Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-12-20
SEASONABLE FARM NOTES.

October gave milk from which was
made 1873 pounds of butter.
EVERY farmer, and especially every
dairyman, ought to put up supply Of
ice, and this is the time of year to think
this matter over and make preparation
for it.
POTATOES, when dug in an unripe
state, may be at times watery and not fit
to eat, but if spread as thinly as pos
eible IN a dry, airy place, they will in
time become as mealy as if left to ripen
in the ground.
ASHES should never be thrown upon
manure heaps, nor mixed with any kind
of manure, as the caustic potash hber-
ates the ammonia, which is very difficult
to save. Therefore spread ashes imme-
diately upon the land, whether grass or
cultivated.
SPRUCE butter tubs are the best; hem
lock makes a sweet tub; acids from the
oak color the butter and injure it's APP
pearance; white ash gives the butter
strong flavor if kept long, and increases
the liability to mold; maple smells and
cracks badly. Soak all tubs four to six
days In brine before using.
A HORSES head ought to be as free as
his feet, except that the head must be
used as the guiding part. 1t would be
just as sensible to tie and brace up his
tail when he is to be backed as to fasten
the head when he is going forward. A
horse of any spirit always holds his head
where it ought to be when he is in mo-
ton.
A MEMBER of the Elmira Farmers
Club says: "l can raise more pounds of
sugar beets to the acre than of mangles;
STIMULATING that the ground must be
very good, as mine IS, and [ do not find
any difficulty in gathering them. Be-
sides, sugar beets will stand drouth
mach better than any variety of man
gels L have seed.
This wearisome fault Of horses,
wherein they strike and click the hind
and forefeet, is sometimes caused by
too heavy shoeing. a very heavy,
awkward shoe is not always a good shoe.
Lowering the feet is sometimes a rem
edy. Much is due, also, to the break
ing of the young animal, and if he has
been made TO forge, the remedy should
be applied as quicklyas possible. Keep
ing the head up is good idea. Horses
prone to this idea throw their forefeet
back, lunge and do not get themselves
up in shape.
The hog, like the horse, has no extra
stomach to store away food, therefore
if fed but twice day and given what he
will eat, he overloads bis stomach, and
if the food is not pushed beyond the
point where it will digest, the stomach
is filled so full that a considerable por-
ton of the food fails to come in contact
with the lining of the stomach, and thus
a very large proportion of the nutriment
in the food is lost. Experiments prove
that hog thus fed wastes more than
one-half of the meal given him. We
have no doubt the same of hay and grain
and fed but twice aday.-MasS. Plough
man.
THE winter season is a very impor-
tant one in the management of fruit
trees. Pruning is especially important.
Some believe that if the foundation of
tree be properly laid in youth, there will
be no necessity to prune an adult tree.
This does not accord with the writer's
experience. An intelligent examination,
both with the saw and good knife in
hand should be made every winter.
Real good, large, healthy leaves in every
part of a tree are Of vast Importance,
and these cannot be had when branches
are close together, smothering one
another.
CATTLE, ripe and fat, weighing 1900
pounds. bring the best price in the mar
ket and are produced at the least cost
per pound. It is very little trouble to
make a calf weigh 1000 pounds at II
months, but the same feed or more will
not make a gain of more than 500
pounds the second year, and the third
still less. The animal that viii arrive
at the right weight at the earliest age
and yet be ripened so as to bring the
best price will be the most profitable to
both feeder and butcher, and this per-
lection is what should be looked for in
all meat-producing breeds, whether cat
tie, sheep or swine.
INAsMUCH as barnyard manure is de-
rived from the crops grown on the farm,
it contains when returned to the soil, the
elements that crops need. 1t is a COM
plete fertilizer, supplying, as it does, the
potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen,
which are considered the most valuable
constituents Of purchased manures. It
seems. also, to have specific action on
the soil that can not be obtained with
any combination Of chemical fertilizers.
In fact, it contains all the food that
plants need, and at the same time bulky
carbonacecus matter retains the am
monia that would otherwise be lost, and
also renders the soil porous, ready to
absorb and retain still further supplies
of the gases of the air.
THE result of some of the most care
fully conducted tests in regard to rye
as food has stimulated its use more than
ever, and the high price Of corn is di-
recting the attention to the value Of rye,
which is now cheaper than corn. It is
more valuable for food than corn, and as
it costs less than oats and is worth about
twice as much as the latter on account of
the less husk, it may be used very
proftably as a substitute inpart for both
corn and oats. Two busheles OF corn
and five bushels of rye ground together
will make 412 pounds Of feed, and will
be much better for COWS than five bush
ala of corn and f0I1r of oats and will cost