Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1900 — FARM AND GARDEN NOTES. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.

NOTES OF INTEREST ON AOR CULTURAL TOPICS. What Every Farmer Needs-. Weak Swarms of Bees—Keeping Onions Over Winter, etc. Whs; Every Farmer Needs. Every farmer should have something, that he can call a shop, which should contain forge, anvil, vise, two or three pairs of tongs, two or three wrenches, brace and set of bits, square, try square, three saws, hand axe, two planes, chisel, cold chisel, claw hammer, case of bolts from one inch in length to six inches, rivets, washers, some good timber for repairing, and should be a catchall for hoes, shovels, chains, picks, etc. Weak Swarms of Bees. When a swarm of bees is found at the close of the season light In weight it is generally better policy to destroy it than to try to keep it through the winter. The weak swarm is probably already infested with bee worms, and the sooner the propagation of these is arrested the better, as their increase makes greater danger for all the swarms next season. If the weak swarm is destitute of a queen its bees may be transferred to a larger and stronger swarm with advantage to both, though in : line cases more food must be provided for the strong swarm after this addition, to enable it to winter without loss. Keepieg Onions Over Winter. Either keep onions constantly but a few degrees above freezing, having a thermomenter and a kerosene stove In the celler ready for emergencies, or else lay them eighteen inches thick on the floor in some outbuilding, and as soon as cold weather sets in with freezing temperature, cover with swamp hay, not far from two feet in depth, with about the same thickness of hay between the onions and the side of the building. Do not uncover or disturb in any way until freezing weather is past, nor then until just about ready to sell. It will be best for the frost to come ouf before any of the hay is removed, but if it is desired to market before the frost would naturally leave, then take off a part, never all. of the hay to promote thawing. When cellar-kept, they would better be on platform and piled not over ten inches deep.—New England Homestead. Wby Asparagus Should Be Cultivated, The cultivation of asparagus was general in nearly every portion of Europe more than four hundred years ago. It was gathered in its wild state and also cultivated in the gardens. It was highly prized both for Its medicinal qualities and as a nutritious article of food. Our forefathers brought the seed with them to this country, where it has become, with proper <-are and attention, one of the vegetables most highly prized for our tables and most salable in the markets. Since this plant was first appreciated for its excellent qualities as a medicine, its popularity has been established, but, within the past few years the rabidity with which Its cultivation has extended In this country has been most noticeable. This vegetable should find a place and receive careful attention in every kitchen garden in our rural districts. A good bed, once established, is a sure source of pleasure, if not of profit, and can be made one of both. Its worth is enhanced by the fact that it is about the first vegetable we can have in the early spring, and is such an addition to our bill of fare, usually limited at that time, besides being nutritious and palatable. With proper cultivation, this article of diet can be available through spring and summer, and, since it is one of the vegetables most successfully canned, it is extensively in demand through the winter.—Atlanta Journal.

Istenxive Wheat drowieg. In Belgium they sow a small piece of a few square rods with wheat, sowing seed broadcast, and rather thickly, usually in September. They then prepare a field by plowing deeply in narrow furrows, putting on edge several times, and then harrowing with fine harrow to kill any weeds that may come. It is, however, left in the rough furrow after the last plowing, which gives a ehance for the frost to pulverize the soil, and kill Insect eggs or pupa. In the spring this field Is heavily manured, plowed, harrowed, and finally raked with an Iron-toothed rake. A marker then marks rows ten inches apart, and furrows two or three inches deep are made along the marks. Another takes up the plants from the bed where the wheat was sown in the fall, separating them to single plants and rejecting any poor ones. These plants are put in the furrows about four Inches apart, the roots well covered with soil and then patted down solid with the back of the shovel. At times the soil is stirred with a hoe and all weeds killed. Where four or five work together, each doing his or her own part of the work, for women and children assist at it, the transplanting is done very rapidly. The plants being strong stood out to thirty or forty stems each, the ground is well covered, and it Is said 100 bushels per acre is a common yield, and from that to 150 bushels. A three-acre field is a large one there, but it yields as much as many twenty-acre fields In this country. laibor is more abundant than land, but a little seed on a little land produces a large crop. The seed wheat

is carefully selected of plump, sound grains, uniform in size, though ft does not cost SIOO a pound, like the new variety they are offering out west Who will try this method here.—Farm, Field and Fireside. Skeltering Fan* Aaimals, The relative value of stall-fed or out-door-fed farm animals in winter is undoubtedly well understood by those who have experimented with both methods. Shelter in inclement weather 1* good for cattle, sheep, poultry and all farm creatures. They should not be exposed to storms or severe weather either in summer or winter. Otherwise it is essential to their good health that they have plenty of outdoor exercise and fresh air. There are two extremes in this as in other cases. A stall-fed animal kept closely confined all winter is not nearly as strong and healthy as the animal fed outdoors in pleasant weather, aud in sheds or barns in cold and inclement weather. When eating, cows in particular should be sheltered from very cold or bad weather. They can digest their food much better when their systtem is not called upon to exercise special functions to keep up a high supply of heat. Dairy cows fed out in the cold will differ as much in their milk flow as possible from those fed In warm, pleasant barns or sheds. Probably the dairy cows need more pampering than any of our other farm animals. and they can be kept housed all winter to the material profit of the owner. But beef cattle do not require this, nor should they have it. They should have shelter from the cold at nights and in inclement weather, aud a quiet shed to stand in when eating their food in similar rough weather; but otherwise they should be kept out of doors. The beef cow is laying on fat ail the time, and this fat keeps out the cold and enables her to stand weather that the dairy cow could not. The-drain upon the dairy cow in winter is such as to keep her from laying on fat. and any sudden chill or cold will quickly check the flow of milk. The two animals need very different treatment. Sheep are like the beef cattle, and are even hardier with their thick layers of wool. They can stand weather that would make the fat steer flinch. Nevertheless, the sheep require far more shelter than is frequently accorded them. Especially do they need sheds in which they can stay while feeding in inclement weather. It is a general fact, however; that many sheep growers do not even provide feeding sheds for their sheep in wjntter. This is uot only a shame and a crime against the animals which feed and clothe us. but it i.s a direct source of waste to the short sighted owner. It is a small expense to provide feeding sheds for the sheep, where on very cold and stormy days the animals will collect and stay. On pleasant days give them their feed outside.—E. P. Smith, in American Cultivatpr. Skim Milk The value of skimmilk for feeding to swine has been estimated and figured upon many times by the exper* ment stations, and they very nearly agree upon a rate of 20 to 25 cents a hundred pounds, or 2 to cents a gallon, when it is used at the rate of two to three pounnds to one pound of corn meal. We should rate it even more valuable for young pigs and calves, and for these it is imjiortant that it should be sweet. For thjs reason many are insisting that it should lie pasteurised, or raised to a temperattire of about 160 degrees, at the creameries before being returned to the farmer. The Wisconsin experiment station reports of some tests made there in heating the whole milk to 160 degrees before putting it in the separator. The skimmilk from that so heated kept sweet in hot summer weather at least 24 hours longer than that which had not been heated to above 80 degrees or 85 degrees before separating. Not only Is such milk better for the animals to which it is fed, but it can be carried home in the cans in which the whole milk has been taken to the creamery, and as it does not sour on the road. It does not taint the cans, as did the milk which had npt been heated. In Germany an order was issued some years ago that all creameries should heat their skimmilk up to 185 degrees, not only to keep it sweet, but to destroy germs of tuberculosis, if there were any, also that all separator slime must be burned. Still longer will the skimmiik keep sweet If it is immediately cooled after the beating. What with area ting, pasteurizing and cooling mlllr it seems possible to so nearly destroy all the undesirable bacteria In it that there will be no necessity for using preservatives in it to keep it sweet, even if the law did not prohibit their use. We were glad when any state enacted a law. because when we believed such a material un--1 wholesome, at least for infants and all persons with weak digestion, and still more because we saw that where It passed from farmer to the shipper, and from him to the retailer, If each thought fit to add a preservative it would possibly become a poisonous dose for anybody. ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth” because each one added the salt to It from a fear that it would be like a previous dish that no one salted.—Tennessee Farmer.