The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-07-03
HOUSEHOLD AND FARM.
Farmers Chip-Basket.

The London IHHeS AFTER surveying inc S'u-
alton, declares that the price of wheat is likely
TO be very low this season.
The Western Stock JOurWal says that milk
fever never attacks Il COW with her first cali,
and very rarely with the second
Every lairyman should raise at least one
eighth of an acre of corn fodder for each COW, to
help the pasture through the dry season.
Apple trees which were pruned last spring
are probably sending out water sprouts They
should be removed this month and next.
Jesse Collier, of Rutherford, Tenn, sold five
steers averaging 1904 pounds each. Two of
them are thoroughbred short horns, two high
grades and one scrub,
1t is important to have pure flaxseed. Troub.
lesome weeds are frequently in flax fields.
Many OF them can be removed at this season
of the year by care in going over the fields.
Firecrackers are said to be an effecna
method of keeping crows out Of the cornield,
as the birds dislike the smell Of gunpowder,
:, and the boy do love the fun of firing the crack
J ers and crows dislike both noise and smell.
Potatoes or any other root crops may be
grown in a young orchard 1t would not do
any injury to grow corn but grain crops should
not be attempted. They take from the soil the
very elements which the trees require.
Mr. Vim. Myers, of Plttsford n. Y, recently
lost a COW in which, on pOst-mOrtcm eXamlna-
ton, were found SIX fully developed calves,
the smallest Of which weighed twenty-five and
half pounds The COW was three. year-Old
shorthOrn. Five of the calves were males and
the other a heiter. The skins have been stuff
ed and will be preserved as curiosity.
The advantage of spreading manure from
the wagon as II is drawn out is a saving of la.
Dor and a more even distribution of the double
salts ammonia, potash, phosphate, etc. in the
soil by rain, II the manure is hcaped on The
field and gets heavy rain before being spread,
the ground under the heap receives an undue
share of the best part of the manure, which
not untrequently renders thesespo barren for
year or two.
Any time during the present month the seed
OF Hungarian grass may be sown with good
prospect of securing crop. 1t may be sown
on land that has been IN corn, potatoes or small
gram, or on new breaking 1t Is good crop
to grow with a partial view of subduing a
( tough grass sod The amount of seed required
-" for an acre Is about half bushel. Il may be
sown broadcast and covered with cultivatOr
or harrow, or put in with secder in the same
way as is practiced with wheat and other
small grains. So far as the expense of seed
and labor is concerned, 1t is the cheapest crop
that can be raised on a farm. The tact that 1t
can be sOwn and harvested at times when other
farm work is not pressing is enough to com
mend 1t to farmers
From this time till after grain is harvested
and sent to market, the ma ority of western
farmers are accustomed to hire extra laborCrs
to work IN the field. They do this during the
season of hayIng harvesting and threshing.
Not unfrequently from five to twelve men are
employed to help the men in their hard work.
While farmers employ a large number of men
to assist them in their work, 1t is but simple
justice to employ extra female help to assist in
doing the work in the house. If it hard work
to cut grass and to secure grain in a scalding
sun, ii is also hard work to prepare food over
a red hot cooking stove. Machines have rem
dered most kinds o. field work comparatively
easy, but no machine has yet been invented
for doing ordinary homework.
A large proportion of young fruit trees are
injured very greatly by the growth of suckers
about the trunks or by sprouts on the body or
branches. They should be removed before
they have exhausted the sap that 10 needed for
the support of the tree and the fruit it produc-
cs. Those that appear above ground should
be cut off with very sharp knife, so that the
bark will heal over the cut. 1t Is more diff.
cult to remove those that appear below the
surface of the earth. The practice of breaking
ulen oll ny nedilS vi Spdue Is an lDluulClOUS
one, as it wounds the bark and causes more
sprouts to appear To do the work well the
earth should be carefully removed so as not to
injure the bark OF the tree, the soil carefully
replaced so that the wounds may heal.
A few years ago stables for sheltering stock
under barns were generally recommended.
Later they were quite as generally denounced.
1t was held that the foul air rose from them
ant injured the hay and other fodder stored
above them. They were also objected to for
the reason that they were generally dark and
damp. Basemcntstables brightly constructed
have many advantages, and farmers who are
erecting barns the present season would do
well to consider them. They are warmer IN
winter and cooler in summer than stables that
are built entirely above ground. 1t Is cOmpar-
atively easy to build them in such a manner
that they will be free from the objections
against them. Bad odors may be excluded
from the hay loft by the employment OF sheet
metal below the plank floor. Any amount of
light may he admitted by means of glass win
dows fitted so as to slide and admit fresh air
and the floor may be raised to such an extent
as to afford dry bed for stock. Stock OF all
kinds Will be much healthier with clean, dry
beds, and plenty of pure air and water.
Grapevine Flea Beetle.
This insect, so well known to grape grow
ers, devours the foliage of expanding buds ear.
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