The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-10-19
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

chase Of special mandres-guano, super
phosphates, bone dust, gypsum, ETC.,
and usually find, or think they do, that
they realize profit by it. 1 do not
wish to say one word to discourage them
from a continuance of the practice but
l would advise them to be little more
careful in their experiments and statis-
| tics.
If farmer puts hundred dollars
worth of either of those special manures,
or any other manures that drain his
pocket Of the dollars, he should be able
to ascertain that he gets his money back
with profit on it of at least twenty per
cent. to pay for his labor and risks. He
can only ascertain this by cultivating a
measured part of the same field without
manure of any kind. giving it the same
care and attention as the portion ma
nured. After he shall have done this
little arithmetic will bring out all the
facts; there should be no guess work or
hope so about it.
If merchant invests portion of his
capital in any description of goods he
will know when these goods are disposed
of, whether he has gained or lost by the
operation; if the speculation has been
unsuccessful he will seek some other in
vestment for his capital. To be sue
cessful farmer it requires as much
shrewdness as that of merchant or any
other pursuit in life.
Now, brother farmers, allow me here
to be little critical. You will ac-
knowledge that there is no manure that
you can buy, that will give such salts
factory results as the manure made in
your own barn yards. Will it always
bring the aLswer-wet season, or dry
season? Yes, then, why do you not
make more of it or, why do you not
take better care of what you do make 7
I have seen some of your manure heaps
levelled out to feather edge, which
edges should have been shoveled up into
compact heap, so as to expose as small
, surface as possible to rain and sun
shine. These remarks will apply as well
to your milking and feeding yards as to
, the main manure heap.
/ Collect all the vegetable matter from
every nook and corner of the farm that
your stock will not eat, and incorporate
: it with the manure heap, or, with swamp
: lime and gypsum from compost heap
, collect leaves from the woods which con-
tain more potash than many of the
{ phosphates in the market. Fork over
3 this compost heap once or twice in the
= course of year, and top dress your
= grass land with it. Leave strip across
s the field not so top dressed, and if "booh
| farming" will not satisfy you, you viii
e begin to learn by " example"
v To do this work will require labor
e and labor costs money; labor is always
Q worth money when we'll directed ant
e properly applied. By pursuing thi
course, you accomplish two purposes
you improve the appearance as well a
enrich the farm.
/ would direct attention first, to max
. ing and saving all the manure that car
g be made by collecting and applying t.
: the manure or compost heap every spea
of vegetation that is grown on the farm
a this, you will soon find, will pay; theI
l. buy as much of the fertilizers as ma.
s prove themselves to be profitable by tn
). tests above named.
The introduction of so much labor
/ saving machinery into the farming sys
IS tenn is, 1 fear, making our farmers a littl
n lazy, and they would rather take hun
q fertilizers than to do the extra work G
a collecting the material and making com
u post, as they consider this little out G
y the regular routine OF farming.; bu
T. they may as well hire labor to do thi
IL and secure the profit to themselves, as t
II send their money abroad and give tn
l. profits to others this, too, will keep tn
T. laboring men in their own neighbor
= hood; a class that ought to be encoul
te aged by constant and well-paid employ
T. ment; productive labor being the found
y alton of national success.
y Flowing down red clover is one OF th
ie cheapest and quickest methods of in
proving farm land. This plan cannot
so too often, nor too strongly urged on tt
"a farming community. have tried an
IN seen it tried by others often, and alwa.
n with success. The best time to do tn
s. is when in full bloom, and the seed abol
a. commencing to form. Not only tt
1t. green crop plowed under, but the roo
r, enrich and mellow the soil, putting it
az good condition for the reception Of al
ID crop.-American Stock Journal.
WHICH IS THE BEST BREED {
O.. Fowls This is question that h
been addressed to us by several suscri
.rs ers of the Lntelligencer, who desire {
We answer through our columns. To an
of wer this question properly requires
is short description of the different breed
,er or an enumeration of the peculiar poir
,e- of each. The large Asiatic breeds a
m. by some considered the most valuable
a account of their large size and qui,
10. domestic habits. They weigh at maturi
ne from 90 to 26 pounds, and occasional
ed exceed the latter weight. The hens a
,te good layers, but want to set frequentl
of They are good settlers, but are rath
ara clumsy though careful mothers. T
m chicks are very hardy, and more easi
reared than those of any other class
le- fowls. They are, however, great feede
n and not inclined to hunt their foe
% Their flesh is of good quality, thoui
rs: coarser grained than that of some breet
nd The chicks, when small, are quite ba
ID. and are not fit for the pot nearly
100 Young as the Games are. They 9
no handsome birds, and the males presen
iS noble, majestic appearance. The Bra
m mas-light and dark-and Cochins 9
tn at present the most prominent breeds
oh this class. The Brahmas we consider
ed most valuable. For laying, the non-s'
or. ters are decidedly superior to all othe
30 They will lay more eggs in year tn
mt other breeds. The chicks of some bree
TO of this class are non-hardy, but ST
I'm much more difficult to rear than t
of Asiatics. To this class belong the b
err ton Greys, or Creoles, the Spanish