Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1905 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Rolled oats are good to push those little chicks. It makes them grow. Better buy good wheat and pay a full price than to buy screenings at half price. Sheep- will make good use of whole corn when fattening. They will grind and digest it so thoroughly that there will be no waste. The virtue of dry sand as a deodorizer is not properly appreciated. It ought to be used more freely in coops and houses. Store It now if you have leisure. The venerable dames of the poultry yard might as well be given away or sold for spring chickens. All the profit next season will come from pullets and yearling hens. One of the worst things the neat poultry keeper can do with the eggs Is to wash them. The warm water opens the pores of the protecting shell, and the egg decays in a very short time. Better dirty eggs than spoiled ones. It Is an awful fact that immigration Into the United States is again running larger than ever, and the real awfulness lies in the large proportion of these immigrants who are of undesirable quality, says American Agriculture. About fifty years ago Hollanders realized that dairying was more profitable than grain raising. Holland now Imports as much grain as she grows and still the Dutch farmers find it profitable to engage in dairying. As any country gets older grain raising becomes less profitable and more risky.

In preparing a piece of soil for the setting of orchard trees of any kind we would advise to plow the whole area to the depth the trees are to be set. This makes the whole surface uniform and the soil uniform to the depth the tree roots are to be placed. Such a preparation will not encourage the forming of pools of water about the roots of the trees. Sprouts on pear trees are generally cut off. One grower says that they should not be cut off, but should be alowed to grow. He declares that some of his trees treated in this way bore better crops than those that had the sprouts cut off severely. We are doubtful of the wisdom of letting the sprouts grow. Nearly all experience seems to show that pear trees as well as others should be kept pruned to prevent running to wood. Is a sprout any more sacred than any other kind of a woody growth? We would like to have the opinion of some of our readers on this"point. The people of Holland, whose farms have been reclaimed from the North Sea by a wonderful system of dykes and drainage are devoted mostly to dairying, the land being valued at from |4OO to S3OO per acre. As may be inferred, the dairy business Is there necessarily conducted on the most scientific and correct plan, otherwise it would be. Impossible to use such high priced land in that way. A late government report gives the average milk production per cow nt 7,39:5 pounds and the average butter product per cow at 321 pounds. Just what this means is better understood when we compare it with the butter product of lowa and Minnesota dairy herds, which average somewhere about 150 pounds. Many Interesting experiments have been carried on In Alaska by the United States Department of Agriculture. Distribution was made, moreover, of vegetable and flower seeds to some 1,500 persons, many of whom report success, nnd con Arm the possibility of raising hardy vegetables in nearly all parts of the territory south of the Arctic Circle. In general, the experimental work In Alaska has shown that live utock could he successfully maintained nt many points. Sheep raising has not proved successful, and the secretary expresses the opinion thnt Alaskan grass lands as whole can he most profitably used nt present through dairying. The secretary says it Is doubtful If equally good opportunities for dairymen can be found in the United States to-day.

Breaking the Colt. “Breaking" Is not the correct term; It should he "training "; and this training should begin when the colt Is lint a few days old. Every colt should be lmlterbroken during the first two weeks of Its life, mid as there usually Is more or less objection to this on the part of the colt, It tuny perhaps be called “breaking." Standing nt the side of the haltered colt, with one hand on the short halter strap, lay the other hand and nrtn across the colt’s shoulders, nnd let him have his own will for n little while, all the time keeping a firm grip on the halter strap. You will be controlling the rolt's motion much more than he really intends you should, and in a very few lessons he will obey your will, in responding to the slightest pull on the hslter. A* soon as he ia taught to load, teach

him to stand haltered, and be sun that the strap is strong enough to hold him. Most halter breakers are made so tey attempting to restrain them with an insecure halter. When a colt is well halter-trained, half the labor ■ot breaking is done, and in most cases the bridle, the harness and the load follow as a matter of course. ' . How to Improve Tobacco. The method of seed selecting practiced by Prof. Shamel offers several hints for the improvement of the tobacco crop. The feature of this subject which aids the grower Is the fact that tobacco plants reproduce themselves from seed very exactly. Tlie field is gone over just before topping and tlie best plants marked. A second selection is made before the flowers of the remaining plants begin to open. To prevent cross fertilizing, the seed heads arc enclosed under a paper bag, which Is placed over the flowers before any of them open. Seed saved in this way are larger and better than that produced in the ordinary manner, and it Is found that the plants from such seed are more vigorous than others. Very old seed should be avoided it. planting, as its vitality is weak. The selection should be continued among the plants In the seed-bed at tbe time of transplanting, observing the shape of the leaf, vigor of growth and tlie general type of the plant It is important in saving seed to avoid those which show signs of disease. A promising field of development appears to be in tlie production of Now Hybrid types. Special improvement was made from crosses of the Cuban and Sumatra and the crosses of the Broad Leaf and Cuban produced a result considered a great improvement over the Broad Leaf.

Selecting I£rk Producers. A serious mistake is often made in selecting fowls for breeding purposes and in selecting eggs for hatching. A correspondent of Farm Home says: many farms the custom is to select eggs for hatching during the spring nibnths, when nearly all of the fowls are laying. No matter how poor a layer a lion may be, the chances are that most of the eggs will be produced during the spring and early summer months, A hen that has laid many eggs during the winter months is quite likely to produce fewer eggs during'the spring and early summer mouths than one that commenced to lay on the approach of warm weather. Springtime is nature's season for egg production. All fowls that produce any considerable number of eggs during the year are likely to be laying at this time. It Is therefore plain that whenever eggs are selected in the springtime from a flock of mixed hens composed of some good layers and some poor ones a larger percentage of eggs will be obtained from the poor layers than at almost any other season of the year. A serious mistake is therefore made in breeding largely from the unprofitable fowls. Whenever it fs possible fowls that are known for the great number of eggs that have produced during the year should be selected for the breed ing pen.

Prevention of Tuberculosis. Taking advantage of the interest In the disease of tuberculosis among cattle, a Ann of New York druggist! lias been sending out a circular at tempting to introduce on a large scab a proposition for the vaccination ol cattle supposed to be based on tin method of the Gorman professor, Yot Behring. The method of protection against the disease by vacoltiatioc has been Investigated with groat cart by Dr. I/oonard Pearson, State vet erinary of Pennsylvania. Inquiry ot Dr. Pearson brings the following reply "The claims in relation to the works of Von Behring are exaggerated nnd in part they are without foundation There Is not the slightest evidence to show thnt by means of it cattle may be immunized for their lives or foi a length of time sntfleiont to make tin process nt all valuable. What hat been proven is that by means of n certain method of vaccination much more prolonged the two inoculating methods referred to In the circular, cattle may be Immunized to n certain ami also to a great extent against artificial Infection by direct Inoculation How long the protection will Inst, nnd whether It Is of practical Importance by such a short method ns Yon Behring now recommends remains to be proven. Experiments wtlli a view ot settling these points are now in progress in this country under the State Idvo Stock Board of Pennsylvania. Personally, l ntn strongly of the belief that a practical atyj safe plan for Immunizing entitle against tuber cttlosls will soon be available. If should l*e made clear, however, of tbt plan of Von Behring that is recommended by the druggist* la Insufficient so far ns It has been tested. Altogether tiie tone of the letter and Itr claims are of the patent medicine va rlety and furnish support to the argti incut* of those who beltpve that the production and sale of vaccines, antitoxlnee, etc., for animal* as well as for man should be under more stringent State control.” —Massachusetts ploughman.