Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 December 1906 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Green pasture or fox-age |s desirable for the growing pi%s. Be sure there Is - plenty of it. Remove every possibility of the colt getting hurt. A large percentage of colts get hurt befox-e they reach the marketable stage. -i Regularity is perhaps more important In feeding sheep than is the case with other animals, for sheep ai*e naturally regular in their habits. While a small bunch of sheep can be kept on a farm to good advantage, they serve a double purpose, as they enrich the farm and bring a cash Income at the same time. —■ ——Geese --are xnore cheaply fattened than some other kinds of polltfy, because they eat almost anything that is green. They should be fed on some corn, or cornmeal may be added to the chopped green stuff. - . .. __ The best farm homes and the happiest families are not always to be found where the most money is spent. It takes something besides money to make a home. Jt takes congeniality, cooperation and a willingness to make the best of things. ' Many orchards are neither clean cultivated nor managed according to the Stringfellow sod culture idea. Their method is frequently a hybrid—a stab at cultivation, but a failure to keep it well up and then the weeds grow as high as a man’s head. Experiments have demonstrated that an acre of rape has the same value as has 2,600 pounds of barley and similar grains for hog feeding purposes. Additional, no time is spent feeding it, and it has the further merit of adding succulence to the ration. It may not be possible to incorporate the absolutely ten-hour system on the fax-m, but it can be appi-oached. There is more to a farm life than that of making money and saving time, even V at the, expense of arduous labor and excessive application of it. Some people are i-eady to condemn a whole orchard just because some small boy of the family is Indiscreet enough to fill himself with green apples and a doctor has to be called. What is needed is a little well directed parental influence in cases of this kind. It is far better to let a neighbor tell you of your good qualities than It is for you to proclaim them from the roadside. Keep the fields and crops looking well and your neighbors will do the rest, and if you rest too much they * will have a bad name for you.

Ii Is estimated that 10,000,000 acres of timber land are annually devastated by forest fires. So long as this destruction keeps up and lumber companies continue to denude the forest areas of the country with saw and ax, the question of tree planting will always be a live one. A Georgia peach grower says some ■buyers want large peaches and some prefer them only medium in size. He wants to contract for his crop early so lie can grow them the size wanted. Most persons are satisfied to get peaches of any kind, v, ithout being particular as to size. I ' ________________ A pig will get more satisfaction from a shingle or a piece of lath In the (hands of Its owner In scratching Its back than can be Imagined. There Is •a sort of an acquaintance that can spring up that will be both advantageous and profitable. How a pig enjoys It, and it Is good for him.* As an illustration of what can be done In the matter of raising high •grade and pure bred horses, we note the case of the Michigan farmer who today has a pair of Percheron mares sixteen years old. They have raised their owners twelve pairs of colts, nine of which have been sold for $3,827.50, or an average of $425.27 per pair, while there are six more fine colts on the (farm too young to market. Chickens that are poor and not being cared for make but sinhll progress In life and seldom, If ever, become the best egg producers. To have the best results with a quick spring growth necessary for the establishment of size and vigor they must be well fed, regularly fed and properly fed from shell to finish. Anything short of this Insures an advance to poor growth and poor results all along the line. Trap Neat Useful. The trap nest Is playing an Important part In the Improvement of the poultry docks of the country just now, and It is safe to say that a hundred are In fuse today where one was in use five gears ago. After Once using trap nests po psnltryman would thing of trying

to get along without them. He could not afford to discard them, for their Intelligent use means a doubly profitable flock of hensff The trap nest has solved problems that could be solved in no other way. They not only show which hens are laying, the eggs, and, more than this, they show up the loafers, the nonproducers and the hens that are not paying for their care and feed. Every poultryman who desires to improve his flock and make it more profitable should install trap nests. Restoring an Orchard. In an endeavor to furnish an object lesson, Ernest Walker of the Arkansas experiment station took charge of a neglected apple orchard __ and. soon brought it around all right. He made up his mind that the trees needed the knife and started in on his surgical operations. The early fall pruning was only moderate, as heavy pruning would have tended to cause a swelling of the buds, or even a late growth. The removal of large branches was avoided wherever possible; yet if a limb was weak or circumstances made it desirable to remove it, it was promptly taken out. When the top branches were weak or the head thin, or the tree growing lop-sided, topping - was done. Care

was observed always to make the cut in this case just above a good side branch —a very important matter, as this avoids the danger of the dying back, frequently deemed an inevitable consequence of topping in trees. Where much twiginess was noted considerable thinning out was done. On tliC south and southwest side of the trees, however,. less pruning was done, as shade in that, as In this, country Is desirable, and so much thinning is not necessary. The spraying was looked after assiduously and the invalided orchard was soon doing business again.

White Clover. One of the most useful plants for lawns or pastures is white clover. It does not compete with red clover for hay, but the white variety serves many excellent purposes on farms, which should commend it to all stock men. White clover In Indigenous on almost All moist, clayey soils in this cjimate; it forms part of the sward, and even if not perceived at first sight, It is discovered on closer inspection. It soon shows itself after the soil has been manured with, substances congenial to its nature, such as lime or ashes. Some cultivators also sow white clover with the intention of mowing it, but it requires a very rich soil to cause It to grow to any considerable height. On a soil of this description it will sometimes yield a crop nearly equal in thickness to that of the common red clover, and, according to some persons, preferable to the latter as a fodder plant, bding of better flavor, yielding more nourishment and is claimed to be more conducive to the production of milk. But It yields only one crop, and is certainly the most generally approved of all plants that are cultivated for that purpose. It Is peculiarly fitted for a pasture plant by the disposition which it has to send forth shoots, and the quickness with which Its leaves are reproduced—a quality in which it surpasses the red clover. Again, white clover Is not so easily choked by weeds, but exterminates them by means of its roots, which thrust their way through the soil; hence It does not require a soil so well cleared, and may with greater facility be sown after re* peated grain crops.

Improvement* In Dairying. It Is probable that dairymen will make many Improvements in the future, for already there is a growing tendency to begin reforms In the dairies, and there Is no department oil the farm which demands more consideration than the present methods of handling both the cows and their milk. It Is claimed that there Is more filth and less care In dairying than Is creditable, but there are e*xceptlons, as In other occupations. The majority of consumers are usually in Ignorance of any of the conditions affecting the preparation of milk. Reforms are also possible In the treatment of the milk from fresh cows as well as care of the young calves, It being customary to remove the calv&s. "from the cows when the young things are but one or two days old, the milk from their dams being added to that taken from other cows of the herd, although such milk may be unfit for use and Injurious to children who are fed upon It The milk from fresh cows should go to the calf until It Is at least two or three weeks old, but, as the average dairyman milks his cows for the purpose of Belling the nj-oduct, be will not willingly sacrifice to the calf an nrticle that he can put on the market The result Is that the milk sold In tue cities Is of varied quality, much of It being unclean and unfit for use. There Is room for Improvement, and there are hundreds of consumers ready and willing to pay the dairyman for his extra care if he will provide them with milk of the best quality. It may take time to build up such a trade, but a reputation for a choice article Is capital Invested, as confidence Insures a demand for all that can be produced. The disregard of the rights of consumers, especially on the part of some dealers, who seem to place no value upon cleanliness, cannot fall to Indues them to purchase only from parties who are known to be reliable.