Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1901 — FARMERS CORNER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMERS CORNER

Painting Farm Buildings. Some one has said that “paint and putty are like charity, they cover up a multitude of sins,” or faults would have been a better word, as not all faults deserve to be called sins. When the spring rains are over, and the wood Is dry, but before the flies get plenty, is a good time to paint farm buildings, carts and tools. It is not necessary to have a skilled painter to do all this if economy' is to be studied. The ready mixed paints, properly used, will last as long, look as well, and preserve the wood as well as those mixed by the painter, and any hired man or smart boy can soon learn to spread them, not as well as the man who learned the trade, but well enough to cover the buildings. When we first tried such a job we received these directions which helped us much: “Keep the paint well mixed, do not get too much on the brush, and carry the hand steadily in a straight line.” Begin on something or some old building where looks is not very important, and a considerable improvement will be seen In the workmanship after even a day’s practice, and when a second coat is put on it should be smooth enough to hide the defects of the first attempt Most of the readymixed paints are improved by the addition of a little more oil and turpentine, at least toward the bottom of the can, as but few will keep them sufficiently well stirred. —American Cultivator. Reliable Farm Siphon. A correspondent of the Ohio Farmer describes a siphon which he made himself, of three-quarter-inch galvanized

pipe? It lifts the water, he says, 18 to 22 feet perpendicularly from a well and delivers it into a watering trough something like 100 yards from and 6% feet below the water level of the well. It works as well at 22 feet from top, but not quite as fast as at 18 feet. The one thing ] that is indispensable j r 1

to siphon w'ater this height is a valve at A to close and hold water in pipe w'hile filling. This valve is similar to the low'er valve in a suction pump; just fits in a three-quarter-inch coupling, and admits a full stream when open. The ldwer end at B is handled as a feed pipe from storage tank, with a float valve. Have a plug, C, outside, to connect with a hose. At the top have a short piece of pipe bent down at either side of the tee, E, E, to insure D being the highest point in the pipe from well to trough. At the upper hole at D have a piece of pipe, G, say three feet long, with good-sized holes at F, F. Have the pipe inclosed as the core to chamber C, L; chamber made of heavy copper soldered to pipe above and below F, F. Have pipe threads protruding at H so as to connect a three-quar-ter-inch steam valve S. This is safer and more convenient than a plug. Have a bit of threaded pipe screwed into top of valve, T, w'ith enough threads, say one inch, protruding to screw on a funnel, R. Our chamber is three feet of three-inch pipe connected by graduates at H and D, but they are not kept except at the large plumbing shops and the chamber Is not as I would like. The chamber should hold three or four gallons and then the siphon will run for two w'eeks or more with one filling. To fill siphon, close valve B first, then fill funnel, R; next open valve S and w'eight of water in pipe w'tll close valve A. You cannot pump air out at valve S or B. Siphon runs about four gallons per minute with 6% feet head below w'ater level, w'ith valve B wide opeu. Milk from Farrow Cow*. The milk of cow's that have long passed the season of greatest production, which is soon after farrowing, Is much richer in buter fats than that which the same cows give soon after dropping their calves, says an exchange. If they had not been bred, the milk also usually contains more of the albuminoids also. For this reason It i* harder to digest, and, as cows’ milk Is at best unsuited to the stomach of a young infant, that from new milk cows, where procurable, is always to be preferred. The milk of the cow is too rich lu fats, causing the Ihfant to throw It up soon after taking a quantity. It may be Improved by diluting it with warm water made quite sweet with pure sugar. Even farrow cows’ milk thus prepared may be used with safety if the infant is obliged to suck It through a tube, through which it can only get a small amount at a time. Growing I opcoV.i. We used to know a mun who claimed that he found it profitable to grow popcorn every year for market. He used land that was light and warm, and we thought scarcely strong enough for a very good crop of field corn, and gave It

a fairly good dressing of manure, and he said his crop usually exceeded twenty bushels of ears to the acre, and we think he said he had grown over thirty bushels. He kept It until well dried or in condition for parching, and had a local demand for It at a higher price than was paid for that grown in the. West. We think It used to bring from $2 to $3 a bushel In the ear.—New England Homestead. Coop for Young Chicks. In raising young chicks half the battle is in keeping them well protected from damp weather, and yet giving them an abundance of air for proper ventilation. The coop illustrated has been thoroughly tested. It is built of matched boards, and raised two inches from the ground by nailing cleats two inches thick around the bottom edges.

The front is hinged, and during the day is used as a feediug board for both the chicks and the mother hen. At night, and when cold and stormy, the front is closed over the slats and fastened with a button. In the top front of the coop holes are bored, which provide ample ventilation. The form of the house may be ,as the builder wills, although the shape shown is less expensive than the gable roof, and if matched boards are used, as advised, will be quite as water-tight. Care of Teams. It will soon be time to start the mowing machines at work, and possibly many have done so already, although the grass has not matured as early as it does in some seasons. It is a satisfaction to watch the grass fall before the rapidly playing knives, and to feel that the horses are doing the work so much faster and better than i.t used 1 to be done by hand labor. How we used to-sweat and swelter In haying time, and how often we used to need to quench our thirst as we came to the 'end of the swath, some with water and some with more potent beverages. Now the man on the machine does ndt perspire as much, or need to drink as often. and we fear that he sometimes forgets that the animals which .are doing trfq hard labor for him also need to quench their thirst more frequently than they would if quietly standing In well-ventilated stable. They should not be expected to keep busily at work for more than five hours at a time, and they will do that much more comfortably if they are given a half-pailful of water about twice in that time. Take a cask and bucket along to the field if the watering place is not handy, and offer them water occasionally.—Massachusetts Ploughman. The White Grub. The white grub, which often in a dry season eats off the roots of the grass and corn, and will eat almost any root which is not too hard, is the larva of what Is known as the June beetlepin and farther South ns the May beetle. It often is so abundant as to make It necessary to plow up fields where they have destroyed all the grass, and even then It is difficult to destroy the grub. But we have seen it stated that the beetle, though it flies mostly by night, is a leaf-eating insect, and where the trees are sprayed with arsenites many of them are killed. As one of their favorite foods is the leaf of the hickory tree, that should be sprayed regularly each year.—American Cultivator. , Wart* on Cnlve». Take a blunt knife and scrape the top of the wart and apply a little tercbloride of antimony to it with a feather. Repeat every third day until it Is lower than the skin. Then mix one ounce of oxide of zinc with two ounces of vaseline and rub on a little once a day. Farm Notes. Don’t begrudge robin a few cherries. No weeds are more injurious than neglect. Anybody can raise strawberries—with a spoon. Economy in youth means an easy chair in old age. An ounce of cifitivatton is worth a pound of manure. Berries well picked and packed are well received In market. Do not let the wheat and rye get dead ripe before harvesting. Even a.nice, refined girl may have a rough chap on her hands. The devil owes much of his success to the fact that he Is always on hand. Do your pears crack? The remedy is to spray with* Bordeaux mixture. Do It now. Just as like as hot your lima bean poles are too long. It makes the vines tired to climb so high. Spray the grafts Just put In; often they do not start off well on account of fungi, which Bordeaux mixture will cure. Don’t wait until your plants are badly injured by plant lice before applying the kerosene emulsion or tobacco water. To preserve raw fruits or vegetables In perfect condition, wrap in tissue paper soaked lu a solution of salicylic odd and dried.

A FARM SIPHON.

GOOD COOP FOR CHICKS.