Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 February 1895 — FARMS AND FARMERS. [ARTICLE]

FARMS AND FARMERS.

/ ONI CROP OH MANY. .. ' Farm News. There is a very ancient piece of advice against carrying all our eggs Ito market in one basket, which is frequently quoted. Some later sage has advised that the eggs be all put .’in one basket and the basket be very closly watched; Between the two who shall decide which is the better advice? Farmers are confronted with a very' similar problem when trying to determine to what use they shall-put-their lands. In one comm unity dairying is profitable, more so thah any other industry. In another, corn is the best single crop; in another, cotton, or tobacco, or wheat, or something else, and all over the country we find large sections devoted almost exclusively to one or the other of these industries almost to the exclusion of anything else. What the farmer in one of these sections does not grow on his own land in the way of necessaries he must buy of some ~~oth e r fa rln er, and th i s inak es bus! nessbrisker r4out--I-Yer.y-4iMJch.doubt-if it is an economical way of promoting t a 10, for b ween” the two producers lie the middleman and the railroad, and the risks incident to transportation, and all these must be paid by the consumer or deducted from the price received by the producer, and it sometimes looks as if both producer and consumer bore these charges to the profit of those between. If the corn grower should produce less corn and more of other things that he must have, he would no doubt be better off at the end of the year, though he might not have so many; loads of corn to haul to market or so many hogs to sell. If the cotton planter produced bis own cornmeal and bacon and all that was used on the plantation by tenants he would not have so much five-cent cotton to sell, but his expenses would be less, and possibly the shortage thus made in the cotton crop would cause the price to come td a figure that would be more profitable than it now is. It seems to me that as matters now stand the man who practices diversified farming has much the best of it and is nearer the ideal independent farmer than is the one who places bis whole dependence on one crop. The mark, who practices diversified farming saves paying transportation charges on things that he must buy if he does not produce them; he has something to rely- on in ease of the failure on any ode crop, for a universal crop failure is almost unknown where, diversified farming is followed and be saves the hauling to market the things that he must buy if he does not produce-them. It-is all right to talk about putting all our eggs in one basket and watching the basket, but when the eggs are represented by a crop that is our only dependence, no amount of watching will prevent drouhts, floods, cyclones, hot winds or insect ravages, as the case may be, atid it is weary work watching our crops going to destruction while we know we can do nothing to save them. I remember of hearing of an old man who arose one mo> ning to find that an early frost had cut down his buckwheat crop ‘‘Well, there’s one consolation,” be said. “If my buckwheat is killed, so is old Ives’s.” If his buckwheat had been bis sole dependence I imagine he could not have drawn much consolation from that source. He no doubt bad corn and wheat and potatoes in store, and could accept bis misery because of the company he had. Misery may have too much company, as some of our brethren in the West who depend so largely on corn have reason to know from late experience. I think the best policy is to raise as many diverse crops as possible.

MILK FOR POULTRY. Milk in every form may be properly fed to poultry, and the economy of feeding skimmed milk to laying hens is gradually becoming better ' understood. On a farm where dairying is carried on it will be found that buttermilk may also be fed to the fowls and pay better than by disposing of it in almost any othir way. It will decidedly increase egg production, and after a few days it will be found that the fowls will look eagerlv for the appearance of the dish the buttermilk is usually brought in. When buttermilk is fed no water need be given, and the slightly saline qualities of the buttermilk will be advantageous to the fowls. Buttermilk is richer than skimmed milk, and is, of course, better for the laying bens, in moderate quantities, while for fattening purposes it can be fed constantly, with the best results. The farmer who has plenty of buttermilk will find that it pays better to give it to the fowls than to any other stock on the farm. The buttermilk that would grow a pig would grow enough poultry to buy all the pork an ordinary family needs. Wheu it comes to a choice between giving it to the pigs or poultry, give it to the poultry. . SOME RARE VEGETABLES. There are three members of the cabbage family that are very rarely seen in farm gardens and but sei dom in any other. I refer to kohl rabi,-Brussels sprouts and kale. Kohl ribi is a mixture seemingly between the turnip and the cabbage. It his a stem like a cabbage stalk and a bunch of cabbage-like leaves, | but the edible part is the stalk,

which swells out into a round ball, the inside of which is very likethij pith of the Cabbage stalk. There , are several varieties, and in the old 1 country they are growh to quite an -i (best for table use "when not quite ; fully grown, though the smaller varieties are very good. They are ; cooked the same as turnips and taste considerably like cabbage. • Brussels sprouts have a long stalk ! and wide leaves, at the base of which I little heads like cabbage heads grow, I and these are very tender and. delicious. W T hen well grown they are m uchn icert hanordin ary cabbage, and each little head may be served t whole, Kale is both ornamental and useful. The leaves are beautifully fringed and ruffled, and a thrifty i kale plant does not look at all bad lin a flower bed. Their principal use is as greens, and a very large Crop of them may be grown on a small [ plot of land. I All these require exactly the same treatment as cabbage, and will do best when heavily fertilized and frequently cultivated. The seed may be sown at any time after the frost is out of the ground and thd bage. All of them are worthy of cultivation an"d give variety to the supply of vegetables.

ORCHARD AND GARDEN. Some of the best known varieties of blackberries were introduced by transplan ting; from the woods. Many a large fruited sort is met which | would, if transplanted to the garden, be as good as anv df the cultivated sorts now in use.. I When needed, this a good time to haul out and apply a good dressing of manure in the orchard. Broadcast manuring is nearly always best. i One advantage of manuring in the | fall is that in addition to the fertility supplied the manure will act as a mulch to the trees during the winter. When planting the onion bed be sure you have in mind a parcel of land that has been kept free of weeds for some years. Onions neveh pay where weeds abound. | The keeping qualities of ■’fruit should be the .first consideration. Size and flavor are important, but some of the largest and most highly flavored fruits, of all kinds, will not bear shipment to market, as wel 1 as other varieties that are inferior in . quality. The Keifer pear is not to be com-, pared with the Bartlett in quality, - but the tree is remarkably hardy ancj free from disease, compared with other kinds, and grows rapidly. The ’ fruit is late, and comes into the market when other pears are gone. Con, sidering its excellent yield, the Kiefer pays as well as a majority 0} the varieties; and is a much surer . crop than some.

There is little difference in varieties of asparagus. Rich soil and good culture will make good shoots from any kind. The palmetto is now the most popular sort. Seed sown in the spring and well eared for ingood soil will make good roots for setting next fall, and the second year after setting there will be a fine* crop. Small fruit growers ought To fertilize their land thoroughly, and when this is done they should keen it alwavs producing something. If the strawberry patch is running out either the red or the blackcap raspberry can be planted between the. rows. In this way the year after the strawberry plantation is cultivated under the raspberry canes will be in full bearing. It is the same with the larger fruits. A young apple or pear orchard will grow strawberries, raspberries and blackberries nearly as well as if the orchard were not planted until it gets ful’ty into bearing'. Making a hot bed is not a very great task, and it advances the season weeks sometimes, when the spring happens to be late.

With a good garden there is heal th and variety of food, both very desirable, not to speak of the saving in household expenses. If sods are cut into squares a foot each way and placed upside down in a hotbed or cold frame and seeds planted in them the plants when large enough to transplant, may be lifted with the sods and set in the garden without stoppinsr growth. In this way we have transplanted beans, cucumbers and many other things that are usually transplanted.