Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 132, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1903 — AGRICULTURAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL

To Sugar Care Pork. Hogs of 200 to 250 pounds weight are best for family use. In dressing a hog it should be so hung that it can be split down the back, and the sides allowed to separate, the head being cut off. The leaf and some other surplus fat should be removed at once. This allows the meat to cool thoroughly, and it is in good shape to handle. The meat barrel should be kept in a cool place without freezing. A good way to keep the hams and shoulders after being cured is to slice and fry ana pack in jars, covering with hot lard. Fresh pork may be kept this way in hot weather, but it must be thoroughly cooked. While the cured meat requires much less cooking to preserve it. * Allow the hog to thoroughly ccol before cutting, carefully trim hams and shoulders and split the sides in two lengthwise. Sprinkle -bottom of barrel with fine salt, and rub each piece of meat with salt. Pack in barrel with hams on the bottom, shoulders next and sides on top. After three days cover the meat with brine made as follows: Water, 8 gallons; salt, 12 pounds; sugar, 3 pounds; saltpeter, 3 q|tnces; concentrated lye, 3 teaspoons, boll all together and skim. After cooling, pour over the meat. Leave in brine from four to six weeks, then smoke as desired. The brine should ba strong enough to bear up an egg. Record. Rain and Sun Proof Coop. I have a chicken coop whlcqj I think suits me better than any other I have tried before. This coop is nlade out of cheap lumber. The bottom is hinged

nt the back to the upper part. At the front I drive two staples to fasten the coop down so as it can be moved about. The upper part comes down over the floor all the way so that you can put a nail through the staple. The shade in the front is to keep the sun and rain out. These coops are very easy to clean. —J. C. Becraft in Poultry Keeper. Care of Winter Apples. Gathering and storing winter apples is an important duty that must be attended to before the heavy frosts begin in the fall. Apples that are to be kept over winter should be carefully picked and placed in barrels. After picking they should be left In the open air for some time, as this tends to thoroughly ripen them. They also pass through a sweat at first, and it is much better if they can be left exposed so that all surface moisture Is evaporated. Fruit should be placed In a cool, dark cellar. In some Instances where there are a few barrels of good apples the practice is adopted of wrapping the apples in paper. This prevents them from coming in contact with one another and will insure their keeping. It usually pays to pick over apples two or three times during the winter, so that those showing signs of decay may be discarded. Windfalls should never be placed among apples thnt are handpicked. A plentiful supply of apples to be used in the family during the winter will contribute muc& to the general healthfulness of every member of thAfnmily.—lowa Homestead.

A Primitive TJireshinir Machine. A common skylit In the agricultural districts of Hungary is two 1 women treading out grain by means of a beam. The woman seated on the ground takes a bundle of grain and puts it under one end of the beam. When the grain Is is place the woman leaning on the pole for support takes a step backward which has the effect of raising the broad, flat end of the beaut, and making the other end fall in a hole njade for that purpose. Then a quick step forward, with some little pressure, brings the thick end of the beaut down on the wheat and flattens it out so effectually as to separate 'the grain from the lntaks. Dairy Farm Side Liner. Along With dairy farming naturally gees the poultry business. And a nice, clean, profitable • business It is, too. Here Is a, fine Add for the women folks. They naturally take more pride In the chickens tbnn the man does, although now and then we do find men iwbo enter heart and soul into the keeping of poultry. There Is always a good ,deal of skimmed milk on the dairy ifann which would be apt to go to waste were It not for the hens. They are the greatest of scavengers. Every, drop o t the sour and sk'mrved milk la

a delicious morsel for the hen, and sbe will turn it to good account, too. Pork also adds its mite, and it is not a small mite, either,~tS the revenues of the up-to-date dairy farm.- During the last few years pork has sold at splendid figures. For the money it brings in, pork Involves perhaps as little labor as anything about the farm. Here, too, is a place where one must be In love with his business. That is the only key to success. Q Beard lea* Wheat. Those who have had the most experience in combating the hessian fly are the strongest believers in the late

sowing o f wheat wherever It can be 1 done. Some varieties, are better fdr late sowing than others, and the two -shown In the illustration seem to be especially suitfed fcr late sowing. The center head of the illustration shows a beardless sort known as the Clawon Longberry. The

variety is a strong beardless wheat. grower and stools prolifically, the straw being strong and wiry. The heads are full and long and wide. The chaff, which is browh, is free from beards. The grain, which is of true Longberry type, is dark amber Id color, large and long and of the finest quality. The other heads shown are of the bearded sort. Sheaf Longberry Red, and claimed to be the most perfect Longberry read wheat grown. It is one of the hardiest varieties, a strong, healthy grower, and especially desirable for late sowing. The straw is strong, though only medium tall. The chaff is thin and of a pearly white. The grain is dark and flinty, and nearly as large as rye kernels. This variety is much prized as a fancy milling sort. —Indiaflapolis News.

The Farm and the Man. How any farm should/be cropped depends upon where the farm Is, Its character and location. Some farms are by nature pasture farms, because they are not adapted to cultivation; other farms invite tillage. Size, too, is a controlling factor. A crop rotation and schedule of farm work that is admirable for fifty acres may be wholly impracticable for five hundred ’or a thousand. The ambition to own and cultivate broad acres is an American disease. This disease is not so much a hesire to add to worldly possessions as it is for a gratification of the ownership of dominion; when analyzed it will be foumLto be a feature of man’s kinship with nature. Another and the most important factor of all is the man himself. The man makes the farm good or bad, as he makes everything else that comes under his control. The experience of one farmer is invaluable to • another, but each farm Is nevertheless a separate and local problem which the farmer must think out and work out himself. Pekin Ducks Are Popular. The Pekins are the most popular and probably the most profitable of all breeds of ducks. They reach heavy

weights at an early age, lay a large number of eggs which hatch well, and produce strong, hardy ducklings. They are pure white In color with yellow bill and legs. As a farmyard fowl they are somewhat noisier than some other breeds. —Farm and Home. I Farm Notes. The horse lias a tall that should never be docked. The lightning rod peddler and the clpth peddler have tales that should be completely and effectually docked. The cow that gets fat Is never the best one for the dairyman. The good dairy cow has a good appetite and eats -heavily, but her feed goes to milk rich In butter fat Instead of to the making of flesh. , The Kelfer pear Is one of the best varieties for canning, and Is also hardy and a strong grower, but the supposition that It is free from attacks of blight Is not corroborated by growers. , There Is no blight-proof pear. It Is the seed that mostly exhausts the land of plant food. A grass crop that Is allowed to produce seed takes more from the soil In mineral matter than two crops cut for hay while the grass is young. If a garden Is made on sandy soli, especially Id a section where nearly all the soli Is sandy, the use of air-slacked lime will be found very beneficial, aa such toils are deficient in lime. Gaa lime will not serve aa a substitute for stone lime, but shell lime is excellent, however, though the use of stone lima should be preferred. The cost la small compared with the benefits derived.

HR. BECRAFT’S COOP.

PAIR OF PEKIN DUCKS.