Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1902 — Page 7

FARMS AND FARMERS

Water Trough of Plank f Where one has need for a. water trough of considerable dimensions the one illustrated can be readily made, and if well constructed will last for years. Each of the sides and each end should be made of one piece of plank. If it Is necessary to use more than one piece of plank, the edges should be jointed, and then fastened together with wooden pins. In making the trough the end pieces should be let into the sides about one-half inch, and both the sides and the ends should be slightly sloping. In putting the pieces of the trough together use white lead at the joints, using no nails, but drawing the parts together with heavy Iron rods havlhg large heads on one end and screw threads on the other. When this is done make the bottom edge true, coat with white lead and fasten on with large wood Bcrews. The trough, when completed, should be giv-

WATER-TIGHT TROUGH.

en two coats of paint, and when dry is ready for use. The lower part of the Illustration shows the angle at which the ends should slope. _

Kin 1 of tattle to Feed. The kind of cattle to feed depends on circumstances. As a rule the good, well-bred steer will make the most money because he makes the most of his feed—that is, he puts it where it ought to go, into the high priced cuts of beef. But sometimes it pays best to feed common cattle and very common oues when they can be bought at a correspondingly low price. They usually make good gains, and, having been bought very low, they may sell at a big advance over their cost to the feeder, though still away below the top of the market Common light feeders are selling in Chicago at $2.50 to $3 aud good ones at $4.75 to $5.25. There may be more money in the stuff costing $2.50 than in the fivedollar stuff, because when fat a bigger advance may be secured for it. This Is a year when good feeders are hard to secure at a reasonable figure, and hence attention is called to the cheaper and commoner kials. But the feeder should remember that the common cattle must be bought very low. There is no pleasure in their company, and it is only justifiable when they make good money, to do which they must be laid in cheap.—National Stockman. For a Kicking Horse. Many horses have an ugly habit of kicking when their stalls, and apparently no method has yet been found by which they can be effectually cured of this habit. Here, however, is a plan which was recently tested in Germany and which is said to have proven effective in every case. All that is necessary is to hang a bag of sand or gravel from the ceiling of the'stable In such a manner that the bag will

CUBE FOR KICKING HORSE.

be a little distance behind where the refractory horse is standing. Whenever he kicks he will strike the bag, and in retprn will receive a smart blow from it, which he will remember. It may take a few days to impress upon his mind that he will always be rewarded for his unmannerly conduct In this manner, but unless he is exceedingly stupid he will quickly learn the lesson, and then the bag may be removed. It is asserted that a horse once cured in this manner will never again think of kicking, but whether this is true or not time alone can tell. An Expensive Food. Potatoes are the most expensive of all the staple foods. They contain from 700 to 800 pounds of water in every 1,000 pounds, the solid matter being mostly starch. The farmer also finds the potato crop one of the most exacting in Its requirements of labor, one of the greatest obstacles being warfare against beetles and diseases. At present prices potatoes are more expensive than beef, considering the actual proportion of nutritions matter contained, but it Is only when prices are high that the potato crop Is very profitable, owing to the expenses necessary for Its cultivation. C rn Fodder and Hay. It is difficult to make a proper comparison between com fodder and hay, because the quality of either largely depends upon the curing. Bright, green com fodder; shredded or cut

fine, is superior td improperly cured hay, while good hay Is far superior to corn fodder that was not cut down until the leaves turned yellow. If fodder is tender and juicy the animals will prefer the stalks to the leaves, as the stalks are rich in sugar, but much depends upon the stage of growth at which the stalks were harvested. Feeding Lambs. The large feeders generally prefer lamb feeding, rather than the older sheep, as they get quicker returns and generally secure higher prices in proportion to the investment. Good feeders can make light-weight feeding lambs often double in weight in a fqurmonths’ liberal feed. It would not do for the average feeder to figure on such returns, however. Older muttons, on the other hand, do not gain flesh so rapidly as lambs, nor do they bring so much on the market, the margin between the two ranging from $1.50 to $2. From this must be deducted the difference in the cost of feeders, as lambs sell higher than do thin muttons, the difference sometimes amounting to $1 per hundred weight. All other things being equal, it is a generally accepted statement that there is more money in lamb feeding than mutton feeding. The big exception to this, and one that ought to be taken advantage of by all feeders, is that feeding muttons can often be bought at bargains. A bunch or two of well-bought thin sheep from one to two years old, whether ewes or wethers, will often make a feeder far more money than his remunerative bunch of lambs. In this country it is a good rule that if one should see a cheap bunch of thin sheep not to miss the opportunity to buy it, as it will surely net a profit.—Field and Farm.

To Keep Cabbage. The burying of cabbage beads down and roots up is a mistake, although the custom is an old one. When the heads are buried and the ground becomes frozen the cabbages are completely sealed up and cannot be used. Later, as the ground thaws, the heads begin to rot, aud a large proportion of them are lost from that cause. The proper plan Is to select a high location, open a row with a one-horse plow, put the cabbages in, roots down and heads out, placing them close together, the heads slanting so as to turn water. Next make another row, throwing the dirt on the roots of the cabbages in the first row. When all the cabbages are put in they will be in a compact mass. Place straw on the heads and boards on the straw, to shed rain. If preferred, the cabbages may be thus placed under a shed and covered with straw. If the roots are put in the ground and the heads out the cabbages will be alive, the stalks will give crops of sprouts for early greens in the spring and not a head will rot, while they may be cut off from the stalks at any time when wanted, whether the ground is frozen or not, by simply lifting the straw. In fact, they will keep In such good condition as to begin growing in the spring, if not disturbed, in the effort to produce seed.— Philadelphia Itecord. Profitable Fattening Feed. A of 400 steers fed at Clarendon, Texas, last winter netted the feeder $lO per head profit. The cattle were fed on kafiir corn and sorghum, with a small percentage of cottonseed cake. Nearly every farmer In the county could raise plenty of Kaffir corn and sorghum to finish a few head of cattle, and cottonseed cake can be secured from the mills without great expense.— Exchange.

Corn for the Silo. Coru should be put into the silo when it is almost ready to cut and can be put In at the time It is ripe enough to cut with good results. Formerly It was thought best to cut corn when rather green for silage, but later practice leans toward the stage of ripeness—Just before It begins to dry out and the stalks become woody.—Dairy and Creamery. Farm Notes. Experiments In lowa go to show that grass is the most economical sheep feed. Beef production In the Eastern States Is becoming an interesting proposition. Darkness and low temperature are the primary requisites In the successful storing of potatoes. Leaves should be thrown on the poultry bouse floor, not only because they afford scratching material In which the fowls can exercise, but also because they prevent draughts of air on the floor and assist in keeping the house w4rm. A clean soil In the fail, and the weeds destroyed before they seed, will save one-half the labor In the spring. Seeds of weeds start off In growth very early, and the farmer cannot keep them out of the way. The time to destroy weeds Is when they, are Just coming np through the groudq, in spring, and by burning the refuse* In the fall. Grinding the corn and cob does not odd much to the ration, but the ground cob serves to dilute the grain and Increase the bulk, which makes the combination better than ground grain alone. When used with ground oats and bran it Is excellent food, and it may be used with cat straw or hay. All grain foods, when ground, will give better results If fed with bulky materials, and the condition of the animals will be improved when both kinds are fed together.

GREAT STOCK SHOW.

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBIT HELD IN CHICAQO. This Tear’s Exposition Has Eclipsed Asx Held—Annual Event Which Has Become of Wide Interest Throughout the West. Great interest was manifest all over the West in the show of the National Pure-Bred Lire Stock Association given at the stock yards in Chicago. There jrcre representatives from every part of tiie Weat and the exhibition of pure-brini live stock was the greatest ever seen in this country. This year’s show was a peat step in advance of even last year. In the seven days of 1901 in which the exhibit was open several hundred thousand Chicagoans went to see it, and the railroad estimates showed that over 125,000 people from out of the city visited it. This year there has been an enormous increase in the attendance, and the management estimates that there have been nearly 400,000 visitors from other cities and States. There has been a great interest in better bred stock in the West of recent years. Stock raisers have not been con.tent to rear scrub cattle, as they have found the better bred stuff brings more money and is no more trouble to raise than the poorer grades. The settling up of the West has had much to do with the change, as the ranges have been cut down and the vast areas where cattle roamed in thousands have been changed Into farms and the western range' cattle

are slowly but surely disappearing. With the removal of the western cattle there has come nn interest in better bred stock, and the National Pure-Bred Live Stock Association is fostering this interest and encouraging stock raisers all over the West to engage in breeding high-grade stock. The efforts of this association are

PERCHERON HORSES ON SHOW AT LIVE STOCK EXPOSITION.

already manifest, as large numbers of farmers who formerly were content to raise scrub stock are now raising the best grades, and all because of the efforts put forth by officers of the association. The show was doubly interesting this year because of the handsome new Record building just completed. This is a commodious exposition structure, suit.-i-

CHAMPION BULL “VISCOUNT.”

ble to the needs of an annual live stock show, a bnilding that has been badly needed for some time. There is ample room in it and it has been built with an eye to affording the beat possible exhibition facilities. The bnilding is modern In every particular and la ornamental aa well and cost SIOO,OOO. The structure waa dedicated Governors’ day of the exposition, which took place Wednesday. That day waa one of great Interest, ns Secretary Wilson preaided at ths dedicatory exercises and the Governors of many States were present. Secretary Wilson made an address and several fanner! also made short talks. .Chicago was crowded with men interested in live stock. Much interest Id the show was exhibited in Omaha, Kansas City, Sioux<fity and other Western packing centers. %dncationally the international exposition has taken a foremost part in American institutions. Not only ara the developments and tremendous advancement of the live stock industries of the United States and other civilised countries revealed in animate and practical demonstration, but the great advantages to farmer, breeder, grower, exporter and consumer of a superior breed and quality are undeniably presented. The beneficial effects of the exposition ara fait in every direction and the actual results of the original movement are of proportionate magnitude.

WHAT EXPANSION IS DOING FOR THE FILIPINOS.

Uncle Sam’s scouts in the Philippines are getting fat. Difficulty Is being experienced in supplying them with correct fitting uniforms. Colonel C. F. Humphrey, at Manila, has called the department’s attention to the fact that they have fattened so rapidly that their uniforms fit them too soon. Government tailors will be instructed to allow for expansion.—News Item.

There is a broad plane of operation and enlightenment for the agricultural college student in the experiment and development of the natural forces in all sorts of farm products, the animal industry forming one of the most important items, but the actual world for such study is readily recognized in the international exposition, with the result of the keenest appreciation and active interest. Competitive exhibits were made by the respective institutions, large delegations of Btudents and faculty arrived the first day and remained for the final event, and many students entered the judging contests, where the knowledge of the real article and excellence of judgment were thoroughly tested. This year the competitions were open

to the farmer boy also. It has been asserted by many visitors that the great display, competitive events and general character of the exhibitions leave an impression with the boys that is lasting and effective. Contentment has followed dissatisfaction with the uneventful farm life, and throughout the length and breadth of the land the farm lad devotes his best energies and keen ambition to preparing candidates for the international contests.

RUSH TO THE SOUTHWEST.

An Army of 300,000 Persons Has Entered It in a Year. At the rate of many thousands a month men are pouring into the Southwestern States nnd territories to find a new home where the sod is yet fresh and golden opportunities to accumulate wealth are to be found. In the past year it is estimated that fully 300,000 persons went into the Southwest. It is estimated that there were 300 new towns started in Oklahoma and Indian territories alone daring the past three years, and most of them are in thriving condition. In the first place there were 8,000,000 acres of free land hi these two territories to be settled upon by the whites. This has been consumed, nnd those settlers who are going in now do not hope to secure free land, if ihey can bnt get it at a reasonable price. No more free land remains to the home-seeker. The cheapest to be had ranges from $5 to $0 an acre in Indian territory and Oklahoma, but Missouri and Arkansas offer it at the low rate of $1.25 per acre. One company In Boston has arranged for the purchase of 2,000,000 acres of this cheap land, upon which they are going to plant orchards. The farmers and the frnlt growers are comiug from New England. Offices have been established in Europe, and colonists are going to the Southwest from all parts of the world. Trunk lines leading to the Southwest assert that Oklahoma and Indian territories and Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas will support 20,000,000 -nore people than are'at present residing there, and that it will give to all of them a good tiring and an easy Hfs.

Told In a Few Lines.

Pig lead for the keel of the new America's cnp defender was supplied by a Kansas City manufacturer. The vessel is being built at Bristol, R. I. The Standard Oil Company has declared a quarterly dividend of $lO per share payable Dec. 15. Tbe dividend for the same quarter last year was SB. The board of managers of the Kansas Btste Soldiers’ Home at Dodge CUy, has purchased a half sect!oh of land for the institution. Tiers an now 421 old veterans there.

THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE.

Great Care Taken that Ita Information Shall Not Leak Ont. One government matter which is treated with the utmost possible secrecy from the time it leaves the hands of the President until it is ready for Congress and the public at large is the preparation of the President’s message. The preservation of absolute secrecy regarding the contents of the message is most essential, inasmuch as advance information as to the recommendations to be made would in many instances be of the greatest value to speculators on the stock market and certain business interests. Despite the number of men who aid in the handling of the document at the big print shop, however, there has been no violation of confidence in recent years. Daring the Hayes administration a message was stolen from the printing office end sold at a price popularly supposed to be many thousands of dollars, but the theft has never been repeated. As a means of preserving inviolate the contents of the message while it is in the printing establishment the plan is adopted of placing with a single official the entire responsibility for the message from the time it is delivered at the printing office until it emerges in pamphlet form ready for delivery at the White House. The average presidential message ranges in length from 12,000 to 20,000 words, and when this is parceled out to the typesetters it is cut up into pieces so small that no compositor can gain any definite knowledge of the subject under discussion, and the work is so distributed among hundreds of typesetters; The assembling of all the various tiny masses of type is entrusted to one man of known reliability, and likewise only old and trusted employes are permitted to have a hand in the printing and binding of the pamphlets. As an extra safeguard, the workmen engaged upon the printing of the message are compelled each evening to account for every sheet of paper which has been issued for use on the presses. The printed copies of the message are taken, upon completion, direct to the White House offices and the only copies which are permitted to leave the hand of the office force prior to the day of the opening of Congress atr those which are given in confidence to the representatives of the newspapers and press associations with the understanding that no extracts from them shall be printed until the message has been read to Congress.

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

Cornell University announces that courses in its next summer session will be geography and underlying sciences. This will be the first American summer school of geography. The New York Teachers’ Association has decided to establish courses of advanced study for its members, and will be incorporated so aa to hold examinations and award degrees. Prof. Frnncia Kelsey, head of the Latin department of Michigan University, underwent an operation for encysted liver, a disease of which this is the eighteenth case on record in the world. The Chinese government has made provision for sending a number of Chineso students to American colleges at government expense. Upon their return those successful in examinations will receive government positions. A complete revolution in school procedure and in school bnilding is predicted by Prof. Armstrong, head of the education section of tbe British Association for the Advancement of Science. The school, he saya, will soon be modeled on the workshop and a great part of the time spent at the bench with tool in hand. Nature’s workshop will also be used and provision made for physical training and outdoor exercise. The present method of spending homo-daily in recitations and book liadj, he said, was etupid. The University of Michigan has introduced a new coarse on the theories of annuities and insurance. This is the first attempt of any university in this country to treat the mathematical or actuary side es insurance. It ia announced that students who have received the B. A. degree at any college without studying Greek may enter Yale and receive the M. A. degree without being obliged to make np this study. These student* may also enter the senior class at Yale and graduate at the end of a year without studying Greek.

RECORD OF THE WEEK

INDIANA INCIDENTS TERSELY TOLD. Bank Clerk Dies In Defense of TrustCoal Combination Does Not Materialise®—Young Lady Kills Herself—Fonr Paper Plants Bought. During a heroic battle in defense of the cash of the Weatville State Bank We»ley Reynolds was shot through the heart shortly before daylight Sunday morning by a member of a gdng of robbers. Previous to receiving his death wound ho had been shot through the head and again through the neck. Although one of the ballets causing these wounds shattered his chin, one tearing a big hole throngh to the base of the brain, while the other passed clear through his body, the faithful bank clerk fought on until he had emptied two revolvers in a vain effort to kill one or more of his four assailants. His bravery prevented the looting of the bank. The robbers, one believed to be badly wounded, fled from the scene of death. The citizens have offered a reward of SI,OOO for the arrest of the murderers. Reynolds was only 16 years old. Aside from being a trusted clerk he acted in the capacity of watchman, sleeping in the bank at night, with three revolvers within reach. Indiana Coal Trust Off. Indiana coal operators now" admit that, although the operations on the bituminous mines of the State ran until Jan. 1, the consolidated company will not be formed. When the leading operators went to New York recently to complete the deni with the Moore Brothers and the “Rock Island crowd,” who were to finance the enterprise, the scare was on in financial circles and the failure to form the company then was announced as due to the fact that the men who were to have done the financing were too much absorbed protecting other Interests* It now has become known that had there been no scare the scheme would not have gone through for two reasons: First, the operators were asking too much for their property; second, the operators were objecting to the plan by which they were to accept CO per cent in stock which the promoters were to water to the total of $25,000,000 and of which the promoters were to have what was held to be too large a proportion.

Lovers’ Quarrel la Fatal. “Dress me in black and place Will’s photograph in my left hand when you bury me,” said Hattie Larkin, the pretty 18-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Larkin of Marion, after she had taken twenty grains of morphine. Miss Larkin and William Gallapo, a young business man, were lovers, but quarreled because Miss Larkin went to a social function with another young man. Miss Larkin called at Gallapo’a place of business and told him she would like to talk to him, but he refused. She went home and took the paison. Doctors worked with her for severs] hours, but she died. Buys Four Paper Plants. Four big industries in Delaware County have gone under the control of the United Boxboard and Paper trust and mortgages aggregating $1,500,000 were filed. The officials of the plants say they will be operated steadily. The merged plants are West “M uncle Strawboard works, Paragon Paper mills at Eaton, Ah bany Strawboard works at Albany and Consumers’ Paper Company at Muncie. Find Evidence of Murder. Edward Buisking was found dead near Gem. A post-mortem revealed a fracture at the base of the skull and a cut on the left side of the chin. In company with four young men from Indianapolis, Buisking had been out hunting. His gun lay empty three feet from his body. Murder is suspected and an investigation is being made. Robbed of Gems Daring Reception. Thieves entered the sleeping apartment of Miss Deetta Carry of Homewood and carried away her jewel box containing valuable diamond solitaires and several other gems. The robbery was committed during a reception given to a party of young people at the house. The police have searched in vain for a clew.

Brief State Happening* Valparaiso is in the lead for the 1903 meeting of the State Y. M. C. A. In Richmond a fine new business block is to be erected by J. M. Westcott Emil Erickson, aged 19 years, of Chicago, was killed by a train at Crissman. The Supreme Court has enjoined Ijlast Chicago from paying water renta, on the ground that the transfer of the water works was void. At Elston Mrs. John Grant narrowly escaped death from being trampled on by a cow. Mrs. Grant was severely injured before she was rescued. Two men, supposed to be E. W. Pollock and Marion Pierson of Bridgeport, were found dead in their room at the Arlington Hotel in Indianapolis. Death was caused by escaping gas. The gas jets were turned on and the gas waa escaping when the men were discovered. Gov. Durbin has appointed Patrick O’Brien of South Bend a member of the board of managers of the State prison at Michigan City to succeed E. H. Nebeker. Charles Major of Shelby was appointed a member of the board of trustees of Purdue University to sucetod William H. O’Brien. James O. Parker, now president of the Ohio Valley Trust Company, Evansville, who was counsel for Rev. William B. Hinshaw, now serving life sentence for wife murder seven years ago, claims to have proof that the prisoner la Innocent. He has been working privately on the case ever since and has traced a small cameo ring worn by. Mrs. Hinshaw at the time she was murdered to ’Kid” Whitney, a well-known criminal. Norral Wright, aged 40, formerly of the depot force for the Pennsylvania company in Chicago, fell under a freight train east of Fort Wayne and his akoll was crushJß. The Grove Oity Oil and Gas Company of Chicago has purchased of Bluffton oil men leases on 550 acres in Chester township for SOO,OOO. The property has thirty producing wells. • Through the death of hie sister, Mrs. Elisa McGwire of Galveston, Texas, James Creason, aged 84, an inmate of the Kokomo poor house, has fallen heir to a fortune of $50,000