Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1906 — HINTS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

HINTS FOR FARMERS

Indigestion In Horses. A very good mixture for horses suffering from indigestion is the following: Gentian, one-half pound; bicarbonate of soda, one-half pound; nux vomica, one-fourth pound; arsenic, one dram. Mix thoroughly. Dose, a tablespoon level full in moistened grain morping and evening. At noon give the following mixture: Sulphate of Iron, one-fourth pound; saltpeter, one-fourth pound. Mix. Dose, a tablespoonful in moistened grain. Continue the use of the medicine for two or three weeks; then withhold for a week and then give again. Continue in this manner until the animal recovers. In some cases treatment will need to be continued for six months or even longer. These are desirable mixtures to give to horses in the spring, a few weeks before the hard work commences, especially where the animals have been wintered upon a large amount of roughage, as this line of feeding is very apt to cause more or less indigestion.—G. A. Waterman, Michigan Experiment Station.

Spreading Manure. The practice of spreading manure on the snow in winter does not seem to be gaining in popularity, says Farmers Advocate. On some farms where the fields are level and where there is no chance to store the manure it is a good plan. Experiments at the Massachusetts station last year showed that manure thus spread produced better crops than where it was left over winter In large heaps. But it was reckoned that the difference in value of the crop produced did not pay for the extra labor in hauling the manure according to this plan. It could be hauled considerably cheaper, doing all the work at once in the spring. On the other hand, such work done in winter is on some farms clear gain, since there may be little else for the team to do. It is a matter to be thought out according to the case in hand. Fattening Steers. To improve the quality of cattle is not the whole secret of profitable cattle raising and feeding. While improving the quality of cattle is the prime facto?, in profitable feeding, the method of* feeding is almost as important, for without the proper methods failure will result regardless of quality of the cattle. The old method of cramming corn Into a steer regardless of whether or not he digests it, depending on hogs to pick up the undigested corn, is a poor as well as an old method. To put on good flesh and to put it on fast a steer should digest thoroughly all the food that he takes into his stomach. The food should be prepared carefully in order that perfect digestion should take place. Ix»ss corn and more ensilaged

foods should be used In finishing a steer for the market.—Farmers Advocate. Peas For Lambs. “Three years ago,’’ says R. W. Hersey of Colorado, “an old Scotchman living in the San Luis valley, in our state, concluded he would experiment with peas as a food for a few lambs that he owned. “The pea diet proved to be the very thing. The lambs not only took on fat with surprising rapidity, but their flesh acquired a new and delicious flavor. The next year everybody in that region began to follow his example, and last yeah in the San Luis valley it is estimated that no less than 500,000 sheep grew fat on peas.” Removing Stumps, A correspondent of American Cultivator states that he removed a troublesome tree stump from near his house in the following manner: With an inch auger he bored a hole in the center of the stump ten inches deep and put into it about one-half pound of oil of vitriol and corked the hole up tigKt. In six months the whole stump and roots, extending through all their ramifications, were so rotted that they were easily eradicated. Keep Fertility In the Land. Good farming today is intensive farming. Raise all It Is possible to raise, but put back into the soil every year as much fertility as the crop takes out, or more. New land will stand a lot of abuse, but it will go back on you in time. You can depend on that. Farm every year so that you leave your land in better shape at the close than at the beginning of the year.— Kimball’s Dairy Farmer. Improving the Wood Lot. If a little care and forethought are taken when cutting the year’s supply of fuel to thin out In the thicker places, saving the young and thrifty trees, letting in the sunshine occasionally to start a vigorous growth and perhaps trimming the trunks to get smoother growth for timber, It will be surprising to see how much the stump value is increased.—American Cultivator.