Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1902 — FARMS AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMS AND FARMERS

Convenience in Swine-Keeping. For a door which may be attached to any hog house whose Inmates are In the habit of breaking down the usual barriers, nail heavy planking to cleats placed on the inside and use strong Strap hinges. For ordinary fastening, strong iron hooks at top and bottom will answer; although, if necessary, added security may be had by placing a strip of heavy planking across the door resting in strap iron slots. A small house has been found useful and comfortable where numbers of young pigs are raised, and it is desirable to let them have all the exercise they wish. A number of these small houses may be built of rough lumber and covered with building paper. They are placed at convenient places and covered, on the windy side, with coni stalks, waste straw or other handy material to make them more comfortable. A good arrangement is to construct a rough fence so that the straw covering placed on the

sides and top will be inside the fence and the opening of the house into the yard. Ten or a dozen small pigs can occupy one of these small houses with comfort and will thrive.—lndianapolis News. Using Abandoned In many sections of the coimtry, but perhaps more largely in the -East, one will find on the farms fields which had been used for pasture until they were iro longer profitable for that purpose and not thought worth breaking up and re-seeding. Eight out ofeverytenof such pastures could bo turned into fertile fields by proper handlAg. One excellent plan for doing this is to break Up this pasture, manuring it as heavily as one can afford, and plant to corn. Cultivate the corn several times during she growing period and sow, in August or September, to some cover crop. The following spring plant to potatoes. Future crops should be according to fertilizing and whajf one wishes to grow. The main point in this item is to call attention to the value of these abandoned pastures for the first crop of corn. Eniugh corn may be grown to carry a herd of pigs to a profitable market and at an expense that will hardly be felt.—Exchange. Feeding Sugar Beets. In sections where sugar beets can be grown at comparatively small expense they should form one of the crops for stock feed even if not grown for factory use. In many localities sugar beets will form a fair part of the ration thia winter when grain is scarce and high in price. Some complaints have been made about the sugar beets, but, in most cases, this is due to using them too freely. No green fflod or root crop should be used at the expense of grain or roughage, except in part, although they may be more freely used than they are, especially sugar beets. They are especially desirable In the early spring for sows that have farrowed, and for new milch cows, greatly increasing the milk flow. All farm stock is fond of sugar beets, and If they are on the farm or cah be bought at a fair price they should form part of the ration as long as they may be bad or until the stock is turned out in the spring. Breed Mature Sheep. Don't breed the lambs. This is a bad mistake so frequently permitted or purposely made as to call for earnest remonstrance. Theree Is no surer way to run down a flock than this. If persisted in, It will annually lessen the size of the lambs, so. that in a few years the average of a flock of breed iftg ewes may go down to sixty pounds. >Good lambs are the progeny only of mature sheep. And If one is desirous of preparing some show animals he should breed four-year-old sheep on both sides. A sheep is really in its prime at five years naturally, this being an average of tWo-thlrds or half Its useful possible life under good care.— American Sheep Breeder. Old Principles in Firming. While undoubtedly true that farmers 'have learned much about farming during late years that has materially helped them In making U>e farm pay better returns. It is also true, in many cases, that they are getting away from some of the fundamental principles of correct farming. The tendency to sell . —»• yyn*ii 1 W l ** -weri;

as much as possible from the farm is too strong and too far-reaching. Time was when sales from the farm Were made only after provision had been made for the living and Comfort of the occupants, hutffan and animal. Then, too, the soil was considered, and if it needed anything produced on the farm it was furnished. These things well provided for, the surplus, if any, was sold. As*a result the stock was well fed and the manure went to Improve the soil. True, there was not so much ready cash handled as now, but there were fewer things for which cash was needed, for everything needed that could be produced on the farm was so produced. HJs admitted that in this agf£ when things are deemed necessl-. ties that were formerly thought luxurlesTtnore ready cash is needed, but, at least, we can so arrange things In farming that the cash is not obtained at the expense of the animals or the vitality of the farm. An Economical Ration. Where there is a fair stock of clover hay on hand, and an abundance of corn stover, cows may be fed very economically on a ration of ten pounds of clover hay, fifteen pounds of corn stover, cut or shredded—if the latter, the clover ration may be reduced onequarter—four pounds of wheat bran, four pounds of corn meal arid one pound of oil meal a day. This is not a heavy ration, and probably would not do for a large animal, or one whose milk flow was heavy, but It will answer very well for the average farm cow, keep her in good milk and bring her out in the spring in good shaper If it is possible to have the corn stover shredded by all means do it, whatever stock is fed w'ith it, for the butts ai‘e very rich, and all animals will eat them greedily if they are cut and shredded so that they may be readily chewed. With the above ration, plenty of pure water, and a warm, sunny and well ventilated stable the average cow will fare well, and the farmer who suffered from the drought will have a comparatively small feed bill at the close of winter.

Fruit Assorting Table. The cut shows an assorting table for fiult or roots, which is about 3 by 12 feet and nearly 3 feet high, with a four inch rim all around so as to bold about six bushels of apples or potatoes and bring them right up so that the men can stand up straight In sorting. Speaking of assorting potatoes in the cellar, a correspondent says in reference to this table: With a wire scoop shovel we scoop them up from the cement bottomed cellar, leaving all dirt and dust on the floor to be swept up and taken out. The table stands in a good light, and the sorting is far more rapid, easy and accurate than when you kneel down and sort from the big pile. The legs should be well braced both lengthwise and crosswise. We have two of these tables, and they are a great help arid a great saving of backache and

kneeache in assorting several thousand bushels of apples and potatoes in the course of a year.—Ohio Farmer. Facts About the Silo. Silage is as valuable in summer as in winter. Thirty pounds a day is enough silage for an average sized Jersey cow. Larger cattle will eat more. A Cubic foot of silage from the middle of a medium sized silo will average about forty-five pounds. Fifteen feet in diameter and thirty feet is a good depth. Such a silo would hold about 200 tons of silage cut in halfinch Silage comes nearer being a perfect substitute for the succulent food of the pasture than any other food that car be had In winter. Corn just passing out of roasting ear stage is the best single material for silage. Corn and cowpeas are the best combined material. A larger amount of healthful food for cattle can be preserved In the silo in better condition, at less expense of labor and land, than by any other method known. The circular silo, made of good, hard wood staves, is the cheapest and best. For 182 days, or half a year, an average Jersey cow will require about six 'tons' Of silage, allowing for unavoidable waste. Treatment of Old Orchards. Many an old and apparently worthless orchard might be made of value by encpuraglng the growth of the young shoots. One orchard of the kind described was supposed to be too old to be worth anything. The large branches were cut back freely and where a young shoot with much vigor was found the cut was made so that this shoot was not Injured nor the flow of sap in the main branch retarded. Grafting was done In some of the smaller branches and the trees bore several good crops of fruit; more than enough to pay for the work and the after cars of the soil. True, It was taking a chance, but the labor was not great and the trees were valueless- unless treated In some such manner. About Cream. It is claimed that the cream of two skimmings mixed will not yield the bntter as well as one.

SWINE-KEEPING CONTRIVANCE.