Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1869-10-14
&QritMltural.
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.

D. ovC~vVs~$%sS$"Ss
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
REvlvAI. OF INTEREST IN SORGHUM. The
Quantity OF cane planted this year, says tho
Sofgo journal, and the interest manifested
IN sorghum. is groater than in any year
since 1856. The value OF sorghum rs a farm
crop ~ beginning to be appreciated, and
voting moro attention to its cultivation, AMI
are providing better facilities for It's manu-
iacture than ever before. This is wise, and
all the enterprise which may bs devoted to
the crop will be we'll rewarded. Sweets o.
all kinds are and must DO high for the pres
ent, and probably for many years. last
years crop OF sorghum is about exhausted.
New Orleans and tropical molasscs are
scarce, and sugars are almost at famine
prices. This state OF things is, of. course,
aggravated by the disturbances in Cuba,
and by the tact that Louisiana has not
produced all the sugar and molasses that
could be consumed, rs many pre-
di;ted she would. But there il an
underlying cause of high prices greater in
Importance and greater in permanence than
these accidents Of the time, and which
would be felt even if peace prevailed in
Cuba, and a half million hogsheads Of
sugar were being made III Louisiana. We
refer to the natural increase in the con-
sumption Of sugar, and to the growing
disproportion between the demand and the
supply. This will prevent sugar and mo-
lasses from declining to the old prices, un-
til some new and much more productive
source Of sugar shall be developed. We
make this remark to remove notion which
prevails, that, If Cuba were restored to
peace, and Louisiana to her former pro-
ductive capacity, sugar and molasses would
be furnished at their old prices, and then
sorghum would be no longer profitable.
Reasoning thus, many have refrained from
engaging in sorghum, and many who are in
the business, regarding it az temporary or
short-lived enterprise, fail to make adequate
and permanent preparation for the business.
This is . mistaken policy, we think, and We
advise those who are making preparation
for work to consider we'll, and see if they
are not warranted in regarding sorghum as
business likely to be permanently profita-
bic, and worthy Of u permanent and sub
stantial outfit in buildings aud apparatus.
But all the probabilities are that Cuba will
not for many years, if ever again, produce
her former abundance Of sugar, and that
Louisiana will not for FIVE, and, perhaps,
ten years, produce as much sugar as she
did before the war. So that the producer
of sorghum may calculate upon good, sub
stantial, and a continuous profit from the
business, and also upon the chances
amounting almost to- a certainty that the
profit will be, for some years at least, he ex-
traordinary. Under these circumstance: the
'srevival OF interest in sorghum" must, we
think, become permanent and growing
one.
GROWING PEPPERMINr.-H. B. G., De-
Kalb, 1lls.-Can yol give ME any informa-
ton about growing peppermint in the west?
Is any one growing it here, if so, with what
success?
Peppermint is very extensively cultivated
in st. Joseph county. Michigan. We think
as much as 10000 lbs. of oil has been dis
titled there in single year. Peppermint
may be grown from the seeds, but it is
easier to propagate it by division of the
roots. For starting plantation, it would
be desirable to SOW the seeds in drills the
year before. The planting and field culture
of peppermint is much the same as that OF
strawberries. Roots one year old are the
| best for setting. They are put in light
furrow about one foot apart, and the earth
drawn slightly over them. In three or four
weeks the roots will be firmly established.
and will require hoeing at least three times
during the season. After the first year the
! field requires little attention, except to pull
up the weeds. About every fourth year the
| field is plowed up, and We understand that
sufficient roots sprout up to renew the field
| The plants are cut when in full blossom
| aud before the first leaves begin to fall off,
| which generally occurs abont the last Of
August. although it is sometimes harvested
as lite as October. The first crop pro-
duces the best oil, the highest yield to the
acre, and the largest amount Of oil to the
heritage.
How TO Build Corn CR1B-How tc
have rat proof corn crib is great ques
| ton among farmers. A correspondent Of
the New York Farmers Club gives the fol-
! lowing experience:
j II have a corn crib that has stood fol
| twenty years, and has never had q lat, and
| but ono mouse in it, to my knowledge
Posts ton or eleven feet long and eight
inches square; mortise two feet from one
end; for end-sills, two-inch mortise with
tusk. Taper post from sill to the end, by
hewing off inside until the end is reduced
to four inches diameter; make smooth
with draw-knife, and nail on tin smooth
half way to the end, below the sill. Lei
stills be eight inches square; also, end tie
them and the rafter plates strong with
moderate interties. Brace we'll, and lath
up and down with three.quarter inch lath
dovetail or countersink joists crosswise
lay the floor and board up the ends with
feet long, six feet wide at the sill. and
peak, it will hold $50 bushels. never had
| ~ h,1rk 1n,,k NJ kho
width. II preferred, lay the aoor with lath
or narrow boards, with room for ventila
ton. Each post should stand on stone
about three inches from the ground, and
each stone have foundation two feel
square and below the frost"
Cow STABLE Floors. -Throughout the
| country not more than ono barn in every
ten can be found that contains q stable
floor so constructed but that the cattle are
compelled to be in their own filth, and the
sides. legs and udders of the COWS are in q
most untidy condition when the morning
| milking is done, and unless great deal Of
washing and painstaking is practiced the
| milk cannot be tried from the stable in its
original purity: -.
Now, but little work il required to re.
| move the one great cause of discomfort to
cattle in stalls and almost the whole cause
Of having winter milk unpalatable and i'm
pure. platform should be built for the
cows to stand upon, extending far enough
back from the stanchions to give sufficient
standing room, and no more. In this way,
dry, clean place to lie upon is Sc
cured. There are different modes
for making this platform. Where a
new floor is being pnt in, short pan can
be laid at the back and the balance laid at
- III ~
the last, Of course. overlapping the first.
On floors already laid, q good way is to
spike down two by three scantling little
fill the space between this and the stanch-
ion sill with sawdust or dirt. This will
make q good bed for the animals to rest
upon, and it will also absorb all the mois-
ture that may fall upon it. If dry sawdust,
spent tan bark or dirt are put in, moisture
will not be contracted in sufficient amount
to injure the floor below, unless stock other
than cows are kept upon it. Another good
way is to lay down three strips of inch
boards, and upon these lay the platform of
two-inch plank, giving an elevation Of three
inches. Air will circulate between the
floors and prevent rot. It is not economy
to nail one floor to another without space
between.
Grover AS FERT11Iz1ER.--M hen red
clover is plowed under to renovate the soil,
and when. the crop is good, the clover roots
and stubble, with barn-yard manure will
furnish all the vegetable matter needed in
the soil. while in feeding clover hay, nearly
all the mineral matter. nitrogen anil am.
monia is passed, and may be saved in the
manure; SO that on good land, where all is
we'll managed, and tho clover sod plowed
III while vet in full Xir0r 50 0a to aacura