Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1894 — FARMS AND FARMERS. [ARTICLE]

FARMS AND FARMERS.

THE CARE OF COW 3. . “Milk fever,” said Ex-Gov. W. D. Hoard to a New Jersey audience, “is » nervous disease. lam satisfied of that from the fact that it follows nervous channels straight through. Around the great mammary gland, and encircling it, is that wonderful network of nerves called sympathetic plexus, passing thence,to the uterus and thence to the spine and the brain; mammary organs, the genital organs and the brain are tied together. Milk fever also ensues, if at all, within three or four days after calving. - I believe the disease starts from a chill, and whenever this chill ensues, from any cause whatsoever, this disease then follows, goes steadily on through this sympathetic plexus until it reaches the spinal marrow. The moment that, spinal marrow is reached paralysis ensues and the cow drops. The cow begins to show signs of mental distubance and insanity before this, and she beats her head and plunges about, and by and by swings her head to one side and dies the victim of her motherhood, perhaps, but in nine times out of ten the victim of stupidity. I have never seen the disease cured, but I have prevented hundreds of cases. I lost a fine cow from the fact that rules I had laid down were violated. I was at that time in the executive chair, and my son telegraphed me: ‘Bonny Beil has a beautiful calf.’ I dropped the State of Wisconsin at once and went home instantly and asked ‘Where is the cow?’ They told me she was down in the pasture, and my heart sank at once. It was in the latter part of May; she was out of doors when she calved, and had been allowed to stay out. We went to her and she was lying down with the calf by her side, and when I got within twenty rods of her I said: ‘She is a dead cow.’ My son laughed at me —boys think the old man don’t know anything, you know. He said: ‘Why, father, you have such notions!’ ‘I suppose I have,’ 1 said, ‘but they cost me something. Step off twenty feet from the cow, and I will show you whether she will have milk fever. Take up the calf and carry it twenty feet.’ I knew that the first effect of milk fever was a shortened range of vision. He took up the calf and stepped off twenty feet, and the cow commenced to turn around and look for her calf. T worked with her all the afternoon and all the night, and the next day she died. Had I been at home I would have seen that her bowels were relaxed, and about a week before she was due to calve I would have put her in a box stall and had her curried as regularly as possible. And right here I want to tell you the value of curry-combing. When you buy a strange cow and bring her home she will be homesick, and you will often lose a portion of her milk. Let the man who is to milk her curry her once or twice a day, and she will say, ‘I have made something by the swap.’ It is one of the best things in the world to relieve the cow of that sense of homesickness, of lonesomeness. I would commence to curry her at once, as by tlrat means she is more contented in the stall; thus I control her mental condition. I. would guard her against a chill, and see that she was not nervously excited. She is given plenty of water and a little food, but only as niubh as would have been easily digested. J. give her oat meal in warm water — all she wants. She is thirsty and feverish and needs moisture, and plenty of it. 1 handle a cow in that way, and I never had a single case of milk fever before. It is a terrible disease. It takers away our wives as well as our . cows, with equal violence, and brings sadness to many a household on account of disregard of the laws that govern maternity.”

MOISTKRE FOIL PLANTS. Plants use large amounts of water, but will not thrive if there is too much of it in the soil. If a plentiful supply of water can be provided, care must be exercised in securing thorough drainage, as an excess of moisture prevents the admission of air into the soil and keeps the ground cold. It is gradually becoming the system to store water and supply it as required, and when this method becomes well known the grower will have control of the necessary moisture and will double his crops. A soil should not contain over 70 per cent, of moisture. There are many ways of irrigating, depending on the kinds of soil. The usual method, on small farms, is Jo connect a hose with the tank and the water to the rows, allowing it> to flow along the rows until the ground is well saturated. On large plots the wafer is conducted to a large ditch, made with a one-horse plow, with smaller ditches leading thereupon down the rows. The details cannot be well described in a short article, but there are works on the subject which should be studied. It may be mentioned, however, that when tho soil is given large applications of fertilizer, agd the moisture applied judiciously, so as not to exceed 70 per cent, of saturation, enormous crops can be grown of all kinds, and the returns will largely exceed the outlay, as well as greatly increase the profits.

APPLES FOB WINTER. Apples should not be difficult to keep during winter. One is not sufficient care in harvesting

the crop. Be sure the apples have matured, and then pick them from the tree in a manner to avoid bruising them in the least. Apples that drop to the ground will rot. as they become injured by the fall. Handle them carefully; select only sound specimens, pack them in.barrels and store them in a cool place. USES OF WEEDS. Weeds are the crop of nature, and are intended to cover the soil and protect it from loss from the influence of the direct rays of the sun. Shading the soil increases fertility by preventing loss. The weeds also assist in reducing the inert matter of the soil to a soluble condition. If plowed under they return this mat- - ter to the soil in fine condition for the next crop. IT IS FAT THAT PAYS. The greatest gain in the weight of cattle is due to increase of fat only. It is when an animal is growing that it gains in weight rapidly. Young steers, from one to two years old, have been known to gain over two pounds a day for months. This is due to the fact that the bones, muscles and all other portions of the body add to the weight as well as does the fat. A large animal that is poor can weigh more than a smaller one that is fat, but it is fat that gives appearance and quality from the buyer’s point of view.

TERSELY PUT.

Apples are usually budded about September, the exact time depending on the state of the bark. It must lift easily, to admit the bud of the better kind, which is to be inserted. The pig that has been on clover in summer, and the hog that has roots and clover hay in the winter, makes larger profits than the grain-eating pig and hog. In the selection of the dairy cows an experienced dairyman advises to beware of small eaters, weakly built frames and fleshy animals, or a tendency to fatten readily, if well fed. The National Dairyman says great care is needed in keeping dairy salt. It absorbs and retains odors as readily as the milk or, cream, and should always be kept in a place free from all bad odors.

The Progressive Bee-Keeper contains the advice of getting all the white honey stored in the sections, and extracting all the dark fall honey, as the latter brings about as much in the market when extracted as it would in the comb. There is a vast difference in the manner of placing anything in the market. A beekeeper says: I have seen choice honey put up in such a slovenly manner as to sell for two cents less than the market price. Again, I have seen honey no better put up in a neat and tasty way so as to bring a cent more than the going price. Those who keep young stock alive through the winter on rough fodder for the sake of the growth they will make next summer should be able to see that the summer growth could be added just as well and much cheaper if the animals _ had been kept growing all winter. You cannot starve a young animal and make it up afterward, If you are supplying “fresh eggs” to customers and happen to find a new nest in the straw pile, or elsewhere, do not put the contents with the fggs you sell. Keep them for home Sse, and you can “try them’’ when breaking. People that buy fresh eggs of private parties do not expect to have to “try ’ them before using—that is why they pay the extra price.