Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1901 — GARDEN AND FARM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GARDEN AN D FARM

STRAINING THE MILK. The ordinary fine wire strainer does not remove all the impurities from milk. In addition to straining through wire, milk should be also strained through four thicknesses of butter cloth, which may be fastened to the wire strainer with a tin ring to slip over it. Even then the soluble impurities will pass through with the milk. A SMALL SILO. A small silo will hold, a large amount of food. For fifteen head of cattle a silo ten by ten feet will hold sufficient ensilage to supply them through a winter. The silo should be Strong, as there is considerable lateral pressure. June is an excellent time for growing ensilage, and it is the cheapest food that can be produced on a farm for live stock. GROWING CROPS FOR SEED. There are several crops that may be grown for seed and which will provide food for poultry, among them being sorghum, millet, Kaffir corn and sunflower. If these plants produce seed they are of but little value for animals as fodder, but if the stalks are run through a feed cutter and used for bedding, or thrown on the manure heap, nothing will be lost, while the seed will be valuable for the purposes desired. KILLING CUT WORMS. The poisoned bait for cut worms is made by mixing at the rate of one pound of Paris green to fifty* pounds of bran, the latter first moistened * with water, but dry enough to Crumble. Some add a little sugar or molasses to the water to make it more tempting, and others mix cut green clover or clover hay with it, that birds may not be so likely to pick it up, but the above are -the essential parts. Put spoonfuls of it near each hill or along the rows where the worms are very plenty, just before night, and the worms will prefer it to the plants, and be found dead there in the morning. Do not use it where poultry will get at it. Larger animals will scarcely be likely to pick up enough to do much harm, but it is better to keep, them away and to bury it after it has done its work. We do not know whether a line of it would destroy the army worm or not.— Boston Cultivator. KEEP YOUR LAWN BEAUTIFUL. Through the winter the yard and lawn should be put in order, for in the spring, farmers are so there is no time to devote to such work. With many, this is no small undertaking, for when yards are neglected year after year they resemble a wilderness or the back yard of a grocery store instead of a grass plot with shade trees and walks. The fences gates and walks should be repaired. The shrubbery should be pruned, and the dead trees removed. Where there is but little shade, arrangements should be made to plant some trees around the ?dge of the yard. Maples are preferred oy many as they are beautiful and make the best of shade and grass grows luxuriantly around them. Fruit trees and bushes are not desirable for the yard and especially are plum trees obnoxious, as their limbs are low and often thorny and unless perfectly kept, they are an unsightly obstruction. The young trees should be pruned allowing no limbs to grow within twelve feet of the ground If thus pruned, they will not obstruct the view and will also let the air pass freely, which is necessary for proper sanitary conditions.— The Efitomist.

STOVE WOOD ALWAYS ON HAND. White wood stoves are not as common on the farm as in former years, they will always be used by many housewives. particularly in timbered sections. Where wood stoves are used, either in summer or winter, the necessity of a constant and liberal supply is apparent to anyone who has for years used wood for heating purposes. Many fanners neglect wood cutting until too late for working up the summer supply. As a result the wood pile is often low and in many cases housewives have difficulty in getting enough. 1 his difficulty can be easily overcome by using power saws and preparing the stove wood the latter part of winter or in early spring, when work in the field is impossible. Most farmers now have a windmill, a threshing engine or a tread power for other purposes. By expending a little more money and securing a good saw, the matter of preparing the summer wood supply will be a small item. Ihe saw formerly was an expensive part of the outfit, but manufacturers have put cheap and effective ones on the market, and there is now little excuse for not having a large amount of stove wood always on hand. It may not pay a farmer to purchase an outfit simply for his own use, but as in the case of a man who buys a threshing machine, a com sheller, a corn shredder and the like, one farmer can do the work for many families. The outfit can be placed in a low wheel truck wagon and easily moved from place to place. If the threshing engine is not available, a two-horse tread power is the most satisfactory for sawing stove wood. The machinery is light and an outfit of this kind can be operated by three men. Where a steam engine is used, as high as forty cords a day can be sawed. Sticks of cord wood are sawed into throe pieces to fit the common cook stove. In addition to the many power saws on the market, there are quite a number of improved hand saws, which greatly lighten the work for the men who operate them. There are many forms of these advertised extensively. All of them have their good poin*. They are vastly superior to the old buck saws,

being not only more rapid, but less difficult to operate.— New England Homestead. GROUND BONE AS FERTILIZER. As a fertilizer for certain purposes ground raw bone deserves a high place, if it is the genuine article, and is very finely ground. Much of that which is sold for that purpose is not fine enough ,and not only requires too long to become available, but in some casts never becomes so, as it seems to become coated or glazed over so that the acids of the soil cannot act upon it. The bone is not adapted for a fertilizer for field crops, or for general use upon light soils, but in a strong soil well filled with vegetable matter it is good for seeding down to grass, as its decay in the soil may require years during all of which time it is feeding the grass crop. Yet we think we have found better results from using it around grape vines and the bush fruits than in any other way. There is nitrogen enough so that when used in the early spring it will promote a good growth of fruit and a juicier and better flavored fruit than would grow without it. It certainly lacks potash, and unless upon new soil its effects would be improved by using about half the same amount of muriate of potash with it, which will make the wood stiffer and more hardy. The amount to use per acre must depend upon the number and size of plants, but liberality is generally the best economy. IMPORTANCE OF GOOD CULTIVATION. Whenever the soil crumbles it can be worked for the greatest benefit to plant growth. How often we see the plow started when every furrow looks as if it had been run in a mold, the soil particles sticking to each other because of a surplus of moisture. Too often such work is termed scientific, because of the handsome even appearance. Land thus managed, though it may be a sandy loam which would be mjjch less damaged than clay, will not gain that fine garden tilth, which is so desirable, perhaps for the whole season. Rich clay lands which are so valuable for the production of high-class hay and corn, are most seriously damaged by plowing and cultivating when too wet, because when the drying out process begins the furrows break up into lumps or clods which become more thoroughly baked as the heat of the sun increases. Often the field must remain idle for two or three years before the unfavorable lumpy condition is overcome. The novice just commencing will get caught in this way often, thinking that all soils can be worked without regard to quality or texture. For the double purpose of forwarding spring work and plowing when the land is in its most favorable condition, and also taking into account that frost and air are very important factors in our farming operations, I believe that a large proportion of the plowing should be done in the fall. Then the following spring the harrow, spring-tooth if possible, will do all that is necessary for the corthcoming crop.—O. A. Southwick *tn New England Homestead.

SHORT AND USEFUL POINTERS. Milk the cows quickly but gently. -Cleanliness should be the watchword in the dairy. Feed all the animals as great a variety of foods as possible. Always give your cows a good bed with a comfortable stall. No dairyman ought to buy a cow without first testing her milk. It is, said that a pinch of salt and ashes will keep a horse from having colic. When planting cultivated crops remember that long rows are great labor savers. The most thrifty pigs are those that are turned out to root in the pasture as soon as they are old enough. Roots and vegetables or clover hay generally have a beneficial effect upon 4he digestive organs of the hog. Study the nature and disposition of your animals. They are like men in this respect—generally differ. It is said that soft butter can be remedied by feeding the cow some potatoes. It is at least worth a trial. Every' dairyman should look out for the machinery of his “milk factory” just as any other manufacturer does. A dairyman who does not use a separator gests only about seventy-five per cent, of the butter-fat that his cows have given him. Lawn clippings make an excellent green food for poultry. Never mix fresh warm milk with that which has been cooled. In hot weather cover the milk cans, when moved in a wagon, with a clean wet blanket or canvas. If you have not an abundant suppl y of clear and pure water on your farm do not attempt to raise sheep. Immediately after furrowing, feed the sow nothing but slops, not swill, to which may be added oats, shorts, wheat bran, potatoes and roots. A milk-tester will test the cows and I test the dairyman as well. He can find I out just how much butter-fat he is get- ' ting and can figure out if his butter account agrees with it. If milk is stored, it should be held in tanks of fresh, cold water (renewed daily), in a clean, dry, cold room. Unless it is desired to remove cream, it should be stirred with a tin stirrer often enough to prevent forming a thick cream layer. The Street Railway Journal is authoi* ity for the statement that there is not it single important traction in the country that is not adding week by week to its gross earnings, which is accepted as conclusive evidence of the general prosperity of the country.