Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 September 1905 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

When fowls have a free range the grass and Insects which they are able to secure adds materially to supply them with a varied diet Nltro-culture Is doing more for the South than any other agency at this time, because it is making alfalfa and clover grow where it never grew before. Forty thousand two hundred and ninety-nine cattle, valued at $3,723,509, an average value per head of $92.40, were exported from the United States In January, 1005. Do you know how much milk and cream each cow produces? If not, why not? Some milk so lightly that they do not pay for their keep—-better “swap” and pay “boot” if necessary. A diversity of crop generally nvkos the farmer safe against total failure, yet, after all, it is often well to give special attention to one money crop to which the land is be3t adapted, and with which he has become most familiar. Wilmington, N. C., is ono of the greatest strawberry sections in the world, and growers find the business very profitable. In 1893 the savings banks of Wilmington had $50,000 on deposit. To-day they hold more than $2,000,000, most of the savings of truck farmers. There seems to be no limit to the possibility of strawberry production <Jn an acre, and there also seems no limit to the range of territory where they will grow. An Illinois man tells about a neighbor who picked from eight acres about 2,000 quarts a day for three weeks. This was a good commercial crop, but not near the possibilities of production. You will be the gainer if you market the hens when they are two years old. While it cannot be said that hens can no longer be kept at a profit after that age, it may be accepted as a fact that there is an advantage in giving their places to younger birds. After a hen has reached two years of age she will never be any better, while the chances are all in favor of her going the other way. A remarkable instar.ee of a homing instinct in sheep comes from England. A drover purchased thirty valuable lambs and after keeping them for three weeks moved them to another field, from which they managed to break one evening. Although the night was pitch dark, they succeeded in hitting on the road along which they had been driven and traveled eighteen miles to their previous pastures. There has been great progress made in potato growing, but the limit has not yet been reached. Everyone who is doing It on a commercial scale should do his best to maintain the quality of the kind he plants. Potatoes ought not to run out. If everyone would go through the patch and select aud mark the best hills and use only those for seed the chances are that the quality would be maintained, if not actually improved. Melon growing is an attractive form of fruit production for those who have a market near by and can spare land nnd time to raise and them. The best thing to plant is Rocky Ford canteloupes. They are as good as the best, are very productive and, being small, can be sold Cheap. It is better to have a large number of low-priced ones. Ten times ns many people will pay a nickel for a canteloupe ns will pay a quarter for a watermelon. According to an English scientist, the breaking strain, in grains, of human hair Is 1,401, of mohair 680, of Lincoln wool 502, of Southdown wool 80, and of Australian Merino 50. The difference In elasticity Is less marked. Australian Merino Is the most elastic, and Southdown Is the least elastic of wools, while human hair Is more clastic than either. Mohtiir comes between the two. Australian Merino is superior In elasticity to Saxony Merino. Another Good Word for Alfalfa. For feeding purposes there is no plant that Is so promising as alfalfa —first, because of Its high feeding value; eecond, because of its rapid growth and consequently large yield, and, third, because It Is a perennial and may be harvested from year to year without expense of reseeding or of cultivation. Experiments thus far conducted seem to Indicate that this crop can be grown wherever good corn can be grown.—Dr. E. B. Voorhees. Homea toads In Stock Region*. The movement to Increase the homestead from 100 scree to 040 for the stock sections of the West has many supporters and Is a good thing. No man can think of starting in the stock business with a quarter section, while with an entire section he can begin In a modest way and make money until he Is able to buy more land. About all the territory avallablo for farming purposes hss been takeu up. What re Tnsina u fit only for grazing unless lr-

rigatlon la possible. Why not give, •enough In a homestead to make It' worth while for a stockman to take up a homestead? It Is better to have the vacant government land taken up by* small holders than to let It remain idle and be used by the big ranchers fori little or no compensation.—Orange; Judd Farmer. Budding; Cherry Trees. The sour cherry does not make a good stock for the sweet varieties, because It sprouts very badly, and the; union is not good. The wood of the' sweet type grows much the faster.j Seedlings of the common sweet cherry, which is known as the Mazzard, are the proper stocks on Which to bud the sweet varieties. The stocks should be: budded when they are about the size of a lead pencil or a little larger. This will usually be the first year, but may; be the second year after planting the seeds. The budding is done in July orj August owing to the state of the growth of the stocks.—H. E. Van Doman in Rural New Yorker. Setting a Sheep’s Broken Leg, Sheep have weak bones, and if one of the legs is caught between bars partly let down the bone may be snapped like a dry twig. Then the shepherd who does not understand his business fully thinks he has a sheep lost nnd knocks it on the head. This Is waste of the animal, whose bones will mend readily by simple treatment Take some thick strawboard or wrapping paper, steep it In a thin mixture of plaster and water, set the broken bone in its natural position and wrap a. few strips of this paper around the leg. Then take a long bandage of cotton cloth and dip this In the plaster, wrapping this over the paper. It will .sot stiff and hard in a very short time, and by this support the bone will unite In about ten days. Farming by a Fixed Plan. A South Carolina man thus tells how he cohducts his farm: My plan for farming is to keep my crop in rotation, so as to have something growing all of the time. Ido not believe in too much of anything. I plant seven acres in corn, seven acres in cotton, and sow seven acres in wheat to one horse. I fix my land well before I plant it, and it pays me well for my trouble. I turn my land in the fall and subsoil in the spring, cut It with a harrow as deep as two 1,200-pound mules could pull it, then I put about 300 pounds of fertilizer to tho acre and I cultivate that well. I make a bale of cotton to the acre and twenty-five to thirty bushels of com and twenty to twenty-five bushels of wheat and the pea-vines, no end to them. Some say they can’t rotate their crops, but that Is a mistake, for I do and I know that others can If they will try. Follow wheat after com, corn after cotton, cotton after stubble.

Sheep Husbandry. We do not believe a farmer should have only one kind of stock on hia farm, but have a few of nearly every kind, so If the market Is off on one kind It will be better on some other. The sheep industry was profitable last year, and will be again this year. Although the sheep are now wearing their winter robes and are free from ordinary cold, yet they will appreciate a good shelter from the winds and bad weather as much as any other kind of stock, and perhaps no animal will appreciate kind treatment more than a sheep. The person who cannot control a large degree of patience will not make a good sheep master. It is natural for a flock of sheep to follow their Rhepherd, and this they will do If not kicked about and are otherwise improperly treated. If kicked away so they are scared when they come near you, they cannot bo controlled. Be kind. —Cor. Inland Farmer. Forage for Hogs. The small farmer can 111 afford to raise hogs Without providing ono or more forage crops for them. These are necessary from an economical as well as sanitary standpoint, as when a hog has access to plenty of forage It will thrlvo better than on an exclusive grain ration. Among successful forage crops for hogs I highly regard clover, cowpeas, soy-beans, sweet potatoes and Spanish peanuts, writes Godfrey Winkler, In Midland Farmer. Sorghum Is not to b« despised. And as with many of these crops hogs can do their own harvesting, it saves labor to some extent. In a test at the South Carolina experiment station four lots of pigs were used. One lot was fed Spanish peanuts, one was fed sweet potatoes, ons cowpeas and the remaining lot was fed com. The yield of Spanish pennuts was 90 bushels; of sweet potatoes, 200 bushels; cowpeas, 10 bushels. The amount of the different feeding stuffs required to produce ono pound of pork was as follows: Corn, 0.02 pounds; Spanish peanuts, 4.43 pounds; sweet potatoes, 32.17 pounds, and cowpeas, 4.91 pounds. Now taking In account the gains made and the yield of tho different crops, and rating pork at 60 cents per pound, the corn was $0 per acre, peanuts $24.87, sweat potntoea $18.47 and cowpeas $Ol2. The economy In growing these crops foe bogs can readily be seen.