Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1878-01-30
AGRICULTURE.

Al recent FARMERS mee(lnS III Mas
sachusetts, a speaker gave receipt for
making farming pay, as follows: I" Have
but one business and get up in the
morning and see to it yourself"
THE absolute weight of soils varies di-
rectly with their porosity, and is greater
the more gravel or sand they contain.
Sandy soils are in fact, in point of weight
the heaviest Of all, while clayey land
weighs less, bulk for bulk, than any
other soils, except those in which veget-
able matter predominates. The weight
Of cubic foot of dry silicious sand is
about 119 pounds, and the weight per
acre to the depth of one foot is 4,792,-
600 pounds. While clay weighs seven
ty-five pounds to the cubic foot, with a
total of 3,267 900 pounds per acre of
foot in depth.
FEED sparingly of the common oil
cake" or chambers Scraps" that is
sold for use in the poultry yards nova
days. A moderate allowance-twice u
WEEKS good for them. But over-feed-
ing this, or permitting hungry birds to
have constant access to it, in mass, is
detrimental rather than beneficial. 1t
will scour them, if fed too freely-and
induce laying hens to drop "soft-shelled"
eggs. very frequently. Cooked coarse
meal, alternated with scraps, for arti-
ficially fed fowls, is much better than
giving them the latter When they
have a good grass run in the summer
season, the insect food they will gather
is all sufficient without any coil cake"
any way E.|0.-
CRoss-BREED SHEEP.-At the New ork
State Fair there were exhibited some
sheep bred from common MerinO ewes
] and n Cotswold ram. The tleeces of the
first cross measured five inches in length,
and the wool was as fine as the Merino,
and as easily combed as that of Cots
void. The wool of the second cross, as
long rs that of the pure Cotswold, was
still as fine as Merino wool. The car
cass Of the cross breed sheep makes
excellent mutton, and is nearly as heavy
as the pure Cotswold. We have fire.
quently alluded to the advantage of this
cross, and the interesting example at
Rochester proves how successful and
profitable farmers sheep it would be.
The farmers sheep is undoubtedly the
cross-breed American Agricuhuria
VALUE OF GOOD SEED.-A farmer of
long experience says: "The result of
my experience with Mt least thirty-eight
different varieties of wheat for years,
proves beyond doubt that good, healthy,
unaduterated seed, selected and saved
as farmers select and save their seed
corr, will not run out or deteriorate in the
| least, but grow better In June, 1876,
picked seven pounds of the best center
heads of my wheat, and drilled it eleven
inches apart in rows, at the rate of only
forty pounds to the acre. 1t grew most
luxuriantly, and was entirely too thick
for large heads. 1t attained height Of
SIX and one-half feet, and much of it
fell down. April Goth, it commenced
heading; was reaped June 18th, and
June 22d it was threshed, making, ac-
cording to the report OF committee,
over sixty-seven bushels per acre.
THE ESCAPE OF AMMONIA most
volatile but the best part of the manures
about the homestead, and is, in great
measure. the cause of the strong odor
from stalls, barnyards, sinks, and privies.
In the stable bedding of dry muck, a
couple of feet thick, will arrest and i'm
prison the fugitive, whilea slight cover
ing OF leaves or straw will keep the
animals unsoiled on lying down at
night. The foulest stable will lose its
pungent sdor in few minutes if over
laid with fine muck or pulverized peat.
Dry, and especially burnt, clay broken
tine, common ground plaster, and saw
dust, are also excellent absorbents.
The excrements should be removed
daily, and the litter, say once fort
night, or 70 soon as it is saturated with
urine. " Riches have WINGS" is an old