Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-08-30
SEASONABLE FARM NOTES.

and 1t Is wonderful that more attention
is not given to its cultivation.
Hoes that run in the orchard picking
up the windfalls anu occasionally good
apples, never have the hog cholera,
which is another proof of the value of a
fruit diet.
DIR. ELLIS, of Russell County, Kan,
a large wheat grower, understands the
value Of sheep so thoroughly that he adj
vertises he will pay 10 cents per head
for sheep to pasture upon his fields.
Do not overstock the place with half
fed scrubs and runts. A half dozen
sleek cattle look better In a field of
clover knee high, than three times that
number of scrubs in a gnawed, out pas
ture.
PROFESSOR BEAL says that a neighbor
who was poor cultivator had ripe to-
matoes two weeks before some of bis
neigh bors, simply because his soil was
poor and had not been MANFRED, while
the neighbors had rich soil, which kept
the plants growing with much more lux
uriance, with later ripening of the fruit.
1T has been well demonstrated that
in case of all live stock, a clean and
open condition Of the skin is conducive
to health and economical feeding, and
no labor in the barns is more proftably
expended than that which is employed
In thorough cleaning, not only of the
horses but also of the cattle.
Iris not good policy to let work horses
get thin. 1t costs more to put on flesh
than it does to keep it on. Flesh that
becomes hardened by exercise will be
kept up with less food, under the same
work, than it took to put it on. From
fifteen to thirty pounds of food will
about supply the daily consumption of
horses, large and small
To secure fine tomatoes for next year
thoughtful gardeners select smooth,
evenly-shaped fruit this season for seed.
The requisites are medium size, thick,
solid flesh, few seeds, rich bright red
color, and q perfect outline perfectly
free from protuberances. Let them IN
the sun until decomposition sets in,
then wash out the seed and dry per-
fectly.
The burdock is biennial, and seeds
freely, the seeds retaining their vitality
for several years. IF not allowed to per-
feet its seeds it may be readily 'extermi-
mated by cutting off with hoe just be-
low the surface Of the ground, and
covering the stub with salt. The mois-
ture which the salt attracts causes the
root to rot. If not sailed the root will
send up shoots though cut low in the
ground.
A Texas farmer by turning his sheep
III his wheat IN the autumn, and allow
ing them to Craze during the winter and
spring when the soil was in condition,
says, /" the last piece of wheat grazed
will make twenty-five bushels to the
acre, and it would have made more, but
it was badly damaged by the worms.
Now, [ don't think my wheat was
materially injured by grazing, and yet
my whole lamb crop was raised on
wheat"
The "black sheep" which is proverb-
tally present in every flock, often in
those highly bred, is the result of atav-
ism, Or breeding back. 1t is an example
of what Darwin calls reversion, or the
transmission or cropping out of the
original peculiarities of the breed.
They are rare among pure American
merinos, yet continue to appear. Tan
colored spots sometimes appear, and
these colors are inherited from the orig
inal flock of Spain.
A Missouri farmer when he finds an
animal bloated with hoven, from eating
too much rank grass, vets the animal
along the back with cold water, and
places a large cloth or blanket of sew
eral thicknesses over the paunch, after
having saturated it with all the cold
water it will absorb, and over that a
dry blanket. If, he says, the cold water
is properly applied, one will not have
long to wait fer cure. It will cost
but little to try it.
The best time to secure onion seed of
your own raising, is when the seed pods
have partially opened. Clip them off
just below the tops; spread them on
some fiat surface in the sun, in sheet
on the barn floor, to dry. When all the
moisture is absorbed and they are
thoroughly dried, rub them between the
hands or use a light fail. After this
they may be run through tanning mill.
Put the seed into a vessel of water and
skim off all that swim.
Fl. G. WEBSTER, of Delaware County,
Pennsylvania, owns about six hundred
hens and believes that the raising of
poultry can, with proper attention, al
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departments of the farm. During the
first eight months of the past year he
obtained $4,000 eggs, which he sold,
with the exception of those consumed in
his own family, for $500 about one-half
of which was profit. His stock consists
OF mixed breeds, which have ample
space to roam. Their feed largely con-
sists of wheat screenings.
AN invention by which ensilage in
silos is protected from the effects of air
has been patented by Mr.. Charles 81.
Roberts, Of Lloyd, n. Y. The door
opening of the slo is provided with rab-
bets to receive the ends of the planks
used to close it. A piece of tarred felt
paper, or any fabric impervious to air
and moisture, is placed against the inner
sides of the planks in such a manner
that the covering overlaps the ends of
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