The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-01-20
FARMERS READING.
DRAINING IN WINTER - DRAINING
TOOLS.

4C 4AnAbS OANOA ~ ANA@N 40
winter better than at any other sea-
son, especially where the ground rare
ly freezes very deep. A large body of
snow falling early will often prevent
the frost getting into the soil, and one
will often be surprised to see how a
few strokes of a sharp, heavy pick
will crack up the frozen crust. Ut
course the bitches must be dug, the
tiles laid, and all filed and finished
as rapidly as possible, lest it be filled
prematurely with ice As protection
against this occurrence and to pre-
vent the ditch and earth freezing on
cold night, straw may be laid across
the ditch and upon the heap, being
kept in place by poles or pea brush.
At other seasons tolerably good work
may be done with common tools, but
in winter the very best are most econ
omical There is pressing necessity
to move as little earth as possible, and
yet to get down to the full depth a
feet usually. Our Western readers
frequently inquire about draining
tools, and doubtless would very often
order them were they advertised. For
their information we would state that
every frst-class agricultural store
that we know of either keeps them on
hand or will procure them if ordered.
ONE handful of hay is a small mat
ter; one handful day for six months
makes pretty large bundle; twenty
handfuls day for six months make
quite a stack; if each handful weighs
a pound, the stack will equal $3.50
pounds, or more than Ii tons-worth
about $22, at $12 ton; or $37 80, at
$50 ton, How many farmers, keep
ing twenty animals, allow each to
waste a handful or pound of hay
day for want Of little attention to
the feeding arrangements! A few
straws at a time, dropped here and
there, and trampled under the feet,
will soon make a handful, and we
have seen above what the handFuls
amount to. This is a small matter,
says one, but upon just such small
matters depends a mans success or
failure. One man attends to them,
and at the end of twenty or thirty
years has a competence for old age;
another neglects them, and is always
behindhand-he lives and dies, short
in the pocket, and short in comfort.
A handful of hay is large matter,
as shown above. Suppose an animal
in a warm stable to require fifteen
pounds of hay day to supply the
waste and growth of the body, and
keep up the heat. a small crack to
let in stream of cold air will neces-
state at least another pound of hay
per day to furnish the extra internal
heat required. Even the difference
between a cold and warm shed will
often increase the consumption of
hay by two or three pounds day. A
single wind-break or screen of ever
green's or straw, or tight fence, may
save two pounds day on each animal
thus sheltered. A word to the wise
is sufficient.
A SINGLE HANDFUL OF MANURE
Put into a hill of corn will make the
difference between four or FIVE little
Z" nubbins," and six or eight great
plump ears that will shell their bulk
of sound corn. A thousand handfuls
count up heavily in the Autumn corn
crib. How many handfuls of manure
are daily lost IN your stOck-yard that
might be saved in nice order by lit
tie care in heaping up, and covering
from washing rain? These handfuls
of manure are more valuable to the
cultivator than the separate grains of
gold that the miner, with careful toll,
gathers and washes from the earth
and sand bank. lie hunts, gathers,
and saves them all, and thus accumu-
lates his pile Philosophical. sue
cessful cultivators can see the glitter
of gold even in the manure heap;
they only wait a little longer than the
miner for the pure gold to be washed
out by the growing process, instead of
in the washpan. +" A word to the
wise is sufficient.
KITCHEN GARDEN.
The amount of out-of door work
will be governed by the season and
the locality; wherever anything can
be done to facilitate next Springs OPP
erations, it should be attended to
while work is not pressing. At least
the one important article of manure
the key to success-can be accumu-
lated. There are but few crops that
will not pay for liberal manuring, and