Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1887 — THE FARM. [ARTICLE]

THE FARM.

1 WARM WATKB FOR STOCK. The subject of warming water for stock during the cold weather is just now occupying the attention of farmers. The experiments made are interestirg, and the results are almost universally reported in favor ot the use of < warm water. A correspondent of the American Cultivator sums up the evidence nn the subject thus: “Stock kept in warm stables require warmer water than if they are kept in cold stables, so that this subject is doubling in importance. A cow kept in a warm stable, and turned out to drink ice cold water, 32 degrees, being a temperature of over 60 degrees lower than that of the system, makes a great contrast which must give diaeomlort to the animal and loss to ita owner. The profits of farming are so small that it becomes necessary that all leaks should be looked after,even the small ones,and especially the larger ones, like the one under discussion. In the reading of five agricultural pa pers, and in conversing with many farmers, I find all are unanimous in the opinion that our stock should be provided with tepid or warm water, but the degree of temperature to which it should be raised becomes a question upon which writers do not ag.ee, though none seem i o know, or are positive,varying in their opinions from 50 to 113 degrees. An average opinion seems to be from 60 to 80 degrees. It is also agreed that in warming the water a saving is made in the feed, if nothing more. Nearly all believe there is a saving in fl-*sh, milk, and the manure pile, in addition to the feed. 1 ‘ I have seen but one estimate of the value of the feed Saved daily per cow, and that was eight cents, which would amount to several millions of dollars in every State yearly, a sum worth saving; and this sum, be it remembered, is net gain, after the expense of warming the water is taken out. One writer says that he drew all the water that forty cows drank for one winter one mile from a spring, rather than have them drink from a river near oy, and be thought it paid him well.

The result of an experiment at an agricultural school in France showed an increase in milk of one-third, the water being warmed to 113 degrees. Other parties claim an increase of from 20 to 39 per cent At. the Agricultural College in Kansas an experiment resulted in the increase of milk 8} per cent., the water being warmed to 65 degrees. Another experiment in France showed an increase m milk of three pints daily per cow by warming the water instead of usipg punip water. Professor J. P. Roberts, of Cornell U 5 liyersity, says: “Th g water consumed by two sets of cows, containing three animals each, was weighed for a period of thirteen days. One set drank an average of 110 pounds of cold water each day sper cow, and the other set an average of 120 pounds of warm water ner cow each day.” I have another statement that cows will drink onethird more when water is warmed to 8b degrees than they will at 32 degrees, and that the milk will increase onefifth to one-fourth and without deterioration. Another statemeni: “A cow that makes six pounds of butter a week on cold water will make seven pounds if the water is warmed.” As milk is from 80 to 90 per cent, water, it is well to look after the quantity, quality and temperature of the water consumed. A few years since, a Mr. Dancel communicated to the French Academy of Sciences an experiment to show the increase of milk by the increase of water consumed. He found when the game amount, of food was liberally moistened, it produced more milk than when fed dry, and the milk was adjudged to be of as good quality. Again, Mr. Dancel asserts that the yield of milk from cows is in direct proportion, to the quantity of water taken. He also says that cows which habitually drink less than twenty-seven quarts of water per day are necessarily poor cows. Such cows will give from five to seven quarts of milk daily, while cows that drirk fifty qurats prove to be excellent milkers. This *■ xperiment was tried in the summer. This subject is fraught with much importance to larmers, and it should receive due consideration. Here is an open field for some inventive genius to devise some apparatus for the wanning of water for stock which shall combine four qualities, cheapness, durability, practicability, and safety. There are a few devices for that purpose already before the public which no doubt have merits. CABBAGES FOB FEEDING COWS. The Farming World, of Edinburg, Scotland, discusses at some length the value of cabbages in feed ing cows. The editor asserts of knowledge that this vegetable may be fed liberally to cows wirhoutgivingany taint or iH-flavor to the milk or butter. This is on the assumption, of coursa, that the cabbages are fresh and in sound condition, for rotton cabbages would be certain to effect the milk. The. editor then jtoes bages are not far more extensively grown as a field crop. They are as easy to grow as turnips, and at least twice as val nah le when grown. For dairy cows in winter and spring, and also for ewea

,tnd lambe, there is no feed to equal them One of the hindrances to a more extended cultivation of cabbages, is the mistaken idea that they can not be preserved against frost, except in a bam or other building specially prepared for them. The crop is one which can be perfectly secured in the field or elsewhere without much trouble or expense. Taking them up and replanting them in a sloping manner, and covering them with straw, pitting them; hanging them up in a barn; turning them bead downward, and covering them with eanh, leaving the,roots sticking up in the airare among the methods of storing we have seen praeticed. But every one of these plans is attended with great labor, aud some of them forbid the bone of being able to preserve any considerable quantity. , The most successful plan in this: TTirow up a 8orfol"ff®^?"" the plow, and make it pretty s hard on top. Upon this land lay some straw. Then take the cabbages, turn them up-side-down, and after taking ofi any decayed leaves, place them, about six abreast upon the straw. Then cover them, not very thickly with straw or leaves raked up in the woods, throwing here and there a spadeful of earth on the top, to keep the covering from being blown off by the wind. Only put on enough of stra'W oi leaves o hide all the green, leaving the cabbage roots sticking up through the covering. Stored in this way cabbages of all sort? will be found i<> keep well through the winter. Abd not only do they keep better in this than in any other way, but they are at ail times ready for use. They are never locked up by frost, as often happens with those pitted in the earth; and they are never found rotting, as is often the case with those stored with their heads upward and their roots in the ground. Ordinarily no reliance is placed upon cabbages for use ae a cattle food later than the month of December. The bulk of this crop is so large that storing in buildings of any sort is not to be thought of. Besides, the cabbages so put together in large masses would heat and quickly rot. In some gardens, indeed, cabbages are put into houses, where they are hung up by the roots; but they wither in this state or soon putrify. By adopting the mode of storing recommended above, however, all these inconveniences are avoided. Any quantity may be stored, in the field or elsew here, at a very trifling expense compared with the bulk of the crop. . - ■ ■ '■ BOPP AMONG FOWTJB. To the correspondent wrifng to us for directions for the cure of roup, we commend the following remarks of the Poultry World: “Misfortunes never come singi".” This is especially true of the roup, for very seldom is it, either b<-cause the disease is contagious_or be-., cause the same operates to produce this eflect upon quite a number of the fowls, that the roup attacks a single fowl. Generally several are affected at once, and the breeder has plenty oi trouble on hand without borro r imr any. Vigorous measures are strictly in order, but after the removal of the affected fowl or fowls, the first thing to be done is to seek for the cause of the disease, and when found to remove it. Roqp may generally be traced to want of cleanliness, improper ventilation or undue exposure; and the poultryman who has provided against these causes is reasonably safe against the roup. But it sometimes happens that the cause is obscure and difficult to find. In such cases the wants of the fowls should be carefully looked after, and a little tonic given in the food, with a few drops of aconite in the water. The diseased fowls, separated from the rert, should be given comfortable quarters and be properly treated. Perhaps as sensible treatment as any would be first of all to cause them to inhale the flumes of cresoline; then to open the bowels with a good dose of castor oil; after which keep the, eyes and nostrils washed out with chlorinated soda diluted in water, an 1 administer German roup pills according to directions. A few drops of aconite may be added to the drink. If a fowl is treated in this way it will recover from the roup if the case is curable. But no medicine and no system of treating can cure every case of roup. Some will die, do whatever you may. MANAGEMEMT O» HORSKB. A professional horse trainer in conversation with a New Orleans reporter said: “The two principal indications of a horse’s actions are the eye and the ear. If he is inclined to become sulky the muscles will be rigid and the ears motionless till he makes up his mind what- he is going to do, then they ears will begin to work. If a horse is mad there is a glassy look to the eye and the white will turn red. “Horses are naturally averse to the control of man. They know nothing of the various ways by which the are taught, only when they are shown. The horse is easily encouraged in the right direction when fed and petted at the proper time. Kindness cannot be got along without, bnt must not be administered at the wrong time. If a horse bites or kiexs at you and you pat him, he If caught right in the act and cuffed, made to straighten up and behave himself, then he learns that he is well treated when he does behave and punished whST

“I do not think that high broading has anything to do with high intelligence. Take, for instance, a thcroughbred horse he will take as naturally to cunning as a bulldog to wst< king. A. bulldog <ill take to watching readily, but it is hard to teach him tricks. “My ex;>eiience has been that horses that are bred for no particular purpose take to; all kinds of feats and most readily;/ Horses oi different dispositions are taught diflerent classes of tricks. “Professor, did you ever ut-e any drugs in the management of VQqr horses? ’ , “A good many years ago I tried ‘Oil of RhodiunP and ‘Oil of Onmmin,’ but I never AMJUId discover that any benefit was derived from either. I would rather have apples twice over than any drug that has over been advertised. Drugs have as vicious effects upon aniI have tried morphine Hypodermically on some vicious horses with excellent eflect, while on others it has acied in precisely an opposite wav. You can never tell how it will operate until you. have experimented, which makes' it dangerous.”