The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-11-04
Fall Work on the Farm.

Fall Work on the Farm.
There is always enough to do on the
farm, and it is folly to talk of leisure
hours, although, of course, there are
times when the pressure of things need
ing attention is not quite SO great as at
others. Winter in the Northern States
is usually counted as the slack time
with farmers; still it is not, or at least
need not be, q period of idleness, for,
with the care of live stock, repairing of
farm implements, and the usual prepa-
rati0ns necessary to commence work in
the spring, the farmer finds little time
for rest or recreation. Each of the
four seasons seems to crowd upon the
other, and the only way to get through
with all successfully is to anticipate the
labor that will be required and advance
it to the preparatory stages before the
time arrives for its completion. For
work on the farm that can be done in
winter, but which at the same time
might be done better and more readily
in the fall. The farmer can prune his
orchard during the coolest winter
months, and at the same time remove
the suckers that spring up around the
stems of the trees; but he will find it
more pleasant to do such work in the
mild weather of autumn, and it is far
more likely to be well done than if de-
layed until later season. The same
is true in regard to removing worms
nests and the eggs of the tent worm
from the young twigs of his trees. To
delay such odd jobs for some more con-
venient time usually ends in total neg
lect. There are, however, certain OPP
erations that may be considered as
legitimate fall work, among which we
may mention repairing the outbuildings
and putting them in order, and building
sheds and stables, if there are none on
the place. There are few farms on
which little work of this kind is not
required at this season.
The farmer who neglects to provide
shelter for his stock pursues very
short-sighted policy, and. while he may
imagine that he is practicing economy,
he will certainly learn his mistake when
perhaps it is too late. Animals that
are provided with warm stables or sheds
in winter will thrive on much less food
than those exposed to cold and storms,
besides being far less liable to become
diseased. The difference in the amount
of food required to keep animals in
good condition when properly shell
tered, and their immunity from dis
eases, will more than make good to
their owners the cost of the necessary
structures required to afford the pro-
lection needed. This giving protection
to farm animals in winter should not be
confined to the Northern and Middle
States, but should be practiced in the
Southern as well, because there is no
part of our country where cold rains do
not fall in winter, and cattle often suf-
fer as much from exposure to these as
they do from lower degree of cold in
a comparatively dry atmosphere. Cost
ly structures are not always required,
but something that will give the ami
mails protection from cold storms and
winds is absolutely necessary to keep
them in good health, even when well
supplied with food. To build these
structures, if they are not already
erected, is kind of fall work that
should be Immediately attended to.
Out on the prairies, where timber is
scarce, sods may be used for both the
walls and the covering of sheds. A
few strong poles for posts and rafters
are all the timber actually required;
and although such sheds may not be
very permanent, they have the advau-
tage of being cheap, and answer the
purpose very well.
Another kind of fall work seldom at
tended to, but quite important on the
farm, is the clearing away of all rub
bish about the fences and hedges, and
burning it. In regions of country where
the chinch bug abounds, this collecting
of old rubbish and burning it is quite
important, because this pest hides away
in such materials, and, if not disturbed,
will pass the winter in safety, and come
out in the spring ready for its attacks
upon the various kinds of farm crops.
Where it can be done with safety to
fences and buildings, it is a good plan
to burn the dead grass and weeds as
they lie spread over the ground; but if
this cannot be done, then rake up into
heaps and set them on fire. Potato
beetles, squash bugs and the chrysa-
ides of the cabbage worm may also be
found in the rubbish heaps and out-of
the-way places, and a thorough clean
ing up late in the fall is sure to be pro-
ductive of much good in destroying
these and various other pests. But it
is not good policy to put off this or
other fall work until cold storms set in,
for then it is likely to remain undone,
because the farmer will have reason
able excuse for his neglect.
Old rubbish, dead grass and weeds in
the fence corners. neglected patches of
brush and hedges are not only excel
lent hiding places for insects and YER
min generally. but are often the breed
ing places Of these pests. Grass and
weeds around the stems of apple and
pear trees are the very materials with
which field mice delight to build their
nests when snow covers the ground in
winter, and when they are hungry they
have only to make meal from the
bark of the tree. Every spring we hear
more or less of the great injury done to
young apple orchards by field mice
girdling the stems near the ground and
under the snow; and it Is no wonder,
when we see how few farmers remove
the dead grass and weeds from around
the stems of their trees in autumn. The
last thing to be done in the fall to a
young orchard, where there is the least
danger of field mice attacking the trees,
is to hoe away all grass and weeds. or,
what is better, spade over the ground
for space of at least four feet in diam
eter around the stems. This will not
only remove the materials which might
tempt mice to locate near the trees, but
put the ground in the best condition to
insure vigorous growth of the trees
the following season.-N 7. San.