Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1879-02-13
AGRICULTURAL.
MUsTY hay and damag d grain can
not be fed to stock with immunity.


turnip favored.
A SOFT, firm, velvety skin is nearly
always found on a good COW, and {
thick hard hide on a poor one.
KEROSENE will soften boots or shoe.
which have been hardened by water
and render them as pliable as new.
FILL up all deprpssions in the surface
soil around the buildings, so that there
may be no standing water, no matter
how much rain may fall.
The introduction of the cultivation
OF the mangle wurtzel into Great Britain
took place in 1856, and formed almos
new era in British industry.
|. WHEN commencing your agricultural
life remember that industry, economy
and integrity will insure success, anC
form the best capital that can be en-
ployed. 5. .s.s-ez
OATS vary in quality with the soil or
which they are grown. The meal made
from oats grown upon clay land is the
best in quality, is the thriftiest,
keeps the longest and is worth the
highest price.
The heaviest turkey that we have
heard OF is the one sent TO President
Johnson in 1866 by the Union Club, Of
Stamford, Conn. This bird turned the
scales at forty-seven pounds, alive anC
was not two years old.
AN excellent farmer says that fol
every sheep he kept last year he sold
IN lambs and wool. an average Of S.
worth per head. He said also that his
sheep paid him better than anything
else grown on his farm.
BREEDING ewes should be fed daily
ration of about one gill of corn, or
better still, about one pint of oats
They should be warmly sheltered from
cold winds and drenching rains. Such
treatment will give strong healthy
lambs. s-.>-
No animal should be killed for food
Immediately after violent exercise.
Under such conditions tAe meat will
keep but a very short time, and some
times it is impossible to keep it sweet
with all the salt that can be used. Hogs,
especially, should be butchered early
IN the morning after a quiet rest during
the night.
Every farmer may not be able to
reach the maximum of production, yet
he can make his land produce what he
needs and what an accommodation
market will pay him we'll for, when he
has it III excess of home wants. No
farmer In the land, however poor his
soil may be at the outset, has any ex-
cuse for not making every acre con-
tribute to his own and the general good.
A GOOD and cheap rack in which to
place fodder for sheep may be made of
rough boards nailed at the corners to
scantlings. A good size is 10 by q
feet. Two boards, 1 foot wide. with a
space of 8 inches between them, con-
stltute the sides and ends. The edges
of the boards next to the opening should
be rounded to prevent injury to the
necks Of the sheep. ..- -.
Mr.. VIM. FOSTER, says the Hartford.
KY, Herald, has a Poland China SOW
that has dropped forty-six pigs inside of
the last two years. In December, 1876,
she dropped nine; the next was in
September 1877, she dropped eleven; in
April 1873, she dropped seventeen, and
in this month she dropped nine. A
single brood SOW like this is enough for
any ordinary farmer.
THE more the agricultural situation
Is discussed, whether by the press or in
| public meeting, the more general be-
comes the conviction of the Importance
Of agriculture in the nations welfare.
1t is of Importance to the whole COM
munity that the land should be worked
to the highest advantage. The farmers
| themselves are fast rising to a proper
appreciation of the value and dignity of
their calling.
! SCITUATE. Mass, is almost tie only
place In the country where carragreen,
or Irish moss, used in jellies, blanc
mango, and in making lager beer, is
gathered and cured. About $50 fam
lilies are engaged in the harvest, the
men gathering the moss with long rakes
into dories, while the wives and daugh-
ters prepare it for market. The annual
product is 10000 to $4,000 barrels,
worth to the gatherers about $4,000.
HORSE raising has become a large
business on the western plains. Some
of the herders on the Yellowstone have
from 500 to 1900 head, and are max
ing fortunes by selling the three-year-
Odds at $50 to 800 each. No grain is
fed and no stabling is provided, abund-
ant grass and rough sheds suficing.
The business is exceedingly Iaborious
and risky, an entire herd being some.
times lost in a single night by scattering
or by an Indian raid
A SINGULAR chemical change is some
times effected by the mixing of the
cream of a full mich cow with one
we'll along with calf, or if it is not
chemical change, what is it? The
cream, as above indicated, has been
churned hour after hour for a whole
day with no appearance of producing
butter, and finally abandoned as a
hopeless case, but upon withdrawal OF
the cream Of the COW in calf, the other
would make butter with no difficulty.
+ In the average English dairy it takes
from twenty-five to twenty-four pounds
of milk, according to the quality, to
make one pound of butter. A COW that
gives from eight to twelve pounds of
butter a week during the butter season is
counted an extra animal. Well select
ed COWS will produce from 225 to 25O
pounds of butter each per year on an
average. The majority Of ordinary
diaries throughout the country, how
ever, can scarcely be averaged higher
than $50 pounds per COW per annum-
WITHIN the past year the Oldest COW,
probably, in New England has been
fatted and sold for beef She was owned
by E. L. Metcalf. of Franklin, Mass,
and on the day Of her sale was within
eleven DAYS Of hniraor tun,,tr,-nirlt raa re