Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 October 1907 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Sheep are good “weedera,” but they appreciate and pay for good pasture. The United States shipped alb road last year $4/100,000 worth of butter and 12,600,000 worth of cheese. Patrons of party telephone lines Should practice the golden rule In the use of their "phones at least * Discomfort from any sort arrests development and consequently produces loss In proportion to the degree and continuity of the same. It Is said that many horses kick for fear of the darkness and If a light be left In the stable, most stall kickers will abandon the vice. Marketing grain at the elevator. ls a mighty slow way to liquidate a debt If It Is marketed through the medium of good live stock It counts much faster* Go round the fences and see that there are no holes for the sheep and lambs to crawl through. Once th« habit Is formed, It will stick like a burdock bur. When animals are exposed to temperatures below what is normal, additional food proportioned to the degree of the exposure will be necessary to restore animal heat Although roots contain from 80 to 00 per cent of water, they are extremely valuable In feeding, as the nutrients are nearly all digestible and the juiciness Is essential. Wiping the flank and udder of the cow with a Hamp cloth just before milking Is a very efficient method for reducing the number of bacteria which falls Into the milk pall. It Is doubtful If It pays at any time to let bogs run on pasture without feeding them at least some grain. Even dry sows Intended for breeding purposes should be fed a little so as to get thein In good shape for another year's work. There is no kind ’of fowls under the sun, the chickens of which, If well fed all their Ilves, will not be tender, juicy and if killed before they are too old, and there Is no breed that will be plump, tender and fit for the table unless fed thus. A gardener who has tested It for three years says that broken pieces of bone are much better than broken crockery for draining flower pots. The Jilants appropriate the fertilizing qual-; ty of the bones and make such vigorous growth that the plants In pots supplied with bones can be noticed at once. In estimating the profit from a butter cow something Is djie the cow for the skim milk and buttermilk furnished the pigs. A lot of pigs should always be kept where cream Is sold or butter sent to market The pigs provide a source for the disposal of refuse milk, and a portion of the profit should be credited to the cow. Ganna roots should be kept In the cellar. They can stand cold well, provided they are in a dry location, but moistures will seriously Injure them. Put the roots In the ground after danger of frost Is over In the splrng. The eanna Is a beautiful plant, and the more rapid Its growth and larger the plant the better, hence the ground for the roots should be well prepared and manure used liberally. No animal Is profitable if It is not making gain In flesh or producing something. The horse performs labor, the cow yields milk, and the young stock should be kept In rapid growth; but the steers, wethers and barrows will entail loss if they do not dhow some gain, as they are heavy food consumers. Every pound of weight lost task In order to regain the lost Wagt o and compensate for the time. NO-farmer should be satisfied to have his stock at a standstill. Sprayins Potatoes. An Ohio Experiment Station Bulletin recently published says; The late blight and rot of potatoes may be prevented by spraying frequent' ly with Bordeaux mixture, made of four pounds of blue vitriol and four to five pounds of lime to fifty gallons of water, beginning spraying Immediately, and repeating the spray at eight to ten days’ Intervals till crop is mature. The more frequent spraying Is necessary later In the season. The Increase in 1000 from spraying as above, was forty to forty-five bushels marketable potatoes per acre upon the late crop. Four to six sprayings may yet be required upon very late planting*. Delay In treatment is unwise. For earlier treatments, when plants are amaller, about fifty gallons of mix-

ture will be needed per acre, but from this time forward about 100 gallons per acre or even more will be required for efficient treatment With- ordinary four-row sprayers it will be wise to go twice over the fields, moving la opposite direction the second time after first spray has dried. Sex of Pig« »t Birth. The Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture has been collecting Information with a view to ascertaining the relative proportion of the two sexes of pigs at birth. Reports were received from eighty-two breeders, located in twenty-three different States and territories, representing, eight different breeds Berfnrtrtro, Chester Whites, Duroc-Jerseys, Hampshlres, Large Yorkshires, Ohjo —lmproved Poland-Ohlnas and Tamworths. One thousand four hundred and seventyseven litters were reported, with a total of 18,285 pigs, of which there were 0,660 boars and 6,625 sows. This shows the proportion to be almost equal, there being 1,005 boars to every 1,000 sows, or 201 boars to every 200 sows. Treatment of Domestic Animals. Few things about the farm need reformation so much as the treatment given the faithful, helpless farm animals. Until steam and electricity come Into common use the farm horse will ever be an Indispensable factor in agricultural production. The farmer with a plow without the horse would be in as bad a fix as to have the horse without the plow. Aud when we consider the treatment of the faithful and Indispensable farm horse receives from so large a number that are absolutely dependent upon his work —how he is overworked and underfed —it Is enough to make humanity weep. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has accomplished a great good in many of the large cities by protecting the ‘lame and the halt,” and the half-starved and unmereifelly eve»lmrde®ed beasts of burden that are being cruelly Imposed upon; but this great work of humanity should not be permitted to stop at what has been done, but extended to every nook and corner of the continent where work animals of any kind are employed. Every State Legislature and town and city council should enact stringent laws with severe penalties and have officers promptly enforce them In every Instance, where violated, of overworking, underfeeding and overtaxing any horse, mule or ox In the land. It should be the duty of every State, county and municipal officer to enforce these laws under heavy penalty for neglecting the same. Any man who works an animal without giving it proper feed and humaue treatment deserves punishment commensurate with the offense. The law should give ample protection to all dumb animals from Inhuman treatment of brutal owners.

Preserving Sweet Potatoes. A bulletin of the South Carolina Station calls attention to. the fact that, while sweet potatoes may be produced In abundance in the South at small cost, and furnish a cheap and wholesome food that Is nutritious and palatable, not only for man, but for domestic animals, they have fallen far short of the measure of success as a market crop, because (1) they are too bulky to pay for extended transportation, and (2) they cannot stand rough handling and exposure to freezing weather. The station, therefore, undertook to find a method by which the potatoes might be dried, with an Improvement of the keeping quality and fio loss of edible quality. After numerous experiments it believes that these results may be obtained by boiling the potatoes in an open kettle and drying In a fruit evaporator. The method followed at the station was as follows: By means of a derrick used In the cannery several bushels of green potatoes were lowered tn an Iron basket into a boiler in which the water was heated by steam. To secure uniform cooking the roots should be nearly of the same size. Those weighing from one to two pounds required one hour for thorough cooking. Six to eight hours were required for evaporating them at a temperature of 150 degrees F. An ordinary laborer peeled and sliced one bushel per hour. The evaporated potato, It Is claimed, will keep for an indefinite time and bear transportation to any part of the world at any season. It contained moisture, 8.42 per cent: erode ash, 2.48 per cent; crude protein, 5.06 per cent; crude fair, 80 per cent; crude fiber, 2.08 per cent, and nitrogen-free extract 86.16 per cent To prevent hardening of the product is should be packed in close boxes as soon as practicable after removal from the hot room, • To prepare the potato for the table, "soak the slices in warm water for an hour and prepare as dressed or candied potatoes. The desslcated potatoes may also be used as are the fresh roots for puddings or custards.” For the latter purpose they may bo quickly prepared by adding a small amount of warm water and boiling; and not more than fifteen minutes will usuaMy bo required.