Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1902 — ‘GARDEN AND FARM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

‘GARDEN AND FARM

SILO ON A SHEEP FARM. The silo has -been employed chiefly on dairy farms, and by many is thought practical or profitable for dairy cattle only. We have fed silage to sheep for six years, feeding it to all classes of animals, including breeding stock of both sexes and all ages, and fattening lambs. We have also fed It to all other kinds of stock upon the farm. We think it just as valuable for sheep as for cows. It is the economical way of harvesting and storing the corn crop, and the form in which stock will moK nearly eat all of it. When cut with a first class cutter sheep leave one basket out of ten or twelve. This horses will clean up if not fed in too large quantities, and it takes the place of an equal amount of hay or dry fodder, so that practically all of the corn plant is made to yield its nutriment. There is always some spoiled ensilage about the sides of the silo, so that there is some loss in the crop, but I know of no other method of harvesting that involves so little loss. I would not advise any one to tear down or abandon cribs, but wherever more storage for the corn crop is needed I think it advisable to build a silo. It is the cheapest form in which storage can be made. Eight acres of average corn will fill the average silo. I I should not want all the corn crop In the silo, as we do not feed from it until all the stock are in winter quarters, and have not yet got to feeding it during the summer. The most serious objection to the silo is that it requires somewhat expensive machinery and a large force of hands to fill it. Co-operation among neighbors is the solution of this problem. One very great advantage of this method of harvesting the crop is that the field is left clear for seeding. All corn growers must learn that some crop should immediately follow the corn crop to catch the nitrogen that would otherwise be lost, even if it is to be turned under the following spring for corn again. So the silo will prove a good factor in the general farm management. I believe that siloing corn is to be the general practice henceforth.—H. P. Miller, in Ohio Farmer. ABOUT FLOWERS. The colors of red and violet flowers are rendered extremely brilliant by covering the earth in their pots with about one-half inch of pulverized charcoal. Charcoal does not affect yellow flowers at all In this way. White flowers are generally more pleasantly fragrant than colors; next yellow, then red, lastly blue. Orange and brown are unpleasant in scent; heliotrope is sometimes caller cherry pie because of its delightful perfume. German or parlor ivy is one of the best room vines we haw, and will grow freely with direct sunlight, and will soon wreath a door or window, and will sometimes bear a profusion of yellow flowers; it is easily propagated from cuttings. For a shaded porch, plant prairie rose, baltimore belle, or tennessee belle. * These roses grow rapidly and are hardy. They are summer blooming, but their season of blooming will extend for several weeks. Peonies and lilies should be disturbed as little as possible. Plant where they are to stand.

Rex begonia will not thrive in the open ground. The wind and rain destroys the leaves. In a warm window with considerable moisture nnd little or no sun, it does well. Don’t fertilize or you will destroy it. Don’t wet the leaves if the sun shines on them; don’t touch the leaves with the hands. It can be grown from a leaf or a cutting stuck in sand. Don’t transplant till it has three or four leaves. Verbena seed germinates in from eleven to fourteen days. Verbenas are easily transplanted; set fifteen inches apart; put where they will be shaded until the dew is off in the morning if possible. They will bloom until frost. Geranium seed will sprout m about two weeks and will continue to appear scatteringly for two or three months. The seedlings w-ill bloom in from six to twelve months after the plants appear. Ivy geranium requires a sandy soli not too rich. Petunias will bloom in four months from seed. — Emily Wooley, In The Epitomlst. WATER - FOR SWINE. ~ The value of clean water for swine cannot be appreciated by one who has not tried both pure and Impure drinking water with them. In swine raising we have come to realize that rapid growth on good, clean, sweet fpod pays much better than raising them Blowly on filthy swill and garbage. The clover and hay fed hogs, topped off with corn and skimmllk, pay better »by far than any of the swine raised In the pen and mire make up their environments and lain all their food. The hog may have a pretty good dlgestidfc. but it is possible to Injure It in time If we continue to feed It with bad food. That is practically what has been done for years past, and we have pioduced swine diseases, and what Is probably less Important, slower growing hogs. To make the animals continue growing In a thrifty condition, we must feed them good, wholesome food under proper sanitary surroundings. Now, water plays a most important part in the health of all animals. We must take a certain amount of liquid Into the stomach to keep It In good condition. The modern elovor-

fed hog and corn-fattened pig does not get. as much liquid in his food as the old swill-fed animal, and It is necessary to supply the creature with water to make up for the deficiency. Clean water purifies the system and washes out the Stomach tending to disintegrate and carry away the solid matter that may accumulate in the stomach. Impure, filthy water clogs the system more and often causes intestinal irritation. The hog will apparently drink filthy water just as readily as pure water, and this has led some to think that it mattered little whether clean or dirty drinking water was supplied. But it is contrary to all teachings of sanitary science, and we have but to examine two hogs raised on clean and filthy water to see the difference. Consumers of pork are becoming more critical each year, and they can readily detect the flavor of inferior, filth-produced pork from clean, sweet, wholesome meat. —E. P. Smith, in American Cultivator. - THE FLAVOR OF MUTTON. The ‘‘sheep taste” in mutton Is generally caused by carelessness in dressing and washing the carcass, or by cooling it too quickly. This taste is undoubtedly stronger in the oily Merinos than in the mutton breeds of sheep and it is also undoubtedly induced by scrub care and scrub feeding of poor animals. The presence of a large amount of yolk in the fleece makes the meat particularly liable to taste sheepy. But wuh careful feeding, even the oily Merinos may be made into very palatable mutton. The best flavor in mutton is due to both breed and feed. It is certain that foods do influence the flavor of mutton. Take for example the sheep fed upon the downs of England, where herbage is short and sweet and where there are great quantities of such plants as wild thyme, etc., and we get a quality of mutton that is famous the world over. So also with the black-faced sheep of Scotland, whare wild grasses and herbs are the principal food the year round. This mutton is particularly delicate in flavor and widely celebrated among epicures. Sheep which have been fed a liberal ration of sound turnips, or even of corn silage, along with full feeding upon such feeds as bran, oats and linseed meal, have a fine quality of ed flesh, and this taste is aggravated when the carcass is badly dressed and too quickly cooled. Where the sheep is dressed in very cold weather, with the thermometer at zero or below, and the carcass is quickly frozen solid after dressing, the flesh has a bad taste. In skinning the animal, use care to keep the wool away from the flesh. Take out the intestines as quicklj as possible and wash the carcass thoroughly with clear water. Keep it at a moderate temperature, where It will not freeze solid, and let it hang for several days to ripen. It should not be allowed to hang until it becomes gamey, although there are some who like such mutton, but the meat improves greatly in tenderness and In quality after being killed several days or a week. —American Agriculturist.

SPRAYING SUCCESS. Recently Professor John B. Smith came to see the apple and peach orchards I sprayed with lime, sulphur and salt wash. I sprayed one block of Ben Davis apples. 1,000 trees ten years old, badly infested with San Jose scale. Nearly every apple as well as the tree was plastered with the scale. The apples looked as If they had the smallpox. They were completely spotted over last year. We sprayed this orchard in March, 1902, thoroughly while the trees were dormant. We sprayed when frees were dry and white. Our wash was warm or nearly hot. The lime and sulphur were boiled one hour and longer, but never less. We then added the salt and boiled fifteen minutes longer. We made this wash in a hog scalder holding 200 gallons. We put In one barrel of water and then added fifty pounds unslacked stone, lime, and fifty pounds flowers of sulphur. We then added fifty pounds of salt, any kind, and boiled fifteen minutes longer stirred well when boiling and then added two more barrels of water, which was then at a nice temperature to spray. We Kept fire under scalder all the time. We sprayed this wash out of 150-gallon cask with a good sprayer, using fifteen to twenty barrels per day. Kept scalder replenished with more water all the time, but not until we had taken out the other. If you do not take out the material and go to make more, your lime will not slake. We were unable to find any scale except on about a half dozen trees. These were spots where the wash did not hit, and one tree that was only half sprayed. On this nearly every apple was covered with red spots, where the scale had infested the frnlt, and the tree was completely plastered with live Beales. This showed clearly that the work must be done thoroughly. Piofessor Smith has been to see me several times atrd has given me pointers about the wash for this orchard. We expected to give the results of success or failure to the public. Our peach orchards are almost entirely free from scale, so far as we are able to judge. They were badly infested. The old orchard, In which we had such good results last year, was sprayed this spring, and it is apparently free from scale. Professor Smith was surprised to find such grand results from the wash. It is entirely safe to put on the most delicate tree or shrub while dormant.—U. P. Creely, In New England Homestead.