Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1899 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

There are manufactured barreling presses on the market, but the homemade affair shown In the picture will do as good work, and In some points will do It more conveniently than the commercial press. .A blacksmith, with a few moments’ work, will bend a •tout Iron rod Into the shape shown, the rod passing down one side of the barrel, across under It and up the other •ide, the upper ends being bent as shown. A long lever of wood Is slipped Into the loop and just the right thickness of blocks placed beneath It to spring the cover down Into place. Now draw the lever under the Up of the rod

son the other aide, and the whole will remain in place until the head is nailed in. Both ends of the rod should project the same distance above the upupper edge of the barrel. i ———————— The Dinner Horn. I love all the sounds listened to by the farmer, All speak with an eloquent voice Of rural contentment; bnt one ■ is a charmer, Oh, it is the sound of my choice I 1 mean the utensil that hangs in the kitchen And swings by a string to and fro, That peals out its summons, men’s lives to enrichen, Three times ev’ry day as they go. I love the cock-crow at the coming of morning, Lambs’ bleating gives pleasure to me; I hear with delight the crow’s “caw!” when adjourning To where he roosts snug in a tree. There’s music for me in a big wagon’s rattle; The clack of a mowing machine Will set me to dreaming, while bawling of cattle, Or whinny of colts on the green,

its sure not to jar on my peace and contentment, v And even a cackling old hen Or loud squealing porker calls up no resentment, And I’m prone to listen; but when There floats on the air from the treeembowered dwelling, That summons so loud and so sweet, O’er hill, dale and woodland it echoes so swelling, So far-reaching, piercing and fleet, I welcome its message with kindly rejoicing; To all it means surcease of toil; “Refreshment and rest”” is the burden it’s voicing To labor-worn tillers of soil. So, here’s to the trumpet that hangs in the kitchen; It summons men home from the corn. From hayfield and fallow, life’s hour to enrichen The battered old tin dinner horn. Farm Fire Ladder. The constant danger that farm buildings may take Are and have no adequate attention, owing to the lack of lire apparatus and of men, makes it Important that all possible precautions be taken that incipient fires may promptly be put out. A ladder for the

roof U of the greatest importance. The eat shows one that can quickly be pot In place. It la In the form of a fruit ladder at the top, and has a small wheel at the end, as shown. It can thus be shoved up over the roof without catching on the shingles. A hook is placed In the position shown, so that the ladder, when shoved up to the ridge, can be turned over, when the hook will hold it firmly in place. Make the ladder long enough for any roof you have, and have another that will reach any roof edge. Alfalfa *, a Honey Plant.

want the alfalfa for the hay, it Is beat to plant an extra strip for the bees Recent Investigation shows plainly that alfalfa should be cut prior to coming into full bloom to make a good hay that will be a safe feed for horses and young stock. If It is allowed to begin to mature the hairy growth on the stalks of the alfalfa plant becomes hard and woody. These hairs gather Into knots or balls in the stomachs of horses. In time these balls may cans* death.—A. H. Gibson, Arizona. Fertility and Mineral Manures. There Is widespread belief among fanners that while stable mantfre increases fertility the application of mineral commercial fertilizers tends to more rapidly exhaust it Really, however, to the extent that manure in any form makes bigger crops than what it suppUes plant, food for, It tends to exhaustion. Applying nothing but stabk manure, which is usually deficient is phosphate and potash, takes those minerals out of the soil faster than they would be drawn were the manure nol used. The loss of the mineral elements is not so easily seen as the waste of vegetable matter in the soil where only the commercial mineral fertilizers are used. Besides, the mineral manure is generally sold in a form to be quickly taken up by crops. It la Impossible to make stable manure so soluble that some of Its elements will not be left in the soil for future crops, crops.

Kerosene Emulsion. To make the emulsion, dissolve one half pound of hard soap in one gallon of soft water, and while, still boiling hot remove from the fire and add two gallons of kerosene. Stir the mixture violently by driving through a force pump back .1119 the vessel until it becomes a creamy mass that will not separate. The emulsion Is then ready to be diluted with water and applied. For the common scale insects and hardbodied insects like the chinch bug, use one part of the emulsion to eight or ten parts of water. For soft-bodied Insects like plant lice, use one part of emulsion to fifteen or twenty ports of water. As the emulsion kills by contact the application should be very thorough.

Simple Remedy for Ants on Trees Last tell I planted a number of shade trees, says a correspondent. This spring the black ants took possession of one of them, and I soon discovered that unless 1 used heroic measures they would destroy the tree. Paris green, camphor, gasoline—all were tried without success. I discovered they deposited their egg on the stem of the leaf upon which the young feed, and In their determination to get up to look after their numerous families, I found the remedies above named of no avail. As a last resort I bought “Tanglefoot fly paper,” tied It securely around the body of the tree and In forty-eight hours every ant was gone.

Cure for f- cratchlngr. „ My hens bothered us some by digging in the garden and flower beds until I fixed what I call a poke and fastened it on their leg. It is made of a piece of white ash about 6 or 7 inches long, flattened at one end and sharpened on the other. The flat end is bent around the hen’s leg and tied with some strong thread. It drags behind when they walk, but when they go to scratch, they sit down, and seem quite surprised. Heavy wire would

furnish good ones and are more easily made.—C. W. Shorter, in American Agriculturist The Toad in the Garden. To most people a toad is nothing but an unsightly reptile which is to be shunned. The toad is a reptile, to be sure, but it is one that is not only harmless, but is of great use to the gardener, as every worm or insect that comes within reach is devoured greedily. Centipedes, caterpillars, blister beetles and bugs of every kind are equally welcomed by the toad. He uses them all alike. Half a dozen toads in the garden will, keep it free from most of the ordinary garden pests. They are easily tamed and spend the day in some shaded nook along the fence or under a cabbage leaf, coming sedately forth at night to find their food.— Farmers* Voice. i New "'prayina; Device*. Dr. B. T. Galloway, of the Department of Agriculture, has devised a simple hand sprayer (cost not to exceed $2 or $2.60) for people who have only a few, grapevines, fruit trees or garden plants, to treat. Any brass worker can make It from the description and illustrations given in circular No. 17 of the division of vegetable physiology, in which is also described a new . and useful greenhouse nozzle for the application of water.—Rural World.

Plant Whippoorwill Peaa and Millet. Drill the peas one and one-half bushels to the acre, rows 2% feet apart, with corn planter, and fifteen days after broadcast the millet seed and plow in between the rows with small one-horse cultivator. When millet is ready to cut peas wBl be matured. Millet will absorb extra sap of peas. From a * mall Begrlnninar. Admiral Sampson says that the beat training for a naval life is “hard work from the very start.” This waa his own Jot, for his father was a day 1aSsd ***** **

How to Barrel Apples.

FOR BARREELING APPLES.

A FIRE LADDER.

ANTI-SCRATCHING DEVICE.