interesting and less tiresome. Situations are constantly varying, giving plenty of scope for study and judgment as to the best method to be used In each particular case.—Farming.

Summer Care of Cellars.

The necessities of our climate forbid much ventilation of cellars in winter so as to prevent danger of freezing. Undoubtedly this Is an injury to health, aa the odors and also the bacteria generated in decaying vegetation are carried upward through the living rooms. In the cellar Is often to be found the cause of much o', the prevalent spring malaria. It Is all the worse if the cellar is kept closed while the outside air grows warmer, and sunshine getting into the cellar makes vegetation rot more rapidly. The health of the family requires that cellars should be opened both to sunlight and to fresh air all through the summer. If the walls are well whitewashed, that itself will do much to check decay. Lime is a great obsorber of moisture, and also of foul odors. If the cellar is made light by whitening Its walls. It is much more likely to be kept clean than if left In such darkuess as It must needs be In winter, when a clean cellar Is hardly among the things to be expected.— American Cultivator.

Growing Mnskinclons. The inuskmelon is much more prolific thau the watermelon. Hence though its price is generally low. it con be relied upon in an ordinary season for a fair profit, especially for those produced early. The best way is to start the seeds In Inverted sods, which can be kept under glass until the weather is warm enough to allow them to be transplanted to the field where they are to grow'. Whenever home-grown muskmelons are ready, they entirely supersede the stock brought from the South. The yellow varieties are too mushy for most tastes. The fine-netted, greenfleshed varieties are likari by everybody, and those that are home grown never lack a market. Potato Bus* on Tomatoes. A few tomatoes In the garden are often grown by people who have not room enough to grow potatoes or prefer to buy them. Such people are often surprised to find potato bugs flying on their tpmato plants and laying their yellow-colored eggs on the underside of the leaves. The,larva, when hatched, will eat the tomato leaves as voraciously as If they were of Its usual diet By what instinct this pest learns matoes, potatoes and the egg plant all belong to the same family of plants, andare each adapted to its use, nobody can guess. If the potato beetle Is forced to lay eggs on weeds or grass, though these eggs will hatch, the young larvae perish before they can reach maturity, it Is probably fortunate that this Is so,

else the potato beetle might become a general destroyer of all kinds of vegetables' and be a much worse pest than It now Is.

Lois of Nitrogen. The French scientist, M. Deheraln, has reported to the Bgris Academy of Sciences the result of an extended series of agricultural experiments, which may prove of practical value to American farmers. His experiments confirm those conducted at Bohamsted, which show that the loss of nitrogen from fallow lands by drainage water is much greater than the loss from lands covered with vegetation. Though the experiments of Scbloeslng led him to infer that this loss is inslgnflcant. the opinion of the former observer seems to be better sustained and more reasonable. M. Deheraln, therefore, concludes that “the loss from naked soils is infinitely greater than that from land sown lh wheat,” and hence that it is good policy for farmers to follow up crops such as wheat with some kind of autumn crop.

Rxe Among Wheat.

Wherever winter wheat Is grown the mixture of rye with it In seeding as considered very careless farming. It is tolerated, however, by some, because in a bad season or when the land Is in poor condition the rye will outyield the wheat, which is shown by the increased proportion of rye in the crop each succeeding year. It is not at all hard to clear rye out of wheat. The rye Is much taller, and it shoots Into head several days before the wheat does. Where there is not too large a proportion of rye it can be easily cut out before the wheat beads out by a man going through the field with a sharp knife. A little rye among wheat makes It hard to seU, except at a reduction of several cents per bushel.—Exchange.

Experiment in Feeding Hogs.

The Montana Experiment Station has been trying experiments In feeding pigs, dividing them into three lots. One was fed on barley meal exclusively, lot two on barley and wheat ground together, and lot three on all three grains mixed. As might be expected, the last lot made the greatest gain and at the least expense. The barley and corn together was better than either alone, though - there was In either of these a more poorly balanced ration than when either was combined with wheat. And yet how Infrequently is this principle applied in feeding of hogs for pork. Some wheat middlings will be estten greedily by corn-fed hogs, and wIU be worth more than its weight in corn.

The Colt’s Feet.

Neither the bones of the colt’s leg nor the muscles and hoof of his foot have acquired sufficient firmness to enable It to be put on stable floors of either w ood, stone or cement. If for any reason the colt canot run with Its dam while she is at work, let It have a yard by itself with a turf flooring, rather than put him in a floored stable. It is while the colt is young that the future character of his feet is being decided. Even In winter colts should be kept rather In box stalls, where a bedding of their own excrement trodden hard will be a better cushion for their feet than the most carefully cleaned floor stable could be.

The Best Market.

The nearest town Is the best market and deserves consideration. It is not unusual to witness heavy shipments of fruit and vegetables to the large cities, which may not bring enough to pay freight some years, when the consumers living at the shipping point cannot get a supply of certain articles unless they pay the highest prices. It Is a well-known fact that many towns situated in the midst of rich agricultural regions buy their supplies of the very articles grown near them from the large cities. In all towns the enterprising farmers can build up a local custom that will be profitable.

Cultivation of Corn. After the corn is planted keep the land clean. Do not allow grass to make a start or weeds more than peep above the ground. The first month with corn, giving it a good send-off before dry weather appears, is one-half the advantage, and any planting should be done without delay. It is better to use plenty of seed, and pull our all plants not wanted, than to use seed sparingly. Cutworms and birds will secure a portion of the crop at the statu but the more rapid the growth of the young corn the less liability of damage. Intcaaive Farming. Special farming is usually successful farming, because the farmer who directs his attention to one or a very few lines is apt to give these good attention, with the result that he gets larger yields per acre than does the general farmer. It is the larger yields that give profit. A yield of thirty bushels of wheat per acre, costing sls an acre to produce and selling at 70 cents a bushel, is more profitable than a crop yielding ten bushels per acre, posting $lO per acre to raise and selling at $1 per bushel.—Rural World. Keep “Tab** on Your Cows. Which cow gives the most milk, and produces the largest quantity of butter In a year, may be known to every farmer who has a only a few of. them know the exact quantities for every day or week In the year, simply because they do not keep records. Then there Is the cost of the milk and butter to be known, as some cows are heavy feeders and do not produce accordingly, while It is also possible for a good cow to give large yields and yet not at a cost to allow a profit. * Pasture for Pigs. When clover and grass can be had for the pigs it will say to turn them out to help tbemeetvea With % mesa of bran and skim milk at night they will require no other help and will grow more rapidly than if penned and fed on corn.