Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1903 — FARMS AND FARMERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMS AND FARMERS

A Mechanical. Milker. The latest milking machine is here pictured in outline. It requires an engine or other power to drive It in order to work the vacuum air pump located at some convenient point. From this a line of iron gas pipe is run above the stalls in the milking shed. This pipe Is used only to exhaust the air iu the milk buckets. No liquid passes through it. A small branch pipe terminating in a hook is fitted to the main pipe and hangs over the stall about two feet above the cow’s back. The bucket is shown in the figure and is air tight, the top being closed

with a lid, clamped securely in place by simply raising the handle to lift the bucket. All that is needed connection is the mere hanging of the bucket on the pipe above the cow by a hook attached to the milk pail for that purpose, as shown in the cut. This is an ordinary pail with a tight lid and felass peepholes down the sides so that the milk can be seen. A rubber tube runs to the cups attached to the cow’s teats. Between the cups is a valve and chamber .about the size of a hen’s egg which really constitutes" the effective part of the machine. The machine is set to work by a simple turn of the valve and the suction holds it in place until the milking is finished. It requires from two and onehalf to ten minutes to milk a cow. With proper equipment one man can readily handle fifty.—Orange Judd Farmer.

Pcitnce and Farming, If you tell the average Missouri farmer that he ought to use a little more science in his business he will reply that the advocates of scientific methods are mere theorists; that they do very well in their way, but they can’t teach a practical agriculturist anything In his line. Robert H. Kern, a St. Louis lawyer, has lately given the conservative farmers of Macon County a lesson in scientific agriculture that has opened their eyes. In settling an estate he came Into possession of some almost worthless city property. This he traded for some land in Macon Cbunty which seemed almost equally valueless. The larger part of it was under water most of the time, and a good crop never had been raised on it, Mr. Kern called in an engineer and had him make plans for a drainage system. Then he called in a farmer who understood the science of agriculture and put him to work. The land was drained perfectly, a bog became a fine meadow, and where a swamp had been from time immemorial a bumper corn crop was raised. Now that farm, which, when Mr. Kern got it, would hardly have brought $5 per acre, is worth SSO per acre. Ten thousand dollars’ worth of *orn was raised on it last year. It is said half the dwellers in the Charlton bottoms are now talking about hiring scientific engineers as farm hands.—Kansas City Journal. Profit in Summer Eggs, It is well understood that the eggs Ifiid during the winter are, to a certain extent at least, a forced production. This being the case, it is hardly fair to expect that the fowl who has turned out a goodly supply of eggs during the winter can keep it up during the summer. It is questionable if it would be advisable to force the winter laying, fowl to continue during the sumrqer. If the bird is to be counted afi (ftmong the layers the following winder she should be allowed the period of rest during most of the summer; that is, she should not be fed so as to force egg production, but her food should be sufficiently liberal and sufficiently varied to keep her In good shape to go into winter quarters prepared -to lay. The poultryman who has not received from his fowls the number of eggs he should have hud during the winter ought to make an effort to get even during the summer, the natural season for the hen to lay. This cannot be done by simply turning the hens out on the range, for they must l*e grain-fed and properly cared for. Handle them as you would the fowls for winter egg production. It will not be expensive, for most of their living will be obtained on the range and, unless eggs are very low In price, you will receive enough from the supply to pay well for the extra food and care. Do You Know? Do you know that every cruelty inflicted on an animal in killing or ju»t before death poisons to a growler or leu extent Its meat? -Do you know that every cruelty Inflicted upon a row poisons to a greater *r less extent Its milk? .

Do you know that fish killed as soon as taken from the water by a blow on the back of the head will keep longer and be better than those permitted to die slowly? Do you know that birds destroy millions of bugs, mosquitoes and harmful insects, that without the birds we could not live on the earth, and that every little insect-eating bird you may kill and every egg you may take from its nest means one less bird to destroy insects?—Live Stock Journal. Feed ins the Qran Crop. One of the most successful growers of hay in the country ascribed bis success to the proper preparation of his fields in the beginning and the proper culture afterward, as well as the proper manuring at the time of seeding. During the two months preceding seeding the soil is plowed and harrowed so frequently that he claims 1| is gone over at least fifty times. This process makes fine all the vegetation that is available as plant food and Jets in sunshine to the soil. Before seeding, stable manure is used in as large quantities as he can afford, but after seeding only bone, muriate of potash and nitrate of soda are used, and this is used on every crop; that is, he Is not satisfied to let the fertilizer used in preparing the seed bed answer for all time, but prepares and applies the commercial fertilizers named each season or twice each season, if, as in his case, two crops are taken from the meadow each season. This sort of treatment is expensive, to an extent, but it pays to apply It in any section where the hay crop is a paying one. For Leveling; the Soil. TJfis land leveler is a tool that will pay for itself many times over and ought to be found on every farm. The Illustration shows clearly how it ia made. A heavy plank eight or ten feet long and two feet wide, set on edge, is used for the leveler and the •wings at the side-keep it in an upright position at all times. These wings should be securely fastened by iron straps. Strips of strong board one and one-half inches thick by three inches wide are fastened at each upper corner of the plank and a small crosspiece at the end is provided with a ring, to which the team is hitched. A small iron rod from the center of crosspiece to the center of the top of the plank gives additional strength. A and A indicate large screw eyes, to which a light rope is attached to enable the driver to raise the leveler if need be and to enable him to turn corners eas-

ily. This ieveler will be found to work perfectly on any soil that is not too heavy, and It will level the soil better and cheaper than In any other way. How to Feet Horses. Horses fed liberally, If not well exercised, will often get off their feed. The skill of the feeder must remedy this. Every one having the care of stock of any kind should bear in mind that all troubles of appetite and es the digestive organs are generally chargeable to the feeder rather than the animal. Regularity, a keen judgment and strict attention are the “medicine” the feeder of stock needs to administer. Care offlhe Garden. Just as soon as any crop of vegetables is finished In the garden, spade the location, and If any seeds are In the soil many of them will sprout. If so go over it again, which will save much valuable time and labor In the spring. Late summer and fall is the proper time to clean a garden, especially if weed seeds are to be eradicated. Farm Notes. To use more machinery and conveniences of every kind, or to cut down your acreage, appears the only remedy in sight for lack of farm help. Give the young pigs a low trough and a chance to feed separate from the sow. Add to ground oats or barley or wheat middlings some warm skim, milk or water. There is no better egg-producing food than a combination of oats, bran, corn, green stuff and Insects, with the average waste of the average kitchen or dairy, and you don’t have to pay 5 cents per pound for any of these. In Denmark they have farmers’ cooperative <#iry associations of twelve fanners each, who for five years weigh the feed of each of their cows and also the milk, and thus make a record of the returus from each cow. String beans can be grown as long as the weather is warm. The practice of growing the earlier kinds alone is too general, for a reedy sale await* them whenever they reach the markets. Try some of the late varieties, and up avsnceessloß as long as the opportunity permits. On the thirty-seveil acres of ground devoted to the live-stock department at the world’s fair, at 9t. Louis, are being built 2,800 stalls. Two thousand four hundred of these are open feet. The remainimp 400 are box stalls, 10x10 feet. In nddUrfim four ootagonai dairy barns will provide 140 open stall* and twenty-eight box stalls. .

MILKING MACHINE.

A LAND-LEVELING TOOL.