Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1900 — FARMERS CORNER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMERS CORNER

Cultivator Shield. In the Ohio Farmer a correspondent tells of a good shield for a cultivator. He says: In cultivating corn when It Is small, it requires the greatest care not to cover up or roll hard lumps of dirt on the tender sprouts. The shields that come with cultivators arc very uih certain and unsatisfactory in their work. For several years we have tried this trough and find it a most satisfactory device. Take two hard wood Inch boards eight Inches wide and about five

feet long and fashion the forward end of each in the shape of a sleigh runner. Then take a 2 by 4 the same length as the boards and bevel the edges in such a way that when the boards are nailed on they will spread out at the bottom until they are about eight Inches apart. This trough is to pass, inverted, over the corn row between the shovels of the cultivator, its sloping sides catching the loose soil and leaving it lying loosely next the corn, but never on it. To fasten this trongh to the cultivator, bore an Inch hole through the sides near the front end and just beneath the top 2 by 4. Through these run a small, strong rope and tie each end to the cultivator In such a way that the trough will be kept a little In advance of the shovels. It is best to leave

this rope to play loosely through the trough, as it would otherwise upset In turning at the end of the rows. The illustration shows the construction exactly. Formula for Lice. A most excellent lice-killer can be made, says the Poultry Fanciers*" Gazette, as follows: One pint of crude carbolic acid, three pints of either benzine or naphthollne, or gasoline (there is but little difference in them, some being more volatile than others); then one gallon of ordinary kerosene; mix all well together, sprinkle or paint the roosts, or shut the fowls in a box and sprinkle the bottom of the box well with it. Bear in mind that it is a very dangerous substance to handle and must only be used where there is no possibility of any spark of fire being In the place or near it, as the air will fill with gas and in a close room would explode, but carefully handled it will kill every insect in the house, also a small amount used at a time in a close room would not be dangerous. The smell of this passes off in two or three days, and it does not taint the flesh of the fow’ls or eggs, and the danger lasts for a few minutes only, as the gas soon becomes so diluted with air that it would not catch fire. The only safe way is to always use It in daylight.

Enterprise in Farming. The farmer and his farm are said to be alike; that is, the farm is what the owner makes it, and it indicates his characteristics. The main desire of an enterprising farmer is to save as much manure as possible, and it is an old maxim that the best way to Judge of the work of a farmer is to observe how he manages his manure heap, as in the manure are collected the riches of the farm. An enterprising farmer will also keep his buildings in repair and make the farm attractive in appearance, but at all seasons of the year, whenever an opportunity Is offered for so doing, he will give a portion of his time to the manure heap. Sweet Potatoes. Sweet potatoes are grown successfully In one-half the area of the United States. The crop produces from 100 to 300 bushels to the acre In the States south of Nebraska and New' York, and fair yields are reported from Maine and the warm valleys of the irrigated West. The last official census gives the yield for the entire country at 44.000,000 bushels. Expert growers estimate the actual cost of production from 10 to 20 cents per bushel. There Is certainly good profit In growing the crop. A warm, sandy, well drained {•oil Is the Ideal spot for sweet potatoes. The crop will not be satisfactory on clay land nor on old woraout

fields. New land Is very good toe tM plant if it has not been highly fertilised with barnyard manure. The potatoes will not grow to a very great success in the shade, nor on a cold hillside. Growing Potatoes. Potatoes will grow on a great variety of soils and produce excellent crops, but the soil has much to da fitb the quality. A soil that is full ot humus will produce large tubers in abundance, but they will lack the quality of those that are grown In soil that has less humus, but is rich in potash and other minerals. The volcanic ash soils of the Pacific slope grow some of the finest potatoes In the world, both in size and quality. The mineral elements produce the splendid result. The application of stable manure to this crop is inadvisable, for if the crop escape scab, as the result, the quality of the tuber will pretty surely be injured. The following mixture is an excellent potato fertilizer: Muriate of potash, 400 pounds; nitrate of soda, 250 pounds; dried blood, 300 pounds; fine bone flour, 500 pounds; plaster, 400 pounds; salt, 150 pounds. This will contain about 4 per cent, of nitrogen, 7% per cent, of phosphoric acid and 10 per cent, of potash. Boafcing the seed in a solution of corrosive sublimate—dissolving two ounces of the sublimate in two gallons of water, and then adding thirteen gallons of wa-ter-will destroy scab germs, but it will not protect the crop from scab if it is grown in Infected ground. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture, first when the vines are a foot high and then three or four times aftarward at intervals of ten days, will practically prevent blight.— Epitomist. Spring Swarming, In getting hives ready for the spring swarms, make them double walled, with the outer shell of seven-eighths inch lumber and the inner shell of three-eighths inch lumber. Have the inner wall small enough to allow about one inch of space all around, then fill this space..with some kind of chaff, which will act as a non-conductor. The hive will be cooler in summer and warmer in winter than a single-walled hive, and the bees will be more comfort-

able all the year around. They will also breed up quicker and stronger is the spring, and consequently will swarm earlier and gather more surplus honey. A double-walled hive will cost a little more, but It is a good investment. I have tried both kinds side by side, and am discarding ail singlewalled hives.—F. G. Herman.

Milking bjr Machine. Men dislike to milk cows and numerous machines have been invented to do It for them, says Denver Field and Farm. Most of these machines are foolish contrivances and none are real successes. They are divided Into four classes: Drainers, suckers, squeezer* and suction-squeezers. No machine yet devised, however, has become a demonstrated success. Some are better than others, but none have proven desirable adjuncts to dairy equipment. ' Men will continue to devise, and it is not improbable that at some time large herds may be milked by machine. This opinion has many supporters.

Items of Interest. The secret of success in truck farming is in the production of several drops from the same ground during the year. Ask the horse buyers what kind of horses they want. Big ones—highgrade draft horses—are most in demand at top prices. It is generally those farmers who need the education the least who attend the farmers’ institutes in the largest numbers. v ‘ .g 'fhe Jewell (Kan.) Republican says that stockmen in that section feed cotton seed meal to their cattle whenever corn gets above 20 cents a bushel. Qne really good cow will yield as much milk as two ordinary cows, and it will cost one-half of the feed and labor to keep her as to keep two. One of the most important items in making pigs profitable is to keep them growing steadily from the time they are farrowed until they are marketed.,, There has never been a time In the] past five years when good rams and! ewes are as scarce as they are now;! especially is this true of the fine wool] sheep. , jfl It is probably safe to say that for ] 1900 the number of fowls in the United* States pretty nearly reaches 500,006- < 0(H), which with their product represents a value of over JM00.000.000. In the course of a recent inquiry in,] England into the qhestlon of what materials were used by dairymen to glvel milk a rich, creamy tint, it was found 1 that the dye in common use was "man- ‘ rltlus yellow,*’ one of the constituent! of lyddite, the high explosive used by British artillery.

CORN SHIELD.