Connecticut western news., 1879-10-08
FARM AND GARDEN.
GATHER THE FODDER,

The hay crop of the country has al- ready been gathered, and the farmer knows how much he has for next winters use, whether it be sufficient or other wise but there is still the corn fodder, and late sowings of millet. and the of rich meadows to be looked after. It is always safe to lay in plen- tiful supply of fodder of some kind, for the winter may be longer and much | colder than usual, and if there is no lack | of food, stock can be permitted to take the best and reject the inferior parts. Cornstalks and the leaves make good fodder for most kinds of farm stock, if cut up early and we'll cured but if left until the ears are ripe and dry enough for husk1ng from the hill, the fodder is worthless, or nearly so. As soon as the kernels are we'll glazed, the corn may be cut up with safety. At this time the stalks and leaves are still green and suc- culent, and if putup in good sized shocks to cure, will make excellent fodder, es- pecially valuable for feeding COWS giving milk. The coarser parts of the stalks may be routed down for manure, and be ready for next seasons use.
 In many parts of the country there are low grounds and marshes producing various kinds of wild grasses and weeds, which, although not first-class fodder plants, are still far better than nothing,
 and stack of these may furnish stock many good meal during the cold storms
 of winter. The old saying that "poor
 fodder is better than a snowbank re-
 mains as true now as ever, and that many
 farmers forget it is shown in the abund-
 ance of poor animals to be seen about
 the farm yards in spring, even in regions
 of country where all the best kinds oi
 fodder plants, if put in, grow most lux
 uriantly.
 DIMENSIONS FOR AN ICE- HOUSE.
 "Ninety tons of ice is as small quan
 tity of ice as I have succeeded in get.
 ting to last through the summer" writes
 Waldo" in the Practical Farmer.
 "This will require bulk about ter
 feet square and to be filled to depth ot
 eight feet. If l was building I should
 make a room sixteen feet square. Drain
 age is easily accomplished. My house
 is on flat land, and to secure drainage
 we throw in broken stone to the deptl
 of eight inches. If stones are not con
 venient old rails or wood is just as good
 An important point is packing. and t'
 pack ice properly it must be sawed
 square. You had better give 8 goot
 carpenter or an experienced ice-cutte
 $2 8 day than to have bungler fo nothing. If sawed as true as it shoul' be you can pack it edgewise and 1t vii , be much handler to get out than if tn cakes are laid flat. Before you begin t pack throw in load of sawdust on you stone or rails and level it so that it vii cover them perfectly; then build you
 ice up as compactly as possible, leavin F space of eighteen inches all round, t 3 be filled with sawdust. If the cakes d l not fit, the space must be filled wit B sawdust; when filled, cover eightee l. inches with sawdust. As soon as th first windy March weather comes oI r visit your ice daily and tramp all ovt j. it. to settle the sawdust and fill an . holes. It is necessary to visit the ic n house daily through the hot weather, !. see that there are no air-holes, and c l. this account it should be located nei
 the house. Mine is built within te
 feet of the kitchen door. The buildin
 is thirty feet long and fourteen wid f. The north half is used for ice and tt e part next the house for wood-shed. . the summer we need but little wood i l. side. and we set our large ice-chest in if corner of the wood-shed and keep o' d milk there, and uss corner of the shs to churn in. This saves the heavy lab n of carrying milk and ice into the celia e To get the ice out of your ice-house ye , will want an iron bar, @ shovel and i. pair of tongs. The bar should be poln V ed. so as to hold little in the ice wht 1t you want to pry out cake.
 " "I advise building good-sized hou k because ice keeps better the larger u J. bulk, and if you have it to spare v T can always sell enough to pay the @ a pense of putting up, and often So as 3. make fine profit. In calculating u ,e size of the house allow about 40 fe IA square for each ton. If your house re 16 by Is feet you would have, after h lowing IS inches for sawdust, bulk ice 13 feet square, and if built 10 fe d high it would hold little more thu h forty tons. l do not find it necessary ,- have double walls to the house. Ha ,+ the house we'll shaded. If I could n Q build under trees I would set out clu 70 fer at once on the south and west of t