The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-11-15
AGRICULTURE.

| AGRlCULTUlSE.
THE Pig IN NAGRICULrURE.-- Tile pig
has recently been spoken of in con-
tempt when compared with our other
domestic animals. But if we cXaminc
his good qualities at all critically, we
must award him Il high place in our
agriculture. He is found to produce n
pound Of product from less food THAI,
either cattle or sheep, ana is, therefore,
| the most economical machine TO maui
facturc our corn crop into marketable
meat. Our people arc becoming wiser
| every year, and exporting less propOr-
| tionately Of the raw material, and more
Of condensed product. If it takes seven
pounds of corn on an average to make
| pound OF pork, us is no doubt the case,
| the farmer begins TO sec the great econ
omy OF exporting one pound OF pork,
bacon or ham, instead Of seven pounds
Of corn. The difference in cost of
freight makes 4 fine profit Of itself; !;
beside The pound Of meat is usually
worth more than seven pounds of corn
In the foreign market. The production
of pork should be encouraged on the
further consideration that it carries off
less Of the valuable constituents of the
soil than beef. The fat pig contains
only thrcc-f0urthS us much mineral
and only w0-tifthS as much nitrogen
per hundred weight; and therefore the
production OF u ton of pork on the farm
will carry oil only little more than
half the fertility carried Off by ton of
beef; beside, Il ton Of beef will require
nearly Hfty per cCntum more to pro-
ducc it.. This gives in round numbers
the comparative elect of producing
pork and beef. 1t is thus evident that
tic pig should be fOstcrpd in every
way, his capabilities studied and push :.
ed, his diseases carefully noted aud pre-
vented, for he is the most profitable
! mcat-producing animal on the farm.
The pig is IN excellent adjunct to the
dairy, turning all the refuse milk ana
even whey into cash AS he is king Of
our meat exports, so let us treat him
with great consideration.
| SALT FOR POuLTKY.--ThG question
rs to whether salt is injurious to poul-
try, has often been moOtcu. TO get at
| the true facts, | have been feeding salt
| to all my poultry. young and old alike,
and closely watching the result.
| have fed it IN cod lMush and hot; In
bran and everything else, all the spring
and sllmmerwith the following result !:
The poultry will cat all kinds of sa!tcd
food in preference to ullsaltcd; they
arc better in general hraltllr not Il louise
| of any kind in young or old Chc first
year haYc been able to say so), ard
they are all beginning to mOult, many
Of them laying rs though not moulting.
Eggs arc now cheap, and the hens will
be ready for ial laying when the wealth
or Is cold and eggs scarce. This may
| or may not be the result Of feeding salt
largely to them, but am compelled to
| bcllcVc this to he so, aS are some other
pccullarltlrS. have noticed one fra-
! turc. which may not he in favor of
| SalC-thc hens baVc seemed to be more
pcrsistcntly inclined to sit, it being
more difficult to break of the iuclina-
| ton; they sit much closer than usual.
All seem voraciously fond Of green
food Of any kind, and have eaten \ large
quantity OF clover, grass, young corn
and oChcr similar food. My obscrva-
ttons lead me TO the conclusion that
salt is Il needed condimcut for all our
poultry, and in all points is beneficial
TO them. Pigeons are excessively fond
OF salt In any form, and why should
not our poultry be also. Such being
the true status, it. bChoOvcS us TO con-
slider their needs and attend to them.
INCREASING THE EARS or CoEN.-
If we take wclldcvcloped corn stalk
ana dissGct itlcnGChwise, al the aXlcs OF
many OF the central and lower leaves
we discover buds cut through. longitu-
dinaily. Some OF these buds generally
develop cars of corn. Usually these
on tho dissCctcd stalk. Now the fact
has been established that all, or ma
ljority of the buds on the cornstalk may
be developed into ears. Such being the
lact, why 90 notcOrn growers generally
| pay more attention to the Improvement
OF the crop? Even if they arc not dis
poScu 10 give 1t the patient attention
lor THIS Improvement, why not more
generally adopt the Improvement made
by others, when it will require less loss
or time and experiment than otherwise :?
~ singular fact noticed In Il cornstalk
we'll grown Is, that instead OF the lar
gcst bud OF the green stalk developing
an ear OF corn, it is the smallest of the
| buds on the stalk, ut the time of RI
pehlng and Oh stalks which bear no
ears, the buds will he found to be near
ly OF equal size, If examined when
| growth has matured. Some varieties
| OF corn show Il greater number Of buds
to the stalk than others and such are
! usually the more productive.
CULTURE or QUlNCEs.-Whilc quin-
ccs can be made TO grow on almost any
kind OF soil, stin II rather deep, rich
| and moist soil is far preferable to one
| OF an opposite character. Ounce
| trees, plahtcd alongside Of ditchcs, or
on the banks of small streams and bor-
dcrs OF ponds, always seem to thrive
better and bear larger fruit than those
growing on high and dry ground,
| which Is probably owing 10 an album
| dance Of moisture within reach of their
roots during the hot and dry summer
months. But the proper conditions for
the success of ounce trees can be Sc
cured on almost any soil, by the appli-
cation OF manures and mulchlng; and
while we cannot speak positively in re-
gard to the proiltablencss of ounce cul-
turc in New Jersey, or elsewhere it
may be safely asserted that the returns
from them will compare favorably
with those from the pear and apple.
| In selecting II location for Il ounce Or
chard, the depth and richness of the
| SOIL are all-impOrtant considerations.