Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1902 — FARMS AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMS AND FARMERS

Protecting? Stable Windows, To ventilate a stable without exposing the animals to direct drafts of air, take three half-inch boards and arrange them at the bottom and slides of a window. These side boards will cut off any side drafts andtnable one to leave the window open a considerable space. Then take another half-inch board and hinge it to the top of the window casing inside, after boring a number of holes in it. When the wind is blowing strongly, drop this shutter, after sliding the window to one side far enough to admit what air is desired. In tlie strongest blows a small amount of

air only will be forced into the stable, but always enough to give the animals a supply of pure air.—lndianapolis News. Soil Culture in Fruit-Growing. A few years ago there were few farmers who had any faith in the efforts of skilled experimenters to induce them to conserve the moisture in the soil by a system of shallow cultivation during the summer. On? by one they tried the plan, many of them in desperation during a season of thought, until now thousands have proved Its great value. Fruit growers are becoming interested in the question and realize that with fruits that absorb immense quantities of water from the soil it is absolutely necessary that everything possible be done to keep in the soil for the use of the tree during the summer all that is possible of the water that falls during the fall, winter and spring. Nothing will accomplish this better than the system cf surface -culture during the summer. Then if this plan is followed by-a «> ver crop during the winter to be turned under in the spring, the trees have every incentive to thrive, provided, of course, the soil is properly fertilized. •

A Humane Stanchion. The old-fashioned, rigid stanchion, consisting of two uprights, keeps an animal from moving backward or for-

ward, but it also confines tbs -bead so closely that very little movement of this is possible, while the fact that the stanchion has no “give” In any direction causes a good many bumps upon the animal’s horns, ears and shoulders when It is getting up or lying down. It is possible to make use of a stanchion, however, and yet have it admit of considerable movement of the animal's head, while still confining its forward or back-

ward movements to very small limits. The cut shows the construction. The upright post turns freely nt the base and nt the top. Two Iron L pieces hold the swinging upright nt the bottom, us shown, while a swinging iron clamp nt the top holds It when shut. With such s stanchion the cow can move back and forth but little, but can move the head about from side to side with groat freedom. while the swing of the stanchion causes it to "give” a little when the cow is lying down or getting up.— Trfb tine-Farmer. Cotton-Heed Meal uh a Fertilizer. The (dan of using cotton seed in vari our forms as a fertilizer is not a de sirable practice. It is generally admitted that we may add to the soil’s fertility by the direct application of several crops, the legumes, for example, but in very many cases these crops could i»e made to answer n double purpose. This is the case with cotton seed nieal.r .If fed to the stock in small quantities together with roughage of almost any kind, It will lie beiieiiclal t<* the animals and still lose none of its nmnuriul value. All sorts of plans may be Irk'd in soil fertilization, but the fact still remains that the best results are obtained, all things considered, when stock is used in connection with farming. That many dairy farm# do not pay Is-admitted, but. on the other hand, there are few farms that are profitable if stock Is not kept on them. Regular fanning Is meant, not truck falsing. Further, and this has been

demonstrated time and again, there is Bo farm used for general work that would not be shore profitable if more stock was added up to the number that could be supported from the farm.

Horse for the Farmer.

Speaking on the most useful horse for the farmer before the West Virginia -Live Stock Breeders’ Association, C. E. Lewis said in part: The heavy horse has a slgpal advantage in some farm .operations. In plowing or operating a manure spreader or hauling the crops to the barn or to market the heavy horse is Just what is wanted, but in harrowing he does hot have an advantage proportionate to his size. For drawing a mowing machine the lighter horse is better. Hitch a heavy horse to the shovel plow or cultivator and start him up and down the cornfield, with scarcely room between the three-foot rows for him to put his ponderous feet, walking on two rows at once and breaking down more corn in each than a little horse could in one, and you will quickly -decide that he was not made for that kind of work. Besides, to carry 1,000 pounds of surplus, useless horseflesh over the soft ground of the cornfield takes a great deal of energy, and that energy has to be supplied by an extra amount of feed. Then through the long winter months of idleness it requires a great deal of grain to keep the heavy horse’s huge body in repair.

Heat in Bee Culture.

While it is possible to do many things with artificial heat, all attempts to hasten activity on the part of the bees by artificial heat have proved failures —more, have been fatal to the colony. Prominence is given this now in view of several items going the round of the press advising the packing of hives in stable manure to furnish the artificial heat. In experiments brood rearing was hastened, it is true, and more bees hatched, but they were weak, and succumbed to the weather when they left the hives, and many of the honey gatherers started out earlier owing to the artificial heat, rtnd never returned. The hives should, of course, be packed with some material so that the bees 'Will not suffer during the winter, but all attempts to force them to gatlfer honey before settled weather will result in disaster.

Three-Horse Evener.

To make a good three-horse evener take two pieces of hickory or red elm, or any tough wood one inch thick, six inches wide and thirty-eight inches long, for the main pieces, and a hook with an eye large enough for the center bolt to pass through. Then get two

sticks one inch thick, three inches wide and eighteen inches long and a singletree eighteen inches long. A singletree with an Iron pulley will answer for the middle horse. A short twisted link chain should pass from the two ends of the eveners over the pulley. The illustration shows the manner of construction better than can be described. lowa Homestead.

Feeding Skim Milk.

There is no doubt that skim milk will bring the greatest returns when fed to laying hens, provided one can get twenty cents or more a dozen for winter eggs, and if one has but few hogs and many hens the latter should have the skim milk by all means. On the other hand, it may be fed to hogs with profit, and if fed with corn meal will easily be worth twenty cents a hundredweight. The trouble is that not one feeder in a hundred feeds skim milk properly. It usually goes into the trough at any, time when convenient, and is often mixed with other slop that is not so clean, and it is made to take the place of grain to some extent.

Pigs in Winter.

Pigs in winter take a great deal of care, and one of the greatest cares Is to keep them in a dry, warm place. They must be fed different feed from what they get in summer time. They do not require the same amount of feed in summer as in winter. Pastures in summer furnish very much of their feed.

Cure of Stock. Feed and management have much to do with the health as well as thrlftlness of stock. Young and growing animals require feed which will make bone and muscle rather than fat. Bedding liberally with some dry material will add greatly to the comfort of the animals during the winter.—Kansas Farmer.

Sore Throat in Calves.

Put one ounce turpentine hi a pail of boiling water, and hold this under the animal's head for twenty minutes; repeat three times a day; also give n teaspoonful of the compound syrup of squill* nt a dose three times a day in ft ttlblesixxmfuf of cyuiuiuu syrup. Cowpox. If a cow has sore teats and the sores look llke.cowt>ox, wash the teats clean with soap aud warm water after each milking. Where dry, apply iodine ointment of one-eighth strength. Experimentation Is being conducted in Pennsylvania in the growing of Havana tiller tpbacco.

PROTECTION FOR STABLE WINDOWS.

STANCHION.

THREE-HORSE EVENER.