Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1904 — AGRICULTURAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL

Portable Houses for Hogra. A stockman who has tried them, says of movable hoghouses: “I have used portable hoghouses one year, and like them first-rate, because they are .jasily cleaned—when you wish to clean them just move your pen; also, ihey are cheap. They are healthy, because you can keep them free from disease by frequent movings. They are a great saver of bedding—only a small quantity being required, providing, of course, that your pen is upon dry ground, that is, ground where water

Will not stand excepting in a very wet time. As to mode of construction, mine are built as follows: They are 7 feet long, 6 feet wide, 40 inches high in front, 30 inches high in rear. Weatherboarded with hard pine boards, 10 inches wide; ought to be tongued and grooved, although mine are not The roof is of 10-inch hard pine boards, Z feet long. Each/pen has a door 30 inches high by 2 feet wide, with hinges and hasp latch; these hinges and hasp latch are 5 inches; use wrought nails to put them on. The roof of my pen, where there are cracks, is battened with half-round poplar pieces, or it can have the cracks covered with shingles. I can fasten door open or shut, as I desire. The frame is made of beech 2x4’s. First, make three posts for the front 38 Inches high, then three for rear, 28 Inches high, then 2 for sides, 33 Inches high; then four pieces 7 feet long—three of these to support the roof and one to put along the front of the pen at the bottom to strengthen the frame. Now, take boards previously sawed the right length and construct two sides which are opposite to each other, then construct remaining sides, then put on roof; use 8-penny nails for weatherboards, and small spikes to put frame together. These pens cannot be beaten for clanllness, healthfulness, saving of bedding, and cheapness. They cost about $3 each.

Strawberry Culture. The method of strawberry culture shown in the illustration has been successful and profitable. Tight iron-

bound barrels are used with all but four of the hoops removed. Holes are bored through the staves at proper distances as shown, plants are set in these holes and the barrels filled with .soil to the top. The aver-

age yield of berries Is over one-half bushel per barrel. The greatest advantages claimed for this method are that no mulch or cultivation is necessary, that the berries are always clean and free fr°n sand, and are far more readily picl’ed than when grown in the usual way. A tile is placed in the center of the barrel as it is filled with soil. This permits an even distribution of water from top to bottom, an abundance of wlflch should be supplied at all times. Forcing a Second Crop of Berries. A Vermont farmer reports success in producing a second crop of strawberries last year by cutting off all the leaves and steins close to the ground after fruiting the first crop and applying a dressing of nitrate of soda. They blossomed again In September and produced a crop smaller in amount than the first one, but very profitable. The plan, however, could not be expected to work well except In cool, wet seasons.

No* False Honeycomb. There's no such thing as false honeycomb. That is the emphatic and unqualified statement of a committee of the Chicago Beekeepers' Association, made in a report following thorough (investigation and a prize offer of fl,i<)00. Two members of the association •hare posted SI,OOO and offer to pay it over to any man who will show where honey or substitute for honey la sold In. a mnuufacturgd comk The committee states that there is no comb in existence other than that made by the >ees, aud the sweets that fill the comb

is that gathered by the little workers from the flowers and blossoms. The money posted by the beekeepers has been up for months, •and has been so published, but up to this time no one has appeared to claim it. Concerning adulterated honey, the committee says in its report that it is well known that strained honey has been adulterated with glucose, but that the producers of pure honey, aided by the work of the Illinois purefood officers, have well-nigh broken up the practice.

Using: the Diac Harrows. The disc as a form of soil cultivator is becoming constantly more popular; but it must be used right to be effective. Am expert with the disc harrow says: I want to say an encouraging word for the disc harrow. Not all soils are adapted for ito use—exceedingly stony land is ill-fitted for its use, nor perhaps the heavy, sticky clays. But upon loamy soils that are loose and upon which sod quickly forms after seeding there is no tool to compare to the heavy disc. It seems a waste of money to buy the small light machines. Farmers often say, “My team is light, I cannot draw those big 20-inch discs, weighted.” All right, then you won’t do much business. These small teams always mean poor cultivation—upon these heavy sods there must be given the draft of three or four horses of good weight—not less than 1,200 pounds. Upon the machine besides the driver may be added an extra load of stone to put the discs down at least five inches, and if the sod is not torn up go deeper. The field may look uneven when finished, but a spring tootb or smoothing harrow will do the leveling and the soil will have been thoroughly mixed and the cultivation if prolonged for two weeks will approximate the old-fashioned summer xallow. And If carried along periodically for four to six w’eeks it will reduce the stubborn quack grass. Cheap diso sharpeners are upon the market costing not more than $2.50 to $3 that will do the work effectually. These sharp discs will do more work with less weight and somewhat reduced draft.

An Anti-Choker, The accompanying diagram explains Itself and shows a simple method of relieving the plow of any kind of a choke. It can be constructed out of

wood or iron and adjusted caiy kind of a plow. If a reversible or hillside plow is used you must have one on eaeh side of the . am. One bolt to go through beam is really all that is required, as the rest can be found in any bajnyard, or it can be made of poles cu< in the woods. In plowing under strawy manure or any other kind of hupius food, this is the most successful arrangements we have ever seen.— Exchange.

Science and Corn Silk. Corn silk has received considerable attention from our corn scientists. It ' is a somewhat unusual manifestation of nature, the cavity to be fertilised by thj pollen sending out this long, silky I messenger to guide the pollen grain to ita goal. The growth and development of the silk bears an important relationship to the crop vs corn that is to be harvested. The silk at the butt of the ear appears first and is the long- I est, as It must grow the whole length of the cob to get to the light at all. Y«t it does this and is waving in the al» catching the pollen before the tip silks have appeared. The butt cavities or ovaries are therefore tjhe first to bo fertilized. It is generally believed that thu shorter the ear the more likely it is to be covered with kernels, as the logger the ear the later will the tip silks be in getting out to the light where they can be of service. For this reason the tips of long ears are frequently found with no kernels on them. The silks did not get out till after the stalks had ceased shedding pollen. If an ear of corn that is sending out silk be covered with a long papar funnel, the silk will continue to grow in length till it has attained a length of 20 inches or more. At the lowa station an ear of corn treated in this way seemed to despair of getting pollen and sent out two new ears near its base; and these two new ears developed a good mass of silk. The falling of the pollen on the silk is followed hy the grains being conveyed to the ovaries, after the completion of which work the silk dies.

Cows Are Poor Walker*. The cow Is naturally a poor walker. Generally she walks only when she must She never walks or runs for exercise. Sometimes she frolics, but only for a few momenta. The dairy cow’s business is eating, dozing and chewing her cud. Any cow that is compelled to travel over the parched and shortcropped pasture day and night in search of the straggling, crisp and browned blades of grass cannot be expected to return even a small profit

MOVABLE HOG HOUSE.

STRAWBERRY BED

ANTI-CHOKER DEVICE.