Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-12-05
AGRICULTURAL.

/ KEEPGNG- APPLEs.-A correspondent
asks US how he can keep his winter APP
pies until late in spring, say till the end
OF May. There is but one answer to
make: l. The apples must be good
Keepers, free from bruises or blemish.
:. They must be spread out on shelves
or packed in barrels. and kept in an at
ImOsphere of from 40 to 50 deg, better
from 10 to 45 deg.-that is a tempera-
ture as equable as possible. Some eel
lars are just the thing, and preserve
them beautifully. Others are too moist.
Where this is the case a few bushels of
stone lime should be used. Sliding
shelves, six inches apart, latticed bot
tom with a single layer of fruit, are ex-
tremely convenient, as they allow of
constant examination without disturb
ing the fruit 4 friend informed US
I that with large stand of these shelves
III his cellar, with few inches of lime
on the bottom of the cellar, he kept his
apples, until May in perfect cond ition
and good flavor Spirit Of arkansas i.
I / HUMANE, AND RATIONAL CURE FOR
HORSE CoLIC.-Colic IS one Of the most
Fatal diseases holsefesh is heir to. The
symptoms of collie are readily detected.
The animal scrapes with his forefeet,
kicks at the belly, and shifts about,
turns around, smells the floor, crouches,
puts the nose to the flanks, lies down,
rolls, remains for a time on the back,
and breathes heavily throughout But
there is a ready and safe means OF re-
lief and cure in every homestead in the
land-a means and method recently
brought forward at meeting Of the
London Farmers Club, by Mr.. Frede-
rick Street, Il gentleman of great skill
and experience in the training and
management ofhorses. When a horse
shows the symptoms of an
attack of colo, apply at once,
says Mr.. Street, a : horse cloth,
or WOODEN rug wrung out of boiling wa
ter, to the belly and up the sides, and
cover with another couple of cloths to
retain the heat. AS they cool, renew
the cloths as often as needful. A large
bran poultice, as hot as can be borne,
is equally effective and retains the heat
longer Western Agrjcuhurist. ...... -...
4 SENTENTIOUS PARAGRAPHs.-At the
\ last meeting of the New York Farm
ers' Club Dr.. A. S. Heath read the fol-
lowing paper: A successful club must
/ have short, pithy, pertinent speeches,
A chairman active discriminating
and independents; not afraid to suppress
nonsense, garrulity Or vulgarity. He
should know that what is gracefully
done is easily and inoffensively done.
Soils, like silks, are best when fine. A
part of the same field similarly treat
ed, } when finely pulverized, will yield
fully One-third more of crop than the
other part cultivated in slovenly way.
An orchard to be made fruitful and
have large, luscious fruit, must be
deeply cultivated between the rows,
but not too near the trees, and receive
a liberal supply of barnyard manu- e
and fertilizer as top dressing in the
spring, with II good mulching in No
vember every year. Economy and
humanity both teaches us that to cook
food for all animals aids mastication,
promotes digestion and saves the raw
material. Deep blowing aids natures
chemical action, erates the soil, pro-
notes the absorption of ammonia,
prevents drought, and drains wet
soils. PHILADELPHIA Practical Farmer.
DIVERSIFIED FARMING. = Although
specialties are to be the prime motive in
all systematic farming, still variety
of crops can not be too strongly rec
commended The habit of many far
mers of putting their whole force upon
one staple article, is too risky, for uni
versal adoption. In a plan Of this
kind, if the markets happen to be
over-stocked and prices low, the years
product is sold at a very small profit,
and the farmer finds himself without
any resort from which to make q profit;
as consequence, he often follows the
other extreme, and bends all his ener-
gies in another direction, and another
exclusive crop follows another year. A
perfect system Of agriculture should
have in itself balancing power. There
should be such distribution of crops
that farmer may have four or five
chances instead Of one. To be sure,
farmer can not drive SO large a bust
ness-cut such a sWath-where five
small or moderate operations take the
place of big one. Five years of mod
crate profits are better than one gain
ing year, and four TO eat it up. We
will take, for example, farmer who
has 100 acres of land Of this amount
sixty acres are in wood. Of the 100
cleared acres. say twenty are used for
home lots, pasture, corn, ETC., and
the remainder, or eighty acres,
are put to wheat. The fall
may be bad one forsowing, the spring
may be bad for its early growth, the
fly may take the crop, or the rust may
strike it. Escaping all these, the weevil
may damage it; and after all this, it
may be good and large crop in other
sections; hence have to be sold in a
crowded market. 1t follows, then, that
it is not wise for a farmer to put his
yearly support and genius upon a
single crop, and that crop depending
upon so many contingencies. If the
crop and prices be both large, he makes
largely. This eighty acres, at thirty
bushels per acre, will give a yield of
2,400 bushels worth say seventy cents
per bushel. or $1,680 in the aggregate.
EIated at his success, the farmer often
plunges deeply in debt for more land,
reduces his to pasture, shaves off a
portion Of the meadow, plants but a
few acres of corn, putting every avail
able inch to wheat, and in great many
instances makes most signal failure
of the whole business. A farm which
depends for its profits on butter, cheese,
fruit, timber, cattle, hogs, corn, wheat,
potatoes, etc., makes, perhaps, but
little on each crop; but the rains that
come in drops are useful, while those
that come in torrents, swelling the
streams and flooding the land, leave
mischief and devastation behind