Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-12-15
Farmers Clubs,


and the spirit of emulation that exists in old-
er and more densely settled localities. But
now in many portions of the western States,
and In several Of the newer Territories, men
are sufficiently near to afford laid and COM
fort TO each other in great variety of ways.
We have always looked upon " Farmers
Clubs as among the most potential associa-
lions for good that have been organized
among agriculturists.
They are schools in which each member is
teacher as well as student, for he must be a
dolt indeed, who cannot relate some expert
enoe or originate some idea that shall be of
benefit to his neighbors following the same
profession. They educate in habits of thought
and reflection, and afford practice in giving
them Ineligible expression.
They afford exercise to the powers of crit
cism aud comparison, that result in general
Improvement in farm management
They develop the social qualities of men,
and greatly tend to eradicate neighborhood
jealousies and petty differences. They en-
gender kindly feelings and general interest
IN the welfare of all. Especially is this true
If, as in many parts of New England, and as
Is the case with one or two of these organi-
cations that we know of in the West, the
meetings are held successfully at the houses
of the different members
fthe proceedings are carefully noted down
by Secretary, as they should be, and given
to the local press or the agricultural papers
tor publication, they become still more wide
ly beneficial. Indeed, it is hard to estimate
all the good that arises from well conducted
clubs OF this kind.-Prairie Farmer.
MIXED FEED FOR SHEEP.-In making up
mixed food for sheep, composed of the diff
terent products which are found most availa-
BILE and economical, care should be taken to
keep the proportion of the nutriment to bulk
such that a proper supply of the former can
be taken into the stomach without depressing
that organ. 1t has been seen that three and
one-third per cent. of the live weight per
diem in hay about meets the demands of the
animal economy; and it probably also about
fills the stomach to a comfortable state of
tullness. If, then, sheep weighing ninety
pounds received half its nutriment in hay and
half in the better kinds of straw (Which con-
tain half as much nutriment as hay,) it would
be required to consume one and one-half
pounds Of hay and three pounds of straw
daily-an aggregate of four and one half
pounds, which, l think, could not be daily
taken into and digested in the stomach of a
sheep of that size. Therefore, to put sheep
on half straw feed, it is necessary that some
other portion of their feed be more concen-
trated or more nutritious in proportion to
bulk than hay-as, for example, grain or
roots-or else they will not get their proper
supply Of nutriment
My own course when feeding straw has
been to give a feed of hay at morning and
evening (intended to average about pound
per head each time all the straw the sheep
will eat, and about pound Of cut turnips
each at noon-the latter being little in
creased if the hay and straw are not of prime
quality But do not often give over two
bushels, or one hundred and twenty pounds
Of turnips to hundred. Hay here does not
average eight dollars ton and though | re-
gard feeding turnips as economical, my ma
jor object in growing and feeding them is to
promote the health and thrift of my breeding
ewes, and the growth Of my lambs.
Some excellent sheep farmers on grain and
clover-seed farms lying a few miles north of
me-where contiguous city market raises
the average price of hay about fifty per cent.
higher than here--give their store sheep no
hay until March, feeding them in lieu of it,
bright good straw in abundance, clover, chaff
and a daily feed of Indian corn, ranging from
one and half to two gills per head, accord
ing to the size and other circumstances. The
from the threshing floor half a dozen times
day, and the sheep are not required to eat it
at all close. After the first Of March full
supply of bright clover hay is given and the
| grain feed taken off. The sheep, as | have
| had repeated occasion to observe, winter
well, and the breeding ewes raise good lambs.
! L do not believe that breeding ewes or
lambs could properly be fed enough straw
and turnips-particularly if the straw was
| dry and ripe-to obtain the equivalent of a
| full supply of hay. If turnips are fed in ex-
cess they render the evacuation too thin and
active for severely cold weather But a
| pound head given to a straw-fed sheep, with
a little diminution of the corn otherwise re-
quisite, would I think, constitute a better
and cheaper feed than entire corn and straw.
! The comparative nutriment of the different
| kinds of straw has been given III the table OF
| nutritive equivalents Dat and barley straw
cut quite green and cured bright are highly
| reEshed by sheep. | had rather have them
| particularly if threshed with a fail so that a
few small green kernels remain in the ends
of the heads) than hay in the situation in
which is frequently cured for uae. Wheat
straw ranks next among the common varie-
| ties of straw. Sheep do not relish it, and
will not eat it very well if they get any hay
| But when confined to it and grain they Learn
to eat it and thrive on it. They must not
however, be compelled to eat it as close as
oat and barley straw. Ripe rye straw, unless
cut fine and mixed with meal, is dry, harsh
Improbable and wholly unacceptable food
for sheep. All straws are eaten much better
by them when fresh threshed and fed fire.
quently in small quantities.
| Cornstalks are contained in neither of the
| tah of n
cured bright, before frost, no feed is better
relished by sheep than the leaves and some
finer portions Of the stalks; and they thrive
admirably on them.
Pea-haulm, if cut and cured green, is high
| ly valuable and is highly relished by sheep
| but when not harvested until dried up and
| dead, according to the more common mode,
| it is utterly worthless for them.
In seasons of great scarcity Of hay and
straw, sheep have been repeatedly and sue
cessfully wintered by feeding them almost ex-
clusively On grain. Such hay famine" oc-
CURED in the best sheep region of Vermont
in the winter of 1860-61, occasioned by a
severe drought the preceding summer
| Flock masters who were determined to keep
well at all hazards, fed their sheep pound
| Tor quartz of oats per head, with such guam
titles of hay, straw, ETC., as they could obtain
In better Indian corn growing regions one
| pound of corn day is given under like Cir
cumstances.-RandalPS Practical SHeplsad.
PRUNING APPLE TREEs-Mr L. 6. Brown,
in the Boston Cultigator, says: ''That spring,
when the buds are swelling and the sap infulI
| flow, is very bad time. Yet there are
many who prune more or less every spring"
He is right. More apple trees are destroyed
by such injudicious pruning than by all the