Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1902 — GARDEN AND FARM [ARTICLE]

GARDEN AND FARM

SHADE FOR HOGS. Summer shade must be provided for hogs, especially brood sows. At this day and age when hog wallow is in disfavor, the animals must be provided with some place where they can cool off. Clumps of trees or shrubs are very desirable, but if these are not practicable on western prairies, a simple shed with board roof and one or two sides open answers very nicely. This sides should be so arranged that all of the sides can be raised during the hottest weather, making a free circulation of air possible. SELECTING FOR THE HERD. For farmers who desire to establish a small herd of a dozen cows, where dairying .s to be made a specialty, the selection of the highest type sire and crossing on grade cows of exceptional individuality ana quality Is advisable. It has been shown by frequent experiment that grade cattle, whether for either beef or milk production, are quite the equal of the pure bred, and as they are hardier and better rustlers, they do not require quite so much care and attention. WATERING HORSES. Horses often suffer for want of water. For some unexplained reason other animals are allowed to judge for themselves, but horses are kept on short allowance. This is all wrong. Except when too worin or immediately after feeding horses should have all the good pure pater they will drink. They need water to dilute their dry feed, to convert it into a liquid in the process of digestion. Food will remain in the stomach until sufficient juices are added to dissolve it. Feverlßh symptoms are soon apparent to a close observer when a horse has insufficient water. A horse should be given water both before and after feeding. Proper management will provide tb necessary conveniences. Horses should not be compelled to suffer for their owner’s neglect or other mismanagement.

EXPERIENCE WITH BROODER CHICKS. I have been using brooders this season for the first time and have two of 100-chick capacity. What little experience that I have had with the brooder chicks, teaches me that we often crowd too many chicks in a brooder. If you place only about 40 or 50 chicks in a 100 capacity brooder, you will find they will occupy it among them. I placed 40 chicks in the brooder and lost but two. At another rime I placed 100 in a brooder and lost over half of them. The method of feeding brooder chicks is of the utmost importance. I had read several articles on feeding and care, hut I thought there was too much theory about the feeding question. My little experience teaches me that the feeding question must not be neglected. The 40 chicks were fed on food that I believed would do Just as well, but I plainly see my folly. Crowding in too many together and improper feeding was the cause of a large per cent of loss in the second case mentioned. —‘Alvin Whitlock, in New England Homestead.

WHY CHICKENS DIE. It has come to be a saying with poultry breeders that the chicks must be four weeks old before they can be safely counted on to mature. The reason of this is that most of the loss among young chicks is previous to this sge. It is not necessary to go far to find It. It may be due to anyone of three causes, and is often due to two or even all three of them. In the first place the vigor of the chicks depends on the vigor of the stock which produces it. If the stock Is weak from any cause, the eggs cannot be mode to produce vigorous Chicks. This lack in the breeding ftoek may be brought about by inbreeding, the presence of vermlne, or feed insufficient in quality or constituents. After the eggs are hatched the rhicks may be killed off by lice or mites or they may be sacrificed by Lareless feeding. For the first cause of this trouble .here Is no remedy. Chicks hatched from weak breeding stock are foredoomed to an early death or a profitless life, and oftenest It Is death. The presence of lice Is often due to carelessness, and lack of proper food may be due to ignorance of carelessness, or a combination of both. Soft feed mixed in excess of immediate wants and allowed to sour is a prolific cause of death. Bad drinking water leads In the same direction. The cause of this great mortality among young chicks being pointed out, the remedy Is obvious, and anyone can apply It. Sound, sweet feed, plenty of grit, freedom from lice, pure water. These are the requirements to maintain good health in chicks from healthy stock. Not to furnish these brings Its own punishment in the loss of chicles.—Farmers’ Voice. WATER SUPPLY FOR FRUITS. As the growing or strawberries has been one of our special crops, and aiming to produce as fine berries as possible, the application of water by Irrigation has been forced upon us. We put In a gasoline engine of 14 horsepower and a rotary pump with a capacity of 300 gallons per minute. This was selected because of Its economical method of producing power, It costing only from $1 to $1.50 per day to run It The engine ÜBes one gallon gaso-

line per horse power per day when running to its full capacity. A well was sunk about 18 feet deep and 10 feet in diameter, from which an iron pipe 4 inches in diameter run out 160 feet into a lake, the water in the well standing within 4 or 5 feet of the pump. A survey of the grounds to be irrigated, with a leveling instrument, showed the average height to which It would be necessary to force the water. To distribute the water 1,000 feet, a 2% Inch wrought Iron pipe was bought and laid on the ground to such places as it was desired to Irrigate. This is simply screwed together and can be changed for different crovs as needed. Large valves opening to full size of the pipe, with hose connections, were ataclied at such places as to make it most convenient to use a twoinch linen hose.

The watering of the strawberries was mostly done with a nozzle which, 1,000 feet from the pump would throw the water in a solid stream from 80 to 100 feet, breaking into a fine spray like rain before reaching the ground. With 100 feet of hose we can, with one attachment of the hose, cover a circle of 400 feet, or something over two acres. This could be thoroughly wet in two hours, which is really more than is necessary at one time for strawberries, unless allowed to get too dry in the beginning. For black raspberries we tried irrigation by showering and flooding. The latter method gave the best results, for more water was got on the ground, and the berries were larger, of better color and morS" juicy. A heavy irrigation of about inches of water to the acre was given as the berries were beginning to ripen, which was enough to carry the crop. The lorries sold from two to three cents per quart more than berries not irrigated.—Walter L. Taber, in American Agriculturist.

SPRAYING HINTS. It is within the last twenty-five years that the great importance of spraying our orchards has become so manifest. Before that time there was not the close competition in fruit growing that there is today, and blemished fruit which would formerly pass in the market unnoticed is now thrown aside with the culls. There are several reasons why spraying is now of prime importance. Insects and fungous diseases are constantly coming to our orchards from foreign shores. Old neglected orchards serve as a breeding place for pests and help to scatter them about. There are many who grow fruit along with their general farming who say spraying doesn’t pay;” but if these same people would keep their orchards in good tilth, follow a systematic method of spraying, and properly grade their fruit, they would be surprised at the profit received from small orchards. Care, however, must be exercised in handling sprays, for a little mistake may cause a serious loss. An Illustration of this occurred in. Michigan. A fruit grower read a formula for a spray requiring so many pound 3 of copper sulphate to so many gallons of water, and through carelessness he read it pounds instead of gallons of water. The result was a badl£ damaged orchard. Had he followed the old adage, “Be sure you are right then go ahead,” he would have saved his trees, his temper and his money. When it becomes necessary to spray fruit that is ripening, the following solution is recommended Copper carbonate one ounce, ammonia, enough to dissolve the copper carbonate, water nine gallons. The time to spray and the number of applications rependß upon the variety of fruit and the object in view. Every grower must know just whtt he aims to kill when he sprays. Trees should never be sprayed with any of the poisonous solutions while in blossom, as this kills the bees and some other insects which are indispensable in fertilizing some fruits. Apples, pears, plums and grapes should receive regular applications every year. —The Epitomist.