The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1875-12-02
fur the farmer.
PICKING UP.

The season of harvest is closed, and most of the
itlsort;oI farmers have drawn their large chairs
81, 70 the fire and have turned matters over 10
~ se,ovs y who are depended on to "run things"
unt;, snrinp. This is comfortable, no doubt, Tor
the farmers and well for the boys, but there are
,., th;ngs vet to be done TO have matters in
Eli ysadiness for the winter, when it shall come
E5rst look to the barn. Wepublished recently
sbort article on the effect OF cold on fattenlng,
which was full of truth and timely suggestions.
II IL we'll understood how mucn less 1000 VIII Dc
rsnn;rsd 10 winter an animal IN comfortable
auartars than IL they are housed in cold build
;Hpas See that the stable is securely battened,
10 nreyent the wind and snow from blowing In
nn1n the horses and stock, the cold nights near
at hand. The cost is shght, ana Ine return for
the ontIay is ample. Any boy OF ordinary under
standing can drive nail, and put the battens in
their nlaces The broken windows should be re-
nlaced or patched, and sliding doors should have
new strips put down for them to run IN, if the
old ones are " orn or broken. Examine the roof,
and when leaks are discovered, put in new shin
giles This is important in the sheds where the
Wagons, racks, and other tools are stored. The
leaking of the roof upon farm tools is nearly as
injurious as if they were exposed out of doors
through the winter and there is no good reason
why a shed should not have as tight roof as
the house. While the ground is soft and pliable,
see that the fence posts about the place are
Strengthened up. This is work usually left till
spring, when there is press of other work, but
IL sn0ulQ De zone IN t0e Iall. II We'll set ana
the wires frightened, q wire fence will stand well
through the winter, and the pastures will be in
readiness to receive the stock when the grass
starts fresh and sweet. This work should be done
at once.
1t is too often the case, that the cornstalks are
allowed to become wet and remain upon the
ground after the corn is taken off, They should
not be allowed to become moldy, but set up in
compact stack that will shed the rain. If these
stalks are cut up in to pieces an inch long, wet
and q little meal and salt sprinkled upon them,
they are eaten with avidity by all kinds of stock
and form q diet that the hog would thrive upon.
House the tools, put the hoes, chains, rahes,
plows, harrows, and moving machines under
cover; and it will not injure them if they have
upon their metal parts good coat of oil. Take
the grindstone from under the apple tree, and
put it in the she'd 1t is also good plan to Issue
a manifesto, declaring war on the yermin about
the barn and house as well. A reliable authority
estimates that it costs $40 to winter good able
bodied rat-about as much as it does to fatten q
hog. At this season of the year they are like
men, always hungry, and will eat food that in
the summer they would not touch, and thus be
easier caught or poisoned now than at any other
season of the year. A good poison for rats or
mice is to take squills powder, mix it with lard,
spread it on slices of bread and place it in their
runways under the barn floor or in the granary.
One rat killed now will reduce your stock next
spring by twenty. In word, try and find some
thing to do, rather than sit by the fire and rejoice
that there is nothing now to be done that the
boys can't do till spring.