Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-08-29
AGRICULTURE.
TOMATOES are good for chicks.


of sheep.
SWEET and nutritious grasses give
richness and flavor to milk, attainable
from no other source.
THERE Is no egg of n bird known
which is not good food, or which could
not be eaten by hungry man.
MONEY skillfully expended in drying
land by draining or otherwise will be
returned with ample interest.
THE Pr1irie Farmer advises a summer
fallow as the surest and easiest means
of subduing Colorado thistles.
MANY farmers in Western New York
still raise large areas Of peppermint, al
though the oil sells only for $3.50 per
pound.
BRANDY and salt, two-thirds brandy
aud one-third salt, is good for all kinds
of gals, wounds. bruises and inf1am-
matory sores on horses.
THAT there is no royalroad to success
as an agriculturist, is shown in the sur
rendering of Chiswick farm by the
Prince Of Wales. He couldn't make it
pay.
A SOUND New Hampshire farmer says
no acre of land ever cheated him when
he had treated it with a liberal hand.
/ Cultivation and manure will redeem
swamp or a sand bank.
| PROF. BEAL, of Michigan, says: ''In
our corntields are often large numbers
ofslender stalks bearing no ears, or very
small ones. These stalks have tassaIs,
and they scatter pollen, and are very
| apt to scatter some of the ears on the
! best stalks-On the very ears which we
| shall select for seed. Tie different ker-
nels on the same ears may have twenty
or more different male parents. Now,
theory and analogy at least tell us. if
we wish to improve our corn to the
greatest extent, we must pay some at
tentiOn to the pollen used. A much
better way would be to plant a piece of
corn by itself on good soil, and test it
well, giving the stalks plenty of room.
Before sheddinS pollen, cut out entirely
or remove the tassels Of all the poorest
stalks. In this way we not only select
seed from good females, but also from
those fertilized by good males"
How TO TELLA RIPE MELLON. When
the melon begins to change color in
side, and its seeds to turn black, small
black speck, scale or blister begins to
appear on the outer cuticle, or rind.
These are multiplied and enlarged as
the fruit natures. A ripe melon will
show them thickly sown over the sur.
face. A partial development only in
dicates half ripened fruit A full crop
of blisters reveals its perfect rlpeness.
When hundreds of melons are strewn
alongside the sidewalk, you will have to
look pretty sharply to find one that ex-
hlbits satisfactory ''escutcheOn," to
borrow a term from M. Guenon. But
it is unfailing, when found, and by fol-
lowing this guide you may walk away
with the utmost confidence. The bis
ter is only to be seen upon q close in
spection, but is plainly visible when
that is giyen.-Erchange.
RAISING HoRsEs.-I believe it pays a
farmer to raise his own colts-with an
if or two First, if you have deep
chested, strong-limbed, keen-eyed,
good-natured mare. Second, if you
know enough to train frst-class colt
when raised. If you have
mare defective in wind, limb,
or disposition, don't, for human
| ity's sake, perpetuate these defects.
There is 10 department of husbandry
in which such utter want of Judgment
and even common sense is used as in
breeding horses. Thee-fourths of all the
old, soft boned, broken-Winded, deform-
ed mares in the country are breading,
and nine-tenths of the fine-bred, SPLEEN
did mares are seldom if ever bred. My
advice is, never breed any but a first
class mare; don't be guilty of knowingly
raising Il poor colt. 1t never pays to
train or wear out such Il colt.
Again, having secured a tirst-class
colt, you are not sure of good, rela-
BILE horse unless you are caDable of
rightly handling it. My plan is to be-
gin to handle colt the first time it
ever sees you, and never undertake to
do anything with it afterward and fail;
and if the colt ever needs Furnishing, al
ways make him punish himself; don't
strike or scold him, and before he is old
enough to work his knowledge and
obedience will be equal When this
state is attained the horses intelligence
will correspond somewhere with hismas-
ter's. The cost is secondary importance
in raising horses to the quality. The
miserable, soft-boned, moon-eyed colt
always costs more than he is worth.
Therefore it depends altogether upon
the stock on hand wheher it will pay
to raise colts There is no use trying
to raise a good colt from q poor mare,
even with the best sire on earth. 1t
can't be done, because one defect is
sure to spoil the horse; zone weak link
spoils the chain" May as we'll make
your farm wagon first-class except hubs
of Eastwood, and expect good wear,
Philadelphia Practical Farmer.
ACREAGE REQUIRED FOR COW.-HOw
much land is required for the support
of COW? This question depends for
an answer so much on circumstances
of the soil as not to admit of very
definite answer In a dairy competi-
ton in Jefferson county, n. Y, in 1857,
the first prize dairy, of sixteen COWS,
was kept on thirty acres of land; the
second premium dairy, of eighteen
COWS, on sixty acres; the third dairy, of
thirteen COWS, on thirty acres; the
fourth of twenty-nine COWS, on fifty five
acres; the fifth of twenty-eight COWS, Oh
ninety acres. Mr.. Schulz, o, Little
Falls, n. Y, estimates that the land in
pasturage and hay requisite for the sup
port of COW is three acres; and this Is
the estimate of Mr.. Darlington for mod
erately good dairy farms in England.
In Belgium, ten acres of land support
two COWS, one heifer and one yearling
or calf; but, when the calves are sold off
young, and COWS in full milk are only
kept, the proportion is two COWS in seven
and one-half acres. Colman estimates