Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 April 1908 — HINTS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

HINTS FOR FARMERS

Care es Swine. See that the little pigs have plenty of exercise and do not get too fat or they will get thumps. Don't give little pigs cornmeal. Wait till they are a few months old before you begin to do that. Give them plenty of room and hustle them around for exercise. Feed the sows carefully. Give very little com and plenty of roots. Too much com will make crazy sows in delirium from fever. Wheat middlings and shorts are much better feeds for pigs than wheat bran. 1 * As the amount of grain fed to brood sows must be small or they will get too fat, most farmers try to fill them up by making a thin slop. Water is a poor filling material. Better use clover or alfalfa hay. This gives the animal the sensation of fullness and comfort and at the same time furnishes most valuable nutriment. Mature hogs that are thin may be made to gain half a pound per day on alfalfa without grain. It is hlgh'time that the value of skimmilk and buttermilk as pig foods was fully appreciated. As an agency for rearing all young animals they have no equal. If there is any tendency to constipation, feed a little oilmeal or ground, flaxseed.—Farm Journal. The Kicking Horse. If a horse kicks while feeding and his neighbor is evidently the object of his wrath, he should be either removed to a stall next to an empty one or should be screened high enough to prevent him from seeing into the next one. If he kicks apparently aimlessly, as many horses do, from impatience while awaiting the feed which he can hear being distributed to his neighbors, he should be fed first Kicking without malice prepense may often be cured by means of a stall with swinging beams in place of fixed sides. These give to every kick, and it is surprising how soon the absence of resistance to his hoofs destroys all apparent pleasure in kicking. Another method is to hang grain sacks filled with straw at each side of the stalls, covering the area struck by the hoofs. This has the additional advantage of preventing injury to the legs and acts much the same as the swinging sides. —Suburban Life. Cure For Stall Gnawing. Gnawing all wood within reach is one of the commonest and most objectionable habits among horses. The habit fortunately can be easily cured and should not be neglected a single day when observed, as it quickly spreads, so that in a few days evqry horse when not otherwise occupied Is pulling the place to pieces with his teeth, says Suburban Life. Half a pound of bitter aloes, mixed with a quart of water and boiled down to a pint, should be applied freely with a paint brush to all the woodwork which shows the marks of teeth or is a convenient hold for the teeth. This is always effective, more than one application rarely being required. Depluming Mites. One of the greatest hindrances to profitable poultry raising is the tiny “depluming mite.” This insect, or parasite, infests the feathers of the neck, literally eating them off where the base enters the skin. A number of remedies are effective, but it requires a great deal of patience in application. Any disinfectant one part and lard three parts rubbed well over the neck is effective. Ten drops of carbolic acid in a tablespoonful of lard also makes a very effective mixture. Either remedy should be repeated in a week after the first application. 1 —_ Advantage of Early Hatches. The early hatches make the winter layers. These birds usually molt about the middle to the latter part of September and are therefore In full feather by the time cold weather sets in and are better equipped to begin laying during the early winter than those which do not begin to molt till lateChicks hatched the latter part of May or during the month of June do not begin to molt till the middle of November and are never in full feather when the cold weather sets in. As a result they contract disease or lose flesh. Feeding Oats as Hay. An lowa farmer thinks thrashing oats is a waste. He says: I have demonstrated to my satisfaction that oats to be fed on the farm to any live stock except horses at hard work should be cut when quite green—the kernel in the dough stage or when the first joint of the stalk is yellow—and fed straw and all. To thrash oats that are to be fed on the farm except for the purpose already named Is a waste of money, and therefore I cannot afford it, and I doubt if any farmer can. Care of Chicks. Little chicks should have plenty of exercise, but it is not advisable to allow them to run in the.tall grass before the dew has dried away. Keep them in the coop till after 8 a. m, then turn them out and allow them to run. If it is not desirable to allow the hen to run, stretch a long wire and tie the hen to a ring, so she can pass from one end of it to another. Ideal Ration For Hogs. An ideal ration for pigs and stock hogs, says Professor W. A. Henry of the Wisconsin experiment station, is composed of clover, alfalfa and blue grass, supplemented with skim or butter milk and middlings or ahipstuffs, furnishing all necessary elements foe bone and muscle building.