Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-03-28
AGRICULTURE.

allowed to remain in the nests during
cold weather, even if experiments have
shown that they may be subjected to a
/ great degree Of cold without destroying
their vitality At its best early Matching
has too any disadvantages to add to
to the list the chances ofan experiment.
GOOD grooming is necessary to good
digestion and health. The functions of
the skin are very important. The skin
Is an excretorv organ as well as one
which affords covering and protection
/ to the muscular tissues Cleanliness of
| the skin as necessary for the health of
a horse as for that of man. The skin
| eXfoeiates or throws off in scales the
used up portion, and this dusty matter
| should be brushed out of the coat. The
irritation by the brushing stimulates the
skin, and assists this healthful action;
/ but the irritation should not be to Sc
we're. A moderately hard brush is pre-
ferable to hard, sharp currycomb.
| EGG-EATING HENs.-Several INQUIRIES
for remedy for hens eating their eggs
have come to us lately. In reply We
can not prescribe as sure cure as we
wish we could, except that of killing the
! hens, which is more radical treatment
than most egg-producers care to adopt.
1t is generally understood that eating
| eggs is simply a vicious habit of the
| fowls, and when it becomes confirmed
it cannot be dealt with easily. If. as is
generally the case, only two or three old
hens in a flock are addicted to the habit,
it is best to cut their heads off, We see
it stated, that, by using common nail
kegs, filled two-thirds full of fine hay
or chaff, for nests, hens are prevented
from eating their eggs, not being able
to get at them handily. There is also
a patent nest with a false bottom, which
drops the egg below the reach Of the
fowl, but we doubt whether it will work
as well as claimed.-Milror and Farmer.
! FAT HORSES. There is a tendency at
this season to feed too much grain and
get the horse too fat. This is done at
the expense Of muscle, because an ami
NAL kept constantly at work willnot get
hog fat" the food going to furnish It's
sue and mnscle used up and destroyed.
Not so with an animal kept in stall
and given no exercise, except, perhaps,
that obtained while being led to water.
The amount Of grain fed should be re-
duced, and a plentiful supply of hay kept
in the racks at all times. When posi-
bic, the horses should be given the free
run of the yard every day. If only
given their liberty occasionally, they
are liable to run and jump to excess.
Many valuable animals have been lost
by rupture or fall obtained through
giving exercise to eXuberant spirits.-
Western Stock Journal
SPANGLED HAMBURG FoWLs,-Two
years ago we purchased some eggs of
the Springfield Hamburg variety, and
we. are so well pleased with these fowls
that we keep them only, having dispos-
ed Of our old stock-buff Cochins and
Leghorns. The eggs of our favorites are
small, as are also their bodies, yet they
are the greatest layers we ever had, and
the easiest keepers. Our fowls will eat
but very little, and seem to lay summer
and winter with little intermission
scarcely ever wishing to sit. Last sum
mer we were obliged to obtain hens OF
another breed to sit. Their dark legs
are a slight objection, yet their good
qualities overbalance all their little de-
fects.-RurdZ Nlw Yorker.
THERE is not usually much profit in
grubbing big stones and rocks from the
farm; by which remark [ mean to say
that the profit lies rather in getting land
where such work is not needed. But if
a good farmer has few nuisances dis
| figuring his cultivated fields, by all
means let him have them out as soon as
he can. 1t will pay him good per-
sentage above the money return in the
satisfaction of being able to pillow and
reap and NOV without encountering
| these old-time enemies to good tillage.
The work may be done at seasons when
labor is cheapest and thus be really
almost no money expense, The hole
which a deep-lying rock has occupied
may be filled to within two feet of the
surface with smaller stones, thus doing
two good jobs at once The digging
and stirring of the soil around it re-
quired to remove it, are also beneficial
| have often noticed that such places
show the good effects on the crops for
years after-C0r. New York Rural.
| HONEY-C oMB.-There are two kinds
of comb requiredin hive-worker and
drone; the former small and the latter
large cells. 1t takes great deal oftime
and expense to construct it. There is
about two and a half pounds in COM
mon hive, which is made of honey, on
the same principle that if we feed hogs
on certain portion of it will produce
oil or fat; the same with the bees when
gorged with honey for a certain length
of time, portion of it will secrete into
wax, which extends from them in the
form of small white scales (extends
from wax pouches in the end of the
abdomen, which they use in construct
ing comb.
1t is universally considered that it
will require twenty pounds of honey to
make one pound of comb: if so, it will
require fifty pounds ofhoney to furnish
one hive with comb, and honey at
twenty-five cents per pound would be
$3.50.
From this true statement, dear read
ers, we may Judge whether it would
be prudent and safe to buy all the nice
worker comb we can get, and fill our
empty hives with it, ms cad Of render
ing it into wax and selling it at thirty
cents per pound, the usual price, when
it is worth S. per pound to save it for
| the bees. No wonder the honey eX-