Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1899 — TOPICS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

TOPICS FOR FARMERS

A DEPARTMENT PREPARED FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. Poultry Raising as a Easiness—Thin Soils May Be Made Fertile by Turnins Under Green Crops—Hints on Ice Harvesting. . In all occupations it Is the strict observance of business principles that results in success. Raising poultry is no exception to this rule, and those who 'have and are making the business a decided success are but receiving the reward that follows the faithful application of strictly business methods. This so-called luck, good or bad, is merely the effect of proper or improper methods. Success in poultry culture is'no haphazard affair, but is secured only by regular methods, and the closer the aplication and more.careful and earnest, the greater becomes the success. One reason why many fail to meet with success when they increase their flocks is that they fail to increase their accommodations in proportion to the increase in their flock; they fail to recognize that large flocks are difficult to feed so that each individual may secure its allotted share; the various ailments have to be guarded against where large flocks are kept that are comparatively unknown among the moderate-sized flocks. The man who has attained success with a fair-sized flock should be very cautious how he increases It, expecting thereby to increase his profits. He should make a careful note of the facts that have resulted in securing profits. A good way to Increase the flock is to do it on the colony plan. After you know how to care for. say fifty hens, then start another yard of fifty hens. Then you will either ddfible the number of hens with not quite twice the amount of labor, and you should have twice the amount of profit This should be followed up until you can increase by another colony of fifty hens. By method you will be able to care for 500 hens, and do it as successfully as you did with the first fifty. Remember that It is the little things that make the success good or bad on the poultry farm.—lndiana Farmer.

How to Help Thin Soils. Shallow, thin soils that are deficient in vegetable matter, or, in other words, are barren from excessive cropping, can be made fertile only by the turning under of green crops grown by the aid of chemical manures, or by spreading a thick coat Of rotted straw, leaves •or swamp grass over the ground and turning this vegetable matter under four inches in depth. The following spring spread forty bushels of fresh lime to the acre, and harrow it in both ways. Plant the field to corn, applying 250 pounds of bone phosphate to the acre in the hill. Work the corn five or six times, and not more than three Inches in depth. Cut the corn off early In September; harrow the stubble well, and then drill to wheat, putting in with the grain 300 pounds •of bone phosphate to the acre and seed one peck of timothy In the fall and one peck of clover in the spring upon each acre. After the grain is harvested roll the stubble and keep off all stock. If there is a rank growth of grass, foxtail and ragweed, cut it off with the ■mower the first week in August, setting the cutter bar high. These weeds and grasses, if cured in the cock, will make excellent rough fodder for wintering young cattle. Pasture lands and run-out hillside fields can be cheaply Improved by spreading a coat of straw on the surface and then spreading forty bushels of fresh lime to the acre over the straw. Let the field lie until next fall, keeping off all stock, then plow the field shallow; harrow well and drill to grain, applying 300 pounds of some good bone manure tn the acre and seed down to timothy and clover.—The American.

Preventing: Apple Rot. A writer In the Practical Farmer, aays: “On my father’s farm is a Janet apple tree about twenty years old which never produced any sound apples until recently. The tree bloomed freely and set a great many apples, -w hich rotted before maturing. On examining the tree we found the bark rough and scaly, and under the scales hundreds of bark lice. The leaves also looked badly, having a pale green appearance. In May, 1896, I pulled off the scaly bark and applied with a brush a mixture of soapsuds and carbolic; ■acid, half pint acid to two gallons suds. In 1897 we sprayed the tree with the Bordcau* mixture just after the bloom bad fallen and again two weeks later. During the summer the foliage was of dark green, and in the fall we picked several bushels of excellent apples.” Harveattn*. Ice. As soon as the ice is six inches thick it should be cut Cut and stack It up alongside of the pond. Clear, solid ice, properly packed In a good house, will keep. Snow ice Is very porous, and, being full of air-hole*, will soon melt The Ice should be marked off and sawed out In medium-sized blocks. « A handy block to handle is one tstanty Inches square. Square blocks pack more closely. The moreagompact the tee can be put away the better It will keep. The icehouse should be cleaned <out the rails laid abot six inches apart in the bottom of the bouse, and one foot of straw spread over the rails. See that the board siding next to the house is in good condition. Holes should be nailed over to keep the ice from coming in ■contact with the earth. As the ice is put in, leave a ten-inch space between the ice and the sides of the house. This space should be rammed solid with leaves or chaff. Haul and pack the ice •when the weather is cold, ice packed when the weather la severe will freeze

Into a solid mass. Pack the Ice layer by layer, and fill up the holes with small pieces of ice. Snow when it falls on ice that Is to be cut should be brushed off the next day before it freezes. Farmers living near the city and haring a pond of clear spring water can find a profitable market for all the good ice they have to spare.

Keeping Potatoes. A correspondent of Farming suggests that potatoes will keep best at a low temperature, a little above freezing. Many potatoes are spoiled by being kept in too warm a place during the early fall and late spring. They should be kept In a dry place. If It will keep dry, a deep cellar is preferable, for the reason that It Is more likely to have a low uniform temperature, and will not be reduced to freezing temperature so readily as more shallow ones. The. blns in a potato cellar should not be too large. A three-hundred-bushel bin should be the largest used. Smaller ones would suit better. Slatted floors for the bins and slated walls between the bins, which allow the air to pass wound them, are better than close walls »r floors. The circulation of air which they allow keeps the potatoes dry and prevents heating. It is not a good plan to put potatoes in the cellar as soon as they are dug. It is better to put them in pits in the field until the weather gets cold enough to freeze the ground a few inches deep. In pitting them temporarily, If the ground is wet, put the potatoes in a conical pile on the surface; but, if the ground is dry, dig a shallow pit for them and use the dirt out of it for covering. After the potatoes have been placed in an even conical pile, cover them with a layer of pea or other straw about four inches thick, and then cover them with from three to five Inches of dirt. In such a pit potatoes will keep through a severe frost

A Pound of Pork. It requires 13.50 pounds of skim milk, to produce one pound of pork when fed with corn meal, ratio 1:14.7 to fattening bogs. Skim milk could not be economically fed to fattening hogs unless it was a product which could not be otherwise utilized. It required on an average 4% pounds of shelled corn to produce one pound of pork during an average period of four weeks, or one bush?! produced 13% pounds. It required 4% pounds of cornmeal to produce one pound of pork, or one bushel of corn made into meal and fed will produce 12% pounds of pork. When dry, shelled corn is more economical than cornmeal to feed fattening hogs. It required 7% pounds, or one bushel, of ground oats to produce one pound of pork, when fed with equal parts, by weight, of cornmeal. One bushel of cornmeal is worth nearly three bushels of oats as food for fattening hogs. Corn-fed pigs gained 4% pounds per week and ate about 21 pounds of corn per 100 pounds of live weight. Pork was produced during the cold weather, with corn at 28 cents per bushel, for less than 3 cents per pound. Indian corn is the most economical pork-produ<flft material during the winter months in regions where extensively grown.—Market Basket

To Kill Lice on Hogs. In answer to an inquiry, the Orange Judd Farmer gives the following instructions: “Before using any remedy have the pig house cleaned and hot Ihne sprinkled over the floor, and the walls whitewashed with fresh-burned lime. Then brush the hogs well to remove all dirt from the skin. Stavesacre seed, 1 quart; water, 20 quarts; boil this for one hour; let it simmer one hour longer, then strain and add water to make it up to the twenty quarts again. Rub a little of this well in all over the body. If the stavesacre seeds cannot be. obtained, use 1 pound of black tobacco to 30 pounds of water in the same way as the stavesacre seeds.'*

Paper to Exclude Cold. Common paper being, if whole, impervious to air, makes a very good covering where it can be kept from being wet By using tarred paper and placing It between two thicknesses of matched boards, the paper can be kept in gojd condition several winters, provided mice do not gain entrance. The imprisoned air which the paper will held between the boards makes the very best kind of non-conductor. Even the newspaper spread over the bed, or, better still, placed between the coverings, prevents much cold air getting through to the sleepers beneath, and a folded newspaper at the chest or back, under the clothing. Is a great protection against cold in day time.