Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1901 — FARM AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND FARMERS

Mi'kinsr a Permanent Pasture. Oh many farms It »would certainly pay to abandon the old pasture as soon as possible, and do the work necessary to get the new field in shape. Most farmers are not inclined to take for pasture fields anything but such meadjws that no longer yield profitable crops of hay. This is a mistake, for they are, often times by this practice, turning land into pasture fields that is too valuable for that purpose, and which might be reseeded after the proper manipulation, and be made to yield large crops of hay. One of the best growers of hay In the country recommends the following mixture for permanent pasture: Red clover, 6 pounds; Alsike clover, 4 pounds; Kentucky bluegrass; 3Vi pounds; orchard grass, 3% pounds; meadow fescue, 3% pounds; redtop, 3% pounds, timothy, 5 pounds. These seeds ire well mixed, and the quality given is the seeding for an acre. The seeding is done about the Ist of September, after preparing the ground thoroughly during the summer. If started at once the ground may be plowed now and sowed to buckwheat, which should be plowed under when in bloom. This would add the desired humus to the soil. After plowing under the buckwheat, just before the sowing of the grass seed mixture, the ground should receive the following fertilizer: One hundred pounds of acid phosphate, thirty pounds of dried blood, twenty pounds of nitrate of soda and thirty pounds of muriate of potash. This gives 180 pounds of mixture to the acre, to be well harrowed in before the seed is sown. After the seed Is sown, the ground should be well rolled. The first season after seeding, the grass might be cut, but the cattle should not be turned into the field until the second year. Longfellow Bush Bean. The bush bean that is early is very desirable, especially for the market gardener, and the Longfellow bush bean seems more* nearly to meet the desires jf the market gardener than any of the sorts now In cultivation. The pods are often six and one-half or seven inches In length, pale-green in color, straight ind round. They are entirely free from the tough Inside skin usually found on string beans. The flavor is delicate, [n season it is often a week earlier than my other good sort. The vines yield

t r —; •rolifieally, ana the crop ripens uniformly in size and nearly at the same time. Infertility of E?es. There has been much complaint the fast season among poultrymen of the imall portion of chicks batched from yach setting of eggs, whether placed In the Incubator or with the old hen. Naturally there are various reasons given for this loss, but mainly under the general heading of infertility of the eggs. Every one who has handled poultry knows there are various effuses for infertility. There may be a weakness In the structure of the hen or of the cock. &.lso the feed has a great deal to do with the fertility of the egg. A hen that is overfed or kept very fat is not is likely ttxlay fertile eggs as one that a thinner. The food given to the laying hen has also something to do with the Infertility of eggs, for liens kept largely »n a diet of corn will produce eggs that ire much more likely to be Infertile than those from hens fed o<n a variety of foods. Meat foods and green foods are absolutely essential for lqying fowls, }f we would have from them eggs strong In fertility. The head of the flock should also receive careful attention, as he must be well fed and not permitted to run with too many hens. Visit Successful Farmers. Nothing will contribute more toward success In any vocation than enthusiasm which is founded upon faith In your own abilities to succeed In your own undertaking. If anyone anywhere near you is making a success In your adopted line of work, or specialty, you should by all means visit him and see lust how he manages, and why he succeeds where others have failed. Farming In all Its branches as now profitably pursued needs constant study, and luring the comparative leisure every one should review the past and plan for better results In future. There Is no other method of learning about any farm subject equul to being on tbe farm where such work Is practiced, and having It explained by thoffe who bavt made It a success. It may b« the

manner of feeding stock, or a plan of preserving roots, ensilage or other fodder. A farmer may contemplate a system of underdrains for his wet fields, in which case nothing short of a visit to some farmer who has thus drained his lands will enable him to gain so many valuable hints and suggestions regarding this important work. Such visits not only give new ideas, but are a wholesome recreation, and many a farmer who at first thought may say, “I can’t afford it,” will find by experience that he has spoken too soon. Take a day to go and visit some of the best farms in your county, and the way will open for further visits and a wider knowledge of the best methods of carrying your special line of work to a successful termination.—Farm, Field and Stockman. A Hanriv Milk Ftoo’. The little stool shown in the accompanying illustration is unique in the

way in which the legs are inserted, being spread over a large space, and it is impossible to turn the milk over. Thfc drawing is out of proportion. The stool should be 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. The seat is made of two inch pine boards. Holes are bored almost through the board, but not quite. These are in slanting directions, so that the legs when fitted will occupy the position indicated in the drawing. Now take a pair of old broomsticks, whittle the ends so that they will fit ihto the holes, drive them in tight and saw them off any length desired.—Exchange. The Swill Barrel. The swill barrel, Into which was turned all the skimmilk, buttermilk and the water used in Washing utensils, the dishwater and the waste from the family table, both raw and cooked, and in which these were allowed to stand and ferment, though probably originally established from motives of economy, that all these waste materials might be utilized in pork production, has been much more a nourcc of loss than of saving to the farmers. Cases of what were called hog cholera often resulted where these were kept, if the milk which went into them was not in much larger proportion than all else. The fermented food was not wholesome. There Was often too much salt went into the barrels when salt meats were cooked, causing diarrhea, and of late years the soap powders used in the dishwashing has been found to be a frequent cause of disease w'hen used in such Quantities as it was at summer hotels and boarding-houses. But the loss frfim sick or dead hogs is not the whole. Many a hog has been killed whose flesh was no more fit for eating than if would hate been if it had died of the disease which filled its entire systerfL—American Cultivator.

Cold Storage on Farms. There are few farms where a sufficient quantity of fruit or vegetables is to warrant the erection and operation of a cold storage plant; on the other hand, the suggestion that such a plant could be built and operated profitably In any section where the fruit crop of a dozen growers was very large Is worth consideration. Such a plant could readily be operated on the co-operative plan at comparatively small expense to each shareholder. With apples, for instance, it is only possible to get the highest'prices for winter fruit by holding the crop In cold storage until late winter. As this Is now done the grower obtains but a little more than he would In the fall sale of his crop when tbe storage charges and shrinkage are taken out. Export* of Live Stock. When we look at the reports of the live stock sent out from this country to England each week we can scarcely realize that this trade has grown up within less than a halt-century. Yet It began in 1852 or 1853, when a dealer in Toronto, Canada, tried to make a shipment on the return trip of the Great Eastern, and as she refused to carry them they were sent by a Dutch tramp steamer. The trade in dressed beef In refrigerator steamers began much later,, but now is nearly as large in number of cattle represented or In money value.—Exchange.

Clipped "Work Horse. I have worked a clipped horse two summers and think I shall never work him another summer without being clipped. He used to sweat profusely, and the hair would twist up and make him look bad, and it would take a man an hour to clean him off and make him look decent. After clipping he hardly sweat at all, stood the work better, kept easier and wns always clean.— Michigan Farmer. Raspberries and Blackberries. Head back the young canes of raspberries and blackberries to three feet, and tbe laterals also when they ge* longer. They may l>e pinched with the thumb nail and finger in a small patch, but this soon makes the fingers sore, and where there are many bushes to go over It Is better to use a paly of shears or a sharp sickle.—Exchange.

MILK STOOL THAT WON’T UPSET.

LONGFELLOW BUSH BEAN.