Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 138, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1904 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Do not keep over small batches of ■kim milk. Feed it while it is sweet If you whip a colt for being scared* you will soon develop a chronic runaway. When the butter sticks to the worker, the latter was not scalded properly. Rub it with salt and scald again. Never breed from a crooked breasted or deformed bird, no matter how perfect in plumage or stand out points. There is no longer any question that the earlier the calf is taken from its mother, the easier it will be to teach it to drink. It does not pay to breed a cow or horse with an ugly disposition. Sell the horse to the government and the cow to the butcher. Fertility is to the farmer what capital is to the merchant. If the principal be drawn upon constantly without replenishment both will soon be bankrupt. • A crack in the barn stopped means stopping a leak in the feed bln. Warm barns are feed savers. You believe this: then act on your belief. Feed is going to be worth saving this winter. To make the most out of sheep they must be kept for a series of years, some years they will return a much better profit than in others, but it is hard to sell out and buy in always, Just at the right time. Avoid using lard, oil or grease of any kind about a hen or nest during incubation. A greased egg will not hatch. The pores of the skin are closed by the grease, causing suspended action within. Under the influence of the heat decomposition follows. In order to make a slices* of raising the calf on skim milk, the condition of the . milk must be uniformly sweet. Nothing, perhaps, will contribute more to produce scours in calves than to feed sweet milk one day and sour milk the next. . W. A. Drake, a well-known lamb feeder of Fort Collins, Colo., who last season fed some 12,000 head and marketed them in Chicago, says he has never lost a dollar on feeding sheep, although lie has been in the business a good many years. Happy is the man who has a satisfactory method of gathering and storing seed corn, and who will attend to it without fail. Tilery has been too much trusting to luck in the seed corn business. “Luck.” like “Baal,” may be a great ways off when most needed. Don't let anything interfere with the system of gathering seed corn. Experience has taught that land out of the sftmi-arid region does not take kindly to irrigation. During a dry time it responds in the way of heavy crops, hut the soil construction seems to be sudi, where rains come, that a system of irrigation seems to run the soil all together and it becomes as hard as a brickyard when it gets dry. In the semi-arid region it is said the land will not,,bake after being irrigated. Machinery lias Increased the creative power of man ten fold and has opened up boundless fields for expansion in the realm of agriculture. Not- , withstanding its beneficent influences, much of it is made Mort-lived by neq gleet. Where famine once existed there is now no possibility of that dread condition. That condition was made possible then because mnnkiixl could not produce enough for the world's consumption. There is now occasionally an over-production, but by menus of excellent transportation this Is largely, minimized. When a sina'l amount of capital rejuesented the (arm machinery it was eared for diligently, but as this increases there seems to be an utter lack of this care on the part of a great many which is evidenced by the high priced machinery we see out in the open where it is exposed to damaging elements. Milk from Aged Cows. According to some Wisconsin tests, milk from cows decreases somewhat In quality as the animals advance in age. For one year results were about as follows: Milk obtained from cows 1 year old showed -1.-U) per cent fat; 2 years old. 4.t0 per cent; 3 years old, 4.29 per cent; 4 years old, 4.17 per cent. Transplanted the Gooseberry Bash. Oue of tin; troubles nurserymen say they meet with comes front customers desiring large fruit bushes and trees. It is only customers of long stnudlng who know they can rely on the nureeryman’s word, who are satisfied to plant young stock in preference to Older. An example was related of one who wished n number of currant bushes and who would be satisfied with nothing but those of large slue. Explanations that younger plants would do better were in vaiq, the old plants had to be secured. Then advice was requested ns to the pruning of them. The advice was tendered to cut the bushes back almost to the ground. Progressive Fannin;! Up North. Ontario farmers have boon very progressive end energetic in Uw nee of

up-to-date methods taught by the experiment farms. During the past ten years the total output of the province has doubled, notwithstanding there has been no Increase of acres under: cultivation, while the population has even shown a slight decrease. The Canadian Institute managers employ a very practical set of speakers, able to tell the farmers fyom experience Just how to go to work in adopting new methods, and the result has been very evident in many parts of the province, as Is shown by the steadily increasing output of leading farm specialties, including grain, dairy products, fruit and live stock. Cultivation of Strawberries. If little or nOwork was done id file strawberry beds after fruiting, they are not in good condition to go through the winter, provided one expects a proper crop next season. If the plants have made a good growth, the space between the rows is pretty well filled with new plants. Of course, if the plantation is conducted on the matted row plan these runners are c>od up to the place where the rows have spaces between, and it Is Just these rows that need attention this fall. Get out the cultivator and run it through these rows several times If the work tears up many young plants; it will also clean out the weeds, and onq can afford to lose a few plants If by that means one gets rid of the weeds. It will not hurt to run the through these spaces several times before the ground. freezes and then the beds will be In good shape, for the mulch which may be put on In the late winter or early spring, according to how much protection the plants need. If only to keep them from heaving out by the action of the frost, do not put the mulch on until about a month before the ground is likely to break up. Try this plan of fall cleaning up and see the crop of berries next year.

SettinK Plants. A gardener says: In setting plants there are a few points, apparently Insignificant but really vital to the well being of the plant. Chief among these is the making up of the ridge into which we set the plants some days In advance of setting. A row made up while the ground is damp and rained on before the plant is set we will find much more solid than a freshly prepared one. Any pressure on the plant with the trowel will be doubly effective in firming the earth around the roots. Moreover an old ridge will retain its moisture much longer than a fresh one, thus Insuring a better stand. In setting sweet potatoes in a dry time much good may be attained by “sanding” the roots. That Is, by dipping the roots in a bucket of water and then sprinkling dry sandy earth on them, thus practically giving them a coat of mud just as they go into the ground. The benefits of this treatment are oftentimes decidedly marked. In this section where large acreages of plants are set some are using automatic setters. We have used a transplanter with entire success. The machine sets and waters at one operation. The water is placed at the roots of the plant. Its capacity is about 25,000 plants per day and requires three men to operate. The strong point in Its favor is that the water enables you to set irrespective of weather conditions.

Science in ChecsemaklnK* There; are few operations in the handling of dairy products that require more thought, information and dexterity than the making of cheese. Difficult ns is the making of good butter, its processes are not so intricate as are those of the making of cheese. This will account for the decadence of cheosemaking on the farm and its riel-., egation to the factories. The making of good cheese is an accident or a science. Much of the good cheese that comes to our tables is of the first class. All should be of the latter class. That accident has been an Important factor In the past Is easily understood when we consider the great variation In the quality of the mUk delivered to the factories and the little knowledge that has been possessed in the past of the action of rennets and the effects of temperatures both In the oinking and ripening of cheese. The situation Is complicated by the fact that the varied tastes of cheeSfe-eaters call for a good many different kinds of cheese. One wants a hard cheese, another a soft cheese, another a milk cheese, another one that is sharp, and so on. The cheese that is most in favor at this time is one that has a clean flavor and is quite hard and rather close in texture, nnad has a firm and rich body. Such cheese keeps well till a year old if properly taken care of. To make a cheese of this kind requires science, if it is to be made all the time and not spasmodically. The maker must be able first of all to know good milk and must be able to Becure It for his work. With bad milk success is not possible. Ho must generally-have modern machinery and equipment The factory must be so built that it will be possible to keep It clean. We have seen factories that were bo poorly equipped that It is doubtful if the best cheesemaker In the world could make good theese la tksi,—Farmers' Review.