Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1905 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

The cholera-proof hog has not yet been found. Poor seed is the cause of much of the failure in the garden. The early killed Is the easy killed ?veed and the weed that robs tho crop -• the least. —— : — Charcoal Is good for hens. An ear of corn charred In the oven supplies It In convenient form. If you expect good cows to take good care of the heifers, give them feed that will properly nourish and develop them. It costs less money to make the meat that is in a fat lamb than It costs to make weight afterwards, and the lamb will bring more money per pound. An Indiana orehardist says that In localities where there is a thin soil over an impervious clay, the subsoil plow should be used before planting out an orchard. Every pound of flesh lost will have to be made up again when the pastures supply food; but with growing stock this means often more than a loss of flesh; it means a loss of growth.

Giving the fowls too much corn results in weak bones. The fowl that has a ration rich in protein and has lime in some form with plenty of grit will develop a bone that will stand almost any ordinary use. .Tumping from a high porch will not then result in a broken leg. Snuffles or running at the nose is found in all flocks, especially at this time of year, and is only the effects of a bad cold, but if not given attention may develop Into roup. Pour Into the nostrils a few drops of sweet oil. Feed soft food and usually they will come out all right. Fowls are naturally averse to darkness. A dark poultry house is a breeder of disease. Some with windows only two feet square can be made light by cutting out some of the side of the house and putting In glass. Fowls can stand cold much better than they can stand darkness and disease.

On the farm where poultry is made something of a specialty, and where most of the grain raised is fed to them, it becomes a matter of practical importance to make the most of the manure product. A hen is said to produce twelve pounds of dry manure in a year, the value of which, according to chemical composition, is about eight cents.

Crimson clover, either green or cured Into hay, makes an excellent forage for sheep. It Is rich in the elements which go to form flesh, milk and wool. For the best quality of hay it should be cut when in early bloom. If cut late the leaves are more apt to fall off and the hairs on the heads become hardened into stiff spines, which are sometimes dangerous, though more so with horses than with ruminants.

The profit from the milk sold depends upon the quantity yielded by the herd in proportion to the amount of feed allowed and the capital Invested in the shape of labor and buildings; but the larger the yield of each cow the greater the investment, for the reason that the productive animal requires no more room, shelter and care than does one yielding a smaller quantity. In the production of butter the cows will afford a profit in proportion, not solely to the quantity of milk given, but also to the amount of cream contained in the milk.

Artichokes. Artichokes are frequently placed among the lists. of garden plants, ■which Is due to the fact that there are two s]iocles —the globe, which is not tuberous rooted, growing only from the seed, the blossom only of which is used; the other, Improperly called the Jerusalem artichoke, is tuberous rooted, and grown chiefly for its roots. There are two varieties of the latter — the white and red. Any land suitable for corn will produce artichokes. Cut the tubers and plant them in the same manner ns for potatoes. They do not keep well if dug out of the ground. The usual method Is not disturb them, ns freezing does them no hafm. The hogs will root them out, but enough tubers will always be left for next season’s seeding.

Smoked Goose Hama. In many parts of Europe and here In America quite an industry in smoked goose hams has been worked up, ■ays the National Provisioner. Goose ha mo nro n luxury, and they are not dear, considering the holiday prices of prime geese. The goose ham is worth about thirty cents apiece, and each hnm weighs about twelve ounces. It makes tiie smoked hnm come to ■bout forty cents per pound. Tbege tiny hams are cut and trimmed so **f 9 look much like a Westphalia

ham, and are thoroughly cured, so that they can be kept anywhere and for a long time. They are lean and can be sliced. The viand has a delightful taste and the flesh is not hard. There are hundreds of thousands of smoked goose hams sold in this country annually, largely to the Hebrew trade.

Dual Purpose Cow. Several writers are advocating the so-called dual-purpose cow for the use of feeding them. afterward, there is no doubt that the cow which may be converted into beef of a satisfactory grade when her usefulness in the dairy is over is desirable, when the carcass is to be consumed at home, there is serious doubt as to the profit in raising such an animal for market. It seems as sensible to advocate the cow for the specific purpose as the crop for that purpose. That? is, if a cow is wanted for the milk supply the breed which should furnish it should be the one selected and not a breed which will finally make good beef. When we want wheat we raise the kind that will give us the best results for the purpose intended. The dairyman wants a cow that will supply the milk most valuable and he should carry that idea in mind not only with the present herd, but with the increase that are to be added to it and have the males which will bring about that result. So the man who wants a beef animal should breed with that single purpose before him and reap the result accordingly.—lndianapolis News.

Increased the Yield of Wheat,

The results of twelve separate tests made at the Ontario Agricultural College, show an average increase in yield o>f grain per acre of G.B bushels of wheat from large as compared with small seed, of 7.8 bushets from plump as compared ■with shrunken seed, and of 35.6 bushels from sound as compared with broken seed. Seed which was allowed to become very ripe before it Was cut, produced a greater yield of both grain and straw and a heavier weight of grain per measured bushel than that produced from wheat which was cut at- any one of four earlier stages of maturity. In 1897 and again in 1902, a large amount of the winter wheat in Ontario became sprouted before it was harvested, owing to the wet weather. Carefully conducted tests showed that an average of only 76 per cent of the slightly sprouted and 18 per cent of the badly sprouted seed would grow and produce plants. Surely he Is the wise farmer who will sow none but large, plump, sound, ripe seed of good vitality.—New England Homestead.

Corn Smut. Because it is generally known that the losses from smuts of wheat and oats may be prevented, or greately reduced, by Various treatments of seed, the Oklahoma i experiment station at Stillwater Is frequently asked whether there Is not some way in whlc\V, smut of corn may be prevented b; treating the seed. The answer to thli question is, that not only is there no such remedy known, but from the nature of the case, such a remedy is not possible. Smuts of wheat and oats are caused by fungi which enter the plants at the time of germination of the seed, and which are prevented by treatments which kill the smut pores which cling to the seed. But tlie smut of corn develops from spores which fall on the plants during the growing Season. So the corn plants may become smutted even though grown from seed on which there are no living spores. Though no method of preventing corn smut Is known, it is doubtless true that, by gathering and burning the smutted ears at the time of husking, the chances of Infection with smut may 1 be lessened for corn grown in the following year.

Washed-Off Land. Here Is one of the hardest questions we have had to answer in years. “Indlanlan” writes: “I have lately bought fifty acres of land, ami at one corner is a four-acre plat that is washed badly. In many places the soil is all gone and the whole of the four acres Is full of gullies. I do not care much about the expense so that I get the land leveled again and down in grass.” We should plow the land as deeply as possible, grading it down until the washes were all filled up. Then we would disk and cross disk It, nnd apply 400 pounds per acre 10 per cent dissolved bone, dragging it in well with spike drag. In May plant It to cow-peas in drills thirty Inches apart, twelve to fifteen peas to the foot. If the land Is very thin you might use 100 pounds muriate of potash and seventy-five pound* dried blood per acre broadcast before planting the peas. Cultivate the peas, keeping all weeds down, nnd in September cut them in with disk harrow sowing one bushel of rye |>er acre. Sow one gallon of timothy seed per sere tn the fall and the same amount of red clover seed in March, and we think you will be pleased with the result —Adams’ Magazine.