Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1909 — HINTS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

HINTS FOR FARMERS

Ground Feed For Horses. For horses at hard work for long hours all the grain should be ground and mixed with chopped hay, says American Cultivator. A great deal of time and energy can thus be saved. If the horses are required to do hard work only a few hours each day the oats need not be ground. Because of their bulky nature oats are easier masticated than other grains. Old horses or others with poor teeth should always have ground grain. It Is almost impossible for them to make use of the whole grain. During the spring months or at any season of the year when they are shedding teeth colts should have ground grain In order to prevent any unnecessary use of the jaws during such a period. It Is argued by some that the cost of grinding will not make It profitable to grind feed for horses not at work unless they have defective teeth. But where one Is prepared to grind his grain himself the work can be done at odd times and the expense of grinding need hardly enter Into the question.

Around the Farm. There is nothing like rotation, thorough cultivation and plenty of good barnyard manure to keep the soil in good shape. There Is a lot of satisfaction In working in good, mellow soil. It can be kept right only by constant, systematic working. The poor places In the dooryard should be attended to at once. They are an eyesore to you and a discredit to your place. Grass seed can be worked Into the ground after It Is loosened. In buying farm machinery always get the best and most reliable. It will prove cheapest In the end. The right waj’ to handle manure is to handle It as little as possible. Put it where you can use It at once. Keep the cultivator shovels bright and sharp. They will do better work and the team will do more work.— Kimball’s Dairy Farmer. Heart Girth and Vitality. The boys at the Nebraska experiment station tried out some steers last winter to determine the type that make the best feeders. They took the measurements of each one In the most minute particular. The steer that made the best gain in the feed lot was the one having the largest heart girth In proportion to weight. The steer shewing the lightest gain had a very small heart girth. While this Is the result of only one winter's work and cannot be taken as establishing any positive law, still it looks very much as if cattle with large lung power, with a good heart and consequently perfect digestion are best calculated to make big gains In the feed lot, and we thought everybody knew this all along.—Denver Field and Farm. Feather Pulling Fowl*. Feather pulling Is a habit said to come from idleness. When once the fowls learn the habit they seem to delight in eating the feathers. The relief suggested Is plenty of grit, oyster shells and some dry lime mortar from a building, offered freely. A piece of fat pork tied to a strong cord and swung In reach of the fowls seems to give some relief. The cause of this habit seems to be the lack of lime in the system of the fowls. Fowls on the range seldom acquire It. while those In confinement too often do. Even cockerels yarded to be fattened and those tn crates for crate fattening often acquire the habit.—Country Gentleman. Prepotency of the Sire. About the most reliable basis of calculation as to the power of transmission. or, as it is called, prepotency of the bull, is the dairy character of the grandmothers and great-grandmothers on both sides of his pedigree. He is the stored up results of what lies back of him. The quality' of bls ancestors will have more effect on his offspring than the performance of his mother. She gives to him of what she Inherited more than of what she does. She may be rich In inherited qualities and yet for some reason be herself only an ordinary performer.

To Fatten Broilers. An excellent mixture for fattening broilers is made as follows: One hundred pounds of finely ground barley, 100 pounds of finely ground corn, 100 pounds of finely ground oats, with bulls sifted out, to which mixture is added thirty pounds of beef scraps. Buttermilk or skimmilk is used for mixing, the former being preferred. The birds are fed twice a day at intervals of twelve hours and are kept on this diet for three weeks. Value of Cultivation. Probably no operation on the farm pays as well on the Investment as the extra tillage requisite to decure ideal conditions. Clods repel the tiny roots and vacancies between carry neither ready moisture nor food. Sometimes, especially in dry seasons, the dlffertnce in yield between a cloddy soil and one open, mellow, with available food easy to reach and moisture at will, approaches 100 per cent.—Professor J. W. tanburn. New Hampshire. Water Hortas Frequently. Watering often is far better than waiting till a horse is almost choked and then letting him have all he can drink. Many horses are spoiled by the latter method, while no one ever hurt a horse bv frequent watering.