Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 December 1888 — THE FARM AND HOME. [ARTICLE]

THE FARM AND HOME.

The theory of the winter feeding of animal* for the employment of otherwise profitable labor and the manure as well as the increased growth and value of the stock, is good and seems based on the common sense; but practice only will tell whether the theory is sound or not. One must look closely after the l work and see that it is done thoroughly. It won’t do to trust to help; one must see there are no leaks himself. Again, if the feeder could be his own butcher and retailer he would be apt _to find the profits if there were any; but as things are now managed, the middle men retailers will not deal outside of the regular channels without jewing down the prices as low as possible. They will tell you that cow beef is not worth as much as steer beef by two or three cents a pound and will not buy unless at that reduction; but they will turn around and sell you or any one e se a cut from your own cow at the same price at which they sell steer beef. If a man can be his own feeder, butcher and retailer, he can find a profit in the business no doubt. To pay it must be made a business conducted on business principles. Indian corn is, all things considered, the best plant we have for silo purposes, but that, next to this, stands the common red clover, which indeed possLsrcs some possible advantages over the corn. Our farmers usually find considerable difficulty in curing it because qf rains, which greatly increase the labor of Harvesting, and rapidly spoil the, product. The silo offers means of saving all the food value of the clover ata very low cost. The green clover, fresh from the mower, can be bunched with the horse rake, or, better yet, with the old-fashioned revolving rake and loaded at once on wagons and hauled to the silo where it can be loaded without first putting through the cutter. By these means no leaves are shattered, and all the food value is retained excepting what may ba lost by fermentation.

Says a writer in the Rural New Yorks er, relative to the one crop idea: I believe that the man who comes nearest to producing all the necessaries of life at home comes nearest to being independent. His surplus he is not compelled to sell for anything he can get, but he can choose his market and season, unless it may be something that is quickly perishable. From my standpoint I may not ba competent t 6 judge of this matter, as I can run my plow from New Year’s till Christmas and make two or three crops on the same land every year. I have an open range for stock, and there are only about three months in the year during which my Btoqk.. care anything for hay. I get beef butter and milk from the cows, fatten hogs on the potato patch and peanuts, and in the winter turn a whole dressed hog, pound for pound, into Western salt-side. I get sugar and syrup from the cane, chickens and eggs from our Brown Leghorns,. etc., etc. The professors at the Agricultural Collegeat Champaign, 111., have taken great pains to ascertain how deep the roots of winter wheat go. They find that they go down six to seven feet. It has also been shown in Illinois that when winter wheat is grown upon land 'which is tile drained the roots of wheat frequently go down to the tile, four to six feet, and enter the tile joints in such vast numbers that the tiles are choked -with roots, entirely stopping the flow of water. The sleeping places of the swine need attention. Fresh straw or other litter used for bedding should be given them frequently in cold weather. If not changed, they are better off with none.

Writing of valuable neglected apples an orchardist says that the Newtown is the chief among them. “In flavor and long-keeping qualities I believe it yet .stands unequaled; and still the variety is half forgotten and neglected in over half of our American orchards to-day. In some way it has become credited with a reputation of variableness and uncertainty, undeservedly, I think, to a large extent, but so surely as to crowd it from the ave rage market orchard. It is a slow grower at first, and will not bear young. Aside from that, I know of no faults or failures peculiar to the Newtown, which cannot be obviated by ordinary care and culture. It is a sure bearer and yields a heavy crop of fine fruit each alternate year after the tree is once well established.” With reference to the application of manure, it is evident that the greatest quantity of soluble matter should be applied to the plants which grow' the quickest, and the substances which are most soluble to those plants which take out manure the most quickly, and apply those substances which are least soluble to those plants which take out the manure most slowly. Within certain limits the more your manure is de- - composed the more soluble it becomes. When you first lay it down it is nearly insoluble, but by the Continuous action which takes place the various substances are rendered much more soluble, so that it will act much more quickly. Therefore rotted dung ought rather to be ■ used for those plants v hich you;wish to grow quickly, and dung notrso much decomposed for plants of slower growth. In using hot or cold applications to an injury to the joint of a horse’s leg by

kick or otherwise, select cold or warm, and use that continuously. If there is no stiffness or lameness, the swelling will probably soon entirely disappear without further treatment, r If not, apply mi mild stimulating liniment once or twice a week, but do not blister. One ounce each of aqua ammonia, olive oil, Castile soap and camphbr in a pint of spirits, will be excellent for this purpose,;* Finally, if a small lump or thickening of the skin should remain after two or three months, apply tincture of iodine once a week.

In answer to the question as to what is the best feed for a Holstein bull calf the Rural New Yorker says middlings would be rather better than bran to feed in connection with oats, as they contain rather more of heat-producing elements and oats are rich flesh-formers. We should much prefer to feed the oats whole and the middlings sprinkled over roots or silage. We consider some green food as a highly important constituent of the ration of young breeding animals during the first winter. It secures a development Of the digestive organs that it is very hard to get in any other way.

' BRIEFS. Bees never injure sound fruit. Pigs running at large rarely destroy their young. Wheat bran is useful for pregnant sows and tends to cool the system. Think for yourself instead of accepting an idea because some popular author said so. 4. Some stirring of the soil is needed after every rain or corn and potatoes will suffer. » The orchard plowed every year has most of its feeding roots just below the reach of the plow. While new bark is being formed on the grafts the girdle place should be covered with soil to exclude air. ; As soon as the leaves appear the destruction of the roots by plowing or by anything else is a great check to the vitality of the tree. ' -*• The large proportion of husk in oats keeps them from clogging the stomach, even of stock that has too poor digestion for thriving on corn. In plowing among apple trees a great difference is noticeable between those thoroughly cultivated and those neglected a few years, as to the position of their roots. Pigs will prefer oate to corn, if both are given together, but the pig is not the best judge of what is adapted to his needs. The oats should, however, be at least full weight to give the best results. In a tree girdled all around, four or five grafts should be inserted; they should be of the same variety as the tree is grafted to, and to make suie of this had better be cut from the tree to be operated upop. Some farmers drag down the drill marks before sowing grass seed, and claim to get better results. Others, who do not, find their timothy standing in rows the subsequent spring, showing as plain!; as the bones on a half-starved horse.