Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-06-13
AGRICULTURE.

CRUDE carbolic acid mixed with sixty
parts water is recommended for killing
ticks on sheep.
THE rice crop Of this country is COM
ing.to the fore again. South Carolina
has an estimated yield of 44,OO0 tierces
this year, and Georgia $4,000.
SHEEP are being imported from Ger
many to England at the rate of about
10000 week When American farm
ers set about to raise fine mutton, this
branch of foreign trade Will rapidly in
crease with us.
An Ohio wool-grower reports that he
has flock of twenty-five Cotswold
ewes which this season produced forty
lambs. This he thinks is the greatest
fall of lambs he has ever heard of.
RUsKIN, the famous art critic and
writer on general literature, says: "To
watch corn grow and bloom, set, to
draw hard breath over the plowshare
and spade, to read, to think, to love, to
hope to pray. these are the things to
make man happy"
AMERICAN peanuts have been trans
planted in the south Of France, where
they grow well. Oil is made from
them, which comes back to this coun-
try, and after paying duty is used on
salads as olive oil. Meanwhile in
Florida, where the nuts grow abundant,
they are fed to hogs.
A GERMAN paper gives the following
as test for purity of milk. A we'll
polished knitting needle is dipped into
deep vessel of milk, and Immediately
withdrawn in an upright position;
when, if the sample be pure, some of
the fluid will be found to adhere to it,
while such is not the case if water has
been added to the milk even in the
smallest proportions.
WITH hard work, teams require good
care. Horses will come from the field
in much better condition if they are
protected from worry by the flies. The
best protection is thin sheet made to
| fill the neck, with holes for the ears,
and to buckle under the throat, and to
cover the back, hanging loosely at the
sides to give access of air beneath. 1t
should be held by crupper hand be-
meath the tail. Too much corn fed
now is apt to produce irritation of the
skin, and to make the animal restless.
Cleanliness will be found great COM
fort to them. About this time, and for
a few weeks to come, look out for and
destroy the webs and nests Of worms in
your fruit trees. We never drive by an
orchard where the white nests and CO.
cOons show in the branches, without
wanting to get out and nudge the farm
er. 1t is the stitch in time that saves
nine-hundred. Black-knot on your
trees invites the pruning knife. The
little insects that scale up the bark
may be disposed of, recording to some
authorities, by washing the bodies of
the trees with strong I've and sulphur, or
salt brine, or whitewash. If you don't
know the remedies. look them up, and
go for the pests in time.
Sailing STOCK.-One of the most i'm
portant things to attend to in the care of
farm stock of every kind, is that they
have access at all times to salt In this
connection we would again call atten-
ton to the bad practice in vogue with
many otherwise good farmers, in that
they salt irregularly, and at such times
with too liberal a hand. Thus animals
| will gorge themselves, and this often re-
suits III severe purging. Again, when
salt is thrown around the ground to be
licked up, the stronger animals get
more than they should, and the weaker
ones little or none. Besides, injury to
weak animals is often the result Of this
struggle. The proper way to salt stock
is to have the salt placed under cover,
where they may get it every day if they
wish. In this way they take up just
what they want and no more, and,
while eating what is necessary for them,
they never take enough to do them
more than an ordinary tablespoonful
per day, and this is about what they
would require in summer as an aid to
proper digestion.-Chioago Prairie Farm
en-.
THE Duck QUEsTIoN.-Again must
we call the attention of breeders to the
profit in ducks, when properly cared
for and when there are facilities at
hand for breeding them properly.
Many a farmer has realized far more
from breeding ducks than he would OBJ
tain for his chickens, for they are very
hardy, and lay remarkably well during
some parts of the season. As soon as
they commence to lay the eggs should
be carefully gathered and put away; as
soon as a hen mot dltck) wants to sit,
set her with duck eggs, and let her
hatch and care for the brood till they
are able to care for themselves. A hen
will care for a brood of ducklings far
better, ordinarily, than will an old duck.
If the ducks think they have laid
enough eggs, and show unmistakable
signs of wanting to sit, put them into a
convenient coop, put one of your most
vigorous young brakes with them, and
they will soon be willing to shell out
eggs again. which should be set under
hens as fast as convenient, so as to
bring as many hens out at a time
as possible, thereby lessening the cost
of tending to them. A shallow tub,
kept we'll filled with water, will afford
plenty of bathing room for the duck
lings until they are two or three months
old, and perhaps longer.-Pouhry
World.
TREATING ORCHARD GRoUND.-The
raising of fruit is the raising of farm
crop. Now to do justice to the grain,
corn, grass and other crops, care has to
be taken. We pillow harrow, and get
the land in good filth; we manure it;
we drain it if necessary If these
things are neglected there will be
no crop. If negligently done there will
be poor crop. Fruit trees are farm
crop. If the land is properly cultivated,
and If it is well drained, there will be a
good growth; if not, there will not be so
good a growth. As we treat our or
chard. so it will be Hnnce the effect