Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1907 — HINTS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

HINTS FOR FARMERS

Skin Disease of Horses. Horses sometimes suffer from some form of skin'disease, and the blood seems to be in very poor condition, so that in the case of an old horse it locks like farcy, says American Cultivator. In order to effect a permanent cure you must commence at the foundation. Have all the stable utensils washed, clean the stable walls, floor and celling and have them disinfected. Take each horse in his turn and subject him tc the following course: Have a pall of warm suds, with half a/pound of ah slaked lime and half an ounce each oi carbolic acid and liquor ammonia mb ed in it. Take a brush, wet it frequent ly in the suds and scrub the horse all over thoroughly with ft, particularly where the scabs have been or now are. This will take about half an hour. Then scrape the soap and wa ter off and play the hose or sponge the entire body with cold water, after which have the animal immediately rubbed dry and where the raw sur faces exist apply with a soft brush a little of the annexed prescription: Taka of oil of tar two ounces; sulphur, three ounces, and whale (sperm) oil, eight ounces. Mix. Three applications will be enough In all probability. Dairy Pointers. Pin this in your hat or get into your head in such a way that you will not forget it. If your dairy operations are not profitable you have either poor cows or your methods of feeding are at fault. If your cows are not good ones you are not so poor but that you can have better ones, and If the fault be that of feed and care you are not so poor but that you can Improve on each. No man who will not help himself or use the faculties with which he is en dowed can hope to make the milk business profitable. Improve the herd by weeding out the poor cows. Improve the care by building a little stable. Improve the feed by growing a variety of the best roughage, cut it early, protect It from rain, feed It bright and sweet and trade off the corn for bran.' But, better still, grow alfalfa and you will have little or no use for bran or other mill feeds.—Farmers Advocate.

The Horee’e Teeth. Colonel Henry Exall advises that the teeth of an old horse be filed and made even, declaring this will improve his usefulness and his disposition. The average horse owner thinks that a horse is old at ten years. This is a great mistake. Hardly half of his good work is done at that age, and what he does after that time will, as a rule, be done better and done In a more comfortable way to the owner, as his five or six years of useful work have made him much more intelligent, or rather much better educated, and therefore much more useful and reliable than a young and inexperienced horse would be. A horse can practically be made new by having his teeth filed and made even so that he can grind his food properly and digest It. Try it and have a fat, happy young horse, Instead of the old, poor one.

Clover Hay For Poultry.

Of all hays clover Is the best for poultry and is usually the easiest to provide on the average farm in the central and eastern states. The hay stored for the birds in winter should be of the second cutting 4 and If possible cured In the shade or on a cloudy day. In the winter, when it is fed. It should be first cut In bits about an Inch In length, then placed in a vessel and hot water poured over it. Leave in the water for an hour or two and then add enough cornmeal or oat chop to absorb the water, and feed the mass to the chickens. The feed is also good for birds which are penned at any time of the year if it is not possible to supply them with chopped green grass.—Chicago Inter Ocean.

The Cow Stable. Get the winter shelter ready now Whether cheap or costly, the cow stables should be well ventilated. Open doors and windows and boles in the sides and roofs are not good means of ventilating either. Let there be a ventilator, then no trouble will be had with cold drafts and cows will hot be coughing and you will not be worried about them having tuberculosis as the result of close stabling. Fresh air, plenty of space, light and snug, dry quarters and conscientious, rigidly regulated feeding are the principal wants of the dairy cow. , { Renewing Old Orchards. The Ohio experiment station has issued a very instructive bulletin upon this subject “Renewal of orchards may profitably be accompanied by the addition of stable manure, either worked into the soil beneath the extremities of the branches or allowed to remain upon the surface to be covered later with straw or other coarse material applied as a mulch. The combination of renewal and fertilization will work wonders in the rejuvenation of many old orchards long considered unprofitable and valueless.” Hogging Down Com. Many do not think it a good practice to allow bogs the run of a large field. But if, say, five acres can be fenced off and the hogs are turned in early they will harvest It without much waste. Some sow cowpeas in a fewacres and turn their hogs in about Sept. 15. . Manure the Thin Spots. Pick out the thin spots in the grass fields and in the stubble fields and see that the manure goes around to these places. Hauling out manure and spreading it over the handiest field is not always the best thing to do.