Sharp County record., 1879-07-24
FARM TOPICS.

MILK FOR PoULTRY.-Don't forget
that milk is one of the very best things
for all kinds of poultry, whether young
or old, and that the refuse milk can in
no other way be more proftably turned
into account. 1t is usually given on the
farm to the pigs, which are no doubt
greatly benefited by it; but more can be
realized from it by feeding to chicks
and fowls. At all stages of their growth
they are fond of it, and it makes but lit
tie difference to them whether it be
fresh or sour. For very young chicks,
fresh milk should always be given, but
the milk can first be set away to cream,
and the cream removed for butter, be-
fore feeding the milk, thus making it
less expensive. For the little chicks be-
fore they have dropped their downy
coats and come out in full feathered at
tire, nothing better in the way of food
can be given than. bread crust or bread
crumbs soaked in milk. This makes q
wholesome diet for them, and one
which is sufficiently nourishing to in
duce a healthy and vigorous develop
nent.-Anerican Poultry Journal.
Too Much PIG IMPROVEMENT
Rapid growth, early maturity, ability to
convert large quantity of food into
good, salable product, ability to fatten
readily and to continue the process
these, says the LtVe- Stock Journal, are
all desirable qualities in swine, and they
all have been secured in each of several
breeds to remarkable degree. Have
we gone too far in our efforts to secure
these points? This is a question worth
the asking, and it may be that an affirm
ative answer will have to be given. 1t
is we'll known that we can not secure
perfection, nor even very high excel
lence, in several directions at the same
time, and that almost certainly some
weak points will accompany the usual
development of good qualities; hence
Y it is reasonable to suppose that, with
such marked development in such de-
sired qualities as our best breeds of
swine exhibit, there will be at least OBJ
vious tendencies to some undesirable
traits. If we add to this general prop
osition the facts that the present devel-
opment has been secured in many cases
by close in breeding and by reducing to
q minimum opportunities, at least in
centives, for exercise, and that often
times the breeding stock have not been
kept in the best conditions for robust
health in any respect, we shall think it
strange if the result has not been deter
ioration of constitutional vigor,
if not the implanting Of we'll
marked tendencies to serious
diseases. Is it rot the fact that very
many of the most highly improved
swine are not so healthful or so able to
resist disease or unfavorable circunl-
stances as IS desirable? But, aside from
all this, rave we not carried the tenden-
cy to lay on fat too far? 1t is admitted
that many show COW, or sheep, or
hog is too fat 10 be most profitable,
eitEer for the butcher or consumer.
There is limit to the profitable pro-
duction of fat. Is it not true that the
disposition to lay On fat Is in excess Of
what is really desirable in the case of
several somewhat highly priced breeds?
The proportion of lean meat has been
reduced to a minimum, except in the
hams and shoulders, and greatly de-
creased in these. For "home use" do
any Of us prefer such pigsP Ifany have
doubts on this point, let them examine
the carcass of a well fattened hog, or
look at sides of bacon, or even at q ham
or shoulder. If opportunity offer, let
comparison be made of the carcasses of
model, well bred pigs, always kept in
high condition, and those of common or
grade pigs, which have had more length
of body, perhaps little more length of
a leg, and which have fed during part of
4 their lives on good grass or clover as
almost their sole food, and which have
n never been without a fair amount of
n daily exercise. 1t is quite possible the
decision may be that while the one set
d would give the greatest profit when on
ID the market, the other would be much
b the more desirable for family eating.
SHEEP WILL BENEFIT THE SOIL
) There are thousands of acres in the
VI Southern States which now yield little
nj or nothing of value to the owners, but
b which, under proper renovating Sys-
tenn of sheep husbandry, could be made
!, to yield paying crops. A friend has
sD sent me an account of his experiments
b in this direction, and they are so con-
d elusive and interesting that l give them
to for the benefit of your readers who are
ed similarly situated. His land had been
tb cropped for years without the least re-
de turn being made in the shape of manure
ID or fertilizers of any kind. There were