Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1903 — FARMERS CORNER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMERS CORNER

Automatic Poultry Feeder. Another inventive genius has forgotten the needs of man long enough to devise an -interesting and novel contrivance for the feeding of poultry, which, if it works as the designer intended it ■ should, will mean a large saving in the amount of labor necessary in the care of fowls, and also in the amount of food. It consists of a feed box equipped' with a trap door In the bottom operated by a slide, which in turn is at-

tached to an arm reaching to an inclined step on the ground; The step Is really a shallow box In which bait Is put to tempt the fowls. The bait Is corn scattered on the bottom of the box, which is covered with glass. The fowls are lured by hunger onto the board and they pick at the kernels they can see but cannot get. The weight of the fowl releases the slide In the grain box and enough food falls to the ground to satisfy the hungriest of owls. The Idea Is that a fowl will not walk onto the boards unless hunger prompts, and so the Inventor hopes that the law of supply and demand will work admirably. — Time of Cutting Hay. The results of experiments conducted by different stations show that the degree of maturity at which hay Is cut lufluedces very largely the shrinkage during curing. At the Pennsylvania station early cut hay lost on an average 29 per cent In weight, while late -cut hay lost only 21.5 per cent. Timothy, cut when just beginning to head, lost 75 per cent of water In curing; when cut at the beginning of the blossoming period, 66 per cent, and when cut a little later, or about the usual time, 57 per cent. The Michigan station found w shrinkage of about 60 per cent in curing clover. At the New York station meadow fescue mixed with a little red clover lost in one lot 62.68 per cent and in another 58.25 per cent during curing. The moisture retained in cured fodder varies with different kinds. Atwater states that for New England timothy bay retains on an average 12 per cent of moisure, clover hay 14 per cent and corn fodder 25 per cent. Lime with Fertilizers. The use of lime on farm lands Is largely for the purpose of sweetening the soil, and as It has little or no manurial value there is no good reason why It should be applied tn connection with commercial fertilizers, but many reasons why it should not be .so mixed. If the commercial fertilizer contains nitrogen in the form of ammonia the action of the lime will be to set free the ammonia and it will escape into the air; of course if the fertilizer was applied to the soil at once after being mixed with the lime the soil might retain most of the ammonia, but it is taking a risk that ought not to be taken. The same loss of fertilizing material takes place when lime is mixed with some other chemicals, and the loss is even greater with some than in the case of mixing with the nitrogen in thej’orm of ammonia.

Gate for the Hogs. Ray Eveland sends the lowa Home stead a sketch of a gate through

which hogs may pass and which will restrain the cgttle and calves from follow! ng. Make a small gate and hang it with a pairof small hinges as shown in the illustration. Let the

gate hang downward so it' can swing both ways and the hogs will soon get on to the combination of opening it. Saving Nitrogen in Stables. Experiments in Europe have proven that the loss of nitrogen from the manure in stables amounts to 63.6 per cent where only straw is used for bedding, and but 48.3 per cent where peat •was used. In the sheep shed they found a loss of 50.2 per cent where straw was used, and about half as much where peat or earth was used. Dry earth ifcti In bumug or vegetable matter Is about equal to peat. A good plan for using them is to put the earth or peat over the straw where the manure drops. No Wheat Famine Imminent. Argentina, according to a book just published by a German authority, K. Gerger, has 157,000,000 acres suitable for wheat. This is three to four times our present wheat area. At present Argentina produces about 95,000,000 bushels a year. Herr Kerger asserts that It can raise at least twenty-four times as much, or over 2.280,000,000 bushels, when all the land capable of growing wheat is under cultivation. Tills would about double the existing wheat supply in the world. Calcula-

tlons of this character are always more or less Illusory, but there Is no doubt whatever that in the humid region of Argentina only about one-sixtieth of the surface is as yet under the plough, and that the supply of wheat lands seems to be equal to any possible future demand for yean to come. Since 1890 when Mr. Robert Woods Davis was predicting that the United States by this time would be importing wheat, the world supply of wheat has more thaw kept pace,‘ tu "good years, with consumption.—Philadelphia Press. The Root* of Corn. Any person who will make a careful examination of the corn plant will find that first a system of very fine threadlike roots are formed as near the surface of the ground as “they can find heat and moist soil. These spread otit horizontally, and are almost certain to be destroyed or pruned by the cultivator shovels. As the plant develops and has more need for food a second set of horizontal roots are formed larger than the others. These are the main feed roots of the plant, and in loose soil they grow five to seven feet long. If the condition of soil will permit, these roots will develop at such a depth below the surface as to be safe from the cultivator shovels, but as they branch out into numerous fine, fibrous roots they actually fill the fine cultivated soil to draw food from every particle, and only shallow cultivation will prevent Injury to them. Besides the two sets of horizontal roots as described, there are usually two or more sets, beginning at or near the base of the stalk as brace roots and go straight down into the subsoil. They have been traced as deep as four feet. These vertical roots have few fibrous roots attached, but serve an important end in being able to bring moisture from the deep soil, late in the season, when droughts are likely to prevail. As will be seen, the roots of the corn plant develop as the top grows, also an understanding of the root development suggests the method of fertilization which should be through all the surface soil, and not in the hill nor in the row pnly. The cultivation should be done so as not to interfere with the roots that want to occupy the ground prepared for them, yet at the same time prevent evaporation of the moisture by maintaining a surface mulch of fine earth by frequent shallow culti-vation.—Up-to-Date Farming. Paper Berry Box. The paper-berry basket has been recently Introduced, and if one may judge from the opinions of those who have used it the present season it will be most welcome. The illustration, from a photograph, shows the form of the box. It Is made of so-called water-

proof paper, la well ventilated and the inside is treated to a coat of paraffine so that it is moisture-proof and odorless. If manufacturers can get the price of this box down so that it is cheaper than the splint boxes now used the paper box Is destined to have a large sale. 11 carries the fruit in good condition for long distances and, apparently, it does not dry out so readily as in the splint baskets. Importing Butterine. It Is now reported that the latest scheme of the manufacturers of butterine is to import colored margarine from Europe, thus avoiding the tencent tax, and placing It in the list of food articles Imported in the original packages. Whether they expect to send the oil to Holland and Denmark and have it manufactured there, or will export the completely made article, either colored or uncolored, and then have it sent back as Danish or Dutch butter, we do not learn yet. Possibly if they try the latter method it will sell at higher prices when it comes back, as Jamaica rum made in Massachusetts, or French brandy from California, or champagne from New Jersey apples, sell for more after they have made the two ocean voyages.— Exchange. Success with Poultry. Those people who do not have good success in hatching eggs under hens usually will not do much better with the Incubator. They may be divided into two classes, one that is careless and neglectful, and the other that is altogether tco fussy, who wants to be stirring the hen, or feeding her, or handling the eggs three or four times a day. For either of these to succeed with the Incubator there must be a thorough reformation; a determination to fallow the Instructions given exactly, and do no more and no less than is explicitly laid down, and to dp it by the clock. Whitewash. Whitewash is the cheapest disinfectant we know of. A coat of whitewash in a poultry house sweetens it up wonderfully. It is not necessary to try to do an artistic job. Any brush or even an old broom may be used to apply the wash. A spray pump can be bought cheaply and will gave time In whitewashing. Whatever is used, don’t forget to whitewash.—Exchange. Cottonseed Meal for Horses. Cottonseed ipeal is successfully used as a feed for horses and mules. It may be better in winter to combine the meal with corn, though some have had complete successi with the meal as an, exclusive grain ration for both horses and mulas.

POULTRY FEEDER.

BERRY BOX OF PAPER.