Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 July 1896 — AGRICULTURAL NEWS [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL NEWS

THINGS PERTAINING TO THE FARM AND HOME. Poultry and Egg Production Is Prof-itable-Influence of the European Wheat Crop—Working Horace Should Not Be Fed Grass—Form Notes. .. . . I Profit in Chickens. But few realize how profitable poultry and egg production can be made, provided as much time and attention is given to it as to many other less important vocations. Some one has decided that a hen can be kept for less than fifty cents a year, says Nellie Hawks in the Agriculturist It is a poor specimen of a hen that will not lay ten dozen eggs a year. At the low price of 10 cents, a dozen, this would leave a net profit, bf 50 cents. At this rate it will pay every farmer to keep a flock of hens and give them prober care. There is no danger of overproduction. As long as the United States annually imports millions of dozen of eggs, the market will not be glutted. Fowls to be profitable must be given proper attention. Those running at large will almost take care of themseuves for a part -Of the, year. They are our gleaners and economizers, for they evej-y day convert into eggs what would otherwise go to waste. However, fowls in confinement need different treatment. Meat food must be supplied. The most satisfactory means of providing this is to secure a green bone mill and give tlieflj green-cut bone. This meat food, or at least sort of a similar food, is almost . absolute necessity for yarded fowls. Tender green stuff is alsojvaluable. Last fall I sowed a patch of. ity# for early spring "groups.” Early, this season a patch of oats was put into furnish "green food after the rye had become tpo far advanced. Early each morning and every evening a basket of green stuff was eut with a pair bf shears and given to them. The results have been most satisfactory. We have had lots of fertile eggs, and nice, thrifty, healthy fowls. It pays to raise chickens a d to attend to their wants and needs. So far as this country alone is concerned the wheat situation would not justify the extremely low range of values which has been the rule of late. The w’iu>ter- vvheat-~croix-is certainly short, and the spring crop is not likely to be a large one on account of the reduced acreage. But in Europe the conditions are quite different, the outlook being very favorable'for a good yield. We must remember, too, that in wheat production Europe means a good deal more than it once did. Even France has increased its production of Wheh't of late years, while Russia is an enormous exporter as compared with five or ten years ago. Evidently the abundance of wheat abroad, as reflected in our ligh t ex por t Trade, Is the chief influence which is keeping wheat prices in this country close to the low water mark.

No Grass tor Working Horses. It is a great temptation to cut some grass, to feed either green or partly dried to the horses that have to work hard every day on the farm. It should be resisted, for grass will surely induce derangement in the digestive organs, which will make tile horses too weak to do effective work. After the plowing is finished many farmers think, the hardest work is over, but a hbrse cultivating all day will need good dry hay and grain no less than when plowing. The step is quicker in cultivating than lit plowing, and requires quite as much muscular exertion to keep at it all day.

Late Pens for Home Use. There i,s not generally a very good mirket for late peas, because after the first new peas have satisfied tlie appetites of lovers of this vegetable tlie price rapidly declines and it will not pay to grow and market it. But a fresh succession of peas until fall Is very desirable, and It- is easily in the power of every farmer to secure it by later plantings. The farmer ought always to have fresher vegetables and a longer season for them than the average city resident- can expect. It is one of the advantages of country life that lie should not only not forego butmake the most of. It. is hard work providing throe palatable meal* through the summer for mon at work on the farm. A plentiful supply of green peas will furnish food that is not only palatable but nutritious.

Storing Applvs in Boxes. Square boxes with open tops and separated by cleats nailed across tj»e corners so as to allow air to Circulate olver them are better than barrels tfi store apples in. We saw some recently in the fruit cellar of Dr. Fisher, of Fitchburg. The apples are put in these boxes In tlie orchard, loaded into wagons. and are then drawn to tlie cellar, where they are 'piled one above the other, nearly to the ceiling. The boies are made to hold a full bushel each, and can be easily handled without disturbing the iruit. There is great injury to fruit even from the most careful'handling. When tlie bloom is off. it can never l>e exactly what it was before. The square boxes take less room than the .samequantity of nppies would in barrels, and are inucli better than if pur in bins, where rhe natural heating of the ..ppples p!lt>d one upon tfle otlier indtiees rot. which once start)' ed quickly spreads. The boxes are made bt solid boanls, apd are therefore heavier as well as more costly that) the Imxes used In harvestiug potatoes.—Cultivator:

Hnrsetcia Cnrrinj;<;a Not Vet Uaeful. We once knew a’ man who worked for many years trying to solve the problem of perpetual motion, and he finally completed a machine that would run down hill. Those who have been working on horseless carriages seem to have met with a little better* success, for their ufaeTi'ines ■drill run down hill and on the level, but on the up grade they are useless. A recent test In New York showed conclusively that these machines are not yet adapted to road work, as they cannot climb even moderate grades without the assistance of horses. There has been great Improvement In them., however, and they may in time be further Improved so as to be useful. But It does not seem likely that they will soon be

made so good or so cheap as to displace horses, and the horse breeders who now _go ahead as If they had never heard of a horseless carriage will probably not regret it.—Exchange.

Pigs, Not Hns«, Wanted, Almost everybody now agrees with the little girl who said that clean little pigs are nice, but it .was such a pity they would go and make hogs of themselves. Nrfbody nowadays wants the large hogs even for'pork. As the hog is fattened largely on corn bis fliges- ■ tion is injured, and the body becomes feverish and unhealthful.' This, of bourse, affects not only- the palatableness, but the healthfulness of the pork that the animal makes. Pig pork Is more generally fattened in a reasonable way, feeding so as to keep the pig growing and its digestion good. For this reason pig pork is generally sweeter and more tender than pork from older hogs. But let a pig be stunted on corn feed, so that it fattens without growing, and its flesh though fat will lack the fine flavor that the'flesh of a thirstily growing pig ought to Then and Nott. lii an interesting artiCle’Mr. Ingham concludes that farmers, might succeed as well as they difl forty years ago if they would bo content to live as plainly as they did then. We do not like the idea of farmers living as they lived forty years ago. Comparison should not be made that way, but between farmers and other classes of people then and n<yA*; ! ' We' presume that, forty years' ago farmers lived as well as did other people of the same resources, and they should now. The luxuries of those days are the necessities and comforts of to-day. Farmers as a class do not and should not deny themselves these things, qnd when it is necessary for them to do so to a greater extent than those .engaged in other industries something is decidedly wrong. .Strict economy is now a necessity with a great many farmers, and other people, too, but it does not and should not extern} to the plainness of forty years ago. —Farmer and Stockman. What Kind Of a Man Are You? We were recently shown somh replies from local banks received by a. large manufacturing house that was inquiring into the condition of farmers’ Some of the comment carried with it a world of suggestion, as will be seen by these extracts: farmer.” “A goofl man, makes money.”, “These are all successful farmers.” “Substantiial man, interested in all that advances the community.’ “These men all make money every year and could name 100 others who do the same,” says a report from Warrenton. Ga. “This man never renewed a note.” “He has a fine looking place, but heavily mortgaged, is a good deal of a blow.” “This farmer's word is as good as his bond.” Which of such opinions would be expressed about you?—Farm and Home. Poultry Remedies. A farmer's wife gives the following remedies for the worst troubles the poultry has to contend with—cholera, roup, lice and diarrhoea: Plenty of room, healthy food, and at first sight of disease, for choler.a, give one teaspoonful of carbolic acid in a gallon of water; diarhoea, one teaspoonful of tincture of Jamaica ginger in a gallon of water; for lice, one teaspoonful of siflphur in four quarts feed or mash; for roup, mix borasie acid with water .so that it can be poured down the throat, give teaspoonful, and they will -be • cured. - ■ 1 * Tlie Best Soil for l Rhubarb. It requires high manuring to make rhubarb growing profitable, especially as most of the money to be made is from the very early cutting, and these must be grown on warm, sandy land, which is not generally very rich. The plant is a great consumer of nitrogen, and this is not supplied early in the season by coarse manure. Either the manure applied must be well rotted, so that it will have available nitrates, of these must be applied in the form of commercial fertilizers. The rhubarb is easily grown with coarse stable manure, but its price is always very low. Well-Balanced Ration. About one-fdurth sheaf oats run through the eUtter with the fodder makes an excellently-balanced ration., and will make the latter keep better in bulk when cut a little green, and solve the problem of early gathering, say* Western Plowman. In the spring this feed can be wetted and mixed with bran, and makes a feed equal to ensilage. Odds and Ends. White spots upon tarnished furniture will disappear If a hot plate be held over them. Half a pound of broiled beefsteak twice a day is the best tonic fornervous .or rundown women. A hot bath taken on .going to bed, even on a hot night,of summer, is a better cure for insomnia than many drugs. A little powdered btJrax added to cold starch tends to give the linen extra stiffness, and a little turpentine put into the boiled starch adds luster. If an. upper pie-crust is brushed over with a little milk of egg before placing in the oven it will brown quickly and have a better color. , A handful of .carpet tacks will clean fruit jars or bottles readily. Half till the jars with hot soap studs, put In the tacks, cover, give vlgoious shaking and rinse well. 1 ’ y 5 Tlie correct way to drain a wet unibrella’ls to stand It handle down. If put the other, way the dampness remains in the center, where all the water collects and very soon rots the covering. A raw egg swallowed immediately will generally carry a fish bone down which cannot be removed from the throat by tluMitmost exertion and has gotten out of reach of the saving fin-” ger. Some people suffer very much from their eyes when peeling onions. It is said that if a steel knitting-needle is held between the teeth during the operation this discomfort wlll.cOase or be very much reduced. ’ *A heavy flatiron, weighing seven or eight pounds, will do better work if it is passed over the clothes once with a firm, steady pressure than a lighter Iron hurriedly passed over the clothes two or three times.