Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1905 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Setting out fruit trees is an art that very few people have learned. The amount of cream in the milk Is what tells the grade of a cowr Ordinary petunia flowers profusely all summer, thrives anywhere and self sows. A cow to do her best needs more than what she can get out of a good pasturage. The last pint of milk is very much tic-her in cream than the first pint. Be Isure to get that last pint in full. Mnke the prints of butter look attractive, they will sell much better, and of course have the quality of the best. Scatter the floor of the pen with (Straw cut in lengths not over-an inch so that the hen can teaqh her young how to exercise for the grain. There are 25,000 orchards in Virginia alone in which neither a sprayer, a pruning knife nor a plow has been seen in fifteen years. Great opportunities down there for orchard men.

Sueeessiqwal plants of corn and peas should be made at intervals of ten days or two weeks. Some plant early and late kinds on the same day nnd tiius secure a succession, but it is the more common practice to make a series of plantings of the same variety*

A number of English greenhouse gardeners have been visiting the French gardeners in the vicinity of Paris. They found the market gardens to consist chiefly of two-acre lots, many of them devoted to growing early lettuce nnd other vegetables under glass. The soil was prepared with extreme care ami is practically all artificial.

Don't allow the hog troughs to become dirty or filthy, nor the floors or ground nroimd them to become sour and foul. Such places become reeking with disease germs—become a pest house. Aim to keep the pens clean and sweet, giving them plenty of sunlight nud air, sprinkling a little airslacked lime nrouudJil them often and spraying them occasionally with a strong solution of carbolic acid. This will disinfect the hog house and destroy disease germs.

Where Is the man who remembers tlie early day haymaking when all tbe outlying prairies composed the hay meadow? When the time for making hay was in the month of September—the strong wind days! These winds are commented on by Sam, who says lie placed ids straw hat up against the barn and tbe wind held it there for three days ns if it were hanging on n nail. No boy could build a load of hay then, nnd no man could make stacks .worth looking at. We worked at night when the wind was less severe and slept during the day. We had nature's tools largely In making hay then. A mower and a rake constituted the improved machinery.

A Land of Big Creameries. The creamery business Is carried on very extensively in New Zealand and Australia, having been rapidly developed by the advance of cold-storage system, which permits shipments to be made in good condition to the markets of Europe. One concern pays $150,000 monthly to producers of milk and cream, and quite a number of creameries have a monthly milk bill of $25,000 and more. “Foot Rot” of Bbecp. For “foot rot" of sheep one of the simplest and most effective cures Is the following, says American Cultivator: One-half pound bluestoue, onehalf pound common one quart water. 801 lln an old saucepan for ten minutes. The blues tone will then bo all dissolved. The above cun be used ns a lotion dressing, or made In larger proportion can be placed In troughs to run sheep through after being pared. The bluestone attacks the fungous growth, while the salt cleanses and hardens the foot. In dressing for foot rot care should be taken to remove all loose hoof and decayed parts without Injuring the foot, cutting toe veins, etc., and preserving as much as possible of Its natural shape. In dealing with very hard hoofs a hot iron will be found very useful for burning the hoof, thus rendering It soft and easily pared away. I Paper Milk Bottle®. That the glass milk bottle may be largely replaced by the paper at no very distant dny now seems probable. 'There are many points in favor of the use of paper bottles, one of the most Important being that the bottle Is discarded after It Is once used, thus obviating all chance of Infection through the repeated uso of uncleun bottles. 'The many difficulties which have been hitherto encountered In the attempted manufacture of paper bottles have been nearly nil overcome. They are atamped out of heavy paper In conical shape, with the lower edges locked In euch a manner as to be strengthened by pressure from above. The

stout cover has protruding lips which make its removal more, convenient After the edges of the bottle are sealed they are covered with paraffin. Lastly the finished receptacle is sterilized. To Feed Young Cattle Well. As a result of an experiment In feeding hay with and without grain to calves the Nebraska Station has arrived at the following conclusion. That the cost of, producing gains In calves is least when considerable grain is fed along with hay. results of an experiment conducted during the preceding winter also indicated that the feeding of grain was profitable from the standpoint of economical production. For the entire year, with no grain during the summer while on grass, the results would go to show that a moderate grain ration in winter, not more than one-third a full feeding along with hay, is most economical. •‘French” Prunes from America. An item in the consular reports on American prunes reminds us of Maraschino cherries. Topsy could not say of the latter highly prized fruit, as she said of herself, that they “Jes' growed.” Growing is only part of it; they nfle made. The French are great doctors and manipulators. The fruit is first bleached, then dyed and doctored, and so any old cherry becomes a Maraschino. So it is with many of the French prunes that we prize so highly. The French buy our American prunes in bulk; they put them up in sealed jars; nnd then, with a flourish of gorgeous labels and chatter of French praise, they export them back to the United States. We buy them at largely increased prices, nnd eat them, wondering at the excellence of French prunes. There Is something in a name after all.

Dehornintr Calves. It is becoming an almost universal practice to dehorn cattle, because they are more easily handled and it prevents them from injuring each other. It is no small task to remove The horns from a mature animal; one even dreads taking them from yearlings and two-year-olds. These is also some danger of animals bleeding to death or getting poisoned by foreign matter lodging in the wounds. It is therefore better to destroy the budding horn a few days after the calf is born. The instructions for this operation are given iu Hoard’s Dairyman, as follows: The hair is clipped off over and around this button, and caustic potash Is applied. The stiek of potash should be wrapped to protect the fingers and then moisten one end with water and rub over the button till the skin becomes slightly sore and the calf shows signs of smarting. The person who applies the potash should be careful not to permit any of it to run down tbe calf’s face or get into its eyes, for It would destroy the hair and cause considerable pain if it gets into tbe eye 3. In a few days a scab will form, which will soon disappear, and if the work is properly done, no horns will develop. If the button continues to grow, the application can be repeated. It is more humane to take off the horns at this time than to remove them after the animal Is full grown.

Poultry Should Have Vegetables. All raisers of poultry do not realize the advantages of variety in food. This has been, referred to in this department several times, but more particularly In reference to the grain rotation. It applies, however, Just as well to the green food portion, because the fowls are on the range it does not follow that they And much variety in the grasses they eat, and It will do them an immense amount of good if they can have some of the discarded vegetables, both tops and roots, that come from the garden. We have found it an excellent plun, even In summer, to feed our growing chicks in the morning a mash composed of wheat bran, with a sprinkling of oil meal iu it, and then completing the mash with about n quart of finely chopped vegetables and vegetable tops to nbout every twenty-five hours. They seem to find In these vegetable tops and roots some element of food not contained In the grasses on the range. If this feeding Is done at the house, where It should be done, It will not be necessary to give them anything more In the way of grains until they come to the house to roost at night. At this time we give them a ration consisting of two-thirds wheat and one-third corn and in quantity about oiie-hnlf of the winter ration. It Is impossible to keep up either an egg supply or n proper growth of bone and mnsele In the growing chicks by depending entirely on the range for their food supply. It Is particularly essenklal that the early hatched pullets on whom we are relying for fall and winter eggs have this summer ration of grains. One shotild not forget that drinking water Is essential during the summer, and It should be supplied so that th® fowls can l/ave it fresh and dean as often during the day as they need It