Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1901 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Artificial Calf-Feeder. "What an awful disappointment It must be to a calf to wake up some morning and find Its mother missing and no warm breakfast waiting, and how disgusted it must feel when the farmer comes In a little later with a ■pail of skimmed milk, straddles the ;calfs neck, inserts his finger In its mouth and tries to convince it that drinking is the proper method of feeding from that time on. Happy would be that calf if the farmer would provide it with the feeding arrangement ihere shown, and happy would the farjmer be if he did not have to waste his time in teaching the calf to drink. The calf seems to get along fairly well until farmer undertakes to withdraw his finger and make the calf go it alone, but then rebellion rises and an upset pail is the result In some cases. Once introduce the calf to this device and he may bunt to his heart’s content without upsetting the milk. The arrangement consists of a reservoir, suspended from the wall, with a tube leading to a block underneath, on which is mounted a rubber nipple. As the nipple is screwed on tßte block it

may be removed as soon as the feeding is finished, or the entire feeder can be taken down if desired. Henry B. Smith, of Chauteaugay, N. Y., is the inventor.

Farm Separators. Butter makers kick on farm separators, says the Northwest Farmer. Some of the butter makers are making a lively kick against the introduction of the farm separator. They might as well kick against a stone wall, for kicking will not stop its coming. The#e is only one thing that will check its rapid introduction, and that is better skimmilk from the creamery. Farmers are getting tnore and more determined to raise good calves, and they propose to do this with separator skimmilk. If the butter makers don’t clean up their pumps, pipes and tanks and give the skimmilk a thorough pasteurizing the farmer is certain to lend an attentive ear to the farm separator agent, a separator will be installed on trial, and you can count on its staying. It will then be too late to protest, for after a farmer pays SIOO for a separator he Is quite apt to And a factory that will take his cream. Dairymen of experience have found that the best of calves can be raised on good separator milk, and every intelligent butter maker knows how to return it in good condition. Lawn Grass. While most of the seed stores sell special lawn-grass mixtures, which, perhaps, contain a half-dozen or more varieties of grass seed, we doubt if any of them will give better results than to mix one bushel of Kentucky bluegrass, a half bushel of clean redtop, or a bushel in the chaff, one peck of sweet vernal and one pound of white clover, .the above being amount for one acre. The bluegrass Is earlier than the redtop, and the redtop resists summer heat better, while the flagrant, sweet vernal is good both early and late. Have the ground thoroughly pulverized and made rich with about six hundred pounds lawn dressing per acre, which has more nitrogen and potash than the usual superphosphates, and sow in spring as early ns the ground can be well worked, or sow in August. We prefer the artificial fertilizer to the barnyard manure for lawn, as being free frqm weed seeds. The above mixture is also a good one for permanent pasture.—New England Fanner.

Lln-eecl Oil Cake. It Is an English tradition that something like a century ago a farmer used the refuse from a linseed or flaxseed oil mill to manure a Held, and then turned sheep on It. Going there a while afterward he found that the aheep had eaten the grass and the manure well, and had made a better • growth, than those In other fields. This Is said to have be6n tlw beginning of feeding linseed eake to sheep. Possibly It Is true, for some of our moat beneficial discoveries have been made In ways as accidental or providential as this.—Exchange. Stronw Constitutions. Many animals lack In constitutional vigor, simply because their parents hav,e been allowed to get too fat, and have not had enough exercise to keep their muscles firm and the digestive organs active, while others have failed because of the feeder having gone to the opposite extreme, failed to feed enough, .and lv giving exerclna have «z-

posed them to cold and hard Osage. The bo* stall or pen is better for the breeding animal than closer confinement, and as much good food as they will eat better than a scanty ration, but it should not be what is called carbonaceous or heating and fattening food,' but such as to produce muscle and growth of frame. Out-of-door exercise is needed, but that does not mean standing still in a cold wind or storm until ahilled through, or being turned out to drink ice water to chill the internal organs and the unborn offspring. --Massachusetts Ploughman.

Early Pasturage. The first grass in spring is watery and has very little nutrition in it, partly because it is usually to be found on the low lands, where the better grade of grasses do not grow. Yet we used to like to get cattle and sheep into it as soon as it was large enough to give them a fair bite, as such grass is poor at the best, and almost worthless after It gets tough and harsh. But we never depended much upon it as food for them, excepting for Its succulent qualities. We fed as much hay and grain the morning before we let .them into pasture as if they were to remain in the yard. Then we took them in early, and at night they were fed at the barn again. The green grass loosened the bowels, and perhaps we had a little more milk, or a little thriftier growth, but it made the change from hay to pasture more gradual, and they seemed to relish it, especially if the roots were all gone, as they usually were likely to be at that season. That was before the days of the silo, and if we had one well filled we might think it better now to feed ensilage, and let the bog grass grow to be used as bedding, or to be used as a covering for strawberries or spinach, or as a mulch for some other crops.—American Cultivator.

Killing Brush. We see much said in our Western exchanges about the value of the Angora goat to destroy brush. If that Is their strong point we do not want them. It used to be the fashion to advocate keeping sheep to kill weeds and briars. They will surely do that if kept on them, but we never knew any one to start with sheep with that as his main Incentive, who did not come to the conclusion that there was no profit in sheep. If we want good wool and mutton the sheep must have something beside briars to feed upon, and if they choose to take a few briars or weeds as a sort of condiment with the other food, well and good. So we think if Angora goats are kept to kill brush entirely they will furnish but little mohair and a poor flesh. Give us the old plan for killing brush, mow in July, burn in August, and then let sheep pick a few of the tender sprouts if they want them the next spring.—American Cultivator.

What Result to the Soil? I would not seem to undervalue stable manure, but it is a mistake to suppose that land must grow poor when we cease to feed everything upon the farm. It is not necessary to sacrifice all income for the rake of keeping up the soil. Now that we know more about the composition of the soil, we know that productiveness depends in great degree upon the presence of organic matter in It, and not solely upon stable manure or commercial fertilizers. The ideal condition would be one in which a goodly number of live stock could be kept with profit on nearly every farm, but the cattle feeders of most fertile Eastern valleys must give up a farm scheme that makes fat cattle and wheat the only cash products. The list of cash crops will be made longer, and clover, peas and sods must be freely used to supplement the manure.— B’arm and B’ireside. Care of Horses. Before the horses are put to work very hard in the spring after.a winter of comparative idleness their grain rations should be gradually increased, and the work should not be too hard or tbe days too long at first, and this last is a good rule for man as well as beast, but the man should have sense enough to look out for himself and his team. See that thQ harness is properly fitted, clean and oiled until It is soft and pliable, that it may not chafe anywhere and thus avoid sore shoulders and saddle galls. A little water at the middle of the half day’s work will always be relished and may prevent drinking too much at one time and thus lessen the danger of colic.—A merican Cultivator.

—\——. Stock Farm Fences. It is very necessary to have good fences for all our stock, and the fence question is a very important one In regard to expense, but It does not make any difference how expensive It is, It Is one of the Important Items in successfully raising young stock. You cannot give them the proper care If they run everywhere, especially In the yard around the house, or, worse still, the neighbor’s bouse or premises. It Is very necessary to have your stock Just where and when you Want It. It Is very uecessary to have numerous yards and fields so as to separate young and old stock and fattening cattle and the weaker ones from the stronger.—Kansas Farmer. The Broadening Corn Beit. Probably the production of corn has been Increased liv North America by the development of early maturing varieties during the past twenty-five years more than It lias Increased In all the rest of the world from all other Influences. The corn belt has broadened hundreds of miles by tills means, and the end is not yet, remarks National Stockman. Milk Vetwlti Milk vessels should, as far as possible, be made without seams, and all soldered Joints be made as smooth as

THE HAPPY CALF AND ITS FEEDER.