Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1907 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Rape pasture is splendid for a change both for sheep and pigs. “Look" pleasant, please,” Is applied to the home as well as to the photograph gallery. Clean, dry quarters are necessary for the calf. Disease soon finds Its way where filth is. With all classes of stock usually kept on a farm, care should be taken to feed according to age, condition and tinje of marketing. Barbwire should not be used for - fencing for the sheoppasture, as the barbs catch on the wool and make the sheep look ragged, besides ruining | much wool. Manure never —contains —a —larger amount of plant food than when it is first made and except in special cases, the sooner it is hauled out and applied to the laud, the better. Keep young colts growing If they are expected to become as large or larger than their parents. A colt once stunted, may afterwards be made fat, but it can never be made to grow as large as it otherwise would. It injures land to allow cattle and other farm animals to run over it during wet, muddy weather. If domestic nnlmnla mint Buy© put door exerCise, build a small lot on some high and dry spot near the barn and turn them into it a few hours each day. ' Funk Bros., who are among the largest farmers in Illinois, came out boldly “fiT favor or druilng oats and of using 1% bushels of seed per acre. A test of this in southern Ohio, ten years ago, resulted in forty-eight bushels per acre on the drilled, against forty-one bushels in the broadcast oats. Some of the largest growers of potatoes follow the hand picking of potato bugs. They begin at once as soon as the bugs appear and tbus_ getting the beetles before the eggs for future colonies of bugs are laid they keep ahead of the beetles and find jt an easy matter to keep them down. If you have to keep your poultry shut up, make them work for the grain they get. On the farm where the poultry have the range of the barnyard and farm they get exercise enough, hut where they are kept confined methods have to be -adopted to give them exercise to keep thein in health. To can corn cut the kernels off the cob with a sharp knifs, scraping out The pulp. Fill Into the can a tittle at a time, pressing down firmly ipitil the milk overflows the can. Add a teaapoonful of salt. When all are filled place the cans in a boiler and cook half an hour with the covers laid loosely on. Remove from the fire an dr sea I, then cook two hours longer. The values of poultry products now reach an annual figure of half a billion dollars or more, or an amount about equal to the value,, of the wheat crop. The price of eggs has been high and growing higher for several years, because consumers have wanted more eggs than have been produced. The exports are not worth mentioning. Apparently there is no limit to the consumption of fresh eggs at a moderate price.—G. K. Holmes.

Warm weather Is acceptable to string beans, especially If the season Is not too dry. The green varieties are best for pickling, but there Is nothing to compare with the German wax for the table, though they are not so prolific as the majority of the other kinds. Plant them every two weeks for a succession. A row of them planted every week Is better, and If the garden is rightly managed In that way It Is surprising how many different crops can be grown, as It is not necessary to waft. With all the remedies suggested for blight on pear trees, the difficulty still exists, and many pear orchards are destroyed every year. At one time It was believed that by keeping the orchard ground In grass, the, pear trees would escape, but, while the rapid growth of the trees seems favorable to attack of blight, and, although tho grass may retard attack, yet the trees will succumb to the disease should It find Us way Into the orchard. The spraying of trees, or treating the trees at the roots, will confer benefit but there Is no sure remedy for blight T***at*«*. There is no garden vegetable that will respond more markedly to rich land and good cultivation than tomatoefc. A tomato plant will grow on a manure pile and flourish all season there, and In planting them It pays to take some pains to have them stand a very rich spot Make the plot

where the tomatoes are to stand very rich with manure, and then dig a hole ahd flumpvtwo ur three shovelfuls of fine manures in the bottom of It, and set the plants above this. Drive a stake by each plant as soon as it is transplanted, and keOp the plant tied to it with strips of cloth, and, the fruits will not rot when they begin to ripen. The Tomato is one of the plants that does Detter fOr tiUMF planting, and, if they are transplanted two or three times, they only grow more stocky and produce better. There Is not a bit of danger of losing tomato plants by transplanting, as they will grow from a slip almost as well ns from a rooted plant Keep them well cultivated, and, if the weather comes off dry, give them plenty of water, and the crop is cer-' tain and huge. In giving tomatoes water, a sprinkling pot is not ofmuch use. The water should be poured around the plant in a liberal fashion, two or three gallons at a time, and about twice a week. Water in the evening, and early the next morning stir soil about' the plants with a steel rake to-keep it from getting too compact. Tomatoes are about the most satisfactory garden vegetable we have; it appreciates nt-tentkm-so thoroughly.—Farmer’s Voice.

ranker Among Pig;*. The receipt of several inquiries In regard to this trouble among pigs seems to indicate that the disease ii present- to—a —considerable extent in some localities. This is a parasitic disease and is contagious, spreading rapidly among pigs. The cause of the disease is a small parasite similar lu sente respects to that of mange, but is much more difficult to treat successfully, says an Oklahoma report. Tile disease-first shows by a Contraction or wrinkling of the skin of the nose or face. This is often accompanied T>y slight swelling.—The pig rubs its nose, sniffles, and shows in various ways that the diseased spots irritate and burn. Gradually these diseased spots break out as small sores, occasionally sloughing out to form ulcers of considerable size. These sores or ulcers may occur iii any part of the head, and occasionally they will extend over the sides and under part of the body. Since the disease is contagious and spreads easily, all pigs showing any signs of the trouble should be separated from tiie healthy ones. The following preparations should be applied do tha diseased spots': A mixture of‘carbolic acid and lard in the proportion of one of acid to eight of lard may be applied to the diseased spots before sloughing occurs. For upen sores or sloughs use iodine one part and vaseline six parts. Apply this ointment' once every two or. three days. A tobacco solution, tobacco one part nnd water twenty parts, may be made by steeping the tobacco for ten to twenty hours in warm water. This may be applied to the ulcers instead of the iodine and vaseline. The disease is generally stubborn to treat, and several applications of any of the above remedies may be required to effect a cure.—, ,

Slirnylug for Coddling; Moth. Get ready for the work as soon as the first apple blossoms begin to open, says a bulletin by the Colorado Ex.perimem Station, In reference to spraying for the coddling moth. Do not fail to begin the first spray as soon jas the blossoms are nearly (say 90 per cent) off. Have outfits enough to complete the first spraying within eight days froih the time it is begun; or if you have varieties that bloom at different times, arrange so work so that none of the trees will have to wait more than one week from the time the petals are off until they are sprayed. A good power outfit for spraying will do to take care of twenty acres of apple orchard that Is twelve or more years of age. It will be a mistake to expect to do much more than this. Large trees require from six to ten gallons of liquid each for a thorough first spray. If the average Is eight gallons, nnd there are eighty trees to the acre, It will reqtflre sixty-four tanks of 200 gallons each to make the application. If the weather is warm some varieties will close their calyces within six days from the time the petals are off, and the little apples that close their calyces first are the ones most likely to set and make fruit. When making the first sprfly you must determine upon one thing If you are to get anything like perfect fruit, and that Is to stay with each tree until every calyx has been filled with the spray. Btop occasionally and examine the blossoms to find out whether or not you are doing this. Thlß is of more Importance than all the rest of the advice of this bulletin put together. Thorough first-spraying cannot be done, except with a great waste of material, with a short pole, by men standing on the ground. Do not spray all sides of a large tree at one stop; spray only the halves of the trees next to the wagon upon either side. With large trees, always have a tower or platform above the tank, where two men may stand with long rod as to spray downward, while one or two men with short poles upon the ground spray upwafd through the trees. A pressure of 100 to 100 pounds is* sufficient to do good work, if proper nozzles are used.