Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-03-16
SEASONABLE FARM NOTES..

healthy horse Will consume ten pounds
of hay. Ii large horse he may con-
sumo fifteen pounds. He should have
all he will eat clean.
A BOX to hold heaped bushel should
be 16s inches long, Ia inches wide, and
II inches deep. 1t may be made by
cutting the end boards IA inches long
and IL inches wide, and mailing strips to
these on three sides, 49, inches long. so
as to leave the inside measure as above.
Hand holes for lifting are cut in the
ends -.s5. .Hsgz ut
In getting ready for spring vegetables
do no fear to pile ON manure. It is the
rank rich growth which gives the agree
able tenderness to them, and without an
abundance of manure this cannot be
done. Deep soil is also great ele-
ment of success. Though we do not
favor subsoiling and understanding for
fruit trees, we regard it as very profit
able in vegetable growing.
IT is best to bring heifers into breed
ing condition as soon as possible after
they are year old. The first calf should
come at two years or soon after. To eff
feet this the calf should be well fed after
weaving, have good pasture IN the sum-
mer with mouthful or two of bran
daily to push. them forward. Unless the
calf has been pushed in this way it will
be slow IN breeding until it is two years
old.
USE long or coarse manure for clay
soils. 1t will aid in the two great things
to be gained-to establish free circu-
lation of the air and to make the soil
lighter. Ashes are also excellent. APP
ply lime If the soil lacks the element.
After this is done SOW the laud with
wheat OF timothy. Do not try clover
unless the landis underdrained. In the
latter case use oats and potatoes for
rotation.
Ii is the time to complete various I'M
finished jobs of winter work-such as
securing fuel for the year, hauling muck,
examining and repairing Implements,
and attending to sundry other matters
preparatory to the opening spring.
Those farmers who have not fully digest
ed their plans for the ensuing season
should lose no time In maturing them, so
that when the period arrives for active
operations there shall be no delay for the
lack OF due preparation.
The best artificial fertilizer for straw
berries is Peruvian guano, sown broad
cast over the beds, and the intervals be-
tween them, earl in spring, at the rate
OF 200 or 800 pounds per acre. If guano
cannot be procured, good substitute
can be made of 100 pounds of super
phosphate of lime, $50 pounds of
siaughter-house waste, or blood manure,
and as many wood ashes as can be pro-
cured. These fertilizers should be APP
piled during shower, so that they
would be washed off from the leaves,
otherwise the leaves would be injured.
IRA j. BLACKWELL, of Titusville, n.
j., gives the Rural NeaU Yorker his ex-
perience with an acre OF potatoes. He
tried fifteen varieties and his condensed
report as to quality is as follows: Tro-
ply, fair to good; Surprise Superior,
very nice; Superior, not good; King of
the Earlies, Beauty Of Hebron, st. Pat
rick, all good; Centennial, not produc-
tive; Burbank, medium to fair; Early
Ohio, superior; Dummore, an improve
ment on the Peerless; Bliss Triumph. a
weak grower, ripening with the Early
Ohio, not so good, and Brownell's Beauty
of the best quality, but nine out of ten
of his plants diseased.
ALMOST every farmer prefers putting
his hand to bright pillow, says the
World, which turns the burrows with
comparative ease to both team and
driver, than one weather-beaten, and
dulled with the previous seasons dirt.
And yet many dollars dwindle imper-
ceptibly but surely away each year, and
farmers annually grumble, all because
OF the careless handling of farm machin-
cry. With one accord, reapers and
mowers, seed-drills, plows and harrows
are suffered to remain where last en-
ployed, to bear the action of pelting
storms and drying winds. The repairs
required the following Season will cost
more than building shed or tool house.
or the arrangement of place for them
in out houses already erected.
IT is, probably, safe to say that no
other mode of fertilizing land-either to
preserve or restore productiveness-is SO
effective and cheap as blowing in green
crops, such as clover, lucerne, peas,
buckwheat, and some others, treated
with liberal top dressing of lime or ashes
just before blowing. This practice not
only supplies the soil with vegetable
matter, but it tends to make it friable
and porous, SO that the air can permeate
freely, and allows the roots of the plants
to run and spread freely for their needed
nourishment. 1t ightens up, leavens
the land, as it were, doing such to pre-
vent the evil effects of drought by Great
ing and preserving degree of moisture
in the soil during dry time.
A SUCCESSFUL New York dairyman
states his methods briefly: Set the
milk about twenty-four hours. Tenn
perature OF spring from forty-six to fifty
degrees. In milking he cleanses his
cows udders, uses clean pals and does
not allow the milk to remain long in the
stables, which are cleaned daily. Churns
at temperature of sixty to sixty-three
degrees. The butter is worked in the
granulated state mainly. In hot weather
fhe first washing is with brine, the next
with pure water. His herd is about
one-half Jerseys or Attorneys. His
80 -, oc,,, O07 ,1or,la L