Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-05-02
THE FARM.
TO A COW.

mat naugnt Is as 1t should be on this earth,
mat grleVously the world needs 10 be fixed
Ihat nothing We can give has any worth,
That times are hard, that life is full of care,
OF sin and trouble and untowardneSS,
mat love IS folly friendship but snare!
Prlt! COW, this is no time for laZinessl
The cud thou ehewest is not what it seems!
Get up and moo! Tear round and quit thy
dreams!
Losses by failures recorded during
few weeks past among the stock-breed-
ers of the famous bluegrass regions of
Kentucky, aggregate more than 81 ,OOO,-
600.
FROM a chemical standpoint the roots
of an acre of clover contain 1S5 pounds
of nitrogen, 240 pounds of lime, 10
magnesia, IS potash, 10 pounds of soda,
"A sulphur, and 20 pounds of phosphor-
ic acid.
LAST year 1O,OOS horses, $50 asses,
and 5O mules were slaughtered at 81
horse butchers establishments in Paris,
France. An establishment Of the kind
is soon to be opened in London.
SECRETARY OF STATE EvARTs is famous
for raising large cattle. He has just
sold flOm his Windsor vt farm, yoKes
of oxen that weighed $3.50 and 4,S51
pounds, and two COWS that weighed
l 400 pounds each.
To WASH GREASY WooL.-Dissolye a
large tablespoonful of borax in pint of
boiling water. Mix one quarter of il in
the water in which the wool is to be
washed. Put in one piece of goods at
a time, using soap if needed, and if
necessary add more of the borax water.
Wash well and rinse in cold water, or in
water only slightly warmed. Shake
well, and hang where the goods will dry
quickly. For twenty-six years | have
used for washing my white fannels water
about as hot as would be used for cot
ton clothing. My fannels are beautiful
ly soft as we'll as white. | never have
any shrink.
THE statistician of the Department of
Agriculture, at Washington, says that
half the counties of the United States
show that the number of hogs rails ed
annually is nearly 100000. Of this
number nearly 100000 are annually
affected by disease, and of the hogs so
affected. about one-half die, represent
ing a money loss of about $10.00O000
annually. Reports from forty-nine
counties in Indiana show that 1 1884 ,032
hogs are raised annually. AT the same
proportion as before we should have
about 135,000 hogs affected with the
cholera in the forty-nine counties, or
$40, 800 in the state
PRESERVING FENCE Posts. The Amer
ica31 Chemist says: "Wood can be made
to last longer than iron in the ground.
Posts can be prepared for less than two
cents a piece. This is the recipe: Take
boiled linseed Oil and stir it in pulver-
lied charcoal to the consistency of paint.
Put coat of this over the timber, and
there is not man who will live to see
it rot" Like many other sayings and
recipes, this statement is made by a
man who evidently has never had proofs
of what he says; yet | am sure that two
or three good coats of this mixture, on
the parts of the posts that 90 into the
ground, will prove a good preserver for
them; but single coat will not suffice.
The charcoal should be finely pulver
lied, and the first coat should not con-
tain mnch charcoal, as the oil should
be free to fill up the outer pores of the
wood, when the charcoal may be freely
applied. But let no one expect this to
preserve posts made of wood that soon
decay naturally, but use oak, chestnut,
or cedar, and apply three coats Of this
paint; and your children probably will
see them in a state of decay-not you,
unless you live to be very old.
PROPAGATION OF CONIFEROUs TREES
An English writer remarks that "there
are two golden rules to be observed in
propagating coniferous trees. and they
are easily remembered: l. Cuttings
should be made when the growth is only
partially ripened, as they will then root
quickly, and ~ seeds should be sown
as soon as they are obtained, especially
when imported" Practically, cuttings
of many conifers may be grown at any
season, especially arbor vitfes, expresses,
etc., but the above plan is almost imper-
alive with some species that are increas-
ed with difficulty. Cuttings should always
be small and carefully prepared; re-
move few Of the lowest leaves, then
dibble closely i'll pot half filled with
crooks, and the rest clipped moss or
peat, with two inches of silver-sand on
the top. Shut up close and keep mod
erately moist till rooted Too much
moisture will cause them to rot, and too
little will make them shrivel. Seeds
freshly removed from cones are much
more likely to grow than those which
have been separated for some time.
Sow in pots Of loam well-drained, and
place in cold frame.-N. Y. Tribune.
PROTECTING TREES AGAINST WORMS
The bandage system is the only effec-
tual protection we have seen against the
operations of the worm in fruit trees.
We repeat again that in not single in
stance have we ever had a worm in our
dwarf pear trees where this was prop
erly attended to, 1t is simply to ban
dage the bottom of tree with any kind
of muslin or cloth and tie it, letting the
bandage be about six inches above the
ground, and two inches below. 1t
should be applied as soon as the ground
is in a fit condition to 60 upon. These
bandages should be removed at the end
of October, but it will do no harm to
let them alone, only that they remain
in good condition for another season.
AS long as this is continued we defy the
worm. The beetle lays its eggs an inch
or two above the ground early in the
spring, that is as soon as the warm DAYS
in March will admit of its coming forth
from its winter quarters: the eggs are
soon Matched by the sun, being laid on
the sunside of the trunk, and the young
grub finds its way down to the soft bark
beneath the soil where it gradually
works its way in. The bandage prevents
both the laying Of the eggs and the de-
scent Of the grub. Let doubters try it.
One man will bandage 200 trees in a
day. 1t may also protect the peach