Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 August 1896 — THE FARM AND HOME [ARTICLE]

THE FARM AND HOME

MATTERSOF INTEREST TO FARMER AND HOUSEWIFE. Creameries Do Not Make So Large a Proportion of the Batter L’aed as i, _ Many Suppose—One Reason Why Wheat 1b Cheap—Farm Notes. Farm and Factory Butter. The idea i§ generally prevalent that the amount df butter which has of late years been made by individual dairymen was insignificant as compared with the output of creameries and butter factories, but figures in “Statistics of the Dairy,” by HenrygE. Alvord, chief of the dairy division, shows this belief to have had ho foundation in fact, up to 1890. While the increase in population from 1850 to 1,890 was about 170 per cent. 1 ;, the production of butter for the census! .year pf 1890 exceeded that of 1850 liy, 281 pet cent. This increase was no/ uniform with either population or butter production, but quite the contrary, as may be'seen by the following flgtifOs: ( . [BUTTER. • N Per cent. Increase fromSß>r,o to ISpO.. ...... .10.70 Increase from lNiiO to 1870 11.80 Increase from 1 -uTTITTISSO 50.88 increase from 1880 to 1890. .49.49 POPULATION. Tor cent. Increase from 1850 to 1800, 55.58 Increase from 18(10 to ! 1870 22.62 1 ru-rease from 187040 1880.... t.p .. .80.08 Increase from 1889 to>lß9o, .21.85 Emanating front some- other , sources the figures given by Mr. 'Alvord might reasonably be. doubt, but Mr. Alvord is not one WluAvould knowingly send forth falsejpformatioiMior ’ base an official sfathmeut on fit ere guesswork, and being in to know whereof he speaks, liis figures may be relied; as correctly representing'the siturtVfOn. Bfft it will be a genuine surprise to pea'llv all who have given the matter' a thought to learn that 85 per cent of all butter produced in this country was, as late as 1899, made on the farm. Here is what lie bas to sav on the subject: “The, most noteworthy fact in connection with the production of butter on farms is that, liothwithstanding the groat extension of the creamery system atul the decline , in the amount of butter annually exported, such production has increased :ev«?u more rapidly than population. To go back to the census of 1850. it is found that the total production of butter on farms In 1819 was 818:845,806 pounds, or 15.51 pounds per capita of population. In 18(ip the amount reported was 159.681.872 pounds, or 11.62 pounds per capita. In 1870 the amount reported was 511.992,688 pounds, which r gaVe an average of only 18.88 pounds for each inhabitant, lip to this time there ha ' been nt?creamery butter reported, but in 1880 the production of fqrm butter averaged 15.50 pounds for each in-, habitant, and that of creamery butter o.s}}. pounds for each inhabitant, the total average being thus 16.0 S pounds. -■At the eleventh ,censusc however, the production of butter on farms alone averaged 16.88 pounds per capita of the population, and such had been the increase that the total production of blitter averaged no less than 19.21 pounds per unit of the population.” A s no “creamery 1m 11 cf was reported until 1880. when only a little more than' one-third of 1 tier cent. (.056. to be exact! was thus produced, it follows that of the 15 per cent,, shown by the eleventh census, nearly till was gained dur--lug teh years. There Is no ddubt fllaf the ratio of gain has been much greater of late.—New York Times.

Dr.vlnir Wheat for Seed. There is often an injury to winter wheat seeil from heat lug after the grain is gathered, which is always done in hot weather. If the straw and grain are slightly damp when put in the mow or stack, it will almost surely heat. This heating may not be injurious in itself, but it leaves the grain damper than before, and it only dries out when cold weather comes. So it often hairpens that when- winter wheat of the present year's crop is used as seed, it often is sown when very nearly as damp as it was when garnered. Such wheat germinates slowly, It is already expanded with moisture, and so does not swell In the soil as it should. For this reason many old farmers who grow winter wheat prefer wheat a year old for seed. It is, however, no better than If as good as this year's wheat, which has been thoroughly dried and if possible without any heating in its moist state. Put the seed wheat in bundle on scaffolds where it will dry, spreading so that it will not heat. Then thresh it out with the flail and put it lit a fruit evaporator for twenty-four hours. By that time- the grain • will seem much less plump tliau new ttf'hyat ought to be, but it is all the bgttef seed for that. ,|. Why,Horses Slobber. A correspondent of the American Cultivator expi'CSsPs the belief that the reason why the second growth of clover makes horses slobber is because Of its seeds. Clover seed at present and prospective prices is altogether too dear feed to be given horses, even the most valuable. But, says the Cultivator, we think our correspondent mistakes in ascribing the slobbering to the clover seed. Neither do we think it is the second growth of the clover Itself. Many years ago we made an investigation, and found th|»t the slobbering only occurred where the lobelia plant, of Jen called Indian tobacco, was found mixed with the clover. This lobelia is, as every farmer knows, a most powerful emetic. Kven on land where it is abundant, it does not get large enough to go into the first crop of bay. But after the first and heavy clover crop is removed the lobelia makes a very rapid growth, and its flowers are often very plentiful where clover Is grown on low, moist ground. The Tatael of Corn. The flower of the corn plant Is divided Into two portions, the tassel, or male sectlou, which furnishes the ik>ll- - and the silk, which is the female portion of the flower, which receives It. Each thread of allk carries some of tiie pollen to the oar. and there a grain of corn Is formed. The profusion of silk Is so great that the grains of corn are compacted on the ear as elose1y as possible. When this Is not the

fact is more likely due to the drying up of the tassel, sbpthait not enough pollen is formed to fertilize all the silk. If there is either a very d»y or very wet time when the tassel should be distributing pollen, these defective ears will be plenty. Heavy rains in one case wash the pollen off, and the dry weather causes the tassel to shrivel and become worthless. The blossoming is exhaustive. If the season Is just right one-quarter of the tassels produced would make a full crop of welldeveloped ears. But as in every crop there are more or less defective ears, it is unsafe to cut them out. The suckers usually tassel later, and for this reason they often increase the corn crop on the main stalk after the earlier tassels have dried up. Hulls nnd Tonne Chickens, In the twenty-one days that it takes to turn a perfectly* fresh fertile egg into a chick, there is more profit in proportion to tlie capital invested than in any other farm operation. So the old lady was got so far out of the way when she said she iwould not sell eggs under a shilling a dozen, or a cent each, because it didn’t pay for the. hen’s time. If an egg is worth one cent, a lively yopng chick, newly hatched, is worth at least six cents; if not ten. Six hundred' to 1,000 per cent, profit in twenty-one days’ time is not to he sneezed at. There is another side to this, of course, whew sickness or something else thins off the young chicks, and their dead little bodies are not, worth even the cent that the egg costs from which they were hatched. It is by looking, on all sides that conservative farmers usually called rather stow are saved from enthusiasm in the egg and poultry; [business that have deceived and disappointed many who have gone ,in without experience and 'have come out with more experience,

Rye Straw for Bindinsr Corn Stalks. It is a good plan for farmers who grow rye to save,.a few' bundles to be threshed by hand, and use the straw for binding corn stalks. We cut corn much earlier than we used to do, and it is Wise to do so. Tn using green corn stalks for binding the tops of stooks, perhaps two or three will break, wasting stalks, spoiling patience and taking time, ail of which w.cfuld be saved by having a wisp of long rye straw to use in binding the tops. There is still another advantage of the rye bands. They will hold, while if a dry, hot spell eomt's a good many of the stalk bands will break, letting the stook fall apart, and wiii'ii rains come most of the stalks will be found in the mud. Those Who use rye bands for binding corn stalks will never after be without them, even if they have to grow a small piece of rye every year for this purpose alone.— Ex. Growine Melons. It is natural at planting time to put some composted stable manure in melon hills. The soil is then rather damp and too cool for the melons. The manure dries and warms it, which gives the seed au earlier start than it could get without the manure. But about Gils tiuie the man who lias melons with m tint re In the hill wishes be had hot put ally there. No matter how well composted the manure, it will net hold its moisture into midsummer heats. The best way. to .water these, melon hills is to make deep boles down below the manure in the hills, and then slowly fill and refill them with water until' the ground is well saturated. Then if the holes are filled with loose soil, and the surface is kept mellow t<T prevent evaporation, the melons will not suffer for lack of moisture in even the dryest times. Substitutes for Wheat. Possibly one of the reasons for the tow prices of wheat the past few years Is that so many substitutes have been found for it as human food. We still use a great deal of wheat, but in cities especially wheaten broad is less the' staff of life that it used to be. The use of oat meal has increased, aud it daily forms part of the nutritive ration, and very good nutrition It is, too. We use far more fruit than formerly, and also more The latter are not so good in nutrition as wheat, and for this reason their increased use is not for our advantage in health and strength. Like all other starcy foods, potatoes are difficult to digest, and' should only be eaten in moderation, except by those whose digestion is strong.

Facts for the Farnjer. Mice love pumpkin seeds, and will l>e attracted to a trap baited with them when they will pass by a piece of meat. An excellent axle-grease: Tallow, eight pounds 1 : palm oil, ten pounds; plumbago, u«e pound; heat and thix well. To help the early lambs, the ewes should have a liberal meal of oatmeal gruel, a little warm, every morning, us soon as the lamb is born. The feet of foals very seldom receive the care and the frequent inspection so necessary to their future protection of form and soundness. Horses' feet from this cause alone frequently* become defective and unhealthy. Ignorance aud carelessness are, perhaps, equally to blame. It Is the business of the farmer to ascertain if he has any stock that It does not pay to keep. It is suicidal business policy to he feeding and sheltering stock thaj do not pay for their keep. A correspondent of an exchange suggests ,tp prevent apple trees from splitting where they grow in forks, taking a sprout that Is growing In one branch aud'grafting It on the other. The branch will grow with the tree aud become a strong brace. A difference of a very few days makes a great difference In all kinds of crops some season?. Clover sown Just before a beating rain would become imbeded in the soil, and would grow better and stand more dry weather than If sown Immediately after the rain. Owing to the location of some stn-' hies, it Is Impossible to get much sunlight In them; but in the greater number of barns, where the cows stand in a row next to the side, It would be an easy matter so put in a few windows. One window for every two cows should be the rule, and they may be swung, open to throw the manure out of them, If necessary- If the sun can shine directly on the cows, so much the betl.ee