Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1889 — FARM AND HOME. [ARTICLE]

FARM AND HOME.

FXBDINa CALVBB. Tke following, fromihp Utica Herald, will be of interest at this season Io winter dairymen who want to raise their calves / . 1 . The important point in raising calves, at whatever season they may have been dropped, is to give the animala fair start in life, for which purpose nothing equals milk as it is taken from the cow. Though some practice separating the calf from the cow the day after it is dropped, it is generally preferable to let it run with the cow for four or five days, taking all the milk. At least this period ought to elapse after a calf is dropped before the milk will be fit for use as human food. After separating the calf from the cow new milk should be liberally fed at least two weeks, and if this can be continued even longer it is advisable. No substitute for new milk should be given under two weeks. After that, however, more economical food may be compounded, if desired, and the calf will still thrive. If skim milk can not be afforded the calf will thrive on more liberal feeding.

Willard says that if whey and oil meal be properly prepared it can be made to serve as a good substitute for milk. The whey should be dipped off when sweet from the vat, then bring it to the boiling point and tnrn it' upon tbe meal. Let the mixture stand till night, then teed. In the morning whey sweet from the vat may be fed. At tbe commencement a little less than a pint of meal per day will be sufficient for four calved' This may be gradually increased until each calf has a daily ration of a pint. At first it is better not to feed calves all the whey they can drink at a time. A large feed of whey clbgs the appetite and deranges the health. A half pail of whey at first' is enough for a feed, which may be increased to three-fourths of a pail at a time as the calf increases in age. When whey is not to be had for feeding young calves, the following is sometimes used. Take three quarts of linseed meal and four quarts oi bean meal and mix with thirty quarts of boiling water, when it is left to digest twenty-four hours, and is then poured into a boiler on the fire having thirty-one quarts of boiling water. It is here boiled for half an hour, being stirred with a perforated paddle so as to prevent lumps and produce perfect incorporation. It is then set aside to cool, and is given blood warm. When first used it is mixed, with milk in a small quantity. The milk is gradually decreased till they get the mucilage only. Indian meal may be used in place of bean meal. Buckwheat meal cooked into a porridge and added to whey is reported to have been used with good results. x It is considered as desirable to hasten maturity of the young animals by good feeding and care, so that they will come into milk at two years, as such heifers make better milkeis than those that come in at three years, beside the profit of milk for an extra season.

POTATO GBOWINO. The great mistake of those who begin the cultivation of potatoes is that they do not commence soon enough. They find the price high at planting time; conclude then that a Crop will be a profitable investment, plow the land, buy seed at a high price, put it in with as little care as possible, and generally make a failure. Either the crop is poor, or tbe price at selling time is low, as it is very apt to be when seed potatoes are dear. If we wanted to give the best assurance of a successful result we would reverse every one of the conditions herein specified. Plant most freely when potatoes at planting time are cheap. The preparation of the ground ought to begin at least the fall before. If it is a sod, cover it liberally with whatever manure can be spared. Most of this will, by the next spring, work its way down through the soil, fertilizing and making active the fertility in the.particles as it follows down the grass or clover roots. The shelter to the surface will make the grass leaves turn pale, and as soon as the land is plowed the manure and grass roots will cause a rapid fermentation that will keep the soil moist all summer. On land thus prepared the grower is reasonably sure of a profit whether the selling price of potatoes is high or low. He will grow them as cheap as anybody, and it is cheap growing, not high prices, that insure potato profits.

CAKK or MXADOWS. If dry weather continues long after hay has been cut meadows become injured by drought, a condition noticeable in the dull yeliow appearance of the stubble. To increase the injury cattle are often turned in after harvest not only to eat the fresh grass that comes up in moist places, but tramp over the whole field, prevent growth and shade at a season whon the roots most need protection. After such treatment often comes the complaint that red clover kills out in winter, or certain grasses do not thrive. To produce good thrifty meadows, it is always necessary that a liberal growing be maintained if the latter part of the summer is usually dry, and when hay has been cut late meadows suffer the greatest injury. Stock should never be allowed to run on a meadow until the dry season is over and a good even growth of second crop is well established. An excellent practice with some of our best farmers is to top dress with well rotted manure immediately

after the crop has been removed. Any one who never practiced top dressing will be surprised at results, after once giving it a trial. M <nure from the cattle stable is always the best to hold moistnre. Where it has been spread the effect is quite noticeable, and the soil underneath will be found moist during a very dry season.—Practical Farmer. * ■; NOTBS. Do not let poultry roost on the beams in the barn or over the carriage any longer. > An application of dry mannre, it is said, will stop the bleeding of wounds on stock. Daring the first four months of this year Russia exported grain to the value Of 177,685,750. It is well to recollect that old orchards cannot be conveniently plowed, but need manuring. > Fall plowed soil is in a tillable condition much earlier than that which is broken up in the spring. Every day that stock is fed counts on the expenses, and no loss should be allowed on account oPneglect. Beans in large quantities are being sent from California to supply the deficiencies in the Eastern states. Dq not burily off into the woods to work until everything necessary about the barn is done in good shape. A small dish of charcoal placed in your meat larder will keep the articles sweet and wholesome almost as well as ice. Letting animals hold their present condition with the intention of giving them a start Tater is a lordng business. Mulch strawberries the last thing before the permanent snowfall; some snow under the mulch is not objectionable. As early as March 8 the shipments of apples from this country to England exceeded the shipments in any whole season since the winter of 1880 ’Bl. It is a mistake to conclude that sheep will thrive under neglect The better care given them the better profit from them is not r_iore true of other stock than of sheep. When a man is frightened or angry his digestive organs do not work; this is also true of an animal—hence the profit in keeping it in a peaceful and fearless state by kind treatment Notwithstanding the high price oi hogs a year ago, which everybody thought would greatly increase the production, less hogs are being marketed now than at a corresponding period last vear.