Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1899 — FARMS AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMS AND FARMERS

Single Sashes Double Glazed. One of the ways in which poultry and other stock suffer is from the rapid radiation of heat from the windows at night. Double windows are sometimes used, but these are expensive, somewhat of a bother to put on and hard to keep clean. The cut shows a single sash, double glazed, which a poultryman has recently described. The sash is made so that the glass can be set on both sides of the wooden bars, leaving a half inch or more of space between. This gives a double window and the cost is said to be not more than 25 cents extra per sash for. the glass and the labor of setting. The glazing must be tight and

carefully done to keep out all dirt and dust from the inner surfaces of the glass—American Agriculturist Hay in Better Demand. Canadian papers are boasting that the war in the Transvaal has created a demand for hay, and that prices have already advanced from 50 cents to $1 a ton In Montreal, and if there were more vessels to take it and lower rates of freight there would be a further advance. So many British vessels were taken as transports for the troops en route for South Africa, and for their equipments and supplies, that it has been almost impossible to send forward the amount of goods that Great Britain wants from America. It is reported that one cargo of Canadian hay has been sent direct to South Africa by the way of Boston, and that other vessels are on the way to Montreal for a cargo. Hay is now in good demand in the United States, and prices are more likely to advance than to decline. If farmers here and in Canada will next year Increase their fodder crops as they may, they will find a ready market for all the hay they haVe to spare, at better prices than they have realized for some years, or we cannot read the signs of the times aright A little planning for silage and fodder crops will enable them to feed more cattle at home and have hay to sell. Buff Turkey*. Buff turkeys probably resulted froih selected crosses of the bronze and white breeds. In size and general qualities they resemble the White Holland,

hut with pure buff plumage. Tlje full color Is hard to get and every hatch includes birds with black or white in the plumage. This difficulty 4s perhaps the chief cause of lack of popularity. Buff turkeys are seldom kept on farms, although they are considered equal to the other small breeds for general purposes.—Orange Judd Farmer. A New Hybrid. The Brazilian minister at Washington has communicated to the United States department the fact that Baron de Parana in Rio Janeiro has succeeded in producing a cross between the zebra and the mare, a hybrid which is much larger and handsomer than the mule. The male used Is wbat is known as Burchell’s zebra, a native of South Africa, which is naturally less wild and more tractable than the mountain zebra, and which has been so far domesticated as to work in teams of six, eight or more together, or with the same number of horses, though it does not work kindly singly or In pairs, as in its native haunts It went in large droves for protection against other wild beasts. The baron claims that they are more docile and gentle than the ordinary mule, quicker, softer mouthed, with no w*K«iT y to J EI IX remarka^y sprightly, have extraordinary muscular strength, and are much less subject to the mule. ' * 1 •> *-"-v. ' •. ■ ■ Weed. Seed for Bird*.

likely to suffer from this cause there will be people who for humanity’s sake wUI furnish food for them. A handful of oats, millet seed and other small grains thrown out every day in winter will supply a vast number of small birds, and if we were rid of the detestable English sparrow, we could have the trees around our houses thronged with song sparrows, finches, chickadees, wrens, snow birds, and hosts of other birds both winter and summer. Planting Tree Seeds. Apple seed and plum and cherry pits can be kept In the cellar in condition to grow with proper attention to watering. But in any ordinary dry cellar the sand gets too dry to prepare the seeds for germinating the first season. It is much safer to bury outside, where they will have regular moisture and more or less freezing and thawing. It Is also safe to plant these seeds and pits in the fall, if properly managed. Cover the seed at least three inches deep in drills by mounding two Inches about the surface. Early in spring rake off the mound, leaving the seed one inch deep with a mellow surface for a seed bed. In this way the surface is not packed and the plants will make larger growth the first season than we secure with spring Advocate. Cultivation of Berries. Berries should be cultivated from planting time to fruiting season, keeping the ground pulverized between the rowh; strawberries, however, should be mulched with straw, which takes the place of cultivation. Blackberries, which often dry up on the hushes before the crop is all matured, can be saved, in most cases, by frequent surface cultivation between the rows, retaining moisture, which nourishes the plants and matures late blooms. The roots of trees spread op. every side the same distance as the limbs extend, and therefore cultivation should cover the entire surface; in the case of large trees, none but shallow plowing should be done, so as not to injure the roots.— Farmers’ Voice. v A' Winter Gate. A gate that must be used in winter is often opened and shut with difficulty when the snows become deep. If the

hinges are made according to the plan shown in the accompanying illustration the gate can be raised continually a s th e snows become deeper and deeper. The long part of the hinge is made

of a rod of iron that will turn easily In the eye of the other part of the hinge. In the lower hinge have three or four holes drilled through the Iron rod, as shown. When the gate Is to be raised slip,a 20-penny wire nail through the required hole beneath the part containing the eye, and the gate will stand at the elevation required. When the snow is gone the gate can .he returned to its natural position. Farmer*’ Children. Farms are places for raising crops, not only crops of grain, but crops of men and women. From the farmers’ boys and girls come not only the physical health and strength, but also many, aye, most of the brightest minds in the various walks of life. Farmers’ boys and girls have ample opportunity foi the education and development of their mental faculties. Good schools are abundant and easily accessible. The high schools in the cities are now nearly or quite as good as were many of the colleges fifty years ago, while State normal schools, agricultural colleges and universities furnish wonderful opportunities for the education of the youth of the present day.— Farmers’ Advocate. Getting Rid of Rat*. Mix com meal and plaster of parts together, about one-third plaster of parls. The rats will eat the com meal, also some of the dry plaster. As they pick the com meal out, add a little more meal to it, and mix together, put It in shallow dishes and set It around in different places. Also have some water convenient for them to drink. And in three or four days you will not be troubled with rat% To Keep Apples. An experiment made by a Michigan grower of apples shows that if apples are packed in kiln-dried clean sand, and •the apples not allowed to touch, they may be put into bins and kept for month*, provided the bins are in a cool, dry place and the apples not braised. Success has been obtained by the use of well-dried com and oats also, espedally In keeping with beets, turnips Fajm Notes. ' Shelter sffieep cold rains. Do not allow manure to accumulate in the stables. Sheep as much as any ether stock require dry bedding. I’ , V As the roads get bad the loads should be made lighter. Old stock of any kind decrease in value as they become older. The most profitable stock to feed is young, thrifty, growing It Is a safe rule on very cold days to increase ifite grr&in rations. j ds.U'oy* 0 * tli. white jgrub-

SASH WITH DOUBLE GLASS.

PURE-BRED BUFF TURKEY.

WINTER GATE.