Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 December 1907 — FARM GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM GARDEN

in selecting apple trees choose young vigorous trees, not over two years old from the graft. As long as the brood sow is prolific, a suckler and a careful mother, she is too young to be sacrificed for an uncertainty. i Exposed manure, according to the Canadian experimental farm test, loses about one-sixth of its phosphoric acid and more than one-third of its phosphate. Sklmmllk Is more valuable as a hog food when mixed with ground grain, shorts or something of the kind. The grain also does the hog more good than If fed without the milk. About the most profitable animal on the farm now Is the sheep. At present prices, and even a little lower, they are the easiest and best money, yet do not put all the eggs In the one basket. The cow’s stomach Is not a complete strainer that separates all good from all bad; and all kinds of food cannot be given to a cow with full expectancy that she can from It give an absolutely pure milk.

The soil is the stomach of plants. In the soil the food Is received and digested. On the quantity and quality of food put In the plant’s stomach depends Its welfare, just as much as you depend upon the food in your stomach. I* - •» The advantage of using the separator over the old plan of settling the milk consists in the uniformity and certainty of the results, the saviqj of labor, time and storage room, ease of management and as a result of these economy. Men who handle pure-bred stock and who itse printed stationery ought to have printed directions, telling where the farm Is located and its direction fgpm the nearest railroad station. This might bring many a buyer who would not otherwise visit the farm. On the tract of 360 acres purchased by the State, near Madison, Ind., for the Southern Hospital for insane peopple, Is a fine fifty-acre orchard of Winesap, Grimes, Transparent and other good apples, and the crop was bought by a Lafayette dealer for $2,600. Ordinarily there is no advantage In high roosts and the fowls will do better and keep healthier If the perches are not more than three feet above the floor. Of course all the slats should be on a level, as this avoids crowding and fighting for the highest positions. If you are not using a low-down wagon you "are doing, a whole lot of unnecessary lifting. For hauling fodder or corn for the silo, the low-down wagon fits exactly. It Is good, too, for hauling out manure, 1f you do not have a spreader.

According to an exchange, a townswoman Who recently visited In the country fainted dead away twice In her hostess’ kitchen. Grice when she saw her put at least a pound of butter on mashed potatoes and once when she saw her using real cream In making a chicken gravy. A fanners’ club in northern Illinois has been formed for the sole purpose of looking after the roadways in the district K, has been proposed that clover or alfalfa be sown, each fanner seeding the strip adjacent to his own land, and then each one Is bound to keep his strip clear of weeds. When oats and other grain having a liberal percentage of protein are scarce and high, horses doing hard work will do well on corn if fed In connection with a liberal proportion of clover or alfalfa hay. In fact, some horses doing regular work have been and are fed on clover or alfalfa hay with no gralfa and do well. If one wants to have green corn on the table long after frost, let him plant some su£ar corn very late In the season so It will be In the milk just about frost Before frost falls pull up the stalks by the roots, with dirt on them and store them In a cellar, where it is pretty damp. It will keep this way for weeks. As far sbuth.as BL-Louis it Is possible to have green corn In this way well Into November.

Milk of Swiss Goat. The Swiss goats* milk la considered very fine in flavor and nutrition, contapping about twice as much butter fat as that of the best cow’s milk. Goats are practically immune from all diseases, which makes the milk a valuable factor when used by Infants and invalids. One man near Loomis Sanitarium at Liberty, N. Y., quotes that he is milking forty Swiss Toggenburg does and that he eannot supply the demand for goats’ milk at 25 cents a quart The average Swiss Toggenburg goat will give two to four quarts day; some instances are recorded where

extra good milkers hate given as hlgs as seven quarts a day of milk equal ip richness to twice the amount ol cow’s milk.£ Immature Corn for Cows. Trials ht the Vermont station show that there Is no material difference in milk-producing, value between immature and mature corn fodder when compared on the. off dry inailiT The same results 'were secured with silage made from' mature and immature corn. A pound of dry matter of the Immature com produced the same results as a pound of dry matter of the mature corn. This suggests that if corn is cut too early the farmer loses too many pounds, and on the other band if cut too late too much, In the way of coarse butts Is wasted. Angora Goats. All goats are fairly.-good at cleaning fields of brash,, but the Angora is especially adopted to this work. They seem to prefer the leaves and small twigs of bushes to grass, and strip them clean so that they die. A writer In a farm paper tells about the clearing of a field that had become overrun with hazel and other brash and which was entirely cleared of the brpsh in one season. This was last year and this year not a single living bush .can be seen, but the dead ones are In evidence all over the field. Now, naturally, the grass has a chance and can make a reasonable growth. No doubt, ft would pay on the average farm of several hundred acres to keep a. herd of goats to keep the fields clean. On many old farms the fields so soon become foul that it becomes a laborious as well as expensive undertaking to clear them. Whereas the goats can do it and make money for the owner at the same time. ■*-

K(nu Cora. In commenting on the National Corn Exposition recently held at Chicago, Orange Judd Farmer says: There' 7 were about 8,000 exhibits of com on display. Taking the entire exhibit into consideration, the corn on the tables was probably the best ewer shown at any exhibition. This is most remarkable, considering the unfavorable conditions which prevailed through the growing season. It would not be possible to have anything like com of the high quality shown were It not for the great advancement in breeding and cultivation of late. Pure bred varieties mature earlier and resist unfavorable weather conditions to a greater extent than the inferior com grown a few years ago. In the class open to the world the showing was wonderful. Probably a third of the entire exhibit was In this lot. The Illinois exhibit, as would naturally be expected, was very complete in white and yellow classes. Undoubtedly, however, the yellow varieties predominated, the majority of them being of the Reid type, This Is a remarkable uniform variety and of high scoring quality. The white samples were just about as numerous, and many of them were of very excellent character, but as show com they did not compare quite as well as yellow corn. Outside of the white and yellow varieties shown by lowa exhibitors there was an exceedingly fine showing of calico and red com. In the cattle feeding States these varieties seem to be exceedingly popular.

Dairy Management. The Vermont Dairymen’s Association has promulgated the following rules for the management of dairies: The stable should be well ventilated, lighted and drained; should have tight floors and walks and should be plainly constructed. No musty or dirty litter, no strongsmelling material and no manure should remain In the stable longer than is absolutely necessary. .. . - v Whitewash the stable once or twice a year. Would recommend the use of land plaster in manure gutter dally. Feed no dry, dusty fodder previous to milking. If dusty, sprinkle before it is fed. Brush the udder Just before milking and wipe with a clean doth or sponge. Keep healthy cows. Promptly remove suspected animals. In particular, add no cows to the herd unless It is certain that they are free from tuberculosis. Do not excite cows or expose them to stress of weather. Feed a good cow liberally with fresh, palatable feeding stuffs. Do not change these suddenly. Provide water, pure, but not too cold, In abundance. The milker should be clean and his clothes likewise. Milk quietly, quickly and thoroughly. Throw away Into the gutter the first few streams from each teat. This milk Is very watery, of very little value and Is quite apt to Injure the remainder Of the milk. Remove the milk promptly from the stable to a dry room where the air Is pure and sweet. _ Drain the milk through a clean flannel cloth, or through two or three thicknesses of cheesecloth. Aerate and cool the milk as soon as It Is strained. The cooler it is the more souring Is retarded. If ('overt are left off the cans, cover with dotfe or mosquito netting. Never mix fresh milk with that which has been cooled, nor does a can containing warm milk, nor allow ft ta frees*.