Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1900 — AGRICULTURAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL

Derrick for Stacking. The arrangement illustrated is Intended for stacking hay. fodder, etc., •out of doors, and is also useful, if of ■convenient size, for loading shocks of fodder on to a wagon in the field, one team being used to haul the derrick from shock to shock. It can also be used to advantage in loading hay from a stack on to a wagon. A telegraph pole is best for the center pole, which turns in any direction. „ It Is made with a ‘ shoulder to fit in the hole in the cross ■ plank at the bottom. The bottom frame should be about one-half the height of the entire device. It is made principally of scantlings 4x4 and 2x6, as occasion requires. Three pulleys are necessary to operate the derrick, and the crane can be swung around , whenever ..wanted. This stacker can be

built on runners and may be hauled from place to- place. A correspondent, describing this derrick in an exchange, says one of the kind will pay for itself several times over in convenience In handling many heavy articles, and will last a long time if well taken care of. Measuring Irregular Fields. A method for measuring and finding the number of acres In a field shaped as shown in the accompanying diagram is to add together the widths of the two ends, halve the sum thus obtained, and multiply this by the length. The result will give the area of the field. The problem is one of the simplest in geometry. When the two widths are added together and the sum halved, the width will be precisely as much as if one of the sides were cut

off and reversed, as shown by the dotted lines, thus making a rectangle of the same area exactly as the original figure. Sunburned Potatoes for Seed. In answer to the Inquiry of A. W. Morton, sun-burned or green potatoes are all right for seed. Forty years ago when we raised our potatoes ou new burned land, we had a great many sun-burned potatoes, and, as they were not good* for cooking purposes, we saved J hem for seed. It came to be the general opinion among farmers that the green end of potatoes was much the best for seed. They were considered more hardy and produced earlier potatoes. I am not well enough informed on this point to claim any advantage in litis direction, but can safely say that the green ends, or if they are green all over, will not Injure them for seed.—E. E. Parkhurst, in Orange Judd Farmer. How to Raise Watermelons. An lowa contributor to the Farm, Field and Fireside says: Select a rich loam—sandy loam is best—and dig holes six feet each way, or in one long row, and put a shovel full of wellrotted manure in each hill, covering with two inches of dirt. Plant about a dozen seeds in each hill, covering one inch deep. Plant from the sth to the 10th of May. Soon after planting these, say live or six days, plant a hill between each two of the first ones. These will come up about the time bugs show up generally, and they will not touch the first vines, but will destroy the second planting. This is much easier than putting ashes on the vines, and surer, too. The main thing after this is to keep the ground loose around the hili, and you can raise melons in spite of drontb. Should the bugs come early and attack the first <vines, they are all gone before

the others are up. A w’heel hoe is the best tool ter use, hoeing twice a week at least. The seeds should be saved from the earliest and largest melons, providing they are sweet. Angora Goats. In Texas Angora goats have been cultivated for some years, and Farm and Ranch says there are 75,000 of the animals within its borders, while nearly fifty tons of their fleece, commercial*, ly known as mohair, were shipped last year from Uvalde alone. It now sells at prices ranging from 25 to 35'/ 2 cents a pound for average grades, while some of the very finest quality not yet marketed is expected to command 40 cents. Not only is- the fleece of considerable value, but the hides and flesh are also said to be in active demand. Apparently there is an excellent opportunity for many American farmers in the raising of Angora goats. It is I asserted that these animals can be kept at much less expense than sheep, while their fleece is of far greater value than wool; It requires a dry climate and short grass, while a country of broken and hilly nature, with scrubby tree growths, is well adapted to its requirements. The statement is ” also made that breeding the Angora with the common goat produces an animal of greater size than the latter, while the fleece is soon graded up to a profityielding quality. <E Why Incubator Chicks Die. At the Rhode Island station careful investigation has been made of thP cause of the death of young incubator chickens. The total number of dead chickens examined during the spring and summer of 1899’was 826. It was alleged that about one-third of the chicks had been more or less injured by uneven heat during incubation. Another common cause of was in overcrowding of brooders, resulting In death by Suffocation-, trampling, etc. Tuberculosis was found to be very prevalent, and 15 per cent, of the chickens were more or less affected. For guarding against this disease it is recommended to give the interior of the brooders all the sun and air possible on pleasant days? Bowel troubles were a common cause of death. Feeding should be as nearly as the time of the attendant renders profitable a continuous operation, but by no means a continuous gorge. Sometimes too much animal food is given, but in moderate quantities animal food results in rapid growth. Lflfek of animal food sometimes causes diseases of the liver and gall bladder.—Orange Judd' Farmer.

Hints About Milking. Milking should be done with clean, dry hands. Always iffilk in the same order and at the same time of day. When it conies a cow’s turn to be milked she knows it and expects it and wants to be milked. Always milk the coxy dry before leaving her, but do not continue stripping after the milk is all drawn. If part of the milk Is left at each milking in the udder nature will soon stop providing it because it is not taken. The last milk drawn from a cow is much richer than the first. The last quart usually contains more than three times as much butter fat as the first. Bonq in the Warm Season. Some persons are disposed to use gn»en cut bone only in winter, but a small quantity fed once a day In spring and summer will greatly promote laying and b§ of much advantage to molt 7 ing hens. The bone-cutter does not “grind” bones, but "cuts” those fresh from the butcher, and a pound of green cut bones, given at night to twenty fowls, will cost but little and prove beneficial in promoting laying. For geese and ducks there is no food that will show better results, especially for those that are growing, as it supplies the elements of growth and thus prevents them from having leg weakness. Do not give too much, but use it moderately in connection with a variety of other foods.—Kansas Farmer.

General Interest to Farmers. Mixing about one pound of oil meal with five of wheat and wetting it up with skim milk makes a good feed for growing pigs. Governor Richards of Wyoming has issued a quarantine proclamation with Instructions governing the shipment of cattle Into Wyoming. A bushel of wheat, as an equivalent amount of Hour,<can be shipped from Minneapolis to almost any point in western Europe for about 20 cents. Every fruit-grower and horticulturist should have a scrapbook wherein he may place formulas, lijnts on culture, etc., and where he can also keep a record of varieties planted. At the recent congress of veterinary physicians at Baden - Baden, Dr. Hecker, of Halle, maintained that the foot-and-mouth disease can be transferred to healthy animals by Wfds, etc.—a fact which, if substantiated, will call for a modification of legislation. The largest orchard in South Dakota Is owned by Mrs. Laura A. Aiderman, neat’ Hurley, Turner County, and contains 150 acres with 8,000 trees. Two acres are covered with plum trees. Besides the trees, there are 1,000 currant bushes, 1,000 gooseberry bushes aid 500 grapevines. Three acres are dev fled to strawberries.

HOME-MADE STACKER.

MEASURING A FIELD.