Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1901 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

W Indian for Lifting Hog*. A correspondent of the American Agriculturist gives an illustration, of an apparatus which will lighten the work of lifting on butchering day. Make it so. that it will be strong enough, he advises, and that Is all that is necessary. The bearing of the arm of the derrick at a Is arranged to allow the arm not only to move up and down, but to revolve round the center post In a circle. The windlass can be attached to the post with a stationary bearing or with

one like that used for the arm so that it also can revolve round the post. The diameter of post can be four inches or six inches or whatever is thought strong enough for the work it is Intended for. The bearings of the arm and windlass are one and a half Inches or two inches less in diameter. Any good blacksmith can make them, as well as the other iron fittings needed. The entire cost of the derrick is very small. Storing Vegetables Out Doors. When one has a comparatively small quantity of vegetables to store during the winter, or for a portion of the winter, the old pit method will work very nicely. First, select a portion of the farm where water will not stand and where the natural drainage is good. If such a position can not be had, then heap up the soil a foot high and pile the vegetables on this bed, not digging a pit. If the drained grounfPis used, make a pit a foot deep, line with straw and pile the vegetables in the pit in a pyramid, being careful not to make the pile too high. In the center of the pit, before the vegetables are put in, erect a ventilator of wood tall enough to come out at the top for a foot or more, lugur holes should be bored at frequent intervals in this ventilator, and a board placed over the top to keep out rain and snow. Cover the pile of vegetables lightly with straw until they are well coooled off, add more straw as the weather gets colder, and as severe weather comes on, throw dirt on the straw every few days, until, in the coldest weather, the vegetables are amply protected. Only the perfect vegetables should be used.

The Beit Barn Bloor. The best and cheapest floor for barns is earth. The only exception to this is for dairy cattle, when the only suitable floor is one of cement. This is for sanitary reasons, and for no other, because animals are not only liable to slip, but to become sore in standing on cement floors. Good cement (loors will cost in the neighborhood of 18 cents a square foot. The idea of earth floors will be met by the objection that animals will tread them full of holes. The answer to this objection is that the proper treatment of earth floors, or any other for that matter, is to use a comparatively large amount of bedding. As with all precautions some holes will be worn in the floor, the proper way to mend these Is to clean them thoroughly of all filth and ram down some slightly moistened elay. This plan will succeed in securing a good grafting of the new earth with the old and make a complete repair. All earth floors should have a top flresslng of cinders, sand or gravel, though it need not be a heavy one.— E. Davenport, in National Rural. Building Poultry- Houses. The modern poultry-house is a low atructure and especially is it built in this manner if in a section where the winters are severe. In building the poultry-house, use lumber of fair quality, planed on one side, and see that it |s nailed on so as to leave few cracks. The inside should be lined with newspapers or with building paper, putting |t on thick especially over any cracks there may be in the structure. Make some provlsiop for plenty of light, but if possible, furnish this by having an addition to the house in the shape of a abed open on one side to the south—a scratching shed. If this is done, less light will be needed In the house proper, which will be used mainly for roosting. The scratching shed need not be large, though it should be large enough so that the birds will have plenty of room for exercise. Diseases of the Apple. There nre four principal diseases In this State—apple scab, skin blotch, root lot and bitter rot Ths two former are paslly controlled by spraying with the

bordeaux mixture. Spray early hi spring. Continued spraying Is better than spasmodic efforts. Bitter rot *• noa so easily controlled. The bordeaux mlxJ ture Is good for this, but hardly satis-* factory. Root rot is a very subtle disease, with as yet no known remedy.— J. G. Whitten, Missouri Experiment Station. Decline in British Agriculture. The aggregate area of corn which comprise wheat, barley, oatsJ rye, beans and peas, amounts to 8,476,2 892 acres, which represents a decline! on the year of 230,710 acres. This contraction of the corn acreage followsmoreover, a similar decline of 96,2081 acres last year, and 13,157 acres In! 1899. A generation ago, say in 1871the United Kingdom returned 11,833,243 acres as under corn crops; this! year the area is 3,356,351 acres lessIn other words, an area not far short ofi three and one-half million acres han been withdrawn from corn cropping during the last thirty years. The wheat! crop alone has Incurred just over two( million acres of this loss. This area of corn crops is made up of 4,112,365 acres of oats, 2,140,875 acres of barley, 1,746,141 acres of wheat, 254,093! acres of beans, 155,665 acres of peas,, and 67,753 acres of rye. It appears;' then, that nearly one-half of the entire corn area of the British Isles is seeded' to oats, whilst If we eliminate the pulse corn crops, and have regard only to, the cereal corn, the oats acreage represents more than half the total. —Massachusetts Ploughman. 1 Buying Grains for Cattle. In most sections the main trouble lO| feeding this winter will come from the, lack of grain home grown. To those, who must buy more or less grain thej advice is to buy now and In as large; quantities as you can afford, for thej market is rising and grains are more 1 likely to be higher than lower. For the dairy cows, gluten meal should form a' part of the ration, and the roughage' should be utilized to the last degree,!

so as to get the full benefit of the great quantity of digestible food in It. 1 Bran should also form a part of the ra-l tlon, not only because of its food value, but because of its laxative effect on; the system. A good ration for the av-i erage dairy cow is twenty-five poundsi of corn stover, three pounds of gluten! meal, four pounds of bran and four' pounds of corn meal. If the animal fattens too greatly on this, increase the corn stover and reduce the corn meal and bran. —Indianapolis News. i A Rough but Warm Shed. Often there are occasions when it is! necessary to add to the barn-room for* stock, but it must be done at small expense. A shed which will provide com-' fort for stock and which will cost little 1 to construct, is made of rough boards,' the sides and roofs being thatched with' corn stalks, salt hay or any other available material, says the Indianapolis' News. A portion of the front is boarded, leaving openenings about six inches, wide between each board to admit light

during the day. A rough door may: be hung if desired, or a curtain made: from burlap or canvas may be lowered; over the entire front of the house at night or during unpleasant days. A wind-break fence erected will materially assist in keeping out the wind, especially if no door is attached to the house. To prevent tearing of the curtain material laths should be laid along the upper edge and the nails driven through them and the burlap into the house. Ropes are attached to the cur-' tain and frame, by which to tie the curtain when it is not in use. Splint* in Hnr»e«. As a usual rule, the only real evil at-' tachlng to splints is the lameness caus- 1 ed during the period of inflammation! and of the building up of the exostosis. In the ordinary course of things, as the osseous growth consolidates, so does the lameness wear off. When a splint is fullydiardened, It can hardly be said, unless of sufficient size as to render It perceptible as a blemish, to be any real detriment. —London Live Stock Jour-I nal. Poultry Notes. With fancy poultry breeding close/ culling is necessary. The turkey pays well when the sur-j roundings are favorable. To cure chicken cholera Is a hardj task; It is easier to prevent. A large number of young cockerels) in the yard are a nuisance. Some hens never make good lncubat-1 ors; the heat is either too high or tool low. All of the best breeds have been built? up by Judicious Inbreedings of selected) fowls. • ' . I A standard variety of poultry well) cared for in every way can be made ofl more value than a dozen kinds neg-< I lected. As a table fowl a good fat duck rank®, among the best, and for this reason] they are never a drug on the majkat,, but sell readily at good prices. Most grain is deficient in lime and! mineral matters, but bran is rich In] nitrogen, carbon and mineral, and ia| good to feed with grain. /■ J

HOG-LIFTING WINDLASS.

ROUGH SHED FOR STOCK.