Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1909 — HINTS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

HINTS FOR FARMERS

Foot Rot In Sheep. % In the core of hoof all In sheep two things are necessary; First the atu>«*u mast be kept in from wk pursfe. a s the feet during treatment most be kept from getting wet. A well bedded stable in the beat place. Second, all remedies should be used In a liquid form and of a kind that the whole foot can safely be Immersed In and soaked for full ten minutes and the solution not Injure healthy tissue. The trouble In using ointments and powdered remedies is that the germs are deeper seated than they will reach and tnay exist even on the skin above the feet and later infect the foot Many agents will till the germ which produces foot rot. but the cheapest Is sulphate of copper solution, made by dissolving a pound of the sulphate In two gallons of hot water. Place the solution in a shallow trough, clean the feet and cut away all separated tissue from the, sole of the foot, then stand the sheep in the solution for ten minutes. Repeat in three days In case there are some sheep with fungous growths dip a feather in the batter of antimony and wet them daily with It until they are reduced. Two per cent solutions of coal tar products like thymo-cresol, kreso, daytboleum, bugoleum and cbloro-naptholenm will kill the foot rot germ. Use the same as the sulphate ot copper solntlom—National Stockman and Farmer. Purity of Alfalfa Seed. A report recently issued by the Nebraska experiment station bears on tbe adulteration of alfalfa seed. Witbln the last twelve months 201 samples of alfalfa seed, over 50 per cent of which were received from farmers and seedmen of Nebraska, were examined by tbe station. The samples varied In purity from 56 to 99 per cent, in germination from 56 to 100 per cent, and contained one-tenth per cent to 12 per cent of Inert matter and from none to 36 per cent of foreign seed. Four species of dodder were found in varying amounts. One sample of alfalfa contained over 9 per cent of dodder, and if this seed had been sown at tbe rate of sixteen pounds to the acre there would have been sown 16,365 dodder seeds to tbe square rod. Buckthorn, wild carrot, wild chicory, lamb’s quarters and the seeds of about seventyfive other weeds were found in the alfalfa samples.

Feeding tho Heifer*. There is a great scarcity of good, mature cows, both grade and pure bred, and the man who has a bunch of heifer calves of good dairy description will be well repaid In the end if he brings them up properly. He should bear in mind that the more common dairy foods of a nitrogenous nature are alfalia and clover, hay, oats. bran, dried blood, oilmeal, skimmilk and grass, while those ot a carbonaceous nature are corn fodder, stover, corn and cob meal, com and some of its byproducts and cottos:seed meal. Ensilage also is rich .e carbohydrates. With tnese principles and facts in uißid any dairyman should be able, with tbe application of a little arithmetic, to figure out a desirable ration.

The Beef (Tinker. A feeder learns to be a good judge by studying tbe requirements of a good steer, writes W. Burkett in the American Agriculturist. He must know that the form of a steer should be low set, deep, broad and compact rather than long legged, gaunt, narrow and loosely put together. The broad, compact form indicates strong constitution, and the low set animal is usually a good feeder. The top and underline should be nearly parallel ami the flank and twist low. Cattle having prominent hips, tail, heads and shoulders should be avoided, as smoothness ot outiiue is essential. Cidsbooe Lameness. There is no cure for sidebones. but the lameness may be relieved by clipping the hair from the entire hoof head and blistering repeatedly wijtb n mixture of one dram of biniodid of mercury in two ounces of cerate of eantharides. Rub the blister4n for fifteen minutes, wash off in three days, then apply lard dally. In bad cases it is best to have the sideboue region line tired and blistered by a veterinarian. Put* 09? ar bes rs hoe. Size of an Acre. An acre in this country contains <»3. 560 square feet, or 100 square rods. A patch sixty-nine yards five Inches wide and seventy yards long is practically an acre of ground. It is far better t« see just how much can be raised on un acre than to follow the old plan of showing Just how many acres one Is able to plant and partially cultivate. The one acre crop is In line with hign class diversified farmiug.—American Cultivator. Corn Fodder Suitable Horse FaaJ. Corn rodder may safely be fed to horses if one-third tbe forage ration be made up of some other material, such as timothy bay or alfalfa. It la best to remove all ears, ns the soft corn likely to be found in fodder is injurious to horses. Shredding adds nothing to the' value of fodder for horses. Humping a Fowl. Tbe way a dressed fowl Is to dip It for ten seconds In water nearly or quite boiling hot and then Immediately in cold water. Haug lu a cool place until the animal beat la entirely out. Plumping gives the fowl a much more attractive appearance.