Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1907 — FARM AND GARGEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARGEN

The best safety deposit arrangement la—farbi land. The beautiful cow is the one that shows a profit on the balance sheet. The time to gather vegetables is In the morning when they are fresh and crisp. A shotgun loaded with number two Shot-1h the only effective remedy for the sheep-killing dog. Never e.-llil tile, milk pnil.S Of CUUS first, but rinse well with cold water and scald last. Sunshine aiid air help to"keep them' sweet. ------ It Is said that an average eorti crop takes from the soil an amount of moisture equal to a sheet of water seven to ten inches deep over the entire field. - Whenever a tree first comes Into hearing is tiie time to fully determine the variety of fruit, if a small boy does not get there first, in which case one may have to wait another year. . Tedious as it appears, the destruction of the egg dusters and hand picking of the* matured insects is the surest method of combating the odious squash latg that Prof, Phingerland can reconiineiul.

Coming right down to facts a man .can make or spoil his business as a rule by his method of selling. The market plate is the end of all produce so far as the producer is concerned and one cau’t give it too much attention. The invention of the cream separator has worked changes lu the feeding of swine. It is now cheaper to give the fresh skim milk to the pigs than to attempt to keep it, and the ground grain is tints more easily fed at tihe same time. " - ~ ~ y-; A light weight milk can may be all right for the whole-milk patron who lives near the factory, or one who uses a spring wagon for delivery; but for a long haul in a lumber wagon the eighteen or taventy-poiuul can Is needed to stand the strain.

Grindstone getting bad so it will not “cut?” That comes from standing out in the sun. Better get a new one and then keep it under cover. If you can do no better, you can make a cover of short pieces of boavd to slip oyer the stone when not in use, and don’t forget to slip it over. The person who can place a proper value on the details of his work should congratulate himself. While a woman was trying to impress me recently with the high cost of thread, It having raised from five to six cents a spool, her baby pounded out a window-pane with a $4 cut-glass sugar bowl. Reno, Nev., has a mall carrier who can neither read nor write, but he Is the only man lu the county who will take the job at the price the government is willing to pay. This carrier sizes up the numbers on the houses with the address on the letter and manages to hold down his Job.

Some of the most valuable plants are weeds. If grown where not desired. Where wheat is largely grown rye Is one of the most detested weeds that appear lu the field. It Is very difficult to separate the wheat and rye grains, and rye Is therefore likely to appear every ycitr If the home-grown seed wheat Is used. The rye shoots to seed ahead of wheat; hence the heads can be cut off with a sickle, which should be done just before the seed heads out. It Is easier to use clean seed, however, and thus avoid working lu the growing wheat.

Reclaiming Alkali Land*. Experiments have been conducted by tba Department of Agriculture at Fresno, Cal., with a view to reclaiming alkali lands by drainage. Operations are now being conducted In a large vineyard near Fresno, where alkali has come rapidly to the surface. It is hoped, says the Scientific American, that Immense tracts which have long lain waste may thus be rendered fer*tlle. There are many thousands of acres of these alkali plains In Fresno County, Cal., Which are now useless, but It la believed that their drainage could be easily accomplished through the use of electric power for pumping purpose* iJ —-—_ The Coat of Egg*. If egga are high In wluter. It Is because they cost more In that season. As baa been frequently affirmed In these columns, eggs coat but or nothing In aummer, If tba bens are on a range, and wllf then pay even If prices are tow. If eggs are 35 cents a dozen, the “real food” material costs the consumer about. 25 cents a pound, hat when eggs are 15 cents a dosen the consumer gets about pounds of food

material for 25 cents. “ cases the farmer sends away the same proportion of material from his farm; and, whether the ben picks the food. up herself, or is given her share by Iter owner, tire loss of that much value from the farm occurs. But, again, the hen on the range utilizes materials that the farmer can not sell. A dainty young weed, a piece of bone, insects, seeds, grass -atHK-refuse fhro\vi 1 away are all made to do service by the liens, Converting them into eggs. It will pay in winter to save food by keeping the hens warm. If they are nos well sheltered more corn will be necessary to heat their bodies. Shelter is not really food, but It generally serves to economize In its use for preventing the waste of corn ini the form of heat.

Sheep Industry in Kainai. Indiana, Ohio and Illinois do not have all the troubles in sheep growing. One of the professors of the Kansas Agricultural college calls attention to The fact that- Kansas has fallen down greatly in the list of sheep-growing States, in the last fifteen years, and it "new ranks only thirteenth among the States in this Industry. He says the reason Is to befouM in tho large disproportion of dogs to sheep, the dogs numbering 173,000 to 167,000 of sheep in the State. He'maintains that there. 1s more profit in sheep than in any other kind of live stock in Kansas, and one reason is that they are so excellent in. keeping up, soil fertility, scattering , the- manure they make perfectly over the fields. He adds : v' “Money invested in sheep will nearly double itself in one yeer, since the fleece will pay for the feed and care of the sheep, and the lambs, often two per. ewe, are the profit. It is estimated that you can keep ten sheep where you can keep one cow, and the risk becomes much less. The sheep always carries tier pockefcbook with iter.- If she dies, her pelt pays funeral expenses. If she lives, her wool in the spring and her lambs in the fall pay double revenue. Xo other stock pays as large a percentage of clear profit on the money invested.”

Feediuff For Bacon. Brief statements are made by the Orange River, South Africa, Colony Department of Agriculture regarding the pigs kept at the Tweospruit Experimental farm and a feeding test undertaken with reference to the production of bacon hogs Is reported. Four r lots containing four large Yorkshire hogs each were used, and the rations consisted of separator skiin mill( and maize meal, buttermilk and maize meal, and skim milk and Kafir corn •meal in each case 3:1. and wheat middlings (sharps) and maize meal 1:2, mixed to a slop with water. Iu the forty-nine days of the test the gain ranged from 06.25 pounds per head on the wheat middlings and maize meal, to &S pounds on skim milk and maize meal. The gain was most cheaply made on the last mentioned ration and was most expensive on the Kafir corn ration. The shrinkage in dressing averaged 20 per cent of the live weight, and wkeu marketed “the meat gave entire satisfaction as to quality and flavor” and was regarded as superior to Imported bacon. In the author’s opinion so good results would not have been obtained with ordinary Kafir or unimproved pigs, “but even at a much lower rate of Increase they afford a profitable means of disposal for a portion of the mealie crop.”

The Pedigree Alone Won't Do. The pedigree Is all right In Itself In selecting breeding stock of what ever kind. In cattle breeding Is, perhaps, more neglected than In other kinds. In word of caution on 'breeding, Prof. Boss, of the Minnesota Station, says to young breeders that beginners In live stock breeding seem to expect till pedigree of an animal to make up for lack of feed, poor quarters, and poor management. This, of course, will not do, but ,a well bred pig. If given good enre and comfortable quarters, will unquestionably give better for the money Invested than any number of senilis can do.

Many breeders overlook the fact that In stock breeding “like produces like,” Just as surely from poor Individuals as from good ones. This Is evidenced by the number of scrubby individuals that are often seen In breeding herds, to be sold to some one who sends a mall order. It Is a matter of doubt whether or not the scrubby pure bred Is more Ukely to bring scrubby offspring, than Is even the scrub without pedigree. The fact that the good lines have been concentrated for some generations and that an effort has been made to keep the animal pure In breediug empbaalzee the likelihood of like begetting like, nn<J scrubby pure breeds are the result unless the Inferiority of.the parent la due to poor care ratWr than poor breeding. The pure bred pig that Is aewbby Is likely to be a cause of damage In the breeding herd of the owner, and to Injure the reputation of any breed which may be unfortunate enough to posseai animals of this description. The only pure bred pig that should be used aa the breeder la the one that is good aa an Individual and whose ancestry have been good Individuals. All others should be consigned to the packer.