Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-06-23
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other injudiciOus management, than ii
any other way. Why, it is simply ap
palling to consider how large percent
age of their turkeys most people lose
The grave trouble is, they stuff theil
Young and tender turkeys with crude
Indian meal. and keep stuffing then
until the little things lie down and die
They might as well feed strychnine
Young turkeys do not need any feed
during the first twenty-four hours OF
life. How does the old mother turkey
manage to rear a large brood when she
has stolen" her nest, and has matched
unmolestedf Her tender blood is moi
dosed with Indian meal three or fOul
times day and yet she will rear every
one. The truth is, most young turkeys
are fed quite too much. There is nc
danger that they will famish if their
craws are not crammed full of feed
every moment. Indian meal is too
heavy, too rough, and too hard of diges-
tion for little turkeys. The proper
feed for young turkeys, Until they are
two weeks old, lis boiled eggs and curd
which has not been salted. Salted food
will kill young turkeys about as soon
as a dose of arsenic. Another thing is
of great Importance, namely-keeping
the young bird from getting wet.
Watch the mother turkey when rearin5
woods. She always keeps quiet, and
gathers her brood beneath her until
the grass is dry. When turkeys are
Matched by gallinaceous hen, if she is
not a careful and tender nurse, but is
necessarily roaming through the wet
grass, she Will lose more than half of
her brood. As soon as turkeys are full
fledged they need a brood range, yet
they must be kept dry and quiet 50 long
h. "a
turkeys are two weeks or more old they
may be supplied with mush and milk,
fed warm. But the mush should be
made of equal parts of wheat-meal and
corn-meal. If they have become ac-
custOmed to curd, and warm mush and
milk, one feeding of crude meal will
often kill the entire brood. If one has
prolific female turkey that has been
kept properly over winter, by careful
management she will lay over fifty eggs
and if the eggs are placed beneath gal
linaceOus hens, and the management is
Iudicious through the season, over fifty
valuable turkeys can be reared from
only one female turkey, providing the
Young birds are not killed by over
feeding.-NeC York Farmers Club.
Tdrring Fence Posts.-A correspon-
dent gives the following:
over twenty-five years ago Init upon
a plan OF preparing fence posts, that in
sures their durability better than any
way that | have ever heard Of | don't
admire the plan of hiding a light
under half -bushel,' so | will give you
my experience. My attention was
called to 1t by seeing fishermen putting
nets and lines in hot coal tar as they
told me to keep them from rotting. |
was then fencing a lot, using cedar
a 1 TVEn nr
| got some common white oak pieces
from saw mill, four inches 10y six, and
put them in boiling coal tar to the depth
of over two and half-feet, kept them
there from twenty to thirty minutes.
There was a shallow drain across the
lot IN which there was water in wet
weather during winter and spring. /
set these posts in that low place, leav-
ing SIX or eight inches that had been in
tar above the ground. L made no
further experiments then. Sixteen
years after that | moved the fence, and
found the cedar posts more or less de-
cayed; some had taken a dry rot, and
would break of at the topof the ground
many were half dccayed, and few, if
any, entirely sound. To my surprise |
found the tarred oak posts as sound as
when put in. | used them in making
shed.
Testing !Seeds-One of the little things
which a farmer may neglect to his cost,
is that of testing field and garden seeds
before planting them. Most important
IN this matter is the corn crop. An ex-
perienced corn grower can generally
give pretty safe Opinionas to whether
corn will be good for seed. There are
some special marks which help to de-
tCrmine this question of vitality, but
when II ls so easy to determine the
question definitely by planting a few
kernels, 1t Is not so wise to run q slight
danger of being mistaken. In less
important degree, the same is true of
garden seeds.
We strongly advise taking a few
seeds of each kind to be planted, count
ing them. and planting in box of good
earth, kept In a warm room and watered
as needed. In a few days the plants
Will appear, and ii all or nearly all of
the seeds have germlnated vigorously,
the quality of the seeds may he CON
sidered positively settled. The work
should be done promptly, so as to get
another assortment If that on hand
proves Western Rural.
Hired Men.-Every farmer must de-
eide for himself if it is better for him TO
hire help and cultivate more land, or
less land and do without help. But it
Ia cheaper to pay for help than to let
work get behindhand, or to have neces.
sary work undOne. The best help is |
the cheapest. A married labourer is as |
rule the steadtest. Besides he need |
not be boarded in the house, to the |
serious inconvenience of the family, |
and the destruction of domestic privacy. |
Farmers who hire constant help should |
provide dwelling for the men, where |
they may be boarded by one of them
selves. Farm labourers should be paid |
every week or every month these short |
settlements prevent mistakes and dis |
putes. Cash purchases more than |
credit.
Neo rersus Old Seeds.-Persons, in
ordering their seeds for spring plant
ing should be sure to obtain them of |
reliable seed dealers. Seed will not |
germinate If they are too old and dis
appointment and delay often result |
Experience of sccdsmen indicates that,
If properly gathered and preserved,
beans Will retain vitality years; beet,
Z; cabbage, 4 carrot, 2 sweet corn, 9
cucumber, 10; lettuce, 3; melon, 10;
onion, parsnlp, /; peas, 2 radish, 8
squash, 10; tomato, :; turnip, 4.
Bone Spdrm. .-Muria&ic acid, eight
ounces; pulyerized cantharides, one
ounce; I'LL drachm phial about one
third full with the medicine. and after
greaSing below the lump with lard or
oil, apply it upon the lump, covering a
space the size of a five cent piece. Ap-
ply II once every day for four days, |,
then keep the sore well creased with
lard or oil until it heals up. If one
course of treatment fails TO cure, apply
the medicine as before; the second
never fails.
StrGmp Muck is ordinarily composed
chiefly of doeayed vegetable matter.
In its dry and pulverized state il is
nearly identical with the leaf mold SO
highly prized by horticulturists. When Ii
dry its absorbing qualities are very