Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1881-10-20
FARM NOTES.

DANIEL MURPHY, of Halleck Station.
California, is the largest private land.
owner in the country. He owns 4. 600.
600 acres in Mexico, 10000 in Nevada,
and 5000 in California
An AMERICAN cheese bore away the
prize Of silver medal at the great cat.
tie and dairy show at Birmingham, Eng.
land. The prize cheese was one of the
largest ever made, weighing three-fourths
of ton. 1t came from Iowa.
Hoes that are to be slaughtered should
be kept growing. Feed is worth more
for fattening in the Autumn months than
IN the severe weather OF winter, when q
considerable amount oil food Is neces-
sary to keep up animal heat. 1t is much
the most economical practice to keer
hogs steadily growing until they are
killed.
PRoF. ATwATER says with regard to o
controverted point among men of science
The prevailing opinion among agricul.
tural chemists for some time, and one
which / have shared, have been that
plants get nearly all their nitrogen from
the sol and extremely little from the
mir. But there are many facts which
are very hard to explain on this theory,
and am, with many ashers. coming &c
suspect very strongly that plants do,
somehow or other, get considerable nitro.
gen from the air
PRoF BREWER, of New Haven. ques.
tons if all the money won at agricul-
tural fairs pays more than half the actual
expenses of the winners in entering the
objects exhibited, caring for them at the
grounds, and getting them home again.
1t is not the cup won at o boat race that
incites young men to perform so much
labor, spend so much time and money.
and to practice so much self-denial while
training, but the possession Of the prize
is the sign of victory, and so of the
prizes won at our agricultural fairs.
COMMERCIAL bones contain about SO
per cent. of nitrogen and % per cent OF
phosphoric acid, existing as phosphate
of calcium. Bones that have been
boiled to extract the gelatine contain
much less nitrogen, buta larger proper
ton of phosphates. Bones decompose
but slowly in the soil, especially on
heavy land, hence their effect is spread
over several years. The finer the bones
have been ground the more immediate is
their effect. English farmers usually
employ bones for pasture and for tur-
nips.
Four enormous silos, with Total ca
pacity of alb Mt 1000 tons. have been
erected ut Mahwah, Nh They occupy
one wing of a long COW stable, and cover
an area Of about 40x70 feet, with depth
of 33 feet. They are made Of concrete.
IL inches thick, very pure and smooth.
Wooden curbs for shriakage room rise
ten feet above the concrete walls. The
proprietor of the farm where these silos
are built is practical chemist and q
wealthy man, able and willing to make
the most careful and exhaustive expert
ments as to the feasibility OF the ensiI-
age system as well as he feeding value
of the preserved fodder. -American
CttitiUdt0r.
Mr.. GLADSTONE, in a recent speech,
made good point for the English &c
consider. He told his audience that
they imported e5, 200, 900 worth Of fruits
yearly from abroad, AID he instanced a
fruit grower ON the Hudson River, in
America, who has an apple orchard OF
200 acres, the produce of which was an.
nually shipped to Eng md. This Amer,
lean fruit grower could do this because
the land was his own and not rented
from grasping landlord Twenty-Five
or twenty-six millions of dollars sent
away for fruit for the reason that if o
tenant plants fruit trees the product
goes ultimately to benefit the landlords,
and so it is with other things that re-
quire time to mature under present land
laws in England
As to sowing wheat which has been
swelled and sprouted before, We have
Prof w. j. Beal's testimony in sub
stance as follows He found that while
the plumule lived the young roots al
ways died by drying, and new roots
must be pushed out to cause growth.
In one experiment ninety-six per cent
of wheat which had slightly sprouted,
and become dry, grew. In another
eighty-two per cent. grew where the
plumule had grown half an inch, and
the roots one to two inches. Twice
sprouted and dried, about half grew.
There is no doubt that these seeds were
placed under more favorable circum-
stances for growing than they would be
likely to receive in common field cul-
ture.
A COMMISSION was lately appointed in
Belgium to test the comparative merits
of Swimming milk after standing, both
by following the ordinary method in
porcelain pans and also III specially con-
structed pans, immersed in a receptacle
containing running water or susceptible
of receiving ice. The same quantity of
milk-thirty quarts--was used in each
set of experiments. This quantity was
placed in the porcelain pans and allowed
to throw up the cream during twenty
four hours the pans were then skinned
and the cream churned There was. in.
variahly, eleven per cent. more butter,
and of superior quality, obtained from
the milk, artificially cooled, than from
that treated in the ordinary way.
A SUCCESSFUL fruit grower gives his
experience in training raspberry bushes
rs follows: l have a splendid piece OF
black raspberries, themammonth cluster.
/ nipped the canes off during the sum-
mer of 1880 when only two feet high,
aud kept nipping all the branches and
tops until they had the forms of little
trees. IheN went through inc Bdiu
winter finely, and were not killed, and
in the spring they were one mass OF
green and full of blossoms. Some OF
my neighhors' raspberry canes were all
killed to the ground They were left to
grow up all without pinching, aud the
cold weather finished them. It is best
to prune or pinch in summer. l believe
in pinching, and plenty of it. 1t saves
stalking and tying, and makes lots Of
fruit. l do not stake my raspberries
and they stand up as straight as oaks.
IL RAISING young colts. it is very es-
sentlaI always to maintain very keen
re ish for food and sharp appetite in the
young animal This can only be done
by strictly guarding against overlooking
with grain For tive-months-old foal
of about medium size, if the weather be
moderate. about one and half pints Of
oats at meal viii be enough. Later,
r Al