Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 122, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1904 — FARM AND GARDENT Device for Holding Hogs. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDENT

Device for Holding Hogs.

Two-Row Corn Cutter.

A subscriber of lowa Homestead Sends that journal a sketch of a convenient two-row corn cutter. He says: ‘•I think it pulls easier than a sled tutter. I used this home-made corn-i-utter one season and it works to perfection. I use a 4x4 for an axle, and bolt a 2x4 to this axle two and onehalf to three feet apart, and let it run out twelve inches on the rear side. Board this over for a platform. For runners at the- front end I took runners from an old Keystone planter Mid fastened them from the bottom eo as to have them run about six or seven inches from the rows of corn. For knives, I took two blades off an old stalk cutter. The platform may be either palled or bolted down. The wheels are old planter wheels. On the

table I have a buck fastened to the platform so one can sit or lean upon It when tired. Below this I had a pail large enough to hold a ball of binder twine.. As soon as I have an-armful of corn it is compressed with the device shown and tied ready for putting in the shock.” Knowledge Increases Crops. During the past twenty-five years the increase in the yield of grain crops In Denmark per acre has been over 11 per cent for barley, 17 per cent for oats, 25 per cent for wheat. Potatoes have increased 59 per cent in yield per acrtj. Danish authorities credit the increase largely to government instructions and teaching in the best methods of agriculture. The Hungarian government also is coming to the front in its encouragement of agriculture. The state institutions include a great academy for the higher branches of agriculture, four farm colleges, twen-ty-one village farm schools, and winter schools for farmers, a great agricultural museum and eighty model farms. Twenty-five state orchards have been established, and during the past three years 378,000 grafted stocks and over two million seedlings have been distributed. Hungarian agriculture has grown at a surprising rate, the export of poultry and eggs having increased 80 per cent in five years, and dairy products having gained at an even larger rate.

Make the Cows Comfortable. Most farmers think they know how to care for their cows without the advice of anyone, and the majority of them do give them food and shelter, but there are many more little com-fo-’s which cost but a trifle, but which go ar toward increasing the value of thr milk production. Sunshine, what lift 1" iere is in winter, is as welcome to animals as to the human family, and the man who will contrive to give bls cows all the sbnshine possible will have better-natured cows and more milk. Then see to it that all cracks and crevices through which drafts of air can come are closed. It is not meant that ventilation be dispensed with by any means, but simply that drafts are shut out. Make the beds heavy with straw and keep the stalls clean; then with a well-ventilated and sunny stable and something ty chew on between regular meals, the cow will be happy and comfortable, and will surely repay you by a fuller milk pail. Feeding Condiments, If there is any value in feeding red pepper to fowls it is mainly in furnishing a seasoning to the food which might otherwise be flat, and in this way stimulating the appetite. Chopped onions will have the same effect and are certainly better for the fovls than too rhuch pepper. The red pepper, in moderate quantities, is good for the moulting hens, acting as a stimulant and strengthening their rather depleted vitality, but the pepper should not be made a regular part of the ration. It is not only unnecessary when the ratton cofirists of good grains In variety, but is actually harmful if much of it Is fed. protect Plants Earjr. If one hit a lot of shrubs and plants thx'f nre hardy, no protection for winter should be given until the ground freezes, else there is danger of the twigs making more growth by reason of the warmth at the roots afforded by the protecting material. If the planli are not entirely hardy, of ceurse protection must be given earner. It Is rarely necessary to use more than sell In protecting the roots about hardy plants and vines, although an application of fine manure free from gtraw will, of course, beneflt the Kfl

and plant later, as it«* strength works down to the roots. 1 Shocking ■Corn. One of the great olbjectlons farmers hero to harvesting cel rn fodder is that the grain is seriously! damaged by the operation. In fact, thley say oftentimes it will not geriulnatße, and is always more or less chaffyl light in weight, and otherwise not clqual to corn permitted to remaihTngtfie" field, or until after several frosts.« A casual examination of the wiiyl the shocks are made on many fairnßis would convince one that complaints! made about getting an inferior gtfalija might be expected, for the shock tvifril not turn water . will not let watey tlfcat happens to get in to the shock ovut /quickly, and is, In fact, so much onjthne ground that it is practically wet anl ®be time. It is not a difficult task sio t|o handle both fod* der and corn as (to I have a fine forage from the a lad still secure the grain that is in) e very way equal to standing grain. I The corn crop ns often cut too green. Frequently the fcta Ik bec6mes brown, the blades turning yellow and the ear still soft and fu[ll >f sap. In such instances the cuttli g should be slow, putting up quarto r and half shocks over the entire an*a, giving the Inside center of the shoclk an opportunity to dry, then later tinilsh the shock. Where the corn binder Isw used the harvesting should be such >4 to save the fodder ■with as little cawnage to the corn as possible. Thii 1 requires judgment. Then in shocking! set four bundles In the four corneys Jmade by the horse, tie them tlghtlfr tear -the top, remove horse and plac J a bundle on each of the four sides the center. This leaves a corner IV'tween the four bundles so located tgat it may be made to contain two) bundles each. When the center bundles are placed around the first four eight bundles are up and the shock Is onet-half finished. Filling between with! two bundles makes the shock, which jcontains sixteen bundles. The shoclk is small, well balanced, and when! drawn well together i near the top it is jtied twice. The bundles in such a stf'ock may be set well apart at the byrtom, permitting good , ventilation. Tle binder cuts such a low stub that be ear in the shock is “ high from the ground. In cutting by hand the careh ss shocker usually cuts high stubs, the a he throws the fodder together. The high cutting causes the ear on the stalk to be near the ground or more probably on the ground, causing serious damage to the grain. Corn fodder should be cut as low as possible, that the grain may stand a good distance from the ground while in the shock.—W. B. Anderson, in Indlanap oils News.

The Illustration is self-explaining, and one can.teadlly see how itls constructed and used. New Use for Sweet Potatoes. The low’tirlce of sweet potatoes has directed attention to a new market for the vegetable. The glucose makers have discovered, it is claimed, that their product can be made profitably from sweet potatoes aud are proposing to contract with farmers in the Southwest for their crops at S2O to $25 per acye. Farm Notes. Note the changes which you intended to make for next winter. Have all live stock ready for market before you market it. The appearance- of things about the house is the first that attracts attention, good or bad. Prepare’ to winter the young stock weH. Doa't be afraid. People will need beef next year the same as this. See t‘h»t all necessary repairs are made, only upon the home buildings,- 1 .upon the outbuildings also. Winter, Jjcoming. If and April pigs had clover to run through the summer - e wx are now just about ready for a (lorn diet. A cheery, comfortable family room and plenty of good things to read robs winter of about all of its terrors, cements family ties aud lays a foundation for pleasant memories in after life.

Poultry Pickings. One breed it enough for the farmer. Roup is produced by a bad cold being neglected. If eggs for hatching are desired, use 2-year-old hens. Granulated is the form in which to supply bone to poultry. To make poultry business a sqccess it must have, attention. All perches should be on the same level, none higher than the others. It is very essential that the poultry house should be well ventilated. Whole wheat Is an excellent food for the (bens, but should not be used exclusively. Bone: meal contain* lime and also animal I matter which la of vain*. Some Vreen food Is Indispensable to duck* a ler they are two weeks old. The lie of food Is to sustain life and ma I tain warmdi and good coodb tlsnM.ky.

CORN CUTTER.

FOR HOLDING HOGS.