Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1879-02-20
AGRICULTURE.


+ A PORTABLE FENCE.-Let me describe
the temporary fence Iuse. make blocks
or sllls about three feet long, and cut a
! dove-tail notch in one side to insert the
post IN. This notch should be a little
wider on top than below, so that if the
/ post shrinks it Will tighten as it settles.
Place the blocks where YOU want the
posts to stand, and stake them down at
each end with shoulder-stakes. Nor
tlse the posts as for post-and-rail fence.
insert the rails, pin the top rails through
the posts, and the fence is complete. It
can be taken apart and moved or laid
away till needed, and Is handy for fenc-
ing stock or any temporary purpose.
/ For hlll-sldes place n stone or block OF
proper size under lower end of the
1 block, or make the notch incline to suit
the ground.-J. W. STEVENS in Practical
| Farmer. .-....5.-r
| A Cows LARGE YIELD OF MILK.-The
Echo Farm Jersey COW, Filbert, No.
$3.50, which received a Centennial award
at Philadelphia, is certainly keeping up
| her reputation as large mixer. From
the 29th Of October last to December
81 she gave 2,6653 pounds of milk, av-
eraging for the sixty-four DAYS over Az
pounds (203 quarts) per day. Her milk
! for three days in November last made
81 pounds Of butter-2f pounds per
| day-Which at such season of the
| year Is much above the average. In
! August, 1876, when only two wears old
and weighing but 700 pounds, she gave
9499 pounds of milk. She now weighs
1905 pounds, and, as in 1876, is each
| month giving more than her own weight
in milk. She was sired by Mr.. Starts
! Centennial prize bull Litchfeld."-
Litchfeld Conn. Enquirer.
EXPERIMENTS IN WHEAT CULTIVATION.
Experiments have been made in
| Michigan in cultivating wheat, and the
results are not only satisfactory but as
tonishing. A committee was appoint
ed to oversee the experiments and
make TIE report Sixty-eight pounds
of seed per acre were sown in drills 16
inches apart, and 90 pounds per acre
were drilled in the usual way That in
l6-inch drills was cultivated with a horse
wheat hoe once in the fall and twice in
the spring; the other of course was not
cultivated after sowing. The report
says that the 16-inch lot did not lodge
or crinkle, while the S-inch lot did so
badly. The average yield was 693
per cent greater in the 16-inch drills
than in the S-inch drills. The AgricuE
turist remarks: sit is as reasonable to
believe that grain crops should be ben
Gifted by cultivation as that potatoes,
corn, cabbage and other crops should
be. HOeing wheat in Europe is not an
uncommon practice, and farmers in
this country begun it with marked sue
cess"
IMPORTANCE OF THE CORN CROP. The
Importance of the country's corn crop
is hardly understood by the general run
| ofreaders, since they do not know what
a wide basis of prosperity it constitutes.
1t is the basis Of an annual pork crop,
comprising at least 10,0 100000 head of
hogs; its consumption as human food is
very large and increasing in both hem
spheres; it is more universally fed to
stock Of all kinds than any other cereal,
and IS, In a word, one of the most valu-
able of agricultural products. The
acreage of last year in corn reaches So
1868, 900, and the yield probably not less
than 100000, 600 bushels. The ex-
portation of corn has increased from a
little over 100000 bushels per annum
ten years ago to nearly 100000 at
the present time. At this rate of in
crease corn promises to become the
king Of commerce. In this connection
tits interesting to know that the produc-
ton of grain of all kinds in the United
States is forty bushsls per capita against
only sixteen bushels for all Europe
Nel0 York Shipping List r..s ,...r.
BRAN AS A FERTILlZER.-One of our
correspondents, Mr.. Kern, of Lehigh
county, Pa, tried bran as fertilizer for
potatoes last year, and reported to us
that it increased the yield one-third.
Another experiment on corn is record
ed, where it produced marked results,
the, rows. on which the bran was used
soon being six inches taller than the
other rows. AS seed willnot terminate
in dry bran, it would be well to com
post it before using it. Mix it with two
or three times its bulk of rich mould
from the woods, sprinkle enough ma
nure water on it to make it, heat, and
then shovel it over until thoroughly
mixed. If this is done two or three
weeks before using, it will partially de-
compose it SO that in contact with the
seed it would not injure it. We read |
that tobacco growers of the Connecticut
valley use bran in large quantities, I'M
porting it from Iowa and Minnesota
for this purpose. There is a rich field
for experiment in homemade fertilizers
which farmers should work up There
is fascination in the work of conduct
ing these experiments, which pays for
the trouble itself, besides the useful
knowledge obtained. How many of our
readers will test the bran question the
coming wear 2 Practical Enrnller