Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 January 1902 — FARMERS CORNER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMERS CORNER

Farmers* Letter Box. Since the government has begun to free delivery in the rural districts it is obligatory upon each farmer to provide.a convenient and safe repository for the mail taatter, or the carrier cannot be compelled to accommodate him. The letter box recently designed by Edson W. Phillips, of Cassadaga, N. Y., and shown In the picture, has a number of advantages to recommend its use In this service, the principal improvement being a signal to Indicate both to the farmer and carrlerfeif there Is anything In the box. This Is accomplished by setting the bright-colored metallic flag In a raised position. The mast which carries the flag Is pivoted on the side of the box and has a short finger lying parallel with the mast. When the mail matter Is to be inserted in the

»box a turn of the crank releases the Interior catch and allows the lid to be lifted. As the lid falls the carrier or farmer lifts the masts and sees that the projecting finger enters a tube at the side of the lid to support the flajj, in an upright position. The box Is, of course, water-proof, and the interior locking mechanism prevents the blowing open of the cover by a strong wind. Cows for the.Dalryman. At the recent convention of the lowa State Dairy Association ex-GoY. Hoard of Wisconsin made

one of his masterly off-hand addresses. In his opinion lowa farmers are foolish in feeding the wrong kind of feed to the wrong kind of cows. He related how he had employed a man to visit 100

creamery patrons, see what kind of cows each kept, what they fed and the cost and find from the creamery books how much milk each furnished. It was found that thirty-fire of these 100 farmers milked their cows at an actual loss and that every one of these losing herds consisted of dual purpose cows. “The reason for this,” lfe said, “is ignorance and nothing else.” The farmer was trying to dairy without cows suiteO to dairy performance, and he fed foods not suited to the production

of milk. The highest profits in every case came from the ■ herds which were dairy bred and dairy fed. They had dairy form and aptitude and food containing a sufli-

ciency of protein. Mr. Hoard’s main contention is that the patron Is In the rear. The creamerytnen and the creameries are reasonably up to date, but the patron has not progressed. He is in the rear, and so long as this Is the case no satisfactory progress can be made, for no creamery can prosper without milk from prosperous patrons, and they cannot prosper if the milk pays little or no profit. Destroying Foul Brood. At the annual meeting of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association at Woodstock, Ont., Professor Harrison of the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph, described a~new and simple method of destroying the germs of foul brood. He placed combs containing larvae dead from this disease, capped cells of brood, and cells of honey. In a box which was alr-tlght except for a small hole at top and bottom. Then a small alcohol lamp was arranged with the reservoir at the top containing forinnlln, aud connected by a rubber tube Ivlth the bottom of the box. This conveys to the box the formalin vapor produced by the beat of the lamp. When the box Is so completely filled with formalin that the gas Issues freely from the bole la the top. both holes are tightly dosed for one hour. Professor Harrison has been unable to obtain any signs of life from foul-brood germs treated In this apparatus. Winter Work. In the Orchard. Nine out of every ten men who have orchards which need pruning badly will give as an excuse for the neglect that they have no time to spare for the work, yet all of tbolh have time and to spare during the winter. It Is admitted that to advocate winter pruning of fruit trees Is contrary to the general Idea vs when this work may be dono to advantage, hut skilled or ebardists do A each year when the snow does wot prevent. Experienced fruit grower* know that the tree may be pruned safely any time after the >earM fall until the sap begins to How freely In the spring, and, this being

'Wf owe, the prnnlng should be placed among the winter Jobs. The writer was much averse to winter pruning tip to five years ago, but has since practiced It with the best results. Three years ago the trees in a young orchard were sary to jostle the snow off of the limba. Ip order to see where to Use the knife to advantage? ~Thi& following crop, the first one, was good; and two very large crops have followed. . This plan of winter pruning gives one all the time in the spring to devote to work that' cannot be done at any other season. The Farm Horae. . Mr. W. J. Overton, of Illinois, writes to the Breeders’ Gazette, that he does not believe the place for the draft horse Is on American farms. He has raised some of the largest and best draft horses In the county, and sold them at the yards at figures not reached by any other draft horse in six months, but be never could get the work out of them that he could get out of a good-sized American horse with as much Morgan blood as he could get. When they tried to breed their small or medium sized mares to the draft horses they Thought they wanted larger horses. They got them larger In some parts. It might be In the legs, the head or the body, but usually not all In one colt. No one will claim that they have as good wearing breed of horses as they had twenty years ago. “The farmer who only raises colts for his own use, with then one to sell, had better stay by the good-sized, smooth, Am£r“ lean-bred horse,” be says.

Bone Meal for Cows.

Dairymen are looking into the question of feeding their cows bone meal as part of the dally ration. In order to supply lime and bone making material. This same question is also interesting those who raise hogs in large numbers. At this time few conclusive experiments are on record, hence the only advice that can be given is to try the plan with both cows and hogs that are fed largely on a corn ration, and note the results. There Is little doubt but what results will be beneficial for stock that consume,considerable succulent food, but the well balanced grain ration ought to give the desired results with cows without resorting to the bone meal expedient. As a rule, there is too much feeding of bulk during the winter and not enough variety in the ration, and farmers will not get all there is out of feeding until they work out for themselves one or more balanced rations for their herds.

Agricnltnral Exports.

Our agricultural interests, which have had. the intelligent fostering of the Bureau of Agriculture, show the results, not only in greater production and better quality, but in the unprecedented increase in the foreign demand, as shown by the bureau’s report on foreign markets. Some of the contrasting figures in our export trade between 1870 and 1899 are as follows: Indian corn, $1,000,000, against $70,000,000; wheat flour, $20,000,000, against $73,000,000; cattle, $500,000, against $30,000,000; cured meats, $6,000,000, against $63,000,000; cotton seed oil, $15,000, against $12,000,000. Exchange.

Rye as Food for Piss.

In Germany they tested rye as food for jigs In comparison with barley. In some cases the pigs refused It altogether, and when given In large amounts It was not eaten readily. As a single ration it should not be continued long, and it ought In all cases to be soaked or carefully ground.- It gave best results when fed with other feeding stuff that has a larger percentage of fiber, more protein and less of the carbo-hydrates. It is not a good concentrated food for young cattle or hogs.

Preparing Charcoal for Hens.

It Is a good plan to always have some charcoal where the hens can get at It, as there Is nothing that can be fed to bens that has the effect which charcoal has In preventing disease. You can feed them charred corn once a week which will take the place of charcoal. You can char It by putting the corn, ear and all, in the oven and leaving It there untjl It has burned black, after which the fowls will gladly pick it from the cob.

Farm Notes. The Importation of the date palm has been a success. Egyptian cottons are being successfully grown. MTacaronl wheats are being successfully grown In our seral-arld localities. Kaffir corn Is a wholesome poultry food, but not so fattening as Indian corn. Sumatra tobacco Is being successfully grown In the Connecticut valley and in Florida. Brood coops, cleaned, whitewashed and piled In tiers under a shed at tills season are marks of a careful and successful poultry keeper. A small slelghbell on the necks of a few members of your turkey flock may keep foxes and other thieves from carrying out their evil designs. When young cockerels fight remove the vanquished to the pullet pen for a few weeks. If left with bis conqueror tip will neither grow nor fatten.

Wheat can lie profitably substituted for corn to the extent of one-half of the grain ration where It Is relatively cheaper than the com, which la the case In some sections. When a dozen eggs bring as much In the market as a pound of butter, the 1 farmer who keeps bens and managea them well la a little ahead of the dairy- ; man whose cows hardly return enough ' for their keeping.

FOR RURAL MAIL ROUTES.

w. D. HOARD.

HOLSTEIN HEAD.