Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-02-07

From An er;can A Lor;cul,ur;st.l !


From American Agriculturist.l
Seeds of All Kinds should be procured at
once Seed dealers are overrun with orders
just when farmers want the seed to sow, and
the chances are, that these wants can not all
be supplied at days notice. Those who
buy seed at home, sometimes have to leave
their work in the field and hunt up seed from
their neighbors, who, having sold the best,
have only the refuse left. Prices are always
higher just at sowing time. The man who
must have an article, is in the power OF the
seller.
PROCURE GooD SEED.-Fresh plump seed,
free from seeds Of weeds, should be procured,
even if it costs much more than old and foul
seed. There is no economy in: buying poor
seed, but great loss; and care in selection
will be well repaid.
Feeding Stock is the most important labor
of the winter season, and intimately related
to this is
Making Manure, which is, or should be,
carefully considered in feeding stock, and
where the quality of the manure-heap is care
fully looked after. the stock will always be
well and prohtably feed.
Rich Manure can only be made from rich
food Animals add nothing to the manure.
If we feed straw, we get back as manure
something less than the straw we feed, and
straw alone is very poor manure. II we feed
oil cake meal, corn meal, bran, and similar
rich food, to mature animals, they consume
the starchy and fatty portions, while much of
the nitrogen and phosphates goin the manure
heap along with the straw or hay eaten, which
give the needed bulk to the manure. The
more nitrogen the food contains, the richer
will be the manure. 1t il thus that the state.
ment made by chemists, that the manure
made by feeding ton of bran, or linseed, or
cotton seed oil cake, is for some soils worth
more than the food itself, can be satisfactorily
explained.
Bran and Middlings may be fed to all kinds
of stock. All, from horses to poultry, eat
these eagerly, and thrive upon them.
Corn Stalks and Straw should be cut up
with fodder cutter if only to be thrown into
the yard, or used for litter. Short stalks alb
sorb more liquid than long; the manure from
them is easier handled, and they rot more
quickly. A fodder cutter ran by two horse
tread power, will cut 100 pounds of straw, or
stalks, in five minutes, and the cost Of the
machine and often labor will be repaid in one
season in the convenience of handling the
short manure.
The Manure Heap may be made in central
place in the yard, and the different kinds of
manure should be wheeled out of the stables
and pens, and mixed together in the heap.
We find it pays to turn over the heap once or
twice during the winter, mix it thoroughly,
and break up all the Jumps This makes it
1 fine, and fit for use early in spring.
Manure is wasted by exposure to washing
rains, or by being trampled by stock in wet
yards. 1t may easily lose three-fourths of its
value in this way.
Manure that has been drawn out during the
fine fall weather should be evenly spread, and
not left in heaps, otherwise the places cover
ed are too rich, and the rest Of the ground
does not get its share. We see many fields
now dotted over with heaps, hauled out in
December. Leaving them till spring, is one
of the small leaks which help to make greater
ones.
Watering Stock is very important part Of
the care needed for them at this season.
Empty and clear the troughs of ice every af-
ternoon, SO that when filled in the morning
tbere is no ice to chill the water. In cold
weather water should not be drawn from the
well until it is needed for the stock. Covers
should be provided for all outside water
troughs to keep out snow.
i Clear away the Ice from watering places,
gates, and all places where cows would be in
danger of slipping; many calf is lost by rea-
son of cows falling upon icy places. If moth
ing else can be done, scatter upon the ice
some coal ashes, or sand, which Will thaw in
during sunshine and will freeze on to the sur
face at night, and make it rough.
i A Smoke house may be prepared and set
up ready for use next month, when bacons
and hams may be taken from the pickle. A
store of corn ,cobs may now be saved for the
smoking. A smoke house, feet square, and
}, 8 feet high, made of double boards, will be
!, sufficient to cure large quantity of meat by
beginning early. Finish this work, and have
the meat packed away safely before the flies
appear.
Grinding Feed is profitable. Ground feed
goes farther in use than whole grain. Where
the money can be afforded to purchase mill,
this can be done with profit where 10 head Of
, stock are kept. A mill that will grind ,0OC
bushels before it needs repair, can be bought
for $50, or less There is saving of 400 bush
! els in the shape of toll, and the time of going
} to mill besides. This latter will be about
, equal to the time taken up in grinding al
home, and there will be left the value of the
400 bushels of grain for the $50 spent, and
the mill can be made as good as new at 8
, small cost. -I...sss .-,.7aIt
YopNG STooK.-To keep young stock grow
ing through the winter, will hasten their ma
turity by half the time. A good thrifty two
year old that has had no setback, will be
r equal in weight to afcuryear old that has moi
grown during the winters. The cost of two
years feed is saved by the expenditure of the
little extra feed and care for two winters.
This principle applies to all live stock.
Our Feeding is waste of food, and causes
, loss of flesh. Indigestion from repletion,
stops growth, and gives trouble to restore
health and thrift. The art of feeding is an
important part of a farmers knowledge, and
should be studied with care, and practiced
with patience and close observation. The use