Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 96, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1906 — FARM AND GARSEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARSEN

Making hay simply means -malring tl*'ngs Imm while tbe sun shines. • - ---cr ' ' . J gecond tiine'vvTtbotit a Thorough cleansing and whitewashing, Farming lias been classifletl au easy business'by those who observe it from car w indows. This is all right in theory "but TFwill not work in practice. I All the odds anti ends should not be put off until a rainy day or one may not come out even with his work. Ir is better to keep them up as one goes [along. _y. - 7*"7TSZ j A ton of alfalfa hay cut a little on jthegrepn of irfe ja worth_g. ton. Of bran as stock feed. Clover hay cut at tne proper time will be almost as good as the alfalfa. -—— A, bunch cf wild-horses In Oklahoma —said to be the last herd of wild horses In existence—gave up the chase the-'next day after tha territory was ; admltted as a state. Could not stand civilization. Cows are often oheated out of a great deal of bovine enjoyment by being denied night pasturage. Most people feel that it is too much trouble to go after the cows in tb^morning, hence they are kept up in a dry lot.. . • - If Any #are spots appear iu the house lawn, either rake Fheni over and seed as thdligh it needed more food,"br6a(Tcast smne fei'tiiizeiYjrfefci'abiy nitrate of sofla, just before a rain. About a hundred pounds of nitrate to the Acre. " lowa is endeavoring, to do something practical toward making the selling of eggs by weight the rule in the future. 1 A bit! 'fixing weights..and measures lias been introduced in the. Legislature and one section of this bill provides that a dozen eggs shall weigh a pound and a half. A great many good things have to" lie introduced .with difficulty. Some years ago when the silo was being-introduced-tliere were many that made fun of the “oorrUfr.-nit,’’ as they were plaased teeall silage, but now there are many who cannot understand why there are not more silos. Whether building a stack of grain j with a fork or "kneeing” every bundle, i one thing is necessary to keep the mid- ! die well filled. If this rule is followed there will be but little grain spoiled. After one has reached that point above j the “bulge” it will be well to keep the middle quite full. Young chicks should be fed regularly and each should get its share; this Is very - important and should not he overlooked if good results are expected. Remember too that little chicks have no teeth and must have sand, crushed bone, shell and charcoal In some form, with which to grind their food. Tramps do hot take kindly to bread and butter. They desire something better. and a good way to get rid of them Is to offer them bread and butter, ami if j they will not take that let them go ; without. A hungry man will be glad I to get bread and butter. They will not often call at a place where they get I this kind of it hand-cut. Have you fried to grow a few potatoes umlcr straw, or by what is known as the straw method? Plant them shallow and cover with six inches or a foot, of straw and give no further cultivation. The straw xvill keep the soli moist, keep down the weeds and the vines will come up through the straw j and the new tubers wil} set on just 1 under the straw ami are easily dug. Sklmmilk and flaxseed jelly Is a i fairly good substitute for natural milk lln fattening calves. Add one pint of j flaxseed to tl)retv quarts of water and J boil twenty minutes, or until it becomes.' j Jelly. For a very young calf use about two tablespoenfuls to each feed of j warm skiimuiik, and gradually increase i the quantity of the mixture, keeping j the proportion of the jelly and milk j about tite same. j Fight gallons of water per day is | the average quantity required for n j cow, and thejmllk is about 87 1 per cent water. In some pastures there i Is no water, the rows being supplied I night and morning, which forces each | cow to drink four gallons at a time In ; order to be supplied. As the cow does not know that xho jrnwt -drhtte -four gallons. she may use less autl she will reduce her milk supply accordingly. Missouri claims $.11,*142,702 worth of ogc*. |K>ultry and feathers last year with an average of but little more than fifty eggs to the hen. If these rtsmlts can I»e obtained with this klnd'bf a bird, what may not 1»» expected when tia* majority of farmer's keep only 175 to 200 egg hens? We believe tills class of birds are coming and In the near future at that, llarren and poor yielding stalks -are, no longer tolerated, in the cornfield by up-to-date farmers.

.Why should this class ofMffrrts hg el. lowed to predominate! r Poultry Drtnkl mm Butna. Take a basin that-will hold about tWd quarts of water and fill it with pebbles a little smaller than eggs. When lhvel full of pebbles, pour in the water until the spaces between them are full.' Sink thebasln in the ground until the rim Ts aft inch above the surfacc. The chicks can run all over tola, stepping* On the pebbles and can drink th'e water without getting Wet. It is hours and protects the chicks ftom getting wet all over, as they cannot '• rowdr“eacH‘ “oflTer Into theWftfeTT no matter how much they try to do so. Give the Hogs Some Salt. The old idea that hogs do not need salt has passed away. The Missouri experiment station says this about it; Feeding salt to hogs Is a matter upon which little emphasis is usually put, but It is doubtless one of those Important we may consider with profit. Salt Is a normal constituent of animal tissue and of the blood, plays an Important part In,the-Stimu-lation of the internal organs and Is the source of the chlorine of the hydrochloric acid in tbe gastric juice. It is always present in the urine whether present In the food or not, and death may be. caused If complete absence of salt in the ration*obtalns during tv eonsiderable time; — Value of Rape. While rape Is a food of undoubted value to. farm stock, aud particularly so for horses, swine and poultry, much care must be used in feeding it to cows and sheep, else It is apt to make trouble.', If cows and slieep are allowed to eat too freely of It under certain conditions It will cause bloat, particularly if the rape is especially succulent Wr is damp from rain or dew. The best Way to pasture rapt, and we consider-, this the better plan for any farm animal, is to turn them on to it after their -appetites ltawc been partially satisfied with grain or other pasturage. We os-_ pool ally like tiie plan of turning the JanTtluTß into the rhpn frn- .Inly n_n li.mr or two daily. We give them wliat grain they hare in the morning, then turn them on to the rape for an itour and then back into the regular pasture, where they remain until the middle of the frftewoen, when they are again given an hour or less in the rape field. ,Th - rape has its worn effect on sheep, but in handling them in the manner suggested there is little or no trouble. Mnklns; Cider. Cider-making offers a good opportunity of saving the surplus apples from the home fruit garden, after the best have been put into the cellar for winter use, thus making valuable apple? th.it otherwise would lie thrown away. A bruise which would render an apple unfit for storage does not impair it as ti source of cider. ■ Tit? best cider is not made from sweet apples, or from apples that Itave little juice, such as Ben I>avis, but from good, juicy, sour kinds, such as Northern J>py. Baldwin nmT the like. It is often advisable to mix a few*.weet apples hi with the sour ones to stiffen the taste of the eider, but this i* a matter of taste. If good specimens of the Northern Spy are used, the eider will prove an expensive luxury. Tlterfttoro, any mi-der-rzed apples and any that heroine bruised in handling may be used. For the 14an who intends making only a small amount of elder each year —enough for consumption itt his own household during the winter—a mill worked by hand and pressing the pomace of only two or three bushels of apples is the most practical. A mill of this sort will cost anywhere from $lO up, according to the size. Knlhiiiie Her*. It may he safely said that any place where farming, gardening or fruit raising can be successfully Pillowed is adapted to the profitable keeping of Ueeti—hi if limited way at least. If not extensively. Many of these localities will support extensive apiaries, in addition to this there are, within the ltordersi of the United States thousands of good locations for the apiarist—forest, prairie swamps and mountain regions—where agriculture has as yet not gained a foothold, either because'of remoteness from markets or the uninviting character of boil or climate. This pr t may also lie fallowedirTtTf'near towns, and to a limited extent In -large cities. The ability of the bees to range over areas Inaccesslbl* to f iler farm stock, and to draw the!# su<-tennftee from dense fore«ts, wtn*n the timber is of the right kind, and tin freedom which, because of their natliireC must lie accorded them, to pastur-* ou whatever natural sources are within their range of three or four miles, nuts; be taken Into account 111 estimating th« possibilities cf a InenHty. It will be found that very few localities exist In our country where at least a few colonies of bees may not tx kept