The Grange advance., 1873-11-12
Farm Topics for November.

Farm Topics for November.
The interest of i farm during'the month
of November concentrates in and around
the harm. The pfoper way of looking at
farming is to consider it chemical process
lasting through twslve months and repeat
ed every year. As soon as the growing
season terminates and the last of the pro-
ducts have come in from the field. the con-
verting process commences. In June and
July the grass was cut: in July and part
Of August the grain was harvested and
threshed; duringthe past month potatoes
were put in the cellar, and the only crops
left in the field this month, and they must
not remain there long. are corn, roots,
swedes, mangolds, and in mild climates, late
cabbages. The harvesting Of these last
products is the bringing up Of the rear
guard. During the growing season. the
whole energy Of sthe farmer is turned to-
ward creating and experimenting plant
growth. Now, llhe problem is to take
these products Of the farm and using the
barns, yards, and stalls, to convert Ill that
is strictly food into flesh, and all that is
straw into manure; to derive from his
winter food. his barn and cellar stores, all
the milk, flesh and muscle for labor they
be made to supply.
Every good farmer, as he grows old in
the business. has his barns and >pt-houses
more and more convenient: The history Of
most Of our barns is that-6 banged was put
in here, leanto erected 6A thai side, a
spout was rugged TO e1tena tom t be hay
cutter to the mangers. and that aftdF many
years. endeavor to make an old and badly
planned barn convenient, the thrifty farm
er abandons the. ungrateful enterprise,
turns the old barn into cart-house or
sheep-pen, and builds anew. No farmer is
= good one that does not use the hammer
and saw good deal in the month of No.
vember, unless, apd these cases are very
few, he has barn that suits him exactly.
This is the month when farmers are con-
sidering the question how much longer 1t is
best to feed their hogs. The thriftiest men
in this line, especially those east of the
mountains. find if to their interest to
butcher the last Of November. When the
excrements Of fattening hog freeze in one
corner Of his sty, and the snow and ice
must be shoveled opt Of his trough before
he is fed, nine times in ten he has stopped
gaining. The increasing cold stimulates
his appetite for concentrated food; that is
to say, for corn, and he eats more of it
than is we'll for himas If he is excessively
fat and heavy he canstake little or no exer-
else, and all that he does after cold wealth
er sets is to burn past Of the corn as fuel
to keep him from freezing, and convert the
remainder into insiddfat. In short, your
ham, and shoulder, ana spare rib, is made
during summer and the early part of the
fall. and the lard is All that is gained by
feeding after the 20thSSf November. This
refers, Of course, to climate where No.
vember brings ice from half an in4 to an
inch thick, and sometimes snow.
If the work on p4ce is Sd dpitf he'd that
span or two of fa1h hoEsesStfnd in the
stable most Of the til tpe frob NdNember to
April, their diet shodd have fpdeil atten-
ton. If they were gteined 3. Though the
summer, their constitution are more or
less stimulated and 1evered; and if the
farmer wants many years of service from
them, their winter dieEshould be moist and
relaxing. Nothing 4 better for farm
horse than to give himshalf peck of car
rots every morning, hnless he has had
hard work before hinls swedes and man
Colds are about as gSbd, though not so
much relished. b -2
In the poultry -hous{ {three rules will give
eggs all winter-a w4tmth that does not
permit their water freeze; plenty of
lime, gravel, clay, andsa diet out Of which
they can make eggs lsily in January as
they do in June. Thy should have some
cabbage leaves for sal3d, oats and rejected
wheat, rather than dSrn, and some meat,
every day. The bel absorbant to throw
under their roosts is ry garden dirt, and
there should be bd1hel Of it sprinkled
over the manure pile they are making as
often 6 once aweek.
# Before the snow 4 ls e lie $ farmer
ahnn1d rive mn q 1lav = a carafnl ooilaak;nn
of 81 the materials q q likely g need il
farm rpsnt,y Z i annoying md Dis
Icouras sine Whsn : slnan Ioss into s shop %