Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 123, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 October 1903 — FARMERS CORNER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARMERS CORNER

Home-Made Fruit Ladder. The average fruit lkdder, as found In most orchards, is not particularly desirable mainly because it Is not designed for this particular work. iThe broad top of the common ladder makes St almost impossible to get it among the branches in a firm position. Where one has considerable fruit to gather, a special ladder constructed after the plan of the one in the illustration will be found not only useful, but will save considerable time in the fruit-gather--lng sak.aon.p-r tr -. —- A pole, preferably a green one from the woods, should be secured, having if of the desired length. The largest end should be split up about tliree feet and a brace inserted to keep the sides apart. The ends which stan£ on the ground should be sharpened or covered with sharpened pieces of iron, which any blacksmith can fashion and attach. Bore holes one and one-half inches In diameter in both sides as far apart as the rungs are to be placed. The rungs should be formed of some tough wood so that they may not be made too bungling! At the top of the pole a strip of strap iron is fastened with a long hook se that it may be passed over the branches of the tree. The illustration on thi left of the cut shows how the* hook is fastened on. This ladder will cost but a small sum, and if well made will last for years.

It would be a good plan to have several of them of different lengths. Lime and Snlphnr Wash. . Fruit growers are quite interested In the formula composing the new Insecticide, lime and sulphur, but have found the labor of making It considerable because of the necessity for boiling the mixture. Recent experiments have shown that If potash or caustic soda Is used there will be no necessity for boiling. The formula for making in this way is this: Take twenty pounds of sulphur, forty pounds of lime, live pounds of caustic soda and sixty gallons of water. Make a thin paste of the sulphur and dissolve the cau&:lc soda in water. In the lime, use only enough water to make it boil rapidly. During the process of slaking, pour into the lime the sulphur paste, and then the caustic scda solution, adding water if necessary, and stirring rapidly until all bubbling stops, when dilute with wa>er to the consistency and strength needed for the spraying. The use of this material in spraying is not only a on scale, but very effective against various insects. Applications may be made in the late fall, in midwlpter and in the early sprtnjf. Crops for Orchards. If the soil in the orchard is in good shape and fairly rich, the best cover crop is undoubtedly crimson clover, and this may be sown at any time now. If the soil is poor crimson clover is not likely to succeed, so that something that will add humus to the soil should be used rather than to attempt to get the benefit of the legumes. For sowing In an orchard of this kind *rye will probably be most satisfactory. It should be sown al>out the Ist of September, and plowed un-' d'n* In the early spring, and then the summer cultivation of the surface soil taken up again. It is quite probable that following this method will put the soil In shape so that another fall it will be fit to grow crimson clover. Good for Hogs. Take six bushels of cob charcoal or t! ree bushels of common charcoal, eight pounds of salt and one pound of Fpsom salts, two quarts of alf-slack lllne, one bushel of wood ashes. Break Ihe charcoal Into small pieces and thoroughly mix the other ingredients with it Then one pound of copperas and dissolve in hot water, and with an ordinary watering not sprinkle oVer the whole mass and again mix thoroughly, This mixture should be kept dry. Feeding a portion of it twice a week furnishes something that the hogs demand and assists In taking off the gases of the stomach, expelling worms and regulating'their conditions. —Winchester dud.) Herald. Urg* Farm Kmnillee. One of the English agricultural societies has started a new form of competition along the line of the anti-race soictde ides. The first prixe trent to the farm laborer who had brought up fend established In a career the greatest number of children. The winning family. bad a record of 10 children bora.

17 brought up and 12 of these at work. The second prize winner had 15 children, IS brought up, all usefully occupied. There were 10 entries, and those next in order had 10, 14, 13, and 13 children, respectively. The Value ©^Fertilizer. The Purdue Experiment Station has been conducting a number of experiments with corn, using different kinds of fertilizer. The tests show that kainit is valuable as compared with straw t-r lime. The com was planted th? second week in June, The com on the plats to which kainit or straw was applied made a continuous growth, and after the middle of July these plats could readily be distinguished from f> bv n riirkw mlor than

that shown on the plats on which no fertilizer was used. The treated plats did not ripen as early as the others, and the fodder was slightly damaged by frost on September 27, although no injury was done to the ears. The corn was cut from the different plats October 3 and husked October 19. The yield and treatment are shown in the accompanying table: —Yield Per AcrePlat Sound corn, Fodder, No. Treatment. bushels. tons. 1. Straw 48.4 2.30 2. None 28.6 1.39 3. Kainit 55.8 2.43 4. Kainit. I.lme 52.4 2.48 5. Lime ...*... 25.1 1.48 6. Straw 48.8 1.02 7. None 18.1 1.04 8. Kainit 60.4 2.43 9. Kainit. Lime „ 52 2.21 10. Lime 15.04 1.04 11. None 4 .90 ■ The eoadusiotr ts tttftt returns are bound to be profitable In land treated as were the plants in the experiments cited—especially as to kainit or straw. Another thing shown Is that the influence of the treatment is bound to be effective for years to cpme, as the land will the more readily respond to labor put upon it. Keeping Sweet Potatoes. To keep well sweet potatoes should be dug when the roil is quite dry and afterward spread thin to ciire for ten days at least in an outbuilding secure from rain and frost. Road dust onethird of which is composed of fine sand is best for packing in. Place a layer of dust in the bottom of box or ba>rel or whatever is used to pack in, then a layer of potatoes, being careful to cover every potato completely with dust before adding the next layer. The last layer is dust. We keep sweet potatoes in this manner all Winter, and they seem as fresh as when first packed. We keep them In an outhouse until severely cold weather, merely covering the boxes with carpeting, etc. When severe, cold sets in they are removed to a room where a fire is kept part of *:he day only. Failure to keep well Is often duo to too much heat or packing away in too warm materials.;—Cor. Ohio Farmer. Prolific New Wheats. New varieties of Rursiau wheat tave been tested with good, results at a branch experiment stallion In Kansas. Several kinds, Kharkov, Crimean, Theiss, etc., yielded pver forty bushels per acre, and others ranged from thirty-five to forty bushels. The seed is being sold to Kansas wheat growers. Farm Notes. The crab apple is one of the hardiest of trees, and as there ij nearly always a demand for crab apples In market, they found profitable by some. The blossoms are beautiful In spring, and the trees are more ornamental Ihan some which are used for shade and ornament. The large and growing demand for pure jellies and preserves should create a larger market hi the future for crab apples. Roller process bran Is, on the average, better than old process bran. Dran Is rich in ash, 6r mineral matter, which renders it a suitable food for growing animals. It serves well with all foods which are lacking In lins or bone forming material, and is valuable In the manure heap. It may not be equal to linseed meal or some other foods, for certain purposes, but it is a food that should always be used. A city boy is greener in the country than the country boy la in the city. A dairyman recently hired a young city chap and sometime during the first week gave him the order to “salt the calves.” He found out later that this young American had rubbed about a quart of salt lntp the hair ou the back of each calf. Later horses running la the -pasture discovered these salty calves and proceeded to help themselves, resulting In many instances In the hair being licked completely off. Hothouse farming Is not only profitable, but it seems to possess quite a fascination In the very nature of the work. Most florists and hothouse gardeners appear Interested and even enthusiastic, while their sons often take special interest in the work under glass, and are not so likely to leave the farm as ar« other yonng men In the country. Gardening In moist, perpetual summer has both pleasures and drawbacks, but seems as near as anything to an Idkal pursuit for men or woman adapted to the requirements.

HOME MADE FRUIT LADDER.

TREATED AND UNTREATED EARS.