Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1897 — TOPICS FOR FARMERS [ARTICLE]

TOPICS FOR FARMERS

A DEPARTMENT PREPARED FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. Best Way to Feed Corn Fodder—How to Banish the Rats-Amount of Water a Cow Brinks s a Test of Her Milk Value. Feeding orn Fodder. I last winter put the cows into a feed lot adjoining the farm. Three pigs for each coav were also placed in the lot. The cows Avere taken into the barn twice a day, fed ear corn, broken, and, after being inilked, were turned into the lot and given unbusked corn fodder. In this Avay each cow received one and one-third bushel ear corn per week and one bushel of corn In the fodder. The pigs, in addition to what they picked up, AAere given buttermilk and some sklm-milk. In return for this feed I received four and one-half pounds butter and ten pounds of pork per week per cow, or about tAvo pounds butter and four pounds pork per bushel of corn. The cows were provided with a good shed and a thick layer of straw to lie on.—Agriculturist. Getting Rid of Rats. An unusual interest has been aroused in the destruction of rats this season because of the great number found in corncribs and in the vicinity of poultry houses. The loss from this source has been considerable, to say nothing of the annoyance. If trouble in* corncribs is to be avoided next year, set the buildings on posts eighteen inches high, and around the top tack a strip of old tin or invert a tin pan and place it over the top of the post. This will not always keep them out, but will do much towards preventing their entrance.

Where cribs are on the gi-ountl and have been undermined by these pests, a number of methods of getting rid of them, more or less successful, have been suggested. If a well-trained ferret and a good rat dog can be secured, great numbers can be killed in a short time. The ferret will go into the holes under the crib aud run out the rats, which can then be disposed of by means of the dog or guns. After the rats have been avcll cleaned out by this means they seldom return, or at least not for a long time. In closed bins, where carbon bisulphide can be used, they can be got rid of in short time. Merely place an open dish full of the chemical on top of the grain and permit it to evapoi-ate. It will permeate every point aud kill all living creatures. In using the bisulphide, remember that it is \-ery inflammable, and all lights and fires must be kept away fi-om the building while it is being applied.—Orange Judd Farmer.

The Water a Cow Drinks. ~ M. Dancel reported to the French Academy of Sciences his experiments to determine the effect > f the quantity of water cows drink upon quantity and quality of milk. “He says,” writes Dr. Galen Wilson, to Practical Farmer, “that, by Inducing cows to drink more water, the quantity of milk yielded can be Increased without injuring its quality. He asserts that the amoun; of milk Is proportioned to the quantity of water drunk. In experimenting upon cows fed in the stall With dry fodder that gave only nine to twelve quarts of milk a day, that when this dry food was moistened with from eighteen to twenty-three quarts of water daily, their yield of milk was increased up to twelve to fourteen quarts a day. Beshles this water taken with the food, the cows : were allowed to drink the same as before, and their thirst was excited by adding a little salt to the fodder. The milk was of good quality, and the amount of butter satisfactory. He"found, by a series of observations, that the quantity of w r ater habitually drunk by each cow was a criterion to judge of the quantity of milk that she would yield.

Traction Engines. The self-propelling steam engines to be used on ordinary roads are not nearly so much in favor as they \yere when they first began to be used. An eight or ten horse power engine put upon a suitable truck can easily be drawn by an ordinary farm team. It does not frighten teams along the highway as the puffing traction engine is sure to do. As the traction engine costs several hundred dollars extra, and is several hundred pounds heavier, it Is net now in much favor. Many good country bridges that would staqd ordinary loads have been broken down by the traction engine, entailing loss both to the owner of the engine and the county. In many places notices are put up that if traetion engines cross certain bridges they must do so at their own risk.

Linsced vs. Cotton Seed Meal. While fully growh animals with strong digestive organs can eat cottonseed meal properly diluted with straw or hay without serious injury, it Is doubtful whether It is advisable to m!ake this part of their ration. Linseed meal can be purchased at about the same price as cottonseed meal, and has equal nutritive value. The new process meal is the kind generally used. It is not so fattening as the old process meal, because more of Its oil has been expressed. Faxseed whole is a very rich feed, and If boiled so as to swell it out all that hot water can do It may be given to cattle, sheep or horses with safety. Only a very little should be given at a time, as the oil in it makes it very laxative.

To Farm Driveway. The entrance drive or “lane,” as it Is usually called, is an Important feature in the surroundings of a country home. The success of landscape effect depends largely upon its judicious location and arrangement. While the shortest line Is the most practical course for travel

between two points; artistically considered, a long, narrow, straight line, fenced on both sides, unadorned by trees, is something to be avoided, If possibly. If the driveway must be straight, let It be through an open field or fenced on one, side only, and lined with trees, or If inclosed by two fences let them be fifty feet or more apart, with a row of trees on each side. It may then answer for the family orchards of all kinds of fruit and nut trees, or If planted with maples, beech or oaks, will eventually form a magnificent avenue. —American Gardening.

Winter Window Plants. The plants for mldwinVr and early spring-blooming should be brought Into the house, but the room should be only moderately heated. Give abundance of air every mild day. The temperature of the room at night should be twelve to eighteen degrees lower than during the day. Remove all dead leaves. Give only enough water to moisten the earth in the pots. The earth should not be made pasty. Chrysanthemums.—To prolong the period of blooming, take up the choicest specimens with a large ball of earth, and set them In tubs or boxes. Keep the plants upon the porch In a protected situation for a few days until they recover. They may then be brought into the house. Beds of plants should be covered over with a large muslin sheet during frosty nights. Insects.—For the aphis and plant lice, smoke Avith tobacco stems. Window plants can be easily'fumigated by placing them under a barrel. Rose bushes in the greenhouse can be kept free of the aphis by the free use of the syringe. —American. Pigeon Notes. We Avould caution beginners, better invest your money in one or two good birds than in half a dozen cheap scrub birds. “ As soon as you see a pigeon in your loft that is sick or out of condition, remove it from the other pigeons at once, and treat, and, if too far, use a hatchet. A handful or two of hemp seed given each day to a flock of pigeons Avill help them through moulting. Every fancier should have leg bands, arid keep a i-ecord of your birds, as this is the only AA’ay we can pre\-ent inbreeding, as they are cheap. Look! Look for the little red mites that infest the young bix-ds in their nests, as they kill more young pigeons than disease this time of year. Nests should be cleaned frequently, and sawdust and tobacco stems put In.

Weaning Foals. Foals that are about to be weaned in the fall of the year, should, preparatory to the time of isolating them from their dams, be taught to eat freely of grain, pulse and other highly nutritive food. The loss of the dam's milk Is a severe check to their constitution and growth, which even an abundant supply of hay or grass will not wholly compensate. A variety of food is not only permissible, but to be advocated, although grass or good hay and corn should form their staple diet. Too many different sorts of food can hardly be tried, says a high authority on the matter, “but, of course, they must be given judiciously, at various times and in small quantities.”—Live Stock Journal.

Small Potatoes. . Save all the small potatoes for seed that are of the regulation form. These may be the only seed available, in the spring, while if they are not needed when planting time comes they can then be discarded. We would not have it understood that we are indorsing small potatoes for planting. Large seed Is preferable every time. Drain the Land. A farmer can raise more bushels of better grain, com and wheat, or any other produce, on fifty acres of well underdrained land than he can on 100 acres of wet land, and he can do it with less than half the labor and expense. Farm Notes. A good pedigree always adds to the value of a horse for any purpose. When wheat is sold buy back bran and shipstuff enough to feed out the straw. The average farm can be run a good deal better without a dog than without a pig. Hard work is not so apt to Injure horse* if they receive proper attention afterwards. There are some good butter cows in all breeds and they are even found among scrubs. The most clear profit in raising good horses is in the fact that you have raised them yourself. The farmer who cannot supply comfortable shelter cannot afford to winter stock.

One advantage In having the manure reasonably fine is that It can be more evenly distributed on the land. A short-leggect, short-haired sheep Is often heavier and will produce more wool than one that looks much larger. The restless spirit of a growing colt is a sufficient guarantee that it will take exercise if the opportunity Is afforded. In order to make good beef and to make it easy steady feeding of the most suitable food from the first Is essential. Every kind of a crop grown on the farm te needed, and somebody will produce it and realize a profit in producing and marketing. In selecting farm stock to use as breeders, secure only such animals as are healthy themselves and have sprung from healthy! vigorous stock. To injudicious feeding may be credited a large amount of the fatality among hogs and with care in feeding a large amount of disease may be avoided.—Fanners’ Union.