Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1907 — FARM ANF GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM ANF GARDEN

The draft horse is just now the popular horse and ’ls in demand for city., use at higher prices than any other stock. AVhen skim milk is a\lalTable give Jour birds plenty, as it Is rich in fle.-ih -formers. It also whitens and gives succulence to the meat. Salt, thofoughly rubbed all round on the inside of the churn, after it has t&en Tlhsed with Hot water. Is a first-" rate thing to make it clean and sweet. Rinse the salt out with water. When butter gets into bad cotnpany it has to go the way old dog Tray went. About a ton of butter in Milwaukee Is said to have gotten in the class’ with liiaherger cheese and was consigned to the morgue. An apple grower at Hood River, Ore., claims the medal for thorough and effective spraying. He picked 133 boxes of Gravenstein apples and found only one wormy apple in the entire lot. How’s that for good spraying? -One of our farm readers says that he has a young cow a little over a year old which had triplet calves, and that her granddam this spring had three calves also, all doing well. At that rate oae can soon grow- -a herd, —Indiana Farmer. The Illinois Experiment Station has .found out that a larger yield of-oats can be obtained by drilling than when sown broadcast, and that less seed will be required. One bushel less is required where a drill is used and the yield is six bushels more.

It -is* noticeable that Western Ben Davis apples sold tit much higher prices than this same variety grown in the East. In. fact, the-only variety which has, sold as well on tlx- Liverpool market as the Western Ben Davis lias been strictly fancy Kings -From Canada., —c;_.—.■ The best dairymen are now using both winter and summer silos. At the Ontario Experiment Farm they feed >uly twice a day a succulent ration with meal and clover hay, an hour and a half afterwards, in the morning, and at 3:30 p. in. the same ration with long hay. They estimate that a cow should receive a pound of meal for every five pounds of milk she gives. The elevator attachment for the potato digger is till right some seasons and in some localities, hut occasionally it will not distinguish the potatoes from clods and stones about the same size of the tubers. In such cases it is better to pick them up in the oldfashloned way, employing baskets with handles like a pail. The half-bushel size handles better than a larger gasket. Hill, the railroad magnate, says that In twenty years we will have 130,000,000 people and nsks where they are to be employed and how are they to be fed. In a century the coal supply will be practically exhausted. Iu the face of these facts, if they be such, and there is no reason to dispute them, every farm properly cared for should be worth more money for each year of the period. There will be a growing dependence on the fruits of the soil.

Abont MnlchliiKr StraiTbrrrlm. The best time to mulch strawberries is when the ground Is frozen over so you can drive in on the patch without hurting the berries. I use wheat straw when I can get It that is free from wheat seed. I got a bad dose once with winter wheat in the berries. It was the worst kind of a weed then. Rye is still worse. Oats straw is good, only it packs down badly. Fine corn fodder or cane hay is good. Straw manure is best of all if there is no timothy seed in it. If you can find a livery stable where they feed wild hay and use lots of bedding, that Is the place to get your mulching. Put on plenty of it* and then In the spring go through and loosen it up and pull some of It off to the middles.—Correspondent Fruit Grower. i AM *"?**"* 5 Irrigation Profitable.' ——: In Connecticut irrigation increased the total yield of strawberries In one case 177 per cent,®and in another case 155 per (Cent. The Irrigated berries were larger, but a little later than the non-lrrigated ones, but they brought 2 cents more a quart in the open market. Where Irrigation is practiced the water should be applied to the furrows about the fruiting time and allowed slowly to flow down them rather than by flooding. To Moke Beat Fodder. To make the best fodder or stover, corn should be cut before the leaves are dry and when the stalks are still (Succulent, and the corn U just fully

glazed or nearly in the hard stage. At this time there is available the largest food value per acre. It hag been found,, however, that when the corn Is cut to make the best fodder there Is apt to be a slight decrease in the yield of grain. , The old method of cutting coi’n by hand is slow and expensive. The use of the sled machine Is to he recommended In preference to the hand knife, while the corn binder reduces the labor of harvesting and permits the work to he done more readily and perhaps at less cost than the other methods named. I have never used the corn shocking machine, but w-here the practice is to cut up a large area each season this machine would seem to be preferable to the corn binder, ■ ' ■, ■ ■ , . ■* Protection of Fruit Trees. A successful fruit grower says: One of the most Important points in preparing bearing apple trees -for. winter, in my ojiinion. is to remove all rubbish that may afford shelter for mice or other vermin. Be sure there are no declivities at the immediate base of the tree. A slight mounding is good. At all events, leave no lnllows that wll hold water to freeze at times of audden falls in temperature, thereby greatly damaging trees. If mice or rabbits are feared, protect-with .wire netting into proper sizes, roll around an old broomstick, or any. round object, to give it a circular shape, the stick removed and the wire will spring around the trunk and hold itself in place. See that all drains are in good order. ».I Pumpkin Susrnr In lowa. Sugar from pumpkins will be the next source of wealth which will be developed in lowa, for the authorities at the agricultural college declare high grade sugar will be made from them by a process even more simple than .that required to make it from beets. Experiments have resulted in the production of a species of pumpkin which contains 4 per cent of sugar, and it is the prediction that in three years the sugar element will be increased to 12 per cent. This is equal to the quantity of sugar found in the best variety of beet. Because pumpkins are easily raised and a tonnage may be produced to the acre which will exceed Alia 1.-ox-bccts, tbo-new . sugar pumpkin will open up a valuable field for the lowa farmers: The pumpkins may fee planted in the corn fields, and the same soil which will produce corn may be made to produce a crop of pumpkins at the same time.—American Cultivator.

Cotton Seed Meal. Cotton seed meal is the cheapest form of protein for the feeder to purchase, says a bulletin by the Louisiana station. Many of the manufacturers are introducing a considerable quantity of lint and hulls in their meals. They grind these meals so fine that it is often hard to detect the adulteration. Too great an addition of hulls and lint lowers the value of this valuable by-product for feeding purposes. A good meal should have a nutty odor, bright yellow color, and should be dry and finely ground. It should run at least 43 per cent protein, not over 10 per cent fat, and not over 9 per cent fiber. On account of the improvements in the manufacture of cotton seed oil many meals are showing a lower fat content than formerly. Too high a fat content ts objectionable. In general the meals vary from 18.88 per cent to 48 81 per cent protein. In purchasing meals for feeding purposes avoid the dark-colored samples. Do not buy a meal just it Is cotton seed meal. “Purchase from a reliable mill or agent, and demand r guarantee, a Winter Killing of Frnlt Tree*. We have all had some experience In winter killing of fruit, but perhaps many of us are pone the wiser for the experience except In noting the great difference of opinion which prevails regarding the causes of this trouble. To prevent the young wood from being killed hack It must lie made to ripen properly in the fall. This may be accomplished by giving attention to the drainage of the soil so that It will dry out in the fall and check the growth of the trees. Naturally the destruction of the roots Is a much more serious matter. The death of fruit tree roots Is almost nlways due to Improper soil conditions. Trees In sod are rarely killed In winter. Likewise a straw or grass mulch about the roots gives them ample protection. Again, the roots are comparatively safe from harm If the soil contains humus such as would be obtained from thorough mulching. Small trees may be well protected by throwing a few shovelfuls of soil or manure about the base. Drainage Is also Important In preserving the ipots from damage. It should always be remembered that trees which are allowed to remain Infested with fungus diseases or Insect pests are far more likely to die In winter thnn are healthy trees. Attention to the general health of the trees and to proper soil -conditions furnish the best possible means of warding off the danger of winter killing. v The methods suggested are not difficult to apply, aud are such .as should prevail on every well-regu-lated fruit farm. — lndianapolis Newa