The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1881-01-21
WORK FOR THE MoNTH-.JANuARY.

the greetings appropriate to the season. and
wish all OF them Happy New Year, fruit
ful seasons and abouuding crops, with
health, prosperity and happiness.
This Is an appropriate and, indeed, nat
ural time at which to perfect plans for the
year to come, looking back ward as well as
forward that the lessons which experience
teaches may guard against errors-as im,
portant to be avoided as to achieve successes
Survey the ground before you. consider the
means at your command aud do not attempt
too much, certainly y not more than YOU can
fairly expect, with the forces you have avail.
able, to carry out in good time and proper
order. a seasonablc thing to do aud one
which, If done, will often bring its own re.
ward, is to.
OPEN AN ACCOUNT BooK-Not neccs.
sarily a full aud regular system of book.
Keeping, but, ut least, an itemizcd memo
randum OF receipts aud expenditures from all
sources The same book may serve use.
ful purpose also in affording place, always
convenient, far recording mcmorandums of
farm operations; also for entries of many
items which it is not wise or safe to leave
to memory; the dates of engagements of
nands and wages agreed upon; petty sales
FOR which payment is deferred, and thou
SIND Items which are better made matters of
record for future reference. This, too, is
hitting time for taking an inventory of live
stock, machinery, tools, crops unsold and
on hand, and other assets, aud this NAV
properly DC entered in such book. At
the end of the year, by comparing receipts
and expenditures, u farmer may thus see
how he stands. A book where such entries
may be made, conveniently at hand, will in
future years always have an interest. and
faithfully used. will contribute to the salts.
faction of running a flrm
DRAlNS.-Do not neglect the water fur
rows IN your grain fields, but examine them
tnat nothing accumulates to stop the free
discharge OF surplus water, as nothing more
INJURIES the wheat plant than accumulation
OF water around the roots
MANUREs AND COMpOsTs Materials
for compost piles may readily be collected
at many odd intervals when hand and
team can readily be spared for the work.
There is a long list Of substances, available
on almost every farm, which, accumulated
and mixed with manure from the stables,
Will largely increase, and at no great cxpe use,
the plant food at your disposal Road scrap
ings, leaves, s:a-weed, the wastes from The !
95a2Ia4sssS,SSa 5a2a4sssS, SSaa dlk id Up. Poultry manure mad
better be kept to ITSELF in b xcs or barrels, |
under cover, mixed with dry earth or coal
ashes, and used in the vegetable garden.
WAGONS, IMPLEMENTS, &C.-Do not
delay until the time for their use is almost
or quite at hand. but at once have any ne.
ccssary repairs made, so that when needed
you will not have to send to shop for miss.
ing bolts, &c.
We have thought that it would do no
harm 10 repeat what has been so often said
in the Farmer about improving thc breeds
of our domestic animals, feeling as we do
that about the first Of the year all of our
many readers are more apt to make good
resolutions than at any other one period of
the year "Thinkins that now | will try
to make some changes for the better, for
the next year what can spend some of
my savings of the past year in that will do
me the most good 7" We 0nswer most an.
hcsitatngIy, in nothing Mat ,oiW make u
greater return than to Improve the breeds
Of ,your domestic animals.
Now that the country.is so full of reliable
breeders who make specially of raising
and improving the breeds of all domestic
animals. the close competition compels thcm
to sell at much more reasonable price than
formerly. Take for instance the price at
which you can obtain thoroughbred male
pig of undoubled purity Of blood, one that
will be sure to make mark on all the pro-
geDy, no matter how poor the female pa
rent is. In what other way is it possible
to invest so small q sum that will bring in
a better return and at the same time be
able to see it so soon ? In year from the
time the pig is bought, with reasonably good
care We can have numerous herd of half
blood pigs that are sure to pay well for gem
erous feed, am. will at the spme time be a
pleasure to the owner to look at, as they
will be so much better looking than his
old stock was and not half so apt to get in
mischief. Go into ncighborhood where
good hogs (wcll bred) are kept. aud we
will never hear barking dog and squeal-
ing log, oansrd by sending rough boys or
men to drive neighbors hogs out OF the
corn field.
We recently saw lot of pigs of The we'll
bred sort just eight months old when slaueh-
tered that averaged over 220 pounds. We
do not mention this a great weight for
the age, for it is not. They were not raised
on dairy farm or they would have been
much larger. Twenty OF, thirty years ago
the farmer who raised this lot of nice pork
was always Obliged to keep his hogs until
fourteen to sixteen months old to make an
average of 200 pounds each. Now is not
six months in the life Of pig we'll worth
saving. ,...
Brood sows that are expected to bring
our early spring pigs should be separated
from others, from one to two months before
the time they are expected to farrow. Many