Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1903 — AGRICULTURAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL

A Damping Sled. Manure may be easily and quickly unloaded from a dump sled. An old bob sled with an extra high bolster and an elevated croes piece built up jfronr the race in front, works all right. jThe box Is fastened to the high bolster by means of eye bolts. It is fastened I down to the front support with a strong hook. With a little practice, manure may ibe spread with this rig In winter, with jvery little fork work. For spreading, |a block is fastened to the ruttners beihind that stops the box at the proper angle to let the manure slide down and pay out slowly as the team moves along. The 'angle must be different according to the kind of manure, the absorb-

,ent used in the stable, and the amount of straw or other substance used for bedding. The driver can help or hinder it with his fork as he drives along. G. Spencer, in Farm and Home.

Concerning Corn Prices* It Is the deliberate opinion of the editor of the Fairfax Forum, who prints his paper in Atchison County, in the heart of one of the greatest corn producing sections in the world, that “the day of cheap com In this country ‘ls a thing of memory only.” The Forum gives several reasons for entertaining a belief that is so very comforting to the farmers of the Middle West. “Not so many years ago,” It recalls, “a bountiful corn crop like that of the present year would have sent the price tumbling down uqftk it reached a point almost too cheap to steal. The supply exceeded the demand. The corn crop raised the past season is a ,record breaker, but we see the price ‘held at m figure which means a fair profit to the grower. Not only is the demand In this country greater than ever before, but the people of foreign countries are beginning to acquire a taste for combread and hominy, and it isn’t at all probable that the American farmer will be able to grow enough corn to congest the market again.”— Kansas City Journal.

Melting HnoW Paths.

Good winter walks about the farm buildings are as Important as good summer walks. A handy plow for the snow is shown herewith, the construction being plainly shown in the cut.

The center board, it will be noticed, runs lower than the sides. This keeps the plbw from running first to one side and then to the other. The flaring top boards greatly assist In making: a clean-cut path.—John Dibble, In Farm and Home. Cost and Results of Potato Hprnylnc. Spraying with bordeaux mixture to prevenf potato blight is common and successful in the Aroostook district. Growers In the Michigan potato belt are beginning to bellevd that they must also spray. One of them who has tried U wrltcslliat the cost was per acre, and the result was seen In the prolonging of the season of growth. Untreated rows had died down early In September, while the treated ones continued to remain green nearly a month later. Another Michigan grower, Harold Jones, of Leeds County, also tried spraying, and found the cost to be below this estimate. Comparing his yield with those of his neighbors, who harvested from nothing to twO hundred bushels per acre, Mr. Jones considers the practice profitable. Writing of his successful potato crop, H, P. West, Fayetteville, Wls., recommends for potato seal) half a (esspoonful of sulphur planted with each piece of seed potato.-—New England Farmer. , Creamery Verse* Dairy. One of the advantages of the creamery over the dairy Is the making of butter on a large scale. Which conduces to a greater uniformity of prodcry gets a good reputation for a nice and ufii«*c*i quality of la any,

quantity and Btyle of is an advantage to both manufacturers and dealers in disposing of them without the necessity of personal inspection. ■ Farming by Steam. In Pearson's is an interesting article by D. A. Willey, “Farming by Steam,” in which is described some of the remarkable machinery used in modem farming. One of the most useful machines is the great traction engine, used in the place of horse-power. In California the new steam “tractors,” as the engines are called, are finding high favor. Of course, small steam engines have long been' in use all the world over to haul farm machinery along the country highways, to operate threshing machines and now and again for ploughing purposes, when the engine winds in a cable attached to the plough, and so draws the plough across the field. But the Western tractor does far more important work, and is quite a different type. In the first place, note its hugeness. -flfhe machinery is supported on three great wheels, having tires five or six feet In width, so that they appear like enormous barrels of steel. On either side a huge sprocket chain encircles the wheels, with links made of steel a foot long and an inch thick, each tested to withstand a pull of 260 tons. Every detail is on a similar scale of hugeness and strength.'

In its wide tires lies one of the secrets of the tractor’s strength. They gain such a grip on the surface, no matter how sandy or how soft the field or road may be, that they exert an enormous tractive force, and the wheels cannot slip under the heaviest load.

Handy Sawbnct,

For sawing limbs and poles light enough to handle and yet too heavy to saw with a bucksaw I have used a sawbuck about four feet long made upon the plan of connecting two horses with three cross rods. We had worn out two in the last dozen years, and about a month ago I built a combination tuck which was convenient fqr both crosscut and buck sawing. It is

shown in the figure. It is made of 2 by 4 oak scantling halved together, and the tw<# nearest X’s are only twelve apart from oatside to outside,- Outrange takes wood seventeen Inches long, and I put the supports near enough together so that I can saw outside the end and not have the saw pinch. This would be inconvenient, and the buck would tip endwise if it were not for the third X, which gives support to long sticks and makes buck sawing much pleasanter, as much of the fatlgde in this kind of work comes from keeping In place the sticks that are being sawed.—Cor Ohio Farmer.

Farm Notes. It has long been known that heavily stocking an old garden with red clover, allowing it to remain two years without plowing, will bring the soil back to its fertility and vigor. Asparagus is greatly benefited by air, which should be given whenever the stato of the weather and the atmosphere of the frame penults. At night preserve an equable temperature by covering up the frames with Utter.

In transplanting trees afi tfce roots which may have become braised or broken In the process of Uftteg -‘Mill be cut clean awny behind the broken part, as they then more readily strike ont new roots from the o»t parts. In all such cases the ent should be a clean, sloping one, and made In an npward and outward dircotloa. Any farmer can try the experiment of innoculdtlng the sell with tie necessary bacteria for promoting the growth of a crpp. Should tho soil seem unadopted to clover It will be found of advantage to procure a few bushels of earth from a field upon which grew a luxuriant crop of clover, broadcasting the earth over the field and seeding to clovpr, the possibility being that a good stand of clover will be obtained. Milk absorbs odor from the moment It Is drawn from the cow until the time It is churned. Whenever milk reaches the temperature of one hundred It la claimed_lo be In an active state of decomposition. Bnt while milk Is easily affected by oatside Influences, the adherence to strict role* of cleanliness will greatly aid the dairyman to avoid the changes that often occdr. Cooling the milk readers the germs Inactive and prevents decomposition for a while, but It should not be overlooked that milk abeorbs odbrs very rapidly when cool. Exposure to odors, gases or relatfie matter or nny kind should, therefore, be avoided and every utensil used In the dairy should be scalded with boiling water and thoroughly scoured.

HANDY DUMPING SLED.

CONVENIENT SAWBUCK.

HOME-MADE SNOW PLOW.