Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1877-12-27

FARM ITEMS.
Chickens are good manure spreaders,
and coop of them placed in pasture
will have their delegates in constant
attendance upon the cows, to feed them
selves and perform the above useful
labor. Don't forget the chickens in
the orchard. We have had them entire
ly exterminate large army of canker
worms, and one flock is most efficient
ally in fighting the insects of the whole
farm.
The New-York dairymen figure the
valve of skinned milk at SO per year
IL fed to the cows, as it increases the
yield of milk to that extent. Nine per
cent of SKINNED milk is sugar and
casein, and the substances supply to
young and growing animals the flesh
and fat which theyrequire. Some pork
raisers estimate that ten quarts of
SKINNED milk will make a pound Of
pork, while others can only make half
rs good showing.
The grateful aroma of superior but
ter is attributable to the presence OF
certain fragrant herbs in the pastur-
age. A European farmer, living where
this desired pasturage could not be OBJ
tanned, has adopted the plan Of sus-
pending in his churns. when not in use,
large calico bags filled with dry and
aromatic herbs. On churning days
small bags are substituted, and attached
to the beaters Of the churn, thus i'm
parting the delicate fragrance.
Great Britain importec last year Of
live stock 1853, ,l06 oxen and bulls, 56 ,2l7
cows, 43 ,S64 calves. 1,012 ,s92 sheep and
lambs. OF the 1880 cargoes landed,
one cargo was affected by cattle plague,
thirteen affected by pleuro-pneumonia,
1881 by foot and mouth disease, two
by sheep-pox and sixty-one by sheep
scabs, making total of l45S cargoes
having diseased animals aboard. 1t is
no wonder. that 1t is. proposed to pro-
EiSit the importation OF livestock.
A flock of young chickens, placed in
the garden, with the hen mother secured
beneath light coop to keep the young
lings in leading strings, will wage a
hard war upon cabbage butterflies, tur-
nip flies, and many other troublesome
insects. Young chicks win not scratch
enough to do any considerable jsmagc.
We have tried it and know. Farmers
should make their poultry efficient
helpers in fighting the innrinerable in
sects. The fowls are willing, but need
little guidance to do the best work.
Tent caterpillars are a nuisance
which it is the fault of the farmers that
it continues to plague them year after
year. Their natural breeding place is
the wild cherry tree, particularly the
black cherry SO common in neglected
fence rows. A general destruction of
these, and careful attention to the fruit
trees in summer, would soon result in
riddance of the pest. The web CATER
pillar comes under the same restrictions
and may be cured by the same RENE
dies. Immediate destruction of them
on the trees is best done by pulling of
with the hand tgloved) or by burning
by means of wisp of straw or Chi
nese cracker on pole.
A correspondent of the American
Poultry Journal gives the following
excellent advice i'm chicken-raising:
"When you see chicken little droopy
and its comb getting dark. remove it at
once and doctor il for cholera; its dis
charges are green, and if allowed to
run loose would spread the disease. As
a preventative, use handful of salt
twice week in wash basin full of
bran mixed with a little meal, and three
times a week give corn at night on
which pour little coal oil, just enough
TO coat every grain and no more My
neighbors all around have been losing
their chickens, both young and old,
and I've lost but one, and that was one
OF my imported Brahmas; she was af-
fected so differently from other cases 1
had seen that she died before knew it
was cholera; none have died since.
Clean out your chicken-houses; white
wash them and scatter carbolic acid
around"