Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1912 — NOTES from MEADOWBROOK FARM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NOTES from MEADOWBROOK FARM

By Willam Pitt

Know your brood sows. Clean the poultry houses. Chickens like sunflower seeds. Kerosene emulsion is easily made. A horse that is trained without blinds is usually the safer horse. Young pigs are peculiarly subjected to various kinds of intestinal worms It is better to give the.orchard clean cultivation than to try to raise crops in it. It is better to have a dirty floor than a dirty, dusty atmosphere during milking time. Leave a horse untied when hooked to a vehicle and he will be likely to be gone when you return for him. Fine gravel is not the proper grit for poultry. They want a sharp material with which to grind their food; Expert orchardists recommend seeding the orchard to crimson clover —or rye to be plowed down the following spring.

In localities where aster, goldenrod and other fall blooms abound it is well to look for surplus even in September. An hour’s work with a sharp wire at the foot of your peach trees killing borers may mean an extra bushel of fine peaches. A tree can be bridge grafted in less than half an hour, and it is better to take this time to do it than to let a valuable tree die. Go over the young apple trees and cut off every water sprout with a sharp knife close to the trunk. Do it early, and they will heal this season. To do well the cows should be turned dry something like six weeks before freshening. This is good for the calf, rests the cow, and develops the udder. J When it comes to growing pigs, calves, poultry or cream, any farmer with a few acres of alfalfa on his farm has a great advantage over his neighbor without it. The first milk of the cow is of a peculiar character—called colostrum — acting as a purgative, and this puts the bowels of the young calf in perfect working condition. If you did not have enough good seed for the farm crops, lose no time in getting enough to plant your crops. Get the best that can be had, regardless of the price. A ration for a dairy cow should fulfill the following requirements: It should be balanced, palatable, home grown as near as possible, and finally it should be economical.

During the winter the dairy farmer has more time to figure out his plans for improving his system of farming. The great question should be to get a better and more profitable lot of cows. Sixty per cent, of all horses that go unsound, go wrong in the hock joints, according to the notes taken by one breeder. Too much attention cannot be given the hocks in choosing stallions to which the mares are to be mated. Call a veterinarian if a mare is having trouble in dropping a colt and you are in doubt of being able to assist her properly. A fee of $5 or $lO 0 the veterinarian may save a S3OO mare and bring a colt into the world that will develop into a horse worth a» much more. A little knowlege of the proper type of animal to select is worth a lot of money to the buyer sometimes. Attend the short course schools whenever you get a chance and study the types and breeds as well as the markets. There is a surprising difference in animals when you know what to look for—as much as there is in people. When it Is desired to spray o the poultry house it is important that every square inch of space should be given a fine spray, and while small force pumps, rubber sprayers, bellows, etc., may be used, it is not so important to do the work quickly as to do it well, care being taken to force the spray mixture upon the walls and into the cracks. It must be in the form of a fine spray to reach every spot Such methods of applying it require but a short time, and it is labor well applied if the lice are exterminated.