Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 November 1887 — FARM NOTES. [ARTICLE]

FARM NOTES.

The best way to kill willows is to peel them three or feet from the ground to the earth, severing the bark from the tree, which should be done the latter part of the Spring, leaving the trees to stand, which die and make excellent ) stove-wood. j There are immense forests of Ifemlock in Oregon and Washington Territory, but the bark is said to be nearly destitute of tannin, and therefore useless for maufacturing leather. The mos lannin is found in the hemlocK of Maine, and the further west the trees gro w the less tannin is to be found. A large crop of chinch bugs was raised on the lowa agricultural farm this season. The number found on one square inch of soil sewn to Hungarian grass was found by actual count to be 3,023. Who said agricultural colleges are of no value to farmers, and that the professors in them do not earn their salaries? '■ Where the weeds have been mowed and become dry it would be best to burn the field where they fell rather than to do so in heaps, if they had seeded before being mowed, as burning them in that manner will destroy a large number of seeds which would be shaken out on the ground if the weeds should be heaped in piles. A farmer in the south of England recently fell down a precipice, a distance over sixty feet, and was dashed to pieces by coming in contact with the rocks. His collie, . dog went to the body and barked till 1•h id called the neighbors. He piloted them down to the place where his master lay, followed the body home, and kept watch over it till it was placed in the grave. Dorset sheep have been recommended for raisingin the Southern States, principally for the reason that they breed twice a year. In the east of England the lambs dropped in the fall are sold at high prices during the midwinter holidays, and are a source of great profit to the farmers. Obviously there would be no profit in fall lambs when winters are as cold as they~are~i’n - the” Northern States;

The Russian mulberry must have the credit of being really by far the haridest of the mulberries, ft is but little injured by our severest winters. Its fruit does not amount to ui'.;.-., but it makes a pretty small tree, and if silk cultureever gets a foothold in America, it will extend the possibility of producing that commodity some two, hundred miles further-north than heretofore. Very elastic caoutchouc tubing /gradually loses some of its elasticity. Later, the tubes break on stretching, even if previously laid in warm water, aiiif finally they crack if pressed between the fingers. This change is put down to a very slow formation of sulphuric acid by the action of moist air on the sulphur contained in the caduthbuc. By fre queni; washing with, slightly alkaline waler the action of the acid is prevented In his annual message the Governor

of Wyoming notes the decadence of the cattle business ss compared with former years, and says that the hard winters and s arcity of food are bringing about the result of confining the cattle more to one locality, where they can be sheltered and fed in the winter. The cattle in this way becoming partially domesticate d, will, he thinks, increase in numbers, and the time is near at hand whefl ■there will be more cattle’to the square mile m Wyoming than ever before. The potato bug made two simultaneous appearances in Germany this year one in Saxony and one in Hanover. The German government at once had men at work, who carefully picked all the bugs and larvae off the plants. The stems of the vines were then cut off,and placed in baskets flined with sacking, which were thoroughly soaked in benzine oil, and buried deep in the ground. After this the ground was plowedbwelve of fourteen inches deep, and well harr o wed. an it the surface pi eked o verier any insects that might bepn.it. Finaßy the land was well saturated with benzine oil. In one case eight acres and Jn another three quarters of an acre hiyl to be treated in this way. J Even reckotiitigmiakes la-itin:' friends and the way to make reckonings is to make them often.