The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-09-28
Home and Farm.

Home and Farm.
Corn MEASURE IN THE CRIB. -Multiply
the length Of the crib IN feet. and this pro-
duct by rlie width of the crib in feet, then
take fiyc-twelfths Of this product. and you
will have the number of bushels. If the
corn is extra good, divide by two, which
will give you the number of bushels of
shelled corn.
PREVENTIVE FOR GAPEs. When the ben
has flashed matching saturate her well I'M
der the wings with a strong suds made OF
carbolic soap This should be repeated
until the chicks or turkeys are too old TO
have the Rzpes. The smell of the carbolic
prevents the formation of the worm In the
wInopipe, and mt the same time both pre-
vents and destroys lice. In the coops
strew dry, strong wood ashes. A teaspoon
full Of ground black pepper mixed with
food about twice u week will be found very
beneficial, both as q stlmulant to the chick
ems and a preventive OF cape worms.
would like some of the readers of the
Farmer to try this remedy and report re-
suits through its columns. Practical
Farmer.
SEX IN POULTRY over a year
ago happened TO see the following in
some Of the agricultural papers: One of
your correspondents reyives the old ques-
tion about sex of eggs; 1 send my expert
ence. Last winter IN old country poultry
keeper told me he could distinguish sex
in eggs; | laughed at him, and was none
the less skeptical when he told me tae
following secret: Eggs with the air
bladder on the crown Of the egg will pro.
duce cOckrels, those with the bladder on
the side will produce pullets." The old
man was so certain Of the truth of the
dogma, and his poultry yard SO far con-
1med it, that | determined to make ex-
periments On it this year. 1 have done so,
carefully registering every ''badder verti-
CAL" OF ''bIadder on the side" rejecting
every one in which it was not decidedly
one or the other. as in some it is very
slightly out of the center.
HEI PING THE SoIL-The good farmer
does this. Nature does lot always make
a perfect sOil-indeed but seldom. Then
the farmers aid comes in excellently. He
is supposed t. be man Of understanding
il he is not, he had better be employed In
something he has a capacity for. The
means to help soil are not scant. What
it generally lacks is manure; manure is the
best one ingredient that can be applied, IL
it contains the principles Of many others.
1t moistens, it mellows, guards against frost
aud sun, il drains; this is the reason SO
much manure is used, and comparatively
little else. People will do without q sub
soil pillow, without ditching, without Q
moving machine, without even q horse
rake, but they will use manure more or less.
1t is we'll for the land that this IS so. Ma
ture has made some soils too wet for farm
ing purposes, though to meet her end they
were properly made. The farmer need not
be told that to help his soil he must drain
IL. He then gets the undeveloped richness.
Pulverizing and stirring the soil deeply, SO
that heat and air can get down, is another
great thing. These are the main things
simple, yet how little done.
Nature gives you the soil; you help heI
and she helps you in return-helps you
while you are dong it. She keeps YOU
ground moist when you mellow it, and she
let's the air pass into it with its fertility,
which she took from negligent barn-yards
and this fertility she leaves with the soil
80 that the farmer and nature are helping
each other. Thus our farms are improved
How are they deteriorated2 BY just the
opposite course-neglect. The more we de
for our farms, the more nature will aid us
and thus the better will be our land. TIL,
best--and she pays us for what we can DE-
for her. The land is still hers; she forever
holds the title deed.-RurdL World.
DON'T FEED POULTRY CORN.-In forty
five out of the fifty fl1cks of poultry YOU
will find the feeding boxes supplied witt
Indian corn.
This grain is the lazy mans blessing. NJ
work is required in feeding it out; it keep
al h..
wasted.
Now for laying hens it Is worse thai
valueless, there is so much fattening ma
terial in its composition and so little o
the albuminous that eggs can not be manu-
featured from it.
Your hens will eat it when they will ca
anything, but the only result will be an in
crease OF fat on their bodies and decress
of vitality and productiveness. The grain
which abound in albuminous only shOult
be fed to poultry.
Our experience has been that for thci
breakfast dry dough OF shorts is sufficient
you have some skim milk to mix it with
all the better. A good supply of oats ant
barley should be kept in the feeding bo
through the day, and at night a feed o
wholesome wheat should be given them.
Wheat screenings are not economical
and the weed seeds they contain are enoug
TO "disqualify" them even il they wer
otherwise desirable. Many poultry keep
ers have discovered the pernicious effect
OF corn on their poultry and tried to chang
their dist; the owners have finally yielde
and acknowledged the corn"
In such cases the only plan is to stary
the fowls into eating some other food
thy will come TO terms whea they e
sufficiently hungry, and after they have b
come accustomed TO a less attractive die
they will improve in every way.
Corn should oe fed only in the col
weather, and then sparingly and for th
last meal OF the day. Massachusetts, PLOug
mda n