Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-10-25
AGRICULTURAL.

wise on one side and wooden one on
the other. For iron working he wants
solid piece of iron for an anvil, q seven
pound steel-face hammer, riveting
hammer, one large and one small cold
chlsel, two or three punches from one
fourth TO three-eighthS inch, trimmer,
and countersink, 10 be used with bit
stock. a screw plate that will cut screw
from one-fourth to three-eighths of an
inch; then, with round iron of the va
rlous sizes, and readv-made nuts, he
can make any bolt he wishes. For car
penter work he wants square, a shay
lng-horse, drawing knife, set of planes;
augur from one-half to two inches,
me hand-saw, with coarse cross-cut and
RIP saw, large cr0Ss-cut saw for logs. and
a grindstOnc.
FOOD FOR PoTAro BEErI.Es.-The Rural
New- Yorker in an article on this subject, !
notices patch of potatoes upon which
the beetles had been killed with Paris
green, the latter beetles being left undis-
turbed. When this food failed, they at
tackeasome tomate-plants which they
soon stripped. Our contemporary then
says: " Five hundred feet distant and
closely surrounded by ether shrubs,
was large matrimonial vine (Lqce,tna
bdrbat1tna) upon which we had never be-
fore noticed potato beetle. Now, how
ever, it was so infested with them that
after two or three days, not one leaf or
part of a leaf was left. 1t seems
strange to us that these insects should
so soon have discovered soil
tary solanceous plant so far off and so
we'll hemmed in by other shrubs. Pc
tunias, growing within a few yards of
the matrimony vine have not been mo-
Tested, though two years ago the petu-
Mas were infested and the matrimony
vine escaped.
SELECTING SEEDs.-As the time for
corn-husking is nigh at hand, it may be
we'll to say, although the practice is
growing common, that it is the best pc
Rod for selecting the finest ears to pre-
serve for next years seed. These should
be traced and hung up in cool dry
place, and not slowed away carelessly
where damp and mold would injure
them. We have noted an account of Sc
lection of seed wheat from the ears in
1S76-the best. heads of the wheat field,
which shelled seven pounds of kernels.
The seed was planted in drills seven
inches apart, the past season, at the rate
of forty pounds to the acre, which was
found to be too much. But it grew lux
uriantly, and began to head out on
April 20. Finally, it attained height
of six feet and half, and was reaped
about the middle of June A fortnight
afterwards it was threshed and carefully
measured in comparison with the area
of land it covered, and the crop was
found to yield at the rate of sixty-seven
bushels per acre. No doubt much of
the failure in wheat crops is attributable
to carelessness in selecting good seed
People.
POTATOES FOR CATTLE.-Potatoes as
eattle-food will probably come into COM
mon use this season, in those districts
where heavy crops glut the local mar
kets and heavy freights preclude distant
ones, In this connection, the results of
series of experiments by DIR. Wolff, a
German chemist, may be proftably in
structive to some of our readers. He
experimental in feeding raw and cooked
potatoes, the animals did not give as
large a quantity of milk as when fed
upon raw; but the milk made nearly
third more butter, AZ pounds of milk
in one case, and only q pounds in the
othe.
BEDDING.-In the barn of model
farmer bedding is about as essential as
fodder. Bedding saves the liquid ma
nure, and is itself manure after it is
dried in the stable. 1t also keeps stock
clean, dry, warm. and comfortable,
thereby saving fodder and grain and
promoting the health, beauty and thrift
without bedding in your barns as you
can in your house, but you can't afford
to do without it. To attempt it is SLOW
emily, shiftless, and expensive. The time
to gather some kinds of bedding is now
There are brakes in your swamps, and
weeds by the roadside which should be
gathered and saved for your stock to
sleep on next winter, and when you
have got all these within your reach,
you can find plenty of muck and earth
which when dried will make u good lit
ter and increase your manure heap.
Later in the season there will be forest
leaves to gather, and if you can't get
better, plenty of sawdust ut
mills. Any and all these will richly
pay for getting. Don't be afraid of get
ting too much. No animal was ever
injured by having too good a bed, and
in this part of the country which was
too large.
THE HOP CRoP.-There is no crop that
is liable to so many fluctuations, or is
the subject of SO much mis-statement
as to growth, as the hop. This writing
of large and small crops, has much self
in it, and a great tendency to influence
the supposed market. This year it
seems to be nearly one-sided matter,
and the dealer not only carefully weighs
the produce, but counts every bale be-
fore the crop is over half picked, and
a surplus of from $4,000 to 10O,-
600 bales, and the large total crop of
10000. This is, l suppose, deemed nee
essary by them in order to start the
market, or depress it to 10c. This.
think, was more than matched by the
Hop Growers Union last year, who
wrote and talked small crop and high
price with such success that 80 to Soc
were realized for a short time. 1t is
now very evident that the crop ran 10c
too high last year, and started, 10c too
low this year The plain truth, would
have kept the market at from Is to Zoe
in both years.
l have no estimates of my own to
give, only personal observation that the
yield for the past three years has been
good, and about the same in this sec
ton The Freeman's Journal of Septem- I