The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-09-15
THE FARM.


which is reckoned at ZOO.
LARD is now used in cheese-making in
place of cream to make a cheap article.
II is on par with suet for butter In the
form of oleomargarine.
STATISTICS show that the annual con-
sumption of eggs in the United States is
about 10, 500, 600 barrels. The poultry
marketed or consumed is estimated at
6SO. 200, 600 pounds, at S68, ,000,0O
LET every farmer who Is not able to
fence large pasture get few boards,
build few rods Of portable fence and
make a small enclosure for his hogs and
move it around as circumstances require.
1t will make pork-raislng more profitable
than 70 keep hogs confined in pens all
the time.
The most dangerous insect to farm
| crops is the wheat midge. Late sowing
Of wheat is sometimes a remedy, though
this has its disadvantages. All insects
found in cleaning wheat should be de-
stroyed at once, and wheat stubbles
plowed Immediately will be likely to de-
stroy all those wound up in cocoons on
the ground.
CAUSE AND EFFECr.-When fattening
ali animal for beef let the process be as
quick as possible. Any stint in feeding
| VII make the meat tough and dry.
I Stal,-fe animals will fatten more readily
| than others, and younger animals re-
qu:re richer food than older ones. In
winter fattening much depends upon the
/ warmth of the stable. The warmer the
cattle are kept the less food will be
needed
| SHEEP do not impoverish land. Rug
cd canyons and mountain slopes, at
| present not available for other use until
better roads are built to market, may be
| i.iZed long way in advance of the
( the march of improvements. Time will
I surely enhance the value of these pos
sessions as surely as roads, settlements
and school-houses draw nearer to them.
1 And, in the meantime, the hardy pioneer
need wait but short while for their COM
ing.
CASTOR oil is undoubtedly the best,
and therefore the cheapest, for iron
axles-whlch should always be wiped
clean. A correspondent informs us that
his nnarketwagon would run only twenty
miles before requiring to be regreased,
when lard was used, but with castor oil
| it ran sixty miles, and was good for
twenty more-a big difference, and worth
remembering. He further remarks that
ga wheel well fabricated will turn one
half easier, and wear as long again, Il
gain Of one hundred and fifty per cent. :"
by the liberal use of oil.
/ NUTRrrIvE MATTER IN HAY AND Corn
| The average results of experiment and
theory, so to speak, make 81 pounds of
Indian corn, equal to 100 pounds of hay,
or /, 140 pounds of Indian corn to the ton
Of hay. But it must be remembered
that the nutritive effects of food upon
an animal are varied by many causes,
and also that the comparison of foods is
affected by the object sought, as fact,
growth, labor, milk, &c. The above is
the relative amount of nntritive matter
in corn and hay, as determined by ex-
pertinent and theory.
IT IS evident that the changed condi-
ton of our agriculture must soon COM
pei the employment of skilled hands,
and these skilled hands must be edu-
Gated before they can be employed.
Agricultural laborers are composed too
largely of a floating, unsettled class, and
this must be changed before amendment
in the degree Of skill can be expected.
They must be composed of q class with
settled and definite ends and aims, who
are educated to the Business as earnestly
as mechanics. With such assistance agri-
culture will attract capital, and afford il
a safe investment. Skilled labor is the
immediate demand of the future in agri-
culture.
Coon FARMING. is one sign Of q
good farmer if he prizes manure. 1t
does not require good farmer to raise
bountiful crops on farm already rich,
but the art lies III SO managing the farm
that it will produce good crops every
year without losing in fertility. A man
may make money from his farm while he
is wasteful of fertilizers, but he is not 6
good farmer, for he is constantly running
his land into debt. Good farming con
sists of such management as will max,
the farm produce the best possible re
suits without deteriorating the soil. Thi
can only be accomplished by rigid
economy In the making and use of ma
nur", and a systematic rotation of crops
that will bs the least exhaustive to the
soil.
: WHERE sheep ere hept for the double
purpose of direct income in wool, NUT
ton, etc, and the manure they make,
is important that the extra food, or tina
outside Of what the pasture furnishes
should be chosen with care. It woul,
be wise for the American farmer to be
come better acquainted with cotton-see,
cake, linseed oil cake, and like concen
trated foods. By feeding, and feedin
iiberally of such foods, the sheep NO
only grow rapidly, but the manure the
make is rich introgenous matters an
valuable feftiliziug salts. The growtl
OF animals Is means to an end, an
when the most money is made from tn
flock and the land enriched, the mos
rapidly the end is gained. The profit o
sheep as fertilizers depends largely upol
the kind of food that is used.
PICKING FRUIT.-The following sag
gestions in regard to picking fruit fo
canning are furnished by gentlema
to pick your fruit carefully and in time
if in right condition one day the mex
will be too late to pick. Go over you
trees many times. Don't try to pick a
at once. IF green, you lose weight.
too ripe, it is spoiled for canning. TIL
proper condition for apricot. plum, peac
and nectarine is when fully matured
but before softening. Use shallow boxes
OuhKe5 make BOOO boxes ana are cneal
q Above all, bring to the cannery, or sen
to the market, at the earliest possibl
!, moment after picking. 1t is not too lat
to thin out some fruit Trees that ovel
, bear do not yield marketable fruit"
: Fowls IN ORCHARDS fall, say
: the Po,tltry World, we visited an O
! chard in which fowls were kept, tn
| owner Of which told us that before tf
| fowls were confined in it, the trees mad
| little or no growth, and only CORES
| ponding amount of fruit was obtained
But what a change was evident nov
| The grass was kept down, the weet