Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-04-30

domestic in their natures that they can
be removed to any secure place desired.
Prepare a good nest, and let them set
tor few days on a nest egg-either a
wooden or plaster Paris one is good
enough-until the hen is established in
her notions of setting. Then take out
the nest egg and place two or three to-
bacco leaves on the nest and lay the
new eggs on them. The foul fumes
arising from these leaves will kill and
drive away all vermin infesting the
hens. And this vermin is one of the
most serious obstacles to success in
Matching. The hens are so restless
they break their eggs when infested by
lice. If you have no tobacco leaves,
sulphur sprinkled literally among their
feathers Is good to destroy vermin.
This question of hen lice is q serious
one. They frequently break a hen
from setting-cause her to break the
eggs, and keep the chickens from
thriving .-Ioeco State Register. 49, On
SPRING WoRK-After long, cold,
steady winter, spring has actually come
to us again with all her promises of bud
and blossom and beauty. The grass
which has been locked in an icy en-
brace for months, now freed from lis
thraldom, springs up in gladness to
carpet the earth. The swelling buds
upon bush and tree give notice that the
latent forces of nature are at work; the
birds that deserted us last November
have returned; the boldest flowers have
opened their petals to be kissed by the
sun; the farm stock, so contented hith-
erto with imprisonm ent and dry food,
now show evident signs Of uneasiness
or even rebellion-all indications of ma
ture tell us that winter is over and
spring has come. The matter-of-fact
farmer notes these signs, perhaps,
but he loses no time in poetic nonsense
over them. There may be poetry in
his nature, but he has no leisure to cul-
tivate it. These first mild days that
call out the birds, the buds, and the
blossoms, and set Nature to work, call
him to labor, also. He has ground to
pillow, manure to haul, oats to SOW. corn
to plant, and thousand otLer duties
which will keep him busy until winter
again gives notice that it is time to rest.
1t is to be presumed the reade,, has MS
plans for the coming campaign, all ar
ranged, for system Is as necessary on
the farm as in the factory or counting
room, and no business can be made
highly profitable without it. 1t is not
our purpose to catalogue the work of
the season. Each one must do this
for himself. But We may suggest that
progress should be stamped upon it I'M
mistakably. In the very outset, we would
urge that each one institute series of
Investigations, with q determ nation
to solve for yourselves some of the
many problems which have presented
themselves to you in your past labors.
These are many. We have been dis
cussing some Of them and talking about
them for years, while others have been
more recently introduced. Every year
brings new ones, and every year sees
old ones solved and made plain. In
this way progress is effected and we
continually growing wiser in our meth
DDS and better in our practices. AS We
look back through the file of the Forna-
er for the past six months we note with
pleasure that the spirit of investigation
is alive among our readers, more, so
than ever before, and from it We pre-
dict the most favorable results. We
earnestly hope that every one will put
this spirit of inquiryinto practice during
the coming season, and that each will
make it q point to find out all he can.
Positive knowledge is what is needed IN
agriculture, and this only can be'secured
by practical y, experiment. Proctjcol
Former. 81 Iel 10 tft3t#AsL