Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1879-01-02
FARM NOTES.

SOeNASos we'll kOA NM PtS SOhAO vi AllC
oil OF cummin on your hand and ap-
proach the horse on the windy side.
He will then move towards you. As
soon as you can reach him, rub some
OF the cumm1n on his nose, give him a
little of the castor or anything BE likes,
and get few drops Of the oil of rhod-
ium on his tongue. After this you can
make him do nearly everything you
want. Treat him kindly, feed well,
handle gently, and your victory is GER
tain.-TuJ, Field and Farm.
GAs-TAR PAINT FOR WHEELS. Last
year the spokes of my wheelbarrow
worked loose, and tried to tighter
them by wedging; but the wedges
worked out, and the wheels were likely
to come to pieces. | had some gas tar
handy, and filed the joints with it, and
also dipped the wedges into the tar.
All was tight and staid tight. l next
painted my wagon hubs with it, both
the two-horse and one-horse, filling
cracks. and joints thoroughly. This
kept the spokes tight through the re-
mainder Of the season. This year
obout the first Of August one of my
tires came off on the big wagon, and L
broke two felIoes. Torepair that wheel
cost me 81 10. As soon as I got that
wheel home from the shop, painted
every wheel of three wagons and the
old buggy with gas tar-hubs, spoke
and felloes. They soon dried and the
paint was as hard as japan, and shone
like black paint with varnish. No
moro loose tiraS Sipoo D.o;.;o EI,.,,, ~,
To TELL THE AGE OF EGGs.-In a
Baden agricultural journal. Professor
n essler, of Carlsruhe, recommends a
simple method of roughly determining
the age of eggs. An old egg is well
known to be lighter in weight than a
fresh laid one, and as its size remains
exactly the same, the difference must
be due to diminished specific gravity.
By dissOlving sixty grammes of common
salt in 500 grammes of water, we get a
fluid of specific gravity 1913, in which
all new laid eggsWill sink to the bot
tom, and all downright stale ones float
on the surface. The older the eggs are
the less salt is required to render the
solution capable of sustaining them;
and when very old indeed they will float
on simple water alone. The date at
which they do this varies considerably,
the professor having observed it on the
seventeen, sixty-third, eighty-third,
eightieth, and one hundred and twelfth
days respectively. Of course this test
of age can not be applied in the case of
eggs that have been kept in salt or lime
water, or that have been coated with
varnish, oil, or liquid glass.
AMERICAN FARMING. -American farm
ing is now equal to any in the world.
Our farms generally are cleaner and
treer from weeds than foreign ones
with some eXceptiOns-and if we would
use our native fertilizers. such as bones
and meat refuse and fish guano; our
native foods, su Oh as linseed and cot
ton seed oil-cakes, instead of selling
them to our foreign competitors; and
also use those artificial fertilizers which
are SO cheap and effective, as an aid to
increase our crops, we could excel the
famed English farms in, the product Of
the fields. We have this yet to do. All
that is needed is intelligence and conf
dence, that the more literally we feed
our soils, the more beautifully they will
reward us with teeming haryests.-
american Agrieattuist.
APPLES IN SAND.-A writer in the Lon
don Garden says that b., finds fruit to
keep best in perfectly dry sand. He
keeps fruit in this way all the year
round. He has had French crabs two
years old. The Catelac pear has re-
manned sound for twelve months. The
fruit must be sound when stored, and
the sand must be q1ite dry. The chief
advantages of packing in sand are, the
exclusion of air currents, the preserva-
ton from changes of temperature, and
the absorption'of moisture which favors
decay. Much will depend on the apart
ment IN which the experiment is tried,
dry or cool one being best. This is
not a new discovery. The Pennsylvania
Dutch farmers have long practiced this
way OF keeping apples.
How TO RAISE LARGE CORN.-I have
made great many experiments with
corn within the last fifteen years. Ihad
fourteen different kinds. and this year |
got some of the largest ears | ever rails
ed. L always sele ct my seed corn in
the fall, at husking time, and IN the
spring L sort them over again. Last
spring took no ears that were less
than twelve inches long; then [ took off
three inches at the tip end and two
inches at the butt end, and from these
central grains [ got ears fifteen inches
long and from fourteen to sixteen rows.
Several years ago [ selected ears from
stalks that had two ears, but the result
was not nearly so satisfactory as from
planting only central grains. My opin-
ion is, If farmers would be a little more
careful in selecting their seed corn they
could raise from five to ten bushels more
per acre than they do when they pick it
out of the crib in the spring.
d. n. KERN.
LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa.
BUYING A HORsE-It has always been
the correct thing to do in horse-trade,
to cheat the purchaser. 1t has got to be
the custom, and one that it is hard to
change. There is an idea prevalent
that good horses are never sold, and, to
a certain extent, the rule holds good;
but good animals arc often offered for
sale, and the following rules, from the
Ne,o- England Farmer, will, if observed,
be infaIlible: An intending purchaser
should have the horse brought out be-
fore him, and watch the animal as he
stands at rest. If the owner is continu-
ally starting the horse into motion and
urging him to "show off," something |
may be suspected; because it is when |
the horse Is at perfect rest that his |
weak points are divulged. If the horse
IS sound, he will stand squarely on his
limbs, without moving any of them,
he feet being placed fiat upon the
ground, and all the legs plumb and |
naturally posed. 1t one foot is thrown |