Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1899 — TOPICS FOE FARMERS. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS FOE FARMERS.

’JteCPARTMENT PREPARED FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. Treatment of Froze* Frplt T-reea-How to Qro«r Cucumbers-Feedtag Kren with Corn Meal-Care of Settins Hens- General Farm Topics. The cold weather killed some fruit trees completely and ibjured many fitters. Some of the tender varieties were killed back to the main trunk, while with varieties a little more hardy only the tips of the branches were destroyed. M eali.ng attention to this, the Ohio experiment station states that the best thing that can be done is to remove all parts that are variously affected. It is well to wait until it is possible to determine about liow much injury has been done, as shown by the discolored wood and shriveled bark; usually one warm spell is sufficient. It is possible to defer the work too long, as the frozen wood seems to have a deleterious effect upon the sound parts if not removed before growth commences. The quantity of wood to be removed will be determined in most cases by the extent of the injury. Peach trees which are from three to five years old and have never been pruned to any extent need special attention. In case the injury to such trees does not extend beyond the twigs and small branches, the best thing that can be done is to cut off ail the branches to within one to three feet of the body of the tree. A tree five years old may have long, slender branches six to ten feet in length, with most of the fruit-bearing wood near the extremities. Such a tree needs topping, even if a crop has to lie sacrificed in order to get it into proper shape. Thus the pruning is to be done not merely to remove dead wood, but to get the trees into shape for future usefulness. They are to be so pruued that they can carry the next crop of fruit without breaking down. Of course it will be necessary to cut off limbs of considerable size in many cases, and it will not be possible to avoid naked stubs, yet this can be remedied the next season. This method of pruning peach trees has so many advantages that the loss of this season's crop will really prove to be a blessing to those who take advantage of the present opportunity to get their trees into proper shape. In case of young trees, one. or two years old. It may be found that the injury extends to the trunk and possibly to near the ground. If there is life above the bud the best thing to do is to cut the entire top away. To prevent cracking the end should be covered with wax or some material that wlll-prevent the escape of moisture. American and Japanese varieties of plnms should be treated in the same manner as peach trees, and possibly sweet cherries also. Apple and pear trees will probably need no pruning of the kind mentioned.

To Grow Cucumbers. Take a barrel and with an inch auger bore holes in the lower half, one or two in each stave. Dig a hole in the garden, saving the rich surface soil in a heap by itself; set the barrel a little more than half its depth in the ground and replace the soil. Fill the barrel almost full of manure from tbe cow stable, pressing it down firmly, and leaving it lower in the middle than on the sides. Make a nice rich circle two feet wide around the barrel, nsiug one bushel of fine, well-rotted barnyard manure and the surface soil saved; fork it over until very fine and deep; make a ring oue foot from the barrel, and an Inch deep; drop in the cucumber seed, cover and press the soil firm with the bands. Before tbe plants begin to crowd, tbin oat all bnt six good, strong ones. Pour water into tbe barrel as soon as the cucumbers get started, and keep the contents thoroughly soaked all the time. The soil must be kept loose and free from grass and weeds. Never allow one to rlpeq on the vinca Be sure to give plenty of water, and you will be well supplied with good cucumbers. To have them very early make small sacks, from old “bone bags,” five inches square when sewed up. Fill with fine, fresh earth and press close together in a shallow box. Plant two seeds, bnt allow only one to grow in each sack. Place tbe box In a sunny window. Keep moist and give plenty of air, or they will be “leggy-” Set out in the sunshine every pleasant day, and as soon as the weather wil permit plant six sacks around the barrel. Cover them on cool nights with old pans or boxes, and you will have cucumbers two weeks earlier than those who plant In the open ground. Gather the encumbers early la the morning, bat water may be added at any time during the day.—Epitomist.

Feeding Bran with Cora Meat. Where cut feed is fed to horses a mixture of corn and oats ground together makes tbe best meal to pot on tbe cat and moistened hay. If the oats are not to be had, grind the corn and mix tbe meal with, twice its hoik of wheat bran. Cormneal alone Is too heavy a feed to pat on cat hay, but mixed with bran and the whole chewed, as cut. feed Is sure to be, the saliva from the horse’s mouth will be mixed with it and enable It to digest without fermenting In tbe stomach. When feeding corn and oatmeal on cot hay put In some bran also, as of the three feeds gives the whole m very appetizing flavor, especially If hot water is used to moisten the hay. Cara of rittiac Bens. The plmn ot placing a tobacco lent to occult tic- hen

will provide for her comfort and health. Be sure to have fresh, cool earth for her to scratch and roll in. aa well as some ashes. Some soft food, with scraps as meat, vegetables, etc, from the table, and not forgetting a dish or earthen pan full of clean water. Do not compel your fnltbfbl ben to drink from a rusty tin pan. If you have not grass growing where sbe eon get it herself, provide her with some along with her other food. But if she can have access to a spot of grass, she will help herself to it freely, and Will pick at the grass the last thing, then wipe Iter bill and slip back to her neat. —lndiana Farmer. SeaA Bed for Onions. Land where onions are to be grown should always be fall plowed after at least one year’s cultivation since it has been In sod. This will enable the sod to rot, and if it has been top dressed with manure, will turn both the rotted sod and manure to the surface, where repeated freezing and thawing will bring both to fine tilth. It is impossible to grow onions on a newly turned sod, no matter how rich It may be. The seed will start to grow all right, but the rotting of sod beneath it will cause the soli above to fall away, leaving it full of crevices, letting in air to the tender roots. There should be no deep cultivation In spring where onion seed is to be sown. The firmer the soil two or three inches below the surface the better for the crop. That will cause the roots to spread horizontally, growing large, fiat onions. If the soil Is deep and rich below the seed bed the roots will run down and produce a crop of scullions. To Produce Great Crops. Experiments at the Ohio station have demonstrated clearly that the apple scab is the chief factor in tbe destruction of the apple crop, and that the fungus can be kept under control by spraying. Four splendid successive crops were produced on tbe sprayed trees at the station, while the fruit on the unsprayed trees in the same and neighboring orchards was worthless. The director, Professor Thorne, however, calls attention to the fact that exhaustion of soil fertility, want of water and insect ravages may all cooperate with scab or other fungous growth in shortening the crop, and says: “If our orchards are again to produce the great crops of earlier days, we must, hi so far as possible, restore the soil conditions of those days; we must avoid the waste of water in those sections where rainfall is scanty by preventing tbe growth under the trees of weeds or grass. Keep Sheep in Apple Orchard*. Now that it is safe to talk sheep without any danger of being laughed at, we want to say something in favor of getting a few sheep and keeping them in tbe apple orchard. They will eat the small bitter apples that the pigs will cot touch, and if fed a gill of oats each per day, they will after a summer in the orchard come oat fat in the fail, besides leaving their manure evenly distribnted under the trees. Care should be taken to prevent the pasture getting too poor, so tbe sheep do not get enough to eat. If they are at all starved, the sheep will gnaw at the apple bark, and once they get a taste of this, it will never be safe to put them In an apple orchard again. It is not l>est any way to place.them la yonng auJ rapidly growing orchards whose bark Is always tender. The rough talk of old bearing orchards does not tempt them unless they find sap sprouts growing out of It. A Kojt- Feeding Experiment. * In a root feeding experiment at the Oregon station last winter a sugar beet ration, a carrot ration and a mangel ration were tested for dairy cows. Very little difference was noticed in the quality of the butter from tbe different rations, especially between the carrot ration and the sugar beet ration. That produced by tbe mangels was not quite so highly flavored. Comparing the cost per pound of batter, tbe sugar beet ration made butter at 13.4 cents, the carrot at 13.11 cents and the mangels at 13.5 cents, or there was practically no difference Ut the cost A Durable and Cheap Drain. How to make a durable and cheap drain is an important matter with those who do not desire open ditches. The French have a method which may be valuable to some. A trench is dog and the bottom filled with cement mortar. On this is placed a rubber tnbe covered With canvas and inflated. The trench is then filled with cement As soon as the cement sets air is let out of the rubber tube, whieh Is then removed and used wi another location or section. By this method it is estimated that sixinch pipe* can be made at a cost of not over 8 cents per foot Has No Protect 100. Seedsmen and originators of new va- : rieties of vegetables, flowers and fruits have no protection through tbe Patent Office. Ac inventor of some small con- ; trivance, which may have been discovered by accident, Is enabled to reap ? a fortune therefrom, bat the originator ? of a new breed of animals or improved variety of fruit, which may have re*, quired years of experiment and labor, cannot prevent others from mfrtaginj|| upon his results. Loan Pork. ..Jj In the foreign markets lean pork Ml mand for mOraleanpork athome. Lean| grow faster andjglve^^avier^weigl