Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1899 — FARMERS CORNER. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMERS CORNER.

American Ginseng. For growing ginseng from seed, prepare beds from three to four feet wide and any length desired, raised a few Inches above the surface. A good way to form the outline of the bed is to set up boards six inches wide, held in place by stakes. Fill with rich soil, and mix all the humus (decayed vegetable matter) you can get with it. Well-rotted horse manure may be used to good Advantage in the preparation of the bed. Plant the seed in drills, six inches apart and four Inches apart in the drills, covering one inch deep. After the seed is planted cover the bed with a two or three inch coat of leaves, straw or anything that will keep the ground moist. When the plants begin to come up in the spring the bed should be shaded from the direct rays of the sun by means of a frame placed over

it, on which straw or brush may be thrown. The seed should always be kept moist, as they will not germinate after they once become thoroughly dry. Buying a Horse. If you want to buy a horse, take no man’s -word for it. Your eye Is your market. Don’t buy a horse ip harness. Unhitch him and take everything off but the halter and lead him around. If he has any failing you can see it. Let him go away by himself, and. if he walks right into anything you know he is blind. No matter how clear and bright his eyes are, he can’t see any more than a bat. Back him, too. Some horses show their weakness or tricks in that way when they don’t in any other. But be as smart as you can, you’ll get stuck sometimes. Even the experts get stuck. A horse may look ever so nice and go a great pace and yet have fits. There isn’t a man who could tell it until something happens. Or, he may have a weak back. Give him the whip and off he goes for a mile or two, then all of a sudden he stops in the road. After a rest he starts again, but soon stops for good, and nothing but a derrick can start him.—Southern Stock Farm.

Fog Chicken House. I enclose the plan of chicken coop I built of logs. In building the roof that way I sawed lumber and shingles. I cut all logs exactly the required length. The average size was about 7 inches in diameter. I did all the work alone. First lay the sill logs and toenail on the comer, making the logs 2 by 4 by 8

feet and 2 by 6 by 8 feet. Spike these two together and brace from the inside, so they will be perfectly plumb. Now start putting up the logs, one side at a time, or build all sides evenly as yoy go. Drive a spike into your 2by 4 6 inch sills and into your logs as fast as you go, so as to hold them in place. You can put a round log in the corner 6 inches in diameter and 8 feet long. After the house has been built, spike the 2 by 4 on to this and also the plate logs. Peel the logs.—A. L. Ford, in Orange Judd Farmer. Food Value of Potatoes. It is claimed by some that potatoes are not wholeseme food. Such does not seem to agree with experiments conducted with a special view of determining the food value of the potato. The fact that the potato is a diet in nearly every household would of Itself seem to be sufficient proof that it is a nutritious food. The potato, on account of being composed principally of starchy matter, would, if eaten by itself, be a one-sided and badly balanced ration. The constituents necessary for a balanced diet are protein, fat and carbohydrates. Potatoes are composed of the latter, and meat, eggs and fish are composed of the former. Since potatoes are usually served together with meat, eggs or fish, it forms a diet which is most conducive to health and vigor. Profit in Goats, More goats are raised for their hair In California than elsewhere in the country, and the experimenters in this Pne of industry are meeting with a Stir degree of success. The ▲ngar*

goat yields on an average four pounds of mohair at a shearing, the product selling for from 32c to 37c a pound. C. P. Bailey of San Jose, sold last year a trifle more than SB,OOO -worth of mohair from his flock. Boys on the Farm. Lots of boys are driven, from the farm by the treatment they receive there. You can not work a boy from ten to fourteen hours a day, begrudging him a day off and depriving him of an opportunity to make a little money, and have a. little fun on his own account, and then expect that he is going to stay on the farm. Boys are not built that way. But if you treat them right, encourage their originality and foster their development and the doing of things for themselves, the average boy is level-headed enough to realize the advantages offered by rural life. Some fathers make the mistake of trying to drive boys instead of working with them, or fail to recognize the rapidity with which a bright boy gains knowledge and experience between 12 and 20, and now quickly he may know more or have better judgment in some matters than hisgfather. The parents are quite as often at fault as the boys in those cases where the complaint comes that the boys won’t stay on the farm.—Journal of Agriculture. For Ivy Poiaoninsr. , A very common source of poison in some localities is Rhus toxicodendron, locally known as “mercury" or “poison ivy.” It is a trifoliate, glossy-leaved vine, much given to climbing over old trees and rail fences, to which it clings tightly. Some persons are so susceptible to its noxious qualities as to be poisoned by the slightest touch, or even by passing very near the vines when wet with dew. The parts affected are very red, sometimes swollen badly, and accompanied by most intense Itching and burning, especially when exercising or near artificial heat. A certain remedy is made by dissolving a handful of quick lime in a pint of cold water. Bathe the parts often, and after a very few applications they will be quite well. Watering Plants. Where it is necessary to water large numbers of plants, or put liquid manure upon them, the contrivance shown In the cut,, which Is reproduced from the American Agriculturist, can well be used. A barrel of the water, or liquid, is placed in a cart and driven alongside the rows. A man walks alongside and directs the stream from the rubber tube upon each plant In succession. The liquid flows of itself from the barrel, because the tube acts as $

siphon, the nozzle of the tube being «kept below the level of the water in ’the barrel. Uses for Borax, Some of the most common articles are the most useful ones. One of the most common is borax, and the uses to which it may be put are many and various. Its cheapness brings it within reach of us all, and its practical utility makes It a very desirable article to have In the home. As a destroyer of Insects it is especially useful. In the South ants are very annoying. Borax scattered around the entrance to your pantry or sideboard, so that the ants cannot come into the room without crossing it, will keep them out. Being absolutely safe, It may be scattered over pantry shelves and around the edges of carpets. It Is an excellent disinfectant, and will save many doctor’s bills, if freely used about the house, water pipes and sinks.—Epitomlst. Bloated Animals. To cure, or rather to give immediate relief to an animal in a case of bloat, take a piece of garden hose about four or six feet long and put end in the animal’s mouth and run it down its throat until the gas that has caused the trouble begins to escape through the hose. When it has all escaped remove the hose and your animal is all right. This is a sure remedy for bloat, and will frequently save a good cow from dying, and at least save her a great deal of suffering, and the owner a great deal of anxiety. Power of a Growing Plant. The lifting power of a growing plant Is one of the most astonishing things In nature. Beans and acorns often lift heavy masses of earth in their struggles to reach the light. Mushrooms have displaced flag-stones in a number of instances. Took the Champion Prise.

The Shire stallion Buscof Herold is the property of Alexander Henderson, M. P., Farington, Berkshire, England. Winner of champion prize for stallions at the London Shire Horse Show. Can Live Without Water. Many animals in desert regions never have any water except the dew on vegetation. A parrot in the London Zoo is known to have lived fifty-two years without drinking a drop of water.— -

DIVISIBLE GINSENG ROOT.

SUBSTANTIAL POULTRY HOUSE.

WATERING PLANTS.