Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-12-20
AGRICULTURE.

CARE OF PIGs.-Pigs will thrive all the
better if kept warm and dry. Every pig
gerry should have close pen warmed
by stove, for early arrivals of young
pigs. Many litter of pigs dropped in
the middle of winter might be saved by
having some means Of keeping them
warm. A good fire, a blanket for the
SOW, and drink of warm Cruel, would
thus be found worth many dollars every
year.
Work FOR THE WINTER. the
field work is done, look to the house,
and make that and all about it com
Portable, without delay. Where water
lodges, grade the surface so as to carry
it away from the building. Fit caves
troughs and leaders to the house.
Double sashes in the cellar windows
will keep out frost and admit light.
Never heap manure about cellar Win
dows; bundles of corn stalks are best
for this purpose. Provide a place for
| ashes, house Stops, and other waste.
Remove heaps of rubbish, and every
thing that will cause snow drifts.
FRUIT IN CELLARs-Fruit in cellars is
| likely to suffer from heat rather than
cold. In the slow operation of ripening,
heat and carbonic acid are given off.
Whenever the temperature approaches
~ deg, the outer air, if colder, should
be let in to reduceit. In the house Gel
! lar the accumulation of carbonic acid
would be injurious to the health of the
family, and it is highly important that
this be removed by ventilation. In fruit
cellars apart from the house, this is not
necessary, as the presence Of this gas,
so injurious to animal life, tends to
preserve the fruit. as it excludes the
atmospheric air.
COVERING GREEN PLANTS. Care should
be taken In covering green plants which
are to pass through the winter, such as
autumn-sown lettuce, spinach, etc, SO
lightly that they will not be smothered
and decay. Evergreen branches are
excellent for this purpose; forest leaves
and oat straw are Objectionable, as they
exclude air and light. Wheat straw is
better, and rye still more so, being stiff
| fer and less liable to lie fiat, but thev
should be applied thinly.
HAY AND GRAIN.-Some conception
of the magnitude Of the harvests Of hay
and grain in this country may be form
ed, when it is considered that there are
%, 282,797 acres in grass for hay, yield
ing an annual crop of 30,967, 100 tons,
valued at $500, 901 ,252; 81, 627, 021 acres
in wheat, producing nearly 30O,O00,0OO
bushels: of a value of 1926. 000 900; 49,
358, 908 acres in oats, with yield OF
800. 1884 900 bushels, worth $112, S65, 900;
1,766,51l acres in barley, yielding 81 )
40 800 bushels, of market value OF
$25,735, ITO; and ], 1858, 374 acres in rye,
giving a return of 20,374, 800 bushels, OF
a selling value of $13,635, 826. These
five crops alone yield harvest of the
total value of nearly $8O0,000,OO0.-
american CuHiuator.
PROTECTION OF BEEs-I placed ten
stocks in the cellar in the middle OF
December, all in Langstroth's and Lees
hives, except one, which was in an old
style hive, with chamber for large caps.
[ removed them the first week in April,
when it became warm. One small late
swarm came out healthy, but starved
through my neglect. The other nine
have thrown out fifteen sWarms that /
know of. Two settled with others when
swarming, and two went to the woods
All the hives are we'll filled, and the
honey heavy. Some of them filled the
second set of six five-pound boxes. Bees
receive only a small share of attention
when so much other farm work is daily
pressing. Protection in winter, of some
kind or in some way, is both proper and
desirable. Severe losses occurred in
this vicinity after spring opened.
FEED AND BREED oE DAIRY Cows
DR.. E. L. Sturtevant, ofSouth Farming
ham, Mass, makes the following sum-
mary of conclusions at which he had
arrived on this subject, after many
years of study and practical exper-
iments l. The production Of butter is
largely dependent on breed g There
is a structural limit to the production
of butter to each COW. 3 That when a
COW is fed to this limit, increased food
can not increase the product. 4. That
the superior COW has this structural
limit at greater distance from ordinary
feed, and is more ready to respond to
stimuli than the inferior COW. 5. That
consequently the superior COW is seldom
fed to her limit, and as a practical con-
clusion, increased feed with a superior
lot of COWS will increase the butter pro-
duct, but if fed to an inferior lot of COWS,
waste can but be the result. 6. That
the character of the foodI has some in
f1uence on the character of the butter,
but even here breed influences more
than food. T. That there is no constant
relation between the butter product and
the cheese product. s. That the caseine
retains constant percentage, and that
this percentage does not appear to
respond to increase of food. 9. That
the caseine appears to remain constant
without regard to the season. 10. That
increase in the quantity Of milk is fol-
lowed by an increase in the total amount
of casein. II. That insufficient feed
acts directly to check the proportion of
butter, and has tendency to decrease
the casein of the milk and substitute
albumen. H. The best practice of
feeding is to regulate the character of
the food by the character of the animal
fed; feeding superior COWS nearer the
limit of their production than inferior
COWS, feeding, if for butter, more con-
centrated and nutritious foods than for
cheese; feeding for cheese product sue
culent material which will increase the
quantity of the milk yield.-B,Htter,
Cheese and Eggs Reporter.
NUMBER OF EGGS PER ANNUM FROM
THE PRINCIPAL VARIETIES OF POULTRY
After repeated experiments with the