Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1884 — AGRICULTURAL. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL.

When horses are compelled to remain exposed to storms at this season the use of a rubber blanket, with flannel lining, will be of valuable assistance in the prevention of colds and lung diseases. In certain Freneh beat-raising districts it is’ customary to sprinkle the young roots with liquid organiq manures. In other districts ammonia sulphate and nitrate of soda are used. The yield to the acre is considerably increased by this practice, but at the expense of the saccharine quality of the roots. Good grooming is essential to good digestion. Cleanliness of the skin is as necessary for the health of the horse as for that of a man. The irritation of the brushing may be too severe. There is strong objection to the use of a harsh curry-comb. If a good stiff brush is used daily there will be no use for a ■wire-toothed comb or other harsh implement. The rubbing of the “running gear” of a horse is as essential as that of an engine. Correspondent Orange County Farmer: We know of no better remedy to destroy Canada thistles than a brood bow. Take the ring out of her nose and leave her to root and work on the field all winter in open weather and only sparingly fed and our word for it. by spring she will have the job finished, If the seeding is extensive, then employ one or more brood sows, and it will be found to be one of the cheapest and most Effective remedies for ridding a farm of this pest that could be desired, for we have tried it to our entire satisfaction on several occasions. Speaking of the excellence of the American merino sheep, Mr. William Hays, of Australia, who spent several months in this country on a tour of inspection, states that such is their healthiness and strength of constitution that ewes will raise lambs when past the age of sixteen years, and that he saw one twenty-one years old, the fleece of which weighed ten pounds. Diseases common to Australian flocks, such as fluke, anthrax and foot-rot, are unknown among the American sheep, v hich is duo to generous feeding and careful housing. Exposure to weet is not allowed, and the best care is given. Cleanliness in the Pig'pen. —The hog does not perspire to any appreciable extent, at least excepting through the peculiar orifice back ot and just above the feet. When these are closed up from any cause, the animal soon becomes sick. For this reason cleanliness in the pigpen is essential. The hog in warm weather will Avallpw in mud, but this Avill rarely or never close these perspiring apertures, because it contains enough sand or gravel to Avork itself out. But a hog should never be kept in pens so small that it is obliged to walk through its own excreta. If given half a chance piggie will sco to it that its feeding and sleeping places are kept clean. Professor Richardson states that among our wheats the highest per oentage of albuminoids is 17.15, while a Russian wheat. groAvn in Minnesota, contained 24.56 per cent., twenty-four different specimens averaging 19.48 per cent., the lowest percentage being 10.48. The wheat groivn in the East is the poorest, and a regular gradation from East to West is found until the Pacific coast is reached, where there is a falling off. The best grain is produced between the Mississippi River and the mountains. As the albuminoids are regarded as the most valuable portions of the grains its deficiency lessens the value of the crop. Certain Varieties of Fruits. —Such, for instance, as the Concord grape, the Blackcap raspberry, Snyder blackberry, etc,, will succeed and give a tolerably fair return of fruit under neglect; and for this reason they have been recommended to farmers to plant. But farmers should not from this understand that they are to be encouraged in neglect. They as a class are too prone to neglect their small fruits; indeed many of them are so careless about them that they even fail to obtain fruit from these iron-dads. They should knorv that those above named are just like other fruits in one respect—and just like everything else, men and women included—are Aery thankful for kind and generous treatment, and will make returns accordingly. Culture of Wheat. —The greatest enemy of the wheat crop is too much water. It may be said that the wheat root is more susceptible to injury from too much water that many of us believe. Too be sure, there is a general impression that an overdose of water is bad, but the full force of the impression is seldom felt as it deserves to be. Water lying around roots does not always kill wheat plants, but many of the roots are injured, and the few that are left are not able to do the work that all were intended to take part in doing. If any one will dig up a wheat plant in the spring which has stood all winter in a Avet place he will see exactly how this is. Only living roots close to the .surface, and all beloAV this may be injured. The English seem to understand this water injury better than we do, and provide against it on wheat lands by numerous furrows; in some cases of flattish land one-twentieth of. the whole area may be counted as surface furrows; and yet Avith this waste of ground, as some would say, they beat us considerably in the number of bushels they get per acre. It is supposed by many that whether we have a good wheat season or a bad one depends more on the quantity of grain we get at various seasons, or of the condition of the ground or of the plants at the time the rain falls. If it goes away through the ground rapidly it is good for the plant, though in large quantities; but if it lies long it is an injury. Thus, if a piece of land id rather fiat and the ground is frozen | deep and stays frozen after the tipper fefls thawed, and rain or melted snow is let in; the frozen bottom keeps the water from passing away, and so ityujy resulta to the roots. On sloping grofiMkthe water passes out on the lower position, and in' these cases not so much injury results. There are, no doubt, many causes which conspire to injure crops; bqt this overdose of water i h very likely to be one of them, and

... . » .. • . . . • ■ - - <*' - --> ‘W- f 'V’pi it Avill be wise for all those who are interested in wheat cultrtto tqtakeevery precaution to carry off water may fall on the land. t)pen ditches or plow furrows, as many cT6*; they are very useful to this end. to this carefully, and it will be found that wheat culture will be as productive as it eA-er was, and will continue to be mamown Telegraph. )