Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-05-09
FARM AND HOME.

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As soon as your hyacinth is done
towering IN water, you can transplant
1t to pot of earth, and so leave it to
dry of, when you Will lay it away till
autumn. Offshoots should be removed
as soon as they appear, and be put in
small pots, when they will soon make
roots, and in time form Towering bulbs.
In early spring all trash should be
raked from the grass yard, and while
soft, run over with roller This will
force back any roots, and fill up the
cavities. The first moving should take
place as soon as there is anything to
CHIP, as this will cause the grass plants
TO spread over vacant places and pro-
duce finer spears.
SALT Your SToCK.-The R,tral World
says: Ifyou want to keep hogs, horses,
cattle and sheep healthy, give them salt
regularly. There is no better vermifuge
than salt. Much of the so-called hog
cholera is due to intestinal worms.
Plenty ofsalt would prevent the accu-
mutation of these worms. All animals
desire salt, showing that it is a want of
their nature, and undoubtedly for wise
purposes.
AFTER wet piece of land has been
underdrained it may be best seeded by
blowing and sowing with oats rather
thinly. Oats succeed well upon cold
moist ground and upon asod, and if
there are no more than two bushels of
seed per acre used the grass seed will
take very we'll with this crop. A MKT
ure of four quarts of timothy, bushel
of red top and q bushel of blue grass
per acre would be preferable. -Amer-
icdto Agricuhurist
MULCHING.-The object of mulching
is two fold, first, to retain moisture in
the ground and prevent it from being
parched by summer heat; second, to
protect the roots ofvegetables rom the
severe frosts in winter. The best ma
terials for mulching are tan bark, saw
dust-or better still, charcoal dust
leaves, straw, or any light porous sub
stance which will keep the soil loose and
moist. By proper muIching we have
seen potatoes, peas, beans, cabbages,
onions and other vegetables maintain
their growth through the dryest sum-
mer.-Ercharge.
THE best COWS for milk dairy are
grade shorthorns They milk plentiful
ly, giving rich, high-favored milk, and
the cream does not rise rapidly upon it.
This renders the milk most suitable for
shipping to a city or town market. BY
good feeding, COWS of this kind are kept
IN good flesh, and, when failing in milk,
they fatten with rapidity. We cannot
see how milk dairyman can afford to
raise calves. Profit is only made from
milk, and dry COW soon eats her head
OFT" A good supply of dairy COWS is to
be found in Southern New York and
Northern Pennsylvania, in the region of
the head-waters of the Delaware and
Susquehanna rivers. A good class of
stock is kept there, bred to supply pur-
chas ers.--Anerican Agicuhurist.
RULES FOR THE CARE OF SHEEP
l. Keep sheep dry under foot with clean
litter. This is more necessary than
roofing them. Never let them stand or
lie In the mud or snow. 2. If a eve
loses her lamb, milk her daily for a few
days, and mix little alum with her
salt. 3. Never frighten sheep if pos
sible to avoid it. 4. Separate all weak,
thin or sick sheep in the fall from those
that are strong, and give them a special
care. 5. Ifany sheep is hurt catch it
at once, and wash the wound with a
healing lotion. If a leg is broken, bind
it with splinters tightly, loosening as the
limb swells. 6. If a sheep is lame.
examine It's foot, clean out between the
hoofs; if unsound apply tobacco, with
blue vitrol boiled in q little water. Z.
Shear at once any sheep commencing
to shed its wool, unless the weather is
too severe. Keep none but the best,
and see that they are properly attended
to,-Eccha12ge.
LOOK TO THE LAMBs.-When they first
make their appearance in the world
lambs are very feeble animals but if
they once get well started they are quite
likely to live, and if properly cared for,
do well. The first day or two of its
life is a critical period with lamb.
Therefore it is important for sheep
owners to look after Hocks when it is
time for the ewes to bring forth their
lambs. Unless they are deformed, or
extremely feeble (which is seldom the
case), nearly all lambs will live if they
have little care and attention. Prob
ably a large proportion of them would
live if let alone, but many would die.
When the weather is cold they need
special attention. A severe chill will
be likely to be fatal unless prompt and
remedial means are used. The owner
should visit the sheep yard frequently
during the time at which lambs are ex-
pected. Every evening he should at
tend to new corners, if there are any
which need help. To give specific di-
rections would require great deal of
space. Every owner OF sheep should
have copy of " Randall's Practical
Shepherd" a good book which contains
a great deal of valuable information.
Experience, too, is very valuable aid,
as the writer has proved, but there
should be a certain degree of knowi-
edge to go before the experience in
order tie prevent mistakes which would
otherwise be very likely to occur Good
care is one of the essentials, and this
every one can give.-Dirigo Farmer.
MoLD.-The fungi that prey on the
potato, ETC., are spoken of as molds
They consist of a web of delicate threads
penetrating that tissue of the plant on
which they grow, and producing clus-
tiers of little iointed stalks bearing oval
shaped fruit A lovelier spectacle than
these molds present under the micros-
cope it is impossible to conceive. 'No
language can give an adequate idea of
the forests of crystalline vegetation with
their transparent trunks and wildering
mazes of exquisite flowers and bead like
fruit, growing in snowy purity on a
fragment of potato leaf or small bit
of decayed grapeskin. One can gaze at
them unwearied for hours, marveling at
the inexhaustible fullness of glory which