Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1907 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Pigs will thrive on skim milk as on nothing else. , Eggs and mites are never plentiful on Wie same farm at the same time. There are no tonics better for the calf than plenty of sunshine and pure air. It is the unproductive things—tliings--that are neither growing tßuTproducing—that keep a farmer down. No animal will deteriorate so rapidly from neglect or show so marked an Improvement for / good as a well bred Streep. * v The Angora goat breeders of Oregon say that the annual clips from their flocks amount to nearby $150,000, while the value of their yearly increase approx 1m a tes $550,000. WWlirPorn and at fa 1 fahny vrttl "prertiuee excellent beef, the addition of cottonseed meal,‘"even if you have to pay $23 to $25 per ton, will make a quality that will bring more money. . * Why farmers who can readily’ grow or buy corn stover and hay at low' cost continue to purchase some of the low grade oat and other feeds which are little richer in protein than oat straw, they only can answer. After cream becomes soufl, the more ripening tfie more it depreciates. The sooner it Is churned the better, bat IT should not be churned while too new. The best stage for churning is when acidity begins to become apparent.

Heifer calves intended for the dairy mnst be kept growing continually, as any check in their growth is a cause of loss in size and development of the digestive organs and consequently affects the future value of the animal.

Feeding and general care and management have as much to do with increasing the product of individual animals as breeding or blood. But it must not be forgotten that undue forcing shortens the life and usefulness of the cow' very rapidly.

Fall pigs do better if they can have plenty of range. Exercise and variety of feed will keep them in good health. If the farmer will give his pigs a fair show for exercise along with suitable shelter and feed he will find two litters per year will pay better than one.

The rural school too commonly suffers for want of variety. This Is not because this condition cannot be alleviated, but simply because it Is not. The general course of Instruction needs brightening with what might be said to be laboratory work or practical studies in thlngs to be found on and about the farm.

One of the most harmless and bene ficlal foods Is linseed meal. When the flock appears droopy and seems to lose appetite, the fowls may be restored to health very readily by giving them linseed meal and this soft food once a day. A gill of liuseed meal to every ten hens is sufficient. It should not, however, be used as a regular'diet.

If you do not believe the cows look upon a strange dog as an enemy, just watch them when such an animal comes Into the yard. The horns of every one will be high In the air. You can hear the cattle sniff, and while some will charge on the dog, others will turn tall and run like deer. Every such Invasion costs more than iyou know In the flow of milk as well as Its goodness.

A most successful dairyman says he can make dairying pay good returns when he can grow and market his potatoes for enough cash to pay all of his feed hills. lie Is making about 120 gallons of 12-cent milk every day in the year and hires two men "and one boy. At present he Is working 112 acres of land and outside of his dairy Income he has sold more than SI,OOO worth of hay from h!s farm this year and 3,000 bushels of potatoes.

Gobbler Hutches i'kb* Because an'old gobbler always ehused off the turkey hens that were trying to do their duty in hatching out a brood of young turkeys, Mrs. John Btoudt of Alburtls, Pa., took the twen-ty-two eggs and put them under the old gobbler, shutting him in to his task. The latter has now been on the Job for two weeks and gives no signs of weakening. He is very cross, though, and no doubt will make a poor mother for the brood.

Sowing I'rlmnon Clover. Crimson clover gives the best results when sown In late summer, preferably from July 15 to Sept. 1. It Is most commonly planted in corn or following « small grain crop. In the latter case the land should be plowed and pat in good condition before seeding. Considerable difficulty Is often experienced in a stand of crimson clever.

Indeed, it is a common sayingthat U must be sown between showers in oi> der to be assured of a stand. It is important always to use fresh seed, at the germinating power deteriorates rapidly. Ordinarily twelve to fifteen pound!., per acre are used, but good results hava been obtained with smaller quantities. In some cases the failure to obtain a stand has been, attributed to the lack of inoculation. In any event it is always desirable to Inoculate the seed or the soil before planting on, land for the first time. Even if a Stand is only obtained two times out of three, crimson clover is still a very profitable crop to grow. —C. V. Piper. $ ’ 1 Selecting the Brooil Sow*. Some sows which have been good mothers may be getting old and careless. It is best to discard these. A tried brood sow which has fulfilled all the requirements i§ worth keeping for several years or as long as she continues to be profitable. In the selection of the gilts, study' first the dam, giving the preference to those from the large, even having the desired qualities. It is well,, to look to the breeding of the sire, for, while the boar probably has but little influence upon the number of pigs per litter of his immediate- offspring, a sire of large litters would be likely to transspring. ThoVv out the short, chubby gilts and those that have contracted heart girth or are narrow between the eyes. The gilt most likely to make a good brood sow will be well developed and vigorous, broad between the eyes, with a good heart girth, fair length, good depth of body and standing on strong legs and feet. With such methods as these in the selection of breeding stock, coupled with rational care in their feeding and management, writes George C. Wheeler in Kimball’s Dairy Farmer, we would hear far less complaint of the sort so common. 2

Sheep on the Farm. One of the main advantages in the keeping of sheep is that they leave the land in better condition than before it was occupied by them. Every farmer who will properly manage his flock can improve the fertility of his soil from the resources of his farm by means of his shepe until every acre of land of prime quality will produce 100 bushels of Indian corn, shelled. It Is demonstrable as a general proposition, true of nearly all kinds of fanning, that every kind of domestic animal, up to a certain limit, can be kept more profitably than It can be dispensed with by farmers. This is especially true In relation to sheep, which are more general feeders than any domestic animal except the goat, as sheep will eat nearly every vegetable product with a good relish. Sheep will lyowse on brush and kill out the wild grasses. They will get abundant food from the scattered grata and springing of weeds on the grain stubble. They are good scavengers of weeds and fallen apples in the orchard, while during all this they are making mutton and -wool out of weeds anti waste. The cost of keeping up to the point where all this waste matter is consumed consists only in the Incidental expenses, while the returns are manure, ‘muttom wool ancT Increase of the flock. 11l addition to doing service In utilizing weeds and waste on 'the farm sheep will accept foods-lri winter that may not be relished by cattle. But little grain is necessary to keep a sheep from fall until spring, provided comfortable quarters and an abundance of hay are allowed.

Renewal of Old Orchard*. An Ohio bulletin contains practical lessons In orchard renewal as conducted at the Ohio Experiment Station, where a block of run-down apple orchard planted some forty years ago was brought into profitable fruit production, In order to cover the Interval from the time of planting young trees until they should come into full bearing! The various phases of the treatment are discussed and Illustrated by several figures. Based upon the treatment of this orchard, the autbbr Is of the opinion that old orchards can be renewed In such a way as to produce fine fruit for home and market while the young trees are growing and that the plan of renewal, which Is a process of pruning down the trees, brings about conditions under which Insects and fungi can lie so easily and effectually combated ams controlled as to a minimum the danger of their spread to younger plantations. •• During the first season of renewal the topmost branches should be cut out, leaving all healthy side branches. The next season the horizontal branches may b« pruned jo as to promote a uniform, well-rounded, symmetrical head and top. Suggestions are given as to the method of pruning and dressing large wounds caused by severe pruning. Heading back should be followed up by discriminate thinning of the new shoots and by cutting back those selected for future fruit bearing. Renewal of orchards may be profitably accompanied toy the addition o( stable manure, either worked In the soil or allowed to remain upon the surface mixed with straw as a mulcts Suggestions are also given for the n* Mrwal of orchards other than apple.