Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1887 — HUSBANDRY AND HOUSEWIFERY. [ARTICLE]

HUSBANDRY AND HOUSEWIFERY.

Mattel’s of Interest Relating to Farm and Household Management. Information for the Plowman, Stock* man, Poulterer, Nurseryman, and Housewife. THE FARM. Farm Wagons. There is nd economy in using old wagons on the farm. If the money spent in repairs were reckoned at the end of the year it would make big interest on the cost of a new wagon, besides loss of time, of temper, and often wasto of cfbps. It is poor policy to pay $lO to S2O in patching up an old wagon, when n new one can be bought for $>U to SBO. When the new wagon is purchased it should he kept well painted and tinder cover, else it will soon be an old one. Exposure to the elements injures more than active Use. Neglected Fteltls. There are on every farm some parts that have always received less manure and less care evory way than has been given to the form generally. Thoy frequently comprise the fields remote from the barnyard, and to which for this reason it is difficult to draw manure. The time for this work is generally limited, and the amount drawn in a day when the distance is doubled is so reduced that the work is stopped, and plowing and seeding take the time of teams and men. The result is that despite the most strenuous efforts fields remote from the barnyard never get as much manure as those near by. In some cases the neglected field is too wet for profitable cropping. But whatever the cause of neglect, it is time that it should cease. Even at a low valuation for the land it locks up too much capital for which its owner gets no return. If he. lack money to make this land productive, he had better sell it and use it in improving the land that remains. Some one is always ready to buy the poorest land and to pay more for it than it is worth. In fact, selling the poorest part of the farm is commonly the very best thing that can he done with it. If its owner concentrates labor, time nnd manure on his worst land he can only do it by neglect of his best, from which alone he is sure of a profit. There is a reason for the neglect of cultivation of fields that have been ready for the plow a long time, and it is usually found in the fa'ct that experience has proved that it does not pay. Farm Not ct and Comments. Seventy-six per cent of the raw cotton produced in this country is exported. A farmer should be the architect of his •wn barn, but when he builds his house he ought to leave the arranging of the interior to his wife. In Spain, when a person eats a peach or a pair as he passes along the road, he immediately plants the seeds. Eruit-trees are plenty and free to every passer-by. , Every farmer should aim to raise all the possible products of the climate for his own rise. Herein lies the independence of farm life. He grows every supply for histable, so far as his soil and climate admits,, under his own eye. He is dependent on no one for the necessities of life, or even for the luxuries ot his table. Many farmers in places where their land is swept by fierce winds find it profitable to plant apple trees in masses large enough to make a wind-break on*he side of the farm most exposed. The apple tree branches low down, and, if bordered by a fence four or five feet high on the windward side, the ground will be covered with snow almost as perfectly as it was in the original forests. In the process of drying grass into hay most of the volatile oils which give green herbage its delicate flavor and odor are lost. But some farmers have found that patting clover and other grasses in bams while rather green ! and mixing with them enough dry straw to absorb moisture not only preserve the flavor in the hay, but a portion is communicated to th 6 straw, making it mnch better for milch cows. It is possible that farmers may yet take to sowing sweet vernal grass for the sole purpose of flavoring their winter’s supplies of dry hay or straw. Prof. Dodge says the richest agricultural districts do riot necessarily produce the largest yields of com per acre. The worn-out soil of New England, well cultivated and enriohed, has yielded in the last five years an average of 30.8 bushels to the aere, while the Missouri Valley, with all its natural richness of soil for growing com, falls below this 1 per cent., and the Ohio Valley, with almost equal natural resources, drops nearly 5 per cent, behind. The Middle States are Very nearly on the same footing as the New England States.—Very true, but in New England com is raised at a vast expenditure of manure and labor. In Illinois an average of 100 bushels per acre on eighty acres has been raised.

THE STOCK RANCH. About PpCire-llred "if’ The numbers and value of pure-bred cattle, as stated by the Department of Agriculture at Washington, excluding Jer-. Beys, that for some reason are not men-’ tioned except that the number registered is 51,006 head, are as follows: No. reg- No. liv- Av. Total Dreed. istered. ing. value. value. Aberdeen-Angus...... 3,500 S3OO 81,050,000 Ayrshire 12,867 6,433 100 613,000 Devon .......10,187 8,000 81 648,000 Guernsey.... 4,947 3,100 149 461,900 Hereford.. 14,000 300 4,200,000 Holstein Friesian2l,l3B 20,080 200 4,016,200 . - ————— . .... Feeding According to acquirement. As long as the animals arc fed, the kind or quality of food is not always considered; yet one may feed a large amount of food without benefit to the Btock, while by a judicious system of feeding, in proportion to what is required, a lesser quantity may be needed and the cost lowered. As animals differ in the kind of products they provide, so should the food be regulated to conform to that which is expected; A Jersey cow (hat gives a large yield of butter from a small quantity of milk (and some of them have yielded a pound of butter from three quarts of milk) demauds food rich in fat, and in feeding her for cream the breeder keeps. in view the objoct to be obtained. He expects a large quantity of butter, and be knows that the* fat must come from the food. If the feed isfdificient in the element most desired the yield will be less, for the reason that, no matter how highly bred the cow may be, nor how capable she is. it is an impossibility for her to produce anything unless she is provided with the materials with which to manufacture her daily product. Other classes of cows that excel in producing large quantities of milk, but not so rich in cream, have an equal task to perform. While the proportion of fat required may not be large, yet the milk fa nevertheless to be made‘of pertain materials rich in nitrogen and phosphates. Her food, while it may be deficient in fat, should be as complete as possible in those elements required by her, and in making upherallowance of food she must be fed differently from the cow that produces a large amount of butter in proportion to milk yielded. An animal tbat| is growing' requires a

more complo ration than one tfint is matured, for it has not only to supply bodily waste, but also to build up the frame and incrense if the same kind of food' fed to if growing animal bo given to one that is matured, the excess will be voided from the body as manure, simply because the animal cannot appropriate it. In tho face of these facts many farmers feed all classes of stock together, making no distinejion between the growing steer or the) productive cow, tho young or tfie iftatured, and do not consider that butter and milk are very different in composition, and that special feeding materials must he provided according to the objects fulfilled by each animal. If a due allowance is made for the work done By each animal, nnd its characteristics observed, a careful and systematic feeding would savo hundreds of pounds Of material, while tho furmer' would Recure a larger product at a cheaper cost. With systematic feeding comes good shelter, ns tho first important duty performed by tho the food is to heat the body and repair waste. All over and above the immediate bodily requirement is that which becomes product, and if the heat can be saved by warm 6tableß and dry shelter the smaller will be the quantity required fdr repair of waste. The feeding of cornstalks and straw may assist the farmer to winter his stock, but any deficiency of nutriment therein must bo provided by a more concentrated food, such as grain, and the grain must be of the kinds that abound in the principal elements required for the different purposes. —Philadelphia Record.

THE DAIRY. Winter Dairying. At a meeting of an agricultural society in the south of Ireland Mr. Richard Baxter gave an address on this subject in which he said: Farmers shbuld carefully consider whether the large increase in the cost of feeding and labor entailed by winter dairying will be compensated by the following advantages: First, cows carried through the winter,and in profit,at a season that milk and butter bring the highest prices; second, I find from carefully-kept records that cows calving in December and January give the largest return in milk—for, say, ten months m milk—as they come on a second spring of milk when they get the grass at the end of April arid May, and yield during the summer nearly as well as if calving in March; third, the calf is raised in time for the grass, and so has the Whole summer to grew and mature; and, if vealed, is sold"when veal is dear; fourth, a largo quantity of farmyard manure is made and the land steadily improves from the quantity of feeding stuffs consumed on the farm; fifth, a market at home for most of the farm produce, and not selling grain, etc., at such prices as are now ruling; sixth, a much better chance of commanding a higher average price through the year for milk and butter by keeping up a continuous supply. The following dietaries are suggested for shorthorn crosses of,say, 1,100 pounds live weight; and I estimate the keep for three of them would be sufficient for four of the country cows weighing 800 pounds, or for live Kerries weighing 550 pounds each. Tho dietary can be altered to suit individual cases arid current prices of feeding stuffs in the various districts. The total albuminoids should not be under 3.5; and the albuminoid ratio should be carefully preserved—being 1 of albuminoids or flesh-formers to 4.5 to 5 of carbo-hydrates (or fat and heat producers). It is most important' that the various foods and drinks should be given at a temperature of from 50 t0„55 degrees Fahrenheit (cool summer heat), but not oVer this; chilled foods and drinks seriously check tho flow of milk, besides the increased quantity of food required to bring them to the above temperature. Except in cold, bad weather cows should have a run on the pasture for a few hours in the middle of the day, but never allowed to stand chilling at the gate, asking to be let in; Buch a run is healthy for the cows and allows the stalls to be cleaned and ventilated. Care should also be taken that the stalls are not too hot at night. Cows should be milked as much as possible morning and evening at the same hour; it has been clearly proved that milk remaining in the udder more than twelve hours will lose proportionately in quantity and considerably in quality, having a lower percentage of cream. j

THE ORCHARD. Ilegrafting Orchards. Much lack of progress in farming is the result of what natural philosophers would call the power of vis inertia, or in other words the tendency of matter to remain in one place. Farmers deal more with this inert matter than with any other class.. Knowing what needs to be done is one thing, but doing it, which requires hard work, is quite another. In nothing is this neglect of what should be done more striking than the almost universal tendency to let poor or unproductive trees remain year after year without taking tho slight trouble to regraft them,-with bettor sorts. It is no serious evil if a tree has been grown to bearing age with some worthless variety. Kegrafting in from three to five years make a new top i often more productive than the tree would have been had the better variety been put in originally. It costs considerable to have such work done by professional grafters at from 1J to 2 h cents per graft. At such rates an active man with an assistant to saw off the limbs will make five or six or even more dollars per day. But the operation of grafting is so simple that any tree-owner can easily learn it, and by knowing the habit of growth of the sort to be put in he can easily make the top-grafted tree into any shape that be desires. When he stops to consider this point tfie owner of an orchard will soon learn to top-graft his trees more to his own satisfaction than will be done by the average grafter, chiefly anxious to make a large day’s work by putting in as many grafts as possible. Fruning the Peach. The peach tree in many cases, if not in most, receives no pruning. As a result of fchiß neglect, after some years the trees have a few long, stragglif% branches, with leaves and fruit on the ends of limbs and nowhere else. The reason of this is that the new shoots come out strongest, from the terminal buds, the largest shoots of the previous year becoming the longest in the succeeding year, and, so on, until tbe fruit is away up out of reach, as the habit of the peach is to bear on wood of the previous season’s growth. Judicious annual pruning will prevent this unshapely growth, and maintain a low-headed, roundish form of top. Tbe pruning is to be done mainly in tbe wav of cutting back, removing from a third to a half in length, or even more in some cases, of the shoots of the previous year’s growth. This not only prevents the running up of the top of the tree, but reduces the crop as well, and prevents injury from overbearing, while from the capacity of enlargement inherent in all the fine peaches the portion of the crop allowed to remain will be greatly improved in every way. Having an eye to thinning the crop, the blossom buds can readily be distinguished from the leaf buds, as the former are much more plump and round than the latter. A well developed shoot usually has three buds together in its best parts, a leaf bad in the center with a blossom bud on each side of it and close up to it. When snch shoots are shortened to about two-thrids or one-half their length four or five of the leaf or wood buds

toward the end of the cut will push out vigorously, so that in the succeeding pruning it may be necessary to thin oat the top by removing some of these shoots entirely. Judgment and practice will determine this. The work eau be performed in February or March, any time the wood is not frozen. —Stockman and Funner.

THE POULTRY-YARD. A Cheap Fonlti'if-floune. I have rec ently built a small poultryhouse, writes a> correspondent qf tho Western Rural, which is decidedly the most comfortable’ winter quarters,for, poultry I bavo seen, when the cost is taken into consideration. The.house is Hxl<> feet insido nnd is built as follows: AVhite oak posts split in the forest from trees a foot,in diameter, making four posts to the cut, nnd eight foot long, sot four feet apart and afoot and a half deep. Streamers ljx3 inches are nailed to the posts near the ground, in tho middle, and at the top of posts on the outside. Common oak boxing Ixl2 inches wide is nailed to the streamers and cracks stripped ; with strips 4x3 inches. Space l is left on tho south side for a door and window and two small windows in the ends. Tho inside of tho house is ceiled with tho same kind of boxing, oak, Ixl2 inches. This ceiling is put on horizontally, not upright ns the outside boxing, and is nailed to the posts. Put the first board of ceiling down on the ground, or a little in the ground is better. After it is fastened to the posts, fill the space between the boxing and ceiling with sawdust, and ■ jam down tight and firm with a little hand maul. Then put on another plank or two, and put in more sawdust, and continue until yon get to the top of the posts. Joist are then put across, and a loft laid of the same boxing, and this loft is covered with sawdust to the depth of four or five inches. A large window in the sonth side near tho ground and a small window in each end near the joist secure ample ventilation. The house is covered with a good shingle roof. A good board roof would answer as well. The roosting poles are three-fourths inch iron rod, wrapped with strips of heavy woolen cloth. This cloth is saturated occasionally with coal oil. I have ono of the roosts wrapped with strips of sheepskin with the wool on, cut about two inches wide. I like the sheepskin as well, if not better that the woolen cloth. This house is warm and comfortable, and I expect to have an abundance of eggs all the winter. Plymouth Bock pullets hatched last May are at present making daily contributions to the 1 egg-basket.

Poultry Notes. Rice is a good healthy food for growing chickens, and is inexpensive. Give the fowls a chance to scratch and wallow; it is their nature to do so. Shavings sprinkled with diluted carbolic acid will make a nest free from vermin. Do not keep ducks in the same house with chickens, nor in the kitchen garden, except they be very young duck. They are then the most valuable insect exterminators known. Nothing comes amiss to them. ThE egg shell is porous, and any filth on it very soon affects the meat. Eggs should be cleaned as soon as gathered, if at all soiled, and those to be put up for winter should be eggs which have been gathered as soon as laid. It is said that a teaspoonful of glycerine and a few drops of nitric acid to a pint of drinking water will generally cure a fowl that shows symptoms of bronchitis, when accompanied by gurgling sound in the throat, as if choking. Poultry farming ought to be conducted in connection with ordinary farming; it is its only chance, and there are many reasons why it ought to succeed in this way as why it is likely to fail under other circumstances. The extraordinary question is, why the smaller occupiers of the land who know the enormous consumption of geese, turkeys, and fowls in this country, and to whom the returns they are likely to make are not to be disregarded, make no attempt to increase the number and improve the quality of the poultry they already have.

THE HOUSEHOLD. Hot Weather Housekeeping. Butter needs to be kept cool as well as fresh. To put it in salt water hardens it better than anything except ice. To put it in a basin that stands in salt water is not quite so effectual, but avoids the difficulty of putting it actually under water. Green vegetables soon become flabby and stale in hot weather owing to evaporation from tho leaves. This is soon cured by fresh cutting the 6talks and putting them into (not under) the water. Town vegetables are apt to be in worse plight than this, for they are stacked in wagons or trucks, the first to go in being, of course, the last to come out, and there they heat and ferment, and finally arrive at. the consumers’houses in a state of unwholesomeness for which we know no cure. Fruit also ferments, and, like 'everything else, sooner in damp than in dry weather. Children often become ill from' eating fruit, and so all fruit is tabooed, but the beginnings of fermentation or decay ought to be blamed. It is better to keep fruit on wood, not on a china dish, and there should always be space between each, wherever it is possible, and never more than one layer. If it were practicable, it would be better to hang fruit up instead of laying it on anything. Grapes hung up in a dark cupboard can be kept for many weeks, and they spoil in a few days on a dish. Red currants have been preserved in the same way, bnt it is not often worth while to tie each bunch to a string. —Boston Budget. In-door Decorations. It would appear to be a decided error lo adopt flower pots with aggressive colors brilliantly glazed, as they seriously detract from the charm of the plunts, the intensity Of the reflected light overpowering these. * An appropriate frame and one much admired for water-oolor drawings is flat and with blue ground, on which, leaving wide interspaces, raised leaves, stalks, flowers, and fruit in bronze and gilt are scattered in a somewhat informal fashion. Mounted fans in brilliant colors and with mirrored centers set on carved stands, are used for displaying portrait photographs fixed in hidden and shallow paper pockets behind the eurved upper edge. This rainbow arrangement has a good effect. Ornamental forms of wood covered with velvet plush, that serve for wall ornaments, in shape of anchors, crosses, stars, etc., have center adorned with bouquets in artificial flowers;, arid where space allows a small silver thermometer in a silver case is Inserted. “7 : ; ' i- rr Classic ornaments are adapted for library chairs; tea or coffee plants or masques of Ceres, Bacchus, or Comus for card tables used as breakfast tables; designs from mythological history for library and writing tables; broad ornaments, as the bread tree and its fruit forms or the hop plant for dining table; the moresque orfoliage fruit and flowers for drawing-room tables. If the prospect from the windows be not very good a little pale amber and a very faint blue or green stained glass can be arranged in a neat frame and made to fit oyer and cover tbe glass .—Decorator and Furnisher.