Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 March 1907 — HINTS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

HINTS FOR FARMERS

The Ineubator. Skit the machine level in some di* well ventilated room, where there ar* no great extremes In temperature; rtm it for a short time without eggß and get familiar with its peculiarities, studying all the details; fill and trim the lamp at least once every day; fill the tray with fresh, fertile eggs and turn and air them at least once every day and keep the temperature as near 103 degrees as possible, and no on* with ordinary intelligence ought to make a failure of business. It does not require extraordinary genius or ability, but no Indolent or careless party need apply.—American Poultry Journal. Box Stall Advantage*. Whenever practicable partitions between stalls should be removed, thus converting them into box stalls. Many a good horse has been seriously or even fatally Injured by being “cast In the stall.’’ For this reason mangers should be raised to such a height that the horse cannot be “cast under the manger,” or, better still, the manger should be on the floor. The horse naturally gathers its food from the ground. In a box stall natural Inclinations can be partially Imitated to advantage, whereas the old fashioned, narrow stall precludes such a sensible arrangement. 'Poultry Feeding. Rice is almost valueless as a poultry food and should never be so employed. Buckwheat is very much relished by poultry. The color and shape of the kernels are strange to them at first, but once they know what they are they will leave other grain for it. Being deficient of flesh forming substances, it should only be used at intervals as a change. Potatoes should only be used when they are the refuse from the table and never alone, but mixed with some kind of meal, such as middlings.—A. V. Meersch in Western Poultry Journal. The Stable Door* and Window*. Small windows in horse stables should be replaced by large ones, and these should be kept open or partially so night and day at all seasons, at least sufficiently to Insure good ventilation. Doors should be sufficiently wide and high to enable large horses to enter without danger of injuring the hip bones or the poll. “Down at the hip,” or the bone of one hip fractured, is not an uncommon consequence of too narrow doors, while many accidents occur from doors that are too low. Substitute For Ensilage. Upon a recent visit to Ontario I found that cutting hay before feeding is commonly practiced,” says a writer on farm topics. “It is claimed that It prevents waste, as cut hay cannot be thrown out of mangers, and other feeds can be mixed with it to the best advantage. Some farmers cut hay and oat straw together, mix the proper proportion of ground grain with it, dampen it and pile it up. In twenty-four to thirty hours it begins to heat. Then it is eaten greedily and makes a fine substitute for ensilage.” Mulberries In Orchards. One of the characteristics claimed for the mulberry Is that the fruit ripen* over a period of several months. Tha tree is a rapid grower, and the abundance of fruit produced makes it specially useful for planting around stables and chicken and Btockyards. Aa the fruit is greatly relished by birds, a few mulberry trees planted In the orchard serve as a protection to other more valuable fruits.—American Cultivator.

Dairy Notes. Excitement not only checks the flow of milk In a cow, but reduces the percentage of fnt In the milk. Feeding too much Is bad, and feeding too little is bad. Never feed more than the animal will eat up clean. An extra yield of butter will naturally follow the use of richer feed If the cow has been well selected, but a similar result may not follow in the case of an ordinary cow. Productivity of Weeds. Weeds multiply very rapidly. A single plant of pepper grass will produce 18,000 seeds, dandelion 12,000. sbei>berd’s purse 37,000, wheat thief 7.000. ragweed 5,000, purslane 375,000, plantain 47,000 and burdock 43,000. The Importance of not allowing a single weed to produce seed cannot be alluded to too frequently. A single hour’s work In destroying weeds may save weeka of labor next season. Lime For Plant Lice. Dry hydrate of lime, formed by slaking fresh lime with Just water enough) to crumble It into a line powder, is used as an insecticide. It Is still very caustic and fatal to the larvae of asparagus beetles, slugs or currant, pear, plum aud other larvae, having a moist surface. Applications are l>est made In the morning, while plants and insect* are yet a little damp. Sitting* of Eggs. Eggs for sitting should be as fresh as possible. If set the day they are laid, so much the better, but they should not be older than a week or ten days in summer and two weeks In winter. Staler eggs may produce chickens, but they are sure to be more delicate. Medium sized eggs are the best. The shell sbould be even and strong. Alfalfa For poultry. Every farmer who makes a specialty of poultry should plant a patch of alfalfa. It makes excellent pasture for the fowls in summer aud can be cut for hay for winter nse.