The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-11-03
FARM NOTES.

in the garden, In the granary, and
among the ripe grapes on our trell!ses.
In Southern and Central Minnesota
the opinion is.becoming more and more
prevalent among farmers that they must
of necessity raise less wheat and more
stock, and they are becoming more
alive to the Importance of bestowing
greater attention 10 the production OF
butter and cheese. -Des M0ines Regis
ter.
In the last fourteen years the number
of sheep in iowa has shrunk from /, 354,-
600 to 1876, $50, loss of 81 per cent.
Lack of proper shelter and food in
winter, of fences TO enable farmers to
keep small focks, and the ravages of
the wolf and his congener, the ubiqui-
tous dog. are the chief causes of this
decline of one of the most important
branches of farming. Chicago Trib-
1L1le.
WILD CHERRY JELLY. Wild cherries,
writes a correspondent of the Country
Gentleman, beside being a grand tonic
when prepared properly, and an excel
lent remedy for cough, make most de-
Jtiiys NooliCi biibii AoAi tiDt,
and mash them IN mortar Tor potato
masher will answer the same purpose);
add cold water in proportion of half a
pint to pound of fruit, and let them
stew slowly until the water is strongly
impregnated with the cherry juice.
Then put them through a jelly-bag,
adding pound of sugar to pint OF
Juice, and finish as you would any Jelly.
Wild cherries may be put into mo asses,
and let stand about two months, when
they will be found to have formed
very strong, rich sirup, good for cold
or cough.
AN article on keeping sweet potatoes
appears in Farm and Garden, in which
growers are reminded that, in order to
preserve them until spring, they must
be kept at an even temperature. There
are several methods recommended,
among which is the method of storing
them in apartments in which the heat
Is regulated by n stove. They are
taken on storage by those who make
preparation in this manner, and whole
neighborhoods sometimes have single
storehouse. Another plan is to heap
Vic pOb1tOtS. silAl CONtl
with straw thickly, packing dirt several
inches thick over the straw. The best
method, perhaps, is to psct. the pota-
toes in barrels in layers, filing the
spaces between them with. sand or per-
fectly dry dir. No potato must touch
the other. Packed in that manner,
they ore sid to keep well.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. - Our
country agricultural societies, or, more
properly, our country fair associa-
tions, do nothing toward the progress
of agriculture except TO hold fair once
year. If any addresses are made they
are delivered by politicians A large
proportion of the prize-monev goes to
the owners of horses that are bred and
trained for the race-course. State fairs
differ from county tLrs in little else
than in magnitude. They are, Doubt
less, of some benefit in enabling farm
ers to zee better specimens OF stock than
they can finds In their own neigh Dor
hoods. In other respects they do little for
the advancement of any branch of agri-
culture. Occasionally, n national society,
or " congress- is formed, with the design
vi ilthhiuS lhNtEc&lEstb4ttlH hlu
encouraging scientific agriculture. As
q rule, however, they are. short lived,
expensive and productive of little prsc-
teal good. The best results have been
attained by associations of persons en-
gagged in certain specialties, AZ keeping
bees, producing wool. making butter
and cheese, or raising fowls. Gener-
ally, the more limited the scope of
society the better it performs it's work.
The rapid progress of daiying in the
West, and the high degree Of perfection
that it has reached, are largely the re-
suits of associations of dairymen who
have had regular meetings for compar-
ing notes and reporting the results of
the experiments they have made. The
meetings of any of our Western dairy
mems associations are in the nature of
institutes or schools of instruction.
They afford excellent opportunities for
acquiring practical knowledge. The
like may be sold Of the meetings OF most
of orr horticultural societies. Members
of these societies have made expert
ments, and are able to tell 10y practic l
tests what kind of fruit will suc-
coed in given locality. A WE'LL
conducted agricu tural society, linn
tied in it's membership to the farm
ers of one town or neighborhood, can
be made productive OF a vat amount of
good. It's organization should be sim
pie, and but little sine spent in routine
business. 1t can be managed with very
little expense, as the meetings can be
held in school-house, small hall or
the houses of it's members. The farm
ers in most of our Western towns come
from large number of States and sew
eral foreign countries. They are ac-
quainted with the methods practiced in
the place where they formerly lived.
Encl, il capable of imparting to the
others much valuable information con-
corning what he hes seen and expert
enced elsewhere. Collectively, they
represent the knowledge obtained Ivy
many hundreds of farmers in different
part, Of the world. English farmers
can inpart much valuable information
on stock-raising as practiced in the old
country, on the cultivation OF root
crops, and the much-neglected art of
building stacks of hay and grain.