Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-03-01
SEASONABLE FARM NOTES.

|
! age to keep soils from becoming too wet
or dry.
NEVER brood your chickens in and in.
It makes them weak and more difficult
to raise.
THERE is no profit in poor butter.
| Every pound is made at a loss to the
| dairyman.
IT is said that if food is kept from
| the sheep for twenty-four hours before
killing, the mutton will have better
flavor.
A CALIFORNIA farmer says that strong
salt brine stirred in lime until it is about
like whitewash, is better than bluestone
| to prevent smut.
A FARMER who keeps sheep and has
no shepherd dog is nearly in as bad con-
dition as the mariner who ventures on
the sea without rudder.
IT costs the farmer much more than it
formerly did to carry on his farm, and
the need of the hour is products, and
prices commensurate with his increased
expenses.
EVERY person who keeps chickens
should raise garden peppers. A tea
made by boiling them in water and added
to boiled potatoes or corn-meal dough is
stated to be sure preventive of cholera
in fowls.
IT is conceded that the Berkshire will
average at six months old $50 pounds;
at nine months, 230; at twelve months,
800; at eighteen months, 400, and at
twenty -four months, 500. It will be
seen that the best comparative weight is
at twelve months and under.
The easiest way to kill Quack grass is
to SOW the ground if possible, or loosen
it up with a mattock, SOW it so thick with
corn as to exclude the air and light as
much as possible. Gut the corn when
ripe enough for fodder for the cattle. By
this time you will find old Quack gone,
roots and all.
The amount of land required for q
steer to feed on during the summer de-
ponds upon it's character and condition.
An acre we'll seeded and rich will pro-
duce more pasture than six which are
poor. On rich land which would cut
three tons of hay, one acre is ample to
summer q steer, grazing six months; on
ordinary pasture land, three acres would
not be more than enough.
ANIMALS of spirit and determination
are stronger than those of much greater
weight, devoid of these qualities. The
| thoroughbred horse of 1000 pounds
weight can draw more than a dung-hill
plug of 1000 pounds, and can 60 twice
the distance on the road, day in and day
out, with a relative burden OF draught.
Blood in all our domestic animals is
superlative, as compared with low-bred
stock.
A FARMER who is doing justice to his
profession should know in February
Just what crop each field on his farm is
to bear during the coming season. He
should plan further than this, and by
following a well selected system of ro-
tation of crops, know what this and that
field is to be devoted to for half dozen
years to come There is relation which
| one crop bears to another that all should
understand.
The less the animal has to do the
richer will be the manure. Thus
growing animal, or one that is giving
milk, or exerting muscular power, as
working oxen or horses, will, other
things being equal, use up larger per
cent of the fertilizing elements than one
that is at ease. It should be remem-
bered that the valuable ingredients of
manure are soluble, and may be easily
washed away.
MICE are very prolific; single pair
will often multiply to fifty or more dur
ing single season, as the earlier broods
reproduce one or more generations.
Usually a large proportion of each sum-
| III III 81
autumn rains saturate the soil. At this
writing, the ground is still dry, deep
| down, in several states. If at any point
the soil freezes solid before copious
rains, extra caution should be taken to
protect fruit trees and shrubs against
mice.
IF ssworms - are very numerous in
meadow, the best thing that can be done
is to turn them under with the plough
as deeply as possible, and plant the
ground in some crop that can be ma
| tured in the season, and that is applica-
BILE. If the meadow is new, and it is
very desirable to preserve it for the next
year, the farmer must then turn in hogs,
etc., use the roller or adopt such device
as may be most convenient, so as to
make the injury as light as possible; but
with no idea Of saving the present crop.
AMONG the more recently introduced
labor-saving farm implements, the
manure-spreader deserves to he noticed.
It words on the principle of the endless
chain. The manure is passed through
strong teeth set spirally in cylinder, is
broken up fine, and spread as evenly as
it could be done by the most careful
workman. The machine will cover a
strip six to eight feet wide as fast as a
horse can be made to walk, and will
spread artificial fertilizers, lime, etc., as
well as barn-yard manure, whether long
or short. i aa
STONE, brick or wooden walls, with
perpendicular air spaces in them, are
warmer than solid walls, because the air
conducts heat away less than the solid
materials. A sheathing of tarred paper,
or pasteboard, or of any thick paper
even, placed midway between the clap
boarding and the plastering, to form two
| thin air-chambers instead of one. adds