Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1898 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

A Great Milker. The ciit represents the Jersey cow 'Adelaide, the property of Messrs. Miller and Sibley. She is 75 per cent St. Lambert blood. A glance at the udder, as represented here, would indicate an unusually heavy milker, but her actual record outstrips even this indication. For the thirty-one days beginning May 25 and ending June 24 she gave a total of 2,005% pounds of milk. In making this record she was milked three times daily at intervals of eight hours. Every milking was witnessed by at least two persons; sometimes by as many as six. This beats all previous records in the Jersey breed. Adelaide’s average per day during the test was 64 85-124 pounds, her best daily record 75% pounds, followed by records of 73 and 70% pounds. As she weighs 1,002 pounds, her milk yield during the thir-ty-one days is seen to be more than twice her weight. But her best one-

day record was made in May, 1897, when she once gave 82% pounds of milk.—Montreal Star. Stir the Surface Soil. A hard rain packs the ground, the moisture, however, going into the ground that has been loosened instead of flowing away. Water will evaporate from the ground during warm, dry daj>s, and as the moisture from the surface Is lost that from below rises, by capillary attraction, to take its pace. Millions of small tubes are formed, through which the water is drawn upward, and to prevent the loss the tubes should he broken off or sealed a# the top. This is done when the surface soil is stirred to the depth of an inch, the dry earth serving as a blanket to keep the moisture in the soil. If a shower comes and again dampens the surface the stirring of the soil should be repeated. Ventilation of Barns. Many barns and other farm buildings are made very uncomfortable In summer by tbe heat that oomes in through the windows. The cut shows a good plan for keeping out the sun. Cover thf glass with whitewash or flour-paste, to make the glass opaque; then set the windows out at an angle, with board side pieces, as suggested in the cut. These side pieces keep out much sunright that would otherwise get in at the sides of the windows. If windows

are hinged, they can be raised or lowered with the pin in the side holes, as suggested.—American Agriculturist. To Keep Butter Cool. In the middle of your cellar floor dig a hole or vault three and one-lvalf feet deep and three and one-half feet square. Wall it up with brick laid in lime mortar and cement and floor it with soft brick. Lay a frame of good hardwood in mortar upon tihe top of this vault. Hinge to the frame a trapdoor of plank two inches thick, making it tit smoothly over the top. Then nfter the cream is separated oml cooled put it down In the vault to ripen. Butter may Vie kept there in the agreeable coolness also.—Farmers’ Review. Vnrioiiß Hint* for the Home. If farmers’ wives will fold a newspaper bias and tie funqel shaped around the top of churn it will save the cream splashing on the floor and kitchen furniture. Some tacks put In baby's feeding bottle will cJeau it quicker than anything else. Start your lititJe chicks with millet seed, and it will save you a number of dbllnrs’ worth of poultry. A pair of rubber boots or overshoes is the boot carpet stretcher thpre Is, and never injures the carpet. Book After Your Wells. The dry season is the time to look after the wells. If they are low and there is danger of their going dry, • lean out and deepen until convinced that an adequate supply has been protided for. See that the pump platIbrm in perfectly tight and no seepage

gets through It If the upper eight or ten feet of wall are of brick or stone, lay in cement, so that contaminated surface water cannot reach the household supply. Much sickness can be traced to impure water. Art of Batter-Making* Butter Is an article that sells strictly on its merits. A dairyman who gets his own price for butter states that churning is not the moat important work In butter-making, as the beginning is in the management of the cow and the handling of the milk. Whether the market is fully supplied or not, there is always a demand for “choice.” Although “good” and "medium” grades may be quoted, yet there is no halfway house in the quality of butter. It is either “choice” or “bad,” and the inferior kind is that which sells low. Some dairymen get 50 cenrts a pound for their butter the whole year, the ruling market price not affecting it, as it sells strictly on quality. Buckwheat in Orchards. Perhaps as good a crop as any to grow In the orchard is buckwheat Its seed is so cheap, and the mulch its growth makes Is so effective, that it more than offsets the poverty of buckwheat in fertilizirg material. Where buckwheat is sown in orchards the land will be made extremely light and moist especially if the last crop of buckwheat in the season is plowed under. The only drawback to this is that growing buckwheat leaves the soil hare, and in a severe winter frost may penetrate deeply enough to injure the roots of fruit trees. The peach tree is especially apt to be injured by winter freezing of the soil near the tree. Kaffir Corn. What is known as Kaffir com is becoming quite popular among Western farmers. It is a kind of sorghum in which the juices are not sweet, and are changed to seeds at the top of the stalk, much as broom corn seed and sorghum seed are grown. The grain of Kaffir corn Is about twice as large as that of sorghum. When ground it is preferred by many, for griddle cakes, to buckwheat flour. The stalks of Kaffir corn lack the sweetness of com stalks, and it is very unlikely that this plant will supersede ordinary com except where it is found that it will stand dry weather better than other com will. No Blacksmith Needed. A horseshoe which the veriest neophyte with horses can replace upon the hoof that casts it has been invented. This horseshoe, which is naillees, has been Invented by a Glasgow man—Mr. M. McDougalL It is of tbe usual shape, but has two projections, one on each side at the back, which engage rings at the ends of a band, which passes

over the front of the hoof and Is fastened In the middle by a screw attachment to the center of the shoe. Seeding Timothy with Buckwheat. On low land, where buckwheat is the crop chiefly grown, it is often desirable to seed the land again. Sowing timothy seed among the buckwheat while It Is growing will do this as well, if not bettier, than any other plan, especially if there are rains. The young grass will be well rooted by the time the buckwheat is ready to be got off the ground. No plowing is needed, and though there is always some waste of buckwheat In harvesting, no harm will be done, as the timothy will so occupy the ground by spring that there will be little and perhaps no buckwheat in next year's hay crop. Windfall Apple*. Good vdnegar is usually a scarce article. There is at all times a full supply on the market, hut not the best eider vinegar. Farmers 'who use windfall apples, or those that are decayed, make a mistake. The best vinegaf can only be made of sound applies, and where such crops cannot be sold at fair price's they should be converted into choice vinegar. If fruit growers would make a specialty of good vinegar and seek buyers therefor they will not find It difficult to secure an extra price for a superior article. Fome Dairy Hint*. If the butter is too soft, feed the cow some potatoes. Wash all milk vessels with cold water before scalding. Crosses are usually better for farmers than pure breds. Stringy milk can be cured by keeping the cows clean. Whitewashed stables mean fewer flies and more milk. A cow that tests below 3 per cent is not worth keeping. Whenever possible test the cow’s milk before buying her. If the butter is mottled work li a little more after salting. Cows and horses should not be allowed in the same pnsture. Richer feed does not mean richer milk; it means more milk. Many dairymen like an ounce of salt to the pound of butter. Do not wet your hands when milking; if you do you flavor the milk. When butter is poor don’t blame the cow. Blame your own want of skill. Adding hot water to cream while churn: 'is the worst of all practices. Wat. ll milk from the cow does not absorb odors. While cooling keep it !u a pure atmosphere. «

JERSEY COW ADELAIDE.

FOR SUMMER VENTILATION.

THE NEW NAILLESS HORSESHOE.