Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1907 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Bpme farmers do not 'believe In making hay while the sun shines. Never feed millet to horses. It Is ■almost certain to produce kidney trouble. There is no sense of economy in exposure to either cold or storms. The more comfort the more profit A runty pig may be properly defined ■as one that eats Its head offabout three or four times a year. The state fairs are the best educators we have for the rank and file of stock breeders. They set higher Ideals for men to work toward. There is a better margin for profit in a well-fed litter of /pigs than may be found in any other 'like Investment of money on the farm. Get acquainted with your cows. Find out how much milk they give, how much blitter 'dr cheese they make, and. how much of them in the herd are paying for their board. —~~~ One error lu feeding horses Is to V <lve them too much hay. This is a waste. The digestive system is exhausted and results in staring colts and hard breathing. Feeding hay and dry grain just before or at milking time fills the atmosphere of the stable with 1 dust. This dust then settles into the milk pail, carrying bacteria with It, thus Increasing the germ content of the milk. The best thing on the farm Is a supply of water under pressure. Where you can have plenty of water by supply turning a faucet enough time will be saved in a year, compared with pumping, to cover the cost of a very good system. The introduction of the automobile up to the present time has not hurt the horse market. In fact, horses have been as high this past year as they have ever been, and so far as we can see the supply Is not Increasing sufficiently fast to bear the market In the immediate future. Any soil that will produce ordinary farm crops khould produce the small fruits. Work the land deeply by the use of the subsoil plow, and make it reasonably rich by the of some fertilizer. Make the solr fine and mellow by repeated harrowing, and use manures liberally.

Hogs that are getting a good deal of corn ought to have access either to charcoal or to coal alack. It Is surprlsinghownfuchßlackrahunchor bogs will eat if It Is mixed with a little salt, Mnd our idea has always been that they would not eat It if their ■ aystems did not demand it. A disease to guard against is “sealy legs” in fowls. Various opinions are advanced as to its cause, but it is now generally conceded to be a parasite that adheres and “builds its intrendhrnents” very much as the coral does in the coral islands. The best and simplest remedy is to use kerosene oil, applied •with a stiff brush. No one who desires to protect his erops against Insects should object to birds getting a small share. A young robin consumes 40 per cent of animal food more than its own weight In twelve hours in Its first stage. A pair of robins having a nest of young ones, perform a vast amount of work In a Beason, as each pair will sometimes raise two broods. In many sections farm houses are some distance from the county roads and surrounded by trees, hedges and ahrubbery. In other localities the houses are close to the road, wthere dust from every passing team is carried to the house. It may be more convenient to be close to the road, but with so much land as a large farm to build upon, it should be more com--fortabl* to set the house so as to ornament with lawns and make the farm more attractive in appearance, which will add to its value.

Mlanion of Haiorbacki. The Texas Stockman-Journal, In refuting the statement that the razorback hog revels In turpentine, says that he Is discriminating In his tastes and Intimates that he would walk tw'b miles to delve into a farmer’s peanut patch before he would tackle a pine tree right under his nose, and besides eating pine si,routs Is a poor method of satiating his appetite for turpentine, even If he had one. The razorbuck bog has two missions on earth. One is as a campanlon to the piny woods man who al-‘ ways thinks the State Legislature was created for his special use and benefit, and the other la to furnish “streak of lean and streak of fat” bacon to bls admirers In the East He likes to stay down hero on account of the climate

and because he knows he will lot b® slain until their Is call for his carcass from the Atlantic Coast The Color of Efnrs. It has been definitely demonstrated that the food a hen eats has an influence upon the color of the yolks of her eggs. Corn, for instance, If fed In large amounts, or as the exclusive grain, colors the yolks of eggs highly, making them a deep yellow, whereas wheat fed exclusively makes llghtftolored yolks. Oats seem to be a medium between corn and wheat In this respect Not only does the feed have an influence on the color of the yolks of eggs, but It also has an influence upon the .color of the flesh. Oats and wheat have a tendency to produce white flesh In chickens. Hen» In Winter.—,, , - To Insure winter laying, before the feed question must' come the breed question, as.well as the age of hens. Both the Plymouth ROck and Brahma pure bred are winter-laying fowls, all father conditions for laying being met For Plymouth Rocks, the hens should be laying at 6 months of age. They should be hatched so as to bring them to-maturlty by October, or while- the warm weather continues. I£ they are not started to laying before cold weather sets In, they are nearly sure to postpone laying until February, or near that, as this matter of laying somehow seems to be under a’ soft of bodily control. The Brahma pullets mature slowly, scarcely thinking “of laying before 7 or 8 months of age.—lda M. Shepler. »- Harvesting Beets. To harvest sugar beets costs from $5 to $lO an -acre, depending upon the condition of the soil. Most of this work Is now accomplished by a system borrowed from Europe. This consists In extracting the beetsfrom the solEwith an Implement drawn by two to four horses, nit Is In the nature bFtTplow. There are” several forms, one of which Is called a “.puller.” This has two flnger-llke tapering prongs, which run through the ground parallel with the surface, but about ten Inches below. The space between these prongs Is wider at the points, gradually lessening to their back ends. These prongs are supported by two upright pieces attached to the beam. When pulled through the-soil the points are carried on either side of the beet, compelling it to pass through this diminishing space. Directly the prongs tighten against the beet as it Is being forced through the space, breaking off the taproot and forcing It up. The beet Is elevated two or three Inches and left In the loose dirt. Another form of the Implement consists of a plow with a narrow moldboard and a long sharp knifelike share, the edge of which penetrates the soil at about the depth of ten inches, cutting off the beets, lifting them several inches and throwing them on the side over against the loose dirt. A workman comes along the row, takes hold of the top, lifts the beet from the loose soil and with a sharp knife cleaves off the crown from which the leaves have grown. The beets are then bumped together to remove the adhering dirt and thrown in piles and the tops in others. From these piles the beets are loaded Into wagons and delivered to the factory.—O. F. Saylor.

Raining; Sqnaba. To make money in squab growing, care and attention must be given to the work in hand, and the birds must be properly cared for and thoroughly well fed and looked arter through the season of growing squabs. It is possible, from good, strong, large-sized breeding stock to produce squabs at four weeks old that will weigh from 7 to 12 pounds per dozen, size, weight' and growth depending entirely upon the quality of the producing stock, the care and attention bestowed upon them and the care and quality of food fed to the parent pigeons. There Is no question that money can be made In growing squabs,, if properly done. Squab growing has become, like the growing of poultry, a business, and not a pastime, and it Is possible for those who understand it to handle several hundred pairs successfully. Wild pigeons and common pigeons will do to grow squabs, but the squabs are never so large or so desirable for market as are the young grown from the large, strong, vigorous homing pigeons. It always pays best to obtain the finest and largest producing stock possible, and the homing pigeons seem to meet the demands best of all. When starting In the pigeon business, it would be rather expensive to "purchase 100 to 500 pairs. It will scarcely be likely Yhat one unfamiliar with the work would be-able to handle so many. You had better start in with twelve to twenty-four pairs and practice with these the first year. Keep for breeders the following season all that you can grow from these. Gain the experience at as little cost ns possible and secure more cheaply than you could purchase an addition to your flock. If in a year from now you are satisfied with the business and the progress you have ‘made, you might then purchase ai many more fully mature birds as you feel disposed to keep, with the assurance of being able to handle and suo ceed with them without making a los% Growing squabs Is a business In whlct you bad better make haste slowly.