Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1890 — NOTES FOR HUSBANDMEN. [ARTICLE]

NOTES FOR HUSBANDMEN.

An Hour With the Busy Parmer and the Housewife. Education deeded for the Dairy Business— Diseases of the Potato—House Plants in Summer—Look After the Bees—Farm and Household Hotes and Hints* Dairy Education. The capital invested in the dairy interests of the state of New York, is estimated at $400,000,000. The profit which her dairymen and farmers derive from the investment, is much smaller than it might be. Neither in quantity nor in quality, are the products what they ought to be, and what is true of New York in this regard, is true in other dairy states. The cooperative creamery system, is, whereever it is introduced, improving the yield. The slovenly processes of butigr making practiced by - farmers at home, by which butter of all grades and much of it below grade, was produced, have been replaced by the cleanly, systematic modern methods of the factory, and higher prices and correspondingly larger profits are realized. But a creamery can be successfully maintained only in a community, where a number of well-stocked adjacent farms exist. Where these farms are scattered, as is frequently the case, the butter is made at home; where neither the theory or the practice of the art is understood. How to reach these farms,„ how to instruct their inmates, reform their butter processes and improve their products? These are felt to be tmestions of cardinal importance. Here as elsewhere among those who pursue our vocation, ignorance and indifference are the great obstacles to overcome. Ignorance of the fundamental principles of milk, butter and cheese production, and indifference as to the importance of a careful observance of the principles. The great dairy county of Chashire, in England has a Dairy Institute, the sessions of which are held on farms engaged for the purpose. But two instructors are needed during the season, the manager, a gentleman, who teaches cheese-making and the butterteacher w'nb is a lady. With the view of bringing the advantages of the Institute within the reach of all, the terms are $2:50 per week.

—■ Scab In the Potato. Some very interesting experiments have been conducted by Prof. J. C. Arthur of the New York experimental station at Geneva, on the cause of the trouble known as the scab in the potato. This h-is been, believed to be due to fungus action, or to minute insects, the believers in neither being able, as Prof. Arthur suggests, to give any reason for the faith that is in them. The author reminds us that a potato may lie for days exposed to the full sun, and yet not shrink in the slightest degree. It will resist, the most exsiccating efforts to induce evaporation. He finds tnis to result from the impervious character of the thin skin covering the tuber. It is in a delicate layer of cork. The cells composing it are fiat, in seven or more layers, fitting together so closely as to leave no space between, and without a trace of the starchy matter so abundant in the great mass of the potato tuber. Jtjs the destruction of these cells "that causes the scab. No trace of fungus growth appears through any of the destructive stages, nor is there any trace of insect depredation. Just what does bring i about the destruction of the .eellS-Prof. Arthur was not able to discover; but it is certainly neither of the influences that hive been attributed to it So I far as his observations went, he found more scab i* potatoes where stable manure had been employed as a fertilizer than elsewhere. This leads j him to suppose that it is some chemical element combatting the waterproof character of the cuticle that causes the trouble. Just as in other dermic wounds, the potato has the power of he ding these by forming new skin under that which has been I destroyed, by transforming the starch- j bearing cells to these flat, corky ones. This can readily be shown by macerating a potato in water when the scab is pushed off, and the clear, smooth I skin exposed beneath. Enemies or tlie Cabbage. The caterpillars of the cabbage ' moth do great mischief by eating the hearts of the cabbages and cauliflowers, rendering them totally unfit for use. Hand-picking and dusting the plants with newly slacked lime are the •best means by which these destructive insects can be kept in check. Another Insect injurious to the leaves, and especially so to cabbage ana broccoli, is a minute fly, It is very abundant from midsummer to the end of autumn, and from going through all of its changes in less than a month, its numbers increase with alarming rapidity. Cutting off and burning the infected leaves is the only way of arresting its progress. There nre several ether kinds of caterpillars besides the above which attack the cabbage tribe, all of which may be kept in •check by judicious hand-picking. Snails and slugs attack ail the varieties of cabbage, and frequently prove very destructive. The best mode of destroying them consists in dusting the plants and ground about them with newly slaked lime or fresh sawdust The formation of protuberances on the roots, usually termed clubbing, is the most destructive disease to which the cabbage tribe is subject It is ascribed to one or more species of insects, maggots being generally found in the tubercles. Lime, wood ashes, soot nitrate of soda and common salt are considered to be useful applications to the soilln which cabbages, etc., are to be known, and ma 1 unquestionably is so. ' 1

Ilou.e Plant* In Summer. Whether greenhouse end window plants Ir general should be kept in their pots or turned into the open .grounds for the sum mer depends upon

f what is desired of them. Probablj most plants can be trained into bettei form in pots than in the open ground, and if one does not care for the labor, but seeks the best results in the form of his plants, continuous pot culture ii the best. But to lesson labor mosl gardeners now turn their greenhouse plants out of pots and into the open border for summer, ,and repot about the first of September. As a rater plants are cut back when so turned out. Azaleas may need attention to pruning some iittlo time before they are put out, We prefer to plunge the pots of azaleas in sand in the gardens and not to turn them out, though some gardeners do so. Before these plant* are turned out, and when they have done blooming, the weak wood can be cut out and the shoots shortened, and a top dressing of about an inch of fresh soil be given.—Vick’s Magazine.

This disease may attack many ol our domestic %nimals. It is contagious and ’is caused by a minute insect burrowinjf'unffer'lhe skin. "'LiveTEock closely confined in winter quarters are more liable to spread the disease. Animals thus affected should be separated and treated persistently till cured. The affected parts should be thoroughly cleansed with soap and water, dried, and have well rubbed in an ointment made of lard half a pound, flowers of sulphur four ounces, and crude carbolic acid two drachms. This applied daily, after perfect cleansing, on the hairy parts of animals. Washing is not a a momentary work, hut requires the free use of “elbow-grease.” The insect must be reached to be destroyed, and nothing but a thorough scrubbing can expose the little tormentor to the destructive application of the remedy.

Prevalence of Blight in Potatoes.From some experiments reported last year there is reason for believin g that fresh dirt thrown upon potato leaves when wet started the mildew on the leaf, which later in the season results in blight This suggests a caution as to the policy of covering potatoes after they are up, or even of dragging over the vines, as has of late years been quite generally practiced by the best farmers. It has been mainly since thfc prevalence of these methods of potato cultivation that the blight has been most destructive. 7 Let A part of the field atteast bej-exempt"’ from cultivating when wet or dragging at any-time so that these may be compared or contrasted with the others. On Bees and Honey. There is more profit in bees than in raising live stock on a farm. Bees board themselves and lay up surplus honey for their owner. My bees, says an Ohio beekeeper, often give me from 20 to 40 and sometimes 60 pounds per hive. When I started with bees I bought six colonies, paid S6O for them, and made the first year 85 per cent., the second year I made 500 per cent, on them. This I never made out of my cows, horses, hogs, or poultry, Thousands of pounds of honey is wasted in the United States every year for want of bees to gather it. I hope farmers and others will wake up and keep bees and reap a harvest.

Gape* In Chickens. Gapes are caused by a minute worm in the windpipe. It is generally produced by filth or neglect. If taken in time, as soon as the chick is noticed to gape and snebze, it can be cured. Give the chick every two hours a few drops of diluted camphor or turpentine, taking care to get some in the windpipe. The odor will, as a rule, kill the worm, and the chick can then easily dislodge it. English fanciers ijecommend corn meal boiled, into which a tallow candle has been stirred, then food cold.

Farm Notes. • Bohemian oats possess no merit over other kinds, and farmers should be cautious before paying extra prices for such seed. When a hog loses appetite it may be that all he requires is a lump of charcoal. Charcoal should always be kept where the hogs can eat it at will. A market gardener in suburban New York, who devotes his care exclusively to raising celery, thyme, parsley, etc., is said to have made $75,000 in the last ten years. Though not considered a remedy,the free use of lime around cabbage plants will assist greatly in keeping the maggot away, Scattered liberally over onions, lime checks the ravages of the onion fly. The crops grown should be in accordance with the demand of your nearest market, but this rule does not apply where articles can be shipped to other points at a low cost. The markets should be carefully observed and prices noted. It is claimed that land plaster is a special fertilizer for cabbages: If this is true there is no reason for neglecting such a crop, as plaster is as cheap as lime. Plaster is excellent for clover and grasses,, and its use has always been beneficial compared with its cost

In the garden, if the plot is small, a saving of labor may be made by the frequent use of the rake, which will effectually destroy young and tender weeds thus dispensing with the more laborious use of the hde later. When the ground is kept well raked the young plants will better endure the lack of rain. .Never make an expenditure on the farm without having an object in view and a knowledge of what may be the result All experiments should be made on a small dot, and the cost noted carefully. While some are successful in producing extra large crops, yet they failed to secure profits because of expenditures injudiciously made, v. It is well to remind turkey raisers that it is not the large turkeys that bring the highest prices, but those oi medium size and in good condition. The large turkeys will excel in weight, but the smaller, plump, fat turkeys sell at higher rates per pound. The quality and condition are the prime factors. Begin feeding the turkers In the barnyard, and give them all the grain they will eat