Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1902 — FARMS AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMS AND FARMERS

Shade for Chicks. There are thousands of chicks hatched late In the season that need protection from the . sun’s rays to enable them to make a proper growth during the summer. The coop Illustrated may be used, or any coop of a plan best suited to the ideas of the poultry raiser; any of them may be protected by an arrangement such as showil. Whatever the form of the coop, the shed which is tb furnish shade should be built on the slant shown, so that any rain which falls on it may be shed. To make this roof, a frame should be

built of light lumber and the corner stakes driven firmly into the ground. The top may be covered with light cornstalks, hay, straw or burlap; in fact, with almost anything that will not draw heat, and which will be fairly weather-proof. Such an arrangement as shown will be of great benefit to the chicks, for it will give them a cool and shady place after a run on the range;” A number of these shades may be made at very small cost, so that there is no excuse for going without such a protection for the coops. Rin for Corn Hnskera. For "the benefit of those who have corn to husk, I send a sketch of a platform I made to

husk fodder on. I find It very simple and convenient. Ta k e two 6-ln. boards, c c, 4 ft. long, for cleats. Space them so they will pass between the two center crosspieces under the wagon box. Nall four boards 2 ft. long on end of cleats, as shown in the cut. This makes the platform o n

which to lay fodder. Take a piece of hard wood, b, 3 in. wide and % In. thick, long enough to reach from one crosspiece to the other, bolt this to the under side of two center crosspieces of wagon box. This can be done by taking the nuts of the braces on side of wagon box, as shown in the

figure. Slide cleats under wagon box, as indicated in the illustration. A farmer having this arrangement may husk corn all day with ease.—Nelson Savage, in Farm and Home. Nitrogen for Sweet Corn. The New Jersey Experiment Station has been for three years testing different forms and amounts of nitrogenous fertilizer for sweet corn. The first group of plants had either nitrate of soda 150 pounds per acre, sulphate of ammonia 120 pounds per acre, or dried blood two hundred pounds per acre. Each was calculated to furnish the same amount of nitrogen. On a second group these amounts were multiplied by 1 2-3, and on a third group by 2%. The three years test has shown an increase of 23.3 to 40.2 per cent The yield was largest where the most nitrogen was applied. The returns for sulphate of ammonia for three years was $12.66, for dried blood, $0.95, and for nitrate of soda $0.60 per acre, and as the average cost of fertilizer was $4 per acre, they think It pays to supply the nitrogen. On cabbages they found the best results from dried blbod, about 270 pounds per acre, though 200 pounds of nitrate of soda was nearly equal In results. The average Increased value of the crops was over SSO per acre. They seemed to act about alike in hastening the earllness of the crop.—New England Homestead. ‘ Don't Row Reed by Hand. The sowing of seed by hand is not an economical method, as more seed Is required than when a drill Is used, and there Is a larger return from the drill, owing to better covering of the seed and greater uniformity of depth. The drill has been Improved to a high degree of efficiency, and some have fertiliser attachments. In all experiments made to determine the comparative value of the drill and band aeedm A lass quantity of seed, carefully

drilled in, yielded more bushels per acre, tn proportion to seed used," than seeding by hand. Care of Poultry House. Nine out of ten poultry houses remain uncleaned during the summer, except for the removal of the droppings, if the houses are occupied. Aa a result the lice greatly Increase in number, and are responsible for the slow: growth made by many of the chickens during the summer. There is no reason why the houses should not be fumigated during the summer almost as regularly as during the winter, and the labor involved Is really not so great An abundance of whitewash and some carbolic acid will usually do all necessary to rid the houses of lice, provided it is applied so that all cracks and crevices are reached. Nest boxes should be removed and new ones substituted unless the old ones can be thoroughly cleansed. Roosts should come down so that the disenfectant may be placed in all the cracks; in short, the house should be thoroughly cleansed, and that several times during the summer. Grain and Dairy Farming. An important difference between dairy farming and grain farming is the amount of the farm that is sold with the product that is of the fertility, of the farm. The man who sells a ton of wheat sells in it about $7 worth of fertilizing elements, and if he does not buy something to replace them his farm is so much poorgr. The dairyman who sells a ton of .butter has sold but fifty cents’ worth of fertilizing material, and if he is a good dairyman, he has probably added much more than that, or twenty times that to the value of the farm In the bran, oil meal, cotton seed or other food that he purchased while feeding his cows for making that ton of butter. It is in this way that the dairyman’s farm is continually growing more productive, and if he does not make much from his dairy, he should from the crops that he can grow on his much enriched soil. —American Cultivator. " APtowfthoe, The good farmer does not throw the plow on its side and drag It from one

field to another. He will make a’ wooden runner, as shown in the cut, or he cuts

away an old boot or shoe, all but the sole and toe, for a runner. The good appearance of a lane or roadway should not be spoiled by plow marks—it looks as if the farmer didn’t care.—• Epitomist. Late Fodder Crops. - Late fodder crops include Kaffir corn, millet, sorghum, rape, corn, the cereals and the clovers. One writer claims . that where hogs are kept rape is the greatest of all those mentioned, as a half acre will feed forty hogs during the season if the crop gets a'good start Sorghum is looked upon as one of the very best crops for shocking and curing to be fed cut during the winter. As this crop may be seeded after cereals have been harvested, there Is still ample opportunity to prepare the soil and sow the seed. If the soil is plowed to a depth of three or four Inches and afterwards well worked down with the harrow and cultivators such a seed bed will favor the production of several tons of cured sorghum per acre. One writer recommends Mammoth Early Orange as being the best sorghum for both fodder and seed purposes.—lowa Homestead. A Change Needed. Fowls will often do well on a small place for several years and then fall off and become unprofitable just as the owner thinks he has learned it all. The usual reason is either that the stock has become run out by too much confinement or that the fowls have used up some of the things about the place which they need. They have killed out the grass, used up all the sharp gravel or perhaps the soil has become Infested with disease or the coops with lice. Remedy is to note conditions, supply what is needed and introduce fresh stock. ' Mule Statistics. According to the government census of 1900, there are 3,271,121 mules In the United States. It is also stated by the census officials that mules are increasing in this country. According to the numeration in 1890, 157,022 mule colts were foaled in 1889, whereas In 1899 the number had increased to 231,697. The actual Increase of the total number of mules in the entire country is said to bo some 34 per cent during the past ten years. Growing Radishes. . -The radish is a hardy plant and can be grown every month from spring until late In the fall. But few should be planted at a time, as they soon become tough if left In the ground or are allowed to approach maturity. To have them crisp and tender they should be grown on rich soil and forced, as the sooner they reach the table stage the better their quality. Motor Plow. The Agricultural World of London, England, says that Dr. Gatling, or of the Gatling gun, has invented • plow to be operated by a gasoline motor. He claims that It can be run at a cost of $2 per day, so that it will do the work of thirty men and eighty horses. He proposes to make It a feature of the BL IxjuU Expoaltlon.

SHADE FOR LATE CHICKS.

RIG FOR FODDER.

PLOW SHOE.

WAGON PLATFORM FOR FODDER.